On Thursday, June 17, a man was found dead in Port Jefferson Station at the Greenway Trail, near Clifton Place at approximately 1 a.m.
Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the stabbing death of a man that occurred on the trail. The body of the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on the case to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392.
Mayor Margot Garant was reelected by Port Jefferson residents for a seventh term.
Along with fellow trustee incumbents, Kathianne Snaden (936 votes) and Stanley Loucks (930 votes) the Unity Party announced their victory win Tuesday night.
Garant took home 913 votes, while candidate Barbara Ransome — on the Alliance for All ballot — had 513. Suzanne Velazquez, who ran alongside Ransome, received 552 votes.
“I can’t even believe this,” said Garant to her crowd of supporters the night of the win June 15. “I’m so lucky to be here with you guys, to be serving you in this beautiful village.”
Ransome, who serves as the director of operations for the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, said that she and her campaign-mate were saddened by the loss.
“We worked hard to have a high integrity campaign,” she said. “We were disappointed because our hopes were that people really wanted change and that didn’t happen.”
But she and Velazquez took the high road, calling Garant after the results were announced to congratulate her on the win.
“I told her the chamber will still be a great partner to the village,” she said.
Velazquez agreed, and said she was thankful to all the people who supported Team Alliance for All.
“I’m proud to have the opportunity to run for village trustee, especially walking the various neighborhoods, meeting and talking with our neighbors,” she said. “As mentioned in our campaign, both Barbara and I are involved in our community and will continue to be — always trying to make Port Jefferson a great place to live, work and play every day. We have and hope to continue our good, working relationship with Village Hall to make Port Jefferson Village the healthy community we all want it to be.”
Garant, who has been the village’s mayor for 12 years, said she is grateful to serve the community for another two years.
“Sixty-five percent of the voter population that turned out said we are doing a great job,” she said. “So, we’re going to advance this community together. I want to thank our opponents for bringing out the issues, and for engaging our constituents. We are now putting our heads back down and going back to work.”
When announced, Snaden and Loucks were overjoyed. Loucks made a point to thank the mayor, too.
“Margot is the one who needs to be thanked,” he said. “She held the group together — and it wasn’t an easy year, it was a very difficult year.”
He said he’s honored to live, and help lead, this village.
“We’re living, in my opinion, in the best village anywhere — not only on Long Island, but in New York state,” he said. “You’ve got everything here — and Margot has led us through it.”
Snaden, who was reelected to her second term, also thanked the mayor for her support from the beginning.
“I knocked on Margot’s door three years ago and I said I want to make a difference. I want to help. What can I do?” she said. “And she sucked me in — and I thank her for that because there was no turning back at that point. It opened up doors that I was able to see where I could help. I grabbed it and I ran with it. And the support that you guys all give me is what keeps me going every single day.”
John Reilly also scored 869 votes as judge in the Justice Court.
Port Jefferson Village officials headed to Centennial Beach on Saturday to unveil its new beach cleanup incentive.
Partnering with Remsenburg-based nonprofit Relic Sustainability, the group has collaborated several times with the county and the Town of Brookhaven to create cleaner beaches for everyone to enjoy.
“Our goal is to collaborate with the town, businesses and community members in combating beach pollution that is a growing issue on the coastline of Long Island,” Alex Kravitz, COO of Relic, previously told TBR News.
On Saturday, June 12, county, town and village officials joined the group to celebrate Port Jefferson’s first basket station right at the entrance into Centennial Beach. These stations give beachgoers the opportunity to take a basket on the beach, pick up trash and deposit it into a trash receptacle. This is part of Relic’s Coastal Collaborative project, which encompasses 10 preexisting stations across Long Island, including one at Cedar Beach that was unveiled by the town in April.
Kravitz said the plan is to add more stations across Long Island and at different county parks.
Spearheaded to bring into the village by Trustee Rebecca Kassay, she said the baskets will help people make good choices while out and about, as well as at home.
“It’s so important to put in steps like this, to empower individuals to be good stewards of their community,” she said. “This station is so simple, people see it, they get it right away, and it’s a prompt to remind people that it is so easy to do something so good and so important for our ocean, for our sound and for our harbor.”
Kassay added they are planning on bringing two more stations to other beaches in the village.
County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) said the stations will be great for children to learn how important it is to keep the beaches clean.
“I think it’s great for families, cleaning up a beach, cleaning up a park — its instant gratification for the kids that are participating, it shows them the impact they can make right then and there.”
Brookhaven Councilman Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) applauded the groups for bringing the baskets in.
“I think that this is really great leadership from the village in setting up this kind of thing, and helping to show people ways that we can change our own behavior,” he said.
The first station at Centennial Beach has been sponsored by the Fox and Owl Inn — which Kassay owns. Relic said they are continuously looking for sponsors for the other baskets that will soon pop up.
Relic also sells organic apparel that gives back to local waters. For every T-shirt sold, they plant five oysters back into Moriches Bay.
The clothing items are available at relic-design.com.
The Miller Business Center at the Middle Country Public Library invited businesses back for in-person networking at the Strictly Business trade show on June 8.
A heat wave did not stop the 10-plus attendees who connected with 30 local businesses and business organizations.The partnership between the library’s Miller Business Center, the Greater Middle Country Chamber of Commerce and the Brookhaven Chambers of Commerce Coalition was created more than a decade ago to promote local businesses and boost economic development in the region. Proceeds help to support these organizations. Sponsors include Flushing Bank, Synergy Wealth Strategies and Pure Mammography.
Photo from MCPL
Mayor Margot Garant was voted by Port Jefferson residents for a seventh term.
Along with fellow incumbents, Trustee Kathianne Snaden (936 votes) and Trustee Stanley Loucks (930 votes) the Unity Party announced their victory win Tuesday night.
Garant took home 913 votes, while candidate Barbara Ransome — on the Alliance for All ballot — had 513. Suzanne Velazquez, who ran alongside Ransome, received 552 votes.
“I can’t even believe this,” said Garant to her crowd of supporters. “I’m so lucky to be here with you guys, to be serving you in this beautiful village.”
Check back here for more updates on the village election.
With New York state opening back up since the March 2020 shutdown, businesses can now start resuming normal operations again.
However, four local Suffolk County public school superintendents believe schools have been overlooked when it comes to no longer wearing masks, leaving teachers, parents and students confused and frustrated.
A June 10 letter signed by the Comsewogue, Port Jefferson, Miller Place and Rocky Point school superintendents, directed to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and New York State Department of Health officials, criticized the one-size-fits-all approach to school mask mandates.
“Our communities need our schools to be able to adapt to updated health guidelines that are applicable to our specific areas, yet we as administrators are constrained by inflexible regulations that are not reflective of individual community positivity or vaccination rates,” the letter said.
In order to avoid any further confusion amongst parents and school districts, the schools solution would be to work directly with local health officials rather than the government.
According to Port Jefferson Superintendent Jessica Schmettan, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services has been extremely helpful in aiding the county’s school districts throughout the pandemic.
Working closely with regional data is something Schmettan feels will be a more effective strategy for mitigation of the virus rather than blanket guidelines for the entire state of New York.
“I have great hope that the governor and the NYDOH will consider our request,” Schmettan said. “We are proud of the work our schools have done through this pandemic. We hope to end the year without restrictions just as they have been removed for other businesses across the state.”
Many parents of the students have made it clear they are also dissatisfied with the state’s mask mandates on school districts, and believe it should be a parent’s choice on whether or not their child should wear a mask.
Rocky Point school district superintendent, Scott O’Brien, said although the state’s mask mandates have been overwhelming for all, students have done an excellent job following the guidelines.
“It has been that level of cooperation from students, parents, teachers and staff that have enabled our schools to successfully stay open and deliver in-person instruction throughout this school year,” O’Brien said. “We are grateful to the entire Rocky Point school community for coming together and making this most challenging school year a success.”
The other superintendent signatories to the letter were Jennifer Quinn, Comsewogue, and Marianne Cartisano, Miller Place.
By creating a unified voice to highlight the importance of local control regarding mask mandates, the four county school districts hope the letter to Cuomo will make a difference for their students, even though the final day of school is June 24.
It was a pitching duel in the Suffolk class A semi-final June 14 when Miller Place No. 2 hosted Islip No. 3 where the bats were muzzled most of the way that resulted in a scoreless game through seven innings. Miller Place pitcher Jessica Iavarone found herself in trouble in the top of the 8th of the extra inning game, when Islip loaded the bases with no outs.
If the threat of a possible season ending base hit rattled Iavarone she didn’t show it and appeared to throw harder under the pressure. The senior fanned the next three batters to retire the side unscathed.
When asked how she handled a possible season ending inning Iavarone said she felt little pressure. “Honestly what calms me is to just think that nobody’s on the field and there’s no one on base and to pitch how I know how to pitch”, the senior said. “I just threw as hard as I {could}.”
After a Julia Lent base hit, Madison Power laid down a perfect bunt moving Lent over to second and beat the throw to first. Amelia DeRosa stepped into the batter’s box who battled at the plate before the junior ripped a rope to straight away center for the game winning hit and was immediately mobbed at second base.
DeRosa described her game winning double this way, “I saw {the pitch} I hit it in the gap, I had a good feeling I felt confident who was on base,” the junior said. “I felt really good and the nerves just washed away.”
The Panthers are back home June 15 for a best of three game series against No. 5 Bayport. Game time is 4 p.m.
Photos by Bill Landon
The Shoreham-Wading River Wildcats saw a three-goal lead evaporate just before the half and had to claw their way back from five unanswered goals by Bayport-Blue Point in the Class C semi-final round at home June 12.
Claw their way back they did, with just over 2 minutes remaining when Alec Gregorek scored his 5th goal of the game to tie the score at 10-10 forcing a four-minute overtime period. It was Bayport’s Gavin Locascio’s stick that put an end to the Wildcat’s season when he buried his shot two minutes into the overtime period for a 11-10 victory.
Shoreham-Wading River concludes their Covid-19 shortened 2021 campaign at 13-2.
Photos by Bill Landon
Amongst the Middle Country Public Library’s many historical artifacts are a few that explain just how far the area has come from its pastoral roots. The picture and story below comes courtesy of a collaborative effort among the librarian staff.
This beautifully embroidered map was gifted to Middle Country Public Library, and is part of the Heritage Collection, the library’s local history archives.
It shows a detailed and unique view of Centereach as it stood in 1937. Oriented in a west to east view from top to bottom, we can see the landmarks and homesteads that residents would visit and pass by daily.
Near the top right of the image, we can see the New Village First Congregational Church prominently featured in white, just south of the Fairgrounds. It was such a major landmark that it needed no caption. The steeple, front door and footpath are skillfully embroidered in. Homes of many residents (Overton, Emery, Olsen, Ulrich, Duffield, Campbell, Moen, Scudder and Alvin Smith, Bertram, to name a few) are painstakingly labeled along with many prominent businesses.
William Tobin’s “Ontheway” Rest, located on the northwest corner of Middle Country Road and Stony Brook Road served as a gasoline station and featured a lunch stand that Mrs. Tobin ran on the adjoining property.
Other establishments depicted include the barbershop, the grocery store, Homeside Nursery, the lumber yard and Carl’s Tavern, along with the Wilkinson, Williams, Moller and Murray farms.
If you look closely, a hen and her chicks are carefully stitched in, foraging about the Wilkinson’s farmyard. The fire house, fair grounds, and schools (both the existing and proposed new school sites), the Parsonage and Parish Hall are all here.
Streets are not labeled, but we know that Middle Country Road runs from top to bottom down the center of the panel and we can see where paving is incomplete on the right margin (the north side of the map). The New Village Congregational Church which stands today on Middle Country Road just west of Elliot Avenue and residences such as the Henry house help us determine the location of other streets.
We know that the Henry homestead was located at the corner of Middle Country Road and North Washington Avenue. We can also see William Wortley’s gas station which was situated on the south side of Middle Country Road opposite Wood Road, where the barbershop stands embroidered with the traditional red and white pole.
For an entertaining treasure hunt, take a look to discover what other family names and landmarks you can find. More names and places can be found on this map than we could list here. Have fun!
By Diana Fehling
It’s been a home-run of a season for Miller Place High School. The boy’s baseball beat Half Hollow Hills West 2-0 at their game on June 10.
Kai Loftin pitched a 4-hit shutout and had the winning RBI.
The win advanced Miller Place into the season’s playoffs.
Photos by Diana Fehling
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