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Times of Huntington-Northport

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File photo by Raymond Janis

Lawmakers should remember their origins

The editorial supporting immigrants seeking asylum was wonderful [“Immigrants may be coming,” June 8]. We are a nation of immigrants — we all come from somewhere else. My ancestors came from Eastern Europe fleeing persecution and severe poverty. I wonder how many of the Suffolk County legislators who want to keep immigrants out, remember their origins. 

Many of our ancestors underwent severe hardship to come here, none more than the immigrants coming now. All Americans, not only those of us living in border states need to do our share to welcome these people.

Adam Fisher

Port Jefferson Station

Not every migrant is an asylum seeker

The June 8 editorial makes an excellent point … for legal immigration.

The numbers quoted on crime from immigrants, are true … for legal immigrant communities, not from the illegal migrants crossing our southern border unimpeded (and now the northern border as well).

The United Nations defines “asylum seekers” as people looking for protection from political persecution, primarily. However, an important point that the U.N. also stipulates is that asylum needs to be granted from/to contiguous countries, for example the U.S. and Mexico, or the U.S. and Canada. Every migrant entering the U.S. from any country other than Mexico and Canada is entering the country illegally, committing a crime.

Regarding crime among illegal migrants, an estimated 4 million have crossed our southern border since 2020. Four million unverified, often untested for diseases — such as COVID — and in many cases human trafficked into indentured servitude paying off exorbitant fees to the cartels just to reach the border. 

Once crossed, by definition they are criminals. The cartels have operational control of our borders, we are no longer a sovereign country. At last count, migrants from over 47 countries have been detained at the border. How many migrants have died just trying to reach the border? Unknowable. Each year over 100,000 Americans die from fentanyl poisoning, routinely coming across our border. Everyone knows someone who has lost a loved one, everyone.

There’s a significant difference between legal immigrants and illegal migrants. I agree with the editorial regarding the picture it paints, but for legal immigration.

We should address the legal immigration laws in the United States, welcome those that have something to offer the U.S., rather than enrich the cartels, abuse the migrants and further burden the taxpayer.

Rich Fleischman

East Setauket

Brain drain and the housing crisis

In contradiction to the June 1 editorial, “Plug Long Island’s ‘brain drain,’” it is not much of a puzzle how to get more of our youth to stay on Long Island. One need look no further than the housing crisis for causes and solutions.

I recently noticed upcoming property development near Bennetts Road and Route 25A in East Setauket that is exactly the opposite of what is needed to solve a problem everyone says they acknowledge: Four more expensive single-family houses, on 1-acre lots, all within walking distance of the post office, the Greenway, stores and restaurants, an LIRR station and Stony Brook University. If we cannot muster the will to require higher-density housing near transportation hubs and universities, then where?

The problem is hyper-local zoning decisions driven by existing homeowners so wealthy they don’t worry about their kids being priced out of the area, and a tribal political environment that makes it useful to scare homeowners about their property values. But what good are high property values if the brain — and youth — drain hollows out all other areas of life and the local economy?

Since we can’t seem to deal with new development sanely, can we at least make accessory dwelling units (basement and garage apartments, tiny houses, guest cottages) uniformly legal throughout Suffolk County? Even conservatives should support the right of homeowners to use their own property as they see fit. Reasonable limits on minimum lot size, maximum unit square footage, owner occupancy and rental agreement terms can address all the typical concerns.

The benefits of ADUs are myriad, and rapid increases in affordable, small housing have been demonstrated in Connecticut, New Hampshire and California. Homeowners can rent to young professionals to help pay the mortgage. Empty nesters can reside in ADUs while renting out the main house. Middle-aged homeowners can accommodate aging parents or adult children without sacrificing privacy and autonomy. And every occupied ADU takes someone out of the local rental market, lowering price pressures across the board.

ADUs require no tax money or impact studies, adding housing rapidly. Technically, most areas of Suffolk County already allow ADUs and thousands of units already exist, but a patchwork of complex restrictions and daunting permitting discourage homeowners from building new or renting existing units. What is needed is a clear, countywide set of legal policies that provide homeowners with consistency, clarity and certainty.

John Hover

East Setauket

Republicans inflame rather than inform immigration debate

This letter is a response to Charles Tramontana’s recent letter [“Yes, words do matter,” June 8] in answer to mine [“Words matter in immigration dialogue,” May 25]. I’ll reiterate that seeking asylum is legal, and that no human being is an “alien.” I believe that language needs to be based in truth, and must be used deliberately and accurately.

The truth is that Suffolk County is facing a lawsuit for the Republican legislators’ recent political stunt. We will now spend taxpayer dollars on lawsuits, dollars that could go to services and resources residents desperately need in this county. We have no idea how many asylum seekers are coming to the county. No asylum seekers have been relocated to our county to date. This reaffirms that this is a political ploy propagated by local politicians to activate their right-wing base in a low turnout election year. Those fearmongering tactics have long been a part of their well-worn playbook.

Mr. Tramontana’s letter blames recent immigration policy as the cause for this issue. To understand the root causes of immigration, it’s crucial to look beyond the past two years. This is a decades-long issue, going back to the civil unrest in Central America in the early 1970s. In 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan [R] signed a bipartisan bill known as the Reagan Amnesty Act, offering a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

We had the opportunity to again address immigration in 2013 when the U.S. Senate passed a sweeping bipartisan bill with a 68-32 vote, the most comprehensive since the Reagan Amnesty Act. Unfortunately, it was killed by the Tea Party House Republicans. We are still suffering the consequences of that squandered opportunity a decade later. Sadly, I do not believe that today’s House Republican majority has the willingness to solve this problem, which means we will continue to struggle with a lack of solutions due to political posturing and inaction.

Immigration, like many of the issues we’re contending with in this country, is a serious issue that requires leaders who engage in seeking solutions. The Republican members of the Suffolk County Legislature do not possess those qualities, and their rhetoric and actions on this issue inflame rather than inform. We can address this issue in a pragmatic and humane manner, but only if we engage in a good faith effort to do so. And to get there, we must choose our rhetoric carefully and thoughtfully, because words matter.

Shoshana Hershkowitz

South Setauket

FOIL review upholds electoral integrity

In the spirit of the upcoming Port Jefferson Village election, there appears to be some misconception of the election process.

Any candidate has the right to FOIL an opponent’s filed paperwork and question the validity of the petitions. This is not something new, it happens quite often.

I know this from experience since my petitions were reviewed by the Suffolk County Board of Elections when I ran for PJ Village trustee many years ago.

They found that some of the petitioners were not registered voters, and I did not have enough signatures to put me over the required threshold.

This process is in place to uphold the integrity of our elections.

Dominick Parillo

Port Jefferson

Local officials representing us well

Thank you for highlighting our local perspectives. It was a relief to read the astute eloquence of Suffolk Legislator Kara Hahn [D-Setauket] on the issue of immigration at the county Legislature. Equally reassuring was the letter by Brookhaven Town Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich [D-Stony Brook]. We are not lucky — we ensure this caliber of representation exists because we vote.

Joan Nickeson

Terryville

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Pixabay photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

You’ve heard of ChatGPT, yes? So had a lawyer in Brooklyn from his college-aged children. While the lawyer has been in practice for 30 years, he had no prior experience with the Open AI chatbot. But when he was hired in a lawsuit against the airline Avianca and went into Federal District Court with his legal brief filled with judicial opinions and citations, poor guy, he made history.

All the evidence he was bringing to the case was generated by ChatGPT. All of it was false: creative writing generated by the bot.

Here is the story, as told in The New York Times Business Section on June 9. A passenger, who had sued the airline for injury to his knee by a metal serving cart as it was rolled down the aisle in 2019 on a flight from El Salvador to New York, was advised that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. His lawyer, however, responded with the infamous 10-page brief offering more than half a dozen court decisions supporting their argument that the case should be allowed to proceed. There was only one problem: None of the cases cited in the brief could be found.

The decisions, although they named previous lawsuits against Delta Airlines, Korean Airlines and China Southern Airlines, and offered realistic names of supposedly injured passengers, were not real.

“I heard about this new site, which I falsely assumed was, like, a super search engine,” lamely offered the embarrassed attorney.

“Programs like ChatGPT and other large language models in fact produce realistic responses by analyzing which fragments of text should follow other sequences, based on a statistical model that has ingested billions of examples pulled from all over the internet,” explained The NYT.

Now the lawyer stands in peril of being sanctioned by the court. He declared that he had asked questions of the bot and had gotten in response genuine case citations, which he had included in his brief. He also printed out and included his dialogue with ChatGPT, which ultimately at the end, offered him the words, “I hope that helps.”

But the lawyer had done nothing further to ensure that those cases existed. They seemed professional enough to fool the professional.

Now the tech world, lawyers and judges are fixated on this threat to their profession. And warnings exist of that threat being carried over to all of humanity with erroneous generative AI.

But this is not an entirely ominous story.

Researchers at Open AI and the University of Pennsylvania have concluded that 80% of the U.S. workforce could see an effect on at least 10% of their tasks, according to The NYT. That means that some 300 million full-time jobs could be affected by AI. But is that all bad? Could AI become a helpful tool?

By using AI as an assistant, humans can focus on the judgment aspect of data-driven decision-making, checking and interpreting the information provided by the bot. Humans provide judgment over what is provided by a bot.

Ironically, the lawyer’s children probably passed their ChatGPT-fueled courses with good grades. Part of that is the way we teach students, offering them tons of details to memorize and regurgitate on tests or in term papers. The lawyer should have judged his ChatGPT-supplied data. Future lawyers now know they must. 

As for education, emphasis should go beyond “what” and even “so what” to “what’s next.”  Learning should be about once having facts or history, then how to think, to analyze, how to interpret and take the next steps. Can chatbots do that? Perhaps in an elementary way they now can. Someday they will in a larger context. And that poses a threat to the survival of humanity, because machines will no longer need us.

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Allison McComiskey, chair of the Environmental & Climate Sciences Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

The wildfires last week in Quebec, Canada, that brought an orange haze, smoke and record pollution to New York were not only disconcerting, but also were something of a reality check.

These raging fires occurred earlier than normal and, with a so-called cut-off low in Maine acting like a bumper in a pinball game driving the smoke down along the eastern seaboard, created hazardous air quality conditions from New York through Virginia.

“There’s a real concern about this intensity, the size of the fire, happening this early in the season,” said Allison McComiskey, chair of the Environmental & Climate Sciences Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory. “Typically, wildfire season starts later in the summer and extends through the fall. If we’re going to be having wildfires of this size this early in the season and it continues, [there will be] much more of an impact on people in terms of air quality, health, and well being.”

Dry conditions caused by climate change intensified the severity of these fires, making them more difficult to extinguish and increasing the amount of particulates that can cause lung and other health problems thrown into the air.

“Wildfire season is getting longer,” said Dr. Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, an air pollution expert and environmental epidemiologist from Stony Brook’s University’s program in Public Health. These fires are “spread because we have drier conditions, the vegetation is dry, we have droughts. Those require long-term solutions of trying to tackle climate change on a fundamental level.”

The intensity of the smoke and the cancelation of events like the Yankees and Phillies games has raised awareness of the downwind dangers from wildfires.

“This is like our Hurricane Sandy from an air quality perspective,” said Brian Colle, division head in Atmospheric Sciences at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. 

Scientists urged a multi-level approach to tackle a wildfire problem that they believe will become increasingly dangerous for human health.

Forest management, including controlled burns, would reduce the available fuel for fires started by natural causes such as lightning.

“Forest management may be one approach,” said Dr. Danesh Yazdi. That alone, however, won’t solve the threat from wildfires amid higher temperatures and more frequent droughts, she added.

McComiskey added that researchers are “certain” that wildfires are going to increase in the future due to climate change and suggested that these events ratchet up the need for getting better predictive models about what these fires will mean for human health and the climate.

The heavy smoke that descended on New York, which some health officials described as creating conditions for those who spent hours outdoors that are akin to smoking several cigarettes, is “a wake up call that we need policies” to deal with the conditions that create these fires, McComiskey said.

The increase by a “fraction of a degree in temperature is really not the point,” McComiskey added. “We need to decarbonize our economy and we need to move toward addressing the bigger causes of climate change.”

A wildfire occurring earlier in the year with smoke filled with particulates could raise awareness and attention to the dangers from such events.

“Having this kind of thing happen in the East Coast through New York and [Washington] DC, as opposed to where we typically think of bad wildfire happening out west, in Washington State and the Rocky Mountains, might help in terms of the awareness and urgency to take some action,” McComiskey added.

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Capitol Building. Photo from Wikimedia Commons

By Mallie Jane Kim

Peter Moloney, 58, of Bayport, was arrested June 7 for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Moloney is co-owner of Moloney Funeral Homes, which has seven locations throughout Long Island. He is now on administrative leave with no involvement in day-to-day operations, according to the business.

“We will not allow his actions on January 6 to distract us from our everyday focus on providing care and comfort for families during their most difficult times,” read a June 8 spokesman’s statement.

Moloney, who was identified as the protester dubbed “Black Bono Helmet” by internet sleuths two years ago, now faces eight charges related to his alleged actions during the Capitol riot. Court documents say Moloney, donning a bike helmet and protective eyewear, sprayed law enforcement officers with Black Flag Wasp, Hornet, & Yellow Jacket Killer. This kind of preparation, documents say, “indicates that he went to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, prepared for violence.”

He is also accused of attacking members of the news media, who were there to photograph the breach of the Capitol.

On the day of the arrest, his brother and co-owner Dan Moloney said in a statement, “For over 90 years the Moloney family has served our neighbors during their most trying times and has a long and proud history of supporting the law enforcement and first responder communities. The alleged actions taken by an individual on his own time are in no way reflective of the core values of Moloney Funeral Home, which is dedicated to earning and maintaining the trust of all members of the community of every race, religion and nationality.”

Peter Moloney appeared at the federal courthouse in Central Islip June 7 following his arrest, and was released on $100,000 bond. Outside the courthouse, his lawyer stressed that Moloney has not entered a plea, and the arraignment is scheduled for June 20 before a District of Columbia judge. “He is presumed innocent pursuant to the laws of the United States of America, and we’ll proceed accordingly,” the lawyer said.

Moloney is one of more than 1,000 individuals from around the country who have been arrested in connection with the riots since the incident in 2021, according to the Department of Justice, and more than 270 of those have been charged with “assaulting or impeding law enforcement.” The DOJ investigations continue.

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U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota. Photo from LaLota’s congressional website

Continuing the contentious immigration debate in Suffolk County, U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY1) denounced federal and city “sanctuary” policies during a telephone town hall Monday night, June 12.

LaLota, who serves on the House Homeland Security Committee, reported that the southwest sector of the U.S.-Mexico border has become the focus of the committee’s public safety and drug prevention efforts.

“More than one million undocumented, unvetted people have illegally crossed our border since President [Joe] Biden [D] took office,” LaLota said. “Drugs are coming across that border every day. China’s making the fentanyl being smuggled across the southwest border.”

“Fentanyl is killing so many of our young people,” he added. “And while counties like Suffolk are dealing with that fentanyl problem, a migrant crisis is brewing, too.”

Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration policy allowing swift expulsion of asylum seekers on public health grounds, ended May 11. Since then, New York City has already cared for over 46,000 new migrants, according to a mayor’s office report published June 5.

Mayor Eric Adams (D) has publicly called for counties across New York state to assist his city in a statewide immigration “decompression strategy.”

LaLota sharply criticized New York’s sanctuary city status, saying Adams and the city council have opted to “not enforce federal immigration law on those who are in our country illegally.”

“The result of the city’s policy, coupled with Biden’s open border, is that New York City has now become overrun with illegal migrants and those claiming asylum,” LaLota said, adding, “Like, 70 percent of those asylum claims are not legitimate — they don’t meet the traditional criteria for asylum.”

As NYC grapples with the logistical constraints of handling the migrant surge, LaLota said the city’s public services are “becoming overrun.”

“Veterans, the homeless, the mentally impaired and other Americans are now being put to the back of the line or rejected services because folks who are not in this country legally are taking those services,” the congressman said. “That, to me, is un-American.”

He added, “We Long Islanders should not have to bear the weight of the mess at the border and the [problems] exacerbated by those sanctuary city policies.”

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Canadian wildfire smoke reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the ground over Long Island. Photo by Terry Ballard from Wikimedia Commons

Brian Colle saw it coming, but the word didn’t get out quickly enough to capture the extent of the incoming smoke.

Dr. Jeffrey Wheeler, director of the emergency room at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson. File photo from St. Charles Hospital

The smoke from raging wildfires in Quebec, Canada, last week looked like a “blob out of a movie” coming down from the north, said Colle, head of the atmospheric sciences division at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. As the morning progressed, Colle estimated the chance of the smoke arriving in New York and Long Island was “80 to 90 percent.”

Colle, among other scientists, saw the event unfolding and was disappointed at the speed with which the public learned information about the smoke, which contained particulate matter that could affect human health.

“There’s a false expectation in my personal view that social media is the savior in all this,” Colle said. The Stony Brook scientist urged developing a faster and more effective mechanism to create a more aggressive communication channel for air quality threats.

Scientists and doctors suggested smoke from wildfires, which could become more commonplace amid a warming climate, could create physical and mental health problems.

Physical risks

People in “some of the extremes of ages” are at risk when smoke filled with particulates enters an area, said Dr. Jeffrey Wheeler, director of the emergency room at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson. People with cardiac conditions or chronic or advanced lung disease are “very much at risk.”

Dr. Robert Schwaner, medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine and chief of the Division of Toxicology at Stony Brook University Hospital. Photo from Stony Brook University

Dr. Robert Schwaner, medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine and chief of the Division of Toxicology at Stony Brook University Hospital, believed the health effects of wildfire smoke could “trickle down for about a week” after the smoke was so thick that it reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the ground.

Amid smoky conditions, people who take medicine for their heart or lungs need to be “very adherent to their medication regimen,” Schwaner said.

Physical symptoms that can crop up after such an event could include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness or breathing difficulties, particularly for people who struggle with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

When patients come to Schwaner with these breathing problems, he asks them if what they are experiencing is “typical of previous exacerbations.” He follows up with questions about what has helped them in the past.

Schwaner is concerned about patients who have had lung damage from COVID-related illness.

The level of vulnerability of those patients, particularly amid future wildfires or air quality events, will “play out over the next couple of years,” he said. Should those who had lung damage from COVID develop symptoms, that population might “need to stay in contact with their physicians.”

It’s unclear whether vulnerabilities from COVID could cause problems for a few years or longer, doctors suggested, although it was worth monitoring to protect the population’s health amid threats from wildfire smoke.

Local doctors were also concerned about symptoms related to eye irritations.

Schwaner doesn’t believe HEPA filters or other air cleansing measures are necessary for the entire population.

People with chronic respiratory illness, however, would benefit from removing particulates from the air, he added.

Wildfire particulates

Dr. Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, an air pollution expert and environmental epidemiologist from Stony Brook University’s Program in Public Health. Photo from Stony Brook University

Area physicians suggested the particulates from wildfires could be even more problematic than those generated from industrial sources.

Burning biomass releases a range of toxic species into the air, said Dr. Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, an air pollution expert and environmental epidemiologist from Stony Brook University’s Program in Public Health.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has done a “fairly decent job” of regulating industrial pollution over the last few decades “whereas wildfires have been increasing” amid drier conditions, Yazdi added.

In her research, Yazdi studies the specific particulate matter and gaseous pollutants that constitute air pollution, looking at the rates of cardiovascular and respiratory disease in response to these pollutants.

Mental health effects

Local health care providers recognized that a sudden and lasting orange glow, which blocked the sun and brought an acrid and unpleasant smell of fire, can lead to anxiety, which patients likely dealt with in interactions with therapists.

As for activity in the hospital, Dr. Poonam Gill, director of the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program at Stony Brook Hospital, said smoke from the wildfires did not cause any change or increase in the inpatient psychiatric patient population.

In addition to the eerie scene, which some suggested appeared apocalyptic, people contended with canceled outdoor events and, for some, the return of masks they thought they had jettisoned at the end of the pandemic.

“We had masks leftover” from the pandemic, and “we made the decision” to use them for an event for his son, said Schwaner.

When Schwaner contracted the delta variant of COVID-19, he was coughing for three to four months, which encouraged him to err on the side of caution with potential exposure to smoke and the suspended particulates that could irritate his lungs.

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Snaden is a vote for stability

On Monday, June 5, I ran my last public meeting as mayor of Port Jefferson Village. Over my 14-year tenure, I have run and attended well over 6,700 meetings and spent countless hours serving and representing this great village.

It has truly been my great honor to serve, protect and build our community, stabilizing the tax base, building our reserves now to well over $2 million, while improving our parks, paving our streets and reducing crime (as Suffolk County police reported at our last meeting).

It is hard work, committed work and work that doesn’t result from a crash course. It is work that comes from spending lots of time sitting in the seat, getting to know your partners, revenue streams, who to call and when to call. It takes thick skin, the ability to listen and most of all — the ability to know when it’s time.

I am endorsing Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden to be our next mayor — to be my mayor. Why? Because she is ready – she has trained for five years, is more than capable and she cares and has passion for this community.

I made the decision to retire because I knew my successor was ready, willing and able. You can’t learn this job in under a year — it’s not possible. And for goodness sake, why would we want a neophyte mayor when we can elect Kathianne and keep our trustees in place so they can continue to learn and serve? 

Doing otherwise would be so detrimental to the trajectory of this village — it would wreak havoc and result in a devastating, unstable and inexperienced board creating damage that might be irreparable for years to come. 

A vote for Deputy Mayor Snaden is a vote for stability and to keep your board intact so we can move onward and upward together. Please be responsible and get out to vote on June 20 at the Village Center. After our 14 years together, please help me in this one last request: To vote for Katharine Snaden to protect our beloved Port Jefferson and ensure it remains our very own beautiful destination — for a lifetime or a day.

Margot J. Garant

Mayor, Village of Port Jefferson

Sheprow will shake up status quo

As a lifelong resident and former trustee of Port Jeff, I am enthusiastically supporting Lauren Sheprow for village mayor. 

A vote for the opponent will maintain the status quo at Village Hall. We cannot afford to continue the fiscal and land-use policies of the current administration. 

In 2008, when I was a trustee, a significant and illegal situation in a residential area was brought to the board’s attention. Shockingly, 14 years later, the problem persists. We need a mayor who will be proactive, respond quickly to problems and represent all of us. That person is Lauren Sheprow. 

Sheprow will ensure land-use decisions are made with the advice of village professionals, taking into account the need to preserve the character of our cherished village while revitalizing certain areas. We can and must do better.

Please join me by writing in “Lauren Sheprow” in the write-in space for mayor on the ballot.

Virginia Capon

Port Jefferson

Editor’s note: The writer is a former Port Jefferson Village trustee.

Snaden’s commitment to public safety

As someone with a career in law enforcement, I admit to being very impressed by Kathianne Snaden. 

Deputy Mayor Snaden’s ongoing dedication to public safety has truly been something to behold. Even as a new trustee, I often remember seeing her at the Suffolk County Police Department 6th Precinct monthly meetings, engaging with the department, taking notes and advocating for more involvement by SCPD within the village. This was going on since day one of her being an elected official.

 Her involvement with SCPD over the years — both at Village Hall and at the 6th Precinct — still continues to this very day. There have been ever evolving improvements with our own code officers, her many different initiatives such as having code officers on bicycles, code officers meeting every inbound train uptown and working with the schools to allow code officers to be a presence there, again to name a few. 

She is always interacting with the 6th Precinct Whiskey Unit every summer, always being on call and present whenever necessary at any time of day or night. She has even gone on a few ride-alongs to really dig deep and be involved in every aspect of public safety. It’s so refreshing to see.

It is true, the flowers in the village are beautiful. However, what is more beautiful is an elected official who has worked on improving the safety of our village for years since day one. I am confident Kathianne will use this experience and institutional knowledge as our mayor to continue making Port Jeff the best it can be.

Keith Ottendorfer

Port Jefferson

Sheprow will bring change

Experience counts, but wisdom counts more. Networks, contacts and vision count more.

Lauren Sheprow brings to our village a wide range of professional management experience, an extensive network of contacts in the village — including myself, Stony Brook University and beyond, and a tradition of resident enfranchisement. She will also bring integrity.

You will need to write in Lauren’s name on June 20, and you will need to write in exactly as prescribed. This, because your current establishment continues its tradition of unfair dealing; this, because your current establishment throws out petitions on technicalities — instead of saying, “Take this back, you forgot something.”

The opposition response? Getting a little scared? Eliminate the competition. We are seeing character assassination in the form of unsigned attacks.

Do you know your village history? Seems a lot like what happened to Mark Lyon when he was trustee. (Mark had made a negative comment on the Lombardi’s renovation to Port Jefferson Country Club, a last-minute leak that cost him his seat.)

I have a lot to say about Port Jefferson, but I say it in signed letters or in an open public forum.

There is much that is not being done and much that needs to change.

Remember our recent code enforcement scandal? It didn’t have to happen. I warned the board of trustees of this. 

We need to look to our future. We are losing 50% of our power plant revenue but we could lose the other 50% starting in 2027.

Decommissioning

It is time to attend to this. Lauren will reach out and bring in people with the networks to address these issues. Conversations with LIPA, PSEG, National Grid and the new public LIPA. Conversations about future technologies — here in Port Jefferson.

LIPA, LIRR, Lawrence Aviation, revenue from solar installation battery storage — here in Port Jefferson. We need to start attending to all of these big issues.

Lauren will bring in the people of Port Jefferson who can make it happen. Lauren will lead.

Bruce Miller 

Port Jefferson

Editor’s note: The writer is a former Port Jefferson Village trustee.

Is this your village?

It is changing. Is it changing for the better? Behemoth apartments. A code enforcement group that seems out of control.

I put in much time and effort working with the Grassroots Committee to Repower Port Jefferson. The whole community was involved. What happened to that community effort? It seems like little is happening. It seems like it has all been pulled inside the village. All is secret.

The school district and the community are no longer involved. No efforts are being made for a positive economic future. Are we just awaiting taxes doubling? There are alternative sources of tax revenue but they are not being pursued. Ms. Snaden suggests “experience” in her campaign. Experience in what? Our planning department is just a rubber stamp for developers. Code enforcement?

Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency

This committee is giving your tax dollars and services away to multimillionaire developers. Apartment buildings are not “industrial.” Where are the long-term jobs the IDA was designed to create? The first village development on Texaco Avenue was well through the planning process as a private sector investment. The IDA board was scrambling to throw money at this development and win favor with this developer — and future developers — before time ran out and the plans approved.

Uptown is a mess. But why? We have ordinances to ensure decent commercial housing. Were these ordinances ever enforced? Or were these four blocks allowed to deteriorate to give developers greater leverage for more dense development through more dense zoning? (Speaking of dense zoning: Maryhaven? Really?)

Above-ground parking garages? We are looking more like Queens every year.

What’s your comfort level with our current Village Hall? Let us not be intimidated by one joker with an iPhone. Let’s reopen Village Hall to our villagers.

 Remember, Lauren is for the residents.

Molly Mason

Port Jefferson

AHEPA upholds American ideals

Almost exactly 100 years ago, in the summer of 1922, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association was established.

The organization was formed in response to attacks on Greek immigrants by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist and anti-immigrant groups operating across the country. Although now, several generations later, Greeks are successful and well established in American society, to this day AHEPA remains active and continues to promote the best qualities of Ancient Greek society, including philanthropy, education, civic responsibility, integrity, family and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism. 

Always faithful to its history, AHEPA was instrumental in the restoration of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, through which millions of immigrants flowed, often with little more than one or two pieces of hand luggage and a dream.

This past weekend, I was invited by AHEPA and the local Greek-American community to be recognized for public service. To receive an award from an organization of this quality was truly humbling, and I am very thankful to the community for its kindness. 

Reflecting on the history of AHEPA, I was reminded that although Greek immigrants ultimately overcame their challenges, successive groups of immigrants continue to face the same fears, the same attacks and the same bigotry.

People rarely leave their native countries and immigrate to the United States because things are going great for them at home. The choice to leave behind their food, language and culture is a painful decision, never taken lightly, and very often in desperation. 

But Lady Liberty doesn’t just open her arms to the wealthy, the gainfully employed and the highly educated. Her invitation extends to “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me” [Emma Lazarus’ famous 1883 sonnet, “The New Colossus”].

Fortunately, throughout history there have been those with compassion and courage who have stood up to defend true American ideals. Our nation is a nation of immigrants, and although immigrants sometimes arrive with empty pockets, they have that hustle which helped build America into the amazing land of opportunity it is today. 

I am so proud to know the good people of AHEPA and my many friends within the Greek community who have been a beacon of moral courage, compassionate leadership and democracy not just for 100 years, but for thousands.

Jonathan Kornreich

Councilmember, Town of Brookhaven

Stony Brook

Carlton “Hub” Edwards: an uplifting story

Congratulations to Rita J. Egan and The Village Times Herald for a wonderfully uplifting story on Carlton “Hub” Edwards [“Veteran Stories” series in Arts & Lifestyles section, also TBR News Media website, May 25]. 

A Korean War veteran, he’s been a knowledgeable, affable, active and patriotic fixture in our community for many, many decades.

One of Ms. Egan’s many interesting highlights features Hub unquestioningly trading his baseball glove and local team jersey for the uniform of our United States Army. What people may not know is he made that switch after being drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers, who happened to be one of the top three or four Major League teams in 1951.

The pitcher of three no-hitters simply said, “Uncle Sam took first precedence,” feeling even today that the military can provide much-needed discipline for young people.

Whether it’s been Hub’s work at the American Legion Irving Hart Post 1766, his Bethel AME Church or our Three Village Historical Society, the post’s community liaison Joe Bova summed up things perfectly: “He really felt strongly about what his commitment to people should be and that just transferred over to the community he belongs to.”

Talking to Hub or his lovely wife, Nellie, whether it be at the Memorial Day ceremony or during a Frank Melville Memorial Park concert, is both a treat and an enriching experience. Here’s hoping those who haven’t read the article will now take the opportunity to do so.

Jim Soviero

East Setauket

Yes, words do matter

I found the title to Shoshana Hershkowitz’s recent letter on the immigration debacle taking place quite ironic [“Words matter in immigration dialogue,” May 25]. Let’s examine “words matter” for a moment, shall we? 

I wonder if anyone remembers when people were caught entering our country illegally, they were referred to as illegal aliens. That term was legally accurate, yet deemed offensive to progressives. The acceptable words to describe a person in our country illegally then became undocumented immigrant. 

Now, the words (that matter) have become “asylum seeker.” Asylum is defined as protection granted to a political refugee. It was not intended to bypass the legal immigration process for people that want to enjoy all of the benefits of living in the United States. I think honest people can agree that not everyone coming over our border illegally is a political refugee. 

I fully support legal immigration. No one is above the law in the U.S. Once again, the compassion and goodness of the people of this country is being taken advantage of by progressives that created this unprecedented and unsustainable surge. 

I read that Vice President Kamala Harris [D] was supposed to be figuring out the “root cause” of the surge at our border. I have not seen her give an explanation yet. Could it be progressive policies? For example, in New York, politicians declared a sanctuary state and gave out over $2 billion of taxpayer money to noncitizens through the Excluded Workers Fund. Is that an incentive to come here illegally?

Ms. Hershkowitz quoted Kevin McCaffrey [R-Lindenhurst], presiding officer of the county Legislature, stating, “We don’t know who’s coming over.” Is that not a true and fair statement? Ms. Hershkowitz says asking that question implies that asylum seekers are a danger to us. How extremely disingenuous of her. 

Our leaders cannot ask simple, reasonable questions about who enters our country now? Can Ms. Hershkowitz personally vouch for all of these people? In New York City, the mayor was housing some of these people in public school facilities. Our governor is considering using our taxpayer-funded universities to house these people in our neighborhoods, and our elected officials cannot ask any questions without being labeled xenophobic or accused of demonization? 

Seems like Ms. Hershkowitz’s rhetoric is a bit extreme to me. Does constantly labeling people who you don’t agree with politically as evil or dangerous, just for asking questions, bring us together or divide us?

Words matter … indeed.

Charles Tramontana

East Setauket

Open letter to Assemblyman Ed Flood

Dear Assemblyman,

I urge you to vote for the Birds and Bees Protection Act when it comes before you this week. The bill (A7640/S1856A) will protect honey bees and other pollinators from neurotoxic pesticides known as neonicotinoids which are having a devastating impact on bees.

You might not be aware, but the original bill was worked on by Maria Hoffman, my wife and longtime state Assembly staffer and local Setauket beekeeper, in response to the massive die-off of bees caused by these new genetically manufactured nerve agents that are coated on corn and soybean seeds and then spread by contact with bees as they forage for nectar and pollen.

You should also know that the bill is very specific and bans only neonic-coated corn and soy seeds and does allow farmers to use locally applied pesticides if their crops are threatened.

Beyond the partisan wrangling of our elected officials that seem to take up so much of government lately, you should know that your Assembly district has a strong environmental leaning by both Democrat and Republican residents of the district. The Birds and Bees Protection Act has strong support districtwide and your constituents will appreciate your leadership on this important bill.

George Hoffman

Setauket

Another Birds and Bees plea to Assemblyman Flood 

How disheartening to think the state environmental bill A7640/S1856A, the Birds and Bees Protection Act, that has the bipartisan support of Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine [R] and other local legislators, may not be supported by our new state legislator Assemblyman Ed Flood [R-Port Jefferson]. 

Maria Hoffman, a local Setauket beekeeper who originally helped formulate this bill, was a steadfast advocate for environmental protection and a dear friend who passed away last year. Many in the community knew and respected Maria.

We are very dedicated to protecting our waterways in this district and wholeheartedly support this bill. Its intent is to protect honey bees as well as all other pollinators from neurotoxic pesticides known as neonicotinoids. 

These nerve agents are coated on corn, soy and other seeds prophylactically to avoid agricultural pests. They are now widely used by large nurseries as well to avoid pests during transport of stock to local stores. 

There is significant opportunity for misapplication by both farmers and homeowners which leads to residue of these toxins in field margins, local waterways and potentially the produce we eat. Integrated pest management, regulated by the EPA, would still permit farmers to treat threatened crops. 

I urge Mr. Flood to respect the strong environmental leaning of both Democrat and Republican residents of his district. These constituents will value leadership in passing this important bill.

Anne Chimelis

East Setauket

Boating safety is necessary

Thanks to TBR News Media for their timely editorial on boating safety [“Safety key to a successful summer,” May 25].

The sobering facts about boating safety should be of concern to everyone who enjoys the water this year. There is little doubt that the use of a personal flotation device, or life jacket, would have contributed to saving a number of lives lost due to drowning.

There are a number of organizations which offer short courses that provide a New York State boating safety certificate or its equivalent, including the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and the United States Power Squadrons — America’s Boating Club.

Just this past spring, the Mount Sinai Yacht Club, in association with the Suffolk County Police Department, ran a boating certificate course for the general public. These courses give you an opportunity to talk to instructors and get all your questions and concerns answered.

The requirement for all operators of a motorized vessel to have a boating safety certificate is being phased in by age. As of Jan. 1, 2025, every operator of a motorized vessel in New York state waters will be required to have a boating safety certificate or its equivalent.

Beverly Tyler

Certified instructor and past commander

Old Field Point Power Squadron

MTA’s continued staffing, safety failures

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority inspector general’s report on excess employee overtime and safety issues is nothing new for Port Jefferson Branch riders.

Every generation of MTA chairmen, agency presidents, board members, finance officers and executive management who manage agency budgets has made the wrong choice. They believed it would be cheaper to pay overtime than hire additional employees, whose critical specialized skills were necessary for maintaining functioning safe and reliable transportation operations.

They thought it would be less expensive by avoiding the costs of training, full-time salary plus fringe benefits, medical insurance and pensions by not increasing the headcounts of various departments. This has contributed to excessive overtime and potential safety issues.

The LIRR should have the ability to hire more full-time and part-time employees to deal with routine and emergency workloads. This would provide a larger pool of employees resulting in less overtime, excessive and unsafe work hours for employees.

Another option is upon reaching retirement eligibility, allow employees to collect 50% of their pensions while still being able to work part time. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber and LIRR President Catherine Rinaldi should include both in the next round of contract negotiations with SMART Transportation Division 505 Union General Chairman Anthony Simon.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Severe lead poisoning of local swan

We live in Port Jefferson, close to Mount Sinai Harbor. Last Sunday, a swan came to visit us, which was most unusual because they never come up from the harbor. This juvenile looked really sick. We called Lisa Jaeger, who rescues animals, and she trapped the swan and brought him out to the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays, where he was diagnosed with severe lead poisoning. The swan may not survive. He will be at the wildlife rescue center for a long time.

Severe lead poisoning? How did this happen? We have learned that duck hunters often use lead shot — even though it’s illegal — and it falls to the bottom of the harbor and gets ingested by swans.

How much lead is sitting at the bottom of the harbor? Are the clams, mussels and oysters that fishermen dig up from the harbor contaminated, too? People kayak and swim here and walk their dogs, and we worry that the dogs could also ingest the lead.

We want Port Jefferson residents to be aware of how our harbor is being polluted. Perhaps we can work together to ensure that no other swans suffer as this juvenile is suffering.

Cynthia Kravitz

Peter Boerboom

Port Jefferson

A sad episode for Smithtown

How ironic it is that those who ran Martine Francois-DePass out of town with their bigoted and hateful social media campaign are themselves Exhibit A for exactly that which they so passionately deny: Namely, that racist discrimination against Black people, far from being a thing of the past, is still very much with us. [See June 1 story, The Times of Smithtown.]

It’s yet another reminder that America in general and Smithtown in particular continue to be far from the ideal of a color-blind society to which we all aspire.

What a missed opportunity. An opportunity to expose Smithtown children to a positive authority figure from a minority background. An opportunity to move the needle on the perception of Smithtown as a community hostile to non-whites. An opportunity to stand up and defeat fear and bigotry. The decision of Ms. Francois-DePass to withdraw from consideration as principal of Smithtown Elementary in the face of a campaign of vilification and hate against her is our loss, not hers.

Does anybody seriously believe that if Ms. Francois-DePass was white, her every word on social media would have been subjected to the same kind of aggressive and invidious scrutiny? Not that there was anything troubling about her social media posts. She supports Black Lives Matter and racial justice. What a surprise. Is that the litmus test? If it is, it amounts to a frankly racist refusal to countenance the hiring of just about any Black person.

One Smithtown parent stood up at a school board meeting and proclaimed that Ms. Francois-DePass was unqualified. What nonsense. She has degrees from Boston University, SUNY Stony Brook and an advanced degree from Fordham. She also has an advanced certificate in educational leadership and administration from Long Island University, experience as a New York City school teacher for 18 years and as an assistant principal here in Suffolk in the Longwood school district for four years.

Another parent posted that he was going to tell his child not to recognize this “piece of trash” and to “disregard any guidance/direction given by this person.” What a great example for his child.

Is this how some parents want to be “involved” in their children’s education? Racism is still very much with us largely because it’s passed down from generation to generation. What a sad, sad episode this is for our Smithtown community.

David Friedman

St. James

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Northport hosted it’s first annual Pride Flag Raising Ceremony last week at village hall. Photo courtesy of Joe Schramm

By Leah Chiappino

Northport Pridefest kicked off its month-long celebration of Pride Month June 1 with a ceremonial Pride flag raising at Northport Village Hall.

The flag raising was accompanied by four churches ringing their bells for two minutes, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic congregations, as “a celebration that God loves us all,” according to Pridefest’s co-director Joe Schramm whose company, Schramm Marketing Group, is producing the event in partnership with the village.

Northport hosted it’s first annual Pride Flag Raising Ceremony last week at village hall. Photo by Leah Chiappino

“There’s often been a lot of pushback from religion, religious groups, and the church bells basically told us that those groups don’t necessarily represent the organized religions of America,” Schramm said.

Following the flag raising, there was a 30-minute ceremony. About 125 people attended, according to Schramm, including Northport Village Mayor Donna Koch; Asharoken Mayor Dr. Greg Letica; Northport Village trustee Meghan Dolan, a co-director of Pridefest; trustee Dave Weber, the first openly LGBTQ+ elected official in Northport Village history; former trustee Henry Tobin; Northport Village Chief of Police Chris Hughes; Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth (R); Huntington’s Receiver of Taxes Jillian Guthman (D); and Huntington Town councilmembers Joan Cergol (D), Dave Bennardo (R) and Sal Ferro (R). Suffolk County Legislator Stephanie Bontempi (R-Centerport) sent a representative, and State Assemblyman Keith Brown (R-Northport) sent a statement. Also in attendance was Juli Grey-Owens, the chairperson of Suffolk County LGBTQ+ Advisory Board and executive director of Gender Equality NY. 

 “What is really amazing to me is that all those elected officials came from the village, town, county, and state, to say that they embrace the LGBTQ+ and are here to stand by us and safeguard our rights to live and love as we wish,” said Schramm.

A resident of Northport for 23 years, the area has always been a safe and welcoming place for Schramm.

“I think that Northport has long been a very accepting and inviting welcoming community for the LGBT communities,” he said. “And so I moved here 23 years ago because I knew that. … And I know that in recent years … quite a few LGBT members have moved here from other parts of New York City or Long Island because they know that Northport, it’s not only beautiful, it’s a really welcoming and safe community for the LGBT people who identify.”

Schramm, who is the first vice president of the Northport Chamber of Commerce, said several members have been talking about having an event like Pridefest for several years.

“We have people put out pride flags and, the like, but there’s never been a concerted effort to work together,” he said.

He approached Dolan, who also serves as the village commissioner of parks with the idea. Dolan was having “conversations internally at village hall,” about doing an event for Pride month.

“We came together and said, ‘Well, let’s make this happen.’” Schramm said.

Schramm contacted fellow village residents he knew were members of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as Koch, whom he said came onboard the right way. Planning meetings were held at village hall, and the group grew to nearly 50 volunteers, from the LGBTQ+ community, along with parents of LGBTQ+, and allies. 

Northport Pridefest’s mission contains six key goals: “Celebrate LGBTQ+ history; embrace the various segments that define LGBTQ+, inform the LGBTQ+ community of services available to them, educate the public about LGBTQ+ issues, empower the protection of equal rights and inspire leadership and cooperation.”

Pridefest in the Park, the second Pridefest event will be held June 17, in the Village Park.

“[The flag raising] was a little bit more formal, and Pridefest in the park will be a lot more fun,” said Schramm. 

Featuring a pre-tea “afternoon music festival,” the event will kick off at 1 p.m. with the national anthem, followed by a short concert by the Long Island Gay Men’s Chorus and a DJ. At 2 p.m. LGBTQ+ youth will speak on the six components of the mission statement. The program will close with a performance by the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company. There will also be vendors, and the Northport Historical Society Museum will be running its The PRIDE! Pop-up Exhibit. Some restaurants on Main Street will be promoting “tea” drink prices.

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A petition to stop potential development of Stanhope Stables, located on the corner of Downs and West Hills Roads in Huntington has garnered outrage from the community, resulting in a petition on change.org that has garnered over 2,100 signatures as of June 6.

When contacted by TBR News Media for a comment Friday, June 2, town spokesperson Christine Geed said that Supervisor Ed Smyth (R) “has not received a copy of the proposed application nor a copy of any petition, therefore he cannot comment.”

Geed said applications are first reviewed by the Planning Board for “merit and completeness,” and then “sent to the Town Board to determine if any action will be taken.” Geed later confirmed that an application from B2K Development was received by the town clerk in late March, and then forwarded to the planning department in early April. The “zoning change request is to go from R80 zoning to R5. Or, more specifically from two-acre zoning to 1/8 of an acre,” Geed said.

David Burman, a principal at B2K said in a statement that “B2K Development will acquire the property subject to entitlements.” They are proposing to build “59 single-family homes on 16 acres, with 20% being under ‘affordable housing’ requirement of the Town of Huntington,” according to the statement.

“Our decision to propose single-family homes at market rates is a reflection, in part, of our desire to mirror the surrounding residential neighborhood, creating a development consistent with efforts to protect the community’s quality of life while offering housing opportunities for a new generation of Long Islanders,” the statement read.

When asked if the developer had acquired other stables in the area, a spokesperson for B2K said they did not have that information.

“B2K Development typically does not comment on unrelated properties or questions relating to business strategy,” the spokesperson said.

Historical concerns

Kat Hankinson, the petition’s organizer, said she is mostly concerned about the changes the proposal will have to the Whitman Historical District.

“It’s like the old Huntington that has been here for hundreds of years, way before all of this commercialization and overdevelopment started happening,” said Hankinson. “So it’s the character of the neighborhood, its historical character, its rural character, that is going to be irrevocably altered.”

According to a 2018 report by the town on historic preservation, the district consists of properties near the intersection of West Hills Road and Chichester Road, and is a local landmark. Town Historian Robert Hughes said in an interview the district is made up of a handful of houses that have a connection to the Whitman family, who have relation to the famed poet, Walt Whitman.

“[The homes] sit on large lots and date back to the 17th and 18th century and create a rustic historic feel as you’re driving down West Hills Road,” he said. West Hills Road and Downs Road are considered historic roadways

Hughes said Stanhope Stables is adjacent to the Whitman Historical District, but the property has a home dating back to 1785 and barns that are also several hundred years old. According to Hughes, the house was built for Samuel Oakley in 1785, and later was inherited by his son, Solomon Oakley. Solomon operated an inn and later used the property for farming. It stayed in the Oakley family until after Soloman died in the 1870s. In 1891, it was purchased by Henry Coe, a wealthy New Yorker who used the property as his summer home. Then it was acquired by a lawyer named Lewis Case Ledyard, around 1950. He used it as a casual “gentleman’s farm” that had horses, cows and chickens. In 1987, it was established as Melody Equestrian Center and later changed ownership to Stanhope Stables.

In order to preserve the structures, the town’s historic preservation commission has been “looking into designating the house and barn at the stables as historic landmarks under town code,” Hughes said.

Increase in traffic

Hankinson said she also worries about the increase in sewage and traffic.

“Right next to the stable, there’s a church and then there’s Walt Whitman High School, and so kids are always walking to school, along the side of the road,” she said. Hankinson has rescue horses herself and already hesitates to ride them in the area, due to traffic, she said.

“I don’t feel safe on the roads because there’s so much traffic coming through and a lot of it is through traffic,” she said. “They’re not people in the neighborhood who would go slowly. They’re people just driving through and throwing garbage out their windows and so there’s another concern that an increase in traffic is going to make it even less safe for pedestrians, students and also people who want to take their horses out.”

Organization efforts

Neighbors have been helping Hankinson organize settings and hand out flyers. They have held meetings and have a Facebook group in opposition to the stables.

Several residents plan to speak at the June 13 town board meeting in opposition to the proposal. Hankinson said she sees an opportunity to create a community space, like a land trust and public park, like Caumsett State Park in Lloyd Harbor.

“The public can go and enjoy and ride horses, and you know, my concern, beyond the overdevelopment ,.. is this possible perception that the equestrian community is somehow … out of touch or not really part of the public, but the stables are businesses that people depend on,” she said, noting local farriers and stable hands, and horse supply stores, like Dover Saddlery, in South Huntington, that depend on the equine community.

Dr. Marvin Glassmann, the first vice president of Nassau-Suffolk Horsemen’s Association, who advocated for horses and their quality of life, said he was also concerned about the changing character of the neighborhood, but that the area’s “whole way of life” could change. Blacksmiths and hay delivery would lose out.

“It would be phenomenally bad,” he said.

According to its website, the stable, around for many years, has 18 acres and 75 stalls. It offers riding lessons, training, leases and sales. It is owned and operated by Nancy Henderson.

“On the weekends you’ll see families pulled over on the side of the road with little children holding them up at the fence to look at the horses,” Debbie Porter, another area resident in opposition to the proposal, said. “So even people traveling through get to experience this little patch of country [will be affected].”

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Pixabay photo

In an all too familiar saga, Suffolk County officials have been decrying the notion of welcoming migrants seeking asylum. Since New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced that he would be sending migrants to neighboring counties last month, the Suffolk County Legislature has been doing all it can, including hiring special counsel, to make sure it’s not this county that has to welcome them.

We respect those who feel concerned about the traditional anti-immigration talking points, such as fears of drugs and crime. It’s important to remember that the data says the opposite. A study done by the U.S. Department of Justice in December 2020 found that “relative to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-born citizens are over two times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, two and a half times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over four times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.”

In essence, the vast majority of migrants, who are usually coming from desperate circumstances, are doing nothing more than trying to stabilize their lives and protect their families. Asylum is a legal process, and those seeking asylum have the right to have their cases heard.

We have all seen the footage on the news media of the often-brutal journeys migrants make from their home countries to land in the United States. If we put ourselves in their shoes, it wouldn’t be the first choice for most of us to, in some cases, walk hundreds of miles from our homes. These people are desperate.

It’s been proven time and time again immigrants benefit this country, state and county. Here at TBR News Media, our ongoing “American Dream” series highlights just a few local business owners, community leaders and neighbors who are immigrants themselves, making stellar and invaluable contributions to our towns and villages each and every day.

This debate also comes at a time when we have a labor shortage. Elderly residents are struggling to find quality home care, and parents quality child care. Since the pandemic, a number of teachers and health care workers have left their professions. Restaurants need helpers, farmers need agricultural workers and so on.

Local politicians have expressed their concerns about the ability to house migrants and provide for them. While we acknowledge these are real, practical concerns, we have found that most asylum seekers are not looking for handouts. Once we give them the tools to work, they will become assets, not burdens to the local economy.

Suffolk County could receive hundreds of people, able and willing to work. This would give us an incredible opportunity to harness new talents and ideas.

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