CLOSE
Authors Posts by Julianne Mosher

Julianne Mosher

450 POSTS 0 COMMENTS

by -
0 2380
Torte Jeff's front door now boasts East Main & Main. Photo by Julianne Mosher

A local business owner decided to combine two of her shops, creating a one-stop-shop for all things sweet in Port Jefferson.

Lisa Harris, owner of several village shops, recently chose to downsize and put all her bakery goods into one place a few storefronts away.

“In order to make the most of business during these challenging times, we want to use the space to generate more income,” she said. “We decided to combine our pies and donuts into one.”

Lisa Harris at her shop. Photo from Lisa Harris

Her first shop, East Main & Main, opened in June 2017. Known for their extensive menu of fun, creative and over-the-top homemade donuts, the entrepreneur opened up Torte Jeff Pie Co. just a block away on East Main Street in the Village of Port Jefferson two years later. 

There, she sells both sweet and savory pies, along with local, small batched grocery items.

“It’s been working really well,” she said. “If we run out of donuts, at least we have other stuff in the shop.”

To try and eliminate the rent, she decided to relocate the donut shop and put all her baked goods into one basket — or store.

For the last month, she moved her donut case into the pie shop, showcasing a few selections just for the weekend. 

And everything is made from scratch, around the corner at her third location, Prohibition Kitchen located on Main Street. All the other items for sale come from local merchants.

“We wanted to become more of that one-stop gourmet shop,” she said. “Torte Jeff is a mini gourmet grocery and we want to be as supportive of small businesses as possible.” 

For now, the East Main & Main donuts are only available at the pie shop Fridays through Sundays. They offer 10 different varieties and two specials that change every day. She said that if customers come to the store at 10 a.m., the hand-filled donuts are still warm — that’s how fresh they are.

And on top of the homemade pies, donuts and dinners available at

Inside Torte Jeff Pie Co. Photo by Julianne Mosher

Harris’ businesses, she also just launched a new custom-blended ice cream that incorporates their baked goods, sold in pints.

She said that if the ice cream line takes off, customers can expect more flavors down the road. Currently on the shelves is Billionaire Banana Pudding Ice Cream — homemade vanilla ice cream with the shop’s banana pudding, fudge brownies and caramel. 

When asked why people should stop into Torte Jeff, Harris responded with, “Pie not?”

“We’ve been so fortunate during the past year from the community’s support for small business,” she added. “There’s so much love that goes into everything we make, and I think everyone needs a little extra bit love — especially now.”

Torte Jeff Pie Co. is open Thursday and Friday noon to 5 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

by -
0 499
Kyle Spillane with three students during one of his past trips to Kenya. Photo from Kyle Spillane

By Julianne Mosher

An initiative built a school for kids in Kenya, and now they need a way to get there.

Kyle Spillane, a graduate of Shoreham-Wading River High School and board member of the local nonprofit Hope Children’s Fund, recently set up a GoFundMe fundraiser online to buy a minibus to safely get Kenyan students to school.

“It has the potential to save lives,” he said. 

Incorporated in 2003, Hope Children’s Fund is a New York State licensed 501(c)(3) that provides for the physical and emotional needs of some of the most vulnerable AIDS-affected children who had been living on the streets of Meru, Kenya.

With the goal to provide food, clothing, shelter and medical care to enable children to be enrolled in local schools, the Jerusha Mwiraria Hope Children’s Home was built in 2005, taking in children that are HIV affected or who come from tragic backgrounds with families who can no longer care for them. 

According to Spillane, two of the group’s kids unfortunately — and tragically — lost their lives while walking home from school, due to the dangerous surrounding area. Their names were Glory and Michell.

“We wanted to fund a vehicle to transport our kids and doctors to and from the school,” he said. “We have never had a vehicle, and it’s been very costly for us to rent taxis and buses for them.”

Photo from Kyle Spillane

Over the years, the organization lacked a vehicle to transport the children to and from their regular activities of attending school, shopping for food and supplies for the home, and visiting medical providers. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, public transportation is no longer the safest option for the group’s immune-compromised children, who regularly travel to the doctor. 

Spillane said the GoFundMe, called A Vehicle for Hope, which was posted early last month has raised more than $4,600 to date. The total cost for a 16-seater minibus, from a Toyota dealership in Kenya, will cost $42,000. They have received a $10,000 grant from World Orphan Fund and received a partnership from an anonymous donor who has offered to match the first $5,000. 

“We just got over 50% of our goal,” he said.

The 26-year-old Shoreham resident found out about the Setauket-based organization through the Global Awareness Club at Shoreham-Wading River High School. Since becoming a part of it, he has been to Kenya four times, returning more recently in 2017 and 2019. 

“This is an organization I hold close to me,” he said. “They have really grown to be what I consider my family, and I wouldn’t still be interested if I didn’t believe in those children. The amount of growth I’ve seen them go through is amazing.”

Hope Children’s Fund is a completely volunteer-based nonprofit.

“The education is what they really want,” he said about the students. “It’s incredible — these students are coming from nothing and are becoming doctors. They are not taking anything for granted.”

Spillane is asking the community to donate and help keep these students safe. 

“This GoFundMe will support and provide protection to some of the brightest youth minds, who are also some of the most vulnerable AIDS-affected children in Meru, Kenya,” he said. 

To donate, visit the GoFundMe here.

by -
0 2465
Photo from Jeff Cobb

A longtime Port Jefferson Station resident, who loved and valued her community, is going to be missed.

Nancy J. Cobb was born in the Bronx to parents Joseph and Elsie Pandolfo. She then moved to Suffolk County, where for 55 years she lived in the same house in Port Jefferson Station, keeping busy with many different roles.

“She was very active in the local community,” said her son Jeff who now lives in Florida. “I have received tons of letters and cards since she passed — I knew that she impacted lives, but I didn’t understand how many people she touched.”

Cobb said his mother, who passed away at age 82 on Dec. 10, 2020, was “a bundle of energy.”

While he and his brother, Ken now of East Setauket, were growing up, he said that she decided to go back to school to become a teacher. 

Cobb started at Suffolk County Community College, while raising two sons, and then earned a teaching certificate and master’s degree at Stony Brook University.

“She’s definitely my hero,” he said. “She raised two young boys and had to figure out how to make a living. She established a career in the process, and wound up having a great life.”

Cobb took a job teaching both second and third grades at Clinton Avenue Elementary in the Comsewogue School District, and when school wasn’t in session, she’d host foreign exchange students in her home.

“She hosted young women from all over the world; Italy, Spain and Japan,” he said. “She maintained relationships with those girls up until the end. She was active in all their lives, and even went to visit them.”

He added that “they would call her their second mom.”

Cobb was also an avid member of the Christ Church Episcopal on Barnham Avenue, where she also taught Sunday school for many years.

On top of being an educator, Cobb loved playing tennis. For 30 years, she would play on the courts at the Port Jefferson Country Club.

She supported the local arts, often volunteering with Theatre Three and with the Comsewogue Library. She also was a member of the Port Jefferson Station Civic Association.

“She put a lot into those 82 years than most people do in half their lives,” her son said, adding that she loved to travel, she loved her house, her backyard and tending to her garden. “She had a tremendous number of friends.”

But there were five things she loved more than anything — her grandchildren; Alaina, Joseph, KJ, Kasey and Cody.

“She loved her family, she loved spending time with them and loved hearing about what they all do,” he said. “She was a lot of fun to be around. We always just had a lot of fun.”

by -
0 769
Phil O’Brien (left) and his brother Patrick show off their apperal company, Anchor East, with their slogan,’No suits, just sand.’ Photo by Julianne Mosher

Two Port Jefferson Station brothers used quarantine to create something special — a new clothing brand they’re calling Anchor East.

Phil and Patrick O’Brien are finalizing the unisex T-shirt, hoodie and hat brand that could create a community of people who love Long Island, by aligning their platform with several causes.

Photo by Julianne Mosher

Born and raised in Port Jeff Station, the family became integrated in the community, also owning O’Brien Insurance Agency on Main Street in the village. Phil, now an insurance agent, works out of the offices that his father started up there nearly 15 years ago. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit in March, he was at home with a lot of free time. 

Like many throughout the COVID crisis, he decided to start dabbling in a hobby — graphic design.

He began throwing around ideas with his brother about things he always wanted to accomplish — one of them being to create an apparel brand.

“I wanted to make something that was a very local thing that all the locals know about,” he said. 

His brother, Patrick, got let go from his employer at the same time, so that’s when the two decided they could “make something good out of a bad situation.” They called Anchor East their passion project.

“We’ve always wanted to work together and now it was almost like we had a clean slate,” Phil said. “The way that everything came together was just so organic. He’s my best friend and having the opportunity to work together, while also giving back, is important to both of us.” 

It isn’t about making money, Phil said. They are choosing to give back to two different groups from the proceeds of their sales. 

Photo by Julianne Mosher

Growing up, Patrick was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, so he knew that he’d want to donate to diabetes associations and research. 

“My entire life, the things that were important to me were the companies that would donate or do something in return, which back then obviously, wasn’t many,” he said. “So, us being able to create a company to do that for me and my story was crucial.”

But their charity doesn’t stop there. Both brothers grew up on the water, and are raising their kids there, too. They said they want Anchor East to become a movement, where people in the community can come together and clean up local beaches — like Pirate’s Cove, which they frequent with their family.

“We have this local company now that people can see,” Phil said. “We’re here to help and we want to give back. We want to clean up the local beaches because this is our home.”

They said they’d like for their beach cleanups to become an annual and well-known event every summer. They’re also hoping to open up a storefront for the brand Down Port. 

“I think that’s really important to us,” Phil said. “Being a part of the community, specifically Port Jeff, where we were born and raised.”

Patrick now lives in Coram. Phil is raising his family in Port Jeff Station, and his wife is a teacher at Port Jefferson high school. 

Photo by Julianne Mosher

“Between the beach cleanups and the diabetes associations that we want to work with, I think that we have something really special, and it’s something that we’ve talked about that we would love to give to our children one day,” Phil said. “We want them to see how important it is to give back when you’re in a position to do so.”

Patrick said that since they began the project early in quarantine, they haven’t stopped planning. 

“Doing something like this with my brother, someone who I trust and love more than anything in the world, with the mission that we have was an explosion,” he said. “We haven’t stopped since March.”

Their planning for Anchor East was full-speed ahead in July, when the duo spent the summer working on different designs and logos. On Jan. 18, they launched their social media accounts, teasing what merchandise would soon be released.

The brand’s website is now being finalized. Anchor East is expected to have a spring opening. 

“Showing people that we care, we want to clean up our beaches, take a step forward to make a difference, and to be able to give back to my disease which hundreds of thousands of people around the world are dealing with,” Patrick said, “We want to show them this is our mission and we’re not doing this for a paycheck. We’re doing it for the benefit of Long Island.”

Anchor East will be launching soon, but for now you can keep an eye out on their brand by following them on Instagram @AnchorEast or on Facebook.

by -
0 324
County Steve Bellone announced Suffolk County's third mass vaccination site. Photo by Andrew Zucker

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) joined other elected officials on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at Suffolk County Community College’s Selden campus to announce its new vaccine site.

The campus will be home to Suffolk County’s third mass vaccination site, and will administer some of the nearly 8,000 vaccines that were delivered to the state earlier this week. 

“The college is uniquely situated for this effort,” Bellone said. “These campuses are strategically located throughout the county on the west end, east end, and now in the middle of the county with the Selden campus.”

He added the Selden campus will focus on vaccinating those with comorbidities, municipal employees and Northwell Health employees. 

by -
0 755
Doug Jansson spent 63 days away from his family, battling and almost dying from COVID-19. Photo by Julianne Mosher

Doug Jansson finally got to spend Christmas with his family — nearly two months after the holiday.

Friends and family gathered outside St. Charles Hospital to cheer Doug on. Photo by Julianne Mosher

On Dec. 12,  the 42-year-old pastor was brought into Stony Brook University Hospital after he and the rest of his family contracted COVID-19 in late November. He was intubated in the Intensive Care Unit on Christmas Eve, and placed on life support where it was thought he wasn’t going to make it.

“I think I remember him being sick only a handful of times in the 20 years we’ve been married,” his wife, Kelly, said back in January. “When we got COVID, he was worried about me — nobody was worried about him getting hit this hard.”

But now, the lead pastor of Living World Church in Hauppauge is back home in Smithtown after 63 days.

On Feb. 12, the father of three was wheeled out of St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, where he was undergoing rehabilitation for nine days, since being discharged from Stony Brook on Feb. 3. Jansson said he was able to get up and walk out because of prayer. 

Early on in the pandemic, Jansson organized prayer parades with his church, often visiting local hospitals to support essential workers and victims of the virus. 

Doug embraces his family after two long months apart. Photo by Julianne Mosher

But then he became ill, himself. After being in the ICU for not even two days, he began complaining of severe pain. A CT scan revealed a pleural effusion (fluid in the chest), a secondary pneumonia, pleurisy and a small pneumothorax (air in the chest). His right lung collapsed.

That’s when his wife knew she had to share his story. Kelly logged into his Facebook account and began updating his friends, family and followers of his progress. Some days were better than others, but one thing she kept asking of everyone was to keep praying. 

Kelly said she began receiving messages from people all over the world, telling her they were keeping Doug in their thoughts and prayers. Now he’s finally home.

Doug embraced by his wife, Kelly, while hospital workers cheer on. Photo by Julianne Mosher

Feb. 12 was always a special day for the couple, Kelly said outside St. Charles Hospital the day of his release. Twenty-one years ago, on the same date, he proposed to her. 

And to celebrate his release, nearly 100 people gathered outside with balloons, signs and streamers to cheer the pastor on as he got in his car, ready to go home.  

“I’m thankful that we’re here and so grateful,” Doug said before he addressed the crowd outside. “I know that God has set it up to be just a miracle and something that we can’t express that we know we don’t deserve. But he’s giving, so we’re really thankful.”

When asked how this whole experience made him feel, his voice broke. 

“I would say two words keep coming to mind when people ask me that,” he said. “One is painful. It’s been very difficult, fighting through this and being away from my family. But the other word is, in a weird way beautiful, because I’ve gotten to see doctors and nurses and health care people in a different light and really get to know them.”

He said the essential workers have been there for him and his family. 

“I also feel like God’s put me through this to try to be there for them, to encourage him, pray for and bless them,” he added. “I know that, for whatever reason, this story has impacted people and, you know, that makes going through it worth it because I know people are being drawn to Jesus.”

The family pet, Chewy, was happy to see his dad again. Photo from Kelly Jansson

Nearly a week home, one of his first requests, he said, was to get a slice of pizza from Ciro’s in Smithtown. And on his way home, the pizzeria donated two large pies to the family to celebrate his homecoming. 

The family was finally able to celebrate Christmas, and their dog, Chewy, was so happy to see his dad again.

“He’s doing really well,” Kelly said on Feb. 15 in a phone interview. “He’s working so hard on getting stronger. There’s still a way to go, but we will help him get there.”

And Doug said his couldn’t have done it without the support from his family, church, faith and the prayers from strangers. 

“I am so grateful to God to be home with my family after all this time,” he said. “We are enjoying every second of it.”

by -
0 1450
Stu Vincent was named by the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce as Member of the Year. Photo from Stu Vincent

Someone who’s usually behind the scenes within the community finally has his chance to be spotlighted. 

Stuart Vincent, who is the director of public affairs and public relations at Mather Hospital, was recently recognized by the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce as the chamber’s Member of the Year. 

Vincent, who has been at Mather for 10 years, worked in public affairs at Hofstra University and Newsday, where he started as a reporter. 

As part of his responsibilities of working at the hospital, he was asked to sit on the chamber’s board about eight years ago. While sitting as vice president, he began helping out with different events the chamber, village and BID hosted, including chairing the Health & Wellness Fest over the last four years. 

Photo from Stu Vincent

“Just like the other members of the chamber, I help out at different events,” he said. “So, I was very surprised when Barbara told me I was being recognized.”

Barbara Ransome, director of operations at the chamber, said the award was well-deserved.

“It is always nice to honor one of our own,” she said. “Stu’s loyalty to our chamber has been self-evident, as actions always speak louder than words.”

Vincent said the award goes to someone who has been with the chamber every year, who contributes to the chamber and promotes the Village of Port Jefferson. 

And one of his favorite events is the Health & Wellness Fest, which was unfortunately canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A former resident of Sound Beach, Vincent now resides in Brentwood. Although the commute to the North Shore may be a little long, he said it’s worth it.

“The Port Jefferson Chamber is by far the most active chamber around here,” he said. “Every year we come up with something new … We do a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, and basically help the promote the business districts.”

“The chamber is lucky to have such a dedicated director who has answered the call of selfless volunteerism,” Ransome added. “We pay tribute and gratitude for his steadfast support.”

by -
0 448
State Sen. Anthony Palumbo spoke to TBR News Media about his first month in Albany, and what his plans are for the rest of the year. Photo from Palumbo

State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) has been in his new role for a little over a month now, and has made it clear that before anything gets done on his laundry list of things to do, COVID-19 recovery is the first battle. 

When the former state assemblyman and legislator announced he would be running for former state Sen. Ken LaValle’s (R-Port Jefferson) seat, he had some big shoes to fill. 

“This is not necessarily my first rodeo,” Palumbo said, adding that his new role is nearly two-and-a-half sizes larger than his previous district. 

Palumbo’s former Assembly 2nd District — now led by Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio (R-Riverhead) — runs across the North Shore from Fishers Island all the way to Mount Sinai. He was first elected in 2013 with a 57% vote. His new District 1 spans across the whole East End, beginning near Port Jefferson all the way out to Montauk. 

And since he took office in January, he’s been busy, he said. This past week, he helped secure about 650 vaccines at Peconic Landing in Greenport — one of the hardest hit nursing homes on Long Island at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Palumbo said that in less than three hours, 300 residents were given their first shot in hopes to combat the virus. 

“The immediate goal is COVID,” he said. “It’s getting us back to business and safely opening back up.”

Palumbo said in order to get there, the biggest solution is obtaining and distributing vaccines, which New York State has been ridiculed for. 

“Micromanaging the distribution of the vaccines has been a disaster,” he said. “And unfortunately, this is how it began. The governor [Andrew Cuomo (D)] had strict guidelines, and that was really the hiccup.”

Palumbo said he has been “highly critical of the government” especially after being able to distribute the vaccines to the seniors in Greenport, with the help of Stony Brook University Hospital. 

“A prime example is what [we did at Peconic Landing],” he said. “Then, the hospital said they can quadruple their vaccines if they have the opportunity.”

And Palumbo wants to look to ask the federal government for help. 

“We have the capability to do this,” he said. “Unfortunately, we were slower than most states because of the executive orders control in the government. It needs to loosen up more.”

The vaccine wins at Peconic Landing last week brought him back to reality, he said. 

“This affects people’s lives,” he said, “And as elected officials, this is what we’re supposed to be doing — facilitating.”

Passionate about rolling out the vaccine to everyone who wants it, Palumbo said it has been frustrating. 

“We knew the vaccine was coming for months,” he said. “We had time to prepare.”

He criticized Cuomo’s plan. Palumbo said that since other states, like Florida, have been open, they are doing OK in terms of COVID-positive numbers and deaths.

“What are we doing?” he said. “We really need to get back to work.”

Palumbo added that not only was the distribution an issue in terms of acquiring vaccines, but obtaining them has been a nightmare for his constituents, too. 

“We don’t have a website that works when we knew early on people were going to frantically go to it,” he said.

And once the vaccine rollout is complete, Palumbo said things can go back to ways they were. 

“Big-box stores haven’t been closed for a day throughout the pandemic,” he said. “But [around] 95% of other businesses can’t open.”

He mentioned that one of those industries is hospitality on Long Island. 

“Hospitality is the number one revenue for the city and state,” he said. “With them being closed, it’s killing us. We’re losing billions in revenue.”

But while conquering COVID is the primary goal, Palumbo has other plans that he wants to accomplish within his new role as state senator. 

“We have a lot of issues that are continuing,” he said. “They’re not on the backburner — they’re a close second.”

Palumbo noted that his district “has more coastline than any other district.” As a member of the Environmental Conservation Committee, he said he knows the importance of clean drinking water and runoff in his district — especially out on the East End — and plans to keep working toward them. 

A former prosecutor, he said he will continue monitoring issues within law enforcement throughout his term, and also wants to make sure young people stay on the Island. 

“People are fleeing the state in droves,” he said. “And we’re probably going to lose two congressional seats because of it.”

by -
0 1031
The three members of Port Jefferson’s Unity Party running for village reelection are Trustee Stan Loucks, Mayor Margot Garant and Trustee Kathianne Snaden. Photo by Julianne Mosher

This isn’t the time for them to leave their positions, all three members of the Village of Port Jefferson Unity Party said. Work is still to be done. 

Mayor Margot Garant has led the village for over a decade. This six-term incumbent locally practices law and her mother, Jeanne Garant, once served as village mayor. The current mayor said that although she’s been doing this for a while, she’s not leaving her post anytime soon — especially under the current COVID-19 situation.

“The basic underlying decision was I felt it would be irresponsible,” she said. “I couldn’t afford to sit down at a time where there’s still so much instability.”

In 2019, she ran against former Suffolk County GOP chairman John Jay LaValle.

“The last election cycle was important, because I was feeling that people are feeling very apathetic and not engaged,” she said. “And it was great that everybody came out, whether they were for or against, because everybody got educated again on what the issues were. They show that they care about this community.”

Running alongside her are trustees Stan Loucks and Kathianne Snaden, who also said there is more to accomplish. Loucks, who has been on the board for almost six years, has oversight of  the Port Jefferson Country Club which is owned by the village.

“It’s not a time to leave,” he said. “We’ve got a lot on the plate, and we have a lot of jobs to finish. My own opinion is that I have to stay on and see it through.”

Loucks said his responsibilities as trustee, the country club apart, are the recreation and the parks departments — “all of which have a lot of projects going on right now.”

Some of those projects include the  sand dredging at East Beach, finished earlier this month; adding new kayak racks to Crystal Brook Hollow Road beach; and other big projects at the country club. 

“What’s really important to understand is even though we have been in this pandemic, the village is running pretty well,” he said. “We haven’t gone all the way to the bottom of the slide. We’ve got our heads above water.”

Snaden, who is in her second year with her position, said she had just started and then the pandemic hit. 

“A lot of things that I had started, the brakes went on,” she said. “But we’ve made tremendous headway on public safety issues, which is my biggest department.”

She said that although a global crisis was going on, she was able to help curb crime uptown at the train station and put a fence there. 

“The crime up there just plummeted because I just hammered home,” she said. 

Garant agreed, adding that while things outside might seem gloomy, she and her team have worked tirelessly to get more projects done.

“As people are coming out of this pandemic now, things are starting to really blossom,” she said. “Things are opening up for us.”

She said that big projects, like the uptown revitalization project, to smaller tenants opening up shop Down Port, she wants to see all of them through. 

“We just want to keep doing our good work,” she said. 

Garant said that being mayor of the village is “like running a multimillion-dollar corporation, with seven different departments, 9,000 clients — you can’t come in here without the experience.”

She applauded her colleagues for running alongside her. 

“You don’t necessarily have to agree with me on everything, but I’m always going to do what’s in the best interests of this village,” she said. “I try my best to come to a happy medium, and I think that’s basically the philosophy of this board — they’re hardworking. These two here are my left and my right.”

Snaden said that although they’re running together, it doesn’t mean they agree on the same things. 

“We come from different worlds, and we have those different demographics represented here,” she said. “I think anybody that thinks they can just come in without the experience and the knowledge is not seeing the big picture.”

Loucks said they chose to announce their reelections earlier than normal. 

“We came out very early this year, because it’s a different year, things have been kind of treading water for a while,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to do, and it was very important to come out early and start doing it. People know that we’re going to continue — that’s the one thing we all agree on.”

by -
0 337
The county legislature passed a bill to crack down on reckless bicycling this week, Port Jefferson officials created a village task force that will help prevent problems and keep patrons safe. File photo from SCPD

The Suffolk County Legislature recently approved a bill to crack down on “reckless biking,” which could stop riders from endangering themselves and others on the road. 

Sponsored by county Legislator Rudy Sunderman (R-Mastic), the bill claims to crack down on trick riding — like popping wheelies and swerving into traffic — and biking while intoxicated.

While it was approved 13-4, Deputy Presiding Officer Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) abstained from the vote.

“There were pieces of his bill that I really liked,” she said, “And there were some things I didn’t agree with.”

Hahn, who is still in public hearing with her complimentary bike bill, said hers focuses more on the education for drivers when put in contact with bikers on the road. 

“Legislator Sunderman’s bike bill regulated dangerous behaviors by bicyclists, while my bill tries to clarify the laws about drivers and how they should pass bicyclists on the road,” she said. 

She added that motor vehicle law states that a driver must pass a bicyclist at a safe distance.

“My bill states drivers need to give them at least three-feet [space],” she said. 

Hahn said two legislators from the East End had some concerns regarding her bill, and she is “working to address them.”

The next general meeting is March 2 where Hahn hopes she can close the public hearing so the bill can move to the Public Safety Committee on March 11. If her bill passes, it can be voted on by the full Legislature on March 16.

Meanwhile, the Village of Port Jefferson has implemented their own policies. 

According to trustee Kathianne Snaden, a new code was introduced in the fall of 2019 to pre-vent problem bikers causing issues in the village. 

It started when Snaden and her daughter were outside and a young person was recklessly riding his bike in front of them, doing tricks.

“When the bicycle just about came over me and my daughter’s heads and landed in the street in front of a car, I said, ‘That’s it, I’m done. We need to do something about this.’” 

That’s when the village brought in the new code, which enforces code officers to confiscate a bike from a bicyclist involved in any type of reckless behavior. The bike then must be picked up and signed for by a parent. 

“Because of COVID, things were quiet in the village,” Snaden said. “But then we put together the outdoor dining and the ‘trouble’ bicyclists saw it as a beautiful stage to start performing their acts in front of the patrons.”

She said that’s when code enforcement “really put down the hammer and started implementing that code.”

Snaden said that since summer 2020, bikes have been taken and bikes have been returned to parents, with the majority of them “mortified by their children’s behavior.”

“I want to be proactive and just get them off the street, so no one gets hurt,” she said. 

Along with code enforcement, the village has recently started up a task force for business owners, the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, the commissioner of public safety, the code chief, the village attorney and a representative from the Suffolk County Police Department. 

“It’s eyes on the street,” she said.  “And now we’re working more as a team.”

Prev1...313233...45Next Page 32 of 45
TBR News Media is your local news and entertainment website.
We provide you with the latest breaking news and information for your community.
Contact us: [email protected]

Most Viewed

©