Last Saturday I received my first of the required two vaccines against COVID-19. The inoculation itself was painless. The person who administered the shot was a broad-shouldered young man with curly black hair, deep brown eyes and prominent cheekbones that led to a white-tooth smile. He pinched the skin of my arm just below my left shoulder, and I knew the deed was done only when he discarded the needle into the red can. I think you can see why the entire experience was painless.
As you, who have tried undoubtedly know, it was not easy to get an appointment for the vaccine. My family and friends and the children of my friends were all on the phone or on their computer keyboards for hours trying over and over again to make contact with the right person in a reasonably close location to schedule the vaccination. Finally, the daughter of a close friend secured a time slot for me at the Javitz Center in New York City, and then my son found one sooner at Jones Beach.
I know that some people are passing up the opportunity to get vaccinated. They are concerned, among other reasons, that it has not been tested sufficiently since it was developed with unprecedented speed. What will the long term effects of the vaccine be? No one knows because there has not been a long term so far; we do know that the immediate effects have been studied for the short term in thousands of patients in clinical trials. The results and the efficacy have been excellent. So I decided that I would risk any unknown long term negative effects from the vaccine against the already known long-haul negative consequences from the disease and go for it.
I had heard that after-effects were not uncommon during the 24 hours following the vaccination, and indeed I did experience a couple. Two or three hours after I returned home, and after my dinner, I suddenly was enormously fatigued. I managed to climb the stairs to the bedroom, despite feeling light-head, and I slid into bed, where I then spent the night and enjoyed a sound sleep. I awoke to an aching arm, but that wasn’t the main problem. When I tried to walk, my right leg was, I thought, in spasm. I assumed I had slept in an awkward position and that I could walk it off, but the pain intensified. As the day went by, I endured only with the help of repeated Tylenol capsules, vitamins, a banana and ultimately the distraction of the big football game.
The next day, little more than 24 hours later, I felt perfectly fine. I was timid about walking, but there was no problem. Do I know that the leg pain was the after effect of the shot? I don’t, of course.
I do have a date for the second shot, which is scheduled for early next month, and apparently there is a dose reserved for me to receive at that time. Will the vaccine protect me? From what I have read and been told, it takes about two weeks before the body develops any immunity, and with the one shot, that is perhaps only 50 or 60 percent. The second vaccination brings the immune system to about 94 percent — or so the evidence has shown. Now, with the new mutations that are freely developed by the viruses with each reproduction in new victims, the scientists are not sure. Vaccinations are racing against viral reproduction.
There can be many minute mutations of the viruses’ genetic sequences. More worrisome is recombination. That means the coronavirus mixes large chunks of its genome upon reproduction, and that is common and surely happening. Recombination might enable different tiny variants to combine and make the virus more potent inside a victim’s body.
The question is, will the vaccine hold these newly minted intruders off? Scientists are studying variants and recombination, but they don’t yet know. So far, so good.
It was Thanksgiving weekend 1995. I was recently divorced and a teacher colleague and I decided that we should go out that Friday night. We decided on the Unitarian Church in Stony Brook, where they held gatherings for singles. Chairs forming circles of ten were throughout the room. A moderator posed questions we each had a minute to answer. We moved to different circles and at the end of the night, I found myself sitting next to a guy who had been in the first group! His name was Jim and he told me later at the diner where we went for coffee that he had planned that! We were married in 1997 and still celebrate Nov. 24th as a special anniversary!
Sue and Dave Rosner, East Setauket
Dave and Sue Rosner
What a love story! When romance starts again at age 57, the second time around can be the best!
Sue and Dave met on Match.com 10 years ago. He said it was her smile that attracted him to her profile picture, and she said it was his blue eyes. As it turned out, they both had easy going personalities, enjoyed outside activities, music and adventure. Similarly, together they had 3 daughters who became instant friends once they met. Their first date was at “Sweet Mamma’s” in Northport for brunch. Dave brought along their Zodiac Signs, which matched them as well!Now married for 8 years, they truly are each other’s soul mate!
Robin and Cliff Lemkin, East Setauket
Cliff and Robin Lemkin
It was a lovely fall day in 1983. I was strolling around the Smith Haven Mall when I realized it was time for an eye exam. Off I went to Sterling Optical.
As I was settling into the exam chair, this very handsome, adorable and very single Optometrist entered the room. The examination began. Dr. Lemkin looked into my beautiful green eyes. He proceeded to tell me that I had the most Captivating Corneas, the most Ravishing Retinas and the most Iridescent Irises that he had ever seen!
Shortly after we went on our first date. We were married on May 25th, l986 at the North Shore Jewish Center. Cliff and I were the first guests to stay in the honeymoon suite at the newly opened Danfords Hotel.
Kate and Larry Passaretti, Setauket
Kate and Larry Passaretti
Larry and I met in an evening business course at Nassau Community College in 1978.We’reblessed with two children … a wonderful son-in-law and grandson and a sweet future daughter-in-law!
Life is good and we feel fortunate to maintain good health so we can enjoy all that is to be. As my dear Dad used to always say to be happy in life you need three things:
“… someone to love … something to do … and something to look forward to …”
… we look forward to our son’s wedding this summer!!
Glen & Tara Grippe,Setauket
We met in 11th grade in the hallways of Ward Melville High School. We were high school sweethearts and even attended the 1990 Ward Melville Senior Prom together. We recently celebrated 25 years of marriage in November of 2020 and have two children, Connor and Emily who are both college students.
And a post from TBR News Media’s Instagram …
Our Moms were pregnant at the same time. He was born three weeks after me and we played together in my sandbox as toddlers. So, pretty much known each other forever. Reconnected on FB after 25 years without speaking.
— Kristen Memoli, Huntington
Thank you to all who participated in TBR News Media’s How I Met My Mate contest! Congratulations to Patrice and Jimmy Perreca of Sound Beach! They win dinner for two at Bliss Restaurant in East Setauket with a choice of dining in or takeout. Happy Valentine’s Day!
News of the COVID-19 vaccine was met with immense excitement and demand after the pandemic ravaged for almost a year with no apparent light at the end of the tunnel.
Excitement stifled among New Yorkers, many say, as the distribution of the vaccine supply in New York state has been filled with supply issues, appointment cancellations and an online portal that is difficult to navigate.
Distribution began with health care workers in December (Phase 1a) and on Jan. 11 (Phase 1b) expanded to other frontline workers such as teachers and police officers, along with anyone ages 65 and older.
This seems to have been when the demand surged out of control. Long Islanders have been trying to access the portal to make an appointment only to find available appointments to be both miles and months away, leaving residents to consistently call the New York State hotline, hoping for a cancelation and appointment to open up — a process especially challenging for elderly residents. As of Feb. 8, the state has received 2,808,825 vaccinations and administered 2,228,567. On Long Island, 82% of the vaccine doses distributed have been used. There are about 7 million eligible residents throughout the state.
On Feb. 15, those with certain comorbidities and underlying conditions will be eligible to sign up for appointments.
“The entirety of our week seven allocation was delivered to providers yesterday and already New York has administered 90% of its first doses while prioritizing fairness and equity,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said in a statement. “Week after week we exhaust our vaccine supply and are basically left waiting for the next week’s delivery. This is not unique to New York. It’s happening in states across the nation because the previous administration grossly mismanaged and politicized the vaccine distribution process from the beginning by not ordering enough vaccines from manufacturers. With new leadership in Washington, the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight but we must manage our expectations. Production of the vaccine alone will take six to nine months. In the meantime, we will continue to distribute the supply we do get quickly and fairly as we have from the start.”
To try to find out the best way to go forward, TBR News Media spoke with a bipartisan group of local elected officials to ask what we can hope for in the future, where they think the biggest problems are in the distribution chain and whether or not they have received the vaccine.
File photo by Kevin Redding
Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY1)
“We need to make it easier, not harder, for New Yorkers to get the coronavirus vaccine who want it,” Zeldin said in a statement. “New York’s rollout has been an unmitigated disaster: Unused coronavirus vaccines sitting in freezers for weeks, doses ending up in the trash, local health departments overwhelmed with vaccine demand, thousands of appointments canceled, New Yorkers showing up to appointments only to be turned away and more. While these drug companies need to continue ramping up the production and distribution of vaccines, the state needs to ramp up its strategy, rules and communications.”
“While I believe vaccine distribution should be prioritized to those who need it most — the elderly, frontline workers and more — as soon as the doctors say it’s my turn, I won’t hesitate to get it.”
When asked about the state health department lacking vaccine supply from the federal government he said, “Drug companies need to continue ramping up production and distribution, but when these vaccines get to states around the country, they need to be put into people’s arms effectively and efficiently, not thrown in the trash.”
File photo of Jane Bonner
Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point)
Bonner said that the issue with the distribution is at the federal level. “President Biden [D] said throughout the entire campaign that he had a plan [for vaccine rollout] and clearly he doesn’t,” she said. “Never make campaign promises that you can’t keep.”
Bonner has been working with her elderly constituents to try and guide them to the New York State website, or to the hotline.
“Seniors have lost so much throughout this pandemic,” she said. “They really need to be able to socialize and go out again. We need to work together for our seniors, and to get the schools and businesses open.”
Bonner has not yet received the vaccine, as she wants elderly people to receive it before she does.
File photo by Kevin Redding
County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai)
Anker has sent letters to Cuomo, as well as U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) seeking answers for the failures in the vaccine rollout.
In a letter to the governor dated Jan. 11, Anker conveyed the frustrations of senior citizens and essential workers trying to get appointments immediately after the Phase 1b distribution, only to find out they were already booked
“As the Suffolk County chairwoman of both the health and seniors committees, I am writing to acknowledge my frustration and concerns regarding the disbursement of the COVID-19 vaccine in the county,” she wrote. “With my district having one of the largest senior populations in Suffolk County, I offer the suggestion of providing accessible locations, including community on-site availability, to our senior communities who are more at risk of COVID-19. While I appreciate the many Suffolk County staff members doing their best to facilitate the vaccination process and the patience and cooperation of the residents eagerly awaiting their turn in getting inoculated, I ask that a more cohesive process be implemented as soon as possible as we move forward in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Anker wrote to Cuomo again Feb. 3. “Since the county is not able to provide vaccinations to our senior citizens under New York State executive order 202.91, it would be helpful to have a comprehensive list that outlines all locations, including pharmacies and other vaccination sites,” she said. “Without this information, we as elected officials cannot provide our constituents, in particular our senior citizens who may not have the ability to register online, with accurate information and guidance about how and where to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Anker also stated in the letter the Suffolk County Disabilities Advisory Board advised her that accommodations were not being made for disabled people at state-run vaccination sites. For instance, the New York State COVID-19 vaccine form, which patients are required to fill out before receiving the vaccine, does not have a braille version nor is it compatible with screen reading software for the blind. Anker also reached out to Schumer and Gillibrand on Feb. 3. expressing concern with the limited federal supply of the vaccine being distributed to the county.
“Currently, the vaccinations that are available are a mere fraction of what our constituents need, and the current climate is getting more desperate. Increasing vaccinations are not only the best way to combat the pandemic, but paramount to keeping our large population of seniors and others healthy,” the letter read.
“I say I’m like a dog with a bone,” Anker said. “I will not let this go until I’m assured that this process is fixed. I don’t want to wait a week. I don’t want to wait a month. I know that we may not have the vaccines right now, I understand that,but while we’re waiting fix the process.”
She said she has been working with local pharmacies to try and get them a supply of vaccines, as well as local senior communities to figure out their vaccination plans.
Anker has not yet received the vaccine but said that she “probably will” once she is eligible.
Leg. Nick Caracappa
County Legislator Nick Caracappa (R-Selden)
“I believe I share the same view as many residents of Suffolk County in that the initial rollout of the vaccine was a disaster, with the short supply and limited venues of distribution,” he said in a statement. “Recently, this office has aligned with other county, town and state officials in demanding that the governor stops ignoring the needs of Suffolk County. Additionally, I’d love to see the New York State health commissioner and local government agencies collaborate to expedite supply and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to our frontline workers, essential workers and vulnerable senior citizens.”
“The time is now to get our residents a sufficient supply of the vaccine to combat this deadly virus once and for all,” he added. “I encourage all those who are eligible for the vaccine to sign up as quickly as possible. Although I haven’t received the vaccine to date, I intend on doing so once I qualify in accordance with New York State guidance.”
When asked to expand on what he meant by the governor “ignoring the needs of Suffolk County,” as well as how specifically the state health department and local governments could collaborate, he said, “The governor should have sent more doses to Suffolk County and more specifically to Brookhaven Town. County and town agencies have the venues available to provide ample locations to receive these much-needed vaccinations and easing the overcrowding we are experiencing at the limited locations currently available. We should work collectively with the state, county and town to arrange for these vaccines to be expedited and administered to those who need them. We all knew this vaccine was coming but the preparation to distribute was completely mishandled.”
Steve Englebright
State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket)
“New York’s vaccination rollout and its online system for determining eligibility and booking appointments has resulted in a great deal of anger and frustration for residents anxious to get vaccines for their parents or themselves,” Englebright said in a statement. “We need to have a simple, more user-friendly system for signing up online forvaccines.A universal preregistration system where eligibility can be approved, and appointments allotted as doses arrive would save us all a lot of time and angst.”
Although he has yet to be vaccinated, he knows the importance of getting it to Long Island seniors.
“It makes little sense for residents of retirement communities to make appointments and travel separately to mass vaccination centers when medical teams can bring vaccines to them. For seniors who have their homes in the community and, soon, residents with comorbidities, there should be pop-up vaccine centers run by hospitals or the County Department of Health at local libraries and senior citizen centers. Elected officials on the state, county and town levels could help get the word out to their local communities.”
Photo from Kara Hahn
County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket)
Hahn shared constituents frustrations regarding the New York State online registration system and expressed regret that she is limited in what she can do to reform it as a county legislator. She called the process of seniors trying again and again to get an appointment without success as “dehumanizing.”
“I feel their pain,” she said.
Hahn has been working with the county to establish distribution locations within the community for when supply is more abundant.
She has not received the vaccine, as she is not yet eligible but said she will when she is.
Town of Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim. Photo from Nicole Garguilo
Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R)
Wehrheim said that he signed a letter to the governor Jan. 14, in coordination with the Suffolk County Supervisors Association asking that essential town workers be vaccinated. He said that a lot of town workers were exposed to COVID-19 in recent weeks and he was concerned, but if they were still quarantined when the storm hit, town workers would still be quarantined.
“The majority of our employees still are not included in any vaccine schedule as of today, endangering our abilities to provide essential services like senior meal delivery, animal shelter staffing, duties of the town clerk and the functions of our building departments,” the letter read. “Should these workers be included in a phase in the near future … allow us to help the process by setting up vaccination sites in each of our towns and by including municipal workers in the next phase of vaccine rollout to ensure that our essential services are not disrupted.”
Wehrheim said that he had not yet heard back from the governor. He also has not personally received the vaccine.
Smithtown Town spokeswoman, Nicole Garguilo, said the town has received approval from the county to use Nesconset and Branch Brook elementary schools as vaccine distribution sites as supply becomes more widely available. “If the county doesn’t get the number of vaccines from the state that they require, they’re not going to greenlight any other vaccine distribution sites,” she said.
Another roadblock is the fact the site needs to be staffed with certified vaccinators, a process that takes four-to-six weeks. While the site must be supervised by a nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant or a licensed physician, pharmacists, midwives, EMTs, medical students, podiatrists, dentists, dental hygienists and students in medical studies programs can get certified to give the vaccine, pursuant to New York State guidelines.
Garguilo said the town is working on partnering with a private pharmacy or hospital in order to streamline the vaccine process. The town’s priority would be to get vaccinations for teachers, as well as seniors in assisted living communities who live on a fixed income and are generally not technically savvy.
“That would make the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time,” she said. You would give the schools everything they need to get back to in-person learning and you would help the people who have those who are in that high-riskcategory that have suffered the most through this pandemic,” she said. Ideally, they would have “targeted vaccine weeks” in which they would focus on vaccinating the schools, and the senior population, one at a time.
Mario Mattera. File photo
State Sen. Mario Mattera (R-St. James)
Mattera said the “whole” problem with the vaccine distribution is a lack of federal supply being delivered to the state. “Every CVS, every Walgreens, every pharmacy, just like with the flu shot, could go and get the supplies and give it, our residents could go right around the corner from their home to go and make this easy … the problem is the federal government releasing as many [vaccines] as they can.”
When asked what he thinks the realistic timeline for the vaccine to be widely available is, Mattera said, “I really wish I could answer that. If I had the crystal ball, I guess I would be a hero. I just really feel the more companies that the FDA approves … there’s going to be more that’s going to be distributed out there.”
He is specifically optimistic for the Johnston & Johnson vaccine, which will be administered in a single dose. He also said that he has not personally received the vaccine, as he “wants everyone else to go” first. He emphasized the importance of following social distancing measures and wearing a mask to continue to curb the spread of the virus.
File photo
County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga)
Trotta said the state should have granted eligibility to a smaller population, such as those 85 years old and over, studied the backlog, and then opened it up to other groups such as teachers.Cuomo “created the panic,” he said. Trotta added the state was “giving people the hope that they’re going to get [the vaccine], and in doing so “clogged the system up.”
“Anybody with common sense would never do that,” he said.
Trotta has not yet received the vaccine because he is not yet eligible, but he was able to secure his parents an appointment at Jones Beach after spending hours on the computer attempting to secure one.
“Everyone was very nice,” he said. “The National Guard’s running it. It went very smoothly, and it could have all been like that if they would have just opened it up slower.”
Steve Stern. Photo from Stern’s office
State Assemblyman Steve Stern (D-Dix Hills)
“The COVID-19 vaccine is a light at the end of the tunnel and our best hope for recovery from the pandemic for our health standpoint and for our economic recovery,” Stern said in a statement. “I share the frustration that my neighbors feel about the scarcity of vaccines, difficulty securing appointments and a hard-to-navigate system. New York has been receiving 250,000 vaccines a week for the entire state, which has 19 million residents, seven million of whom are eligible under current CDC guidelines. This is clearly inadequate and totally unacceptable. Our new administration in Washington is actively working to procure and produce more vaccines, vials, syringes and to develop logistical support to enable the states to vaccinate at least 150 million Americans by the end of March. Our office has been working with our partners in state government to ensure that we receive our fair share of vaccines and that residents are kept informed about how they are vaccinated when they are eligible. I have not received the COVID vaccine and like my neighbors, will wait until it is my turn. It is in all of our interests to have as many of our neighbors vaccinated as soon as possible to bring an end to the pandemic.”
File photo
County Legislator Susan Berland (D-Dix Hills)
“Suffolk County is ready with the infrastructure and personnel necessary to help vaccinate the public,” she said in statement. “The problem we’re facing now is that we don’t have enough vaccines. Recognizing that demand is clearly outpacing supply, I will continue to advocate for increased supply from the state and federal governments so we can reach our goal of vaccinating 75% of our eligible residents as soon as possible.”
Berland said she is “neither eligible for, nor has she received, the vaccine.”
File photo by Alex Petroski
State Sen. Jim Gaughran (D-Northport)
“What we’ve seen so far has been problematic,” Gaughran said. “The biggest issue is twofold: One is the lack of supply coming out from Washington, and what I think made it even worse was that the state was told it was going to get a supply that it never got; and two, the rollout itself, including at the state level, has been problematic.”
He acknowledged that there have been issues with the state website crashing, and appointments being made when there was a lack of supply.
“It’s been a mess, but I believe it’s going to get significantly better,” he said “I think you’re going to see an addition to the large state-run sites, large county-run sites. Eventually it will be distributed even more on a community-by-community basis.” He is hopeful that the senior population can be vaccinated within “the next month or so.”
Gaughran added he has pushed for additional community pop-up distribution sites, as well as a plan to vaccinate seniors that are “shuttered in their homes.” He also acknowledged seniors are having difficulty navigating the vaccine website and there needs to be a solution to make it more accessible. He said that he worries that once the vaccine becomes more widely available, people are going to be making cancelations to try and get an earlier appointment which could create a “bureaucratic nightmare,” and feels as though there needs to be a system in place to prevent that from happening.
The state senator said that he has not yet received the vaccine, as he is not a member of any occupational group that is eligible, nor is he over 65.
“I’m waiting for millions of other people to get the vaccine before it’s my turn,” he said. “But once it is, I’m going to sign up.”
File photo
County Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport)
Spencer said that his office has been getting calls from seniors, who are having trouble getting on the phone, or going on the computer to make an appointment.
“For seniors that may be less tech savvy, to go online and make the appointment is not so easy for them,” he said. “My wife was able to do it for her parents, but she had to do it, they would never have been able to do it. Sometimes the website is down, sometimes the hotline is down, so I think that that’s probably one of the biggest things is expanding that infrastructure once you’re actually doing the vaccines. I think this is almost as much as an IT job as it is a health department job.”
Spencer stressed the importance of making sure the vaccine is going into underserved areas, not only in the United States but around the world.
“I believe there’s a lot of nationalism that’s going on right now. People are like, ‘We’ve got to get enough vaccines for people in our country,’ and I can understand that, but there’s definitely been some reports that if we don’t vaccinate in a lot of our third-world countries, it will becomenot only a humanitarian crisis, but it’s an economic crisis too.”
Spencer is focused on ensuring that vaccines get to communities of color hard hit by the pandemic.
“If we don’t get enough vaccinations in areas where there are Hispanic and African American populations, where they may be in close quarters there’s less opportunity for social distancing, we’re not going to be able to control the virus as effectively,” he said. He added that he is advocating to place vaccine sites in communities like Brentwood, Huntington Station, Central Islip and Gordon Heights that are walkable.
Spencer has not yet received the vaccine but will do so once he has “the opportunity.”
The three members of Port Jefferson’s Unity Party running for village reelection are Trustee Stan Loucks, Mayor Margot Garant and Trustee Kathianne Snaden. Photo by Julianne Mosher
This isn’t the time for them to leave their positions, all three members of the Village of Port Jefferson Unity Party said. Work is still to be done.
Mayor Margot Garant has led the village for over a decade. This six-term incumbent locally practices law and her mother, Jeanne Garant, once served as village mayor. The current mayor said that although she’s been doing this for a while, she’s not leaving her post anytime soon — especially under the current COVID-19 situation.
“The basic underlying decision was I felt it would be irresponsible,” she said. “I couldn’t afford to sit down at a time where there’s still so much instability.”
In 2019, she ran against former Suffolk County GOP chairman John Jay LaValle.
“The last election cycle was important, because I was feeling that people are feeling very apathetic and not engaged,” she said. “And it was great that everybody came out, whether they were for or against, because everybody got educated again on what the issues were. They show that they care about this community.”
Running alongside her are trustees Stan Loucks and Kathianne Snaden, who also said there is more to accomplish. Loucks, who has been on the board for almost six years, has oversight ofthe Port Jefferson Country Club which is owned by the village.
“It’s not a time to leave,” he said. “We’ve got a lot on the plate, and we have a lot of jobs to finish. My own opinion is that I have to stay on and see it through.”
Loucks said his responsibilities as trustee, the country club apart, are the recreation and the parks departments — “all of which have a lot of projects going on right now.”
Some of those projects include thesand dredging at East Beach, finished earlier this month; adding new kayak racks to Crystal Brook Hollow Road beach; and other big projects at the country club.
“What’s really important to understand is even though we have been in this pandemic, the village is running pretty well,” he said. “We haven’t gone all the way to the bottom of the slide. We’ve got our heads above water.”
Snaden, who is in her second year with her position, said she had just started and then the pandemic hit.
“A lot of things that I had started, the brakes went on,” she said. “But we’ve made tremendous headway on public safety issues, which is my biggest department.”
She said that although a global crisis was going on, she was able to help curb crime uptown at the train station and put a fence there.
“The crime up there just plummeted because I just hammered home,” she said.
Garant agreed, adding that while things outside might seem gloomy, she and her team have worked tirelessly to get more projects done.
“As people are coming out of this pandemic now, things are starting to really blossom,” she said. “Things are opening up for us.”
She said that big projects, like the uptown revitalization project, to smaller tenants opening up shop Down Port, she wants to see all of them through.
“We just want to keep doing our good work,” she said.
Garant said that being mayor of the village is “like running a multimillion-dollar corporation, with seven different departments, 9,000 clients — you can’t come in here without the experience.”
She applauded her colleagues for running alongside her.
“You don’t necessarily have to agree with me on everything, but I’m always going to do what’s in the best interests of this village,” she said. “I try my best to come to a happy medium, and I think that’s basically the philosophy of this board — they’re hardworking. These two here are my left and my right.”
Snaden said that although they’re running together, it doesn’t mean they agree on the same things.
“We come from different worlds, and we have those different demographics represented here,” she said. “I think anybody that thinks they can just come in without the experience and the knowledge is not seeing the big picture.”
Loucks said they chose to announce their reelections earlier than normal.
“We came out very early this year, because it’s a different year, things have been kind of treading water for a while,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to do, and it was very important to come out early and start doing it. People know that we’re going to continue — that’s the one thing we all agree on.”
Like so many others during the pandemic, Weisen Shen has had to pivot in his job.
An Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook University, Shen has historically focused his efforts on understanding the geothermal heat flux, or the movement of heat from the core of the Earth, in Antarctica.
Constrained by travel restrictions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Shen has decided to put his 180 seismometers to good use on Long Island.
“We have seismometers that stay in the basement of our building,” Shen said. “We can’t use them in Antarctica because of the travel ban and other complexities, and we want to make use of them in our community to understand the geology of Long Island.”
Shen is looking for students who might be interested in geology and who might like to plant a seismometer in their backyard, gathering information about how the flow of seismic waves deep beneath their homes and backyards reveals details about the structure, temperature and composition of the land miles below the surface.
Shen, who lives in Syosset, installed a seismometer in his own backyard, which has allowed him to see the signal from the local train station in Sayville. “We seek help from [the local community] to allow us to deploy a seismometer in their back or front yard for a month or so,” Shen said.
Planting a seismometer would involve digging a 15 centimeter by 15 centimeter hole that is 5 inches deep. Shen and his team would cover it. The seismometer wouldn’t need local electricity because it has a lithium battery.
After about a month, the scientists would dig it out, put dirt back in, and return the backyard to the way it looked prior to taking these measurements.
The machine doesn’t make any noise and does not pick up any sounds from inside people’s homes.
The signal will contribute “to our understanding of the Earth,” Shen explained, including details about the crustal and mantle structure, seismic activities, and the Earth’s vibrations due to civil activities such as the rumbling of trains.
Shen is “more than happy to share data” with the people who host his seismometers. He also expects to produce a research paper based on his studies from Long Island.
He is charging the batteries and testing the instruments and plans to plant them in the field as early as the end of February.
People who would like to participate can reach out to Shen by sending him an email at [email protected]. Please include “Volunteer Long Island Imager” in the subject line.
Recent Antarctica Studies
While Shen is focusing his geothermal expertise on Long Island, he hasn’t abandoned or ignored Antarctica, a region he has focused research efforts on because of the vulnerability of the ice sheet amid climate change. He is also interested in the geothermal structure in the area, which reveals information about its geology and tectonics, which remain mysteries residing below the ice.
Grounded during the pandemic, Shen spent several months gathering and analyzing considerable available data, hoping to understand what happens deep below the frozen surface.
“We are trying to analyze so-called ‘legacy data’ that has been collected over the past two decades,” he said.
On a fundamental level, Shen is trying to quantify how much heat is coming out through the crust, which includes heat coming from the deeper earth in the mantle and the core as well as within the crust.
Traveling beneath the oceans towards the center of the Earth, which would be considerably hotter and more difficult than 19th century author Jules Verne’s fantastic fictional voyages, would expose people to temperatures that increase, on average, about 10 to 30 degrees celsius per kilometer.
Some of the heat comes from the way the planet formed. In addition, unstable isotopes of potassium, uranium and thorium release heat as they decay, which mostly happens within the Earth’s crust.
In areas with large ice sheets sitting on top of the land, the geothermal heat can melt some of that ice, creating a layer of water that accelerates the ice sheet movement. Indeed, pulling an ice cube across dry ground takes more energy than dragging that same cube across a wet surface.
Moving ice more rapidly towards the periphery will increase melting which, coupled with climate change, could increase the amount of water in Antarctica, particularly in the western region.
Comparing the two ice melting effects, Shen believes global warming, which is more rapid and has shorter term outcomes, plays a more important role in changing the liquid characteristics of Antarctica than geothermal heating, which is longer term.
In collecting available legacy data, Shen analyzed information from the entire western part of Antarctica, as well as parts of the central and eastern regions.
Using a measure of the geothermal heat flux, Shen found some unexpected results, particularly on Thwaites Glacier, beneath which he found a large area with elevated geothermal heat flux.
Studying geomagnetic data, he compared their results with the results from geomagnetically derived results. In the future, he will combine the two different methods to improve the assessment.
In a publication last summer in Geophysical Research Letters, Shen presented a new map of the geothermal heat flux for Antarctica with a new resolution of 100 kilometers by 100 kilometers, which is a much higher resolution than earlier studies, which are typically done at 600 kilometer by 600 kilometer ranges.
In West Antarctica, he found a more modest heat flux, despite the area being more tectonically active.
Finally, a major take of the paper, Shen said, is that the Thwaites glacier has a high geothermal heat flux, which could explain why the ice moves more rapidly and readily.
As for his future work, in addition to exploring the seismology of Long Island, Shen said he would pursue his National Science Foundation grant to look for additional water in the boundary between the ice sheet and the mantle.
He is working on “using high frequency seismic records to look for data,” he said.
The county legislature passed a bill to crack down on reckless bicycling this week, Port Jefferson officials created a village task force that will help prevent problems and keep patrons safe. File photo from SCPD
The Suffolk County Legislature recently approved a bill to crack down on “reckless biking,” which could stop riders from endangering themselves and others on the road.
Sponsored by county Legislator Rudy Sunderman (R-Mastic), the bill claims to crack down on trick riding — like popping wheelies and swerving into traffic — and biking while intoxicated.
While it was approved 13-4, Deputy Presiding Officer Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) abstained from the vote.
“There were pieces of his bill that I really liked,” she said, “And there were some things I didn’t agree with.”
Hahn, who is still in public hearing with her complimentary bike bill, said hers focuses more on the education for drivers when put in contact with bikers on the road.
“Legislator Sunderman’s bike bill regulated dangerous behaviors by bicyclists, while my bill tries to clarify the laws about drivers and how they should pass bicyclists on the road,” she said.
She added that motor vehicle law states that a driver must pass a bicyclist at a safe distance.
“My bill states drivers need to give them at least three-feet [space],” she said.
Hahn said two legislators from the East End had some concerns regarding her bill, and she is “working to address them.”
The next general meeting is March 2 where Hahn hopes she can close the public hearing so the bill can move to the Public Safety Committee on March 11. If her bill passes, it can be voted on by the full Legislature on March 16.
Meanwhile, the Village of Port Jefferson has implemented their own policies.
According to trustee Kathianne Snaden, a new code was introduced in the fall of 2019 to pre-vent problem bikers causing issues in the village.
It started when Snaden and her daughter were outside and a young person was recklessly riding his bike in front of them, doing tricks.
“When the bicycle just about came over me and my daughter’s heads and landed in the street in front of a car, I said, ‘That’s it, I’m done. We need to do something about this.’”
That’s when the village brought in the new code, which enforces code officers to confiscate a bike from a bicyclist involved in any type of reckless behavior. The bike then must be picked up and signed for by a parent.
“Because of COVID, things were quiet in the village,” Snaden said. “But then we put together the outdoor dining and the ‘trouble’ bicyclists saw it as a beautiful stage to start performing their acts in front of the patrons.”
She said that’s when code enforcement “really put down the hammer and started implementing that code.”
Snaden said that since summer 2020, bikes have been taken and bikes have been returned to parents, with the majority of them “mortified by their children’s behavior.”
“I want to be proactive and just get them off the street, so no one gets hurt,” she said.
Along with code enforcement, the village has recently started up a task force for business owners, the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, the commissioner of public safety, the code chief, the village attorney and a representative from the Suffolk County Police Department.
“It’s eyes on the street,” she said.“And now we’re working more as a team.”
Can even a small silver lining be found in the cloud of the COVID-19 isolation? If you and your spouse or significant other are both working from home, you can do a Valentine’s Day brunch. And even if you’re alone, you can do one for yourself, because hey, ya gotta love yourself too. It can be anything from a thick deli sandwich to takeout from your favorite restaurant to whipping up something special at home. If you’re inclined to think the third choice could be fun, I’ve got some great menu items to suggest. I’m thinking a lobster salad with avocado on a croissant, a quiche Lorraine with browned onions or coconut-almond pancakes. Of course, a Bloody Mary, Mimosa or glass of champagne is a must, and to make the whole thing extra special, have your brunch in bed.
Lobster Salad with Avocado
YIELD: Makes 2 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound lobster meat
1 celery rib, cleaned and finely chopped
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 croissants, sliced open and lightly toasted and buttered
2 large leaves Boston lettuce, washed, drained
1/2 avocado, cut into 4 wedges, then brushed with lemon juice
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl combine lobster, celery, scallion, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper. Lay the croissant halves on two plates; spread lobster mixture on one half and top lengthwise with two avocado wedges, then lay lettuce on top of avocado. Place other croissant half on top and cut croissant in half. Serve with a tossed salad and potato chips.
Quiche Lorraine with Browned Onions
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
Pastry for an 9” pie
4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled, fat reserved
1 onion, diced
1 cup diced Swiss cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups half and half
Dash nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line pie plate with pastry and build and flute a substantial crust around rim; place aluminum foil over bottom of crust, then spread pie weights evenly over it. Bake 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, cook diced onion in bacon fat until nicely browned, about 8 to 10 minutes; remove to paper towels to drain. Remove crust from oven; remove pie weights and discard aluminum foil. Reduce oven heat to 375 F. Sprinkle bacon, onion, Swiss cheese and grated cheese evenly over inside of partially baked crust. In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, nutmeg and salt and pepper; pour into crust over bacon, onion and cheeses.
Place pie plate on cookie sheet and place on middle rack of oven; bake until knife inserted near edge comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot or warm with fruit salad or spinach salad.
Coconut-Almond Pancakes
YIELD: Makes 2 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups shredded coconut
1/3 cup sliced almonds
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup milk
2 small or medium eggs
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled
Nonstick cooking spray
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread coconut and almonds on a baking sheet and toast till lightly browned, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and let cool; reserve baking sheet; reduce oven temperature to 200 F. In large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In medium bowl whisk together buttermilk, milk, eggs, coconut extract, honey and melted butter. Whisk into dry ingredients just until combined (don’t worry about a few lumps);let batter rest for 10 minutes. With heat on medium-high, heat a griddle until hot (a few drops of water should bounce when sprinkled); spray with nonstick cooking spray. Ladle 1/4 cup batter onto griddle and spread into 5” round; repeat procedure; flip once till golden brown on both sides; remove to baking sheet and put into oven to keep warm.
When ready to serve, stack pancakes with coconut and almonds sprinkled between them. Serve hot with maple syrup and sliced mangoes or oranges.
Photo from Mount Sinai Fire Department photographer, Elliot Perry
Jaime Baldassare, an active Mount Sinai community advocate, passed away last week after a battle with COVID-19.
A retired Suffolk County corrections officer, Baldassare dedicated his life to volunteering in the Mount Sinai and surrounding communities. He served on the Mount Sinai School Board, was a past president of the North Shore Youth Council for a full decade, held the title of former vice president of the North Shore Colts and was ex-chief of the Mount Sinai Fire Department.
Photo from Mount Sinai Fire Department photographer, Elliot Perry
“It’s difficult to sum up someone like him in a few sentences,” said Andrew Samour, assistant chief at the Mount Sinai Fire Department. “He will be missed.”
Samour said Baldassare was with the department for 26 years.
“He was a dedicated firefighter for this department,” he said. “He was a fun guy to hang around with and had a great sense of humor.”
Baldassare was previously the assistant chief at the department from 2009-2015, and most recently served as chief from 2016-2017.
In 2017, he told TBR News Media that he loved helping other people.
“There’s nothing quite like when you pull someone out of a fire or out of a wrecked car and you find out the next day that they made it,” he said. “It’s a feeling you can’t describe. I love to do this. We train to be the best we can be so anytime a call comes in, we’re ready to do whatever it takes to help the people of Mount Sinai.”
When Baldassare wasn’t putting out fires, he was helping his wife with the Heritage Trust. Lori Baldassare founded Heritage Park nearly two decades ago, and he was right by her side.
Victoria Hazan, president of Heritage Trust, said that he could be found joking and chatting with people visiting the center.
“He surely will be missed, that’s for sure,” she said. “He was a great contributor to Heritage and truly well-loved by many people in the community.”
Baldassare was brought to Stony Brook University Hospital in December where he was diagnosed with the virus.
He was just 62 years old when he died on Feb. 4.
“He’s done so much for the community,” Hazan said. “Even though he was in the background, he was an asset to Heritage.”
From left: Legislator Sarah Anker, Heritage Trust Vice President Brad Feldman, Jaime Baldassare, Heritage Trust Treasurer Lori Baldassare, and Heritage Trust President Victoria Hazan. Photo from Leg. Anker’s office
On Sept. 10, Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) joined the Heritage Trust Board of Directors to honor Baldassare for his dedication and service to the community.
“I want to personally thank Jaime for all the years of service he has provided to our community,” Anker said. “Our community has been so positively impacted by Jaime. Among Jaime’s many contributions, he was instrumental to the creation and maintenance of our beloved Heritage Park in Mount Sinai.”
The North Shore Youth Council is mourning his loss, too.
Robert Woods, executive director, said he will be greatly missed.
“Jaime Baldassare served diligently for many years on our board of directors. He always served with joy during his time as president and made great strides in helping youth and families cope in our communities,” he said. “His legacy helped shape our unique prevention model, which supports hundreds of youth today.
Baldassare is survived by his wife of almost 30 years Lori, and his three children, Katie, Jesse and Cody.
A plow trying to clear the roads during the first snowfall of 2021. Photo by Bill Landon
In recent weeks, two large snowstorms have hit Long Island back-to-back. While Town of Brookhaven Superintendent of Highways Dan Losquadro (R) said the town is doing well, when it comes to plowing and cleaning up, some residents say otherwise.
Melissa Neff of Port Jefferson Station said she has lived in the Town of Brookhaven her entire life and never saw the roads this bad. Her complaint is typical of many residents.
“Ever since I could remember there’s always been plows going up and down the streets,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it needs to be drivable.”
Losquadro said all of the town’s vehicles are equipped with GPS, which shows him the times the plows go to each area.
“During the day we had people calling us on Monday insisting we didn’t plow,” he said. “But when you had snowfall rates of 2, 3, 4 inches an hour and plows go through areas with 40-to-50 miles-per-hour winds, they got completely covered.”
And with the larger storm that occurred the first week of February, that he said lasted more than 30 hours, he claims he met his goal.
“Within 24 hours of stopping, my goal is to always have every road passable — not pushed all the way back to the curb — but to have every town passable,” he said.
But Neff said she lives on a main road, right off of Route 347, and it was not passable.
“I’m an essential employee — I have to go to work,” she said.
And when she did, she said, she ended up damaging her new car thanks to a block of ice that was not pushed far enough aside.
“To see the roads like that and to damage my car — that’s not how you thank essential employees,” she said.
Neff said she is mad and wants answers.
“The taxes we pay in the Town of Brookhaven should cover all of the Town of Brookhaven. … We have a much larger town, and you should have enough taxpayer money to clean a town of this size.”
A car buried in its driveway during the snowstorm earlier this month. Photo by Bill Landon
Losquadro said that he had approximately 200 highway employees working in the field during Sunday’s latest storm. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, about 10 of his workers were quarantined. He added that after the first big snowfall, within days he was on the phone with vendors trying to secure additional equipment.
“Because of the complications of two back-to-back storms, there were some areas we still are working on — but that was just because 22 inches of snow came down in one week,” he said. “That’s a little bit irregular for Long Island. We don’t deal with it frequently, especially over the last two years where we haven’t had a lot snow.”
Losquadro said that he thinks people have gotten “spoiled” with the lack of snowfalls the last couple of seasons.
“This is Long Island, New York. We can get very little snow, or we can get a lot of snowfall,” he said.
Neff said she believes that he needs to reach out to more private contractors.
“He has the money for it,” she said. “I don’t know what he does with the money, but he should be reaching out to more private contractors before the snow occurs and pay them on time, so they come back to Brookhaven during the next storm.”
Losquadro responded that the number of available hired contractors is down because of several reasons. He said the lack of snowstorms over the last couple of years has played a part: Outside contractors have gone out of business due to equipment maintenance and insurance; insurance policy rates for plow endorsements have gone up; and the pandemic.
But Neff said COVID isn’t a good enough excuse for poorly plowed roads.
“COVID is not the reason,” she said. “Other towns have been able to plow and clear their roads better than Brookhaven has.”
Losquadro said that he knows people are unhappy when plows push snow into freshly shoveled driveways.
“My staff don’t have a good answer for that other than its your responsibility as a homeowner,” he said. “Private residences are responsible for cleaning their own driveways including where it meets the roads.”
A shopping center in Shoreham covered in snow. Photo by Bill Landon
He said that snow removal in the Town of Brookhaven has many moving parts. The crews make the roads passable, and day-by-day continue to widen and maintain the impacted snow on the sides of the streets.
“I don’t think there is anyone who likes shoveling compacted snow,” the highway superintendent said. “It’s just something you have to do when you live in the Northeast. I think that social media and the instant gratification world we live in has led a lot of people to post things and create an unreasonable expectation of a time frame that’s just not obtainable.”
He’s asking residents to be patient.
“What’s the alternative? Don’t plow the roads?” Losquadro said. “We’re going to keep continuing to do what we do, and I hope people appreciate the number of hours and hard work and exhaustion that the men and women who are doing this work put in during and after each of these storms.”
Renowned Magician Alexander Boyce to perform in Valentine’s Day Fundraiser
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport will present Alexander Boyce’s Virtual Magic Show on Sunday, February 14 via Zoom from 7 to 8 p.m. Boyce, a renowned magician, performs a fun, live, interactive sleight-of-hand and mind-reading event. Guests will need a deck of cards and some coins on hand if they want to participate.
Boyce has performed on national television, at The Magic Castle in Hollywood, and was featured recently in The New York Times.The Times has called Boyce “sophisticated.” The Philadelphia Inquirer said he is “enchanting.” The recent New York University graduate also performed in the long-running hit Speakeasy Magick at the McKittrick Hotel in New York City.
Actor Neil Patrick Harris, third from left, speaks with Alexander Boyce, back to camera. Photo by Bjorn Bolinder.
“I’ve spent the last several years touring the world sharing unique magic for the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Jimmy Fallon, and Daniel Craig,” Boyce said. “I’ve worked wonders as a magician for clients like Amazon, Google, and NASDAQ at New York City institutions including The Friars Club, The Players Club, and The Rainbow Room.”
Time Out New York called the show, “highly skilled close-up magic that really leaves you gasping with wonder.” Recently, Boyce was one of the first American magicians to be invited to entertain in Cuba since the revolution.
Tickets for the fundraising event are $40 for Vanderbilt Museum members, $45 for non-members. Each ticket is good for one household. To order, please visit www.vanderbiltmuseum.org.
We met in 11th grade in the hallways of Ward Melville High School. We were high school sweethearts and even attended the 1990 Ward Melville Senior Prom together. We recently celebrated 25 years of marriage in November of 2020 and have two children, Connor and Emily who are both college students.
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