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William Stieglitz

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The April 22 Smithtown Board of Education meeting. Photo by William Stieglitz

By William Stieglitz

At the April 22 meeting, the board of education for Smithtown Central School District voted unanimously to adopt the proposed 2025-2026 budget. Set at $294,998,455, it would be a 1.74% increase from last year’s approximate $290 million. According to Superintendent of Schools Mark Secaur, the budget will allow the continuation of existing programs, including summer learning, while also keeping class sizes within district policy parameters.

The proposed property tax levy is set at $225,253,356, a 2.66% increase from last year’s levy of approximately $219 million. This is the maximum allowable levy for the budget to require a simple majority to pass, as opposed to the over 60% that would be required were the cap exceeded. The tax limit is calculated primarily based on the rate of inflation but also includes factors such as the tax base growth for the area, the Payment in Lieu of Taxes receivable and the capital levy exclusion.

The budget’s other revenues are primarily from state aid and the school district’s reserves. Since the New York State budget has not yet been passed, missing the April 1 deadline for the fourth year in a row, it is unknown how much state aid the district will receive. The board, instead, based its calculations on Governor Kathy Hochul’s (D) executive state budget as proposed in January, predicting about $51 million in aid. Should the state budget exceed what was expected, the board’s plan will be not to change the expenditure budget, but rather to reduce the dependence on around $7.5 million dollars in reserves. 

These reserves include $3.65 million from the Employees’ Retirement System, $2.725 million from the Teacher’s Retirement System, $770,000 from Employee Benefit Accrued Liability and $400,000 from Workers’ Compensation Insurance. The use of this last reserve is a significant change from last years’ budget, which did not pull from it at all. The smallest reserve change, by contrast, is for EBAL, which sees the same amount used from it as last year. Employee benefits see decreases in Social Security and Medicaid but also increases in health insurance, with an overall $4.13 million rise in benefits.

There will be a budget hearing May 13 for community members to learn more about the budget. Then the vote for both the budget and board members will be May 20, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and locations including Nesconset Elementary, Accompsett Elementary and Smithtown Elementary schools. Smithtown residents must be registered with the Suffolk County Board of Election by May 13 in order to vote. 

If the proposed budget doesn’t pass, the board may resubmit either the same budget or a revised version for a second vote. If this fails too, the board would have to adopt a budget with no increase to the tax levy, resulting in an approximate revenue loss of $5.85 million. In this situation, the district would have to either include more reductions or withdraw more from its reserves.

For more information visit the school website: www.Smithtown.k12.ny.us.

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Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano

By William Stieglitz

Students and parents spoke out at the April 9 Three Village Central School District BOE meeting, arguing for the programs and staff they did not want to see cut. The board had previously announced that in order to balance the proposed budget with later start times for high school students, it would need to remove 14 elementary teachers as well as the fourth-grade Intellectually Gifted (IG) program.

Students who once participated in the IG program, as well as parents of such students, voiced their support for it, saying it provided them with an academic challenge and motivation they were not able to experience before. “Once I joined the IG program, I was toward the bottom of the pack, so it was wonderful to finally get that experience,” said Althea Grubbs Albrecht, who joined as a sixth grader in the program’s last year. “It really prepared me for academic struggles in junior high and now in high school.”

“The teachers I had there, they encouraged my love for reading, they encouraged my ability to think about and consider different ideas,” said new valedictorian Oliver Wu. “Eliminating the IG program without putting anything else in its place, without initiating a new program to give enrichment to students who would benefit from it, is very harmful.” He, along with others, expressed concern that the IG program could be phased out, though  Superintendent Kevin Scanlon said this would not happen.

Simultaneously, many parents stressed the importance of later high school start time levels for students’ health. “We all want our children to be academically excelled, but they need health first,” said Jade Zheng, a mother of two kids in the district. “If I have to make a choice, health first.” Others stressed the long timeline of the effort to make the change, citing a petition from 2019 that garnered 1,700 votes.

The proposed cuts to elementary teachers were a concern too, not just for the sake of the teachers, but for the elementary students who would then be forced into larger-sized classes. Oliver Wu said he has been “one of the biggest supporters of start time changes,” but if the board “had to choose between cuts to dozens of staffs and educational programs or the start time, I would support delaying the start time.”

Board members responded that all three concerns were priorities to them, and they did not want students and parents to have to argue for one program over another. “We’re at a point this year, unfortunately,” said Vice President Karen Roughley, “where we need to put the education of our elementary students against start times for the older students and I don’t think that’s a good place to be.” Trustee Stanley Bak also expressed concern that the board could have better communicated the planned cuts beforehand so they came as less of a surprise. “Programs cost money,” he said. “Communication does not.”

The board debated withdrawing from their emergency reserves, a possibility touched on by parents, but according to Scanlon, spending those funds would only cover costs to next year, and would put them at risk in case of an unexpected emergency. “When COVID-19 hit, we spent $7.3 million out of our reserves,” said Scanlon. “If another COVID-like event occurred… we will not be able to do [what we did] in 2020.”

The board also discussed removing start time changes for this year, as it would save over $1 million to fund other programs. With how long parents had been pushing for the change, some members, such as Bak, were hesitant to delay this another year. Referring to the 2019 petition, he said “Here we are in 2025, and I think about those parents… Is 2025 different?” However, others like board President Susan Rosenzweig, felt elementary classes were the higher priority. In a 4-3 vote, the measure passed.

Afterward, the board voted 6-1 to adopt the proposed budget at just over $238 million. This would be an increase of approximately $2 million from last year and mean a $336 increase in tax per household. The proposed budget offers a line-item budget for how the funds would be distributed, though these can still be changed over the next month. The next budget meeting is set for April 30, with the budget hearing on May 13 to discuss final details and the vote on May 20.

“This has been an impossible budget cycle,” said Rosenzweig before the end of the meeting. “It is not pretty, it is not perfect, people will lose, everybody’s going to lose a little bit, but it is the best that we can do.”

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EarthCam showing live footage of Port Jefferson Harbor. Photo courtesy of Earthcam

By William Stieglitz

On the morning of April 14, an approximate total of 30,000 gallons of partially treated sewage was discharged into Port Jefferson Harbor over the course of two hours. According to the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, the discharge was caused by an electrical malfunction on a ultraviolet disinfection unit.  Upon identifying the problem, the plant ran the effluent through a second UV system, while they repaired and tested the first, then returned to routine operations. While the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed that the plant is now operating normally, but there are still health concerns. 

Port Jefferson village put out an alert, saying the sewage reached the surface of the water, and without the sewage having been fully disinfected, it can carry high levels of pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Residents and visitors are warned “to take precautions before recreating in Port Jefferson Harbor.” Additionally, the DEC announced a temporary closure on shellfishing for the harbor and its tributaries. The closure impacts approximately 1,639 acres of shellfishing beds in the NS5 harvest area, including Setauket Harbor, the Narrows and Conscience Bay, and will last until the department determines shellfish in the area are safe to use for food.

The response from local environmental groups has been one of concern for both the human and ecological impact. “It’s early spring, which means it’s spawning and breeding time for many species,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. She explained that finfish like winter flounder were at risk, as well as turtles and birds of prey that feed on juvenile fish. The horseshoe crab was of particular concern, as its population is already in steep decline in New York’s north and south shores. “This is the time when we want to protect this species, not add pollution to the water, which would harm them.”

Esposito predicted it would take “at least a couple of days” before the waters return to a normal state, but that it “is dependent upon water circulation and the tide.” She also said it would help for the DEC to do an investigation of what caused the UV unit to malfunction. “Is it because the unit is old? Does it need to be upgraded?” she asked. “Accidents happen, alright. And we understand that. But they need to assess the root cause and prevent it from happening again in the future.”

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Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
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Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz
Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz

By William Stieglitz

Approximately 300 students from 17 local high schools and at least one middle school gathered April 4 for the first Long Island Youth Climate Summit at Stony Brook University. Organized by Students for Climate Action and Renewable Energy Long Island, the event centered on environmental education and advocacy, with students encouraged to get involved with grassroots.

“It’s really important that students remember that they have a voice, that they have power, that there’s a lot they can do locally,” said Harrison Bench from S4CA. “We are teaching students about the science behind climate change, the science behind renewable energy, but we’re also giving them practical tools in advocacy. … They go back to their towns, their communities, their schools, and they have the actual skills necessary to continue to push for change, where change matters most.”

Speakers at the event came from a variety of organizations. Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, taught how to distinguish misinformation from environmental fact. Energy and construction organizations, such as the Haugland Group and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, spoke on the benefits of offshore wind and solar projects, while also encouraging careers in climate and energy. And Monique Fitzgerald, a climate justice organizer at Long Island Progressive Coalition, shared information on New York’s 2019 Climate Act, which aims to lower greenhouse gas emissions but has not been fully funded, and encouraged calling on Governor Kathy Hochul (D) “to double down on investments in New York State.”

Additionally, there was a panel with six elected officials — Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R), Suffolk County legislators Steven Englebright (D, Setauket) and Rebecca Sanin (D, Huntington Station), Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski (D), East Hampton Town Deputy Supervisor Cate Rogers (D) and New York State Senator Monica Martinez (D/WF, Brentwood) — who all spoke on the importance of advancing clean energy. Bench expressed that he would have liked an even larger turnout of representatives, saying “it would have been really great to have more Republican elected officials on the town board,” but also that he hopes to increase the number for next year.

The student response to the event was positive, with the teens saying they especially appreciated learning about offshore wind and hearing from keynote speaker Christopher Gobler, from the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. “I like that it brings attention to a lot of the issues right now,” said a student from Westhampton Beach High School. “It’s super, super important, especially in our political climate, with the pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement.”

“I feel like it was very empowering,” said another student, who does local beach cleanup each summer. “Before, I thought that maybe I wouldn’t have had as much of a difference, like, just one person at a time. Now I’m hearing that there’s 300 other students here that are all here for the same reason. We can all go out together and all make an impact and that together, I feel like, [we] can really make a difference in the world, which is what I really care about the most.”

After about 4 hours of learning, students took a break for pizza and to meet with exhibitors from organizations such as PSEG Long Island, the New York League of Conservation Voters and Drive Electric Long Island. They then reconvened for action items, starting with making postcards to send to their congressional representatives. Students wrote letters on one side and got creative with designs on the other. Among the colorful images of wind turbines and the globe were messages such as “Only One Planet Earth,” “Use your brain power! Support wind power!” and “Please support renewable energy before we go under water.” Afterward, the students started petitions to bring back to their schools, focusing on crafting their asks, arguments, methods of distribution and timeline.

Melissa Parrot, executive director of ReLI, said the summit “exceeded our expectations.” She wanted the event to be solution oriented rather than just restating the problems. “We know we wanted climate science. We know we wanted action. We know we wanted careers. We know we wanted elected officials to be part of this process. So it kind of just figured itself out.”

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Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano

By William Stieglitz

Over a hundred people attended the March 26 Board meeting for Three Village Central School District, where reported incidents of antisemitism were discussed. The week before, Superintendent Scanlon had sent out a letter saying the incidents were part of “a larger issue occurring that we need to address” and that the district “is planning immediate and long-term, systemic methods to address antisemitism, racism and hate speech.” The meeting’s high attendance required the use of two overflow rooms, where community members watched the meeting down the hall via livestream.

Scanlon said the incidents “occurred at our middle level” and “most incurred speech and insensitive acts or remarks,” though there were no acts of violence or threats. Under state regulations, he could not comment on the specifics as a matter of protecting students’ privacy, though the public comments from community members, along with the district’s proposed solutions, did provide context.

Community member Shelly Samson thanked Scanlon for the letter following what she described as “the antisemitism incident that occurred at Gelinas Junior High School… in a social studies class after viewing a film on the Holocaust,” expressing concern for the “very insensitive remark.” According to Scanlon, the board had met with the Westchester Holocaust Center following the incidents and Christina Cone, the director of social studies, will be bringing in a Holocaust survivor on April 9 for 10th grade students to meet. Additionally, he announced they have been communicating with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Jewish Partisan Educations Foundation (JPEF), and that the board will be looking at training for teachers and reviewing the current curriculum. “It doesn’t matter if it was 1 or 41,” he said regarding the incidents. “One is enough.”

Everyone who made public comments on the incidents thanked or praised the board for their handling of the matter thus far. Community member and parent Galia Lahav said she’d like to see education on implicit antisemitism in addition to the “very explicit antisemitism” of the recent incidents. Rabbi Aaron Benson from the North Shore Jewish Center spoke on the number of antisemitic incidents nationwide, saying there were 3,697 reported in 2022, then 3,291 from the time of the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel to the end of the year alone. Deborah Peretz, from the Israel advocacy group Stand With Us, asked for learning related to current issues, in addition to Holocaust education. “The Jewish people are living through history right now…. There’s a 23-year-old,” she said, referring to Israeli American solider Omer Neutra, who was reported killed during the October 7 attack. “He’s dead but he’s in the Gaza tunnels right now. He’s from Plainview. It’s 30 minutes away.”

Rabbi Josh Gray from Temple Isaiah did not speak during the public comment portion, but said afterward that he had met with Scanlon that week and is grateful the district is being proactive. Speaking on what actions community members can take to combat antisemitism and other forms of discrimination he said, “the best thing to do is to speak up when something is said… Call out hate wherever we see it. Be an ally to marginalized communities, and don’t let it slide. I think if we all stick together and stick up for each other we can create a community of communities, which is the ultimate goal.”

The other matters discussed at the Board meeting included the questions of whether to arm school guards and whether to take money from the emergency reserves to fund the budget. “The district is bankrupt in the sense that we can’t make payroll,” said trustee Dr. David McKinnon, who added they are currently projected to lose about 80 employees. The proposed budget is set to be adopted on April 9 with the community vote on May 20.

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A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz
A scene from the 2nd annual Cold Spring Harbor Polar Plunge. Photo by William Stieglitz

By William Stieglitz

Students from the Cold Spring Harbor Central School District plunged into the water at Lloyd Harbor Village Park Beach on March 29 to raise money for the New York Marine Rescue Center. This was the second CSH Polar Plunge to be hosted by the school’s marine biology club, which had been planning the event since September. The group, which has about 50 members and does volunteer beach cleanups, is led by science teacher Erin Oshan.

“We are a coastal town. The kids all live near the water, so they’re familiar with the water and the issues that face our marine life,” said Oshan, who teaches biology, marine biology and physics. She emphasized that habitat loss, pollution and microplastics can cause the biggest problems. “So there’s a bunch of kids that are passionate about trying to fix some of those issues.”

About two dozen students participated, consisting mostly of grades 8-12 as well as some elementary schoolers who came with their parents. It was a $20 donation to plunge, with people also able to donate through the purchase of sweatshirts, cookies and hot chocolate. Students described the water as “freezing,” though thankfully not as cold as it had been last time. 

“We had a polar plunge here two years ago. It was in February, though, when there was snow,” said ninth grader Molly Yulico. “This one’s nice because it’s, like, 75 degrees out, so it’s pretty warm in the outside temperature.” Several students, after coming out of the water, decided to go back in.

“It was a great success,” said Cold Spring Harbor Superintendent Joe Monastero, who emphasized his pride in the students. “We get our kids down here to participate in an activity to help support marine life and our local ecosystem, and it really brings us together as a community.”

The NYMRC, which received all profits from the event, had an information table set up to explain the work they do in the rescue and protection of marine animals such as sea turtles, dolphins and whales. “We’re in seal season right now,” said intern Lex Reveal. He explained that seals can get stranded for many reasons, but it mostly results from human interaction and pollution.

“Whenever we see a seal that is in an area that’s not safe for it to be in, so in someone’s backyard, for example, we’ll relocate it. If it’s injured, whether that’s from an entanglement situation or it’s been hit by a boat or it’s just sick for any reason, we will come by. We will take it back to the rescue center. We will go through the whole treatment process and then we will release it back into the water when it is healthy again.”

In terms of preventative measures, Reveal said that the best solution is education. “To get out there, tell people why interaction is bad and hopefully try and prevent it in the future.” He explains that interactions such as trying to feed, talk to or take selfies with the seals can be dangerous, not just for the animals but for humans too, especially with some species like the gray seal weighing around 400 pounds.

Reveal encourages anyone who finds a stranded marine animal not to get near it, and instead call the rescue center’s 24-hour hotline at 631-369-9829.

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Emma Clark Library. Photo by Heidi Sutton

By William Stieglitz

Suffolk library directors have voiced concerns following the White House’s executive order this month that the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) be reduced to minimal statutory functions, a move which the American Library Association (ALA) said is intended to “eliminate” the agency. Ted Gutmann, director of Emma S. Clark Memorial Library in Setauket, and Jenny Bloom, director of Port Jefferson Free Library, said that while both libraries are funded primarily through local taxes, the services they receive from the federally funded New York State Library are at risk. 

“New York State Library is sort of an invisible partner for all of the libraries in the state,” Bloom explained. “It does some cooperative buying of things that it provides to us out of its budget.” This includes funding for summer reading programs and construction aid as well as access to the online NOVELny database. The database provides access to thousands of digital collections and reference materials and is, according to Bloom, “not something that we as an individual library could afford.”

Kevin Verbesey, director of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System, said that while it’s too early to know how significant the impact will be for Suffolk public libraries, “the potential ramifications could be disastrous,” with fallout for local taxpayers as well. 

“If the federal government doesn’t support the states and the states can’t support local libraries,” he said, “it’s just going to mean local libraries, from an administrative perspective, are going to have to do more, which is just going to mean the cost is going to be shifted to the local taxpayer.” He emphasized that the reduction is only 0.003% of the federal budget, a number backed by the ALA, but is a large amount to local libraries.

Verbesey also expressed concern for the E-rate funding of schools and libraries, the future of which is currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, and which provides about $5,500 annually to Port Jefferson Free Library and $10,000 annually to Emma Clark. 

“If that funding goes away… that is $35 million with an ‘m’ kick,” he said. “Which means you have two choices: We’re not going to have the Internet in schools and libraries… or Nassau and Suffolk taxpayers are going to have to dip into their pocket for an extra $35,000,000 a year to make sure that their kids have access to the Internet when they go to school.”

Multiple directors also worried the IMLS cuts reflected a lack of appreciation for libraries, both as a bedrock community space and as a constantly evolving service provider. “We see the numbers every day of people coming through the door,” Bloom said. “They tell us what they need. We help them with their job applications. We help them find social services they need. We help them get passports. You know, we’re here for them as a safe space, and we help them meet other young parents with kids the same age. It’s huge and it’s a need and we see it.”

Verbesey also spoke on the broad services offered. “The traditional things that we think of are still there,” he said. “There still are collections of books. There’s still collections of videos, music, there’s still classes on a wide array of things, there’s all kinds of exciting programs. But there are also technologies. There’s maker spaces, there’s video podcasting rooms, there’s audio podcasting rooms, there’s career centers, there’s business development centers. You know, the library is providing this amazingly broad array of services and resources to our communities. And, you know, the most important message is to go and visit them and use them and see all the exciting things taking place at your library.”

Regarding the future of Suffolk libraries, Gutmann said, “it would be important for anybody who’s a supporter of the libraries to let their elected officials know that they support the libraries, and they’d like to see these numbers go through.” Support for local budget proposals was also encouraged, with Port Jefferson Free Library’s next vote scheduled for April 8.

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Vice President of Advocacy for the New York Immigration Coalition Robert Agyemang emceeing the event
Speaker Noemi Sanchez from Rural & Migrant Ministry. Photo by William Stieglitz
Nadia Molina from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. Photo by William Stieglitz
Rabbi Ari Naveh from Bend the Arc. Photo by William Stieglitz
Frederick Brewington, a civil rights attorney, speaking to the crowd. Photo by William Stieglitz
Angel Reyes speaks for On the Road. Photo by William Stieglitz

By William Stieglitz

Close to 50 people rallied in front of the New York State Office Building in Hauppauge on March 13 to urge legislative support for the New York for All Act, a proposed bill that would prohibit specific state corporations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  

Versions of the bill have been introduced in the state senate and assembly since 2020, though each died in committee before it could make it to the floor for debate. The current iterations, S.2235 and A.3506, were introduced in January of this year with 28 and 57 co-sponsors, respectively. 

Irma Solis, the Suffolk regional office director at the New York Civil Liberties Union and an organizer for the event, described the bill as crucial for protecting Suffolk families, particularly during the Trump administration. “All New Yorkers deserve to feel safe and protected,” she said, “not torn apart by a racist regime intent on demonizing the very communities that define the fabric of New York.”

The rally had 11 speakers, consisting of organizational activists, religious leaders and community members who advocated for the bill through personal stories. “Day by day, I see how community members, my neighbors, my friends and even myself are terrified to go to work, pick up our children from school and even go to church,” said Clara, a member of Make the Road New York.  “We feel persecuted and fear that one day we may leave our homes and never return.” Her speech was one of several delivered in both English and Spanish.

Others spoke of fear felt for their own spouses or children. “Imagine waking up on a Monday morning, . . . in the safest town that you have ever known, to find that your information has been publicly outed as potential undocumented immigrants with your location and your details to boot,” said community member Jessica. “What do you do? Do you send your kids to school that day?”

These fears were elaborated on by Sister Janet Kinney from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, who described immigrant community members as unable to reach out to police or emergency services without risking contact with ICE. “No one should be afraid to walk out their doors, to go to their workplaces, go to a hospital, their child’s school, fearful that they may be picked up, questioned and deported,” she said. “My Catholic faith, and in fact all faith traditions, extol the permanent recognition of the dignity of all human persons, every human being, no exception.” 

Rabbi Ari Naveh from Bend the Arc also spoke on a sense of religious duty. “In our text, the Torah, the obligation to care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger who dwells among us is repeated more than any other commandment in the text,” he said. “We have an obligation as a Jewish community to stand in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters … New York for All is that obligation.”

The rabbi also joined others in criticizing Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R) for being “more than willing to let our county police office collude with ICE.” This follows Blakeman last month deputizing 10 officers to act as immigration agents with the right to make arrests without a judicial warrant. While Blakeman presents the partnership with ICE as one that keeps Nassau safer, others, such as Nadia Molina from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said he was “taking advantage of a political movement to make a statement.”

At the same time, Molina and other speakers expressed disappointment in the inaction of Democrats who have promised support for immigrants. “What are they doing to protect our husbands, our fathers, our brothers, our sisters, our children, our friends, our co-workers? What are they doing? This is an emergency,” Molina said.  This message especially resonated with the crowd, who followed with shouts of “Where are they?” With the exception of Assemblymember Chuck Lavine (D-Oyster Bay), no Long Island representative east of Queens co-sponsored the bill.

The rally was emceed by Robert Agyemang, vice president of advocacy for the New York Immigration Coalition, and also included speakers from Rural & Migrant Ministry, Long Island Language Advocates Coalition and CARECEN (an immigration legal services provider on Long Island). The staff member from CARECEN led the group in a “Know your rights” session, reviewing legal rights for people who may come into contact with ICE. The importance of these sessions was emphasized by Angel Reyes, an organizer from Make the Road. “If we’re here, it’s because our community is resilient,” Reyes said. “The moment we lose is the moment we stop fighting.”

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Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz
Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz
Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz
Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz
Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz
Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz
Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz
Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz
Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz
Protestors line the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown. Photo by William Stieglitz

By William Stieglitz

On Saturday, March 1, Long Islanders lined the sidewalk outside the Tesla Showroom in Smithtown to express their grievances with Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO who simultaneously oversees the Department of Government Efficiency  established by President Donald Trump (R) this year. Protesters stretching a quarter mile down Smithtown Bypass held signs expressing concerns over corruption and the endangerment of democracy. 

The rally was part of the nationwide Tesla Takedown movement, which has spawned a multitude of protests since mid-February. More than 50 happened Saturday, March 1, alone, with the protests encouraging people to “sell your Teslas, dump your stock, [and] join the picket lines” in order to strike back financially against Musk. With Tesla stocks having fallen 28% last month, organizers believe it to be working. Many of these protests were also part of the nationwide Indivisible organization.

The Smithtown rally was organized by the newly created United Voices for Freedom, which describes itself as “a grassroots group that serves to amplify progressive voices in the northern central region of Long Island.” Tiffany, who founded the group and wanted her last name kept private, said, “We’re all worried about the overreach of Musk and his ransacking of our federal agencies. No one elected Musk.” The concern of Musk being “unelected” was repeated by nearly every attendee interviewed, each having a wide range of grievances regarding the billionaire.

“He has a tremendous conflict of interest,” said Deborah Roberts, an attendee who previously organized a rally for congressional town halls. “He just ended the Verizon contract and put Starlink in, he controls communications and platforms online… he’s interfering in our economy and ruining our guardrails for safety in this country, but he’s not chipping away at his welfare program for Starlink and for SpaceX. And not only that, he’s dismantling bureaucracies that have oversight for both of those programs. He doesn’t want anyone looking.” 

Roberts spoke too on concerns of Musk operating within the executive branch while neither having been vetted by Congress nor having divested himself of personal financial interest. His accessing of Americans’ private information was something many there found especially dangerous. “If you wanted a template for corruption,” said attendee Paula Fries, “this is it.”

Others elaborated on issues of what DOGE is cutting, expressing fear for Medicaid and Social Security, as well as concern that DOGE, having not gained congressional approval, has no legal standing to make those cuts. Attendee Ian Wilder described DOGE as “doing things that are frightening and destructive, like taking people out of the FAA, taking people who are in charge of nuclear weapons out.” There is some concern that because federal workers in the Social Security Admisitration have been fired, Social Security checks and Medicaid payments will not be made on time to help recipients.  

Laura Lesch, another attendee, said this was not the way to run a government. “It might be the way to run a tech company,” she said, “but the way he’s going about this, just slash, slash, slash, without any regard for any of the fallout, is just not acceptable to me.”

More expressed concerns over Musk and Trump’s actions being those of oligarchs, and spoke to fear of authoritarianism. Future elections, multiple people expressed, would not be a certainty with this administration, unless they were fought for. “This could be our last hope for democracy,” one person said. “Unless people mobilize in large, large numbers, we’re screwed.”

In this sense, the protest, for many, had nothing to do with partisan preference. Robert Schaller, who described himself as having formerly been a Republican his whole life, said, “The whole thing is just ridiculous. I can’t even believe if a liberal ever turned around or the Democratic Party went out there and did a Hitler salute like he did, and then they try to backtrack it. … I mean, to alienate our allies the way they’re doing, is embarrassing. If my father and grandfather and the people that fought in World War II saw this today, they would be turning over in their graves.” 

This sentiment was echoed by Fries, who made a similar statement. “My father is a World War II vet,” she said. “He fought in World War II, he fought against fascism, and this is the least I can do, is to show up and protest.”

Among the American flags waved by the protesters were Ukrainian flags too, the striking yellow and blue a reminder of the incident at the White House the day before. “I was appalled by yesterday’s news conference with Zelenskyy,” said attendee Lesch. “Our entire international relationships are going to go right down the tubes. It just doesn’t make sense to abandon all of Europe, which is what we’re doing, in effect.” She elaborated how at the conference, news groups such as the Associated Press were not allowed into the Oval Office, but “the Russian press was… and when asked how they got in, the answer was they just snuck in.”

A final issue among attendees was a desire to express all these concerns at an in-person congressional town hall, which has not occurred in Suffolk County since 2017. Roberts was collecting signatures at the event to petition for one. “My congressperson is Nick LaLota of CD1,” she said, “and he never has a public town hall meeting where he answers these important questions.” The petition has gained popularity with an online version as well, which thus far has garnered over 1,000 signatures.

The rally, overall, lasted two hours with over 500 people in attendance, according to the organizer, and a follow-up is planned for later this month. At the Tesla Showroom, no one was available for comment. 

Nationally, there are Tesla Takedown protests scheduled through at least the end of the month, with protests scheduled outside the United States in Iceland, Portugal and the United Kingdom as well. Responding to the nationwide presence of the protests, the United Voices for Freedom organizer Tiffany said, “I think it shows that everyone is really unhappy with this, I think that people are really concerned about the state of our democracy and that we’re quickly falling into fascism, and people feel the need to get out and stop it, or at least try to stop it.”

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METRO photo

By William Stieglitz

With the end of President Donald Trump’s (R) 30-day pause for tariffs on Canada and Mexico fast approaching, TBR News Media spoke with local business owners regarding their thoughts on the tariffs. Explained simply, the tariffs would increase the cost of goods imported from each country by 25% (with energy imported from Canada taxed at 10%), a concern relevant to local businesses that rely on such goods to operate. These come in addition to other recent tariffs placed by the newest presidential administration, such as 10% levy on Chinese goods. When asked for their thoughts, both interviewees spoke first on the impact of past tariffs.

Claudia Dowling, owner of Claudia Dowling Interiors in Huntington, describes how the 2019 tariffs cost her “well over 30%” of her profit for that year. “Having written an order for a client, I felt it necessary to keep to the original pricing we agreed on. However, after the product arrived and [was] delivered, my final invoice … had one to sometimes three tariffs added.” 

She elaborated how in the years since COVID–19 hit, freight costs became especially high, making it hard to turn a profit, and how this could be further inflated by new tariffs. And while larger companies can reduce these costs by relying on Amazon, she said this was not an option for smaller businesses like hers. 

“I have to eliminate many vendors making it impossible to fill my store. It goes on and on. The small business community is in more trouble than ever.” While she has been in her business for 50 years, she is now concerned about staying afloat.

Howard Stern, owner of East Bay Mechanical Corp. in Yaphank, has already seen his business impacted by the separate proposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum set to start on March 12. He described how even though he relies on domestic steel, he has seen those prices already go up in response, resulting in an approximate 20% increase in his metal costs. 

“It affects washing machines, it affects AC units, it doesn’t just affect the sheet metal … but everything that goes along with it, because everything requires metal and, unfortunately, it goes up but it never comes back down … even when the tariffs are lifted,” he said.

Stern also describes how tariffs affect costs at each step of the way “so by the time the end consumer gets on it, that 20% in raw material has been stepped on three to four times by four different people, so the end consumer is paying that tariff four times.” 

According to both the January Navigator Research Poll and the February Harvard Caps/Harris poll, approximately three in five Americans expect new tariffs will increase costs for consumers. The Navigator polls indicate a slim majority believes tariffs will be worthwhile if they can protect American manufacturing and jobs, but also that a majority believes the tariffs will hurt American consumers more than foreign countries. Further costs to Americans could come from retaliatory tariffs too, as Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau previously promised to implement.

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