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Rita J. Egan

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Former classmates will always be among those remembered after 9/11

by Rita J. Egan - September 10, 2021

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September-11_Bolivar-Arellano2 — Photographer Bolivar Arellano was on the scene when the World Trade Center’s south tower was imploding. Photo by Bolivar Arellano

My day on September 11, 2001, began like many others that Tuesday.

It was a beautiful morning as I drove to my job in Farmingdale, listening to the radio. I can’t remember what station was on, but I will never forget the DJs stopping the music, shocked that they just saw on TV a plane crash into one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

The radio hosts thought it had to have been an accident.

But then I entered my office and headed toward my cubicle, and coming down the other side of the aisle was a co-worker saying another plane had hit the other tower. It was at that point we feared that our country had just undergone a terrorist attack.

We all began to call our family members and friends who lived or worked in the city, and we couldn’t get through. That day, our office was closed early. Like many, I was numb as I made the trek home, but I was fortunate I didn’t lose any loved ones. However, forever etched on my mind will be seeing the tragedy played out on the news and seeing people roaming Lower Manhattan hoping someone had seen their missing loved ones.

I have read countless stories about the people killed that day and watched documentaries of the day’s events and aftermath, but I have been affected most by the passing of two of my former classmates from the Hauppauge High School Class of 1986. John Tipping, a firefighter, was one of the first responders on the scene, and Joseph Perroncino was working for Cantor Fitzgerald as vice president of operations.

I was extremely shy in school, so I wasn’t a friend to either of them. Joseph was simply a familiar face in the halls of Hauppauge’s middle and high schools. As for John, he and I attended school together from fourth to 12th grade. He was one of the children of Forest Brook Elementary School, and he always had a boyish face and a twinkle in his eyes.

Despite the fact we never became friends, something is haunting about losing someone you went to school with for years. It’s hard to explain those feelings, but I can tell you I feel a great sense of unfairness. John and Joseph should have been at our 20th and 30th reunions talking about things such as their careers, significant others, children and other memorable events. When I think of Joseph and John is when I get the saddest and angriest.

After 9/11, I realized how much my life resembled a quilt, adorned with patches left behind by everyone I have ever met and interacted with at some level. My quilt has many holes, and my former classmates are among the tears in the fabric.

Americans have learned many lessons since that day. I have always hoped we could keep them forever. It shouldn’t have taken such tragedies to make us realize how fortunate we are to be Americans and to make us look around at everything we have and at everyone in our lives and realize how lucky we are, but that’s what happened that day. On the 20th anniversary of that tragic day, my hope is that we will forge ahead stronger, smarter and with more gratitude in our hearts and guarantee that those who passed away on September 11 didn’t die in vain.

Rita J. Egan is the editor of The Village Times Herald, The Times of Smithtown and The Times of Huntington, Northport & East Northport.

Twenty years after 9/11 Stony Brook doctor continues to help first responders

by Rita J. Egan - September 8, 2021

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283A0678 — Stony Brook WTC Wellness Program clinic. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

Dr. Benjamin Luft remembers the feeling of being prepared to treat 9/11 survivors and then no one arrived at the hospital.

Dr. Benjamin Luft is the director and principal investigator at Stony Brook WTC Wellness Program. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

Stony Brook University was among local medical facilities that were prepared for the arrival of 9/11 victims when Luft was the chairman of the Department of Medicine. He said, like others, he had seen the towers falling on television, and from the 16th floor of SBU’s Health Sciences Tower, he could see the smoke from the World Trade Center.

“The idea was that there was going to be real mass casualties, and that this would overwhelm the system in New York,” he said.

Medical teams from various departments met in the conference room of the Department of Medicine, but he said “it became obvious as time went on, that there was no one coming to Stony Brook.”

“It was eerily ominous, because we began to understand that either people had escaped the buildings, or … that there were relatively few survivors from the attack itself,” the doctor added.

He said anyone seeking treatment stayed in the city, and the hospitals in Manhattan weren’t overrun as originally anticipated.

Luft, who is now the director and principal investigator at Stony Brook WTC Wellness Program, said after the tragic day he visited Ground Zero to see what was happening at the site. It was there he witnessed what first responders were being exposed to while working.

“It was obvious that there was going to be a lot of responders that were going to become ill as a result of that, because there was a tremendous amount of dusts and toxins in the air,” Luft said. “There was a lot of fire, burning, and there was a lot of fumes that came off of burning plastic and electronics.”

He added there were traumatizing events that people at the site experienced such as seeing bloody human parts and, for earlier responders, people jumping out of the towers.

He said shortly after September 11, local labor leaders met with him and told him how many of those first responders lived on Long Island and were getting sick. He learned that while many were insured, their insurance wasn’t covering their health issues due to them volunteering and not doing what the insurance companies considered on-the-clock work while helping to clean up and recover victims at Ground Zero.

The struggle of the Long Island first responders led to the development of the Stony Brook WTC Wellness program. In 2002, patients at first were just screened and monitored and then in 2005 doctors began treating them. Luft said in the early days of the program SBU Department of Medicine employees would volunteer to treat the patients. Over time the program began to receive financial resources to expand its services.

The Suffolk location of the Stony Brook WTC Wellness Program is located on Commack Road in Commack. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

Luft said the program follows the cases of approximately 13,000 Long Islanders in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, with one clinic in Commack and the other in Mineola. At first, patients were displaying acute reactions to their exposure. Cases included asthma, upper respiratory disease, sinusitis and gastrointestinal disease, he said, due to the amounts of dust the patients had taken in during their time at Ground Zero.

Over the years, the doctor said patients began developing illnesses such as cancer, but doctors have also seen psychiatric problems such as PTSD and depression.

The responders “had seen people die,” he said. “They were in danger all the time.”

Doctors are also seeing cases of dementia in patients. Luft said one theory is that when a person is exposed to certain toxins it can increase their chances of having dementia. He gave the example where areas with higher pollution have much higher rates of Alzheimer’s.

With studies showing that patients with PTSD have cells that age more quickly, the WTC Wellness Program began monitoring patients.

“We saw something that stunned us, and quite frankly at first we were very skeptical,” Luft said. “We went through a variety of different studies and tests to confirm our results.”

Twenty years after September 11, the doctor said it’s possible that first responders will present with more health issues in the future, but no one can be certain with what illnesses.

The Stony Brook WTC Wellness Program’s Suffolk County office is located at 500 Commack Road, Commack.

A son honors his first responder dad’s legacy

by Rita J. Egan - September 8, 2021

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Tom-and-Matt-Brophy-web — Matthew Brophy as a newborn with his father Tom. Photo from Rita Brophy

He was only 3 years old when his father passed away.

Matthew Brophy in a recent photo. Photo from Rita Brophy

Matthew Brophy, of Smithtown, is now 19 years old and has no personal memories of his father Thomas Brophy. His dad was a New York City police officer for 16 years and was also a first responder at Ground Zero. His father died in 2005 at the age of 36 after a battle with metastatic colon cancer. Doctors believed Tom Brophy’s cancer stemmed from his work at Ground Zero during the days after September 11.

Matthew Brophy, now a sophomore at Adelphi University, has the memories that his mother Rita and loved ones have shared with him through the years. The stories have left him with a loving impression of his father.

“I would describe him as a valiant, strong and charismatic individual,” Matthew Brophy said.

Among those in his life who knew his dad are old friends, including Tom Brophy’s police partner Rich Seagriff and training buddy Matt Fagan.

“His old friends treat me like I am their own son,” he said.

The son said one of his favorite stories is hearing how his father lost sight of him for a brief moment at Best Buy when he was 2. The then-toddler had a SpongeBob DVD in his hand and started walking out of the store only to set off the alarm.

Like his parents, Brophy grew up in the Hauppauge school district. He graduated from Hauppauge High School in 2020. When it came time to learn about 9/11 in class, he said the information was nothing new to him.

“I really haven’t learned anything particularly new in the school system about 9/11 and Ground Zero due to me being a child that was involved with it,” he said. “If anything, I knew more than the teachers about it. For the most part, it is taught just to be taught in history in the first week because the first or second week of high school in America usually falls on 9/11, at least in Suffolk it does.”

Brophy added it’s not a subject teachers delve into that deeply and usually students are shown a video of the planes crashing into the towers.

“It gets to a point where it’s so routine I genuinely feel offended, especially when everyone in the class knows that they’re in a class with a kid whose dad died from 9/11,” he said. “Needless to say, I don’t think it’s something that needs to be taught as of now, but in the future, yes. If people are still suffering physically from an event, that means that it is still undeniably relevant enough to be known.”

Brophy was recently awarded a scholarship from the First Responders Children’s Foundation and is currently pursuing a degree in psychology. He also has been juggling three jobs.

His mother said she is proud of him and “the man he is becoming.”

Rita Brophy said her son’s biggest quality is loyalty, just like his dad.

“He is exposed to many friends with many cultural beliefs and he respects them,” she said. “Hopefully, his view in the world will continue to be open-minded and loving of everyone he meets.”

Local hedge fund executives reportedly agree to massive tax settlement

Business

by Rita J. Egan - September 7, 2021

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Executives of the East Setauket-based hedge fund, Renaissance Technologies, have agreed to settle up to $7 billion in a tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

The long-running dispute reportedly arose following a Senate investigation indicating the firm used complex financial instruments as tax avoidance measures between 2005 and 2015. The agreement may be one of the largest in U.S. history.

Included in the settlement are founder and philanthropist James Simons, of East Setauket, and former co-managing director Robert Mercer, of Head of the Harbor. Both men have been political donors.

According to the Times, Simons will make a payment of $670 million in addition to his obligation to pay further sums along with Mercer and others.

Simons founded the hedge fund in 1982. He was a codebreaker in the 1960s and is a former chairman of Stony Brook University’s Department of Mathematics.

Simons stepped down from active involvement in Renaissance in 2010, while Mercer resigned as co-CEO at the end
of 2017.

TBR News Media was unable to obtain comment from Renaissance Technologies by press time.

13-year-old dirt bike operator killed in motor vehicle crash

by Rita J. Egan - September 6, 2021

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SCPD-Police-Car-phone-w — Suffolk County police car. File photo

Suffolk County Police Second Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that killed a dirt bike operator in East Northport the night of Sept. 4.

Nicholas Woodworth, 13, of Greenlawn was operating a Honda dirt bike when he went through a traffic light at the intersection of Larkfield Road and Pulaski Road and was struck by a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Mary Mollica, 49, of East Northport. The teenager was transported to Huntington Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The vehicle and dirk bike were impounded for safety checks. Anyone with information on this crash is asked to call the Second Squad at 631-854-8252.

Ida leaves damage behind along the North Shore

by Rita J. Egan - September 3, 2021

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Many North Shore residents spent their Thursday cleaning up after remnants of Tropical Depression Ida pummeled the Island Wednesday night. In addition to the storm, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the North Shore of Suffolk County.

According to PSEG Long Island, the hardest-hit areas on the Island include Northport, Ridge, Lloyd Harbor and Huntington.

Huntington

In the Town of Huntington, flooding outside of the Huntington Sewage Treatment Plant on Creek Road left several motorists stranded, according to a press release from the town. STP staff accessed the facility via payloader late in the evening on Sept.1. During the peak of high tide, STP staff were unable to access the plant from the main entrance on Creek Road or from the rear entrance near the Mill Dam gates.

“We actually had to take a payloader out to the Creek Road entrance to bring one of our employees into the plant last night,” said John Clark, the town’s director of Environmental Waste Management. “Several cars, including a police vehicle, were stuck on Creek Road and New York Avenue — at least one driver (a police officer) had to be removed via boat by the Huntington Fire Department.”

Steve Jappell, a wastewater treatment plant operator at the STP facility, operated the payloader and assisted fellow employee Joe Lombardo and the police officer, who was ultimately transported from the scene by the Huntington Fire Department in a rescue boat.

“Thank you to the Huntington Fire Department, as well as Centerport, Halesite and Northport fire departments, who also arrived to assist other stranded motorists on Creek Road, and to our quick-thinking staff at the plant,” said town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci (R).

According to the press release, the area received its largest rain event in nearly 20 years between 7 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. The town reported that 6.29 inches fell during the 6 ½ hours.

While the STP usually processes around 1.8 million gallons per day, between 6 a.m. Sept. 1 and 6 a.m. Sept. 2 it processed more than 3.8 million gallons. According to the town, the plane “will continue to experience above average flow rates over the next two days as groundwater intrusion and sump pump activity contribute to the increased volumes.”

Town officials also said there were 26 reports of flooding mostly in Huntington; 29 reports of downed trees and branches; 16 reports of large pieces, sections and layers of asphalt ripped away, five manhole covers washed aside and one possible sinkhole was reported in Northport as asphalt washed away on Oleander Drive.

As for town facilities both golf courses had some flooding and were closed Sept. 2, and Town Hall had about ½ inch of flooding in the basement.

Smithtown

According to Smithtown Public Information Officer Nicole Gargiulo, there was flooding in the Smithtown Town Hall basement; however, there was no other damage to equipment or facilities in the town.

During the peak of the storm, the town received calls about flooded roads, but the streets were cleared as of the morning of Sept. 2.

Callahan’s Beach sustained damage, according to Gargiulo. The beach had already been closed due to damage after a storm in the early morning hours of Aug. 27.

Stony Brook University

Students in the Mendelsohn Community of Stony Brook University, which is located on the North end of campus off of Stadium Drive, were the SBU students most affected by the storm. According to communications sent out by the university, while other areas of the campus experienced flooding conditions, Mendelsohn was the most affected and students needed to be relocated.

Also affected by the storm was the Student Brook Union, and the building is closed for damage assessment and cleanup. The university held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renovated student union building last week. Employees who work in the building were asked to work remotely Sept. 2.

In an email from Rick Gatteau, vice president for Students Affairs, and Catherine-Mary Rivera, assistant vice president for Campus Residences, “the Mendelsohn buildings have no power due to 4-6 feet of water in the basement, resulting in a power failure to the building. At this time, it is unsafe to be in the building while our teams pump out the water, assess the damage, and determine the timeline for repairs.”

Mendelsohn residents were not required to attend class on Sept. 2.

Three Village

During the storm, the historic Thompson House in East Setauket took in 33 inches of water in its basement. Some of the water rose up to the first floor of the 1709 structure.

The building, which belongs to the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, will need to have the water pumped out, according to WMHO President Gloria Rocchio. After the water is pumped out, a cleanup company will have more work ahead of them to prevent any more damage.

According to the National Weather Service, 6.86 inches of rain fell in Setauket. The NWS reported that it was the highest rainfall total on Long Island.

Additional reporting by Daniel Dunaief.

St. James car show draws hundreds of car enthusiasts

by Rita J. Egan - August 30, 2021

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On Sunday Long Island Cars was able to hold its “Super Swap Sunday” Car Show and Swap Meet on the Flowerfield property on Route 25A in St. James once again this year.

It was the second time in 2021 after not being able to hold the event last year due to the pandemic. Car enthusiasts all over Suffolk County and nearby areas lined up to display their cars or simply come and check them out.

Long Island Cars has organized the event for more than 20 years where attendees can also check out items from vendors such as automotive parts, car memorabilia, artwork, toy cars and more.

The next car show will take place at Flowerfield Oct. 24.

St. James lodge hosts summer fun

by Rita J. Egan - August 26, 2021

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Like many organizations, the Sons of Norway Loyal Lodge #252 in St. James was unable to hold events, including its annual bazaar, last year due to the pandemic.

On Aug. 21, the lodge members hosted its Scandinavian Fun Day that included axe throwing, cooking demonstrations, games, penny pitching and more.

The lodge members are currently planning their Viking Auction on Friday, Sept. 17 and the 2021 Scandinavian Bazaar for Nov. 20. For more information about both events, call 631-862-8017.

Brookhaven resident, former ADA ready to take on Sini in DA race

by Rita J. Egan - August 26, 2021

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Ray Tierney photo — Ray Tierney will run for Suffolk County district attorney this November on the Republican and Conservative tickets. Photo from Tierney’s office

A former Suffolk assistant DA is ready to take over the main seat in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Ray Tierney, who will be running on the Republican and Conservative tickets Nov. 2 to challenge current DA Tim Sini (D), stopped by TBR News Media’s office last week to introduce himself and answer some questions about his campaign.

“When I talk about this contest, I say that it is a contest between the prosecutor and the politician, or when you look at my opponent’s record — what he’s done and what he’s claimed to have done, more accurately — it’s a contest between the prosecutor and the pretender,” Tierney said.

Background

Tierney resides in the Town of Brookhaven with his wife, Erica, and their four children.

The prosecutor grew up in Commack and is a graduate of St. Anthony’s High School where he played football and was a member of the school’s track team. He went on to play football for Brown University where he graduated in 1988, and after taking a short time off from his studies, he attended St. John’s University’s School of Law.

He began his law career in the Suffolk County DA’s office under DA James Catterson (R).

“At first, I had a very sort of infantile concept of what it meant to be a lawyer,” Tierney said. “I always wanted to be a prosecutor. I always wanted to be in court. Although there’s so many things you could do, that’s all I really ever wanted to do, and as I got older, more sophisticated, my focus never changed.”

He decided to leave the DA’s office in 1999 when his first two children were born and worked for a private firm. Tierney said the tragic events of 9/11 changed his life. He was at a meeting in Queens when the attacks happened, and he watched the towers fall on TV.

“I was driving back out east and all the emergency vehicles were flooding into the city, and I could see the smoke and I was, like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’” he said. “This job that I have right now is inconsequential. So, I wanted to get back into public service.”

He returned to the DA’s office in 2002 during the time of Tom Spota (D) and worked there for another six years. Tierney said he decided to leave the office when he was told they may fire him for insubordination.

“They tried to get rid of me because I wouldn’t go along with their illegal, unethical ways,” he said. “I worked in an office whose job it was to uproot political corruption. But, instead, it was the office’s leadership that was corrupt, as history has proven.”

He then went on to work in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York as an assistant attorney for more than 11 years.

He left the office in 2019 to become an executive assistant district attorney in the Kings County District Attorney’s office where he was in charge of the violent criminal enterprises bureau, crime strategies unit and body worn camera unit.

In order to run for Suffolk County DA, Tierney had to leave the Brooklyn office and is currently Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corp.’s chief counsel for compliance and enforcement.

His experience

During his time in Brooklyn, among his responsibilities, Tierney oversaw violent street gang investigations and prosecutions. He came to the position with extensive experience prosecuting MS-13 cases, which he said led to the incarceration of dozens of gang members.

One of the most high-profile MS-13 cases involved gang leaders Heriberto Martinez and Carlos Ortega. The two were found guilty for commissioning five murders in 2010, including Vanessa Argueta, 19, of Central Islip, and her son Diego Torres who was only 2 years old. Martinez and Ortega are currently serving life sentences. Tierney also tried Adalberto Guzman who was found guilty of killing the 2-year-old and is also serving a life sentence.

Tierney was the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Ed Mangano, former Nassau County Executive, and Mangano’s wife as well as former Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto for corruption in 2018.

In addition to gang violence and public corruption, he also has been a prosecutor on cases involving Colombian drug cartel, racketeering and white-collar crimes.

Issues with Sini

Tierney takes issue with the press releases sent out by the DA’s office. He said he feels a high percentage of the releases are about arrests and arraignments but not about sentencing.

“What he does, because he’s in show business, he has the glitzy arraignment, and this is the biggest, baddest, greatest case, and then you never hear what happens at the time of the sentence,” the candidate said.

Tierney added he could take any of Sini’s accomplishments and dissect them and show that the current DA is “a fraud” and is “looking for that initial blast of publicity.”

“You don’t get to decide where your next case comes from, the streets tell you where the next case is,” Tierney said. “So, if you have an investigation here but the violence is settled here, you put your resources here, you put your resources there.”

He gave an example that Sini convicted several MS-13 members on charges such as acts of conspiracy instead of murder or gun charges. He said Sini then turned the gang members on each other so they would testify against one another. The result was they each pled to lower charges and got out of jail.

Tierney said he would use overarching tactics such as conspiracy, but then tie the case to the murders committed and pull the case all together to ensure the murderers would serve jail time.

His campaign

Tierney said the job is a balance between law enforcement and fairness, and that will be his goal if elected. He added he has never aligned himself to one party and has prosecuted defendants on both sides of the political aisle. He is running to bring experience, integrity and independence to the office.

He said regarding the county and the Suffolk County Police Department, it’s important to work with them but also maintain independence from each other.

“When it comes to law enforcement, I make the decisions,” he said. “No one else makes the decisions. I support the county, I support the police department. But I don’t work for them when it comes to law enforcement, and I don’t excuse bad behavior.”

Owner set to sell Smithtown theater, GoFundMe organized to save building

by Rita J. Egan - August 25, 2021

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Smithtown-theater_rita-j-egan_082421_2 — The nearly 90-year-old Smithtown theater is up for sale. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Last week the owner of the Smithtown Performing Arts Center building put it up for sale, leaving the future of local entertainment in the town in jeopardy.

“We need to keep this historic building in the town, and not only do we want to buy the building, we want to bring the building back to how it was before.”

— JoAnne Romanelli

Soon after the building at 2 E. Main St. was listed, a GoFundMe page was initiated by the SPAC board of directors to avoid the possibility of it being purchased by private investors. JoAnne Romanelli, secretary of the not-for-profit SPAC, said the board of directors is hoping to raise $400,000 to put a down payment on the building that is listed at $1.6 million.

“We need to keep this historic building in the town, and not only do we want to buy the building, we want to bring the building back to how it was before,” Romanelli said, adding that SPAC is under new management as well as having a new board of directors.

After only being up a few days, the GoFundMe has already garnered $4,500.

“People have been so loving and giving, and we’re so grateful for that,” she said.

The building which houses the center was once a movie theater. It first opened its doors in 1933, and it operated as such until November of 2001. Live performances began in the theater in 2002. The building, which has not been significantly altered aesthetically in nearly 90 years, is owned by Ken Washington, the former managing and artistic director of SPAC.

Washington said in a phone interview that for the last 15 years he has advocated for the building “to be publicly owned — either owned by the not-for-profit or by the town or by the historical society — so that the building could live in perpetuity to be what it is and what we created back in 2002, when my wife and I renovated it and restored it and created the performing arts center.”

“I’m retiring. I’m 66 now, and I am putting the building up for sale to whoever wants to take it forward.”

— Ken Washington

He said unfortunately it’s something the previous and current board as well as other potential owners have been unable to find the means to do.

“I’m moving on,” he said. “I’m retiring. I’m 66 now, and I am putting the building up for sale to whoever wants to take it forward.”

Washington said he’s pleased with what he, his family and the center have accomplished since 2002.

“I’m proud of the legacy that I’ve left there,” he said, adding selling was a decision that he had to make in the best interest of himself and his family.

The property is being handled by New York Commercial Real Estate. According to the listing, the theater seats 360 people and the taxes are more than $21,000. The real estate company’s owner Jack Jawdat said in a phone interview that the building includes the theater and two storefronts, one which the center currently uses and the other a shoe repair shop. Jawdat said while he has received a few calls about the property, there have been no serious offers.

The center hasn’t had a yearly lease in three years and has been operating with a month-to-month lease, Romanelli said. According to the board member, the owner agreed to lower the rent for SPAC during the pandemic. She said then full rent would be expected once things returned to normal. However, Romanelli said Washington recently wanted back payment on rent.

Washington subsequently issued a statement to TBR News Media: “Smithtown Performing Arts Council is currently operating with an expired lease and is in arrears with regard to past due rent. Nonpayment of rent and termination of tenancy notification has been proffered to the tenant. The building at 2 East Main Street is for sale.”

“We support the organization’s efforts to ensure the building remains a theater, and have been in constant contact with the board to help in achieving this mutual goal.”

— Ed Wehrheim

Romanelli said that the SPAC board members hope their fundraising is successful and their top priority is to serve the community and actors.

“This is a new board,” she said. “This is new management. We’re going to take it to a whole new level.”

Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) said the town supports the board’s efforts.

“Our main priority is preserving the Smithtown Performing Arts Center and the incredible arts programming the community has enjoyed through the generations,” he said. “We support the organization’s efforts to ensure the building remains a theater, and have been in constant contact with the board to help in achieving this mutual goal.”

Romanelli added that the board is made up of all volunteers who are committed to restoring the building.

“This is our passion project,” she said. “We are committed to the town and investing in Smithtown. We’re committed to our community, and we’re committed to being fiscally sound.”

Romanelli said the board is in the process of writing grants and planning fundraisers to continue SPAC’s role in providing educational programs for children and affordable theater for the community.

“We’re doing everything possible to save this building and to bring it back to its original historic beauty,” she said. “That is our mission.”

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