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Times of Huntington-Northport

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Join the Northport Historical Society, 215 Main St., Northport for a Victorian Valentine’s Day on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. Make your date night, Gal-entine’s, or early Valentine’s Day celebration unforgettable! Education Coordinator Carol Taylor takes you on a journey from the beginning of Valentine’s Day to modern times while learning (and sampling) wine paired with handcrafted chocolates. Your evening concludes with a gift provided by Nite Owl Promotions. Tickets are $60, $50 members and must be purchased in advance at www.northporthistorical.org. Ages 21+ only. Questions? Call 631-757-9859.

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Do you recognize this woman? Photo from SCPD
Do you recognize this woman? 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 woman who allegedly used a stolen credit card at a Huntington Station business in December.

A woman allegedly used a stolen credit card to make a purchase at Saks Fifth Avenue, located at 230 Walt Whitman Road and CVS located 2 E. Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station on December 22.

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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Recently, our community has been grappling with many unfortunate deaths among local prominent citizens. These individuals, pillars of our area, have left a mark on the tapestry of our communities, and the impact of their departures resonates throughout the richness of our existence.

These losses create a void that extends far beyond the immediate circle of loved ones. These individuals served as architects of our community’s history, culture and progress. Their contributions, whether in business, academia or civic leadership, have shaped the very essence of who we are and how we live. 

The richness of our community is intricately linked to the diversity of voices and perspectives that local notables bring. These individuals are the stories of our shared history, the advocates for progress and the mentors who guide the next generation. Losing them means losing a part of our collective identity.

But grief, while consuming, can also be a catalyst. It reminds us of the precious fragility of life and the fleeting nature of moments we often take for granted. In these losses, we see the faces we sometimes neglect to notice, the hands we forget to clasp in gratitude. We become acutely aware of the interconnectedness of our lives and how each thread in the tapestry contributes to the vibrant richness of the whole.

In times of sorrow, our community needs to unite and support one another. The legacy of the deceased can be honored through our unity. Sharing memories, celebrating achievements and acknowledging the impact they had on our lives can be a source of solace for those of us left behind.

As we mourn, we must also recognize the responsibility of preserving and continuing the work of those who came before us. The best way to honor the legacy of these outstanding members we lost is to carry forward the torch of progress, compassion and community involvement that they lit. In doing so, we ensure that their contributions live on through the actions and endeavors of the following generations.

Let us remember and celebrate the lives of our lost loved ones, cherishing their impact on our community. In doing so, we can transform the pain of loss into a catalyst for positive change, ensuring that the richness of our community endures through the years to come.

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Jesse Owens. Pixabay photo

“It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.”    ― Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Gazing over the tens of thousands of foreigners entering the arena that would be the 1936 Berlin Olympic games stood the presence of dictator Adolf Hitler. During the midst of the Great Depression, the tyrannical leader of Nazi Germany promised to rebuild his nation to its former glory.

In 1931, the International Olympic Committee permitted the summer games to be held in Berlin as a peaceful way of putting World War I behind the Europeans. Instead, the world saw the flying of Swastikas signaling the rise of Nazi Germany. The games began on Aug. 1, 1936, with Hitler present to watch his country prove its status as a restored national power.  

A rumored American boycott to oppose the fierce Nazi treatment of its minorities, loomed over, though President Franklin D. Roosevelt granted his country’s athletes to participate in these games. 

Watching the ignition of the Olympic flame, stood Jesse Owens or “Buckeye Bullet”. Owens a famed-athlete, grew up in an Alabama sharecropping family, where much of his childhood was riddled with racism. Despite his adversarial childhood, Owens went on to become a talented track and field athlete at Ohio State University. It soon became a goal of Owen’s to dispel the Nazi “Aryan” propaganda promoting others inability to defeat Hitler’s “Master Race” of athletes.  

Hitler’s much-publicized hatred did not shake the American resolve of Owens and the other African American participants. American runners went on to earn 11 gold medals in track and field; six by Black athletes, with Owens earning four gold medals and two impressive Olympic records. 

Later in the games, a fatigued Owens sought rest, with this, he offered the torch to American teammates, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller suggesting they could compete in 4×100 race in his stead. Instead, Owens was directed to race and Glickman and Stoller, both of Jewish culture, were barred from participating. Concerns arose that American coaches were fearful of upstaging Hitler by using Jewish-American athletes to gain additional medals. 

An aspect of these games often overlooked is the athlete’s personal contention with the economic and social issues of the Great Depression. The economy was poor in Germany and its regime paid for the training and living expenses of its athletes. Many American athletes looked at sports in a secondary manner as they tried to gain essential items to survive. Americans had to contend with twenty-five percent unemployment and a struggling economy.

On Christmas Day, Hollywood released a heartwarming look at the tribulations of the Great Depression through the production of ‘The Boys in the Boat’, written by Brown and directed by George Clooney. Like ‘Cinderella Man’ and ‘Seabiscuit’, this film delves into the intersection of sports and the Depression. 

Even as the New Deal was established by Roosevelt, American people faced difficulties in finding work and buying food. ‘The Boys in the Boat’ is based on the Washington State Rowing Team’s quest to win the gold medal during the Berlin Olympics.  

This film, set on the outskirts of Seattle, chronicles the harsh extent of the Depression. It focused on Joe Rantz, who was abandoned by his family and forced to care for himself. Actor Callum Turner portrayed an engineering student facing the threat of removal from Washington State for being unable to pay his tuition. With holes in his shoes and making a home in an abandoned car, this student desperately sought a chance to improve his economic situation by trying out for his school’s rowing team. 

Joel Edgerton stars as Coach Al Ulbrickson, an uncompromising figure who demanded athletic and physical excellence. The film takes some artistic liberties depicting the triumphs of the team modifying the succession to highest levels of college and Olympic competition to one year as opposed to the three years presented in Brown’s book.  

As a director Clooney scores in the eyes of film, history, and sports fans. He portrays the determination of the team’s coach in utilizing a junior varsity team that would eventually become the best in the nation and would go on to win a gold medal. 

There are many moments that present Rantz’s competitive side. In the film, Rantz found a father figure in the team’s boat builder, a man who took a special interest in his athletic talents by constructing and maintaining their equipment. The builder provided sustinent advice on handling the complexities of life and listening to authority. This film identifies the American-will to persevere, showcasing a team pitted against highly-respected Ivy League crews. The film shares an outstanding story of American resilience to achieve greatness through the masterful stroke of Clooney’s direction.

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Photo courtesy Frank Acosta
Photo courtesy Frank Acosta

By Aramis Khorso

Six years ago, Navy veteran Fred Acosta created a children’s card game called Red Light Green Light. His invention would, in the following years, go on to sell on an international scale. 

The 76-year-old game inventor claimed that the secret to creating successful children’s games is “to have a good sense of humor.” He has been inventing all sorts of innovations for roughly 40 years with his brother, Nick Acosta. Both of the brothers were born in Brooklyn where they were raised. They eventually both served in the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War — Fred in the Navy and his brother in the Marines. 

Fred Acosta shared how tight-knit he and his brother are. Acosta explained how he and his brother are “partners” in almost everything. 

It seems that being an inventor runs through Fred Acosta’s blood. His father and both his brothers all share the common passion of innovating creations. According to Acosta, this familial talent hadn’t manifested itself until after he and his brother served in the Vietnam War. “When you’re an inventor, you’re an inventor 24/7,” Acosta said. “You’re always looking for something to improve upon.” 

When Acosta returned home from the war, he got married, had a family and in 1981 moved to Port Jefferson. Acosta didn’t start making games officially until he was 36. “When you’ve got a family, you have to support them,” he said. Acosta outlined the various struggles he faced in pursuit of his passion: “An inventor can’t make money unless he sells an idea — it’s very hard, you’d be surprised.”

In respect to his game Red Light Green Light, Acosta admitted that he thought the key to the success of his game was because of its design carefully catered toward children. “It’s very popular because it’s extremely simple,” he said. “It’s also quick, so kids don’t get bored playing it.” The inspiration for the impressively rated game “just came” to Acosta who explained his spark of inspiration by saying “I’m a natural inventor.” Red Light Green Light has stunning reviews on Amazon and can be found at Kohl’s and Walmart. 

While making a nice profit, it seems the success of Acosta’s creation carries a more sentimental reward for him. After many years of inventing games and dealing with the struggles a profession such as his brings, success is something heavy with importance for him. 

“We’re in our 70s and we’re selling card games, you know?” said Acosta, referring to his brother and himself. “You’re never too old to create something successful.” Acosta is not only a game creator but he has also invented all sorts of different gadgets, some artwork and even done graphic designing. 

Now, Acosta lives with his large family of three children and nine grandchildren in Port Jefferson. Even after his big success, Acosta is pursuing his passion and intends on creating more games in the future. He said he still previews his game inventions with his grandchildren before the games are sent out into the market. 

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Freshman guard Ava DeMarco of Northport goes in for a layup against Lindenhurst in the second half of action. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Captain Brooke Kershow, who led the Lady Tigers with 18 points, shoots over Lady Bulldog Leanna Kwarta. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Junior guard for Northport Isabella Bica dives for a loose ball with Emma Burmeister of Lindenhurst also trying to gain control of it, in Northport’s 47-31 win over the Lady Bulldogs on Saturday, Jan. 13. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Northport Lady Tigers battled it out with Lindenhurst on Jan. 11. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Northport Lady Tigers battled it out with Lindenhurst on Jan. 11. Photo by Steven Zaitz

By Steven Zaitz

The Northport Lady Tigers basketball team took a road trip to Orlando, Florida, over the Christmas break.

While there, they got to play against schools from other parts of the country, bond as teammates during long bus rides, and even enjoy a bit of what Disney World has to offer.

Freshman point guard Ava DeMarco, who may have had trouble with the height requirements of some of the rides at Disney, played a huge role coming off the bench in Northport’s 47-31 win over Lindenhurst last Saturday morning, Jan. 13.

DeMarco is barely five feet tall, depending upon how she is wearing her hair. But what she lacks in size, she more than makes up for in quickness, grit, tenacity, and determination. She scored seven points and added four assists against the Lady Bulldogs, but those numbers tell only a fraction of the story.

Lindenhurst sophomore sensation Emma Burmeister ranks fifth in Suffolk County, averaging over 20 points per game. Burmeister did not disappoint on Saturday against Northport as she exploded for 16 points in the first half. That was when longtime Northport head coach Richard Castellano came up with a new plan.

“We had a bunch of different girls trying to defend her [Burmeister] in the first half. At halftime, I told Ava to shadow her, go wherever she goes, and faceguard her,” said Castellano, who recorded his 743rd career win as Lady Tiger coach. “Ava played Emma really well and made her work for everything. She doesn’t back down from any challenge.”

“I take a lot of pride in my defense, and I feel really good that Coach Castellano has the confidence in me to guard the other team’s best player,” DeMarco said.

Burmeister was held to only nine points in the third and fourth quarters. The rest of her team had only six for the entire game.

But it wasn’t as if the Lady Tigers were lighting up the scoreboard like Magic Kingdom fireworks either. There was a prolonged stretch in the third quarter when the score seemed frozen at 32-27 in favor of the Tigers. Turnovers and held balls detained the basketball inside the middle third of the court, as both teams struggled to shake off the early morning start time.

“It got sloppy,” Castellano said. “Both teams were still sleeping a little bit but were able to wake up in the fourth quarter.

Tiger senior forward and captain Brooke Kershow, who led the team with 18 points, hit a running one-hander and DeMarco followed by driving the lane for two, giving the Tigers a 38-31 lead with under five minutes remaining in the game.

“Brooke carried us offensively in the fourth quarter,” Castellano said. “She hit a few shots that were able to turn the momentum in our favor.”

Senior captain Kennedy Radziul, who was not feeling her best, still found winning ways to contribute. In the third quarter, as Lindenhurst had cut the Northport lead to four and was looking to slice into even further, Radziul stepped into the passing lane and deflected a ball that went out of bounds off of Bulldog Nina Tantillo. Radziul capitalized moments later with a spinner in the lane. She scored 10 points in the game.

“Kennedy is a gamer. She will never tell me that she’s not feeling 100%, but I can see it in her face,” Castellano said. “I coached her mom, and I coached her aunt, so I can tell pretty easily. I told her to give me as much as you can for as long as you can, and that’s exactly what she did.”

Radziul’s mother is Northport basketball legend Kimberly Ruck Radziul, who, in the early 1990’s, was a member of six consecutive Suffolk County championship teams at Northport. Kimberly’s sister, Cami, Kennedy’s aunt, was a member of four of those teams.

Northport is 4-1 in conference play, and Lindenhurst is 2-3. Both teams, along with the rest of the league, are staring up in wonderment at Commack, who at the time of this writing, is 6-0 in conference play and 12-0 overall. The Lady Cougars beat the Tigers in Commack earlier this season, 39-32 and they will meet again in the beginning of February.

“We are coming together as a team now, and going down to Florida really gave us time to gel,” Castellano said. “We were already very tight as a team, but I think we still really grew during that trip.”

“I loved the experience of going down there, and I think it was really great for team chemistry,” DeMarco said. “And yes, I was able to go on the rides.”

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Technology revolutionizes emergency preparedness

By Emma Gutmann

On Dec. 29, Steve Bellone (D) capped off his 12-year run as Suffolk County executive with an announcement about the advent of a technology that promises to revolutionize emergency preparedness and response across the county. 

Through Tableau — a data visualization and business intelligence tool — several dashboards with unique specialties were launched simultaneously. The Fleet Management Dashboard, Emergency Operations Dashboard and Snow Fleet Readiness Dashboard will work together to provide immediate and comprehensive data to the county’s Department of Public Works and the Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services. 

Rather than muddling through manual data entry and slow-moving communication, DPW and FRES staff will now have a constant stream of accurate statistics at their fingertips. This operational efficiency will not only save valuable time during emergencies but also boost cost savings and informed decision-making. 

The Fleet Management Dashboard will be an asset to several departments from Public Works to Highway & Grounds Maintenance for its insights into vehicle readiness, maintenance schedules and the operational status of the county fleet. With a countywide view of fleet activity, management can monitor trends over time and optimize operations.

Increased access to fleet availability through the Emergency Operations Dashboard will allow the Emergency Operation Center staff at FRES to view fleet readiness during urgent situations. The dashboard aims to enhance resource allocation and, thus, response efficiency for daily operations as well as Office of Emergency Management activation.

According to an infographic from New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the OEM activates the State Emergency Operations Center “based upon the scope and magnitude of an incident, and the level of capability needed to effectively respond to the event.” There are four levels of activation that can be called if state-level monitoring or response is required: Enhanced Monitoring, Partial Activation, Full Activation and Full State/Federal Response. The Emergency Operations Dashboard is designed to bring about the quickest and most efficient response in these statewide matters and local matters alike.

Amid winter months, county personnel will benefit from the Snow Fleet Readiness Dashboard as well. This trailblazing technology is slated to save fleet staff approximately four hours per week by streamlining winter readiness reporting.

“In snow or other major weather events, we are able to see the in-service fleet status — fuel and salt levels — in real time,” FRES Commissioner Patrick Beckley said. “We can direct plows to areas in need and we can verify that roads have been plowed when in question.” 

Since their launch less than a month ago, the dashboards have already proven valuable to the Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services and Department of Public Works. 

“During the recent trench rescue in St. James, we were able to quickly identify the closest vacuum truck in the sanitation fleet and contact that division supervisor quickly,” FRES Commissioner Beckley said. “We are looking forward to the development and buildout of other fleet related dashboards.”

“Before the launch of the dashboards, our reporting process was manual, time-consuming, and reliant on multiple channels of communication such as emails, texts and calls, as well as various excel spreadsheets,” DPW Deputy Commissioner Leslie Mitchel said. “While we had the capability to generate reports, the process involved coordination between various DPW divisions and extensive manual data entry, consuming valuable time and carrying the risk of data inconsistencies due to basic human error and less user-friendly reporting tools previously utilized.”

Department heads are pleased with the new additions’ efficiency and are optimistic about the future of fleet and emergency management. The dashboard’s comprehensive view of previously scattered data, which is refreshed nightly, allows the workforce to focus more on strategic planning than tedious data entry.

With this innovative update to emergency procedure, Suffolk County is moving toward more data-driven decision-making for the convenience and safety of the public and personnel. It is the hope of the government that more dashboards will be added to this series to save time and provide guidance in other specialized areas.

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Loader in front of a sand salt storage facility. Photo by Gavin Scarlatos

By Gavin Scarlatos

Rock salt has long been one of the primary methods used for combating the onslaught of snow and ice during the winter season. Known for its accessibility and cost effectiveness, rock salt impedes ice formation by lowering the freezing temperature of water and is a common deicing agent used both residentially and by transit authorities. 

The Town of Brookhaven Highway Department maintains numerous salt storage facilities with a combined rock salt capacity of nearly 25,000 tons. During any given snowstorm, the department sets out to treat its 3,700 lane miles of road with rock salt as a preventive measure against treacherous driving conditions. But the widespread dispersal of the sodium chloride chemical compound can lead to unintended consequences that have a negative effect on our trees and other landscape plants.

“Rock salt dries out and changes the pH of soil, and sometimes it even changes the form of fertilizer, so the plants can’t uptake the right amount of nitrogen and other available micronutrients,” said Nick Bates, Long Island district manager of The Davey Tree Expert Company. 

Davey Tree is one of the oldest and largest tree care companies in North America, providing research driven environmental consulting, arboriculture and horticulture services.

“The part of the tree taking in the water from the soil are its fine root hairs,” Bates said. “Rock salt burns the root hairs very easily and dries out the tree’s roots substantially, so the tree won’t be able to pull up water as effectively as before and will dry out or even die off.”

Bates emphasized how this process varies depending on the type of the tree or plant, pointing out how plants growing near the coastline are able to handle the salt intake efficiently while the species of plants located closer to the middle of Long Island are more susceptible to salt damage. 

“Arborvitaes and White Pines are most affected by rock salt,” Bates said. “Sometimes they are planted in traffic mediums and along highways. After the roads start getting salted, you’ll see the Arborvitaes turning a brown or yellow color while those planted away from the road will still be a nice, lush, beautiful green.”

Since exposure to rock salt is in some cases inevitable, Bates offered insight on how to best protect trees and other landscape plants against the damaging effects: “There’s quite a few things you can do. The best thing is to maintain the tree’s health in general, providing the tree with extra fertilizers will boost its ability to better handle external stressors. You can also give trees and plants extra water in the late fall before everything starts to freeze. Giving the trees a deep soaking means they’ll have more water in their systems for when the winter starts to dry them out. You can even give trees extra water in the spring as well, to help flush the rock salt out of the soil.” 

Bates added a warning. “There’s a fine line,” he said. “You don’t want to keep the plants completely flooded so all of the air in the soil gets pushed out and filled with water. The roots still need to be able to breathe.” 

Although traditional rock salt is still the cheapest and most practical deicing agent, there are more environmentally conscious alternatives that better protect plant life. Calcium chloride, while still damaging, does not burn the plants as badly as salt composed of sodium chloride, since it is less potent. 

Another approach is to add sand or even sawdust into the rock salt mixture, providing traction in icy conditions while mitigating the impact on vegetation by reducing the amount of salt being used. Also, preparing for rock salt exposure ahead of time by spreading gypsum or lime on soil in the late fall will reduce rock salt’s negative effects on trees and other landscape plants.

“One of the best things to combat the effects of rock salt is to plant the right trees in the right spots. If you live on a main road where a lot of salt gets spread, you could plant trees that are less susceptible to salt damage, and that’ll make your life a lot easier and the trees a lot happier,” Bates said.

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Noah Hutzler, a sophomore at Hauppauge High School swims the 500-yard freestyle. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Smithtown East sophomore Christopher Sweeney in the 100-yard breaststroke. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Freshman Lucas Ackerman of Smithtown High School East. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Smithtown High School East Tyler Gallub dives in headfirst during the 200-yard freestyle relay. Photo by Steven Zaitz

By Steven Zaitz

The Smithtown-Hauppauge boys swim team remained undefeated after beating the combined forces  of Huntington, Harborfields, Walt Whitman and John Glenn high schools on Jan. 16 by a score of 94-86. The reigning Suffolk County champions are 5-0 as county and state meets are fast approaching.

Smithtown East sophomore Tyler Gallub set a personal-best in the 200-yard freestyle event with a blazing 1:46.39. This time qualifies him for the New York State Championships. Gallub also qualified for states with his winning time of 53.32 in the 100-yard butterfly. Gallub was also part of the first-place team in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Along with Alex Trzaskowski, Chris Sweeney and his brother Dylan Gallub, the foursome finished at 1:31.79, almost eight seconds ahead of the second-place team – also from Smithtown-Hauppauge.

East senior Dylan Gallub also scored a victories that qualified him for the state championship meet with a 21.63 in the 50-yard freestyle and 48.56 in the 100-yard freestyle.

The Huntington conglomerate also had success as Sophomore Evan Creter from John Glenn won the 200-yard individual medley. He was the only swimmer to dip under two minutes, as his 1:59.69 was fast enough to qualify for States. Huntington High School sophomore Maximilien Leroy won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:04.60 and was part of the foursome that took first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Creter, Liam O’Hanlon and Lucas Spagnolleti were also on the winning team. 

Spagnolleti, a Huntington senior, was busy succeeding in other events. He won the 100-yard breaststroke with a county-qualifying time of 1:06.58. He also finished second to Tyler Gallub in the 100-yard butterfly. 

In all, there were 34 New York State or Suffolk County qualifying times during this meet. The Huntington team is 2-2 in League I competition, good for a fourth place rank behind Smithtown-Hauppague, Half Hollow Hills-Kings Park and Connetquot-Islip.

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Photo by Raymond Janis

Fueling drug violence

I have been reading about the violence engulfing Ecuador with its drug gangs — and thinking. Some in our community are users of cocaine, and they have to be affluent since cocaine is not cheap. Do they realize that they are fueling this violence? Or do they just not care? How do they justify themselves?

Jane O’Sullivan

Setauket

LIRR and its president must do better in 2024

The MTA invested $11.6 billion in direct costs for construction of the Long Island Rail Road East Side Access to Grand Central Madison. Part of the scope of work involved upgrading the Harold Interlocking and signals west of the Woodside Station. This cost over $1 billion. These capital assets were previously updated in 1991 at a cost of over $100 million. 

The most recent work included upgrading and expansion of the signal system to accommodate new LIRR service to Grand Central Madison. How disappointing that less than one year later, there was another round of signal problems west of the Woodside Station. This resulted in service delays on Saturday night, Dec. 30. There was no service in or out of either Grand Central Madison or Penn Station for one hour around 10 p.m. 

This represents the most recent in a series of failures on the part of the LIRR to maintain consistent safe and reliable service 24/7 on the Port Jefferson and all 11 branches. Once again, the LIRR left coal in the stockings of commuters this holiday season. So much for any decent on time performance. 

Our New Year’s resolution is for new LIRR President Robert Free to do better in 2024.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Epitaph

We now have politicians that apparently exist in a state of moral depravity. Witness the state of the nation presently. God bless America from a veteran to World War II and the Greatest Generation.

Leonard J. Henderson

       Port Jefferson 

Legal talented scientists are welcomed

A recent edition of The Village Times Herald featured an interview of Bruce Stillman, the president and chief executive officer of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. [“CSHL’s Stillman concerned about the effect of anti-immigrant talk, policies on US science,” TBR News Media, Jan. 11.] In the interview, Stillman lamented the “toxic talk” and “adversarial dialogue” that many Americans are expressing with regard to the invasion of our southern border by “immigrants,” eschewing the use of the correct legal term, which is illegal aliens. 

This hostility, he claimed, makes it difficult to hire very talented scientists from other countries.

I think Stillman should explain to his potential candidates that the concern of American citizens over immigration issues is not directed toward those who obey our laws and comply with our regulations, which almost certainly applies to those whom he is considering hiring. 

All Americans have tremendous appreciation for the incredible contributions made by (legal) immigrants of the past and present, including great Americans Andrew Carnegie, Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Wernher von Braun and Elon Musk, as well as many others.Once this distinction is clarified for the new hires, I have no doubt that they will happily follow the proper procedures, and I wish them long and fulfilling careers at CSHL.

George Altemose

Setauke

Communication necessary between community and BOE

It was with great frustration that I watched the video recording of the Port Jefferson Board of Education meeting of Jan. 9. At 35 minutes 50 seconds, during public comments, resident Gail Sternberg addressed many of the same concerns that I, along with my neighbors, share. She gave rational, factual and statistical information that she took the time to FOIA. She presented the information to the BOE. There was no response, and then she was “thanked for her comments” and simply told her time was up. Disappointingly, it appeared there was a dismissive tone for her broaching these uncomfortable topics. I was rather surprised to learn that the total student enrollment for the high school is projected to be less than 200 students within just seven years, and even lower thereafter. I also recently learned from reading Newsday that Port Jefferson School District has seven lawsuits filed against it for which we are potentially responsible. 

Along with these lawsuits and a decline of student enrollment, we have the current glide path of taxpayer expenses rising, due to loss of LIPA revenue contribution. All these issues are veering ahead at precisely the same time, and we have no large reserves for all of these expenses, thus creating an unfortunate “perfect storm.” It would be helpful if a special meeting is held where the community can ask questions, voice their concerns and try to understand what is ahead. The other surrounding school districts that are facing the dilemma of declining enrollments have already done so — to let the community know what is going on, and what remedies might be considered. 

We need to keep taxes down and spending curtailed if we want to bring in new families. A declining enrollment does not lend itself to having opportunities for socialization, sports programs and advanced courses. We cannot simply “kick the can down the road.” If we desire to keep our high school a thriving and financially viable school in the coming years, the time to start a conversation is now. 

I think it is the responsibility of the BOE to address the community so we can be educated voters in the future. I am hopeful the BOE will want to consider this community’s input when making decisions going forward and, if so, share with us what a plan B might look like. It is time to discuss the elephant in the room.

Darcel Weldon

Port Jefferson

Vote on proposed Terryville Fire District bond issue to upgrade facilities

I want to take the opportunity to alert the residents of Port Jefferson Station/Terryville to an important upcoming event impacting the safety and quality of life in our community. The Terryville Fire District has recently proposed several upgrades and repairs to the two facilities operating within their jurisdiction. These improvements would bring the headquarters on Jayne Boulevard and Old Town Road, Station 2, into compliance with current firefighting standards as well as replacing aging materials and equipment. EMS personnel and equipment needs have nearly doubled since the construction 50 years ago of Station 2 in 1974 and the main facility on Jayne Boulevard has not had any meaningful upgrades in over 20 years. 

The district has proposed to replace the roof and upgrade the existing siren at the headquarters as well as provide additional storage and training facilities within a new utility building at Station 2. 

I would suggest the district considers providing for public spaces and meeting rooms for community use as is the case in surrounding fire districts. The proposed bond to pay for all these renovations is $18 million.

Given the growth in our hamlet in past years and facing significant development pressures in the future from the proposed Jefferson Plaza project — and many others surrounding the 112 corridor — it is imperative our residents carefully evaluate this bond issue with an eye toward meeting the challenges we face over the coming decades. 

Unfortunately, the fire district reached out to the local civic association only recently, and I applaud Commissioner Lee Brett for his efforts. However, as president of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association, I appreciate their efforts to engage the community, it is hard at this late date to fully weigh the benefits of these improvements against the cost impact that might result in a projected tax increase to residents of about $10-$12 a month from passage of this bond. 

I am hopeful the fire district, with less-than-ideal outreach, will still be able to generate the community support needed to persuade my neighbors that approving the bond issue is a wise investment that will meet the needs of our area.

The vote will be held at the main headquarters on Jayne Boulevard Tuesday, Jan. 23, from 2 to 9 p.m. I urge concerned citizens to participate in deciding the ability of our first responders to rise to the occasion when called upon to help our community.

Ira Costell

President of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association

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