Rarely do I sort the jumbled contents of my drawers. With a burst of energy, I did just that the other day, and I was rewarded with an archaeological find. There, toward the back, where I had clearly put it for safekeeping, was a $25 United States Saving Bond that had been given to my husband in 1950.
Curiously, it happened to be exactly on the day and month of our second son’s birth many years later. But I digress.
Back to the matter of the bond. What to do with this bit of Series E antiquity?
First thought was to bring it to my friendly banker, who searched for the serial number on the web and found it was worth $147 and change today. OK, not too bad, since it originally cost $18.75. At least the gift has kept up with inflation.
Next were the requirements for cashing the bond. That has proven not to be so simple for a couple of reasons. First, there is another name listed as the recipient on the front. It is that of his mother. The name on the face of the paper reads this way: that of my husband OR that of his mother.Whoever gave him the bond probably thought it was a good idea to have the parent involved as a backup. After all, my husband was just a teenager then. So, not only do I have to supply key information about my husband, like social security number and death certificate. I also have to produce the names of my mother-in-law’s parents, the county in which she died, her last residence, along with her social security number and her date of death in order to get her death certificate. Well, that’s not happening. At least not without some huge sleuthing.
At this point, kudos to my banker, who will not give up. And we do have a couple of lucky breaks here. She was born in the United States, so presumably, a death certificate can be found. Further, one of my husband’s siblings and his wife thankfully are still alive, with both retaining every single brain cell. They could tell me where she lived and her parents’ last name. They had no idea of her social security number, nor could they recall where she died. My daughter-in-law, called in to help, was able to use the internet and found her date of death.
Another kink in the thread is that the last name of both is misspelled, with an extra ‘f’ on the end. The gifter did not know their correct spelling. My brother-in-law assured me she did not spell their name that way. I don’t know how much of an obstacle that will be in this age of computer exactness.
The biggest challenge remaining is to determine in which county she died. She lived in Queens, she may have died in a Manhattan hospital, or she may have been living in an adult home in Nassau County, near her daughter, at the time of her death. I will be paying $23 and some change in order to file for a search of that elusive certificate. Perhaps I will have to do that three times.
This is not about money now. I know both those people listed on the bond would want to be made whole lo these 71 years later. I owe it to them to continue the search. Besides, as my banker explained, this is the first such conundrum he has been presented with, and he will learn from it and know how to deal with the next one.
For my part, I will consider any money I should ultimately receive, as the 1936 Bing Crosby song goes, pennies from heaven.
Three families and their foundations jump-started a research mission on Long Island that offers a chance for change. Their stories reflect a desire to remember their family members and a need to offer hope and help to others.
Christina Renna
Christina Renna with sister Rae Marie Renna
Phil Renna waited while his 16-year old daughter Christina spoke with her doctor. He and his wife Rene had decided to allow their daughter, who was battling a form of connective tissue cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), to be involved in decisions about her treatment.
When Christina came out of the room, Phil, director of operations in the communications department at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, asked if he should also speak with the doctor. Christina said it wasn’t necessary. On the way home, she told him it had to be a “really good Christmas.”
He knew what that meant, although she also asked him not to tell anyone how close she was to the end of her life.
Renna and parents throughout the country have had to cope with the agony of rhabdomyosarcoma, which mostly affects children. People battling this cancer have turned to medicine for help, only to find that the treatment options are limited.
That, Renna and others say, was as unacceptable to them when their children were battling cancer as it is now, when the next generation is struggling with this illness.
RMS doesn’t receive the same level of funding nationally as cancers that affect more people, such as breast, lung and prostate cancer, but the agony and suffering are just as significant.
Amid their battles with the disease, families have turned to their support groups, including friends, extended family, and community members to raise funds for basic research, hoping grass roots efforts allow future generations to have longer, healthier lives.
Supported by these funds and a willingness to fill a research gap, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory CEO Bruce Stillman has backed efforts to gather information and to support research that may also help people with other forms of cancer.
Renna, who lives in Lindenhurst, struggled with his role as father and protector when Christina developed rhabdomyosarcoma.
“I’m supposed to protect my kids,” Renna said. “I should be able to tell them, ‘It’s going to be okay.’”
Renna went to Stillman to ask whether Christina, who was a patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering, might get better care somewhere else.
After conducting some research, Stillman told his colleague about the lack of basic research and other treatment options.
“That was a crushing moment for me,” Renna said.
During treatment, Christina had to be at Memorial Sloan Kettering at 7 a.m., which meant he and Christina’s mother Rene got in the car at 5 a.m. with their daughter.
Renna dropped them off, drove back to work, where he’d put in a full day, drive back to the hospital and return home at 10:30 p.m.
“That was every night, five days a week,” Renna recalled. While those were tough days, Renna said he and his wife did what they needed to do for their daughter.
Five years after his daughter died at the age of 16, Renna drove home from work one day to find his shirt was wet. It took him a while to realize the moisture came from the tears, as he cried his way back to his house. At one point, he thought he had post-traumatic stress disorder.
Renna continues to raise money to support research into this disease, while also helping people create and develop their own foundations, often after enduring similar pain.
“Every single foundation that has come and given money to the lab, I have personally met with,” he said. “I helped our advancement team onboard them.”
As someone who has lost a child and understands what a parent can be feeling, Renna is committed to helping others cope with their grief.
“For me, it is about helping the lab, but also about helping families honor the memory of their child in a meaningful way and what better way than to help another family and perhaps find a cure,” he wrote in an email.
Renna believes investments in research will pay off, helping to answer basic questions that will lead to better treatments down the road.
So far, the foundation has given $387,300 to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for research. They also gave $50,000 to Make-a-Wish in Suffolk, and $25,000 to local scholarships. The foundation supported Memorial Sloan Kettering with an iPad program. Ultimately, Renna believes in the ongoing return from research investments.
“Everybody wants to find and fund the silver bullet,” he said. “Everybody wants to give money to fund a clinical trial. Basic research is where the discoveries are made.”
Renna urged people creating foundations to have a strong board that included business people and that might also have a scientific or medical advisory element. He also suggested funding foundations a year ahead of time. That helped his foundation in 2020, when finding donors became more challenging during the pandemic.
Being at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and helping others get through darker days that are all too familiar to him gives Renna comfort. “I know, in some way, every single day, I’m making an impact,” he said. “How measurable it is, I don’t know. There are days when I’m pretty proud.”
As far as he feels they have come, Renna said it’s not the time to look back, but to press ahead.
T.J. Arcati
A former summer intern in Bruce Stillman’s lab when he attended Notre Dame, T.J. Arcati was married and had two children when he succumbed to sarcoma.
“We know what we went through,” said his father, Tom Arcati, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Huntington. “He left a son and a daughter without a dad.”
Tom and his wife Nancy, who raised T.J. in Lloyd Harbor and live in Huntington, were with their son for his treatments and therapies.
Tom and Nancy Arcati are determined to extend people’s lives by more than a year or two and are actively engaged with other families who are coping in the midst of the cancer storm. “I’m talking to people now that unfortunately are going through what we did seven years ago,” Tom Arcati said.
While the Arcatis support other families, their empathy “brings you back to a place you never really leave,” Nancy Arcati said. These interactions “keeps T.J.’s life on people’s minds and in their hearts.”
Tom Arcati tries to be a source of solace to people who are trying to gather information.
In the aftermath of TJ’s death at the age of 34, Arcati reached out to Stillman to see if the lab could work towards better treatments.
One Saturday, Arcati and his son Matthew went to Stillman’s house, where they sat in his living room, with Stillman drinking tea and Arcati having coffee.“What do you think?” Arcati recalled asking. “Are you going to do sarcoma research?” Stillman looked back at his guest and mentioned that he was thinking about it. Stillman called Arcati a few days later.
“When he called me, he said, ‘We’re a cancer institute. We should be doing sarcomas.’ That’s how I remember this whole thing going down. It was pretty heart warming.”
The first step for CSHL was to host a Banbury conference. The site of international meetings on a range of scientific topics since 1978, the Banbury center brings together experts in various fields. The meetings provide a forum for scientific advances and result in various publications. By holding a Banbury Center meeting, CSHL helped advance research into sarcomas.
The Arcatis have remained active in the Friends of T.J. Foundation, which TJ and several college friends founded in 2009 after T.J. was diagnosed with sarcoma. They have stayed in close contact with CSHL Professor Chris Vakoc and his PhD student Martyna Sroka, who regularly keeps him informed of her progress. Sroka has spoken at some of the outings for the Friends of TJ Foundation. This year, Stillman will speak at the September 13th fundraiser at the Huntington Country Club.
“It’s really imperative that people who are supporting us know what their dollars are being spent on,” Arcati said.
The Friends of TJ Foundation has raised about $50,000 each year, bringing their total fundraising to about $400,000.
Arcati hopes something positive can come out of the losses the families who are funding Vakoc’s research suffered.
“If we can save one kid’s life somewhere by doing what we’re doing, then this whole process is worth it,” Arcati said.
Michelle Paternoster
Michelle Paternoster of Lindenhurst developed sarcoma in her sinuses. Her husband Paul Paternoster helped her through 38 surgeries, over 90 radiation treatments and several rounds of chemotherapy.
Michelle and Paul Paternoster
The couple tried immune therapy in the Bahamas in the fall of 2008 and went to New York in 2011 for treatment.
“We drove [to the city] for 90 days” excluding weekends, Paternoster recalled. The treatments seemed to have a positive effect during the trial, but shortly afterward, the cancer continued growing.
After Michelle died in 2013 at the age of 34, Paternoster was determined to help others, initially asking supporters to contribute to the fundraising effort from the Arcatis.
Donations to the Friends of T.J. Foundation reached $30,000, which helped underwrite the Banbury conference at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Michelle and T.J. had seen each other in the radiation suite in the halls of Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Paternoster then started the Michelle Paternoster Foundation for Sarcoma Research. The President of Selectrode Industries Inc., which manufactures welding products and has two factories in Pittsburgh, Paternoster wanted to help people at a clinical level.
Through Michelle’s Clubhouse, he partnered with the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, paying for hotels of pediatric cancer patients when the Ronald McDonald house is full. The clubhouse also provides gift cards to help pay for gas, tolls and copays on prescriptions.
“Knowing how difficult it is to go through this, I can’t imagine what it’s like to not have that capability” to pay for basic needs during treatment, Paternoster said. “That is why it is so important for our board to do something at the clinical level to support families in this battle.”
Paternoster said the relatively small but growing size of the group dedicated to helping each other makes each person’s contribution that much more important.
“Normally, when you’re doing any kind of charity work, you feel like you’re a tiny part of this project, especially when it comes to [diseases like] breast cancer and things that impact millions of people,” Paternoster said. When he attended the Banbury conference that launched the research effort at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, he said “you felt you could make a difference. You’re sitting in a room with 25, 30 people max. That was the entire effort to eradicate this disease.”
Paternoster, who lives in Cold Spring Harbor, called the collaboration that came out of the meeting “astounding.”
The Michelle Paternoster Foundation has raised $500,000, with about $350,000 of that supporting the work at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Ultimately, like the other families who raise funds, stay informed and offer help to strangers battling an all-too-familiar disease, Paternoster feels that the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution inspires him.
“That’s our dream,” he said, “to find a cure, so other people don’t have to feel what we felt.”
A group of people may prove to be the guardian angels for the children of couples who haven’t even met yet.
After suffering unimaginable losses to a form of cancer that can claim the lives of children, several families, their foundations, and passionate scientists have teamed up to find weaknesses and vulnerabilities in cancers including rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma.
Rhabdomyosarcoma affects about 400 to 500 people each year in the United States, with more than half of those patients receiving the diagnosis before their 10th birthday. Patients who receive diagnoses for these cancers typically receive medicines designed to combat other diseases.
Christopher Vakoc. Photo from CSHL
A group of passionate people banded together using a different approach to funding and research to develop tools for a different outcome. Six years after the Christina Renna Foundation and others funded a Banbury meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the grass roots funders and dedicated scientists are finding reasons for optimism.
“I wish I could run up to the top of a hill and scream it out: ‘I’m more hopeful than I’ve ever been,’” said Phil Renna, director of operations, communications department at CSHL and the co-founder of the Christina Renna Foundation. “I’m really excited” about the progress the foundation and the aligned group supporting the Sarcoma Initiative at the lab has made.
Renna and his wife Rene started the foundation after their daughter Christina died at the age of 16 in 2007 from rhabdomyosarcoma. Renna’s optimism stems from work Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Christopher Vakoc, a professor and Cancer Center co-director and his research team, including PhD candidate Martyna Sroka have performed.
The cause for optimism comes from the approach Vakoc has taken to cancers, including leukemia.
Vakoc has developed a way to screen the effects of genetic changes on the course of cancer.
“Usually, when you hear about a CRISPR screen, you think of taking out a function and the cell either dies or doesn’t care,” Sroka said, referring to the tool of genetic editing. Sroka is not asking whether the cell dies, but whether the genetic change nudges the cellular processes in a different direction.
“We are asking whether a loss of a gene changes the biology of a cell to undergo a fate change; in our case, whether cancer cells stop growing and differentiate down the muscle lineage,” she explained.
In the case of sarcoma, researchers believe immature muscle cells continue to grow and divide, turning into cancer, rather than differentiating to a final stage in which they function as normal cells.
Through genetic changes, however, Sroka and Vakoc’s lab are hoping to restore the cell to its non cancerous state.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has had success with other diseases and other types of cancer, which is where the optimism comes from, explained Paul Paternoster, President of Selectrode Industries, Inc. and the founder of the Michelle Paternoster Foundation for Cancer Research.
As a part of her doctoral research which she’s been conducting for four years, Sroka is also working with Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company Novartis AG to test the effect of using approved and experimental drugs that can coax cells back into their muscular, non-cancerous condition.
The work Sroka and Vakoc have been doing and the approach they are taking could have applications in other cancers.
“The technology that we’ve developed to look at myodifferentiation in rhabdomyosarcoma can be used to study other cancers (in fact, we are currently applying it to ask similar questions in other cancer contexts),” said Sroka. “In addition, our findings in RMS might also shed light on normal muscle development, regeneration and the biology of other diseases that impact myodifferentiation, e.g. muscular dystrophy.”
Martyna Sroka’s journey
Described by Vakoc as a key part of the sarcoma research effort in his lab, Martyna Sroka, who was born and raised in Gdańsk, Poland, came to Long Island after a series of eye-opening medical experiences.
In Poland, when she was around 16, she shadowed a pediatric oncology doctor who was visiting patients. After she heard the patient’s history, she and the doctor left the room and convened in the hallway.
Martyna Sroka. Photo by Sofya Polyanskaya
“He turned to me and said, ‘Yeah, this child has about a month or two tops.’ We moved on to the next case. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. That’s as far as we could go. There’s nothing we could do to help the child and the family,” said Sroka.
Even after she started medical school, she struggled with the limited ammunition modern medicine provided in the fight against childhood cancer.
She quit in her first year, disappointed that “for a lot of patients diagnosed with certain rare types of tumors, the diagnosis is as far as the work goes. I found that so frustrating. I decided maybe my efforts will be better placed doing the science that goes into the development of novel therapies.”
Sroka applied to several PhD programs in the United Kingdom and only one in the United States, at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where she hoped to team up with Vakoc.
Sroka appreciated Vakoc’s approach to the research and his interest in hearing about her interests.
“I knew that we could carve out an exciting scientific research project that tries to tackle important questions in the field of pediatric oncology, [the] results of which could potentially benefit patients in the future,” she explained in an email.
The two of them looked at where they could make a difference and focused on rhabdomyosarcoma.
Sroka has “set up a platform by which advances” in rhabdomyosarcoma medicines will be possible, Vakoc said. “From the moment she joined the sarcoma project, she rose to the challenge” of conducting and helping to lead this research.
While Sroka is “happy” with what she has achieved so far, she finds it difficult at times to think about how the standard of care for patients hasn’t changed much in the last few decades.
“Working closely with foundations and having met a number of rhabdomyosarcoma patients, I do feel an intense sense of urgency,” she wrote.
A scene from the Greenlawn Fire Department's Parade in 2019. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh
It’s back! The Greenlawn Fire Department’s Fireman’s Fair, 23 Boulevard Ave., Greenlawn will return on Sept. 2 (parade night), Sept. 3, Sept. 4 and Sept. 6. The schedule is as follows:
Fireman’s Parade at 7 p.m. Thursday along Broadway in Greenlawn
7 to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Closed on Sunday.
5 to 11 p.m. Monday.
New York State’s longest-running Fireman’s Fair, the event will feature lots of family fun, food and raffles with great prizes. Rain dates are Sept. 10 and 11. For more information, call 631-261-9106.
Rocky Point forward Taylor Bigbie sets the play for the Eagles in their non-league season opener against Northport Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
Northport forward Sydney Wotzak pushes up-field in the Tigers non-league season opener against Rocky Point. Bill Landon photo
Sydney Woods (l) and Sophia Bica battle for possession in their non-league season opener Aug. 31. Photo by Bill Landon
Sophia Bica (l) and Reagan Lane battle for the ball Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
Northport senior co-captain Sophia Bica dishes up a pass in a non-league matchup against Rocky Point Aug. 31. Photo by Bill Landon
Northport senior co-captain Sophia Bica passes to the outside in a non-league matchup against Rocky Point Aug. 31. Photo by Bill Landon
Northport senior Shannon Smith sets up the play in their non-league season opener against Rocky Point Aug. 31. Photo by Bill Landon
Northport senior Shannon Smith fires a shot on goal in their non-league season opener against Rocky Point Aug. 31. Photo by Bill Landon
Northport’s Shannon Smith (l) battles Kylie Lamoureux in a non-league season opener Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
Rocky Point mid-fielder Reagan Lane clears the ball for the Eagles against Northport Aug. 31. Bill Landon photo
Rocky Point mid-fielder Reagan Lane clears the ball for the Eagles against Northport Aug. 31. Bill Landon photo
Pile up in front of the box Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
Northport junior mid-fielder Olivia McKenna rocks the box in a non- non-league season opener Aug. 31. Photo by Bill Landon
Northport junior Olivia McKenna maneuvers mid-field for the Tigers Aug. 31. Bill Landon photo
Rocky Point goalie Maddie Zarzycki with a save for the Eagles in a road game against Northport Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
Rocky Points Kylie Lamoureux battles Sophia Bica for possession in a non-league season opener Aug. 31. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Points Jaime McPartland (l) battles Olivia McKenna on the side line Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
Rocky Point forward Emilie Schultz’s shot on goal in road game against Northport Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
Rocky Point forward Emilie Schultz pushes up the up-field on the road against Northport Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
The battle in front of the box. Bill Landon photo
Rocky Point forward Avery Gennaro pushes up the sideline on the road against Northport Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
Northport senior Anna Trizzino (l) tries to elude Rocky Point’s Emilie Schultz Aug 31. Bill Landon photo
Northport senior co-captain Angelina Longo air dribbles around a Rocky Point defender in their non-league season opener Aug. 31. Bill Landon photo
Rocky Point defender Alexa Kuhn blasts a clearing shot against Northport in their non-league season opener Aug. 31. Bill Landon photo
After a COVID-shortened fall season four months ago, Northport hosted the Rocky Point Eagles in what should be a full slate of games for the upcoming campaign. It was a non-league season opener which pitted the Tigers, a Divison I powerhouse, who finished the regular season last (year) at 12-1, against the Division II Eagles who finished the previous regular season at 10-2.
The Eagles struggled to stay upfield where Northport slowly closed the door for a 4-0 shutout. Northport junior Sydney Wotzak scored twice along with Hailey Roethel and Olivia McKenna with a goal apiece.
Rocky Point goalie’s Molly Luchsinger had seven saves on the day, and Maddie Zarzycki stopped six. The Eagles are back in action Sept. 1 where they host Pierson Bridgehampton at 4:30 p.m. with Northport facing Walt Whitman the following day at home with a 4 p.m. start.
The Huntington YMCA, 60 Main St., Huntington will present its 28th annual Carnival on Friday, Sept. 3 from 6 to 10 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 4 from 1 to 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept, 5 from 1 to 8 p.m. and Monday, Sept. 6 from 1 to 6 p.m. Featuring amusement rides for children and thrill seekers, free magic shows at 1:30, 3 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday through Monday, games of skill, festival food and more.
Pricing: The event will have free admission with all rides taking 4 to 6 coupons. Tickets for individual rides are available at $1.25 each 21 for $25 or 44 for $50. Presale Pay-One-Price Bracelets are $29.95 here. Walk-up, to the Carnival Ticket Booth Pay-One-Price Bracelets are $35. Individual Ride and discount book ticket sales, will be available onsite at the TICKET BOOTH DAILY.
Kevin O’Neill & Rich Dolce, owners of the John W. Engeman Theater, have joined forces with Northport High School 1995 Long Island Champion Boys Basketball Team in their effort to refurbish the iconic basketball court in Cow Harbor Park in downtown Northport Village to create an accessible place where kids can discover and nurture a love for the game.
“By working with the Northport Basketball Team, we are helping children and families have increased access to healthier lifestyles as well as safe, inclusive and innovative play opportunities for years to come,” said Kevin O’Neill.
“What’s been so inspiring is how many former classmates who are now parents have contributed to the initiative. As parents we have a unique perspective on how important a role sports play in building confidence and character. Kevin & Rich are parents too and have seen the benefits of sports on their own kids. They recognize that something as seemingly simple as a basketball court can have a profound impact on young people as they develop,” stated Doug Trani & Chris Wiebke, Northport Class of 1995 who are spearheading the efforts.
The Theater has pledged a $7,000 donation to the $23,861 already raised through the GoFundMe campaign that the team has set up.
All proceeds from ticket sales to SMOKEY JOES CAFE performances on 9/16 & 9/17 will be donated towards the project goal of $50,000.
“Basketball has had a profound impact on our lives, and it all stems from playing in our local parks here in Northport. Providing kids and teens the chance to fall in love with the game we did is an opportunity we didn’t want to pass up,” said Doug Trani.
The John W. Engeman Theater is located at 250 Main Street in Northport. To purchase tickets to the Sept. 16 or Sept. 17 performances of Smokey Joe’s Café, please call 631-261-2900 or visit www.johnengemantheater.com
American Flag at half-staff on Veterans Plaza at Huntington Town Hall Friday, August 27, 2021.
Huntington Town Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci directed that flags on all Town of Huntington buildings be flown at half-staff to honor the thirteen American servicemembers who were killed in a terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26.
“The Town of Huntington mourns the tragic loss of thirteen brave servicemembers who entered the dangerous conditions unfolding in Afghanistan, putting their lives in harm’s way to save their fellow Americans and Afghan friends to the cause of freedom, which is why our flag on Veterans Plaza flies at half-staff in their honor,” said Sup. Lupinacci.
A suicide bomber detonated a device outside Abbey Gate at Kabul’s airport, killing twelve U.S. Marins and one Navy medic along with at least 60 Afghan civilians and wounding up to 140.
Ray Tierney will run for Suffolk County district attorney this November on the Republican and Conservative tickets. Photo from Tierney’s office
A former Suffolk assistant DA is ready to take over the main seat in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Ray Tierney, who will be running on the Republican and Conservative tickets Nov. 2 to challenge current DA Tim Sini (D), stopped by TBR News Media’s office last week to introduce himself and answer some questions about his campaign.
“When I talk about this contest, I say that it is a contest between the prosecutor and the politician, or when you look at my opponent’s record — what he’s done and what he’s claimed to have done, more accurately — it’s a contest between the prosecutor and the pretender,” Tierney said.
Background
Tierney resides in the Town of Brookhaven with his wife, Erica, and their four children.
The prosecutor grew up in Commack and is a graduate of St. Anthony’s High School where he played football and was a member of the school’s track team. He went on to play football for Brown University where he graduated in 1988, and after taking a short time off from his studies, he attended St. John’s University’s School of Law.
He began his law career in the Suffolk County DA’s office under DA James Catterson (R).
“At first, I had a very sort of infantile concept of what it meant to be a lawyer,” Tierney said. “I always wanted to be a prosecutor. I always wanted to be in court. Although there’s so many things you could do, that’s all I really ever wanted to do, and as I got older, more sophisticated, my focus never changed.”
He decided to leave the DA’s office in 1999 when his first two children were born and worked for a private firm. Tierney said the tragic events of 9/11 changed his life. He was at a meeting in Queens when the attacks happened, and he watched the towers fall on TV.
“I was driving back out east and all the emergency vehicles were flooding into the city, and I could see the smoke and I was, like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’” he said. “This job that I have right now is inconsequential. So, I wanted to get back into public service.”
He returned to the DA’s office in 2002 during the time of Tom Spota (D) and worked there for another six years. Tierney said he decided to leave the office when he was told they may fire him for insubordination.
“They tried to get rid of me because I wouldn’t go along with their illegal, unethical ways,” he said. “I worked in an office whose job it was to uproot political corruption. But, instead, it was the office’s leadership that was corrupt, as history has proven.”
He then went on to work in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York as an assistant attorney for more than 11 years.
He left the office in 2019 to become an executive assistant district attorney in the Kings County District Attorney’s office where he was in charge of the violent criminal enterprises bureau, crime strategies unit and body worn camera unit.
In order to run for Suffolk County DA, Tierney had to leave the Brooklyn office and is currently Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corp.’s chief counsel for compliance and enforcement.
His experience
During his time in Brooklyn, among his responsibilities, Tierney oversaw violent street gang investigations and prosecutions. He came to the position with extensive experience prosecuting MS-13 cases, which he said led to the incarceration of dozens of gang members.
One of the most high-profile MS-13 cases involved gang leaders Heriberto Martinez and Carlos Ortega. The two were found guilty for commissioning five murders in 2010, including Vanessa Argueta, 19, of Central Islip, and her son Diego Torres who was only 2 years old. Martinez and Ortega are currently serving life sentences. Tierney also tried Adalberto Guzman who was found guilty of killing the 2-year-old and is also serving a life sentence.
Tierney was the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Ed Mangano, former Nassau County Executive, and Mangano’s wife as well as former Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto for corruption in 2018.
In addition to gang violence and public corruption, he also has been a prosecutor on cases involving Colombian drug cartel, racketeering and white-collar crimes.
Issues with Sini
Tierney takes issue with the press releases sent out by the DA’s office. He said he feels a high percentage of the releases are about arrests and arraignments but not about sentencing.
“What he does, because he’s in show business, he has the glitzy arraignment, and this is the biggest, baddest, greatest case, and then you never hear what happens at the time of the sentence,” the candidate said.
Tierney added he could take any of Sini’s accomplishments and dissect them and show that the current DA is “a fraud” and is “looking for that initial blast of publicity.”
“You don’t get to decide where your next case comes from, the streets tell you where the next case is,” Tierney said. “So, if you have an investigation here but the violence is settled here, you put your resources here, you put your resources there.”
He gave an example that Sini convicted several MS-13 members on charges such as acts of conspiracy instead of murder or gun charges. He said Sini then turned the gang members on each other so they would testify against one another. The result was they each pled to lower charges and got out of jail.
Tierney said he would use overarching tactics such as conspiracy, but then tie the case to the murders committed and pull the case all together to ensure the murderers would serve jail time.
His campaign
Tierney said the job is a balance between law enforcement and fairness, and that will be his goal if elected. He added he has never aligned himself to one party and has prosecuted defendants on both sides of the political aisle. He is running to bring experience, integrity and independence to the office.
He said regarding the county and the Suffolk County Police Department, it’s important to work with them but also maintain independence from each other.
“When it comes to law enforcement, I make the decisions,” he said. “No one else makes the decisions. I support the county, I support the police department. But I don’t work for them when it comes to law enforcement, and I don’t excuse bad behavior.”
Due to a shortage of lifeguards, the Town of Huntington is closing four of its eight beaches to swimming starting Thursday, August 26.
BEACHES CLOSED TO SWIMMING
Swim lines and lifeguard stands will be removed at the following beaches for the remainder of the season:
Asharoken Beach, Eaton’s Neck Road, Northport
Crescent Beach, Crescent Beach Drive, Huntington Bay
Fleets Cove Beach, Fleets Cove Road, Centerport
Gold Star Battalion Beach, West Shore Road, Huntington
“No lifeguard on Duty” and “No Swimming Allowed” signs will also be posted. Town of Huntington residents may visit the beaches closed to bathing but they must stay out of the water.
BEACHES OPEN TO SWIMMING (TOWN OF HUNTINGTON RESIDENTS ONLY)
The following beaches will remain open to swimming for the remainder of the season:
Centerport Beach, Little Neck Road, Centerport
Crab Meadow Beach*, Waterside Avenue, Northport
Hobart Beach, Birmingham Drive, Eaton’s Neck (Info on Seasonal Closure of Bird Preserve)
Quentin Sammis West Neck Beach, West Neck Road, Lloyd Harbor
Contact the Main Beach Office located at Crab Meadow Beach at (631) 261-7574 seven days a week from 9 a.m. thru 3 p.m. now through Labor Day to inquire if the beaches are open or closed for bathing as per the County of Suffolk Department of Health Services.
You may also contact the Suffolk County Bathing Beach Water Quality Hotline for beach closings throughout Suffolk County at (631) 852-5822.
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