The Three Village Chamber of Commerce will welcome Matt Cohen, President and CEO of Long Island Association (LIA) as the speaker of the upcoming luncheon at the Three Village Inn, 150 Main St., Stony Brook on Nov. 17 at noon. Registration for this event is required — $35 prepaid, $40 at the door.
This is the first time Cohen will be speaking before a Chamber of Commerce and their members in his role as President & CEO. The Three Village Chamber has invited the following surrounding chambers—St. James, Miller Place, Smithtown, Port Jefferson, Terryville—and their members to attend the event as he discusses the current economic view for small businesses.
Cohen will discuss how the LIA supports small businesses as they continue to navigate impacts from the pandemic, including sharing resources like grants and loans, holding workshops, providing information on New York State and Federal policies, and holding joint webinars with experts. Cohen will also talk about the LIA’s vision as we head into 2022 and take questions from small business owners to learn more about their current challenges and successes.
“We are pleased that Matt Cohen has chosen us as the first chamber to discuss their expanding programs,” said Charles Lefkowitz, President of Three Village Chamber. To register for the luncheon, visit the events section of the Three Village Chamber website, www.3vchamber.com.
A living room in one of the Overbay apartments in Port Jefferson. Photo from the Northwind Group
Throughout the last few weeks, we have been listening to what different candidates have to say when it comes to revitalization and development of our towns.
One of the biggest taglines of most elected officials is that they “want to keep young people on Long Island.”
That’s great, and young people appreciate the sentiment, but what many don’t realize is the stresses it takes to buy a house in today’s market.
Most young people — such as postgraduate professionals — would love to buy their own place at 24 or 25. Unfortunately, many cannot and instead choose to rent as a temporary solution.
While there are mother/daughter suites across Long Island, and plenty of accessory apartments that people utilize, legal and illegal, there are other options popping up from Huntington to Selden — larger apartment complexes, such as the ones built and being built alongside local train stations.
These developments have been instrumental in keeping young people in our area because, in many cases, the couple fall in love with the town and then proceed to buy a house there. The apartments are simply starter homes to give these new working professionals the freedoms they need to grow up.
A big argument that comes out of the development of different areas is that it makes the place “too urban.” While these complexes bring in more people — but not many — they are just adding a bit to an already developed community.
Take Huntington village or Port Jefferson — these two areas are already considered downtowns. Adding apartments to a place that resembles a small city isn’t completely out of the ordinary.
Embracing the development where appropriate can be good for our communities. It can help our children and our neighbors start their own lives. It may look a little different than 30 years ago, but this is the new normal.
The sophomore Griffin Kramer goes for a touchdown. Photo by John Whitley
The Patriots take on Sachem North. Photo by John Whitley
Chris Pussen with ball in hand. Photo by John Whitley
Photo by John Whitley
Photo by John Whitley
Photo by John Whitley
On Nov. 5, the Ward Melville Patriots football team took on Sachem North in a Suffolk County Division 1 quarterfinal game at Stony Brook University’s Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. At the end of the night, the fourth-seeded Patriots emerged the winners with a score of 35-7.
The Patriots will go up against Walt Whitman High School on Nov. 13. Game starts at 1 p.m. at Walt Whitman High School.
Pictured clockwise from above, the Patriots take on Sachem North; sophomore Griffin Kramer goes for a touchdown; Patriots move in on a Sachem North player; Chris Pussen with ball in hand; and Dylan Moore prepares for a tackle.
With the revitalization of Upper Port along with the changes downtown, people are choosing to downsize in Port Jefferson or start up their lives in the new Port Jefferson apartments.
Rob Gitto, vice president of The Gitto Group, said that his sites — and other places developed by Tritec Real Estate (The Shipyard), Conifer Realty (Port Jefferson Crossing) and The Northwind Group (Overbay) — are here to help people.
“That’s one of the big things,” he said. “That we’re trying to keep people here instead of moving off of Long Island.”
The Gitto Group currently has three locations between Upper and Lower Port: The Hills at Port Jefferson, The Barnum House and the recent The Brookport.
In September, The Brookport officially opened at 52 Barnum Ave. — the former Cappy’s Carpets — featuring 44 apartments that were 100% leased. The building is mixed-use and will soon be home to Southdown Coffee on the lower level.
“By having these walkable apartment complexes, we’re helping the stores and the restaurants by bringing more people into the village without a strain on the parking,” Gitto said. “To me, that seems like a win-win.”
Photo from The Gitto Group
He said he knows the concern about parking, but his buildings — and those of other developers — have created their own spaces on premise that don’t interfere with the traffic within the village. In fact, he said, he knows many of his tenants are taking advantage of all Port Jeff village has to offer.
“I know that I have at least two tenants here that are taking tennis lessons at the country club,” he said. “They’ve already been here a couple months and are trying to become part of the community.”
Many of those tenants — across all three of his locations — either chose Port Jefferson to establish their roots or had a home in the area and decided to stay but downsize as empty nesters.
“I can’t tell you how many tenants we’ve had, especially in The Barnum House, that moved here with a significant other or met someone while they were here, got married and had a child or children,” he said. “As they got older, they grew out of the apartment, but they fell in love with the community and became part of the community, so they ended up buying a condo, a townhouse or a home here.”
Gitto said they are filling a need that was never met in the community — giving people the opportunity to start up or slow down.
The Barnum House, which opened 20 years ago this year, still has tenants who moved in originally in August 2001. A mixed building, he said many are young working professionals but quite a few empty nesters as well.
“You’re checking a lot of boxes,” he said. “It’s easy living.”
A benefit his older tenants mention often is that they don’t have to worry about upkeep — if an appliance breaks or there’s an issue, they don’t have to worry about fixing it. They don’t have to landscape outside, and they are creating a home base for snowbirds who split their time between here and the South.
The Hills at Port Jefferson, however, has some more turnover, Gitto said, due to the type of clientele the apartments attract.
Located in Upper Port, the Hills was one of the first projects as part of Port Jefferson’s master plan.
“I do see there being a nice community uptown,” he said. “That connection to Stony Brook University and the two hospitals right there, there’s no reason why that can’t be a secondary community.”
And in that 74-unit building, Gitto said the majority of tenants are young, working professionals — many of whom work at Mather Hospital, Northwell Health, St. Charles Hospital and Stony Brook University — a 10-minute train ride from the LIRR station across the street to campus.
That being said, Gitto noted that “a couple of units will turnover” because of the residency programs at these places.
“I would say 80 to 85% of the people that live there are affiliated with Stony Brook,” he said.
A fourth project with The Gitto Group is currently underway on the corner of Main Street and North Country Road, where the PJ Lobster House used to stand before relocating. Gitto said that building will be smaller — roughly 36 to 38 units — and planning should be finalized by March.
Gitto mentioned that there is often concern or comment about the IDA benefits developers receive to build these properties but noted that neighbors need to look at it long term.
“Although our property taxes might be lower to start out, eventually, when the IDA program is over, we’ll be paying a lot more than this property would have ever given in terms of taxes if it had remained a boatyard, or the carpet store that it was,” he said. “It’s important to people to look at the long term — this is really going to help the school districts to have these tax bases being thrown into the mix.”
While he can’t talk about the other developers’ properties, he said that the addition of families and people into the community isn’t causing a strain on the school district at all.
“In the Hills uptown, in the 74 units, I believe we have one child who goes to Comsewogue,” he said.
Overbay
The Overbay apartment complex, which finally opened in September, had been in the process of being built shortly after The Northwind Group purchased the former Islander Boat Center building in 2013 for $1.8 million.
James Tsunis, managing member of Northwind, said that his family was “really excited” to bring a new complex to the village.
Photo from The Northwind Group0
“The Northwind Group has been in the family business and we’ve lived in Port Jeff our whole life,” he said. “We were really happy to bring a boutique luxury apartment community here for Port Jefferson.”
Tsunis added that the complex also was planned to bring more positive traffic to the downtown retail shops and restaurants — especially since many struggled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a win for the village in general,” he said.
Located at 217 W. Broadway, the 54,000-square-foot “nautical style” apartment building consists of 52 rentals, with one-bedroom units ranging between $2,500 to $2,800 and two bedrooms starting at $3,500.
Each apartment features walk-in closets, custom built-ins, zero-entry showers with rain heads, a fireplace and a flat-screen TV. Other amenities include an 800-square-foot common room and a fitness facility.
The complex also contains an office area, concierge service and in-building parking with over 80 parking stalls for residents and their guests.
Leasing, Tsunis said, opened up in fall of last year, and sold out almost immediately.
“There was definitely a high demand for it,” he said. “We get calls about this every day and we have a long list of people waiting to get in here, which is good —it’s good for us and it’s also good for the village, because it means that people want to live here and that’s a very good sign.”
Jake Biro, Overbay’s property manager, said that like the other developments around the village, there is a good mix of different types of people living at Overbay.
“Honestly, it’s really diverse,” he said. “We have people all the way down to the undergrad at 19 or 20 years old to I think our oldest resident is about 94.”
Biro said the proximity to Stony Brook University and the hospitals helps.
“We get a lot of doctors and nurses,” he said. “But then we also have a bunch of empty nesters — people that are taking advantage of the real estate market and selling their houses right now, then renting for a year or two and reassessing.”
“Port Jefferson has been our home and we want our residents to call it their home,” Tsunis said. “We want to help them try to transition that process as hard as possible and as best as possible.”
Tritec and Conifer did not respond to requests for interviews by press time.
Erica Cirino with her book, ‘Thicker Than Water.’ Photo from Erica Cirino
Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel
“Plastic shapes human identity and speeds up the rate at which we move across the world and through our days, connecting people and allowing us to express who we are to each other. And yet plastic also helps us destroy. Plastic has saved our lives while taking others’ away. Plastic is a miracle. Plastic is a scourge.”
Author Erica Cirino
Erica Cirino’s Thicker Than Water (Island Press) is a frank and pointed examination of one of the most toxic elements of our “throwaway” culture. “Almost every single person alive today uses plastic on a daily basis, most of which is designed for minutes or seconds of use before it no longer serves a designated purpose.” Cirino, a gifted author whose writings have been featured in Scientific American and The Atlantic, has penned a smart, passionate exploration of one of the most troubling and challenging issues. Subtitled “The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis,” the book examines a problem of overwhelming global impact.
The book’s first part focuses on Cirino’s 3,000-mile journey on the S/Y Christianshavn to the Pacific Ocean’s Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Located in the turbulent North Pacific Gyre, this is “the most notoriously plastic polluted stretch of ocean in the world.” And while “the patch” has been described as a “static, floating pile of plastic” (i.e., a “plastic island”), the reality is much graver. “These waters are more akin to a soup to which humanity has added an unknown number of plastic items and pieces. The plastic is commonly suspended right below the surface, pushed just of out sight, constantly and unpredictably stirred by the rolling sea.” Her thesis is clear: While plastic defines our culture, it should not be allowed to determine our future.
The book features vivid descriptions. Whether depicting a meal or the rescue of a sea turtle from “ghost fishing,” nothing escapes her insight, expressed in often lyrical prose:
“Out at sea, time is not measured in hours or minutes, but by the intensity of the burning sun, the oscillating fade-sparkle-fade of thousands of stars and specks of glowing algae, the size and shape of the moon, the furor or calm of the sea […] The sea can show us what it is in life we need, and what we can live without.”
But the writing never masks the underlying and driving force of the dire situation.
Throughout, Cirino investigates the shift from the historical use of plants and animals to fossil fuels. She traces the involved reliance on the latter and the products created from it. She shares a comprehensive understanding. “Plastic is so permanent because of its structure on the molecular level.” She clarifies both microplastic and the even smaller particles—nanoplastic—and their invasion of the food chain.
The facts are harrowing. “About 40 percent of the plastic used today is actually not even really used by people—instead, as packaging, it covers or holds the foods and goods we purchase and is simply torn off and thrown away so we can access what’s inside.” The flimsy, disposable plastic is tossed, sometimes after a few moments’ use. “In 2015, experts estimated the amount of plastic in the oceans would outweigh fish by the year 2050 […] By 2020, humans had created enough petrochemical-based plastic to outweigh the mass of all marine and land animals combined, by a factor of two.”
And while the material presented is alarming, Cirino is never alarmist, never resorting to sensationalism. Instead, facing such devastating research, she maintains a fair and fairly objective view.
‘Thicker Thank Water’
When on shipboard or in the laboratory, she presents the science to inform and engage the reader. There is a wealth of data from the manufacture of plastics to the associated chemical pollution, from oceans to fresh waters. For example, she depicts the research done on human-ingested plastic with a mannequin that emulates human breathing. Postdoc Alvise Vianello, from Denmark’s Aalborg University, states: “From what we can tell, it’s possible people are breathing in around eleven pieces of microplastic per hour when indoors.”
The third part of the book tackles the frequently ignored environmental racism. Industrial plants are commonly erected in minority communities. Cirino focuses on Welcome, Louisiana, and its environs. The area of Louisiana is home to about one hundred and fifty industrial plants, dubbed Cancer Alley. There is a great deal of corruption surrounding these factories and complexes, with the companies permanently damaging the communities with chemical pollution. Furthermore, often the factories are built on top of presumed burial grounds of enslaved African Americans. This section highlights both environmental and sociological devastation.
Cirino connects the dots from plastic production to climate change. She has a sense of the irony that the pandemic briefly lowered our carbon footprint. Additionally, as renewable energies rise, fossil fuel corporations—notably big oil and gas—counter the lack of demand by turning ancient carbon stocks into plastic.
The final section of the book, “Cleaning It Up,” centers on solutions. Technical invention (trash wheels, booms, grates, etc.) and grassroots work (simply picking up garbage) are important. But, ultimately, the solution is a combination of public awareness through education, science, and systemic change of using less, or ideally, no plastic. “You wouldn’t just mop up water off your floor if your bathtub were overflowing,” says Malene Møhl of Plastic Change. “You’d turn off the tap.”
Taxes, bans, and other legislation, combined with the search for biodegradable resources (even using bacteria, fungi, and algae), face pushback from large industries, the complexity of plastic recycling, and our own desire for convenience.
It would be impossible to read this powerful book and not look at the world differently, both in the larger picture and day-to-day life. Contents of Thicker Than Water can be overwhelming—even paralyzing. But, in the end, Erica Cirino’s ideas stimulate thought, raise awareness, and, most importantly, are a call to action.
Thicker Than Water is available at IslandPress.org, Amazon.com, or BarnesandNoble.com. For more information on the author, visit www.ericacirino.com.
Have you ever watched someone who was cheering for their team at a sporting event?
Aside from the potential enormous and mindless consumption of calories in the form of hot dogs, chips and beverages, superfans scream at the players, tilt their heads when they want a ball to move in a particular direction, or beg a higher power to help their player outperform people on the other team whose fans are pleading for the opposite outcome.
As fans, we have little control over the result of a game, especially if we’re watching it on television. Sure, home field advantage likely helps some teams and players, as fans urging their favorites on, standing and shouting at the tops of their lungs could inspire athletes to raise their level of play.
But, really, all of that pleading, begging and cheering into the ether or at the blinking lights on our screens gives us the illusion of control, as if we have some way to influence games.
We generally don’t accept or give up control because we like to think that, somewhere, somehow, our wishes, goals and desires mean something to a deity, a guardian angel, or a fairy godmother. To be human is to hope to control the uncontrollable.
Give me the inspiration to pick the right lotto numbers, please! Let me ride the subway with my future spouse. Keep me from hitting the curb on my driver’s test!
Millions of Americans sit each night with a remote control in their hands, surfing channels, changing the volume and traveling, without getting up from the couch, from a program about ospreys to a fictional story about a female secretary of state who becomes an embattled president. We sometimes revel in the excitement that comes at the point that teeters between control and a lack of control. When we’re young, we ride a bike with both hands. At some point, we take one hand off the bike. Eventually, we learn to balance the bike with no hands, as we glide down the street with our hands on our hips or across our chest.
In our entertainment, we imagine people who have higher levels of control, like wizards with wands or superheroes who use the force to move objects.
When we become parents, we realize the unbelievable joy and fear that comes from trying to control/ help/ protect and direct the uncontrollable.
When our children are in their infancy, we might determine where they go and what they wear, but we generally can’t control the noises they make, even by finding and replacing their pacifiers. These noises are their way of preparing us for the limited control we have as they age.
They make numerous choices, some of which we feel might not be in their longer term best interest. We can see the bigger picture, which can be as simple as recognizing that taking eight classes while working part time at night and joining the marching band is likely creating anunsustainable schedule. We know how important the basics — sleeping, eating, exercising — are to their lives, even if they make impulse driven choices.
One of the hardest parts of parenting may be knowing when to give them the space and opportunity to make decisions for themselves and to encourage them to learn from their choices.
Parents are lifetime fans of their children, supporting and encouraging them, leaning to the left to keep a ball in play, to the right to keep it out of a goal, or higher when we want their voices to hit the highest notes in their range during a performance of “West Side Story.”
It’s no wonder so many parents are exhausted and exhilarated after a big moment in their children’s lives: we might not have done anything but sit in a seat and clap our hands, but we tried, from a distance and in our own way, to control the uncontrollable.
One hundred years ago, it was the “Roaring Twenties.”
The Flappers were the icons then. They were women who shortened their skirts and shortened their hair. They wore makeup and looser clothing, smoked cigarettes in public, drank alcohol, drove cars, and otherwise reveled in what would have been considered unacceptable behavior in the past.
Oh, and then there was a more liberal attitude toward sexual behavior. It was, in a couple of words, more relaxed. Or so they say.
It seemed that after the carnage and sacrifices of World War I, the goal was to have fun. The Great War had dramatically changed lives, bringing women for the first time into the factories to replace the men, forcing them to manage the farms, making them the breadwinners on a national scale. They won the right to vote. When the men returned, they carried with them from across the Atlantic some of European culture and broader horizons.
It was a time of positivity, of innovation. A key word was “Modern.” Labor saving devices were invented, like the washing machine and vacuum cleaner. The radio came into its own and into living rooms. Thanks to the Ford Model T at $260 in 1924, cars became affordable, offering more freedoms. Credit became cheap, and the economy surged. Presidents Harding and Coolidge issued tax cuts; the stock market took off; people flocked to the cities where they drank, danced new dances, thrilled to jazz and partied. With prohibition came the bootleggers, making it all more exciting. This also gave birth to organized crime figures like Chicago’s Al Capone. By the end of the decade, it was estimated that three-quarters of Americans went to the movies every week. F. Scott Fitzgerald chronicled the decade in his novels.
Life was not all fun, however. An anti-Communist “Red Scare” gave rise to nativism and anti-immigration movements. Quotas were set that limited Eastern Europeans and Asians in favor of Northern Europeans and Brits. The Great Migration of African Americans from the Southern countryside to Northern cities was seen as a threat and gave a couple of million people impetus to join the Ku Klux Klan by the middle of the decade. Discriminatory hiring and housing practices led to urban ghettos. The horrific Tulsa Race Massacre took place in 1921. The NAACP moved into higher gear. Finally, in 1928, the first African American congressman since Reconstruction was elected to the House from Chicago.
There was what historians call a “cultural Civil War” as well. This consisted of city-dwellers versus small town residents, Protestants versus Catholics, Blacks versus whites and “New Women” versus those with old-fashioned family values.
Many of these themes are repeated a century later. Women, of course, are still working toward a more equitable playing field in the workplace and in politics. Our society has become more liberal, embracing gay marriage, for example, and health care reform. Connectivity, thanks to the internet and social media, defines us in a much more sophisticated, two-way fashion than the radio did. And technology innovation advances at a faster speed than most of us can catch up. Just as the assembly line revolutionized the production of cars, electrically powered self-driving vehicles are taking to the road. While indoor plumbing was replacing outhouses, today’s toilets can be connected to the internet and send up-to-the-minute diagnostic urine samples to physicians.
Just as there were threats then, we see them now. Will artificial intelligence or AI put those with lower skills out of work? There are still outcries against immigrants, attributing fears to them from COVID to taking away jobs. Climate change is a more powerful catalyst for environmental protection than Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir. The stock market and the economy have reached unimaginable heights. And while nationalist groups are longing for the imagined glorious past, activists are working toward national ideals that have never quite been realized.
We are just emerging from a kind of world war a century later, the villainous COVID-19 pandemic. How will our decade be named?
An antiviral pill may be beneficial in treating COVID-19 in its early stage. Stock photo
When the pandemic first hit Suffolk County in March of 2020, health care providers tried what they could to treat COVID-19.
The treatment options may be on the verge of increasing, as Pfizer recently revealed the benefit of an antiviral pill they developed to treat the virus in its early stages.
The Pfizer pill, called paxlovid, “decreased hospitalization significantly,” said Dr. Bettina Fries, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Medicine. “That’s exciting.”
The Pfizer pill, which would still need Food and Drug Administration authorization before medical care providers can administer it to patients, comes just a few weeks after Merck announced its antiviral pill molnupiravir was effective in treating people who contracted COVID-19.
Indeed, at the end of last week, Britain became the first country to approve the use of molnupiravir for people with underlying medical conditions, including heart disease and obesity.
“There is more information on molnupiravir as this drug was approved in the [United Kingdom] last Thursday,” Dr. Adrian Popp, chair of Infection Control at Huntington Hospital explained in an email. “It will be administered as soon as possible following a positive COVID-19 test and within five days of the onset of symptoms.”
As for Pfizer, it has not yet released data about its clinical trials to the scientific community, which means independent researchers haven’t reviewed the information.
Still, the introduction of new antiviral treatments advances the battle against the virus on another front.
“They are novel medications,” Popp added. “The speed by which they are being developed is amazing.”
Popp added that the pace at which the new Pfizer drug eliminates the virus and its symptoms is unclear because of limited data.
Fries said the Pfizer and Merck drugs were in different classes and worked differently, which means they may be most effective in combination.
In terms of side effects, Fries wouldn’t expect anything dramatic from either treatment.
Taking pills that reduce the severity of the disease also aren’t likely to reduce the body’s natural immunity to the virus.
“The immune system has already seen enough of the virus by the time you take the drug,” Fries said. Some of the patients in the trial probably had the virus for about a week, which is enough time for the immune system to recognize the invader and develop a natural resistance.
The timing of treatment with antiviral drugs determines its effectiveness. Drugs like Tamiflu, which prevents the worst symptoms of the flu, become less effective the longer the virus is in a patient.
“If you give this drug later, it will likely have less effect,” Fries said.
Additionally, Fries cautioned about overusing these drugs in future months and years, which can lead to viral resistance.
Fries believes the virus, like the flu, will continue to stick around and will return in waves.
The authorization of vaccines for children ages five to 11 will likely reduce the threat from the virus.
“A lot of parents will schlep their kids right away, especially before Thanksgiving,” Fries said. “Physicians and people who have a deeper understanding of vaccines feel comfortable” with them.
Fries recently received her third shot.
While the likelihood of children developing the worst symptoms of the disease is low, they contribute to the spread of the virus.
Additionally, the virus can mutate, which could make it “potentially a lot worse. There is [also] a low but potentially significant risk of long covid syndromes,” Fries said. “You don’t want your kid to have that. Children should be super duper healthy, not just a little bit healthy.”
Thanksgiving preparation
In terms of preparing for Thanksgiving, Fries urged everybody over 65 to get a booster, particularly if they received their initial vaccines at least six months ago.
Stony Brook Hospital is admitting patients who have been vaccinated and are over 65, in part because their initial vaccinations were over half a year ago.
“We see more and more older people presenting with the disease again,” Fries added. “Do it now so you have antibodies for Thanksgiving” particularly if a family has children returning from college.
Additionally, Fries urged residents and their families to get tested before coming together, which will reduce the risk of household transmission.
Even though Pfizer and Merck have produced drugs that may improve the treatment of COVID-19, Fries urged people to continue to get vaccinated.
“This kind of drug treatment does not make us say, ‘Okay, you don’t need to get vaccinated,’ Fries said. “Absolutely not.”
Fries noted that those people unwilling to receive an mRNA vaccine might get another option before too long.
The Novavax vaccine has “performed really well” in clinical trials, Fries said. “It is more of a traditional vaccine.” The Novavax facilities have had production problems. Once they resolve those issues, the company could apply for emergency use authorization.
Julia McNeill, left, ran in this year’s New York City Marathon to raise money for The Marfan Foundation. Her sister Caroline, right, was diagnosed with the condition Marfan syndrome as a child.
Among the 30,000 or so runners crossing the finishing line of the New York City Marathon Nov. 7 was Smithtown resident Julia McNeill, who was running not only for herself but her sister Caroline. The 26-year-old said in a phone interview before the event that her goal was to not only complete the race, but also to raise awareness about Marfan syndrome and raise funds for The Marfan Foundation. The genetic condition is one that affects her sister.
Julia McNeill during the 2021 New York City Marathon on Nov. 6. Photo from McNeill
McNeill took part in the race, her first marathon, with a team of eight others, which included members from all over the country and one from Amsterdam. Each of the team members has a loved one who has Marfan or other related genetic aortic and vascular conditions. Caroline McNeill, 23, was 3 years old when she was diagnosed with the genetic condition. Marfan affects Caroline’s body’s connective tissue and has resulted in lifelong cardiac concerns.
Julia McNeill said even though this past Sunday was her first marathon, she has always been athletic and played softball for Hauppauge High School and in college.
“I always liked running,” she said. “It was always on my bucket list to run the marathon, and I figured why not do it for a good cause, raise awareness and educate people about it and just reach as many people as I can.”
Before the race, McNeill, who is a Stony Brook University Hospital nurse, said she surpassed her fundraising goal of $3,000 and credits her family for the fundraising support. As of Nov. 10, she had raised more than $6,200, and the fundraising page is still open for donations on the Marfan Foundation website.
She originally planned to run in the more-than-26 miles marathon in 2020, but it was canceled due to COVID-19. McNeill said she was training last year and then stopped running for a while and just continued working out regularly at a local gym. Once the summer hit this year, she started training hardcore again for the marathon. She soon found she could run 21 miles, even though it was difficult at first.
“It’s nothing like a game of softball,” she said. “A softball game lasts, what, an hour and a half?”
Training included running four days a week, and one of the days was for long-distance running. She said at first those long-distance runs were less than 21 miles. In the beginning of training, McNeill could complete six miles, then each week the distance would increase. She hit her peak four weeks before the big day.
Sibling bond
McNeill said she was only 6 years old when her sister was diagnosed so she doesn’t remember much, but the elder sister said she recalls being checked out by a cardiologist as the whole family needed to be evaluated to see if they also had the genetic condition.
‘It was always on my bucket list to run the marathon, and I figured why not do it for a good cause, raise awareness and educate people about it and just reach as many people as I can.’
— Julia McNeill
Like others with Marfan, the odds are her sister may need open heart surgery one day. Caroline McNeill, who is more than 6-feet tall and thin, which are symptoms of the condition, said throughout her life people have always been curious about her build and asked questions such as, “Do you play basketball?” or “Why are you so tall?”
The younger sister said while Marfan affects her, she doesn’t see her life being that much different than others.
“I see it as I have Marfan syndrome, but I’m able to excel in all these other areas as a result,” she said. “You know, other kids don’t play sports, not because they have conditions or heart conditions. It’s just that they don’t like sports, it’s not something they excel at.”
She added when she was younger she found interests outside of sports, and she belonged to the art club in high school and loved going to concerts with friends and supporting her sister at games.
“It’s not anything that’s going to impede you or restrict you in any way, but it’s just going to create new, and sometimes even better, opportunities,” she said.
Caroline McNeill, who is currently studying to become a speech pathologist, added she’s not sure what her life would be like now if she didn’t have Marfan and believes it played a role in her choosing a career in the speech field.
“I don’t think I would be as empathetic toward other people, because I know how I want to be treated, and I want to make sure that other people are treated the same way,” she said.
Julia McNeill describes her sister as “the most intelligent, kind-hearted, down-to-earth person” she knows. McNeill added her sister also has had the strength to overcome any obstacle she met and is her role model.
“She goes above and beyond in everything, and the least I can do is train for four months and do something, just make more awareness and everything for her condition,” she said.
The admiration is mutual. Caroline McNeill said that Julia has always been her protector, and she couldn’t ask for a better sister or sibling relationship.
“I feel like that’s a common theme of us both being like, ‘Oh, you’re my inspiration,’ ‘But no, you’re mine,’” she said.
Caroline McNeill said she was proud of her sister and knew she would complete the marathon based on her athletic abilities.
“She’s a born-and-bred athlete, and the fact that she wanted to do it and run for The Marfan Foundation just made it that much more special,” Caroline McNeill said.
Julia McNeill after running the New York City Marathon on Nov. 6. Photo from McNeill
The big day
In an email after the marathon, Julia McNeill said she completed the race in 4 hours, 53 minutes, 23 seconds. She made it just under her goal of 5 hours. Cheering her on were her sister, parents, grandmother and boyfriend, who met her four times along the route to refill her water pouch and help her refuel with bananas.
She said running through the city was like nothing she has experienced before.
“The energy from every single person was like no other,” McNeill said. “Every single block you would turn, there would be people lined up shoulder to shoulder just screaming at the top of their lungs cheering you along even if it was mile 1 or mile 26.”
She said many people along the way would hand out tissues for chilly or runny noses, and even offered bananas and orange slices.
“I just felt so much support from thousands of total strangers,” she said. “It was without a doubt the greatest experience of my life.”
To contribute to Julia McNeill’s fundraising efforts, visit the website give.marfan.org/fundraiser/3351331. The money raised goes to The Marfan Foundation’s mission to advance research, raise public awareness and serve as a resource for Marfan syndrome, VEDS, Loeys-Dietz syndrome and other genetic
aortic conditions
Prev
