Home Featured

Royals rumble: Buccaneers overcome Port Jeff boys lax

by Bill Landon - April 21, 2022

0 559

1 of 11

The Port Jefferson Royals, fresh off their hard-fought victory over Mattituck three days earlier, hit a roadblock in their matchup against Islip High School on April 14.

The Buccaneers had led by seven goals at halftime. Unable to close the gap, the Royals fell 14-5. Port Jeff senior Stephen Bayer had a hat trick, leading the Royals in scoring. Seniors Kyle Scandale and Michael Scannell both scored one goal as well.

The loss drops the Royals to 4-3 in league and 6-3 overall.

Photos by Bill Landon

Pitch perfect: Miller Place shuts out East Hampton

by Bill Landon - April 21, 2022

0 545

1 of 32

It was a battle of the unbeaten Tuesday, April 19, when the Panthers of Miller Place, 5-0, hosted East Hampton, 9-0, in a league VI matchup.

In dominant fashion, the Miller Place pitching staff put on a shutout performance. Starting pitcher Jason Strickland had four complete innings for the win and Tyler Hodella picked up the save in a 6-0 Panther victory.

Despite their winning streak, there will be no rest for Miller Place this week as they have games scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

— Photos by Bill Landon

SCCC inaugurates Edward Bonahue as president

by Raymond Janis - April 15, 2022

0 625

Pres_Bonahue_Inauguration-43 — Bonahue, above, entering the inaugural ceremony at the Suffolk Federal Credit Union Arena on the Michael J. Grant Campus in Brentwood. Photo by SCCC

On Friday, April 8, Suffolk County Community College celebrated the inauguration of Edward Bonahue as the college’s seventh president.

Bonahue, who took office in June 2021, was joined by students, educators, community leaders and public officials at the Suffolk Federal Credit Union Arena on the Michael J. Grant Campus in Brentwood. During the event, various speakers had an opportunity to share their respective visions for the community college under Bonahue’s direction.

Sarah Kain Gutowski, a professor of English at SCCC, delivered the inaugural poem, “A Shared Relief.” Gutowski’s poem reflected upon the setbacks faced by the Suffolk community because of the pandemic and offered a message of reassurance and hope.

“Perhaps memory serves us best when it reveals this: That after the onslaught of illness, fear, isolation and doubt, privation and poverty, empty rhetoric and tenuous polity, something remains,” Gutowski said. “Being together again, communing in this space whether virtual or real, masked or unmasked, standing six feet apart or three, is the way to recovery. Our eyes reflecting shared relief, it says, ‘Good, you’re still here.’”

Among the group of inaugural speakers was Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D), who commended Bonahue for his leadership qualities and for his unique ability to generate partnerships throughout the community.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, above, spoke during the inauguration. Photo by SCCC

“We are fortunate now to have a seasoned higher education executive with more than 20 years of experience in community college education leading this great institution,” Bellone said. “If the last 10 months tell us anything, it’s that Dr. Bonahue is a proven leader. Throughout the course of his career, he has successfully implemented creative programs and creative, innovative partnerships.” The county executive added that these are “all talents he has brought with him to his role as our new president.”

Bellone also touched upon Bonahue’s local roots, which he considered vital for the continued connection between residents and the community college: “Dr. Bonahue not only has the experience and know-how to lead this incredible institution, but we know he has a special interest in seeing this region succeed as a native Suffolk County resident and graduate of Ward Melville High School.”

Edward Bonahue (left) and County Executive Steve Bellone (right) share a laugh during the inaugural ceremony. Photo by SCCC

Mary Reid, member of the SCCC Foundation Board of Directors and a tax preparer based in Bay Shore, said Bonahue had met with over 100 community representatives from various organizations throughout the county in September 2021. Since that initial meeting, Bonahue has already strengthened the ties between SCCC and its community partners.

“Dr. Bonahue, you and your staff have kept in contact and have begun to implement the suggestions offered that morning,” Reid said. “You have interacted with library directors, with superintendents of schools, labor leaders, civic groups, religious leaders and mothers wanting to attend college who were seeking day care and financial aid,” adding, “We thank you so much for that.”

Reid said jokingly, “Anyone who knows me knows that I cannot leave without asking for something.” Addressing Bonahue, she said, “Today I ask you to add to your to-do list a program that will meet the needs of persons with disabilities, especially those with Down syndrome,” adding, “Also remember to engage in frequent updates to the community groups.”

Representing the student body was Zachary Frost. He celebrated the appointment of Bonahue as president, arguing that Bonahue intends to bring quality higher education opportunities to low-income families throughout the county.

“The first time I met President Bonahue, we spoke about the many resources made available to students to ensure their success,” Frost said. “President Bonahue wanted to streamline access to these resources and make them more readily available to any student who may be struggling. It was in this meeting that I saw President Bonahue’s passion for driving success, especially for those at a disadvantage.”

Frost described the challenges of growing up in a single-parent household and of being raised by a parent who struggled to make ends meet. “I remember as a young child, probably six or seven years old, my mother didn’t have the easiest time going through college, whether it be financially or her trying to find someone to watch me while she was in class,” he said. “I can’t help but wonder, had she been a student here at Suffolk County Community College and had access to all of these amazing resources, like our food pantry, writing centers, hardship funds and on-campus day care centers, accompanied by caring professors and a great faculty, she probably would have had a much healthier college experience.”

Dr. Bonahue, on behalf of our three bargaining units, the Faculty Association, AME, the Guild of Administrative Officers, and the executive leadership team, we welcome you, we welcome your family, to our community.

— Dante Morelli

Representing the SCCC employees and the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees was Dante Morelli, professor of communications. He said AME union members are the engine behind the entire operation at SCCC’s campuses and downtown centers.

“President Bonahue, I’m going to let you in on a little secret that you probably already know,” Morelli said. “If you really want to know who keeps the college running, it’s the members of AME. It’s the members of AME who are often the first voice and/or a face a student sees or hears when they walk onto campus or pick up the phone to ask for assistance.” He added, “Dr. Bonahue, on behalf of our three bargaining units, the Faculty Association, AME, the Guild of Administrative Officers, and the executive leadership team, we welcome you, we welcome your family, to our community.”

To access our coverage of Bonahue’s inaugural address, click here.

SCCC president Edward Bonahue’s inaugural address

by Raymond Janis - April 15, 2022

0 564

Last Friday, April 8, Edward Bonahue was sworn in as the seventh president of Suffolk County Community College.

During his inaugural address, Bonahue outlined his vision of higher education in Suffolk County and the direction he intends to steer the college throughout his tenure as president.

“It is a career-defining honor to stand with you today and to accept the deep privilege and tremendous responsibility of serving as the seventh president of Suffolk County Community College,” he said. “For this Long Island boy, the child of, and also brother to, lifelong Suffolk County educators, the opportunity to join with all of you in service to Suffolk County is a dream come true and a prayer answered.”

“We honor and commend the work performed by generations of caring college employees, faculty and staff who could choose to do anything, who could choose to work anywhere, but who have chosen this work.”

— Edward Bonahue

A place in history

Bonahue detailed the history of SCCC since the time when it was founded in 1959 as just a small college of about 500 students. Back then, classrooms had to be borrowed from Sachem and Riverhead high schools. The president likened the population growth of Suffolk County with the development and advancement of the community college.

“Those first students came from a growing county with about 600,000 residents,” he said. “Today, Suffolk County is home to over 1.6 million residents, representing a far-more diverse population, and our annual college enrollment exceeds 20,000 students.” He continued by saying, “We honor and commend the work performed by generations of caring college employees, faculty and staff who could choose to do anything, who could choose to work anywhere, but who have chosen this work, to work here and to embrace this mission of fostering student development, promoting a culture of lifelong learning, and ultimately serving the community we live in.”

Reflecting upon the resiliency of the campus community during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bonahue said that the college found new and innovative ways to continue the educational process through virtual learning. In a time of profound uncertainty and despair, he said SCCC did not shrink away from its academic mission.

“Especially in the early days of the pandemic, many of us worked around the clock just to manage a virtual continuity of operations,” he said. “We all learned that our community college students were often those most likely to have been impacted by the pandemic.” Discussing ways students and staff responded, Bonahue added, “We worked with a sense of urgency, but also pragmatic flexibility, knowing that our students’ progress, sometimes even their well-being, rested on our ability to adapt to constantly shifting conditions.”

Meeting the community’s needs

“We own that the work of education is complicated, but the college embraces this as a critical duty.”

— Edward Bonahue

During the address, Bonahue articulated the important role that SCCC plays within the Suffolk community. He said the institution’s mission is to provide quality, affordable higher education and to promote health and prosperity throughout the county.

“We know that we are a critical part of the formula for supporting our community and changing students’ lives,” Bonahue said. “Specifically, the essential mission of our college, the necessity of providing an affordable, inclusive education, of providing a pathway of opportunity, has never been more critical.” He added, “For all of Suffolk County, I have this simple message: Suffolk County Community College is Long Island’s own pathway to educational and economic success.”

Bonahue considers an educated populace necessary for community wellness. “We own that the work of education is complicated, but the college embraces this as a critical duty because we know that an educated population is an essential good for our society and our nation.”

The president suggests that democracy also requires an engaged citizenry. He said one of the priorities of the college is to keep its students informed and involved in the democratic process.

“One of our commitments to students is to foster a sense of citizenship and civic engagement,” he said. “We acknowledge that teaching about the rights of democracy, its many individual freedoms, the privilege of self-determination, must also be accompanied by teaching about the responsibilities of citizenship, including service to the community and the country, the rule of law, appreciation for the power of diversity, and the willingness to speak and act in defense of our freedoms.” He stressed, “This kind of general education for all students is critical because through it, students come to understand not only the rights and responsibilities of being an American, but also a sense of the world they live in.”

“The students’ experience is the reality of the college.”— Edward Bonahue

Serving all students

Bonahue delivered his general vision for the college. He affirmed the college “will continue its commitment to serve all students, regardless of background or previous experience in higher education.”

He said the college must continue to promote inclusion of all students, regardless of their circumstances: “We know that the future of the college means embracing the part-time student, the working student, the parenting student, as well as those who come to us straight out of high school.”

Additionally, Bonahue embraced the nonconventional programs of study which complement the curriculum offered by the college. “We affirm that as a comprehensive community college, career training, workforce development and economic development are integral and fundamental parts of our mission,” he said, adding, “We are proud of our thousands of students who move annually through our arts and sciences programs, graduate from our honors programs and often transfer to highly selective universities. We are equally proud of our nurses, our welders, our bakers, programmers, our paramedics, our machinists and our accountants.”

During the speech, Bonahue advanced that student experience is the impetus behind his work: “The students’ experience is the reality of the college, and we will keep that truth at the center of how we carry out our mission of student success from day-to-day, from semester-to-semester and from year-to-year.”

The president touched upon the many financial challenges that students may face while pursuing a higher education. He acknowledged that there are still too many people left out of the education system due to the burden of cost.

“Because the cost of education still too often puts it out of reach for deserving students, we affirm our commitment that a Suffolk education must remain an affordable education,” Bonahue said. “The work of our college foundation as a vehicle for supporting student scholarships and basic needs allows any of us and all of us to invest in our students.”

To access the full speech, click here.

One-on-one with Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon

by Raymond Janis - April 14, 2022

0 1037

errol_1000w — Sheriff Toulon said he intends to address mental health and substance abuse during his second term. Photo from Toulon’s office

This week, TBR News Media had an exclusive interview with Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. (D). During our conversation with the sheriff, he addressed his battles with cancer, the challenges of steering the sheriff’s department through a pandemic and his surprising place in the history of the New York Yankees.

Sheriff, what is your professional background and how did you land in the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office?

I started my career in 1982 as a New York City correction officer and I worked with the New York City Department of Corrections for 22 years on the uniform side. From 1982 until 2004, I worked on various assignments in numerous jails throughout the department. We had almost 25,000 inmates in our city system back then. I worked in our emergency services unit for almost 10 years. I was a captain there and also a captain in our detectives unit for almost three years before I retired. I also worked in the compliance division toward the end of my career.

I had to leave because I had some health issues. I’m a two-time cancer survivor. Uniquely, after I was able to recover from my illnesses, I went back to school to finish my bachelor’s, master’s and I received a doctorate in education. I worked with County Executive [Steve] Bellone [D] as his assistant deputy county executive for public safety for almost two years, where I tell people that I truly got an understanding of the landscape of Suffolk County. Then, I returned back to New York City as the deputy commissioner of operations, overseeing almost all of the operational aspects of the department from 2014 until 2017. I then decided to run for sheriff in September of 2017.

How has your battle with cancer impacted both your outlook on life and the work that you do for Suffolk County?

One of the things that I realized as a two-time cancer survivor is that you never know what the person next to you — whether you’re on the ball field watching kids play or you’re in the movie theater or the supermarket — you don’t know if someone has health issues, financial issues, relationship issues. I think I have become a lot more sympathetic and also empathetic to the plights that people are going through.

Earlier in your career, you worked at Rikers Island. How has that experience shaped your later approach as county sheriff?

My father was a warden on Rikers Island for 36 years, starting off as a correction officer. I remember during one of the early conversations I had with him, I asked him about his employment. He said, ‘We rehabilitate men and women who are in jail.’ That kind of resonated with me throughout my career.

When I became sheriff, I noticed that almost 85% of the men and women that are in our custody are returning back to our communities. In order to help them and to have less victims in our communities, while we have them within our custody why not try to provide them with the resources so that they can be successful when they return back to our communities?

What are some of the struggles that your department had encountered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how did you attempt to overcome them?

When I was the deputy commissioner, we had to deal with the H1N1 and Ebola viruses. When we learned about COVID-19 in Washington state in 2020, we started preparing for the possibility of there being an outbreak. By the end of February, we had our plans set. We implemented them around the second week of March because the first [confirmed] case of COVID in New York state was March 1 and the first case in Suffolk County was March 8. By that second week of March, we started implementing measures of social distancing; we had masks that were mandated to be worn; we started doing temperature checks; and we told our staff that if they were not feeling well or had any of the signs of identified symptoms for COVID-19, that they should seek out their health care professionals.

With the jails, we cleaned our facilities three to four times per day. Inmates were required to wear masks. We were able to “cell skip’’ our inmates, so instead of inmates being in cells 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, they were in cells 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. We did stop visits because, if you remember, [former] Governor [Andrew] Cuomo [D] had said that if we shut down visits for two weeks, we’d be OK. We did shut down our visits for any individuals coming in and for any service providers entering our jails. It proved to be somewhat successful, but we had to do it for longer than we anticipated.

From March, when we first implemented those measures, until the beginning of December, we only had five inmates that had tested positive — and I should say, three tested positive in the jails, two came into the jail positive. I think we were very successful.

What we also did was that every newly admitted inmate had to go into a quarantine for 14 days while our medical staff checked up on them three or four times a day. We wanted to make sure that our new admission inmates weren’t exposing any inmates that had been in our custody with any potential virus.

You were recently sworn in for a second term as sheriff. What is your vision for the next four years at the department?

There are three things that I’m working on.

Mental health and substance abuse seem to be the primary traits for the majority of the men and women not only in our custody but throughout the nation’s prisons and jails. We’re working very hard to understand those two components because we want to be able to help those men and women, and even those that are not in jail — maybe there’s no criminal activity in their lifestyles, but they’re still suffering.

We want to see what we can do, working with various community partners and service providers to look more holistically and see what’s going on. We do understand, even with some of our youth, who we are learning may have adverse childhood experiences, not only are they experiencing mental health and substance abuse in the home, but there are also traumatic issues, domestic violence issues and socioeconomic challenges. Those are the things we intend to focus on.

We’re also looking to create the first network of information sharing for jails and prisons throughout the United States. We think this will be very beneficial. We know that most police departments are sharing information with each other, but jails and prisons throughout the country are not. We want to tap into that resource because if we learn of different trends that are occurring, we can also alert our law enforcement partners to these things that are occurring, specifically in the jails and prisons throughout our region and our country.

Your office has donated bulletproof vests to the people of Ukraine. What are some of the other philanthropic initiatives that your office has been part of to benefit both Suffolk County and the greater global community?

That was a start by donating those decommissioned vests, but one of the things we are embarking on is that the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office is now an advisory component to a sheriff’s foundation. This is not run by the Sheriff’s Office, but by a group of individuals. They’re a 501(c)(3) and their goal is to have fundraising events. We do so much in the community that they want to assist us in really helping these kids that are having certain issues. Whether it is donating school supplies or the various community events that we want to do, we want to strengthen the bond between the community and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.

Also, we really want to engage our youth because they are the ones that we want to make sure are on the right path, that they look at law enforcement as a positive role model, and that they maybe even want to come join our forces and work at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.

You are the first African American elected as Suffolk County sheriff. What does that distinction mean to you?

To me, and I know that’s something that has been said to me a lot, my first goal is to be the best sheriff possible, regardless of my race. I do realize that being the first African American not only as sheriff, but the first African American elected to a nonjudicial county-wide position on Long Island, Nassau or Suffolk, it’s something that I’m very cognizant of wherever and whenever I go somewhere.

I know there are a lot of people looking at me, some favorably and some unfavorably. I think I need to be who I am and not necessarily who people perceive due to the color of my skin.

Baseball season is now underway and I have learned that you also occupy a place in the history of the New York Yankees. Could you elaborate on this?

Yes. I was fortunate enough in 1979 and 1980 to be a bat boy with the New York Yankees. They had just come off of back-to-back World Series championships in 1977 and 1978. Tragically, in 1979 our captain, Thurman Munson, was killed in a plane crash and we fell short of making the playoffs that year. Subsequently, in 1980 we did make the playoffs, but we lost three straight to the Kansas City Royals. In the third game, I was the ball boy down the right field line watching George Brett hit a three-run homer off of Goose Gossage, which went into the upper deck. I realized then that my career as a bat boy had quickly come to an end.

What are your thoughts on Aaron Judge’s contract fiasco?

I hope they do sign him. I think he’s proven to be not only a great ballplayer when he’s not injured, but more importantly a great role model. Mr. [Joe] DiMaggio and Mr. [George] Steinbrenner — both of whom I was fortunate enough to meet and speak with — would say that he is the type of person they would want to be a Yankee for his entire career, very similar to Derek Jeter.

Sheriff, thank you for taking this interview. Is there anything else that you would like to say to our local readers?

Yes. I firmly believe that the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office is changing the paradigm of criminal justice, not just in Suffolk County but throughout New York state. We’re continuing to look for partners, both from the governmental side but also the community side, to make sure that we are not only able to engage but also help those that need us. That’s why we’re here. We’re really here to help our community.

One-on-one with Stan Loucks

by Raymond Janis - April 8, 2022

0 513

stan_loucks_photo — Port Jeff Village Trustee Stan Loucks discusses the East Beach bluff. Photo from the Village of Port Jefferson website

This week, TBR News Media sat down for an exclusive interview with Stan Loucks, trustee of the Village of Port Jefferson. In the interview, Loucks addressed the relative inactivity at the club, the looming $10 million effort to save it, and the controversy around bluff stabilization.

You are the trustee liaison to the Port Jefferson Country Club. What does that role entail?

The liaison to the country club means pretty much that I’m in charge of everything up here: the golf across the road; the tennis, which we will not have this year because of the erosion of the bluff; and I coordinate with the tenant upstairs.

Could you inform the readers on how this building was acquired by the village?

In 1978 the mayor of the village was Harold Sheprow. I’m pretty sure the land was owned by [the Estate of Norman K.] Winston. He had a large building corporation up here in Harbor Hills. In 1978 the village voted to purchase not only the country club, but both East and West beaches were involved in that sale for about $2 million.

Since its acquisition by the village over four decades ago, has this country club been a profitable investment for the village?

The country club has been deemed a self-sustaining, separate entity from the village in that we have our own budget. We have to pay our bills. We had a tennis membership last year of over 300 members and a golf membership of around 500 members.

The revenue that we take in has to meet our expenses. The village taxpayer, after the purchase of the property and the payoff of the bond, contributes no tax money to the country club whatsoever. Everything up here is basically coming off the backs of the membership.

As a follow-up, is there any kind of rent that the country club pays to the village treasury?

No, we are not renting the property. We are an attraction, I believe, for the village. I believe the village benefits even if you’re not a member. I think they benefit from the fact that we have a country club that’s available to residents at a very, very reasonable rate.

We have the two beaches that are kind of semi-private. There are nonresidents that can use our beaches because they are members of the country club. The only rent that’s collected is from the tenant upstairs and that rent money goes directly to the village, not to the country club.

And that tenant upstairs, is that the concession?

That’s the concession. They own Danfords downtown. It has just recently changed hands [to TPG Hotels, Resorts & Marinas]. The Crest [Group] had this for a couple of years and when they sold Danfords, [TPG] took over the tenancy of this building not downstairs, but the upstairs restaurant and catering end of it [known as The Waterview at Port Jefferson Country Club].

The downstairs here is pretty much all country club. We have two locker rooms. We have a large meeting room. We have a fitness center and a membership office. That’s pretty much what we have downstairs. Everything else upstairs belongs to the tenant.

What has been the return on investment over the several decades since the village purchased the country club?

In terms of dollars and cents, really nothing other than the fact that we have in our possession two beautiful beaches, a beautiful golf course — we did have beautiful tennis courts, eight of them. Other than that, the village has received considerable rent over the years. The only thing the village has gained financially is from the rent of this building. All of the money that is made by the golf course stays with the golf course.

That’s pretty much all the village has gained from this country club, which is a lot. I think property values are certainly affected by what’s going on here. People want to move into this village and I think one of the reasons they want to be here is for the opportunities coming out of the country club.

Right now, those opportunities have diminished a little because of what’s going on out there with Mother Nature. With all of the upcoming anticipated construction, we decided that we will not have any tennis membership this year. We can’t put people out there and put them in danger on those courts because at any given moment, a massive landslide can just let loose. There’s a huge ravine over there now. The gazebo that they used for their wedding receptions went over the bluff. The bluff is moving in on us.

To backtrack a little, you said before that it’s kind of a private country club. What does that mean exactly? You’re a public official, so what is the connection between the country club and village? Is this a private or a public entity?

Well, it’s private in that you have to be a member to be on the facility and to play golf or tennis, but it’s public in that there is a public restaurant upstairs. I think very few people realize that, so in my mind it’s kind of a semi-private area even though we own it.

By we, do you mean the village?

The village. The village owns it. Anyone from the public can come in here and go to the restaurant, but you cannot come in here to play golf unless you’re a guest of a member. The golf course is private just like any other club, but the property itself is not private. You don’t have to be a member to go to the beaches and, as I said, you don’t have to be a member to go to the restaurant upstairs.

At the time when this property was purchased by the village, bluff stabilization must have been an unforeseen expense. In your view, is this property a depreciating asset?

That’s a tough one to answer. Since I started my term, I have walked that beach down there since 2015 with the Army Corps [of Engineers], with DEC, with other engineers. At that point in time, it was very obvious to me that this bluff was rapidly eroding.

A lot of it was caused by global warming, storms and the Town of Brookhaven ignoring the repair of the two jetties in Mount Sinai Harbor. It took us from 2015 to just this past year to get the first permits, which are for the lower wall, that have already been approved. We finally got the permits from DEC. We waited a few more months for the Army Corps to approve. Once they approved, we put it out for bid. We got bids ranging from $4.8 million to $6.8 million. The bid was awarded and construction will begin shortly to do the lower wall, which runs from the bottom of the East Beach Road 450 linear feet along the bluff from east to west.

That’s not going to save our tennis courts. The engineers have told us that the bluff is so steep now that it’s got to eventually level out to about 30 degrees before plantings can really go on there. A lot of our bluff is almost straight down and when it goes, it collapses. Right now the bluff is in a situation where, in my opinion, I don’t think plantings are going to hold on there. There are plans for another wall, what they call the upper wall, that’s supposed to go behind this building. There is an engineering plan in place to put a steel wall all around this facility. I’m not 100 percent sold on the idea that a wall is going to permanently protect the building because, if the bluff keeps on going, it may come in from the sides.

The plans are in place and the drawings have been made. It has not been voted upon by the board yet to move forward with it or not. The $4.8 million bond for the wall has been awarded. I think the treasurer has figured out that it will cost the taxpayer about $170 a year. However, we are actively applying for help from FEMA. I don’t know how the taxpayers are going to react to it. We’re looking at a total of $10-to-$12 million to save this building, basically. I’m not sure how the rest of the board feels about this, but it’s scary.

Just to go back to the original question, given all of these expenses, is this property a depreciating asset for the village?

Well, it depends on what you mean by depreciate. If it’s going to cost us $10 million to save it, that to me is a depreciation. It’s a burden that’s going to be put on the taxpayers. I guess, yes. If we lose this building, that’s a depreciation. One the other side of it, $10 million is also a big fiscal responsibility to put back on the village residents. It’s a tough one to answer. The village is receiving rent from the restaurant. I am not sure that the amount of rent that we’re getting is enough to offset a $10-to-$12 million bond.

Although fewer than 10% of village residents are members here, the other 90% of village residents that are nonmembers will be included in that bond. What would you say to those 90% of resident nonmembers who are being asked to foot the bill to preserve an area that they do not use themselves?

I can only speak for myself here.

I thought we should have had a referendum to vote on the remainder of the repair work. I totally agree with the lower wall because I think the lower wall is going to help protect our beaches. The beaches are used by the entire village.

In terms of the clubhouse, my wife and I come up here every Friday and we enjoy it, but the village residents and the membership do not use the building the way it should be used. I can’t comprehend it. We come up here and always have a good meal and get good service. I sit there every Friday night and wonder why the place is not filled with people.

We have 8,000 residents in this village. We have 500 golf members this year. The place should be frequented and it’s not. I don’t know the answer to that. I’m not so sure that if it were put to a vote it would be approved. We didn’t think it would be approved when the referendum went out to buy it, but it was.

Yeah, I think it would be unfair to ask the village residents to pay for something that they do not use. However, I totally approved of the lower wall. I think that’s going to protect our beaches.

In your view, is it a worthy undertaking by the village to save the clubhouse?

The mayor understands it too. She’s baffled by the same question that I have: Why do the residents not use the facility that’s available to them? They don’t take advantage of the programs that are run up here. Yeah, there’s a charge, but it’s something that you can’t get anywhere else.

I’m biased. I love this club and I’ve been here for a lot of years and I know the club pretty much inside and out. The one question I can’t answer is why people don’t use it. The other question that’s difficult for me to answer is, is it worth it to the rest of the residents who do not belong here? I guess the obvious answer is “no.” I want to save it, but it’s not a decision that one person can make. There hasn’t been a movement one way or the other.

You would think that at a board meeting, if this was a major concern, that that boardroom would be filled with residents — and it’s not. The residents that were there at the last board meeting, they’re concerned about the park; they’re concerned about my taking over Texaco Park so that we could play pickleball once a week. They’re not concerned about the big, huge, major issue facing this village and that bothers me and it bothers the rest of the board. Where’s the interest? You’ve got a bluff that’s going to take away not only our country club, but residents along this bluff too. And they don’t seem to be concerned.

Is there a possible incentive to bring more people into the club? Could the village make the course open to the public, like Bethpage State Park?

The possibility is there that you could open it up and make it a public course. I would not like to see that. I see five public courses at Bethpage — I’ve played a lot of them down there. Yes, the Black is gorgeous, the Red is not too bad, but the other courses down there are pretty beat up. I don’t think making this a public golf course will change the feelings of the community at all. They voted to buy the place, but now they don’t want to save it. To me, that doesn’t make any sense at all.

Another big question is: “Can it be saved?” Nobody gives us a guarantee. I am not the engineer, but I’m thinking there’s a potential that when you start driving steel into those areas that it’s going to fracture that bluff. The upper wall design is a very long line that’s being cut into that bluff and I’m not sure they can possibly do it without taking the back deck off of here and I’m not sure, if they can do it, that it’s not going to fracture that bluff.

Is it possible for this to be more of a collaborative effort between the taxpayers and the village government?

I would love to hear from the taxpayers, the residents — and we haven’t. We believe that we’ve publicized it enough and I know there’s a constant stream of traffic going down East Beach Road [in Belle Terre]. People are looking at the bluff, but they’re not coming to the board meetings. They’re not telling us their feelings one way or the other. To me, it’s frustrating to see that.

Boy, if I were a taxpayer, I’d be at that board meeting and say, “What’s going on here? We want to know. Where are we at? What are we doing? How much money is it going to cost us? When is it going to happen? Is it going to happen?”

I’d like nothing better than to see that board room filled with people, negative or positive. I want to know why the interest is not there.

Is there anything else you like to say to the local readers of Port Jefferson?

I love this village and I love this country club. I want to see the best result that we can possibly get. I don’t have the answers. I just don’t understand why the village and the membership do not use this building. It’s frustrating to me.

On the edge: Port Jeff Village weighs the fate of country club

by Raymond Janis - April 8, 2022

0 1641

bluff_cover1500 — The fate of the clubhouse at Port Jeff Country Club is uncertain. Photo courtesy of Port Jefferson Village

Debate around the future of the Port Jefferson Country Club intensified on Monday, April 4, when longtime local residents confronted the Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees during a public session.

Myrna Gordon and Michael Mart both condemned the board for moving ahead with plans to curb coastal erosion at East Beach without first holding a public forum, arguing that an issue of this magnitude requires greater public input. “The bluff touches every resident … and there should be a public forum for this,” Mart said. Gordon added, “This is an important issue in this village … and on this particular issue, the ball was dropped.”

Responding to these charges, Mayor Margot Garant said the bluff projects are time sensitive, requiring prompt action on behalf of the village before its permits expire.

“This is an area regulated by the Army Corps of Engineers and the [Department of Environmental Conservation],” Garant said. “The window of opportunity is closing because our permits are not going to be there forever.”

History of the country club

Philip Griffith, historian of PJCC and co-editor of Port Jefferson historical society’s newsletter, chronicled the history of the country club since 1908. According to Griffith, the club originated as a nine-hole golf course designed for the residents of Belle Terre.

In 1953 Norman Winston, a wealthy real estate developer, purchased 600 acres of land in Belle Terre and added nine more holes, establishing the Harbor Hills Country Club. In 1978 Mayor Harold Sheprow leased the Harbor Hills club for $1 and in 1980 village residents approved the purchase of the property for $2.29 million by voter referendum. In 1986 the club was renamed the Port Jefferson Country Club at Harbor Hills.

“The club is 114 years old and it is not private anymore,” Griffith said in a phone interview. “Once the village took it over, it opened membership to all residents of Port Jefferson. Membership pays a fee and they operate the club not by using the residents tax money, but by membership dues paid to the country club.”

Due to the erosion of East Beach, the clubhouse, which sits along 170 acres of village property with golf, tennis and parking facilities, is in danger of falling down the slope. Village residents and elected officials are now weighing their options.

Man vs. Mother Nature

TBR News Media sat down with Mayor Margot Garant in an exclusive interview. She addressed the rapid erosion of East Beach, the precarious fate of the clubhouse and the measures her administration is taking to address this growing problem.

“This is a village asset,” Garant said. “We always say that the country club is one of the five crown jewels of the village and I feel I have to do everything I can — and I will continue to do so — to preserve that facility because I think that’s in the best interest of the community.”

Projects to combat erosion have been ongoing since 2015. Intense storms, such as hurricanes Irene and Sandy, prompted shoreline restoration efforts on behalf of the village. However, as officials addressed the damaged beach, they spotted an even more alarming trend along the bluff.

“We noticed that the bluff started to have chunks of land just kind of detach and start sliding down the hill,” Garant said.

Malcolm Bowman, professor of physical oceanography at Stony Brook University and distinguished service professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said eroding bluffs have become commonplace for coastal communities along the North Shore.

“It’s a particular problem on the North Shore of Long Island because these bluffs are very steep, they’re very high and they’re made of what we call unconsolidated sand,” Bowman said in a phone interview. “In other words, it doesn’t stick together and it’s only held together by vegetation, which can be very fragile and can be easily eroded.”

In 2018 Garant filed permit applications with the DEC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These applications were subjected to multiple rounds of modification, with the approval process lasting over three years. During that period, the bluff continued to wither away.

“Because there’s no protection of the slope, we lost 16 1/2 feet of property in three-and-a-half years, so now the [clubhouse] is in jeopardy,” Garant said.

Man-made efforts to resist erosion do not offer long-term solutions, according to Bowman. Nonetheless, coastal engineering projects can buy valuable time for communities before large swaths of territory get washed away to the sea.

“In the end it’s futile because, basically, you’re buying time,” Bowman said. “You can fight it and you may get another 50 years out of it. And you might say, ‘That’s almost a human lifetime, so therefore it’s worth it.’ The taxpayers of the incorporated village — they’re the ones who are paying for it — might say, ‘It will allow me to enjoy the club for another 50 years and my children, maybe.’” He added, “Beyond that, it’s anybody’s guess.”

In a unanimous vote, the Board of Trustees approved a $10 million bond on Nov. 15, 2021, to finance bluff stabilization. The entire project will be completed in two separate iterations: phase I to secure the towline of the bluff, and phase II to preserve the clubhouse.

Phase I: Lower wall

“Phase I is going to consist of hardening the toe of the bluff with steel riprap rock and some concrete, as well as the revegetation of the bluff itself,” said Joe Palumbo, village administrator. “We’re basically creating a seawall there to slow down, or prevent, any further erosion.”

In its initial permit application, the village planned to construct a 20-foot-high steel retaining wall that would run approximately 650 linear feet along the toe of the bluff. However, due to concerns about the wall’s length and height, DEC asked the village to scale down its proposal.

“Part of the modification of the permit required us to eliminate the steel wall for the portion of the property behind the tennis courts,” Garant said. “We originally wanted to go in — I’m going to estimate — 650 linear feet and they pulled it back to about 450 linear feet.” The mayor added, “We went a little back and forth with DEC, saying we don’t understand why you’re making us do that, but we’ll do it because I’m trying to get something started to protect the integrity of the bluff.”

Phase II: Upland wall

After a 4-1 vote to approve phase I, the board is now considering ways to protect its upland properties, including the clubhouse, tennis courts and parking lot. Phase II involves constructing an upland wall between the clubhouse and the bluff to prevent any further loss of property.

“The upland project will consist of driving steel sheets into the ground behind the village’s [clubhouse] facility, extending past the courts on the lower side and the upper side,” Palumbo said. “Some revegetation in front of that wall and behind the wall will also take place. I believe the wall itself will extend out from the ground about 15 to 24 inches so as not to impede the view that exists there.”

The Board of Trustees is also exploring the option of demolishing the clubhouse, a less expensive option than building the upper wall, but still a multimillion-dollar project due to the cost of demolishing the building and adding drainage atop the cliff. “I’m trying to get all of that information together to put on the table, so that we can make an intelligent decision about the upland plan while we proceed with advancing the installation of the toe wall,” Garant said.

Weighing the options

Although the village’s acquisition of the country club was finalized by voter referendum, residents have not yet voted to approve phases I or II. Garant believes voters had a chance to halt these projects during last year’s election process.

“When the Board of Trustees voted 5-0 to borrow the $10 million, that’s when the public had an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, wait a minute,’” Garant said. “I could have put it out as part of the election that’s coming up or had a separate vote, but the clock is ticking on my permits.” She added, “I feel I have the authority — and my board has the authority — to do these kinds of projects.”

During the interview with Garant, she agreed that bluff stabilization was an unforeseen expense when the village purchased the property. Asked whether the country club is a depreciating asset, Garant maintained that the property has been a lucrative investment.

“It’s not just the building [that we’re protecting], it’s all of the country club’s assets,” she said. “The parking lot is a tremendous asset. I’m trying to preserve some of the sports complexes up there and even expand on them.”

One of the central arguments made for preserving the clubhouse is that the country club raises the property values of all village residents, and that to lose the facility would hurt the real estate market. Jolie Powell, owner of Port Jefferson-based Jolie Powell Realty, substantiated this claim.

“What makes us unique here in the incorporated Village of Port Jefferson is that we are one of very few [villages] that offers these amenities,” Powell said in a phone interview. “It adds value to the community and to prospective homeowners because they want to live in a village that has a private beach, country club amenities and pickleball.” She added, “The country club is essential to a prospective buyer who comes to the village. … They’re looking for amenities and the golf course is huge.”

When asked about the potential costs to village residents, Powell offered this perspective: “I don’t know what that cost will be for the residents, but it will be nominal. Our taxes are so low to begin with compared to every other community.”

Another sticking point is the long-term prospect of golf as a recreational activity. Martin Cantor, director of the Long Island Center for Socioeconomic Policy and author of “Long Island, The Global Economy and Race,” said the popularity of golf has waned in recent decades. He suggests any proposal related to the preservation of the clubhouse should also include a plan to boost recreational activity at the golf course.

“Golf is not as widely played as it was 30 years ago,” Cantor said in a phone interview. “If the village puts up a retaining wall, then it has to also have a development plan or a plan for how it’s going to generate economic activity to pay back the loan for the retaining wall.”

Responding to Cantor, Garant said the COVID-19 pandemic has helped to revive interest in the sport. “Prior to the pandemic, I would say that might be right,” the mayor said. “Since the pandemic, the sport is booming. That program up there is so robust that they have not only paid back the money they owed the village to help them run operations, but they’re now exceeding their budget and have money to put up netting.” She added, “Right now golf is the thing.”

Since bluff stabilization is closely linked to the activities at the country club, Cantor suggested that an economic feasibility study may add clarity to this issue, allowing residents and officials to determine whether preserving the clubhouse is in the fiscal interest of the village.

“In terms of economics to the village, other than the rent, all of the money that gets paid in the golf club stays within the golf club,” Cantor said. “They have to do a feasibility study on the economics of keeping it open.”

Factored into this multivariable equation are also the qualitative benefits that the clubhouse may offer to the community. Griffith packaged the country club with the library, school district, public parks and other amenities that raise taxes but contribute to the character and culture of the village.

“These are things that add not only to the monetary value, but also the cultural and aesthetic value of the village,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to see those kinds of things eliminated. Each of these amenities — these assets — are wonderful values that make this village what it is.” He added, “It’s not just a home. You’re buying into a community and a community has to offer something beyond your own little piece of property, and that’s what Port Jefferson does.”

Griffith added that he would like the issue to be put on the ballot so that residents have the final say. “I am in favor of having a public hearing on the matter and then having a public referendum. Let the people decide, just as they decided to purchase the country club.”

After a decade as SBU Med School Dean, Ken Kaushansky embraces new challenges

by Daniel Dunaief - April 17, 2021

0 4173

1 of 7

By Daniel Dunaief

Like so many others, Ken Kaushansky had to alter his plans when the pandemic hit last March. Kaushansky had expected to retire after over 10 years as Dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and the Senior Vice President of Health Sciences, but the public health needs of the moment, particularly on Long Island which became an early epicenter for the disease, demanded his attention.

“Now that COVID hopefully is coming under control, it seems more logical” to retire this year, Kaushansky said in a wide-ranging interview about the pandemic, his career, and the medical school. In January, he stepped down as the dean, while he plans to retire as Senior Vice President of Health Sciences at the end of June.

Views on the Pandemic

Looking back at the immediate challenges in the first few months, Kaushansky said SBU did “extremely well” in caring for patients who were battling COVID-19 and was gratified by the school’s effort to catalog and understand the disease. “I’m very proud that we’ve been able to study this infection on all sorts of levels and make a real impact that has helped others,” he said.

Early on, as the medical team at Stony Brook met, Kaushansky urged the hospital to study COVID “to the hilt” and to “extract every little bit of data we can. We must keep all that data on all these patients.”

Indeed, Stony Brook has created a database that continues to grow of close to 10,000 people, which includes 3,000 inpatients, 4,000 who weren’t sick enough for hospital admission, and around 3,000 who thought they had the disease, but had other illnesses. “We’ve learned a ton from that, and it’s not just learning for learning’s sake,” Kaushansky said. The demand for the use of the database is so high that a steering committee is reviewing proposals.

Stony Brook had heard from doctors in Italy that COVID patients were having problems with blood clotting. This symptom was particularly meaningful to Kaushansky, who is a hematologist.

SBU studied the symptoms and “did a trial to see if aggressive anticoagulants would produce better outcomes” than the standard of care at the time, he said. “Our [intensive care unit] patients who were on this more aggressive anticoagulation protocols had half the mortality” of other patients, so the hospital “quickly adopted all of our care” to the more effective approach.

The hospital preemptively used biomarkers to determine who should and should not get aggressive anticoagulation. A subsequent study using the database confirmed the school’s early conclusion. Stony Brook published over 150 papers on the structure of the virus, clinical observations, sociological interventions, and a host of other areas, according to Kaushansky.

Carol Gomes, Chief Executive Officer of Stony Brook University Hospital, appreciated Kaushansky’s hands on approach, which included participating in daily calls as part of the hospital incident command center.

She likened Kaushansky to an orchestra leader, coordinating the research and patient care, making sure there was “no duplication of effort.”

Kaushansky believes federal research funding agencies and policy makers will recognize the importance of gathering information about this pandemic to treat future patients who might battle against variants and to provide a playbook for other health threats. “We really do need to prepare for the next one” as this is the third and deadliest of three coronaviruses, including SARS and MERS, he said.

Vaccines

As for vaccines, Kaushansky said Stony Brook was making it as “convenient as we can” to get a vaccination for health care workers. As of about a month ago, over 80 percent of Stony Brook’s health care workers had been vaccinated.

The black and brown communities have benefited from seeing leaders and role models receiving the vaccine. “This is beginning to erode the mistrust,” said Kaushansky, which developed as a byproduct of the infamous Tuskegee experiment, in which black men with syphilis did not receive penicillin despite its availability as an effective treatment.

Kaushansky added that a concern he’s heard from a range of people is that the vaccine was developed too quickly and that the side effects could be problematic. He cited the simultaneous steps doctors, pharmaceutical companies and others took to accelerate a process that didn’t leave out any of those steps.

Kaushansky participates in a group email interaction with prominent European hematologists. Looking at the data for the Astrazeneca vaccine, these researchers have calculated that anywhere from one in 500,000 to one in a million have developed blood clots.

“Not a single person on this mass email believes that they should stop the Astrazeneca vaccines for that kind of incident,” he said.

What He Helped Build

Kaushansky has been such a supporter of expanding the facilities and expertise at Stony Brook that he said the campus developed a joke about him.

“What’s the dean’s favorite bird?” he asked. “A crane.”

Fixtures on the campus for years, those cranes — the construction vehicles, not the birds — have changed the university, adding new teaching, research and clinical space on the campus.

That includes the Medical and Research Translational building and Bed Tower, which started in 2013 and opened in 2018, and the Hospital Pavilion, which has an additional 150 beds. Those extra beds were especially important a year after the pavilion opened, providing much-needed space for patients battling against COVID.

Gomes appreciated what Kaushansky built physically, as well as the interactive collaborations among different parts of the university. “An active collaboration and communication between researchers, clinicians and academics is a very different model” from the typical separation among those groups, she said. The work “reaped great rewards on the front end with the ability to collaborate to bring new ideas forward.”

As for the type of care patients received at Stony Brook, Kaushansky recalled a discussion over six years ago about central line infections. The data came from a 12 month period, starting six months prior to the meeting and going back to 18 months earlier.

“How are we going to know why all those central line infections occurred by looking at data” from so much earlier, Kaushansky recalled asking. The hospital created real time dashboards, which is an effort that has “paid huge dividends.”

Kaushansky cited the hospitals’ top 100 health grade for three years running. These grades assess whether patients survive a procedure, have complications or need to be readmitted.

“You’re going to get the best care possible when you come to Stony Brook,” Kaushansky said, as the top 100 rating puts Stony Brook in the top 2 percent of hospitals in the country.

Apart from the buildings Kaushansky helped develop, he’s proud of the program he helped build for medical school students.

About six years ago, Stony Brook instituted a new medical school curriculum that had translational pillars. The school starts students in the clinical realm considerably earlier than the classic program that involves two years of basic studies, followed by two years of clinical work.

Stony Brook provides basic science, followed by earlier exposure to the clinic, with a return to basic science after that

“It’s much more effective if you teach the basic science after the student has witnessed the clinical manifestation,” Kaushansky said. These approaches are part of translational pillars in areas such as cancer, physiology and infectious diseases.

As for what he’ll miss after he leaves, Kaushansky particularly appreciated the opportunity to speak with students. He used to hold a monthly breakfast with four or five students, where he learned about each student, their career goals and their medical journey.

A former colleague at the University of California at San Diego, John Carethers, who is the Chair in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, visited Kaushansky as a speaker twice at Stony Brook.

Carethers saw “first hand the wonderful impact he had on students — knowing their names, and providing wonderful advice,” he wrote in an email.

The Next Steps

For a decade, Kaushansky said he wanted to create a course about the future of medicine.

“There are a lot of great innovations in medicine that are fascinating from a scientific and clinical perspective,” Kaushansky said.

He will work on a course for use at Stony Brook in the main campus, the medical campus and for whichever program is interested in sharing these innovative medical and scientific steps in medicine.

He also plans to continue to be the lead editor of the primary textbook in hematology, called Williams Hematology. The textbook has gone through 10 editions.

Kaushansky and his wife Lauren, who is an author and education professor at Stony Brook, aren’t likely to remain on Long Island in the longer term. The couple has a getaway home in Santa Fe and may go there.

Kaushansky’s hobbies include wood working and running. He made a sofa when he was an undergraduate at UCLA, while his second significant work was a 16-foot sailboat he made as a second-year resident. He estimates he has made 40 pieces of furniture.

Kaushansky runs four miles a day four to six times a week. In 1990, he ran the Seattle Marathon which was the Goodwill Games Marathon, finishing in a time of around three hours and twenty-five minutes.

Culturally, Kaushansky hopes the school continues to embrace his focus on generosity.

“You’ve got to be generous with your time,” he said.

“No more can you say that you are too busy to talk. You have to be of a personality that takes pride and that gets the endorphins going from seeing the people you have brought, the people you have entrusted in leadership roles, succeed.”

Photos courtesy of Stony Brook University

Prev 1...96 9798Page 98 of 98

Royals rumble: Buccaneers overcome Port Jeff boys lax

Pitch perfect: Miller Place shuts out East Hampton

SCCC inaugurates Edward Bonahue as president

SCCC president Edward Bonahue’s inaugural address

One-on-one with Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon

One-on-one with Stan Loucks

On the edge: Port Jeff Village weighs the fate of country club

After a decade as SBU Med School Dean, Ken Kaushansky embraces new challenges

Most Viewed

Aldi in Medford to hold grand opening June 12

Let’s Eat: Grill up a memorable Father’s Day feast this Sunday

Your Turn: Swimming at your own risk may be hazardous to your health