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This sign outside of Bakewicz Farms caused some concern in the past month, though the planning board meeting was delayed. However property owners said they wouldn't move on any new development just yet. Photo by Kyle Barr

Landowners were unanimously granted approval of plans Aug. 17 by the Brookhaven Planning Board for a housing development on land in Wading River currently in use by the local Bakewicz Farms.

The preliminary plans revolve around 13 subdivisions for homes at the corner of Route 25A and Randall Road in Wading River. This is in addition to a recharge basin to be located at the westmost corner between the two roads. 

The Rocky Point-based Manzi family owns the property but is being represented by Rocky Point-based attorney Steven Losquadro. 

Losquadro said in a phone interview that the family is not immediately going with the housing development, but is instead “keeping their options open” regarding any future plans, whether or not it becomes a new housing development or something else. He did not wish to comment on the record about what future plans could be.

The site is currently being leased by Justin Bakewicz and his mother Marianne of Bakewicz Farms. The small 11-acre farm is active in the summer and autumn months supplying local produce, giving a place for children to pet a few farm animals and allowing children into their corn maze filled with cut out wood characters from pop culture such as Harry Potter and Buzz and Woody from “Toy Story.”  

Losquadro said the property owners are not at all immune to calls from the community for the farm’s preservation. Nothing has been officially determined yet.

“Many people in the community would like to see it preserved as a farm,” the attorney said.

Bakewicz did not wish to comment fully on the record about what could be happening in the future, but did mention there could be positive news coming down the pike.

“This is what I’ve been hoping for,” he said.

Last year property owners proposed putting down a large solar storage battery on an unused portion of the property. Those plans were opposed by the local civic groups, and Losquadro said at the time that without the solar battery the land could instead turn into a residential development. 

The preliminary plans themselves call for the creation of a new street that ends in a court called Dante Way. The road allows both a left and right turn onto Randall Road but no access onto Route 25A. Plans show the land redesigned for 13 single family homes, which would be located in the Shoreham-Wading River school district. The development also abuts the ongoing construction of the North Shore Rail Trail projects which when finished will create a 10-mile walking and bicycle path from Wading River to Mount Sinai.

Revised plans after comments from the planning board also maintain a 40-foot proposed buffer on the north end of the proposed development and a 75-foot buffer on the southern end. Both buffers would be granted to the town for open space purposes. In the proposed development, 10 feet off the western end would be left to the town for adding a real shoulder to the side of Randall Road.

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Old Field resident Tim Hopkins took this picture late on Aug. 1 saying the black plume came out of the stack for some time before later drifting out over the Long Island Sound. Photo by Hopkins

The Port Jefferson Generating Station on the shores of Port Jeff Harbor has displayed emission issues at least twice in the past two months, photo evidence and a statement from Long Island Power Authority have shown. While plant operators said they were minor incidents, local environmentalists were much more uncertain.

On Aug. 1, past president and current member of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Tim Hopkins, was out on the water in PJ Harbor when he took a picture of one of the chimneys belching black smoke into the air. 

Hopkins, who as a Village of Old Field trustee from 2016-18 chaired its environmental committee, said he goes out on the waters of Port Jeff Harbor on average six times a year, and this was the first time he saw the stack make that sort of cloud. He watched the stack exude the black smoke and snapped the picture at 7:40 p.m. The smoke, he said, continued to pour from the stack for some time before he left to go to Flax Pond. When he returned to the harbor, he saw the cloud had drifted over into Long Island Sound, where it lingered for some time.

John Turner, a local environmentalist who previously worked as Brookhaven Town’s director of the Division of Environmental Protection, said during a phone interview that, living on Long Island for 65 years, he could not recall seeing Port Jeff’s or any other power plant expelling emissions “that looked that disturbing, that’s potentially problematic from a health perspective.”

He said he also strongly suspects the black smoke could contain particulate matter, or dust and particles other than the normal gaseous emissions, that could be potentially damaging to breathe.

“That can’t possibly be just carbon dioxide or nitrogen oxide or other gases — that has to be particulate matter, which could be very troublesome to people’s lungs,” Turner said.

State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) is also the Assembly environmental committee chair. When first he saw an image of the plant’s emissions, he said, “It looks deadly,” adding, “This is not a good day to breathe.”

What it looked like to the assemblyman, a geologist and ardent environmental advocate, was black particulate mixed with the emission plume. Englebright said the emissions were as bad as he’s ever seen in the three decades he’s been in office, and it far exceeds normal opacity standards. Normally when the plant is active there may be a white plume coming from the stack, especially visible in winter when much of the visibility is the hot vapor interacting with cold air to create condensation. 

The plant is operated by United Kingdom-based utility company National Grid, and LIPA said in a statement National Grid is aware of all environmental regulatory requirements and the plant normally operates in compliance.

In an email response to inquiries, a spokesperson for National Grid said that the Aug. 1 incident was caused when Long Island’s electric system began to vary load and the unit became unbalanced. The black particles, National Grid said, were “most likely unburnt carbon due to the boiler imbalance,” adding it is similar to what can happen to a home heating system. 

The statement said the situation lasted for six minutes while the operator made adjustments to correct the situation. Hopkins reaffirmed he saw the stack smoking for much longer than that. 

In response to the assemblyman’s inquiries, LIPA sent an answer instead about another emissions failure which occurred on a separate date, July 11. 

LIPA said for 12 minutes, the plant exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency opacity limits on that early July date. The electric utility said the incident was a result of the plant “combusting a mix of natural gas and residual oil,” while increasing load to meet demands on the grid. While increasing load, LIPA said the boiler “experienced an upset, resulting in a temporary interruption of the fuel supply and subsequent loss of load. This caused the unit to smoke (opacity) for a short period.”

LIPA said the emissions on that date were made of various gases such as nitrogen and nitrogen dioxide, but the power authority claimed they were below regulatory limits. It also claimed the plant is unable to measure the amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide released by the emissions. 

National Grid’s statement said the plant’s automated monitoring system notified the control room about the issues. Opacity incidents are reported to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 60 days following the end of each quarter. The company added that while opacity exceedance does occur, it maintains compliance a vast majority of the time.

“The plant is well maintained and operates in compliance with environmental regulations greater than 99% of the time,” National Grid’s statement read. “National Grid operators are highly skilled, receive ongoing training and operate the units to maintain compliance with all regulatory requirements. … However, there is no fail-safe item that will guarantee no events in the future.”

In a statement, the DEC said National Grid has reported about the Aug. 1 boiler issue but has no record of a July 11 event. The agency said plant emissions are run through filters to remove particulates before they are released into the atmosphere.

“DEC reviews the data logs from these monitors as part of our rigorous oversight of these facilities to ensure protection of public health and the environment from long-term particulate matter releases,” the agency wrote in its release.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement the New York DEC is the primary regulator of the facility and sets opacity requirements, though all facilities must follow federal guidelines set by the Clean Air Act. The EPA website lists that it last inspected the Port Jeff site June 16, where the plant passed its compliance inspection.

The units entered service in 1958 and 1960, and have since gone from using coal to diesel, and now runs as a hybrid that takes in both natural gas and oil. The plant only operates a small percentage of the year, but use often peaks during the heat of summer, as more people run their air conditioners, and in the winter when more customers are working their heating systems. 

Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant said in an email she had not been made aware by LIPA about the opacity violations. She said the sight of the black cloud was highly unusual, as the only time emissions are normally visible at all is during the winter.

Garant and other village officials have been working with an engineering firm in drafting a report to argue for retrofitting the power plant with newer technologies, including a hybrid battery to store energy in case of demand.

“You have old iron here, and when you need help to offset the peak demands, a cleaner plant would be an improvement at the site,” the mayor said.

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Brianna Kim

We are proud to present our first Times Beacon Record News Media Artist Coloring Book Contest winners. Our intentions for the coloring book and contest was to offer our local art community grand exposure by fostering appreciation for the arts, as well as providing an enriching cultural experience for our audience.

We are grateful to Bank of America as our Coloring Book partner, to all the artists that contributed a beautiful gallery of sketches and to our coloring contest participants who submitted beautifully colored drawings as well as our voters.  Look for the winner’s colored masterpieces in select Bank of America branches. To see the rest of the contestant’s entries, visit our TBR Facebook page: facebook.com/tbrnewsmedia and check out the photo galleries.

Congratulations to all our winners!

Category 1: Ages 5-12
Winner:

COLORIST

Brianna Kim

Brianna Kim, 9, Stony Brook
‘Feathered Friend’ by Cayla Rosenhagen

When asked what she thought of our coloring book, Brianna said, “I think it was cool and I liked the pictures. I picked the bird drawing because I love birds and animals.” This is the first coloring contest Brianna has entered, and she submitted this picture because she likes to draw and color. Besides drawing and coloring, she said she also likes to read, and that her favorite book is “Warriors: The Broken Code #3: Veil of Shadows by Erin Hunter.”

ARTIST

Cayla Rosenhagen, Selden

‘A Feathered Friend’

Cayla Rosenhagen

Cayla, whose drawing was used for the winning submission by 9-year-old Brianna Kim, said, “I’m honored that Brianna selected my drawing to color, and I look forward to seeing her achievement.” What was her inspiration for the drawing? “I’ve had a love of nature for as long as I can remember, my family and I are avid birders,” Cayla said. “With so many people staying close to home these days, many have also taken up the hobby of birding in their own backyards. I was inspired to draw this picture of the familiar American Crow to continue encouraging a love of birds and nature.”

Cayla thought the coloring book was such an amazing way to showcase the work of local artists. “I enjoyed the variety of artwork and getting to read about the creators. During these trying times, it was a great opportunity for artists to participate in such a heartwarming community project.”

In addition to birding and art, Cayla’s hobbies include martial arts, history, reading, hiking, and environmental concerns. She also serves on the Four Harbors Audubon Society board of directors and runs a community outreach program called Beach Bucket Brigade.

Runner Up:

COLORIST

Bobbi, 7, Suffolk County

‘Squidtar’ by Jim Swierupski

(Information not available at press time)

ARTIST

Jim Swierupski, Port Jefferson Station

‘Squidtar’

“That’s great!” Jim said, when hearing he had been recognized. “I have always enjoyed drawing squids, and my son was playing guitar while I was drawing so I put that in.” He added that he would “love to be part of the coloring book again.”

Category 2: Adult 20+
Winner:

COLORIST

Maria Montenegro, 84, Stony Brook

‘A Song of Spring’ by Kimberly Sanchez

Maria said she colored all the drawings in the coloring book, but “A Song of Spring” was her favorite to submit for the contest. “This is the first coloring contest I have entered, and I did it because my daughter convinced me.” Besides coloring, Maria also likes to read and enjoys word search books.

ARTIST

Kimberly Sanchez, Melville

‘A Song of Spring’

Kimberly said she thought the winning colorist, Maria Montenegro, “did a great job. I liked the use of all the yellow in the bird and flowers. It has a very warm feeling that I love.”  She said her inspiration and passion is taking photographs of wildlife on Long Island. “The drawing was of one of my favorite little birds, a yellow-throated warbler that I had taken pictures of this past spring. It has such a pretty little song hence the title, ‘A Song of Spring.’”

Kimberly was so happy to be a part of the coloring book and thought it was a fun creative way to share local Long Island talent with the community. Her hobbies besides photography and drawing are gardening, crafting, and painting rocks.

“Maybe you will find one of my rocks if you are out and about in nature — they are all signed KS,” she said.

Runner Up:

COLORIST

Janis Night, Stony Brook

‘Wild and Crazy Sunflowers’ by Marlene Weinstein

“I was so happy to be a part of this contest. As soon as I saw the drawing, I immediately knew the colors I wanted to use and what I wanted it to look like.”

ARTIST

Marlene Weinstein, Old Field

‘Wild and Crazy Sunflowers’

“I love sunflowers,” said Marlene. “They’re bright, bold and joyful! For this image I chose a vase and background with equally bold patterns and circular designs that reflected the shape of the sunflowers and added movement. I thought it would be a lot of fun to color.”

And there’s more!  Four Long Island nonprofits, chosen by the winners & artists, will share $10,000 in community funding from Bank of America.

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Mount Sinai Superintendent Gordon Brosdal. File Photo by Kyle Barr

While some districts came out with their reopening plans last month, parents across the North Shore sent letters and petitions to district officials demanding to have some kind of distance learning option. 

Several weeks later, school officials have come out with details about some of these initiatives. A few are hosting efforts in house, while others are offering the option of using a BOCES-run program.

Rocky Point

Rocky Point Union Free School District will offer a five-day 100% remote model for K-5 students after parents in the area pleaded to at least have the option. 

The district already presented its plans to have elementary students in school full time. In a letter posted to the district website Aug. 14, Rocky Point describes the distance program as a blend of synchronous or asynchronous learning. This will either be handled by Rocky Point staff or through enrollment in the Eastern Suffolk BOCES Online Elementary Program, which will include students from other districts as well. Schedules will align with what they would be doing if they were in-person, though parents need to commit to distance program for the full school year, September 2020 through June 2021. 

Parents must fill out a form that is available on the district website by 3 p.m. Aug. 20.

The district was also set to unveil plans for a remote option for students in grades 6-12 Wednesday, Aug. 19, but those plans were not available by press time.

Miller Place

In a letter to parents Aug. 12, the Miller Place School District showed off its plans for remote instruction for K-5 and 6th grade students. The district does not currently have plans to offer a full remote option for students in grades 7 through 12, and their model remains hybrid-only.

The district will offer students who enroll in the remote learning program live instruction five days a week, with days lasting between five and five and a half hours each day. Instruction will also include the normal set of English, math, writing, physical education, art, music and social and emotional learning.

Parents will need to commit to this option for the entire school year running from September 2020 through June 2021. Students cannot choose to reenter the normal 5-day schedule if parents choose this option.

Students will also either be assigned district staff or be enrolled in the Eastern Suffolk BOCES Online Elementary Program in a cohort of students which will likely include kids from other districts.

Parents should have already emailed district personnel in order to access the program. Parents with questions can email [email protected] for more information.

The district said it is unable to offer a remote program at the middle and high school level, as they said they do not have the resources to mirror the new course offerings with a remote program. The district also claimed it does not have the legal authority to livestream classes to students at home, saying that cameras are not allowed in classrooms during instruction.

“From a legal standpoint, it is considered discriminatory, and not equitable, to offer courses to in-school students and not have those same courses available to remote learning students,” the district said in its statement. “The district is not willing to reduce or eliminate course offerings, including electives, for in-school students, in order to accommodate families requesting remote learning for non-vulnerable students.” 

Mount Sinai

The Mount Sinai school board has said its intent to allow parents to participate in a full-time remote program. The district is planning to have a remote instructional model for all grades K-12, and parents must sign an intent form available on the district website if they intend to full remote instruction.

The district plans to use Google Classroom as the main platform for remote learning. Attendance will be taken daily through the platform. 

“Parents should be aware that if they choose to opt-out their child from attending in September, the window for returning to school would open in January, the beginning of the second semester,” Superintendent Gordon Brosdal said in the Q&A available on the district’s website.

For elementary students who participate in remote learning, there will be videos recorded by their designated classroom teacher posted four days per week on the teacher’s Google Classroom page. Students will have the opportunity to interact with their teacher on Wednesdays when the students participating in in-person instruction are not in session. Teachers will also be available via email throughout the week to answer questions. Students will be given the same workbooks as their in-person counterparts and will be offered physical education, art and music content one day a week Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

For remote students in the middle and high schools, teachers will post videos and other assignments to Google Classroom in line with schedules as if they were in school.

“Simply put, remote learning is not the same as in-person instruction and students must be actively engaged in learning when they are not in school,” the district’s remote learning document stated. “Teachers will make every effort to ensure that students are provided ‘live’ instruction as much as possible.” 

Teacher videos and assignments will be posted as soon as practicable when lessons take place, which the district said will “allow teachers to continue with the curriculum without interruptions.”

Shoreham-Wading River

The SWR school district has not released any plans for a remote option for students of any grade level. If a parent currently wishes to not have their students in school, then they must be unenrolled and instead be homeschooled.

The district has adopted a plan that would have every student in school five days a week for in-person instruction, all while meeting New York State Department of Health guidelines for distancing and controlling the spread of COVID-19. The district also plans to reopen the Briarcliffe school for kindergarten students. 

At the districts board of education meeting Aug. 18, Superintendent Gerard Poole related more details about how the district would take temperatures of students and allow them to board and exit buses without being in contact with other students. Poole also clarified that students will need to be wearing masks at all times unless in a setting where 6-feet distancing can be maintained.

The district does have a remote learning plan in place should the school need to close at any time during the school year.

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Owners of Huner’s Fitness Advantage in Port Jefferson said they believe they should be considered essential for the work they do helping people remain active and healthy. Photo from Huner’s Fitness Advantage website

After doing heavy lifting to ensure customer and employee safety, gyms can begin to reopen soon.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) announced a gradual gym reopening starting this Monday, Aug. 24. This comes after earlier this week Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said gyms can start to reopen once they receive guidance from local government.

Commercial gyms, such as Planet Fitness, LA Fitness, Retro Fitness and those that require a membership fee, along with indoor classes can restart next week.

Each fitness center will have to pass a county health inspection to make sure the gyms have sufficient procedures to protect staff and customers while following state guidelines established by Cuomo.

Hotel, office, higher education and residential gyms can reopen starting the following week, on Aug. 31.

On Thursday, Aug. 20, the county will host a virtual meeting with facility owners to review guidance, answer questions and provide any clarifications.

“With our infection rate holding steady at or below 1 percent and a robust testing system in place, we are confident we can reopen gyms in a way that is both safe and responsible,” Bellone said in a statement. “I want to remind our residents and gym owners that we are still in the midst of a pandemic.”

Bellone encouraged those attending gyms to wear a mask and follow all safety procedures.

Communal showers, whirlpools, saunas and steam rooms and water fountains and self-serve bars and samples must remain closed. According to the governor’s web site, individual showers and stalls can remain open as long as they are cleaned between use.

Classes are restricted to the most restrictive guidelines, which could either be six feet of distance in all directions from a participant, a limit of 33 percent capacity and no more than 50 people.

Gym owners also must provide sanitizing stations, acceptable face coverings, which exclude bandanas, buffs and gaiters and the limitation of physical contact activities including boxing and martial arts.

During each inspection, businesses will receive a gallon of NYS Clean hand sanitizer.

According to Cuomo, local health departments are required to inspect gyms prior to reopening or within two weeks of reopening, to ensure strict adherence to the state Department of Health guidance.

Indeed, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services will begin inspections on Monday, Aug. 24 for commercial and traditional gyms.

“New Yorkers must closely adhere to the guidelines and local health departments are required to strictly enforce them to help ensure gyms and fitness center reopen safely and protect the public health,” Cuomo said in a statement.

The Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning will work with the Suffolk County Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs and the Suffolk County Department of Health Services to create an online database of gyms and fitness centers within the county.

Before an inspection, gym owners will need to complete the affirmation for each location, which owners can find at the New York Forward website forward.ny.gov, that they reviewed and understood the state guidelines and will implement these protocols.

After owners attest to their safety plans, the county will schedule inspections. Suffolk will send out an email with the date and approximate time for an inspection.

Gym owners need to post a written safety plan describing the ways they are protecting employees and gym members from COVID-19.

Cuomo also requires that gyms use a MERV-13 or greater air-handling system. If the gym can’t operate at that level, the owners need to have a heating, ventilation and air conditioning professional document their inability to use such a system and adopt additional ventilation and mitigation protocols from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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A car crushed by a tree in Miller place after strong winds by Tropical Storm Isaias. Photo by Kyle Barr

PSEG Long Island announced Monday, Aug. 17 they will be allowing people to make claims in order to be reimbursed for spoiled food or medicines during outages caused by Tropical Storm Isaias.

PSEG is allowing people whose power was out for 72 hours or more between Aug. 4 and Aug. 12 to file claims with the utility company’s claims department. Residents can be reimbursed up to $250 while commercial entities can be reimbursed up to $5,000 if the outage was caused by Isaias.

For residential customers, food spoilage claims of $150 or less must include an itemized list. Food spoilage claims over $150 must include an itemized list and proof of loss, including a cash register tapes, store or credit card receipts, canceled checks or photographs of spoiled items.

Separately, customers will be reimbursed for losses, up to a maximum of $300, for prescription medications that spoiled due to lack of refrigeration. Customers must provide an itemized list of the medications and proof of loss with, for example, a pharmacy prescription label or pharmacy receipt identifying the medicine.

Commercial customers applying for reimbursement must supply an itemized list of spoiled food and proof of loss with invoices, inventory lists or bank statements.

Customers can apply for reimbursement at www.psegliny.com/claims. PSEG said claims cannot be processed over the phone.

Customers will have until Sept. 16 to file claims. Reimbursement is expected to take up to 60 business days from when a form is completed and submitted to PSEG Long Island.

The storm knocked out power to over 420,000 customers on Long Island and the Rockaways, according to a release from PSEG. The company claimed it had been the “the most destructive storm since Superstorm Sandy.” Almost 400,000 people lost power because of the storm, though more experienced outages in subsequent days due to further storms.

For weeks, both residents and elected officials have called on the utility company to offer reimbursement for lost food or medicines while power was out. Some customers didn’t reportedly have power restored until more than a week after the storm hit Aug. 4.

Officials from both parties have been hammering the utility company for the past two weeks over its storm response. New York State Sen. Jim Gaughran (D-Northport) has not only called for reimbursement for PSEG customers, but for the heads of both PSEG and the Long Island Power Authority to step down.

“PSEG’s change in policy for food and medicine reimbursement is a direct result of our efforts to hold PSEG’s feet to the fire” Gaughran said after the reimbursement policy was announced. “The public is owed many more answers by PSEG leadership as to their failed storm response, but this change in policy is welcome news by the half a million families who were left in the dark for days on end.”

PSEG Long Island President Daniel Eichhorn has said the decision came because of understanding the financial straits people are in because of the coronavirus.

“We recognize that losing power in August, together with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, was a hardship for many of our customers,” Eichhorn said in a release. “Given the unique combination of circumstances, we believe the right thing to do is to expand our claims process to ease the burden on the customers most impacted by Tropical Storm Isaias.”

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A mountainous pile of plant and tree debris at one of Brookhaven's highway yards where the material is being cut up and mulched. Photo from Town of Brookhaven

Officials from the Town of Brookhaven highways department said they were still in the process of picking up all debris from Tropical Storm Isaias that residents put out to the curb Sunday, Aug. 9. It may be another two weeks for the town to fully pick up every tree limb and leaf.

A mountainous pile of plant and tree debris at one of Brookhaven’s highway yards where the material is being cut up and mulched. Photo from Town of Brookhaven

The town originally asked residents to bring organic debris strewn about by Tropical Storm Isaias to the curb by Sunday, Aug. 9 for pickup the following day. In a statement, town Highways Superintendent Dan Losquadro said the amount of debris has meant it has taken time to get to every single street in the thousands of miles of town roads. All debris is being taken to 18 highway department yards and temporary staging areas across the town.

“We appreciate residents getting their debris to the curb in a timely fashion,” Losquadro said in a statement. “I anticipate it will take at least another two weeks before we are able to get to all 3,700 lane miles of road in Brookhaven town. If we have not made our way to your neighborhood yet, please leave all brush and debris at the curb for this one-time bulk collection.”

A spokesperson for the highways department said the town is broken up into four quadrants, and the head of each quadrant is effectively going through it street by street to make sure all the debris is cleaned up. This, combined with the excess amount of debris kicked up by Isaias is why it has taken long for some streets to see pickup. Otherwise roads that are being milled or paved have been given priority.

Officials asked that residents keep the debris in front of their house in the time being until the pickup process has concluded.

In a town board meeting Aug. 13, Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) thanked the town highway workers who he said have been working 12 to 14 hour shifts working on the cleanup effort. The town saw over 1,600 trees come down, and more than 400 were involved with power lines.

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Kids enjoy a treat at McNulty's Ice Cream Parlor in Miller Place. With seating outside, social distancing is a breeze, yet inside some people still give shops problems about wearing masks. Photo by Kyle Barr

By Odeya Rosenband

As they work to optimize their indoor and outdoor dining rooms, local restaurants are forced to become constables for new policies: masks. 

Beginning in July, New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) laid out new regulations for food vendors as Long Island entered Phase 4. With the reopening of indoor dining rooms to half capacity, the Governor imposed subsequent restrictions on bar services, now requiring each restaurant patron to order a food item with a beverage. 

McNulty’s Ice Cream Parlor in Miller Place is a hometown favorite. Photo by Kyle Barr

But even as regulations are ever-changing, the requirement to wear masks stays the same. 

The challenge with masks is that unlike other guidelines, it is harder for restaurants to control. Gail McNulty, the owner of McNulty’s Ice Cream Parlor in Miller Place described how “it is very routine for our workers to put on a mask as soon as we come in the door, and so we are modeling this good behavior. And if a customer doesn’t have a mask, we can provide them with a disposable one.” 

These provisions have proven successful for McNulty, who describes her clients as highly conscientious and respectful when it comes to masks. 

“This is my community and these are my friends,” she said. “I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing… that’s the only way, and it’s our way.”

According to the state guidelines, customers are required to wear a mask when they are moving around the premises of a restaurant’s property, but can take their mask’s off when seated. A restaurant can lawfully deny anyone who declines to wear a mask — which, even McNulty said she had to do at one point. 

So, why do so many people refuse to wear a mask?

Stanley Feldman, a political professor at Stony Brook University, said wearing masks has become a part of political identity. Photo from SBU

“A major factor is partisanship,” said Stanley Feldman, a professor of Political Science at Stony Brook University. “It is clear that one of the things that has happened is that largely, Democratic Governors and Mayors come out strongly in favor of masks. And so, wearing a mask or not has gotten tied up with this identification of being a Democrat or Republican… and partisanship is a very strong identity.”

Feldman, who specializes in political psychology, also noted that if President Trump had enforced masks in March or April, there “is a good likelihood that there would be less of a partisan division on masks.” President Donald Trump (R) has largely been opposed to making masks a federal requirement, and he himself has gone back and forth on the need for himself to wear a mask when in public.

Recent surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center demonstrate that when it comes to wearing a mask, the gap between Republicans and Democrats is only growing. According to the study, this increase can be attributed to a shift in attitudes toward the virus. 

“A majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (61%) now say that when thinking about the problems facing the country from the coronavirus, ‘the worst is behind us,’” the study says. 

By contrast, just 23 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning people say that the worst is behind us when it comes to problems from the coronavirus. For Republicans, this is a sizable change since April, when 56 percent said the worst of the virus was yet to come.

 “How on earth would these differences be so massive if it wasn’t a political issue?” said Leonie Huddy, the department chair and professor of Political Science at SBU.

Huddy pointed out another indicator of different mask tendencies: gender. 

“Trump sent out the message that wearing a mask isn’t masculine — and there do appear to be some gender differences in who is wearing a mask,” he said.

Although Long Island has done a good job with enforcing masks,  Feldman said he never expected that compliance would be 100 percent. 

“The US has this political culture of government not telling you what to do,” he said. “And so I think, to some extent, there’s some reaction against wearing a mask because it appears to be mandated by the government and some people think it’s infringing on their liberty.”

Feldman added, “I think the most important thing is that there is a strong uniform message. It has got to come from politicians in both parties and people who are influential. They need to try to send the message that wearing a mask is the right thing to do.”

While the return to restaurant eating is a return to normalcy for many, the masks are a reminder of how far New York has come and how far it has yet to go in terms of grappling with the pandemic. As local restaurants inch back to their pre-COVID statuses, it remains that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) mask guidelines are here to stay. 

“I think New York is a good example of people who are very well behaved,” Huddy said. “I think worrying about getting the disease, gives you a different perspective.”

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A child supported by the Hope Children’s Fund gives a shoutout to his mentor. Photo from HCF
A child supported by the Hope Children’s Fund gives a shoutout to his mentor. Photo from HCF

The Setauket-based Hope Children’s Fund is asking residents to financially support young orphan children in Meru, Kenya through school in the fund’s mentorship program.

According to Aida Mann, a board member of the fund, the program participates with 97 orphans, though they currently have only around 45 mentors. These mentors donate $1 a day for a total of $365 a year. The money truly goes to support all the kids in the program, whether it’s to pay for their school tuition, books, shoes or uniforms. 

“If we had 96 mentors, and if they pay $365, a child, another child will write to them through email and they’ll send postcards,” Mann said. “We’re trying to set it up so that they know each other, they introduce each other.”

The orphanage itself is a unique one, established in an old church that includes a dining area and separate dormitories for boys and girls. 

The group has also started a program June 15 whereby people can donate $210, enough to help feed the entire orphanage for a week. The group has sponsors only up until Aug. 20, and every week the nonprofit shows pictures on its Facebook of the children thanking their supporters. 

Mann and her husband Kevin, of Middle Island, who is also a member of the Rocky Point Rotary Club, regularly take trips to Meru to visit the orphanage. Mann said they have sponsored a child since she was 9 years old. That child just celebrated her 25th birthday.

“Hopefully what we try to do is get people to maintain that child,” she said. “To have a mentor is so important to a child. These are orphans who don’t have anyone. We have a house mother and a house father, but you can’t give personal attention or affection, let’s say, to each child when you have that many.”

A mentor’s responsibility, she said, is to get in contact and then share that communication with them. Being orphans, many have no regular access to things like clothes. Schools in that part of Kenya also require a tuition to attend.

“It’s about sustaining them in everything — what we try to do is make sure first and foremost is education. Sometimes they just want someone to talk to, someone who cares whether they wake up in the morning or not.”

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SBU Uses Up Half of Rainy Day Fund to Balance Budget

Stony Brook University is facing a huge financial hole in 2020. File photo from Stony Brook University

The COVID-19 crisis has exacted a heavy toll on Stony Brook University’s finances, creating a $109.6 million deficit on the academic and research side.

Maurie McInnis was named SBU’s sixth president. In a stunning letter made public on her president’s web page, she details the huge financial hole the school will have to navigate in the near future. Photo from SBU

The pandemic cost the hospital and clinic an estimated $58 million, while it also cost the academic and research campus over $74.6 million in the past financial year, which includes $35 million in refunded fees, $12 million in lost revenue from cultural programs and facilities rentals, and $8.5 million in extra expenses, including cleaning and supplies, student quarantine costs and technology costs, according to message from new Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis published on her SBU president web page Aug. 12.

Through a number of steps, including hiring freezes, the university has attempted to offset these costs, but that won’t be enough. The school is tapping into its central reserve fund, essentially the university’s rainy day pool, reducing it by over 50% in one year. McInnis, in an open letter on her web page, said this “is completely unsustainable.”

Starting today, McInnis will hold a series of virtual campus conversations to provide more details and address questions, while she and university leaders search for long-term solutions to address a host of challenges that have presented a serious headwind to the school’s future budget.

In disclosing detailed information, McInnis wrote that she believes such disclosures will help the campus work together towards solutions.

“I believe that it is only by being open and candid and providing clear information that we can come together as a community to tackle our shared challenges,” she wrote in her letter.

In her letter to the campus, McInnis detailed specific costs, while she also outlined the steps Stony Brook has taken to offset some of these financial challenges.

For starters, she wrote that the university has been “told to expect a 20-30% cut in state funding this year, or $25 million.” The school also had its allocation for last year retroactively cut by $19 million.

“It is unclear when, if ever, our funding will return to current levels, let alone the levels of support we ideally receive as a top research institution in the region,” she wrote in her letter.

Federal government restrictions on travel and visas, along with COVID impacts, have created a 17.5 percent drop in out-of-state and international students, which not only reduces diversity but also creates a $20 million drop in revenue.

The number of campus residents will also decline by 40% for next semester, from 10,000 to 6,000, creating an estimated $38.9 million revenue loss.

The bottom line, she explained, is that the $109.6 million deficit on the academic and research side. This she predicts, could become significantly worse.

The measures the university has taken offset some of that decline, saving the school an estimated $55 million, but the measures still do not close the budget gap and are not sustainable.

A hiring freeze for new positions and for those that become open from staff and faculty attrition will save $20 million.

Student housing refinancing will save $31.1 million in fiscal year 2021.

An ongoing freeze on expenses covering costs for service contracts, supplies and equipment and travel will save about $2.3 million

A cut to the athletic budget will save $2 million.

Senior campus leadership, meanwhile, has voluntarily taken a 10% pay cut along with a permanent hold back of any 2% raise for all Management Confidential employees.

At the same time, the university faces longer-term financial challenges.

State support has declined since 2008, from $190.4 million to $147.7 million last year. That will be even lower this year. On a per-student basis, state support in 2020 was $6,995, compared with $9,570.

This year’s expected increase in tuition and the Academic Excellence fee have not been approved by the SUNY Board.

The multi-year contracts that govern faculty and staff pay have not been fully funded, McInnis wrote in her president’s message. That has created an additional cost of $10 million for the 2020 fiscal year. Over the next five years, that compounds to $54 million.

The rainy day fund is picking up $9.7 million of that scheduled contractual salary increase raise.

The Tuition Assistance Program has been set at 2010 tuition levels, which creates a $9 million financial gap in fiscal year 2020. That is expected to rise in 2021. Stony Brook also recently learned, according to McInnis’s letter, that TAP will be funded at 80 percent of what the school awards to New York State students who rely on the program to access higher education.

At the same time, the Excelsior Program, which began in the fall of 2017 and allows students from families making up to $125,000 to attend school tuition free, may not accept new students this year.

McInnis concluded with her hope that the university will come together in the same way it did during the worst of the pandemic in New York to address these financial challenges.

“I fully recognize that you are operating in one of the most difficult environments any of us has experienced,” she wrote. “And, we are going to have to bring the same level of collaboration and innovation that you brought at the height of the COVID-19 response to our systemic budget challenges.”

McInnis urged the staff to “work together, share the best ideas, challenge assumptions, and build on the excellence of Stony Brook University in order to continue to move this great institution forward.”
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