By Sabrina Artusa
After the Aug. 19 storm, the lower level of the Smithtown Library’s main branch at 1 North Country Road had to be cleaned and gutted. The stairwell has been repainted and all electriclal equipment has been removed. Now, the floor is a blank slate. Smithtown Library Director Robert Lusak views this as an opportunity to re-situate the floor to make it a better, nicer area.
–Photos by Robert Lusak
By Sabrina Artusa
Six months after the Aug. 19 storm that damaged infrastructure, washed away the dams at Stony Brook Mill Pond and Blydenburgh County Park’s Stump Pond and upturned Harbor Road in Stony Brook, community pillars such as the Smithtown Library and Stony Brook University are on the mend.
The storm, which unleashed 9.4 inches of rain in only 24 hours, flooded the lower level of the Smithtown Library, bursting one of the windows and completely filling the area with water. Since the library sits at a lower grade, the water from higher grades flowed to the building and down the staircases on either side, overwhelming the sump pump and clogging it with leaves; therefore, it was not only 9 inches of water that flooded the library, but 8 feet.
However, walking through the Smithtown Library today, it would be difficult to discern evidence of the storm on the first floor or the mezzanine. The bookshelves and tables look relatively untouched; it seems that at any moment a library page might round the corner with a cart of books or a high school student will settle down at one of the tables. In a few months — April, possibly, according to Library Director Robert Lusak — the library could open again.
“In order to bring people back into the building, first we need power obviously, we need HVAC, we need heat and air-conditioning functioning, we need to have the elevator working, we need to have fire sprinklers operational … so there are a lot of factors that need to come into play before we can open the building,” Lusak said. The library’s architect, in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, has put together “a two- to three-inch book” detailing the steps to reopening.
Temporary power has been restored. “Everything is moving along pretty well,” Lusak said.
Lusak and the rest of the library staff have been working with FEMA to account for damages to potentially get up to 75% of eligible costs reimbursed. The staff listed every item that was destroyed. One of the main obstacles, however, is the time-consuming process of ordering the necessary materials and the months it takes to ship.
“It is really the equipment that we need to reinstall that is keeping us from moving forward,” Lusak said. “When we have to wait for materials we have to wait 6 to 8 weeks in some cases. That is what we need in order to open the building up.”
Next month, Lusak and other staff members are flying to Michigan to evaluate the archive renovation progress done by Prism Specialties. The Richard H. Handley Collection, which features centuries-old documents and maps, was situated on the lower level. On the day of the storm, however, the water detection system failed and water infiltrated the room.
Lusak will have to determine which archives should be restored, such as precious original copies, and which would not be worth the expense, perhaps second copies. The cost of archival restoration already amounts to over $700,000. The archives will be considered by FEMA for reimbursement.
Lusak said that the designers will begin to redesign the lower floor this week. Since the first floor and mezzanine are nearly ready to be opened to the public — after the elevator, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system and electricity are restored — Lusak plans to open the upper levels and have construction on the lower floor occur simultaneously.
In addition, the storm has exposed issues in the grading and stairwells. “We are looking at ways of safeguarding the building to make sure a situation like that never happens again … we are going to change the grading there [and] we are going to address the stairwells.”
At Stony Brook University, the rainfall affected 61 buildings, according to university officials; the Ammann and Gray residence halls were hit the hardest, and students residing there had to be reassigned to other buildings.
Vice President for Facilities and Services Bill Hermann wrote in an email, “In response to the flooding of our residence halls, we advocated for and will be relocating core facilities infrastructure (boilers, electrical equipment, IT and fire alarms) to upper floors.”
The university paid for a comprehensive storm infrastructure study which, according to Hermann, “revealed that our campus growth over the years had not been matched by adequate increases in storm infrastructure capacity.”
The university already addressed some of the weak spots dictated by the study, such as collapsed sections, but still has stormwater maintenance plans in the horizon, one being a plan to implement a stormwater detention and retention system under the athletic stadium surface lot to manage runoff.
“This mitigation is needed to upgrade and modernize the campus storm infrastructure to meet the current demands,” Hermann wrote.
At this time, Gloria Rocchio, president of the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, was unable to comment on the damage to Harbor Road, the ownership of which is debated as it crosses into Head of the Harbor.
Head of the Harbor Mayor Michael Utevsky said that discussions are progressing.
Independent Lens has announced the launch of the new season of Indie Lens Pop-Up, the long-running screening series that brings people together for community-driven conversations around its thought-provoking documentaries. The free event series will include in-person screenings in more than 100 cities across the U.S. including Port Jefferson, Stony Brook, Centereach and Selden, thanks to a partnership with The Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council (GPJAC).
Through its roster of five documentary projects, Indie Lens Pop-Up will ignite conversations on a range of topics, including a Cambodian American basketball prodigy, the American institution of public libraries, and the history of funk music. This season’s topics also aim to expand perspectives through deeply personal stories, like what it means to live with Alzheimer’s disease and the bond between father and son. The screenings, which are approximately 60 minutes long, will be followed by impactful post-screening activities ranging from panel discussions to performances.
Each film will eventually make its television debut on PBS and will be available to stream on the PBS app.
Since its inception in 2005, more than 7,200 Indie Lens Pop-Up events have brought an estimated 430,000 participants together to discuss issues that impact local communities.
“We’re so excited to continue these Indie Lens Pop-Up screenings that not only advance independent stories, but continue to bring together local communities across the U.S.,” said Beatriz Castillo, senior director of engagement operations at Independent Television Service (ITVS), the production arm of PBS which produces Independent Lens.
“The Greater Port Jefferson – Northern Brookhaven Arts Council (GPJAC) is delighted to join the Indie Lens Pop-Up program as screening partner. We welcome the chance to support these award-winning films while having the opportunity to craft impactful activities with our venue and community partners such as the Middle Country Public Library, the First United Methodist Church and the Long Island Museum,” said Kelly DeVine, Board Member and Chair of film programming at GPJAC
“Supporting independent artists and filmmakers is at the center of our work,” added Allan Varela, Chair of the GPJAC. “And getting to collaborate with our community partners to raise up their work is icing on the cake.”
The Indie Lens Pop-Up 2024-2025 lineup includes the following documentaries:
■ Bike Vessel by Eric D. Seals will be screened at the First United Methodist Church, 603 Main St., Port Jefferson on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. In this portrait of familial love, father Donnie Seals Sr. undergoes a transformation after several medical crises and, at age 70, embarks on a long-distance cycling trip with his son.
A panel discussing the health, social and infrastructure issues raised by the film with a cardiologist, a representative from a safe transportation organization and a librarian from Port Jefferson Free Library will follow. Register here.
■ Home Court by Erica Tanamachi heads to the Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook on Tuesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. The film traces the ascent of Ashley Chea, a Cambodian American basketball prodigy whose life intensifies amid recruitment, injury, and triumph throughout her high school career.
The screening will be followed by a panel of SBU and local high school athletes and coaches discussing the challenges of transitioning from high school to college as a female and Cambodian American athlete.
■ Free for All: The Public Library by Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor will be screened at the Middle Country Public Library, 101 Eastwood Blvd., Centereach on Friday, April 11 at 6 p.m. The documentary tells the story of the U.S. public library system—a simple idea that shaped a nation and the quiet revolutionaries who made it happen.
The event will be followed by a “library fair” where MCPL representatives across the library’s departments show all the ways libraries serve their communities.
■ We Want the Funk by Stanley Nelson will be screened at Middle Country Public Library, 575 Middle Country Road, Selden on Sunday, May 4 at 2 p.m. The documentary is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, from early roots to 1970s urban funk and beyond and will be followed by a short live funk music band performance and discussion on how the genre is still influential today.
■ Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s by Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green will be screened at the Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook on Tuesday, June 3 at 7 p.m. The documentary explores how three families confront the challenges of Alzheimer’s, focusing on how the disease transforms identities and relationships and will be incorporated into a full program of dementia events with speakers and resources.
To register for these free documentaries, please visit www.gpjac.org or click here.
Photos courtesy of Independent Lens
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and the Department of Health Services invite residents who are at risk of developing type-2 diabetes to participate in the Suffolk County Diabetes Prevention Program. The program is based off of the National Diabetes Prevention Program that supports moderate behavioral changes and incorporates healthy eating and physical activity.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 98 million American adults — more than 1 in 3 — are at risk for diabetes.
“We want our residents to be healthy and live fulfilling lives,” said Romaine. “We encourage all adult residents to take a one-minute risk survey to learn if they are at risk for prediabetes. Through educational programming and preventative measures, we are here to help you reduce your risk.”
“Diabetes puts the body at risk for many serious health conditions,” said Dr. Gregson Pigott, Suffolk County Health Commissioner. “The good news is that moderate changes in lifestyle can help restore blood sugar to normal levels and result in significant health benefits.”
The Suffolk County Diabetes Prevention Program has received “full plus” recognition from the CDC, meeting the agency’s highest standards. To date, 440 Suffolk County residents have successfully completed the program.
Residents are encouraged to take the one-minute risk test at www.doihaveprediabetes.org and are invited to attend informational sessions at:
— Smithtown Public Library, 148 Smithtown Blvd, Nesconset on Feb. 24 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
— Brookhaven Free Library, 273 Beaver Dam Road, Brookhaven on Wednesday, March 12 from noon to 1 p.m.
— Center Moriches Public Library, 235 Main Street, Center Moriches on March 19 from noon to 1 p.m.
— Patchogue/Medford Library, 54-60 East Main Street, Patchogue on March 28 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Train enthusiasts had a “choo choo” of a fun time when they visited the Railroad Museum of Long Island’s toy train display at Middle Country Public Library in Centereach on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16. With 1,400 in attendance, patrons enjoyed watching a variety of trains running in addition to interacting with museum staff and volunteers who shared their expertise. One of the highlights was the toy train clinic that was offered.
For more information about programs and classes held at Middle Country Public Library, please visit https://www.mcplibrary.org or call at 631-585-9393.
The Public Libraries of Suffolk County and the Suffolk Cooperative Library System recently revealed the top 10 most borrowed items of 2024, reflecting the diverse range of materials offered across all 56 public libraries.
“The top 10 books are a combination of print and digital reading. Readers in Suffolk are engaged with the stories in different formats, which can be challenging for our public libraries. However, with the support of our local communities, the public libraries in Suffolk are meeting the challenge,” said Kevin Verbesey, Director of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System.
In 2024, Suffolk County Libraries experienced more growth in digital checkouts, surpassing the figures from the previous year by a margin of over 231,000 checkouts. This growth culminated in a year-end total of 3.8 million digital checkouts and 3.6 million print checkouts, resulting in a combined total of over 7.4 million.
If there was one novel that dominated 2024, it was The Women by Kristin Hannah (author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds). The book debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times fiction bestseller list last February, and is still hanging out at No. 4 more than 50 weeks later. The story follows twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath who in 1965 follows her brother to serve during the Vietnam War in the Army Nurse Corps. However the real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The top 10 checkouts at Suffolk County Libraries in 2024 were:
1. The Women by Kristin Hannah (25,018 checkouts)
2. First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (15,302 checkouts)
3. None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell (12, 045 checkouts)
4. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (11,666 checkouts)
5. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (910,883 checkouts)
6. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (10,283 checkouts)
7. Funny Story by Emily Henry (9,807 checkouts)
8. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (9,481 checkouts)
9. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (9,206 checkouts)
10. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (8,758 checkouts)
Did your favorite book make the list?
This article originally appeared in TBR News Media’s Prime Times supplement on Jan. 30, 2025.
Suffolk County Police Department’s Fourth Precinct presents Operation Medicine Cabinet at the Smithtown Library, 148 Smithtown Blvd., Nesconset on Saturday, Feb. 1 from 10 a.m. to noon. Have any unused or expired medication at home? Drop it off for safe disposal. No syringes, auto-injectors, creams or liquids will be accepted. Please remove pills from packages and bottles and place loose medications in a Zyploc type bag for collection. Don’t let your medication fall into the wrong hands. For more information, call 631-469-0989.
Middle Country Public Library will welcome more than 75 authors during its Bagels and Books: A Local Author Fair on Saturday, Jan. 25, from 10 a.m, to 1 p.m., at its Centereach branch located at 101 Eastwood Blvd.
The community is encouraged to visit and meet these talented writers who reside on Long Island. Several different genres will be represented in categories of adult, young adult and children.
Adult authors expected to attend include Edna White of “Publish for Profit: A Journey to Publish and Promote Your Book for Profit” and “The Love Manifesto: The Unstoppable Way to Love Yourself” and “Remnants of A Dark Secret: Poetry Through the Pain.” Others include Effie Kammenou (“Evanthia’s Gift,” “Waiting for Aegina,” and “Chasing Petalouthes”) and Elyse Salpeter (“The Hunt for Xanadu,” “Flying to the Light” and “Nowhere to Run.”)
Krista Legge of “A Real Lion Story” and “The Comfy Spot,” and Paul Rodriguez of “The Sandwich Boy Rescue” and “The Magical Song of Sona and Dora” are among the children’s authors who will be in attendance. Others include Debra Scala Giokas (“Claire: The little girl who climbed to the top and changed the way women dress” and “Ladies, First: Common Threads”) and Jean Derespina (“The Famous Phoebe of Long Island” book series).
Randall Lombardi, who wrote the young adult book, “The Ascension,” will be in there as well.
Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase books and get their books signed. No registration required.
For more information, please call 631-585-9393 x296.
Written by Middle Country Public Library staff
Middle Country and Horseblock Roads
Driving along Middle Country Road today, it is hard to imagine that only 100 years ago, this busy four- lane highway with its many intersections, signs and streetlights started out as little more than a hard packed dirt road. Go back 100 years more, and you’d only see a narrower, rutted path. We take our nicely maintained, hard-paved roads for granted today, but it wasn’t always such a smooth ride. Today’s network of streets and highways have their origins in simple trails which were used by people and wildlife leading to sources of water and shelter. These paths measured only two to three feet wide in places, but they were sufficient for the needs of the times. Early English settlers began to use these footpaths as they established homesteads on Long Island, widening and improving these paths, using them as cart-ways to allow for easier travel between their farms. The cart-way needed to be wide enough for a livestock-drawn cart to traverse with ease. In those days a cart would be hauled by cattle, ox or horse power.
Those paths were the only way to travel around Long Island until 1703, when the NY General Assembly appointed highway commissioners in King’s County (Brooklyn), Queens County and Suffolk County to direct the building and maintenance of roads “four rods wide.” The early measurement of “a rod,” equals approximately 16.5 feet or 5 meters in today’s terms. These highways were simply packed earth, hardened over time by travelers. It took some time for conditions to improve, and eventually drainage systems were constructed, and logs or planks were laid across some roads to pave them. These log-covered roads were known as “corduroy roads” because of their bumpy surface. Thirty years after the highway commissions laid out the routes, arranged rights-of-way between existing properties and physical construction took place, Long Island boasted three major thoroughfares: North Country Road, parts of which follow today’s Route 25A; Middle Country Road, now known as Route 25 or Jericho Turnpike; and South Country Road, portions of which serve as Montauk Highway.
An organized system of roads was needed for many reasons as the population grew. Though most homesteads were self-sufficient at that time, people would barter for goods and gather together to socialize. Mail needed to be delivered across the Island, and prior to the establishment of the U.S. Postal Service in 1775, England’s Royal Mail System was utilized. Before reliably passable roads were built, that mail was delivered from Connecticut by boat. It was faster and easier to travel 19 miles by water than 120 miles over land from New York City.
As the farmland was cultivated and enriched over time, it produced more than one family or village could use and farming became a burgeoning industry. Means to transport the surplus produce was required. Farm to Market Road (also called Horseblock Road) filled this need. Farm owners would load their wagons full of fruits and vegetables to ship by rail to New York City.
The term “horseblock” refers to a block of stone or wood used to help a person climb high enough to mount a horse or to enter a stagecoach with ease. With many homes, farms and taverns located along these miles of roadway, horseblocks were a familiar sight. We call this same Farm to Market Road by its old nickname, Horseblock Road to this day.
Through the years, several popular taverns and rest stops were located on Horseblock Road. As far back as Revolutionary times, Sam “Horseblock” Smith owned and ran a tavern at the intersection of Horseblock and Middle Country Roads in Centereach. A Smith genealogy relates that on March, 2, 1806 Sam sold the inn and land to Lake Grove resident, Titus Gould. It appears that part of the tavern was dismantled and moved to another location. Generations later, Alfred Elsmann ran Al’s Tavern, at the corner of Horseblock and Granny Roads. It was advertised in the Patchogue Advance of March 7, 1946 as specializing in home cooking and “the best in beer, wines and liquors,” and was a popular destination for local festivities for several decades.
The Homegrown String Band will be celebrating their 28th anniversary performing as a family with a concert on Sunday, Jan. 12 at Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, 120 Main Street, Setauket at 2 p.m.
Twenty-eight years ago, the Homegrown String Band went to a Long Island Traditional Music Assoc. (LITMA) member’s concert and found out there was only one other person signed up to perform. Rather than a 15-minute slot, they had 45 minutes to fill up. They had so much fun, they continued performing and have since played at such venues as The National Theatre in Washington DC, the AFBA Wind Gap Bluegrass Festival, Musikfest, and the Festival of American Music in Branson, MO.
A family band with a unique repertoire of original and traditional music, the Homegrown String Band brings an American folk tradition into the twenty-first century. Comprised of mother, father, and daughter, the trio adds their own musical DNA to an American tradition, performing original acoustic arrangements of the traditional music that has become part of the popular roots and folk rock canon. All the songs the band presents have stood the test of time by not only surviving, but thriving and flourishing for hundreds of years via the folk process and oral tradition.
Listen to songs by the likes of the Carter Family, the Delmore Brothers, and Jimmie Rodgers, along with a tasty sprinkling of original material inspired by the rural American string band and folk traditions of the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.
Registration is preferred, but walk-ins are welcome. To register, please call 631-941-4080.
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