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Kingsmen have won all six matchups, 3-0, this season

Carly Esterson opened the first set on a service tare, scoring 10 straight points. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

When you think of girls’ volleyball, you think Kings Park.

The Kingsmen have been a powerhouse for years, and despite losing strong seniors each year, the team continues its winning ways. In the still early season, Kings Park has managed to sweep all five of its opponents leading up to the Sept. 19 matchup against Comsewogue, which was no different.

The Kingsmen invaded Warrior territory, and although Comsewogue came close in the second set, the five-time Long Island champions prevailed, defeating their opponent 25-7, 25-17, 25-6.

Kings Park head coach Ed Manly was happy with the result the team put up despite its much different roster.

“We had a little bit of a different [mix] out there today, so that was an adjustment for our girls,” Manly said. “If you haven’t seen us play before, you wouldn’t know we’ve had a serious adjustment to our lineup.”

Sophomore Carly Esterson set the tone early with an unbroken service rally that put Kings Park out front 11-1. It was the setter’s first varsity start, but you wouldn’t know it, as she settled in scoring point after point.

Kings Park's Lauren Kloos tallies a kill. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park’s Lauren Kloos tallies a kill. Photo by Bill Landon

“I don’t really play much, but we were together mentally on the floor,” Esterson said. “We had good communication.”

Comsewogue struggled at the net — having a hard time finding a rhythm — as Kings Park demonstrated why they’ve gone to the New York State quarterfinals four out of the last five years.

Momentum shifted in the next, as Comsewogue closed within three points midway through the second set, trailing 17-14. It would be as close as the team would come though, as Kings Park slammed the door, taking the set 25-17.

Manly pushed deep into his roster throughout the game, and each player on the team saw action.

“Everyone from the first kid on the floor to the last kid on the bench got after it tonight,” he said. “They played hard, they were loud and vocal, so there’s a real sense of family on the court. They feed off of that.”

The Kingsmen turned up the heat in the third set, jumping out to a 13-3 advantage, forcing Comsewogue to call a time out. Looking for the first win of the season, Comsewogue head coach Kevin Parker did not doubt Kings Parks’ power.

Comsewogue's Georgia Alexiou battles at the net. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue’s Georgia Alexiou battles at the net. Photo by Bill Landon

“We knew Kings Park was going to be good — we know their reputation,” Parker said. “But our girls have been putting in a lot of work this year. We’re building, and the hope is to turn this program around.”

Senior outside hitter Lauren Kloos said her teams’ preparation was no different from any other game, and Kings Park put the matter to bed, and dominated the final set, claiming a 25-6 set to sweep the match.

“We faced Comsewogue like we prepare for any [team],” she said. “We put in our practice and we get ready. Our sophomore setter [Carly Esterson] — the way she stepped up — she completely killed it, so to be able to communicate and adapt to a new setter on the court, we did it really well. I don’t think we could’ve done it any better.”

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From left to right, school board trustees Dan Tew and Kevin Johnston, Superintendent Timothy Eagen, board vice president Diane Nally, school board trustee Joe Bianco, and transportation supervisor Steve Lee smile with one of the new buses. Photo from Timothy Eagen

Kings Park Central School District is continuing its commitment to the environment by introducing more propane buses to the school’s fleet.

Last year, the district joined a handful of Long Island school districts in going green for transportation in the form of propane-fueled school buses.

Thanks to the support of the community, Kings Park expanded its fleet of propane buses from four to eight for the start of the new school year.

Supervisor Timothy Eagen said the additional buses will help the district cut costs and contribute positively to the environment.

“For the second year in a row, the community overwhelmingly supported the purchase,” he said in a statement. “This choice is yet another way that the school district is looking to save taxpayers money. The transition to propane has gone very well for us, and I look forward to continuing this initiative.”

The purchase of the buses was a separate voting proposition in this past May’s budget vote.

The old diesel buses, originally purchased 15 to 20 years ago, were traded in for $2,500 each. The district owns a fleet of about 60 buses, and it is necessary to purchase buses on an annual basis to maintain the fleet.

Propane is seen as a positive alternative fuel for school buses because it is widely available and costs significantly less than diesel or gasoline. The newest propane engine technology is considerably more cost efficient, quieter, requires less maintenance and is more ecofriendly than either diesel or gas.

In cold weather, diesel engines need to idol for 30 minutes or longer to achieve the proper engine temperature prior to operation. This means wasting gas and paying workers overtime to warm up the bus fleet on cold days. This is not necessary with propane engines.

Moving forward, the administration said it intends to continue to slowly replace its fleet with propane buses.

Eagen said the district will always need a few diesel buses however, for longer sports and extracurricular trips.

“Propane is a fuel that is currently not readily available at gas stations,” he said.

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“Just looking at her calendar would make your head spin,” Jennifer Paley Ambro said of her late mother, Suzanne Paley.

Paley died on July 18, at the age of 86, after a year-long battle with cancer. She was married to The Smithtown News publisher Bernard Paley for 65 years and was very active within the Smithtown community.

Sue-Paley-2w
Suzanne Paley was a resident of Smithtown for more than 20 years. Photo from Jennifer Paley Ambro.

According to Dave Ambro, son-in-law to Paley and editor of the Smithtown News and The Observer, she was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx by parents Annette and Giuseppe Piazza, both immigrants from Italy, along with her late brother and sister, Frank and Josephine.

Paley was the first member of her family to receive a college diploma, graduating cum laude from Brooklyn College in 1950, where she met her husband. She then worked as a teacher in New York City public schools for five years.

“She could never have imagined the life she would live,” Ambro said of her mother. “She grew up in a tenement sharing a bed with her brother and sister, and sharing a hall bathroom with her neighbors. She was so grateful for her life, which she truly cherished.”

The couple married in 1951 and moved to Kings Park where she taught elementary school at the district for five years. Paley left the school to raise her two daughters, Jennifer and Elizabeth, then settled with her family in Smithtown. Later she worked as a teacher at Western Suffolk BOCES before retiring in 1985 and helping out at The Smithtown News as a proofreader and doing rewrite work.

“She and my father moved out to the suburbs with virtually nothing but my mom’s teaching job and together built a life filled with world travel, including month-long trips to Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Portugal, Ireland and through the United States,” Ambro said.

Paley’s daughter Elizabeth echoed the same sentiments about her mother’s zest for life.

“My mom lived such a meaningful and passionate life,” she said. “Whether it was having us all up to Vermont to go skiing, dragging us all out to Montauk to go camping or inscribing a special book for every birthday, her greatest joy was spending time with her family.”

Ambro said her mother loved spending her winters in Vermont, where she skied daily well into her 80s, and her summers on Fire Island and the Berkshires, where she loved to go to the Tanglewood Music Festival.

“She never turned away from what she believed or the people whom she loved and respected.”

—Bernard Paley

Paley enjoyed many passions including bridge, and was an active member of the Smithtown Bridge Studio.

She enjoyed the theater and museums — she was a season ticket holder at the Metropolitan Museum of Art — though she also supported smaller theater companies throughout Manhattan. Paley was a past president of the League of Women Voters of Smithtown.

Paley’s husband said she loved running into old students and parents around town.

“She never turned away from what she believed or the people whom she loved and respected,” her husband said. “She still had friends she kept in touch with from the second grade.”

Donations in memory of Paley can be made to the New York Philharmonic Education Fund, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023; or to the Smithtown Historical Society, 239 E. Main St., Smithtown, NY 11787. Arrangements were entrusted to the care of Branch Funeral Home of Smithtown and the Vigliante family.

Quotes and information with permission of The Smithtown News.

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Photo by Alex Petroski Tom Suozzi speaks to voters. Photo by Alex Petroski.

Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) is one of five candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in the 3rd Congressional District to win the right to face off against Republican Jack Martins (R-Mineola) in November.

The seat was previously held by U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), who announced in January he would not seek re-election after 15 years in the seat. Suozzi will square off with Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern (D-Dix Hills), former North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman (D-Great Neck), North Hempstead Town Board member Anna Kaplan and attorney Jonathan Clarke in the June 28 primary.

Suozzi served as Nassau County Executive from 2002 to 2009 and mayor of Glen Cove from 1994 to 2001, but has been out of politics for about six years. He is a certified public accountant and is currently of counsel to Harris Beach law firm in Uniondale. He lives in Glen Cove with his wife Helene and their three children. In his time in office, Suozzi said he fought to root out corruption in state politics and was named environmentalist of the year by the New York League of Conservation Voters, a statewide environmental organization.

The candidate spoke to voters from Kings Park last Thursday at a town hall at American Legion Post 944. He pledged to display two important traits to voters: a willingness to take on the status quo in politics and a desire to cooperate across the partisan aisle.

“If there’s one thing I’m convinced of, it’s that everyone is sick and tired of politics,” Suozzi said. “People have just had it with government. They’re frustrated. They see too many problems in their lives that are not being addressed in the political arena.”

“If there’s one thing I’m convinced of, it’s that everyone is sick and tired of politics.”
— Tom Suozzi

He vowed to take on corporations and special interests that have a stake in government policies remaining status quo.

A main topic of conversation at the town hall was affordable health care.

Suozzi said he would be in support of a voucher program that would create a hybrid health care system, allowing taxpayers to choose the best option for them, be it Medicare/Medicaid or a private insurance. In 2004 he fought to create a cap on local Medicaid expenses.

Suozzi also said he believes an ideal candidate is a moderate one that doesn’t swing too far to either side of the issues.

“To win a democratic primary you’ve got to go way to the left,” Suozzi said. “To win a republican primary you’ve got to go way to the right. So people end up in office who are at these two extremes and they won’t do anything in the middle to actually solve the problems. All they’re doing is yelling at each other. We have to figure out how we can get people of good will who actually care about doing these jobs, who also actually do something, not just get the job, but do the job, to come together and actually solve some problems.”

Care for veterans was another issue raised by a Kings Park voter at the event.

“I believe that the number one obligation that government has … is to take care of veterans,” Suozzi said. “We have to figure out how to create a program where there’s a transition from the armed forces back into society again and it has got to be made a priority.”

Suozzi was also pressed about drug addiction on Long Island.

He said he’d like to see addiction to substances like heroin treated more as a disease than a crime, with an emphasis on prevention at younger ages, rather than simply treatment after the fact.

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A satellite view of the Steck-Philbin Landfill site that the County plans to repurpose in cooperation with the Suffolk County Landbank. Image from Suffolk County Landbank Corp.

A former landfill in Kings Park has been transferred into the hands of a nearby developer with the intention of rehashing the site into a solar farm.

The site of the former Steck-Philbin Landfill on Old Northport Road in Kings Park has withstood 30 years of tax delinquency but was selected as part of an effort from the Suffolk County Landbank Corp. to be revitalized along with seven other brownfields across the county. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) signed the transfer of the property into law on June 2, allowing Landbank — a not-for-profit — to begin revisioning the parcel with developer Powercrush Inc., of Kings Park, with the goal of reusing the site for solar farming.

Powercrush Inc. did not return requests seeking comment, but Bellone heralded the deal as a turning point for blighted spots on Long Island.

“These properties have been a burden on our taxpayers and a blight on our communities,” Bellone said.  “The inactivity at these locations dragged down neighboring property values and served as magnets for criminal activity.”

The site in Kings Park is still owned by Richard and Roslyn Steck of Steck & Philbin Development Co., though penalties and interest bring the total owed in property tax on the roughly 25 acres of land to nearly $1.5 million. The property has been tax delinquent since Steck & Philbin Development Co. was found to be using the site to dispose of waste for which they did not have a permit in 1986. It is located less than a half mile east of the Sunken Meadow Parkway and about a half mile west of Indian Head Road.

The property is next to the future location of a multisport complex being developed by Prospect Sports Partners LLC. The $33 million plan for the 44-acre site was approved in July 2015.

A property is classified as a brownfield if there are complications in expansion or redevelopment based on the possible presence of pollutants or hazardous materials, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The Suffolk County Landbank was established in 2013 after its application was approved by the New York State Empire State Development Corporation. Some of the other brownfields included in the request for proposals include Hubbard Power and Light and a gas station on Brentwood Road in Bay Shore, Lawrence Junkyard in Islip and Liberty Industrial Finishing in Brentwood, among others. The group issued a competitive Request For Proposals (RFP) to the public for redevelopment of the eight specific sites and selected three developers to take title to four sites.

The four sites, on average, have been tax delinquent for 21 years and cumulatively owe over $4 million in back taxes. Once back on the tax rolls, the properties would pay a cumulative property tax of more than $175,000 per year.

The developers selected “possessed the qualifications and expertise to clean up the properties and reuse them in a way that benefits the community, stabilizes the tax base, and protects Suffolk County’s soil and groundwater,” the county said in a statement.

Amy Keys, executive director of the Landbank, said Powercrush was selected based on a number of qualifications, including design, impact and feasibility. Its partnership with BQ Energy LLC, which has worked on several solar projects across the region.

“[Smithtown] was clear they were supportive of solar happening there,” Keys said. “When reviewing solar proposals, we were looking for experience in developing solar on that scale, and a proposal that seemed feasible.”

Shawn Nuzzo, president of Ecological Engineering of Long Island, had also submitted a proposal for the site that he said had the potential to pump renewable energy into the Island’s power grid almost immediately. His proposal included a 6-megawatt solar farm as the largest landfill-to-solar project in New York State that could generate nearly 8 million kilowatt hours of solar electricity in its first year. The plan received support from various North Shore elected officials, including state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and others.

In an interview, Nuzzo said he was disappointed to learn of the county’s selection of Powercrush Inc. and accused the county of playing politics.

“This is the exact sort of ‘pay-to-play’ system that politicians like to say that they are against, but at the end of the day willingly corroborate, or at least turn a blind eye to. The seemingly endless series of Suffolk political scandals only serves to affirm that there must be a lot of blind eyes in Suffolk County politics,” Nuzzo said. “Despite the fact that the Suffolk County Legislature voted on the proposal and County Executive Bellone announced it at a press conference more than two weeks ago, the details of the proposal remain secret to the public. Our most recent [Freedom of Information Law] attempts have been thwarted by the Suffolk County Landbank. I can only speculate that the winning proposal was so inadequate and incomplete that the county is embarrassed to share it. It’s a shame, because our proposal to build Long Island’s first community-owned solar farm could have been a landmark moment for Suffolk County. Instead what we got was politics as usual.”

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Timothy Eagen, superintendent; Kameron Sedigh; Julian Ubriaco; and Lino Bracco, Kings Park High School Principal. Photo from Kings Park school district

They’re at the top of the class.

Kings Park High School officials congratulated the class of 2016 valedictorian Julian Ubriaco and salutatorian, Kameron Sedigh this week for their outstanding efforts.

Kameron Sedigh photo from Kings Park school district
Kameron Sedigh photo from Kings Park school district

Ubriaco will be graduating with a cumulative weighted average of 108.14. He serves as senior class president, Model United Nations president, and captain of the math and trivia teams, as well as vice president of National Honor Society.

Outside of the classroom, Ubriaco is captain of the boys’ tennis team and enjoys volunteering at events such as Relay for Life, the Veterans Day breakfast and the high school blood drive. Ubriaco has spent the last two summers volunteering at Cold Spring Harbor Labs, where he investigates new means of detecting and treating pancreatic cancer.

For his work in the classroom, community and laboratory, Ubriaco has been recognized as a Siemens regional finalist, Intel semifinalist, Junior Science and Humanities Symposium finalist, International Science and Engineering Fair finalist, Coca-Cola Scholar, National Merit scholar and U.S. Senate Youth Program alternate. He will attend Harvard University next year, where he plans to major in applied mathematics.

Sedigh will be graduating with a cumulative weighted average of 105.49. He serves as president of the Independent Science Research Program and Science Olympiad Club, as well as vice president of the senior class, the Quiz Bowl team, and Students Against Destructive Decisions club.

Julian Ubriaco photo from Kings Park school district
Julian Ubriaco photo from Kings Park school district

He is a three-season varsity athlete as a member of the varsity soccer, track and field, and tennis teams.

Additionally, Sedigh is heavily involved in the music department. He is the Tri-M Honor Society treasurer and plays trombone in the Symphonic Winds, and jazz and marching bands. For the past year, Sedigh has conducted research under Dr. Tonge at Stony Brook University, studying novel antibacterial targets of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.

For his work in the classroom, in the community, in the laboratory, and on the playing field, Sedigh has been recognized as a Coca-Cola scholar, Simons fellow, Siemens regional finalist, Intel STS semifinalist, Maroon and White K recipient, Long Island Young scholar of mathematics, and second place winner in biochemistry at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Sedigh will be attending Duke University as a Robertson scholar, majoring in biomedical engineering.

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A scene from this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Kings Park. Photo by Mark D’Angio

The parade may be over, but the Kings Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee has been keeping busy, working on the preparations for its 2017 Grand Marshal Ball and 2017 St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Within three weeks of the 2016 parade, one of the largest on Long Island, committee members were reviewing various phases of the 2016 parade. The first order of business was to select a grand marshal. In an unprecedented move, the McWilliams Sisters — Cathy Donnelly, Barbara Griffin and Marge Stajk — were named to lead the 2017 St. Patrick’s Parade.

This honor is believed to be unique, as three siblings were named grand marshals, the organizers said.

The McWilliams sisters were selected based on their Irish heritage, community spirit, and personal demeanor. Their parents, Edward and Margaret McWilliams, moved from County Carlow, Ireland, settling in Kings Park, where the parents opened the Park Diner in 1944. The family consisted of three sisters, Catherine, Barbara, and Margaret, and three brothers, Edward, Joseph, and Ronald.

The sisters attended St. Joseph’s School until the 8th grade, graduated from Kings Park High School, and raised their families in Kings Park. The parade committee noted that each sister donated time and efforts toward various charitable endeavors, especially as members of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division 3.

The Grand Marshal Ball will be held at Flowerfields, on Friday, November 18. The event will consist of the presentation of the “McWilliams Sisters,” Irish music and dance, raffles, and live band. The Kings Park St. Patrick’s Day parade will be held on Saturday, March 4, 2017.

The committee thanked Kevin “The Professor” Denis for his extraordinary efforts as its chairman. As one of the Parade’s founders, he excelled at raising the necessary funding for the parade, which features more than 20 bagpipe bands, fire departments, floats, and organizations. During the past six years, the Kings Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade has become one of the largest parades on Long Island. Denis will continue to aid the committee. Kevin Johnston was named the committee’s new chairman.

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The Smithtown Town Board announced last week the Kings Park Farmers Market will be returning on June 5 and running through the fall. File photo

For a sixth year, Smithtown residents will be treated to something fresh, sweet, organic, savory and local.

The Kings Park Farmers Market, which was founded in 2010, is set to open for the 2016 season very soon. The Sunday market will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. from June 5 to Nov. 20 in the municipal parking lot on the corner of Route 25A and Main Street in Kings Park across the street from the fire department. The market will offer certified organic vegetables and greens, Long Island corn, poultry, eggs, heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, squash, onions, cheese, milk, pasta, pickles, smoked pork, soaps, local fish, baked goods, gluten-free cookies, soy candles and more.

“We are excited to be back in Kings Park after a long off-season and we just enjoy reconnecting with our friends and customers who are all so loyal to the market,” Bernadette Martin, who organizes farmers markets across Long Island through her company Friends and Farmers Inc., said in an email Tuesday. Martin’s markets get the name LI Green Market.

One of the new vendors participating in the Sunday market this year that Martin is excited about is Crimson & Cove, a Nesconset-based line of organic herbs and spices. They join returning vendors Blue Duck Bakery, St. James Brewery, Salce Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegars, The Fink Family Farm and many more.

The market began years ago when Kings Park residents Ann Marie Nedell and civic association member Alyson Elish-Swartz each separately wanted a farmers market for Kings Park. Kings Park Civic Association President Sean Lehmann got Nedell and Elish-Swartz in contact with each other, and after some community crowd-sourcing they came up with logistical ideas for the market. When they met Martin, the idea turned into reality. Martin’s Friends and Farmers Inc. paired up with the Kings Park Civic Association to sponsor the market. Martin manages the market every Sunday.

“The Kings Park Civic Association is such a great partner on this project and bring wonderfully entertaining live music to the market weekly,” Martin said. “We will also be having more cooking demonstrations scheduled for this year as we launch our Know Real Food Campaign for 2016.”

The market is a popular spot for shoppers every year.

“Everyone in the community is really looking forward to another exciting year at the market,” a statement on the Kings Park Civic Association website said. “It has become the cornerstone of our town and really enhances the sense of community in our hamlet while vitalizing our downtown business area.”

For more information about the Kings Park Farmers Market visit www.ligreenmarket.org.

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Ben Resnick tags the Sachem North runner out at second base. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

The Kings Park baseball team had to sweep its remaining five games to even make the playoffs, and did, winning the five games in nine days to achieve a 10-10 record to send the Kingsmen into a postseason Class AA outbracket matchup Saturday afternoon. No. 19 Kings Park traveled to No. 14 Sachem North, and although the game remained close, at 2-0, most of the way, the Kingsmen couldn’t bring its base runners home, and fell 4-0, ending their season.

Chris Kenavan drills the ball to deep right field. Photo by Bill Landon
Chris Kenavan drills the ball to deep right field. Photo by Bill Landon

“I knew they were going to come out swinging,” Kings Park head coach Mike Luzim said of Sachem North. “And in the spot that they needed to, they came up big.”

The Flaming Arrows broke the ice in the bottom of the second inning with a deep shot to right field for a stand-up double that drove in two runs. Kings Park countered by making contact, but its opponent’s defense was able to make the plays to keep Kings Park scoreless.

After a lead-off walk by A.J. Fenton in the top of the fifth, Kings Park threatened when Ben Resnick also drew the walk to represent the tying runs on base. With two outs and two runners on, Jack Feibusch drilled one deep to left center, but Sachem North’s center fielder tracked it down in stride to retire the side.

Kings Park’s Ben Sacks took over the mound the rest of the way, but the Kingsmen’s bats went silent.

A.J. Fenton makes it back to first base safely after a pick-off attempt. Photo by Bill Landon
A.J. Fenton makes it back to first base safely after a pick-off attempt. Photo by Bill Landon

Luzim said he knew it was going to be a tough game, sighting both teams’ similar records.

“We kept them off-balance for a bit, but when we walked two and they hit that double that kind of capped it,” he said, adding that the opposing pitcher was the toughest his team had seen all year.

With runners at the corners, Sachem North smacked in another run to take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Kingsmen went three up, three down in the top of the sixth, and the Flaming Arrows scored once more in the bottom of the inning to end the scoring.

“They’re a tough team,” Kings Park senior Chris Kenavan said. “We can play better than we did. It’s not the outcome we wanted, but in the end, we made a good run.”

Jack Feibusch makes a play on a hit that dropped into center field. Photo by Bill Landon
Jack Feibusch makes a play on a hit that dropped into center field. Photo by Bill Landon

Sachem North threatened, but got greedy on a single that the team tried to stretch to a double. Kings Park’s Resnick made the tag to throw the sliding runner out at second, to end the inning.

With their backs against the wall, Kings Park took to the plate for the final time. Again, contact wasn’t the problem, but a fly ball to the center fielder followed by a long drive to right field secured the first two outs, and the game ended with an infield pop-up.

Senior pitcher Mike Tully said that he expected his team to hit better, adding that that was the difference-maker in the game. His teammates agreed.

“Our plan coming into the game was whoever made the fewest mistakes would win the game,” Kings Park senior Jake Shickler said. “They’re a tough League II team — we definitely didn’t do our job hitting-wise and we made too many mistakes.”

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Congressman Lee Zeldin, joined by Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini, health professionals, community groups, parents, expresses his support for the package of bills coming to the House floor this week. File photo from Jennifer DiSiena

By Phil Corso

Congress is taking unprecedented steps to fight heroin and opioid abuse, and U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) brought the battle to Kings Park to spread the word.

In the company of other lawmakers and activists, Zeldin spoke at VFW Post 5796 last Thursday to discuss a package of bipartisan legislation the congressman has been pushing that addresses different angles of the disturbing upward trend in heroin and prescription opioid abuse on Long Island and across the country. The momentum from his stumping also helped propel several pieces of such legislation to a vote on the House floor by the following week.

The proposed legislation would review and update guidelines for prescribing opioids and pain medication, and require a report to Congress on the availability of substance abuse treatment in the country, among other provisions.

In his remarks last week, the congressman cited an alarming statistic from the Centers for Disease Control: more than 28,000 overdose deaths were recorded in 2014 as a result of heroin or opioid abuse — the highest number on record. Zeldin, who joined the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic in November, said Suffolk County recorded one of the highest rates of overdose deaths across the state, and needed a multi-pronged approach to address it.

“Next week, the House of Representatives is dedicating a full week to passing legislation aimed at addressing this epidemic, with a package of several bills to combat the growing heroin and opioid crisis,” Zeldin said. “Addiction and overdose deaths on Long Island and across our country are skyrocketing as a direct result of the increase in heroin and opioid abuse.”

In a phone interview, Zeldin said this was the first time the House had taken such unified measures to combat the problem, as its consequences were becoming impossible to ignore. The congressman used strong language when outlining the heroin addiction problem to drive it home.

“The rates that overdoses are increasing, and the fact that it’s not isolated to any one kind of community, has led many to describe this as an epidemic,” he said.

Joining Zeldin was Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini, who has been working on the front lines of the addiction problem, as Suffolk County suffered 103 fatal heroin overdoses in 2015 alone — more than double its neighboring Nassau County, which recorded 50. Sini also used the term “epidemic” to describe the fight he and his fellow officers have been facing.

“The heroin epidemic that our nation is facing is the number one public health and public safety issue here in Suffolk County,” Sini said. “Partnerships between local law enforcement and our federal representatives is a crucial tool in the battle against this scourge.”

And North Shore natives who felt the hurt of that “epidemic” stood beside Zeldin and Sini to throw their support behind legislative resolutions. Kim Revere, president of the Kings Park in the kNOw Community Coalition, and Linda Ventura, founder of the Thomas’ Hope Foundation, both said there were several different approaches lawmakers must take to address addiction, from prevention to rehabilitation.

“I believe wholeheartedly that prevention should begin at home,” said Revere, referring to the legislation as a wakeup call. “I am seeing many adults abusing alcohol and [prescription] drugs and that does not bode well for our children. I would like to see permanent evidence-based prevention programs implemented in school grades kindergarten through 12.”

Ventura, whose son Thomas died at age 21 from a drug overdose four years ago, said measures like Narcan, a medication which is administered to help reverse the effects of a heroin overdose, were important but not the only tool emergency responders should lean on.

“The United States needs to commit every resource imaginable to fight this insidious disease. The lifesaving tool Narcan needs to be accessible to all concerned to help save a life in the interim of an overdose to find treatment,” she said. “Treatment needs to be the appropriate level of care at the earliest intervention possible. Prevention — we must start educating and empowering our youngest of children with coping skills, relaxation techniques and communication skills.”

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