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Letters to the Editor: April 17, 2025

by TBR Staff - April 17, 2025

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letters_page-scaled-1-700x467-1-1 — File photo by Raymond Janis

Common-sense decision

At the Three Village CSD Board of Education meeting on April 9, a common-sense decision was finally made to remove the start time change from the 2025-26 budget. After months of under stimulating banter and a constant “will they, won’t they” cliffhanger hovering over every meeting, four of the seven board members voted to hold off on this nonsensical and very costly change. Reality came into play as metaphoric light bulbs slowly began to flicker representing all that would be lost educationally for the majority of our students to satisfy a 30-minute time adjustment.

Over a million dollars of transportation costs alone would have partially negated our IG Program, increased elementary class sizes exponentially, erased some secondary extra-curriculars and electives and slashed SEVERAL positions both in and out of the classroom. And yet three members of the board continued to advocate for this change despite all that would be lost.

How can these individuals truly believe the supposed benefits of going to school 30 minutes later could possibly outweigh the costs of what would be taken away? The persistent rambling about the 30 minutes of “extra sleep” continues to stick in my craw, particularly at the secondary level. If you want your child to sleep more, be a parent and tell them to go to bed. We don’t need a million dollars in transportation to send them to their rooms. Healthy sleep gains will be just as beneficial if they go to sleep 30 minutes earlier and still wake up for school, it’s a simple fact.

We now wait on eggshells to see how our million dollars will be re-allocated. The board has a lot of decisions to make before the May 20th vote and they need to carefully consider the fragile standing of this year’s budget. Three Village is in deep, and we need to save ourselves from drowning. Cooler heads must prevail and a more realistic vision for our district needs to be added to the playbook to ensure success for the ones we are all fighting for, the kids! I speak for many in the community when I express my satisfaction knowing that our tax dollars will be going to academics rather than bus rides.

Stefanie Werner

East Setauket

The EPA should be protected

A letter by Jim Soviero appeared in this newspaper on April 3 [EPA and media need accountability] filled with innuendos and deceptive claims about the Environmental Protection Agency. He calls for “accountability” for money already legally disbursed by the EPA as per the Biden legislation passed by Congress and signed into law, to fund beneficial projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution.

He’s echoing Lee Zeldin, our former Long Island congressman and now head of the Donald )Trump (R) EPA. While in Congress Zeldin had a long record of opposing measures to safeguard air and water quality, instead serving the interests of the oil and gas industry, in spite of the fact that Long Island has no oil and gas industry. If Zeldin really wanted “accountability,” why didn’t he protest when Trump fired the EPA Inspector General, whose one and only job is to hold the EPA accountable for its expenditures? This IG, Sean O’Donnell, was appointed by none other than Trump himself back in 2020. Could it be that Zeldin really wants not “accountability” but a more pliable IG to rubber-stamp the Zeldin-Trump agenda of climate denialism and environmental havoc?

Zeldin describes the mission of the EPA as “lower[ing] the cost of buying a car, heating a home, and running a business.” No – the EPA is not the Commerce Department. The EPA’s mission, embedded in its name, is to protect the environment. I remember when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio was so polluted with oil slicks it caught on fire – many times. When Los Angeles was covered by a thick poisonous smog on a daily basis. All before the EPA. The EPA’s mission is to protect us from sickness and premature death from damaged lungs, heart disease, asthma and other consequences of the unchecked release of toxins into our air and water. And it’s also about energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that threaten us, our children and grandchildren.

In spite of the letter writer’s innuendos, the rightful recipients of the funding Zeldin is trying to snatch back are reputable and longstanding organizations run by qualified professionals with years of experience in engineering, finance and energy efficiency. The funds are being used for such things as increasing the affordability of modern, efficient heat pumps to replace inefficient gas or oil heating. And the organization Power Forward Communities, so sneered at by the letter writer, is a coalition of some of the most trusted nonprofits in the nation, including Habitat for Humanity International and United Way Worldwide.

David Friedman

St. James

Ward Melville track

I’d like to thank Sabrina Artusa for her excellent article highlighting the success of the Ward Melville boys 4 x mile relay team and of my son Jon winning the state indoor 1600-meter championship.

Jon began running cross-country when he entered seventh grade at Gelinas. He did not show a lot of promise over the course of his first two races, finishing nearly last, but his junior high coach, Claudia Rippe, encouraged him and made running fun and enjoyable.

Jon joined the varsity cross-country team at Ward Melville as a freshman and head cross-country, winter track and spring track coaches Ryan DeLuca and assistant coach Brian Liebowitz took Jon’s running to a whole new level. These two coaches provide training and instruction on every aspect of being a successful runner, including diet, stretching, warming up, cooling down, training, preventing injuries, getting proper rest and most importantly being a good teammate and leader.

As a freshman Jon won the Suffolk County 800-meter run championship and the next year was the Suffolk County sophomore 2-mile champion. That same year during winter track he ran the fastest 1000 meters in the United States for a sophomore. Over the last five years,coaches DeLuca and Liebowitz runners have been named to multiple all-conference, all-county, all-Long Island and all-state teams in all three running sports. Their knowledge of their sport and dedication to their runners are exceptional.

I don’t know if Jon was either the strongest or fastest runner in his state 1600-meter victory, but I’m fairly certain he was the most experienced runner in the field. Of the 12 runners, Jon ran the best race strategically — by far. Over the last four years, the Ward Melville coaches have provided Jon and his teammates the opportunity to run over 50 races in major invitationals at some of the fastest indoor tracks on the East Coast located throughout New York and New England. By comparison, Jon has friends on other teams who’ve told him they rarely leave the Island to race.

I am so impressed by the Ward Melville cross-country and track programs and the quality of athletes that coaches DeLuca and Liebowitz have consistently produced — especially given how physically challenging the sport is. A few years ago one of Jon’s teammate’s sisters remarked, “You know what you do for a sport, other sports do as a punishment.” Funny and true.

David Seyfert

Stony Brook

WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL

We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation. Email letters to: [email protected] or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

D. None of the Above: In a life filled with blurry landscapes, we have the power to see the invisibles

by Daniel Dunaief - April 17, 2025

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By Daniel Dunaief

Their names fly by after the final scene amid music that often recapitulates what we’ve just heard in a movie theater or at home during a streaming film.

In fact, oftentimes, the streaming services will suggest the next film before the credits role, giving us the option to move effortlessly from one movie to the next without pausing to allow the movie to resonate or to squint at the names during the credits.

Every industry is filled with the invisibles. These are the people who make stuff happen, but who are not at the center of an effort.

Take dining out. We see the maitre d’, the waiter or waitress and we might even acknowledge the cook or the sushi chef. But, really, numerous invisibles are a part of the food process, from the fishermen who woke up before sunlight to catch the fresh fish we’re considering eating to the farmer who planted and harvested the vegetables to the truck drivers who ship these products all over the state and the country.

We are often a part of a bigger industry that relies on the services of others, many of whom we don’t know or see but who contribute to our lives.

Products like pharmaceuticals rely on numerous contributions. Patients take a drug during its clinical trials, tended to by doctors and nurses, while scientists may have discovered a potential target for an illness or a disease and then searched for a small molecule that might change our fates or improve our condition.

The invisibles also glide by the way homes and the tops of trees pass as a part of a blurry landscape when we’re riding the Long Island Railroad.

We walk by people as we navigate a crowded sidewalk towards a Broadway show or on our way to an important appointment in the city.

We sit at a traffic light to turn left, waiting for the cars we can see, but not necessarily the people in them, to pass us so we can get to our destination.

When children are young, they see and observe everyone. As my wife and I used to say, “the recorder is always on,” whether someone is lecturing about what children should know or do or is setting an example or, as the case may be, a counter example.

I was on a plane recently when a mother holding a baby in front of her stopped to wait for others to put away their luggage. Unconcerned about social convention, the young child stared at my wife and me, then shifted his eyes and looked directly at the people in the row across the aisle.

The mother continued to look straight, anticipating the moment when she could continue past us on her way to her seat.

Social convention keeps us from looking directly at people for too long. We don’t want to make them uncomfortable and, sometimes, we also don’t want to encourage everyone to engage in conversation with us.

As we pass through various grades, we become selective about our friends, no longer feeling the need to invite everyone in class to birthday parties.

When we’re older, we attend larger gatherings and we greet everyone. Well, no, not exactly everyone. We may not spend much time chatting with the busy waitress, getting to know members of the other family at a wedding, or connecting with the Uber driver who took us to the catering hall.

We don’t need to acknowledge everyone all the time. That would be impossible. Some people also enjoy the freedom a cloak of invisibility provides. Some of my favorite parties, in fact, were those where so few people knew me that I had no social responsibilities or obligations, allowing me to dance with arms flailing and shoulders shimmying with a relaxed grin pasted across my sweaty face.

And yet, there are those times, when someone is sitting alone or is taking another long drive, when a few words might provide the kind of connection that helps them feel seen.

To return to the movie example, we sometimes watch characters who are otherwise ignored or written off who become central to other people’s lives. Those people may be waiting for an opening or an acknowledgement or for the opportunity to feel our recognition and appreciation. We can be moved by people who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago, but we can also move with those who share time and space with us today.

Between You and Me: Rites of spring that we happily practice and some we don’t miss

by Leah Dunaief - April 17, 2025

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By Leah S. Dunaief

The bright yellow forsythias and the pink azaleas, along with the dramatic magnolias and the delicate cherry blossoms contradict the miserable March weather we have been enduring.

But, you can’t fool Nature with adverse temperatures. She has her own calendar. Further proof of the season may be taken from the runny noses and watery eyes of the allergy sufferers, and the appearance of the tiny ants around the kitchen sink. And if you are among the lucky ones, you know what that means: call the sprinkler guys and the pool crew to get on their schedules, check who will be available to mow the lawn this year, and have the air conditioners tuned up and filters changed.

Yup. It’s spring.

If you have a boat, even a small one, it’s time to remove the shrink wrap, polish the teak and the hardware, check the engine, and if it is a sailboat, carefully look over the sails and count the life jackets. Maybe there is a new person who has joined the family.

If you have a garden, this is planting and seeding time. Get out the mulch and start spreading. Straighten the hose lines. Perennials are up, annuals are going in. Take a good look around the neighborhood. There seems to be a riot of daffodils throughout the yards and villages this year. And the fruit trees are bursting with color. Maybe it’s the contrast with the grey and the rain that’s been surrounding us.

There are chores we no longer need to do. I don’t know how many of you remember, but we used to have the snow tires removed and the regular tires put back in their place. We would ask that the winter oil in the car be emptied and replaced with the summer oil at the gas station. We still need to give the car a thorough cleaning, however, and put the snow brush back into the trunk. The shovels and walkway salt go into the garage and, if we have one, the snow blower is returned to the far corner.

Inside the house, we need to put the heavy winter coats in the back of the closet, take off the long underwear if we wear that armor against the cold, put away the turtlenecks and shake out our lighter shirts, blouses and pants to prepare them for the warmer temperatures. Might as well look at the bathing suits, too. Maybe we need a new one this year.

Those who go on trips in the summer may well be studying locations and fares around this time, if they haven’t already. I’m not part of that exodus, however. Where can you go to enjoy the season better than right here on the shores of Long Island? Others agree. They are my warm weather relatives and friends, and I welcome their company. We should start to get the guest room ready.

Amid all that activity and bustle, we must be sure to stop every now and then to enjoy the birdsong coming from the many bushes. And if we look hard enough, we can see birds’ nests in the branches of the trees and under the edges of porch roofs.

On a final note, spring is also the time when the world’s major holidays are observed: Ramadan, Passover and Easter. The holidays all include prayers for peace. Would that we could all celebrate the holidays concurrently in a world filled with only peace: no more warfare, no more hatred, no more violence.

Since we are all people praying for the same blessing, why has it been so impossible to achieve? Will it ever happen? May we someday truly turn our swords into plowshares?

Enjoy the marvel of the new season in peace.

Celebrate Earth Day 2025 with park cleanups, festivals, nature hikes and more

by Heidi Sutton - April 17, 2025

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177DA34D-8BCE-4103-B029-4B9BB6FDFF6B_1_201_a — Take part in a community clean-up event during Earth Day. Photo courtesy of Wading River Shoreham Chamber of Commerce

By Heidi Sutton

Whether you choose to participate in a beach or park clean-up, nature walk or a fun festival, there are plenty of ways to show your love for the planet for Earth Day over the next few weeks.

Huntington

Family Fun Earth Day Celebration

Town of Huntington hosts a family-friendly Earth Day celebration at Manor Farm Park, 210 Manor Road, Huntington on Saturday, May 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Attendees can enjoy arts & crafts, Touch a Truck, live music, a marine touch tank, beekeeping demonstrations, storytime, giveaways and much more. 631-351-3175

Melville

Earth Day Celebration

West Hills County Park, Sweet Hollow Road, Melville and Suffolk County Leg. Rebecca Sanin will host an Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Enjoy a DDR horse show, live poetry readings and music, lawn games, farmers market, food vendors, environmental information booths and free giveaways. No registration necessary. 631-854-5100

Mount Sinai

Community Beach Clean-Up

Town of Brookhaven will hold an Every Day is Earth Day Beach Clean-Up at the Cedar Beach Nature Center in Mount Sinai on Saturday, April 19 at 2 p.m. to remove litter and marine debris from the coastline. Supplies will be provided. Registration is required by emailing [email protected].

Port Jefferson Station

Greenway Trail Cleanup

In celebration of Earth Day, the Three Village Community Trust will host a Friends of the Greenway trail clean-up at the Port Jefferson Station trailhead (parking lot by Rte. 112/Hallock Avenue) on Saturday, April 19 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Ronkonkoma

Bird Walk and Trash Cleanup

Join the Four Harbors Audubon Society for a Bird Walk and Trash Cleanup at Lily Pond County Park, Smithtown Blvd., Lake Ronkonkoma on Tuesday, April 22 at 8 a.m. in celebration of Earth Day and in memory of Diane Spitz, who spent many years as unofficial caretaker of the Park. Please bring gloves and bags. Email [email protected] to register.

Shoreham

Metal for Tesla

Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, 5 Randall Rd, Shoreham will host its annual Metal for Tesla scrap metal drop-off event (appliances, car parts, shelving etc.) in honor of Earth Day on Saturday, April 19 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 631-886-2632

Smithtown

Earth Day at Sweetbriar

Sweetbriar Nature Center, 62 Eckernkamp Drive, Smithtown invites the community to an Earth Day is Every Day celebration on Sunday, April 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. Children will meet resident animals, make a craft and go on a scavenger hunt to find out some of the things they can do to help the natural world. Best for families with children over 4 years old. $15 per child, $5 per adults. To register, visit www.sweetbriarnc.org. For more info, call 631-979-6344.

Stony Brook

Earthstock Festival at SBU

The signature Earthstock Festival returns to Stony Brook University’s West campus, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook on Friday, April 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with vendors, live music, a duck race, lots of activities and performances. Free and open to all. Visit www.stonybrook.edu/earthstock.

Community Beach Clean-Up

Town of Brookhaven will hold an Every Day is Earth Day Beach Clean-Up at West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook on Saturday, April 19 at 10 a.m. to remove litter and marine debris from the coastline. Supplies will be provided. Registration is required by emailing [email protected].

Train Station Beautification Project

The Three Village Community Trust invites the community to join them for the Stony Brook Train Station Beautification Project on Saturday, April 19 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. for Earth Day. The group will be weeding, clearing fallen branches, removing litter, de-vining trees, and other tasks to beautify the Station. Bring your gloves and garden tools. 631-942-4558

Wading River

SWR Earth Day Cleanup

The Wading River Shoreham Chamber of Commerce invites the community to participate in an Earth Day Clean-up event on Sunday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at The Shoppes at East Wind, 5768 Route 25A, Wading River for a day of environmental stewardship. Supplies will be provided or feel free to bring you own. Community service credits available. Held rain or shine. Register at www.wadingrivershorehamchamber.com.

The Pressroom Afterhour: Tax updates with Brookhaven Receiver of Taxes Lou Marcoccia

by TBR Staff - April 14, 2025

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Coming up on the Pressroom Afterhour, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine lays out a bold vision in his State of the County address, pointing to rising bond ratings, bipartisan cooperation, and a billion-dollar push to modernize sewers and safeguard water quality. We’ll unpack what his priorities mean for residents.

Then, we shift to Shoreham, where the Tesla Science Center rises from the ashes of a devastating fire. With over $14 million dollars raised and new leadership on board, we’ll explore how the center plans to honor Tesla’s legacy and position itself as a global hub for science and innovation.

As we approach the deadline to file our taxes, Brookhaven Receiver of Taxes Louis Marcoccia tells us what we need to know about this year’s tax season.

Afterwards, we shift our focus to Stony Brook University, where 300 students gathered for the first-ever Long Island Youth Climate Summit.

Turn the page with us as we delve into the week’s top stories, with another episode of the Pressroom Afterhour: Keeping it Local with TBR.

SBU Sports: Baseball defeats Campbell in series finale

by Press Release - April 14, 2025

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resize-1 — Photo courtesy of Stony Brook University Athletics

Erik Paulsen jumpstarted the Seawolves with a two-run homer in the first inning, but Campbell responded with six unanswered runs and ultimately defeated Stony Brook 16-6 on April 13 at Joe Nathan Field in the series finale.

Stony Brook right-hander John Rizzo worked around a runner in the top of the first, keeping the Camels off the board. In the bottom half, Nick Zampieron reached base and Erik Paulsen followed with a two-run blast to right, giving the Seawolves an early 2-0 lead.Campbell quickly answered in the second inning, hitting a pair of home runs and scoring four runs to take a 4-2 lead. Brett Davino singled with one out in the home half of the inning, but Stony Brook was held scoreless.

The Camels kept their momentum in the third, tacking on two more runs via another home run to extend their lead to 6-2. The Seawolves were retired in order to end the frame.

With two runners on in the top of the fourth, Matthew Canizares entered the game for Stony Brook and struck out the first two batters he faced. However, the next hitter launched a three-run homer to stretch Campbell’s lead to 9-2.

Stony Brook punched back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Johnny Pilla led off with a single to center and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Matt Miceli. Zampieron brought home Luke Szepekwith a two-out single through the left side to cut the deficit to 9-4.

Campbell responded in the fifth, scoring four runs on three hits, including two more home runs, to push the lead to 13-4.

The Seawolves kept battling in the bottom half of the inning. Nico Azpilcueta extended his on-base streak by leading off the frame with a solo home run — his 12th of the season. Chris Carson added an RBI single, trimming the margin to 13-6.

Campbell tacked on another run in the sixth and added two more in the seventh to close out the scoring and take the series finale, 16-6.

Up next, the team hit the road this weekend for a three-game CAA series at Hofstra. Game one is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, April 18 and will stream live on FloCollege.

Editorial: Empowering youth for a greener future

by Press Release - April 13, 2025

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In last week’s issue, two local hikers walked from Robert Moses to Montauk. Garbage littered their path throughout the journey: a jarring contradiction to the beautiful coastal landscape. In another article, our Long Island Congress members conferred about offshore drilling and wind power. In public hearings over land use, constituents and town officials negotiate green space and vegetative buffers. Environmental issues are interwoven into the fabric of our community, embedded in almost every field or industry.

The younger generation, as the inheritors of our community, are faced with mounting environmental concerns with energy storage, renewable energy and climate change. While previous generations had leeway to push environmentalism to the side, the younger generations can not afford to ignore the diminishing health of the environment. Programs such as the one offered at Stony Brook University, are paramount in ensuring that these students have the tools to do so.

At Stony Brook University’s second annual Long Island Youth Climate Summit, teenagers learned how to get involved with environmental movements. We wholeheartedly agree with local officials who recognize the importance of a university program that provides an important and necessary opportunity for students to learn about these issues.

Further,several political leaders such as Suffolk County legislators and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine attended the conference; however, while democratic officials were well-represented, republicans were in shorter supply. While we don’t know what kept other officials from attending, or if they were aware of the event at all, the disparity suggests a potentially problematic political divide in how we approach environmental topics that can impede progress.

This was only the second time the Climate Summit occurred, but it is a huge step in closing the gap between environmental misinformation and increasing awareness of growing environmental concerns such as the warming climate and weather-related natural disasters. Long Island has its fair share of environmental problems and we have to make sure the next generation is aware and ready, not only out of necessity but out of appreciation for the gift of our world.

Talking Tech: A veritable typhoon of digital spying

by TBR Staff - April 12, 2025

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By Frank Artusa

For as long as there have been nation states, spies have been hard at work trying to gather intelligence for strategic advantage. Historically, the direct victims of such efforts have been government agencies, the military and corporate intellectual property, but recent events have put us all in the crosshairs when it comes to our digital communications.

Though sophisticated methods like collecting radio frequency emanations, tapping above ground and undersea communications cables, and other signals intelligence techniques, have been historically employed by adversary nations, few could have predicted the massive data breach recently perpetrated by an elite hacker group attributed to the People’s Republic of China called Salt Typhoon.

Salt Typhoon, a codename assigned by Microsoft’s cyber threat intelligence team, was first discovered in Fall 2024 to have compromised telecommunications systems and networks belonging to Verizon, T-Mobile, Spectrum and several others. The widespread compromise involved the exposure of data associated with phone calls, voicemails, and text messages impacting millions of Americans. The true extent of this massive breach has yet to be revealed, and it’s unknown whether the affected systems have been fixed.

The idea that any hacker group could obtain access to such critical infrastructure and persist, undetected, for apparently up to a year or more, is difficult to comprehend. The Federal Government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) indicated that Salt Typhoon was able to obtain access due to unpatched network hardware and leveraging entry points designed for use by law enforcement, or “backdoors”.

Some experts blame the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), a 1994 digital wiretapping law that compels telecommunications companies to assist law enforcement in conducting electronic surveillance with a court order. This tool by the very nature of its existence presents a potential backdoor into the telecom’s network. However, federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities utilize this technique to investigate criminal activity, with probable cause, to uncover evidence of crimes ranging from gang activity, organized crime, public corruption and everything in between. This makes CALEA a double edged sword: supporters laud its criticality to criminal investigations and detractors argue for its potential misuse by hackers or a corrupt government.

Despite the obstacle described above, in December 2024 the FBI and CISA took the bold step of recommending that individuals utilize communication apps that offer end to end encryption (E2EE). E2EE is an encryption methodology that is used by apps like Whatsapp, Signal, and iMessage (when communicating between apple devices).

E2EE makes it impossible for an interloper to read data due the advanced encryption utilized to encode data. As an example, it would require thousands, if not millions of years for a supercomputer to break encryption implemented by these applications. Quantum computing, a radical new computer processing technology poses a threat, but this innovation is still years away and governments are aggressively working to develop quantum proof encryption as well.

A clear use of the government’s own utilization of this E2EE technology was recently demonstrated when U.S. national security and defense officials used Signal to communicate tactical war plans in Yemen, albeit with unintended recipients.

Threats posed by advanced nation states capable of funding top tier cyber espionage operations is growing, with dozens of capable groups originating from Russia, Iran and North Korea as well as China. Additionally, this doesn’t include independent cyber criminal groups looking to steal and sell personal data. Considering the wide array of potential threats to digital data, E2EE appears to be one of the few tools guaranteed to stop hackers from eavesdropping on digital communications.

Internet Crime Complaint Center — www.ic3.gov

Frank Artusa, a resident of Smithtown, is a current cybersecurity professional and retired FBI Special Agent.

Students take action at youth climate summit at Stony Brook University

by William Stieglitz - April 12, 2025

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Hicksville students at the summit. Their postcards read _ONLY ONE PLANET EARTH_ and _Hickville for Climate Action!_ — Scene from the Long Island Youth Climate Summit. Photo by William Stieglitz

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By William Stieglitz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ward Melville boy’s lacrosse pens Longwood Lions 17-7

by Bill Landon - April 11, 2025

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By Bill Landon

With the score tied at 5 all after 12 minutes of play, the Ward Melville boys lacrosse team fell into a rhythm in the second quarter, shutting down the visiting Longwood Lions Thursday afternoon April 3. The Patriots held Longwood scoreless in the second half to cruise to a 17-7 victory in the division 1 matchup.

Ward Melville senior attack Liam Banks led the way for the Patriots with four assists and two goals, and teammates Loius Montellese and Bohdan McLaughlin both notched an assist and three goals apiece for the win.

Longwood keeper Jason Biondi had 10 saves in net and Colby Alister stopped five for the Patriots.

— Photos by Bill Landon

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