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Rita J. Egan

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Legislators, Activists Call for Electrification of Transportation

by Rita J. Egan - December 11, 2019

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Englebright-Romaine-Miller_get-set-go-green_120919_regan — State Assemblyman Steve Englebright, Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine and Port Jefferson Village trustee Bruce Miller speak at a Dec. 9 press conference calling for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the electrification of public transportation, including the Long Island Rail Road. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Representatives from the national environmental advocacy group Sierra Club along with local representatives are calling for the electrification of Long Island’s transportation, especially its trains.

“This is a challenge, but we need to accept it.” —Charles Bevington

On Dec. 9, the Sierra Club was joined by local representatives at a press conference at the Long Island Rail Road’s Stony Brook train station. The event was part of the Get Set, Go Green! relay, where people from across the state, including Buffalo, Rochester, Lower Hudson Valley, New York City and Plattsburgh, are traveling to Albany on multiple modes of low-carbon transportation. The goal is to deliver a petition signed by thousands of New Yorkers to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) by Dec. 12.

The Dec. 9 event included a send-off for relayer Edgar Cid, 25, of Lindenhurst, who was set to take the 1:19 p.m. train from Stony Brook to Penn Station to deliver petitions to the next relayer in New York City. Cid said he was happy to participate as he realizes the importance of moving toward more electric-based transportation on the Island, including trains.

Charles Bevington, chair of Sierra Club Long Island Group, said so far more than 7,500 signatures have been collected and the hope is to get to 10,000.

“This is a challenge, but we need to accept it,” Bevington said. “We need to move forward on it.”

Mothers Out Front volunteer leader, Billii Roberti, talks about the benefits of electrifying school buses. Photo by Rita J. Egan

State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), Port Jefferson Village trustee Bruce Miller and Mothers Out Front volunteer leader Billii Roberti, of Huntington, joined Bevington and other environmental activists to support the relay.

The petition urges Cuomo to adopt a statewide target to reduce emissions 55 percent from transportation by 2035 in his 2020 State of the State address. According to Englebright, the largest amount of state greenhouse gas emissions, 36 percent, comes from transportation. He said the governor recently signed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which sets a statewide goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. He added that for the state to reach the climate goals detailed in the act, a reduction of emissions must begin now.

The assemblyman said the frequency of hurricanes, invasion of species harmful to our ecosystems and warming waters that have destroyed lobsters point to being “in the midst already of a climate crisis.”

The act sets a goal for 70 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy within 11 years and 100 percent of the state’s electricity supply must be emissions free by 2040. Englebright said he is concerned that the LIRR is in the process of replacing its old diesel fleet with new diesel engines.

“That’s not only inconsistent with the new law, it is incoherent,” he said. “We have talked for years about electrifying the north line of the rail road, making it more efficient, making it possible to pull more cars off the roads and to use mass transit. This is an investment that we need to make into electrification, not into [20th]-century diesel locomotives.”

Three train branches transverse Brookhaven — Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma (including Greenport) and Montauk. Romaine said each of the branches depends on diesel at some point, and he and the Town Board have advocated converting to electrification since he entered office.

“The MTA is not spending the money that it should be spending on electrifying these lines,” he said. “Imagine less diesel flowing into our atmosphere because our lines are electrified.”

“It’s long overdue. We’ve relied on diesel since forever it seems like, except for the first [steam] locomotive, but it’s a hundred year old technology.” — Ed Romaine

Miller said he knows many from Calverton to Greenlawn commute by car to the Ronkonkoma line.

“This is completely environmentally inappropriate and unsustainable,” he said.

In addition to the electrification of trains, Roberti called for school districts and bus companies to transition to all-electric fleets by 2030 and asked the governor and state legislators to assist them with funding.

The activist cited health concerns from diesel fuel emissions including increased cancer-causing soot and incidences of pneumonia and asthma attacks.

For years, officials have pleaded for the electrification of the LIRR branches that require diesel. State Sen. Jim Gaughran (D-Northport) said in an email that he hears complaints about poor and insufficient service and realizes the environmental benefits of electrification.

“Electrification, including of the Oyster Bay and Port Jefferson lines, would greatly improve service and provide riders desperately needed relief,” Gaughran said. “It is also tremendously beneficial for our environment. I am not optimistic the MTA is taking the urgency of electrification seriously and I urge them to seriously consider electrification.”

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory officials recognize the environmental as well as other benefits of electrification of the LIRR.

“The proposed improvements to the LIRR, including purchases of new trains, electrification of the Port Jefferson tracks and the addition of a third track between Floral Park and Hicksville will all serve to increase the frequency of trains and the efficient use of clean energy for transportation,” said Bruce Stillman, CSHL president and CEO. “Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has a close relationship with Stony Brook University and improving rail transportation between our two institutions will help to advance science and education.”

Romaine said the rough estimate for electrification of the railroad was about $18 million a mile. There will be a need for a new rail yard, which the town already has plans in place, and electrification stations along the branches to ensure the rails are electrified along with other signal and communications upgrades.

“It’s an expensive project,” he said. “It’s long overdue. We’ve relied on diesel since forever it seems like, except for the first [steam] locomotive, but it’s a hundred year old technology.”

Jane Fasullo, former chair of the local Sierra Club, said the offset of the costs will be improved health, and in the long term as the cost of the infrastructure of wind and solar goes down, the cost of electrifying vehicles will go down.

“It’s one of those things where you put money into it today to save a lot of money later on,” Fasullo said.

In an email statement, LIRR spokesman Aaron Donovan said the railroad shares the Sierra Club’s concern.

“We recognize our service is one of the most significant ways that Long Islanders can lower their carbon footprint, and we strive to continuously improve our service delivery,” Donovan said. “Public transportation, even when powered by diesel, is greener per passenger mile than private, single-occupancy electric vehicles.”

A copy of the petition can be found at sc.org/55×35.

Setauket Residents Vote for Williams

by Rita J. Egan - December 11, 2019

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Setauket-Firehouse_040919_reganw — Setauket Fire Department Headquarters. File photo.

Billy Williams will be the next Setauket Fire Comissioner. Photo provided by Billy Williams

Changes are coming to the Setauket Fire District board.

On Dec. 10, insurance agent and volunteer firefighter Billy Williams unseated incumbent Kevin Yoos for the commissioner seat, 479-219.

During his campaign, Williams addressed financial matters and the need to keep the department volunteer based. The newly elected fire commissioner and others have said morale in the department has dipped after last year’s decision to change paid fire coordinators to paid firefighter positions. Last year the district approved three salaried firefighters, along with one more this year.

Williams said it felt all the hard work of campaigning was worth it when he saw the voter turnout. Involved in the Kiwanis Club and the local chamber of commerce, he added he felt many voted who didn’t vote in the past.

He said working on the morale in the department is at the forefront of his mind.

“It had a big bump yesterday,” he said. “I got a 150 to 200 texts from department members and other people.”

Williams said once he takes his seat, he’ll look at everything, especially when it comes to financial matters, and “do what’s right by the taxpayer.”

The new commissioner will take his seat Jan. 1, 2020, and will serve a five-year term.

Stony Brook Village Hosts Annual Parade, Welcomes Santa

by Rita J. Egan - December 10, 2019

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The Ward Melville Heritage Organization welcomed hundreds for its 40th Holiday Festival in Stony Brook Village Center Dec. 8.

The event kicked off with the arrival of Santa in a Stony Brook Fire Department truck and the Legends and Spies puppets procession led by Tom Manuel, president and founder of The Jazz Loft, and a New Orleans brass band.

The parade featured 14-foot puppets representing local historical figures such as philanthropists Ward and Dorothy Melville, Culper spies Caleb Brewster, Benjamin Tallmadge and Anna Smith Strong, shipbuilder Capt. Jonas Smith and American genre painter William Sidney Mount.

There was music from community school bands plus a petting zoo, holiday train display, carolers and decorated holiday windows at Wiggs Opticians.

According to Santa, based on children’s requests, Pokémon items and the Barbie DreamHouse are making comebacks. Other gift wishes included train sets, toy trucks, iPhones, drones and Xboxes. Dolls were the biggest request as well as puppies, which Santa checks with mommies and daddies first since they are a big responsibility.

Three children requested for their brothers to come back from the military and one 5-year-old boy asked for peace and love.

Smithtown Historical Society Celebrates the Holidays

by Rita J. Egan - December 9, 2019

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The Smithtown Historical Society celebrated the holidays the old fashioned way Dec. 7 with its annual Heritage Country Christmas.

The society’s historic homes were adorned for the festivities, and visitors were able to tour the houses as well as the Frank Brush Barn. Attendees found live music, carolers, costumed volunteers, crafts, a shadow puppet show, raffles and more. Santa was also on hand to take children’s gift requests which included bikes, toy cars and trucks and dolls.

Dental Employee Retires from Koeppel Dental Group After 25 Years

by Rita J. Egan - December 7, 2019

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Employees and patients of an East Setauket dental office are bidding bon voyage to a familiar face.

On Dec. 12, after more than 25 years with Koeppel Dental Group, office manager Marie Marsh is retiring. Dr. Ira Koeppel, the director of the dental group, said she gave her notice a few years ago but stayed on to train her replacement, Alexandrea Kizenberger. Koeppel said he remembers meeting Marsh when he asked a former office manager to have someone look at financial information. He was so impressed with how Marsh interpreted the information and did everything with such care, that he knew he had to hire her.

“I told my office manager back then ‘I don’t care what it takes, hire her,’” he said.

Marsh started as a receptionist at the office and later became office manager.

Koeppel described Marsh as a caring person with an unconditional love for everyone.

“Marie cares how she helps people, whether it’s fellow employees or patients,” the dentist said. “She walks on this planet helping others.”

Koeppel said Marsh has been integral in helping the office raise more than $160,000 over the years for nonprofits such as Little Flower Orphanage, the Fortunato Breast Health Center, Carol M. Baldwin Breast Center, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, Long Island Veterans Home at Stony Brook University and the Ronald McDonald House.

“I’m so grateful and thankful to have met her and her family, and for letting us be a part of her life,” Koeppel said.

Patient Michael Horney, who is also a chiropractor, said when he heard about Marsh’s retirement, he felt bad for the dentist as he understands the importance of a good office manager. Horney said Koeppel could focus 100 percent on patients with Marsh there.

“He knew that Marie did everything else in the office,” he said, adding that the manager not only possesses the know-how to run a business but also has the personality to interact with patients.

Horney wished Marsh, who is a St. James resident, well with her retirement and knows she will keep busy.

“She’s going to have a fulfilling retirement for sure, because that’s the nature of the person she is,” he said. “She’s a giver. Wherever she moves to, she’ll get involved in the community.”

In a letter to patients, Marsh said the relationships she developed during her time with the office changed her immensely.

“I have watched the ‘practice’ children grow into some of the finest people that I have ever met,” she wrote. “You all made me a better person. For all the times that you let me be part of your life, I will forever be grateful.”

Setauket Fire Commissioner Candidates Talk Finances, Paid Firefighters

by Rita J. Egan - December 5, 2019

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On Tuesday, Dec. 10, Setauket Fire District residents will choose between two candidates for a five-year term as fire commissioner, incumbent Kevin Yoos and challenger Billy Williams.

The race began with four candidates, but two petitions from volunteer firefighters Tom Gulbransen and Fred Leute were disqualified by the district. Gulbransen initially planned to continue to run as a write-in candidate but later said he has pulled out of the race entirely.

In the Setauket Fire District, the addition of three paid firefighters in 2018 has weighed heavily on many volunteers’ minds, and both candidates are looking to work to boost morale while recruiting and retaining volunteers.

Meet the candidates

Incumbent Kevin Yoos

Fire commissioner Kevin Yoos, 49, has served one partial and one full-term and has been a volunteer firefighter for the Setauket Fire Department for 31 years.

The lifelong Three Village resident and his wife, Lisa, have two daughters in college. He recently retired after 24 years as a lieutenant of Squad Company 270 with the New York City Fire Department, which he joined after a short stint with the New York Police Department. His firehouse in South Queens responds to some 300 fires a year. He is a risk control consultant for fire department insurance and teaches at the Suffolk County Fire Academy of Yaphank as well as the New York State Academy of Fire Science.

He became involved in the Setauket Fire Department 31 years ago after watching his father, who joined in 1973 and was a former commissioner, respond to emergency calls. Yoos was 14 when he joined the junior fire company, and in 1988, at the age of 18, he joined as a full member. He has served as lieutenant captain, assistant chief and chief of department twice.

He said with a lot on his plate, he came close to not running again, but when he decided to retire, he had a conversation with his wife who agreed that with him now having more free time on his hands, he should run again.

“It’s in my blood,” he said. “It’s never going to go away.”

Challenger Billy Williams

Billy Williams, 52, is a State Farm Agent in Setauket. He and his wife Denise have four children — three in college and one in ninth grade. Williams moved to Stony Brook in 1998.

Watching his grandfather and uncles in the Southold department, he said he always wanted to be just like them. Having grown up in Syosset, he applied to FDNY but it took a few years before he was accepted, and by that time he was married in Florida with a business and was unable to join. When he moved back to New York, his office was in White Plains for more than 10 years, and when he moved his office to Setauket, closer to home, the first thing he did was sign up to volunteer.

A six-year volunteer with the department, Williams said he wants to get spending under control and manage the assets they have as well as raise morale while working on recruitment and retention. He added that being a fireman has nothing to do with being a fire commissioner, who helps to run the business side of things.

“The chiefs and the department take care of the day-to-day operations of putting out the fires and getting the ambulance,” Williams said. “The commissioners do what’s in the best interest of the taxpayers.”

Finances

Williams said there is a need for leadership to run the business end and bring the departments and the district back together, adding he feels with running a business since 1994 and managing employees and balancing budgets, he would be an asset to the district. In addition to his work in the insurance industry, he is the president of the Three Village Kiwanis Club and on the board of the local chamber of commerce. He said he also helped to bring back annual events, including the Three Village Electric Holiday Parade which was on hiatus for a year.

“I just think I know what the community needs and what the department needs,” he said. “So, I’m the guy.”

Williams said the district spent $4.8 million net in 2015 and $8.1 million net in 2019 and there will be a $300,000 increase in 2020. He said with construction on the Main Street firehouse and the purchase of new fire trucks and brand new radios he doesn’t know how commissioners can say it will not affect residents.

“I don’t know what they’re doing, but you don’t increase your spending by about 70 percent and say that taxes are going to stay the same and that there’s going to be no cost,” Williams said.

Yoos said there was an increase in taxes a few years back after residents approved the bond for the new headquarters building on Main Street. In addition, new portable radios, radio infrastructure, air packs, stretchers for the ambulances, added law-mandated cancer insurance for the volunteers and other items were purchased.

“The equipment replaced was costing a lot to try to maintain and becoming less reliable and unsafe for members to operate,” Yoos said.

He added that the public referendum vote for a municipal lease/purchase agreement for new fire trucks will be supplemented by funds that were put in the reserve account.

“Purchasing these vehicles in bulk in this manner is saving the community approximately $400,000,” he said. “Since the money is already allocated for the reserve account for vehicles the payments for the new engines will come out of this line item. So there will be no increase to taxes for the purchase.”

When it comes to fire services, Yoos said he and other commissioners do a lot of reading and research when it comes to trends and statistics. And at times, revisit decisions.

“As we continue to pay off the bond, we will continually revisit the budget requirements, and it is very likely we will be able to reduce taxes while maintaining the same level of service,” Yoos said.

Paid firefighters

Last year the Setauket Fire District changed paid fire coordinator positions into paid firefighters, a move that many, including Williams, said has hurt the morale in the departments.

He said while he believes the hybrid that exists right now is a good mix, he doesn’t want to see it become all paid, which he believes the current leadership wants, because he said he feels there’s no need for it with Setauket responding to more EMT calls than fires.

“We’re spending money that we don’t need to spend, in my opinion,” he said.

Yoos said it’s not true that the board wants a paid department.

“If we can handle this 100 percent as volunteers, we’re all in,” Yoos said. “The problem is our volunteers are dwindling, and we need to rebuild that somehow.”

Yoos said he hopes to make a better environment for the volunteers but going forward with the few paid firefighters was something they had to do at the time. The number of volunteers has dwindled while the amount of alarms continue to increase, he said. When he started in 1988, there were 180 members with a waiting list for those who wanted to be volunteers, and most members were firefighters with only a few members as EMTs. Today there are 59 interior firefighters, out of 109 active members, that can go inside a structure and put a fire out, whereas others can only assist outside.

“I love the volunteer fire service,” Yoos said. “We want to promote it more. We want more volunteers, but everybody is busy.”

He said the addition of paid firefighters was around $20 to $30 a year per household.

Williams said the district needs to put in some work to boost morale.

“Once they know that we’re not fast forwarding to becoming a fully paid department is one way,” he said, adding that more recruitment and retention efforts would help.

The election for one fire commissioner for a five-year term in the Setauket Fire District will take place Tuesday, Dec. 10, between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. Residents can vote at the 394 Nicolls Road firehouse.

Three Village Fundraiser Planned to Help Puerto Rico

by Rita J. Egan - November 28, 2019

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Salsa-fundraiser-2017 — Alexa Siragusa learns how to salsa at the first fundraiser in 2017. Photo from Liz Kotseas

Many parts of Puerto Rico are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Maria more than two years after the storm, and North Shore residents are lending a helping hand.

“I felt like we could gather a great group of people to support Puerto Rico.”

— Liz Kotseas

A salsa-dancing fundraiser will be held at The Bates House in East Setauket Dec. 8 to raise funds for The Ocean Foundation. The nonprofit works to support, strengthen and promote organizations dedicated to reversing the destruction of ocean environments.

“We’re helping to restore their natural barrier which has been devastated,” said Liz Kotseas, one of the event’s hosts and organizers.

Jason Donofrio, external relations officer of The Ocean Foundation, said the organization focuses on nature-based solutions, and all the proceeds from the event will go toward its sea grass growth program, which will help plant sea grass and restore mangrove forests in Jobos Bay, a federally protected estuary in Puerto Rico.

“They are sort of the island’s first line of defense,” he said.

Former Stony Brook University student Danny Rodriguez, who will also be hosting the event in part Dec. 8, inspired the idea when he organized a fundraiser at Stony Brook University’s Student Activities Center to raise money for Hurricane Maria victims in Puerto Rico back in Nov. 2017. The initial fundraiser, like the Dec. 8 one, included salsa-dancing lessons and music.

Rodriguez, who lives in Mount Sinai and teaches Spanish at Longwood High School, said in 2017 that he wanted to travel to Puerto Rico, but his studies made it difficult to travel there.

“That’s what my heart really wanted to do,” he said.

With experience with fundraisers in the breakdancing world, and a dancer himself, he approached Aurelie Vialette, an associate professor and director of graduate studies at SBU, who helped him organize the 2017 SBU event. He said the only date available was right before Thanksgiving when many students were already leaving to go home for the holiday, but despite the bad timing, about three dozen attended and around $300 was raised.

“Everything came together on very short notice and all worked out pretty well,” he said.

“I think how we respond to a community that is part of the U.S., that is in our own backyard, says a lot about us as Americans and what it’s like to live in the U.S.”

— Jason Donofrio

Kotseas, a Setauket resident and a member of SBU’s Department of Linguistics, said she heard about the 2017 event through a flyer at the university and decided to bring her niece, Alexa Siragusa. The cause is personal for Kotseas as she has family in San Juan and Caguas, Puerto Rico. She said there are still many residents who haven’t fully recovered, including some who still have tarps on their roofs.

At the 2017 event, she approached Rodriquez about holding one at a bigger venue in the future.

“I had the Three Villages in my mind,” Kotseas said. “I felt like we could gather a great group of people to support Puerto Rico.”

Rodriguez said he was glad Kotseas recommended the Three Village area after his dance students from On the Edge Performance Center in Port Jefferson, where he teaches, performed this summer at the Three Village Kids Lemonade Stand event, which raises money for Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. Rodriguez said he was impressed with the students’ success.

“I feel like this has the same type of potential to bring that same community together,” he said.

Donofrio said this was the first time someone has raised money for the foundation with a salsa dance fundraiser, adding that oftentimes people forget that Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.

“This is not some war-torn country or some developing nation far across the world, this is U.S. territory,” he said. “So, I think how we respond to a community that is part of the U.S., that is in our own backyard, says a lot about us as Americans and what’s it like to live in the U.S.”

Rodriquez credits Kotseas and Tammy Colletti, who will also host the fundraiser, for doing most of the work. Kotseas added that the Copiague-based Promise of Hope Foundation, which Colletti is co-founder of, made the event possible by sponsoring it. She said so far Pentimento Restaurant, Waverly Liquors and Olde Towne Gardens have provided food, cheer and services, respectively.

“The support from local businesses has been wonderful and really shows the generous spirit of our community,” Kotseas said.

Tickets for the salsa fundraiser are $75 each. The event will include food, wine, beer and other refreshments as well as dance lessons and entertainment. Those interested can email Kotseas at [email protected]. The Bates House is located at 1 Bates Road in Setauket.

Behnke Runs Unopposed for Stony Brook Fire Commissioner

by Rita J. Egan - November 26, 2019

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A longtime Three Village resident is running unopposed Dec. 10 for his fourth five-year term as Stony Brook fire commissioner.

Ernest Behnke, 62, has been serving as a fire commissioner in Stony Brook for 15 years and began volunteering with the department in 1999. The 33-year resident of Stony Brook, who has lived in the Three Village area since 1966, said he originally wanted to volunteer sooner but didn’t have the time. However, when he began to work closer to home in Smithtown as its Highway Department’s general foreman, he finally was able to volunteer. In addition to his job and fire district duties, Behnke and his wife, Lisa, have seven children, with the two youngest attending Ward Melville High School.

“Like most volunteers, I joined to help serve the community as I had seen firsthand the caring and dedication of strangers helping strangers,” he said in an email, adding he also joined shortly after his father’s passing.

Behnke said he decided to run again this year to see through programs he has been part of with his fellow commissioners over the last few years, a board he said has a good working relationship.

“We had entered into the real world of the new volunteer service — 24/7 paid EMT ambulance crews,” he said. “A decision that was not an easy one, but we must serve the public with the best means possible. We are still evolving the program to assure that we can provide coverage and also keep the costs reasonable.”

He said the board tries “to balance between members and the taxpaying public.” The past year, in addition to hiring EMTs and advanced life support providers, the district has commissioned two new pumpers, updated its communications system, purchased a new chief’s car, upgraded its sprinkler system and renovated its meeting room at Station 2.

“We fell within the 2 percent tax cap, and we were able to return to the taxpayers a reduction of $100,000 out of our operating budget resulting in a zero increase,” he said.

The commissioner said the district is unique in that Stony Brook University and other institutions such as churches and schools, which together make up 50 percent of the assessed valuation that is off the tax rolls, fall within its perimeters.

“That leaves a burden to the residents, that we receive no compensation from the state,” he said. “A large area that we have to protect.

When it comes to the role of commissioner, Behnke said the district is not only using tax money to pay the bills, but also to “provide the community with the best firefighting and rescue equipment.”

He added that commissioners are involved with making policies and hiring personnel, including the chief of the department. They also ensure funds for the Length of Service Award Program, also known as LOSAP, a pensionlike program for volunteers, are available without being a burden to taxpayers.

One of the things Behnke said he is proud of during his 15 years as commissioner is being involved in implementing the Explorer program in Stony Brook.

“I was able to change the district’s by-laws by lowering the age that you can join at 17 after they complete the program,” he said. “We have had great success as many have joined and are a great asset to the department.”

Registered voters who live in the Stony Brook Fire District can vote Dec. 10 from 2 to 9 p.m. for fire commissioner for a five-year term that will begin Jan. 1. Those in the district who live north of the railroad right of way can vote at the firehouse located at 147 Main St. Those south of the railroad right of way can vote at the firehouse located at 1402 Stony Brook Road.

Three Village Girl Scouts Raise Funds with Handmade Wreaths

by Rita J. Egan - November 26, 2019

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Girl-Scouts-Wreath-Project3 — From left, Mia Cottone, Caroline Woo and Abbi Sasson hold a few wreaths that they made. Photo from Troop 551

Three local Girl Scouts have turned their Silver Award project into a continuous act of giving.

The girls install birdhouses at Stony Brook Cancer Center. Photo from Lise Sasson

Caroline Woo, Mia Cottone and Abbi Sasson, all from Troop 551, decided for their Silver Award project that they would build birdhouses for the patients at Stony Brook Cancer Center. Because the project was involved, and would take some time, the girls decided while their project was in the works they would lift patients’ spirits with handmade wreaths.

The group learned the craft from Carmen Tornos, a professor with the Renaissance School of Medicine, and the completed decorations were hung in the common patient areas. After a few months, the hospital raffled the wreaths to the cancer center staff to show appreciation.

The three said they enjoyed designing the wreaths so much that they decided to continue making them to raise money for the nonprofit Room4Love based in East Setauket, which provides bedroom makeovers for children with cancer.

The girls, who are all ninth-graders at P.J. Gelinas Junior High School, said the Silver Award project, where each Scout must create something that can have a lasting impact, requires Scouts to put in 50 hours of service. In addition to the birdhouses and wreaths, the girls put together goody bags for the patients and handed out birdseed for them to go outside, feed the birds and get some fresh air. The three said they chose the cancer center to help older patients, who are sometimes overlooked.

“We really learned that just little things can make a lasting impact on people’s lives,” Abbi said.

The other girls agreed.

“Even the small things that you don’t think matter to anyone, they do matter to a lot of people,” Caroline said.

The Girls Scouts said their parents have been a big help in providing materials for the wreaths, which they have been making all year round for every season. When it comes to Room4Love, the girls have been making the decorations for the nonprofit to raffle off, or they create them for family and friends who in turn donate to the organization. Mia was already familiar with Room4Love, which was started by her cousins, Maggie and Bella Diehl, eight years ago.

“It’s a good organization, and it helps a lot of kids,” Mia said.

Girl Scout Leader Sonya Cottone, Mia’s mother, said that she and co-leader Anne Hansen-Crowley are proud of the girls, who are willing to help out as much as they can.

“It makes us really proud, and we feel lucky to have a great group of kids,” she said.

Lucy Diehl, from Room4Love, said her daughters Maggie and Bella, despite being away at college, are still actively running the nonprofit, and she said all of them are humbled and grateful for all the support those in the Three Village area have given.

She added she’s not surprised that young people like the Girl Scouts are helping out.

“We live in a really good community that is always looking to give and looking to help, and certainly these kids, by making these wreaths, are doing just that,” Diehl said.

Eydie Woo, Caroline’s mother, said she credits the Girl Scouts for laying down good values for her daughter and friends. She said while the girls didn’t work directly with the patients, they did tour the hospital and saw the pediatric side, as well as the adult side, which had an impact on them.

“They’ve realized how fortunate they are, and that they’re able to do things like that and give back because there are kids who are really sick and they want to help them,” she said.

As for a large project such as the Silver Award, the girls had some advice to share.

“Even if it seems like getting started is hard, once you get in, you see just how rewarding and how almost eye-opening it is to realize the impact of what you can have on the world,” Abbi said.

For more information about Room4Love, visit www.room4love.org.

North Shore Residents Cite Increased Encounters with Deer

by Rita J. Egan - November 22, 2019

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Buck in Port Jefferson_phil-schiavone — A buck spotted on a lawn in Port Jefferson. Photo by Phil Shiavone

Drivers are regularly reminded that deer populations along the North Shore of Long Island are increasing as many of the animals graze alongside or dart across roadways. Some of these encounters unfortunately end in collisions. With deer and people on the move during the busy holiday season, TBR News Media is taking a look at issues to hopefully curb the impact.

Deer are spotted all over the North Shore. The one above is seen near Old Homestead Road in Belle Terre, Port Jefferson. Photo by Phil Schiavone

Destruction of vegetation

Christina Maffia, who has lived in Old Field South for 18 years, said she sees deer on her property every day, sometimes a lone buck and other times two or three animals. She described her property as “once lush, green, temperate forest that has been reduced to bare limbs below 5 feet.” She said her perennials don’t grow back due to being continuously eaten.

The appearance of depleted vegetation coincided with the arrival of the deer a few years ago. She said her neighborhood had been planted back when Frank Melville established the neighborhood in 1929. The grounds in Old Field South were designed by the landscape architecture firm of Frederick Law Olmsted, which also designed Central Park.

“These plantings are considered historical,” she said. “It’s such a shame that the historical part of this area that made it so beautiful is now being compromised.”

Maffia has sprayed her plants with a product called Deer Off, which incorporates rotten eggs in the ingredients. It deters deer, she said, but her experience has been that whenever it rains or she runs the sprinklers, she needs to reapply the product which she uses around the perimeter of her property.

The Village of Old Field recently sent an email to residents encouraging them to use deer repellent on their properties. Village officials reminded homeowners that a new generation of deer will establish their own feeding trails this time of the year. Because of these new trails, “it is a good time of year to use repellents to redirect these trails before they become solidly developed,” the village said.

According to the village email, deer repellent means less plant damage during fall and winter, and fewer deer in the village.

Kathy Schiavone, of Port Jefferson, said she and her husband also have problems with their landscaping due to the deer.

“We had tried the various remedies that have been suggested and have come to the conclusion that we will no longer buy and plant flowers to ornament our yard,” she said. “We did replace a number of yews with Japanese plum yews, which the deer do not bother. We had done this about five years ago. So far, so good.”

According to the DEC’s website, among the food deer prefer are cedar, sassafras, wintergreen, yew, mountain maple, flowering dogwood and more. A list of other vegetation they feed on can be found at www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7195.html.

There is evidence that deer are also altering forests across New York, according to the DEC. This can reduce diversity in the forest understory, enable invasive species to outcompete natives and prevent seedlings of many species from growing into the next generation of trees.

A couple of deer spotted on a lawn in Belle Terre, below. Photo by Jean Thomas

Lyme disease

Maffia and Schiavone said they are concerned about deer ticks and contracting Lyme disease due to the increased population of deer. Both have friends and neighbors who have suffered from the tick-borne disease. Schiavone said she also knows four people who have contracted babesiosis, three of whom had to be hospitalized. Maffia said she had one neighbor with Lyme disease who later got Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Another was hospitalized with a severe inflammation around his heart caused by Lyme disease.

“It’s not just aesthetics anymore,” Maffia said. “It’s people being impacted by the deer.”

Nancy Irvolino has lived near Brooksite Drive in Smithtown for more than 40 years and has noticed an increase of the animals in the area.

“Sometimes they are on the side [of Brooksite], but a lot of times they run out at night in front of my car and I slam the brakes,” she said.

While Blydenburgh County Park abuts the lane she lives on, she said it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that she started seeing deer walking down her street and eating plants. Recently, she has seen them every night near her house.

Irvolino said she worries about herself and her dogs contracting Lyme disease and doesn’t even walk in the park due to it.

According to the DEC website, deer are the primary food source for adult female ticks and reduction of deer populations to very low levels may reduce tick densities and infection rates.

The Village of Old Field email to residents claimed that deer over time can carry thousands of ticks.

Solutions

Villages across the North Shore are debating the best way to cull the herds.

“My hope is that our elected officials will realize the overabundance of deer is an important enough public issue to take action against,” Schiavone said.

Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) is currently working to present a townwide forum on deer with the DEC in the near future, according to her office.

Belle Terre allows bow hunting, and Head of the Harbor last year joined Avalon Park & Preserve in Stony Brook with a contraceptive vaccine experiment to help with deer management. The DEC supports the use of sharpshooters, who aim for an instant kill, so the animal doesn’t suffer and also advocates donating the meat to food banks.

“I am not a fan of hunting just for the sake of demonstrating one’s prowess in killing any animal,” Schiavone said. “I have been convinced by information I have gotten that culling is the answer.”

Maffia, who has been a vegetarian for 30 years, agreed.

“At this point, because there are no natural predators, they’re attacking so many things people wouldn’t think of.”

— Christina Maffia

“At this point, because there are no natural predators, they’re attacking so many things people wouldn’t think of,” she said.

Maffia said she and her wife, Donna Crinnian, have been able to decrease the amount of bird seed they buy in the winter as nesting birds have disappeared since the deer have eaten the ground covering where the birds would nest.

“They’re impacting the ecosystem,” she said.

In the Village of Port Jefferson, where hunting is prohibited, residents are asked to call 631-774-0066 if they see a deceased deer on the road and 631-744-2507 if they see a wounded deer on their property. Those who spot hunter tree stands on private property can call Kathy Grady, DEC officer, at 631-744-2507 so the location can be checked to see if it qualifies as legal hunting ground.

Brookhaven residents can call the Animal Shelter at 631-451-6950 to report deceased deer on the road. In Smithtown, people can call the Animal Shelter at 631-360-7575 about dead or injured wildlife.

When it comes to roadways, the Department of Motor Vehicles advises drivers to be extra cautious during both dawn and dusk when deer are most active, especially in the autumn months.

Insurance company State Farm recently released its animal collision study from claims data from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, which estimated 1.9 million animal collision claims industrywide nationally, the large majority being with deer. During the same period, it was estimated there were 1.5 million deer claims.

“Remember, animals are unpredictable, especially when faced with glaring headlights, blowing horns and fast-moving vehicles,” said Billy Williams, Setauket State Farm agent. “They often dart into traffic.”

He added that drivers should remember that deer move in herds, so if one is seen on a roadway there may be more following.

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