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Yearly Archives: 2018

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Lifestyle changes can reduce your risk

By David Dunaief, M.D.

Dr. David Dunaief

Aneurysms are universally feared; they can be lethal and most times are asymptomatic (without symptoms). Yet aneurysms are one of the least well-covered medical disorders in the press. There are numerous types of aneurysms, most of which are named by their location of occurrence, including abdominal, thoracic and cerebral (brain). In this article, I will discuss abdominal aortic aneurysms, better known as a “triple-A,” or AAA. Preventing any type of aneurysm should be a priority.

What is an AAA? It is an increase in the diameter of the walls of the aorta in one area, in this case, the abdomen. The aorta is the “water main” for supplying blood to the rest of the body from the heart. Abnormal enlargement weakens the walls and increases the risk that it may rupture. If the aorta ruptures, it causes massive hemorrhaging, or bleeding, and creates a substantial likelihood of death.

The exact incidence of aneurysms is difficult to quantify, since some people may die due to its rupture without having an autopsy; however, estimates suggest that they occur in 4 to 9 percent of the population (1).

The cause of AAA is not known, but it is thought that inflammation and oxidative stress play an important role in weakening smooth muscle in the aorta (2). The consequence of this is an abnormally enlarged aorta.

People who are at highest risk for aneurysms are those over age 60 (3). Other risk factors include atherosclerosis, or hardened arteries; high blood pressure; race (Caucasian); gender (male); family history; smoking; and having a history of aneurysms in other arteries (4). Some of these risk factors are modifiable, such as atherosclerosis, high blood pressure and smoking.

Men are more than four times more likely to have an AAA (5). Though males are at a higher risk, women are at a higher risk of having an AAA rupture (6). So, gender is important for differentiating the incidence, but also the risk of severity.

Is it important to get screened?

The short answer is yes it is important, especially if you have risk factors. You should talk to your physician. Although some people do experience nondescript symptoms, such as pain in the abdomen, back or flank pain, the majority of cases are asymptomatic (4). A smaller AAA is less likely to rupture and can be monitored closely with noninvasive diagnostic tools, such as ultrasound and CT scan.

Sometimes cost is a question when it comes to screening, but a recent study showed unequivocally that screening ultimately reduces cost, because of the number of aneurysms that are identified and potentially prevented from rupturing (7).

What are the treatments?

There are no specific medications that prevent or treat abdominal aortic aneurysms. Medications for treating risk factors, such as high blood pressure, have no direct impact on an aneurysm’s size or progression. But the mainstay of treatment is surgery to prevent rupture. Two surgical techniques may be utilized. One approach is the endovascular repair (EVAR), which is minimally invasive, and the other is the more traditional open surgery (8). A comparison of these approaches in a small randomized controlled trial had similar outcomes: a mortality rate of 25 percent. This was considered a surprisingly good statistic.

The good news is that surgery has resulted in a 29 percent reduction in rupture of the AAA (9). When using the minimally invasive EVAR technique mentioned above, the specialist who performs the surgery may make a difference. A study’s results showed that surgeons had better outcomes, in terms of mortality rates and length of hospital stay, compared to interventional radiologists and cardiologists (10). This was a retrospective (looking in the past) study, which is not the strongest type of trial.

When to watch and wait and when to treat is a difficult question; surgery is not without its complications, and risk of death is higher than many other surgeries. AAA size is the most important factor. In women, AAAs over 5.0 cm may need immediate treatment, while in men, those over 5.5 cm may need immediate treatment (11). Smaller AAAs, however, are trickier.

The growth rate is important, so patients with this type of aneurysm should have an ultrasound or CT scan every six to 12 months. If you have an aneurysm, have a discussion with your physician about this.

Lifestyle changes

One of the most powerful tools against AAA is prevention; it avoids the difficult decision of how to best avoid rupture and the complications of surgery itself. Lifestyle changes are a must. They don’t typically have dangerous side effects, but rather potential side benefits. These lifestyle changes include smoking cessation, exercise and dietary changes.

Smoking cessation

Studies have shown that cigarette smoking and other forms of tobacco use appear to increase your risk of aortic aneurysms.

Smoking has the greatest impact because it directly impacts the occurrence and size of an AAA. It increases risk of medium-to-large size aneurysms by at least fivefold. One study found that smoking was responsible for 78 percent of aortic aneurysms larger than 4 cm (12). Remember, size does matter in terms of rupture risk. So for those who smoke, this is a wake-up call.

Impact of fruit

A simple lifestyle modification with significant impact is increasing your fruit intake. The results of two prospective (forward-looking) study populations, Cohort of Swedish Men and the Swedish Mammography Cohort Study, showed that consumption of greater than two servings of fruit a day decreased the risk of an AAA by 25 percent (13). If you do have an AAA, this same amount of fruit also decreased the risk of AAA rupture by 43 percent. This study involved over 80,000 men and women, ages 46 to 84, with a follow-up of 13 years.

The authors believe that fruit’s impact may have to do with its antioxidant properties; it may reduce the oxidative stress that can cause these types of aneurysms. Remember, the quandary has been when the benefit of surgery outweighs the risks, in terms of preventing rupture. This modest amount of fruit on a daily basis may help alleviate this quandary.

So what have we learned? Screening for AAA may be very important, especially as we age and if we have a family history. Surgery results to prevent rupture are similar, regardless of the type. However, keep in mind that surgery for AAA has a significant mortality risk. At the end of the day, lifestyle changes, including smoking cessation and increased fruit intake, are no-brainers.

References: (1) Ann Intern Med. 2001;134(3):182. (2) Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2007;27:461–469. (3) J Vasc Surg. 1999;30(6):1099. (4) uptodate.com. (5) Arch Intern Med. 2000;160(10):1425. (6) J Vasc Surg. 2006;43(2):230. (7) 2012 BMJ Publishing Group. (8) Ann Surg. 2013 online Apr 1. (9) J Vasc Surg. 2009;49(3):543. (10) Annals of Surgery. 2013;258(3):476-482. (11) Lancet. 1998;352(9141):1649. (12) Ann Intern Med. 1997;126(6):441. (13) Circulation. 2013;128:795-802.

Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.

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Extreme low temperatures caused enough demand to require use of the Port Jefferson Power Station. File photo by Erika Karp

In Port Jefferson, the stacks are impossible to miss. They stick up in the sky, visible from Setauket and Port Jefferson Station when not in use. However, when electricity demand spikes, the billowing, white steam coming from the red-and-white, candy-striped stacks of the Port Jefferson Power Station is a sight to behold.

With the emergence of energy-efficient appliances and a general societal shift toward being “green conscious,” the power station is only activated in times of peak electricity demand these days, like when temperatures and wind chills start flirting with zero. From late December into early January, the New York office of the National Weather Service reported that for 13 straight days, ending Jan. 9, the maximum temperature at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip failed to exceed 32 F. It was the second longest period of below-freezing temperatures reported at the airport since 1963.

As a result of an Island-wide rush to crank up thermostats everyday from Dec. 27 through Jan. 10, the steam-powered electrical generation station was ready to go, serving as an addendum to the Island’s regularly used energy production. In 2017, the Port Jeff plant was operated for 1,698 hours through November, with an additional 260 hours of run time needed in December, according to Sid Nathan, director of public information for the Long Island Power Authority, which oversees operation of the station.

When running, its two steam units produce the white clouds or water vapor, which is a byproduct of burning oil or gas. As the vapor exits the stacks, contact with colder air causes condensation of the water vapor, producing the cloudlike white color. The two steam units ran for 1,958 hours in 2017, the equivalent of running for 41 days, or 11 percent of the year, Nathan said. The power station has the ability to generate about 400 megawatts of power.

The historic stretch of cold temperatures definitely generated an unusually high energy demand at the station, according to Nathan.

“Generally, on a typical 35 degree day, PSEG Long Island would not expect to dispatch the Port Jefferson plant,” he said.

For those concerned about the white steam yielded by the energy generation process, Nathan said the station is not producing more or different steam than normal and that the byproduct is more visible at extremely low ambient temperatures.

“There is no cause for concern,” Nathan said.

State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) said the white smoke is mostly steam that could potentially contain particulates other than steam, and he reiterated residents shouldn’t be overly concerned. Although Englebright did say it would be “prudent to try to separate yourself from the atmospherics of the plant.”

As a North Shore resident and chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation, Englebright said he was thankful the plant was ready to roll when needed most.

“Yes, during most of the year they are not in use,” Englebright said, of the stacks. “But when we really need it, it’s there. And we really needed it just in this cold spell and it went into high operation. Thank God it was there.”

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Darrel Blaine Ford will be the featured poet at the Second Saturdays poetry series at All Souls Church in Stony Brook Feb. 10. Photo from All Souls Church

By Daniel Kerr

The Second Saturdays poetry series will be returning to All Souls Church, 61 Main St., Stony Brook, on February 10 at 11 a.m. Suffolk County Poet Laureate Gladys Henderson will host the readings. The featured poet will be Darrel Blaine Ford, a Walt Whitman devotee for more than 75 years. He will read poems from Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” including “Song of Myself.”

Ford was born on Long Island in 1930, where Whitman had been born more than a hundred years before. Similar to Long Island’s most famous poet, Ford has long white hair, a snowy beard and stands over 6 feet tall. He has often said that he and Walt Whitman have much in common.

“I’m a happy guy, and I think Whitman was, too,” Ford said. “There are people who stress his loneliness, and that was certainly a component of his life, but I think he was a glass half full rather than a glass half empty sort of guy. I wish I were as creative as he was, but I think I have the capacity to appreciate creativity, and I know he did, too.”

The poet has been impersonating Whitman since 1987, often visiting schools and libraries on Long Island dressed as the “The Good Gray Poet” — complete with a carpetbag and a cane with his face carved on it.

“I had no great desire to be more than what I am, and that is just somebody who is available when you need a Whitman,” Ford said.

An open reading will follow the intermission, and all are welcome to read their own work or that of another. Please bring a can of food to donate to help feed the hungry in our area. For more information, call 631-655-7798.

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Middle Country's Tom Hussey. Photo by Jim Ferchland
Harborfields' Kevin Ries. Photo by Jim Ferchland
Middle Country's Peter Puglia. Photo by Jim Ferchland
Harborfields' Ashton Madden. Photo by Jim Ferchland
Harborfields' Jack Wallace. Photo by Jim Ferchland
Middle Country's Thomas Lettich. Photo by Jim Ferchland
Harborfields' Mike Fellmeth. Photo by Jim Ferchland
Middle Country's Noah Axinn. Photo by Jim Ferchland

By Jim Ferchland

Middle Country All-County seniors Thomas Lettich, Peter Puglia and Tom Hussey led their team to its final win of the season at their home alley Jan. 25, sweeping Harborfields 3-0 to finish 10-2.

Lettich, who has the best Mad Dogs average with a 224, finished with a 630 on the afternoon. Bowling a 209, 225 and 196, he said he was not pleased with his results, adding he wasn’t in the right frame of mind.

“I knew what I had to come in and do today, and wanted to be an all star,” he said. “I was in the fifth spot and I needed a 675, and shot a little lower than that. I’m confident that I can probably still get in.”

Middle Country head coach Mike Messana said he knows how bad Lettich wanted to finish in the Top 5 spot. Lettich needed a 240 in his final game to put himself on pace for his average.

“It was the mental game,” Messana said. “He had a number in his head. Once you get that number in your head, it’s over.”

The Mad Dogs, which handily won 1,045-582, 1,013-660 and 1,035-594, received the best scores from junior Noah Axinn, who finished with a 701 — bowling 258, 217 and 226. His average is 214. Like most bowlers, he’s his own biggest critic.

“I felt I did pretty good,” Axinn said. “I could have done better. Overall, it was a pretty nice series.”

Hussey shot above his 192 average on Thursday (201, 163 and 204) rounding himself a 568 on the afternoon. Puglia finished with a 619 (182, 202 and 234). His average is second best behind Lettich at 212.

“I didn’t bowl good the first game,” Puglia said. “Then, I made adjustments … I bowled really good the third game. I wanted to end on a high note.”

Harborfields senior Ashton Madden had the best score for his team with a 482, rolling well above his 144 average with a 185 in game two. Michael Fellmeth, who has the highest average for Harborfields (161), finished at 460. He bowled at his best, a 163, in game one.

The Mad Dogs lost two matches all season, to Smithtown East and Northport. Messana said the most important part of the season is upon his team with the upcoming county tournament.

Middle Country is scheduled to bowl in the division finals Jan. 30 at Bowl Long Island in Patchogue at 3:30 p.m. The county tournament is Feb. 3 in Sayville at 9 a.m.

“The whole season really from the first practice in November to our last match today is just preparation for countys,” he said. “It just matters that you make the county tournament. If you make it, you have a shot to win. If you don’t make it, you’re out.”

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Kings park residents and their elected officials stand opposed to any plans to build a bridge or tunnel across Long Island Sound. File photo

Kings Park residents and their elected officials find the idea of building a bridge or tunnel from their backyard to Connecticut illogical and nearly comical.

State Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-St. James) has come out as a strong opponent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) statement that it’s time to pursue building a bridge or tunnel to connect Long Island to Connecticut to help reduce traffic — with an eye on Kings Park as a potential site.

“I find it inconceivable that you would destroy Sunken Meadow State Park and put truck traffic on the Sagtikos [State Parkway] to get over to Connecticut,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s one of these things that everybody in theory thinks is a good idea but no one wants the disruption.”

 “I find it inconceivable that you would destroy Sunken Meadow State Park and put truck traffic on the Sagtikos [State Parkway] to get over to Connecticut.”
— Mike Fitzpatrick

Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) called the governor’s suggestion of building a tunnel “outlandish” given the state is facing a budgetary deficit. He echoed Fitzpatrick in “it’s not going through the center of a state park.”

In his State of the State address Jan. 3, Cuomo revived the decades-old idea of building a bridge or tunnel that would connect Long Island to New England.

“We should continue to pursue a tunnel from Long Island to Westchester or Connecticut,” Cuomo said. “DOT has determined it’s feasible, it would be under water, it would be invisible, it would reduce traffic on the impossibly congested Long Island Expressway and would offer significant potential private investment.”

The concept of a bridge across the Long Island Sound was proposed by Sen. Royal Copeland (D-NY) in the 1930s and has been tossed around for decades. A 1957 Oyster Bay-Rye Bridge study was conducted but never moved to fruition.

In December 2017, New York State Department of Transportation released a final draft of a Long Island Sound Crossing Feasibility Study that examined the potential of building a bridge or bridge-tunnel combination at five different sites. The 87-page study concluded that a bridge or bridge-tunnel combination could be economically feasible at three different locations: Oyster Bay to Port Chester/Rye; Kings Park to Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Kings Park to Devon, Connecticut.

The study concluded that the DOT should move forward with the next step: A five-year environmental evaluation process looking at the impact construction and the bridge would have on the three proposed locations.

“Historically, when you see a bridge, tunnel or major interstate built you wind up with blight.”
— Tony Tanzi

“Gov. Cuomo has directed DOT to conduct additional engineering, environmental and financial analysis to determine the best path forward for this transformative project, which could reduce traffic on Long Island,” said DOT spokesman Joseph Morrissey in a statement. “DOT will closely examine any potential impacts as well as benefits to the local communities as part of the process.”

Tony Tanzi, president of the Kings Park Chamber of Commerce, said that he is not in favor of the project. He doesn’t see any benefit for Kings Park.

“I think physically these generally wind up with a blighted area,” Tanzi said. “Historically, when you see a bridge, tunnel or major interstate built you wind up with blight.”

Fitzpatrick agreed, citing that the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge forever changed the character of Staten Island. The assemblyman said he’d rather see Cuomo focus on the $5.6 billion Long Island Rail Road transformation plan to electrify the Port Jefferson line and build a third rail to improve traffic conditions.

Trotta suggested the state consider road widening to add lanes and reduce congestion, or start by fixing potholes on Route 25A.

If the state moves forward with construction plans for a bridge or tunnel in Kings Park, it is sure to face opposition.

“If the state tries to jam it down our throats, they’re in for one hell of a fight,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s not the right place for it.”

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Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn is among the lawmakers hoping to use the #MeToo moment not only to change culture, but to change laws. File photo

Like a tidal wave slamming into the shore the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, born of high-profile sexual assault and sexual harassment cases becoming public, are decimating decades-old culturally accepted standards regarding behavior in the workplace and otherwise. In an effort to keep up with rapidly shifting societal norms, lawmakers from local town governments all the way up through the federal level are examining existing laws pertaining to workplace sexual misconduct while also crafting new ones to cover potential lapses — in government and the private sector.

Laura Ahearn, an attorney and the executive director of The Crime Victims Center, a nonprofit dedicated to the prevention of sexual abuse and rape, as well as providing support for victims of violent crimes, said she views the #MeToo movement as a valuable opportunity.

“The #MeToo movement has created an ideal climate for us to call upon legislators to help us change a culture which has minimized sexual harassment and a society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and sexual harassment,” she said, adding her organization, which runs the Parents for Megan’s Law website, has many state-level legislative priorities currently in the works.

“Women have been taught to believe that performing sexual favors for their bosses is part of the job.”

— Marjorie Mesidor

While cases of harassment, assault and general sexual misconduct involving prominent men in government and the entertainment industry are resulting in serious consequences, through loss of employment or social pariah status, low-profile offenders, especially from the private sector, are likely avoiding them. Creating concrete ways to punish offenders operating out of the public eye will be a challenge for lawmakers going forward.

According to Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai), the county passed legislation in December mandating all elected officials and department heads be trained on sexual harassment and assault by the Office of Labor Relations.

The law mandates elected officials and department heads be trained starting 2018, and again every two years. Anker said she’s hoping to amend the law to make it mandated that every new hire be educated once taking a position.

Marjorie Mesidor, a partner at New York City’s Phillips & Associates law firm, which specializes in employment discrimination and sexual harassment cases, said she was floored to hear the law was only just put in place.

“Great progress,” she said. “I’m not mocking it, but my stomach is churning.”

Mesidor pointed at state and federal laws that require a complaint to be filed in order for businesses with management-level employees accused of harassment to be legally held liable as a deterrent in justice being achieved for victims. She said when formal complaints are made by employees, cross examination follows that takes on the tone of “slut shaming.” She said that in itself is enough to prevent many women from filing initial complaints, thus harming their harassment cases in the future.

“I’ve seen a trend of cases come into our office of women who are in forced sexual relationships with their bosses over time,” she said. “They’ve been taught to believe that performing sexual favors for their bosses is part of the job.”

“What about someone working in a deli, the restaurant waitress — their jobs, their life depend on that paycheck from the boss who might just be making them uncomfortable … It might be much worse.”

— Kara Hahn

Employees and employers in the private sector are often unaware of their rights and what constitutes harassment that would hold up in court, according to Mesidor. She said New York City Human Rights Law doesn’t require formal complaints, and should be looked to as an example for writing harassment laws.

Bills are currently in committee in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives that would amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, a law passed to require Congress to follow employment and workplace safety laws applied to the business world. The Senate version of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), if passed, would reform procedures for investigating harassment complaints in Congress and require public announcement of the offender and the dollar amount in the cases where settlements are reached. This week, Newsday reported more than $10 million of taxpayer money has been used to settle 88 sexual harassment, discrimination and other related cases in state government over the last nine years.

Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) said she would like to see laws put in place requiring businesses to adopt best practices when it comes to sexual harassment, rather than simply providing legal cover for the ones that do.

Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) agrees.

“What about someone working in a deli, the restaurant waitress — their jobs, their life depend on that paycheck from the boss who might just be making them uncomfortable,” she said. “It might be much worse.”

In October 2015, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed legislation to prevent harassment in the workplace. The legislation directed the state Department of Labor and Division of Human Rights to make training available to employers to help them develop policies, procedures and their own training to address and eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Cuomo signed legislation “Enough is Enough” that year, which requires all colleges to adopt a set of comprehensive procedures and guidelines, including a uniform definition of affirmative consent, a statewide amnesty policy and expanded access to law enforcement.

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A model unit inside The Shipyard at Port Jefferson Harbor apartment complex. Photo from Tritec

By Alex Petroski

The 112-unit, three-story apartment complex prominently perched at the west entrance to Port Jefferson Village, with a bird’s-eye view of Port Jefferson Harbor, got its last, most important feature Jan. 18: tenants.

Tritec Real Estate Company broke ground on the former site of the Heritage Inn motel in June 2016, and last week a  small group of renters began moving into their new homes. Five apartments were fully moved in by the end of the day Jan. 18, and more tenants have been moving in incrementally every day. Onsite Community Manager Phil Chiovitti, whose permanent office will be on the first floor of The Shipyard, said the incremental strategy is to avoid elevator gridlock. Chiovitti said so far, about 46 percent of the units have been preleased, and Tritec’s goal is to have the remaining units inhabited by summer.

“It’s nice to have the building start to come alive a little bit,” said Chris Kelly, Tritec’s director of marketing, who has been a regular fixture at the formerly under-construction building.

As part of Tritec’s financial assistance agreement reached with the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency, an organization tasked with helping to fund projects that will attract business and improve economic conditions within its area, smaller payments in lieu of property taxes will be made to the village by Tritec for 15 years. The agreement has created tension with some longtime homeowners in the village concerned about more neighbors using village streets and services without contributing to the tax base. Others have expressed varying levels of outrage over the sheer size of the building.

“The natural beauty of its harbor and surrounding hills make it one of the loveliest spots on the North Shore of Long Island,” village resident Karleen Erhardt wrote in one 2017 letter to the editor of  The Port Times Record. “It is no wonder that visitors come here year-round to escape the blur of boxy, vinyl-sided suburbia that now characterizes much of Long Island. The Shipyard has done irreparable damage to the character of Port Jefferson Village. All that we residents can do now is wait for the inevitable traffic congestion in and around our town that can only make life here worse.”

Jordan and Alejandra Kaplan were the first tenants to officially move into the building. The couple owned a home in Ridge for 40 years, and after spending about six months living in the basement at one of their children’s homes, waiting for their new dream apartment to be ready to move in, were excited to be at the front of the line last week.

“We had a very large house and for the two of us — it was three floors — it was enormous,” Alejandra Kaplan said. “We said we need to change our lifestyle, and this is definitely what we wanted to do. Everything is right here, you just have to go downstairs and you have everything at your fingertips, and we’re very happy about that.”

She and her husband cited relief from yard work and snow shoveling; proximity to the ferry, which allows them a convenient option to visit casinos in Connecticut or one of their children who lives in Vermont; and the long list of amenities and attractions both inside the building and within the village, as major factors in their decision to downsize. The couple said they’ve long been fans of the goings-on at Theatre Three and the Village Center, and have more than a couple of favorite restaurants in the village.

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John Daly racing down the slope. Photo from Jonn Daly

Four years ago, Smithtown resident James Daly took his son John aside. The younger Daly had been in position to realize a long-held dream, only to see that dream slip away, as if it, and his sled, had slipped into a nightmare on Russian ice.

Competing in his second Olympics in the fast-paced sport of skeleton racing, John Daly was in fourth place in the Sochi Winter Olympics going into the final run of a four-heat race when his sled popped out of the grooves at the top of the mountain. That slip cost him time he could not afford to lose, sending him down to 15th place, and after the race, into retirement.

John Daly is a professional skeleton racer. Photo from Jonn Daly

Daly’s father grabbed him and said, “What happens to you today will make you the man that you’ll be tomorrow,” the son recalled.

At the moment, Daly barely registered the words, as the agony of defeat was so keen that he walked away from a sport that had helped define his life over the last 13 years.

His retirement, however, only lasted two. Daly wanted to rewrite his Olympic script.

The Smithtown native recently learned that he would represent the United States for a third time at the Winter Olympics, completing a comeback that required him to make marathon nine-hour drives from Virginia, where he’d gotten a job as a sales representative at medical technology company Smith & Nephew, to Lake Placid, where he returned to familiar stomping grounds.

A race official for bobsled and skeleton, the elder Daly continued to trek to the top of snowy and wind-whipped mountains, recognizing in the back of his mind that the middle of his three children might one day return to a sport where competitors sprint with a hand on their sled for five seconds and then dive headfirst onto a brakeless vehicle that can reach speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour.

When he learned his son made the Olympic team that will compete in Pyeongchang, South Korea next month, Daly couldn’t contain his enthusiasm.

“I’ve been telling everybody,” the retired EMS worker for the FDNY said with a laugh, even including random people he meets at the gym.

“When people watch the Olympic games on TV, they see a person from a town they never heard of,” James Daly said. “Now, all of a sudden, they see Smithtown. It’s great.”

The racing Daly, who is now 32, had a long road back to reclaim a spot on the American team. For starters, he had to go back to North America Cup races, the junior circuit of racing.

“Daly never really lost it. It was quite amazing to see.”

— Tuffy Latour

Daly “never really lost it,” said Tuffy Latour, the head coach of the USA skeleton team. “It was quite amazing to see. We were quite pleased.”

In January of last year, Daly earned a gold medal at Salt Lake City and followed that up with a gold and silver at Lake Placid.

Not only was his proud father there to celebrate John’s return, James also put the hardware around his neck.

“He’s been there from the time I went down the mountain the first time,” John said. “He’s always been there and for him to be there again, to put the medal on me for my first race back, it felt right.”

The pair joked while celebrating the first of several America’s Cup medals that the success felt familiar, like Daly was never gone.

At this point, Daly said he feels that the track in South Korea where he will square off against veteran sliders, including his longtime friend and teammate Matt Antoine, plays to his strengths. Latour said the American team is in a similar position preparing for South Korea as it was going into Sochi.

“We had a test of it last year in the World Cup,” the coach said. “The results were similar to what we had [in 2014].”

Latour said it sometimes helps to walk away for a few years and come back refreshed. He highlighted Daly’s experience as an asset in preparation for the 2018 games.

“He has nothing to lose,” said Latour, who appreciates how Daly’s comedic side helps steady his teammates during competition. He said Daly has the same energy he had before he left the race. “It’s great to have him around.”

John Daly, with father James, has had a successful season leading up to the Olympics in North Korea, grabbing gold in Lake Placid last year. Photo from John Daly

Daly said he’s proud to represent the United States. After he retired, he went to the gym, where he’d see people wearing sweatshirts emblazoned with the names of the colleges they’d attended. His sweatshirts read “USA.”

“That USA represents every college,” said Daly. “It’s a good feeling to wear it.”

At the South Korea games, Daly will be without teammate and friend Steve Holcomb, who died last year at 37. Holcomb’s story, including a recovery from an eye disease that made him nearly blind to a gold medal-winning driver of the celebrated Night Train sled, inspired people around the world, as well as his teammates.

As with his fellow bobsled and skeleton racers, Daly will be flying down the mountain in a suit that has Holcomb’s initials on it.

Daly will spend a next few weeks preparing for one more chance in the Olympics.

During the training to get back, Daly said his body and his mind demanded to know why he’s going through this work again.

He told himself: “I’m here to finish my career off the way I’d like.”

Bennarda Daly, who will attend the Olympics with her husband, said the South Korea Olympics will give her son something he didn’t get from the games in Russia.

“In South Korea,” she said, “he will finally get closure.”

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Participants at the 2017 Women’s March in Port Jeff Station. File photo by Alex Petroski

Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Over the course of the last several months, we’ve seen the dominance of men in power being stripped down. The day-to-day climate regarding sexual harassment and misconduct have surely changed, but we need to keep this #MeToo dialogue open.

TBR News Media hosted female local government officials, lawyers and activists at our Setauket office to speak about their feelings regarding the behavior of men, and we thank them for their openness and raw stories, sometimes relating to men of high status.

While high-profile allegations and apologies mount, it’s not the actors, politicians and TV stars with whom we should be most concerned. It’s the people around us. We’ve found most often that it’s just when we share our stories, big or small, that we’re really getting somewhere. Getting people together — especially women in power — we can come up with strategies to enact change. We hope that what’s lasting from this remarkable moment in history is not just the list of famous men left in the rubble, but rather the idea that leveraging power to diminish someone else’s self-worth is a thing of the past.

Hearing the wide array of stories from women who have been elected to lead communities, from being grabbed during a middle-school class to being asked inappropriate questions by a boss, the truth is that these things can happen to anyone. And it’s clearly time for a cultural overhaul.

We hope that a byproduct of this moment is also prevention, which can come in the form of education to ensure our boys don’t grow up to become the sexual abusers of tomorrow. To guarantee that this happens, we would like to see school districts and colleges create stricter rules and hold kids accountable for their actions, whether they’re the star lacrosse player heading to the championship or the valedictorian of their class.

In the process of this shift, we don’t want to run out of steam. An issue so long ingrained in society needs a multipronged approach. With that, women shouldn’t fear sticking up for themselves — think about it not as your job being on the line but your principles on the verge of breaking. While the bad behavior of powerful men is what has created this movement, raising confident girls and creating an environment for them to flourish into strong women is another antidote.

Women are, at last, being heard. But we want to make sure that every woman is heard. The focus should be on the prey and not the predator. Just because your abuser wasn’t famous doesn’t mean your story doesn’t need to be heard. To keep steering the #MeToo ship in the right direction, we will continue to run stories on the development of the issue. If anyone, male or female, would like to share a story, anonymous or not, call 631-751-7744 or email [email protected]. The only way to get to a better tomorrow is to share the stories of yesterday and today, to heal, to learn from our actions and to create stronger reactions in the hopes of continuing to rip down the abuse of power that has landed us in this mess.

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