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Sylvan Avenue Park paves way for expansion

by Alex Petroski - June 23, 2016

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Miller-Place-Sylvan-Ave-Park-062116_Keeganw — Sylvan Ave. Park in Miller Place will see an expansion as a result of a land swap. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Miller Place’s popular Sylvan Avenue Park will soon be significantly larger.

Thanks to a land swap agreement between the Town of Brookhaven and Rocky Point developer SMW Property Holdings, the park will gain land in exchange for parkland in Rocky Point. The site, near Rolling Oaks Golf Course in Rocky Point was originally zoned commercial, when a Burger King restaurant was built, though the town purchased it about 10 years ago with the plan to make it a clubhouse for the golf course. The clubhouse never came to fruition.

“We had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to almost double the size of Sylvan Avenue Park in Miller Place, so we jumped on it,” said Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point), who spearheaded the effort to make the deal happen.

The Town of Brookhaven submitted a home rule message to the New York State Legislature to allow for the swap, which put the decision in the state’s hands over Brookhaven’s local jurisdiction. This is a requirement in New York State in any deal involving a land swap.

Open space land near Rolling Oaks Golf Course in Rocky Point, is being swapped to make way for an expansion at Sylvan Ave. Park in Miller Place. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Also, in New York State, to eliminate parkland in one area, it must be replaced with equal or greater valued parkland somewhere else. The development company offered the area they owned near Sylvan Avenue Park, which is larger than the would-be commercial site they are taking over, to the town for the parkland near Rolling Oaks.

The land swap was approved by the ways and means committee, the rules committee and the State Assembly in Albany last week. Brookhaven’s six board members voted unanimously in favor of the request to the state during a special meeting a week prior.

Miller Place Civic Association President Woody Brown said he appreciates anyone advocating for more park space in Miller Place.

“That’s a heavily used park,” he said. “It’s got a lot of activities on it. Expanding parks in a community is always a good thing.”

Brown offered some thoughts about what he might like to see the additional space at Sylvan Avenue Park eventually used for.

“I always think of central park,” he said. “It’s got your active areas where you can play basketball and baseball and all those kinds of active sports, but then it also has places where one can informally throw a Frisbee or play hacky sack. Then it’s got other areas where one can go and contemplate in nature or fly a kite.”

He said an area dedicated to more relaxing activities as a complement to the existing fields and courts used for sporting activities could improve the park.

Picturesque picnic winery has North Shore roots

by Alex Petroski - June 21, 2016

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Vines_Petroski_061616w — All of Pindar’s grapes are grown on its 500-acre property and are pressed in its on-site winemaking and bottling facility. Photo by Alex Petroski

It seems in today’s world that any venue meant for social gathering has two hard and fast rules in common with all of the others — no outside food is allowed in, and what’s offered on hand will cost an arm and a leg. It is a truism for concerts, beaches, baseball games and even most vineyards. Pindar Vineyards is a delightful exception to the rule.

Known for its extensive variety of wines, both types and styles, the 37-year-old family-owned vineyard allows visitors to bring in outside food to accompany a day of wine tasting and sightseeing on Pindar’s 500-acre property. It might not seem like a defining feature, but it is a characteristic that paints a broader picture of warmth, accommodation and overall customer service that has been a staple of the vineyard since Dan Damianos founded Pindar in 1979.

Pindar Vineyards is located on Route 25 in Peconic and is accommodating to groups large and small. Photo by Alex Petroski

“We’re kind of known as that friendly vineyard,” Melissa Martin, who handles public relations for the vineyard, said in an interview in Pindar’s tasting room in Peconic last week.

“Wine is fun. We take it seriously as well,” Martin said. “We take the winemaking seriously. However, we understand people coming out here to visit, we want them to be more relaxed and enjoy it. I like to educate people on the notes that are in the wine. No one should feel uptight about it or afraid to ask questions.”

Damianos passed away in 2014, though his children remain a major part of the vineyard’s day-to-day operations and continue to foster a welcoming atmosphere.

“Dr. Damianos, that was his thing,” Martin said of his friendly demeanor and lifelong dedication to making customers feel like part of the family. “He was always here and talking to everyone and very personable, so we really want to carry that on.”

Pindar’s wines are also known for their approachability. The vineyard offers more than 20 selections currently, with an emphasis on appealing to wine drinkers of varied experience levels. Edward Lovaas is preparing for his sixth harvest as Pindar’s winemaker.

“We have everything from wines on the sweeter side, wines on the dryer side, sparkling, red wines, dessert wines — so I think it’s pretty easy to say someone coming here for the first time, we make it easy for them to select the tasting they want and find a favorite,” Martin said.

The sheer size of Pindar’s tasting room and outdoor seating areas add to its ability to accommodate groups large and small. Martin said they are welcoming to bridal parties making a stop in a limo to a couple walking in just hoping to try something new, and everything in between.

Pindar Vineyards has expansive seating areas both inside and out that allow for groups of any size to enjoy their favorite wine, food and beautiful sights all at once at the Peconic Vineyard. Photo by Alex Petroski

Martin described what she envisions as a perfect day at Pindar.

“The perfect day at Pindar is doing a tasting, finding your favorite wine, getting bottles and then finding a spot on the deck or on the pavilion or on the grass,” and that’s where allowing outside food, picnic style, sets Pindar apart, she said.

For Martin the wine of choice on said perfect day would be either Pindar Sauvignon Blanc or Viognier for a white or Syrah in a red. Martin added she has a personal passion for finding the perfect pairing of food to go with each wine Pindar has to offer.

The vineyard frequently hosts events from live music, to visits from food trucks if picnicking isn’t appealing, to an upcoming event that will feature a raw bar and seafood for wine club members. In its wine shop location on Main Street in Port Jefferson, Martin has spearheaded a cupcake and wine-pairing event. Tours are also offered on select dates of the vineyards grounds and bottling facility for those interested in the science of wine.

The end of July is the best time to visit Pindar, according to Martin. Every year its sunflower fields bloom around that time, and this year a professional photo booth will be on hand to snap and print keepsakes for the popular annual attraction.

North Shore residents looking for a relaxing, accommodating wine and food experience should keep Pindar Vineyards in mind, for the sights, tastes and feeling.

Pindar Vineyards offers more than 20 different types of wines with nearly every imaginable style accounted for. Photo by Alex Petroski

Suffolk selects developers for eight brownfield locations

by Phil Corso - June 16, 2016

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brownfield2w — A satellite view of the Steck-Philbin Landfill site that the County plans to repurpose in cooperation with the Suffolk County Landbank. Image from Suffolk County Landbank Corp.

A former landfill in Kings Park has been transferred into the hands of a nearby developer with the intention of rehashing the site into a solar farm.

The site of the former Steck-Philbin Landfill on Old Northport Road in Kings Park has withstood 30 years of tax delinquency but was selected as part of an effort from the Suffolk County Landbank Corp. to be revitalized along with seven other brownfields across the county. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) signed the transfer of the property into law on June 2, allowing Landbank — a not-for-profit — to begin revisioning the parcel with developer Powercrush Inc., of Kings Park, with the goal of reusing the site for solar farming.

Powercrush Inc. did not return requests seeking comment, but Bellone heralded the deal as a turning point for blighted spots on Long Island.

“These properties have been a burden on our taxpayers and a blight on our communities,” Bellone said. “The inactivity at these locations dragged down neighboring property values and served as magnets for criminal activity.”

The site in Kings Park is still owned by Richard and Roslyn Steck of Steck & Philbin Development Co., though penalties and interest bring the total owed in property tax on the roughly 25 acres of land to nearly $1.5 million. The property has been tax delinquent since Steck & Philbin Development Co. was found to be using the site to dispose of waste for which they did not have a permit in 1986. It is located less than a half mile east of the Sunken Meadow Parkway and about a half mile west of Indian Head Road.

The property is next to the future location of a multisport complex being developed by Prospect Sports Partners LLC. The $33 million plan for the 44-acre site was approved in July 2015.

A property is classified as a brownfield if there are complications in expansion or redevelopment based on the possible presence of pollutants or hazardous materials, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The Suffolk County Landbank was established in 2013 after its application was approved by the New York State Empire State Development Corporation. Some of the other brownfields included in the request for proposals include Hubbard Power and Light and a gas station on Brentwood Road in Bay Shore, Lawrence Junkyard in Islip and Liberty Industrial Finishing in Brentwood, among others. The group issued a competitive Request For Proposals (RFP) to the public for redevelopment of the eight specific sites and selected three developers to take title to four sites.

The four sites, on average, have been tax delinquent for 21 years and cumulatively owe over $4 million in back taxes. Once back on the tax rolls, the properties would pay a cumulative property tax of more than $175,000 per year.

The developers selected “possessed the qualifications and expertise to clean up the properties and reuse them in a way that benefits the community, stabilizes the tax base, and protects Suffolk County’s soil and groundwater,” the county said in a statement.

Amy Keys, executive director of the Landbank, said Powercrush was selected based on a number of qualifications, including design, impact and feasibility. Its partnership with BQ Energy LLC, which has worked on several solar projects across the region.

“[Smithtown] was clear they were supportive of solar happening there,” Keys said. “When reviewing solar proposals, we were looking for experience in developing solar on that scale, and a proposal that seemed feasible.”

Shawn Nuzzo, president of Ecological Engineering of Long Island, had also submitted a proposal for the site that he said had the potential to pump renewable energy into the Island’s power grid almost immediately. His proposal included a 6-megawatt solar farm as the largest landfill-to-solar project in New York State that could generate nearly 8 million kilowatt hours of solar electricity in its first year. The plan received support from various North Shore elected officials, including state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and others.

In an interview, Nuzzo said he was disappointed to learn of the county’s selection of Powercrush Inc. and accused the county of playing politics.

“This is the exact sort of ‘pay-to-play’ system that politicians like to say that they are against, but at the end of the day willingly corroborate, or at least turn a blind eye to. The seemingly endless series of Suffolk political scandals only serves to affirm that there must be a lot of blind eyes in Suffolk County politics,” Nuzzo said. “Despite the fact that the Suffolk County Legislature voted on the proposal and County Executive Bellone announced it at a press conference more than two weeks ago, the details of the proposal remain secret to the public. Our most recent [Freedom of Information Law] attempts have been thwarted by the Suffolk County Landbank. I can only speculate that the winning proposal was so inadequate and incomplete that the county is embarrassed to share it. It’s a shame, because our proposal to build Long Island’s first community-owned solar farm could have been a landmark moment for Suffolk County. Instead what we got was politics as usual.”

Sea bass summer fishing season to start earlier

by Victoria Espinoza - June 15, 2016

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Schumer-Northport-bass-w — U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer speaks to fishermen in Northport. Photo from Marisa Kaufman

Black sea bass is back on the table, as of June 27.

After public outcry for an earlier start to summer sea bass fishing, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced this week the season will start 19 days earlier than the previous July start date.

The DEC has blamed federal regulations and management for the reasons behind originally closing the fishing season during June, despite plentiful numbers of bass.

“In spite of abundant populations, DEC is being forced to alter the commercial and recreational fishing seasons in order to meet federal quotas,” Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a statement. “By allowing for an earlier June opening, we’re trying to strike the best possible arrangement for the recreational fishing community.”

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for modifications to the summer fishing period last week at an event on the North Shore, speaking against what he called “inflexible” and “outdated” federal regulations for black sea bass fishing.

Fishing in Port Jefferson/photo by Elana Glowatz

“After a slow start to the black sea bass season, mostly due to weather, our Long Island commercial fishers are ready to bounce back and access the plentiful supply of sea bass,” Schumer said at the event. “But instead they might fall flat if the feds and the state don’t throw them a line and let them do what they do best — fish.”

And Long Island fishermen said the July start date was hurting their livelihood.

“It’s a disaster for conservation and the economy,” said James Schneider, a boat captain in Huntington. “It’s crushed us.”

Schneider is catching other fish since the last black sea bass season ended on May 31, and said he has been forced to throw back the bass he inadvertently catches. Those die shortly after, he said, further contributing to a loss in potential profits.

Some fishers were also upset that Connecticut’s black sea bass season, which opened on May 1 and runs through Dec. 31, allowed fishermen to start earlier than in New York, as they share a body of water in the Long Island Sound.

Sean Mahar, the DEC director of communications, last week acknowledged fishing got off to a slow start in New York. Through May 21, only one-third of the May quota had been harvested, “with approximately 42,000 pounds [still] available on May 21,” Mahar said in an email. “However, the harvest rate increased dramatically the last week in May,” and the DEC had to receive more population data before deciding to open the summer fishing season earlier than July.

Although fishermen like Schneider can now get back to bass fishing earlier, the DEC has also increased the minimum size of the bottom feeders caught by 1 inch — making the new minimum length 15 inches — and reduced the daily possession limit from eight fish to three. However, that latter change will only affect the fishing season through August, so fishermen can have up to eight in September and October, and 10 in November and December.

According to the DEC, it also considered a July 8 opening with a five-fish limit, but anglers opted for the earlier start with a three-fish limit for a longer season.

Fishers can now catch black sea bass earlier this summer, but the minimum fish length has increased an inch and the number they can catch is limited for the first month.

The DEC also said the federal government’s population assessment of sea bass has caused scientists to “exercise extreme caution when determining harvest limits,” which has forced New York to reduce sea bass harvest despite an “abundance of fish.”

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is one of three organizations that jointly manage black sea bass fishing, by determining the quota for sea bass each year. The quota this year was set at about 189,000 pounds.

Kirby Rootes-Murdy, that commission’s senior fishery management plan coordinator, said obtaining accurate population data on black sea bass poses a challenge because black sea bass are a hermaphroditic species, meaning they change sex from male to female.

“The reproductive life history characteristics … of black sea bass make it difficult to develop an accurate abundance estimate, ultimately limiting the ability to develop reliable catch limits,” he said in an email. “Assessment scientists are working hard to develop models to address these issues facing black sea bass management.”

Village shipping new apartment units to downtown

by Elana Glowatz - June 14, 2016

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tritec-shipyard-groundbreaking-53_glowatzw — TRITEC officials and Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant shovel some dirt at the groundbreaking for the Shipyard apartments on June 14. Photo by Elana Glowatz

A new apartment complex is setting sail for downtown Port Jefferson.

Developers and Port Jefferson leaders gathered at the old Heritage Inn motel site on Tuesday to break ground on The Shipyard luxury apartments, a 112-unit building going up on West Broadway near the Barnum Avenue intersection.

The groundbreaking for the Shipyard apartments in Port Jefferson is held on June 14. Photo by Elana Glowatz

TRITEC's Bob Coughlan talks about the development's impact on Port Jefferson Village at the groundbreaking for the Shipyard apartments on June 14. Photo by Elana Glowatz — TRITEC’s Bob Coughlan talks about the development’s impact on Port Jefferson Village at the groundbreaking for the Shipyard apartments on June 14. Photo by Elana Glowatz

They had started taking down the decrepit motel in mid-May, with Mayor Margot Garant getting into an excavator and smashing down the machine’s arm onto the roof of one structure at the site, a task she referred to afterward as “cathartic.” She and TRITEC Real Estate Company Principal Bob Coughlan had also used sledgehammers to smash some windows.

Previously called the Residences at Port Jefferson, the project calls for a three-story apartment building comprised of 42 one-bedroom apartments and 70 two-bedroom units, with resident parking underneath the structure. The building will take up less than half of the 3.74-acre property, which borders Old Mill Creek, to leave room for landscaping and buffers.

During the groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, Coughlan, who lives in Port Jefferson near the site, said the apartments will “clean up a blighted property” and help keep young people living and working on Long Island.

“There is a desperate need for housing of this type, particularly in walkable communities,” he said. “We are thrilled to be part of this.”

Heavy equipment is on display during the groundbreaking for the Shipyard apartments in Port Jefferson on June 14. Photo by Elana Glowatz

Garant also spoke at the ceremony, saying that having people living on the west end of the village year-round will support the businesses on that side of town, because they will eat in local restaurants and shop in local boutiques.

“This project is going to become a huge economic engine for us year-round,” the mayor said, adding that it could become home to both young professionals from Stony Brook University and elderly Port Jefferson residents who want to downsize without leaving the area.

Coughlan estimated The Shipyard would be finished in 18 months.

Port Jefferson officials shovel some dirt at the groundbreaking for the Shipyard apartments on June 14. Photo by Elana Glowatz

On social media

At the @TRITEC_RE groundbreaking in #PortJeff. #Apartments on the way. pic.twitter.com/hkq6nEBu9u

— Elana Glowatz (@ElanaGlow) June 14, 2016

Dirt flies at the @TRITEC_RE groundbreaking. The Shipyard #apartments will dock in 18 months. #PortJeff pic.twitter.com/IvJ0zjlTWB

— Elana Glowatz (@ElanaGlow) June 14, 2016

Tenants rush uptown to new apartments

by Elana Glowatz - June 14, 2016

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texaco-apt-construction-june2016-11_glowatzw — The second phase of construction is underway at the Texaco Avenue apartments. Photo by Elana Glowatz

If you build it, they will come.

Port Jefferson developer Rail Realty LLC proved that old adage when Rob Gitto, from its parent company The Gitto Group, confirmed its uptown apartment project is already at full rental capacity — a month before it is even slated to open.

Gitto said the 38 units in the first completed apartment building has been completely pre-leased and there is a waiting list for the second building, which will add another approximately 36 units when completed next year.

Most of those future tenants are affiliated with Stony Brook University in some way, Gitto said, whether they are graduate students, medical residents, professors, nurses, doctors or other staff. There are also a few people from John T. Mather Memorial Hospital’s new residency program.

The first phase of the Texaco Avenue apartments is complete. Photo by Elana Glowatz

Officials broke ground on the much-anticipated project, dubbed The Hills at Port Jefferson, in May 2015, expressing hope that the first new development in upper Port would spur revitalization efforts in the troubled area.

Village leaders have been trying to enhance the uptown’s Main Street corridor, between North Country/Sheep Pasture Road and the Long Island Rail Road tracks, with the goal of improving quality of life, making it more pedestrian-friendly and attracting developers and visitors.

At the groundbreaking last year, Mayor Margot Garant said the 74 Texaco Avenue apartments would be “so important” to the revitalization.

Gitto thinks it’s already propelled other improvements. He said Monday that he has seen one nearby business making improvements to an existing establishment and two others sign leases to bring in new ones.

“We wanted to see the area revitalized and we’re seeing it,” he said, adding about the rest of the uptown area, “We definitely hope they follow suit.”

There are other community benefits attached: Under the conditions of the project’s approval, Rail Realty has to make improvements to a pocket park on the west side of Texaco that currently has a jungle gym, swings and a basketball hoop, and improve traffic flow in the area by redesigning the intersection of Main Street and Sheep Pasture Road.

Construction has gone in phases. Last year, Rail Realty knocked down vacant homes and buildings along the east side of Texaco Avenue between Sheep Pasture Road and Linden Place to make way for the two three-story buildings — which will have a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments — and began working on the northern building. That was completed recently, with the new apartments visible from some angles on Main Street, a block over. The developer got started right on the foundation of the second building, to the south.

Garant announced the milestone at a village board of trustees meeting on June 6, saying people would start moving into the first apartment building in mid-July.

Resident parking is underground, a noteworthy element for a small village in which having more cars than parking spaces has long been an issue. And toward the end of the second ongoing apartment construction phase, the developers will bring down a building on the south side of the Texaco Avenue and Linden Place intersection, the Stony Brook Electric Inc. building, to make room for additional above-ground parking.

That’s also when the park improvements will take place, Gitto said. Plans are still developing, but they might include landscaping, such as flowers and necessary irrigation, and taking down an unused shed there.

For The Gitto Group — which has built up other parts of Port Jefferson, including an office building, the CVS and the Barnum House apartments on Main Street — things are falling into place faster than anticipated. Rob Gitto said the project was done in phases because the developers weren’t sure how well the first set of apartments would be received and how quickly they would be leased.

“We knew it would be successful but we didn’t know it would sell that quickly.”

Construction's coming along at the Texaco Ave. apartments in upper #PortJeff. pic.twitter.com/PazTUHR62B

— Elana Glowatz (@ElanaGlow) June 10, 2016

Incubated businesses bloom at Stony Brook University

by Phil Corso - June 9, 2016

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StonyBrookBusinessIncubator20160601PhilCorso05w — Business owners mingle at the incubator showcase last Thursday morning inside one of the research centers at Stony Brook University. Photo by Phil Corso

Stony Brook University graduate Frank Zinghini originally started his software vulnerability management company Code Dx out of Northport, but he has since setup shop in a more “incubated” environment, thanks to the university’s office of economic development.

Now, he and his team don’t even need to pick up a phone to chat with like-minded entrepreneurs — all they need to do is poke their heads next door.

“We need engineering help, and we’re looking to the university for that,” said Brianne O’Brien, director of sales and training at Code Dx. “It’s amazing the amount of attention we have here.”

Code Dx was one of nearly 40 booths cascaded throughout the second floor of the campus’s Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology building on Thursday, as its office of economic development flexed its muscles at an incubator showcase. Businesses did a lot of sharing throughout the day — of their stories, but also of mentorship, advice, expertise and more.

Yacov Shamash, vice president for economic development at the university, said the goal was to link the academic and research resources of the campus with the greater economic needs of Long Island and New York State. Much like a mother bird sitting over her egg before it hatches, the university has been “incubating” businesses in various centers across the island with an eye on tomorrow.

Many of those businesses that blossom underneath the incubator umbrella explore various facets of science and technology and end up employing Stony Brook University grads and other North Shore natives before branching out, the vice president said.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for learning and hiring,” he said. “It’s a positive thing for Long Island — no question.”

Ann-Marie Scheidt, director of economic development at the university, said last Thursday was the university’s first incubator showcase, showing off just what kinds of innovation occurred on a daily basis there and just how diverse it could be. It is that diversity that she said was essential when confronting the region’s problems of tomorrow.

“As they grow up, we provide them with the help they need. But they also become connected with other local groups doing business around them,” Shamash said in an interview. “Our goal is to embed them in the Long Island community and to create great jobs.”

One of the incubated companies took the spotlight that afternoon as a “graduate” of the university’s business incubator program. Codagenix Inc. spent the past three years “incubating” at the campus and has grown to a point where they were able to move to a larger space in Melville, and North Shore lawmakers made sure they were there to send them off.

Yi-Xian Qin of QB Sonic Inc. smiled from ear-to-ear as he shared the medical advancements of his incubated business, which was working to develop a noninvasive ultrasound simulator to address common injuries like hip fractures. He said it was the incubation that actually helped his company thrive at such an early stage in its first year.

“The incubator is flexible,” he said. “You can be a huge company or occupy a small office. Either way, it lets you meet with other companies. It’s very good for the other start-ups.”

North Shore suffering from shoddy sea bass season

by Victoria Espinoza - June 9, 2016

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Northport_sunset_harbor_water_risoliw — File photo

Something seems fishy this black sea bass fishing season.

Local legislators, fishers and state organizations alike agree that there are issues with how black sea bass fishing is being regulated.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for modifications to what he said are “inflexible” and “outdated” federal regulations for black sea bass fishing, which some North Shore fisherman said are hurting their wallets because they have to wait to fish during this crucial fishing period.

Schumer said at an event in Northport last Wednesday that the bottom feeders are not being fairly managed, and the next permitted fishing period should be allowed to start in June instead of July to put people to work at harvesting the plentiful populations.

“They might fall flat if the feds and the state don’t throw them a line.” —Chuck Schumer

Three organizations — the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Mid-Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission — jointly manage black sea bass fishing, by determining the quota for sea bass each year. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation then determines the quota distribution through the state and periods throughout the year when fishermen can fish for black sea bass.

The quota this year was set at about 189,000 pounds and the most recent period for sea bass fishing ended on May 31, with the next slated to begin on July 1.

According to the Atlantic States group, “The objectives of [management] are to reduce fishing mortality to assure overfishing does not occur, … promote compatible regulations among states and between federal and state jurisdictions…and to minimize regulations necessary to achieve the stated objectives.”

Kirby Rootes-Murdy, that commission’s senior fishery management plan coordinator, said it works to ensure that the black sea bass population stays at a safe level.

But Schumer said the break in June is only hurting fishermen.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer speaks to fishermen in Northport last week. Photo from Marisa Kaufman

“Below-average black sea bass catch rates … have made it so the total catch at this point of the season is well below the allowable quota limits,” Schumer said, “which is why it is critical to allow these struggling fishermen to continue catching black sea bass this month.”

Sean Mahar, the DEC director of communications, acknowledged fishing got off to a slow start, and said the DEC is committed to re-opening the season before the July 1 date, as long as it’s accurate that anglers are below quota — the agency is still investigating that.

Through May 21, only one-third of the May quota had been harvested, “with approximately 42,000 pounds [still] available on May 21,” Mahar said in an email.

“However, the harvest rate increased dramatically the last week in May, and the state is still awaiting data from the commercial fishermen and dealers that are required to submit landings and sales reports to DEC to determine the how much of the quota was actually harvested. If there is quota leftover, we will open the season again sooner than July 1.”

Mahar also said the DEC has pressed federal regulators, including the Atlantic States commission, to implement changes to improve fishery in New York, including the system for tabulating bass populations.

“The increasingly restrictive measures demanded of Northeastern states are inequitable and cause great socioeconomic harm to our anglers and related businesses,” DEC Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a statement. Regulatory agencies “must revise their management strategy and not keep New York … at a competitive disadvantage while the black sea bass population continues to grow.”

“It’s a disaster for conservation and the economy.”
—James Schneider

Rootes-Murdy said these decisions on quotas are based on population projections for the species but black sea bass pose a challenge for accurate projections, as they are a hermaphroditic species, meaning they change sex from male to female.

“That aspect makes it difficult to develop a population model around,” Rootes-Murdy said.

North Shore fishermen said the break in the season is hurting their livelihood.

“It’s a disaster for conservation and the economy,” said James Schneider, a boat captain in Huntington. “It’s crushed us.”

Schneider is catching other fish in the meantime and said he has been forced to throw back black sea bass he inadvertently catches. Those die shortly after, he said, further contributing to a loss in potential profits.

Northport fishing captain Stu Paterson said he agreed that he has had to throw back many sea bass during the off-season, as they “are all over the Sound right now.”

He also questioned why Connecticut’s black sea bass season, which opened on May 1 and runs through Dec. 31, allows fishermen to start earlier than in New York, as they share a body of water.

Maker Faire makes for a good time

by Heidi Sutton - June 6, 2016

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The Maritime Explorium children’s museum in Port Jefferson hosted the Eastern Long Island Mini Maker Faire on June 4, bringing innovators from all over and loads of fun stuff for kids and adults to check out.

The fair filled up the museum, the harborfront park and all three floors of the Village Center in Port Jefferson.

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Farmers market set for 2016 season

by Victoria Espinoza - June 3, 2016

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Northport-Farmers-Market-June-2015_1w — An employee from Ridgewood Pork Store serves a customer at the Northport Farmers’ Market on Saturday, June 6. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

The Northport Farmers Market’s 2016 season is set to start this Saturday, June 4, from 8 a.m. to noon, and run till mid-November at the Cow Harbor parking lot off Main Street in the village.

The market is open rain or shine.

Fresh strawberries are on display at the Northport Farmers’ Market last year. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

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