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Times of Huntington-Northport

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Museum organizers, standing outside the former Rocky Point train station, will soon put the stories of Long Island’s veterans on full display. From left, museum curator Rich Acritelli, VFW Post 6249 Cmdr. Joe Cognitore and museum committee member Frank Lombardi. Photos by Raymond Janis

The Rocky Point Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6249 is embarking on an ambitious quest to showcase the stories of Long Island’s veterans.

Organizers will launch a veterans museum on Dec. 7 at the site of the former Rocky Point train station, situated just across the street from the post’s headquarters at the intersection of Broadway and King Road.

‘It’s about giving back to the community and making positive impacts within the community.’

— Frank Lombardi

Joe Cognitore, commander of Post 6249, said the planned museum represents an extension of the VFW’s programs and outreach initiatives.

The idea of erecting a veterans museum in Rocky Point has been decades in the making. Cognitore said the post unsuccessfully attempted to purchase a nearby drugstore before acquiring the former train station property through a community giveback from a neighboring developer.

The museum will serve to “educate the community, with an emphasis on young adults,” Cognitore said.

Rich Acritelli, a social studies teacher at Rocky Point High School and an adjunct professor of American history at Suffolk County Community College, has been performing the historical research and archival work for this project and will serve as museum curator upon its opening.

The post seeks to cast a wide net, Acritelli said, featuring the stories of veterans throughout the Island rather than narrowly tailoring the exhibits to the immediate locale.

“This is more of a broader” undertaking, he said. “It’s not just Rocky Point or Sound Beach. It can be East Hampton, Huntington, Wyandanch,” adding, “There aren’t too many places like this [museum]” on Long Island.

Inside the planned veterans museum in Rocky Point. From left, Frank Lombardi, Rich Acritelli and Joe Cognitore.

Acritelli said he plans to cover “every inch of this museum” with military equipment, historical relics, uniforms, collectibles, books and other memorabilia. Plans for rotating exhibits are also in the works.

Cognitore suggested that, within the broader national context, younger generations are gradually losing touch with American history. He said the post aims to regain that historical connection through this museum.

“We need to know that history,” he said.

Frank Lombardi, a member of the museum committee at Post 6249, envisions local veterans offering firsthand accounts of actual historical events, comparing and contrasting their recollections to popular fiction.

“If we showed a movie like ‘Platoon,’ you can show the movie, and then you can have some of the Vietnam veterans talk and say, ‘This is what it was really like, and these are the inaccuracies in the movie,’” he said.

For the museum’s organizers, each of whom has served in the U.S. Armed Forces, this endeavor represents the next iteration in their service.

Cognitore said the project is a necessary means for processing his wartime experiences and providing greater historical understanding to those who have not witnessed the brutality of war.

This bazooka will soon be on display along with military equipment, historical relics, uniforms, collectibles, books and other memorabilia.

“Working on this helps me free myself of all the things I did see or did do and kind of makes me happy to know that positive things are happening because of where I was and what I did,” the post commander said.

Acritelli said he regretted leaving the service because of the camaraderie shared among his compatriots. He said the museum and its collaboration has inspired similar feelings from his days in the military.

He maintains that Long Island’s vets are valuable primary sources in telling the local and national history.

“There are a lot of stories,” he said. “We want to make this into a large primary source.”

Lombardi remarked that he hoped the museum could inspire greater historical awareness and understanding of the realities of war while bringing community members together.

“It’s about giving back to the community and making positive impacts within the community,” Lombardi said. “We all grew up here locally on Long Island, and it’s important to recognize those who have come before you.”

Acritelli notes the active role that community members can play in preparing the museum for its launch date at the end of the year.

“We need people to donate things,” he said. “If they have basements and garages and old boxes full of stuff, they can give that to us or put it on loan,” adding, “We’ve got to build up some inventory.” 

Potential donors should contact Acritelli by email at [email protected].

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Photo by Chris Bauer

FLY ME TO THE MOON

Chris Bauer of Crab Meadow (Northport) walked down to the Crab Meadow Beach parking lot on Aug 1 to capture the “Sturgeon Moon” as it rose but because of the angle it came up, the parking lot lights, and the trees, was not able to get any usable shots. 

He writes, “I walked back down on the following night but stopped short of the beach parking lot to avoid the lights and set up along Waterside Avenue shooting over the Jerome Ambro Wetland Preserve. Once the moon started rising above the trees I was able to get my camera settings correct for a great shot when I noticed the blinking red lights of an approaching jet airliner. With my remote shutter I waited hoping it was going to cross in front of the moon, as it did. I took about 12 shots in quick order but selected this one where I caught the red lights on. I will be out there again for the Blue Moon on August 30.”

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The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Group at Stony Brook Medicine’s new regional tick-borne disease center, located in the Hampton Bays Atrium. From left, Dr. Andrew Handel, Dr. Dalia Eid, Dr. Christy Beneri and Dr. Sharon Nachman. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

Stony Brook University is planning to open the first and only dedicated tick clinic in the northeast on Monday.

Supported by doctors from Stony Brook Medicine’s Meeting House Lane Medical Practice and Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, the new regional tick-borne disease center, which is located in the Hampton Bays Atrium, will provide by-appointment treatment for children and adults for tick bites and diagnose tick-borne illnesses.

The timing could be especially important for people with tick bites, as the previous warm winter allowed more ticks and their eggs to survive.

“They are out there, happily laying eggs and the eggs will hatch,” said Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.

Brian Kelly of East End Tick and Mosquito Control donated the center’s suite which includes a reception area, two exam rooms, two private offices for consults and a nurse’s station, for 10 years.

“Between the beautiful weather in the winter and the nice weather in the summer, ticks are outside,” Nachman said. “I’m thrilled we’re doing it now. There’s no time like the present to move forward and work with the community to get this done.”

Tick checks

Health care providers urged parents, caregivers and anyone who spends quality time in nature to do regular tick checks.

Ticks can be so small that they look like a little freckle. These ticks can harbor diseases beyond the dreaded and oft-discussed Lyme Disease. Other diseases include babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis.

In general, Nachman urged patients not to send ticks they pulled off themselves into the center.

“It’s the tick that they didn’t see that’s also putting them at risk,” she said. The clinic will determine the type of tests to run based on the symptoms.

For tick bites, as with many other health challenges, time is of the essence.

A tick that’s attached itself to a human for fewer than 48 hours likely won’t lead to an infection. Someone with a tick bite for about 48 hours might get a single dose of an antibiotic. People who had a tick bite for over that period might develop a rash or even facial palsy, in which one side of the face droops for an extended period of time.

Doctors work with patients to try to hone in on the date of a possible tick bite.

“We do pretty good guessing,” said Nachman. “We don’t need to be perfect: we need to be pretty close.”

Ticks are present throughout Suffolk County.

Health care workers urge people to spray their clothing with DEET. While ticks aren’t always easy to see, people can find them by feeling a new lump or bump on their skin.

Removing ticks

Nachman advised people to wipe an area with a tick down with alcohol before trying to remove an embedded insect.

Using a flat edged tweezer, the tick removers should grasp the insect and slowly back it out.

“Don’t grab the tick and yank,” Nachman cautioned. The mouth parts of the tick have an adhesive, which can leave some of the parts inside the infected person.

Nachman, who will be at the center on Mondays, also urged people not to use petroleum jelly or match sticks.

The hours at the center will adjust to the demand. In the winter, when ticks are less prevalent, the center may have more limited appointment times.

One of the advantages of the center is that the health care providers can track patients over time who have been infected.

Doctors can also sign patients up to become a part of a registry. By tracking people who have tick-borne infections, doctors might also address questions that are part of the science of diseases like Lyme.

“There may be better treatments or better tests” down the road, Nachman added.

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A scene from 'Notorious.'
The six-film retrospective will coincide with the legendary director’s birthday and will feature many of his most iconic films
Alfred Hitchcock on the set of Psycho. Photo credit Eve Arnold. 1959-1960.

Beginning on Friday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. and running through Wednesday, Aug. 16, the Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington will present a retrospective of the films of master director Alfred Hitchcock. For six consecutive days, the Cinema will present a daily screening of one of Hitchcock’s greatest films. Each of the six film screenings will feature an introduction by local film historians who will discuss the history of the film, provide, and explore the impact of some of Alfred Hitchcock’s most influential and acclaimed works.

Considered the father of the thriller genre, and dubbed the “Master of Suspense”, Hitchcock directed over fifty feature films throughout a career that spanned from the silent era in the 1920s into the late 1970s. Today, he is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema, having pioneered many editing and camera techniques that have since become staples of modern cinema. Known for his signature blend of macabre, suspense, sex, and offbeat humor, Hitchcock is still among the most admired of film directors.

The films included in the retrospective are Psycho, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Notorious, Vertigo, and Shadow of a Doubt.

The Cinema Arts Centre hopes to offer both Hitchcock fanatics, and those looking to see the films for the first time, the rare opportunity to see these groundbreaking and exhilarating films on the big screen.

Film info:

Janet Leigh in Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock. 1960. Paramount Pictures. Image courtesy of Universal Film Exchange.

Psycho
Friday, August 11 at 7 p.m.
Introduction by Film Historian Glenn Andreiev
Alfred Hitchcock’s landmark masterpiece of the macabre stars Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, a man with an interest in taxidermy and a difficult relationship with his mother, whose old house and motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. Nobody knows that better than Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), the ill-fated traveler whose journey ends in the notorious shower-scene. First an investigator, then Marion’s sister (Vera Miles) search for her, the suspense mounting to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed. (USA, 1960, 109 mins, English | Dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

Strangers on a Train
Saturday, August 12 at 7 p.m.
Introduction by Film Historian Philip Harwood
“Your wife. My father. Criss cross.” In Alfred Hitchcock’s standout thriller, adapted from the 1950 novel by Patricia Highsmith, the cheerful yet malevolent Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), recognizes his fellow train passenger, tennis pro Guy Haines (Farley Granger). After an introduction and a round of drinks, they continue their conversation over lunch. Revealing his knowledge of Guy’s marital problems, Bruno offers an interesting proposition: quid pro quo murders. Appalled, Guy declines, but the chance encounter will set in motion a bizarre and deadly chain of events. (USA, 1951, 101 mins, English | Dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

 

James Stewart in Rear Window. Alfred Hitchcock. 1954. Paramount Pictures. Image courtesy of Universal Film Exchange

Rear Window
Sunday, August 13 at 7 p.m.
Introduction by Film Historian Glenn Andreiev
In this intriguing, macabre visual study of obsessive human curiosity and voyeurism, renowned New York magazine photographer L. B. “Jeff” Jeffries (James Stewart) enters his last week of home confinement, bored and anxious, and stuck inside with a broken leg. Jeff has been spending his days sitting in a wheelchair, watching his neighbors through the rear window of his Greenwich Village apartment. Despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend (Grace Kelly), Jeffries becomes convinced he has witnessed a murder and is set on solving the mystery. (USA, 1954, 112 mins, English | Dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

 

Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant in Notorious. 1946. RKO Radio Pictures. Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Notorious
Monday, August 14 at 7 p.m.
Introduction by Film Historian Philip Harwood
A thriller of rare perfection, Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious represents a pinnacle of both its director’s legendary career and classic Hollywood cinema. In this anguished romance shot through with deception and moral ambiguity, Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia, a woman with a checkered past recruited by Devlin (Cary Grant), a suave intelligence agent. Only after she has fallen for Devlin does she learn that her mission is to seduce a Nazi industrialist (Claude Rains) hiding out in South America. (USA, 1946, 102 mins, English | Dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

Vertigo
Tuesday, August 15 at 7 p.m.
Introduction by Film Historian Philip Harwood
Alfred Hitchcock’s intensely personal, self-revealing picture, is widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. Starring James Stewart as a former detective with a crippling fear of heights, Vertigo, is the story of a man who is possessed by the image of a lost love who becomes increasingly consumed with trying to recreate that image. Co-starring Kim Novak in dual roles, this timeless thriller about obsession is among Hitchcock’s most influential works. (USA, 1958, 128 mins, English | Dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

Shadow of a Doubt
Wednesday, August 16 at 7 p.m.
Introduction by Film Historian Glenn Andreiev
What starts out as a charming portrait of idyllic small-town life gradually darkens into one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s most devastating thrillers. Teenage Charlie’s (Teresa Wright) illusions about her beloved Uncle (Joseph Cotten) are shattered by the suspicion that he may be the diabolical Merry Widow serial killer. As secrets are revealed, she will need to make hard choices that could end up destroying her family. Thought to be Hitchcock’s personal favorite, Shadow of a Doubt is perhaps his ultimate evocation of evil nesting among the ordinary. (USA, 1943, 108 mins, English | Dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

Fees per screening:

Public $15 | Cinema Arts Centre Members $10

You can also purchase tickets or find more information about this and other events on the Cinema Arts Centre website:www.cinemaartscentre.org

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A scene from the 2023 East Northport Fireman’s Fair. Photo by Sofia Levorchick
A scene from the 2023 East Northport Fireman’s Fair. Photo by Sofia Levorchick
A scene from the 2023 East Northport Fireman’s Fair. Photo by Sofia Levorchick
A scene from the 2023 East Northport Fireman’s Fair. Photo by Sofia Levorchick

By Sofia Levorchick

The annual East Northport Fireman’s Fair brought many together during four days of festivities over the past week. 

The fairgrounds, located within the East Northport Fire Department’s green and parking lot, were bustling with excitement as families, friends and individuals of all ages came together to enjoy the featured array of carnival rides, games and food options.

On Friday, Aug. 4, despite concerns of rain in the forecast, the fair had drawn a sizable crowd. Animated screams could be heard from the carnival rides as children and adults fostered an ambiance of pure joy. 

Bruce Grant, coordinator of the fair and member of the East Northport Chamber of Commerce, mentioned that Friday had an impressive attendance, but the other days had seen even larger crowds, likely due to more favorable weather. The popular parade was held Wednesday evening, Aug. 2.

“Wednesday was really full, especially with the parade and all the local departments attending – even ones from Nassau,” Grant said.

Conducted for 80 years, the fair has remained a beloved East Northport tradition that enables firefighters across the Island to volunteer to make the event a success. Their duties included, but were not limited to, distributing and selling food, managing carnival games and overseeing raffles. Notably, the raffle on Saturday night had a grand prize of $5,000.

“We want to raise money to fund the fire department and also give to other charities,” Grant said of the event’s aims. 

Attending these fun-filled festivities was free, though immersing oneself in the various thrills of the carnival required a $35 charge.

Among the attendees was a family partaking in the event for the first time with their toddler, who rode the carousel and happily, with a snow cone in hand, exclaimed that she had so much fun.

Grant suggested that the fair serves as a reminder of how a community can gather with fun and a spirit of celebration, all while working toward a shared goal — to support the fire department and give back to those in need. 

“The fair is not for profit,” Grant added. “It’s to help the community and our members.”

 

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A scene from 'Oppenheimer'

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

My wife and I are wildly out of practice at an activity we used to do on dates.

Hey, I’m talking about going to movies. What did you think I meant? Never mind.

Anyway, after three and a half years, we finally ventured out to see a movie. No streaming at home, not taking a long walk through the neighborhood to see all the usual other walkers, and no hanging out in the backyard to look up at stars whose light was sent to us years ago.

I don’t think the light we can see was sent to us when dinosaurs were roaming the Earth.

We had purchased tickets online, with the customary and annoying convenience fee surcharge for something that couldn’t possibly be easier for the movie theater, and were excited to see a movie on the big screen.

Previews have always appealed to us, as has the satisfaction of seeing the entire movie from the start. When both of us were young, we found ourselves in movie theaters after the film began.

We’d sit in our seats and wait for the next showing, when we’d catch up to the point when we entered and, often with our respective families, head to the exits to piece together the narrative.

On a recent Sunday night, we drove through a packed parking lot. Clearly, the Barbenheimer phenomenon – the combination of hits “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” – has brought the crowds back to the theaters that somehow survived the pandemic.

With almost no line, we breezed through the entrance and got on the short line for popcorn. Ah, movie popcorn. Yes, it’s much more expensive than it needs to be, and yet, we splurged for it many times as we prepared to suspend disbelief and enter the altered and captivating reality of a movie.

The concession didn’t sell bottled water, which we could fill with any beverage of our choice. We reluctantly agreed to buy the expensive cup and added ice cold water to our movie-time meal.

The days of waiting in line for the free-for-all of finding the best middle seats are long gone. We walked up to our wide, comfortable seats. When we didn’t immediately find the recliner button, the woman to my wife’s right showed us where it was.

Back in the early days of our children’s lives, when we were incredibly sleep deprived, those seats would have been a welcome opportunity for a solid nap.

Not this time. We were locked in and ready for the film. As is our wont, we quickly finished the first bucket of popcorn before the previews. I raced back for a refill and returned just in time for the start of several coming attractions.

Most of those previews looked somewhere between awful and horrific. If those were the best scenes from coming films, it may be a while before we feel the urge to return to the world of overpriced popcorn and comfortable chairs.

So, after all this time, are you wondering what we saw?

Well, we got sucked into the Barbenheimer vortex, opting for the World War II film instead of the late 50’s iconic toy.

With gripping subject matter and extraordinary acting from a cast ready to personify critically important figures from a turbulent time in 20th century history, the movie was compelling.

I can see why it received rave reviews. As a film watcher – okay, well, as a former passionate devotee of the silver screen – I wasn’t completely moved by the broad story telling.

As a science writer, which is the other hat I wear with privilege regularly for these papers, I was hoping there had been a greater description about the discoveries Oppenheimer and his collaborators had to make to complete the Manhattan Project.

At one point during the movie, I realized that we were watching the film on the 78th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. The eery overlap brought home the complicated legacy of a talented scientist and effective leader.

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METRO photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

My oldest grandson is now engaged to be married. At twenty-eight, his timing is altogether appropriate, but it is a wonder to me. The idea of having a grandchild tying the knot, when I am only 35. All right, 45. Um, 55? Oh, never mind. You get the point.

Further, I am intrigued by how the couple is going about the process, especially in contrast with how my husband and I wed. I’ll explain.

Not long after the initial phone call from my grandson telling me the exciting news of their engagement, I was told that the wedding was planned for two years hence. That was, of course, fine, but I couldn’t help but marvel compared to what my husband and I did. 

We informed my astonished parents that we wished to marry in six weeks. My husband-to-be was moving to a new apartment at that time, and we thought it would be romantic to start our lives together then. In those days, couples decidedly did not live together until after they married.

My grandson did the traditional thing, getting down on one knee. The scene, though, was anything but traditional. He managed to position himself onto the floor of the Tomorrowland People Mover car as they went through a tunnel at Disney World, one of their favorite rides, and popped the question.  Her parents were in the car behind them, and as she witnessed what was happening, her mother enthusiastically screamed with delight.

My husband told me he loved me and asked me over the phone to marry him. I never did get an engagement ring. It should be explained that he was at school in Chicago at the time, and I was in Boston. 

We had a wedding in New York City, where I grew up, with all the trimmings, including bridesmaids, groomsmen, a full ceremony, music, hors d’oeuvres, dinner, dancing and 175 guests. I wasn’t even there for the planning. I was working in Boston right up to the weekend before the event. My mother managed it all. And after the wedding, she practically collapsed for a month.

I did come back for a wedding dress fitting. It was all done efficiently. My mom and I went to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where there were multiple shops that took care of such needs, and climbed the brownstone stairs to the one recommended, I don’t remember which one. I picked out the material, style and trimmings I wanted, measurements were taken, and presto! The day before the wedding, it was ready, fit perfectly, and I wore it, long train and all, the next day.

My granddaughter-to-be, on the other hand, had the great pleasure of trying on many and ultimately picking out her dress with the company and input from her mother and the groom’s mother. Photos were sent, via cell phones, to others tuned in. It must have been a leisurely outing that provided a joyful lifetime memory for all.

There is to be a bridal shower brunch to honor the bride-to-be back in the place she grew up, with her many friends and loved ones in attendance. That, of course, wasn’t an option for us, given our tight schedule. I don’t think it even occurred to me, more is the pity, because such events are part and parcel of the delicious anticipation for my grandchildren.

Her friends put out a request for favorite recipes to be sent, with the plan of providing the couple a Friends and Loved Ones cookbook. What a clever idea. I only knew how to cook breaded veal cutlet, mashed potatoes and canned peas, which I practiced on my roommate each night for three weeks before the wedding. And we weren’t registered anywhere for gifts. We just opened the envelopes and counted the money immediately following the wedding that night on our flight to Chicago.

There will undoubtedly be a bachelor party. In fact, my grandson just returned from one for a dear friend that involved a three-day cruise to Mexico. Yes, Virginia, times have changed. And why not?

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JoAnne Hewett leads her first staff meeting as the new lab director at Brookhaven National Laboratory Tuesday, Aug. 8. Photo from BNL

In her first week on the job, JoAnne Hewett has been taking walks around campus — and she likes what she sees.

The first woman to lead the 76-year old Brookhaven National Laboratory, Hewett has explored a facility primarily funded by the Department of Energy that conducts groundbreaking research in Energy & Photon Sciences, Environment, Biology, Nuclear Science & Nonproliferation, Computational Sciences, Nuclear & Particle Physics and Advanced Technology Research.

The walks Hewett has taken have been “my way of learning where all the buildings are,” said Hewett in an exclusive interview with TBR News Media. “I truly love stumbling across things I didn’t know BNL had.”

One night, Hewett walked to an enormous greenhouse, which, as a gardener who enjoys growing tomatoes, chili peppers and citrus, intrigued her.

In meeting people at these facilities, Hewett has been “impressed” at “how dedicated they are to the mission and to the science that can be done here.”

Most recently the associate lab director for fundamental physics and chief research officer at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Hewett brings extensive experience in theoretical physics to BNL and Stony Brook University, where she serves as Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Professor at the C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Throughout her career, Hewett has been the first woman to serve in a host of roles. That includes as the first woman faculty member at SLAC in 1994, the first woman associate lab director and the first woman chief research officer.

“The best way to serve as a role model is to just do a good job at whatever it is you’re doing,” Hewett said.

In her many roles, Hewett has received numerous emails from students eager to meet her.

“Don’t get discouraged,” she tells them. “You’re going to get more roadblocks than others, potentially [but] hopefully not. Don’t get discouraged. Just keep working. If you love science and want to do science, if it’s the passion in your belly, just do it.”

Hewett has been successful in her career in part because she describes herself as “stubborn by nature.”

Cultural priorities

In her tenure as lab director for a facility with over 2,760 staff members, Hewett plans to emphasize the importance of creating a respectful work environment.

“It should be number one for everybody, everywhere to foster a respectful workplace environment, so that each person that comes into work in the morning or whenever they start their shift can do the very best that they can,” she said.

Additionally, she will stress the importance of safety at the Upton-based lab, where seven projects have led to Nobel Prizes.

“A good safety culture also promotes a good workplace environment,” said Hewett. “If you don’t do your work safely, you can’t do your work.”

Science vs. management

While research and management require the use of different parts of the brain, Hewett suggested her professional and administrative goals have overlapping approaches.

“In both cases, you need to be very strategic about your thinking,” she said. “When you’re doing research, you need to think about the best way to spend your time.”

She had a “ton” of ideas in theoretical physics and needed to be strategic about how she spent her time. As a manager, she also needs to be strategic about the programs she supports to ensure they are advancing.

In addition to creating a respectful and safe workplace, Hewett would like to delve into the beautification of the campus.

“I want to involve the staff” in that effort, she said.

Hewett served as a mentor from 2008 to 2011 for Rouven Essig when he was a postdoctoral researcher at SLAC.

In an email, Essig, who is now Professor of Physics at the C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, described her as “an exceptional leader” who is “friendly and approachable” with a “clear vision.”

Essig lauded Hewett’s vision for recognizing the value of funding small-scale experiments in particle physics, which are low-cost but can enable “major discoveries,” he added. “I think this approach is having a big impact in particle physics research in the U.S. and elsewhere.”

Essig is “excited to see how she will further strengthen BNL and the connections to Stony Brook.”

Hewett has had “numerous important contributions to our understanding of physics beyond the Standard Model and how it can be discovered with experiments,” Essig added.

In her career, Hewett found it “terrifically exciting to discover something” in which she was the “only person in the world for that instant of time that knows something,” she said.

For her, that moment occurred when she was developing work on a particular theory of extra spacetime dimensions.

Collider appeal

Hewett came to BNL in part because of the ongoing construction of the Electron Ion Collider, which will study quarks and gluons in the nucleus and the strongest forces in nature.

“I did a lot of studies of potential future colliders,” said Hewett. “I’m excited to be at a lab where a collider will be built.”

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Dr. Anthony Szema, director of the International Center of Excellence in Deployment Health and Medical Geosciences, Northwell Health Foundation. Photo courtesy Northwell Health

Wednesday, Aug. 9, is an important deadline for veterans who were exposed to burn pits.

That is the cutoff point when veterans can file claims for health issues that date back to the passage of the PACT Act in August 2022. If they file paperwork by Wednesday, they can get retroactive benefits.

“It’s very important” that veterans who might have health-related problems file for these benefits before that deadline, said Dr. Anthony Szema, director of the International Center of Excellence in Deployment Health and Medical Geosciences, Northwell Health Foundation. 

A veteran filing after Aug. 9 may only qualify for prospective medical care.

“The sooner you apply, the more benefits you may be eligible for,” explained Fernando X. Burgos Ortiz, Public Affairs Officer at the Northport VA Medical Center.
If veterans apply for PACT-related benefits on or before August 9, their benefits may be backdated to August 10, 2022.

People who are not ready to submit a full claim by then can also submit a quick “intent to file” and still receive the effective date, explained Burgos Ortiz. Veterans and survivors can visit va.gov/PACT to apply or submit their intent to file through the link: Your intent to file a VA claim | Veterans Affairs.

Veterans who apply after Aug. 10 may still be eligible to have their benefits backdated by one year, if they would have been eligible for PACT benefits on Aug. 10, 2022. A veteran who applied in December 2025 could have their benefits, if granted, backdated to December 2024. In that case, however, they would miss out on the earliest possible effective date of Aug. 10, 2022, which would mean they would miss out on a couple of years of benefits, Burgos Ortiz wrote.

‘You got exposed to a ticking time bomb, and we need to defuse it now so it never becomes a problem.’ — Dr. Anthony Szema

With support from numerous veteran advocates, including comedian John Stewart, Burn Pits 360 and others, Congress passed the PACT Act last August to ensure that veterans exposed to toxins from particles aerosolized by burn pits received ongoing medical support.

Szema, who specializes in asthma and lung fibrosis, urged all veterans who might qualify for these benefits to call their local VA and ask how to file for PACT Act benefits.

Through its offices on 3771 Nesconset Highway in Suite 105 in South Setauket, Northwell Health provides special testing to confirm the potential health effects of this exposure.

Last week, two veterans had such evaluations, while three signed up for Tuesday.

Conditions covered on the list include a wide range of health issues, including brain cancer, any type of gastrointestinal cancer, glioblastoma, head cancer, kidney cancer, lymphoma of any type, melanoma, neck cancer of any type, pancreatic cancer, reproductive cancer and respiratory cancer.

Covered conditions also include asthma, chronic bronchitis, COPD, emphysema, granulomatous disease, interstitial lung disease, pleuritis, pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis.

Around the country, 2.5 million vets could receive benefits, including 8,000 in the greater New York Metropolitan area, Szema said.

“Thousands of vets are unaware” of the deadline, he added.

Prior to the PACT Act, Szema said the VA denied about 80% of claims. Now, presumptive conditions are covered rather than on a case-by-case basis.

Szema suggested that many veterans who breathed the air around burn pits and were living in dusty environments in Iraq and Afghanistan could be asymptomatic today, but might already be headed toward future health crises.

“If you believe [people who lived near the] World Trade Center have disease, this is worse, because you live 300 yards away from trash being burned with jet fuel in open air,” he said.

Szema said the tests Northwell conducts provide a more accurate reading of potential breathing or allergic problems in a shorter time. Northwell uses pulmoscan impulse oscillometry, in addition to respiratory muscle strength and multi test percutaneous allergy testing with plastic, which doesn’t involve needles.

Northwell has 10 remote patient monitoring systems from Bodimetrics that allows them to monitor continuous oxygen saturation and heart rate variability of veterans. The information also goes to the smart phones of veterans and to a remote modeling team with a nurse and to a cardio thoracic surgeon in Kansas.

Northwell is in discussions to obtain more of these systems.

Szema recently published a paper indicating that 29% of veterans exposed to burn pits reported seeing blood in their urine. Exposure to benzene and naphthalene in JP-8 jet fuel poses a risk of bladder cancer.

“It is never normal to have blood in the urine, even if it is kidney stones,” Szema wrote in an email. “Since these veterans were exposed to carcinogens, a thorough evaluation is paramount.”

Szema added that soldiers who answered the call of duty may not have symptoms but could develop them in the coming years.

“You got exposed to a ticking time bomb, and we need to defuse it now so it never becomes a problem,” he said.

Developing awareness

Szema was chief of the allergy section of Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Northport between 1998 and 2015. Between 1998 and 2004, his patients were primarily 80-year old Caucasian men who were in wheelchairs and needed oxygen.

All of a sudden, in September 2004, he and a medical student and “everybody was 20 years old in uniform” with patients who were brown, African American, black, hispanic, Southeastern Asian and Native American, reflecting the “entire diversity of Long Island.”

An index case of an all-state football player raised his level of concern, as the athlete didn’t smoke, vape or smoke marijuana but had shortness of breath. 

At first, Szema thought his physical problems came from inhaling dust from storms. That prompted him to initiate his first study reporting asthma among veterans returning from deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan near burn pits.

Szema testified before the United States Senate Policy Committee in Washington, D.C. in 2009.

He urged veterans who think they might qualify for these benefits to reach out to Three Village Asthma in South Setauket at 631-675-6474. The office is across the street from Jefferson Ferry.

“Now is the time,” Szema said. “At least if you get diagnosed with a condition related to your exposure, you can receive timely treatment.”

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Government exists to protect life, liberty and property. If we truly believe in these words, these protections must naturally extend to animals.

Municipalities within the TBR News Media coverage area are grappling with the complexities of maintaining their animal shelters. Though often overlooked, shelters fulfill a vital public need, offering a haven to stray and sometimes abused animals, providing medical treatment, limiting the number of stray animals on our streets and acting as a place where animals can be adopted. 

Without animal shelters, myriad strays would roam our streets. They would likely pose numerous public safety and health risks to the public and to themselves while putting considerable stress on budgets.

How we maintain our animal shelters is a reflection of our morality and the value we place on life itself. Our treatment of animals signals how we may treat our fellow man and the extent to which we value life. And both locally and nationally, we can do better.

We acknowledge this is a highly passionate, often controversial, issue among community members — the plight of unhoused animals tears at our heartstrings. 

Given the moral considerations at play, shelter volunteers are critical public servants. Their collective efforts keep our streets safe and unhoused animals sheltered.

A rift can form between the paid managers of municipal shelters — often selected by patronage or union status — and unpaid volunteers. We must endeavor to bridge this divide. 

We remind paid staff and unpaid volunteers that they are on the same team, united by a common cause. Hurling accusations or disparaging the opposite party will do little to advance animal welfare or the public good.

It is also incumbent upon local officials to be more transparent and accountable in their oversight of municipal shelters. These officials are elected to serve the public, and the public deserves answers to these pressing matters. 

If our municipal shelters are underfinanced or understaffed, then elected officials must explain what they are doing to remediate these challenges. And if the elected officials choose not to be accountable, then the public should vote them out of office. We appreciate the few incumbent or prospective officials who offered their perspectives on this matter.

Finally, citizens have a stake in this as well. To relieve the pressures on our local animal shelters, we must strive to increase shelter adoption rates. 

We will not vilify those who purchase a pet from a breeder. However, we ask prospective pet owners to start their search at their local municipal shelter.

Adopting from a shelter won’t just give a needy animal a home. It will lower the financial and operational strain on shelter resources and staff, lower euthanasia rates and save lives.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” It is time for residents and officials alike to heed these words. 

By doing our part to help our municipal shelters, we can contribute to the greatness of our community and nation. To be a just and humane society, we must begin by assessing how we treat animals.

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