Port Jefferson artist Jennifer Hannaford, right, along with Linda Alfin, left, revitalized the Dickens Festival mural present in front of Chandler Square just off Main Street. Photo from Hannaford
It’s a scene straight out of a Charles Dickens novel, and has been displayed every holiday season for years.
Featuring buildings covered in snow, a big decorated tree and a sign that welcomes visitors to the annual Dickens Festival in the Village of Port Jefferson, the mural was starting to look a bit worn, according to local business leaders.
“The cutout is pretty old,” said Barbara Ransome, director of operations for the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce. “Businesses were saying it was looking tired and asking if anything could be done.”
With the intention to clean up the painting and make it as good as new, Ransome asked two local artists to give the decade-old mural a facelift.
Linda Alfin and Jennifer Hannaford have been spending a good part of this past year decorating different spaces throughout the village.
It started when Ransome and chamber president, Mary Joy Pipe, recruited the artists over the summer to decorate a set of electrical boxes and turn them into aquatic scenes in an attempt to beautify downtown.
“I’ve always understood that art can be powerfully transformative for a community, but engaging in this process has been fun because I get to see the change,” Hannaford said. “People also feel like their village is being cared for and, in turn, so are they.”
Since then, the pair has done several murals together throughout the village.
“Linda is one of the most efficient painters I have ever seen,” Hannaford said. “I cannot say enough about her work ethic. I hope more folks take advantage of the fact that they have this kind of service and talent in their own town. I have learned a great deal from her this year.”
And the work didn’t stop for the artists come earlier this month. Alfin said that when Ransome called last minute asking if they could “freshen up” the scene, the two artists jumped on it.
“The very next day we brought the mural back to life,” Alfin said. “Everyone walking by as we were painting was thanking us for repainting the mural.”
It took just two hours on Dec. 1 to make it vibrant, while the compliments and gratitude from residents touched the Port Jefferson muralist.
“A woman came up to us and was so happy to see us sprucing it up,” Alfin said.
While the Dickens Festival was canceled this year due to the COVID crisis, the snowmen in the scene can now greet visitors with a new smile, reminding them of what can hopefully be celebrated normally again next year.
“I’m so happy to be able to help my town look more inviting and festive with all the murals we did so far throughout the village,” Alfin said.
COVID-19 made it impossible for the traditional Run to the Port Jeff Brewing Company happen in 2020, but the Brewery and the Greater Long Island Running Club [GLIRC] banded together to stage a “virtual” 15K, 10K, and 5K that raised $1000 for the 2020 charitable beneficiary Theatre Three in downtown Port Jefferson.
A check for $1000 was presented to Theatre Three at the Brewing Company on Dec. 18.
Theatre Three is a not-for-profit dedicated to developing an appreciation for the art of live theater among the residents of Long Island. The theater presents a diverse program of fresh and imaginative revivals of classics and modern plays and is an arena for previously unproduced plays, and works towards their future development. Theatre Three provides an environment in which talent can be nurtured, encouraged, and trained in the pursuit of a professional career.
During the pandemic, there have been no live performances at Theatre Three, so the Brewery and GLIRC were happy to be able to help the theatre stay afloat in these troubled times.
Pictured at the presentation, from left, is GLIRC Race Director Ric DiVeglio; Theatre Three Board of Directors member Brian Hoerger; Theatre Three Managing Director Vivian Koutrakos; Theatre Three Executive Artistic Director Jeffrey Sanzel; Port Jeff Brewing Company owner Mike Philbrick; and GLIRC Executive Director Sue Fitzpatrick.
Carlos Cano in his new upholstery shop in Upper Port said business has been good despite the pandemic, and the community have been more than supportive. Photo by Kyle Barr
Carlos Cano, a new face to the Port Jefferson scene, could not be happier to be where he is now.
The new shop owner of Cano Decor in Upper Port Jeff has a lot to be thankful for. Though he only opened a month and a half ago in the midst of a pandemic, and in a location more known for empty storefronts than prosperous ones, he said the community has already come out in support of him and his business.
“I’m so happy, you have no idea,” he said. “The neighbors here, they are incredible. … The town is helping me, and I want to help the town.”
Carlos Cano in his new upholstery shop in Upper Port said business has been good despite the pandemic, and the community have been more than supportive. Photo by Kyle Barr
Cano originally owned an upholstery business in the Bronx, where he serviced a lot of high-end clientele in the commercial and restaurant businesses, but because of COVID-19 there was little-to-no work available. Earlier this year, he came to the area to see his brother-in-law’s house, and he immediately fell in love with Port Jefferson village. The restaurants were great, and he enjoyed the walkable aspect to everything. Talking to the landlord of the Upper Port shop, he moved his business here and has been instead focusing more on residential work.
The difference between where he used to work and where he is now could not be more different, and Cano said it’s all for the better. Satisfied customers have even bought him presents, something that would never happen in the city.
“In the Bronx, I used to see the rats fight,” he said. “Here I see the squirrels play.”
And surprisingly, he has been seeing people come through. He’s gotten plenty of work for Thanksgiving and the holidays, and he’s been kept constantly busy since he’s opened. It’s just him and his seamstress working now, where his previous business had six employees.
Cano Decor stands out among the other empty storefront of Upper Port with his bright, cursive letterings on the windows and its floral pattern and leather furniture just behind them.
“I want to bring that feeling — I want to create that [sensation that things are happening],” he said.
Cano has been doing upholstery practically ever since he came to the United States from Colombia when he was just 14. Now 54, the man said experts in the field are rare. One can count the number of upholstery professionals on Long Island on just one hand.
“This is a dying art,” he said.
The owner said his business offers residential reupholstering services on furniture, car and marine, as well as curtains and services decor services for restaurants. He promotes that all his material is high quality, with his fabrics being all American made and his leathers sourced from the U.S. or Europe.
Even beyond his work with fabrics, he also wants to see about opening up the shop for quilting or sewing classes, stuff that could perhaps reinvigorate the love and art of working with furniture.
“I want to teach this to somebody — somebody that can take up the torch, in other words,” he said.
Cano Decor can be found at 1530 Main St. in Upper Port, next to Keny Barber Shop. The upholsterer can be contacted at 631-828-2346.
How libraries look during COVID times. Photo from Comsewogue School District
Nine months into the coronavirus pandemic and schools are still adjusting. The school library, a place of solace for elementary schoolers and high school seniors alike, has had to adhere to the new and ever-changing COVID-19 protocols.
Local districts, however, have embraced the changes and have implemented new services that they never would have started if it wasn’t for the crisis.
A silver lining, school librarians across the North Shore explained how the changes have impacted them, their schools and their students.
Alice Wolcott, librarian at Elwood-John Glenn High School, said that COVID changed the landscape of public education, meaning they had to reimagine their space.
“This year we transitioned the book loan program to a digital platform, which will continue to support students’ pleasure and academic reading while still observing COVID restrictions,” she said. “Students can browse the collection online via Follett Destiny [a library management system], and if they find a title they’d like to borrow, they can request that book through our book request form.”
To adhere to COVID rules, the books are delivered in a Ziploc bag to first period teachers.
Since some students are not physically in their first period classes, the district also increased their digital library as a main focus.
Shoreham-Wading River High School librarian Kristine Hanson and Albert G. Prodell Middle School librarian Ann-Marie Kalin created an initiative to meet the need for printed books while reimagining the online presence in concert with OPALS, the open-source library system.
They created a book delivery service at their schools called BookDash, which allows students to electronically submit requests with their student ID. Then, physical books are either delivered to students at Prodell or picked up at the high school library doors at the end of the school day. The initiative is promoted through English classes, and a multitude of book recommendations are available via the OPALS pages, blogs and links.
“Kids are reliant on what’s in the catalog, books that never went out before are going out like wild,” Kalin said. “For the time being we’re making the best of it all.”
With the BookDash initiative, Kalin said students are excited to get their hands on actual books.
“So many kids are so tired of being on the screen and are desperate for that interaction with each other,” she said. “I’m seeing readers I never saw before, and there are so many requests for books. It’s very successful.”
Along with Shoreham-Wading River, other districts across Long Island are using an e-book platform called Sora, including Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School in Rocky Point.
Monica DiGiovanni teaches Sora to third graders in Rocky Point. Photo from RPSD.
Librarian Monica DiGiovanni has been visiting classrooms, having students log into their Chromebooks. She is teaching them how to check out library books with the new service, which enables students to borrow a book and read it right on their devices. Another program, Destiny Discover, enables students to find a physical book in the library and have it delivered directly to them since their libraries are currently not open.
DiGiovanni said that their school libraries have become break rooms for teachers and classroom spaces to accommodate kids in a socially distanced way.
“The library has become an interactive thing,” she said. “Students are definitely utilizing it.”
Although Rocky Point school libraries had to reshape themselves and close the doors to students, Elwood school district was able to open the doors at the high school last week. Wolcott said that right now 15 students are allowed in the library at a time, with designated seating and other stipulations in place.
“The students are really responsive and they’re following all the protocols,” she said. “It’s great to have them back.”
She even sees students, who were not her typical regulars, interacting with the library catalog more than they did before.
“Now it’s nice they’re browsing the shelves,” Wolcott said. “They’re picking books they would not have chosen otherwise.”
Donna Fife, library media specialist at Elwood Middle School, said that early on, the district was keeping library services running smoothly, while her younger students are opting to read more.
“I am seeing names I never saw before requesting books more frequently,” she said. “I know how I feel at the end of the day — I would have a hard time playing video games after screen learning.”
Fife said she thinks students are looking for something tangible now that some are looking at a computer all day long.
“They’re requesting to hold a physical copy instead of looking at another screen,” she said.
Nicole Taormina, librarian at Boyle Road Elementary School in the Comsewogue school district, said that new regulars have blossomed throughout the pandemic.
“They really love browsing online,” she said. “It’s a different experience — they are really excited now because they use their Chromebooks and have their own accounts.”
Taormina said that while the changes have been different, she’s looking forward to some normalcy in 2021, and is grateful for what 2020 helped her with.
“I’ve been able to tweak things,” she said. “And the students have been able to learn things that they may have not been able to learn before.”
Also in Comsewogue, Deniz Yildirim, a librarian at Terryville Road Elementary School, said that teaching her library classes has been different compared to years past.
“It’s been a huge change,” she said. “We can’t hand out worksheets anymore, and we do a lot online to cut down on contamination. No other class can come in other than what’s assigned in this room.”
When Yildirim visits classrooms at her school now, she will deliver books that children ask her for.
“It breaks my heart that they can’t browse,” she said. “But we’re making it work.”
And she said that all school libraries have made progress in 2020 than the past 10 years.
“Publishers, authors and librarians are working very hard to make sure kids are reading,” she said. “It’s the least we can do for them during these trying times.”
Taylor Kinsley, a librarian at Minnesauke Elementary School in the Three Village school district, said their schools have been allowing browsing within the libraries.
She said students have to use hand sanitizer before and after touching the books to be sure they have clean hands, and they reorganized the setup of the library, featuring no reading carpets on the floor.
“Elementary students are always excited to have the freedom to pick the books they want,” she said.
The district sanitizes the used books and quarantines them for about a week before putting them back on the shelves.
“I think normalcy is really important for them,” Kinsley added, referring to her students. “We’re being supercautious so why take that away from them?”
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart, right, and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. File photo
Members of a task force meant to offer reforms to Suffolk police met with community members in the 6th Precinct Dec. 8 through Zoom to listen to concerns.
As part of the Suffolk County Police Reform & Reinvention Task Force, members have been hosting Zoom meetings for each of the town’s seven precincts plus East End towns for community comment. Members of the task force include everyone from Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart and Suffolk police union president Noel DiGerolamo to NAACP chapter president Tracey Edwards and Daniel Russo, administrator of Assigned Counsel Defender Plan of Suffolk County.
In a meeting that went on for just under three hours and had over 150 participants Dec. 8, many in the community expressed some fear and apprehension surrounding police, often with people of color citing a different experience with law enforcement members than their white neighbors. A few others shared their general support for police and expressed their thanks for officers’ involvement in the community.
Erica Rechner, director of Opportunities Long Island, which tries to connect youth in underserved communities with jobs in the unionized construction industry, said she mostly works with many young people of color in communities who live in areas with high unemployment, and some come to her with criminal records. The interactions she said she’s had with police have been much different than those of her young clients.
“Their experience with the police department is not one me or my family recognize,” Rechner said. “My experience has been one of safety and security — I’m a white woman. At some point in their shared experiences the police officers are verbally abusive and often escalate to the use of excessive force. There are numerous instances of physical injury while in custody.”
She said she asked these young people to share their experiences at the public sessions, but practically all declined, fearing retaliation.
“Their experience has taught them the police are not meant for them or their community,” she added.
Odalis Hernandez, a graduate program administrator at Stony Brook University, said she was once stopped by police officers at night “with multiple police officers shining a flashlight in every window and asking for my ID and documents,” adding she felt she was being treated as up to no good from the get-go.
“I know of others who have been through much worse,” she said. “We can’t deny that those problems exist, and we need to hear that from all our precincts and leadership. We can’t let the police have a political affiliation because that disenfranchises people in the community.”
Hernandez said such things as bias and de-escalation training should not be a one-and-done class but should be a continuous dialogue for police.
Others criticized the Suffolk School Resource Officer Program, with some speakers saying such officers statistically lead to more physical confrontations and create more of a school-to-prison pipeline. Others said such officers target students who are people of color and treat them differently than white students for the same offenses.
Michelle Caldera-Kopf, an immigration lawyer and managing attorney for the Safe Passage Project, said that SROs have caused “the wrongful detention and deportation of our students.” She said such officers have shared information about students with immigration authorities, sometimes over the heads of law enforcement.
Others indicated more positive interactions with police. Rob Taylor, a member of the Citizens Academy Alumni Association, said police already do a lot of things in the community people are not aware of.
“Suffolk County has gone through a lot of changes over the years, especially since around 2014 — they’re all EMTs, they’ve undergone crisis training,” he said.
Gail Lynch-Bailey, president of the Middle Island Civic Association, said that with whatever reforms take place, “I hope we don’t lose what’s already working in these relationships — community policing is still essential.”
She added that police should look for uniformity on how crime data is presented and distributed at civic meetings, with more emphasis on displays and data-driven dialogue, such info to be published for all to see online.
“Real police reform must be data driven, and that data has to include honest breakdowns of who is being charged and where those charges are taking place,” she said.
Brookhaven Town Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden) said there should be efforts to expand the positive interactions between community and police, some of which includes just talking about what may be going on in people’s neighborhoods.
“These are all things why we need to have our police department out there, doing events, interacting, because that really supports the mission our police department is here to do,” he said.
Others shared their desire for those Black and brown voices in the community to be heard. Erin Zipman, from Stony Brook, said police need to listen to those, envisioning a future where we don’t have to endanger the lives of citizens or officers, and instead focus on treating “the roots of problems instead of punishing them.”
The task force is part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. This executive order, originally signed in June, cites that every police agency must make a comprehensive review of police departments and their procedures, and address the needs of the community to promote “trust, fairness and legitimacy, and to address any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color.”
The county has an April 1, 2021, deadline to create its reform plan for its police department to be eligible for future state funding.
Our warmest wishes for a happy holiday season from your friends at Times Beacon Record News Media. Our Setauket office will be closed Thursday, Dec. 24 through Jan. 3, 2021. We will reopen Jan. 4, 2021.
Staff member Jan Liebegott hands goodies to event participants. Photo from Comsewogue Public Library
Comsewogue Public Library, along with Elwood-based culinary school The Baking Coach, hosted a special Hot Chocolate and Cookies to Go! event Friday, Dec. 11. Staff delighted in how the event brought joy to the members and visitors who took part.
Staff members, Regine Drosos, left, and Denise Ruestow, right, get ready for the event. Photo from Comsewogue Public Library
“I saw a lot of ‘smiling eyes’ that day,” said Adult Services Librarian Jennifer Quirk-Senyk, referring to the fact that all were wearing masks. “And so many people expressed their sincere thanks and said things like, ‘what a great idea.’”
This event was planned by library staff to be as pandemic-safe as possible.Participants practiced social distancing while picking up their goodies. Nothing was consumed on premises and everything was packaged to go. The hot chocolate part of the giveaway was “add your own hot water at home” but definitely included the marshmallows. The delicious, individually-wrapped iced snowman cookies were made by The Baking Coach, as were the hot chocolate cup and contents ensembles. To add to the fun, the Library gave out a limited number of Snickerdoodle baking kits to those who visited between the hours of 2 and 4:30 p.m., while supplies lasted.
To find out about more of the Library’s programs and services, visit www.cplib.org or call 631-928-1212.
Two men have been arrested for allegedly robbing a CVS in Port Jefferson.
On Thursday, Dec. 17, at approximately 5 p.m., Suffolk County Police arrested two men who entered the CVS, located at 464 Main Street.
The two men displayed a gun and demanded cash.
Major Case Unit detectives were surveilling the location when the robbery took place. They arrested Clem Narcisse and his accomplice Lemarvin Rowan, Jr. a short distance away.
Narcisse, 47, of Brentwood, and Rowan Jr, 52, who is un-domiciled, were charged with Robbery 1st Degree. They are scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on Dec. 18.
Nicole Haff’s students hang on to the walls of Terryville elementary as part of a project to increase togetherness when everyone remains seperate. Photo by Deniz Yildirim
By Deniz Yildirim
It’s safe to say that many of us are looking forward to the end of 2020, no one more so than teachers. Last school year was disrupted by COVID-19 and this school year had a challenging start for the same reason. Teachers had to think outside of the box to reinvent every part of their day to accommodate safe practices like social distancing; could you imagine story time without gathering your class on a carpet or learning your students names without seeing their faces?
Despite all of these challenges, Comsewogue schools are making it work, and are creating some much needed cheer for the holidays. For the past six years Terryville Road Elementary School has hosted a door decorating contest and produced some truly genius and show stopping doors. Since classes have been split into two groups, the obvious theme was “We are seperate together.” This year students worked “together” to decorate pieces which they applied to the door. With the help of teachers and aids, classes created delightful and creative doors like Jackie Dunn’s 4th grade class. They decorated both doors and included the space between them to make a mountain landscape with a zipline which students are riding into each others’ room.
Even virtual students were able to participate. Annemarie Sciove, the Terryville elementary principal, compiled pictures of finished school doors and included pictures from virtual students which was then presented to the school during an in school virtual assembly.
“It’s very important to remember we are together even if we can’t see each other.” Sciove said.
In keeping with that mindset, the school donated over $1,000 to families in need during this difficult time. Superintendent Jennifer Quinn makes a point to visit every school during this hectic time and this year her nephew has joined the Terryville family. She said, “Terryville never ceases to amaze me! The doors are a visual representation ofwhat we are doing with our hearts.”
Stony Brook Children’s Hospital Celebrates 10 Years with Long Island Aquarium Show. Photo from SBHU
For 40 years, Stony Brook University Hospital has been caring for kids, but 2020 holds an even more notable moment for Suffolk County’s sole children’s hospital.
The outside of Stony Brook University Children’s Hospital. Photo from SBUH
Dr. Carolyn Milana, chair of the Department of Pediatrics and physician-in-chief at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, said this year is a very special one.
The children’s hospital is celebrating its 10-year anniversary as a standalone hospital, after opening its new building last year.
“Our brand-new facility allows us to continue to provide the same expert care to the children and adolescents of Suffolk County in a state-of-the-art environment designed to promote healing,” she said. “All of the space within the children’s hospital, and the programs we offer, are designed to support both the child and their family throughout their hospital stay.”
At the new building, live feeds from the Long Island Aquarium are shown in the lobby and throughout the pediatric floors.
An inside look at the Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. Photo from SBUH
To celebrate its decade-long care, the children’s hospital teamed up with the Riverhead-based aquarium for a sea lion show virtually shown to supporters, patients and their families. On Dec. 9, viewers tuned in as the sea lion balanced balls, did tricks and posed in a delightful routine that kids and adults enjoyed.
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