If your daughter or son is about to graduate from high school in a few months, congratulations.
You will undoubtedly reflect on the many wonderful things, and maybe some that were not so magnificent, along the way, as he or she grew up, embraced you, emulated the way you talked, walked or ordered dinner at a restaurant, pushed you away, decided your existence was embarrassing, your breath was intolerable and your voice was like nails on a chalkboard, until he or she rediscovered some of your finer, or at least more tolerable, qualities.
Yes, the relationship between parents and children can and often does move closer and further away. If we’re lucky, the invisible rubber band only stretches so far before parent, child or both close the distance.
Some time this summer, those spectacular people who made you so proud will likely push you away again.
This, from what we experienced and what others have told us, is completely natural and is a way for them to assert their independence and prepare you for the moment you go up to their suddenly empty room and they are no longer in it screaming at you to “Get out, leave me alone, can’t you bother someone else?”
It’s a wonderful, terrible reality when their room is as clean or messy as it was when they left it, with their trophies, ribbons, pictures or abandoned former toys waiting, as if in an animated movie, until a young family who doesn’t mind hand-me-downs revives them.
These graduates will receive advice over the next several months. A graduation speaker will likely offer them important nuggets about being true to themselves, about challenging themselves to do something safe but outside their comfort zone, and about not being afraid to fail.
And a particularly helpful graduation speaker might also urge them to clap for you and for everyone else who made this achievement possible.
The speaker will suggest that they stay in touch with you when they go away. That, as it turns out, is not as easy as it sounds, nor is it a guarantee.
Not hearing from your kids for any length of time can and often is somehow even more challenging than the time they and their friends removed their footwear after a sporting event and made the air so toxic in a confined car that we opened the window in 20 degree weather so we could breathe.
A graduation speaker, friends, and family might suggest that you establish a minimum of a once-a-week call. That is good advice and can and does establish guidelines and expectations for a child you’re sending out into a world with new challenges and, at times, unfortunate temptations.
“Sure, let’s go to a party on Tuesday night. I have a few hours to study after the party before my midterm on Wednesday at 8 am.”
Whoops, bad idea, but they’ll learn that lesson the hard way.
Amid all the other advice or rules parents might give their children before they wish them the best and try to stop picturing them as five-year-olds toddling off with their colorful backpacks into kindergarten is to make sure they stay in regular contact.
The rules we established when our children were four and we didn’t allow them to cross streets without holding our hands might change when they go to college, but we still have an opportunity to create new ones for our children.
No one suggested we encourage our children or our nephews to call us when they were walking to class. And yet, in those moments when they called to catch up, hearing their voices on the way to school, with the sound of birds chirping in the background, gave us an opportunity to connect.
Not only that, those calls helped narrow the geographic distance between our nieces, nephews and children and us while also allowing the rubber band to slacken, bringing us closer to these people we love unconditionally who will, hopefully, one day bring whatever family can attend together to celebrate another graduation.
Northwell Family Health Center at Huntington. Photos courtesy Northwell Healt
Northwell Family Health Center at Huntington. Photos courtesy Northwell Healt
Northwell Family Health Center at Huntington. Photos courtesy Northwell Healt
Northwell Family Health Center at Huntington. Photos courtesy Northwell Healt
Northwell Family Health Center at Huntington. Photos courtesy Northwell Healt
Northwell Family Health Center at Huntington. Photos courtesy Northwell Healt
By Daniel Dunaief
Different name, different location, same mission.
On Monday, April 8, Northwell Health opened its family health center at 1572 New York Avenue in Huntington Station. The center will replace the Dolan Family Health Center in Greenlawn.
The new center, which occupies a space formerly held by Capital One Bank, will provide primary care, as well as multi-specialty care for women.
Easily accessible by bus lines, the center is “in the heart of the community we serve” with the majority of the expected 30,000 patient visits each year coming from Huntington Station, said Lee Raifrman, Assistant Vice President of Operations for Huntington Hospital and the Northwell Family Center Health Center. Instead of having patients travel to the center, “we’re moving to them.”
The center anticipates around 30,000 visits per year.
“The new location, nestled in the heart of the neighborhood it serves and conveniently close to bus lines, ensures that our care remains accessible to all,” Stephen Bello, regional executive director of Northwell’s Eastern region, said in a statement.
The almost 18,000 square-foot building will provide pediatric care, adult/ family medicine, OB/GYN, ophthalmology, podiatry, gastroenterology, orthopedics and infectious disease care specific to HIV.
The center’s prenatal care assistance program, which offers expanded Medicaid coverage for pregnant women and children under the age of 19, will continue to operate. The center also provides outreach through its Women, Infants and Children program, a supplemental nutriton offering that features nutritious foods for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants and children through the age of five.
The center also features a Nutrition Pathways Program, which is a collaboration dating to 2020 with Island Harvest that offers personalized nutrition counseling sessions with a registered dietician, access to nutritious foods from the on-site healthy food pantry, referrals to community resources and assistance with SNAP enrollment.
Through Nutrition Pathways, the center screens patients for social determinants of health.
“One of the areas we found that’s becoming more prevalent, unfortunately,” said Raifman. The center directs patients who are food insecure to a registered dietician, who can not only help balance food intake, but who can also manage the financial aspect of finding food.
“Better eating equals improved outcomes,” said Raifman.
Staff at the center reflects the diversity of the patient population.
About 19 percent of the patients are self pay, while a small percentage are on medicare. The center accepts many insurance plans, including all types of medicaid.
Staff at the Family Health Center will reflect a staff that reflects the patient population.
“Our mission is clear: to elevate the health of the communities we serve,” Nick Fitterman, Executive Director of Huntington Hospital said in a statement. “From our homeless to immigrant patients, we open our doors to all, offering care that’s not just accessible but compassionate.”
The hours for the center will be the same as they were in the previous location, opening 8:30 am to 5 pm on Monday and Wednesday and 8 am to 8 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Northwell executives would like to build similar healthcare facilities in other places within its geographic range.
The health care provider “anticipates replicating this model throughout the system in other under-served communities,” said Raifman.
“Don’t fall” is a good motto for people of a certain age. Bad results can happen from a fall, starting with broken wrists and arms, wrenched muscles and tendons, and the oft killer, broken hips. I know that. We all know that. I chuckle, sometimes, at the memories of the many times I have fallen off horses and face-planted on skis. It meant nothing when I was in my teens and 20s. It’s meaningful for me now.
So, yes, just recently I fell.
It happened by accident. It’s always an accident, I guess. No one ever falls on purpose. But this time, it seemed like such a benign situation.
I was visiting a dear friend in South Carolina and staying in her spare bedroom. I had been there several days, and together we were going to leave for a short road trip. We were packed, the car was loaded, and I just went back inside for one last look to check that I had taken everything.
Nothing left in the bathroom, good, but as I started toward the bed, I thought I should toss the bedspread over the sheets. So I did that with my right arm, then as I turned left to leave, my shoes got caught in the skirt that hangs over and hides the mattress. This skirt was somewhat long, the edges draped on the floor, and theytripped me as I tried to step away from the bed.
Down I went.
No doubt you have experienced that accidents seem to replay themselves in slow motion. As I twisted and fell, there was enough time for me to voice an unrepeatable expletive but nothing to catch hold of.
It’s almost eight weeks now, and the various parts of the left side of my body, especially my ribs, have almost healed. But with all this spring air encouraging us to greater animation, I thought I should issue the standard warning: don’t fall.
There are many places to be extra cautious about falling. First and most commonly treacherous is the home, especially the bathroom. Every surface in there is unforgiving. Put grab bars in the showers. Whatever the cost, it’s much less than a visit to the emergency room. Make sure those cute little bathroom rugs are skid proof or they may take you for an unwelcome ride. Think about walking slowly on the tile floor, which can be wet from an enthusiastic bath. Ditto for the kitchen floor.
Stairs can be dangerous. I have a rule that I never walk down—or up —steps without holding the banister. That is true even for two or three steps.
Have a light on, however dim, when you get out of bed in the night. You may have cleared the path to the bathroom beforehand, but you never know what may have occurred since then, like a pet nestled along the way.
Don’t walk along with a bundle in your arms that blocks your view of the floor. There may be an obstacle in your way. If you bend over for any length of time, as when you are drying your feet, or are working in the garden, straighten up slowly and give yourself an extra second to regain your balance.
Speaking of outdoors, there are plenty of possibilities for falls there, too. A friend twisted and broke her ankle by just stepping off a curb carelessly and falling. Uneven pavement can be nefarious and cause you to trip. This is also true where two different types of terrain meet, as in grass and cement. And public bathrooms can have wet floors that are not always flagged. Office buildings, too.
For me, the worst danger comes when I am in a hurry. So the answer is to give ourselves enough time to do what we need to do. It’s okay to get somewhere we have to be a little early, but if we are pressed for time and rushing, we are courting disaster.
By the way, these cautions can also apply to those of a younger age.
Island Federal Credit Union (Island Federal) will award $50,000 in college scholarships to graduating seniors in June 2024. Long Island high school seniors who plan to continue their education at a university, college, community college or recognized vocational school are invited to apply.
The Island Federal Scholarship Program provides scholarships to 11 local high school seniors with 3 recipients receiving $10,000 and 8 receiving $2,500, all selected by random drawing among qualified applicants. There are no essays or transcripts required to enter.
For complete requirements and applications, go to islandfcu.com/scholarship or visit any Island branch. Applications are due no later than Friday, April 19.
“Island Federal’s mission is to enable Long Islanders to achieve their dreams for themselves and their families; that includes helping them afford a college education. Since the launch of the Island Federal Scholarship Program in 1992, Island has given out $855,000 in scholarships to a total of 363 recipients,” said Craig Booth, Interim President/CEO, Island Federal, who continues, “I look forward to presenting the scholarships to the 2024 recipients this spring.”
About Island Federal Credit Union
Island Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Hauppauge, N.Y., is a not-for-profit, full-service financial institution, providing affordable banking products and services to Long Islanders. Founded in 1955, Island has grown to be among the top performing credit unions in New York State with $1.4 billion in assets, serving over 50,000 Members.
Becker’s Healthcare has named Stony Brook Medicine to its 2024 list of 150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare. The list highlights hospitals, health systems and healthcare companies that prioritize workplace excellence and the happiness, satisfaction, well-being and fulfillment of their employees.
“Being recognized by Becker’s Healthcare as one of the Top Places to Work in Healthcare is a testament to our dedicated team. It’s a reflection of our commitment to create a culture where every member of Stony Brook Medicine feels valued, supported and empowered to thrive,” said William A. Wertheim, MD, MBA, Interim Executive Vice President for Stony Brook Medicine. “This achievement reaffirms our ongoing efforts to create an environment where everyone feels a connection to the important work that they do and the organization.”
The organizations that make up Becker’s Top Places to Work in Healthcare offer robust benefits packages, professional and personal development opportunities, diverse work environments and the resources necessary for work-life balance. To learn more and view the list, visit this link.
This recognition is the latest distinction the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system has received in 2024. For the second year in a row, Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH)achieved the highest level of national recognition as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals from Healthgrades. SBUH was also ranked number 19 on Money magazine’s prestigious “Best Hospitals of 2024” list. This recognition gave SBUH an “A” ranking for General Practice and underscores Stony Brook’s unwavering commitment to providing the highest level of care to every Long Island resident.
The event will feature a car show. Photo from WMHO
The Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s Spring Appreciation Day returns to the Stony Brook Village Center, 111 Main Street, Stony Brook on April 20 with live music, a car show, a petting zoo, the fire department will be on site, and a scavenger hunt with prizes from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. Throughout Stony Brook Village there will be something for everyone:
The day includes
Stony Brook Grist Mill. Image from WMHO
History: The Stony Brook Grist Mill (c. 1751) will be open for tours ($10 for adults, $5 for children, cash only) from noon to 4 p.m. and shopping in the Country Store. The history of the Grist Mill tour showcases highlights from WMHO’s brandnew program. It interprets the mill as both a place of mechanical ingenuity as well as a site of historic social networking from the early colonial period through the mid-20th century. A live Gypsy Romani music performance will take place from 1:30 p.m. till 3:30 p.m. in honor of the 19th century Miller, Alois Kopriva.
Technology: The Mustang and Shelby Club of Long Island car show will take place between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and will be located in the parking lot behind the Post Office. They will display over 65 cars with classic Mustangs and the latest cars that Ford has to offer. Automobiles from 1964 – 2023 will be on display, including some special edition Mustangs like the classic Shelby GT500, GT350 and the iconic Boss 302.
Nature: Steppin’ Out Petting Zoo will be set up in the Inner Court with a variety of animals for children to pet from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
The event will feature live music by Brenda and Burke. Photo from WMHO
Music: Brenda and Burke will be performing original and cover songs in the genres of R&B, Roots, Blues and Contemporary Acoustic in the inner court by the waterfall from 1:30 p.m. till 3:30 p.m.
And Discovery: The Ward Melville Heritage Organization (WMHO)’s Youth Corps will be offering a scavenger hunt around Stony Brook Village from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Each person who returns a completed scavenger hunt will be entered into a raffle to win Discovery Wetlands Cruise tickets.
Lastly, the Stony Brook Fire Department will be sharing how you can join as a volunteer, and they will have a vintage firetruck on display during the event.
Spring Appreciation Day is sponsored by News 12, Long Island Speech, First National Bank of Long Island, RJG Consulting Group, and NYLife Insurance Company Agent, Ryan D. DeCicco.
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The Ward Melville Heritage Organization is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation founded in 1939 by businessman and philanthropist Ward Melville. Inspired by his legacy to preserve historic and environmentally sensitive properties, the WMHO continues to protect and interpret these Long Island treasures. The organization creates interdisciplinary educational and cultural experiences that integrate history, art, theater, music, science, and technology for all ages. The organization owns and manages properties deeded to it by Ward Melville, including the Brewster House (c. 1665), the Thompson House (c. 1705), the Stony Brook Grist Mill (c. 1751), which are listed on the state and national register for historic places, the Dr. Erwin Ernst Marine Conservation Center, the pristine 88-acre wetlands preserve at West Meadow, the 11-acre T. Bayles Minuse Mill Pond and adjacent park, two-acre Upper Pond, and the two-acre Jennie Melville Village Green. To learn more about the WMHO, visit www.wmho.org or call (631)-751-2244.
PSEG Long Island and Suffolk County join forces for the popular Energy-Saving Trees giveaway
In honor of Earth Day 2024, PSEG Long Island and Suffolk County, in partnership with the PSEG Foundation and the Arbor Day Foundation, will provide more than 250 customers in Suffolk County with a free tree through the Energy-Saving Trees program. The program showcases how planting the right trees in the right location can reduce utility bills and promote ongoing system reliability.
“Earth Day is a chance for all of us to stand up and do our part to help build a greener, more equitable future,” said David Lyons, PSEG Long Island’s interim president and COO. “Strategically planting trees helps save up to 20% on summer energy bills once the trees are fully grown, while also improving air quality and reducing storm water runoff for all residents across Long Island and the Rockaways.”
The free energy-saving trees can be reserved at www.arborday.org/pseglongisland starting Monday, April 15, until all trees are claimed. The reserved trees will then be available for pick-up on Friday, April 19, at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge, from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. All reserved trees will be held until noon, when they will become available on a first come, first served basis.
“We continue to identify and find every opportunity to make Suffolk County environmentally sustainable, and planting just one tree can make a difference,” said Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine. “We encourage all of our residents to take part in the PSEG Long Island Energy Saving Trees program and work collaboratively to embrace clean energy and improve our region’s air quality. Together we will continue to raise awareness and make a difference.”
“Trees add beauty to neighborhoods, help reduce energy consumption, filter pollutants that improve the overall health and wellbeing of our communities, provide places of respite, along with many other benefits. Of course, we also always recommend planting the right type of tree in the right place,” said Calvin Ledford, president of the PSEG Foundation. “The PSEG Foundation is proud to support the Energy-Saving Trees program, which will help provide more than 200 trees for Suffolk County residents. We are excited that our employees have this and many opportunities to provide energy efficiency information and help create a more sustainable ecosystem across Long Island and the Rockaways.”
The Energy-Saving Trees online tool helps customers estimate the annual energy savings that will result from planting trees in the most strategic location near their homes or businesses. All customers that participate will receive one tree and are expected to care for and plant them in the location provided by the online tool, taking into account utility wires and obstructions. The types of trees offered include the following: gray birch, eastern white pine, flowering dogwood and scarlet oak.
PSEG Long Island will also be on site at the H. Lee Dennison Building on April 19 to share information about energy saving and financial assistance programs. In addition, they will distribute reusable shopping bags and free LED lightbulbs to save customers money and energy, and to support the environment. Information, shopping bags and lightbulbs are available to all customers. The Energy-Saving Trees must be reserved ahead of time.
PSEG Long Island will host a similar event in Nassau County on Friday, April 26, and will participate in an Earth Day event in the Rockaways on Saturday, May 4.
PSEG Long Island is committed to giving back to the people and communities it serves by actively supporting hundreds of local charity events each year through the company’s Community Partnership Program. For more information on how PSEG Long Island supports the communities it serves, visit https://www.psegliny.com/inthecommunity/communitypartnership.
Port Jeff Branch LIRR riders still waiting for basic amenities at Grand Central Madison
It has been 14 months since the Long Island Rail Road began full-time East Side Access service to the $11.6 billion Grand Central Madison terminal in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan, with the prospect of benefits for Port Jefferson Branch riders. So it is disappointing that MTA Chairman Janno Lieber just announced the release of a request for proposals for a master developer to manage and operate all 32 vacant storefronts at GCM. Responses are due by June with a contract award in summer 2024. MTA anticipates that all 32 storefronts should be open for business by 2026.
In the meantime, only one storefront will be occupied later this year. This is a sad commentary on MTA Chairman Janno Lieber, MTA Office of Capital Construction and MTA Real Estate in management of the LIRR ESA GCM project. The original completion date was 2011. Full-time service began in February 2023. MTA Real Estate had years to find tenants for the vacant storefronts. They should have completed the process to hire a master developer to manage the storefronts years ago. This would have given the master developer plenty of time to find tenants for the vacant storefronts and give tenants adequate time to coordinate the opening of their stores.
Waiting three years until 2026 before all 32 storefronts are open for business is a failure. Given the physical layout, it is also not credible to believe that you can replicate the Metro-North Grand Central Madison Dining Concourse. There is no central location for significant seating. MTA clearly dropped the ball for planning retail openings. It also represents a loss of three years’ worth of tenant revenue. Riders will continue looking at the artwork covering up the vacant storefronts. Commuters and taxpayers have to also ask when will the other vacant storefronts at NYC Transit, Long Island and Metro-North Railroad stations be leased. Why was MTA Real Estate unable to lease all vacant assets in a timely manner? It would have generated badly-needed revenue and provided riders with the basic amenities they are still looking for.
Nicole Jellen with her nursing mentor, Lani Blanco. Photo courtesy Jeanne Neville
Nicole Jellen, a StonyBrook University School of Nursing student, has been named a 2024 recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence (CASE). This award is the highest honor that can bestowed upon a student by the University. A student leader, peer educator, and active volunteer, Jellen will receive this honor at a ceremony in Albany on April 11. This May she will graduate with a Bachelor of Science Degree from the School of Nursing.
According to the SUNY Chancellor’s office, the award “honors SUNY students who have successfully integrated SUNY excellence into many different aspects of their lives, including academics, leadership, campus involvement, community service, or creative and performing arts.” The award also celebrates students’ abilities to lead, give back, and be role models for fellow students.
Growing up in Port Jefferson Station, Jellen was intrigued by nursing as a young girl as she saw her mother, Jessica Jellen, work as a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse and make a huge difference in the lives of babies, and their families. Jellen decided early on to pursue nursing as a career.
She was nominated for the CASE award by four leading Nursing faculty. Jellen has flourished as a nursing student at StonyBrook in all areas of academics and service.
Jellen maintained academic excellence all four years and achieved a 3.94 GPA. She was elected President of the Pre-Nursing Society in 2023, where she served as a mentor and teacher to students. She is also a pathophysiology and pharmacology tutor to fellow students.
Additionally, Jellen is a certified nursing assistant, March of Dimes volunteer, a volunteer educator about domestic violence, and a member of and part of the social media committee for Sigma Kappa Gamma, an academic honor society in Nursing.
Jellen is setting the bar high for her future too. She aspires to be an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse after graduation, specifically in the Cardiothoracic ICU, and hopes to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.
“My mother inspired me to take on the path of nursing, and as a nurse I hope to make my patients’ darkest days a little brighter,” says Jellen. “The StonyBrook School of Nursingexperience has transformed me in the best way possible. The faculty, my classmates, and coworkers continue to remind me just how fulfilling nursing as a field truly is.”
Professor Lani Blanco, MA, RN, Jellen’s School of Nursing mentor, and one of the faculty who nominated her, describes Jellen as a student who has not only stood out in her academics and passion for nursing but also for her outstanding community service and compassion – all great qualities for a future nurse.
“Her achievements have made such a lasting impact to aspiring and current nursing students, the School of Nursing, the University, and to the communities we serve,” says Blanco. “The world needs nurses now more than ever, and I look forward to the wonderful and significant impact she will make in the field of nursing.”
Further destruction of terracing and plantings on the East Beach bluff after recent rainstorms. Photo by Lynn Hallarman
Recent setbacks in East Beach bluff stabilization project have officials and residents on edge
By Lynn Hallarman
East Beach is a village-owned strip of sandy shoreline situated between the northern front of the Long Island Sound and the base — or toe — of a steeply set bluff, roughly 100 feet high.
A jetty opens into Mount Sinai Harbor eastward of the bluff. To the west, the shore stretches past a series of private properties, then past the village of Belle Terre, and finally curves inward, reconfiguring as Port Jefferson Harbor.
For decades, the village-owned Port Jefferson Country Club, perched near the crest of the bluff, was invisible to beachgoers below, shielded by a thick tangle of greenery clinging to the bluff’s north front.
But in recent years, a series of intense rainstorms, combined with sea rise and pressures from human-made alterations in the landscape above the bluff, have set in motion deforestation and scouring, denuding the bluff of vegetation and accelerating erosion in the direction of the country club’s foundation. The club has become precariously close to the bluff’s edge. Without a plan, there was no doubt it would slide down the bluff onto the shoreline below within a few years.
To make matters worse, the bluff stabilization project, whose aim is to stabilize the position of the club, has been beset with complications in the wake of a series of recent storms unraveling costly work completed just last summer as part of Phase I of the project.
As communities across Long Island are confronting relentless coastal erosion, TBR News Media focuses on the obstacles facing the bluff stabilization project at East Beach, exploring the complexities, costs and alternative solutions to rescuing the country club.
The big picture
Bluffs change naturally over time, feeding sand to the beach and replenishing the shoreline. They respond to the force of winds, waves and tides, creating new states of equilibrium with the beach below and the landscapes above. The Long Island shoreline has been reshaping for thousands of years, sometimes imperceptibly and sometimes in dramatic fits of landslip — that is, chunks of shoreline abruptly falling into the sea.
East Beach and its bluff are inseparable from the adjacent coastline — they move as the coastline moves. When humans make changes in the shorelines by adding bulkheads, jetties and other rigid structures, the effects resonate laterally, affecting the movement of sand and ocean from beach to beach along the shoreline.
“Port Jefferson’s experience with bluff restoration is a microcosm of what has been happening all over Long Island,” said Chuck Hamilton, a marine biologist and former regional natural resource supervisor for the state Department of Environmental Conservation for some 33 years.
“For a long time, farmers on Long Island had their farms right on top of the bluff, and shoreline erosion happened naturally,” he said. But now those same areas are being subdivided and developed, adding weight and impermeable surfaces abutting the shoreline. “And guess what? Now we need to stabilize.”
For decades, Port Jefferson Country Club was invisible to the beachgoers, shielded by a thick tangle of greenery clinging to the bluff. Undated photo courtesy Port Jeff historian Chris Ryon
The project
When Port Jefferson’s mayor, Lauren Sheprow, took office in July 2023, the bluff stabilization project was already in motion. Sheprow, a former public relations professional, had campaigned on a platform of two core values: financial transparency and safeguarding of village assets. However, the realities of rescuing the country club — purchased in 1978 when her father, Harold Sheprow, was village mayor — while keeping project costs under control have proven to be complex and demanding.
Most of Phase I of the project happened before the current mayor took office. This work included the installation of a 454-foot rigid wall at the base, terracing and native grass plantings on the bluff face. With Phase II now under her purview, Sheprow believes it is her responsibility to see the project to completion: the installation of a wall system along the bluff’s crest, directly seaward of the imperiled country club.
“I swore to protect and preserve the property owned by the Village of Port Jefferson, and therefore the residents. Preserving and protecting is not ignoring an erosion issue,” the mayor said.
Phase I, costing approximately $5 million, relied on local taxpayer dollars financed through a bond repayable over time. Phase II, estimated at $4.8 million, will be financed mostly by federal taxpayer dollars by a FEMA grant of $3.75 million.
Financing the endeavor has been rife with holdups and stymied by a six-year-long permitting process. It has been almost a year since Phase I was completed. Final signoffs related to the FEMA funding for Phase II are still pending, preventing the village from seeking bids for construction of the upper wall. However, the village treasurer, Stephen Gaffga, said he hopes to see the signoffs come through this month.
By many accounts, questions about the project’s funding have rankled residents for years. The prevailing sentiment is that the village pushed through a $10 million bond for the stabilization project (phases I and II combined) without a community vote through a bond resolution.
“When I am asked about my position about the bluff restoration, I never saw the arguments on all sides of the project flushed out,” said Ana Hozyainova, president of Port Jefferson Civic Association. “Village officials took the position from the beginning that the building must be saved, no matter what. That imperative has limited the discussions about options.”
Complications
The uncertainty surrounding the cost and timing of needed repairs because of winter storm damage to the bluff faces further complications in Phase II. “Negotiations are ongoing” between the village and the contractor about who is responsible for absorbing these additional expenses, Gaffga said.
Drainage issues at the bluff’s crest are also hampering progress, and likely contributed to the recent collapse of the newly-installed terracing along the western part of the bluff, below the tennis courts. “There are huge puddles sitting at the crest, after heavy [recent] rainstorms,” Sheprow said. The strategy and cost related to addressing the drainage issues have not yet been determined, she added.
Although the project was divided into two phases because of funding constraints, “its ultimate success,” according to Laura Schwanof, senior ecologist at GEI Consultants of Huntington Station, “hinges on both walls working together to curtail erosion and prevent the club slipping down the slope.”
GEI has been involved with village erosion mitigation projects since 2009. The two-wall system for the bluff stabilization was their design. “The problem with this project is protection number two — the upper wall — has not been installed,” Schwanof said. When asked how long the wall system might hold up, she couldn’t say.
“What does happen, and has been seen across the Northeast, is that as we get more frequent storms, higher wave energy, higher rainfall events, rigid wall structures may work in the short term. But if you look 50 years down the road, they may not be as effective,” she said.
“Hard erosion protection structures such as revetments or bulkheads can be costly, only partially effective over time and may even deflect wave energy onto adjacent properties.” Jeff Wernick, a DEC representative, wrote in an email.The DEC, he said, permitted the East Beach project based solely on “the immediate threat to significant infrastructure.”
Completion of Phase I in spring 2023, before winter storms unravel work on the bluff face. Photo from the PJ Village website
Retreat?
When Steve Englebright, 5th District county legislator (D-Setauket) and geologist, was asked about the stabilization project, he started with a lesson about glacial formations dating back 17,000 years. Englebright scrutinized photographs of the bluff during an interview with TBR News conducted after the recent storms.
“When the bluff, which is partially made of clay, is overweighted it behaves like squeezed toothpaste,” he said. “You can see toothpaste-like extrusions on the beach.”
Missing from the conversation, according to Englebright, is a reckoning of what is happening along the entire Long Island coast. “People don’t understand the overall dynamics,” he said. “That’s why I’m trying to give you the big picture — that the entire North Shore is unstable.”
“Trying to defend a single property is human folly,” he added. “You can buy some time, but how much are we paying? I don’t believe it’s realistic because you can’t stop the overall dynamic. The village should celebrate the fact that they have the ability to retreat and use that ability. Right? The bind is if you don’t have land, but they have the land. Strategically retreat, rebuild the building.”
Stan Loucks, a village trustee and a former country club liaison, was asked to put together a retreat plan by former Mayor Margot Garant — confirmed by her to TBR News. “I did a plan A — proceed with the restoration project — or plan B, retreat —about three years ago,” Loucks said. “I got prices for the demolition of the country club, moving the tennis courts and an architectural rendering of a new club further inland.”
“The drawings had a huge deck on this side overlooking the Sound, and the huge deck on this side overlooking the golf course. I would have loved to take that plan to the end,” he added.
Loucks’s retreat plan was never vetted publicly. Sheprow told TBR she never saw a retreat plan.
Loucks remembers when tennis court No. 5 went in a landslide a few years ago. “It was massive and happened overnight,” he said. “And the slide took the gazebo, too.”
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