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Village of Port Jefferson

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Olivia and Harlan Fischer, above, are among TBR News Media’s People of the Year. Photo from Branch Financial Services

Harlan and Olivia Fischer have been married for nearly 50 years. Even more impressive than the longevity of their marriage is their track record of giving back to the community and surrounding areas.

This year the Fischers funded the restoration of the Hercules figurehead by Stony Brook Harbor. Photo from The Ward Melville Heritage Organization

These philanthropic efforts have earned the Head of the Harbor residents a spot among TBR News Media’s People of the Year for 2022. This year isn’t the first time one of the Fischers has been featured in the special edition. Harlan Fischer, president of Branch Financial Services, was a Man of the Year in 2000 for his accomplishments in business.

Tom Manuel, founder of The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook, knows firsthand about the Fischers’ generosity.

“The Fischers were literally the first people to come alongside and support The Jazz Loft when we were in our planning stages back in 2014,” he said. “Each year they have selflessly, generously, and without reservation supported us more and more, and we are honored to have an annual 12-performance concert series in their name.”

Recently, the couple offered a $25K match for the venue to establish an endowment.

“They are true philanthropists doing things for the right reasons,” Manuel said.

The Fischers’ involvement with The Jazz Loft began one day as Harlan was walking one of the couple’s dogs in the Stony Brook Village Center. He ran into Manuel, who was promoting the future venue. The two began talking about jazz, according to The Jazz Loft founder.

Manuel said it turned out Fischer had read about the plans to open the venue, and when he heard the musician was performing at the shopping center, he went to check him out.

Manuel said Fischer gave him an envelope with a check inside. He thought it was for $50, but it turned out to be for $1,000.

The Fischers became even more involved in the Three Village area when Harlan moved his office from Smithtown to Setauket in 2020. Driving past Stony Brook Village Center twice a day, he asked Manuel and The Ward Melville Heritage Organization president, Gloria Rocchio, if WMHO needed assistance with anything. These discussions led to the Fischers sponsoring the installation of a replica of the center’s historic weathervane that shattered last year, and the restoration of the Hercules figurehead that sits by Stony Brook Harbor as well as the pavilion that shelters it.

WMHO board members debuted the restored Hercules figurehead at a press conference on Oct. 14.

“When we make contributions to places, we like to see the results of it,” Harlan Fischer said at the press conference.

Rocchio said in a phone interview that the board members met the Fischers several years ago.

“We found that we have the same interest, which is the love of the community,” she said.

With the Hercules project, Rocchio said Harlan took time out of his busy schedule to get to know the contractors, workers and artists involved in the restoration.

“He’s a very interesting man, and the two of them are very talented,” Rocchio said.

She added, “They’re good people. They have really embraced the community completely.”

The couple are also known for rescuing dogs, and they regularly donate to Little Shelter Animal Rescue’s annual Pet-A-Palooza in Huntington. 

Olivia and Harlan Fischer, above, are among TBR News Media’s People of the Year. Photo from Branch Financial Services

Leigh Wixson, director of Smithtown Animal Shelter, said the Fischers donated $7,600 for a dog park behind the shelter in September 2017. She said the park helps with the dogs’ physical activities and interaction. The park was named the Olivia and Harlan Fischer Recreational and Development Park and is the size of half a football field.

Wixson said the dogs will pull handlers toward the park when they see it, and can play fetch, run and explore. The shelter sometimes sets up small pools and sprinklers for the animals.

“It’s enriching having that large of a park,” she said. “We had outdoor pens already, but they’re quite small and didn’t allow a lot of space for running.”

In addition to their philanthropy, many know the couple for their love of art, and their contemporary studio art glass collection. In an August 2020 interview with TBR, Harlan Fischer said, for him, that love began after a 1988 car accident when he was hit by a drunk driver. He realized he could have been killed, and up until that point his life was mostly about work.

“All of a sudden it got me in touch with my mortality,” he said.

A talk with his physical therapist led him to joining the Smithtown Rotary Club, and he went on to be president of the club in 1997-98. It was during this time he learned about the Smithtown Township Arts Council and became a board member. He eventually became president of the council for five years, and learned a good deal about art from the director of the council at the time, Norma Cohen.

Harlan and Olivia’s love of art has led to raising money for various organizations, including hosting fundraisers in their home. Among their philanthropic activities in the art community have been being members of The Long Island Museum’s Directors Advisory Circle and sponsoring the East End Arts Music Masters Mentorship Program for high schoolers. Harlan Fischer is also a former board president of the Art League of Long Island. Last year, the East End Arts Council selected the Fischers as their 2021 Community Impact Award recipients.

Recently, Olivia Fischer has also been knitting scarves and donating them to Gallery North’s gift store, where all profits from the scarves go back to the gallery, according to Kristen Domiano, a registered service associate with Branch Financial Services.

Over the years, the Fischers have become so much more to the people they interact with than philanthropists.

Domiano described the couple as “generous” and “thoughtful.”

“There aren’t even words to describe how they are,” she said. “They’re so special.”

Due to his profession, Harlan, who is also chair of the Head of the Harbor Planning Board, usually winds up being the main spokesperson for their efforts.

Olivia “never likes to be in the spotlight, but it’s the two of them together,” Domiano said.

She added it’s cute to see the couple together. “He starts talking about Olivia, and he just gets choked up.”

Harlan Fischer is also generous and appreciative regarding his staff, according to Domiano, describing him as honest and a mentor.

Manuel said he and his wife, Laura, “are blessed to have friends with such outstanding character.” 

“Harlan and Olivia have been such generous sources of encouragement, advice and genuine love,” he said. “Our community is lucky to have them here not just because of the amazing projects and things they do, but because they call our community their home. Our community at large is a better place because they are a part of it.”

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Kris Kringle and the St. John's Ophan Asylum Band from Brooklyn lead Cheese Club down Port Jefferson's Main Street toward Infant Jesus Roman Catholic Church; charitable organization; gifts for children at St. Charles

The Cheese Club was a charitable organization formed in 1915 and comprised of members of Brooklyn’s Knights of Columbus.

Considered among the leading citizens of Brooklyn, each a “big cheese,” the group’s influential founders self-mockingly referred to themselves as the Cheese Club, though other stories about the name’s origin abound.

The Cheese Club is best known in Port Jefferson for its Christmas pilgrimage to the village, which it made without interruption from 1916-58 despite stormy weather, world wars and the Great Depression.

During each annual holiday visit, the club members gave yuletide gifts to the youngsters at the Brooklyn Home for Blind, Crippled and Defective Children, known today as St. Charles Hospital, and donated money for the year-round comfort of the handicapped boys and girls and their caregivers.

The club members and their entourage typically traveled from Flatbush to Port Jefferson on a specially chartered LIRR train, the Santa Claus Express, made up of coaches and a freight car filled with Christmas presents.

After disembarking at the Port Jefferson railroad station, Kris Kringle and the St. John’s Orphan Asylum Band from Brooklyn led the group as it marched to Infant Jesus R.C. Church at Myrtle and Main to attend Mass.

Christmas postcard. Photo courtesy the Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive
Collection

Numbering 400 strong during peak years, the procession then continued to St. Charles Hospital, where the sisters of the Daughters of Wisdom, who operated the hospital and looked after its disabled charges, served a welcoming luncheon.

Following the reception, children at the hospital provided two hours of entertainment, performing as singers, dancers, musicians and actors.

When the talent show ended, Santa Claus and his helpers took the stage and gave each boy and girl a Christmas stocking stuffed with toys, candy, games, clothing and fruit.

The Daughters of Wisdom also received a check to fund various projects at the hospital and on its grounds. Over the years, the money was used to purchase radios, movie projectors and physical therapy equipment for the children, build a sun shelter, defray the costs of a memorial organ, improve the sisters’ living quarters and maintain outdoor Stations of the Cross. 

Following the establishment of the Diocese of Rockville Centre in 1957 out of territory once within the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Cheese Club phased out its holiday visits to Port Jefferson and concentrated on charitable work closer to home.

The Cheese Club was a pioneer in bringing Christmas cheer to the handicapped children hospitalized in Port Jefferson and spurring other religious and nonsectarian organizations to support the disabled youngsters at St. Charles — not just at the holidays but throughout the year.

Kenneth Brady has served as the Port Jefferson Village historian and president of the Port Jefferson Conservancy, as well as on the boards of the Suffolk County Historical Society, Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council and Port Jefferson Historical Society. He is a longtime resident of the village.

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Pixabay photo

Station Street, a one-way corridor between Port Jefferson train station and Port Jefferson Crossing apartments in Upper Port, is set to open early next year.

Following an upcoming Jan. 3 public hearing and a vote by the village’s board of trustees, the street will be codified within the village code. In an exclusive interview with Mayor Margot Garant, she offered some updates on the roadway opening.

“Physically, it’s ready,” she said. “The structure is up, the signage is installed, the lighting is in and the irrigation is in.” 

Arriving at “Station Street” was an effort that integrated various aspects of the village government’s tech apparatus. That name was given to the street during the Upper Port master plan phase. Cementing the name, however, the village employed some creative means.

“We’ve been calling it that for almost a decade, but we thought, ‘Maybe it’s fun to give the public a chance’” to add input, Garant said.

As part of its monthly Port eReport, the village generated an online survey to collect input from the community. Charmaine Famularo, a village staff member, organized the survey.

With over 130 entries, Station Street was the highest vote getter with 54 votes. Rail Road and Port Place tied as distant second-place finishers, with 19 votes each. Other names included Locomotion Lane, Gateway Drive and Upper Port Drive, among countless others. There were even humorous suggestions such as End of the Line Avenue and Whistle Way.

“We are so excited about the participation we received,” Famularo said in a text message. “Now, as we all pass the Station Street sign as we enter Port, we will have pride in our new road. It is one that we named.”

Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden voiced similar sentiments. In an email, she suggested public participation in naming the street added a sense of community identity.

“Having the residents involved in naming the street brings a sense of pride of ownership in the community that I strive to bring to this village,” Snaden said.

Garant regarded the street naming activity as part of an ongoing initiative by the village to boost readership and interaction with the eReport. “I think it adds strength and depth to the newsletter,” she said. “This newsletter is chock-full of information. It’s interactive. It can be a real way of getting the public more engaged.”

She added, “I think the more you understand the technology and are able to utilize it, it’s fun. It was a fun suggestion.”

While street renaming was the first example of incorporating tech in decision-making, it may serve other functions down the road. 

When asked whether she foresees these technologies being used in different formats, Garant said, “With that particular incident, a very small segment of the population responded. I think it’s a way — maybe in addition to a public hearing — of gaining public input, but it would not be the sole source.”

The naming of Station Street reflects how local policymakers and constituents relate to one another through technology. Garant stated the need for municipalities to adapt to these technologies and use them to strengthen local democracy.

“Social media is a very powerful, interactive tool, and if it’s used constructively, it can embrace a lot of important public input,” she said. “I think it can also be a way to distribute important public information.” She concluded by saying, “I think we’re finally getting our arms around that entire thing.”

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People are waiting once again for COVID-19 and other tests at local urgent care centers. File photo by Lina Weingarten

Around this time of year, parking lots are often full.

That’s true of the mall parking lot, as people go out to shop for holiday gifts for their friends and family, but it’s also true, especially this year, for hospitals and urgent care centers.

With the so-called “tridemic,” which is a combination of viruses that typically affect the lungs, including COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (or RSV), infecting people of all ages, the need for health care and medical attention has been high in the weeks leading up to the holidays.

When Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, arrives at work at 7 a.m., she drives past urgent center parking lots that are “full for a reason. It’s because people are sick” and need medical attention at the start of the day.

Indeed, the combination of the three viruses, as well as other viruses and bacteria in the community such as adenovirus and enterovirus, has made it difficult for some children to attend schools and for adults to go to work.

For the week ending Dec. 10, which is the most recent period for which data is available, Suffolk County reported 3,936 cases of the flu, which is up 35% just from the prior week. The week ending Dec. 10 alone represents more than half of all flu cases for the entire 2019-2020 season, according to data from the New York State Department of Health.

At the same time, COVID and RSV numbers have climbed.

“We almost doubled our COVID census over the last three to four weeks,” Dr. Michael Khlat, chief medical officer at St. Catherine of Siena Hospital in Smithtown, explained in an email. St. Catherine currently has almost 60 COVID-positive patients. Nearly a third of those patients are admitted for COVID and are receiving intravenous remdesivir, while the others are incidental findings in the context of other medical needs.

“What is special about this surge is that it is inclusive of COVID, influenza, rhinovirus as well as RSV,” Khlat wrote. “The symptoms are very similar, and treatments are all supportive at this time.”

Family gatherings at Thanksgiving contributed to the increase, adding “extra turbocharging to the current respiratory viruses,” Nachman said.

The most vulnerable patients are the immunocompromised, patients with diabetes, chronic lung and cardiac disease, obese residents and patients with chronic liver and kidney disease, Khlat added.

Demand for beds

The influx of patients has meant that St. Catherine has had to increase its capacity of staffing using nursing agencies to meet the needs of the community for “seamless, high-quality care,” Khlat explained.

St. Catherine has also added more providers on the medical wards to care for patients and has load balanced patients with their Catholic services partner St. Charles Hospital and other Catholic Health facilities.

Nachman urged residents to see their primary care doctor if they have routine viral symptoms. Coming directly to the emergency room slows the process of delivering urgent care.

To be sure, Nachman urged anyone with chest pains or stroke-like symptoms should head directly to the emergency room.

Nachman said Stony Brook Children’s Hospital is transitioning to a model in which they triage patients who walk into the ER to assess the need for services.

As people prepare for family gatherings, Nachman suggested that they evaluate the risks of interacting with others.

People with an immune deficiency might want to wear masks or speak outside with others, particularly if someone in the group had one of the respiratory viruses.

Viruses like RSV are generally contagious for about three to eight days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

RSV spreads through close contact, which means that passing someone in a supermarket won’t likely spread the virus, while sitting and doing homework or eating a meal next to someone could.

As for COVID, Nachman continued to urge people to get the bivalent booster shot.

Every study, she said, shows that the booster drastically reduces the risk of being hospitalized with COVID.

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Port Jefferson School District students with music teacher Edward Pisano (right). Photo courtesy PJSD

Members of the Port Jefferson School District music and fine arts department joined in the festivities of the annual Charles Dickens Festival in Port Jefferson Village Dec. 2-4.

Music students and teachers entertained the spectators with seasonal songs during various performances throughout the village. Students in the district’s Drama Club assisted Santa at the Village Center in the elf workshop and served as background actors in the Stony Brook University film crew taping of the event.

“They did a fantastic job of interacting with the villagers and students and children just waiting to see Santa,” drama club adviser Tony Butera said.

The unique event was another opportunity for teachers and students to share their Port Jefferson School District award-winning talents in a public setting.

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File photo

Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating an incident during which a man died
after driving his vehicle into the water in Port Jefferson on Dec. 16.

Stuart Dorfman was operating a vehicle on West Broadway at the Port Jefferson dock when he suffered an apparent medical emergency and drove into the water at 7:20 p.m. Dorfman, 74, of Plainview, was pulled from the water and pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives are asking anyone with information on this incident to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-
6392.

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Attendees of the latern dedication. Photo courtesy Kevin Wood

Friends, family, and community members gathered on Friday, Dec. 2, to dedicate a lantern to the late Aida Ramonez, a beautiful young girl very dear to the Port Jefferson community. 

The community continues to come together for the Ramonez family, this being the latest example. Mayor Margot Garant shared her sentiments during the ceremony. 

“I see there are many of her classmates out here tonight and know when one family hurts, we all hurt,” Garant said. “We can’t think of a more beautiful thing than celebrating life. Look around you, look at all the people in your life and in this community and be so very grateful for what we have here together.” 

The inscription on Aida’s lantern reads, “In loving memory of Aida Esperanza Ramonez — Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Aida’s grandfather Ramon expressed his gratitude to those who coordinated the service. 

“I want to thank the community of Port Jefferson,” he said. “The love and kindness that we have felt from you. Losing someone so young and so precious has been difficult. But the support of a community like this makes it a lot easier.” 

The Port Jefferson School District and community raised the money for the lantern dedication. Funds raised beyond those necessary for the dedication ceremony will support a scholarship in Aida’s name. 

It’s tradition each year during the lantern dedications that students participate by reading a poem as a part of their curriculum. Students Luca Caltagirone and Blake Weaver eloquently shared the poem “Family is like a Circle” by Nicole M. O’Neil.

“This community is strong, and we’re here to support the Ramonez family still,” Garant said. “Every time we see this beautifully lit lantern, you’ll have a very special place to sit by the harbor and honor her spirit.”

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Lavender & Co.
The SoapBox
Fame and Rebel
Pasta Pasta
Luna Nova
Torte Jeff Pie Co. Photo by Heidi Sutton
Tabu Boutique
Pattern Finders
Sue La La Couture,
Skinmed Spa
Sue La La Couture,
The Spice & Tea Exchange
Tabu Boutique
The Amazing Olive
Participating businesses will have this sign in their window.

By Heidi Sutton

Creativity is in full display in the Village of Port Jefferson as more than 20 businesses take part in a Holiday Window Decorating Contest. Shoppers can vote for their favorite window display at any of the participating businesses or by scanning the QR code on the flyer located outside the store.

Participating businesses include The Amazing Olive, Breathe, Century 21 Icon, Curry Club Saghar, Fedora Lounge, Fetch Doggy Boutique, Fame and Rebel, Lavender and Co., Organically Connected Dispensary and Kombucha Tap Bar, Luna Nova, Pattern Finders, Port Jeff Salt Cave, Pasta Pasta, Pattern Finders, The Spice and Tea Exchange, SkinMed Spa, The SoapBox, Sue La La Couture, Tabu Boutique, Torte Jeff Pie Co., The East End Shirt Company, The Smokin’ Gentleman and WILD Plant Shop. Winners will be announced in the first week of January, 2023.

The festive event is sponsored by the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce. For more information, call 631-473-1414.

Photos by Heidi Sutton

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Graphic from the Port Jefferson Village website

The Village of Port Jefferson Village Board of Trustees met on Monday, Dec. 12, to review several important matters.

Mayor Margot Garant provided some key updates on the status of the stabilization projects at the East Beach bluff. At the toe of the bluff, the lower sea wall has already been installed along with its concrete cap. Construction will continue for several more months.

“That work will continue through the spring,” Garant said. “At some point, they will stop working during the severe winter, and in the springtime they will start to stabilize the bluff and plant and revegetate everything.”

At the upland, the village-owned Port Jefferson Country Club’s clubhouse facility hangs dangerously close to the bluff’s edge. In an exchange during the public comments, Garant stated the board is still exploring its upland options.

“We still don’t have enough information to decide to build [an upper wall], to put it out to the public [for referendum] or to decide to abandon [the clubhouse] and retreat,” she said. “We have decided to wait and let the phase I project be completed. … Right now, we are at a standstill with any major expenditures or advancements on phase II.”

Garant also gave an update on the status of the Port Jefferson Village Clean Solid Waste Landfill, a small kettle hole the village uses for branch and leaf pickup services. Though the village’s permit with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was set to expire on Dec. 11, the mayor said the agency would temporarily allow the village to continue its current use of the site.

“It looks like our paperwork was submitted in a timely manner to allow us to continue operations until we either have a renewed permit or we are redefined as a transfer station and not a landfill,” she said. For more on this intergovernmental permit dispute, see story, “Garbage grief: PJ Village and DEC clash over landfill permit.”

Garant thanked New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) for his decades of representing the Port Jefferson community. Englebright will leave office at the end of the month after narrowly losing last month to Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson) during the midterm election.

The mayor recognized Englebright’s lasting impact, noting “the many, many things that he’s accomplished for this community, locally and also regionally, and the stewardship he has taken in terms of environmental preservation and saving a lot of our history.”

Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden reported on some of the ongoing work within the Port Jefferson Planning Board regarding a proposed development by Conifer Realty located at the intersection of Main and Perry streets. This project, colloquially known as “Conifer II,” comes as Conifer’s Port Jefferson Crossing Apartments nears its grand opening.

Conifer II “is going to take the rest of the blighted block up there and turn it into a beautiful new building,” Snaden said. “We’ve been working very, very hard to make sure that the aesthetic of that building is in compliance with the whole plan, the master plan up there, with the current building that’s there, and everything works together and looks nice.”

The deputy mayor also announced an innovation concerning parking enforcement. An automatic license plate reader, or ALPR, attached to a code enforcement vehicle will soon replace parking enforcement operations. Snaden said the ALPR would assist the code department in generating overtime parking tickets on Main, with plans to move this technology into the metered parking lots.

“How that will affect you guys, the residents, is that there will be no parking stickers next year,” Snaden said. “You will go online and register the exact same way that you do. The only difference is that you will not be mailed an actual sticker. You will just be registered in the system by your license plate.”

Trustee Stan Loucks began his report by thanking the parks department staff, attributing much of the success of the village’s 26th annual Charles Dickens Festival to their efforts.

“The Dickens Festival turned out to be super successful, and I think a lot of it is due to the parks department and the hard work that they put in,” he said.

Trustee Lauren Sheprow, the village’s communications commissioner, reported on the recent formation of a communications team following an internal communications audit she conducted earlier this year. Kevin Wood heads the team, along with his duties as the village’s director of economic development and parking administrator. 

Sheprow referred to this as “a historic occasion” for the village government. “There are some hurdles and challenges there, no doubt, but I think that this group is up to the task to come together as a team,” she said.

The village board will reconvene Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 5 p.m.

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File photo by Elana Glowatz

In a public referendum held Monday, Dec. 12, Port Jefferson School District residents voted down two ballot measures totaling $25 million in school infrastructure improvements.

With nearly 1,000 district residents turning out in wintry weather, just 24 votes would separate the yeas and nays on Proposition 1, a $23.1 million infrastructure package that targeted various facilities throughout the school district. The measure failed by a narrow margin of 498-474. Proposition 2, a $1.9 million proposed artificial turf field at the high school, was defeated 734-239, a roughly 3-1 ratio against the measure.

In an email statement, district superintendent of schools, Jessica Schmettan, offered her commentary on the outcome.

“While the district is disappointed in the results of the Dec. 12 bond vote, we thank all who participated,” she said. “The small margin of defeat of Proposition 1 was particularly upsetting, as the challenges that exist with our aging building infrastructure remain a top concern for the district and, as such, will require further discussion for how best to proceed.”

‘I think it’s very shortsighted by this community.’

— Margot Garant

Mayor Margot Garant, a PJSD alum, publicly supported both measures leading up to the referendum. In an interview, she also expressed disappointment at Monday’s results.

“I don’t think that’s the Port Jeff way to let things get so deteriorated,” she said. “I think [the Board of Education] came up with a doable plan, and it was the time to do it because the community is still being subsidized by the LIPA power plant.”

The mayor added, “The schools are so important to this community. It’s what people look for when they come to live in Port Jeff. It’s one of the pillars that makes this place so special. … Just because you don’t have a child in the district doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be investing in this community.”

Leading up to the election, New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), whose district encompasses Port Jefferson, supported the infrastructure upgrades within Proposition 1. In a phone interview, he referred to Monday’s school election outcome as part of a regional electoral trend and a “reflection of the post-pandemic moment.”

“The escalating cost of food and fuel have put a lot of people on edge,” he said. “I would guess that what we’re seeing is a reflection of the general anxieties about inflation.”

Though Englebright was sorry to learn that the voters defeated the facilities improvements, he was less amenable to the artificial turf proposal. He regarded the potential risks associated with synthetic turf as an unsettled science, with crumb rubber possibly having “some contamination issues,” along with added costs for maintenance and replacement. “It’s a very expensive proposition for those reasons,” he said.

Englebright was not alone in his reservations about the turf proposal. Paul Ryan, a former BOE candidate, was a vocal opponent of Proposition 2 in the months leading up to the vote. In an email statement, Ryan said Proposition 2 likely impacted the outcome of Proposition 1.

“I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that Prop 1 failed to garner enough community support,” he said. “I believe it failed because of the inclusion of Prop 2,” adding, “I suspected that enough of the residents would be upset by the turf that they [would] vote down the whole bond.”

Monday’s negative vote has prompted questions about the long-term prospects of the school district. For Garant, residents have an active stake in maintaining school facilities, which she said closely correspond to property values.

“Your home values are in direct correlation and are so connected to the value of the schools,” she said, adding, “I think it’s very shortsighted by this community. I’m disappointed, and I want to encourage the school board to continue their efforts, go back to the grind and maybe come back again.”

Some have advocated for PJSD to merge with a neighboring district due to its declining student enrollment in recent years. Garant regarded this idea as misguided, maintaining that support for the school district is in the village’s long-term interest.

“The miscommunication that’s going out there is that we can just merge with another district,” she said. “If we did that, our taxes would double immediately. I think that’s what people don’t really understand.”

Englebright noted the important place public schools occupy within the greater community. However, he suggested residents may need to take time for the broader economic trends to settle before taking on additional expenses.

“That school district has a long and distinguished history of service,” the assemblyman said. “People in Port Jefferson are rightly proud of their schools,” but adding, “I think that we have to give it a little time.”

Ryan again took on a different tone, insisting that future referenda within the district will require closer coordination with those supporting these projects financially.

“The administration and BOE need to demonstrate that they are able to hear the residents’ concerns, prioritize only essential infrastructure and take a fiscally responsible approach to spending,” he said. “If they do not, they may find annual budget votes contentious.”

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