PSEG trucks remove a downed tree in Mount Sinai Aug. 7. For several days, cars had to swerve around the tree that split the intersection of North Country Road and Crystal Brook Hollow Road. Photo by Kyle Barr
LIPA filed a $70 million lawsuit against PSEG-Long Island in State Supreme Court in Mineola against the New Jersey-based power company for breach of contract in response to Tropical Storm Isaias, which hit Aug. 4 and knocked out power for some Long Islanders for over eight days.
The Department of Public Service recommended a lawsuit to the LIPA Board of Trustees.
“Utility companies are beholden to ratepayers, and when that service is inadequate — or as in this case, a complete failure — those utilities need to be held accountable,” Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) said in a statement. PSEG “failed to hold up their end. It’s inexcusable, and we’re going to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
The complaint, filed by attorneys at the law firm Rivkin Radler, alleges breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, based on PSEG’s “failure to prepare for and manage restoration effort during and following Tropical Storm Isaias. LIPA also brings this action for specific performance to compel PSEG LI to comply with its obligations” under the operations service agreement.
The suit also alleges “corporate mismanagement, misfeasance, incompetence, and indifference, rising well beyond the level of simple negligence.”
Immediate Fix Demanded
State Sen. James Gaughran (D-Northport), an outspoken critic of LIPA and PSEG LI’s response to the storm, welcomed the legal action.
“It’s about time LIPA start acting to protect the best interests of Long Island ratepayers,” Gaughran said in a statement. Gaughran urged LIPA to make sure the $70 million is paid by PSEG shareholders and not ratepayers.
“An independent receiver should be appointed to refund this $70 million to hardworking Long Islanders and not dumped into the blackhole of LIPA’s budget,” Gaughran added.
In a statement, LIPA CEO Tom Falcone said PSEG LI must “immediately fix these failed information technology systems and abide by its contract” as LIPA continues to review its legal, contractual and termination options.
“PSEG Long Island has collected nearly half a billion dollars from Long Island customers over the past seven years while failing to meet its basic obligations,” Falcone added.
John Rhodes, Special Counsel for statewide ratepayer protection for the New York State Department of Public Service, asked if LIPA should “find a new service provider?”
In a statement, PSEG Long Island said it was “hard at work addressing recommendations in LIPA’s 30- and 90-day reports. We believe that the current public-private partnership is the best option for Long Island customers and we have remained committed to being the service provider of choice for LIPA.”
PSEG LI is “aware that this lawsuit has been filed and we are reviewing it.”
Lawsuit Claims
In the lawsuit, LIPA describes PSEG LI as demonstrating willful, bad faith and grossly negligent failures.
One of a litany of complaints during and after the storm was the inability for customers to connect with PSEG and to receive a reliable estimate of the time to restore power.
Ratepayers were “left without critical information as adequate telephone lines were overwhelmed with calls and an Outage Management System, selected by PSEG LI as able to withstand a major storm and paid for by LIPA, failed.”
About a million customer calls and 300,000 text messages did not reach PSEG LI, according to the suit.
Calls to outage and billing lines “became overloaded and failed,” the suit alleges, with 75% of customer calls to PSEG LI’s Outage Line not going through on the first day of the storm.
PSEG LI “did not properly monitor whether the calls on the Outage Line were connecting. Calls were dropped without PSEG LI’s knowledge,” according to the suit.
LIPA asserted that PSEG should have known about the inadequacy of the voice telephony system.
PSEG did not perform sufficient tests to determine whether the system would function during a major storm event before or in the 100 days after Isaias, the suit further claimed.
The problems with the telecommunications system predated the storm, as the suit indicated that the “OMS did not crash due to Isaias. It was already failing.”
PSEG LI “must develop a comprehensive integrated set of business continuity plans for every critical IT and communication system on Long Island, plus all repair and recovery activities,” according to the suit.
Howard Albert Scarrow died peacefully Dec. 3, surrounded by his loving family at his Setauket home.He was 92.Scarrow was a professor emeritus of Political Science at Stony Brook University.
Howard Scarrow
Born and raised in Detroit, he was heavily influenced by his family’s membership in the city’s Central United Methodist Church. The church’s pastor, Henry Hitt Crane, was a seminal influence on young Scarrow.Crane, a pacifist during World Wars I and II, instilled in Scarrow a lifelong respect for those with the courage of their principled convictions, even when those convictions did not align with his own.
Scarrow received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Duke University.He began his teaching career at Michigan State University, where he met Rowena Casad at a departmental softball game. They married six weeks later.
Scarrow joined SBU in 1963 and was a central figure in the Political Science department from then until his retirement in 2004. His research began with a focus on politics in Canada and Australia, and broadened into inquiries on the methods of comparing political systems generally. Later he focused on American politics, particularly in New York State, about which he wrote his book “Parties, Elections and Representation in the State of New York.” In addition to his several books, he authored many scholarly articles. He was also a revered teacher of American and comparative politics at both introductory and advanced levels. As a mentor to generations of students, he combined warmth and generosity of spirit with insistence upon the highest academic standards.
Scarrow had significant involvement in many aspects of community life in the Three Villages.He was an active member of the Setauket Presbyterian Church, where he anchored the choir’s bass section for more than 50 years.He was a longtime member of the Three Village Tennis Club.He ran community recycling drives in an era before bottle deposit laws and curbside recycling took hold.He was active in the Three Village Civic Association, as well as myriad local political issues and campaigns. Perhaps his most consequential contribution to civic life was his role in the decades-long struggle to elect Brookhaven Town Board members via council districts, replacing the prior at-large system — a switch that led to the 2002 breakup of Brookhaven’s one-party rule, and a town government more representative of Brookhaven’s diversity. He also was one of the initial investors in The Village Times and contributed astute political columns to the newspaper.
Scarrow had a passionate interest in classical music, stemming from his lifelong participation in choral singing.He was a frequent, enthusiastic audience member at the Staller Center at SBU, and at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival, where he volunteered for more than 30 years while in residence at the family’s summer home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Rowena; his son James and daughter-in-law Tracy, of Washington, D.C.; daughter Jean, of Newton, Massachusetts; his brother, David Scarrow and wife Janet of Kalamazoo, Michigan; his grandchildren, Christopher, Spencer, Emily and Jackson; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be planned at a later date.Contributions in his memory can be made to the Brennan Center for Justice, the Setauket Presbyterian Church music fund, the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, or the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival.
‘The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.’
— President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dec. 8, 1941
Ships and planes burn as the Japanese Imperial Navy launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941.
By Rich Acritelli
The above words were parts of the “Day in Infamy” speech that President Franklin Roosevelt presented to Americans directly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor some 79 years ago.As the United States is currently battling COVID-19, many decades ago, our citizens were fighting for a different type of survival. On that Sunday morning, Americans woke up to one of the most startling pieces of news that ever struck this country. As our people listened to their radios, they quickly realized that our powerful military in Hawaii was devastated by the Empire of Japan. In a matter of moments, a nation that was once hesitant to fight the Axis powers was now immediately engaged in a massive war.
The tropical paradise of Hawaii had its skies marred by the first wave of 183 Japanese Zero fighter planes that aggressively responded to their orders of “Tora, Tora, Tora.” Large numbers of Japanese aircraft took off from their carriers as they were cheered on the decks by the crews.In one of the largest national security blunders to ever harm the nation, the American intelligence system lost the Japanese fleet which sailed undetected from their home waters and emerged 230 miles off the coast of Oahu. While these waves were detected by radar, no alarm was issued due to the belief that these enemy aircraft were American B-17 Flying Fortresses that were traveling from San Diego. When military leaders in Washington D.C. feared that an attack was imminent, an American alert was finally issued to the senior military officers. Every Sunday morning, General George C. Marshall routinely rode his horse and this report sat at his home for almost two hours before he responded to this possible threat.
Within a short period, the beautiful skies overhead were darkened by the smoke of naval ships, aircraft, army equipment, and fuel dumps that were destroyed by bombs. Japanese planes accurately swarmed over “Battleship Row” to bomb the large American fighting ships. Again, another wave of Japanese organized 54 high level bombers and 78 dive-bombers, all of whom were escorted by 36 fighter planes. To make the strafing missions easier for the Japanese, many of the American military aircraft were situated extremely close together out of fears that Japanese agents would sabotage them. This same placement of planes was utilized by General Douglas R. MacArthur in the Philippines. Like in Hawaii, many of the planes and bombers were crippled on the ground, as the Japanese gained complete air superiority against American air, army and naval forces. The well-coordinated Japanese attack also presented the new fear that if they had landed their army forces in Hawaii, it was possible for them to take these islands.
During this surprise attack, Secretary of State Cordell Hull spoke with representatives from the Japanese Embassy in Washington D.C. As he spoke to his counterparts, Hull was informed by his aide’s that Pearl Harbor was being hit at that very moment. It was the task of these diplomats to give Hull a lengthy document of major grievances against the American government. They understood that the time to attack was near, and it was the goal of the Japanese officials to deliver this message to Hull before their planes struck Hawaii, but it took the Japanese Embassy longer to decipher and type this response and the delay caused them to hand Hull this response as their planes were devastating the headquarters of the American navy in the Pacific. For the rest of his life, Hull was bothered that as he was negotiating for peace, the Japanese deceived him through many phony meetings, where they were only interested in pursuing war.
Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and Lieutenant General Walter C. Short were the army and naval senior commanders that were responsible for the defense of Pearl Harbor. Short had 40 years of service under his belt, where he served with Marshall and was promoted by him to command the Department of Hawaii. Directly after this attack where Short was caught off guard, he retired from the service. When Kimmel saw the attack unfolding, a stray bullet forced him to fall to the ground. He realized that the Japanese were in the process of destroying the American military presence that he held the responsibility for protecting. With Pearl Harbor virtually defenseless, Kimmel eerily stated about almost being shot, “It would have been merciful had it killed me.” Both men were the scapegoats for “dereliction of duty” and their careers were terminated. Some 60 years later, Congress cleared Short and Kimmel’s names and stated that they were not solely to blame for 2,400 losses on Dec. 7, 1941.
Less than two weeks later, Kimmel was relieved of his command and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz ascended to the position of Commander in Chief. This historic officer was at the helm of many naval successes in the Pacific and he was warmly greeted by his wife who was pleased about his promotion. However, on Dec. 7, there was no joy, the fleet barely survived, and instead of searching for the Japanese carriers that caused this chaotic assault, his men were attempting to rescue their comrades who were trapped in sunken ships in and around Pearl Harbor. Nimitz could only respond to his wife, “all of the vessels are at the bottom.” On the USS Arizona alone, there were twenty-three sets of brothers that were serving together on this ship that were killed by the Japanese.
The U.S. Navy did not have time or manpower to go after the Japanese naval forces at Pearl Harbor as they were trying to rescue their comrades.
To make matters worse for the U.S., the Japanese attacked the American strongholds in the islands of the Philippines, Wake, and Guam. For years, the Japanese, as a growing military power, resented the deterrence of the United States navy held as they sought control the Pacific and Asia. The Japanese leadership understood that if they did not sink the aircraft carriers and battleships at Pearl Harbor, they were unable to match the military and economic might of the U.S. For a year, the Japanese lived up to their strength as the “Rising Sun” showed no signs of being halted. They controlled a tremendous land and sea empire that stretched north into China. They took two Aleutian Islands from Alaska, reached in opposite directions towards Australia and Burma, and they pushed towards the island of Midway.
Roosevelt was determined that the U.S. would fight in both the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation before the end of 1942. Immediately, FDR sought vengeance against the sneak attack that nearly destroyed the naval force at Pearl Harbor. While the “Doolittle Raid” did not hurt the Japanese war effort, it managed to show to this warring nation that America was able to quickly strike back. An aircraft carrier strike force sailed within four hundred miles of Japan and launched its bombers to hit their mainland. Fifteen out of the 16 American B-25 bombers crashed landed in China with a minimal casualties. And while this was a minimal raid, it was a psychological blow to the Japanese and it showed resilience to American citizens. For his efforts in leading and carrying out this assault, Dolittle was awarded the Medal of Honor by Roosevelt.
American boys from the inner cities, the rural areas, and communities like that of the North Shore were quickly trained and deployed for war. Both Americans and British landed in Morocco and Algeria to briefly fight the Vichy French troops and oppose the Germans. In the Pacific, American ground forces landed at Guadalcanal to prevent the Japanese from building an air strip that would attack the shipping lanes to Australia and New Zealand. Since this past March, our country has been severely hurt by the terror of COVID-19, but let the sacrifices and resolve that was shown by the United States during and after Pearl Harbor prove to our current citizens that there are no challenges that this nation is unable to overcome. May we always remember our past, present, and future veterans and those front-line workers today that are engaged within the “health defense” of this nation.
Thank you for members of the Rocky Point History Honors Society for contributing to this story.
Rich Acritelli is a social studies teacher at Rocky Point High School and an adjunct professor of American history at Suffolk County Community College.
Santa stopped by Stony Brook Dec. 6. Photo by Rita J. Egan
While the Ward Melville Heritage Organization had to hold its annual Christmas festival and tree lighting virtually this year Dec. 6, a few of the board members and their friends gathered on the Village Green at the Stony Brook Village Center, not just to see the festive lights, but also for an announcement.
Visitors to the Village Green take a photo in front of the lit spruce. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Richard Rugen, WMHO chairman, said the Village Green in the center would be renamed in honor of Jennie Melville, the mother of philanthropist Ward Melville, founder and planner of Stony Brook Village Center. Rugen said she was the one with the idea to change the then “kind of down-at-the-heels Schooner town” into what it is today, including the two-acre Village Green, even though she didn’t live to see it.
“It’s been used now for 80 years, much more so this year with COVID,” Rugen said. “People have been able to come down and have a ball game or a card game or a sunset, whatever their little hearts desired.”
The WMHO chairman said despite the Village Green being used more than usual this past year, visitors have been respectful of the grounds.
“The trustees and the staff of the Ward Melville Heritage Organization worked very hard to keep it beautiful, and you have cooperated very well,” he said.
Rugen said after seeing so many residents enjoying the green, the board of trustees decided to name it the Jennie Melville Village Green, and in the spring, they plan to install a plaque with the new name and some history about both Melville and the open space.
Also on hand was Chris Damianos, chairman of the board and CEO of Damianos Realty Group, one of the sponsors of the tree lighting, and his family. The Norway Spruce that was lit to commemorate the holiday season Sunday is dedicated to his mother Virginia, who passed away in 2009.
“She was a strong woman,” he said. “This tree has too grown strong, tall and resolute.”
He called it a symbol of hope.
“Another symbol of hope and joy is Santa,” he said, adding that the man in red was on his way.
To the delight of attendees, Santa, who had just spent a few hours speaking to local children via Zoom in a virtual event organized by WMHO, stopped by to help light the Stony Brook Village Center tree.
During the Zoom call with Santa, children were able to request holiday presents. A mailbox has also been set up in front of the Stony Brook Post Office to send him letters this season.
In past years, hundreds of residents would line up by the post office to have their children take photos with Santa as part of WMHO’s Holiday Festival, which the pandemic made impossible this year.
The past two years the festival also featured the Legends and Spies Puppets Procession led by a New Orleans-style brass band. The puppets paid homage to former notable Three Village residents such as Ward Melville and his wife, Dorothy.
This year WMHO continues its Holiday Tree Competition. Throughout the shopping center visitors will find decorated trees.
Ballots can be obtained from businesses throughout Stony Brook village, and shoppers can vote for their favorite tree until Dec. 21.
The Ward Melville Heritage Organization will host a Holiday Secrets of Stony Brook Village Walking Tour on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 10:50 a.m. and again at 2:50 p.m.
Participants will experience the unheard stories of some of Stony Brook Village’s illustrious residents and customs through time. This includes “Astor Orphan” Alida Chanler Emmet and the extravagant parties that she hosted at her estate, the Mallows; the origins of the Stony Brook Village and its traditions of gift giving though the centuries; and the forgotten story of painter Ruth Hawkins Mount Seabury who was born on Christmas Day in 1808 and the only sister of the three Mount artists.
The holiday cheer can continue after the walking tour, as the Mirabelle Tavern at the Three Village Inn (c. 1751) and Pentimento Restaurant will be offering ticket holders drink or dessert specials with the purchase of food items.
Tours will leave from the Stony Brook Post Office, 111 Main St., Stony Brook. Tickets for this event are $15 per person and includes fresh hot chocolate from Stony Brook Chocolate Works. Reservations are required by calling 631-751-2244.
Suffolk County Police are investigating a three-vehicle crash that killed a man in Selden Monday, Dec. 7.
Police said John Swanson, 75, of Riverhead, was driving westbound on Route 25 in Selden when his 2019 Chevrolet van jumped the curb and struck a 1997 Dodge pickup truck and a parked vehicle on North Bicycle Path at around 11:25 a.m.
Detectives believe Swanson may have suffered a medical event while driving. He was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The two male occupants of the Dodge were not injured. The Chevrolet and Dodge were impounded for safety checks.
A scene from 'My Name is Sara'. Photo courtesy of Staller Center for the Arts
Stony Brook Film Festival
Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts concludes its 25th annual Stony Brook Film Festival on Dec. 10 with a virtual screening of the short film Maradona’s Legs followed by the feature film My Name Is Sara at 7 p.m. The film based on the true life-story of Sara Góralnik, a 13 year-old Polish Jew whose entire family was killed by Nazis in September of 1942.An all-access pass is available for $60; individual tickets are also available for $6. Visit www.stonybrookfilmfestival.com or call 631-632-2787.
I’ve recently started using za’atar a lot. A Middle Eastern blend of equal amounts of dried culinary herbs, thyme, cumin, coriander, sesame seeds and sumac with a perhaps a little salt or crushed hot red pepper added, za’atar gives an interesting and savory dimension to both ordinary and exotic dishes. Like so many ethnic combinations, it varies from cook to cook and region to region with other additions or substitutions such as fennel or marjoram, for instance.
Moreover, I’ve found that recipes in which it is used often call for additional amounts of one of its elements. Make your own blend or buy it at specialty grocers, then add it to salad dressings, spreads, dips, veggies, meat, poultry or fish, and a whole lot more. Its flavor is subtle; it doesn’t sock it to you, make your eyes water, clear your sinuses or send you sputtering and sprinting for a glass of water. It’s just a nice flavor kick.
Basic Za’atar
YIELD: Makes generous 1/4 cup.
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon crushed dried thyme leaves
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sumac
Generous pinch coarse salt
Generous pinch crushed dried red pepper flakes
DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl thoroughly combine ingredients. Store in air tight container or zip top bag.
Cucumber, Tomato and Feta Salad with Za’atar
YIELD: Makes 4 to 6 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, bruised
1 tablespoon za’atar
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small English hothouse cucumber, peeled and diced
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
DIRECTIONS:
In a small skillet over medium high heat, warm oil; add garlic, reduce heat to low and cook until garlic releases its aroma and starts to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add za’atar, stir and remove from heat. Discard garlic, let cool to lukewarm, add salt and pepper and lemon juice. In a salad bowl toss cucumber and tomatoes with warm dressing, then sprinkle feta on top. Serve with toasted pita bread and hummus.
Lemony Za’atar Chicken, Potatoes and Onions
YIELD: Makes 4 to 6 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons za’atar
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated and peeled
1/2 cup dry white wine
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 broiler-fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes, scrubbed and halved
1 large onion, peeled and cut into small wedges
DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, za’atar, garlic, wine, salt and pepper. Transfer to gallon zip top bag, add chicken, seal bag and turn it to be sure chicken is evenly coated. Refrigerate for two hours. Remove chicken from bag, but reserve bag of marinade; place chicken in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. In the bag of reserved liquid place the potatoes and onions; seal bag and tilt to coat them evenly; refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 400 F, place chicken, garlic, potatoes and onions with the marinade in a shallow baking pan. Bake, basting occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender, about 40 to 50 minutes. Serve hot with a tossed salad.
Za’atar Red Snapper with Israeli Couscous
YIELD: Makes 4 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Israeli couscous
Four 6-ounce red snapper fillets, skin on
1/4 cup olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons za’atar
DIRECTIONS:
Cook couscous according to package directions. Meanwhile coat the fish fillets on both sides with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and rub each side of the fillets evenly with the za’atar. Heat the remaining oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add the fish fillets, skin side down, and cook until skin is golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Carefully turn fish over and cook until flesh is opaque and fish flakes easily. Divide couscous onto 4 plates and top with fish. Serve hot with sautéed greens.
The Wading River Fire Department building on North Country Road. Photo by Kyle Barr
Local fire departments are gearing up for their annual commissioner elections, and most districts in the local area, save Wading River, are looking at uncontested races.
Commissioners are unpaid elected board members who run the district, which is a connected but distinct entity from the fire department. The district is a taxing entity whose board is elected by the residents in the district. The commissioners determine yearly budgets, go out for grants and propose bonds to maintain equipment and personnel of both the district and department.
TBR News Media reached out to the local fire departments to talk to the commissioner candidates. Candidates talked about how COVID-19 has caused budgetary concerns, and along with current ongoing projects, how they try to recruit new members during a time of a pandemic.
Mount Sinai Fire Department. Photo by Kyle Barr
Mount Sinai Fire District
The Mount Sinai Fire District is holding an election Dec. 8 for a five-year commissioner seat. Incumbent Joseph Tacopina is running uncontested for a seat he’s held since 2002.
Tacopina said in a phone interview he has been with the Mount Sinai Fire Department for 35 years. Since he’s been commissioner, he said the board has worked to keep the percentage yearly tax increase below the New York State tax cap. Still, the district’s five-year plan does not include any big-ticket items, he said, and instead focuses on things like replacing the boiler in the main firehouse and other capital improvements.
“We’ve been streamlining processes through the department, but there are budgetary constraints based on COVID, so some of the projects we were looking to do are minimal in scope,” he said.
The pandemic has brought forth a host of new costs to the district, things that they previously wouldn’t have had to pay for. Tacopina said there were costs associated with sanitizing the firehouse and firefighter equipment, and they have had to spend much more on cleaning supplies and other PPE. At certain points, the district had to close the building to nonessential service for small time periods because of positive infections among volunteers or staff. It has also made recruitment for volunteer-starved departments like Mount Sinai that much harder.
“All these additional costs are not budgeted — we have to spend on sanitizing equipment so we can have our members respond without infecting everybody,” he said.
The election is set for Dec. 8at the main firehouse located at 746 Mount Sinai-Coram Road from 6 to 9 p.m. The district is also asking residents to vote on a proposition that would make it so an active member can become a participant of the service award program at age 17, instead of 18. The annual cost of the program would increase from $265,200, or $2,160 per participant, to $288,400, or $2,060 per participant.
Tacopina said the district is attempting to allow younger people in their youth programs to become active members sooner to allow them earlier access to firefighter training. Currently young members must turn 18 before joining such training, which usually only allows them a small period for which to train and then work on trucks. Doing this would allow firefighter training for the summer before, so once they turn 18 they’re already ready to become full-fledged members.
“This way before they go to college, we have them for that summer as well,” the commissioner said.
Miller Place Fire Department. Photo by Kyle Barr
Miller Place Fire District
Miller Place has one commissioner term up for election. Incumbent commissioner Larry Fischer is seeking another five-year term starting Jan. 1 next year.
Fischer, a 31-year member of the department, has served five terms on the board of fire commissioners. It’s been a long road, though the ongoing pandemic has led to a host of new challenges.
He said the department has been mostly shut down for all non-call and emergency response activities. The department has had to greatly limit the number of training sessions, which along with limitations at fire school, has limited the availability of new recruits to get the training they need.
Still, the important thing, Fischer said, is that they’re still answering calls, which even before the pandemic, close to 70% of calls were for EMS. Like other districts, the pandemic has put an added cost on the district from having to purchase PPE and sanitizing equipment. Just this past week, the department hosted both rapid and the three-day COVID-19 tests for department members.
“We want to make sure our members are safe, especially our EMTs” he said. “I salute the EMTs who are really on the front lines of this.”
Within the past year or so, the district updated their 20-year-old phone system. Though they had applied for a grant in 2019, the department ended up having to pay out of pocket, and that equipment was finally delivered at the beginning of this year.
Though the commissioner is hope for a return to something resembling normal next spring and summer following the release of a vaccine, that will not be the end to issues in the area. He shared his concern for the ongoing opioid crisis, which data has shown has only been accentuated because of the pandemic. He hopes that they can be allowed to go back in schools sometime in the near future to provide some training and awareness for students related to opioids.
The election is held at the main firehouse at 12 Miller Place Road Dec. 8 from 4 to 9 p.m.
Sound Beach Fire District headquarters at 152 Sound Beach Blvd. Photo from Google Maps
Sound Beach Fire District
The Sound Beach Fire District is hosting its election for a five-year commissioner seat. Incumbent Richard McKay is running for his seat unopposed.
McKay was appointed three years ago to finish the term of a previous commissioner who vacated his position. With several decades of experience as both a firefighter and EMT, he previously served as a commissioner for another department and said he originally did not expect to be elected again.
“I told them I’ll try it out for the year, but we did really well — all the commissioners play nicely in the sandbox — so now I’m running for a full term,” he said.
He said the main purpose of the district and commissioners is to maintain service without putting the onus on taxpayers. Last year Sound Beach residents voted to approve a $2.9 million bond to complete repairs and work at the main firehouse that hasn’t seen work in years. Most of the work is repairs and maintenance, McKay said. Repairs and fixes include a makeover of the parking lot, new epoxy floor finishing in the ambulance bays and apparatus room, sprinkler and fire alarm system replacements and window replacements on both floors.
“The floors inside the firehouse are crumbling and in one part of the building a wall has a crack in it,” he said. “Almost every window leaks.”
While the district has made budgets that have gone under the state tax cap for the past several years, this is the first time they will pierce the tax cap due to paying off the bond.
The other big issue the district faces is a lack of volunteers, McKay said. It’s especially hard nowadays to get people to dedicate the necessary amount of time for both training and to be on call.
The election is set for Dec. 8 at the firehouse located at 152 Sound Beach Blvd. from 2 to 9 p.m.
The Rocky Point Fire Department building in Shoreham. Photo by Kevin Redding
Rocky Point Fire District
Rocky Point is hosting its election Dec. 8 to elect a commissioner to a five-year term. Incumbent commissioner John Buchner is running unopposed.
Buchner did not respond to a request for an interview by press time.
The election is set for Dec. 8 at the district building at the Shoreham firehouse, located at 49 Route 25A, between 3 and 9 p.m.
The contested fire commissioner race in Wading River is set for a vote Dec. 8. Photo by Kyle Barr
Wading River Fire District
Wading River remains one of the few contested elections for commissioner this year. The seat is for a five-year term starting Jan. 1, 2021, and ending Dec. 31, 2025.
Incumbent commissioner of 15 years Jim Meier is facing off against previous commissioner Tim Deveny.
Meier, a third-generation firefighter and 41-year member of the department, said he is running again to continue the work they are doing in upgrading equipment and boost declining membership. He also boasted there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 in the department, meaning they have maintained a continuity of service throughout the pandemic.
“It’s all about the safety and the financial end,” he said. “We have a board that’s working together well right now.”
He said the district has purchased two ambulances and a new ladder truck in the last two years using capital funds without having to rely on other financial institutions. He also boasted about other grants the district has received in the past several years, including a $200,000 grant for radio systems in 2015.
“With all that saving we can purchase new rigs to keep us going,” he said.
The station 2 firehouse on Hulse Landing Road has been closed for nearly two years now, saying the chief of department originally closed it for mold issues, among other building problems, and they “haven’t been able to reopen it.” That building is now being used for storage, save for a single emergency vehicle, while apparatus and equipment that was housed there has been moved to the main firehouse along North Country Road. Members that used to report to the second firehouse now respond to the main one.
The biggest issue, Meier said, is a lack of enough volunteers to man that station. He said despite additional travel time for some members to get to the station, the move has actually improved response time, as with a single alarm, instead of people responding to two separate houses, more people are available right next to the necessary equipment.
“Most people from that end [of Wading River] were getting older or moving out,” Meier said. “As bad as it is to have the station closed, it’s helped our response time.”
Deveny, a 23-year member and past commissioner from 2004 to 2014, said he is running again because of the issue with the station 2 firehouse, which he said was a major disruption in service to the eastern portion of the Wading River hamlet.
“Public safety — that’s what it’s all about,” Deveny said. “In this day and age when EMS calls are escalating, you take away from the people on the east end?”
He disagreed with the current board saying there are not enough volunteers to staff the station 2 building, saying that as he has worked there, they had 16 people who responded there and were “locked out” in February of last year. He said problems such as the mold issue have already been rectified, and some volunteers taking the trek to the main firehouse has meant a drive time of 10 minutes or more. He added people on his side of town “still don’t know they closed that station down.”
“I’m so angry I can eat glass,” he said. “You can’t put a price on human life.”
The candidate also criticized the district for piercing the state tax cap two years in a row, saying the district needs to work on its financial situation. He said the department did not require a ladder truck when other nearby departments could provide such equipment in a pinch, adding there were no large houses in Wading River that would require that apparatus.
The election is set for the main firehouse located at 1503 N. Country Road, Dec. 8 between 2 and 9 p.m.
Arkarup Banerjee is coming back home to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. This time, instead of working on the olfactory system, the way he did in Associate Professor Dinu Florin Albeanu’s lab from 2010 to 2016, he is studying vocalizations in the Alston’s singing mouse, a Central American rodent.
Banerjee rejoined Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in November after almost four years of post-doctoral work at NYU Langone Medical Center. He hopes to use the study of the way these mice react to songs and the way they formulate them to understand how signals from the brain lead to vocalizations.
Singing Mouse
“The reason I decided to come back to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is not just because I did my PhD here,” said Banerjee, who is an assistant professor. “Neuroscience [at the lab] is amazing. I have fantastic colleagues. I expect to have lots of collaborations.” CSHL is one of his “top choices” in part because of the ability to interact with other researchers and to attend meetings and courses, he said.
To hear Albeanu tell it, CSHL’s colleagues appreciate the skill and determination Banerjee, whom Albeanu described as a “rare catch,” brings to the site.
“There was pretty much unanimous excitement about his vision for his research,” Albeanu said. “Pretty much everyone was in agreement that [hiring Banerjee] is a must.”
Fundamentally, Banerjee is interested in understanding how the brain computes information. In his new lab at CSHL, he wanted to study the natural behaviors that animals produce without having to teach them anything.
“That’s why my fascination arose in singing mice,” he said. “Nobody has to train them to vocalize.” He hopes to understand the neural circuits in the context of a natural behavior.
In the longer term, Banerjee is interested in contributing to the field of human communication. While numerous other creatures, such as birds, interact with each other vocally, singing from trees as they establish territorial dominance and soliciting mates through their songs, mice, which have cerebral cortexes, have brain architecture that is more similar to humans.
The Alston’s singing mice, which is found in the cloud forests of Costa Rica and Panama, is also different from numerous other species of mice. Many rodents produce vocalizations in the ultrasonic range. These animals can hear calls that are outside the range of human capacity to pick up such sounds.
The singing mice Banerjee is studying produces a stereotyped song that is audible to people. “These mice seem to specialize in this behavior,” he said. In neuroscience, scientists seek animals that are specialists with the hope that understanding that species will reveal how they work, he said.
Audible communications are important for male mice in attracting mates and in guarding their locations against other males. These lower-frequency sounds travel across greater distances.
Specifically, Banerjee would like to know the anatomical differences between the brains of typical rodents and the singing mice. He plans to probe “what kind of changes does it require for a new behavior to emerge during evolution.”
The songs have some value to the males who sing them. Females prefer males who sing more notes per unit time in a 10-second period.
In his experiments, Banerjee has demonstrated that the conventional view about one of the differences between humans and other vocalizing animals may not be accurate. Scientists had previously believed that other animals didn’t use their cortex to produce songs. Banerjee, however, showed that the motor cortex was important for vocal behaviors. Specifically, animals with temporarily inactivated cortexes could not participate in vocal interactions.
As a long term goal, Banerjee is also interested in the genetic sequence that makes the development of any anatomical or behavioral feature different in these singing mice. By using the gene editing tool CRISPR, which CSHL scientists employ regularly, Banerjee hopes to find specific genetic regions that lead to these unique behaviors.
Arkarup Banerjee with Honggoo Chae, a post-doctoral fellow at CSHL, from a Society of Neuroscience Meeting in 2018.
An extension of this research could apply to people with various communication challenges. Through studies of mice with different genetic sequences, Banerjee and other researchers can try to find genes that are necessary for more typical vocalizations. By figuring out the genetic differences, the CSHL scientist may one day discover what researchers could do to minimize these differences.
A resident of Mineola, Banerjee lives with his wife Sanchari Ghosh, who works at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory press for the preprint service bioRxiv. The couple, who met in India, spend considerable time discussing their shared interest in neuroscience. Banerjee said his wife is a “much better writer” than he and has helped edit his manuscripts.
Banerjee is passionate about teaching and hopes he has a chance to educate more students once the pandemic recedes. Outside the lab, Banerjee shares an important quality with the mice he studies: he sings. He trained as a vocalist when he was growing up in India, and listens to a range of music.
Albeanu, who was teaching a course in Bangalore, India in 2009 when he met Banerjee, said it is a “pleasure to listen to [Banerjee] singing.”
Albeanu recalls how Banerjee stood out for many reasons when he first met him, including developing a way to modify a microscope.
As for his work, Banerjee hopes to understand behaviors like vocalizations from numerous perspectives. “We can seek explanations for all of these levels,” he said.
A neuroscientist by training, Banerjee would like to determine the connection between neural circuitry and the behavior it produces. “The understanding would be incomplete if I didn’t understand why this behavior is being generated.”
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