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Yearly Archives: 2023

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Photos courtesy HCSD

Harborfields High School was recently named a recipient of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Safe Sports School Award. This recognition honors secondary schools that have met the recommended standards to improve safety in sports.

To achieve Safe Sports School status, athletic programs such as Harborfields are required to create a positive athletic health care administrative system; coordinate pre-participation physical examinations; promote safe and appropriate practice and competition facilities; plan for selection, fit function and proper maintenance of athletic equipment; provide a permanent, appropriately equipped area to evaluate and treat injured athletes; develop injury and illness prevention strategies, including protocols for environmental conditions; facilitate injury intervention and psychosocial consultation and nutritional counseling; create and rehearse a venue-specific Emergency Action Plan; and ensure athletes and parents are educated about the potential benefits and risks in sports as well as their responsibilities.

“We are honored to be recognized as a first team Safe Sports School by NATA,” said Rob Franco, athletic director. “It shows how committed we are to the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff. I would like to thank our coaches and athletic trainer, Chris Schrager, for working with me to ensure that our athletics program provides the best level of care, injury prevention and treatment possible.”

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Pines Elementary School students sing the national anthem before the Mets doubleheader on Aug. 12. Photo from Hauppauge Public Schools

Third, fourth and fifth grade students from Pines Elementary School in Hauppauge had the exciting opportunity to sing the national anthem before the start of the Mets doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field on Saturday, Aug. 12. 

Students from Pines Elementary have fun exploring Citi Field before singing the national anthem on the field.
Photo courtesy Hauppauge Public Schools

Beginning in February, students began rehearsals for the event, meeting five times outside of school hours to practice. Music teacher Theresa Wray-Dolgin led the practices, and students were required to attend all the rehearsals to perform.

This has become an annual event with the first group of Pines Elementary students singing at Citi Field in March 2018. Janine D’Elia, Pines Elementary School PTA event coordinator, organizes the event each year. 

“We were filled with great anticipation, and the day met all of our expectations and more,” Wray-Dolgin said. “It was a magical experience. Our thanks go out to Janine D’Elia who makes this all possible, and I thank her most sincerely for giving me the opportunity to be their musical director for this joyous occasion.”

Following the students’ dazzling rendition of the national anthem, retired Pines Elementary art teacher Elisabeth Anziano was asked to throw the honorary first pitch of the game as a celebratory gesture toward her many years of dedication to her students.

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Million dollar bleachers?

Is the Port Jefferson School District spending unnecessarily, yet again?

The Board of Education on July 11 learned that bids to replace present high school bleachers and press booths came in much higher than the $561,000 allocated in the 2022-23 budget. According to the superintendent of schools [Jessica Schmettan] the bids indicated a cost of “just under a million dollars” for bleachers, with significantly fewer seats than the present ones. The present bleachers seat 1,000 but the replacements will seat less than 600. Doing the math, this works out to spending over $1,600 per person on a bleacher bench.

The superintendent confirmed in an email that the present bleachers are structurally safe, evident also by the fact that they remain in use. They are not, however, compliant with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) code.

Given this huge price tag for a total bleacher replacement, consideration should be given to modifying our present bleachers to make them ADA-compliant. Only the first row would need modification. According to posted information, describing how other school districts faced with this issue addressed it, with the addition of some ramps, guard rails and removal of enough bench area to accommodate 10 wheelchairs in just the first row, we can meet ADA standards, retain the present 1,000-person seating capacity and likely stay well below the initially budgeted amount — and certainly way below the million dollar expense for all new bleachers. Extra handrails could also be installed as an option on upper rows of bleachers for additional safety. The press booth can simply remain as is and need not be enhanced.

The Board of Education will be discussing the bleachers at their Aug. 29 meeting. Surely there are more important priorities in our school buildings than spending a million dollars on all new bleachers if the present ones just need some modifications to meet ADA code. Installing a new HVAC system in the high school could be one of them.

Port Jefferson residents are very generous in supporting their schools. Hopefully the school board will in turn show respect for the taxpayers by avoiding more unnecessary or excessive spending.

Gail Sternberg

Port Jefferson

Context for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

A firestorm cloud hangs above the Japanese city of Hiroshima following detonation of an atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945. Public domain photo

I felt some discomfort after reading Myrna Gordon’s letter [“Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Aug. 10] regarding the North Country Peace Group’s vigil around the anniversaries of the dropping of the atomic bombs. 

I think it is clear to all that war is a terrible thing, and I certainly understand the mourning of those killed in wars. My discomfort comes from the selectivity and moral attitude taken by most people I have known, or heard from, regarding these attacks. I apologize if these factors may not apply to the members of the Peace Group.

To start, the letter seems to imply that these bombings were the most devastating ever. Reports note anywhere from 129,000 to 226,000 killed from the combined attacks. Yet, prior to these attacks, the firebombing of Tokyo killed between 80,000 and 100,000 people immediately in one night alone and does not get similar attention.

My bigger concern is the general perception of such mourners that these attacks were a moral atrocity. They fail to look at the overall picture. If the war had not ended this way, we were looking at an invasion of Japan. The estimates are/were that an invasion would have resulted in the loss of over 1 million people. 

While this number alone is large, it fails to note all the descendants that would never be born because of these deaths. I take this very personally because my father likely would have been killed in that invasion and I would never have been born. Millions of people are alive today for that reason. It should also be remembered that this action was our means of ending a war that we did not start. 

Lastly, as I was thinking about this topic during the past week and deciding whether to respond, a new thought came to me. While there has been some reasonable concern about the potential use of nuclear  weapons over the last several decades, one could make a case that their existence has saved many lives and prevented major wars. Once Russia, and later China, had nuclear weapons, we have not had a direct conflict between world superpowers. 

I think this might be because of the mutually assured destruction theory that the superpowers would not launch nuclear preemptive strikes on each other because of the understanding that it would result in both countries destroying each other. Yet another unappreciated benefit.

Joseph Levine

Stony Brook

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Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives are investigating an assault that seriously injured a man at Millers Pond in Smithtown in the early morning of Aug. 26.

After conversing with an unknown female on social media two days ago, a Bay Shore man agreed to
meet with her at Millers Pond, located on Maple Avenue. The man arrived at 2:20 a.m. and was sitting
in his vehicle when four males wearing bandanas on their faces approached his vehicle. One male broke
his windshield and another pointed a gun and demanded he exit the vehicle. The man was then assaulted
and stabbed.

The suspects, who were described as Hispanic, fled into nearby woods. The victim, 24, was transported
to a local hospital with serious injuries.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452 or Suffolk County Crime
Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.

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Port Jefferson’s temporary village hall was located in leased facilities on the west side of Main Street. Photo from author's collection

After Port Jefferson incorporated in 1963, the village Board of Trustees established a temporary village hall in leased facilities on the west side of Main Street.

Since the easily forgotten storefront location was hardly impressive and the small space soon proved inadequate, a plan for a permanent village hall was advanced in 1964 by Port Jefferson’s first mayor, Robert L. Robertson.

He proposed the construction of an elegant and capacious million-dollar village center that would house both government offices and recreational facilities, including a community swimming pool.

The multipurpose complex would be built on West Broadway, facing Port Jefferson Harbor, on land acquired by the village and once occupied by Loper Brothers Lumber Yard.

While The Port Jefferson Record applauded Robertson’s “visionary” proposal, the Board of Trustees decided not to proceed with the project, pending the completion of a village master plan by consultants Raymond & May.

The master plan, released in July 1965 during the administration of Port Jefferson’s second mayor, Clifton H. Lee, provided a guide for the future development of the village and recommended that the West Broadway tract be used exclusively for Port Jefferson’s seat of government.

Village of Port Jefferson founding mayors Clifton H. Lee, left, and Robert L. Robertson, right, both worked to establish a village hall. Photo from the Lee Family collection

Milton S. Osborne, who had directed the Penn State School of Architecture, also conferred on the project, and supported using the West Broadway site strictly for village hall while building public parks and recreation areas at other locations throughout Port Jefferson.

With a clear goal in mind, the Board of Trustees formed the Architectural Selection Committee which reviewed sketches and interviewed architects before recommending Anthony J. Lorio (1928-2013) as their choice to design village hall.

Lorio proposed the construction of a 7,000-square-foot, two-story, Georgian-style brick building, on a raised podium. Preliminary renderings were displayed throughout Port Jefferson, and residents were invited to offer their opinions.

While most reviews were positive, there were some who called for softening the village hall’s facade. After making minor modifications in his design, and with the trustees’ support, Lorio began preparing working plans for the building.

In April 1966, construction of village hall went out to bid, but all 19 proposals were rejected as too expensive. The Board of Trustees, which had wanted to keep total costs under $200,000, went out to bid a second time in winter 1967 but was frustrated again with the high numbers.

Today’s Port Jefferson village hall, located at 121 W. Broadway. File photo

After considerable discussion, the trustees agreed that construction costs were likely to increase because of the Vietnam War’s inflationary impact and it was best to accept a $264,000 bid before prices rose even more.

Port Jefferson broke ground for village hall in April 1967, but nationwide strikes in various industries so delayed progress locally that the building was not ready for business until May 1968.

Over the years, village hall has become more than just a municipal building and is now a seaside landmark, evoking that sense of place that makes Port Jefferson so special.

Kenneth Brady has served as the Port Jefferson village historian and president of the Port Jefferson Conservancy, as well as on the boards of the Suffolk County Historical Society, Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council and Port Jefferson Historical Society. He is a longtime resident of the village.

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File photo by Greg Catalano

The Suffolk County Police Department is advising motorists of heavy traffic in Rocky Point for the Mike DelGuidice of Big Shot Concert Monday.

The event will be held at St. Anthony of Padua Church, located at 614 Route 25A from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on August 28. Overflow parking will be at Joseph A. Edgar School, located at 525 Route 25A. During the concert, Route 25A will be closed from the west side of the business district at 8:45 p.m. to 11 p.m. Traffic will be diverted on eastbound bypass. Westbound Route 25A will be closed at Broadway at 8:45 p.m. Southbound Rocky Point Landing Road traffic coming from Joseph A. Edgar School will be diverted westbound on Route 25A. Attendees should not arrive before 4 p.m.

As a reminder, there is no alcohol or tobacco permitted on church or school grounds.

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Police car. Stock photo

Suffolk County Police arrested a Port Jefferson Station man on Aug. 26 for allegedly driving while intoxicated after he and one of his passengers were seriously injured in a motor vehicle crash early this morning.

Walter Maybanks was driving a 2014 Infiniti eastbound on the Long Island Expressway, east of exit 61, when his vehicle struck the rear of a tractor trailer and the center median at approximately 3:30 a.m.

Maybanks, 36, of Port Jefferson Station, and one of his passengers, Erica Sime, 26, were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. A 32-year-old male passenger in the vehicle was not injured. The driver of the tractor trailer, James Hoerauf, 59, was not injured.

Maybanks was charged with Driving While Intoxicted and will be arraigned on a later date. The Infiniti was impounded for a safety check and the investigation is continuing. Detectives are asking anyone with information to call the Sixth Squad at 631-854-8652.

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By Leah Chiappino

Like most nonprofit organizations, the Smithtown Children’s Foundation, since the pandemic, is helping more families with less funds. 

Christine Fitzgerald, executive director and one of the founders of the Smithtown Children’s Foundation, said calls of housing insecurity especially are coming in large numbers to the nonprofit, which assists Smithtown-area families in need.

“I’m sure if you ask people who are not paying attention, they will say, ‘Oh, no, everything’s fine,’” she said. “It’s not. It’s really not.”

Fitzgerald said she received a call from a Commack homeless shelter last year about a 22-year-old woman who was raising her three teenage siblings, seeking to provide them with more stable housing. The young woman had her home health aide license, but her car was dead, so the foundation raised the funds to fix it.

After that, Fitzgerald told the shelter to call her and “vouch” for other moms in need.

“We get a lot of frequent flyers in the system, and we just don’t have the resources for that, to be throwing money around,” she said.

The next call came for a single mom with three kids working several jobs while caring for a baby with health issues. She was close to getting into an apartment but needed help paying the $1,700 deposit fee.

“She does sound like a real hustler, a gig employee, she does DoorDash, does hair, does balloon arches, does everything,” Fitzgerald said.

The woman didn’t live in Smithtown, so Fitzgerald couldn’t write the check from foundation funds. However, through Hart to Hearts, a chapter of the Smithtown Children’s Foundation named in memory of a local single dad who adopted several children, she started a fundraiser through Facebook. 

They wound up having enough funds to cover movers and are offering the mother school supplies, backpacks and gift cards for clothing.

Through the foundation’s Anthony’s Hope chapter, the foundation came across another young mom sleeping in her car. She works full-time and delivers for Uber Eats and DoorDash on the side while trying to save up for an apartment deposit. The foundation is also raising funds for her, Fitzgerald said, who said she vetted the women in need before agreeing to help with the social workers who referred her. 

“I said ‘I can’t just throw good money after bad if I’m going to pay a deposit, and then she’s going to move in and she has no way to support herself and she’s going to get kicked out,”’ she said. “I need to know more.”

These stories have been common since the pandemic, according to Fitzgerald.

“We’re getting people in shelters or people saying I need housing, and I can’t pay the security deposit,” she said.

Yolanda Robano-Gross, CEO of Ronkonkoma-based Options for Community Living, said she does come across homeless people in Smithtown and the surrounding areas.

“There’s a lot of families out there,” she said. “There are people that kind of manage and float under the radar. They couch surf from friend to friend. They are able to maintain their cars. They have a low-end gym membership, which allows them a place to shower.”

But, she added, “The large majority of the general population has a very skewed picture. They picture that person when they get off the train at Penn Station, see the show and have dinner, who has the cardboard sign and is sitting on the corner. And while that’s certainly a part of the population, it’s not the majority.”

Homelessness isn’t always visible in areas like Smithtown, according to Mike Guiffrida, associate director of the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless, which runs several outreach and direct service programs, including a street outreach team.

Giuffrida has seen homelessness increase among the elderly, who are being priced out of the housing market and generally have medical debt, and young mothers between the ages of 25 to 35, who cannot afford the cost of living and do not have established careers. 

The backlog of evictions put on hold during the pandemic has recently started to pick up.

“I think an area like Smithtown is a really good example of an opportunity to bring awareness to an issue like homelessness while it might not be overly seen and visible within the community,” Giuffrida said.

Some homeless people throughout Long Island live in their cars but do not have a consistent space to park their cars, making it difficult to track them down. It often takes good Samaritans calling and reporting the person for the coalition to offer them services.

“We really rely on the community to be the eyes and the ears because homelessness looks different on Long Island than it does in other areas, not only in the sense that you don’t see it but also in the trends of how people are living specifically,” he said.

In Smithtown, libraries have helped serve and identify the homeless, Guiffrida said. He added that giving them a place to use the computer to access resources has been instrumental. Police have also played a role.

“We’ve seen this encouraging trend where police are kind of seeking an alternative and more supportive way to engage people that are in that situation,” Giuffrida noted. “They’re contacting us and partnering with the outreach teams and other support.”

With some exceptions, such as veterans, youth or victims of domestic violence, households have to go through the Department of Social Services to access shelters in Suffolk County, said Giuffrida. When people call and ask for the nearest shelter, the coalition cannot give them an answer because the nearest shelter may not be available or the person may not be eligible. 

Data on the number of homeless people in the area is difficult to interpret, according to Guiffrida.

A spokesperson for the Suffolk County Police Department said they could not “quantify calls about homeless people.” When asked about the number of calls received about the homeless in Smithtown this year, due to the fact they are classified as a disturbance, a code used for several issues such as parking problems, dogs barking, loud parties, loose animals and neighbor disputes. 

Smithtown Public Information Officer Nicole Garguilo said the Town supervisor’s office had not received calls from residents about the homeless.

Data for last year on the number of homeless on Long Island from the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless include 9,687 total people, 3,692 single adults and 6,005 households with children.

If you see someone you think may be homeless, call the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless helpline at 631-464-4314, ext. 118.

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Above, some of the scholarship recipients with officials from the college and credit union. Photo by Emily Nienburg, Suffolk Credit Union

Suffolk Credit Union presented college scholarships totaling $37,500 to nine local students attending Suffolk County Community College this fall. The award ceremony was held on August 16 at the credit union’s Medford branch.

This year, Ashley Bove of Holbrook received a $6,275 scholarship from the LT Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship, which was matched by Suffolk Credit Union for a total of $12,550. Edward Freudenberg of Yaphank was awarded $6,275 by Suffolk Credit Union in honor of the Michael E. Reilly Foundation Memorial Scholarship.

Suffolk Credit Union Achievement Scholarships ranging from $2,150-$6,275 were awarded to Robert Cronin (Aquebogue), Hannah Walsh (Dix Hills), Arshiyan Khan (Selden), Alicia Anthony (Dix Hills), Cristal Lainez-Pixtum (Wyandanch), Amy Boos (Brentwood) and Sun Ji Lee (Commack).

“These scholarships are a result of an ongoing partnership between our credit union and the Suffolk Community College Foundation to help people throughout our communities achieve their educational and career goals,” said Michele Dean, CEO & President, Suffolk Credit Union. “By alleviating the cost of college for these hardworking students and their families, we position them for financial stability and empower their future success.”

Award recipients were selected based on their academic achievements, extracurricular activities, community involvement and essays. Since partnering with the college four years ago, Suffolk Credit Union has sponsored 36 scholarships totaling over $180,000.

Dr. Edward Bonahue, President of Suffolk County Community College, commented, “These generous scholarships reflect Suffolk Credit Union’s tradition of serving Long Island as a community-focused institution. We look forward to welcoming the recipients to our campus, where they will undoubtedly thrive.”

“We are proud to have this ongoing partnership with Suffolk Credit Union, which honors the students’ achievements and service with these meaningful scholarships,” added Sylvia A. Diaz, PhD, LMSW, Executive Director, Suffolk Community College Foundation.

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A satellite image of the Brookhaven Town landfill, located on Horseblock Road in Yaphank. Photo from Google Maps
By Nasrin Zahed

Several years after discovering “forever chemicals” leaking into Long Island’s groundwater near the Town of Brookhaven Landfill, located on Horseblock Road in Yaphank, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation calls for “corrective action.”

A plume of highly lethal PFAS, PFOS, and 1,4-dioxane contamination has been uncovered in downgradient wells within the town landfill. The contaminants, commonly called “forever chemicals,” cannot be broken down by the human body or the environment.

According to a statement from the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group, or BLARG, exposure to these chemicals “has been linked to some cancers, immune, fertility, thyroid and other health conditions.”

NYSDEC is requiring Brookhaven to begin assessing the current damage and determining a course of immediate action. The town is set to issue a notice to the public detailing the extent of the situation, its effect on local wildlife and communities and the next step in removing and properly disposing of the chemicals. Brookhaven will also hold a public forum to gather community feedback.

BLARG’s statement considered NYSDEC’s action “a day late and a dollar short.”

Kerim Odekon, a BLARG member, stated, “The only news is now DEC acknowledges the problem, which community members have raised to NYS and the town for years.”

Although NYSDEC determined the PFAS levels present “no new threats to drinking water,” community members are still concerned about the long-term effects on private water sources and wildlife.

Town Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) said he believes the fault should not be placed on the town exclusively, maintaining that “there is no question that the state has to step in as well,” he said.

Kornreich also noted the role of individual consumers and community members in remediating the issue. 

“We have to figure out our role in the larger question — that most of us dispose of large amounts of garbage every day,” he said, adding that consumers should consider how they as individuals contribute to the root problems.

The landfill is set to cease collection of certain trash and demolition debris by December 2024. Once the landfill reaches its capacity, the next step is to transfer out ash, potentially adding years to the timeline for full-scale closure.

BLARG continued to urge that the Brookhaven Landfill be shut down sooner rather than later, suggesting that the plume has gone too far.

“The first step is to set a closure date for the Brookhaven Landfill,” the BLARG statement reads, adding, “DEC must step in to set a date for the closure of the landfill.”

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