Parents of Port Jefferson School District students rejoice.
With the implementation of a new smartphone application for parents in the district called Here Comes the Bus, those waiting to meet their kids when they’re dropped off by the school bus in the afternoon, or waiting to be picked up by the bus in the morning, can now do so within the comfort of their own homes, instead of on a cold street corner.
An image from the Apple version of the app.
The service was kicked off Nov. 1 for high school and middle school bus routes, with availability for parents of elementary students to come at a later date, according to the district. Users of the app can see the location of their child’s bus both before and after school, confirm that their child’s bus has arrived at the bus stop, at school or both, and also can sign up to receive a push notification or email message when the bus is near their stop, has been substituted, or when the district has important information to relay.
“You will have the information you need to send your children to the bus stop at just the right time, helping to protect them from inclement weather and other roadside dangers,” the district said in an email that went out to parents last week. “What’s more, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your children haven’t missed the bus.”
The GPS-tracking technology is currently only available for regular inbound and outbound buses at the beginning and end of the school day at the present time. The Here Comes the Bus app can be downloaded and used for free through Apple’s app store or on Google Play. Before use, the app requires that parents verify they are a parent of a student in the Port Jeff district by entering their student’s school identification number, and a five-digit code provided by the district to ensure buses can’t be tracked by anyone other than parents or the district.
“My kids ride a bus that is sometimes late as it drops the middle school and high school after school activities participants off first,” said Brenda Eimers Batter, a parent in the district, in a Facebook message. “It would be nice to be able to track when they are coming around the bend so I don’t have to stand outside in the rain or cold.”
“My kids walk to the corner for the bus. On rainy/frigid days three to five minutes waiting makes a big difference. Today the bus was later than usual but we could see where it was and knew to walk out later.”
— Laura Dunbar Zimmerman
Another parent who used the service Nov. 6 gave it rave reviews.
“Love it!!” Laura Dunbar Zimmerman said. “My kids walk to the corner for the bus. On rainy/frigid days three to five minutes waiting makes a big difference. Today the bus was later than usual but we could see where it was and knew to walk out later.”
Kathleen Brennan, president of the Port Jeff board of education, said during a phone interview the board was first made aware of the technology through the bus company.
“We thought it would be a benefit for parents and caregivers of students to be able to know when the bus is getting to the neighborhood, and if the bus is delayed they’d be aware of it also,” she said. “I think it’s a great safety feature and a great time saver.”
The application is available in English, Spanish and French. Those with questions about Here Comes the Bus for Port Jeff district can call 631-791-4261 or visit www.help.herecomesthebus.com/en/support/home.
Taken from a drone, the varsity football field is illuminated by Musco Sports Lighting fixtures, the same brand as would be installed in Port Jeff should its $30M bond referendum pass. Photo from Sayville school district
Members of the Port Jefferson School District community headed south for a little enlightening Nov. 1.
If the district’s $30 million bond referendum passes following a Dec. 5 vote, stadium lights will be installed on the athletic fields at Scraggy Hill Road to allow sports teams to spread out practice times. To ease residents concerns about the lighting, the district held a South Shore meeting Nov. 1 at Sayville’s Greeley Avenue football field to show homeowners in the vicinity of the Scraggy Hill fields lights similar to those in the proposal.
A view of the lights on the football field and the surrounding area in the Sayville school district in the early evening Nov. 1. Photo by Alex Petroski
The district selected a brand and model similar to what is used by Sayville Union Free School District. They would be installed for $1.6 million if the full 20-plus item bond passes. Manufactured by Musco Sports Lighting, the football stadium lighting is billed as targeted beams meant to have little glare outside of the area designated for illumination, according to district administrators.
Ryan Walker, a resident near the Scraggy Hill fields and an employee in the district, has been outspoken about this particular line item in the greater bond proposal during meetings and again voiced his concern at the Nov. 1 meeting.
“Based on the shadows I see, I would be on my deck with my deck lit up, and that concerns me,” Walker said, adding his concerns with the inclusion of the lights in the proposal will “absolutely” be the largest deciding factor in how he votes. “I came down here thinking that somehow there’d be a miracle that what they explained would be true, but just being here sort of confirms my suspicions that there will be ambient light coming over, and even more than I thought, especially when the foliage is down.”
Walker said the presence of trees between his property and the fields, which district Assistant Superintendent Sean Leister estimated are between 70 and 100 feet tall, do not put his mind at ease having seen the Sayville field fully illuminated.
“I sit in my kitchen and I watch sports, because most of the tree foliage isn’t dense enough, and then as soon as the tree foliage is down I have a complete view of [the fields],” he said. He said the brightness of the lights concerns him, though he said the financial impact of the bond as a whole and the potential for traffic issues during night hours on the dark streets surrounding Scraggy Hill Road also need to be taken into consideration by voters.
A view of the lights on the football field and the surrounding area in the Sayville school district in the early evening Nov. 1. Photo by Alex Petroski
“We are all about the school, we love the school,” Walker said. “It’s just disheartening to us as a neighborhood because we are residential. [The area that surrounds the Sayville football field] is not a residential place. We are right up to the [Scraggy] fields. We think the school has other solutions that they’re not willing to negotiate with the neighborhood about. It was all or nothing, and they said they’d listen to us, which I’m sure they did, but listening and actually talking and negotiating are two different things.”
District Superintendent Paul Casciano said he is in a unique position, knowing about stadium lighting firsthand because he lives in the vicinity of Stony Brook University’s soccer fields.
“Initially, yeah I had some concerns, but you know what, they’re not an issue and they stay on until 11:30 every night,” he said. “You think it’s going to be a big issue and then you realize … kids cheering — never a big issue for me; 8:30 is not very late.”
Casciano pointed to a policy drafted by the board of education in recent weeks that would be implemented should the bond pass and would prohibit the lights from staying on past 8:30 p.m. as evidence the district is listening to concerns from the community.
A view of the lights on the football field and the surrounding area in the Sayville school district in the early evening Nov. 1. Photo by Alex Petroski
He reiterated the inclusion of the lights in the bond is for safety reasons, because currently, to accommodate varsity, junior varsity and middle school practices for boys and girls teams throughout the district, more practice time options are needed. At previous meetings, Casciano and other administrators have said the district’s current practice logjam has created dangerous situations for teams trying to utilize adjoining fields around the district at the same time.
Sayville’s field is surrounded by a Long Island Rail Road station on its north side, a parking lot and a few homes near its southeastern corner, an education center on its south side and a few homes across Greeley Avenue to the west. Casciano, Leister and district director of facilities Fred Koelbel said they each would be more disturbed by train station-related noise than the lights if they lived near the field. Koelbel added the lights at Sayville are competition-level brightness, and the one’s in Port Jeff would be a duller version because they’d only be needed for practices.
Carl Saieva, a Port Jeff resident who does not live near the Scraggy Hill fields, also attended the Sayville meeting and is leaning toward voting “No.”
When asked how he would feel if he lived in a house overlooking the field’s west side, he said: “I would be pissed.”
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would reduce the number of income tax brackets from seven to four; eliminate deductions for state and local income taxes; and would reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent. Stock photo
By Alex Petroski
Last week Republicans in the House of Representatives took a major step toward fulfilling a lynchpin campaign promise that is seemingly decades old.
The House Ways and Means committee released the framework of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Nov. 2, a major piece of legislation touted by President Donald Trump (R) as a cut to income taxes for “hardworking, middle-income Americans,” though it would negatively affect New Yorkers if signed into law, according to lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle.
The highlights of the bill, which would require passage by the House and Senate and the president’s signature before becoming law, include a consolidation from seven individual income tax brackets down to four; the elimination of the deduction for state and local income taxes, a provision that in the past through federal tax returns gave a portion of tax dollars back to individuals in higher income tax states like New York; and a reduction of the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent.
“I am a ‘No’ to this bill in its current form,” 1st Congressional District U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) said in a statement. “We need to fix this state and local tax [SALT] deduction issue. Adding back in the property tax deduction up to $10,000 is progress, but not enough progress. If I’m not fighting for New Yorkers, I can’t expect anyone else from another state to do it for me.”
U.S. Rep. for the 2nd District, Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), was even more critical of the bill than Zeldin.
“The goal of tax reform is to help hard-working Americans make more money so they can live the American Dream,” Suozzi said in a statement. “The American people expect us to find a bipartisan solution to tax reform that helps create good paying middle-class jobs. This plan doesn’t achieve that goal. I won’t support it.”
Other New York lawmakers from the Democratic Party voiced harsh opposition to the bill in its current form.
New York’s U.S. senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) each said via Twitter they viewed the bill as a tax break for corporations that would have a negative impact on middle-class citizens. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called the bill a “tax increase plan.”
“The tax reform plan, they call a tax cut plan,” Cuomo said in a statement. “It has a diabolical dimension, which is the elimination of the deductibility of state and local taxes … what makes it an even more gross injustice is, the state of New York contributes more to the federal government than any other state. New York contributes more to Washington than any other state. We’re the No. 1 donor state. We give $48 billion more than we get back. Why you would want to take more from New York is a gross, gross injustice.”
Duncan MacKenzie, chief executive officer of the New York State Association of Realtors said in a statement the bill would harm many New York homeowners.
“It will lessen the value of the property tax deduction and it cuts a host of other key housing-related tax incentives,” he said.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in the 1980s and dedicated to educating the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact, estimated the bill would result in a $1.5 trillion increase to the national deficit.
Mark Snyder of Mark J. Snyder Financial Services, a Hauppauge-based personal financial planning and management firm, called the bill a “torpedo aimed at the wallets of Long Islanders” in an email. He also pointed to the elimination of the SALT deduction as clear evidence the bill would harm New Yorkers.
“As a representative from New York, I’d kick this bill to the curb,” he said when asked what he would do if he were tasked with voting on the bill.
Dan Losquadro and Anthony Portesy will face off on Election Day for the Brookhaven highway superintendent job. Photos by Kevin Redding
The Brookhaven Town highway superintendent is responsible for overseeing more than 3,300 lane miles of town roads, making it one of the largest highway departments in New York State.
Dan Losquadro (R), the incumbent superintendent since 2013, will seek a third term on Election Day Nov. 7. To remain in the position he’ll have to defeat Democrat Anthony Portesy, a 31-year-old first-time political candidate and private attorney by trade. The candidates weighed in on the job and issues pertaining to it during a debate at TBR News Media’s Setauket office last month.
“I got involved in this race primarily because I would like to update the way the highway department handles the inventory of how the roads are reconstructed,” Portesy said. The candidate detailed what he called a “worst to first” initiative he’d like to implement to create a true priority list of town road resurfacing projects, and said he would plan on making the list publicly available on the town’s website through an interactive map, so residents could check on when repairs to their road might be coming. He said the town’s “hunt and peck” method of selecting roads for repaving doesn’t work. Losquadro said there are many factors that go into selecting roads for repaving, and that can be disturbed by a particularly harsh winter or other unforeseen factors.
Losquadro was a Suffolk County legislator for seven years prior to becoming highway superintendent. He said he identifies more with his current position than his stint on the legislature because he has a background in construction and enjoys getting his hands dirty.
“I feel that everything I did before this led me to this position,” he said. “I love the fact that I can actually get things done in this job and not just appropriate funds for something.”
Losquadro said upon taking office initially he knew he needed a long range plan and couldn’t come in and immediately improve the department’s functions. He said like many businesses, he establishedthree-, five- and 10-year plans for accomplishing his goals, most of which have to do with modernizing the systems used by the department. He said he is ahead of schedule compared tothe schedule he laid out nearly five years ago.
“The single biggest change has been taking the department from analogue to digital,” he said. “We have a department that was literally paper based and caused tremendous problems.”
He also lauded the department’s implementation of a fully electronic work order system as one of his proudest accomplishments so far in office. He also said he is now able to get in touch with all of the town’s snow removal vendors with “the touch of a button,” a process that he said used to take hours in the past.
The challenger said he has knocked on thousands of doors in the hopes of lending a voice to community members seeking change from the highway department.
“Whoever wins has 491,000 bosses,” Portesy said. “It’s very important that we’re listening to the concerns of everybody. It’s impossible to get back to everybody every single day, but I think there has to be some better communication, and that’s not me talking, that’s the people I’ve spoken to.”
He also pointed to more public availability for town contracts as a way to increase the department’s transparency and ultimately improve the relationship between the department and the community. Losquadro said town contracts are already available to the public, though a formal Freedom of Information Act request must be submitted.
Both indicated this is a relatively important time for the department, as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has set aside $100 million per year over the next four years in additional funding for local repaving projects in the state, and it will be incumbent upon the highway superintendent to do what they can to ascertain more of those funds than are currently slated for Long Island.
Councilwoman Valerie Cartright and challenger James Canale discussed issues pertaining to Brookhaven’s 1st Council District at Times Beacon Record News Media Setauket office. Photos by Kevin Redding
The race to represent Town of Brookhaven’s 1st District features a two-term incumbent Democrat against a “progressive Republican” in his first campaign seeking political office.
Entering the 2017 election, Brookhaven’s lone Democratic voice on the board is attorney and 1st District Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station). The town’s wing of the Republican Party endorsed her challenger, 25-year-old town employee and Port Jefferson Station resident James Canale, though he insists he is not beholden to party politics, with this being his first run for office.
“I think it’s only a letter next to the name — I will not and do not toe the party line,” Canale said during a discussion at the Times Beacon Record News Media office with Cartright and the editorial staff in October. “I think that it is time that we have an outside candidate come into the party to try to shake things up a little bit. I consider myself a grassroots, bipartisan, progressive Republican.”
“I think it’s only a letter next to the name — I will not and do not toe the party line.”
— James Canale
Cartright, who was first elected in 2013, said her primary objective as an elected official has always been to bridge the gap between government and community.
“Accountability, transparency and integrity have always been my platform,” she said. “I have been the one bucking the system — the only Democrat on the town board — making sure that when the community’s voices come to the table during town board meetings and say ‘things are not transparent enough, things are not the way that they should be, why didn’t I know about this?’ I’m the one making sure that my colleagues are listening, not only hearing, but listening and acting in response to what the community is saying.”
Both candidates acknowledged drug addiction, especially to heroin and other opiates, as one of the major issues facing the district and town as a whole. Cartright reiterated the motif of her campaign platform in discussing the issue. She said resources exist within the town and county to help those afflicted by addiction, but there is often a breakdown in communication between the government and the community, so not all addicts are aware of their options.
“I’ve been working with the Long Island Prevention Resource Center looking to become what’s called a drug free community,” she said. Her plan is to continue a process, which she began in January, of bringing together representatives from the police department, schools, clergy members and various other community groups to share resources and ideas. “We’re trying to create a collaboration, a task force of people to come together to talk about what type of resources are there for drug prevention.”
“Accountability, transparency and integrity have always been my platform.”
— Valerie Cartright
Canale pointed to the town’s “complicated” zoning codes as a major deterrent in allowing people, especially millennials, the opportunity to establish roots and begin a life in the town, and cited it as an issue he plans to focus on if elected.
“There’s just not enough affordable housing here,” he said. “One of the reasons I got involved in politics in the first place is because I see millennials and young adults graduating from college saddled with student debt either forced to move back home with their parents and work minimum wage jobs to barely make ends meet, or, we see this all the time, folks are moving off Long Island in droves.”
Cartright pointed to her revitalization and visioning plan for the Port Jeff Station and Terryville areas, an initiative that has been ongoing since her first term, as a driver toward alleviating that same issue. She also agreed with Canale that the town needs more affordable housing.
The candidates stood on common ground on the topic of preserving the environment and water quality in Brookhaven. Cartright and the town joined a lawsuit by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in August against the U.S Environmental Protection Agency to oppose ongoing dumping of dredged spoils in the Long Island Sound, and Canale said he was in full support of the decision.
Incumbent Supervisor Ed Romaine is facing Stony Brook Attorney Jack Harrington for the right to run Brookhaven Town. Photos by Rita J. Egan
The race to oversee Suffolk County’s largest township pits a pair of candidates with long résumés against each other.
Ed Romaine (R) has been Town of Brookhavensupervisor since a special election in 2012, though his career in public service can be measured in decades. He worked for the town in the 1980s as the commissioner of housing and community development and director of economic development, in addition to two separate terms on the Suffolk County Legislature. His Election Day challenger for supervisor is Democrat Jack Harrington, a practicing Stony Brook attorney and officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve who spent time after law school interning in President Barack Obama’s White House counsel’s office. He also studied counter-terrorism and intelligence in Washington, D.C.
“I think [Brookhaven] has a remarkable amount to offer both in terms of the locality and the environment.”
— Jack Harrington
Harrington, a father of a 3-year-old, who is expecting his second child with wife Sarah, is a graduate of Miller Place High School. This is his first time running for public office. He shed light on his decision to challenge Romaine during a debate at TBR News Media’s Setauket office last month.
“I think [Brookhaven] has a remarkable amount to offer both in terms of the locality and the environment — the beaches and the beauty — and also the intellectual assets,” he said, adding he hopes to have the opportunity to make it easier for young people to establish roots in Brookhaven by utilizing the town’s assets, like Brookhaven National Lab and Stony Brook University, to create good-paying, middle-class jobs with upward mobility. He said it is the town’s responsibility to create that environment.
Romaine, who has long preached his goal of creating a better Brookhaven for the future, lauded accomplishments by the town since he took office in creating a sound financial environment for businesses and residents to flourish. The town has a AAA bond rating and is growing its reserves while maintaining a balanced budget and, for the most part, holding the line on taxes.
“We’re not perfect, but we are poised for great economic development,” Romaine said, citing the work of the town’s Industrial Development Agency, which has created or retained 7,000 jobs and $600 million worth of investment over the last three years, according to Romaine.
Harrington commended Romaine for his role in establishing the town’s stable financial footing, but offered a rebuttal.
“Unfortunately, a AAA bond rating does not get a 23-year-old college graduate a job, and that’s really something I think we can be doing better at,” he said.
“I will, as long as I am supervisor, be color blind to party and instead work with individuals.”
— Ed Romaine
Harrington said if elected, a way he would aim to promote economic development would be to simplify the town’s zoning and permit processes in the hopes of increasing efficiency for those looking to start a business in the town.
“All of the municipalities have very lengthy, convoluted processes with respect to getting through those functions,” he said.
Harrington was also critical of the town’s code enforcement practices, which often result in fines for homeowners looking to do renovations. He commended Romaine for his efforts to stop the practices of “slum lords,” or others who try to subvert building codes to increase profits, but said he wanted to see changes in enforcement to protect homeowners with good intentions.
Romaine defended his reputation as one of the most willing local politicians to reach across party lines, as is evident through his environmental protection initiatives and his recurring endorsements from Sierra Club Long Island.
“I will, as long as I am supervisor, be color blind to party and instead work with individuals,” he said.
The candidates agreed on ways to improve water quality and address environmental issues in the town, as well as the town’s responsibility in responding to heroin and opioid addiction. Both preached an approach that included prevention and education for young people.
Ray Perini and Tim Sini are campaigning to replace current Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota on Election Day 2017. Photos by Kevin Redding
In life, timing is everything.
Thanks to the indictment of current Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota (D) Oct. 25 for his alleged involvement in the cover-up of former Suffolk Police Commissioner James Burke’s civil rights violation — a charge the ex-police chief pleaded guilty to in 2016 — the high-profile race to be the next DA in Suffolk just got a brighter spotlight.
The next DA — be it Burke’s replacement in the police department, Democrat Tim Sini, or Huntington resident and criminal lawyer with more than 40 years of experience, Republican Ray Perini — will be tasked with restoring public faith in a position now synonymous with corruption. The two candidates have publicly traded barbs during the campaign, and that didn’t stop during their individual interviews at TBR News Media’s Setauket office in October.
Huntington resident and former Suffolk County narcotics bureau head Ray Perini is running to replace Thomas Spota as the county’s next District Attorney. Photo by Kevin Redding
Perini said a key distinction in this race is he is not a politician. His first attempt at political office came four years ago when Perini decided to challenge Spota because he said he was concerned the incumbent would be cross endorsed by both Republicans and Democrats.
“You’ve lost your moral ability to lead an office,” Perini said of Spota, after his announcement that he would be stepping down before the end of the year. “He had to step down for the good of the office.”
The challenger began his career as a lawyer in the 1970s in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, and he spent time working on both narcotics cases and homicides while in Brooklyn. In 1976, he moved to Suffolk County to head its narcotics bureau, where he tried one or two major cases each year, he said.
“There’s nothing I haven’t done as a criminal prosecutor, and I’m very proud,” he said. “I believe I have had a very successful career.”
Perini said he believes his background suits him perfectly to be the next Suffolk DA.
“It’s what I’ve trained my whole life to do,” Perini said. He added his experiences have prepared him to tackle two of the county’s biggest problems: drug addiction and gang infiltration. “I was successful because I actually worked on a daily basis with the [U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration] task force and you can’t do that kind of work without working with the FBI and the DEA.”
Sini also got his foot in the door as a lawyer to the west. He was the assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York working as a federal prosecutor under Preet Bharara, where he said he specialized in violent crime cases.
“I loved my job — I loved bringing justice to victims or family members of victims,” he said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota, who did not plan to run for re-election, was indicted Oct. 25 and will retire prior to the completion of his fourth term in office. File photo
The Babylon resident said he always wanted to make his way back to Suffolk. He eventually returned to serve as the deputy county executive under County Executive Steve Bellone (D), specializing in public safety initiatives. As the successor to Burke, he said he has experience taking over a department in turmoil.
“I have a proven track record of leadership in difficult situations,” Sini said. “I walked into the police department during a scandal and if I’m elected DA I’ll be walking into the district attorney’s office amidst a scandal.”
He explained why he thinks he’s a fit for the position.
“This is, in my opinion, the most important position in Suffolk County,” Sini said of the DA. “The level of responsibility that the district attorney has is enormous. I’m running for district attorney to restore integrity to the leadership of the district attorney’s office, which is sorely needed.”
Both were critical of the other’s assertions that their background has prepared them to serve as district attorney.
Sini pointed out Perini’s resignation from the narcotics bureau amid allegations of illegal wiretapping. A New York State Commission of Investigation report named Perini more than 100 times, according to Sini. The police commissioner has also been vocal about annual parties his opponent chartered for local district attorneys and judges, which Sini saw as a sign of impropriety.
Perini attributed the issues to two narcotics officers within his 12-person department who “went bad,” and said he investigated when allegations arose, eventually forcing the pair to resign, making no attempt at a cover-up. He defended his decision to host the boat parties as standard operating practice amongst defense attorneys, judges and prosecutors who work together closely.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini is running to become the county’s District Attorney. Photo by Kevin Redding
“People have this image of a yacht and call girls — it wasn’t that,” he said. “We don’t do X-rated parties. I never thought it would be this kind of issue. Would I do it again? Of course not.”
Perini, in turn, swung back at Sini for claims the police commissioner’s campaign ads made about some of his accomplishments while working in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, saying they were inflated.
“I believe what he’s been doing has been to raise his profile,” Perini said. He referenced Newsday’s endorsement of Sini, which referred to him as “a low-level and undistinguished” prosecutor.
Perini also criticized Sini for telling the Suffolk County Legislature he did not intend to run for DA when being confirmed as the police commissioner. Sini said at the time he didn’t intend to run for DA, but things changed.
The candidates did find some common ground on dealing with gang issues and drug addiction. The pair said they see prevention as the most effective method to deal with addiction, and both suggested plans to reach kids earlier before the problems spiral out of control. Each also preached interdepartmental cooperation and intelligence sharing as the primary solution to dealing with gang-related violence, especially by MS-13.
Perini suggested the county should utilize the existing “kingpin” statute, which sets sentences from 20 years minimum to life for dealers making at least $75,000 during a six-month span.
“Quite frankly, I think that has to be used more aggressively with less plea bargaining to get the word on the street that, ‘If you do this in Suffolk County, you’re going to pay dearly for it,’” he said.
Sini stressed the importance of reaching Suffolk County immigrants, who are recruited by gang members upon instruction from crew higher-ups in home countries, with programs and social service resources — prior to recruitment — as a means to stomp out gang activity.
A Commack woman thought she could get out of a traffic ticket by calling, of all people, the police.
Marie Toussaint mugshot. Photo from SCPD
Suffolk County Police have arrested a woman who called 911 to falsely report seeing two men with guns in an effort to avoid receiving traffic summonses in Commack, according to police. This is the second time in a week that a person made a 911 call to report a false emergency, police said.
A 2nd Precinct police officer pulled over Marie Toussaint Oct. 23 at about 11:15 a.m. on Jericho Turnpike, near Larkfield Road, in Commack after he observed her driving a 2011 Toyota Highlander that did not have valid registration plates. When the officer returned to his vehicle to write Toussaint summonses, she called 911 and falsely reported two men with guns running down the street in the vicinity of the traffic stop. The fraudulent call elicited a large police response from 2nd and 4th Precincts officers. The officer that stopped Toussaint also responded to the call, releasing her without writing any summonses. After a thorough search of the area, the call was determined to be unfounded. Further investigation revealed that Toussaint made the call from her vehicle after being stopped by the 2nd Precinct police officer.
Toussaint, 40, of Commack, surrendered at the 2nd Precinct Oct. 31 at about 5 p.m. Second Precinct Crime Section officers arrested Toussaint and she was charged with third-degree falsely reporting an incident, and second-degree obstructing governmental administration. She will also receive four summonses for the original traffic infractions. She was released on bail and will be arraigned at First District Court Jan. 11, 2018.
Suffolk County Police arrested a man for hosting a party in Port Jefferson after two 20-year-olds required medical attention for excessive alcohol consumption Oct. 29, according to police.
Sixth Precinct Patrol officers responded to a complaint of a loud party at a home on High Street at about 1:40 a.m. There were approximately 100 people in attendance, many of whom were underage, police said.
Police arrested and charged the host, Robert Egan, 22, of Bay Shore, with violating the Social Host Law. He was transported to the 6th Precinct where he was released on bail. Egan is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip Jan. 9, 2018. Attorney information for Egan was not immediately available.
A motorist driving an SUV died after being pulled from his vehicle in Port Jefferson Harbor Oct. 30. Photo by Dennis Whittam
A man was pronounced dead at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson after he was pulled from a submerged vehicle in Port Jefferson Harbor just after 7 p.m. Oct. 30, according to Suffolk County Police Department Assistant Commissioner Justin Meyers. Police have identified the man as William Whalen, 69, of Lake Grove.
“A 911 call came in at 7:10 p.m. after witnesses observed a car drive into the water at the Port Jefferson Marina boat launch located off of West Broadway Avenue and Barnum Avenue in Port Jefferson Village,” Meyers statement said. “Sixth Precinct Officers Brian Christopher and Michael Cappelli responded and jumped into the water and extricated a male victim that was trapped in his vehicle which was completely submerged. Personnel from the Port Jefferson Village Fire Department and Setauket Fire Department also responded and also went into the water to help extricate the victim.”
A motorist driving an SUV died after being pulled from his vehicle in Port Jefferson Harbor Oct. 30. Photo by Dennis Whittam
The officers were being treated for hypothermia in the aftermath of the incident.
Members of the Port Jefferson Fire Department — Lieutenant Geoffrey Markson, Ex-Captain David Okst and First Assistant Brennan Holmes — were on the eastern end of the marina parking lot working on the department’s fire boat when they were alerted of the incident on their paging devices, according to a spokesperson from the PJFD chief’s office. The three jumped into the water, eventually breaking the window with a hammer and removing the seatbelt to pull the victim from the car. Two PJFD Heavy Rescue Squad members in diving gear also arrived on the scene to assist in the rescue effort.
“We had a brief conversation that went, ‘are we doing this? Yeah we’re doing it,'” Holmes said during a phone interview.
He said the three firefighters were focused only on action and not on what might happen to them if they jumped in the water.
“We could have saved a life,” Port Jefferson Village Mayor Margot Garant said via email Monday night.
Garant announced during a board meeting June 5 the village had sent a letter to the New York State Department of Transportation and State Sen. Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) asking for the traffic signal at the intersection of Barnum Avenue and West Broadway to be changed from having a standard green light to a green left arrow and right arrow. The call was in response to an April 6 incident in which a man in his early 60s drove into the harbor via the same boat launch. Four good Samaritans rescued that driver, and were later honored by the Port Jeff Village board in July. Garant said the DOT told her in a letter she received about five weeks ago they intended to comply with her request to change the light.
“I am thankful that the DOT was willing to entertain and adopt our suggestion, and when the light is changed, it may save a life,” Garant said Tuesday.
In December 2005 60-year-old Setauket resident Richard Levin drove into the water on the same ramp and onlookers had to pull his unconscious body from the fully submerged car. Levin died days later as a result of the incident.
According to documents obtained from Brookhaven in May, both Brookhaven Town and Port Jeff Village were sued by the wife and executrix of the estate of Richard Levin in 2007.
“As a result of the negligence of the defendants in failing to properly maintain the intersection of Route 25A and Barnum Ave., in failing to properly safeguard against motorists driving onto said Port Jefferson ramp into the water, in failing to properly illuminate said area, in failing to provide fencing and warning lights — as a result of the aforementioned Richard Levin died,” the lawsuit read in part. “[The] town failed to submit any evidence that it maintained its property in a reasonably safe condition by providing adequate fencing, lighting or warning of the dangerous condition on its property.”
“We had a brief conversation that went, ‘are we doing this? Yeah we’re doing it.'”
— Brennan Holmes
Judge Joseph Farneti of the New York State Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit in January 2011 because the “acts or omissions of defendants were not the proximate cause of the alleged accident.”
The April incident stirred up memories more than a decade old for one former village resident.
“People are dying here and it’s a simple fix,” Christopher Kelsch, one of the people who witnessed Levin’s death 12 years ago and tried to help, said shortly after seeing news of the April incident. “Somebody needs to shine a serious spotlight because Dr. Levin died at that location.”
Following the April incident, a Brookhaven Town spokesperson said in a statement there are clear signs and traffic measures in place to warn residents of the ramp’s location.
“The Port Jefferson boat ramp has existed at its current location for generations,” the spokesperson said. “A number of measures are in place including a multitude of ‘Do Not Enter’ signs, road arrows and other traffic control measures to clearly indicate that this is not an entrance.”
A Brookhaven Town spokesperson directed questions to the police department Monday night. Garant called on the town to take action in April, as the marina is town-owned property.
A spokesperson for Lavalle said the state senator was meeting with representatives from the DOT Nov. 1 to discuss the incident and troublesome intersection.
This post was updated Oct. 31 to include information from the PJFD Chief’s office and a quote from Brennan Holmes, and Nov. 1 to include a response from Ken Lavalle’s spokesperson.
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