Port Jefferson High School. File photo by Elana Glowatz
If all goes according to plan, Port Jefferson school district residents will pay almost the same in taxes next year.
Between those taxes, state aid and other revenues, the total budget for 2016-17 could actually go down, according to a presentation from Assistant Superintendent for Business Sean Leister at the school board meeting on Tuesday night. That’s largely because the district would not spend as much on capital projects next year, with the new high school elevator being one big-ticket item that will not be repeated, and because the district will see a drop in its debt repayments.
Those two significant decreases would offset increases in health insurance payments and transportation costs, among others.
The proposed $41.3 million plan would maintain all academic programs and staffing levels, despite the 2.5 percent decrease in spending as compared to the 2015-16 budget. But Leister noted that the tax levy would go in the opposite direction — residents would see a slight increase of 0.11 percent. That levy bump would come in just below the state-mandated cap on how much it could increase next year, which Leister estimates at 0.16 percent.
Leister’s estimate for next year’s increase in state aid is larger: He’s putting that at 6 percent, a number he called “conservative,” especially in light of the recent discussion between state officials about the Gap Elimination Adjustment.
The adjustment, a deduction taken out of each New York school district’s state aid, was enacted several years ago to help get the state government out of a fiscal crisis. The deduction has been decreasing lately, and there is talk that it could be removed completely in the coming cycle.
Leister is not as optimistic.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said.
If, however, Port Jefferson receives more state aid than it allots for in the budget, Leister said school officials would decide together how to spend it.
And Superintendent Ken Bossert assured the school board that the district also has a plan in the event of receiving less state aid than estimated in the budget proposal.
There are “still a lot of moving parts” in the budget planning process, Leister said. In addition to the question about state aid totals, school districts are still waiting on final numbers for their tax levy caps.
Elizabeth Ann Castrogiovanni as Elizabeth Fuller and Marci Bing as Bette Davis in a scene from ‘Me & Jezebel.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.
By Michael Tessler
Bette Davis epitomized glamour, style, and sexiness for decades. And then, she didn’t. Consumed by controversy, she fell, like most stars do, only to land in a most unexpected place.
Elizabeth Ann Castrogiovanni as Elizabeth Fuller and Marci Bing as Bette Davis in a scene from ‘Me & Jezebel.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.
Written by Elizabeth Fuller and directed by Bradlee Bing, Port Jefferson’s Theatre Three brings Bette Davis back to life for a roaring good time in their production of “Me and Jezebel,” a true story that shows a side of the Hollywood legend that very few have seen before.
Marci Bing is Bette Davis. Each of her steps is made with such dramatic purpose, each line delivered with diction so precise you could slice bread. You’d be hard-pressed to find an audience member who hadn’t convinced themselves they were actually watching “The Fifth Warner Brother” herself.
Bing, a longtime actress at Theatre Three, takes a lifetime of experience to the stage to deliver an unforgettable performance. She captures not the starlit diva of yesteryear, but rather the aged, raspy, resentful, yet regal nonetheless, 77-year-old Bette Davis.
This dynamic character would prove a serious challenge for even the most veteran performers, yet Bing delivers on all levels, leaving you desperately surfing through Turner Classic Movies afterwards to catch Bette Davis classics like “Of Human Bondage” and “Jezebel.” Her perfectly-paced performance will make you love her, hate her, then love her all over again.
On her opposite, is the relatable, and significantly tamer, Mrs. Fuller, the real-life writer who unexpectedly became hostess to one of Hollywood’s greatest and most controversial stars. Played by the extremely talented Elizabeth Ann Castrogiovanni, another Theatre Three veteran, this young mother finds herself face-to-face with her childhood hero. This true encounter is recreated perfectly on-stage, using a storytelling style slightly different from your usual stage production.
Castrogiovanni shines as she plays not just Mrs. Fuller, but also her stern husband, rambunctious son, and a southern evangelist determined to convert the often unholy Bette Davis. Her impressive balancing of these secondary characters will make you laugh, sneer, and sniffle. Each character takes on a life of its own and interacts flawlessly with Davis.
Perhaps my favorite part of Castrogiovanni’s performance was the reverence not just for Davis, but for her real life counterpart, Marci Bing. These two form a chemistry that brings the whole show together and brings the whole house down. Her tension, starstruck mannerisms, and admiration feel so authentic that it’s hard not to believe what you’re watching isn’t actually happening for the first time. Castrogiovanni could revisit the show in a few years and easily pick up the role of Bette Davis.
Much of the show’s success can be attributed to Mr. Bradlee Bing. His expert direction helped create an atmosphere perfect for shaping these characters. The simple set and subtle lighting helped bring the Fuller’s New England cottage to life. This provided excellent embellishments to an already marvelous performance.
If you know Bette Davis, you’ll love the show. If you’ve never heard of her, you’ll fall in love with her the night you see it.
Theatre Three, 412 Main St., Port Jefferson will present “Me & Jezebel” through Feb. 6. Contains adult themes and language. Tickets range from $15 to $30. For more information, call 631-928-9100 or visit www.theatrethree.com.
Rocky Point's cheerleading squad takes first place with its performance in Small School varsity Division I "A" during the cheerleading sectionals on their own home mat on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue cheerleaders compete in Small School varsity Division I "B" at the cheerleading sectionals held at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. The Warriors walked away with a first-place finish. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park cheerleaders compete in Small School varsity Division I "B" cheerleading sectionals at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Northport cheerleaders compete in Small School varsity Division I "A" during the cheerleading sectionals at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue cheerleaders compete in Small School varsity Division I "B" cheerleading sectionals at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point's cheerleaders hold up signs during their routine that earned them first place on their own mats during the cheerleading sectionals on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue senior captain Brooke Piligian gets the crowd going at the cheerleading sectionals held at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue cheerleaders leap in the air during their routine that earned them first place in Small School varsity Division I "B" during the cheerleading sectionals at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point's cheerleading squad took first place in Small School varsity Division I "A" during the cheerleading sectionals on Jan. 10 on the Eagles' home turf. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
Cheerleading squads from all over Suffolk County converged on the mats of Rocky Point High School Sunday for the Suffolk County cheerleading sectionals, where Rocky Point and Comsewogue ran away with first-place finishes.
Cheerleading officially became a recognized sport in the 2015-16 school year, making this sectional event the first time that the competition is overseen and sanctioned by the New York State Public High School Athletics Association.
Rocky Point was the first of 31 teams to take to the mat first in Small School Division I “A,” and the squad wowed the crowd with a two-and-a-half minute routine, despite head coach Anna Spallina feeling less impressed with her Eagles, which are 12-time regional and three-time national champions.
“You have two and a half minutes to prove yourself out on the mat — if you don’t prove yourself in those two and a half minutes, you don’t get a second chance,” Spallina said. “You can’t go to the net again with a ball, or throw that pass one more time, so one little slip, an inch this way or an inch that way, and you can throw it away.”
Pleased or not Spallina’s squad earned first place in the division followed by Longwood and East Islip came in third.
With a squad of consisting of mainly eighth and ninth-graders, and only three seniors, Rocky Point senior Courtney Kelly said the Eagles’ only competition was themselves.
“We don’t worry about any other teams, we just worry about ourselves because the only routine we have to beat is ours,” she said.
Brittany Reh said there are some other challenges now that cheerleading is recognized as a sport, such as a different scoring sheet and new rules, but thought her team performed well despite the changes.
“We had a pretty good performance,” she said. “We stayed positive.”
Claire Johannesen said her team has had better execution on the mat, but will continue to work hard to remain at the team’s standards.
“Today was an okay performance, so we definitely have things we have to go to work on in practice,” she said. “But we did many things well that we’ll build on going forward.”
Northport hit the mat next looking to give Rocky Point a run for first place, and after a performance that impressed the judges, the Tigers’ head coach Danielle Milazzo talked about the adjustment her team has had to adjust to the scoring changes.
“The whole scoring rubric is completely different from last year, so we’re trying to get used to that,” Milazzo said. “We’ve reworked routines to align them with the scoring sheets to try to make sure we get the maximum number of points from New York State.”
Comsewogue hit the mat in the second session, as did Kings Park, competing in the Small School Division I “B.” The Warriors put on a flawless performance as the crowd exploded in applause with their finish, but head coach Stefanie Breitfeller was just relieved that the routine was behind her, as the team had yet another hurdle to jump prior to a competition.
“We had a major change this morning as I found out last night one of the girls came down with pink eye,” Breitfeller said. “We had to replace a starter, so we came into this thinking this could go badly or it could go very well.”
Comsewogue senior Samantha Donlon was thrilled with her team’s first-place finish.
“We did absolutely amazing — we have worked so hard for this day and I’m really proud,” she said. “I’m so happy and this will make us perform even harder next week.”
Comsewogue senior Rachel Steck said she thought her Warriors team also performed well, but thinks that like always, there is room for improvement.
“It could’ve been a little tighter, but I’m just so proud of my team,” she said.”We did our best today. We’ll practice our routine; we’ll make it harder and we’ll make it cleaner.”
For junior Brittany Dein, she thought her team performed beyond its expectations with the last-minute change.
“All week we’ve been running the routine a whole bunch of times and I can’t fault any part of our performance,” Dein said.
The teams will reconvene on Sunday Jan. 24 at Hauppauge High School for the second round of competition.
Comsewogue kids are going to get another view of their education system.
“Beyond Measure,” a documentary by director Vicki Abeles about “America’s troubled education system,” will be screened on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium, in an event hosted by TASK, Comsewogue High School’s student government. The film is a follow-up to Abeles’ 2010 documentary “Race to Nowhere,” which provided a close-up look at the pressures placed on young students in America.
“In Beyond Measure, we find a revolution brewing in public schools across the country,” according to a description on the film’s official website. “From rural Kentucky to New York City, schools that are breaking away from an outmoded, test-driven education are shaping a new vision for our classrooms.”
Comsewogue school district and its superintendent, Joe Rella, have been at the forefront of the battle against the Common Core and standardized testing, standing out as one of the strongest voices on Long Island and in New York State. In addition to appearing at local protests, the district even went as far last year as considering a proposal to refuse to administer state exams unless the state delivered more education aid and reduced the weight of student test scores on teacher and administration evaluations.
The description of “Beyond Measure” on the documentary’s website echoes some sentiments expressed by educators and parents who oppose the Common Core and state testing.
“We’re told that in order to fix what’s broken, we need to narrow our curricula, standardize our classrooms, and find new ways to measure students and teachers,” it says. “But what if these ‘fixes’ are making our schools worse? In ‘Beyond Measure,’ we set out to challenge the assumptions of our current education story.”
Screenings of the film have taken place across the United States over the past year, with more scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.
“I am thrilled that our high school students are actively playing a role in exploring education policy, and look forward to their insight,” school board member Ali Gordon said in an email. “I believe that the issue of standardized testing is central to the debate about the direction of public education all over the nation, not just here. Education policies created at the federal and state level focus heavily on data collected from standardized testing, which has resulted in a huge shift away from student-centered learning.”
Tickets to attend the screening of the film at Comsewogue High School are $10 and are available online or at the door prior to the event.
For more information about the film, visit www.beyondmeasurefilm.com.
Supervisor Ed Romaine takes his oath of office at the 2016 inauguration ceremony at the Town of Brookhaven headquarters. Photo by Giselle Barkley
Brookhaven is back in business.
Elected officials, their family members and other residents packed into the Town of Brookhaven auditorium in Farmingville on Jan. 7 to witness Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) being sworn into his second full term in office alongside fellow recently elected and re-elected board members, including board newcomer Councilman Michael Loguercio (R-Middle Island) and other town officials.
Loguercio said he was also in good spirits. He said the ceremony was a good way to begin “the long journey to continue helping the community.”
Back in November, Loguercio won the race for the 4th District — a position previously held by former Councilwoman Connie Kepert, a Democrat.
Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) said Thursday’s ceremony was a day of celebration that helped validate how residents voted during the 2015 elections. Bonner added “they like to make it open to the public so they could see the whole process and take part in it.”
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone speaks during the 2016 inauguration ceremony at the Town of Brookhaven headquarters. Photo by Giselle Barkley
In light of the board’s past work, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) highlighted Romaine’s performance as the supervisor saying that Romaine has always been one of the fiercest and most passionate advocates for what he believes in.
“That’s what leadership is about really,” Bellone said. “Putting aside the things that will at the end of the day do not really matter to people’s lives but what will make our communities and our town and our country a better place.”
Although residents saw the supervisor and Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro (R) officially sworn into their terms for the first time on Thursday, other elected officials recently elected to the board were officially sworn in at a previous event held on Tuesday Jan. 5. While several councilmembers were no strangers to the ceremony, the swearing in process still never gets boring, one North Shore lawmaker said.
Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro takes his oath of office at the 2016 inauguration ceremony at the Town of Brookhaven headquarters. Photo by Giselle Barkley
“I’m really excited to get started again,” said Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden) before the ceremony. “It was a great first two years — we accomplished a great deal. I’m really looking forward to the next two years.”
Romaine was sworn in last by Judge Judith Pascale, who also spoke highly of the supervisor and his leadership before he took his oath of office. Despite the praise, Romaine admitted that addressing challenges in the town is a group effort.
“Working in concert with our colleagues at Suffolk County and New York State will determine in large part the future we face,” Romaine said in his speech following his oath. “I pledge to work with my town board to find common purpose. To address these challenges head on and to make decisions necessary for a prosperous future and one that serves all the residents of this town.”
Skeleton racer nabs first place in 2016 IBSF World Cup race in Lake Placid
Annie O'Shea, of Port Jefferson Station, practiced for the World Cup skeleton race in Lake Placid, NY earlier this week. O'Shea won her first World Cup gold medal in the event on Jan. 8 Photo by Pat Hendrick
On her home track in Lake Placid, Port Jefferson Station’s Annie O’Shea won her first gold medal in a World Cup skeleton race.
O’Shea scored a combined time of 1 minute, 50.34 seconds, beating out Switzerland’s Marina Gilardoni by 0.09 seconds for the top spot. O’Shea slid down the track in a time of 55.26 seconds in her first heat, which was good enough for third place, a tenth of a second behind the leaders. She followed that up with a time of 55.08 seconds in her second run, tying a track record.
Annie O’Shea, who graduated from Comsewogue, recently won her first World Cup gold medal in a skeleton race in Lake Placid, NY. Photo from the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.
“I wanted this for so long,” O’Shea said. “Everything I’ve done these past 10 year — to become better and work on myself and the process, has paid off.”
After her second run at the 2016 International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation World Cup event on Jan. 8, O’Shea stood at the bottom of the mountain watching as the only two racers who could beat her time took their turns. When she saw that she’d won, her jaw dropped as she leaped in the air before hugging her assistant scouting coach, Zach Lund.
“I started crying at the bottom and I couldn’t stop,” she said. After the awards ceremony, O’Shea stopped to sign autographs for young fans.
The Port Jefferson Station athlete, who graduated from Comsewogue and was a 2004 outdoor track and field state champion in the pentathlon when she attended SUNY Plattsburgh, had been ranked 11th in the world coming into this World Cup event in Lake Placid, which is home to the “Miracle on Ice” USA men’s ice hockey team that won a gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
O’Shea said she appreciates the consistent support from her family, friends and community.
“It’s nice to feel when you go home that people kind of have a place for you or are cheering for you,” she said.
O’Shea had previously won a silver medal in December of 2011 in La Plagne, France. This, however, is her first gold at this level of competition.
Tuffy Latour, the head coach of the skeleton team, said O’Shea has been building towards this moment for several years, and has come on strong this year.
“Her potential [has been] through the roof,” Latour said. “It was kind of story book for her. She [was in] third and then put down a very fast heat.”
Port Jefferson Station’s Annie O’Shea, center, claimed a first-place finish behind Marina Gilardoni from Switzerland, left, and Laura Deas from Great Britain, right, in the World Cup skeleton race in Lake Placid, NY. Photo from Amanda Bird
Her mother, Linda, watched the race at her desk in the Comsewogue School District’s district office. She said she jumped out of her seat and cheered with one of her colleagues who watched the finish with her, drawing a crowd of people to her desk, who were quick to share I the excitement.
“I’m so proud of her,” Linda O’Shea said. “It’s the perfect start to a new year.”
Competitors in skeleton use the same curved ice track as racers in luge and bobsled. Bent over and holding onto the sides of their sleds, they sprint for five to six seconds, then dive headfirst onto their sleds. Clad in aerodynamic suits, they slide down the track at speeds of over 80 miles per hour, banking through turns with slight shifts of their body weight.
The next World Cup skeleton race will take place in Park City, Utah on Jan. 15th and 16th. The World Cup races are the second-largest events in the sport behind the Olympics. The skeleton team is currently preparing for the 2018 games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Photo by Al Semm/Port Jefferson Village digital archive
It was 44 years ago this week that a tank barge split in half in Port Jefferson Harbor, prompting a U.S. Coast Guard investigation.
The barge I.O.S. 3301 — which was connected to the towing vessel Martha R. Ingram and functioning as one with that vessel — had just finished off-loading more than 100,000 barrels of gasoline and almost 50,000 barrels of furnace oil in the incident on Monday, Jan. 10, 1972, according to a Coast Guard report. It went to turn around in the “shallow harbor” that morning but “as the last mooring line was being released, the vessel suddenly broke almost completely in half, and the two ends sank to the bottom. The barge was less than 1 year old.”
Photo by Al Semm/Port Jefferson Village digital archive
That crack in the middle of the ship went all the way across the main deck, down both the barge’s starboard and port sides and across almost half of its bottom. The forward and aft sections of the ship formed a 21-degree angle with the sea, the Coast Guard reported.
The vessel had arrived at the Consolidated Fuel Oil Company terminal in Port Jefferson Harbor the day before the sinking, after taking off from the Houston area on New Year’s Day and making a stop in Bridgeport, Conn. The Coast Guard reported that no one was injured in the sinking, but the barge was significantly damaged and the Martha R. Ingram, the adjacent pier and a tug on the scene sustained some damage.
In addition, “Residue of the ruptured tanks on the barge and piping on the pier caused some minor petroleum pollution to the harbor.”
Photo by Al Semm/Port Jefferson Village digital archive
The Coast Guard cited deficiencies in the barge’s steel as factors in the damage to the ship, but also said its primary cause was “uneven distribution of cargo and ballast at the extremities of the vessel.”
The crew members were able to get off the ship safely despite crew at the bow being cut off from lifesaving equipment, which was located at the stern.
Although the sea was calm that day, water temperatures were close to freezing — according to the Coast Guard, the air temperature was 46 degrees Fahrenheit but it was 40 degrees in the water.
The 584-foot barge “split in a manner which has occurred many times at ambient temperatures in structures fabricated from mild- and low-alloy steels.”
Three trustee seats up for election next Wednesday
The upcoming budget vote is at the library on Thompson Street. File photo
By Giselle Barkley
Port Jefferson Free Library will soon have a full board of trustees for the first time in a while, after an election on Jan. 13 in which four candidates are running for three seats.
Residents can meet the group at the library on Monday, at 7 p.m., including incumbents Laura Hill Timpanaro and Susan Prechtl-Loper with newcomers Carl Siegel and Joel Rosenthal.
Susan Prechtl-Loper is running for the Port Jefferson library’s board of trustees. Photo from the candidate
The two candidates who win the most votes will secure seats with five-year terms and the third-place finisher will win a seat that carries a two-year term.
The shorter term is available after former Trustee Harriet Martin vacated her seat on the board, leaving a couple of years left on her term.
Hill Timpanaro, the current board president, has been a trustee for the past five years and is seeking re-election. She heads the library’s planning and building committee and has worked on several projects, including securing grants and modernizing the library to keep up with changes in technology.
“The library is moving into a time of change, not only for PJFL but for the libraries in general,” Hill Timpanaro said in an email. “As technology continues to change patrons’ needs we have the opportunity to create a community cornerstone that suits a diverse clientele and becomes [an] anchor for the community.”
Laura Hill Timpanaro is running for the Port Jefferson library’s board of trustees. Photo from the candidate
Hill Timpanaro has lived in Port Jefferson for 15 years. Outside the library, she’s also helped secure funds to build a garden at the Port Jefferson elementary school.
She hopes to continue her work on expanding the library in a new term, especially now that the library has acquired two adjacent properties — a residence on Thompson Street and a business on East Main Street.
Fellow incumbent Prechtl-Loper, the board’s financial officer and a member since 2013, is also seeking re-election, with the goal of further improving the library and its services.
She said the biggest accomplishment for the trustees since she first joined was when the library purchased the Scented Cottage Garden property on East Main Street in May, to help satisfy the library’s parking and general needs.
For Prechtl-Loper, a village resident for more than 20 years and a library member for more than 50, the institution is like home.
Carl Siegel is running for the Port Jefferson library’s board of trustees. Photo from Valerie Schwarz
“I grew up in the library,” she said. “I have really fond memories there.”
Siegel, like the incumbents, is no stranger to the board of trustees. He served from 1994 to 1999 and is hoping to return this year.
During Siegel’s previous tenure, he helped establish the children’s library and an adult reading room, among several other projects. Now that building plans are underway to address a parking shortage and add a room to host live performances, Siegel wants to help execute those projects.
He was an English teacher at the Port Jefferson high school for 23 years before retiring in 1992. Since then, he’s been active in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Stony Brook University, which offers a variety of courses to its older students. He served as its president in 1997.
For Rosenthal, whose has lived in Port Jefferson Village for 50 years, the election is a new phase. While he’s never been a trustee, Rosenthal is aware of the library’s plans for expansion and would like to work with fellow trustees on the projects.
Joel Rosenthal is running for the Port Jefferson library’s board of trustees. Photo from Valerie Schwarz
“With the tremendous changes in technology, [the trustees] should make some informed decisions about the library,” he said in an interview.
Rosenthal is a distinguished professor emeritus of history at Stony Brook University. He was also previously the chair of the history department and took on other administrative roles before partially retiring from the university.
Although Rosenthal said he would prefer the two-year seat to a five-year seat, he would “take what I can get.”
Voting is at the library on Wednesday, Jan. 13, between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m.
James Thristino (No. 11) beats out a defender and the goalkeeper before sending his shot into the net. Photo by Brian Ballweg
Everyone was giving 110 percent at practice, but since his adjustment from high school to college ball was challenging for him, former Comsewogue soccer standout James Thristino had to put in that much more effort.
The payoff proved to be worthwhile, as the Adelphi University freshman forward earned Eastern College Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year honors as a result.
“I had to come in fit — keep working as hard as I can because I was just a freshman going into a team that’s very good,” Thristino said. ”And in the beginning, it started off a little slow for me.”
Matt Giaconelli, a sophomore midfielder for the Panthers, said he was excited to see what his new teammate, who was Long Island’s leading goal-scorer and point-scorer as a junior and senior, would bring to the team.
“I thought he was going to be a big help right from the start,” he said. “Any goal-scorer is going to be useful on any team.”
Giaconelli said the freshman forward was a little discouraged at first, because he needed to adjust to the speed and physicality of the game at the next level, but he adapted in his first season. As a result, Thristino’s efforts also earned him an ECAC Second Team placement.
“He scored plenty of goals and he helped us out a lot,” Giaconelli said. “He had a great season and he deserved it. He worked hard.”
James Thristino moves between two defenders to grab a pass. Photo by Brian Ballweg
Head coach Carlo Acquista also noticed his player’s dedication to the game.
“He showed his talent and ability and why we recruited him,” he said. “He came in and needed to adjust a little bit, but he did a good job. He was right on course to do what he was supposed to do and what we expected him to do.”
Thristino said he worked with the juniors and seniors on the team, especially captain, midfielder and forward Alejandro Penzini, one of his roommates, to work on adjusting his game, despite being intimidated by the upperclassmen from the start.
Acquista said he worked with the team’s assistant coaches as well.
“He did a little bit of extra individual work and he really absorbed all the information that I brought to the table,” he said. “I think he did a good job of picking up the learning curve very quickly.”
Rooming not only with the captain, Thristino bunked with junior midfielder Caelan Hueber, who scored the most goals on the team — with 11 on the season — and had five assists. Thristino said he didn’t think he’d scored as many as the eight goals and two assists he did, which was good for second-highest on the roster.
“The college game is faster, more physical, hard-working and demanding — everyone expects more because they’re great players from all around,” he said. “You need to improve.”
And with each game, he did. Thristino wasn’t a starter, but he found a way to make his presence known.
In the team’s Sept. 26 game against Vermont’s St. Michael’s College, Thristino was subbed into the game about 20 minutes in, and with his first touch on the ball, beat out a defender and scored to put the Panthers’ first point on the board. After the Knights scored the equalizer, the former Warriors star tapped in a rebound to score the game-winner.
“Scoring the second goal to put us ahead was a good feeling,” Thristino said. “After, my teammates grabbed me, hugged me in the corner. That made me think, ‘All right, I like this feeling. I need to keep it going.’”
And he did that, too.
He scored all three goals in a 3-0 win over Stonehill College in Massachusetts on Oct. 10.
“It was all hard work,” he said of the different ways he scored to help his team to another victory. “To be successful at college soccer, you need to be hard-working. You need to give 110 percent every time you step onto the field” because the competition is better than it is on the high school level. “You don’t get that many chances on the ball sometimes, so if you get one, you have to capitalize because you might not get many more.”
James Thristino sends the ball into play for Adelphi University. Photo by Brian Ballweg
Following both games, the forward earned separate Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week honors.
Some of the freshman’s most memorable moments from the season include scoring his first playoff goal against Le Moyne College in the quarterfinals and celebrating in front of a large crowd. Another was when his team was tied 1-1 against Merrimack College and, with five minutes left in the game, he stole the ball away from the goalkeeper and knocked in a shot from 30 yards out that ended up being another game-winner.
“I ran into the corner and one of my best friends was on the sidelines and he tackled me to the floor as we celebrated,” he said. “That’s probably the most memorable one because that brought us to the championship for the first time in school history.”
His coach thanked him for being in the wrong position on that play.
“He made me look like a genius,” Acquista said. “I’m always excited for my guys to do well, and he took his role every game and he learned from it.”
As a result of his hard work and garnering his accolades this season, Thristino is looking forward to the next chapter of his college career.
“Getting that [Rookie of the Year] award boosted my confidence to the next level,” he said. “Knowing I could do even better next season, I’m going to keep raising my standards even higher, like I did in high school. It worked for me and I always want to do something better than what I previously did because I like to prove people wrong.”
The head coach said his athlete listened to what he needed him to do and did it, and it led to a successful season. He’s hoping for more from his forward in the future.
“For James to get Rookie of the Year is impressive because [in] the Northeast-10 Division II you get a lot of older international players as well,” he said. “So for a true rookie, 18 years old, to get Rookie of the Year in the conference is pretty unheard of … so that’s credit to him. … I just want James to keep growing and keep getting better.”
Port Jefferson code Chief Wally Tomaszewski. File photo by Elana Glowatz
Code enforcement officers in Port Jefferson will get a raise for the first time in several years if they approve their first union contract next week.
At the Jan. 4 village board of trustees meeting, the board approved the new agreement, settled upon a couple of years after negotiations began. The Port Jefferson Constable Association union must still ratify the contract to finalize it.
The new agreement would be retroactive to June 2014 and run through the end of May 2018, Trustee Bruce D’Abramo said in a phone interview. With part of the contract being retroactive, so is part of the proposed pay increase — the union members would receive an extra $1.50 for each hour they worked between June 2014 and the end of May 2015; and another $1.75 per hour worked from June 2015 and onward.
Moving forward, the officers from the Code Enforcement Bureau would receive an hourly bump of $0.25 each new year of the contract, meaning they would get a raise in June 2016 and June 2017.
The few dozen staff members covered under the proposal includes code enforcement officers and sergeants as well as appearance ticket officers, D’Abramo said. The union does not include code Chief Wally Tomaszewski or three lieutenants in the bureau.
According to both village officials and the union, it has been a while since the officers received a raise.
Port Jefferson Constable Association President Tom Grimaldi has been a code officer for more than seven years, he said, and the last salary increase was “way before I got there. Probably at least 10 years ago.”
D’Abramo noted that before the proposed raises kick in, the pay for code enforcement officers is $16 per hour. For sergeants, the pay is $18.25 per hour, and appearance ticket officers currently get $13.50 per hour.
The contract is “a long time coming,” Grimaldi said.
And D’Abramo said village officials are happy to put the negotiations behind them so they can finally “give the code officers, who do such a good job for the village, the kind of remuneration” that is comparable to such officers in other villages.
The constables have been particularly visible recently with some high-profile incidents in Port Jefferson Village.
In mid-December, a Belle Terre man was killed when he lost control of his Lamborghini while driving up a steep East Broadway hill and crashed into a pole near High Street. Officer Paul Barbato was the first on the scene, finding a “horribly mangled vehicle with a person still alive inside,” Trustee Larry LaPointe reported at a board meeting shortly after the crash. Barbato got inside the car and attempted CPR on 48-year-old Glen Nelson, but the driver later died.
“You can only imagine the scene he came upon,” Mayor Margot Garant said on Jan. 4.
In a phone interview, Tomaszewski said Barbato “tried desperately to save his life. Believe me, his boots were filled with blood.”
Code enforcement officer James Murdocco. File photo by Elana Glowatz
A couple of weeks later, on New Year’s Day, patrolling code officers James Murdocco and John Vinicombe responded to an overdose at the Islandwide Taxi stand near the Port Jefferson Long Island Rail Road station.
LaPointe said at the board meeting on Jan. 4 that Murdocco administered the anti-overdose medication Narcan and “saved the person’s life by doing so.”
Tomaszewski described another recent incident in which officer Gina Savoie “thwarted a burglary” on Crystal Brook Hollow Road. He said after Savoie took action and called for police assistance, the two suspects, who are from Coram, were arrested for loitering.
“My hat goes off to the code enforcement bureau,” Garant said at the most recent board meeting. “They’re out there handling things that are unimaginable for us to even contemplate.”
Prev
