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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

We seem to be living at a higher level of anxiety. Maybe not all of us. Somewhere there might be one or two souls who are still calmly oblivious to the world around us. Those are the ones who have turned off their televisions and radios, who don’t read newspapers and have put away their cellphones. But from conversations I have had, that’s not the rest of us. The rest of us are quietly, or not so quietly concerned.

What’s wrong? Let’s make a list. Better yet, let’s not. Instead, let’s think about how to cope.

One way to start is to divide what troubles us into two lists: those we can do something about and those we cannot. Then concentrate on the former. When confronted with hate, we can respond with kindness. We can listen rather than scream. We can do our tiny bit to help make our neighborhood a better place.

A psychotherapist I was interviewing recently told me she instructs her anxious clients to concentrate on their breathing, taking deep breaths for ten minutes to calm the body. The usual trio of eating, sleeping and exercising properly are critically important to maintain. Meditation, and even aromatherapy may also help. 

Specifically:

Exercise regularly. It’s good for both body and mind. One recent study revealed that “people with physically active lifestyles had about 60 percent lower risk of developing anxiety disorders,” according to healthline. This study was done over 21 years and followed 400,000 participants.

How does exercise work? For one, it provides a distraction from whatever is worrying. Also, getting the heart rate up changes brain chemistry, encouraging the secretion of anti-anxiety brain messengers like serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). According to the American Psychological Association, “regular exercise leads to an enhancement of concentration and willpower, which can help certain anxiety symptoms.” 

Plus you feel good, especially when you stop. Walking is the simplest and perhaps most enjoyable way to exercise, particularly at this time of year, when it is not too hot nor too cold, and the changing colors of the foliage are a delight.

Eating a balanced diet, and eating it calmly, is important. Low blood sugar levels, dehydration and chemicals in processed foods, such as artificial flavorings, artificial coloring and preservatives can cause mood changes. A high-sugar diet can also have a negative reaction. So what should we eat? Fruits and vegetables, especially those leafy dark green ones rather than those high in starch, are ideal. After that, complex carbohydrates and beans, are a good source of nutrition. I happen to like fish, the white fleshy kind like sea bass, rather than lean meat, for animal protein. But remember, there is plenty of protein in veggies and beans.

Sleep is so important. A good night’s sleep leaves me feeling as if, the next day, I could “leap tall buildings at a single bound,” to borrow from the Superman tagline. Ah, but how to get a good night’s sleep? I am a good sleeper, and I will tell you what I do—most of the time.

I don’t watch television or use my computer or cellphone before going to bed. Something about that blue light wakes me up. I don’t even have those in my bedroom. I will sometimes read a bit, but not a page turner. My room is the coolest in the house, and I will frequently have the window open, even a tiny bit, in winter. I know that going to bed the same time each night is recommended, though I don’t always follow that advice. Also no alcohol before bedtime is also advised. It helps put me to sleep but I will be wide awake when the alcohol wears off in the middle of the night. And, I invested in a comfy down comforter years ago that, with its plushness, invites me into bed.

Better not to nap during the day, and that leaves me sufficiently tired by bedtime, especially if I have exercised. At least, it should. If it doesn’t, I will empty my thoughts onto a list, put the pad on the bedside table, then doze off.

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By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

My wife and I used to say “the recording is always on.”

It was our code words to each other to be careful about what we said and did in front of our children, particularly when, as many parents know, we might not want our children to act or speak in the same way we might be tempted to in the moment.

Our children have an incredible ability to monitor everything we do, even when they don’t appear to be paying any attention to us. Sometimes, they actively choose the opposite because our choices annoyed or frustrated them.

If, as many of us say and believe, we want our children to be better than we are, we wish them well, wait and watch, hoping their happiness, success and achievements far exceed our own.

Perhaps such reaction formation is what brings grandparents and grandchildren together, causing various characteristics to skip a generation, as two opposites create the same.

Aside from things like weekly routines, an emphasis (or not) on achievements like community service, or performance in sports or music, parents recognize that we are role models.

In the movie “42” about trailblazer Jackie Robinson, the first African-American man to play in Major League Baseball, a father shouts racial epithets at Robinson, leading his conflicted son to ponder how to behave. The son echoes what his father shouts.

In that moment, Peewee Reese puts his arm around Robinson, offering his public support and quieting the hostile crowd. Reese even suggests, as a nod to the realities of today, that “Maybe tomorrow we’ll all wear number 42. That way they won’t tell us apart.”

Films are great, but we don’t live in a world where supportive music and smiling heroes remind us who we are or how we should act.

It’s up to us to decide how to be better for ourselves and for our children.

A friend recently shared a story about his daughter. A college student, she was working at an ice cream store during a fall break. A few customers came in and a man in the group asked her where she attended college.

When she told him, the man suggested that there were Muslims who attended that college and it would be easy enough to take a few of them behind the shed and get rid of them.

The man who made a joke about murder at a time of violent conflict in the Middle East and ongoing and hostile disagreements among Americans probably wasn’t thinking about his children, about my friend’s daughter, or anyone else.

Maybe he was repeating the words his father or mother said at the dinner table, after an evening of drinking or within minutes of leaving a house of worship.

Is that the person he wants to be? Is that what he would encourage his own children to believe, that people who practice other religions or have other beliefs are somehow such enemies that it’s okay to make such a comment?

We have to be better than that. Maybe the guy didn’t mean it, but even saying it suggests that he not only thought it, but that he also likely shared that idea in some context in front of his children.

Killing and hatred won’t end if we don’t hold ourselves accountable for our actions and words.

We identify ourselves in particular ways, by such factors as nationality, religion, race, among many other labels.

Those identifiers, many of which we didn’t choose but are an accident of our birth, mean that others around us are on the outside, associating with a different group.

We owe it to our children to imagine and create a better world. That starts by serving as role models and not as reflexive perpetuators of anger, hatred, or prejudice towards those we consider others.

With the world echoing the conditions from the 20th century, we should speak and act in ways that bring people together and that would make us proud if and when we heard our children making those same, or perhaps better, remarks.

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Inside this issue is a treasure trove of first-hand information about the candidates and the issues in the coming election. How do I know? Because we, the different members of the editorial board of Times Beacon Record Newspapers, personally interviewed 25 people running for office across the three towns that we serve: Brookhaven, Smithtown and Huntington. The offices the candidates are running for are all local, which means that these are the officials who will have the most direct effect on our lives. 

The positions range this year from county legislators to town supervisors, town council, and town clerk. We asked them questions without bias, seeking only to understand who they were, what they believed and what we could expect from each of them, should they be elected — or re-elected, as the case might be. The setting in our conference room was relaxed, and we hoped comfortable, with opponents for each office seated together around the table responding to questions put to them by our editors and reporters. 

Sometimes there were four candidates, sometimes only one who might be running unopposed or against a shadow opponent, but mostly there were two during each session. Most of the time, the hour goes by calmly, but occasionally the opponents get testy with each other — they may even become openly hostile.

At one such session some years ago, one of the candidates invited the other out to the back parking lot “to settle things.” When the other began to take off his jacket, we quickly intervened. But there were no such flare-ups this year. 

The answers were timed in an attempt to get to the main ideas without running on too long. There was ample time at the end for each visitor to tell us anything more that perhaps we hadn’t elicited with our questioning. 

We have written up the details of each interview in a separate article for the election section. And we discuss the candidates at the end of each hour and come to a conclusion for the endorsement. 

Most of the time, the editorial group was unanimous because the choices were fairly direct. But for a couple of races, we talked over the pros and cons of each candidate at length before making the selection. These endorsements are based on both the in-depth interviews and the considerable information we know about the incumbents since we have been covering them closely throughout their terms in office. Of course, after reading the stories, you may or may not agree with our conclusions. Our job is to get you thinking.

The many hours that are given to this task, throughout the month of October, are a service for our readers. We are privileged to enjoy an extended face-to-face time with those standing for election, and we feel an obligation to pass along whatever information, facts and impressions we gather during these sessions. We sincerely hope we help in the sometimes-difficult job of casting a responsible vote.

Each year we include in the election section a sample ballot that we are able to procure from the Suffolk County Board of Elections because readers have told us that it is a great advantage for them to receive the ballot at the voting poll already knowing how it is laid out.

Our editorial board is made up of staffers with different political leanings, but when we put our journalists’ hats on, we try to judge each race strictly on the merits of the opposing candidates. And while it is technically possible for me to be tyrannical about the final selections, that is almost never the case. We decide by majority rule.

Sincere thanks to the talented staff who join in this extra work each year. We truly believe that we are watchdogs for the people, and nowhere is that more necessary than in reporting about government and its office holders. We hope we have helped you, whether you read by newspaper and/or online. Now please vote.  

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While every election is important, we take special care in informing our readers ahead of local races. With Election Day — Nov. 7 — fast approaching, we remind our readers why voting in local town and county elections is critical.

Unfortunately, many Americans today are losing faith in our democratic norms. Everywhere we look, we see partisanship, tribalism and polarization undermining our political process. National media sources often feed into and inflame these divisions for monetary and partisan gain.

Lower levels of government can offer a powerful counterbalance to all of this noise. Both literally and figuratively, local officials are closer to the people — their seats of government are located within our communities, and their decisions more immediately influence our day-to-day lives.

The issues debated by local legislatures are often far removed from the political theater observed in Washington and Albany. Local elections are not about the national debt ceiling, universal free health care or American foreign policy — remote if important issues in our ordinary lives.

Local elections are about us and the complexion of our community. They determine land use and zoning policies within our neighborhoods and commercial districts, drainage and related wastewater infrastructure investments, waste management services, park access, street paving and much more. Local elections determine the granular matters which shape our relationships to our surrounding area.

We remind our readers to be especially wary of candidates and commentators who inject national issues into our local dialogue. Those who do so are often ideologically driven, engaged in illicit political posturing.

We advise prospective voters to begin researching their ballots thoroughly. A functional local democracy requires a well-informed, enlightened electorate. And the more informed we are collectively, the better our elected officeholders will be.

When considering a candidate for local office, we should never decide based on party affiliation alone. This one-dimensional voting strategy cheapens our votes, outsourcing our decisions to the party bosses who handpick the nominees on our ballots.

We must ask ourselves whether a candidate possesses the requisite professional experience and knowledge to advance our interests. We must ask whether their values align with our own. And we must determine whether a candidate is running to promote the public good or to serve their self-interest.

Next week, TBR News Media will release its annual election supplement. Through interviews with various local candidates across our coverage area, we hope our readers will enter the voting booth better equipped to make informed judgments. We will also offer endorsements for candidates who best reflect our staff’s values.

With less than two weeks to go, we must get serious about our votes — because local elections matter.

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Preserving Long Island’s water starts with your vote

A recent article in Newsday described how the tourist industry is booming on Long Island and particularly in Suffolk County.

We have our farms, beaches, vineyards, state and national parks, museums, fishing and other water activities, theaters, music venues and, of course, a diversity of people. What underpins all of these things is the quality of our environment, especially water. Water that we drink, bathe in, cook in, swim, harvest and play in.

If we do not protect this resource, we will become known as the island surrounded by filthy water with contaminated drinking and bathing water that makes residents and visitors alike sick. All of this would not make for good tourism slogans.

If you want a healthy life and healthy economy, then be sure to vote, and vote for the candidates that pledge to protect this life-giving resource. Vote the Democratic line A and protect our beautiful island.

Deirdre Hensen

Miller Place

Democratic policies wrong for Suffolk

Suffolk County went red last year because Democrats running New York State have given us policies local voters found wholly unacceptable.

Incumbents, even long-serving ones, lost races because they didn’t grasp the sea change in priorities for county residents.

It began with a disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s [D] deadly mishandling of the COVID-19 public health emergency. In addition, the real-time results of Dem-endorsed cashless bail hit home when Suffolk suffered 399 fentanyl overdose deaths in 2022, and Officer Michael LaFauci miraculously survived a shooting from an alleged assailant, whose prior arrests should have kept him off the streets.

Proudly proclaiming New York state and its five boroughs “sanctuaries” has been a humanitarian disaster, a security risk and fiscal nightmare. The latter is sure to cost already-overburdened taxpayers a ton of money.

Even hardworking, productive people fleeing NYS in record numbers have not been a wakeup call for Democrats. None of these crises have been critical enough for Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] to call her one-party rule Legislature back to Albany. There remains no serious attempt to reverse their poor decisions regarding our high taxes, growing crime and flood of unvetted migrants.

On the contrary, they have candidates running on platforms pretty similar to the ones costing them elections less than a year ago.

Long-serving, former Assemblyman Steve Englebright [D-Setauket] has voted for cashless bail, remained mum on our sanctuary status and been part of the Dem bloc that got NYS rated as having the highest overall tax burden in the U.S.

As someone who’s had cordial, respectful conversations with Steve, this is not meant to be a personal attack. But, his endorsement by the Working Families Party is a clear indication they believe he remains in step with many of their far-left positions, which puts him out of step with the changing concerns of Suffolk voters.

Jim Soviero

East Setauket

School literature at Three Village school district and America’s legacy

Upon reading the letter about the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” [“Challenging the assigned literature at Three Village school district,” The Village Times Herald, Oct. 19] I was wondering if the letter was written tongue in cheek. Our record of how we have treated Native Americans is absolutely horrendous.

To say, “With a few exceptions, we have been nothing but kind to the so-called Native Americans,” is a gross and inexcusable perversion of American history. Native Americans have been murdered, forced off their land, moved across the country, forced to live on reservations and assigned to the horrors of poverty and alcoholism.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony paid a bounty for Indian scalps. These are the same people who supposedly “broke bread” with Native Americans. The book referred to in the letter is a story of the life of one teenager and how being a Native American affected that life.

The book’s discussion is of the life of a teenager, similar in age to the juniors in our high school. Those juniors are 16 to 17 years old. This is not a manual for decadent behavior, but rather a story of what one Native American has lived through. These stories are known to our teenagers in their lives growing up in 21st century America.

Unfortunately, this letter distorts American history and shows little faith and understanding of America’s teenage population.

Stuart Bernstein

Setauket

Distinguishing between opinions and prejudice

Regarding the letter, “Challenging the assigned literature at Three Village school district” [The Village Times Herald, Oct. 19], I am astonished that you would publish such an ignorant and bigoted letter, which was so off the wall I thought at first it was a joke.

We have a long, rich tradition of free speech in our country, which says that everyone is entitled to their opinion. But an opinion unsupported by evidence is a prejudice. And while people are entitled to their prejudices, you do not have to lend them legitimacy by printing unsupportable claims about how the Europeans treated the Native populace with mercy and kindness (Google the “Trail of Tears” sometime), or that 16- and 17-year-old high school juniors need to be protected from literature that might lead them to perform “decadent acts on themselves,” presumably meaning masturbation.

I’ve got a feeling the horse has long since left the barn on that one, which recalls the old joke: “99 out of 100 teenage boys admit to masturbating — and the other one is lying.”

People are allowed to believe all kinds of nonsense, but you are under no obligation to amplify and legitimize it.

Kenneth Wishnia

East Setauket

The case for transitioning Long Island’s homes from gas to electricity

The Oct. 19 article on Long Island’s opposition to the NYS natural gas ban [“NYS natural gas ban meets intense local opposition on Long Island,” TBR News Media website] details some potential issues predictably raised by those concerned about change or invested in the status quo, but some of these concerns don’t stand up and others are addressed in legislation passed by the Senate last year and which proponents are now urging Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] to include in her budget this year.

Breathing clean air inside our homes will be a significant benefit to everyone currently using gas, most especially our children.

Both LIPA and PSEG Long Island state that the present electrical system is quite adequate to handle minor additional loads from stoves and heat pumps, especially since winter loads are lower than summer loads.

Only about 1,100 new homes are built on all of Long Island each year, limiting the impact on job elimination. While plumbing demand will decrease when electricity replaces gas, the demand for electricians will rise.

Affordability is a critical consideration as we move forward in the energy transition, and the proposed NY Heat Act directly addresses the issue in two ways. The bill will cap energy bills at 6% of income for low- and middle-income families. In addition, the legislation would do away with the “100-foot rule,” which requires customers to pay for the extension of gas lines to buildings within 100 feet, regardless of need. Estimates state that the 100-foot rule could result in a savings of up to $75 per month on energy bills for low- and middle-income families.

Most importantly, the switch from gas to electric will dramatically improve indoor air quality, leading to improved health for NY residents. In the U.S., children living in a home with a gas stove have an increased risk of asthma by 42%. Chronic exposure is linked to cancer and heart disease.

“The levels of [indoor] air pollution can easily exceed health guidelines and would be considered illegal if they occurred outside,” Sandra Steingraber, co-founder of Concerned Health Professionals of New York, said. “These vapors quickly spread throughout our homes and in some cases raise bedroom benzene concentrations above acceptable health benchmarks for hours after the gas stove has been turned off.”

Both the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association have recognized the links among gas stoves, nitrogen dioxide pollution and increased respiratory illnesses in children, and have called for a transition away from gas stoves and toward electrification of home appliances.

Stuart Braman

Port Washington

Editor’s note: The writer is an adjunct research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.

The importance of local restaurants

Why not patronize your neighborhood restaurants during Long Island Restaurant Week Oct. 25-Nov. 5 with a wide variety of lunch and dinner specials all year long.

My wife and I don’t mind occasionally paying a little more to help our favorite restaurants survive. Don’t forget your cook and server. We try to tip 20-25% against the total bill, including taxes. If it is an odd amount, we round up to the next dollar.

If we can afford to eat out, we can afford an extra dollar tip. When ordering take out, we always leave a dollar or two for the waiter or cook. It is appreciated.

The restaurant industry employs hosts, bartenders, waiters, busboys, cooks, cashiers and parking valets, wholesale food sellers, distributors and linen suppliers. There are also construction contractors who renovate or build new restaurants.

Our local entrepreneurs work long hours, pay taxes and provide local employment especially to students during the summer. 

If we don’t patronize our local restaurants, they don’t eat either. Why travel into Manhattan when we have so many great neighborhood restaurants in Centereach, Cold Spring Harbor, Commack, Hauppauge, Northport, Mount Sinai, Port Jefferson, Smithtown, Stony Brook and other nearby communities in Suffolk County from which to select.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Supporting Chad Lennon for Suffolk

As a Vietnam War combat veteran with a Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star V Device and Air Medal, I am asking not only all veterans but all to vote for Chad Lennon for Suffolk County’s 6th Legislative District. 

Chad is a major in the U.S. Marine Corps and a proven leader. While serving in Afghanistan, he was wounded and received a Purple Heart. I can tell you firsthand that Chad is always assisting veterans and their families. He stands with our men and women in blue and will always back them.

He will be active in stopping drugs that are decimating our young generation as well as keeping environmental issues top of mind. Chad has proven himself as a leader and will bring that learned experience to the 6th Legislative District. Vote Chad Lennon.

Joe Cognitore

Sgt. 2/8th First Cav Air Mobile Recon

Rocky Point

Two incumbent Suffolk County legislators stifle democracy

As we approach Election Day, some incumbent Suffolk County legislators are counting on voters to have short memories. Three months ago, they voted against allowing you to vote on the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act.

This act was passed by the New York State Legislature earlier this year as part of the state budget. It’s the product of many years of delicate negotiations. It has overwhelming bipartisan support from Suffolk County state and congressional representatives, earmarking millions of dollars of New York State money for the benefit of Suffolk.

It also would mean additional millions of federal infrastructure dollars for Suffolk. It addresses, after decades of inaction, the underlying causes of the serious and worsening problems with water quality in our county, producing extensive algal blooms and fishkills in our lakes, harbors and estuaries, and growing nitrogen pollution of our aquifers.

In spite of all this, county Legislators Leslie Kennedy [R-Nesconset] and Trish Bergin [R-East Islip] voted to not allow this act to be put to the voters on the November ballot. Doing so, they effectively stymied it, since it requires voter approval to take effect.

They offered lame excuses for this, such as proposing to “fix” the act. They know this is bogus. The act, which allocates state money to our county, is state, not county legislation. There was griping about the 1/8 of 1% increase in the sales tax, which amounts to $50 on $40,000 of nonfood or clothing purchases in one year. Is that too much to finally deal with our water pollution problem?

Most likely, the real reason for blocking voters from approving or rejecting this act was to protect their own political fortunes, hoping that with it off the ballot voters who care about water quality won’t show up.

Which brings up the real issue: The flagrant arrogance of putting themselves above the people who elected them. If you oppose the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act, fine. You should be able to vote to reject it. If it’s rejected by the voters, that’s the way democracy works. The way democracy doesn’t work is by having politicians use their power to disallow voting.

Whatever your views on the act itself, you should vote for Denis Graziano or Derek Stein, who oppose Kennedy and Bergin, respectively, to send the message that politicians who use their power to block voters have no business representing them.

David Friedman

St. James

 

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President Barack Obama said he wanted even more funding for treatment. File photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Years before he was the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama gave me a call.

I was working at Bloomberg News as a banking reporter and was covering some financial services issue. A source of mine suggested that I chat with this state senator from Illinois, whom he insisted was going places. My source clearly recognized Obama’s potential.

What I recall about a conversation that was akin to getting a rookie card for Derek Jeter was that Obama was erudite, eloquent and halting in his response to my questions. Attuned to the rapid pace of New York conversation, I was unaccustomed to the cadence of his conversation.

When Obama ran for office, I recognized not only his name but also his speech pattern.

I have had brushes with a wide range of people of varying levels of fame, often times in the context of my work as a journalist. Please find below a brief compendium of such interactions.

— Jim Lovell. The commander of Apollo 13, Lovell and his wife Marilyn attended an event in Florida where I was their point of contact. When the cool night breeze gave Marilyn a chill, Lovell jumped up to get her sweater and asked when they could leave. I asked my bosses, who wanted Lovell, who was the honored guest, to stay until after dinner. He was greatly appreciative when I told him he could finally lift off.

— Yogi Berra. I attended an event at Tavern on the Green event, where Berra was a client of the host. Even though I was only five foot, seven inches tall at the time (I’m probably a bit shorter now), I towered over the older and thin former Yankees catcher. When I told him it was an honor to meet him, he took my hand in his and offered a polite smile.

— Eliot Spitzer. Before he was a governor and client 9, Spitzer was a hard-charging New York Attorney General who went after investment banks for inflating stocks to help their business at the potential expense of investors. I spoke regularly with Spitzer, whose energy and intellect made it hard for my fingers to keep up while I was typing notes. I expected the impressive and ambitious Spitzer to ascend to national office.

— Scott Kelly. I interviewed Astronaut Scott Kelly after he set an American record for continuous time in space of 340 days aboard the International Space Station. With his then girlfriend, now wife, Amika Kauderer, in the room, the two of them described his book. She also recounted the second class treatment she received from some of the wives who weren’t impressed with her status as a girlfriend.

— Ed Koch. The former New York mayor was a staple at Bloomberg News, where I worked for several years. At 6 feet, two inches tall, Koch towered over me as he regularly filled his plate with some of the free snacks and sugary treats at the newsroom.

— Hank Paulson. I interviewed the former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs at an International Monetary Fund meeting in Hong Kong. After I asked the first question, Paulson, who would become Treasury Secretary, yanked the microphone out of my hands and spent the rest of the interview holding it up to his mouth. I tried to project my voice into the microphone and above the chatter in a crowded restaurant.

— Goldie Hawn. At a lunch at Shun Lee Palace near Lincoln Center with a former banker from the now defunct Lehman Brothers, I spotted the famous actress as I approached her crowded table. Dressed in a sleeveless black dress, she could tell I recognized her. Rather than look away, she gave me a warm and welcoming smile. I wished, even moments later, that I had given her a thumbs up or an appreciative grin. 

— Earl “The Pearl” Monroe. When I was at the New York Daily News, I spoke regularly with the Knicks legend for a rookie (Channing Frye) vs. veteran stock picking contest. While he lost the contest, he couldn’t have been friendlier and more receptive during our weekly calls, updating me on his life and sharing his weekly stock picks.

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

A woman I know is now a widow. She has two adult children but lives many miles from them. In order to visit her home and her town, which are located in a beautiful part of the country, they are required to take two flights, then drive a couple of hours to reach her.

The relationship she had with her late husband was not so different from many couples: she took care of the shopping and cooking, and he paid the bills and balanced the checking account. They both loved their house and how they lived.

But life for her has taken a turn.

Not only is she now alone, she is approaching 80 and has trouble walking. She manages the aisles of the supermarket with difficulty, and so hasn’t had any fresh produce or other perishables in a month. As a result, she is not eating well. Her son is coming shortly to manage her finances and fix whatever might need repair in the home, but he has to leave his own children and his job to do that. As a result, the number of visits he can make is limited. Her daughter, who lives in a big city and has a demanding job, has yet to come. Another relative, who lives across the country, recently offered several days of help but cannot do that with any regularity.

Unsurprisingly, all are urging her to move closer to one of them.

“I want to stay in my own home!” is her adamant reply. She wants to age in place. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines aging in place as “the ability to live in one’s own home and community safely, independently and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level.”

She is no different from 90 percent of adults over the age of 65 who say they prefer to stay in their current residence as they age.This is a major issue. Can this woman remain in her home? Can any of us, as we age, plan to remain in our homes?

Some considerations include home preparation. Can she avoid falling? Among the greatest threats to older people is falling, a leading cause of injurious death. That may be prevented by installing grab bars in the shower, railings on the stairs, avoiding loose throw rugs and obstructed pathways. Increased lighting, walk-in bathtubs, sliding shelves,  even walk-in showers can greatly aid all of us, whether we are aged or not yet there.

Technology can also be a help. This woman’s son can pay her bills remotely, if appropriate arrangements are made with her bank. He can also order various items she may need over the internet, including food from the local markets. The reaction to COVID-19 is to be thanked for the ease and wide-spread availability of remote purchasing plus delivery. And, with a little patience on the part of the younger generation, she might be taught to use the computer to order for herself.

To help her walking, she might get hiking poles or an electric wheelchair or even an electric scooter to ride to her friends in the neighborhood if she doesn’t want to use a cane or a walker. Some 32 percent of those over age 65 have difficulty walking, so this is not so strange.

Cognitive problems, which she doesn’t have but, according to statistics, 1 out of 5 people over 55 will experience, can be mitigated by some help from local social services. Research by her family would be required. But this presents a more severe need that may involve moving into an assisted living facility in the community.

Older adults should not have to leave the towns and school districts they have paid taxes to help maintain over the years and the familiarity and daily support system that has built up around them during their long residence.

We need to give more attention and planning to this segment of the people. And we need to follow their lead rather than demand they change their lives.

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Photo by Raymond Janis

Reviewing Figliola’s campaign record

Voters deserve elected officials who are transparent and truthful about who they are.

When a politician is seeking elected office, we must consider the candidate’s views and whether they are a good fit for the office they seek to represent.

Consider the case of Anthony Figliola, who is running for Suffolk County Legislature after an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Congress in 2022.

2022’s Anthony Figliola ran as a MAGA Republican who opposed reproductive rights, sought to ban books and censor what is taught in public schools, and opposed lifesaving science in the form of vaccines. 2022’s Anthony Figliola happily posed with election denier Rudy Giuliani and was endorsed by extremist organizations, including Moms for Liberty and various “patriot” groups.

In 2023, there seems to be a new Anthony Figliola, who says he’s running for a “nonideological” position. This is patently false. We’ve seen how partisan politics have infected our county, with the Suffolk Republicans refusing to allow a referendum on water quality and sewer infrastructure on our November 2023 ballot.

Who is the real Anthony Figliola? The county’s 5th Legislative District deserves an honest legislator, not a political chameleon.

We have the opportunity to elect Steve Englebright [D-Setauket], whose decades-long record on environmental protection, public education and public health is clear and consistent. Englebright deserves our support on Nov. 7 to represent us in the Suffolk County Legislature.

Ian Farber, Setauket

Shoshana Hershkowitz, South Setauket

Anne Chimelis, Setauket

Christine Latham, Stony Brook

Challenging the assigned literature at Three Village school district

After learning about the book, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” assigned to the juniors in the Three Village school district [see “High school novel stirs controversy among Three Village parents,” The Village Times Herald, Oct. 5, also TBR News Media website], I’m compelled to speak out.

Why would any educator encourage our innocent and still-developing children to be exposed to material that stains our magnificent heritage? With a few exceptions, we’ve been nothing but kind to the so-called Native Americans.

Didn’t we break bread with them on the very first Thanksgiving? Didn’t we tutor them about our advanced form of living?

Didn’t we provide them with many large reservations on some of the most fertile land available in all of America?

We even opened the National Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan.

However, that’s not the most offensive element of the book in question.

The truly decadent part practically serves as a manual for depraved sexual behavior. It subtly encourages our children to perform decadent acts on themselves.

We know that not fully mature children tend to mimic what they see and learn. If the children read this book, do we really want them closing bedroom doors and privately committing vulgar and unhealthy autoerotic acts? And what will it lead to?

Bruce Stasiuk

Setauket

Local elected officials can kickstart Port Jeff Branch electrification

Concerning “Staying On Track: Port Jefferson Branch electrification gains ground in MTA’s 20 Year plan” [TBR News Media, Oct. 12], it has still not left the station.

The $18 billion Phase One Gateway Hudson River Tunnel, $7.7 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase and $5.5 billion Brooklyn Queens Light Rail Interborough Express Connector for Gov. Kathy Hochul [D], Sens. Chuck Schumer [D-NY] and Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Janno Lieber are still the top three transportation priorities.

In the race for federal funding, which is necessary for double tracking and electrification, the Port Jefferson Branch, along with 19 other expansion and enhancement projects, still has no committed funding.

Lieber recently announced that the agency will study extending a future subway line even farther along West 125th Street in Manhattan, if funding could be found. This third phase of the Second Avenue Subway could easily cost $7.5 billion. This is on top of $3.4 billion in Federal Transit Administration funding toward the hoped-for $7.7 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase 2.

The next opportunity for MTA to commit funding to advance Port Jeff Branch electrification would be within 15 months, when the 2025-2029 Five Year Capital Plan is adopted. This will be followed by the 2030-2034, 2035-2039 and 2040-2044 Five Year Capital Plans.

Funding needs to be programmed in increments. First, for preliminary design and engineering to support the National Environmental Policy Act review.

Local elected officials who support this project could tap into their own town, county or state funding to find several million dollars. This could pay for the environmental review and advance this project.

Following NEPA is necessary to preserve FTA funding eligibility. Next, request permission from FTA to enter the Capital Investment Grants New Starts/Core Capacity program.

Then comes final design and engineering, property easements, land acquisition and utility relocation. This would be followed by $1.5 to $2 billion in local MTA funding to leverage a similar amount in federal funding under a future FTA CIG Full Funding Grant Agreement. These actions would be spread out over several MTA Five Year Capital programs. As each Five Year Capital program comes and goes, it will delay any hope of seeing Port Jefferson Branch electrification in our lifetimes.

A completion date of 2040 is a moving target. Will it be 2040, 2045, 2050, 2055 or later? Who knows?

Larry Penner

Great Neck

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Across the North Shore of Suffolk County, our roads are dangerous, and the public safety risks seem to multiply.

Statistics from the county website indicate that 546 of our fellow residents died while walking, bicycling, riding a motorcycle or driving in our county between 2017 and 2021. That startling figure is higher than any other New York county during the same period.

Some traffic fatalities and injuries are likely unavoidable. In a country that constitutionally protects the sale of alcohol and a state that legalizes recreational marijuana, some instances of intoxicated driving seem inevitable. For those who drive drunk or high, there should be stricter penalties.

But other traffic fatalities and injuries are preventable.

Many communities around the TBR News Media coverage area lack extensive sidewalk networks, meaning those who wish to walk, jog or bike do so along public roadways.

The glaring problem with this arrangement is that many of our roadways, such as state Route 25A, are far too narrow to accommodate lanes for vehicular traffic, pedestrians and bicyclists simultaneously. Poor street lighting further complicates the situation.

Earlier this year, the New York State Department of Transportation painted share markings onto 25A, signaling to drivers that they must share the roadways with bicyclists. We find NYSDOT’s striping efforts deeply counterproductive, suggesting the agency lacks familiarity with our dire roadway realities.

Especially along the North Shore, with its beautiful active-use transit options — such as the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway and the North Shore Rail Trail — pedestrians and bikers should be discouraged from using the roadways for leisure purposes. Why risk a fatal injury when there are miles of paved surfaces designed to offer a safe alternative?

We find most frustrating the numerous pedestrians who exercise little or no caution while walking at night. These reckless pedestrians add another unnecessary burden to our already overtaxed roads.

These nightwalkers, often wearing dark clothing without a flashlight or reflective gear — place too much responsibility on drivers, who have enough to worry about while behind the wheel. These are merely terrible accidents waiting to happen — and they recur week after week.

We encourage walkers to use the available hike-bike trails whenever possible instead of walking on the streets. If we must walk on local roadways late at night, we can, at a minimum, wear bright colors, use reflective gear for our dogs and ourselves, and shine the flashlights on our smartphones.

All these actions help alert drivers of our presence, reducing the risk of a traffic tragedy.

We encourage NYSDOT and our county, town and village officials to continue advocating for and promoting walkability by constructing new sidewalks while expanding and connecting linear parks. And we advise all drivers to stay on high alert — and respect speed limits. 

Let us take the appropriate safeguards to make our streets safe for all — because even one pedestrian fatality is one too many.

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Here we are, once again feeling the excitement of starting a new venture the way we did, more than 47 years ago, when we published the first issue of The Village Times. Tomorrow we start the first of our weekly podcasts, “Press Room Afterhour.” It’s heady stuff to be an entrepreneur. All that adrenalin is addicting.

So what is “Press Room Afterhour”?

It’s the name of our podcast. We have been practicing Thursday evenings after the papers come out. We, the editorial board, sit around the conference table and talk about some of the news stories of the week, filling in more details that didn’t make it into print, giving our personal take on the articles we wrote. The sessions will be available to listeners each Friday and will last 20-30 minutes. Each story is discussed for about 3 minutes. We sometimes pepper each other with questions or add our reactions, even as we fill in the readers who perhaps haven’t had a chance to keep up with the news.

The permanent members on the podcast are : Managing Editor Raymond Janis, Co-Producer Mike Vincenti and me, Editor and Publisher. We are grateful for our Audio Editor and Co-Producer, Michael Dunaief, behind the scenes. There are also one or two reporters who have written some of each week’s news. And we might even have a distinguished guest attend the session.

Mike often asks questions, prompting us to expand on the information we are offering our readers and viewers. He represents the less well informed listener since he comes straight from a long-day’s work, and he hasn’t yet read that days’s paper or watched our website and wants to know what has happened in the villages and towns since last week. This works to tease out some of the facts we might not have included. Raymond, the reporters and I field the questions and sometimes add our perspectives. And we encourage the guest, if there is one that night, to add his or her thoughts relative to the subject. 

To lead off this week, we have invited Beverly Tyler to be our honored guest for tomorrow’s podcast since he was on the front page of The Village Times in the first issue April 8, 1976. Bev is a highly respected author, speaker and many-splendored historian who knows endless stories about the Revolutionary War and its local participants as it took place on Long Island. He also specializes in other aspects of our history.

So how do you hear the podcast?

For starters, you can hear it on our website: tbrnewsmedia.com. We also will have it on Spotify on Fridays after 12 pm, if you wish to go to that platform. 

So why have we begun this? Really for the same reason we started our papers, our website and our social media platforms. We know that information is vital for every resident to have if we are going to participate in a democratic form of government. Without news, without a discussion of the issues, residents would not be able to vote knowledgeably, would not participate in local issues that might affect them directly. They would not have the pleasure of reading about cultural offerings and their children’s sports teams. In short, there wouldn’t be the sense of community that a local news outlet provides.

Additionally we are sponsored by local businesses with brief advertising spots included among the news items. If you would like to be a sponsor please contact us. 

Podcasts are another way of reaching you, the public, with the news you need and, we trust, want to know. And it’s a way for you to reach us and tell us how we can help. News deserts are popping up throughout the nation, and those communities without media to give them voice and protect them from various civic ills are much the poorer. They are without spokespeople who can and do speak truth to power on their behalf.

We would welcome your thoughts regarding this new venture. Email us your comments to [email protected].

Here we go.

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