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Times of Huntington-Northport

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Child care. METRO photo

We often think of our country as the greatest in the world. In many ways, it is, but we are falling behind other first-world countries regarding health care costs, life expectancy, high-speed transportation and more.

Among our country’s greatest weaknesses is a lack of affordable child care options for parents.

Local Republican elected officials recently held a press conference on Thursday, Dec. 15, to raise awareness about this important issue. 

Their mission was to implore New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to include increased aid for child care services in the 2024 state budget. Hochul’s budget is still in its early stages and is expected to be released next month.

While the issue was addressed to an extent in last year’s budget, the elected officials said more needs to be done. Their plea is for the governor to consider how the cost of living varies throughout the state, with Long Islanders spending more than many of their fellow New Yorkers. 

For these reasons, a statewide child care eligibility level makes little sense for Long Islanders. If the statewide standard is not amended to reflect these differences, more people will flee this Island for more affordable regions of the state and nation.

In New York, more funding and incentives are needed to make child care more accessible for working parents, including building more facilities and encouraging employers to offer on-site options. We are seeing the exact opposite take place within our region, with many child care facilities cutting back their services or closing shop altogether.

The low salaries of those working in the industry also need to be corrected. Many are making minimum wage or close to it. It’s inexcusable that those responsible for taking care of children are paid so poorly that they can make the same or more while working for a fast-food restaurant or retailer.

The onset of the pandemic demonstrated how vital child care is to families. While many worked from home, those deemed essential workers, such as people in the medical, emergency, media and food industry fields, could work on-site. Child care facilities remaining open for these workers enabled them to continue providing residents with necessary vital services.

At the same time, many businesses deemed nonessential were shut down. With employees working from home, child care services experienced a drop-off in enrollment. The result was a decrease in cash flow, creating financial burdens on many facilities and several shutting their doors for good.

In addition to helping families afford these services, it’s imperative that our child care providers and professionals receive the financial support they need to open centers and keep them open with properly paid staff members. These are all serious red flags for our regional economy.

On-site day care is more than babysitting. The benefits of attending a child care center include improved social-emotional skills and children who are better prepared for elementary school.

The need for more child care assistance for Long Islanders should be a nonpartisan issue, something every elected official should be rallying for in the near future. We hope to see more public leaders speak up about the need and get behind any legislation to improve child care in our state.

The financial stability of New Yorkers — and most importantly, our children’s futures — depend on it.

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Have you seen Barbara Buckmann?

UPDATE: Barbara Buckmann has been located, unharmed.

Suffolk County Police have issued a Silver Alert for a missing Huntington Station woman who suffers from dementia.

Barbara Buckmann, 77, was last seen leaving her residence at the Manorhaven Adult Home, located at 222 Columbia Street in Huntington Station on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 6 p.m.

Buckmann is white, 5 feet 2 inches tall, 220 pounds with grey hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a white sweater and navy blue sweatpants.

Detectives are asking anyone with information on Buckmann’s location to call 911 or Second Squad detectives at 631-854-8252. 

Silver Alert is a program implemented in Suffolk County that allows local law enforcement to share information with media outlets about individuals with special needs who have been reported missing.

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A malfunctioning fire alarm caused a 48-minute delay in the middle of the third quarter of the Smithtown West vs. Northport boys basketball game on Saturday.

A close game before the stoppage turned into a rout for the Bulls, as they won 68-41. Northport was ahead 31-27 at halftime and were down by only four with 3:07 left in the third quarter when the alarm bells began to sound.

Smithtown West exploded with 31-8 after play resumed, including an 11-0 run to end the third quarter.

This was a part of a 19-2 run that spanned the end of the first half to the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

Jack Melore scored 26, including 4 three pointers, for the Bulls who remain undefeated at 5-0. Center Patrick Burke had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks for West. Northport’s Andrew Miller scored 18 points, 14 in the first half, as the Tigers dropped their first game of the year and are 4-1. Brendan Carr had 8 points and Emmett Radziul had 6 for Northport.

As for the delay, first responders from Hauppauge and Central Islip were on the scene within minutes and approximately a dozen fully-uniformed firefighters investigated the premises accompanied by Smithtown Central School District officials. It was determined that a faulty smoke detector caused the alarm — the second time in a week such a situation had occurred.

According to SCSD Director of Facilities Dan Leddy, the fire alert system for the entire district is currently being modernized with Smithtown West High School the first building to have a new fire safety monitoring system installed. This work should be completed district-wide before the end of the 2022-23 school year.

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CSHL’s David Spector (center) and postdoctoral fellows Rasmani Hazra on left and Gayan Balasooriya on right. Photo courtesy of CSHL

By Daniel Dunaief

One came from India, the other from Sri Lanka. After they each earned their PhD’s, they arrived on Long Island within seven months of each other about seven years ago, joining a lab dedicated to studying and understanding cancer. Each of them, working on separate projects, made discoveries that may aid in the battle against heart disease.

Working for principal investigator David Spector at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, postdoctoral fellow Rasmani Hazra, who grew up in Burdwan, India, found a link between a gene that affects cancer in mice that also can lead to a problem with the development of heart valves.

Hazra worked with two long noncoding RNAs that are highly expressed in mouse embryonic stem cells, which have the ability to differentiate into many different types of cells.

Specifically, she found that mice that didn’t have Platr4 developed heart-related problems, particularly with their valves.

At the same time, postdoctoral fellow Gayan Balasooriya, who was born and raised in Sri Lanka, discovered that a single, non-sex gene is governed by different epigenetic mechanisms based on whether the gene is inherited from the mom or the dad.

While it was known that males are more susceptible to heart disease than females, researchers did not know which copy of the gene related to those diseases are expressed. This discovery could help in understanding the development of heart defects.

“Although we ended up at heart development” in both of these published studies, “we didn’t initiate” looking for heart-related information, said Spector. “The science led us there.

Spector, however, expects that the lessons learned about differentiation in the context of the developing heart can also “impact out knowledge about tumors” which he hopes will eventually lead to advances in how to treat them.

He added that any clinical benefit from this work would take additional research and time.

An on and off switch

In Hazra’s study, which was published in the journal Developmental Cell, she worked with Platr4 because humans have several possible orthologous genes. 

When Platr4 expression, which shuts down after birth, is deleted from cells or embryos, the mice died from heart valve problems.

The human equivalent of Platr4 is located on chromosome 4. At this point, clinical case studies have connected the deletion of this chromosome to cardiac defects in humans.

Hazra said her project initially examined the function of these long non-coding sections of RNA. She was exploring how they affected differentiation. She found this link through in vitro studies and then confirmed the connection in live mice.

Spector explained that this work involved extensive collaborations with other researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, including teaming up with researchers who can do electrocardiograms on mice and who can assess blood flow.

A shared mouse imaging resource also helped advance this research.

“One of the advantages of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is that we have over 10 shared resources, each of which specializes in sophisticated technologies that scientists can use on their own projects,” he said. Each lab doesn’t have to learn and develop its own version of these skills.

Hazra plans to continue to study other long noncoding RNA. She is also working on glioblastoma, which is a form of brain cancer.

Hazra plans to start her own lab next fall, when she completes her postdoctoral research.

Inactive gene

Balasooriya, meanwhile, published his research in the journal Nature Communications.

He used RNA sequencing to identify numerous genes. He also looked at whether the RNAs originated from the mom or dad’s genes in individual cells.

Also planning to start his own lab next fall, Balasooriya found changes that alter gene expression between the alleles from the mother and the father experimentally and through data mining approaches.

“What was most surprising in my studies is that [he identified] the gene from the father’s side and the mother’s side are regulated in a different manner,” Balasooriya said. “I’m interested in following up on that finding.”

The next step for him is to look not only at the heart, but, more broadly, at how monoallelic gene expression changes the way regulators affect development and disease.

“I want to do a deep dive to find out the mechanisms” involved in this expression of a single copy of the gene, Balasooriya said, which could provide ways to understand how to control the process.

In the long run, this kind of research could provide insights into ways to treat heart disease as well as other diseases like cancer and immune diseases.

Growing up in the North Western Province in Sri Lanka, Balasooriya was interested in math and science. After he finished his bachelor’s degree in biology in Sri Lanka, he earned a master’s in molecular biology at the University of Hertfordshire in England. He “got so excited about biology and exploring new fields” that he decided to pursue his PhD at the University of Cambridge, England.

After college, he worked in computer science for a while and realized he was not passionate about it, which encouraged him to do his master’s. The experience in computer science helped him with bioinformatics.

As for Spector, he is pleased with the work of both of his postdoctoral researchers. “This is what being a principal investigator is all about, having young people join your lab, sitting down with them, discussing a potential project, not really knowing where it’s going to go,” he said.

He described both members of his team as “extremely successful” who were able to make discoveries that they shared in prestigious journals. Balasooriya and Hazra both laid the groundwork to go and start their own careers. 

“Seeing the fruits of their work is the most rewarding experience” as the leader of a lab, Spector said.

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Elon Musk. Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Our story begins some time around now. No, there’s no chocolate, despite the season, and there’s no meadow where everything is edible.

No, our modern-day story begins where so much of us live these days, online.

You see, a famous and once marvelous company called Twitter is run by an eccentric, wealthy and successful businessman named Elon Musk, who somehow figured out how to create and mass produce electric cars that require no gas and that sound like spaceships.

Musk has decided, after many hours of running Twitter, that he needs to find a successor.

So, borrowing a page from Willy Wonka, he provides invitations that cost 3 cents per tweet to enter a sweepstakes.

When he narrows the field down to those who get the golden tweet, he plans to invite a group of five people to come to a virtual, top secret Twitter tour.

A few people try to make fake tickets, but the ever vigilant Musk spots the fraud. Day after day, people wait until, finally, five people, some of whom have never tweeted in their lives, have a chance to run the company.

Musk appears on screen wearing a top hat and a menacing smile. He demands that no one record what they see or take a screenshot of the secrets he is prepared to share.

Each person has a tiny image — about 1/4 the size of Musk’s — as they virtually walk through a factory floor.

On the first stop, Musk invites them to join him in the secret Hunter Biden/ New York Post room. Ah, yes, the story about the infamous laptop, which will undoubtedly become a part of an extensive investigation into the Biden progeny, is in this room.

“Don’t try to read anything!” he snaps.

But, of course, one of the contestants can’t resist. With a special tool that tracks eye movements, Musk knows that contestant No. 1, who is chewing gum constantly, is trying to decipher all the information. Her screen develops a horrible virus that turns it (and her entire computer) purple.

“You see?” he says, shaking his virtual head at the other small characters. “That’s what you get when you don’t listen. Oh, look, here they come now.”

Wearing virtual clothing embroidered with the Tesla logo, a modern day group of Oompa-Loompas appears on screen.

“Oompa, loompa, doompa dee do.

I’ve got another riddle for you.

Oompa loompa, doompa dee dee

if you are wise, you’ll listen to me.

What do you get when you don’t listen to Musk?

A virus on your computer that will kill it before dusk.

Who do you think should have the last laugh?

It certainly won’t be you or your staff.

Take a moment to ponder this fact,

Running Twitter may take too much tact.”

“Well,” Musk interrupts, waving away the virtual characters. “That’s enough of that. Now, let’s go for a virtual boat ride.”

In everyone steps as a boat careens through a choppy river, passing one door after another, with the names of celebrities who have been suspended hanging from each virtual room.

The boat stops near an embankment. The Musk character invites his guests to look at some special doors.

When he turns around, his virtual eyes widen in shock, his lower jaw drops down to his knees, and he hunches his shoulders.

“How? What? Wait, what’s going on?” he stammers, looking closely at the faces of his remaining four contestants.

Sure enough, on screen, Musk recognizes that two of the faces are the same as his, while the other two look like versions of Donald Trump.

“No, but, I made this game,” he whines. “How will we find out who wins?”

“Ah,” one of the Trumps says. “For that, you’ll have to tune into the sequel, which will only cost $99 and will become a collector’s item in no time.”

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METRO photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Peace. That is what religions ask for, what billions of people across all nations pray for. Why in our family of humanity is that goal so elusive?

Perhaps this is a question only for theologians and  philosophers to answer. But now, in this glorious holiday season, when we speak and sing of Peace on Earth, we all articulate the ideal.

Many seek, and indeed can find inner peace. But the dream of peace, the kind of peace that is defined as lack of conflict and freedom from fear of violence between individuals and groups, has never been achieved. 

When will there be such peace?

The answer, it seems, is when all humans are of good will.

And what does that involve?

For starters, it requires acceptance and respect for the “other.” We need to see each other as humans with the same ambitions and desires and feelings. Rather than look down on and despise people who are simply different, we can be intrigued and interested in those differences and therefore in those who are different.

We can invite into our world those who are different from us in the way of skin color or appearance or beliefs. And if we can do so, we can see them as humans, just like us, and bigotry cannot exist. For we cannot look down on ourselves. If we are to do so, starting now, racism and antisemitism and every other sort of hatred of our neighbors disappears.

For there to be Peace on Earth, it must start with accepting the stranger, the “other” among us.

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A scene from 'The Mummy'

To kick off the new year, Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre will begin screening an assortment of hit films from the 1980s and 90s. This selection of films will include something for everyone, including beloved family friendly classics, offbeat comedies, action adventures, and obscure cult classics.

At a time when cinema attendance is down across the country, the Cinema Arts Centre wants to remind people why coming to the movies is so special — by playing audience favorites that are rarely seen in theaters.

The Cinema will host screenings of films that include The Addams Family (1991), The Mummy (1999) starring Brendan Fraser, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), The Goonies (1985) Happy Gilmore (1996), the Coen Brothers’ Raising Arizona (1987) Slumber Party Massacre II (1987), Darren Aronofsky’s Pi (1998), Little Giants (1994) starring Rick Moranis, The NeverEnding Story (1984), and Roald Dahl’s Matilda (1996), The Witches (1990), & James and the Giant Peach (1996).

This selection of films represents some of the favorite guilty pleasures of staff and supporters of the Cinema Arts Centre, and films that audiences feel a great sense of nostalgia for. Many of these films were programed after being suggested by local film lovers. The Cinema encourages the Huntington community to reach out to share films that they want to see. Suggestions should be sent to [email protected].

Upcoming Programs:

The Addams Family (1991)

Sunday, January 1st at 12:00 PM
$12 Public | $7 Members | $5 Kids

Tickets: https://bit.ly/AddamsFamilyCAC

When a man (Christopher Lloyd) claiming to be Fester, the missing brother of Gomez Addams (Raul Julia), arrives at the Addams’ home, the family is thrilled. However, Morticia (Anjelica Huston) begins to suspect the man is a fraud, since he cannot recall details of Fester’s life. With the help of lawyer Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya), Fester manages to get the Addams clan evicted from their home. Gomez realizes the two men are conspiring to swindle the Addams fortune and that he must challenge Fester. (US, 1991, 99min., English, PG-13 | Dir. Barry Sonnenfeld)

The Mummy (1999)

Friday, January 6th at 9:30 PM
$15 Public | $10 Members
Tickets: https://bit.ly/TheMummyCAC

Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz star in the cult classic that set the standard for the action-adventure genre, 1999’s The Mummy. Adapted from Karl Freund’s 1932 film of the same name, the story follows adventurer Rick O’Connell (Fraser), who discovers the hidden ruins of Hamunaptra. Returning with an archaeological expedition, the mummy of High Priest Imhotep wakes after 3,000 years and begins to wreak havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love. (US, 1999, 125min., English, PG-13 | Dir. Stephen Sommers)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Sunday, January 8th at 12:00 PM
$12 Public | $7 Members | $5 Kids
Tickets: https://bit.ly/TMNTcac

In New York, mysterious radioactive ooze has mutated four sewer turtles into talking, upright-walking, crime-fighting ninjas. The intrepid heroes – Michelangelo (Robbie Rist), Donatello (Corey Feldman), Raphael (Josh Pais) and Leonardo (Brian Tochi) – are trained in the Ninjutsu arts by their rat sensei, Splinter. When a villainous rogue ninja, who is a former pupil of Splinter, arrives and spreads lawlessness throughout the city, it’s up to the plucky turtles to stop him. (Hong Kong/US, 1990, 93min., English, PG | Dir. Steve Barron)

Happy Gilmore (1996)

Cult Café

Saturday, January 14th at 10:00 PM
$7 Public | $5 Members

Tickets: https://bit.ly/HappyGilmoreCAC

All Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) has ever wanted is to be a professional hockey player. But he soon discovers he may actually have a talent for playing an entirely different sport: golf. When his grandmother (Frances Bay) learns she is about to lose her home, Happy joins a golf tournament to try and win enough money to buy it for her. With his powerful driving skills and foulmouthed attitude, Happy becomes an unlikely golf hero – much to the chagrin of the well-mannered golf professionals. (USA, 1996, 92 min, PG-13| Dir. Dennis Dugan)

Slumber Party Massacre 2 (1987)

With post-Film discussion with Costume Designer Jolene Marie Richardson and Fashion Historian Marcus Slabine

Thursday, January 19th at 7:30 PM
$17 Public | $12 Members
Tickets: https://bit.ly/SlumberParty2CAC
An all-female hard rock band rents a condo for a much-needed vacation. Their tranquility is cut short by a heavy metal dream-demon and his murder weapon of choice: the drill-tar.Written and directed by Deborah Brock (Rock ’N’ Roll High School Forever), Slumber Party Massacre II combines the most successful elements of Satisfaction, A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 and Beverly Hills, 90210 to create one of the most outrageous trash-slashers. Although the sequel contains none of Slumber Party Massacre’s subversiveness, it does have a wise-cracking killer who materializes from a dream and takes time out for breakdancing. This is how life should be. (US, 1987, 77min., English, R | Dir. Deborah Brock)

Pi (1998)

Friday, January 20th at 9:30 PM
$15 Public | $10 Members
Tickets: https://bit.ly/PIcac
Numbers whiz Max Cohen (Sean Gullette) is stunted by psychological delusions of paranoia and debilitating headaches. He lives in a messy Chinatown apartment, where he tinkers with equations and his homemade, super-advanced computer. One day, however, Cohen encounters a mysterious number. Soon after reporting his discovery to his mentor (Mark Margolis) and to a religious friend (Ben Shenkman), he finds himself the target of ill-intentioned Wall Street agents bent on using the number for profit. (US, 1998, 84min., English, R | Dir. Darren Aronofsky)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Friday, January 27th at 9:30 PM
$15 Public | $10 Members
Tickets: https://bit.ly/RaisingArizonaCAC
An ex-con (Nicolas Cage) and an ex-cop (Holly Hunter) meet, marry and long for a child of their own. When it is discovered that Hi is unable to have children they decide to snatch a baby. They try to keep their crime a secret, while friends, co-workers and a bounty hunter look to use the child for their own purposes. (US, 1987, 94min., English, PG-13 | Dir. Joel Coen)

Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (1992)

Cult Café

Saturday, February 11th at 10:00 PM
$7 Public | $5 Members

Tickets: https://bit.ly/MalcolmXcac

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride. (USA, 1992, 201 min, PG-13| Dir. Spike Lee)


The Goonies (1985)

Sunday, February 12th at 12:00 PM
$12 Public | $7 Members | $5 Kids
Tickets: https://bit.ly/GooniesCAC

From the imagination of Steven Spielberg, The Goonies plunges a band of small heroes into a swashbuckling, surprise-around-every-corner quest beyond their wildest dreams! Following a mysterious treasure map into a spectacular underground realm of twisting passages, outrageous booby traps and a long-lost pirate ship full of golden doubloons, the kids race to stay one step ahead of a family of bumbling bad guys… and a mild-mannered monster with a face only a mother could love. A family adventure classic from start to buccaneering finish, The Goonies is a cinematic treasure trove of breathtaking action, dazzling effects and shiver-yer-timbers thrills! (US, 1985, 114min., English, PG | Dir. Richard Donner)

Boyz N The Hood (1991)

Cult Café

Saturday, February 18th at 10:00 PM
$7 Public | $5 Members

Tickets: https://bit.ly/BoyzntheHoodCAC

Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is sent to live with his father, Furious Styles (Larry Fishburne), in tough South Central Los Angeles. Although his hard-nosed father instills proper values and respect in him, and his devout girlfriend Brandi (Nia Long) teaches him about faith, Tre’s friends Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut) don’t have the same kind of support and are drawn into the neighborhood’s booming drug and gang culture, with increasingly tragic results. (USA, 1991, 112 min, R | Dir. John Singleton)

Little Giants (1994)

Sunday, February 19th at 12:00 PM
$12 Public | $7 Members | $5 Kids
Tickets: https://bit.ly/LittleGiantsCAC

Ever since childhood, nerdy Danny O’Shea (Rick Moranis) has felt inferior to his brother, Kevin (Ed O’Neill), a former college football star. Danny runs a gas station, while Kevin coaches the local youth football team. When Kevin’s team rejects Danny’s daughter, Becky (Shawna Waldron), because she’s a girl, Becky convinces her dad to start a rival team, though the city can support only one. To prove himself against his brother, Danny begins coaching his team of misfits for a playoff game. (US, 1994, 107min., English, PG | Dir. Duwayne Dunham)

The NeverEnding Story (1984)

Sunday, February 26th at 12:00 PM
$12 Public | $7 Members | $5 Kids
Tickets: https://bit.ly/NeverEndingStoryCAC

On his way to school, Bastian (Barret Oliver) ducks into a bookstore to avoid bullies. Sneaking away with a book called “The Neverending Story,” Bastian begins reading it in the school attic. The novel is about Fantasia, a fantasy land threatened by “The Nothing,” a darkness that destroys everything it touches. The kingdom needs the help of a human child to survive. When Bastian reads a description of himself in the book, he begins to wonder if Fantasia is real and needs him to survive. (West Germany/US, 1984, 102min., English, PG | Dir. Wolfgang Petersen)

Matilda (1996)

Sunday, March 5th at 12:00 PM
$12 Public | $7 Members | $5 Kids
Tickets: https://bit.ly/MatildaCAC

This film adaptation of a Roald Dahl work tells the story of Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson), a gifted girl forced to put up with a crude, distant father (Danny DeVito) and mother (Rhea Perlman). Worse, Agatha Trunchbull (Pam Ferris), the evil principal at Matilda’s school, is a terrifyingly strict bully. However, when Matilda realizes she has the power of telekinesis, she begins to defend her friends from Trunchbull’s wrath and fight back against her unkind parents. (US, 1996, 102min., English, PG | Dir. Danny DeVito)

The Witches (1990)

Sunday, March 12th at 12:00 PM
$12 Public | $7 Members | $5 Kids
Tickets: https://bit.ly/TheWitchesCAC

While staying at a hotel in England with his grandmother, Helga (Mai Zetterling), young Luke (Jasen Fisher) inadvertently spies on a convention of witches. The Grand High Witch (Anjelica Huston) reveals a plan to turn all children into mice through a magical formula. When they find that Luke has overheard, the witches test the formula on him. Now, with the help of Helga and the hotel manager, Mr. Stringer (Rowan Atkinson), Luke the mouse must fight back against the witches. Based on the book by Roald Dahl. (UK/US, 1990, 91min., English, PG | Nicolas Roeg)

James And the Giant Peach (1996)

Sunday, March 26th at 12:00 PM
$12 Public | $7 Members | $5 Kids
Tickets: https://bit.ly/GiantPeachCAC

Featuring stop-motion animation and live action, this inventive adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s tale follows the adventures of James (Paul Terry), an orphaned young British boy. Forced to live with his cruel aunts (Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes), James finds a way out of his bleak existence when he discovers an enormous enchanted peach. After rolling into the sea inside the buoyant fruit, James, accompanied by a crew of friendly talking insects, sets sail for New York City. (UK/US, 1996, 79min., English, PG | Dir. Henry Selick)

 The Cinema Arts Centre, is located at 423 Park Ave, Huntington. For more information, visit www.cinemaartscentre.org

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Photo from SCPD

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Second Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the men who allegedly robbed a Huntington Station store this month. Three men entered D Carlos Jewelry, located at 1547 New York Ave., on Dec. 13 and allegedly stole assorted jewelry at approximately 7:40 p.m. One man appeared to have a firearm. .

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept
confidential.

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Above, members of North Country Peace Group on Saturday, Dec. 10. Photo by Raymond Janis

This month, North Country Peace Group marks its 20th anniversary.

Posted at the southeast corner of Route 25A and Bennetts Road in Setauket, NCPG has maintained a visible weekly presence within the community, advocating various causes throughout its history. On Saturday, Dec. 10, some members reflected on this milestone year for their organization and discussed why they remain committed to their cause.

Roots

Bob Becherer was among the founding members of the peace group. He traces the organization’s origins beyond 20 years when, in the early 1990s, a group of civic-oriented parishioners of the St. James R.C. Church formed the Peace and Justice Community.

“It was really out of that group that we became the North Country Peace Group,” Becherer said, crediting Bill McNulty as the founder and leader of both organizations.

In an exclusive interview, McNulty chronicled his “traditional, apolitical” upbringing and his eventual reawakening. Growing up, he said he maintained a 16-year connection to the military. Between U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, ROTC, active duty and active reserve service, McNulty kept in close contact with the military and military culture. Over time, however, he began to question these ties.

Catalyzing McNulty’s transformation was America’s foreign policy throughout Latin America during the 1970s and ’80s. His early advocacy work centered around the School of the Americas, a training ground founded as a bulwark against the spread of communism. Over time, McNulty said, the school devolved. A string of murders and rapes connected to the School of the Americas prompted him into action.

During that time, McNulty said he devoted his energies to “increase the knowledge among the American population that this school existed and that we were, through our tax dollars, paying for training for these soldiers.” His resistance led him to a federal prison, where he served for six months.

Within the full swing of these events, McNulty soon got involved with the Peace and Justice Community, initially focusing on America’s involvement in Iraq during the Persian Gulf War (1990-91). As the PJC’s work took on more secular aims, they moved out of the church and onto the streets. NCPG emerged from the second Iraq War (2003-11). 

Organizational principles

Above, Bill McNulty, one of the founders and thought leaders within NCPG. Photo courtesy Myrna Gordon

McNulty offered some of the philosophical precepts underpinning the NCPG’s activism. He said the group seeks to challenge conventional wisdom, to prompt community members to think critically about the information authorities give them. Through this, he said the group has often met fierce resistance from dogmatists and partisans.

“Very often, when you bring a message that’s contrary to the conventional wisdom, they get angry at you,” he said. “They don’t want to hear what you have to offer because it’s very startling and shocking. There’s a cognitive dissonance.”

McNulty maintained that NCPG, since its inception, has rejected the notion of reciprocal violence. “The Old Testament thinking of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, you have to break it with that idea of love and acceptance,” he said.

He viewed the human propensity toward violence as a conflict between instincts and ideals. Though he held that most people are born peaceful and good, he sees many as conditioned to accept violence and war as the natural order.

“People, I think, are pretty good, but they acquire a lot of these characteristics as a result of what they experience in life,” he said. “Down deep, people are good because they always act well when the dog falls down the well or when the tornado rips the roof off the house.”

McNulty said that overcoming aggression requires conscious effort, but doing so may be the recipe for lasting peace. “The idea is to take the words of the song, the words of the poem, to take the suggestion of the painting or the sculpture or whatever else and to put it into practice,” he said. “It’s a very hard job.”

Two decades into the struggle for peace

One of the essential features of NCPG throughout its 20-year history has been the persistence of its members. Member Susan Perretti regards the organization as a weekly reminder to the community that there is an alternative to unceasing human conflicts worldwide.

“We’re sort of a reminder to the community that passes us by,” she said. “It’s a reminder that we still have war — endless war — going on and that violence itself is not the answer.”

Robert Marcus, another NCPG member, said the fight for peace and preserving democracy go hand in hand. He said that standing on the street corner is a way to promote both ends.

“We have to do everything we can to make a more peaceful world,” Marcus said. “We can’t just take it for granted. We have to work really hard for peace and to strengthen our democracy because it’s under threat.”

For John Robinson, participating in the peace group’s various activities is a way to connect to a larger cause and to make a difference on a grander stage. “It feels good to be around people who have the same concerns, the same thoughts, the same issues that I do,” he said. “Coming out here makes a real statement about the need for peace and the need to treat each other well.”

Myrna Gordon said she and NCPG use their platform to advocate a new mode of thinking around the way the United States government spends its taxpayer dollars. According to her, too great a share of the federal budget is devoted to perpetuating violence.

“We need to move the money out of the military and back into human needs and human lives so that we will have that money and be able to fix roads, provide better education, health care and everything else,” she said.

An alternative to war

‘We have to evolve past this idea — as a human species and not just as Americans — that war and killing one another is the only solution.’

— Susan Perretti

McNulty was asked if he believes a lasting peace is possible or if humanity is doomed to a fate of unending war. He admitted that lasting peace may not be attainable but that pursuing such an ideal is.

“We would like to hope that it is possible,” he said. “We helped each other to a great extent, and we have affected a few people around our immediate neighborhood, but they’re still making war. The School of the Americas is still open, still training soldiers to keep people under control.”

Perretti offered a slightly different take by suggesting humanity could adapt itself to a condition without war.

“The point is that we have to evolve past this idea — as a human species and not just as Americans — that war and killing one another is the only solution,” she said. “I don’t know what that takes, but for me I’m here because I won’t give up the struggle, and I want to be faithful to what I believe in my heart.”

Whether humans can coexist and overcome violence is still to be decided. Twenty years after their organization’s founding, members of North Country Peace Group remain stationed at their usual street corner, committed to giving peace its fair shake.

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File photo

Suffolk County Police Second Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that seriously injured a pedestrian in Huntington Station on Dec. 16. Diane Garetano was operating a 2017 Chevrolet sedan southbound on New York Avenue, near Depot Road, when the vehicle struck a male pedestrian, who was crossing the street, at approximately 7:25 p.m.

The pedestrian was transported to Huntington Hospital for
treatment of serious injuries. Garetano, 58, of Huntington, was not injured. The identity of the pedestrian is being withheld pending notification of his family. The vehicle was impounded for a safety check. The investigation is continuing.

Anyone with information about this crash is asked to call the Second Squad detectives at 631-854-8252.

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