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Photo by Raymond Janis

Rallying against unjust state aid cuts

As many community members have already heard, Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] has proposed drastic cuts in state aid to many school districts across Long Island. Based on the governor’s proposed state aid allocations, Port Jefferson School District stands to face a total 28% cut to our state aid package, which amounts to almost $1.2 million. This is one of the largest percentage cuts for any school district on Long Island.

The governor’s proposed reductions in state aid are very concerning to us. The reduction would put a significant strain on our district. The excellence of our faculty, combined with the careful management of the district budget, has allowed us to continually deliver a high-quality education to our students. However, this proposed cut in state aid would place a significant burden on our staff and community to maintain that level of educational excellence. The governor’s proposal is patently unfair and places our district in an untenable position. It is a gross injustice to the students and taxpayers in our district and we are determined to fight back. We are calling on our state legislators to advocate and work with the governor’s office to restore our Foundation Aid to its full level.

We are asking that the community join us in this advocacy. Our website provides template letters for residents to sign and forward to the governor and our state representatives. Together, we can send a powerful message to Gov. Hochul and our local elected officials to ensure adequate and equitable funding. The Port Jefferson School District relies on these funds to support our students and maintain the integrity of our educational system.

Jessica Schmettan

Superintendent of Schools

Port Jefferson School District

Upholding the promise of public education

Every child,  regardless of their ZIP code, deserves a high quality public education. Our public schools are an investment that benefits our communities and families. It is crucial that our elected leaders do not play politics with the well-being and future of our children.

It is unfortunate to see elected officials of both parties playing politics with public education funding. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s [D] “hold harmless” budget proposal is problematic for many school districts, as it falls short of the expected aid for the coming fiscal year. The state Legislature must correct this in their one house budgets and negotiations with the executive branch in determining the upcoming fiscal year budget.

However, it must be pointed out that in 2023, every Suffolk County Republican in the New York State Legislature voted against education funding. This was a year where there was record funding for public education, after a decades long fight for full Foundation Aid. To watch these same elected officials weaponize the current moment for political gain reeks of hypocrisy. The same is true at the federal level, where U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota [R-NY1] just voted against expanding the child tax credit that would lift half a million of America’s children out of poverty, a bill that passed the House with broad bipartisan support.

We need leaders who will prioritize caring for our youngest New Yorkers, not elected officials who use them as political pawns. New York is a wealthy state, and we do not need to cut funding for education or any human service or public good. We have the resources to provide these services, but, unfortunately, we don’t have enough elected officials who place the well-being of our children over their own political grandstanding. 

The New York State Legislature must restore these cuts in their one house budgets. And Suffolk County’s Republican elected officials should put the money where their mouths are, and vote for fully funding public education this year. Their votes are a reflection of our region’s values, and political grandstanding is inadequate at this moment for our communities. We, the voters, will be watching.

                                                  Shoshana Hershkowitz, South Setauket; Ian Farber, Setauket; Christine Latham, Stony Brook; Anne Chimelis, Setauket; Jeanne Brunson, South Setauket

A critical analysis of immigration rhetoric

Two letter writers use your Cold Spring Harbor Lab article [Jan. 11] as the slim local hook to propagate the fearmongering on would-be Latin American immigrants that former President Donald Trump [R] thinks he can ride into the White House: Paul Mannix (“The illegal immigrant issue,” Jan. 25) and George Altemose (Jan. 18, who also lavishes praise on a Nazi war criminal). 

Mannix claims you are “hurting your credibility” by decrying toxic talk on immigrants when the issue is “illegal immigration,” disregarding Altemose’s inflammatory talk of “invasion” of our southern border by hordes of “illegal aliens”, not to mention their hero Trump’s “they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists” and “poisoning the blood” of America.

Immigrants have always come here because U.S. employers were looking for workers. Pew Research Center tells us that since 2005 about 10 million unauthorized immigrants — their term — live in the U.S. and about 8 million work for willing employers. 

What makes these mostly brown immigrants “illegal,” whereas the ancestors of the white residents of Long Island were “legal”? Until 1808, southern landowners found their agricultural labor force in “legally” imported, kidnapped and enslaved Black Africans. Until 1882 immigration into the U.S. was totally unrestricted. Chinese came in great numbers to help build the transcontinental railroads and when they were no longer needed, the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) made them illegal. Until 1924, white Europeans entered simply by showing up with no signs of infectious disease. They needed no documents of any kind, neither a passport nor visas, and in their millions headed for the mills, mines, railroads or sweatshops whose owners were hungry for workers. In 1924 a xenophobic immigration law was passed that limited all but immigration from northern Europe to a trickle, since modified for some political categories such as anti-Castro Cubans and Nazis with useful talents. Employers still welcomed “illegal” workers for jobs citizens wouldn’t take, as we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic: farmworkers, meat and poultry processors, health and service workers of all kinds.

The U.S. has made life difficult for Latin Americans for 200 years. Today, refugees are fleeing gangs and chaos, even death squads. Many are legal asylum seekers, whom Trump refused to recognize. 

Mannix, lastly, slanders diversity, equity and inclusion — practices that rather minimally try to mitigate centuries of legal and de facto discrimination — as “racist and sexist,” a classic Trumpist projection of placing their own failings onto their opponents.

Arnold Wishnia

Setauket

Unmasking the myth

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

George Altemose insists Wernher von Braun was a “great American” even considering his participation in Nazi crimes [Letters, Feb. 1]. In his eagerness to whitewash von Braun’s career as a Nazi, he distorts a number of facts, and omits others. Von Braun was not “forced” to join the Nazi Party in 1937, nor was he forced to join the SS in 1940. During his career in the SS he was promoted three times by Heinrich Himmler, the organizer of the systematic mass murder of Jews and others deemed by the Nazis unworthy of life.

 Like so many Nazis after the war, von Braun retrospectively downplayed his own participation in the holocaust. But by his own admission he was quite aware that his V-2 rockets were being built by concentration camp slave laborers living in appalling conditions and being routinely worked to death. 

As for his 1944 arrest for having a defeatist attitude, that’s not quite the whole story. He was arrested after having drunkenly — and correctly — remarked that Germany was losing the war. Also because he regularly piloted a government-provided plane he potentially could use to escape to Britain. During his brief detention he was pressured to speed up the development of the V-2 — so much the worse for the slave laborers — and to pledge not to defect. He was released on the direct order of Hitler, who called him “indispensable” for the Nazi war effort. He was a willing participant in, not a victim of, the crimes of the Nazis.

Although von Braun could not have single handedly stopped the V-2 program and its use of slave labor, he could have refused to participate. That’s the key. To state, as Altemose does, that for this he would have been killed is a well-worn fallacy. There were cases of Germans who refused to participate in Nazi atrocities. No one in the Third Reich was executed for mere refusal. This has been thoroughly documented by numerous works such as “Ordinary Men” by Christopher Browning. At worst, if von Braun refused to participate in Nazi crimes, he would have stalled his career. Many were faced with the same choice in Nazi Germany. Not everyone made the same choice as he did.

It really doesn’t matter what rockets von Braun developed for America. He was a man without morals, a willing participant in the Nazi enterprise. To tout him as a “great American” is a travesty and an insult to our country.

David Friedman

St James

Farewell to a sweet tradition

I was very disappointed to learn about the closing of Stony Brook Chocolate. I loved taking my grandchildren there to choose from the large assortment of candies filling an entire wall. The wonderful chocolates and truffles were my go-to holiday gifts, and they were always well received. I will also miss the friendly and helpful salespeople. Stony Brook Chocolate was a terrific asset to our quaint village. So sad to see it go.

Susan Mcbride

Setauket

 

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

My wife and I recently, chocolate, went out to celebrate our anniversary. We got married near Valentine’s Day, so we try to pick a date that’s, chocolate, a week or so before or after our anniversary, to avoid competing for a table. 

We picked one of the more romantic restaurants in the area, read the, chocolate, online menu, got dressed up for a romantic evening, and headed out. My digestion prefers an earlier dinner, especially when it’s a, chocolate, bigger meal, and my, chocolate, wife accommodated me, getting an early reservation for our celebratory dinner.

We chose a restaurant that’s further away than our usual search for, chocolate, food, while leaving the customary, chocolate, amount of time. Slightly concerned that the restaurant might give away our, chocolate, table if we were too late, we arrived at a nearby parking garage only about 10 minutes late.

Once on the street, we hurried down the block and entered the, chocolate, restaurant, where the hostess Jordan introduced herself and, in a silky smooth, soft voice that could also easily qualify her to work at a soothing spa, escorted us to a magnificent, chocolate, table filled with beautiful china, napkins held together in a fancy holder, and plush seats.

When she scanned the menu, my wife recognized that the fish dish we had picked when we checked out the, chocolate, restaurant wasn’t there.

“What are you going to eat?” she asked. Close to a quarter of a century of marriage together makes such, chocolate, shorthand possible.

I told her I’d find something. When we told the maître d’ about our food preference, she came back with alternatives that worked, but weren’t my, chocolate, preference.

“Let’s go,” my wife said, shrugging. “We can try somewhere else tomorrow night.”

My wife had put considerable effort into making this reservation and was excited about dinner in a quiet, romantic spot that didn’t have a single television blaring a sporting event and that had thick, lush drapes on the windows and picturesque framed, chocolate, scenery hanging on the wall.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

She told me we’d be fine. When we returned to the, chocolate, car, we ordered take out from a Thai restaurant and drove to the parking lot exit.

I pulled incredibly close to the machine to make it easier to insert the credit card. When I put the card in, the, chocolate, machine rejected it. I tried another one, with the same result. 

I reinserted the first card and, when I took it out, it came flying out of my hand, landing under the car. I could barely squeeze out the door to search for the card. At this point, the car behind us drove to another exit. Continuing her string of practical advice in an evening of curve balls, my, chocolate, wife suggested I try to get through the gate and walk back to retrieve the card.

I pushed the help button and put another card in. At this point, the gate lifted. I parked by the, chocolate, curb and grabbed my phone to use the light to find the card. The car beeped incessantly, annoyed that I took the keys while the engine was running.

Fortunately, no other cars were exiting and I found the, chocolate, card quickly.

I walked back to the car where my wife awaited with a quirky, half smile.

“Can you imagine if this was our first date?” she laughed.

We picked up our Thai food and returned home to our pets, who seemed surprised to see us so soon. Usually, when we wear our nice, chocolate, shoes, we disappear for several hours.

The next night, we had a much more successful dinner at a local, chocolate, Italian restaurant. As a reward for my wife’s support of her food-limited husband, one of the main dishes included four ingredients she loves, covered in her favorite sauce.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about all the chocolate references? About a week ago, I stopped eating chocolate because the caffeine was keeping me awake at night and increased my, chocolate, heart rate.

So far, chocolate, I’ve resisted and I barely, chocolate, think about it anymore. Well, maybe I haven’t conquered the cocoa bean yet, but I’m getting there.

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief
Publisher, TBR News Media

Did you know that many people love their pets more than their spouses? We read that somewhere, and it inspired us to produce our “Love My Pet” section each year in time for St. Valentine’s Day. More than 75 smiling (I think) pets are included in this week’s issue, and while most of them are dogs and cats, we also have a parrot, a pair of nine-year-old water garden fish and a frog. We enjoy looking at all of them.

My experience with pets has been limited to dogs. We’ve dearly loved three golden retrievers and one royal standard white poodle over a period of 42 years. They were like our children, much better behaved, and it devastated us when they were so ill we had to put them down. Now I am just every dog’s adopted grandmother.

I can certainly understand the impulse of the California man who recently jumped into the flooded Los Angeles River after his dog fell into the swiftly moving current. Fortunately he was rescued by a helicopter. The dog, too.

Dogs are special companions. Somehow they sense our moods and comfort us when we are needy. Funeral Homes offer dogs on the premises for those who are grieving. Schools are using dogs to help students with mental health issues. Just the sight of a dog can be calming unless the human is afraid of dogs.

My sister was one such person. She had Down Syndrome and would stop, then back away when she saw a dog. This fear was probably transmitted to her by our mother, who had been badly bitten by a dog when she was a child and carried the mental and physical scars of that unfortunate incident all the rest of her life. 

One time, shortly after we moved into our new house and bought the first golden, my parents and sister came from New York City to visit. As she walked through the door and spied the dog, my sister began to cry out and tremble. The puppy, whose name was Tigger, immediately fell on his belly and crawled toward her, finally dropping his head onto her shoe tops. The act was so disarming that she stopped yelling and watched him with fascination. At that moment, he looked up at her and wagged his tail. We watched in amazement as she then entered the house, the dog beside her. Never again, on subsequent visits, did she shy away from him, but only him. She continued to be unnerved by other hounds.

I was once bitten by a dog, a German Shepherd. It was entirely my fault. I was about seven, it was summer, we were vacationing with relatives in the Catskill Mountains, and I was playing outside with the dog from the neighboring farm as my family chatted nearby. I had a ball and would bounce it, then race the dog to see which one of us could get to it first. In the ensuing melee, I jumped on his paw, he cried out and instinctively caught my calf in his jaw, his teeth breaking the skin. Everyone became excited, I was rushed to a doctor, a report was filed, and the dog was ordered tied up for 28 days to be watched for signs of rabies. Of course there were none, and I felt terrible watching him restrained. A couple of times, I would sneak out after dark and bring him bits of food from our supper.

He would greet me by leaping to his feet with tail wagging because dogs forgive more readily than humans.

I am sometimes asked which of the dogs was my favorite. To me, that is like asking which of my sons is my favorite. I believe I love equally and I enjoyed each dog for its own personality and idiosyncrasies. Our last dog, Teddy, had a particularly amusing trait. When we were seated at dinner, he would sneak under the dining table and grab the paper napkins from our laps. Someday, I may write a children’s book called, “Teddy, the Napkin-Snatcher Dog.” 

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George Hoffman of Setauket Harbor Task Force tests water chemistry in Port Jefferson Harbor. Photo by Alex Petroski

The Long Island Sound, our shimmering jewel, is not just a watery highway or a scenic backdrop — it’s the very lifeblood of our region, pulsing with economic vitality, ecological diversity and recreational wonder. But this precious resource is increasingly under threat, its vibrancy dimming in the face of pollution, overdevelopment and climate change.

The Sound is an economic powerhouse, supporting jobs in fishing, tourism and maritime industries. Its oyster beds once rivaled those of Chesapeake Bay, and our waters teemed with cod, lobster and striped bass, fueling a profitable fishery. For generations, Long Islanders have cast their nets and lines, and livelihoods into the waters.

But pollution casts a long shadow. Runoff from urban centers and fertilizers alike can choke the Sound with nitrogen, feeding harmful algal blooms depleting oxygen and leaving behind dead zones where no life can thrive. Plastic waste can drown marine life, and microplastics enter the food chain, silently posing a threat to human health.

The changing climate adds another layer of urgency. Rising sea levels inundate coastal communities, eroding beaches and threatening infrastructure. Hurricanes become more frequent and ferocious, battering our shores. As the waters warm, delicate ecosystems shift, impacting fish populations and the intricate web of life beneath the surface.

To stand idly by as the Sound fades would be a betrayal of our heritage and a reckless gamble with our future. We must act now, with resolute hearts and committed minds, to become stewards of this irreplaceable ecosystem.

The solutions are multifaceted. 

We must support policies that curb pollution, reduce runoff and invest in clean water infrastructure. Solutions like the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act set for reauthorization from the U.S. Rep. and advocate Nick LaLota (R-NY1). Solutions that allow for stricter regulations on coastal development and responsible management of our shorelines. 

We must continue to uplift the work of the Setauket Harbor Task Force in Setauket and Port Jeff harbors. We must recognize the diligence and continued efforts from Stony Brook University researchers at SoMAS to the ongoing betterment of our beloved Sound. 

Individual actions matter too: reducing our use of pesticides, adopting responsible waste disposal practices and supporting sustainable seafood choices — each ripple contributes to a healthier Sound.

The Long Island Sound is not just an expanse of water, it’s the soul of our region. Let us rise to the challenge, not just for ourselves, but for generations to come. 

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File photo by Raymond Janis

Hooray for Theatre Three

As a longtime season ticket holder of Port Jefferson’s Theatre Three, I certainly appreciate the fine job Bradlee and Marci Bing did with their performance of “The Gin Game.” They still have it! To all who read this, we are blessed with live theater in our village. It is difficult these days to compete with modern technology, but on the other hand up close and personal performances are something special. This is more than a plug for Theatre Three. It is a message of do not miss these opportunities for live entertainment in your local area

Harry Faulknor

Port Jefferson

Glad for Lawrence Aviation action and looking for more 

The The tentative Metropolitan Transportation Authority deal at the former Lawrence Aviation site in Port Jefferson Station is moving forward with positive reactions from the officials on this plan. It is a partnership with federal, state, county and town officials that is making this happen: 

Proposed MTA electric line trainyard with a county bridge constructed if New York State requires it. 

A passive solar farm that is proposed in the old buildings site, which is being cleared and the metals being recycled.

The much-needed open-forested space in our hamlet as a buffer. All this is still in the planning process with the Suffolk County Landbank Corporation working on the details of which some are time critical such as the federal Environmental Protection Agency lifting the Superfund designation by the end of this year and the New York State Department of Transportation working on any Greenway rerouting. 

We in the community are glad for the positive results we see with the removal of these eyesores and are now asking our officials to move on with the paperwork. Our Port Jefferson Station has been looking for years for this progress. Let’s make it happen.

 Charlie McAteer

Port Jefferson Station

Legal immigrants justifiably fearful

If true, it is commendable that George Altemose [“Legal talented scientists are welcomed,” Jan.18, TBR News Media] and Paul Mannix [“The illegal immigration issue,” Jan. 25, TBR News Media] harbor no animosity toward legal immigrants, and only object to illegal immigration. Perhaps 40 years ago one could have reasonably argued that most conservatives felt that way. But unfortunately, they are wildly out of touch with the attitudes that now prevail in the Republican Party.

A 2019 Pew poll found 57% of Republican voters fear “losing our identity as a nation” due to immigration, a 13% increase in just two years. That phrasing gives away the game, as equating our “identity” as Americans to ethnicity or race is inherently bigoted. The leading Republican presidential candidate recently said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” If they are really a threat to our “blood” it is clearly irrelevant whether they are documented or not. He gleefully separated children from their families and is now promising internment camps and mass deportation for 11 million people peacefully living, working and paying taxes in the U.S. His followers are loving it.

Prospective foreign Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory students and employees rightly recognize that such rhetoric wouldn’t exist if the MAGA faction of the Republican Party was making nuanced distinctions between legal and undocumented immigrants. They understand that this rhetoric, and the normalization of the hatred behind it, pose a real threat to their physical safety.

Let’s be frank: U.S. business loves illegal immigration because it gives a huge pool of vulnerable workers. The farming, meatpacking, construction, landscaping, hospitality, health care and food service industries all heavily exploit cheap, undocumented labor. Republican politicians refuse to effectively punish employers — the only way to actually reduce illegal immigration — because the issue lets them exploi their voters’ racial and ethnic fears in every election. Witness their blocking the recent bipartisan Senate border security bill. MAGA voters, currently driving the Republican Party, are virulently anti-immigrant because they believe the U.S. should be a white, traditional, Christian country.

By all means let’s implement a humane, legal immigration system that actually addresses the obvious workforce needs of the country, punishes illegal hiring, while addressing impacts on infrastructure and services. Let’s pursue a more enlightened foreign policy that helps stabilize and develop Mexico and Central America — by far the largest sources of illegal migration. But let’s not pretend that most Republicans are happy to welcome nonwhite legal immigrants.

John Hover

East Setauket

Wernher von Braun is considered a great American

I would like to respond to a recent commentary letter from Professor Lester G. Paldy regarding my characterization of Wernher von Braun as a great American, as a consequence of his enormous contributions to our space program [“Hardly an example of a great American,” Jan. 25, TBR News Media]. 

It is true that von Braun was instrumental in the development and use of the German V-2 rocket during World War II. He was forced to join the Nazi party in 1937, when he was 25 years of age, and the SS in 1940, when he was 28. He showed no enthusiasm for activities other than rocket development, and advocated for work on space travel. In 1944, von Braun was suspected of having a defeatist attitude, for which he was arrested by the Gestapo and held for two weeks, before being released because his contributions were deemed essential for the German war effort. 

Following the defeat of Germany, von Braun and more than 100 of his associates were brought to the United States, where they were attached to the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps for the purpose of developing advanced military rockets. This effort was enormously successful under von Braun’s leadership. They produced the Redstone and Jupiter-C missiles, leading to our entry into the space program with our first satellite in 1958, closely following the Soviet Union’s Sputnik a year earlier. This was followed by the Saturn V rocket, which took us to the moon in 1969, and is still the most powerful machine ever built by man. None of this would have been possible without von Braun, both for his technical leadership and for his popular promotion of the importance of sending people into space.

Today, von Braun remains a controversial figure, primarily as a result of the brutal use of Holocaust slave labor for the manufacture of the V-2 rockets. Research appears to show that he was aware of this situation, but was powerless to prevent it. Had he tried, he would have been immediately removed from the program, and almost certainly killed. As it turned out, he spent the first 33 years of his life in Germany, and his next — and last — 32 years as a model citizen of the United States. Was he a great American? I believe that he was.

George Altemose

Setauket

Need to reassess Hochul’s plan to decrease our school aid

As a lifelong member of the Three Village community, alumnus of Ward Melville High School and parent of a school-aged child, I am incensed by Gov. Hochul’s [D] plan to decrease our state aid by nearly $9 million. 

The recent proposal for the 2024-25 school year to cut nearly 18% of state aid to our district is quite plainly unjustifiable and contradictory to the current “hold harmless” policy. On Jan. 16, during the governor’s budget presentation, she touted “the highest level of education funding in state history,” yet she has chosen to penalize a district that was previously recognized by the State Comptroller’s Office as “susceptible to fiscal stress.” 

The decision to drastically cut aid to a high performing Long Island school district has the capacity to catastrophically fracture our incredible academic, arts, music, technology and extracurricular programs. We would also be vulnerable in areas concerning mental health and wellness, and physical safety and security at a time when these services are more essential than ever before.

Politicization of this situation would be a very easy sword to throw ourselves upon, but this is not the time to make this a “red-blue” issue. We need to stand together as it is truly incomprehensible to think that more consideration should not be given to all that would be lost by our district if these cuts were to happen. I, along with many other parents and community members, have reached out to the governor and other state officials in an attempt to urge a reassessment of the proposal. 

Our district simply cannot sustain the potential long-lasting damage that this proposed budget could cause, and our kids are worth the strength we can exude in our words and actions. 

Time is of the essence. Take a stand for our kids.

Stefanie Werner

East Setauket

Setauket Neighborhood House: a community gem

I recently attended a meeting of the Three Village Chamber of Commerce at the Setauket Neighborhood House and was intrigued on how our community came to own this wonderful place situated across from the lake leading into Frank Melville Park on Main Street.

The plaque in the house says the Neighborhood House was purchased by the 19th-century industrialist Eversley Childs and his wife Minnie and given to the Setauket community as a place for meetings and community gathering since 1918.

What a wonderful philanthropic gesture by the Childs couple to bequeath our community with a publicly-owned meeting house that in many ways is the center of community activity in the Three Villages. I know of few other places on Long Island that have such a community run and supported meeting house. 

Kudos to the members of the Setauket Neighborhood House’s board of directors and its manager for providing a special gathering place for civic, community and family events and for keeping it in such historic splendor. And a belated thank you to Eversley and Minnie Childs for their considerable community philanthropy and wisdom in providing a place for the Setauket community to meet and come together for more than 100 years.

George Hoffman

Setauket

Best person to serve as an MTA board member

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine [R] now has an opportunity to appoint a representative to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority 15-member board. Allow me to offer my services. I’ve been a regular Long Island Rail Road commuter for decades and previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions of dollars in annual grants that supported capital projects and programs for the MTA including the LIRR, NYC Transit subway, bus and Staten Island Railway, Metro-North Rail Road and MTA Bus along with 30 other transit agencies in New York and New Jersey. I also assisted the MTA in winning a number of national competitive discretionary grants. 

I possess a detailed knowledge of all MTA operating agencies including the LIRR physical assets such as equipment, stations, yards, shops and maintenance as well as management of capital projects and programs. I gave emphasis to completing federally funded projects on time, within budget with a minimum number and dollar value for contract change orders. They had to be justified as fair and reasonable. This was my motto for the MTA and LIRR. 

There is no MTA board member today who has had firsthand experience in applying for and managing federal assistance from Washington. Federal dollars play a key role in the success of MTA’s capital program. My addition to the board could be a real asset. Having no driver’s license, I have always been transit dependent. Being retired, I could represent the interests of Long Island commuters, taxpayers and transit advocates as a full-time member on the MTA board at no expense.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Tell Hochul to keep the ‘hold harmless’ state school aid provision

I join fellow residents and school districts in shock and dismay after reviewing Gov. Hochul’s [D] proposed cuts to some local districts’ state education aid. There is no way to justify pulling the rug out from under our already strained school districts. This would only lead to hasty discussions about cuts to our children’s programming and staff, and likely increases to our already excessive property taxes. 

The proposed education aid reductions to 44% of New York state’s school districts — and increases in aid to the other 56% — result from the governor’s proposal to end the “hold harmless” provision. This provision has historically provided all districts with at least as much state education aid as they received in the previous fiscal year. 

Unfortunately, state Assemblyman Ed Flood’s [R-Port Jefferson] claim that “Hochul is dumping taxpayer dollars into New York City’s disastrous migrant crisis and leaving the priorities of New Yorkers behind” is either a misunderstanding of how the NYS budget works or a political attempt to pin our community’s upset on an unrelated issue. In the proposed budget, statewide education aid would actually increase by over 2% to a total of $35.3 billion, and our districts would lose funding only because this aid is being redistributed without the “hold harmless” provision.

Any attempt to tie this nonpartisan education policy issue to any partisan issues will weaken this urgent call to action. For the sake of our children’s quality of education and to avoid another burdensome tax hike, we must join in bipartisan opposition to this sudden abandoning of the “hold harmless” provision in the state’s foundation aid formula. We need all community leaders and residents to wholly engage in a clear message to Hochul: Reinstate the “hold harmless” provision for the 2024-25 state budget.

Rebecca Kassay

Port Jefferson

                                                               The writer has declared her candidacy for New York’s District 4 Assembly seat under the Democratic ticket.

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Image from Wikimedia Commons public domain

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

I watch Jeopardy! and it’s a much more intellectual and challenging show than Family Feud, but, truth be told, I have watched several episodes of the Feud these days.

Perhaps it’s the simplicity of the show that entertains me or the fact that there just doesn’t seem to be much at stake. Sometimes, the questions seem ridiculous and, somewhere among the answers, is something about someone’s private parts, poop, or people’s mothers, almost as if I’m watching a game show version of an Adam Sandler movie.

Anyway, watching the show late at night, I have started imagining a farce, skit or just a show gone awry that I would enjoy watching, particularly when I’m in that time between mental focus and drifting off into an imaginary world where I am on skis and can jump over a mountain, land in a nearby ocean, communicate with dolphins and have dinner with a coed group of mermaids who particularly enjoy conversations about science, conservation and baseball.

In my imaginary episode, Steve Harvey starts with an apology, admitting that the word “theyself” isn’t a word. Then, as he meets the families, the first person in the family introduces their relatives.

“Hi Steve, I’m Joe and this is my wife whose favorite word late at night seems to be ‘no’ and who still hasn’t figured out how to bake chicken without burning it.”

Steve widens his eyes, takes a few steps back and lowers his jaw.

“And, next to her, is my sister-in-law Erica, who always knows better about everything and clearly thought my wife could do better when we got married. I have news for you, sis. Maybe she could have, but she chose me anyway, so get over yourself and show the world how smart you are.”

A little less shocked, Steve nods, looking past the mortified sister in law.

“Oh, that’s my brother-in-law Eric. If you were named Eric, would you date a woman named Erica? Eric and I share a beer once in a while, but he frequently has bad breath, so I wouldn’t get too close to him.”

Steve turns his head and makes a mental note.

“And, down at the end, that’s a neighbor of ours, Jessica, whom we’re passing off as a member of the family because no one else in our family could stand to be with us and because they didn’t believe we’d actually be on the Feud. So, hey, to the rest of the family, suck it!”

After an introduction from the other family, the two leaders come to the front of the podium for the obligatory hand shake. Joe refuses to shake hands and suggests that he has OCD and that he’ll tap feet instead.

Looking at the card, Steve shakes his head and says the top six answers are on the board.

“Name a time when you wish you were somewhere else,” he says.

Alex buzzes in first and Joe starts screaming that he’s sure he beat Alex and demands a replay review.

“We don’t do that here,” Steve says, frowning at Joe. “Have you ever watched the show?”

“But they do it in sports. Why not? It’s unfair. Don’t I get at least one challenge? I brought my own red flag,” Joe protests.

“I don’t care what you brought,” Steve says, forcing a smile on his bewildered face. “You don’t get a challenge. Let Alex answer.”

Steve turns to Alex.

“I was going to say ‘at the dentist’ but I’m changing my answer to ‘now.’”

Steve doubles over with laughter, holding the podium and shaking his head.

“Why is that funny?” Joe demands. “Besides, I have a better answer.”

“Let’s see where ‘now’ lands on the list,” Steve says, pointing to the board. It’s the third-most popular answer, which means Joe gets to speak. Steve turns to him, waiting for a reply.

“7:57 am on most mornings,” Joe says, smiling.

Steve doesn’t dare ask, repeating Joe’s answer, which gets the familiar red X.

“But it was a great answer,” Joe demands. “Can I challenge that?”

“No, you want to play or pass?” Steve asks, turning to Alex.

After Alex’s family clears all but one answer, Steve returns to Joe.

“Okay,” Steve says, treading carefully. “Name a time when you wish you were somewhere else?”

“When we first auditioned for the show?” Joe replies.

Steve laughs, pats him on the back and wishes him well.

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Stony Brook Harbor. Photo by Pamela Murphy

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah dunaief

In my basement, where we keep the television, there lives a whole array of characters ready to leap into exciting action with the click of a button. All I needed to make this miracle happen was a subscription to Netflix who, by the way, just raised its rates. It’s still worth it because, when I return from the office at the end of the day, and dinner is over, we can enter any number of worlds and stories for entertainment and in the comfort of our home. Yes, we live in an amazing age. There was a time when only rich Hollywood stars could have movie theaters in their basements; now all us bourgeois types can.

So what am I watching now?

I enjoy the series that have multiple episodes. I particularly like the ones that have been going on for years, and I can bing them from their beginnings on weekends, when I don’t have to get up early the following mornings.

Currently we are coming to the end of the episodes on season five of “Virgin River.” Supposedly set in northern California but actually filmed in the gorgeous mountains of Vancouver, British Columbia, the scenery is worth following the story as much as the plot. There are frequent shots of craggy mountain tops, dense forests, verdant valleys, waterfalls pouring into glistening rivers and often spectacular sunsets. 

The storyline, which is somewhat predictable but nonetheless engrossing, concerns an attractive but troubled nurse practitioner, who comes to the small town of Virgin River in response to an ad from a medical practice. She is seeking escape from her San Francisco past and indeed finds, and begins to build, a new life in a place “where everybody knows your name.” In this instance, it’s Jack’s restaurant. You might already have guessed that the best feature of the eatery is Jack, a hunky guy with his own demons.

The many characters that we then meet are well drawn and we become hooked on all their stories. Many of the themes in each episode draw on contemporary societal issues, such as the fentanyl crisis, sexual assaults and the California wildfires. Our characters face the problems that present themselves with greater or lesser success, but one thing is a relief. There is nothing about national politics or international conflicts. The plots offer pure escapism, which is a welcome change after I have watched the preceding PBS News Hour.

The concept of a small town, in which most people are deeply connected and care for each other, has always been popular for storytellers. Is there any truth to that idea?

Along the north shore of Long Island where our newsmedia focus, we essentially live in small towns that are strung together by our roadways and rail line. Is the quality of life better here than in New York City?

In my opinion, which, of course, is a mere sampling of one, I would say yes. I do hold twin perspectives, however. I grew up in Manhattan, where I spent the first 21 years, then lived in Boston, then Chicago—big cities all. It was only as I approached 30 that we moved here, and I tasted what to me was small town life. 

What did that mean?

It immediately meant not having to struggle for privacy, which is a feature of urban living.There was enough room out here for people to live as they wished. The neighbors were not on the other side of the wall, or in the apartment above or below. And it was quiet sometimes. It’s almost never quiet in a big city. It could also be dark, which means the stars and moon are visible. Is it ever dark in Manhattan? And it certainly smells better. There are no huge exhaust fumes from endless vehicles nor uncollected garbage in the streets.

And with less density, residents interact more willingly—at the post office or in the supermarket. The pace is slower, more conducive to a bit of socializing.

But New York, New York? I’ll always say it. “It’s a wonderful town.”

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In the wake of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) recent budget address, a cloud of concern shadows our community regarding the proposed budget cuts to our education systems. As citizens invested in the well-being and future of our children, it is crucial to address the potential consequences these cuts could have on the quality of education in our state.

Education is the cornerstone of any thriving society, laying the foundation for the success and prosperity of future generations. Hochul’s proposed budget cuts threaten to undermine this foundation, jeopardizing the resources and support necessary for students to excel.

Hochul’s plan reflects on current school enrollment rather than on decades past. It is imperative to acknowledge the difficult decisions our leaders face in managing the state’s finances, though there should be a better solution than slashing education budgets. 

Our schools need adequate funding to provide students with the tools, resources and opportunities to thrive. A cut in education funding not only impacts the students directly but also has far-reaching consequences for the community.

Several local districts will be affected by reduced state aid. Specifically, Three Village, Cold Spring Harbor, Harborfields, Kings Park, Mount Sinai, Smithtown and Port Jefferson at nearly 30%, are among some of the many districts facing budget consequences. 

Education is not merely an expense but an investment in the future. Our schools hold the power to shape the minds of the next generation, molding them into informed and capable individuals ready to contribute to society. Budget cuts threaten the resources and opportunities available to our students, potentially hindering their academic success and personal growth.

It is important to educate oneself on the specifics of the proposed budget and the potential impacts of it. We can enact real change by reaching out to local representatives and expressing our concerns. We can attend town halls or civic meetings. We can write letters, support petitions and make our voices heard.

Through collective action, we can help to ensure our children’s education is a cause worth fighting for, and together, we can ensure that the future of education in New York remains bright. We cannot afford to be passive observers while the future of our children’s education hangs in the balance. 

Education should be a top investment for a prosperous and thriving New York.

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Photo by Raymond Janis

Still no green light for Port Jeff Branch electrification

You can learn a great deal about the priorities of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in her State of the State speech, when it comes to any consideration for advancement of the $3.5 billion LIRR Port Jefferson Branch electrification project. 

Only months ago, she participated in the announcement of a $7.7 billion Federal Transit Administration Full Funding Grant Agreement ($3.4 billion federal/$4.3 billion local share) for Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway. Before the shovel is even in the ground, she now wants to extend Second Avenue subway further west along 125th Street in Harlem for another $7 billion.

Hochul also wants funding to be provided for the start of design and engineering in support her pet $5.5 billon Brooklyn to Queens Light Rail Connector project. Hochul continues to be a vocal advocate in support of the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel — two new tunnels connecting New Jersey and Penn Station benefiting Amtrak and NJ Transit — and her own plans for an $8 billion Penn Station upgrade.

This same week, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber published his agency’s proposed 2024 Program of Projects to apply for FTA funding. Included is a request for $2.2 billion toward paying for the $3.1 billion Metro-North Bronx East Penn Station Access project. Hochul, along with Democratic Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand, have been consistent supporters for all of these projects.

There was nothing in Hochul’s State of the State speech or Lieber’s FTA 2024 Program of Projects to include any funding to advance the $3.5 billion LIRR Port Jefferson electrification project. 

In the eyes and lack of action on the part of Hochul, Schumer, Gillibrand and Lieber, they have no interest in providing any significant financial assistance to support advancement of any major transportation improvements that would benefit LIRR Port Jefferson Branch residents, taxpayers and commuters.

Supporters of this project need to continue lobbying Hochul, Schumer, Gillibrand, Lieber and LIRR President Robert Free if you ever want to ride an electric train on the LIRR Port Jefferson Branch in your lifetime.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Come join us at a Quaker meeting

We are writing to extend New Year’s well wishes and reintroduce ourselves to you. We are the Conscience Bay Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) — a small, but growing community practicing our faith.

The Quaker religious movement began in England in the mid-17th century and emphasizes the belief that “there is that of God in everyone” and that therefore all people can access “the Light within.” Our testimonies about simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship all flow from this core belief. Historically, Quakers have lived these testimonies by participating in movements to end wars, abolish slavery, and bring about racial and gender equality.

While Quakers have lived and worshiped in Suffolk County since around 1650, our own Quaker meeting was established in 1961 and found its home in St. James when William R. Huntington — a local architect and American Friends Service Committee representative to the United Nations — helped to facilitate the purchase of the property and the conversion of a carriage house to our meetinghouse.

Since its formation, our meeting has been moved to participate in a variety of activities driven by our testimonies: counseling conscientious objectors in the 1960s and ’70s; organizing against both the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant in the 1980s and the stockpiling of nuclear materials; and marching against endless wars and social injustices in more recent decades.

In the current moment of international and national violence, our members and visitors have found sustenance in our Sunday practice. Waiting in silence upon the Light is a deep and powerful experience leading to spiritual guidance.

We invite you to join us. We worship every Sunday at 11 a.m. at our meetinghouse, off Moriches Road in St. James. All are welcome. More information at: consciencebayquakers.org. In friendship,

Carolyn Emerson

Clerk of Conscience Bay Meeting

Hardly an example of a great American

The recent letter [“Legal talented scientists are welcomed,” Jan. 18] making the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants listed Wernher von Braun as a great American together with Einstein, Tesla and others. He was an aerospace engineer secretly brought to the United States after World War II with other German scientists to contribute to the American space program.

He was one of the leaders of the Nazi V-2 missile program employing slave laborers at the Dora-Nordhausen concentration camp who were often worked to death or executed for work deficiencies. 

He was an early Nazi Party member appointed as an officer in Heinrich Himmler’s SS that played a key role in the Holocaust and other war crimes. Whether von Braun’s admission that he knew of the horrendous condition of his workers should have led to his prosecution as a war criminal is a matter of legal interpretation, but he is hardly an example of a great American despite his recognition by the U.S. government and engineering societies for his work on the U.S. space program.

Lester G. Paldy

Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus

Stony Brook University

The illegal immigration issue

A few comments about your article addressing Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory President Bruce Stillman’s concerns [“CSHL’s Stillman concerned about the effect of anti-immigrant talk, policies on US science,” Jan. 11].

To begin, please stop hurting your credibility by referencing “anti-immigrant talk” or “toxic talk toward immigrants.” The issue is illegal immigration. I know, and you know, that you know this. Your disingenuous use of “immigration” casts a shadow on everything you say.

Exactly which “immigration policies that exclude a broad swath of people who might otherwise ensure American technological competitiveness” are there? I doubt they truly exist but if they do and you can cite them I will gladly work to change them. Bruce grew up in Australia so, unless he was born here and moved, is an immigrant hopefully ensuring American technological competitiveness and stands as a refutation to the claim about broad swaths.

As for the racist and sexist policy of diversity, equity and inclusion, Stillman appears to be the prototypical elitist, complaining that “now people are emboldened to attack those in leadership positions” and that “many people have an opinion on the way things ought to be.” Imagine that! Bruce seems upset that the peasants are revolting.

Paul Mannix

Wading River

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

The number of Advanced Placement courses has expanded dramatically since parents were the age of their high school children.

Whereas we could have taken, say, four or five APs, the modern high school student can graduate with considerably more.

Current students can and sometimes do take as many as eight, nine, 10 or more AP classes, in the hopes of knocking the socks off college admissions counselors, guidance counselors and future prospective employers. All those AP classes can also give students enough college credits to help them graduate in under four years.

I’d like to propose my own list of AP classes for future generations.

— AP Listening. So many people love to talk, to hear their own voices, and to tell others how they’re wrong even before people can share a fully formed opinion. In this class, students would be required to listen to new ideas, to consider them and to react and interact with others. Speaking would be considerably less important than listening carefully.

— AP Conspiracy Theory. We all know that conspiracy theories are as ubiquitous as “Welcome” signs in corner stores. This AP class would look deeply at some of the most detailed conspiracy theories, giving students a chance to question everyone and everything, including those people who create and pass along conspiracies.

— AP Saying No. To borrow from former First Lady Nancy Reagan, saying “no” to drugs, among other things, is a healthy and important part of growing up and making the most of the college experience. The class could provide students with a wide range of situations in which students say “no” without damaging their ego or social status.

— AP Social Media Etiquette, or SME, for short. Some seniors get into colleges well before their colleagues. When they do, they post pictures of themselves on campus, their parents wearing gear from the school that admitted them, and the school emblem or insignia with confetti coming down from the top of the screen. Yes, you got into college, and yes, that’s wonderful, but other members of your class are still applying and don’t need to feel awful because they haven’t gotten in anywhere yet.

— AP It’s Not About Me (or, perhaps, INAM). Yes, this is a bit like a psychology class, but instead of studying theories and psychology legends, these students could explore real-life scenarios in which, say, Sue becomes angry with John. John may not have done anything in particular, but Sue may be reacting to someone else in her life, like her parents forcing her to take AP It’s Not About Me instead of going to soccer practice.

— AP Take Responsibility. When something goes wrong at school, work or in the house, it’s far too easy to point the finger at someone else. In this class, students can learn how to take responsibility, when it’s appropriate, and demonstrate courage, leadership, and initiative in accepting responsibility for their mistakes.

— AP Personal History. Each of us has our own story to tell. Colleges urge prospective students to find their authentic voice. That’s not always easy in a world filled with formulas and scripted and structured writing. In this personal history class, students could take a microscope to their own lives and to the lives of their extended family, understanding and exploring characteristics and life stories. Students might discover family patterns they wish to emulate or to avoid at all costs.

— AP Tail Wagging. While the world is filled with problems, students could explore modern and historical moments and ideas that inspire them and that give them reasons to celebrate. This class could blend a combination of historical triumphs with small daily reasons to celebrate or, if you prefer, to wag your tail.

— AP Get to Know Your Parents. High school students who are well ahead of their time emotionally and intellectually may come to the conclusion many others reach before their mid 20’s: that their parents are, big shock here, people! Yeah, we do ridiculous thing like send them in the wrong clothing to school, miss important dances, and embarrass them by kissing them in front of their friends. This course could help accelerate the process of seeing parents for the imperfect creatures who love them unconditionally.

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