The cast of Theatre Three's 'Baskerville.' Photo by Brian Hoerger
A scene from 'Baskerville.' Photo by Brian Hoerger
A scene from 'Baskerville.' Photo by Brian Hoerger
A scene from 'Baskerville.' Photo by Brian Hoerger
A scene from 'Baskerville.' Photo by Brian Hoerger
A scene from 'Baskerville.' Photo by Brian Hoerger
A scene from 'Baskerville.' Photo by Brian Hoerger
A scene from 'Baskerville.' Photo by Brian Hoerger
By Barbara Anne Kirshner
Gothic!
Thrilling!
Suspenseful!
Wait a minute — It’s a comedy!!
It’s hilarious Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery now playing at Theatre Three in Port Jefferson.
“Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!” That exclamation conjures up ominous chords and the audience is immediately immersed in the murder mystery at bleak Baskerville Hall perched on the edge of the desolate fog-laden moors.
In Ken Ludwig’s (Lend Me A Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo, Crazy for You) adaptation of the 1901 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, he brilliantly takes this gothic classic and infuses it with comedy making for spine-tinglingly funny results.
The searching questions, who killed Sir Charles Baskerville and is there a legendary hound haunting Baskerville Hall, must be answered before another heir is murdered. Enter Sherlock Holmes (Evan Donnellan) and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, I presume, (Kevin Callahan). The brave duo ferret through contradicting clues and a host of suspicious characters in efforts to protect Henry Baskerville, the next heir who has just arrived from Texas.
Donnellan takes the stage in grandiose style. His Holmes is sly, elegant and capable. When he says he knows the print of every paper in the country, we believe him. Kevin Callahan’s Doctor Watson is so much fun. He tries to keep up with Holmes though often bungles, adding to the laughs, but his genuine investigative spirit makes him the perfect sidekick to Holmes. Together they are an invincible pair despite the labyrinth of deceit and intrigue they must face in attempting to solve this crime.
The original Conan Doyle mystery is chock full of characters all necessary in creating red herrings that keep the reader guessing until the final page. Ludwig realized he would need numerous characters to tell the story, so he inventively reduced his adaptation down to five actors — Holmes, Watson and the other three playing more than forty roles.
This challenge calls for extraordinary performers who must instantly change costumes while also changing accents, physicality and intentions, all the while making the audience believe each of their characters.
Director Christine Boehm has accomplished just that by assembling an outstanding supporting cast — Jonathan Sawyer Coffin, Elena Faverio and Ana McCasland — who change costumes as easily as they transform into different personas. This high energy threesome bounce snappy lines into the air wrapped in an array of accents.
Faverio’s German accent as Mrs. Barrymore is hysterically reminiscent of Cloris Leachman’s Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein. Coffin’s booming southern drawl is a comical contradiction for the next in line of the Baskerville fortune. McCasland takes on the proper English of Dr. Mortimer as easily as she emotes the Castilian of the hotel proprietor. These outrageously high camp performances are met with rapturous laughter and applause from the audience that builds to an enthusiastic crescendo at curtain call.
Randall Parsons’ scenic design gives the necessary gothic feel with a gray backdrop detailed in swirls of black suggesting impending fog blanketing the moor. A giant screen, center, ingeniously projects settings and events. Lighting design by Robert Henderson, Jr. sets the eerie mood, then stirs things up with flashes of bright lights.
Chakira Doherty’s costume and wig designs are masterfully crafted. Actors, portraying numerous characters, must change in an instant and Doherty’s well-thought-out garments and coiffures make this task possible.
Tim Haggerty’s sound design is essential in instilling chills. Whether it be the cacophonous howling hound to the staccato of the chugging train to a deafening explosion, these sound effects build in both suspense and humor.
Since simplicity is key to this production, properties play a major part and Heather Rose Kuhn creatively plants scenes with the use of sparse props. A train is depicted with only a well-placed bench that morphs easily into a bed at Baskerville Hall for the next scene. A counter glides in and out representing Northumberland Hotel and giant wheels appear when Holmes refers to a cab.
All the twists and turns are captivating and hysterical as we follow Holmes and Watson to a startling conclusion that even gives way to an unexpected epilogue. So, take out your spyglass and join the intrepid pair on this thrilling and uproarious caper!
Theatre Three, 412 Main St., Port Jefferson presents Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery through Feb. 5. Tickets are $35 adults, $28 seniors and students, $20 children ages 5 and up. For more information, call 631-928-9100 or visit www.theatrethree.com.
I blame John McEnroe, Billy Martin, Lou Piniella, Pete Rose, and a host of politicians who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, accept defeat.
All of those people hated to lose. McEnroe had temper tantrums that were so epic that he’s spoofed himself many times, complaining in movies that “you can’t be serious” when things don’t go his way.
Frustrated with the umpiring in a game, Martin would kick dirt on home plate or have an epic meltdown in front of over 50,000 people.
I don’t ever remember any of those tirades or temper tantrums when they or their teams were winning.
Being American means winning. To borrow from the cliche, it means giving 110%.
I can’t tolerate losing, just as CEOs, politicians, athletes and sports coaches and managers can’t stand it, either. Many people hate losing as much if not more than they enjoy winning.
The fans who pay to see their teams win, not just to see them play, boo mercilessly when stars like the New York Knicks Julius Randle don’t live up to their contracts and don’t lead the team to more victories than defeats.
Randle recently expressed his frustration in response to the fans’ disappointment by giving them the thumbs down in a game.
Unconditioned positive regard, however, doesn’t come with having your name in lights or being a star on a celebrated team.
We get that from family members, sometimes, and from psychologists or psychiatrists.
As Americans, we have expectations of ourselves that have been set, in some cases, by role models like athletes, politicians and other popular icons.
At the end of the year, sports networks don’t focus on the best concessions speeches and the most gracious losers.
They are much more likely to replay the greatest rants and epic press conferences when athletes or coaches completely lose their composure in response to a question. We watch in rapt fascination as these superstars have a tantrum or glumly express disappointment.
Being a sore loser is also good business. The media empires on the left and the right long ago figured that out. During the Trump administration, nothing the former president said or did was good enough. The outrage factor over his thoughts, actions, gaffes and verbal inadequacies were attacked mercilessly.
Fox, which spent the last four years laughing at the liberal crying machine, has now turned its attention to attacking President Joe Biden (D) in a similar fashion, mocking everything he says or does or doesn’t do.
People in the sports world describe muscle memory. They train their bodies and minds to react to evolving situations instantly, so they know where to go, what to do, and how to advance their cause.
That preparation almost never includes lessons on what to do when you lose or are losing. No one plays to lose, and yet, every game has a loser.
Maybe this year, we should prepare ourselves better for the moment we lose. We don’t have to be miserable, stare out blankly at the field, the way baseball players always do after the last game of the World Series, wishing they could have been that team that’s dogpiling near the pitcher’s mound.
Maybe this year, when people are continuing to struggle with a third year of the pandemic, we can hope for a celebration of great competition from both teams.
We can take comfort and feel joy in the recognition that we brought out the best in each other.
Even when we lose, we can, to borrow from Lou Gehrig, still feel like the “luckiest people on the face of the Earth” for having been a part of something we know is special, regardless of the outcome.
As the holiday break began to wind down and COVID-19 infection rates climbed, many parents hoped their children would be learning remotely for a week or two instead of returning to their classrooms.
Many feared that their children would get sick if they returned to school buildings and hoped that their districts would take advantage of their past remote learning experiences and allow students to return to a virtual classroom temporarily — just long enough for the holiday virus surge to pass.
While a few schools on Long Island did switch to remote and other districts offered an option, many school officials opened the doors to their classrooms as if they didn’t have a clue as to how to use alternative methods to educate.
Many people would agree that learning during the pandemic for a majority of students was difficult when a day at school meant logging into a computer instead of boarding a bus. The ideal option is to be seated in a classroom. However, in the worst of times, such as the world continuing to fight a virus that could be deadly to some, would switching to remote learning for a week or two be so harmful?
To keep our children and their families safe, school districts should be at the ready to switch to remote learning when infection rates soar. While health officials can advise not to gather during the holidays, is it such a terrible thing to allow people to be with their loved ones and then look at a screen when school is back in session?
Technology has made it possible to continue learning and working during difficult times such as these. Perfecting remote techniques and always being prepared to use them means that learning, working, basic health care and more can continue no matter what is going on around us, except for maybe a power outage.
And with more employers offering work-from-home options, many parents will be able to watch their children in the house if their children need to log into a computer to connect with their classroom. Which in turn, eliminates the old snow or sick day problem of who is going to watch the kids.
It’s been said many times during the pandemic that maybe instead of getting back to normal, it might be better to embrace a new normal. Let’s retain the lessons we have learned the last two years and increase our country’s chances of soon enjoying good times once again.
Al Meyer passed away suddenly, at age 82. He was a wonderful, caring husband and father.
Al Meyer
Born in 1939 in Mineola, Al grew up in Rockville Centre and Stony Brook. He attended Stony Brook Boys School and stayed one year at Hobart before enlisting in the Navy for four years. He served on several destroyers, known as the “greyhounds” of the fleet. Al’s chosen field was navigation, having attained the grade of Quartermaster 2 prior to his honorable discharge from the military. He also served on the USS William V. Pratt.
In 1963, Al went to work with RH Macy, where he started first as a salesman. He moved up into the upper-management training program and held positions in both the flagship store in Manhattan and in branch stores. Al left the company after nine years to form his own marine supply company, The Suffolk Boat Locker in Centereach.
Realizing that self-employment was not for him, Al returned to department store management, starting with A&S in 1981, where he remained until their parent company bought Macy’s. He was also store manager of the Furniture Clearance Center when he took to early retirement in 1997.
Al was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, was active in the United States Power Squadrons for 31 years, belonged to the Three Village Historical Society and acted as treasurer of the Franklin Melville Memorial Foundation, a 25-acre private park and sanctuary.
A member of the Caroline Episcopal Church in Setauket, Al served as Lay Eucharistic Minister, Brotherhood of St. Andrew director, church warden, and received the Bishop’s Medal for Distinguished Service in the Diocese of Long Island. After relocating to Leland, North Carolina, in 2011, Al served as Verger at St. John’s Episcopal Church and was also a volunteer at the Bellamy Mansion.
Al is survived by his wife of 55 years, Bonnie Meyer; his two daughters Tracy Meyer and Jessica Booth (Brett); grandchildren Griffin Meyer, Amelia, Jackson, Olivia Booth and Alex Gailor,; his brothers Walter Meyer and John Hershey (Jeri); and his nephews Sean and Kevin. Al is predeceased by both his parents Walter and Sylvia Meyer.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 11 a.m. at The Church of the Good Shepherd, located at 515 Queen Street, Wilmington, North Carolina.
Elio Zappulla, a long-time Stony Brook resident and dedicated educator, passed away peacefully on Nov. 5, 2021, at the age of 88, due to complications from thymoma.
Elio Zappulla
In 1933, Elio was born in Brooklyn to parents of Italian descent: Giuseppe Zappulla, a radio broadcaster and published poet — originally a stonemason in Sicily — and Rita Fera, a clerk, amateur pianist and swimmer. Upon graduating from Brooklyn’s Midwood High School in 1950, Elio went on to Brooklyn College, where he studied languages and developed his love for teaching. Elio proceeded to teach in Brooklyn by day while pursuing a doctorate in French Literature at Columbia University by night.
Though New York City remained in his heart, Elio relocated to the Three Village area in the 1960s to raise his family. Over the ensuing 60-year period, he encouraged and educated thousands of students at both the primary- and secondary-school levels across Suffolk County. Connecting with young people through his characteristic humor, respect and curiosity, Elio sought to draw the uninterested to the joys of learning, and to challenge his students to lofty goals.
Elio’s love of history, the arts and culture was evident whether working as a foreign-language teacher in the Three Village school district, a teacher/administrator in Huntington or a professor at Dowling College. Outside the classroom, Professor Zappulla acted in, directed and later wrote reviews for local theater productions. Additionally, his polyglot status and voracious appetite for reading made Elio a daily regular at Setauket’s Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, among other bibliophile haunts.
Like his father Giuseppe, Elio was a poet. His magnum opus was a verse translation of Dante’s “Inferno” in 1998. This acclaimed rendition, published by Random House, maintained in English the same rhythmic meter as the original ancient Italian work. Elio worked on this translation as a passion project while teaching full time at Dowling.
Having grown up in racially and culturally diverse parts of Brooklyn, Elio henceforth devoted himself to issues of human justice and equity in American society. He contributed dozens of cogent opinion pieces — infused with his signature wit — to local papers over the years, including Times Beacon Record Newspapers, typically focused on politics and the plight of minorities in America. He aimed to inspire others to also boldly speak up for righteous causes with his actions and teaching.
Elio is survived by Lynette Zappulla, his beloved wife of 53 years, and their two children David Zappulla, of Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, and Eve Anderson, of Los Angeles; and his four young grandchildren. Elio’s first son, Robert Zappulla, lives in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and his elder daughter, Laura Zappulla, predeceased him in 2010.
A private memorial service, due to COVID-19, was held for Elio at Setauket Presbyterian Church on Dec. 22. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Civil Liberties Union and/or the church.
Bernard Paley’s obituary originally appeared in the Jan. 6, 2022, editions of The Smithtown News and The Observer in Northport. It is republished with permission from The Smithtown News.
Bernard Paley
Bernard “Bernie” Paley, 92, the long-time publisher of The Smithtown News died after a brief illness Jan. 1 at the home he loved and lived in for over 60 years.
During his 66-year award-winning journalism career, Paley was entrenched in the community, active in many service organizations and once a candidate for public office.
“Bernie was an extraordinary man,” said David Ambro, editor of The Smithtown News and The Observer and also Paley’s son-in-law. “His approach to local journalism was always to promote a sense of community, which is what he loved most about Smithtown.”
“His passion was the newsroom,” Ambro said. “He was a fair, concise news reporter and a smart, studious, and forward-thinking editorial and column writer. Outside of the office he was a kind and caring family man, a loving husband, who delighted in spending time with his children and grandchildren. We loved him dearly and he will be sorely missed.”
A hard worker throughout his life, he also made sure to make time outside the office ‘working hard’ at the things he loved. An avid skier who spent winters in Vermont and was still on the slopes at age 86, Paley enjoyed playing golf, his weekly tennis games, spending summers on Fire Island and traveling the world.
One of Paley’s notable attributes, to which his friends and family can attest, was his love of telling stories, but “his greatest attribute was his personal contact with people,” Ambro said. His subject matters ranged from his days playing hooky from school to playing basketball on the streets of New York City. He would recount stories from the trenches of local politics, his travels, including a month-long trip to communist Russia, and Smithtown Rotary Club lore.
“He had a vast institutional knowledge of Smithtown government and politics that spanned more than half a century and he loved sharing those stories. He could be funny at times, serious at others, and what was remarkable was his ability to remember the names of the characters involved, some dating back to the 1950s. I could listen to him for hours,” Ambro said.
Paley was the last remaining charter member of the Rotary Club of Smithtown, an organization that was such an important part of his life. A past president of the club, many life-long friends were made through his involvement in Rotary and he still looked forward to attending weekly club meetings.
Nissequogue Village Mayor Richard Smith was a longtime friend of Paley. They first met on the Smithtown campaign trail when Smith’s father was involved in Democratic Party politics in the 1960s and Paley was a local journalist covering local campaigns. They solidified their relationship in 2006 when Smith joined the Smithtown Rotary Club, now serving as its president.
“He was highly intelligent, kind, and with a very sharp sense of humor,” Smith said about Paley. “The thing that always impressed me about Bernie though, was that as successful as he was and as smart as he was, he was just a very humble guy. I think that’s what people found most attractive about him. He never put on airs. He just was the most decent person and friendly to all. He was just a very kind man.”
After learning about Paley’s death, Smith said he spoke with many Rotary Club members about him and he will be deeply missed. “He was an imminently likable guy and he had that very rare combination — very intelligent and humorous, but very humble. We are all poorer today because he is gone,” Smith concluded.
Another Smithtown Rotarian and dear friend, Glenn Williams, said he first met Paley as a young man when his father, Bud Williams, and Paley played tennis together. He recalled sitting at the bar at Old Street Pub in Smithtown one afternoon when Paley, who ate lunch there almost every workday, came into the restaurant. Williams invited Paley to join him for lunch but he didn’t like sitting at the bar to eat. Instead, Paley preferred the backroom of the restaurant where he always ate at the same four-top table.
They became fast friends and Williams said that table at Old Street Pub was frequented by local officials, business people and area folks who would share stories with Paley over lunch.
“Guys would come in there and chew the fat for an hour or two, and sometimes he and I would stay way too long,” Williams said. “His friendship always meant so much to me. He was a great guy and he was a mentor to me in a few ways about life.”
“I loved the stories he would share and he was a great listener. His sense of humor, of course, was unsurpassed. It is a big loss for me and I am going to really miss him,” Williams said. “I loved him and I really valued him. Everybody I talk to agrees it is such a big loss.”
Paley was a past president of the Smithtown Township Arts Council (STAC) and personally guaranteed financing for the arts organization to ensure it would continue to serve the community when it was on the brink of closing down. Paley also served as a member of the Smithtown Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors in the 1960s, was active in the New York Press Association where he served as president for two terms, and was appointed a member of the New York State Judicial Nominating Committee by Gov. Hugh Carey. Paley also served on the New York State Free Press Trial Committee for many years.
In 1969, Paley was the Democratic candidate for Smithtown Town Supervisor. He ran against Republican candidate Paul Fitzpatrick for a seat left open when Smithtown Supervisor John V.N. Klein was elected county executive. Although Paley was endorsed by a dissident faction of Republicans from Kings Park who were upset with the ‘bossism’ in the Smithtown GOP, Fitzpatrick won in a year when Republicans swept town races in Smithtown. A testament to his strong ethical character, Paley invited Fitzpatrick to write his own endorsement, which he ran side by side along his own.
Perhaps ahead of his time, one of the key campaign issues on Paley’s platform was to update the town’s comprehensive master plan, which had not been done in more than a decade since first enacted in 1957. More than half a century later, the town is just nearing completion of a master plan update.
Paley was born on Nov. 23, 1929, in the Bronx to Max and Anna Paley. He grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, and was a graduate of Brooklyn College. There, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and more significantly met his wife, Suzanne, who he married in 1951. Mr. and Mrs. Paley headed to the suburbs where they purchased their first home in Kings Park.
While his wife had secured a teaching position in the Kings Park School District, Paley’s love of sports led him to the two local newspapers in town, The Smithtown News and The Smithtown Messenger, where he hoped perhaps he could get a job as a sports reporter. The Smithtown News publisher Robert James Malone, who had just finished up his term as Smithtown Supervisor, hired him on the spot (The Smithtown Messenger offered him a position the next day.) In 1955, Paley became the managing editor of The Smithtown News and vice president of The North Shore News Group with The Smithtown News as its flagship publication. In the 1970s, Paley purchased The Observer newspaper in Northport and in 1990 the newspaper chain began publishing The Huntington News under Paley’s leadership.
In his early days at The News, Paley worked as a general assignment reporter writing about politics, crime, human interest and feature stories in Smithtown and Suffolk County. And he had a passion for high school sports, even managing to find time to cover a big game or sporting event. In 1964 he was named Outstanding Young Editor of the Year by the International Society of Weekly Newspapers headquartered in Ireland and Illinois.
“My dad lived such a wonderful life,” said daughter Jennifer Paley Ambro. “In addition to running award-winning newspapers for decades, he and my mom made sure to create wonderful memories for our entire family … whether it was in Vermont, camping in Montauk, or traveling across country in a camper, he knew how to make the most of life. He never missed a beat. It was his dedication to this community that drew me back to Smithtown to join him in running the newspapers. His stories of sitting around the round table in the back of Howard Johnson’s having lunch with local politicians and business people, early morning breakfasts at Florence’s Hilltop Diner with local law enforcement, to always running into someone he knew at Old Street Pub, instilled in me the importance of local journalism and its critical role in a community.”
At 92, Paley would still come into the office just about every day.
“He’d come in with an egg sandwich, coffee, and his newspapers and we would sit and talk about anything and everything. He was just a wonderful dad who gave us a wonderful life and I will miss having him by my side,” Jennifer Paley Ambro said.
Daughter Elizabeth Paley echoed similar sentiments about her father. “I have so many happy memories of my dad. He taught me how to skim a rock at Short Beach, chaperoned Smithtown Elementary field trips when I was little, and gave my high school friends part-time jobs inserting newspapers so we could all work together at The News,” Paley said. “Later in life, after my mom died, he and I would take monthly day trips to Robert Moses and Captree State Park, even in the middle of winter and he was over 90 years old. He always had an adventurous spirit! Most importantly though, my dad taught me to find purpose in serving others, and that family is everything.”
Paley also relished his role as a grandfather.
“My grandfather lived his life to the fullest,” said granddaughter Anna Jewell of Concord, Massachusetts. “Whether it was traveling to Vermont, Fire Island, or to Massachusetts for my high school grandparent’s days, he always made sure to spend his time doing the things he loved with the people he loved. But regardless of all his experiences, when I asked him recently what his favorite trip was, he didn’t hesitate to say his honeymoon.”
The Paleys moved to their home in Smithtown with their daughters in 1966 where Paley lived until his death. He was predeceased by his devoted wife, Suzanne, who died in 2016. Paley is survived by his daughter Elizabeth Paley and her daughters Lily and Anna Jewell; daughter Jennifer Paley Ambro and husband David Ambro, and their children Brady and Sophie Ambro; granddaughter Morgan Ambro and great-grandson Joshua Simmons.
Donations in memory of Bernard Paley can be made to the Rotary Club of Smithtown Charitable Fund, P.O. Box 501, Smithtown, New York, 11787. The family will also be setting up two yearly scholarships in Paley’s memory through the Rotary Club of Smithtown and the New York Press Association. A celebration of Paley’s life will be held at a future date.
Tuesday Dec. 14 at Comsewogue High School was a very special evening indeed. It was well orchestrated in more ways than one.
Dr. Rella’s son, Richie, spoke about how he was grateful that Comsewogue (where he spent most of his time) ‘shared’ his dad with the family. Photo by Andrew Harris
When Superintendent Jennifer Quinn spoke, she said that Dr. Rella always said that during any celebrations, it was the musicians who were called upon first. Sure enough, musicians and singers from all the schools serenaded everyone that evening.
The dedication of the auditorium could not have been any more fitting, as it was on an evening surrounded by family, friends and love, of course, all to honor the man who started out as a part-time piano player at a church.
Later on he would become a music teacher, principal and eventually the superintendent of Comsewogue.
Board member Rob Destefano spoke about him with a unique perspective both as board member and as a former student at Comsewogue.
“I am so proud that we are honoring his legacy with his name on this auditorium,” he said. “This is the classroom where he influenced the lives and education of so many of us.Going through some old papers this past week, I found the program from one of those early, magical moments. This is the program from the 1996 Spring Concert. Some will recall, about how Dr. and Mrs. Rella danced in the aisles as we played ‘Sing! Sing! Sing!’Classic Louis Prima / Benny Goodman swing music. Magic was happening!”
Charlotte Johnson, choral director, and her Tapestry Singers sang some lovely and fitting songs that evening.
Johnson said, “If you listen to the words of the song, [A Million Dreams], you can imagine Dr. Rella speaking them. He always felt that making this district the best it could be was not impossible … We just need toput our thoughts and dreams into action, develop a plan and then have the courage to see it through.”
Destefano summarized it best.
“If we remember the lessons we have been taught here, the time will soon come again, when Comsewogue will dance in the aisles of this auditorium. There is room for all of us. And I hope you will get out of your seats and join us!”
The district believes he, along with his wife, Jackie, would dance to the song that his beloved Tapestry sang that evening:
“Every night I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it’s gonna take
Oh, a million dreams for the world we’re gonna make
However big, however small
Let me be part of it all
Share your dreams with me
You may be right, you may be wrong
But say that you’ll bring me along
To the world you see
To the world I close my eyes to see
I close my eyes to see.”
— “A Million Dreams”
Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Ziv Zaifman
Kylie Schlosser is a 9th grade student at Comsewogue High School. Andrew Harris is a teacher in the district.
New Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harris sworn in this week by County Executive Steve Bellone.
Photo from SCPD
As of this week, the new Suffolk County police commissioner is officially on board.
On Tuesday, Jan. 11, former NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison was sworn in by County Executive Steve Bellone (D) at the Police Academy in Brentwood.
The law enforcement veteran retired after a 30-year career with the NYPD and replaces Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart, who resigned in May for a job as head of security at Hofstra University.
Bellone also swore in Suffolk’s new Chief of Department Robert Waring, who was promoted from chief of patrol.
Town of Huntington Councilman Ed Smyth (R) will run for supervisor this November. Photo from Huntington Republican Committee
Last election cycle, former Town of Huntington Councilman Ed Smyth (R) decided to make a change. Instead of running for the seat he held for four years, he aimed for supervisor after Chad Lupinacci (R) decided not to run for reelection in 2021.
Smyth said being supervisor is slightly different from being a councilman. He said while as councilman he needed to read through agendas and weigh options, now he has to start the process earlier, taking into consideration more details in the process such as was there a bidding process or an RFP done.
“It’s your obligation to create most of the resolutions and agendas and know what’s going into them and understand why they’re being put on the timetable,” he said.
Smyth said Lupinacci leaves behind significant accomplishments while in office including resolving the LIPA lawsuit and enacting term limits. Smyth also complimented the former supervisor on how well he guided the community through the early stages of the pandemic and shutdowns, adding there was no playbook to follow.
“There were never any cuts to essential services in the town, and we never had to pierce the tax cap or anything like that,” he said.
Less than two weeks in office, Smyth said he has already had to tackle issues brought on by COVID-19.
“One of the first things we’re trying to do is put together a COVID policy that tracks more closely to the CDC policies or guidance without violating New York State’s regulations,” he said.
The town supervisor added that the council found that both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state’s policies weren’t coherent and sometimes the two policies were conflicting with each other, especially regarding how many days to isolate after being exposed to the virus with no symptoms. In the end, he feels a good policy was established for town employees which will be helpful in the future.,
He said the town’s Senior Center was already affected in the new year by COVID-related staffing shortages. The center was closed to the public the second week of January; however meals were able to be delivered to residents.
Smyth also is looking forward to working with the building department and implementing new systems. He said the town is fortunate to have new councilman Sal Ferro (R) who has been in the construction trade for decades and is CEO of Alure Home Improvements. Smyth also said a priority is supporting local businesses and attracting more to the area.
Infrastructure is also on his mind with a new sewer system in Huntington Station. At the end of the year, Lupinacci and County Executive Steve Bellone (D) announced a partnership between the town and county, where both municipalities would invest $22 million to fund the Huntington Station Hub Sewer Project, which is the first one to be funded under Suffolk’s newly created Wastewater Infrastructure Fund. Money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act made the funding possible.
According to the town, approximately 229 parcels near Huntington’s Long Island Rail Road station and south along Route 110, as well as some commercial blocks of Depot Road and industrial land along the train tracks, will be connected to the sewer.
“I think it’s going to be a tremendous economic benefit to Huntington Station over the next five to 10 years, simply because, as everywhere on Long Island, if you’re not on sewers, you’re frozen in time for development,” the town supervisor said. “If we can get those lines completed, up and running sooner rather than later, it’s going to bring a tremendous amount of capital investment into the Huntington Station area, plus the environmental benefits of doing it.”
When asked what advice he would give new council members Ferro and Dave Bennardo (R), Smyth said, “Stay grounded in the community and attend as many local events as you possibly can.”
He said there’s no substitute for attending events as it gives elected officials the opportunity to hear directly from constituents.
“I would say that’s how we find out about 90% of the issues that are going on in the town that somebody in the community proactively approaches one of our five Town Board members or somebody who works with the town: ‘Hey, listen, we have a problem over here.’ There’s a drainage problem or a loitering problem or there’s an abandoned house problem or there are cars parked here that haven’t moved in two years. Just all sorts of day-to-day quality of life issues.”
Smyth said he doesn’t have any issues with Councilman Eugene Cook (I) who ran against him for supervisor. He compared it to an NHL game, “where the fights are real but you leave it on the ice. You don’t take it to the locker room.”
He said they agree on 95% of issues that come before the town, and they “hit the reset button” when they saw each other two days after the election and have had no problems working together.
Now, Smyth has his mind on the town’s future.
“It’s my goal to make Huntington the economic epicenter of Long Island,” he said. “I think it’s going to take the infrastructure to do that, to build out our existing businesses and to attract new ones. I want, when Russell 2000 companies or even Fortune 500 companies are looking to relocate to the Northeast and they say, ‘Let’s go to Long Island,’ the first place they stop is Huntington.”
J & L Dream Productions, Inc. has announced that the 2022 Miss Long Island® and Miss Long Island Teen Pageant will be held on Sunday, Jan. 16 at Madison Theatre at Molloy College, 1000 Hempstead Avenue, Rockville Centre. Founded in 2008, the Miss Long Island® and Miss Long Island Teen Pageants has held a strong 13 year legacy of young women crowned between the ages of 14 and 28 representing Long Island proudly throughout their reign by attending community services events and promoting social causes they are passionate about all across the region.
The winners of the Miss Long Island® and Miss Long Island Teen Pageant will go on to represent Long Island at the Miss New York USA® and Miss New York Teen USA® pageants this June. Reigning Queens, Miss Long Island 2021, Jasmine Williams of Elmont and Miss Long Island Teen 2021, Olivia Collins of Wading River, will be passing their crowns to two new Long Island Queens on Sunday.
For more information on how to attend or to apply to compete for the dream of a lifetime, visit www.lipageants.com.
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