Suffolk County Police arrested a man Feb. 25 for driving while impaired by drugs with a child in his vehicle after he was involved in a crash in Huntington Station.
Suffolk County Police Patrol units responded to 911 calls of a person driving erratically in a white Honda in the Huntington Station area. A short time later, police arrived at a two-vehicle crash between the Honda and a 1999 Dodge Pickup Truck at the intersection of Jericho Turnpike and Longfellow Road at about 2:50 p.m.
After an investigation, police determined the driver of a 2015 Honda Accord, Mathew Moscowitch, was operating a vehicle while his ability was impaired by drugs. There was a five-year-old boy in the back seat at the time of the crash.
Victoria Nathan, 49, of Kings Park, a passenger in the pickup truck, and the boy were transported to Huntington Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Moscowitch, 33, of Staten Island, was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child passenger 15-years-old or younger, otherwise known as Leandra’s Law, felony aggravated unlicensed operation, endangering the welfare of a child, and possession of a hypodermic needle. He was arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip Feb. 26.
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi speaks during a town hall Feb. 23. Photo by Kevin Redding
By Kevin Redding & Alex Petroski
President Donald Trump’s (R) first month in office and items on his agenda thus far have sparked an activist uprising in blue and red districts alike across the United States. Thursday, two North Shore congressmen made themselves available to concerned constituents, though the formats were different.
First congressional district U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) and 3rd congressional district U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) each hosted town hall events Feb. 23 to discuss issues with the people they represent, a trend that has caught on for leaders in nearly all 50 states in the weeks since Inauguration Day. Suozzi hosted nearly 400 residents at Mid Island Y Jewish Community Center in Plainview for about two and a half hours. Zeldin spoke directly to voters in their homes in a telephone town hall.
Suozzi listens to a question during a town hall Feb. 23. Photo by Kevin Redding
According to Zeldin, more than 9,000 people sat in on the hour-long call, which featured questions and interactive polls. More than 1,000 others streamed it online. The congressman began the call with an opening statement lasting nearly five minutes, which touched on improving American safety at home and abroad; growing the local economy; supporting veterans and first responders; improving education; repairing infrastructure; repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act; and safeguarding the environment. He then answered 10 questions from a combination of callers and those streaming the conversation on the internet, submitting written questions.
Groups of constituents have lobbied the congressman to host an in-person town hall in recent weeks, but have been unsuccessful. Changes have also been made to his office hour availability, which he attributed earlier in February to the actions of “liberal obstructionists.” Zeldin justified the decision to hold a telephone town hall rather than a conventional one during the call.
“For years telephone town halls have allowed me to reach the maximum amount of constituents interested in constructive dialogue,” he said. “This is a modern way to bring a town hall directly to your home.”
He evaluated the effectiveness of the format in an email through spokeswoman Jennifer DiSiena the following day.
“These outreach efforts with the public have proven to be extremely effective and allow him to productively reach the maximum amount of constituents who are interested in constructive dialogue,” she said. “It is true that liberal obstructionists cannot disrupt the call.”
A Facebook group called “Let’s Visit Lee Zeldin,” set up by constituents attempting to speak to the congressman face-to-face, which has more than 2,000 members, followed along with the call and held a discussion regarding Zeldin’s responses on the page. Several posters said they registered to be called on Zeldin’s website, but never received it, or received it after its commencement at 7 p.m.
A screen shot of the website used to stream Zeldin’s telephone town hall Feb. 23. Image from Zeldin’s website
A post asking if any questions were not addressed during the call received more than 100 responses. One constituent asked if the congressman would put pressure on the House Oversight Committee to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia. Another asked about the shrinking middle class and growing income inequality. Someone else asked, “What will Zeldin do to assure females have safe affordable birth control/reproductive rights?”
Zeldin was asked on the call, among several other questions, about his stance on the Trump administration’s reversal of transgender bathroom guidelines set by the Obama administration — he said he supported the reversal. Another question involved Trump’s slow response to anti-Semitic violence and demonstrations across the U.S. since election day — which Zeldin condemned, though added he appreciated Trump speaking up this week. Several questions came in concerning the ACA and what will take its place once repealed — the congressman said he supported the proposed Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, coverage for those with preexisting conditions, allowing kids to stay on parents’ plans until age 26, and would support a voucher program for veterans.
DiSiena addressed Zeldin’s plans going forward regarding a traditional town hall.
“Way too many of the people at the moment requesting town halls across the country are doing so with the purpose of disrupting the town hall without any interest at all in decorum,” she said.
Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Arizona), who was shot during an outdoor, public meeting with constituents in 2011, called on members of Congress to “face their constituents” and hold town halls in a tweet Feb. 23.
DiSiena said Zeldin is open to small meetings, though no in-person town hall is currently planned. DiSiena disclosed results of one of the five poll questions Zeldin posed to listeners during the call, showing most constituents, 23 percent, are concerned about health care above all other issues.
Conversely, Suozzi stood and engaged a large crowd of residents and activists, answering more than 30 questions on a variety of hot topics, including the repeal of the ACA, the relationship between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trump’s travel restriction executive order. He also voiced his disapproval of what’s happening in the White House, and called on those in attendance to “not hate Trump supporters” and instead turn their anger into something productive.
Seven-year-old Zachary Aquino asks Suozzi a question during a town hall Feb. 23. Photo by Kevin Redding
“I think this is as American as you can get … this is so inspiring and this country needs this type of engagement,” Suozzi told the crowd, saying in all his years of holding town hall meetings — both as a congressional candidate and mayor of Glen Cove — he’s never seen an attendance like what he had.
“We need to take all this energy and excitement that we’ve got and use it in a constructive fashion … to work together to win the battles,” he said. “Write letters to the editor, attend issues meetings, run for office, support people for local office. What we really need are reasonable Americans that will put their country before their party to help us to get Congressional support on [issues]. Don’t underestimate what’s working.”
A civil discourse on ideas and plenty of smiles and laughs, Suozzi’s session had a different tone than the heated ones across the country, in which angry constituents waged vocal war against Republican representatives.
Suozzi began the gathering by telling attendees — some of whom represented local activist groups like North Shore Indivisible, MoveOn.org, and Science Advocacy of Long Island — to be respectful and direct all comments to him.
Attendees raised questions about Trump’s ties to Russia, the release of the commander-in-chief’s taxes, gun violence, immigration, climate change and the state of health care.
One attendee, Jessica Meyer, who has cerebral palsy, asked the congressman if he would help those like her who fear people with disabilities might lose benefits with the potential repeal of the ACA.
“People with disabilities are getting lost in this conversation,” she said.
Suozzi responded to her concerns.
“I want you to know that I will fight tooth and nail to protect you, personally, and everybody in your situation, and I want to hear from everybody in this room who’s going to fight to protect Jessica,” Suozzi said.
Harry Arlin, a World War II and Korean War veteran from Huntington, said he lived briefly under Adolf Hitler in Germany and Joseph Stalin in Russia, though fled both countries.
“I don’t think this is right having Trump as president, I think it’s really bad,” he said. “I don’t know how this happened — how we got stuck in this mess — but it’s good that we’re here today … this is a really valuable time. Fighting against Trump is very good. We’ve got to do this.”
A screen shot of the Let’s Visit Lee Zeldin Facebook page. Image from Facebook
When asked what he was going to do to restore one attendee’s faith in “American exceptionalism,” Suozzi pointed around the room.
“This is it — this is people who believe and should not walk out of here with anything but a stronger belief that by being involved, you can actually have an impact on things,” he said.
The White House has made claims recently to suggest some activists attending town halls are being paid to be there and rile up crowds, a sentiment which Zeldin echoed in a Feb. 18 Facebook post.
“Liberal obstructionists are disrupting, resisting and destructing public events all around America,” he wrote. “Our neighbors want to actually engage in substantive, productive, constructive dialogue, and the liberal obstructionists are spitting on them with their shameful shows for their own political theater.”
Join the Mulvhill-Lynch Irish Dancers for an evening of fun. File photo by Heidi Sutton
Save the date! The Smithtown Historical Society will host an Irish Night at the Frank Brush Barn, 211 E. Main St., Smithtown on Monday, March 13 at 7 p.m. Enjoy a delicious meal of corned beef and cabbage, potatoes and carrots, courtesy of Faraday’s of Smithtown.
Enjoy traditional Irish music by John Corr, a performance by the Mulvihill-Lynch Studio of Irish Dance, raffles, a limerick contest and merriment for all ages. Admission is $30, $25 members. For further info, call 631-265-6768.
Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio, left, guards then-Senator John Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy. Photo by Kevin Redding.
As soon as you set foot in the second-floor town hall office of Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio (R), you’re absorbed by the New York City cop-turned-public servant’s accomplished and historic career, on full display in frames and cases around the room.
“You’ve got to take a look at these walls,” the 86-year-old says proudly, from behind his wooden desk.
Dozens of black-and-white photos of famous politicians, public figures and entertainers from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s decorate the walls, all of which feature a younger yet instantly recognizable Vecchio, side-by-side with everyone from astronaut John Glenn to Queen Sikrit of Thailand to Marlon Brando to Prince Charles to Sammy Davis Jr.
The photo that stands above the others, both in placement and impact, is the giant one that hangs on the wall behind his desk, which shows then-Senator John F. Kennedy (D) and Jackie Kennedy sitting on the back of a convertible waving to a Manhattan crowd while a 30-year-old Vecchio, serving in a special security squad that protected visiting dignitaries, stands alongside the vehicle patrolling his surroundings.
“That was October 1960, a week before he [Kennedy] was elected president, in the lower end of Broadway,” Vecchio recalled.
Vecchio works at his Smitthown office. Photo by Kevin Redding
As a member of the Bureau of Special Services from 1959 to 1966, the Smithtown supervisor said he was assigned to Kennedy on numerous occasions when he was senator, president-elect and president, as he visited New York often. Overall, Vecchio said he guarded Kennedy — whom he considers one of his favorite presidents — about 10 times.
“Occasionally, he would go to a play in Manhattan and so three or four Secret Service men, myself and others would go with him to the play,” he said. “He would come into the city, sometimes alone, and his plane would land at Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia and he would go directly to the Carlisle Hotel.”
While Kennedy and Vecchio never exchanged words, as the young New York City cop took his job providing security very seriously, he said he remembers Kennedy well.
“I could describe him as my mother once did: He looked like a Ken doll, Barbie’s boyfriend,” he said with a laugh. “I always remember he had a golden tan, he was slim and tapered, and he would smile and give a nod to all around him as he entered or left a room.”
Before Kennedy, Vecchio guarded President Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) in late 1959 and early 1960, to whom he was introduced personally. The photo of them standing shoulder-to-shoulder hangs on the wall.
“I have a vivid memory of Ike coming down the elevator inside The Waldorf Astoria New York hotel in Manhattan,” Vecchio said. “I’m just a kid from Brooklyn and the Secret Service agent, a guy from Queens who headed the Secret Service at that time, said to the president, ‘Mr. President, this is detective Vecchio, he’s been on board with us for three days,’ and Eisenhower reached over and shook my hand.”
Vecchio said he couldn’t help but be elated.
“Let me tell you, for a young guy from Brooklyn never having seen a president, no less meet a president, for him to shake my hand was just … awesome,” he said. “I was [starstruck]. The only other person there was the general that accompanied him … so it’s just me, the president of the United States, the general and a few Secret Service men.”
It was in 1967 that Vecchio moved to Long Island and served as head security of former New York City Mayor John Lindsay, who would help steer him into politics. From there, Vecchio went on to make his own impact as a leader, starting in 1978 when he was appointed Smithtown supervisor.
Chris Crespo moves the ball along the sideline. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Yes, you can call it a comeback.
Everything the Smithtown West boys’ basketball team had worked for led to this moment. The Bulls were faced with adversity for what seemed to be the first time all season, but they wanted to be one of just two teams to make it back to the Final 4 for a second consecutive year. Up against another league leader Feb. 21, head coach Mike Agostino said he might not have had the right game plan.
Gerg Giordano muscles his way to the basket. Photo by Desirée Keegan
“They were really well-coached, well-prepared,” he said of No. 5-seeded and League IV leader Deer Park. “We might not have had it right, but we found a way to survive.”
No. 4 Smithtown West fell behind, and fast, losing the lead at the two-minute mark of the first quarter, and didn’t’ regain it until the fourth. In the end, junior Chris Crespo’s eight fourth-quarter points, junior Michael Gannon’s six and senior Greg Giordano’s five gave the Bulls its 50-47 come-from-behind win.
“Inside their heart and what they’re made of, it’s bigger than coaching,” Agostino said. “These kids have character, and they’re not afraid of the big moment. They’re going to go out and challenge anyone and every time they play it’s a full effort.”
On paper, it may look like Smithtown West had an easy road, going undefeated in League III and coming into the Class AA quarterfinals with a 20-1 record.
Giordano and senior Nick Ferolito gave the team a 4-0 lead after both teams went scoreless for most of the first three minutes. At the six-minute mark, a Deer Park field goal and 3-pointer put the team out front 9-5.
By halftime, the Bulls’ four-point deficit grew to six, 23-17, but the team was in as deep as an eight-point hole when a technical following a field goal gave Deer Park three more chances to grab points. The team hit two of three free throws for a 15-7 advantage with 7:20 left in the second.
Kyle LaGuardia leaps to the rim. Photo by Desirée Keegan
“We were down the whole game, we were fighting back the whole time, but we all had each other’s backs,” said Giordano, who scored a game-high 22 points. “Coach kept telling us to stick to our game plan, eventually our shots were going to fall, and they did. We played good defense and that kept us in the game.”
Smithtown West chipped away at the lead with four different players lighting up the scoreboard, but Deer Park continued to have an answer. With 1:39 left in the third, another 3-pointer put Deer Park ahead 30-23, but a Giordano 3-pointer, Kyle LaGuardia layup and a floater by Giordano closed the gap, 32-30, at the end of the eight minutes.
Crespo opened the fourth quarter with a game-tying bucket, and the crowd erupted.
“It feels great not just for the team, but the community, too,” he said. “A lot of them are backing us here.”
The game would then be decided largely at the free-throw line.
Gannon made two at the 5:56 mark to give his team its first lead since the game’s opening minutes. Deer Park quickly tied the game, but Crespo came through again. He scored eight of his 11 points in the final stanza and also finished with seven assists.
“It was a hard-fought battle,” Crespo said. “Despite being down we always feel confident. We don’t feel rushed. We’re not frustrated or out of our element. We know that if we play within ourselves we know we’ll get good results.”
ichael Gannon prepares to make a pass. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Giordano added two free throws for a four-point lead with 35.9 seconds, 46-42, and Deer Park called timeout after timeout to try to find plays to score. All the team could muster was one free throw, and the Bulls were back to the line to add to its lead. Again, Gannon sank both of his opportunities with 12.5 seconds left in regulation to give the Bulls more breathing room.
“I’ve taken 1,000 free throws in my life, so hitting a few, I felt confident about knocking them down,” he said. He scored all six of his points in the third quarter, all from the charity stripe. He closed out the game making two more with 4.8 seconds on the clock.
“When you sit down in the beginning of the season, you know Stony Brook is at the end of a long road,” Agostino said. “Now, to finally get there, it’s really exciting.”
The Bulls will take on the No. 1 seed in the semifinals for the second straight year. They’ll face Bay Shore at Stony Brook University Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m.
Giordano said for now he’s soaking in the moment. He said the team is excited to get back to where they lost last year.
“It was surreal — this is the last game on my Smithtown West home court and it was amazing to see all the guys come together and be able to make some big plays at the end to come out with the win,” he said. “It shows with the group of guys we have — we’re all so tight, so close, we all work in practice each day — how much we can pick each other up in times like these.”
Resurrection Byzantine Church, located at the corner of Mayflower and Edgewater Avenues in Smithtown, invites the community to take part in its 6th annual Traditional Ukrainian Easter Egg (Pysanky) workshop on March 26 and April 2 from 1 to 3 p.m.
The two-day workshop, which will take place in the church’s Social Hall, is open to all levels of experience. Learn and complete your first egg, discover new patterns and tips or show your skills and enjoy the company. Bring your dyes and tools or start fresh with a new kit, available for an additional $15. Each participant must bring a candle in a holder, pencils and a roll of paper towels.
Two-day class fee is $20. Deadline to register is March 6. For more information or to sign up, call Joanne at 631-332-1449 or email [email protected].
As of Feb. 14, National Organ Donor Day, a new state law rolled out by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) permits 16- and 17-year-olds to enroll in the New York State Donate Life Registry when they apply for a driver’s license, learner’s permit or nondriver ID, potentially growing enrollments in New York by thousands.
Sponsored by State Sens. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) and Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), the legislation’s altered minimum age to sign up as an organ donor, which had previously been 18, serves as a big step for New York, which currently ranks 50th out of all 50 states when it comes to the percentage of residents enrolled to be organ donors.
Kidney recipient Tom D’Antonio and Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner. Photo from Councilwoman Bonner
At just 28 percent, New York State is “way at the bottom of the pack” when it comes to enrollment, according to Flanagan, a strong advocate for organ donations because of his late friend, Assemblyman James Conte (R-Huntington Station), who was the recipient of two kidney transplants before losing a battle with cancer in 2012.
“[New York] has been a leader in many ways on a wide variety of issues and we should be the premiere state in terms of organ donation,” Flanagan said. “I just want to promote organ donation, and promote awareness. There are thousands and thousands of people who are waiting for transplants here in the state, kidney being the primary one. We don’t have enough people signing up, and it’s taken too long to [get here] but I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
The senator said Conte is the reason he’s a donor, and after his death, he realized he could use his own political platform to advocate for this cause and encourage others to get involved.
Like Flanagan, Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) is passionate about organ donation and takes every opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of becoming a donor when speaking publicly, regardless of the event.
“I could be at a civic event talking about town improvement projects or town issues, and I always use it as a soapbox to talk about organ donation,” Bonner said. “Roughly 125,000 people in the United States are waiting for a kidney and there are 350 million people in the United States, seemingly with healthy kidneys. If everybody who could donate, donated one, we wouldn’t have people waiting for a kidney anymore and lives can be saved.”
Bonner said that under the new law, 16- and 17-year-olds can make donations upon their death, and it includes safeguards where their parents or legal guardians have the option to rescind the decision if the minor dies before 18.
“It not only ups the amount of eligible organ donors there are to sign up and save lives, but also starts a conversation at an earlier age about its importance.”
— Megan Fackler
“Teenagers are very passionate about so many issues and I think this legislation was made because they’re employing every toy in the toolbox, knowing the state is dead last,” she said.
The councilwoman knows a thing or two about saving lives this way.
It was last April when Bonner donated her kidney to her childhood friend Tom D’Antonio, who had been diagnosed with diabetes at a young age, had suffered multiple health issues over the years and desperately needed a transplant.
“I said ‘I’ll do it, we’re the same blood type,’ and I donated blood to him when he got his first kidney transplant,” Bonner recalled.
D’Antonio was more than grateful for the donation his longtime friend made.
“I bounced back like a rockstar and I feel great, I have more energy and determination,” D’Antonio said, reflecting on the experience. “It’s my belief that there is something within a human being that takes that step and makes that heroic move to save a life; it moves me beyond a place I can easily describe. Not only did [Jane] save my life but she enriched the lives of those close to me, [like my wife].”
But D’Antonio is not a big fan of the new law, calling it “hugely irresponsible” and a “grossly inadequate response” to appease a need for more donors.
“Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds have enough trouble making a decision about what classes to take as seniors, their minds are still developing, and I’m appalled that this is the state’s answer,” he said. “What the state should do instead is put some money and effort into organ donor awareness and make it part of the teaching curriculum in high school.”
Karen Hill, the recipient of Tom Cutinella’s heart, and his mother Kelli Cutinella. Photo from Kelli Cutinella
Alternatively, Kelli Cutinella, whose son Tom died October 2014 following a head-on collision during a high school football game, spoke in Albany to help get the law passed, and said she’s glad to see it in effect.
Tom, who wanted to register when he was 16 at the DMV but was ultimately not allowed at the time, donated all vital organs, such as his heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, bones and skin.
“He was a giver in life and would do anything for anybody, and it didn’t surprise me that he wanted to register at 16, it was just in his nature,” Cutinella said.
The mother, who has an ongoing relationship with Tom’s heart recipient and pancreas and kidney recipient, was recently notified by a New York Burn Center that a 30-year-old man from Brooklyn had received Tom’s skin after suffering severe burns in a house fire.
“Tom lives on now,” Cutinella said. “He’s not here in the physical sense, but he is with the recipients as they go on to live wonderful, fulfilling lives.”
According to Megan Fackler of LiveOnNY, a federally designated organ procurement organization, the new law is exciting.
“It not only ups the amount of eligible organ donors there are to sign up and save lives, but also starts a conversation at an earlier age about its importance,” Fackler said. “Donor family and recipient meetings have been the most touching. There are lots of things 16- and 17-year-olds can’t do, like rent a car, get a tattoo, vote, join the army, but they can save lives.”
Residents can visit the New York State Health Department’s website at www.health.ny.gov/donatelife to get more information about organ donation in New York State, including how to register as a donor.
John Daly, center, smiles on the medal podium. Photo from John Daly.
By Daniel Dunaief
This weekend, Smithtown-native John Daly’s comeback to the fast-paced world of skeleton takes an enormous step forward. He will compete against the best in the world as a member of Team USA in Koeningsee, Germany, at the World Championships.
Daly decided near the beginning of the sliding season to attempt a comeback from a sport that had been a staple of his life from 2001 until 2014.
Just to get back to this point, Daly had to earn enough points in the junior circuit to qualify. He set a goal of collecting medals and earning points. He scored three golds and a silver in North American Cup races and then topped that off with a gold and a silver in the Intercontinental Cup in Lake Placid.
Mission accomplished, so far. If he wins a medal either in Germany or in another race the next week in South Korea, the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics, Daly will continue his ascent toward claiming a spot on his third Olympic team.
Just six months ago, however, a return to a sport he left in disappointment after a difficult ending in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, wasn’t at the top of his mind.
Daly’s father, James Daly, awards his son with a medal. Photo from John Daly.
When he was going out on dates in Washington, D.C., where he got a job in medical sales for Smith & Nephew, he had a hard time answering questions about what he was passionate about outside of work.
“Nothing got my gears going,” he recalled. “That was when I was like, ‘Maybe I do miss it.’”
At first, Daly, who is now 31, dipped his toe in the water, driving up to his home track of Lake Placid and doing a few trial runs before other sliders raced.
“I came back and I felt like I never left,” Daly said. When he asked himself what was holding him back, he didn’t have a good answer.
Getting back into shape and training required extensive driving, as Daly regularly made a nine-hour trek from Washington up to Lake Placid, home of the 1980 Miracle on Ice U.S. Men’s Hockey Team. He was grateful to his family for supporting him and to his bosses at Smith & Nephew.
During those long drives in the car, he listened to music, made phone calls with his Bluetooth and tried to stretch out. Coming back, he knew the level of effort he needed to achieve to be successful.
“No matter what, every week, I had to be faster and stronger,” he told himself. “You have to know the other guys are doing it.”
While he’s found his groove, the return to the sport hasn’t been a picnic.
“Age has kicked in,” he laughed. He takes ice baths to ease the body aches. Those, he said, can be miserable, particularly on his ankles and toes.
Daly’s parents, James and Bennarda, are happy to see their son return to the sport on his terms. In 2014, Daly was in contention for a medal at the Olympics in Sochi. At the start of his final heat, his sled popped out of the ice grooves, robbing him of precious time he couldn’t possibly make up, turning the final run into one of the most emotionally draining trips of his life.
After the Olympics, he retired, leaving the international sports stage.
“The last time you compete in the Olympics should be your best part of the Games. No matter what, if you win, lose or draw, you want to take in that last run. This is it, this is forever.”
— John Daly
“His world came crashing down,” Jesse Lichtenberg, Daly’s agent at BDA Sports Management said. Lichtenberg said Daly packed everything up in Lake Placid, put it in a box and threw it in the trunk of his car.
However, Lichtenberg and Daly’s family suspected this wasn’t the last chapter in Daly’s sliding career.
Indeed, Daly’s father, who is a retired EMS worker for the New York City Fire Department, continued to be a racing official for USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.
He thought, “Let me wait a couple of years, in case John has second thoughts,” the elder Daly said. “I’m glad I did. It’s so great to officiate a match that my son is in.”
Indeed, when Daly recently won a gold medal, his father got to put the award around his son’s neck.
His father believes Daly benefited from his time away from the sport, especially because it gave him some balance in his life.
“He needed to know he could go out and make a living after skeleton,” he said.
Now that his son is back on the track, he watches and he said his “heart starts to beat faster” as his son waits for a green light that signals the beginning of a race in which he runs for about five seconds before diving, headfirst, onto a sled he steers at over 80 miles an hour around curved, icy tracks.
Bennarda Daly, meanwhile, said she’s “excited and a little anxious” at the same time. “When he returned from Russia, he was different,” she said. “It wasn’t because he didn’t win.” Popping out of the groove kept him from “getting closure.”
Daly’s mom said she noticed that he hadn’t talked about sliding for the last few years, which she said was “odd” for him. “It was like it never happened. He had to close that off.”
Bennarda Daly, who is a nurse, said she doesn’t need her son to win a medal at the World Championships or at the Olympics.
“If he comes out happy and feels like it went well, I’ll be ecstatic,” she said.
As for Daly, he knows, even if he makes the Olympics next year, that he wants to walk away on his own terms.
“The last time you compete in the Olympics should be your best part of the Games,” he said. “No matter what, if you win, lose or draw, you want to take in that last run. This is it, this is forever.”
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. File photo by Alex Petroski
Suffolk County’s current and future financial outlook has been a topic of conversation for months, and a nonprofit founded to ensure government transparency is taking notice, following County Executive Steve Bellone’s (D-West Babylon) presentation to the state Senate and Assembly representatives in Albany Feb. 14.
Bellone visited the capital last week to discuss Suffolk’s “daunting” fiscal challenges going forward. Among his eight points addressed during the presentation was a request for authority from New York State to obtain bonds for separation pay of law enforcement officers for 2017 and 2018, a point of contention raised repeatedly by Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga). Reclaim New York, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established to “educate New Yorkers on issues like affordability, transparency and education,” echoed a similar sentiment to Trotta’s following the presentation.
“Suffolk County has a problem: it spends too much on its police department,” a Feb. 15 post on the organization’s blog said in part. “Its 2,397 officers were paid an average of $161,463 last year, far more than any other county, or town police officers, or Nassau County’s police, for that matter. Spending reached this level after years of political action by the police, who spent in 2015 more than $600,000 influencing local elections–from one PAC alone. Now, having fallen behind on those expenses … Bellone is proposing borrowing $60 million because the county doesn’t have enough cash for payouts on unused sick and vacation time, that Suffolk cops were promised years ago.”
Doug Kellogg, the organization’s communications director, said in a phone interview Reclaim New York doesn’t currently have plans to begin a project or campaign pertaining specifically to the police contract, which the county and the Police Benevolent Association agreed on and which runs from 2011 to 2018, but they do plan on monitoring Suffolk’s budget and financial outlook going forward.
“It’s really starting to get out of control,” Kellogg said. “The path can get worse.”
Trotta has said in past interviews he feels like he’s alone in calling out the county’s financial situation relating to the police department contract.
“The county finances are in total shambles,” Trotta said during an interview in his Smithtown office Nov. 15. “[The other legislators are] sticking their head in the sand. They’re not addressing the real problems. No one wants to address the problems. You need colossal change.”
Following the meeting, Trotta said it was “typical” of Bellone to ask to borrow to pay for the retirement pay for police officers. He added he’s been in contact with Reclaim New York and plans to work with them to inform the public about the county’s finances.
“I’m going to work with them because together we could get the word out to the public on how bad it really is,” Trotta said in a phone interview. “The title says it all — we need to take back New York.”
Vanessa Baird-Streeter, a spokeswoman for Bellone, said in a phone interview the request regarding bonds for separation pay was just a small part of his presentation, but if obtained the funds would improve public safety.
“In the future we’ll be able to hire more police officers to ensure our county is safe,” she said.
Bellone’s presentation also included a justification for borrowing to close the budget gap.
“Allowing for this five-year bonding will allow Suffolk County to protect taxpayers and public safety by smoothing out the expense associated with an anticipated increase in retirements,” he said. “Bonding will allow Suffolk County to retain the resources and fiscal flexibility to continue to hire new officers, which is critical to maintain public safety and save taxpayer dollars over several years.”
A look at the county budget by the legislature’s budget review office in October resulted in a warning.
“The county’s structural deficit is increasingly driving our decisions,” the office’s director Robert Lipp said in the review. “The county sets a bad precedent when paying for operating expenses with borrowing.”
Protestors at the Not My President Rally in East Setauket Monday, Feb. 20. Photo by Kevin Redding
North Shore residents on both sides of the political spectrum made their voices heard during a local iteration of the nationwide “Not My Presidents’ Day” protest Monday, Feb. 20.
Those driving down Route 25A in East Setauket between 3 and 5 p.m. on Presidents’ Day found themselves caught in between the country’s most heated debate.
On one side of the road, a large crowd of diverse protesters rallied against President Donald Trump (R) and his policies, holding up signs that read “Trump is toxic to humans” and “Not my President,” and on the other side, a smaller but just as passionate group gathered to support the commander-in-chief, holding signs that read “Liberal Lunacy,” with an arrow pointed toward the group on the other side, and “Pres. Trump Will Make America Great Again.”
“Not My Presidents’ Day” rallies took place across the country including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Philadelphia, with thousands of Americans taking to the streets to denounce the president, just one month into his term.
Protestors at the Not My President Rally in East Setauket Monday, Feb. 20. Photo by Kevin Redding
The main group involved in East Setauket’s rally was the Long Island Activists for Democracy, an offshoot of MoveOn, which, according to its website, is the largest independent, progressive, digitally-connected organizing group in the United States.
Activists for Democracy founder Ruth Ann Cohen, from Lake Grove held a sign that asked “Why Is Not My President Adolf Trump in love with Putin?” She said she started the meetup in an effort to “uphold democracy” and stand up to the president, who she called a traitor.
“He refuses to show his taxes, he’s been monetizing the presidency left and right, he’s denigrated our country, he’s a coward, and a misogynist,” Cohen said.
Referring to those on the other side of the road, she said, “Those people don’t believe in anything, their minds are full of hatred…build a wall? We’re for a free shake for everybody. Everyone here is the child or grandchild of a refugee and they want to pull up the drawbridge and keep everybody out.”
Those on the anti-Trump side voiced their concerns of several issues regarding the 45th president, including his now overturned executive order to ban those from Muslim-majority countries, controversial cabinet nominations and what some called “a rise of fascism in this country.”
“I think there’s a general belief the man [Trump] is not competent to be president and that’s what’s brought all these people out,” Stony Brook resident Craig Evinger said.
Bill McNulty, a Setauket resident and Army veteran who served between 1957 and 1964, said he’s been rallying on behalf of anti-war and anti-violence for decades but with “the coming of Trump, it’s much more than that now.”
“We have to stand in opposition in every way, shape or form,” McNulty said. “With my military background, if I were serving today, I would not obey this commander-in-chief. I would say ‘no.’”
Across the road, American flags waved in the wind and patriotic songs played through a speaker, as members of the North Country Patriots — a military support group formed after the Sept. 11 attacks that meets at the corner every weekend in support of soldiers young and old — stood their ground with signs that read “God Bless American Jobs” and “Trump: Build The Wall.”
The group’s founder, Howard Ross of East Setauket, said he and the group “believe in our country, believe in serving our country and doing the right things for our country.”
Protestors at the Not My President Rally in East Setauket Monday, Feb. 20. Photo by Kevin Redding
Ross said those on the other side of the road remind him of the people who spit on him when he returned home from serving in Europe during the Vietnam War.
“I’m never giving my corner up,” he said. “I love to see that flag fly and those people don’t like that. I’ve never heard Obama in eight years get beat up like the press beats up Trump.”
A Tea Party member in the gathering, who asked not to be named, said he was there to support the current president, adding “the resistance to him is unprecedented everybody’s against him…this is an existential threat to our democracy to not let the man perform his duties.”
Jan Williams from Nesconset, wore a red “Make America Great Again” hat and held up a sign that read “We Support The President, The Constitution, The Rule of Law.”
“We’re here because it’s Presidents’ Day and the election’s over and this is not the way to get anything done, to get the points across,” Williams said. “You’ve got to support the president, the Constitution and rule of law. We’re here to show support, that’s all.”
The anti-Trump side chanted “this is what democracy looks like” and sang “This Land is Your Land,” while the Trump side chanted “Build the wall” and “God bless America.”
Throughout the rally, drivers passing the groups honked their horns and hollered out their window to show support for the side they agreed with.
Save the date! The Smithtown Historical Society will host an Irish Night at the Frank Brush Barn, 211 E. Main St., Smithtown on Monday, March 13 at 7 p.m. Enjoy a delicious meal of corned beef and cabbage, potatoes and carrots, courtesy of Faraday’s of Smithtown.
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