Congresman Zeldin addresses the audience at a town hall in Smithtown. Photo from Congressman Zeldin’s office.
By Victoria Espinoza
After calls for more public discussions and town hall meetings from constituents in New York’s 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) held three town halls this past Sunday. Some praised Zeldin for his patience dealing with “organized protestors,” while other attendees were still left wanting more dialogue with their representative.
Cindy Morris, a Stony Brook resident,attended Zeldin’s third and final town hall of the day at St. Patrick’s Church in Smithtown.
“We’ve [progressive groups] been working very hard asking him to meet with us in a public forum since November,” Morris said in a phone interview. “This was his first attempt and I felt it was important to attend, both to thank him and show this is not an attempt for political theater like he’s claimed, but for real dialogue.”
In a previous interview, Zeldin spokesperson Jennifer DiSiena said requesting a town hall with the purpose of disrupting it is wrong and wouldn’t be taken seriously.
“Congressman Zeldin will meet with any constituent interested in a productive, substantive exchange of ideas,” she said. “He is not interested in the type of political theater that this group of liberal obstructionists is interested in promoting.”
DiSiena was addressing Project Free Knowledge, a group who hosted a “mock” town hall in Port Jefferson in March which featured a Zeldin impersonator and little effort for an impartial discussion. However, Zeldin has referred to different forms of protests by constituents in his district similarly.
But Morris insisted this meeting was nothing like the mock town hall. Unlike the first two town halls held earlier that day, where she said attendees did not have an opportunity for audience interaction, she praised the Smithtown event for being well-organized, giving some audience members a chance to ask a question off the cuff, that hadn’t been screened.
“He’s our congressional representative, and the representative piece of that is the most important part of his title,” she said. “We wanted to give him an opportunity to let him know what our values are, what we’re looking for.”
Morris also said after watching the first two town halls on Facebook Live, she recognized sound bites Zeldin had used repeatedly that day.
“There was certainly some messaging,” she said. “Until he’s willing to have a real conversation with his constituents, I think that’s literally political theater.”
The event was hosted by Catholics for Freedom of Religion, and President Barbara Samuells said she thought the event went very well.
“People were able to do what the event was intended for,” she said in a phone interview. “They were able to come forward in an open environment and ask questions.”
Samuells said the environment was respectful and calm, unlike other town halls she has seen across the country, and a variety of different issues were discussed. She also commended Zeldin on his directness, saying he answered questions honestly.
Residents wrote on Zeldin’s Facebook page praising him for attending the meetings. Bob Voss, of Mastic, recognized the congressman’s effort.
“Thank you once again for making yourself available to your district constituents and the opportunity to express their concerns whether there is agreement or not on an issue,” he said. “Most important is the knowledge, skill and ability to listen as opposed to talk/yell which may have various motivations. In community forums like these and when [they are] done with mutual dignity and respect much can be accomplished other than shouting.”
But others agreed with Morris, saying the conversation was not as direct as they would have liked.
Nicolle Zeman, who attended the Riverhead town hall, wrote on a Facebook page called Let’s Visit Lee Zeldin, which is comprised of people urging Zeldin to hold town halls. Many are harsh critics of the congressman.
“There was lots of rambling, avoiding answering direct questions and self-serving monologues,” she said. Zeman asked Zeldin about President Donald Trump’s (R) possible tax plan to eliminate the head of household filing status, and said Zeldin instead “rambled,” on about tax reform in general, and when she pressed him on the specific elimination he couldn’t say definitively if he would support the elimination or not.
Zeldin was one of Trump’s first supporters on Long Island, however as of late he seems to be putting some space between himself and the commander-in-chief.
“He did say a couple of times that Trump needs to clean up the way he speaks, that he’s no longer a television host, he’s the president,” she said. “He’s trying to find ways to distance himself from Trump but he’s voting for the Trump agenda.”
Morris acknowledged Zeldin is committed to fighting cuts against the Environmental Protection Agency and funding to the Long Island Sound, which is the opposite stance of Trump, however he “stands strongly with him,” on immigration and financial issues.
FiveThirtyEight, a website focusing on poll analysis and politics, gave Zeldin a 96 percent score for how often he votes in line with the president’s position on house bills. But in the most recent house bill to repeal an FCC rule stopping internet service providers from sharing data of customer’s activities, Zeldin voted no — the opposite of Trump’s position. The bill had almost unanimous Republican support.
Morris also said Zeldin’s staff was helpful after the events, approaching them and getting their contact information to keep them informed.
“They asked us if we would stop protesting, we used the hashtag #WhereIsZeldin, and they said we found him here, there’s no more reason to use it,” Morris said. “But I told them we wouldn’t stop after a one hour moment.”
After the town halls Zeldin said he enjoyed meeting with the people of his district that day.
“It was such a pleasure to meet with so many great constituents at today’s town halls to hear concerns and answer questions,” he said. “At the community forums, we were able to cover a breadth of very important issues, including health care, the environment, foreign policy, economic growth, several local issues, and so much more. I am willing to work with absolutely anyone to move our country forward, no matter what your ideological background is, and I welcome any opportunity to engage in substantive, productive dialogue.”
This past weekend 1st Congressional District U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) hosted town hall events in Riverhead, Farmingville and Smithtown. Ordinarily, an elected official meeting face to face with constituents shouldn’t be breaking news. When it comes to Zeldin, however, holding these town halls is noteworthy because of how hard some voters pleaded with him in the past few months to participate in an open forum as he did April 23.
Before these, he held a phone town hall, which left several constituents upset with the restricting nature of the conversation. Only a handful of questions could be asked, and were submitted prior to the phone call, with thousands listening in. And, of course, there was no face time.
We commend Zeldin for listening to the concerns of the people who elected him as their representative all day Sunday, knowing he would face many angry residents.
Firsthand accounts of the three meetings returned a mixed bag of reviews. Many were happy to have had the chance to hear Zeldin speak about issues important to them, though others were still unsatisfied because questions for some of the meetings were screened ahead of time and selected by moderators.
Holding three town halls was a great step by a congressman who is obviously liked in his district. Nearly 60 percent of the district selected Zeldin on Election Day. He proved he is capable of standing in front of a partially hostile crowd and contributing to a productive dialogue, while the 40 percent of voters who didn’t select him and have been behaving like “liberal obstructionists,” as Zeldin has dubbed them, proved they’re capable of participating in a civilized conversation completely devoid of danger to the congressman.
This was a first step by both sides, but more work is clearly left to be done before midterm elections in November 2018. Let’s keep the ball rolling and keep the dialogue open.
John Zollo is looking to unseat Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio. Photo from John Zollo
A Smithtown political institution has a new challenger, as John Zollo announced he’s throwing his hat into the ring for the upcoming race for town supervisor, a position currently held by 39-year incumbent Pat Vecchio (R).
Zollo, a Smithtown resident, has spent his life on Long Island, and graduated from the Commack school district in 1977 — a year before Vecchio first took office. He has experience working in town government, serving as Smithtown town attorney for 12 years, from 1992 to 2002, and then from 2013 to 2014.
“I’m running because I believe some things need to change in Smithtown,” Zollo said in a phone interview. “And I have a big sense of community.”
The 57-year-old is certainly involved in many aspects of the town, serving as president for the Rotary Club of Smithtown Sunrise, a member of the Smithtown and Nesconset chambers of commerce, a committee member ofSmithtown Historical Society, and a board member of the Suffolk County Bar Association, to name a few. Zollo has also lent his voice to the community, singing the national anthem for several Long Island Ducks baseball games, and dozens of judicial robing ceremonies for newly sworn in judges on Long Island.
“I am involved in a lot of stuff, sometimes too much,” Zollo said with a laugh, adding he enjoys contributing to his community in any way he can.
And he has already planned to continue that trend into his campaign, asking for anyone who attended his first campaign event April 26 to donate whatever change they had for Red Nose Day.
Zollo said his main concern in Smithtown government is the lack of transparency and communication on issues, and both are important topics he’d like to address if given the chance to lead.
“I have learned a lot of people get very frustrated with government,” he said. “Too many people get involved with government for the wrong reasons. My wife says I’m Don Quixote riding the Smithtown bull. I believe you can’t just yell from the sidelines when you see something going wrong.”
One recent example of miscommunication Zollo used was the land deal that fell through with the Smithtown school district and Southern Land Company earlier this year. Many residents were unhappy with the plan to develop an apartment complex at the district administration building on New York Avenue, and the town and district seemed to be on different pages as the plan moved forward. By last month the deal had collapsed.
“There should’ve been more of a dialogue with the school, the residents and the town,” Zollo said. “If you have dialogue you get something that works, it doesn’t mean everyone will be happy but it’ll work.”
The candidate said he wants the town to have more work sessions with an agenda, and more conversations that happen in front of the town, so residents can understand the government’s train of thought when making decisions.
“You shouldn’t have to hide anything from people,” Zollo said. “People should know what’s going on in their government. The government right now is being run in secret, by emails, and there is no dialogue in work sessions, no exchange of ideas.”
Zollo said while Vecchio has served a great deal to his community, he believes it’s time for new blood to take over.
Suffolk County Republican Committee Chairman John Jay LaValle at his Holtsville office. Photo by Alex Petroski
A Republican hadn’t won Suffolk County in 24 years. The 2016 presidential election was out of the ordinary on dozens of levels, a fact that propelled Donald Trump to the presidency and helped him to become the first Republican candidate to win Suffolk County since George H.W. Bush in 1992. Trump received just 36.5 percent of the vote in New York state, though 52.5 percent of Suffolk voters selected the first-time political candidate. John Jay LaValle — arguably the most influential Republican in Suffolk politics — played a massive role in securing that victory.
During an exclusive interview at his Holtsville office April 18, the Suffolk County Republican Committee Chairman shed light on Trump’s surprising victory locally and nationally, his life in politics, serving as a Trump surrogate and the future of the party.
The state of the party
LaValle, 49, who has been in his current position since 2009, endorsed Trump about a year ago during a campaign event in Bethpage, calling him the most important presidential candidate in modern history.
“I wasn’t happy over the last several years on how the Republican Party — let’s say over the past decade — how the party dealt with the Obama Administration,” LaValle, an attorney by trade, said, sitting at his desk, his eyes glancing up intermittently at a muted television fixed on Fox News throughout the conversation. He said the GOP’s singular purpose, to its detriment, had become opposing former President Barack Obama (D). “We’d become a party without a compass. We didn’t have a purpose.”
John Jay LaValle speaks during an election night party for Lee Zeldin in Patchogue. File photo by Alex Petroski
He added he thought it was a mistake for the party to be so focused on social issues, especially because public sentiment was heading in the opposite direction from the traditional Republican ideologies on most.
By the time of his formal endorsement April 9 at that Bethpage rally, only Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) were still alive in the Republican primary process, though LaValle said he made his decision to endorse Trump when he was still in a field of 17 candidates.
“I’m from…what someone would consider to be the establishment of the Republican Party,” LaValle said. “So when I came out and endorsed Donald Trump everyone was like, ‘what?’ And even people, my own cousin, was like ‘what are you doing?’ Everyone thought I was crazy. But one of the things that very much attracted me to Donald Trump was that I really thought that he would be someone that would perform a radical change to the Republican Party.”
LaValle’s cousin is New York State Sen. Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), a mainstay in the state senate since 1976. Both are residents of Port Jefferson.
The chairman bought what Trump was selling, and encouraged Suffolk voters to do the same. He said Trump’s position that the government was “broken” and needed an outsider to fix it resonated for him, and believes it’s what voters liked about him locally.
“When I became a councilman in Brookhaven Town in 1996, the dominant issue was illegal immigration, and its effect on the housing,” he said. LaValle would later go on to be the youngest supervisor in Brookhaven’s history. In 2001 he took control at just 33 years old. “So here I was now in 2016, 20 years later and the dominant issue is still illegal immigration.”
LaValle said both Republicans and Democrats had squandered opportunities to make meaningful changes to immigration legislation, which is evidence of an inability in traditional politicians to get things done for their constituents in other areas, like creating jobs and jump-starting the economy.
Trump’s win has put a strain on the Republican Party and clouded its future, especially in light of record low approval ratings so early in his tenure. “Transformation” and “splintering” were two words LaValle didn’t deny were appropriate descriptors of the status of the party at the moment, though he said a polarization of politics is wreaking havoc on both parties.
He likened what’s going on now in the party to his days as Brookhaven Supervisor. He said he accomplished things that were atypical of Republican beliefs at the time, like enacting a $100 million Environmental Bond Act. He also said he was proud of actions he took like appointing women and African-Americans to leadership roles in the town — he named Cecile Forte, an African-American woman, the chair of the zoning board; and Marvin Colson, an African-American man the chair of the planning board — and consolidating town operations to a centralized location in Farmingville, where Brookhaven headquarters still stands.
“There’s…four different parties in this country right now instead of two, and while the liberals are trying to move the Democratic Party left, the conservatives are trying to pull the Republican Party right — it’s a very messy situation in the country,” he said. “You may look back 20 years from now and look at this particular time period in American history as a time period that actually created four major political parties in America. You can’t be a moderate on either side and be with the wings. It’s been too polarized.”
Although he said his job doesn’t entail influencing legislators about policy, the possibility of a splintering of the Republican Party could raise difficult questions for “establishment” Republican lawmakers who don’t join LaValle in subscribing to the book of Trump.
LaValle suggested Trump’s Supreme Court nomination, efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and some other early signs bear this out — Trump campaigned to the right but is governing from a more moderate platform.
“Everyone thought I was crazy…I really thought that he would be someone that would perform a radical change to the Republican Party.”
— John Jay LaValle
“He doesn’t give a [expletive] about Republicans and Democrats and all that,” LaValle said of the president. “In fact, he was a Democrat. Then he became a Republican, but he was a moderate Republican. Then when he was running he became a very conservative Republican. From day one, I recollect him saying to me, ‘there’s only two things I want to do — I want to fix the economy and I want to get rid of this terrorism.’ He goes, ‘the rest of it, I could care less about.’”
The Trump presidency
Despite the missteps and uneasiness that have been hallmarks of Trump’s first 100 days in office, LaValle seemingly has no inclination to reverse course and distance himself from the president.
“I don’t criticize the boss in public,” he said.
After he endorsed Trump he went on to do about 160 television appearances as a surrogate for his candidate during 2016.
The chairman said he first met Trump several years ago when the businessman was considering a run for governor of New York, though little came of that meeting. The two met for the second time during the rally in Bethpage in 2016. Since, the two have spoken regularly by phone, and LaValle said he’d sat in on meetings at Trump Tower in the past, and even weighed in on policy when called upon by the man who currently occupies the highest office in the land.
“He runs his meetings like a game show — it’s phenomenal,” LaValle said. He told a story of the first time Trump called him on his cellphone and asked him to come to Manhattan for a meeting. LaValle said his friends instructed him to keep quiet, prepare to listen and limit his contribution to the meeting to “hello, Mr. Trump” and “goodbye, Mr. Trump.” Instead, LaValle said Trump repeatedly pressed him and others in the room for input on policy and issues, and he felt Trump genuinely listened to others’ opinions. LaValle said he once asked Trump why he valued his opinion so much.
“I trust you, and until you fail me that’s it, I’m going to rely on you,’” the chairman said Trump told him. That trust can be traced to a promise LaValle made to Trump in April 2016 after a campaign event at The Emporium in Patchogue, when he pledged to deliver Suffolk County for Trump during the Republican primary.
“When he was leaving he was telling me ‘oh you know what it cost me to come here? You know what I had to give up?’ I said ‘no, I appreciate that Mr. Trump, and I’m going to tell you right now — Suffolk County will be the number one county for you in the state of New York next Tuesday,’” LaValle said. “He said ‘well I’m going to hold you to that.’ I said ‘good, and I’m going to deliver.’ And we did. And he appreciated that.”
More than 72,000 Suffolk County residents chose Trump on primary day, to just 18,000 and 9,000 respectively for Kasich and Cruz.
Suffolk County Republican Committee Chairman John Jay LaValle at his Holtsville office. Photo by Alex Petroski
On another occasion, LaValle was forced to justify comments he made on CNN when he was asked to defend two “diametrically opposed” statements Trump had previously made.
“So my phone rings and he says, ‘what’s this about me evolving?’ And this is classic Donald Trump, by the way,” LaValle said. “So I said, ‘uh, excuse me?’ He goes ‘evolving, John — what’s this about me evolving? I’m watching TV and I hear you say that I’m evolving.’”
LaValle, laughing, said he thought he’d handled the situation beautifully.
“‘John, John, John — I’m not evolving. I’m running for president of the United States of America. I’m not evolving,’” he said Trump told him. “I said ‘well I understand sir, but what would you like me to say?’ He says ‘what would I like you to say? You say Donald Trump is the greatest candidate ever to run for president in the history of the United States.’”
LaValle said he later heard Kellyanne Conway, a key player in Trump’s campaign, use the word “evolving” on television, so he knew Trump was just blowing off steam at the time.
According to LaValle, another byproduct of the Trump presidency has been a head-on confrontation with debilitating political correctness, an aspect of Trump’s persona and platform that the chairman has found invaluable.
The chairman blamed gang violence on Long Island and heroin abuse to political correctness brought about by the Democrats.
“He’s made it okay to kind of tell it like it is — or at least like you see it,” LaValle said. “That was a big problem. In our country, we had gotten so bad at being politically correct that we weren’t allowed to like, even say certain things that were true.”
Attributing the rise of heroin abuse on Long Island to political correctness because of a lack of adequate border security addresses illegal drugs entering the country, but not a growing demand at home, which can be traced back to overprescribing of powerful pain medications, which then leads to heroin when prescriptions dry up.
The chairman offered strong defenses for Trump on issues that few have felt inclined to rush to justify — like supposed ties between the Russian government and Trump’s campaign, transition team and administration. He said the president hasn’t deviated from anything he’s said publicly about Russia. His desire has always been to improve relations, and contacts between his team and Russia make sense in striving to achieve that goal. When asked why the knee-jerk reaction from several associates is to deny said communications, LaValle said the media is granted no prior assumption that sources will respond to questions truthfully, though he said anyone who didn’t given honest answers is “destroying their credibility.”
Although LaValle insisted he didn’t criticize the boss in public, it’s not hard to take that concept and juxtapose it with the fact Trump has had issues as a result of publicly making false statements. The president said he won the most Electoral College votes (306) since President Ronald Reagan — in fact Obama won 332 four years ago and 365 in 2008, and going back to a Republican president Bush senior received more than Trump as well.
He walked the line on the comments Trump was caught on tape making to Billy Bush for Access Hollywood during a candid conversation neither party knew was being recorded.
“I mean I do feel bad that he got, kind of like set up, caught on tape with that whole grabbing thing,” he said. “I mean, I know so many guys that have said stupid things in their lifetime. We always just have the benefit of no one’s paying attention. And I’m not saying it’s right to do, don’t get me wrong, but that sucked for him to be caught on tape saying that.”
Even though he sympathized with Trump, he said earlier he understands why Trump’s own words could create a negative perception.
“It’s America, I guess they can do it. But it doesn’t make them any less sleazy and sleaze balls that they are. That’s what they’re doing. To me it’s a disgrace.”
— John Jay LaValle
“Saying Rosie O’Donnell is a fat slob, the stuff with Megyn Kelly, no, I could understand why there’s a perception that he’s a sexist, because he said things that are not appropriate,” he said.
In the beginning of the interview, LaValle described Trump as a brilliant businessman who understood he could say “something stupid just for the hell of it…he knew that’s the price he had to pay to get all of that free media,” and lauded him for “telling it like it is.”
Suffolk County
U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) has taken small steps to distance himself from the president of late, though unless something drastically changes, the race for his seat in the House as representative for New York’s 1st Congressional District in 2018 will serve as a referendum on the party of Trump in Suffolk County.
After upsetting U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), who held the seat from 2003 to 2014, Zeldin defeated Anna Throne-Holst (D-Southampton) by 18 points to retain his seat in 2016. Zeldin’s big win was seen as an indicator of Trump’s success in the county because he was a strong supporter of Trump in 2016. Zeldin even proclaimed from the podium after the race was called on election night that he was excited to have the chance to “make America great again.”
Zeldin’s proximity to Trump has caused an uprising of some 1st District constituents since the election, with protests occurring throughout the past few months and demands for more access to the congressman. Still, LaValle isn’t concerned about Zeldin’s chances for reelection in 2018.
“Lee Zeldin is going to win big time in 2018,” he said. “I think the Democrat Party has shown itself to be frauds, crybabies, snowflakes and sore losers… It’s all a fraud. It’s not about — this isn’t a grassroots effort. These people are professionals. They’re being paid to be there and to organize individuals to disrupt town hall meetings of our duly elected representatives.”
Politico, an American political-journalism company has maintained there is zero evidence of protestors being paid. This rhetoric may seem familiar to some, as powerful Democratic leaders once made the same claim a few years back. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in 2009 Tea Party protestors disrupting town halls were funded by “the high end,” calling it “Astroturf,” meaning not an authentic grassroots movement, but something supported by benefactors.
“These people are a disgrace,” LaValle continued about the protestors. “It’s America, I guess they can do it. But it doesn’t make them any less sleazy and sleaze balls that they are. That’s what they’re doing. To me it’s a disgrace.”
In a phone interview, Zeldin said LaValle has been a strong ally during his political career. He also praised the job LaValle has done since taking over, noting a large shift in town and county seats in elected positions from blue to red during LaValle’s tenure, which he said the chairman played a role in.
“John is someone who can easily motivate a packed room of volunteers to want to campaign just a little harder and dig down a little bit deeper to help get across the finish line,” he said.
LaValle has been rumored to be a candidate to oppose Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) when he seeks reelection. He criticized the job Bellone has done in the position, saying the county’s finances have been “horribly mismanaged,” and said he doesn’t think Bellone is right for the job, though he didn’t offer any insight on his future aspirations.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I’ll know it when it happens,” LaValle said. “The one thing I learned is I would have never expected to have done what I did last year in a million years. It was just something that I probably never would even have fathomed. So one thing that I learned is don’t ever try to make your plans too specific. Keep it loose, keep it fluid and be ready for something exciting. I know one thing, it’s going to be something exciting and it’s going to be something big.”
Skylar Carrasquillo breaks away with the ball. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
Brianna Carrasquillo’s five goals and two assists, and Christina Ferrara’s three goals and five assists, led the Rocky Point girls’ lacrosse team to a 20-11 home win over Hauppauge in a rain-drenched, windy Division II matchup April 25.
Madison Sanchez drives past a Hauppauge defender. Photo by Bill Landon
“For us, we’re finding that next level,” Rocky Point head coach Dan Spallina said. “Hauppauge, they’re fast, athletic with good lacrosse IQ and they’re a physical team. Our performance was good in that we got a lot of different girls in, and that’s always good for team morale.”
Leading 2-1 in the first five minutes of play, the Eagles began soaring over their opponent, scoring eight unanswered goals. During that time, sophomore Brianna Lamoureux notched her hat trick goal, Carrasquillo chipped in two, and juniors Madison Sanchez and Christina Bellissimo and sophomore Megan Greco each stretched the net for a 10-1 advantage just 11 minutes into the contest.
Hauppauge scored to stop the scoring spell, but it didn’t last long, as Carrasquillo and her younger sister Skylar each split the pipes for a 12-2 advantage.
Hauppauge again answered with two goals, but Ferrara’s stick spoke next with a solo shot for a 13-4 lead with six minutes still until halftime.
“We definitely didn’t want to underestimate them — we had to come out and play our game if we wanted to come out on top, and I thought we did that,” she said. “We got almost every draw today and that’s a huge part — that’s a game changer.”
Sanchez was that spark, winning 23 of 32 draws.
Christina Ferrara changes direction as she moves toward the cage. Photo by Bill Landon
Spallina opened the second half with his bench players, and as they gained some playing time Hauppauge began to chip away at the deficit, scoring four goals over the next five minutes to close the gap, 16-9, to slow the running clock back to normal.
But Brianna Carrasquillo slammed home her fifth goal of the game, and Sanchez once more to keep a nice margin.
“We didn’t want to take anything for granted,” Sanchez said. “Yes we’re ranked higher, but you still have to work hard. We’re not going to let anyone just slide through. We capitalized on our draws, we hit all of our shots and our speed is definitely a big part of our game.”
With the win, Rocky Point improves to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in league play, trailing division leader Eastport-South Manor by two games.
“With our speed we can bang the ball around, and with the movement we have, that’s our strength,” Spallina said. “I’m impressed with a lot of the girls and the amount of assists we had today. [Brianna] Carrasquillo — yeah, she’s the girl that buries the ball, but there’s a bunch of different pieces that go into it. Christina Ferrara chips in huge ground balls, she’s all heart and her assist numbers speaks volumes.”
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
Scenes from a March For Science rally at Stony Brook University April 22. Photo by Jenn Solomon
It was a rainy afternoon April 22, but that didn’t stop local residents along with Stony Brook University students and faculty members from participating in a March for Science rally at the school. Similar marches took place across the country as Americans joined together to show their support for federal funding for science, as well as to remind President Donald Trump (R) and his appointees how important science is, especially when it comes to researching climate change issues.
Pamela Block, of Setauket, and professor of disabilities studies at Stony Brook University, organized the march with Jenn Solomon, a bilingual speech language pathologist. During a phone interview, Block said approximately 500 people participated, and the marchers ranged in age from young children to senior citizens. Block said the organizations Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, the Audubon Society, the United University Professions and others had representatives on hand.
Block said she and Solomon were talking to a group of local activists including Shoshanna Hershkowitz of Suffolk Progressives and Cindy Morris of Time2Care Long Island, when they decided to organize the April 22 march.
“This is my first time really doing this kind of activist organizing,” Block said. “It feels pretty good.”
The Setauket resident said because she lives in the area and works at the university, the event was a personal one for her. Her mission was to focus on the important part the university plays in the community, as well as in the world of science.
“It was awesome to see the strong turnout, and to be surrounded by thoughtful people who care deeply about the environment and understand the importance of science for our survival and our humanity.”
— Jenn Solomon
“It was a circle of support for Stony Brook in gratitude for the work that it does in the areas of science — medical science, engineering science, environmental science, physics,” she said. “It does some really important work, and I wanted to acknowledge that.”
Solomon credited Block with leading the effort, but like Block, she was excited to be part of the event.
“It was awesome to see the strong turnout, and to be surrounded by thoughtful people who care deeply about the environment and understand the importance of science for our survival and our humanity,” Solomon said.
Morris, who lives in Stony Brook, said a coalition of community groups joined forces a few months ago to reach out in progressive ways to U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) regarding various issues, and the groups have been planning local events to raise awareness about other current issues.
“This march in particular, we felt at the national level we were seeing the March for Science, but we needed to make sure there was accessibility so local people could also participate without going all the way into New York City or all the way to Washington D.C.,” Morris said.
She said it felt great to take part in the rally, and noted the attendees were different from those who normally come out to protest at similar rallies.
“There were enormous numbers of families who were there to talk about clean water and clean air,” she said. “It was a community that really had the opportunity to speak knowledgeably about this issue, and from that perspective, it was empowering to be among people who really understand the importance and really take it to heart.”
Block said rally participants contributed in many ways, even if they were unable to walk the three-mile route along the Circle Road bike path at the university. Many set up stations to cheer marchers on or were available to drive if anyone fell behind in the marching due to physical demands or having children with them.
“As Stony Brook faculty and a Three Village resident, I am proud of how our community is standing up for science.”
— Shoshanna Hershkowitz
Hershkowitz was just one of the participants who attended the march with her family, which includes her four children.
“As Stony Brook faculty and a Three Village resident, I am proud of how our community is standing up for science,” Hershkowitz said. “Given that our area is a major research hub between Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Lab, we’re in a unique position to speak to this issue. I attended with my children and with another family, because I think it’s important that my kids see activism modeled, and that they know it is part of our duty as citizens to speak truth to power. While bringing kids to events like these isn’t easy, it’s an important lesson that I want to impress upon my kids as a parent.”
Genna Tudda, who has advanced degrees in the sciences and is a 2012 graduate of SBU, said the march hit home for her. While she originally was planning to attend the New York City march, she said, as a Long Island native, it was important for her to show “that people out in the suburbs care just as much about these issues as people in larger cities.”
“Scientific research and environmental issues seem to have been put on the back burner in this new administration,” Tudda said. “Seeing this many people show up to a local event was extremely empowering. I feel hopeful that with these numbers it may be possible to persuade our politicians in the right direction.”
Commack's Danielle Gambino and Michelle Principe blast the ball for the Cougars in their 12-0 win over Northport April 22. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
The Commack softball team was hard for Northport to catch up to April 22, after the Cougars went through the batting order twice in the fifth inning, scoring 12 runs en route to a 12-0 nonleague road win.
Commack’s Emily Fox tosses a pitch. Photo by Bill Landon
Danielle Gambino went 4-for-4 with a grand slam and six RBIs and Gianna Venuti went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a triple to lead Commack (3-1) in Suffolk II. Michelle Principe also homered for Commack.
Already up 3-0 at the top of the fifth inning, Commack senior starting pitcher Emily Fox retired the side in order, and her team got to work on offense, which is were Principe started things off by cracking a shot over the left field fence for a leadoff homerun. The ball cleared the adjacent Long Island Rail Road property fence. According to Commack head coach Harold Cooley III, it was the longest home run he’d seen at the Northport field.
“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was definitely gone,” Principe said. “And then, when we hit, we followed through. When we had runners in scoring position, we scored most of them.”
Junior Ariana Arato’s bat spoke next on a stand-up double with no outs, and on missed catch on a pitch, she moved to third. Fox drew a walk, and was replaced by pinch runner Melanie Koster. The sophomore stole second with Gambino at the plate, and the junior ripped a base-clearing triple for a six-run lead.
Up to bat next was junior Stephanie Afonso, who hit a sac fly to bring Koster home, triggering a Northport pitching change. Senior Mimi Cusack took over at the mound.
Northport’s Sophia DeFalco gets the out at first. Photo by Bill Landon
“We started the game off a little slow,” Cooley III said. “The one thing that we’ve tried to execute from the beginning of the year is to make sure we get hits when we have runners in scoring position. We left a few out there at the beginning of the game, but we made adjustments as the game went on and adjusted well to a new pitcher.”
Commack junior Brianna Panzarella smacked in infield ball that rolled toward left field, but safely made it to first on a Northport error. Panzarella didn’t stay long, and stole second without a throw. Venuti singled, , and junior Sabrina Sussman drilled a pitch through the gap to plate Panzzerella with one out. Sussman stole second, and senior Kelly McKenna knocked the ball into shallow right field to score for an 8-0 advantage.
With still only one out, junior Casey Brown kept the inning going for Commack with a single, and Fox, made it to first on a Northport error to load the bases. Koster came in to run for Fox, and Gambino jumped on a pitch that she blasted over the right fielder’s head. The ball rolled to the fence as she rounded second, and got the green light from Cooley, as she made her way around third and crossed home plate for an inside-the-park grand slam.
Commack’s Gianna Venuti underhands the ball to the second baseman for the out. Photo by Bill Landon
“When I got to second and I saw he was waving me on, that’s when I knew,” Gambino said of her productive at-bat. “We’re a very strong team and we came out strong. This was one of our best games, so I’m very proud of my team.”
Because of the mercy rule of being up 12 runs by the sixth inning, the game was called with a 12-0 score. Despite the scoring drought, Northport head coach Janet Richter said she saw some bright spots.
“I was pleased with Danielle Petrunti, our senior second basemen and our first basemen Sophia DeFalco, but we made too many errors,” Richter said. “We worked the pitch count — we were able to get on base — so offensively I think we have room to grow and our infield was very tight today.”
With the win Commack improves to 9-3 and will get right back to work March 24 at home against Patchogue-Medford at 4:15 p.m. With the loss, Northport drops to 1-9, and will hit the road to take on Central Islip March 24 at 4:30 p.m.
“We had some monster shots today,” Cooley III said. “It’s the difference between having a pitcher that’s on and having hitters that are on. Sometimes, the hitters can make a run, and that’s what happened today.”
Suffolk County Police 4th Squad detectives are investigating a two-vehicle crash that critically injured a man in Hauppauge early Sunday morning, April 23.
Jonathan Zatorski was driving a 1998 Mercury Mountaineer west on the Long Island Expressway, just west of exit 55, when his vehicle rear-ended a 2002 Honda Accord. The Mercury overturned and Zatorski was ejected from the vehicle.
Zatorski, 31, of West Babylon, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital and admitted in critical condition. The driver of the Accord, Andrew McKinley, 27, of the Bronx, refused medical attention. Both drivers were alone in their vehicles.
Both vehicles were impounded for safety checks and the investigation is continuing. Detectives are asking anyone with information on this crash to call the 4th Squad at 631-854-8452.
A scene from a recent plane crash in Setauket. File photo
Following a spike in small plane crashes over the last few years, U.S. Sen. and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) called for an investigation, and he got answers.
On March 3, Schumer sent a letter to the National Transportation Safety Board asking for an in-depth analysis of recent U.S.-registered civil aircraft accidents on Long Island to help develop recommendations to prevent future incidents.
“I strongly urge you not just to conduct yet another investigation … but to also undertake a comprehensive and system-wide review to understand why these accidents are happening, and what can be done in order to decrease the occurrences,” he wrote in the letter. “The number of airplane crashes across the system must be reduced.”
This request came after a recent crash in Southampton, though others have also occurred in Shoreham, Port Jefferson, Setauket, Kings Park and Hauppauge in recent years.
The board, in a letter of response to Schumer, said it examined data from accidents in New York over the last five years, including the number of accidents, types of injuries, types of operations, causes of accidents and locations.
Since 2012, 156 aviation accidents have occurred, with 140 of these aircraft operating as flights under Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations — small noncommercial aircraft. The causes have been similar in nature for the incidents with completed investigations. Most included safety-related issues, like loss of control, which occurred in one-third of aviation accidents. An in-flight loss of control accident involves an unintended departure from controlled flight, which could be caused by an engine stall, pilot distraction, loss of situational awareness or weather. According to the letter, the board said that preventing loss of control in flight in general aviation is currently on its 2018 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements.
Other causes of aviation accidents included loss of engine power, controlled flight into terrain and hard landings.
Moving forward, the board plans to reach out to the general aviation community and host a safety seminar later this year.
“We consider Long Island a suitable venue for this safety seminar because a number of general aviation accidents have occurred in that area and because we believe the robust general aviation community there will be receptive to our safety outreach,” the letter stated. “We anticipate that this seminar will help raise awareness about these recent accidents in New York and around the country and about specific issues affecting the general aviation community.”
The former Steck-Philbin Landfill on Old Northport Road in Kings Park is one of the eight blighted brownfields that the Suffolk County Landbank requested proposals for repurposing. Image from Suffolk County Landbank Corp.
The site of the former Steck-Philbin Landfill in Kings Park was slated to be repurposed this year as part of a countywide effort to eliminate blighted properties, as the Suffolk County Legislature approved a contract with Powercrush Inc. and Vision Associates LLC to develop on the land. However, another business that put in a proposal for the landfill site has criticized the deal and has called for an investigation of the operations of Suffolk County Landbank Corp. for development of public properties.
Shawn Nuzzo, president of Ecological Engineering of Long Island, said he believes Powercrush and Vision Associates “had neither the ability nor the good-faith intention to build a solar farm and that the Suffolk County Landbank was either willingly complicit or, at a minimum, completely inept during this process.”
In a letter and phone interview Nuzzo brought up the connections Powercrush has with donating to political campaigns — including two members of the Suffolk County Legislature — and said the current approved resolution that does not state the contract will include a solar farm on the property.
In January 2016, the county landbank, a not-for-profit entity that works with the county to redevelop tax-delinquent properties, issued a request for proposals to revitalize eight brownfields, including the landfill in Kings Park. About two months later Nuzzo’s company submitted a proposal for a 6-megawatt solar farm that he said could generate nearly 8 million kilowatt hours of solar electricity in its first year. He also said EELI would finance, build and operate the solar farm through a crowdfunding campaign, seeking small investments from everyday Suffolk County residents. The plan would be to sell 25,000 “solar shares” in the farm at $500 each. Some local officials threw their support behind Nuzzo, including state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station).
Out of the several proposals given to the county, the plan with Powercrush, a Kings Park company, was selected to move forward, with the same goal of reusing the site for solar farming. County Executive Steve Bellone (D) praised the plan as a turning point for dealing with blighted properties, and Amy Keyes, executive director of the county landbank, said in a past interview Powercrush was selected based on a number of qualifications, including design, impact and feasibility.
County Legislature Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory (D-Amityville) said the creation of the county landbank was his idea, and the process of selecting Powercrush and Vision was “completely fair.” He said claims that landbank operations are in need of an investigation are “not a credible argument.”
“We evaluated those proposals based on merit, [EELI] came up short,” Gregory said in a phone interview. “These were cases of not being able to say what you can do, but being able to do what you can say, and the strongest proposal with the best benefit to the taxpayer was Powercrush. Each proposal got a score sheet and they scored the highest.”
Nuzzo said he tried to see the winning proposal, to compare it to his own and see how his company could improve for the future, but he was unsuccessful.
“I can only speculate that the winning proposal was so inadequate and incomplete that the county is embarrassed to share it,” he said in a previous interview. “It’s a shame, because our proposal to build Long Island’s first community-owned solar farm could have been a landmark moment for Suffolk County. Instead what we got was politics as usual.”
Nuzzo said he also had an issue with the fact that the development may no longer be a solar farm. After the original resolution was passed by the Legislature, which included the intention of building a solar farm, an amended resolution was passed this past March that approved moving forward with the Powercrush and Vision contract without the language of it being a solar farm.
“If the selected bidder is unwilling or unable to develop the land in accordance with their proposal, then their bid should be voided,” Nuzzo said. “Powercrush and Vision Associates were awarded this parcel based on their plan to construct a 4-megawatt solar farm.”
Nuzzo said he’s concerned with the system as a whole.
“This is about how Suffolk County issues its contracts,” he said. “This is more of a condemnation of the system as a whole.”
However Sarah Lansdale, president of the county landbank, said a solar requirement was never a part of the original proposal from the county.
“There was nothing requiring the end use had to be a solar farm,” Lansdale said in a phone interview. “There was no foul play here. They proposed solar and if they didn’t win the contract with PSEG the redevelopment site still needs to be something acceptable to the community.”
Powercrush and Vision did lose their bid with PSEG Long Island for a power purchase agreement. However Mike Rosato, of Vision Associates, said a solar farm idea had not been scrapped.
“The original [proposal from the county] did not require a solar farm, but yes this might still be a solar project,” he said in a phone interview. “The whole idea of this project is to make something good for the community.”
Rosato said in a letter their proposal was chosen for many reasons including financial capacity to successfully implement the project and demonstrating the experience to successfully carry out the project; demonstrating the ability to start the remediation and redevelopment process within six months of tax deed transfer; and improving the environmental condition of the property.
“Although our solar partner lost its bid with PSEG Long Island, we clearly stated in our original proposal that in the event this were to happen we would work to identify another industrial end use that would be acceptable to the community and permitted by the [Town of Smithtown],” Rosato said. “Our intentions have always been to reuse the site for renewable energy and we will continue to pursue that objective.”
As for Nuzzo’s concerns with political ties, he pointed out Toby Carlson, owner of Powercrush, has donated to several political campaigns, including county Legislators Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) and Steve Stern (D-Dix Hills). Trotta recused himself from the Legislature votes on this issue, and said he has repeatedly tried to convince Rosato not to invest in this property because of the extensive work required to make it functional.
“If the original [proposal from the county] had required solar I would be screaming and [Nuzzo] would be 100 percent right,” Trotta said in a phone interview. “But it didn’t, that’s just not true.”
In a previous interview, Zeldin spokesperson Jennifer DiSiena said requesting a town hall with the purpose of disrupting it is wrong and wouldn’t be taken seriously.
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