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Victoria Espinoza

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Victoria Espinoza is the editor of the Times of Huntington & Northport. She once broke her elbow trying to eat a cookie.
https://www.victoria-espinoza.com/

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Andrew Polan serves on Three Village Chamber of Commerce as well as the North Shore Jewish Center, where he was recently sworn in as the newest president. Photo from David Woods

Andrew Polan has had a busy year.

The North Shore native was recently re-elected to serve another term as president of Three Village Chamber of Commerce. Over the summer, he was appointed the next president of the North Shore Jewish Center over the summer, and was sworn in in late September. Polan has been a tireless servant to the North Shore for more than the past decade and those close to him said they were happy to have him at the helm.

“Andy speaks softly, acts quietly, and gets things done,” said David Woods, executive director for Three Village Chamber of Commerce.

Polan has held many positions at the North Shore Jewish Center, including a trustee on the board for 12 years, building chair, treasurer and executive vice president. He has been a congregant there for 15 years.

Projects he has worked on include a brick engraving fundraiser, where members of the congregation could buy a brick in memory of a loved one.

Charlie Lefkowitz, chamber vice president, who, aside from working with Polan in the chamber also worked with him in the Jewish Center, helped with a recent brick dedication ceremony. He said Polan did a really nice job creating a beautiful front entrance, and that Polan is “really a unique individual.”

“This was meant to deepen community ties, and keep us all together,” Polan said of the project.

Lefkowitz also spoke of the work Polan has done to improve the annual beach barbecue held at West Meadow Beach. Lefkowitz said it started with approximately 150 attendees and has grown into more than 600 guests.

“People love to come and enjoy the camaraderie. It takes a great deal of planning; it’s really the chamber’s signature event,” said Lefkowitz.

And Polan is really all about the camaraderie, he said. He considers himself a community-based individual, and believes in the importance of people stepping up to the plate to further the quality of the community.

“I really just don’t know how to keep my hand down,” Polan said about why he volunteers for so many different organizations.

One of Polan’s favorite chamber events, and the newest one, just started this year, is the Shop Local event. Polan believes this event helps enhance the local community.

“It truly ties the students and local businesses of Three Village together, and highlights the importance of keeping money in the community,” Polan said.

Polan has been an optician for more than 30 years, and is part of a family of opticians. He was the vice president of the New York State Society for Opticians less than a decade ago. He has owned Stony Brook Vision World since it opened 17 years ago.

Former board president Robert Brown worked with Polan for many years when Polan was just a trustee on the board. One project Brown thought Polan handled very successfully was the creation of a new welcome sign located on the northeast corner of Nicolls Road and Route 347.

“It makes a pleasant intro to the community, blending both the town, the university, and the university hospital together. Polan has always proven to be a stable, thoughtful individual that knows how to get things done in a quiet way,” said Brown.

Rabbi Aaron Benson, the rabbi of the North Shore Jewish Center, is optimistic about Polan’s future with the center.

“I think he will be able to bring a great sense of community, he has a good head on his shoulders. He will make a good president because he’s the type of businessman who is always looking to try and help people. He will open up new opportunities and help us grow together,” Benson said.

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The Smithtown Library. File photo by Rachel Shapiro

Smithtown Library patrons will hit the polls this week as they mull over the 2016 budget as well as two trustee positions.

The library unveiled the $14,143,257 2016 proposed budget earlier this year, calling for an estimated $4.93, or 1.22 percent, increase in the tax levy. Two incumbent trustees are seeking re-election in this year’s vote, including the library board’s president. The budget and trustee votes are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 13, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The largest portion of the budget is going toward salaries and employment benefits, totaling approximately $10 million dollars. Library materials and programs come in second, with a total of $733,800. The most expensive materials cost is for books, and the second is for online materials.

Incumbents John Martins and Suzanne Mohr will be on the ballot for re-election to the library’s board of trustees.

Martins, president of the board, has been a resident of Nesconset for more than 30 years, and has been a volunteer at the Nesconset Fire Department for the last 13 year. Currently, he is 1st assistant chief. He works as a project manager for Alpine Software Inc.

In Martin’s statement on the Smithtown Library website, he said he is excited about the new changes happening to the library, and he would like to play an active role in those changes. He also wants to make sure the library offers the best available materials and resources to its residents.

“I would also like to see the Library stay on the cutting edge of technology and programming,” Martins said online. “If elected, I will make sure we hold a tight line on the budget during these hard economic times, while still providing outstanding service to the community.”

Mohr is a Smithtown resident, and president of Advanced Marketing Development. In her statement on Smithtown’s Library website, she said her first priority is to advocate for funding so that the library can continue to provide top-notch programs and services to the community.

“I would like to continue working with fellow trustees to improve and seek out the best library programs and to expand on our cultural and recreational offerings, making The Smithtown Library district a premier community resource center,” Mohr said online.

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Members of the Northport-East Northport school board discuss creating an ASL course during an Oct. 8 school board meeting. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

The Northport-East Northport school board mulled adding American Sign Language to the district’s curriculum at a meeting on Thursday.

Currently no such course is offered at Northport-East Northport.

“ASL is something I find really interesting, and many other students do too,” Emily Faltings, a student at Northport High School said. “I think it’s very important we involve it in our district. Why don’t we have it?”

Many audience members agreed that it’s important for the district to add a sign language course.

“It’s not just for special needs kids who have hearing loss,” Cathy Josephson, a Northport resident said. “It’s also for people who want to communicate with them.”

Josephson said that she has brought the issue to the board’s attention for the last six years, and that she hopes members actually follow through this time.

Matthew Nelson, assistant superintendent for instruction and administration, said the reason the course hasn’t been offered is because the district can never get enough students to fill a full class. Trustee Jennifer Thompson wondered if this was because students aren’t getting enough exposure to the different language choices at a young age.

“I don’t know if there is a chance for students to recognize what other languages they could take,” Thompson said. “Maybe there could be more of a discussion about what other languages students could take and are interested in.”

Board President Andrew Rapiejko said that it sounds like no one on the board is opposed the idea, and that the real challenge is figuring out how to publicize the course.

Superintendent Robert Banzer wondered where school officials would begin.

“Do we start this at the high school level?” Banzer said. “What would be the entry point? These are questions we can definitely look into.” Banzer also said the district could look into offering an ASL course at the middle school instead.

Trustee Regina Pisacani said language teachers in the district inform potential students of their course. She said the teachers from the middle school visit fifth grade classes and give presentations to the students about the language classes they teach.

“I think a lot of the students choices are influenced by the exposure of the teachers coming into their classroom,” Pisacani said. She said she thought that would be a good approach in publicizing an ASL course.

Trustee Lori McCue said that maybe ASL could be added to the elementary schools’ after-school programs, and many audience members cheered for the idea.

“That’s an obvious solution,” Rachel Friedman, a Northport resident said. “This is not something that should wait until high school. I think the best suggestion is to start it as an after-school program and then they can make that choice to continue in seventh or eighth grade.”

The board agreed that it would look into these options. No other decisions were made.

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Mayor blasts state comptroller’s scoring of village

Huntington Bay Village’s mayor is contesting a fiscal rating by the state comptroller’s office. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Huntington Bay Village’s mayor strongly disagrees with a recent release by the New York State Comptroller’s office ranking the municipality as susceptible to fiscal stress.

The comptroller’s office sent out a statement about the scores last week but Herb Morrow said  the score is misleading and Huntington Bay is in sound fiscal shape.

“The report is worthless because what they do is take a snapshot of one point in the year,” Morrow said in a phone interview. “They don’t take the financial planning into consideration.”

Morrow said the comptroller’s office ranked Huntington Bay as “susceptible” to fiscal stress in February because its reserve fund decreased.

“We did some major reconstruction of the police department to save taxpayers an enormous amount of money in the long term,” Morrow said. The reorganization included incentives and retirement costs that reduced reserve funds but, Morrow said, over time would reduce village payroll for police by $400,000.

“We are in great shape, and the residents are not listening to the comptroller’s story.”

Despite what Morrow said, the state comptroller’s office confirms Huntington Bay is susceptible to fiscal stress.

According to a statement from Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office, “susceptible to fiscal stress” is the least severe of three categories that all municipalities found to be under fiscal stress were filed into. The other two category designations are “moderate fiscal stress” and “significant fiscal stress.”

In order to be designated as “susceptible to fiscal stress,” a municipality has to reach at least 45 percent of the total points of the fiscal stress score. The scores are made using annual financial reports that are submitted by local governments to the state comptroller’s office. Fiscal stress is usually defined as a local government’s inability to generate enough revenues within its current fiscal period to meet its costs. The comptroller’s system evaluates local governments based on both financial and environmental indicators.

The indicators of a local government’s financial state are its year-end balance, operating deficits, cash position, use of short-term debt and fixed costs. Environmental indicators include population, age, poverty, employment base and more. Fund balances, like Huntington Bay’s reserve fund balance, are used to identify the amount of money available to cushion revenue shortfalls or expenditure overruns.

According to DiNapoli’s office, a negative or low-level fund balance can affect the local government’s ability to provide services at current levels. It also claims that fund balance is a strong measure of the financial condition of a local government.

In a letter Morrow posted to the Huntington Bay website when the scores were originally released in February, he criticized the message that the comptroller’s office was sending to residents.

“It makes the jobs of local leaders harder. It is a waste of New York State taxpayer dollars,” Morrow said in the letter. “With no conversation or discussion with our village, we were given a negative designation that is very misleading to our residents. By releasing reports that create inane headlines, they confuse residents.”

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Actor Jason Segel applauds a fan during a book-signing at Book Revue on Oct. 6. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Actor Jason Segel signs a fan’s cast at Book Revue on Oct. 6. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Actor Jason Segel signs a fan’s cast at Book Revue on Oct. 6. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Jason Segel, an actor known for roles in comedies such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “I Love You, Man,” attended a book signing at Book Revue in Huntington on Tuesday to promote his new book, “Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic,” the second installment of a trilogy which he co-authored with Kirsten Miller.

Segel also participated in an audience question-and-answer session, where he discussed if the book series might ever be made into a movie and if the characters are based on any real people in Segel’s life.

Actor Jason Segel shows off his new book, ‘Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic,’ at Book Revue on Oct. 6. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Actor Jason Segel shows off his new book, ‘Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic,’ at Book Revue on Oct. 6. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Segel said he started out writing the book series as a script, when he was on the television show “Freaks and Geeks,” so some of the nightmare characters were meant to be played by his friends on the show.

One boy asked if Segel remembered any of the nightmares he had as child.

“Yeah,” Segel said. “My big recurring nightmare, that was in the first book, was witches eating my toes. People asked me, ‘Where does that came from?’ and I figured out it’s because when you’re a baby, parents stand over you and tell you they’re going to eat your toes.”

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File photo

Local politicians and Huntington Town residents have successfully lobbied the state Department of Transportation to halt construction of a rest stop on exit 51 of the Long Island Expressway.

Individuals were up in arms over the proposal, and lawmakers expressed their dissatisfaction about the plans. Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern (D-Dix Hills) said it’s an unacceptable location for a rest stop and said the rest stop itself is unnecessary.

“It backs a residential area,” Stern said in a phone interview. “Unlike other rest stops or centers, where they carry on commercial activity, on the LIE, here all the exits are about a mile apart. There is an ample supply of restaurants, shopping centers and restrooms at every exit, so there is no need for a separate rest stop at this location.”

Stern said the plan calls for featuring the state’s Taste NY program, designed to promote New York’s agriculture vendors. This particular Taste NY would serve as a gateway for Long Island wine country out east, according to Stern.

“This exit is a long way from being a gateway to the East End,” Stern said about why this exit choice doesn’t make sense to promote Taste NY.

According to Stern, Suffolk County has made an offer to work with New York State to create a Taste NY location off exit 67 in Yaphank, which Stern said is a more appropriate location.

Gary Holmes, director of communications for the state’s Department of Transportation, said no work is currently being done at exit 51.

“The commissioner has held several productive meetings with local and state officials on Long Island, and while no decisions have been made about the rest stop at exit 51, we look forward to continued conversations about the health and safety of all users of the LIE,” Holmes said in an email. “LIE motorists deserve a safe place to rest and we’ll keep working on the best way to do that.”

Town Councilwoman Susan Berland (D) said the rest stop should not be added, and that she started fighting plans for it 15 years ago.

“I led the charge against this rest stop when I was vice president of the House Beautiful Dix Hills Civic Association,” Berland said in a phone interview. “I have always been opposed to this.”

She also said the Taste NY aspect is inappropriate, and that the state should not be selling alcohol on an expressway: “The last thing you want to do is give people the opportunity to get alcohol there.”

Berland said the rest stop is too close to a residential community, and the construction the state’s done so far was done without permission. She said residents are already being impacted by the sound of the LIE because brush berms have been removed.

Assemblyman Chad A. Lupinacci (R-Huntington Station) agreed that the rest stop is disruptive to residential life near exit 51.

“The location is poor because of the noise and the secondary effects it will have to the area and the residents,” Lupinacci said in a phone interview. “I am totally against it.”

Suffolk County Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport) agreed with his colleagues that the rest stop should not go up, and that the voices of Huntington are not being heard.

“It doesn’t sound like the Town of Huntington was involved in this decision,” Spencer said in a phone interview. “I always think coordination and communication with the community is key.”

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Miller Place superintendent Marianne Higuera speaks during the Sept. 30 board of education meeting regarding the cancellation of this year's pep rally. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Miller Place students and parents alike were very disappointed with the administrations decision to cancel this year’s high school pep rally.

“I am aware some students misbehaved,” Louann Cronin, a Miller Place resident, said, “but they should suffer, not our student athletes. I am here on behalf of the good, hardworking students, and I don’t think it’s fair.”

Approximately 30 students and parents gathered at the Sept. 30 board meeting, all upset with this decision that they felt they were not a part of at all.

“This does not feel like a community decision,” Steve Delurey, another Miller Place resident, said.

Superintendent Marianne Higuera stood by the decision.

“It’s gotten progressively worse in the last three years,” Higuera said. “We added extra chaperones last year in order to reduce peer mistreatment, but many students last year made poor choices. When I can’t guarantee the health and safety of 1,000 kids at an event I can’t agree to have that event. That is why this is not a community discussion, because you are not responsible for those kids. But I am.”

Miller Place student Sabrina Luisa speaks during the Sept. 30 board of education meeting about her feelings on the board canceling this year's pep rally. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Miller Place student Sabrina Luisa speaks during the Sept. 30 board of education meeting about her feelings on the board canceling this year’s pep rally. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

While members of the board seem divided, they stood behind the executive decision.

“I am sorry to see pep rally go,” Johanna Testa, president of the board, said. “But I support the decision. It wasn’t a quick decision.”

Trustee Lisa Reitan said she tried to work with the board to find alternatives, since she personally does not agree with the decision.

“As a parent I don’t agree, but I support the choice because of the concerns” Reitan said. “But we have tried to be your voice.”

Trustee Noelle Dunlop said she felt last year’s pep rally was scary for parents whose children could’ve ended up at the hospital that night.

Rumors had circulated that some students had been drinking and using drugs at the rally last year.

Parents questioned if there were ways to ensure that kids knew before the pep rally that if they misbehaved during it there would be guaranteed punishments.

“Could you say to the student body, ‘If you make a bad decision, then you won’t be going to prom?’ That way they know ahead of time their behavior won’t be allowed,” Cronin said.

Miller Place high school senior Sabrina Luisa said she and her peers are very upset with the decision.

“A handful of students shouldn’t determine the fate of all students,” Luisa said. “Why do their actions dictate how the entire school should be run?”

A petition has been posted on I-Petitions. It currently has 870 signatures and more than 160 comments, all asking that the board and high school principal Kevin Slavin reconsider their decision.

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Penny just recently got adopted after more than a year at Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center in Huntington. Photo from Arleen Leone

Huntington residents will have spaying, neutering, and adoption fees for pit bulls waived from Oct. 1 until Oct. 31 in recognition of National Pit Bull Awareness month.

Arleen Leone, the special programs manager of Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center in Huntington, believes that every day should be pit bull awareness day.

“They are gentle, sweet loving dogs,” Leone said in a phone interview. “There is a huge need for education, and on a daily basis we try to bring awareness to these dogs.”

Leone said that Little Shelter has many different education programs. In one program, Leone said the shelter staff travel to approximately 100 schools a year and try to educate kids on how to handle themselves around different dogs. They also discuss the importance of spaying and neutering.

“They think they are pocket poodles,” Leone said of pit bulls. “All they want is love and affection.”

According to Leone, pit bulls were originally bred to be family dogs, however over the course of time, people began to breed them as fighting dogs. This “ruined the breed” and it’s why there is a need for much education about the animals. The shelter said they had a pit bull named Penny who took more than a year to get adopted because “she looked like something she was not.”

Councilwoman Susan Berland (D) offered town board resolutions at the Sept. 16 Huntington Town Board meeting to waive the fees at the town animal shelter on Deposit Road in recognition of the month.

“Anytime we can help lower the amount of animals we have housed in shelter, regardless of the breed, is a good thing,” Berland said in a phone interview. 

Berland said that it is important to be smart about what kind of animal you chose to adopt and what type of household you’re bringing it into.

Although Berland does not own any pit bulls, some of her friends do, and she said they are “totally friendly and adorable.”

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Ponrakit ‘Rio’ Puorcharoen gets to know New York with a trip to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. Photo from Lynellen Nielsen

A new student roaming the halls of Comsewogue High School is getting into a New York state of mind.

Ponrakit Puorcharoen journeyed to Long Island from Thailand this year to attend school because he “wanted to learn about a new culture.”

The 15-year-old foreign exchange student, who goes by the nickname Rio, hails from Nonthaburi, a city near Bangkok and the Gulf of Thailand.

Rio said in a phone interview that he did not get to choose where he was going to be placed, and did not know much about New York before arriving stateside. His host family — Lynellen and Rick Nielsen and their sons, Jeremy and Josh — has tried to show him around, taking him to New York City. He saw the Museum of Modern Art and Times Square, which Rio thinks is “crazy, with the amount of people there.”

His family in Port Jefferson Station got involved in part because of the host mom’s childhood memories.

Foreign exchange student Ponrakit ‘Rio’ Puorcharoen takes a trip to the aquarium with his host family. Photo from Lynellen Nielsen
Foreign exchange student Ponrakit ‘Rio’ Puorcharoen takes a trip to the aquarium with his host family. Photo from Lynellen Nielsen

“When I was a child, my family had a foreign exchange student, and it was a really positive experience,” Lynellen Nielsen said in a phone interview. “I thought it was something that Jeremy should experience as well.”

Jeremy is a senior at Comsewogue High School, two years ahead of Rio, while Josh is enrolled at Hunter College.

Lynellen Nielsen described the process of applying for the foreign exchange program as “serendipitous.”

She and her family had considered hosting a student many times, but didn’t begin the process until she discovered a friend of hers had begun working for the International Student Exchange Programs. After the family applied, Nielsen said once the organization approved them, they were able to choose from a number of students to host for the year.

“We saw [Rio] had similar interests, like animals, cooking, technology and art,” she said. “We thought he would be a great match.”

Although Rio arrived in the United States on Aug. 9, he didn’t get to Long Island until Aug. 22 because he went though a training program.

“His first question when he walked into our house was, ‘What’s the Wi-Fi password?’ so he’s just like any other kid around here,” Nielsen said with a laugh.

Since Rio has adjusted to his new living situation, he and his host family have been able to bond over many different activities. He has cooked basil pork and other traditional Thai dishes for the family, and the host mom, in turn, introduced him to strawberry pie and banana bread.

In terms of school life, Rio said he has not found many differences between school in America and school in Thailand. He said the only real difference is that students don’t get to choose the classes they take back home, and that Americans use the word “soccer” for the same sport he calls “football,” which he finds “a little weird.”

“My favorite thing to do so far has just been relaxing with the family,” Rio said. “They are very chill.”

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School committee to pitch 5-year plan for facilites

The Northport High School football team plays at home. File photo by Kevin Freiheit

Northport-East Northport school district’s Athletic Citizens Advisory Committee is exploring turf fields and other upgrades to school facilities.

The group plans to present formal recommendations to the school board in coming weeks, according to Trustee Regina Pisacani, who spearheaded the creation of the group.

Pisacani delivered an update at the Sept. 24 school board meeting, and said that the committee had made much progress over the summer. She said members of the group had toured nearly every building in the district, and had been able to create a list of all the improvements they deemed necessary.

“We were joined by Anthony Resca, superintendent of [buildings] and grounds, and Bernard Krueger, [supervisor] of buildings and grounds, who were able to add their insight and answer all the questions we had,” Pisacani said in a phone interview.

The committee also looked different options to add to the district, likes synthetic turf and natural turf, sod repairs and more. The group also reached out the coaches within the district to get their input.

“No one knows the athletes and what they need better than the coaches,” Pisacani said. “Many coaches in the district feel that Northport athletes are not offered a level playing field compared to other schools right now because of the state of the facilities at Northport.”

The committee has also met with Ed Parrish, a civil engineer for Huntington Town. “We wanted to hear the community feedback that he’s received for the jobs he’s done,” Pisacani said.

SPRINTURF and LANDTECH also spoke with the committee to give their insight on how their businesses would work with the district, according to Piscani.

And finally, the committee also toured other school districts, to see their athletic facilities and the upgrades they’ve made that worked out well for their schools.

Pisacani said they viewed fields at Bethpage school district and Manhasset school district. At Manhasset they were able to tour with Jim Amen, Manhasset’s director of physical education and athletics, who also answered many questions they had.

The committee is currently discussing recommendations to present to the board. Each school has its own list of needs. Pisacani said committee members still need to tally up the monetary value of their recommendations.

“After we put costs to everything, we will present the board with our recommended five-year plan,” Pisacani said. “Then it is up to the will of the board to decide if they want to go forward.”

Although the committee expects to deliver recommendations to the board in December, Pisacani is hopeful they will be able to present much sooner than then.

The Northport-East Northport school district’s Athletic Citizens Advisory Committee was born out of a number of parents who urged school board members to consider funding upgrades to the district facilities in the school’s budget back in January. Twenty-seven parents emailed the school board saying that the current state of the schools facilities were “embarrassing” and could be a “safety hazard.”

The school board approved the formation of the committee in March, made up of 15 district residents and spearheaded by Pisacani. Aside from inspections and evaluations of the athletic facilities in the district, the committee was also charged with determining the costs of their recommended repairs and analyzing outside funding opportunities to pay for the upgrades.

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