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Yearly Archives: 2017

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Bob Doyle is looking to win a seat as a Smithtown councilman. Photo from Nicole Garguilo.

After an intense shake-up in the Smithtown Republican party last week, four GOP candidates for town council seats are now left standing. Newcomers Bob Doyle and Tom Lohmann, who both have no prior experience running for public office, are hoping to unseat incumbents Tom McCarthy and Lynne Nowick.

Doyle, a Nesconset resident, is a Vietnam Army veteran and retired Suffolk County homicide detective. He said he wants to bring strong leadership back to the town board.

“There is not an advancing agenda right now that will help this town to grow,” Doyle said in a phone interview. “I am looking to be that energy. I believe I can build a consensus and look beyond a political agenda.”

Doyle has a more than 35-year career in law enforcement, where he wore many hats and oversaw several different departments and programs. He said he wants to bring the same guidance he brought to the police department, where he helped bring many MS-13 gang members to justice, as well as other bank and commercial robbers.

“I created the Suffolk County liaison with the FBI that would become the first Suffolk County gang task force,” Doyle said. “It was extremely successful, and made for a tremendous amount of arrests that involved both gang members and seizing of drugs.”

Tom Lohmann wants to represent Smithtown as a councilman. Photo from Nicole Garguilo

After Doyle left the force in 2010 he started a consulting firm that works with police departments across New York State, introducing them to new technology devices to assist law enforcement, as well as training them in how to use it.

The retired officer is also a former Eagle Scout, and president of the Country Pointe Homeowners Association for about nine years. He said he’s proud of the work the board has done to protect and preserve clean groundwater for the residents.

“I am not looking for a career here — I’ve already had a full career and then some — I am looking to put my skills to use,” Doyle said. “I believe we’ve stagnated as a town.”

He said he wants to focus on the failing business districts in the different hamlets of Smithtown, as well as promoting the development of more sewer systems to help make it possible for more businesses and residential areas to lay down roots in Smithtown. He also said he wants to work on improving failing infrastructure, and communication between the town board and the school board.

Lohmann, a Smithtown native, is also looking to lend his experience in law enforcement to the citizens of the town. He started his career as a member of the New York Police Department, and spent more than 30 days working search and rescue at Ground Zero as a 9/11 responder. He retired from the NYPD in 2002, and now works as an investigator for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Insurance Crimes Bureau and part-time as a Head of the Harbor police officer.

“I’d like to thank Bill Ellis and the Republican committee for having the trust in me to do the job and do the job right,” Lohmann said after receiving the nomination at the Smithtown Republican convention last week. “I’ve seen this town grow and I’ve seen change to this town in the last 10, 15 years that I personally haven’t been happy with. My venture into politics hasn’t come without a lot of soul searching. I’ve never backed away from a fight in my life, and I’m running because I think it is the right thing to do.”

According to Lohmann’s media relations team, he intends to resign from his current career if elected, and would treat the job as a full-time position. He wants to focus on uniting law enforcement and local coalitions to end the growing gang violence and substance abuse problems that are affecting towns across the North Shore, as well as repair parks, green spaces and infrastructure in the town.

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New York State Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci is looking to become the town’s first Republican supervisor in two decades. Photo by Kevin Redding.

New York State Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (R-Huntington Station), chosen May 30 as the Huntington Republican Committee’s candidate for town supervisor, had just 24 hours to decide if he wanted to commit to a bid for the coveted position, most recently held for two decades by Frank Petrone (D).

Lupinacci, 38, was approached by committee Chairwoman Toni Tepe to fill the party’s vacant candidate seat after Town Councilman Gene Cook (I), who announced his bid for the position May 21 and was on track to secure both Republican and Conservative support, suddenly dropped out.

But for the lifelong Huntington resident, business law and political science professor at Farmingdale State College and Hofstra University, respectively, and state lawmaker, currently serving his third term for the 10th district, it was an easy choice.

“When you’re in a position for a period of time you sometimes lose sight of what’s going on and what’s in tune with the people,” Lupinacci said, referring to Petrone’s 24 years as supervisor and the town’s need for new direction. “You become part of the system rather than actually being able to shake things up… I think I’ll be able to look at the job from a different vantage point, as someone with a different skill set and legislative accomplishments that we can bring home to Huntington.”

As an assemblyman, elected in 2012, Lupinacci serves as the ranking Republican member on the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, and sits on the Judiciary, Election Law, Transportation and Park and Tourism committees. For nine years, starting in 2004, he was a trustee on the South Huntington school board.

“He’s a stand up guy,” Andre Sorrentino, chief of the Huntington Fire Department and Lupinacci’s friend for more than 20 years, said. “He’s just one of those guys you can trust, he’s a great leader, and he understands that our first responders and police department mean a lot. He’s a very good man.”

The assemblyman will be facing off against Councilwoman Tracey Edwards (D) who announced her campaign last month. Sorrentino said he supports both candidates for the position.

Lupinacci said his experiences make him a stronger leader despite Edwards currently being more directly involved in the town’s government.

“I think I’ll be able to look at the job from a different vantage point, as someone with a different skill set and legislative accomplishments that we can bring home to Huntington.”

—Chad Lupinacci

“Tracey and I both are dedicated public servants, we both have that local level, being on the school board — she was on the Elwood school board, I was on South Huntington school board,” he said. “But I think the state experience gives me a different [array] of policy expertise, what kind of resources are out there we can bring home towards Huntington.”

Building off his initiatives in Albany, Lupinacci said his chief priorities as supervisor of Huntington would be to reverse a decline in quality of life and spend the town’s budget more wisely to avoid piercing the tax cap. “I wouldn’t have pierced the tax cap as the 2016 budget did,” he said.

Lupinacci said he wants to root out crime, especially MS-13-related incidents, through partnerships with local police and the federal government, and provide more treatment and aftercare programs for those addicted to heroin and prescription drugs. As assemblyman, he’s supported heroin legislation and was involved in the opening of a state-supported aftercare site in Hauppauge that aims to prevent relapses.

He said he also wants to create a robust agenda dealing with ethics reform and more transparency in government, adding there should be more flexibility with the board’s strict three-minute speaking cap during the public sessions. “If we’re representing 210,000 people, we want to give them the ability to voice concerns,” Lupinacci said.

Moving forward, he wants to bring in new jobs and make progress on revitalization efforts started in Huntington Station, which, he said, will help keep young people in the area.

“We want to make sure we create that safe environment because then people are going to want to stay here and raise families and that’s something that we want them to do,” he said. “When they graduate from school, or return home from college, we want to make sure that along the 110 corridor, we continue to bring the high-tech, high-paying jobs so people can afford to live [here]. We want to make sure there’s entertainment, restaurants, supermarkets, and that everything they need is within the township.”

When it comes to environmental initiatives, Lupinacci has supported water quality legislation and is adamant about preserving open space and maintaining the integrity of public parks, among other sections of Huntington. “We also have a huge fishing and boating community in the area, and we want to make sure we work with them to keep our pristine waters, so people always feel they always have great access to the waterscape we have here,” he said.

Born in Huntington Hospital and raised on 11th Avenue by a banker and a food industry worker, his father and mother respectively, Lupinacci graduated from Walt Whitman High School in the South Huntington School District and Hofstra University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.

He would go on to get his Juris Doctor at Hofstra University School of Law and Master of Business Administration at the Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University, but not before interning for the late Assemblyman James D. Conte (R), whom Lupinacci referred to as his mentor, and Hillary Clinton at the White House from 2000 to 2001, when she was First Lady.

When Conte was diagnosed with brain cancer and left his seat in 2012, Tepe called on Lupinacci, then in the middle of his third term on the school board, to be his replacement.

“I think he’s going to do quite well as supervisor,” Tepe, who was supervisor herself from 1988 to 1989, said. “Chad is a people-person and is interested in serving the public, working the taxpayer, and providing the programs and initiatives necessary to keep our town a vibrant suburban community. He’s also the type who isn’t afraid to tackle a problem.”

Lupinacci said he loves Huntington’s “welcoming perspective, no matter where you grew up, what your ethnicity is, or what religious background you are…this is a great community that has a lot of culture, a great nightlife, is rich in the arts, excellent school districts, beaches and waterfronts…you don’t have to leave this township because it has everything to offer.”

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I have hundreds of new friends I’ve never met, and a profound appreciation for the people who created them or shared their lives.

I recently attended my first BookExpo at the Javits Center in New York City, where I was surrounded by booksellers, librarians, agents, book publishers and authors including Stephen King, James Patterson and John Grisham, with numerous budding luminaries in the mix.

A highlight for me was a panel of children’s book authors, which included actress Isla Fisher, who has starred in movies including “Wedding Crashers” and “Definitely, Maybe.” While I was intrigued to see Ms. Fisher in person, the other authors owned the stage, as Fisher readily admitted that she wasn’t a writing peer to her fellow panelists.

Jason Reynolds, an African-American writer for middle-grade and young adult novels, electrified the audience.

He talked about how he used to visit his great Aunt Blanche in South Carolina, where the sun was so scorching it burned his neck. His aunt, who was 85, sat on her hot porch, smoking cigarettes and watching the children.

Aunt Blanche planted a pecan tree — as he said, a “pea can” — when she was 4. The tree had become enormous by the time Reynolds was a child, providing shade for the younger crowd.

Reynolds, a 2016 National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature with “Ghost,” suggested that books offered the kind of shade he desperately needed, providing relief from the heat.

Reynolds asked himself, “What if I get to be the pecan tree?”

Jennifer Weiner, meanwhile, has ventured from the world of adult fiction and “Good in Bed” to writing for a younger audience, which includes her recent book, “The Littlest Bigfoot.”

Weiner said she does much of her writing in the equivalent of a large closet in her home, although she completed “half of a book waiting in a carpool line.”

Dutch author Marieke Nijkamp shared some insights into her latest book “Before I Let Go,” which is about a girl named Corey who loses her best friend Kyra.

Nijkamp, with fans waiting in a long line for the blue-haired author’s signature, said she “definitely goes for a walk right after I kill a character.”

While circling the Javits Center exhibits, I bumped into Owen King. He is the son of acclaimed author Stephen King, and is promoting a book he wrote with his father called “Sleeping Beauties,” in which all the women but one in a small Appalachian town become wrapped in a cocoon when they go to sleep. If someone awakens them, they become violent. That leaves the men without the civilizing and calming influence of women. It sounded to me like an adult version of William Golding’s classic “Lord of the Flies.”

In describing the novel, Owen King said he enjoyed the time writing and editing the book with his father. He described how a King dinner time activity includes coming up with story ideas, many of which never see the light of day.

I asked Owen, who was clad in an untucked plaid shirt and looks remarkably like his father, what caught his eye at the Expo. He highlighted a book by Steve Steinberg about a Yankees pitcher named Urban Shocker. King said he loved the name and found the story compelling, about a pitcher who went 18-6 in the Yankees’ famous 1927 season despite battling heart disease. I picked up a copy, which was autographed for my son, and I look forward to learning about Shocker’s world.

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A proposed sketch of what the Hallock Avenue-Main Street intersection would look like if the plan were brought to fruition. Image from hub study

During a Three Village Civic Association meeting June 5, Brookhaven Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) provided a look into the future of Port Jefferson Station.

In 2014 the Brookhaven town board approved a study for a potential hub project for Port Jefferson Station, specifically in the area of Route 112 north of Route 347 and south of the Long Island Rail Road train tracks near Hallock Avenue. The goal of the study and community-visioning document was to gauge public interest and provide in-depth plans for what a walkable, downtown Main Street residence and commercial retail space might look like in Port Jeff Station. In the time since the study was conducted, Cartright, who has played an instrumental role in the progress of the plan, which preceded her taking office, since taking over, said a steering committee has been appointed to continue moving the project forward. Cartright said in an email the town has been working with the steering committee to discuss potential projects and proposals with landowners in the area.

“The community has expressed a desire for revitalization in the study area in Port Jefferson Station/Terryville,” she said in an email through spokeswoman Jennifer Martin. “From a town perspective, we agree with the community that this area calls for a flourishing and vibrant ‘walkable’ downtown that has an appropriate mix of commercial and residential. Both the town and the community wish to see a smoother transition from Port Jefferson Village to the station in that corridor.”

Cartright added the next step in the process is to determine the compatibility of landowners’ visions for the future of the area with the plans laid out in the hub study-visioning document.

Lee Koppelman, a longtime Suffolk County planner and a current professor at Stony Brook University, submitted a letter in support of the proposed project.

“The overall goal sought for the corridor is to achieve improvements that will transform this core of the hamlet into a destination center with improved, coordinated architectural design; safe walkable ambience; and the preservation of historical sites,” he said.

A survey was sent out to 6,500 residences in 2013 to assess if the community would be behind a project like this. Some responses included “the idea for a real downtown is great,” “the area is terrible — clean it up!” and “beautification is always welcome.” Others suggested building affordable housing would be preferable, congestion in the area is already excessive and abandoned buildings should not be replaced with brand new ones.

In the survey residents were able to weigh in on aspects of the project they might like to see. Of those who responded to the questionnaire, 82 percent said they wanted to see a historic looking downtown area, 92 percent were in favor of public Wi-Fi and 87 percent would be in favor of a grocery store. A vast majority of those who responded also said they would not patronize stores in the area if they were required to pay for parking — about 89 percent.

Port Jefferson Village secured grant money from New York State and Suffolk County earlier this year to improve the train station, parking surrounding the train station and to fix blighted buildings in the area just north of the station on Main Street.

Reporting contributed by Rita J. Egan.

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The owners of a historic mansion in Poquott, above, are doing their best to prevent land developers from purchasing it. Photo from Chris Ryon

The owners of a historic mansion in Poquott are hoping history won’t be lost when they sell the home which their family has maintained for more than 70 years.

Located on Van Brunt Manor Road, the mansion, which was built in 1893 and is part of the Benner-Foos-Ceparano Estate, was added to both the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places in August 2016 along with a neighboring farmhouse built in 1895 on Osprey Lane. The first homes in Poquott to be added to the registries, they are surrounded by houses constructed in the mid-to-late 20th century.

Rosemarie Sabatelli, who owns the mansion along with her sisters Felicia and Christina, said it has been difficult to find a buyer. In addition to interested parties offering less than the nearly $4 million asking price, Sabatelli said another factor is the family doesn’t want to sell the mansion to a land developer who may tear down the home, which is structurally sound. Most recently, she said she was wary of a potential buyer who wasn’t concerned with securing a house inspection, which led her to believe he was a developer who had no intent in keeping the home intact.

Chris Ryon, village historian for both Poquott and Port Jefferson, said while the mansion is on the registries for historic places, the recognition only protects it from various types of federal construction such as a new roadway, but not developers.

“It was my grandmother’s dream house so I feel like it’s ours,” Sabatelli said. “My mission is to make sure her legacy and the house go on.”

Ryon said local historians as well as representatives from the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities have come to look at the mansion.

A photo from the early 1900s of the Poquott mansion when it was used as a summer home. Photo from Port Jefferson Village archive

“We want as many eyes on it as we can,” he said. “We want people to know that this house is here and it’s significant.”

When the mansion was built in 1893, Charles Benner, a New York City lawyer, was searching for a summer retreat where he could spend his days fishing and yachting, according to Ryon. It was a time when Long Island was less hectic than the bustling city. Two years later the farmhouse was constructed where the Benner family’s servants lived.

The historian said the house is architecturally significant as Charles Alonzo Rich and Hugh Lamb designed it. The duo were known for their work with President Theodore Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill in Cove Neck near Oyster Bay as well as many of the buildings at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

A shingle-style structure with asymmetrical elements such as end gables, the mansion features a bowed footprint that overlooks Port Jefferson Harbor.

“I haven’t found anything with that shape to it,” Ryon said. “So it’s unique.”

A banker by the name of Ferguson Foos bought the property in 1909 and maintained ownership until 1944 when Sabatelli’s grandparents, Joseph and Rose Ceparano, bought it. She said the life of her grandmother, who was a seamstress, was a rags-to-riches tale.

After hearing stories about America, Rose married so as to be able to emigrate from Italy to the United States in 1928, since she would not be able to come here as a single woman. When the marriage failed, she married her second husband, Joseph. Soon after they bought the Benner home, Rose opened the original Schooner Restaurant in Port Jefferson, the eatery known for being a converted sailing vessel, and owned it for a few years.

Sabatelli and her sisters would visit from Flushing, Queens in the summers and play and run around the three floors of the mansion as well as the 18 acres of land. She said coming to her grandmother’s home in the 1970s was like being in a sanctuary. In 1980 after her father’s death, Sabatelli, along with her sisters and mother Mary moved in with her grandmother, who died in 1989.

The mansion remained in the family after Rose’s death, and Mary became known in the area as a philanthropist, humanitarian and businesswoman, who organized many events at the home including fundraisers for John T. Mather Memorial Hospital and the Suffolk County Police Emerald Society Pipe Band.

Sabatelli and Ryon said they think the mansion represents a time when the affluent would vacation on Long Island, and it’s important to save the reminder of a simpler time. They believe that many feel the same way.

“We love looking back at the past,” Ryon said. “Once it’s gone, that’s it. It was the past, and you just erased a piece of it. Part of it is that we can’t get it back, and people love houses like that. It takes them back in time. A time that they remember or time they would like to remember.”

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The current proposed site plan for millennial housing in Mount Sinai features 140 rental units, commercial stores and other amenities. Image from Basser Kaufman

A long-vacant property next to King Kullen in Mount Sinai could be a go-to living destination for young professionals and college graduates in the near future.

According to a real estate investors group’s preliminary proposal made during the recent Mount Sinai Civic Association meeting, they want to give millennials a suburban place to stay and a sense of community.

“A lot of our young people leave Long Island because they can’t afford to stay here,” said Michael Russo, an architect working with the Nassau-based group Basser-Kaufman, to residents at the Heritage Center June 5. “Mount Sinai is a desirable place to live [and] we’ve put a lot of thought into making it work for millennials.”

Architect Michael Russo talks to residents about building millennial housing in Mount Sinai. Photo by Kevin Redding

An expansive, 140-rental unit community is envisioned in the early stages of the concept, gearing toward those in their mid to late 20s, to occupy the rear portion on the nearly 35 acres of unused land along Nesconset Highway.

The proposed site would include potential retail developments such as Trader Joe’s, other commercial buildings, an open green space for public use, a community center with fitness and yoga rooms for residents and several amenities to attract a younger demographic, such as bicycle racks, dog-walk areas and electric car-charging stations. Valet trash services would also be available to eliminate large, noisy trucks.

Rental prices for one-bedroom and two-bedroom units would range between $1,900 and $2,200 a month, according to the group’s legal representative — priced lower than many competitive apartments in the area, such as the New Village apartments in Patchogue, to make it manageable for young people to live in the region.

“Having this for younger people in your district is an advantage,” said Steven Losquadro, a lawyer speaking on behalf of Basser-Kaufman. “It’s a bridge to home ownership, which is ideally what you would want. You don’t want them going out of state, you want to have them here where they grew up.”

The executive board of the civic association, including President Ann Becker and Vice President Brad Arrington, had met previously with the developers to discuss the draft proposal and ensure its concept fit the vision of the community.

“Without risking discrimination, how will you restrict it to millennials?” asked Mount Sinai resident and board of education member Edward Law.

Local residents gathered at the Heritage Center at Heritage Park to listen to a proposal for millenial housing in Mount Sinai. Photo by Kevin Redding

While the speakers said they couldn’t legally limit occupancy to just young people, their intention is to specifically market it to that age group through advertising locations and methods.

“What’s the projected time line?” was another question that was asked.

Russo said the construction would take 18 months to two years, but added it could take years to get the project approved.

Mount Sinai resident Peter Pranzo voiced his concern about the already increasing number of students in the district, he said, as a result of young parents in the housing development. He said he’s afraid of the financial pressure it could put on schools to pay additional costs for more new students.

“I’m against it,” he said of the proposal. “There’s no way we can sustain 60, 70 or 100 more children in our area.”

Arrington argued the opposite.

“Class sizes are shrinking quite a bit,” he said. “A lot of our enrollment is actually down in younger grades. These aren’t going to be terribly large apartments, so by the time that child enrolls in school it’s pretty likely the parents are going to move out and buy a house.”

Losquadro agreed, insisting the development would be geared toward young professionals and there wouldn’t be a substantial influx of children.

When a resident suggested the possibility of those behind the proposal abandoning it in favor of solely retail space, Becker spoke up.

Millennial housing proposed in Mount Sinai would replace a current wooded lot. Photo by Kevin Redding

“These gentlemen were very open with us and we were open with them,” Becker told the crowd at the end of the meeting. “We don’t want a lot of things — big box stores or gas stations — and they’re trying, and working with the town. They’re completely transparent. This is the first presentation to the community, no plans have been submitted and nothing has gone through any process of change. This is just step one. We’re very interested in hearing your response.”

For more than a decade, the town has worked alongside many developers with plans to build within the empty lot — everything from commercial buildings to retirement communities to community-oriented gathering spaces and clock towers — all of which fizzled out due to inflated visions or conflicting desires of residents.

In the last few months, Steven Kaufman and Marc Kemp of the investors group took control of the project, determined to give the community what they felt it wanted, and ask for input before anything is approved or built.

“Right now, I think I’m for it,” Mount Sinai resident Monica Stone said after the meeting. “I think we need to be open to ideas like this … We don’t want it to become an industrial business area, and it sounds to me like what the developers are proposing is a good balance.”

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Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon
Scenes from the 21st annual Joe Keany races June 4, which raised money for the Miller Place Booster Club. Photo by Bill Landon

By Desirée Keegan

Runners gathered to honor a local leader and mentor, while raising funds in support of Miller Place athletics.

The 21st annual Joe Keany 5K and 1-mile runs commenced June 3, with North Shore runners grabbing first-place finishes while paying homage to a former Miller Place track runner.

“Joe Keany would go and mow the lawn and go around the neighborhood looking to do chores and do you know what he did with the money? He rode his bike down to the Smith Haven Mall and donated it to the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon,” said Jackie Rose, the event’s organizer and emcee. The telethon raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. “We’re running for good character, we’re running for acts of kindness.”

Rose added that when Keany was in college, he and a friend rode their bikes from Cortland to California and back, donating the money made in support of his endeavor to charity.

“In his honor, the track team and the school decided to start this race,” Rose said. She said Keany was a captain of Miller Place’s track team, and garnered a myriad of accolades.

Over 400 runners registered for the races, and the money raised will benefit the Miller Place Athletic Booster Club, which funds the senior awards dinner and four scholarships.

Last year, the event raised around $7,500, according to booster club president Steve Liantonio. This year, Rose said, the booster club has far surpassed that, raising close to $10,000.

“We couldn’t do it without the local businesses who get involved and support us,” the six-year president said.

Rocky Point resident Scarlett Stevenson, who ran with her dad Brett, was the winner of the 1-mile run.

“I really love racing, and since I’m doing it with my dad, it’s a really fun experience,” the 11-year-old said. “I love running. I always run at school.”

First across the 5K finish line was Wading River’s Keith Steinbrecher, who finished in 17 minutes, 16.65 seconds.

The Shoreham-Wading River graduate also competed in 2009 and 2010, and is a currently a senior at Merrimack College. He said he enjoys the course — especially the hill on Cedar Drive — and the Miller Place atmosphere.

“It’s a good crowd,” he said. “I enjoy coming out to support the local community.”

Shoreham’s Connor McAlary, a senior on the cross-country team at Quinnipiac University, said he trains daily, and looks forward to the event. He finished right behind Steinbrecher in 17:16.67.

Senior Brendon Murphy and freshman Danelle Rose were the male and female recipients of the Joe Keany Cup, given to the Miller Place student or alumni that finishes first.

“We have repeat runners young and old,” Rose said. “It’s nice to see.”

Rose was also the first female to cross the finish line last year, and subsequently, was the Joe Keany Cup winner then too. The two are current varsity track and field and cross-country athletes.

“It’s our mission to instill that charitable kindness into the students of Miller Place and surrounding areas,” Rose said. “We hope they go out and follow in the footsteps of Joe Keany.”

Bill Landon contributed reporting

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Jay Matuk smiles in his office. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Cold Spring Harbor Junior-Senior High School will be changing leadership for the first time in more than a decade, as Principal Jay Matuk is set to retire after the current school year ends.

Matuk grew up in New York City, a background he admits is very different than what his students at Cold Spring Harbor have had. He was a bartender at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, where he said he learned how to listen, a valuable trait for the job he’s about to leave. He and his wife moved to Chicago where he taught social studies, and once he moved back to New York he got a job teaching in West Hempstead and eventually landed in administrative roles.

He arrived at Cold Spring Harbor in 2006, after serving as principal in the Patchogue-Medford school district, and said he was excited to work in a place with the significant reputation the district had for successful education.

“One of the things that I had really grown tired of, year after year working to put programs together and hire people, would end in programs being dismantled and positions being terminated because the financing wasn’t there,” Matuk said in a phone interview. “Here was an opportunity to be able to come to a school district where there was a real strong commitment to education and to programs and the right personnel.”

Matuk said he found very quickly that here the students understand and appreciate they’re growing up in a unique environment and work very hard.

“What’s amazing about the school is that there is something for everyone,” he said. “There’s over 100 athletic teams … there is a significant level of support. If there’s a club the kids want to form, the district again is very supportive. If there’s eight or nine kids and it looks like it’s something that they could work with an adult after school I love it because then they’re with an adult after school doing what they’re interested in.”

He said he’s proud he has been able to grow the music and art departments during his tenure, by encouraging students to be involved in those classes and giving the teachers the resources they need to do it well. The principal said he hopes the school continues to create opportunities for students after he leaves, with things like business courses and college accounting.

Matuk said he’s also proud of the fact that he started open enrollment at the district, so any student can enroll in any course to take on any challenge they might feel up to.

“If a student wants to take an [advanced placement] course and gets a C in the course, I’m okay with that, because that’s part of the experience,” he said. “To me this is the correct way to go about it.”

Matuk praised the district’s offering of more than 20 AP courses for students and smaller class sizes so students are able to work with teachers on a more personal level.

“Cold Spring Harbor is a school district where it’s cool to be smart,” Maturk said. “You’ll have someone who is a star on the lacrosse team but will also be performing in a school play … kids that are strong academically will be participating in the comedy club.”

The principal said he believes the opportunities supplied to the students at the high school will impact the rest of their lives.

Matuk said he’ll miss the traditions of the school, the activities and programs that staff, parents and students work on every year to help celebrate the district.

Superintendent Robert Fenter said Matuk’s leadership will be missed.

“Mr. Matuk has demonstrated a strong desire to support the many programs in our schools, to support the professionals and support staff who work with our students each and every day, and to ensure that our students were able to engage in the learning experiences necessary to be successful, both in high school and beyond,” he said in an email. “His knowledge of our programs, our students and our community were extremely valuable resources and I will be forever grateful to him for his guidance and assistance.”

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File photo

Suffolk County Police 2nd Squad detectives are investigating the shooting of a man in Greenlawn early Wednesday morning.

Omar Fuentes was standing with a group of people in front of 283A Broadway when police said a man approached the group, fired shots then fled on foot south of Broadway. Fuentes, 30, of Greenlawn, was struck twice in the hip and transported by Greenlawn Fire Department to Huntington Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The suspect was described as short, thin and was wearing all black.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the 2nd Squad at 631-854-8252 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.

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Local officials weigh in on President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Paris Agreement

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, center, helped to establish the United States Climate Alliance in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. Lawmakers signed a bill protecting the Long Island Sound last year. File photo from Cuomo’s office

By Alex Petroski

U.S. President Donald Trump’s (R) decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, a global effort to combat the threat of climate change, elicited strong responses from around the world. One of the more notable reactions came from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who along with the governors of California and Washington State established the United States Climate Alliance. The coalition will convene the three states, and others that have come out in support of the initiative, in committing to uphold the parameters of the Paris Agreement despite Trump’s June 1 announcement. As of June 5 the alliance included 13 members — 12 states and Puerto Rico.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order establishing the United States Climate Alliance. Image from governor’s website

“The White House’s reckless decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement has devastating repercussions not only for the United States, but for our planet,” Cuomo said in a statement. “New York State is committed to meeting the standards set forth in the Paris accord regardless of Washington’s irresponsible actions. We will not ignore the science and reality of climate change, which is why I am also signing an executive order confirming New York’s leadership role in protecting our citizens, our environment and our planet.”

The Paris Agreement, which officially took effect in November 2016, aimed to strengthen the response to climate change globally by keeping temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius during the current century and also strengthen countries’ ability to deal with the effects of climate change. The U.S. is now one of only three nations on the planet not included in the agreement.

According to Cuomo, the United States Climate Alliance will seek to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels and meet or exceed the targets of the federal Clean Power Plan, each of which were self-imposed U.S. goals of the Paris Agreement. The Clean Power Plan was established in 2015 to establish state-by-state targets for carbon emission reductions. Trump signed an executive order early on in his administration placing a hold on the plan and pledging a review. Cuomo also announced New York State will be investing $1.65 billion in renewable energy and energy efficiency in the aftermath of Trump’s decision. In addition he said he aims to create 40,000 clean energy jobs by 2020.

Republican New York State Sens. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) and Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) did not respond to requests for comment through spokespersons.

Local officials from across the political spectrum spoke out about Trump’s decision in the aftermath of the announcement.

“We live on an island and have already begun to see some of the effects of our rising seas,” Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said in a statement. “To protect Brookhaven for our children and generations to come it is our responsibility to take action now. The president’s announcement today regarding the Paris climate accord is disappointing. On behalf of our residents, I will continue to fight to protect our environment.”

Democrats including 3rd Congressional District U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) and others blasted the decision in public statements.

“President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement is a devastating failure of historic proportions,” Schumer said. “Future generations will look back on President Trump’s decision as one of the worst policy moves made in the 21st century because of the huge damage to our economy, our environment and our geopolitical standing. Pulling out of the Paris Agreement doesn’t put America first, it puts America last in recognizing science, in being a world leader and protecting our own shoreline, our economy and our planet.”

New York State 4th District Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) expressed support for the newly minted climate alliance on Twitter, sharing the hashtag “#LeadNotLeave.”

First Congressional District U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) said in an emailed statement through a spokeswoman that he supported many of the goals of the Paris Agreement, but thought the U.S. “approached this entire agreement all wrong.” He criticized former President Barack Obama (D), who played a leadership role in establishing the Paris Agreement, for bypassing Congress in reaching the agreement and for what he viewed as outsized pledges made by the U.S. compared to other world powers in the agreement.

“What we need to do moving forward should include continuing to take an international approach to protect clean air and clean water, and reduce emissions that are impacting our climate, but we must negotiate it correctly so that we aren’t over promising, under delivering and causing unnecessary harm,” he said.

Sen. Schumer was among the most forceful opponents of Trump’s decision. File photo by Kevin Redding

During Trump’s June 1 speech announcing the withdrawal, he sited a loss of American jobs in the coal industry and crippling regulations on the business world as the drivers behind his decision.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who was appointed by Trump, praised his decision.

“This is a historic restoration of American Economic Independence — one that will benefit the working class, the working poor, and working people of all stripes,” he said. “With this action, you have declared that people are the rulers of this country once again.”

Administrators from the New York District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration, a government agency that offers support to small businesses, were not available to comment on Trump’s decision or the formation of the United States Climate Alliance, but a spokesperson for the department instead directed the request to answers U.S. SBA Administrator Linda McMahon gave to Yahoo Global News June 6. She agreed with Trump’s decision to leave the Paris Agreement, adding she believes this will result in more job opportunities for Americans.

“I think [Trump] was making a statement that we’re going to look at what’s good for America first,” she said. “I do think climate change is real, and I do think that man has some contribution to climate change. As to the extent of the science, predictions as to what might happen 20, 30, 40 years from now, I’m not sure we have that totally decided, but I do respect the science behind a lot of it.”

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