For whatever reason, we, in America, have always had an age bias. We have even been said to worship youth. We buy clothes to make us look younger. We get injections, and we even submit to surgery in order to deceive the eye of the beholder and appear more youthful. Many people have complained about ageism in hiring practices. Women have even bemoaned that they become invisible after age 50. We do crossword puzzles to retain our cognitive abilities.
Is it any wonder, then, that age has recently burst into view concerning our upcoming presidential election? The likely contenders are 77 and 81. That means in January 2029, when the next president will replace one of them, they will be 82 and 86. Until now, Ronald Reagan was the oldest president, leaving office just short of 78.
Both men are being studied for signs that they are too old. Both have had memory lapses. But is memory what determines a person’s ability to perform in a leadership role? Even more crucial, for the rest of us, is memory failure the first sign of impactful cognitive decline and even of encroaching dementia?
According to Dr. Charan Ranganath, professor of psychology and neuroscience, Director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at the University of California, Davis, “As an expert in memory, I can assure you that everyone forgets. In fact, most of the details of our lives—the people we meet, the things we do and the places we go—will inevitably be reduced to memories that capture only a small fraction of those experiences.”
The professor goes on to say, in an Opinion Guest Essay for the New York Times this past Monday, that it is normal to be forgetful as we get older, starting in our 30s. He makes an interesting distinction, however, about memory omissions: There is forgetting and there is Forgetting. To understand the difference is to relax about an occasional lack of memory.
The first (with the small f) describes struggling for that word or name on the tip of our tongue that just cannot be remembered. The professional term for that is “retrieval failure,” and while the word or name is there, we can’t summon it immediately or at all. Those of us who watch “Jeopardy!” on television see examples of that nightly as each contestant struggles to call out the answer to the question first—or as the game works, to call out the proper question to match the answer. They may have the information in their heads but just can’t grab it in time.
Forgetting (with a capital F), however, is when a memory is lost or totally gone. The example of the first, that the professor offers from the political scene, is when the names of the leaders of two countries or people are conflated, as Biden did with Mexico and Egypt and Trump with Pelosi and Haley. An instance of the second is if the President didn’t remember meeting the leader of Egypt at all.
The prefrontal cortex is the brain area that is responsible for daily memory, and it changes somewhat as we age. I prefer to think of it as the Rolodex that becomes so full with thoughts and experiences as we live our lives, that it turns increasingly slowly when called upon to produce a particular memory, like a name or date. While it does turn, it may not retrieve the information until the middle of the next night, and whom can we call with the answer then?
We all want to be “super-agers” and retain our cognitive abilities. There is, according to the professor, a huge degree of variability in cognitive aging. While aging is associated with loss of memory, that should not be equated with cognitive decline.
The professor points out that Harrison Ford, Paul McCartney and Martin Scorsese are the same age as Biden, Jane Fonda is 86, and my mentor in the aging-and-functioning department, Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway, is 93.
So if you can’t come up right away with that name you’re intensely seeking, you’re in good company.
The Town of Smithtown Municipal Services Facility has grown programming and services for the 2024 calendar year, geared towards saving residents money while repurposing materials.
The newest program has people hitting pedal to the metal, quite literally with the Smithtown Bicycle Co-op. Residents can now upcycle their bicycles for a good cause, when they drop off bikes to Municipal Services Facility (MSF.) Last month MSF employees delivered seventeen bikes to Smithtown Bicycle Co-op, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located at FlowerField (Unit 18) in St James. The organization fixes up and provides free bikes, classes and access to repair tools, promoting health, safety, education & the concept of “paying it forward” through Recycling, Education and Community. Residents can drop off used bicycles free of charge at MSF during regular hours.
Residents can also unload “plastic film” products such as shipping bags, grocery bags, bubble wrap, dry cleaning bags, zip-loc bags, produce bags, etc. The plastic film will be repurposed through NexTrex Recycling to produce various products such as recycled composite lumber.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island Clothing & Textile Bins are now located at MSF. Clothing and other textiles may be dropped off at these bins during regular business hours. There is no charge however, donation receipts are not provided.
Back and Better for 2024
The crew at Smithtown’s Municipal Services Facility will continue extracting and setting aside construction materials, lumber, doors, & windows that can be repurposed/reused by residents. Items are sorted and displayed on the west side of the recycling building. This practice has become especially important as the town looks for ways to minimize construction disposal costs, increase recycling and save residents money. There is no fee for this service and materials are available on a first come first service basis.
Curbside No No’s
Construction materials cannot be disposed of with regular household trash for collection by the Town or your garbage carter. All construction materials must be disposed of at the Town’s Municipal Services Facility at 85 Old Northport Road, Kings Park (269-6600) for a fee. Residents can also make arrangements with contractors to dispose of construction debris properly.
Upcoming Free Events at MSF:
The 2024 Free Household Hazardous Waste collection events are scheduled for Saturdays: April 20th, July 13th and October 5th from 7AM-3PM.
The 2024 Free Paper Shredding events are scheduled for Saturdays: May 4th & Oct. 19th, from 9AM-3PM. Limit: 3 File Boxes per vehicle.
Both events (rain or shine) are held at the Smithtown Municipal Services Facility in Kings Park. Receive a $5 Home Depot card at all three Household Hazardous Waste events for safely disposing recyclable batteries, propane tanks and mercury containing devices.
HOURS: Monday – Saturday: 7:00AM to 3:15PM
The Town of Smithtown Municipal Services Facility is located at 85 Old Northport Road, in Kings Park
Suffolk County Police arrested two men on Feb. 10 for allegedly burglarizing ten businesses and allegedly attempting a burglary at another business since July. Following an investigation by Major Case Unit detectives, Frank Costa and Jon Pucci were arrested on Eastwood Boulevard in Centereach for committing the following burglaries during which cash and cigarettes were stolen:
• Shell, located at 1511 Middle Country Road in Ridge, on February 9
• Kings Park Auto Care, located at 189 Main Street in Kings Park, on January 30
• Back Country Deli, located at 70 Horseblock Road in Yaphank, on January 24
• Ideal Food Basket, located at 500 Jefferson Plaza in Port Jefferson, on January 12
• DJM Laundry Services, located at 1 Glenmere Lane in Coram, on January 12
• Citgo, located at 3200 Veterans Memorial Highway in Bohemia, on December 31
• Gulf, located at 240 W. Main St. in Smithtown, on December 29
• BP Gas, located at 1470 Middle Country Road, in Ridge on December 26
• USA Gas, located at 1146 Middle Country Road in Middle Island, on December 11
• Jiffy Lube, located at 5228 Route 347 in Port Jefferson Station, on July 21
They were also charged in connection with an attempted burglary at USA Gas, located at 1146 Middle
Country Road in Middle Island, on December 26.
Costa, 54, of Port Jefferson, and Pucci, 29, of Middle Island, were charged with ten counts of Burglary 3rd Degree and one count of Attempted Burglary 3rd Degree.
Rendering of the temporary modular Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, Eisenhower Park. Courtesy ICC
By John Broven
Cricket is an immensely popular game played and watched throughout the world, yet has made minimal impact in the United States. That could change with part of the 2024 International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup finals being held in the U.S. Rather incredibly, Long Island will host eight matches.
The local games will be played at Eisenhower Park, East Meadow, between June 3-12 at a temporary modular 34,000-seat facility, grandly named Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. The site was chosen after NIMBY opposition ruled out first-choice Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Credit should go to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R) for spotting the opportunities for the Long Island economy and tourism.
T20 cricket is an all-action, spectator friendly and shortened format of the game that is perfect for television. According to the ICC, the 2022 biennial tournament attracted global audiences of 1.28 billion.
In the T20 format of the game, both teams consist of the usual 11 players. A toss of a coin decides who bats or fields. The team batting first will aim to set a run total with a potential winning score of at least 160, that is eight runs and over. That’s a run feast, rather like baseball’s Home Run Derby. The team batting second has to chase down the target score. If so, it has won the match, otherwise the defending team takes the day. It can make for a nail-biting finish.
To add to the sense of theater, the fielding is spectacular and teams wear colorful uniforms.
Games will also be played in Dallas and Lauderhill, Florida, as well as exotic locations in the Caribbean. The top-seeded teams out of 20 are India, New Zealand, England (current T20 champion), Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka. After two group stages — one known as the Super 8 round — there will be two semifinals and the final itself, scheduled for June 29 at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
Local matches
The teams competing at Nassau stadium will include the top-rated India, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka along with Ireland, Canada, Netherlands, Bangladesh and the United States.
The matches are as follows:
June 3: Sri Lanka vs. South Africa
June 5: India vs. Ireland
June 7: Canada vs. Ireland
June 8: Netherlands vs. South Africa
June 9: India vs. Pakistan
June 10: South Africa vs. Bangladesh
June 11: Pakistan vs. Canada
June 12: USA vs. India
The highlights will be Sri Lanka vs. South Africa, India vs. Pakistan (the big one!) and United States vs. India, but every game will hold interest for the deprived lovers of cricket living in the U.S.
Official ticket prices have not yet been announced but as long as they are reasonable, I am sure Indian, Pakistani, Irish, Canadian and other expats will flock to Eisenhower Park to support their home countries, along with U.S. cricket fans. There will also be organized viewing areas in other parts of Nassau County.
If cricket is to make a breakthrough here, it will be through the quickfire T20 one-day variant. The upcoming international tournament at the three U.S. venues will help the sport’s profile considerably, with exciting cricket on hand played by the world’s top teams. And Long Island’s gain is the Bronx’s loss.
For more information, go to:
www.nassaucounty.ny.gov/cricket.
English-born John Broven, of East Setauket, is an award-winning American music history author and a copyeditor with TBR News Media. Part 2 will be an attempt to explain the inner mysteries of the game of cricket. With thanks to Richard Tapp, of Burgess Hill, England.
Evan Kay and Brendan Fenlon try for loose ball in Commack’s 44-41 victory on Feb. 2. Photo by Steven Zaitz
By Steven Zaitz
It was only the second day of February, but ‘March Madness’ is already running white hot for both the Commack Cougar and Northport Tiger boys basketball teams.
In one of the loudest, most intense, and competitive games this season, Commack held on for dear life to beat their crosstown rival Northport, 44-41, last Friday night. The game featured six lead changes and neither team ever led by more than six, as raucous fans from both schools went bonkers with every loose ball, lead change, hustle play, and made basket.
This contest also featured two of the best guards on Long Island — the 6’0” senior Nick Waga for the Cougars and the 5’11” senior JoJo Cipollino for the Tigers — and this head-to-head battle did not disappoint. The two squared off in their own personal showdown that climaxed with each coming up big in the dying moments of the game.
But who would have the final say?
Cougars and Tigers battle to the finish on Feb. 2. Photo by Steven Zaitz
As is the case with most thrillers, this 32-minute slugfest had plenty of plot twists, triumphs, blunders, unbridled joy, and bitter regret —all bathed in the backdrop of the ultra-competitive Suffolk League II playoff picture, with the Tigers sitting just behind the Cougars in the standings.
“It was one of the craziest atmospheres I’ve ever played in,” Waga said, who scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. “It felt like a playoff game, and it was awesome to see both student sections packed because it made it feel like every possession mattered.”
Waga was a key cog in last year’s Cougar machine that made it to the Suffolk County finals at Stony Brook University, so he knows a thing or two about playing in a playoff atmosphere. He is a four-year letterman under head coach Peter Smith and has come of age in the Commack basketball program.
“Nick is a great leader,” Smith said. “He’s been on the team since his freshman year, and watching him develop as the player and leader that he has become has been a lot of fun.”
This night of high school basketball was a reminder of how much fun this game can be. The Commack faithful, many of whom were dressed up in full superhero and Ninja Turtle costumes, were at fever pitch even before the opening tap, screaming and waving home white towels as if they were connected to a hidden power source underneath the bleachers.
Although they had sans towels, Northport’s fan base was just as loud when things went in their team’s favor and Cipollino was a major source of this. Like Waga, he has developed into a star. Jojo is still lightning quick with his first step, despite adding inches and muscle to his frame this season from last, and he is even more fearless going to the basket; no matter how many taller defenders are waiting for him in the paint.
“It was one of the loudest games I’ve played in, and that was great, but we couldn’t get the job done in the end,” an exhausted Cipollino said.
While disappointed, Northport head coach Andrew D’Eloia, whose team has a record of 9-5, sees the bigger picture.
“We are very close to being in a position to win these types of games,” D’Eloia said. “It comes down to one or two plays, and to their credit, they made them down the stretch. They play the game the right way; they share the ball, they play defense, and we try to teach our kids the same thing at Northport, and that’s why the games are often so close between Commack and Northport.”
Despite the late fireworks, both teams suffered through a sleepy first quarter, shooting below 20% from the field. Northport led 5-4 after eight minutes.
Cougars and Tigers battle to the finish on Feb. 2. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Commack leveraged a 6-0 run to end the first half, and they took an 18-13 lead into the break. Cougar star quarterback Jeremy Weiss, who plays power forward for Smith, had an athletic rebound and put-back to spark the run with three minutes left. The Commack portion of the crowd was content to cheer his name for the remainder of the quarter.
Northport sliced the lead to one entering the fourth quarter. At the very end of the period, senior guard Liam Sevey collected the rebound of a last-second, half-court heave from teammate Owen Boyland and was able to barely beat the buzzer to pull the Tigers to within one at 27-26.
“That was a great example of game awareness, hustle, and playing to whistle by Liam,” D’Eloia said.
Enter another hustler into the mix, Commack senior swingman Evan Kay, who would figure prominently in the final quarter.
With four minutes left in the game and Commack up by three, Kay fought for a loose ball with Cipollino and Tiger forward Brendan Fenlon. All three would pile on top of each other, but the possession arrow pointed to Commack. Waga hit a three moments later to make it 39-33.
Cipollino countered with a triple from the elbow, and it was the Northport cheering section’s turn to scream their heads off. Kay, who was scoreless in the first three quarters, made his second bucket of the fourth, to give the Cougars a five-point lead with less than three minutes to go. Kay pumped his fist in the air as he ran back down on defense and the Cougar crowd had a new hero to holler for.
“Evan has been a great addition to our team because he brings a lot of energy off the bench,” Smith said. “He has a ‘no-lose’ type of mentality to everything he does, and he brings that extra dynamic and fight to our team. It’s something that every team needs, and Evan gives it to us every night.”
Kay, who played for Smith as a sophomore but decided to rest last winter for baseball, really didn’t seem to mind the fans in the Northport section showering him with disparaging chants about his physique.
“I play with a lot of passion, and to have the fans notice me from both sides, means a lot to me,” Kay said. “I heard the Northport people chanting ‘Eat a Salad’ and I feed off stuff like that. It just fueled me even more because I knew that I was having an impact on the game and helping us win.”
Nick Waga led the Commack Cougars to victory over Northport on Feb 2. Photo by Steven Zaitz
But Kay and Commack were not sitting down for a celebratory post-game meal just yet.
With 1:45 to play in the game, Cipollino stole the ball as a result of Northport’s press, drove to the hoop, and was fouled by 6’5” Cougar forward Devin Spahn. It made the score 42-41.
After the basket, the usually stoic Cipollino slammed the padded wall behind the basket and screamed with primal delight. He was mobbed by his teammates and serenaded by the Northport student section, just feet away.
“I really wanted to get this win and at that moment, the emotions came out of me,” Cipollino said, who led all scorers with 19. “It was a great game.”
Cipollino’s three-point play brought the Tigers to within one point and Northport continued to apply pressure in the backcourt. They created another loose ball and it squirted to Fenlon at three-quarter court and he quickly fired a pass to Boylan, who would have had an uncontested layup. But the pass was too far in front of Boylan. It sailed underneath the basket and out of bounds, and the ball went back to Commack, who was extremely fortunate to still have the lead.
“I just misjudged the pass, and it’s going to stick with me for a while,” said a distraught Fenlon, who played another solid game with six points, seven rebounds, and four blocked shots. “It changed the game, but I have to use it as motivation and not make the same mistakes in the future when it matters most.”
Always the teacher, D’Eloia was philosophical in his post-game remarks.
Evan Kay and Brendan Fenlon try for loose ball in Commack’s 44-41 victory on Feb. 2. Photo by Steven Zaitz
“I told Brendan and all of the guys that everyone who steps on the floor is charged with finding something they could have done a little better throughout a game, and it’s never about one single play,” D’Eloia said. “A close-out, a sharper pass, getting to a loose ball. When you’re playing in a game like that, those little plays that you make, or don’t make, can put you either up by three or down by three. Tonight, they made more of those plays down the stretch.”
There was still time in the game, and it was Kay and Waga helping to make such plays to close it out. Kay killed some clock and drew a non-shooting foul. Waga snatched an offensive rebound and was fouled. He sank two free throws, and a prayer by Cipollino to tie at the final horn went unanswered. Commack was the team left standing and is now 12-3 on the year.
“I shoot with confidence because I know the hard work I put in during the off-season,” Waga said, who shared an embrace with his parents at center court right after the final horn. “I live for these types of moments when the pressure is high, and I feel like it brings out the best in a person.”
If this game is any indication, and with the Suffolk County playoffs just around the corner, the best is likely yet to come.
From left, regional winners Jonathan Zhang, Mehek Sawhney and Kevin Ma. Photo courtesy Commack CSD
Three Commack students have been selected to present their research as regional semifinalists for the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium taking place on Feb. 11.
The Junior Science and Humanities Symposia Program is a tri-service – U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force – sponsored competition which promotes original research and experimentation in STEM at the high school level and publicly recognizes students for outstanding achievement. Students must apply to present their completed original research at the first level of the fair, held at York College.
The three projects moving forward to compete for scholarships, recognition and a place as a regional finalist are:
Jonathan Zhang
Efficient Differentiation of Sleep-Related Hypermotor Epilepsy and REM-Sleep Behavior Disorder via Neural Aperiodic Components
Jonathan used a mathematical formula to evaluate EEG brain activity to diagnose sleep disorders in two minutes vs. 8 hours of sleep studies.
Kevin Ma
Decreased Immune Activation Drives the Differential Therapeutic Responses to Chemoradiotherapy Between HPV+ Head and Neck Cancers and HPV+ Cervical Cancers
Kevin investigated two forms of cancers to differentiate where the cancer originated and if it tied back to the HPV+ to provide individualized immunotherapy based on the type of cancer and the tumor environment.
Mehek Sawhney
Secretion of Francisella tularensis Protein FTL_1123 from Escherichia coli Containing the HlyBD Operon
Mehek studied the structure of a certain bacteria that can be used in biological Tier 1 warfare. She investigated howthe bacteria secretes these virulent factors, and a way to prevent it from being released as a threat.
Please extend your congratulations to these students for this well-deserved and hard-earned recognition, and also to the Research team of Jeanette Collette, Daniel Kramer, and Andrea Beatty.
Six Year Varsity and two time Long Island Champion Fencer Anna Rohring. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Zainab Baber of the Commack Girls Fencing Team. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Zainab Baber of the Commack Girls Fencing Team. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Fencing Coach of the Year and Commack head coach Jaclyn Sadiker. Photo by Steven Zaitz
By Steven Zaitz
This week the Commack Girls Fencing team will go for their third straight Long Island championship title.
The journey started on Tuesday, Feb. 6 when they beat Newfield by a score of 14-10 in the Suffolk County semi-finals. The team is led by Coach Jaclyn Sadiker, who was named Coach of the Year by Newsday, and six-year varsity fencer Anna Rohring. Rohring has a career record of 32-4.
Rohring, Gabby Phelan, Nisa Eriskin, Kayley Chung and Chloe Gullo were all victorious in their individual duels against Newfield.
They will face Ward Melville on Thursday for Suffolk supremacy and if they win that match, they will battle the Nassau champion on Feb.13.
“It would mean the world to all of us to win a third straight Long Island Championship,” Sadiker said. “We consider this team to be like a family and we have 7 seniors. It would be incredible to send off those family members with another title.”
Ward Melville High School will host the Suffolk County Individual Fencing Tournament on Saturday Feb. 10.
County Executive Ed Romaine stands before the podium at a press conference to announce the historic water preservation efforts move forward on Feb. 5. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim
By Mallie Jane Kim
Clean water may be on November’s ballot in Suffolk County, a development welcomed by area water quality advocates after a similar measure failed to reach voters last year.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R) announced the plan at a Feb. 5 press conference, surrounded by a bipartisan coalition of legislators as well as representatives from environmental groups and the county water authority. The plan marks an agreement that, if approved in Albany, would give voters the choice to adopt a 0.125% sales tax increase toward curbing pollution of area drinking and swimming water through new sewers and replacement of aging cesspools with nitrogen-removing septic systems.
“The future of this county depends on water, clean water,” Romaine said at the conference. “Let’s make sure that we will always have clean water, not only under our feet to drink, but clean water on our surfaces and our bays, our rivers, our creeks, our streams, our Sound.”
Romaine said he hopes to see, in addition to the tax revenue raised, some state funding from New York’s 2022 Environmental Bond Act as well as federal funds from President Joe Biden’s (D) infrastructure framework come into play for local sewer projects.
According to the bill sent to Albany for approval, there are 209,000 cesspools in “environmentally sensitive areas” of Suffolk County that need to be replaced. The nitrogen in the wastewater released from these systems impacts area waterways as well as the county’s sole drinking water source, the underground aquifer.
“I was really pleased everybody came together to make this happen,” said George Hoffman, who heads the water quality testing program for the Setauket Harbor Task Force. “It bodes well that the first major initiative of the new Legislature under Ed Romaine is a significant environmental initiative.”
According to Hoffman, high nitrogen levels in the Long Island Sound contribute to a chain reaction of algae blooms and low oxygen, which makes fish die off. The nitrogen also impacts shoreline vegetation and can increase erosion, he said.
Hoffman, whose group measures water quality in Setauket Harbor from May through October, said 75% of the nitrogen that enters the harbor is coming from cesspools, and he welcomes the coming help for homeowners who need to replace their waste systems — especially those with homes close to the water, where there is not enough distance between the cesspool and the shoreline to allow soil and bacteria to naturally filter out nitrogen from wastewater before it enters the Sound.
“People tell us stories where at high tide in the harbor, the water in the toilet bowl goes up and down, which means the cesspool is in the water,” he explained. “For us in the harbor, we’ve been promoting the need to update these systems.”
The plan heading to Albany is a slightly altered version of the one that failed to pass the county Legislature last year — the new plan notably splits the funds evenly between installing sewers and replacing aging cesspools with smart septic systems.
The plan that failed last year would have given about 75% of funds to septic systems, based on a Stony Brook University study on the proportion of pollution sources.
That failure was a major election campaign point for county Legislator Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), who said after the press conference that he welcomed the plan’s progress, despite the change in funding percentage — particularly since a “wise” provision in the bill allows for adjustments to the fund distribution in a planned 2030 reevaluation.
“We broke the logjam,” he said, celebrating the collegiality and compromise on both sides of the political aisle. “This is something that really needs to happen in order to protect our largest industry, which is tourism, as well as the health and well-being of our families and neighbors and children. So, it’s an investment into the future.”
The Legislature and environmental groups all indicated they planned to launch a voter education campaign before the referendum goes to the ballot.
At the press conference, Romaine urged anyone concerned about the 0.125% tax increase to “think of what the future is, and the cost of not doing this,” he said. “It’s time to step up to the plate because if we don’t, we won’t be able to drink our water.”
As many community members have already heard, Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] has proposed drastic cuts in state aid to many school districts across Long Island. Based on the governor’s proposed state aid allocations, Port Jefferson School District stands to face a total 28% cut to our state aid package, which amounts to almost $1.2 million. This is one of the largest percentage cuts for any school district on Long Island.
The governor’s proposed reductions in state aid are very concerning to us. The reduction would put a significant strain on our district. The excellence of our faculty, combined with the careful management of the district budget, has allowed us to continually deliver a high-quality education to our students. However, this proposed cut in state aid would place a significant burden on our staff and community to maintain that level of educational excellence. The governor’s proposal is patently unfair and places our district in an untenable position. It is a gross injustice to the students and taxpayers in our district and we are determined to fight back. We are calling on our state legislators to advocate and work with the governor’s office to restore our Foundation Aid to its full level.
We are asking that the community join us in this advocacy. Our website provides template letters for residents to sign and forward to the governor and our state representatives. Together, we can send a powerful message to Gov. Hochul and our local elected officials to ensure adequate and equitable funding. The Port Jefferson School District relies on these funds to support our students and maintain the integrity of our educational system.
Jessica Schmettan
Superintendent of Schools
Port Jefferson School District
Upholding the promise of public education
Every child,regardless of their ZIP code, deserves a high quality public education. Our public schools are an investment that benefits our communities and families. It is crucial that our elected leaders do not play politics with the well-being and future of our children.
It is unfortunate to see elected officials of both parties playing politics with public education funding. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s [D] “hold harmless” budget proposal is problematic for many school districts, as it falls short of the expected aid for the coming fiscal year. The state Legislature must correct this in their one house budgets and negotiations with the executive branch in determining the upcoming fiscal year budget.
However, it must be pointed out that in 2023, every Suffolk County Republican in the New York State Legislature voted against education funding. This was a year where there was record funding for public education, after a decades long fight for full Foundation Aid. To watch these same elected officials weaponize the current moment for political gain reeks of hypocrisy. The same is true at the federal level, where U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota [R-NY1] just voted against expanding the child tax credit that would lift half a million of America’s children out of poverty, a bill that passed the House with broad bipartisan support.
We need leaders who will prioritize caring for our youngest New Yorkers, not elected officials who use them as political pawns. New York is a wealthy state, and we do not need to cut funding for education or any human service or public good. We have the resources to provide these services, but, unfortunately, we don’t have enough elected officials who place the well-being of our children over their own political grandstanding.
The New York State Legislature must restore these cuts in their one house budgets. And Suffolk County’s Republican elected officials should put the money where their mouths are, and vote for fully funding public education this year. Their votes are a reflection of our region’s values, and political grandstanding is inadequate at this moment for our communities. We, the voters, will be watching.
Shoshana Hershkowitz, South Setauket; Ian Farber, Setauket; Christine Latham, Stony Brook; Anne Chimelis, Setauket; Jeanne Brunson, South Setauket
A critical analysis of immigration rhetoric
Two letter writers use your Cold Spring Harbor Lab article [Jan. 11] as the slim local hook to propagate the fearmongering on would-be Latin American immigrants that former President Donald Trump [R] thinks he can ride into the White House: Paul Mannix (“The illegal immigrant issue,” Jan. 25) and George Altemose (Jan. 18, who also lavishes praise on a Nazi war criminal).
Mannix claims you are “hurting your credibility” by decrying toxic talk on immigrants when the issue is “illegal immigration,” disregarding Altemose’s inflammatory talk of “invasion” of our southern border by hordes of “illegal aliens”, not to mention their hero Trump’s “they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists” and “poisoning the blood” of America.
Immigrants have always come here because U.S. employers were looking for workers. Pew Research Center tells us that since 2005 about 10 million unauthorized immigrants — their term — live in the U.S. and about 8 million work for willing employers.
What makes these mostly brown immigrants “illegal,” whereas the ancestors of the white residents of Long Island were “legal”? Until 1808, southern landowners found their agricultural labor force in “legally” imported, kidnapped and enslaved Black Africans. Until 1882 immigration into the U.S. was totally unrestricted. Chinese came in great numbers to help build the transcontinental railroads and when they were no longer needed, the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) made them illegal. Until 1924, white Europeans entered simply by showing up with no signs of infectious disease. They needed no documents of any kind, neither a passport nor visas, and in their millions headed for the mills, mines, railroads or sweatshops whose owners were hungry for workers. In 1924 a xenophobic immigration law was passed that limited all but immigration from northern Europe to a trickle, since modified for some political categories such as anti-Castro Cubans and Nazis with useful talents. Employers still welcomed “illegal” workers for jobs citizens wouldn’t take, as we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic: farmworkers, meat and poultry processors, health and service workers of all kinds.
The U.S. has made life difficult for Latin Americans for 200 years. Today, refugees are fleeing gangs and chaos, even death squads. Many are legal asylum seekers, whom Trump refused to recognize.
Mannix, lastly, slanders diversity, equity and inclusion — practices that rather minimally try to mitigate centuries of legal and de facto discrimination — as “racist and sexist,” a classic Trumpist projection of placing their own failings onto their opponents.
Arnold Wishnia
Setauket
Unmasking the myth
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
George Altemose insists Wernher von Braun was a “great American” even considering his participation in Nazi crimes [Letters, Feb. 1]. In his eagerness to whitewash von Braun’s career as a Nazi, he distorts a number of facts, and omits others. Von Braun was not “forced” to join the Nazi Party in 1937, nor was he forced to join the SS in 1940. During his career in the SS he was promoted three times by Heinrich Himmler, the organizer of the systematic mass murder of Jews and others deemed by the Nazis unworthy of life.
Like so many Nazis after the war, von Braun retrospectively downplayed his own participation in the holocaust. But by his own admission he was quite aware that his V-2 rockets were being built by concentration camp slave laborers living in appalling conditions and being routinely worked to death.
As for his 1944 arrest for having a defeatist attitude, that’s not quite the whole story. He was arrested after having drunkenly — and correctly — remarked that Germany was losing the war. Also because he regularly piloted a government-provided plane he potentially could use to escape to Britain. During his brief detention he was pressured to speed up the development of the V-2 — so much the worse for the slave laborers — and to pledge not to defect. He was released on the direct order of Hitler, who called him “indispensable” for the Nazi war effort. He was a willing participant in, not a victim of, the crimes of the Nazis.
Although von Braun could not have single handedly stopped the V-2 program and its use of slave labor, he could have refused to participate. That’s the key. To state, as Altemose does, that for this he would have been killed is a well-worn fallacy. There were cases of Germans who refused to participate in Nazi atrocities. No one in the Third Reich was executed for mere refusal. This has been thoroughly documented by numerous works such as “Ordinary Men” by Christopher Browning. At worst, if von Braun refused to participate in Nazi crimes, he would have stalled his career. Many were faced with the same choice in Nazi Germany. Not everyone made the same choice as he did.
It really doesn’t matter what rockets von Braun developed for America. He was a man without morals, a willing participant in the Nazi enterprise. To tout him as a “great American” is a travesty and an insult to our country.
David Friedman
St James
Farewell to a sweet tradition
I was very disappointed to learn about the closing of Stony Brook Chocolate. I loved taking my grandchildren there to choose from the large assortment of candies filling an entire wall. The wonderful chocolates and truffles were my go-to holiday gifts, and they were always well received. I will also miss the friendly and helpful salespeople. Stony Brook Chocolate was a terrific asset to our quaint village. So sad to see it go.
On Feb. 1, Port Jefferson resident and longtime business leader Richard Angelo LoNigro Sr. passed away. LoNigro was born in Brooklyn on April 22, 1942. As a young man, LoNigro flourished on the baseball diamond as a catcher at Carey High School in Franklin Square. After graduating in 1960, LoNigro enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served on the USS Tanner. The following year, LoNigro married his sweetheart Priscilla, beginning their long life together.
LoNigro had an impressive tryout at Yankee Stadium, where he hit two home runs into the outfield bullpen. After playing at spring training for the New York Yankees in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, LoNigro ended his baseball career and headed back to Long Island. However, for years, he was a baseball scout for the New York Mets. At first, he supported his growing family of three children as a delivery driver for Tip-Top Bread in Garden City.
In 1966, the LoNigro family of 12 children became longtime residents of Selden. Five years later, LoNigro started what became Port Jefferson Sporting Goods. LoNigro eventually was meeting the diverse sporting needs of individuals, teams, and schools from Montauk to New York City. His store had a thriving front end that stocked Nike and Adidas merchandise, college and professional team hats, sporting equipment, and a full wall of sneakers for every type of sport.
Through the support of his children LoNigro built this store into one of the top-10 sporting goods organizations in the United States. Tirelessly working almost seven days a week, he was recognized for his success by companies like Rawlings with the Silver Glove award that was bestowed on a limited number of sporting businesses.
LoNigro was a citizen who gave back to his community by helping the earliest functions of St. Gerard Majella R.C. Church in Port Jefferson Station.
Longtime St. Anthony’s High School athletic director, Donal Buckley, marveled at the energy that LoNigro presented in running his business and helping others. Buckley recalled the presence of LoNigro “to be a key contributor in moving a religious grotto from Smithtown to Huntington Station. He supported numerous fundraiser events for this school and was beyond fair when purchasing team uniforms.”
The LoNigros also supported the efforts of Father Frank Pizzarelli at Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson. He worked on its board to help the vital efforts of caring for children who faced hard times through its mission statement that “Every life is Sacred.”
LoNigro was a legendary local figure who had an unyielding ability to help others through a multitude of various charities. The Suffolk County Police Athletic League presented LoNigro as their Man of the Year in 2000. Moreover, in 2016, the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame thanked him as one of the original board members to recognize the finest athletes from this area and the contributions that they made to their own communities. LoNigro was an avid golfer who loved the sport and enjoyed playing with his friends. LoNigro and Priscilla liked their time at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and attending the multiple events and accomplishments of their 26 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Long Island has lost an iconic person who was an American success story that worked his way up from humble beginnings and became a notable business leader. LoNigro’s store represented a simpler time years ago that saw an owner know his customers who spent decades shopping at this special establishment. He set an important bar of excellence to stand behind numerous causes that made Long Island a better place. Thank you to Richard A. LoNigro and his family for their decades of humanity toward the vital needs of their fellow citizens.
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