Town of Smithtown

Photo by Julianne Mosher

There’s a place for people of all abilities to play soccer, and it’s right in Centereach.

TOPSoccer is a new program within Middle Country Children’s Soccer devoted solely to children with physical, mental or behavioral disabilities.

Rob Draper, a financial advisor at Draper Asset Management in Smithtown and club president of SB Athletico Soccer Club, said he wanted to provide a place where all different types of people can run, play and score goals together without judgment or fear. 

“Soccer helped me experience my kids’ childhoods,” he said. “With soccer, there were times where I would go, ‘Wow. That’s great,’ and our goal is to give those moments to these parents so they can experience it, too.”

Draper teamed up with Dave Phaff, also of SB Athletico, and James Malone, president of Middle Country Children’s Soccer to make this dream a reality.

“We’re all just good-hearted people that just really enjoy working with children and watching them grow into young women and men,” Phaff said. 

Officially kicking off last weekend, the program is made up primarily of skills sessions that help teach the participants the game of soccer, while at the same time providing them with an environment that is fun and pressure-free.

Phaff said the whole process took less than three months to get off the ground, and everyone was immediately on board. 

Joining the team is Tara Phaff, Dave’s wife — who is also a Doctor of Physical Therapy — who helped create the best plans for each individual participant’s needs.   

According to Middle Country TOPSoccer, the team encourages any child or adult who is differently-abled to get involved — and its 100% free.

With no questions asked, Draper wanted to fund the program for the families who decide to join in.

“Rob said to me, ‘I really want to start a special needs soccer program and I’ll fully fund it. I don’t care what it costs, I’ll fund it,’” Phaff added. “He has a great heart.”

While other soccer clubs do encourage inclusivity, Phaff said there aren’t too many locations where kids of different abilities can play further out east. That’s why Centereach was a great, central spot to get the ball rolling.

On Saturday, April 10, the group held its opening day at Oxhead Road Elementary School where 25 individuals, ranging in ages five to 55, headed to the field to kick, run and enjoy the sunshine. 

Some of the participants have Down syndrome, some on the autism spectrum and two children were able to play soccer from their wheelchairs. One thing they all had in common was the giant smiles on their faces.

Each player, Phaff said, gets a buddy that works with them every practice. These buddies are volunteers and soccer players, themselves, who help the individual and stand beside them the whole time — and they are anticipating even more players to come join them this season.

“The whole purpose of this is to give these kids an opportunity to be accepted and feel like they are part of something,” Phaff said. “So, we won’t turn anybody down.”

TOPSoccer has their practices every Saturday at 10 a.m. at Oxhead Elementary School in Centereach. Families who are interested in joining can register online at mccsoccer.org.

John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson. File photo from Mather Hospital

After the New York State Department of Health updated its guidance regarding hospital visitation, John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson has begun instituting limited visitation.

Beginning on Friday, April 2, visitation hours will now be from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. every day, and patients may have up to two visitors, with just one allowed at their bedside at any given time. 

With the new guidelines, inpatient visitation is only allowed in non-COVID medical and surgical units, critical care unites and adolescent psych. 

According to the hospital, visitation for the adult psychiatric unit will be accommodated by instituting two visitation sessions to be determined by the behavioral health staff during the hours of 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

An adult will be allowed to accompany a patient during their visit to Mather in its outpatient/same day procedure areas and in our emergency room. The visitor will only be allowed to stay with the patient during the intake and discharge process. 

The hospital said in a statement that exceptions will only be made in extenuating circumstances as determined by hospital staff.

Photo by James Palumbo

By Angela Palumbo

In January 2020, former President Donald Trump (R) signed an executive order that replaced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers definition of what is considered a federal body of water under the Waters of the United States rule, known as WOTUS. 

In his election campaign, President Joe Biden (D) promised to undo these changes, which are currently under review. 

But what does all of this mean for Long Island?

Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present near the surface of the soil all year for varying periods of time. According to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report, as at 2004 6% of Long Island was made up of wetlands — that’s about 51,000 acres. 

Wetlands, due to their beneficial services to people and wildlife — including providing habitats to multiple species, improving water quality and assisting with flood protections —are among some of the most productive ecosystems in the world.

Photo by James Palumbo

Wetland protections can also create problems for business developers and farmers. One of Trump’s main reasons for passing his executive order in 2020 was to redefine the definitions of which bodies of water could be protected under WOTUS in order to remove legal roadblocks to farmers caused by the need to determine whether water on their land fell under control of the federal government.

“After decades of landowners relying on expensive attorneys to determine what water on their land may or may not fall under federal regulations, our new Navigable Waters Protection Rule strikes the proper balance between Washington and the states in managing land and water resources while protecting our nation’s navigable waters, and it does so within the authority Congress provided,” said EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, in a January 2020 news release.

Now, due to the undoing of restrictions by Trump’s administration, local conservationists are worried about the long-term effects on Long Island’s wetlands.

Coby Klein, a conservationist at the Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon Society and adjunct professor of Natural Sciences at Baruch College, said that Long Island’s wetlands are beneficial to both the community and the organisms that dwell in them, and they need to be preserved.

“Wetlands provide protection from flooding, especially the coastal wetlands, the salt marshes and things like that,” he said. “They also help work to mitigate climate change. When plants die in these wetland areas, they don’t decompose very quickly. They serve as what’s called a carbon sink. Instead of carbon being put back into the atmosphere when a plant dies, it gets stored in the soil and in the muck in the water.”

Victoria O’Neill, Long Island Sound Study habitat restoration coordinator at the state Department of Environmental Conservation, is another local conservationist who confirms that healthy wetlands are important to Long Island.

“Tidal wetlands provide many different ecosystem services to Long Island communities,” she said. “They help provide protection from coastal storm surge, improve water quality, provide recreational enjoyment and serve as nesting, breeding and resting grounds for commercial and recreationally important fish and shellfish.”

With all of the benefits wetlands provide to Long Island communities and ecosystems, why did the federal government want to push back on protecting them? Klein said it is because, “they get in the way.”

“When there’s any type of pollution that gets into a body of water, it ends up in a wetland,” Klein said.  “That’s bad news for the things that grow there and live there. Salt marshes are very susceptible to nitrogen pollution, and that’s a big problem on Long Island because almost everybody around here fertilizes their lawns, and they tend to overfertilize.” 

He added that because of the high volume of sewage systems on Long Island, the excess fertilizer from people’s lawns and farmers’ fields tends to go from the sewage systems to large bodies of water and then eventually into rivers and wetlands. This causes excess nitrogen that is detrimental to those ecosystems.

Photo by James Palumbo

Under Trump’s redefinition of protected waters under WOTUS, it has become easier for developers and farmers to make those kinds of damages to wetlands but, according to the DEC, New York is taking great steps forward as a leader in the efforts to protect state wetlands and their invaluable natural habitat.

“It is estimated that the Navigable Waters Protection Rule will remove federal protections for about half the nation’s wetlands,” the state DEC said in a 2020 statement. “Thankfully, existing strong protections of waters in New York state will reduce the impact of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule compared to many other states. However, not all wetlands are protected under New York law and we rely on federal protection and our water quality certification review to protect smaller wetlands. Recent changes in the definition of Waters of the United States have resulted in fewer of these smaller wetlands receiving any regulatory protection.”

According to O’Neill, active steps are being taken to restore wetland habitats that have been lost.

“The tidal wetland ecosystem target in the LISS’s 2015 Comprehensive Conservation & Management Plan set a goal to restore 515 additional acres of tidal wetlands by 2035 from a 2014 baseline,” she said. “As of 2020, we are 15.5% toward our goal.”

Klein said that restoration projects are time sensitive and need to happen as soon as possible.

“Wetlands provide us with all kinds of important ecosystem services and even more important than that, they’re just pleasant places,” he said. “We should try to preserve them simply because there are so many creatures besides us that depend on them. So even if they didn’t do all this important stuff for us, we should still try to conserve them because they do important things for other species.”

To see more photos, visit tbrnewsmedia.com.

A statue of Joseph Dwyer in Rocky Point. File photo by Kyle Barr

By Chris Cumella

As the deadline for approval of New York State’s final budget approached on April 1, U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY1) joined the state Senate Republican Conference March 24 on a call to action from Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to restore funding for the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program for veterans.

The Dwyer program was introduced in 2012 by Zeldin, then a state senator and a U.S. Army veteran himself, having served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Essential health support was provided to veterans in the state. Zeldin’s home county of Suffolk was among the first to utilize the program.

The program has received bipartisan support from local governments up to the State Capitol. However, funding has been omitted in this year’s Cuomo budget proposal.

“It has been an honor to help lead the effort to take a model here in New York and try to expand it nationally,” Zeldin said. “Every veteran in every corner of America deserves to have that resource available to them.”

According to Zeldin and the Republican Conference, the operation was labeled as “immensely impactful” based on the ability to provide various mental health services designed to help veterans reintegrate back into civilian life.

The program was named in honor of Dwyer, an Army combat medic in the Iraq War who was in an iconic 2003 photo carrying a young Iraqi boy away from danger.

After Dwyer’s return home from service overseas, he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder. He died in 2008.

The Dwyer program stands as a peer-to-peer support model, which provides a safe, confidential and educational platform where all veterans meet in support of each other’s successful transition to post-service life.

The program also seeks to help aid “vet-to-vet relationships” to enhance positive change through shared experiences, a process combined with learning and personal growth.

“As a combat veteran, I fully understand the difference the services provided by the Joseph P. Dwyer program can make in the lives of our veterans who are struggling,” said state Senate Republican Leader Robert Ortt, an Army National Guard veteran who served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. “The need for these critically important services has never been more important, and they should be made permanent.”

On March 15, the state Senate majority proposed funding of up to $4.5 million for the Dwyer program, which is the same funding level adopted in 2020-21. However, the state Assembly majority has proposed $6.05 million in funding.

Suffolk County alone has been described as having “one of the largest veteran populations in the nation” by state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk).

Two local beneficiaries of the Dwyer program felt the experience was well worthwhile.

“I was struggling with both substance use and abuse and thoughts of self-harm as well as a suicide attempt,” said Smithtown resident Robert Carrazzo in a Zeldin press release. “The Dwyer program and those involved helped me battle all this, and now I am over five years sober, have a family, two degrees and a new career.”

“I was a single mom who was furloughed and attending grad school online, which was taxing on my mental health,” said Northport resident Danielle Koulermos in the same press release. “The Dwyer program grew into a sisterhood of support and guidance geared toward the needs of us as female veterans.”

“Playing games with our veterans’ lives is unacceptable,” Zeldin said. “Not only must full funding for the Dwyer program be restored in this year’s final budget, but this program’s funding must become a permanent component of all future state budgets.”

On April 6, Stony Brook University administered 1,400 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to students living on campus. The mass vaccination day fell on the first day that New York granted eligibility for those 16 of age and older. 

“I’m so thrilled that the eligibility came much earlier than we ever expected,” said Rick Gatteau, vice president for Student Affairs at SBU and dean of students.

The administration sent out an email to residents last Thursday with a link to sign up. Within two hours it was filled, and there is currently a waitlist of 500 students waiting for the next session.

The event took place in the newly constructed Student Union building, where students arrived at their assigned time and were guided through the process by dozens of volunteers. They will return for their second dose on May 4. 

“I felt compelled to get the vaccine”, said Victor Shin, a sophomore chemistry major. “I’m hoping that the campus will open up very soon and we can head back toward in-person learning.”

By the end of the day, 30% of on campus residents received a vaccine. With the semester wrapping up in a few weeks, the administration is hoping to vaccinate all students who are interested so that the second dose falls before the last day of classes May 4. 

“The fact that we’ve had such a huge turnout is reflective of our students’ interest in getting the vaccine,” Gatteau said. “We’re a big STEM school focused on research, and students know the value of the science and research that went into it, which is similar to their own career pursuits.” 

Residents were selected first due to their risk of transmission by living in close quarters in dorms. The next group to be offered a spot will be commuter students who travel to campus and those who are fully remote but live on Long Island. 

“Even if it was never required, I think we’d get to our herd immunity number just based on interest,” Gatteau said. 

The decision of whether or not vaccination will be required of students returning to campus in the fall is still up for deliberation by the State University of New York administration. This week they announced that in the fall, 80% of classes will be held in person. 

Activists attend a rally for police reform in Hauppauge March 15. File photo by Julianne Mosher

By Harry To

Suffolk County Legislator Sam Gonzalez (D-Brentwood) was the lone vote against the reform plan for the Suffolk County Police Department. The reform plan passed 16-1 in the county Legislature earlier this month.

“The passage of this plan today is truly a historic moment in Suffolk County, and I am grateful to all those who came to the table and everyone who took part in the reform process to tackle the toughest of challenges,” said County Executive Steve Bellone (D) in a press release.

In a statement, Gonzalez said that he voted “no” on the reform plan because independent oversight of police conduct was not included, leaving the plan “insufficient.”

“This reform plan is about our future; not only will it affect residents today, but it will also impact generations of residents long after us,” Gonzalez said. “The plan is insufficient and will not be effective unless there is serious discipline for wrongful actions. Clearly, there is a crisis of mistrust and for change to be successful — there must be accountability.”

Progressive groups across the country have advocated for police reform.

Indeed, many Long Island advocates share Gonzalez’s gripes with current reform plans. As a result, they drew up “The People’s Plan,” which includes civilian oversight for police misconduct and the creation of unarmed traffic enforcement.

“The plan that was released by Suffolk County in response to Governor Cuomo’s (D) executive order falls short of the transformative changes to the way we conceive of public safety that this moment in our community members are demanding,” said Jackie Burbridge, co-founder of the Long Island Black Alliance.

On the other side of the aisle, state Republicans attacked the reform bill for different reasons. Some cited the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes as a reason for opposing the reforms, such as state Sen. Alexis Weik (R-Sayville).

“One-party control in Albany has led to laws that have immediately released violent criminals, the repeal of 50-a, and an overall disdain for the men and women of law enforcement,” she said in a press release. “In light of the rising violence we see day in and day out on the news, particularly recent acts of violence against the Asian American community, we must shift course to a focus on restoring safety and accountability to the policies coming out of Albany.”

Still, the 1,000-page Suffolk County Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force Report received overwhelming bipartisan support from county legislators March 30.

Peggy Loucks holds up photos of her late father, Allen Ulmer, and his creation, Micro-Face. Photo by Julianne Mosher

A character who ended up in the public domain is now being resurrected, given a new life. 

Photo from Peggy Loucks

Peggy Loucks, of Port Jefferson, received a call last month from a co-host with NPR’s “Planet Money” podcast — a show that tries to find creative and entertaining ways to make sense of big, complicated economical processes — asking for her blessing regarding her late father, a comic book artist.

One time, the podcast made a T-shirt, tracing the supply chain from the cotton source to the factory. It purchased and followed the travel of 100 barrels of crude oil from ground to gas, and even launched a satellite. 

In February, the podcast decided it wanted to purchase a superhero. 

Kenny Malone, a co-host with the show, said that “Planet Money” wanted to investigate the superhero entertainment economy. He was joined by fellow host Robert Smith.

“Superhero movies had become the highest grossing movies — the merchandising around superheroes was also incredibly large,” Malone said. “So, we wanted to understand this.”

Malone noticed that characters who were making tons of money were not new — they were all characters that were between 40 to even 70 years old — and they are part of the two major superhero conglomerates, Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

“We had this idea,” he said. “What if we tried to buy a superhero off one of those companies? What if we tried to buy one of their older characters that is just not very well known? And then we could try to figure out how to build a mini-superhero empire.”

In need of a hero

The three-part series, which aired on Feb. 12, 19 and 26, dove into the team’s attempt to buy a superhero off Marvel — originally asking to bid for Doorman, whose superpower is to turn into a door. He never had his own movie for obvious reasons. 

After several attempts to contact Marvel for interviews and to purchase the unhinged superhero, they declined and eventually stopped responding. 

“We think they declined for an interesting economic reason,” Malone said. “Even the silliest unknown character has the potential to become a $10 million, $100 million piece of intellectual property.”

In its first episode of the series, “We Buy a Superhero: Origins,” the duo mentioned “Guardians of the Galaxy” character Groot who was once deemed undesirable, but who is now a pop-culture icon. 

The guys behind “Planet Money” had to find a new tactic. They were on a mission. They began looking into copyright law and what happens to a creative entity when it gets moved to the public domain. 

“Every piece of copyright eventually falls out of copyright and gets put into the public domain where it is fair game for anybody to do something with,” Malone said.

Photo from Loucks

Part of it is to incentivize creativity, he added, where the creator can get exclusive rights to it, and make a profit. But the other part of it, is as a country when copyright law was established, was that if people hold onto that copyright forever, it could stifle creativity. 

“A second phase of creativity can be spawned, and people can do things with those characters, songs, books,” Malone said. “And much to our delight, we learned characters fall into the public domain. Superheroes will eventually fall into the public domain.”

Malone and Smith began delving into the world of public domain superheroes, going through hundreds upon hundreds of characters who once graced the pages of books. 

“We stumbled across this character that we could not believe was real,” he said. “We couldn’t believe it was not custom made for us.”

That character was from the golden age of superheroes, created in the 1940s featuring a mask and giant microphone upon his face as his power. His name was Micro-Face, who appeared in Clue Comics from Hillman publishing. 

A podcaster of the past

“This is basically like a 1940s podcaster, even though they didn’t know what a podcast was yet,” Malone said. “We loved it.”

Micro-Face was in the public domain — so he was fair game to do anything with — but the guys at “Planet Money” wanted to find out more about this lost superhero. That’s when they found out that the artist who created him, Allen Ulmer, had a daughter who was still alive and living right here in Port Jefferson. 

According to Loucks, Ulmer, who passed away in 1984 at age 64, was an artist back in the golden age of comic books. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he studied at the Pennsylvania School of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, but always loved creating his own comic characters. 

“So, he moved to New York City and joined the art league there,” Loucks said. 

Ulmer began working for several different comic book companies, including Marvel, DC and Hillman. He took a break from drawing when he served in World War II, but then came back from the war and continued his artistry until the 1950s. 

But during that time, there was an attack on the superhero industry that no one could help save. Between the McCarthy era, plus the backlash among parents who blamed comic books for their children’s delinquency, comic books became censored and hundreds of artists and publishers lost their jobs. 

“My father was on that blacklist,” she said.

Photo from Peggy Loucks

Now 83, and a retired librarian from the Middle Country Public Library, Loucks was just 5 when her father initially created the superhero now getting a facelift.

“Micro-Face was one of his favorite characters [who] never had the chance to take off,” Loucks said. 

When Ulmer lost his job, he moved his family to Long Island where he was a founder of the Port Jefferson Arts Festival and a member of the Art League of Long Island of Dix Hills. He began focusing on fine art and educational film, never doing comics again.

For whatever reason, the publisher decided decades ago not to renew the copyright for Micro-Face, leaving the character to fall into the public domain. 

Malone and Smith knew they didn’t necessarily have to ask Loucks for her permission to use the character, but they felt it was right to talk to her, find out more about his creator and keep that legacy alive. 

“My father would have loved this,” Loucks said. “You know, who would have thought that after all these years? Here comes this character back into the public eye again.”

The future of Micro-Face

Malone said that now that the three-part series is completed — and available for streaming online now — they will continue working toward actually creating a comic book based on Micro-Face. 

Working alongside comic book industry leaders, the team plans on writing a book based on the grandson Tom Wood — the alter ego of Micro-Face originally drawn by Ulmer in the ’40s.

“This person is our new character and he works in radio like us,” Malone said. “So, this is going to allow us to write in some plot points about business and economics and have a little bit of learning … but this is fundamentally still a comic book and is inspired by the direct heritage to the character Peggy’s father created.”

Malone said he does not know the exact release date of the comic book, but it is currently being worked on by the new Micro-Face team at “Planet Money.” Joining the podcasters are Alex Segura, co-president of Archie Comics and friend of Malone, Jerry Ordway, Peter Krause, Taylor Esposito and Ellie Wright — “all of who know what they’re doing when it comes to building a comic empire,” Malone said. 

He added that to continue with the “Planet Money” way of immersing themselves into the actual process, they will be updating listeners every step of the way. 

Peggy Loucks holds up photos of her late father, Allen Ulmer, and his creation, Micro-Face. Photo by Julianne Mosher

“We’re very excited about it,” Malone said. “You start these things, and you don’t know where they’re going to take you, but Peggy is just amazing and her father really was prolific. It makes me very sad to think that he clearly was very good and very creative, and the industry just was rocked in a way that knocked a lot of people out of it.”

While listeners and comic book lovers wait for the revival of Micro-Face, T-shirts are currently available on NPR’s website featuring Ulmer’s original design. Proceeds from the sales go back to the nonprofit National Public Radio to support radio shows and reporting.  

“Peggy told us that she was very excited about this,” Malone said. “Her father would have liked this project, so that made us very happy and made it make us feel good going forward with this.”

Stay tuned.

Photo by Julianne Mosher

A pandemic couldn’t stop a group of local residents from growing their nonprofit. 

Established in 2010, Strong Island Animal Rescue is a 501c3 that focuses on answering local calls regarding injured, abused and neglected animals.

“We started out with cats and dogs, and then we saw a need for wildlife rescue,” said vice president of the rescue Erica Kutzing. 

Just last week, president of Strong Island Animal Rescue Frankie Floridia, of Port Jefferson Station, helped save a raccoon in Bohemia that was trapped in a car grill, after the driver hit it and got stuck.

Within minutes, Floridia and other volunteers safely removed the animal, who is expected to make a full recovery.

Frankie with a baby deer. Photo from Erica Kutzing

“We’re available 24, seven days a week for abandoned and abused animals,” he said. “We’re a local rescue that likes to give back to the community and we’re always here for everybody. That’s the way it’s been, and we’d like to keep it that way.”

Whether it’s a trapped raccoon, a deer with a paint can stuck on its head, a mother cat and her kittens found in a shed or an abused puppy left on the side of a road, Strong Island has dedicated their lives to helping animals. 

Kutzing, of Sound Beach, has more than two decades of animal rescue and animal medicine experience.  

“I think back to when I was 12-year-old little girl who started out more than 22 years ago,” she said. “And I don’t think I ever expected this to actually happen. It was always a dream, but seeing it come to fruition has been like an out of body experience — even though we’re doing it during a pandemic.”

Floridia said that the pandemic has made it hard for fundraising efforts, since before the lock downs they were able to hold events.

“It’s been a tough year for us, not having those events that we have usually every other month,” he said. “Fundraising is all based online now, and thank goodness for that, but we can’t wait to get back to having an event in the place and being able to do stuff like we did before.”

And just this month, they were gifted one generous donation — a new property.

Neighbors of Floridia, Valerie Rosini and Alan Haas, had owned a home in the area that they knew would help the group out. 

Right now, the location is under wraps while they clean up the space, but Floridia said he plans on using the three-acre property as a clubhouse and meeting space for their dozens of volunteers.

Erica Kutzing and Frankie Floridia in front of their secret new clubhouse in Port Jefferson, joined by pup Dolly, daughter Shea, Valarie Rosini and Alan Haas. Photo by Julianne Mosher

Surrounded by woods, wildlife roams the backyard, making it the perfect spot for animals to feel safe, while animal lovers plan their next move. 

“He wants to do something good,” Rosini said. “These guys don’t even take a salary.”

The couple said they could have sold the massive property to developers but knew that the cottage and woods surrounding it are special. If they cleared the area, birds, deer and other wildlife could have lost their home. When Rosini sold the spot to the volunteers, it became a new partnership and friendship of neighbors helping neighbors.

“Alan’s been coming down, Val’s been helping out the rescue … so it’s not only getting them motivated to be part of the rescue, as well,” Floridia said. “We’re all helping each other and we’re saving animals.”

Kutzing said the property will give them the ability to turn the space into an actual meeting space, instead of utilizing their homes. 

“Eventually we’ll be able to turn this into our dream,” she said. 

And the extra room will be helpful as the team gears toward their busy season — baby season. 

To keep doing what they’re doing, Strong Island is always looking for the public’s help in raising funds and donations. 

Floridia said people who want to contribute can follow Strong Island Animal Rescue on Facebook or Instagram, and visit strongislandanimalrescueleague.org.

“We’ve always been the type of group that gives to the community,” he said. “And hopefully, it’ll come back.”

Stock photo

Over the last month, elected officials on both the county and village levels have been trying to tackle reckless bicyclists on the road.

Suffolk County

Last week, Suffolk County voted on a new bill aimed to give bicyclists distance with a new 3-foot passage rule — the first county in New York State to implement the law.  

According to the new legislation, “The operator of a vehicle which is overtaking, from behind, a bicycle proceeding on the same side of the road shall pass to the left of such bicycle at a distance of at least 3-feet until safely clear thereof.”  

Violators can face fines not to exceed $225 for a first offense, $325 for a second offense and $425 for any subsequent offense. The minimum distance requirement, however, will not apply on roads that have clearly marked bicycle lanes.

Authored by Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), it was originally in response to a bill sponsored by Legislator Rudy Sunderman (R-Mastic) which aimed to ticket and condemn bike riders who popped wheelies, swerved into traffic or biked while intoxicated across Long Island.

Hahn said she filed her bill, and abstained from Sunderman’s, to focus more on education for drivers and bike riders, as well as keeping veteran bicyclists safe. 

“I filed a bill that looks to fix the problems that existed,” she said. “I felt there were problems in the one that passed a few weeks ago.”

Sunderman’s bill was originally passed by the Legislature in February but was vetoed by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) earlier this month. 

“We believe this legislation is overly broad and that current law provides the necessary tools to address this issue,” Derek Poppe, a representative with Bellone’s office said in a statement. “We remain committed to working with the Legislature address safety concerns around bicycling practices.” 

On March 16, the Legislature approved Hahn’s bill, and Sunderman’s veto override failed the same day. 

Hahn said that the county was named by Bicycling Magazine as the most dangerous county in the country for bike riders and has since continuously been in the top 10.

“There are approximately 350 accidents a year in Suffolk County,” she added.

The vote brings Suffolk County closer to becoming the first county in the state to adopt a 3-foot-rule requirement. 

“I think it’s just really important that people know they have to give bicyclists room when they pass them,” Hahn said. “They might not hear you and the tires of a bike cannot handle roadway obstacles the same way a car can.”

Hahn noted that things such as sand, sticks, leaves, trash, a storm drain or pothole can be life-threatening to bikers. 

“A car can handle those, no problem, but a bike tire makes those obstacles potentially deadly,” she said. “Sometimes the cyclist needs to swerve a little bit and this 3-foot buffer gives them space.”

The bill will now go to the county executive for a separate public hearing and his signature within the next 30 days.

“I am thrilled,” she said. “This is a real concrete step to improve safety, and at the same time it makes a statement that we care about our residents on the road.”

The Village of Port Jefferson 

Village officials have been tirelessly enforcing their own rules when it comes to reckless bicylists. 

Signs like this will be posted throughout the village encouraging visitors to call code when they see disorderly behavior. Photo from Kathianne Snaden

Last year, when outdoor dining began, there were concerns over individuals harassing diners and drivers while they popped wheelies and swerved into traffic on Main Street. 

They began enforcing a code created in 2019, with new training, to keep residents and visitors safe. 

Mayor Margot Garant said a new bicycle task force has been unveiled, encouraging business owners and residents to call code enforcement when something doesn’t look right. 

“Our code specifically looks toward curbing the behavior of the individual riding a bike down the middle of the street or sidewalk in a dangerous and reckless manner,” she said. 

With rules penned by trustee Kathianne Snaden, the bicycle task force is comprised of Snaden along with a representative of the Suffolk County Police Department, the chief of code enforcement, Deputy Village Attorney Richard Harris, the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce and members of the business community. They simply ask, “If you see something, say something.”

The “see something, say something” campaign encourages business owners to keep their eyes peeled on issues throughout the village, and to call code immediately before the problem accelerates. That way the code officer can talk with the individual and give a warning before someone gets hurt.

“This time of year, we don’t see the issue,” Snaden said. “But the minute warm weather hits, it becomes an issue.”

And the last few weekends have shown how popular Port Jefferson is when the sun is out, and a light jacket is needed. 

Signs are posted up throughout the village, like this one seen here. Photo from Kathianne Snaden

“I want everyone to be aware if bicyclists are doing the right thing, obeying the traffic laws, we welcome them with open arms,” the trustee said. “We want to be ready to intervene before it becomes a problem — we’re not going to intervene if there is no problem.”

Along with the campaign, the village has begun using officers on bikes and has instituted a designated officer to patrol on foot throughout Main Street. Snaden said there will always be someone on duty, with no absence in shift changes. 

“I’m confident to date we have bridged that gap,” she added. “The communication is now there. We work as team to dissuade any potential issues.”

If dangerous behavior is happening within the village, readers are encouraged to call code at 631-774-0066.

The original article did not mention the chamber and business owners who are part of the task force. They have been added to the online copy.

Photo by Julianne Mosher

Dozens of community activists from across Long Island rallied outside Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s (D) office in Hauppauge this week, asking lawmakers to adopt “The People’s Plan.”

Earlier this month, police reform advocates created their own plan to hold law enforcement accountable and calling on them to be transparent within the community.  

“We’re gathering here today nearly a year after the George Floyd uprisings because our communities took to the street and said enough is enough,” said Elmer Flores with Long Island United to Transform Policing and Community Safety. “We are yearning for change. And for far too long our elected officials have not met our demands with the gravitas that it demands.”

Some of the plan includes civilian oversight of police misconduct, creating unarmed traffic enforcement and ending pretextual stops when someone is pulled over. 

“Mistrust is pervasive between the police and the communities they are supposed to represent,” he added. “And part of that is that we need to get to the root causes of why crime happens and how we can address it and prevent it from happening. But to do that, it requires leadership. It requires bold and effective action that’s going to change the way policing happens on Long Island.”

This plan is separate from the reform Bellone submitted to lawmakers last week, and these local activists demand the reforms be included in the plan due to the state April 1. 

Jackie Burbridge, co-founder of the Long Island Black Alliance, said to the crowd that for years the Suffolk County Police Department has been actively turning a blind eye to crime being committed in this county in order to continue harassing people who are not white. She said the recommendations that the county task force came up with don’t go far enough in preventing or mitigating discriminatory policing. 

“The plan that was released by Suffolk County in response to Governor Cuomo’s [D] executive order falls short of the transformative changes to the way we conceive of public safety that this moment in our community members are demanding,” she said. “Black and brown communities across Long Island are overpoliced, resulting in outsized opportunities for interactions between vulnerable community members and police officers. … It’s not that people are being brutalized because cops see threats. They don’t see threats in our community, they see prey. And what we need is police reform that’s actually going to address that.”

The collective groups have spent months crafting the 12, research-backed proposals for structural reform that make up the 310-page “The People’s Plan” to address numerous structural components of transforming and reimagining policing and public safety on Long Island.

Suffolk’s police reform proposal directs the county’s Human Rights Commission to review complaints of police misconduct. 

However, the police department would still have the power to investigate and discipline police misconduct. Activists say they are asking for lawmakers to consider other measures, like mental health counselors for certain situations, and create a community council to review and hold police accountable for misconduct.

Members from local groups headed to Hauppauge, too, including Myrna Gordon of the North Country Peace Group, to show their support and signs.

“How can we not be here?” she asked. “It’s what we need to do to keep fighting for peace and justice. We need to see that Steve Bellone is on board with ‘The People’s Plan,’ and every peace and justice group in Suffolk County and the Three Village area needs to be on board.”

Peggy Fort, a member of the United For Justice in Policing Long Island and Building Bridges in Brookhaven groups, said ‘The People’s Plan’ addresses not just the community, but could benefit police officers, acknowledging the stresses police officers face. 

“We’re not trying in ‘The People’s Plan’ to micromanage the police department,” she said. “What we’re trying to do is really address the problems and the racial bias that exists.”