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Village Times Herald

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Lee Koppelman

Lee Koppelman, 94, of South Setauket, died on March 21 at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Born in Harlem, New York, May 19, 1927, Koppelman served as the first Suffolk County regional planning board director for 28 years and also served as a regional planner for Suffolk and Nassau counties for 41 years. He was an early advocate for the preservation of open space and was responsible for drawing up Suffolk’s first comprehensive master plan in 1970.

Koppelman was a professor emeritus at Stony Brook University where he taught until last semester, according to his son Keith, and was the director of the Center for Regional Policy Studies at the school. A parcel of land on the Stony Brook campus is named after him. He was also chairman emeritus of the Town of Brookhaven Open Space and Farmland Acquisition Advisory Committee. 

Koppelman is survived by his four children Lesli, Claudia, Laurel and Keith; and three grandchildren Ezra, Ora and Dara.

A funeral will be held Thursday, March 24, at Shalom Memorial Chapels in Smithtown at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hadassah or Doctors Connie and Lee Koppelman Endowed Fellowship Fund in Political Science through the Stony Brook Foundation.

Look for an extended article on Koppelman’s life in an upcoming edition of The Village Times Herald.

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Photo from NYPD social media

Nearly two weeks after the New York City Police Department began the search to find who shoved a revered 87-year-old Broadway singing coach, leading to her death, a woman formerly from Port Jefferson turned herself in to police.

According to NYPD, Lauren Pazienza, 26, turned herself in March 22 and was charged with manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault. Some media outlets have reported that Pazienza now lives in Astoria with her fiancé.

On March 10, New York City police received a report that at approximately 8:25 p.m. an individual approached 87-year-old Barbara Gustern from behind and allegedly pushed the victim. The incident happened in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.

The fall caused Gustern to hit her head, and Pazienza allegedly fled westbound, according to the NYPD. EMS responded to the scene and transported the victim to a hospital.

Gustern, who also coached Blondie singer Debbie Harry, died of her injuries on March 15. According to The New York Times, Gustern was able to give a description of her assailant before her death.

Pazienza’s social media presence included being listed as a communications and events coordinator for French furniture company Roche Bobois on LinkedIn.

A representative from Roche Bobois said she resigned from the company in December of 2021.

She used Zola.com for her wedding website and registry with her nuptials scheduled for June. Both her LinkedIn account and wedding information have been taken down.

Her attorney, Arthur Aidala of Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins of New York, said, “We are pleased that the court granted bail to Ms. Pazienza and we expect her to be released in the coming days. We anxiously await the production of the discovery material by the District Attorney’s Office. The Pazienza family joins the rest of the city in grieving the loss of Barbara Gustern.” 

Pazienza, who is a 2013 graduate of Ward Melville High School, is due back in court March 25.

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Heather Lynch Photo courtesy of Rolf Sjogren/ National Geographic

By Daniel Dunaief

To borrow from the Pink song in the movie Happy Feet, the Pew Trusts for Marine Conservation recently delivered “something good” to Stony Brook University’s Heather Lynch. 

Endowed chair for ecology and evolution at Stony Brook University’s Institute for Advanced Computational Science, Lynch was selected as one of six Pew Fellows in Marine Conservation.

Lynch, who uses a host of tools including physics and satellite imagery to study penguin populations in Antarctica and associated island groups including in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, is one of six international recipients of the 2022 fellowship, which includes $150,000 over three years, and is a mid-career prize.

Lynch plans to use the funds to chronicle species health in the macaroni and king penguin and forecast risks to Antarctica’s penguin populations.

Lynch’s work is “really important,” said Claire Christian, Executive Director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), who nominated Lynch for the fellowship. Lynch provides the kind of information “we need to make effective decisions about protecting Antarctica.”

Christian, who has known Lynch for about five years, said Lynch’s consistent commitment helps “provide a broader picture of what’s happening down there over a longer time frame.”

Christian is particularly pleased that Lynch’s work in the Antarctic brings necessary attention to the region, even though “it’s far away at the end of the world,” she said. “People understand that [the Antarctic] is worth investing time and resources into studying.”

The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation provides recipients with an opportunity to interact with other winners and alumni. This year, the Pew Trust received over 50 nominees.

Past honorees at Stony Brook University include Endowed Professor of Ocean Conservation Sciences at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Ellen Pikitch and Endowed Research Chair for Nature and Humanity Carl Safina.

Jane Lubchenco, who won a Pew Fellowship in marine conservation in the 1992, was the first woman to lead the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and is the current Deputy Director for Climate and Environment in the White House.

Rebecca Goldburg, Director of Environmental Sciences at the Pew Charitable Trusts, appreciates the mixture of high-level research Lynch produces and the application of her discoveries to conservation and added that Lynch has “outstanding scientific achievement that is well-integrated into decision making.”

Climate change

While researchers haven’t broadly chronicled the movement of macaroni penguins into the Antarctic, Lynch anticipates that climate change would draw them into the Antarctic.

“My hope is that a focus on macaroni penguin census data will illuminate their trends,” she explained in an email.

King penguins, meanwhile, have recently arrived in the Antarctic. The presence of king penguins would represent a turning point for Lynch, as they would suggest that the Antarctic is starting to show ecological similarities with the sub-Antarctic.

King penguins have attempted to breed on Elephant Island, which is about 800 miles from their typical habitat in South Georgia. While this species of penguin has traveled this distance in prior years, their decision to settle and try to raise chicks, which they haven’t successfully done, is “new and ecologically interesting,” Lynch explained.

Lynch suggested such a geographic expansion is rare because these birds are long-lived and an established pair will breed in the same location for years. Even in young individuals traveling to new territories, the rate of range shift is slow and hard to track.

“The movement of king penguins into Antarctica is exactly what would have been predicted and so it is an exciting (if, from a climate perspective, disturbing) time to be watching this all unfold,” she said.

King penguins can form large colonies, which could, over the course of a longer period of time, create competition for space with chinstraps. Lynch suggested that the region could be in the early days of an ecologically important event.

Where’s Waldo?

As for macaroni penguins, whose stories about how they got their name include one involving a sailor slang for men who dressed in bright colors, they have frequently been the “Where’s Waldo?” of what Lynch does, she said, as she encounters them by chance in a colony of another species.

She is pulling together several decades of offhand notes about her findings on macaronis to track them systematically. She believes collecting information about populations of macaroni and king penguins in Antarctica is going to be informative.

In analyzing penguin populations across species, Lynch plans to take the kind of approach portfolio managers apply when they consider where to focus their attention.

A mutual fund manager with a large percentage of the value of the fund linked to changes in the stock price of Apple would likely track the earnings of the company and its share price more closely than stocks in which she has smaller holdings or whose values don’t fluctuate much.

For penguins, Lynch suggested that scientists and conservationists may “need to understand those colonies, and there may not be that many, that contain a large percentage of the world’s population,” she said.

For a long time, researchers have focused on colonies that were easier to study because they were small and close by. “I don’t think we can justify that approach anymore,” Lynch said.

Picking penguin spots

Goldburg appreciates Lynch’s framework for penguin conservation.

Lynch will address the “key penguin colonies,” some of which are contributing disproportionately to the risk of penguin declines, Goldburg said. This approach will enable conservationists to monitor important sites because they “can’t do everything.” 

Understanding penguin populations goes beyond a simple rule that more of any population is necessarily better. Major increases or decreases should be cause for concern because they reflect shifts in the functioning of the ecosystem, she explained.

Christian is confident the work Lynch does will provide policy makers with key information.

“Her work is really important and it deserves to have a lot of visibility and funding,” Christian said. “Without understanding what’s happening to species that are living down there, we can’t” design effective strategies to protect them and their ecosystems.

Lynch provides the kind of information necessary to “make effective decisions about protecting Antarctica,” Christian added.

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Luxury retail stores, such as the one shown above, have been targeted by ORC rings. Photo from Pixabay.

Organized retail crime, a nationwide retail theft phenomenon, has reached Suffolk County.

Last week, four individuals from Newark, New Jersey, were arrested by the Suffolk County Police Department for their alleged involvement in an ORC ring that stole $94,000 worth of luxury handbags from a Balenciaga store in East Hampton on March 3. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney (R) held a press conference shortly after the arrests were made, announcing that those responsible for the theft will be prosecuted.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney (R), above, addressed the recent spike of organized retail crime in the area. Photo from Tierney’s office.

“The individuals in East Hampton, they stole $94,000 worth of bags and they were going to sell that on the secondary market, and they were going to make tens of thousands of dollars in profit,” Tierney said. “The purpose of last week’s press conference was to let people know we are paying attention and we are going to address it because, ultimately, the people who bear the costs of that theft are the consumers, the citizens of Suffolk County who have to pay increased prices for everything.”

ORC refers to the coordinated shoplifting carried out by professional theft rings. According to Tierney, there are stark differences between ORC and ordinary shoplifting.

“We’re trying to separate retail theft from these organized retail theft rings,” he said. “While we’re taking all retail thefts seriously, we want to put special emphasis on the organized retail theft rings, where individuals come in and they’re en masse stealing large amounts of merchandise with the specific purpose of reselling it on the secondary market for profit.”

Gus Downing is publisher and editor of The D&D Daily, an online publication that follows retail trends and raises public awareness for these issues. According to him, ORC has proliferated in recent years due to the rise of the online resale marketplace.

“Organized retail crime has been around a long time, but the internet and third-party selling online is really what took this into the stratosphere,” he said in a phone interview. “When you look at the internet and third-party sellers, and then you tack on the opioid epidemic and the cartels flooding the United States with fentanyl, and then you tack on the surge in crime generically, you’ve got a heck of a problem that is spiraling out of control.”

Downing said that a considerable proportion of mainstream opioid users require a revenue stream to finance their habit. According to him, ORC and drugs are inextricably linked together.

“It’s really all about drugs,” he said. “That’s what drives a person into a store to steal. They have to get the money, and what’s the easiest place to get it when you have millions of people online that would love a deal?”

Tierney has not yet noticed a connection between ORC and drugs in the area. According to him, large returns appear to be motivating the spike in ORC-related incidents throughout the county.

“There’s the sector of the population that are addicted to drugs — they might have mental health issues, and in a sort of ad hoc, unorganized manner they steal things for subsistence and whatever meager money they make goes to drugs or they’re stealing for food,” he said, adding, “Those people from the organized rings, I don’t see drugs and drug addiction being a factor in that. I see it being a profit margin.”

“Those organized gangs, they prey on the most vulnerable people in our society.”

— Barbara Staib, director of development and communications at The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention

Shoplifting education

The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention, based in Huntington Station, is an organization that works to curb retail-related thefts through education. According to Barbara Staib, director of development and communications at NASP, shoplifters can be separated into two categories: professional and nonprofessional.

“While not all shoplifters are involved in ORC, anybody who is involved in ORC is a shoplifter,” she said in a phone interview. “People don’t just jump right into being involved in organized gangs. They started as a shoplifter.”

According to its website, NASP offers online courses for adults and juveniles who need to complete a theft class as required by a court or probation officer. Staib suggested that programs such as these help to reduce recidivism of retail theft crimes, which in turn can deter recruitment into ORC rings.

Staib said NASP works with nonprofessional shoplifters. According to her, these individuals are often the most vulnerable to the predatory recruitment tactics of ORC ringleaders.

“Those organized gangs, they prey on the most vulnerable people in our society,” she said. “They prey on people that are homeless, people who are drug addicted, people who are perhaps in a bad place in their lives and need money.” She added, “From a societal point of view, ORC is very damaging.”

Tierney acknowledged the need to treat retail theft incidents in a case-by-case manner. He said the county offers various programs, such as Stoplift, for first-time offenders. However, he added that those who follow a pattern of criminal behavior will be held responsible for their actions.

“The people who stole the $94,000 worth of bags were not first-time offenders,” he said. “Those repeat offenders who are enriching themselves are completely different from first-time shoplifters,” adding, “Of course, we’re going to treat the first-time shoplifter a lot different than we are with those organized theft rings.”

Staib finds a silver lining through programs such as NASP that educate shoplifters. While she considers ORC a dangerous crime trend that requires strict penalties, she views shoplifting education as a way to counter the spread of ORC.

“We need to approach [shoplifting] in two different ways,” Staib said. “We need to approach ORC as a felony crime that meets harsh punishment.” Discussing ways to address nonprofessional shoplifting, she added, “Our message is that education is valuable at any point for someone who shoplifts.”

To learn more about the shoplifting education programs offered by NASP, visit the website www.shopliftingprevention.org.

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The following incidents have been reported by the Suffolk County Police:

Centereach

■ Walmart on Middle Country Road in Centereach reported a shoplifter on March 4. A man allegedly stole four car batteries with a total value of $325.

■ A resident on Chevy Drive in Centereach reported that someone entered their vehicle parked in the driveway on March 8 and stole an iPhone, Nintendo Switch games, gift cards, a pocketbook, and sunglasses. The items were valued over $500.

Commack

■ Walmart on Crooked Hill Road in Commack reported two shoplifters on March 10. A man and a woman allegedly stole 9 sets of LED lights worth about $170.

East Northport

■ A resident on Jameson Court in East Northport called the police on March 10 to report that cash had been removed from his unlocked vehicle which had been parked in the driveway.

■ A resident on Lilan Court in East Northport reported that his 2007 Lexus ES350 was stolen on March 10. The keys had been left in the unlocked vehicle which had a value of $7,000.

■ A resident on Honey Lane in East Northport reported that his rental car, a 2021 Nissan Sentra, was stolen from his driveway on March 10. A second set of keys may have been left inside the vehicle which was valued at $21,000.

■ A resident on Cori Lane in East Northport called the police to report that his unlocked car had been entered on March 10 and a wallet containing credit cards and gift cards had been removed.

Fort Salonga

■ A resident on Deauville Court in Fort Salonga called the police on March 7 to report that his 2011 BMW had been stolen the night before. The vehicle was valued at $10,000.

Hauppauge

■ A resident on Dewberry Place in Hauppauge reported that someone stole a pocketbook with cash, credit and debit cards from their vehicle on March 11.

■ A resident on Pine Hollow Road in Hauppauge called the police on March 9 to report that a man allegedly stole two Amazon packages from his doorstep. The incident was captured by the homeowner’s Ring security camera. The suspect fled in a waiting beige Toyota Camry. The merchandise was valued at $80.

■ A resident on Northfield Road in Hauppauge reported that a man allegedly stole an Amazon package from his doorstep on March 9. The incident was captured on video. The value of the merchandise was $60.

Huntington Station

■ Two men allegedly stole an electric bike, a Ninja Power Pitcher blender and four Old Spice from Target on East Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station on March 8. The merchandise was valued at approximately $640.

■ Victoria Secret at the Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station reported a shoplifter on March 10. A man allegedly stole 48 pairs of women’s underwear valued at $960.

■ Target on East Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station called the police on March 8 to report a petit larceny. A man entered the store with a blue bag, allegedly filled it up with seven prepaid cell phones worth $725, and walked out without paying.

■ Macy’s at the Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station reported a grand larceny on March 9. A man allegedly stole 19 handbags from a storage room in the store. The merchandise was valued at $8,550.

■ Target on East Jericho Turnpike In Huntington Station reported a shoplifter on March 9. A man allegedly stole two vacuum cleaners worth $596 and a Nespresso machine worth $380.

Kings Park

■ A resident on Hawthorne Avenue in Kings Park reported that someone broke into his vehicle on March 10 and stole assorted tools and equipment. The items were valued at approximately $2,000.

Lake Grove

■ Victoria Secret’s PINK store at the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove reported a petit larceny on March 10. A man and two women entered the store, allegedly filled up a shopping bag with 10 articles of miscellaneous clothing worth approximately $1,000, and walked out without paying.

Miller Place

■ Vincenzo’s Pizzeria and Restaurant on Route 25A in Miller Place called the police to report a burglary on March 7. Someone threw a rock through the front glass door, entered the restaurant and stole cash from the register in the middle of the night.

■ A resident on Harrison Avenue in Miller Place reported that someone stole mail from their mailbox on March 3.

Port Jefferson

■ A resident on Hillcrest Avenue in Port Jefferson called the police on March 3 to report that a 7.2 FX Trek Bike had been stolen from his open garage. The bicycle was valued at approximately $600.

Port Jefferson Station

■ Seven copper wire rolls and two nail guns were stolen from a construction site at Brightview Senior Living on Route 112 in Port Jefferson Station on March 10. The items were valued at $3,200.

Rocky Point

■ A resident on Friendship Drive in Rocky Point reported that someone broke the passenger window of his vehicle parked in their driveway on March 7 and stole medical equipment and supplies worth approximately $500. The cost to fix the window was $200.

■ A resident on Dawn Road in Rocky Point called the police on March 7 to report that his vehicle had been broken into and assorted items were stolen. Entry was gained through the vehicle’s passenger window.

St. James

■ Sal’s Auto Body on Middle Country Road in St. James called the police on March 11 to report that 8 vehicles parked on the property were damaged, 5 windows were broken and 11 tires and rims were stolen. The damage was estimated at approximately $8,000. The stolen property was valued at $15,000.

Selden

■ Guitar Center on Middle Country Road in Selden reported that two men allegedly stole three Fender guitars from the store on March 4. The total value of the items was $3,430.

■ A resident on Farner Avenue in Selden called the police on March 10 to reported that a man stole packages containing men’s clothing from their doorstep. The incident was recorded on the homeowner’s Ring security camera. The merchandise was valued at $300.

■ Aldi on Middle Country Road in Selden reported a shoplifter on March 11. A woman allegedly stole six cases of Tide Pods and three bottles of Downy Unstopables. The merchandise was valued at $90.

Smithtown 

■ A resident on Flamingo Drive in Smithtown called the police on March 8 to report that someone had broken into his vehicle and removed two pairs of Ray-Ban sunglasses valued at $240 and cash.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS.

— COMPILED BY HEIDI SUTTON

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Pixabay photo

In an increasingly modern, information-based economy, survival requires an ability to adapt to the changing environment.

On the other hand, those who shrink in the face of change will have the hardest time navigating this new normal. This week, TBR News Media was fortunate to speak with several leaders throughout our area. Their warning was the same: Long Island is still unprepared to meet the demands of the 21st century.

Martin Cantor, director of the Long Island Center for Socio-Economic Policy, shared with us the history of mass transit systems on Long Island.

Sometime during the suburbanization of Long Island, regional planners failed to account for population increase and the great many cars to accompany it. Today, we pay the cost of failed planning in the form of cluttered roads and endless traffic.

 So reliant are we on our cars, some well-intentioned reformers now suggest that we transition to electric cars here on Long Island — and throughout the country. This, too, has its drawbacks.

Kevin Beyer, vice president of government affairs at the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association, said the push for electric vehicles is unrealistic and expensive. The grid simply cannot accommodate an overnight increase of millions of electric vehicles, and we shouldn’t expect it to.

The Long Island parkway system is nearly a century old, yet our commuters rely upon this infrastructure every day to get to work. Without a modernized mass transit network, Long Island commuters must choose between cramped train cars or congested highway traffic. We expect antiquated transit networks to support today’s mass of commuters.

Time and again, Long Islanders apply outdated methods to modern problems. This is like building a jet engine with stone tools.

Not all hope is lost, however. For example, look no further than Smithtown’s Office of Town Clerk, where you will find that the transition from old to new technologies is already underway. For the last 16 years, Town Clerk Vincent Puleo (C) has worked to digitize paper records for electronic filing. This has made the day-to-day operations of the office faster, simpler and more accessible to his constituents.

We need to apply Puleo’s approach elsewhere. We must update our transportation systems to account for the many more drivers on our roads today. We must invest in mass transit, such as buses and boats for commuter travel, so that we are no longer helplessly delayed.

 We must embrace the changes happening all around us, for change is the only constant in this life. And with all of that being said, we should remember and learn from the ways of the past. Let history be our guide as we move ahead into the world of the new.

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Jennie Melville. Photo from WMHO
Dorothy Melville. Photo from WMHO

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Ward Melville Heritage Organization will present a walking tour titled “Against the Grain” featuring newly uncovered stories of Stony Brook Village women on Thursday, March 24 at 10:30 a.m. and again at 3:30 p.m. 

Participants in the walking tour will enjoy at least six entirely new stories about the women of Stony Brook Village, spanning thousands of years. This includes indigenous women; the women of the Revolution; a few scandalous wills; the story of Jennie Melville and her role in the suffrage movement; Alida Emmet and the Center for Twilight Sleep; and Dorothy Melville, the Fairy Godmother of Stony Brook. 

Tours will leave from the Stony Brook Grist Mill at 100 Harbor Road at 10:30 a.m. and again at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person, and includes a dessert (with the purchase of an entrée) at Mirabelle Restaurant and Tavern. To reserve your spot, call 631-751-2244.

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Dr. Henry Tannous during surgery. Photo from SBU

By Daniel Dunaief

While she hasn’t resolved the debate about two approaches to a type of heart surgery, Laurie Shroyer, Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Surgery at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine, has contributed considerable information over a long period of time.

Laurie Shroyer. Photo from SBU

In a recent study released in JAMA Surgery, Shroyer, who is the principal investigator and co-PIs Fred Grover and Brack Hattler of the Rocky Mountain Regional Affairs Medical Center, revealed that coronary artery bypass grafting had similar post-surgical death rates for the veterans in their study whether the surgeon used a heart-lung machine, called “on pump,” or performed the surgery without the machine, called “off pump.”

Using long-term results from 2,203 mostly men at 18 VA Centers in the Department of Veterans Affairs Randomized On/Off Bypass (ROOBY) trial, Shroyer determined that the death rate at 10 years was 34.2 percent for off-pump, compared with 31.1 percent for on-pump.

Patients typically need bypass graft surgery when they have a narrowing of their coronary arteries, which comes from fatty material accumulating in the walls of the arteries. Doctors take a part of a healthy blood vessel from the leg, wrist or elsewhere and bypass the blockage, building a detour for the blood and enabling better circulation in the heart.

Using the “off pump” procedure means doctors operate on a heart that’s still pumping blood through the body. The “on pump” procedure uses a heart lung machine to pump blood while the heart remains still.

While the results of this study don’t end the debate over whether one procedure is superior to another, doctors welcomed the data as a well-researched and detailed analysis.

“There’s always going to be this ever-last question of whether off versus on pump bypass surgery is better,” said Dr. Henry Tannous, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. “There’s always going to be very little nuances with different patients that will make us pick one or the other.”

Dr. Tannous who has performed the majority of all bypass surgeries at Stony Brook over the last five years, said the hospital offers surgeries with and without the pump. SB has doctors who specialize in each kind of bypass in case of a change in the expected procedure.

Doctors typically get a clear sense of whether a patient might benefit from on or off pump procedures before starting surgeries. In the great majority of cases, doctors perform the surgery according to their pre-planned expectations for the use of the pump.

Rarely, they convert to the other procedure based on inter operative findings that dictate the switch, Dr. Tannous explained.

Dr. Jorge Balauger, Associate Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of Advanced Coronary Surgery, has performed 4,000 CABG procedures, including about 1,000 without the heart lung machine, or “off pump.”

In his considerable experience, he suggested that an 80-year old, who has renal or liver dysfunction and/or arteries in his or her neck that are partially blocked or had another type of comorbidity, such as something in the bone marrow, would not tolerate a heart lung machine well. A person with cirrhosis also would likely be better served with an off pump operation.

“Avoiding the heart lung machine on the older, sick patients is beneficial,” Dr. Balauger said, adding that he looks at the CABG procedure as being akin to a “tailor made suit” that has to fit the patient specifically.

In cases where patients need a second bypass procedure, Dr. Balauger also recommends off pump efforts because a second operation on pump is “way more complex” and requires “dissection of all the scar tissue around the heart, which makes it not only time consuming, but also risky.”

Dr. Henry Tannous. Photo from SBU

Dr. Tannous appreciates the perspective Shroyer brings to the discussion. “Sometimes, it’s an asset to have a researcher and statistician with a very scientifically oriented mind lead the study,” he said, adding that when surgeons meet with patients, they will discuss the use of the pump.

Dr. Baulager described the trial conducted by Shroyer as having an “excellent design” from a scientific standpoint.

He believed, however, that the study didn’t include surgeons who had sufficient expertise in off pump procedures. Dr. Baulager thought more experienced surgeons likely ensured better outcomes for off pump procedures.

One aspect of the study that was “refreshing” to Shroyer was how durable the surgical procedure is, with about 70 percent of patients who received this procedure, both on and off pump, still experiencing improvements in their pre-surgical chest pain symptoms after 10 years.

“We never expected the high proportion of patients would do so well longer term in terms of freedom from events, and in terms of symptoms,” she said. “The fact that the symptoms weren’t different between on and off pump is good news.”

After this type of study, Shroyer will work with several other trials to identify if certain sub-groups of high risk patients may have benefits from an off pump procedure.

To be sure, Shroyer cautioned that these results couldn’t be extrapolated to the general population, especially to women, as almost all of those the study followed were men.“Veterans are a unique population,” she said. “Many received cigarettes as part of their rations, and hypertension is quite high. They are a different population in terms of their [health care] complexities and their [underlying] illnesses.”

While the 10 year outcomes were similar, Shroyer found a shorter revascularization-free survival period among off pump patients. 

Dr. Tannous said this kind of study would generate considerable interest among cardiac surgeons.

“Everything [Shroyer] has written about bypass surgery from the ROOBY trials will catch any cardiac surgeon’s attention nationwide,” he said. “This paper is not any different. It has the extra long-term follow up that makes it more relevant.”

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Tom Manuel

By Tara Mae

After a two year COVID-19 induced hiatus, the Swing into Spring Jazz Festival makes a triumphant return from March 22 to March 27. 

A co-creation of Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn and The Jazz Loft founder Tom Manuel, the concert series, established in 2018, features local artists playing live music at multiple restaurants and shops in the Stony Brook and Setauket area. Performances will also take place at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts and The Jazz Loft. 

“Every year the festival has grown, which is a tribute to Kara supporting us and the community’s response. I get excited that it’s been growing and that this year the funding allows us to expand beyond Stony Brook Village into Setauket. We have three new businesses — Bliss, Mario’s, and Madiran The Wine Bar — as well as the Staller Center, which we haven’t included before,” said Manuel. 

Hahn and Manuel developed Swing into Spring as a way to promote local restaurants, give musicians opportunities, and attract both locals and tourists to the establishments, during the “slow season.” 

Supported by funding through the New York State Council on the Arts and a grant from Hahn’s office, the series is a mutually beneficial cooperation between local culture and local businesses, according to Hahn.

“I had grant funding from Suffolk County earmarked for cultural arts and the local economy. The Jazz Loft is a phenomenal destination for Stony Brook and Three Village, and the question was how to get people —  ­both tourists and locals — to visit our other businesses during the off season,” Hahn said. “We help fund the musicians so that they will play at the local businesses and attract patrons when people aren’t really coming out, on days of the week that are normally less busy.”

That funding enables steady gigs for musicians who generally have less work during the colder months, providing performance opportunities and income. Musicians such as Carl Safina and his Natural Causes Band, The Jazz Loft Trio, Mala Waldron, Rich Iacona, and Manuel will play at the businesses for a couple of hours. 

“We’re excited to be doing this again and to be employing artists who are still suffering from a lack of work. For those of us who rely on this for a paycheck 24/7, this is our slow season too. It’s hard, between the weather being poor, and people being spent from the holidays, January to March are the most difficult months to be employed. We try to hire individuals who are part of the community and perform at The Jazz Loft and throughout the Island during the summer,” Manuel said. 

Via personal and professional connections, Manuel unites the talent with the venues. Many of the people and places have been involved in the event during previous years. “I’ve had relationships with them for years, they were thrilled. The new participants are individuals and institutions I knew but had not collaborated with before,” Manuel said. “They were all aware of it and honored that we wanted them to be a part of it.”

It is this rapport that enabled Manuel to put together Swing into Spring’s culmination, a new conceptualization of American composer/arranger Oliver Nelson’s 1967 recording of The Kennedy Dream: A Musical Tribute to John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Inspired by Kennedy’s legacy of social conscience, scientific growth, and individual creativity, Nelson’s motivation and music are still relevant today, according to Manuel. 

“Dream addresses some of those issues Kennedy was trying to champion; there is still work to be done,” he added. 

A 38-piece jazz orchestra will give two performances: first at The Jazz Loft and then at the Staller Center the following night. It is a passion project many months in the making. “I reached out to the artists, we were all home due to COVID and everyone got on board; we have been working on it for over a year,” Manuel said.  

Drawing his own inspiration from Nelson’s work, Manuel organized the second act of the concerts to feature new original compositions by jazz musicians Ray Anderson, Jeff Lederer,  Peter Coco, Steve Salerno, Grammy nominee Dan Pugach, and Nelson’s son, Oliver Nelson, Jr., who is flying in from Indiana for the concerts. Manuel also contributed original work.

“These are reflections on our society and our world. Some reflect on COVID-19, some on social statements around Black Lives Matter, equality, and equity, ” Manuel said. “It’s very beautiful and fresh, very emotional. Both halves resonate and have a lot in common with each other. When composers’ emotions are expressed honestly and genuinely, music always communicates powerfully; any music of any style that moves us, speaks to us.”

This language of music is spoken through community support, and the co-founders of Swing into Spring agree that the Three Village area is a uniquely welcoming atmosphere. “It’s a breath of fresh air, and what our community does so well. I’ve performed all over the world and the Three Village community is unique in how it offers support,” said Manuel. 

Hahn views the event as an indication of neighborly investment in community and the future. “When we create partnerships, we can create ways to thrive. It depends on our sense of place.” 

Additional funding for the festival comes from Michael Ardolino, founder and owner of  Realty Connect USA, and Dan Oliveri, who sponsors a concert series at The Jazz Loft.

To learn more about Swing Into Spring, visit https://www.thejazzloft.org. Prices and COVID protocols vary based on location.

Schedule of events:

Tuesday, March 22

◆ Live jazz at Bliss, Mario’s and Sweet Mama’s from 6 to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, March 23

◆ Jazz Improv Workshop & Jam at The Jazz Loft from 4 to 5:30 p.m. All ages and abilities welcome. $10

◆ Live jazz at Madiran The Wine Bar, The Three Village Inn, Sweet Mamas and The Country House from 6 to 8 p.m.

◆ Jam session at The Jazz Loft from 7 to 9:30 p.m. All ages and abilities welcome. $10 ($5 after 8 p.m.)

Thursday, March 24

◆ Jazz Duo at The Country House from 6 to 8 p.m.

◆ Interplay Jazz Orchestra at The Jazz Loft from 7 to 9:30 p.m. $30 adults, $25 seniors, $20 students,  $15 children ages 6 and up; children 5 and under free.

Friday, March 25

◆ Community Jazz Night at The Jazz Loft from 7 to 9:30 p.m. $30 adults, $25 seniors, $20 students, $15 children ages 6 and up; children 5 and under free.

Saturday, March 26

◆ Live Jazz and $5 hot chocolate at Stony Brook Chocolate from 4 to 6 p.m.

◆ The Kennedy Dream Project at The Jazz Loft from 7 to 9:30 p.m. $30 adults, $25 seniors, $20 students,  $15 children ages 6 and up; children 5 and under free.

Sunday, March 27

◆ The Kennedy Dream Project at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts from 7 to 9:30 p.m. $30 adults, $25 seniors, $20 students, $15 children ages 6 and up; children 5 and under free.

 

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Devin Sharkey. Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook baseball team was not able to get it done in its series finale, dropping the final match of a three-game set at Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia on March 13.

Stanton Leuthner and Derek Yalon each led the Seawolves with a pair of hits, with Yalon recording a pair of RBI, including a fourth-inning home run. David Alleva recorded his first collegiate RBI, lacing a double to right before Yalon’s run-scoring single gave Stony Brook an early advantage. Leuthner added a third-inning double to score Brett Paulsen in the third, then the Seawolves added two more in the fifth with a Cole Durkan RBI single and Stanton scoring on a wild pitch one batter later.

STATS AND NOTES

  • Leuthner has increased his on-base streak to 14 games to start the season after his 2-for-3 effort.
  • Yalon’s homer is also the first of his collegiate career, driving in RBI No. 20 in his third Stony Brook season.
  • Shane Paradine has recorded a hit in seven consecutive.
  • Stony Brook also worked a season-high seven walks.

UP NEXT
The Seawolves open a four-game homestand on March 23, taking on Iona with a 3 p.m. first pitch at Joe Nathan Field. Conference play begins on March 25 as UMass Lowell comes to town for a three-game set.

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