The Stony Brook School, a private Christian college-preparatory school just off Route 25A in Stony Brook, applied as of July 12 to the Town of Brookhaven Board of Zoning Appeals for a proposed expansion to add three new buildings to the 55-acre campus.
The boarding and day school’s plan includes the construction of an indoor practice facility, a three-story dormitory building and a three-story STEM building. The school’s original application proposed installing a parking lot from campus near the sports facility with exit points onto Chub Hill Road, Stony Road and Woodbine Avenue, potentially resulting in an uptick in traffic in the neighborhood.
Over a dozen residents turned out at Brookhaven Town Hall Wednesday, Aug. 23, presenting a signed petition, copies of emails and a collection of pictures to the zoning board.
At the meeting, representatives from The Stony Brook School presented the board with an updated plan that slightly altered the soon-to-be-constructed building’s exit points, resulting in lower-grade disruption to the surrounding neighborhood.
Residents of the surrounding neighborhoods have begun an outreach effort opposing the expansion, placing fliers in mailboxes and alerting residents of the incoming project.
In addition to fliers, nearby residents created a petition in opposition to the prep school’s plan. The petition addressed the Town Board and further explained the collective concerns throughout the neighborhood. Over a dozen Stony Brook residents signed the petition.
“My neighbors and I are very concerned this will intrude on the quiet enjoyment of our homes and potentially diminish property values,” said Stony Brook resident James Orlando in an email to members of the ZBA.
“This connection creates a new entrance to the interior of campus, which will bring increased student, parent, sports team and other school-related traffic into our neighborhood,” he added.
“I have contacted local real estate agents who have all said my property value will decrease if these buildings are constructed in what is basically my backyard,” Jenny Lorenzen, a Stony Road resident, said.
Some residents considered the expansion plan a safety hazard and a disruption to the tranquility of their neighborhood, noting the potential for increased traffic congestion and noise, decreasing property values and environmental impact.
Lorenzen and other residents voiced concerns at the zoning meeting, centered around emissions from the facilities as they will be air-conditioned and in use year-round. She is also concerned about other potential environmental impacts, mentioning clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency and road surveys.
As is, the neighborhood boasts narrow roadways that poorly accommodate two-way traffic. In addition, public school buses from the Three Village Central School District cannot enter the area. Instead, children must walk to designated bus stops at Quaker Path, Cedar Street or Christian Avenue.
Following the Aug. 23 meeting, the ZBA adjourned its review of the prep school’s application until Sept. 20.
Runners take off from the starting line on Main Street in Stony Brook Village at last year's race.
Photo from Dan Kerr
Registration underway for SOLES for All Souls Race
By Daniel Kerr
Historic All Souls Church has stood on the hill at the entrance to Stony Brook Village since 1896. Although much has changed in the village since then, the simple beauty of the building and the interior have remained true to Stanford White’s vision.
Interestingly, life expectancy back then in the United States was less than 50 years, and accessibility for the elderly or handicapped was not part of the design. On Sunday, October 1st, the 15th SOLES for All Souls 5K Race/2K Walk will celebrate the role of the National Landmark chapel in the community and raise funds to make it accessible to all.
Episcopal Bishop of Long Island Lawrence Provenzano stated, “Accessibility is an integral part of welcoming everyone in our communities into our parishes and we are proud to support this fantastic event with its goal to make All Souls a place that can truly serve everyone.”
Three of the winners from last year’s race. Photo from Dan Kerr
Herb Mones, an All Souls Church member, and both president of the Three Village Community Trust and Land Use Chair for the Three Village Civic Association,recently observed “SOLES for All Souls is vital to raising the necessary funds for our accessibility project. I am hoping that the entire running and walking community turns out to support our efforts.”
Richard Bronson, MD, former Suffolk County Poet Laureate, remarks, “How many times have I entered All Souls Church, felt its sanctity, marveled at its quiet beauty while listening to recited verse at the Second Saturday Poetry Reading? How can one not wish to participate in the SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk, an event that will raise funds to make this treasure accessible to all…and it is good for one’s health.”
SOLES For All Souls is perhaps the most inclusive race/walk on Long Island.Serious runners compete for gold, bronze, and silver medals in age groups from under 13 to over 80 and receive their hard-won medals in an Olympic-style awards ceremony. Dogs are welcome to accompany their masters and students from Stony Brook University and others often come in costume. Senior citizens with walking sticks line up at the starting line along with parents pushing their kids in strollers.
Looking back on last year’s race, East Patchogue resident and Overall Winner Adam Lindsey commented, “I love the opportunity to run in Stony Brook Village. The hills are the right amount of challenging yet very fun with lovely scenery. All Souls is such an integral part of Stony Brook Village, and it is a joy to run in a race to support them.”
Port Jefferson Station resident Margaret Kennedy shared, “I look forward to this race every year, eager to see familiar faces and the creative costumes. The matched pair of peanut butter and jelly comes to mind. It is the camaraderie and fellowship that keeps us coming back to collect a new color in our t-shirt rainbow. Everyone is welcome, whether running up the challenging hill or walking with a team. This race is truly a labor of love.”
The event is also a food drive for St. Gerard Majella’s food pantry. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine encourages runners and walkers to feed the hungry: “I am proud to support the SOLES for All Souls and I urge everyone to donate to the ‘Lend a Hand, Bring a Can’ food drive. There are so many of our less fortunate neighbors who experience food insecurity and they rely on donations to feed themselves and their families. If we all chip in and do our part, we can help so many people in need and make a real difference in our community.”
Registration for SOLES for All Souls 5K Run/2K Walk is through the ACTIVE.COM website (Search: SOLES for All Souls) or register on Race Day at the Reboli Center for Art & History, 64 Main St., Stony Brook from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.; the race/walk begins at 9 a.m. Complimentary pre and post event stretching will be provided by Progressive Personal Training.Local musician Bill Clark will perform throughout the morning.
Please call 631-655-7798 for more information on the event or if you would like to be a sponsor. Donations dedicated to Handicap Accessibility Project can be mailed to All Souls Race, P.O. Box 548, Stony Brook, NY 11790.
Daniel Kerr is the Director of SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk.
Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano
By Mallie Jane Kim
The Three Village Central School District Board of Education will have only six members this year, as one member resigned due to a career change making participation impossible.
At an Aug. 23 meeting last Wednesday, BOE president Susan Rosenzweig announced the change, explaining that the former board member in question, Jennifer Solomon, would not be replaced during this term. A special election would cost an estimated $25,000 to $30,000, diverting funds allocated to serve the school children, she explained.
“Each of those dollars that we would have to use for something like that is taken out of the pocket of a child, so that didn’t interest any of us in any way,” she said, adding that appointing someone didn’t seem fair.
The chosen option is to do nothing, keeping the board at six trustees as they aren’t concerned about gridlock. “We all work very collegially and collaboratively together,” Rosenzweig added. “We’re not too worried about the even number.”
Last year was Solomon’s first year of a three-year term, but at a board meeting on April 26, she shared that this outcome was a possibility. During that meeting, a board member read an emailed public comment that mentioned rumors a board member planned to resign after the election, and suggested that person should step down before the election instead to allow the community to choose someone in their place.
At the time, Solomon spoke up. “I suspect the author of that letter is referencing me,” she said, and explained the school district she was working for had cut her position, so she was forced to look for employment elsewhere. “Being on the Three Village Board of Education is a role that I care about deeply, and it’s my intention to continue on the board, provided my circumstances allow me to,” Solomon said.
As Rosenzweig shared at last week’s meeting, Solomon “has taken a position that precludes her from continuing her service to the board.”
Five excessed teachers recalled
The administration recalled five of the teachers whose positions were previously eliminated due to budgetary issues, according to Superintendent of Schools Kevin Scanlon, in some cases to keep class sizes low in each of the primary schools.
Teacher contracts require the district to keep the average class size in each grade below a certain number, but individual class sizes can vary within that average.
“We don’t want there to be an imbalance between one school and another school,” Scanlon said.
But the administration had to get creative to find that balance. “In order to get to those numbers, it’s not as if there was a magic pot of money,” he said. “We actually had to make cuts in some areas.”
For example, the administration cut three permanent substitute teacher positions — a year-to-year appointment — to make room in the budget to reinstate one section of second grade at Setauket Elementary as well as to help cover costs for special areas, such as physical education, art, health and music.
Scanlon also mentioned the district’s declining enrollment, a concern that spurred ongoing considerations to reorganize the schools, is still happening — but at a slower pace. He said there are 77 fewer students enrolled this year compared to last year; last year’s decline was 140 students and the year prior was over 200.
A major factor in enrollment fluctuation is families moving in and out of the district. According to district data, there are more families in the district this year compared to last, but fewer kids.
“That’s a very unusual thing to contemplate, but it’s just that the families are having less children,” the district superintendent noted. “A family used to have three or four children. They’re now having maybe one or two children.”
Doctors warn against swimming in brackish water and advise wearing protective gear when handling raw shellfish, among other safety measures to guard against vibrio vulnificus. Photo from CDC
In mid-August, Suffolk County recorded its first death in seven years from vibrio vulnificus, often referred to as “flesh-eating bacteria.”
A man over the age of 55 who had underlying health conditions was admitted to a local hospital with a leg wound and chest pain in July. He died the following month due to a bacterial infection.
Dr. Susan Donelan, medical director of health care epidemiology at Stony Brook Medicine. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine/Jeanne Neville
“People that are at risk should be more aware” of an infection they can get from raw shellfish or brackish water, said Dr. Susan Donelan, medical director of health care epidemiology at Stony Brook Medicine. That includes people who have liver disease, poorly controlled diabetes, are considered immune suppressed because of a condition or are taking medication that can cause immune suppression.
At the same time, Connecticut reported that three people died from contracting the potentially deadly bacteria. Two of them died from wound infections, the third contracting the bacteria from handling raw oysters.
To be sure, most people are not vulnerable to contracting the disease or from its effects.
“The general public is not at an increased risk,” said Donelan. “In most cases, [infections] are mild or moderate.”
Those who might be vulnerable to vibrio can avoid it by not handling or eating raw or undercooked shellfish, staying away from shellfish juices, covering up wounds or not swimming in brackish waters.
People can shuck shellfish with gloves to minimize any injuries to their hands and can wash their hands before and after coming in contact with raw shellfish.
“Some people like putting raw oyster juice into different drinks,” Donelan said. “You want to avoid doing that.”
Area doctors and health officials urged people with wounds — which could include cuts, new body piercings or tattoos — to avoid swimming in brackish or salt water.
“The bacteria thrives in brackish water, where fresh water meets ocean water,” Dr. Gregson Pigott, Suffolk County health commissioner, said in an email. “It would be best to avoid those waters if you have an open wound or a chronic health condition.”
Donelan also suggested that people who go in the water with such wounds cover them up with a waterproof bandage.
Symptoms
People who contract vibrio typically develop a host of symptoms.
These can include “diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting,” Pigott explained.
Dr. Gregson Pigott, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. File photo
Symptoms from consuming raw shellfish can start within 24 hours of a meal. A person exposedthrough their skin can develop a blistering skin or soft tissue infection.
Pigott urged residents to seek help for gastrointestinal symptoms or a worsening skin infection.
Those who are unable to drink enough fluids to counterbalance the losses through the gastrointestinal tract could become dehydrated, doctors warned.
Lightheadedness and hypotensive appearances can be a warning sign that residents should seek medical help.
Wounds may become red, hot and tender with streaky marks leading away from them. These are “all concerning things” that might signal an infection, Donelan said.
People generally know how quickly cuts heal. A cut that gets visibly worse quickly, which could include blistering of the skin with a bolus that looks like murky fluid or blood beneath it should be “very concerning signs,” Donelan added.
Knowing that the bacteria is present in Long Island Sound and being aware of it could help people prevent exposure or react early to an infection.
This summer, area hospitals have not reported an unusual number of infections, according to Donelan.
Doctors said the bacteria typically lives in waters between 50 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, which means that the longer the waters remain warm amid a hot summer and warming climate, the more likely the bacteria will be prevalent in waters around the Island.
Illness and travel
At this time of year, residents return from their seasonal travels. They sometimes bring unwanted microorganisms such as viruses or bacteria with them.
Health care professionals urged residents to notify their doctors about their travels prior to getting sick, so doctors can get an idea of where and how they might have contracted an illness.
When people return from cruises, plane trips or other travel, they should “help the emergency departments become aware of where they’ve been,” Donelan said.
A Long Island Rail Road train arrives at Stony Brook train station during rush hour. Photo by ComplexRational from Wikimedia Commons
By Samantha Rutt
The Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning recently released a survey asking respondents to share their thoughts and opinions on the potential modernization of the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road.
“Community input underpins all aspects of our approach to economic development in Suffolk County,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) in a statement. “We look forward to hearing from all stakeholders on the opportunities presented by modernization to allow for a single-seat ride from Port Jefferson to both Grand Central and Penn Station for our communities along the North Shore.”
The survey asks questions regarding the frequency of public transportation and LIRR ridership, the purpose of railway trips, specific and preferred branch use, among other questions.
Currently, the North Shore line offers limited direct train service to Penn Station with no direct service to Grand Central Madison. The decades-old proposal to modernize the line calls for electrification, double tracking and other rail yard improvements and modifications.
If the project were approved, the Port Jefferson Branch could provide faster and more direct service options to Manhattan and more frequent service overall.
Electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch was originally planned in the 1980s but stalled as the Ronkonkoma Branch took precedence. Critics and transit analysts regard the existing dual-mode diesel service as unreliable, inconsistent and environmentally hazardous. [See story, “Port Jeff Branch riders face potentially decades more electrification woes,” Feb. 9, 2023, TBR News Media website.]
“It is vitally important that we electrify the Port Jefferson Branch to protect our environment from the polluting diesel trains, enhance service for our residents and create jobs for our hardworking men and women of union labor,” New York State Sen. Mario Mattera (R-St. James) said. “Our residents and our workers deserve to benefit from the funding provided to the MTA.”
A key objective of the electrification initiative is to mitigate the need for transfer services for those traveling to New York City. By eliminating transfer services, advocates for the project aim to increase ridership while promoting further development around each LIRR station.
Updates could alleviate vehicular traffic congestion across the Island, according to New York State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk), as commuters who regularly travel to alternate lines would have more local transit options.
Electrification would “alleviate traffic congestion, foster economic development and will help to achieve our climate goals,” the state senator said. “Clean, reliable and expanded transportation services are essential to meet Long Island’s growing population.”
The survey received nearly 2,500 responses in its opening week, according to the Department of Economic Development and Planning statement. Bellone encouraged all North Shore residents to complete the questionnaire, which takes an average of 5-10 minutes.
“I encourage everyone, including residents, businesses and students on the North Shore, to take the survey and demonstrate how important the modernization of the Port Jefferson Branch is to Suffolk County,” Bellone said.
Former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright begins his Aug. 18 talk on Joe Reboli’s paintings. Photo by Beverly C. Tyler
By Beverly C. Tyler
At the Reboli Center in Stony Brook on Friday evening, Aug. 18, former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) presented a love letter to Long Island and its people through the landscape paintings of Joe Reboli.
Englebright, a geologist also running against Anthony Figliola (R-East Setauket) for Suffolk County’s 5th Legislative District, opened for each of us who attended a new, personal and intimate view of Reboli’s paintings.
In his opening comments, Englebright touched on the importance of Reboli’s work as a local artist.
“Joe Reboli speaks directly to us through his paintings, through his art,” Englebright said. “Joe also speaks now and forever to all who would live here in our community. I believe that open space is the beginning of our story. It’s what attracted the first colonists here, and … I believe that Joe’s paintings suggest that open space should continuously be an important part of our story.”
Englebright noted that he was initially surprised and then intrigued by Reboli’s detail in painting the most ordinary features of nature, including rocks and mud, in how they form and react to the forces of wind and waves.
The first and largest painting was described thus:
“It is likely the Montauk Till — I call it an ice contact deposit — which means that the upper third of the painting is the till that was dropped directly, melted directly, out of the ice, and it included all of the different grain sizes — everything from clay to silt to sand to pebbles to cobble to boulders — that range of that spectrum of different grain sizes is all contained inside of that pumpkin-colored fill,” the former state assemblyman elaborated. “But when the waves break on it, they take away the small stuff, and we have a lag deposit of the boulders and cobbles.”
Englebright also noted the simple beauty and the importance of what Reboli included in his works. “Joe’s paintings speak to us regarding our exquisite coastal heritage,” he said. “Each of his natural images is a journey into nature’s splendor.”
Describing the middle painting, Englebright added, “This is quite amazing. It is a remarkable painting. Avalon is lovingly cared for, and Joe painted this before Avalon was there. They are either red oak or chestnut oak.”
Englebright described the third painting as “the convergence of a manmade feature and a natural feature. The pushed-down fence invites you into the natural world.”
With a series of slides of Reboli’s paintings, Englebright noted how Reboli placed fences, gates, chairs and even old rusting gas pumps into his images of the natural world. Sometimes, they were items that we could imagine belonged in an area of human habitation. In others, such as the images of rusting gas pumps juxtaposed in the foreground of a beach scene, Englebright suggested Reboli illustrated the permanence of the natural world over manufactured objects.
Noting that “respect for this place is infused into Joe’s paintings,” a few of Englebright’s thoughts show Reboli’s love of Long Island. “With the body of his work, Joe Reboli’s Long Island is imaginative, inviting, and I ask the question: Is he not Long Island’s most imaginative storyteller through his paintings?”
Englebright concluded, “Many of Joe Reboli’s paintings have become iconic images representing our sense of place. Joe’s paintings have defined what it means to be a Long Islander. Joe Reboli’s paintings enable us to focus upon the beauty of our community’s natural wonders. Joe’s body of work is breathtaking in its expanse and its beauty,” adding, “Joe painted sites and landscapes that should be saved for all time.”
Beverly C. Tyler is a Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the society at 93 North Country Road, Setauket. For more information, call 631-751-3730.
Andrew Young is in a similar place to the one he was in when he first met his wife Lynne over two decades ago: spending time on the water.
This time, however, instead of living aboard a 72-foot sailboat in San Diego, Young is shifting back and forth from his new home in Setauket to a motor boat, fully equipped to form a floating office, in the Setauket harbor.
Above, Andrew Young demonstrates where a cylindrical device for drug delivery could be implanted. Photo by Daniel Dunaief
In the time between his stints aboard ships, Young, who is a native of Taranaki, New Zealand, has conducted research on gut hormones, making the kinds of discoveries that helped lead to diabetes treatments and weight loss treatments such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
When the couple first started dating in 2001, Young was working at a company called Amylin, which was named after a hormone.
For years, no one knew exactly what the hormone did. Numerous scientists believed amylin worked in opposition to the pancreatic hormone insulin, which controls glucose levels in the blood and, when absent, leads to diabetes.
Young’s job was to solve the riddle of amylin. Coming from the beta cells of the pancreas, which are the same cells that produce insulin and that responded to the same stimuli, he suspected it was involved in metabolic control, but “we got it totally wrong for about four years,” he said.
Young helped discover that amylin and insulin weren’t working in opposition: they were functioning on opposite ends towards the same goal.
Insulin accelerates the exit of glucose from the blood, while amylin slowed the entry of glucose into the blood. Amylin works on gastric emptying and suppresses appetite. The “clever little beta cell was doing two jobs,” Young said.
Adding in the second hormone made it easier to control glucose in the blood, without big ups and downs in sugar levels.
Replacing amylin meant the body needed about 30 to 50 percent of the amount of insulin the body might otherwise need. People who take insulin alone to treat diabetes require more insulin than the body usually produces.
“It’s an orchestra of hormones that get the job done,” Young said.
That’s especially true for hormones produced in the digestive tract The discovery of the physiology of amylin made the scientific and pharmaceutical world aware of the importance of the gut in metabolic control. For most pharmaceutical companies, the lesson began with Glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, which has led to Wegovy and Ozempic.
Amylin and GLP-1 were both used for diabetes. Amylin analogs haven’t been approved for weight loss, but Young expects they will be. “The amylin story was kind of neat,” he said. “It focused our minds on the gut. GLP-1 was the next one of these gut hormones.”
A revelation on a poster
While pharmaceutical companies saw the potential benefit of stimulating GLP1, which triggered the release of insulin, they couldn’t create a drug that had an effect that lasted long enough to make a difference.
The body makes GLP1 at about the same rate as it breaks it down, which means controlling blood sugar and appetite by altering GLP-1 was difficult. “You could get a decent anti-diabetic effect if you infused it continuously,” Young explained, as the half life of endogenous GLP-1 is about five minutes.
Young attended a poster session at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco, California in 1996.
Looking at a poster from Dr. John Eng, who works at the Bronx Veterans Administration Medical Center, Young thought he saw a solution in the form of a hormone from the reptilian Gila monster.
Eng demonstrated that the hormone, which he called exendin-4 and which he studied with his own money, stayed in diabetic mice for 24 hours. Young thought this might lead to the development of a diabetes drug.
As he was reading the poster, Young realized he was standing next to someone who worked at competitor Eli Lilly.
“I thought he had figured it out as well” and that they were in a race to understand exendin-4, Young added.
Young arranged for the staff at Amylin to buy what they could of this compound and to make some of it in house as well. The company quickly performed numerous experiments in a short period of time, even before Eng arrived in San Diego.
Eng gave a seminar about what he knew about the molecule. Young then stood up and talked about what Amylin had since learned about it.
Eng was “dumbstruck, but he realized at that stage that we were the people he should partner with,” Young added.
The hormone amylin and exendin-4 had many of the same effects, including inhibiting gastric emptying. They did, however, have opposite effects on other actions. Exendin stimulated insulin secretion, while amylin inhibited it.
Better than an injection
Young has continued to work for six companies in scientific leadership roles. Amid the financial crisis of 2008, Young went to work in North Carolina for GlaxoSmithKline, which is now called GSK.
In 2015, Young co-founded Phoundry Pharmaceuticals with five other former GSK coworkers. Phoundry attracted the attention of Intarcia Therapeutics. Using an invention by Alza Corp and licensed to Intarcia, the company developed a thin, implantable cylindrical device that could push as much as 160 micro liters of drugs out over six months.
In looking for a treatment for its drug delivery system, Intarcia chose Phoundry.
“The limited volume of such a small implanted pump required very potent medicines,” Young said. “Phoundry’s competitive advantage was the knowledge of how to engineer in such potency.”
After the purchase of Phoundry in 2015, Young became Chief Scientific Officer at Intarcia. The FDA, however, rejected the use of exendin from Intarcia. Through an extended appeals process, the FDA is planning to allow one final discussion about the delivery of exendin through Intarcia’s device on September 21st.
The current version of the device lasts for at least three and six months in the body. The same device could be used to deliver other medicines. The pumps have been engineered with a failsafe system that disables its osmotic engine in the event of malfunction, so the drug is not released.
The device could deliver drugs for many chronic conditions, such as hypertension and osteoporosis and is intended for frequent administration of the same drug.
Not only a scientist
As for his work in the early stages of understanding hormones that have led to drugs that are now widely used to treat diabetes and obesity, Young is pleased with his contribution.
“Obesity is probably the most deadly disease on the planet, given its high and increasing prevalence and the cardiovascular risk factors that spring from it,” Young explained.
Novo Nortis recently announced that treating obesity alone, without any diabetes, reduces the risk of death.
Young himself is taking one of these drugs and has lost 36 pounds over six months.
Part of a process that has led to six approved products, he is working as a consultant for several companies, and believes he still has more to give. “I intend to keep doing it,” he said. “I’ve got at least one more” down the road.
Given the long drug development process, he hopes to help move one or more pieces ahead.
As for his oceanic surroundings, Young didn’t exactly sweep his future wife off her feet when they met. “He invited me on his boat for dinner,” Lynne recalls. “He was outside the marina and he had on this sweater that was dirty and oversized.”
Young suggested they have soup for dinner and proceeded to pull out a can of Campbell’s tomato soup.
She knew Young, however, was “probably the guy when I walked on the boat and he said, ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’” Other men had suggested an alcoholic drink.
Lynne, who is an attorney, also appreciated his collection of books.
The Youngs chose Setauket because they had cast a wide net, looking for a home on the water somewhere between the Canadian border and North Carolina.
“This was it,” said Lynne, who is thrilled with the extensive art community in the area.
Many readers may have either had the disease, know someone who’s had it or tragically know a man who’s lost his life to it. Having touched all three of those bases, I’d like to address this subject from a personal standpoint.
For me, it began with the insistence of my “old school family doctor” and friend to begin carefully monitoring an incrementally rising, but not especially high, PSA score. “Dr. John” felt it was important to establish a “baseline” number and then watch for increases based on the percentage of any jumps.
After almost a decade of “watching,” John recommended I see a urologist, who urged having a biopsy done. That’s when the idea of having cancer in my early 50s suddenly became a real possibility. How could that be when I had no overt symptoms? I went for the test, and another one a few years later. Both came back showing nothing growing. The third time, however, was not a charm.
Plans needed to be made going forward. My wife and I carefully studied all the treatment options and chose laparoscopic surgery, to be done at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital in New York City.
When everything was confirmed we sat down with our children to go over the arrangements. It was a tough conversation, but she and I had confidence in my terrific surgeon and our decision. The operation was a complete success followed by a full recovery.
Having read articles on the possibility of this type of cancer running in some families, I brought male cousins into the loop. The emphasis was on following PSA results with a focus on the percentage of increase from previous scores. Shortly thereafter, two were diagnosed and very successfully treated for the disease.
A stunning, heartbreaking, little known statistic regarding this oft-times silent killer is how it has an especially outsized, negative impact on African Americans, who die at about two times the rate of their white peers.
Given advancements in testing, diagnosis and treatment, this disease is beatable. Have frank conversations with your wives, loved ones, doctors and men you’ve known who’ve had prostate cancer. If you’re a Black man, you need to be especially vigilant.
The trick is to not let this illness get too far ahead of you. Be proactive! September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. All men should take it seriously and personally.
Jim Soviero
East Setauket
Electrification survey a likely dud
The online survey being conducted by the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning to understand the extent of public support for electrification of Long Island Rail Road’s Port Jefferson Branch is nothing new.
It is available on the Village of Port Jefferson website. The idea has been periodically advocated since the 1960s by generations of elected officials with no success. In 1970, electrification was extended from Mineola to Huntington. In the 1980s, discussions took place between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, LIRR, Suffolk County and elected officials over which branch should be electrified first.
The Ronkonkoma Branch was selected over the Port Jefferson Branch. It took 35 years before completion of full double track-electrification between Hicksville and Ronkonkoma. The estimated cost to extend electrification east beyond Huntington today is $3.6 billion. This will increase over time.
Billions are necessary to pay for planning, design and engineering, environmental review, land acquisition for construction of power substations, expansion of commuter parking, relocation and/or consolidation of existing stations, new stations and platforms, new electric multiple-unit car storage yard, double tracking, third rail, signals and construction management.
From start to finish could require 15-20 years. For the project to proceed, it must be included within the MTA’s upcoming 2025-2044 Needs Assessment plan, due to be released in October.
To pay for future construction, the project would require a Federal Transit Administration Full Funding Grant Agreement under the national competitive discretionary Capital Investments Grant Core Capacity New Starts program. It would have to be matched by $2 billion or more of local MTA sources.
Even if the project is given a green light, based upon my past experiences on other FTA-MTA-LIRR projects, Port Jefferson Branch electrification will not be completed until 2040 or later.
Supporters should lobby Gov. Kathy Hochul [D], MTA Chairman Janno Lieber and LIRR President Catherine Rinaldi if you ever want to see this project get underway within your lifetime.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
Beyond nuclear deterrence
Joseph Levine’s letter [“Context for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Aug. 24] suggests that mutual assured destruction, or nuclear deterrence, will keep superpowers from launching preemptive nuclear strikes because of the prospect of devastating retaliation. This view reflects current U.S. policy and is held by many thoughtful persons, but there is a risk associated with this policy that deserves discussion.
The technological complexity of the current system of command and control of thousands of nuclear weapons on high alert capable of being launched within minutes leaves us vulnerable to disaster. A history of close calls involving accidents, computer failure, false alarms and human misjudgment shows the system is vulnerable and that its failure could lead to an accidental nuclear war.
In a world without nuclear weapons our nation, possessing overwhelming military superiority, could not be held at risk by an impoverished North Korea led by a dictator. The U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has not been signed by the U.S. and other nations that possess nuclear weapons, but it is a step in the right direction toward a safer world.
Lester Paldy
South Setauket
Editor’s note: The writer is a distinguished service professor emeritus at Stony Brook University and a former Marine officer, who served as a member of the U.S. nuclear weapon negotiating delegations with the Soviet Union in Geneva, Switzerland, and at the U.N
WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL
We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation. Scan the QR code above or email letters to [email protected] or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733
Sundown on the Bluffs, Kings Park Bluffs, Kings Park
New York State is preparing to distribute $4.2 billion to communities statewide, and Long Islanders must begin to make an aggressive push for that money.
Voters statewide approved the 2022 Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act by a more than 2:1 margin. Here in Suffolk County, our residents approved the referendum 64-36%.
During a listening tour event on Thursday, Aug. 24, state officials outlined their plans for dispersing the funds. Qualifying projects include flood mitigation, marshland restoration, stormwater infrastructure, farmland protection, open space preservation and much more.
Here in Suffolk County, we are experiencing all of these issues.
Vulnerable waterfront properties along the North Shore are increasingly at risk from harmful erosion at our bluffs. Low-lying areas are at ever-greater risk of flooding, compounded by more frequent and intense precipitation events and outdated stormwater infrastructure.
Too often, commercial corridors are developed with little or no community giveback. Consequently, communities along major state routes — such as 25 and 347 — are suffocated by overcommercialized lots with limited access to parks or recreation space.
Meanwhile, the few remaining farmlands and open spaces are in constant danger of deforestation, development and displacement.
This $4.2 billion state bond package represents a much-needed pool of cash that can help offset these regional trends. And while the state has committed to directing 35-40% of the pot to disadvantaged communities, competition for the remaining chunk of the pie will be even fiercer.
Residents and officials across Long Island have grown increasingly frustrated and alienated by our state government in Albany. Getting our hands on some of these funds could begin the path toward reconciliation.
Throughout the Aug. 24 meeting, the state officials present emphasized the collection of public input as a necessary component for identifying new projects. That is why we must all take the time to scan the code above and share the climate challenges we face. The survey remains open until Sept. 13.
Whether our particular hamlet or village is experiencing worsening flooding, heightened coastal erosion, limited open space or any other environmental hardship, we must take the time to alert the state and request funding.
The potential to tap into $4.2 billion doesn’t come around often. This money represents a generational opportunity to remediate some longstanding issues and counteract our regional decline. We cannot afford to squander this moment.
Let’s scan this code and share the extent of our challenges here at home. Let’s scan the code and tell our state government how desperately our community cares about and needs this funding.
Let’s all scan this code because our community’s future welfare and prosperity depend on how we act today. From the North Shore to Albany, may the voices of our people ring loudly.
Robin Wilson induction ceremony. Photo from LIMEHOF
Robin Wilson induction ceremony. Photo from LIMEHOF
Robin Wilson induction ceremony. Photo from LIMEHOF
Robin Wilson induction ceremony. Photo from LIMEHOF
Robin Wilson induction ceremony. Photo from LIMEHOF
Valley Stream resident and Gin Blossoms’ lead singer and guitarist Robin Wilson was recently inducted into the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) at their new Stony Brook museum location.
“There are so many great musicians that are a part of this Hall of Fame and I’m thrilled to be a part of it,” Wilson said. “People like Joan Jett, Blue Oyster Cult, Billy Joel and the Stray Cats and Zebra and Twisted Sister so to be part of the same Hall of Fame as all of these great artists just means the world to me, I’m really proud to be inducted.”
Robin Wilson is the singer/songwriter/guitarist for the multi-platinum album selling and Grammy nominated band Gin Blossoms and guest lead singer for The Smithereens. Wilson is the voice powering FM radio staples ‘Til I Hear It from You’, ‘Until I Fall Away’, ‘Hey Jealousy’, ‘Follow You Down’, ‘As Long As It Matters’, Allison Road’ and many more.
A longtime resident of Valley Stream, Robin is very involved in community activities and events. He has done several benefit concerts for the Valley Stream School District PTA and has hosted – on his front lawn- neighborhood live streamed concerts featuring a mix of local young musicians along with established performers such as Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, Graham Maby of the Joe Jackson Band and Willie Nile.
When the late Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens passed away in 2017, Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros invited Robin and Marshall Crenshaw to perform with the band moving forward as alternating guest lead singers.
“Robin Wilson’s vocals and many of his songs have powered Gin Blossoms to remain being one of the most important and iconic American bands to come out of the creative diverse and influential 1990’s music scene,” said Norm Prusslin, LIMEHOF Co-founder when introducing Robin on stage during the induction. “Gin Blossoms are only one of a handful of successful bands from that period that have remained relevant 20 plus years on.”
Jim Babjak, Guitarist for the Smithereens spoke to officially induct Robin. On stage, Babjak recounted a story how they first met Robin in 1988 when the Smithereens were touring in Arizona and met him when he was 21 years old working at a local record store.
Gray Wilson, Robin’s son also spoke crediting his father with his own interest in music saying he wants to be a musician like Robin, but he’ll be able to play all the instruments.
After the induction ceremony, Wilson was joined on stage first by his son Gray and percussionist Ryan Wall to rock out an acoustic set of several Gin Blossoms classics. After that Jim Babjak (Guitarist, The Smithereens), Dennis Diken (Drums, The Smithereens), Graham Maby (Bass, The Joe Jackson Band) took the stage along with Robin to perform several Smithereen hits.
There was a large turn-out of local music fans and LIMEHOF inductee Albert Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult) was also in attendance to show his support.
“I am so honored to be in this organization,” Bouchard said. “People say it’s such a sin that Blue Oyster Cult isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I don’t give a damn about that! This is the real deal right here. I mean an organization with John Coltrain, Lewis Armstrong, Run DMC, Billy Joel… all these great people not just rock but everything and that’s what I’m into, not just Rock I like all kinds of music…classical, jazz, even country and rap… I like it all.”
To date LIMEHOF has inducted over 120 musicians from a range of music genres from across Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn and Queens (which LIMEHOF considers geographic Long Island). This latest induction marks the fourth in the new LIMEHOF museum location since it opened last fall. The new building offers LIMEHOF more flexibility in scheduling to induct new artists throughout the year. Wayne Robins, Roger Earl and The Fat Boys were all officially inducted at that location since it opened. LIMEHOF plans to induct and honor new artists including in the entertainment field including actors, comedians and more.
During a listening tour event on Thursday, Aug. 24, state officials outlined their plans for dispersing the funds. Qualifying projects include flood mitigation, marshland restoration, stormwater infrastructure, farmland protection, open space preservation and much more.
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