Home Village Times Herald

Chabad at Stony Brook breaks new ground

by Barbara Donlon - May 12, 2015

0 131

Merrin-Center-for-Jewish-Life-Groundbreaking-050715-Donlon11w — Rabbi Chaim Grossbaum speaks at a ceremony last week. Photo by Barbara Donlon

The North Shore Jewish community is one step closer to getting its forever home as the groundbreaking ceremony for its new center took root in Stony Brook on Thursday evening.

Rabbi Chaim and his wife Rivkie Grossbaum addressed the eager crowd at the ceremony at R.C. Murphy Junior High School to mark the new Chabad Merrin Center at Stony Brook, named after Edward and Vivian Merrin, who donated $1 million to the center.

“Our wandering has come to an end,” Chaim Grossbaum said at the ceremony last week. “The Merrin Chabad Jewish Center is the answer.”

Since acquiring its first space at the Lake Grove Jewish Center in 1990, Chabad Stony Brook has spent much of its last 25 years wondering where it would offer its services. The growing Jewish community was hard to fit in the current center and it often relied on rental space to get the job done, Grossbaum said.

Members of Chabad at Stony Brook join with community leaders to ceremoniously break ground. Photo from Motti Grossbaum

The current space can fit roughly 80 people, far less than the 400 families Chabad Stony Brook serves. The new center, now in phase two of the $5.5 million four-phase project, will be able to accommodate far more families once it is completed, he said.

The new center will have a banquet room, a gym, Mikvah and spa, a library, a pool, a santuary and more. The building is expected to open in the summer of 2016, the group said.

“It will pretty much be multi-use in many fashions for the several programs we service the community with,” Grossbaum said in a phone interview.

The center will offer Hebrew school, pre-school, summer camp and other school programs. According to layout plans, there will be five pre-school rooms and two regular classrooms.

The new center will be right in the heart of the Three Village community it serves, Grossbaum said. The center will also have a hospitality suite for the Jewish community taking care of sick loved ones at Stony Brook University Hospital, the group said.

The rabbi said he is hoping the center attracts new families to help Chabad Stony Brook grow exponentially.

“We want to give them reasons to want to go,” Grossbaum said. “It’s hard to create atmosphere in a rental space.”

The rabbi highlighted many of the difficulties the group experienced while going from place to place over the last 25 years. He said the center would help expand on everything they currently offer to enhance services.

Sheila Skolnick, an attendee at Chabad Stony Brook, said the center’s kind and welcoming atmosphere would draw many people into the new center. Skolnick along with many others said she is eagerly waiting for the new center to be built.

“The Merrin Center will be our place and we’ll know where to go,” Skolnick said. “It’s really a place for Jews to congregate from all over.”

Construction of the new center is expected to begin shortly. Kevin Harney of Stalco Construction is leading the project and John Tsunis of Gold Coast Bank is financing it.

Three Village kids adopt ‘no excuses’ mantra

by TBR Staff - May 8, 2015

0 1949

Ward-Melville-Rohan-Murphy-1w — Rohan Murphy, a wrestler who lost his legs at birth, shares his story to encourage kids at R.C. Murphy Jr. High School. Photo from Three Village Central School District

The words and story of Rohan Murphy captivated R.C. Murphy Jr. High School students and staff as the inspirational speaker visited the building in early April and encouraged all to live a life with “no excuses.”

Murphy, who lost his legs at birth, shared his story of overcoming life’s obstacles and physical challenges in order to achieve his personal standards for success.

He told the students how he pushed himself to achieve both academically and athletically, as he went on become a Division I college wrestler at Penn State University.

The event was held in conjunction with the annual town hall meeting, which serves to bring the entire school together to focus on a topic of particular importance.

At the end of his speech, Murphy joined the students’ lunch periods to speak in small groups in order to continue the conversation.

WMHO pays tribute to Elizabeth Taylor

by TBR Staff - May 7, 2015

0 1553

By Ed Blair

“I don’t entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have been. But I’m me. God knows, I’m me.”

Iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor’s self-appraisal references a life that ranged from the sensation of stardom to the sensationalism of tabloids. She was one of the last superstars of the Hollywood studio tradition, and her life and career, both on and off screen, were a source of entertainment for decades.

Audiences can listen to the legendary actress’ tale as the Ward Melville Heritage Organization presents “The Elizabeth Taylor Story” May 9 through June 17 at its Educational & Cultural Center, 97P Main St., Stony Brook. The popular musical theater and high-tea luncheon series returns to the center with a tribute to the enduring screen idol. The 1963 setting for the St. George Productions finds singer Eydie Gorme (played by Rosie Flore) headlining a musical comedy spring spectacular, with Taylor (portrayed by Lisa Mondy) as the her guest. Along with her faithful domestic, Rosie (played by Kim Dufrenoy), Gorme will talk with her glamorous visitor and delve into the roller coaster ride that marked both a distinguished acting career and an often turbulent personal life. A light lunch of finger sandwiches will follow the show.

The cast members weighed in with their thoughts about the star of the show.

“I think people will walk away with a different perception of Elizabeth Taylor. As she tells her story, you realize that she herself never took her stardom seriously. She felt fabricated by the movie studios, which staged her look as well as with whom she was seen. She never really wanted all the hoopla and drama that went with being a celebrity,” said Dufrenoy.

Added Rosie Flore, “Celebrities and icons are people too. They live, love, laugh and hurt just the way we all do.”

Portraying the former movie idol, Monde said, “Elizabeth Taylor represented glamour. She represented style; she represented Hollywood stardom. At times her personal life overshadowed her screen accomplishments, but in the end, after eight marriages and numerous life-threatening illnesses, Elizabeth Taylor was a survivor.”

Born in London in 1932 to American parents who took their St. Louis art dealership abroad, Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor returned with them to the United States at age 7, as the family fled the impending war in Europe. The Taylors resettled in Los Angeles, where a family friend suggested that the arrestingly attractive Elizabeth be given a screen test at a movie studio. Her radiant good looks and charisma captivated the camera lens, and, by the time she was 10, the fledgling actress was appearing in films at Universal, MGM and 20th Century Fox. After playing several small parts, she rocketed to stardom, playing opposite Mickey Rooney, in the 1944 hit “National Velvet.” Now a child star with a contract with MGM, young Elizabeth scored another big success for her role in “Little Women” in 1949.

Blossoming into a voluptuous-figured, violet-eyed beauty as she entered her twenties, Taylor soon found herself playing opposite some of Hollywood’s top leading men. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles in “A Place in the Sun” (1951), “Raintree County” (1957), “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958), “Suddenly Last Summer” (1959) and “The Taming of the Shrew” (1967). She garnered two Oscars for her role as a call girl in “BUtterfield 8” (1960) and for her definitive roll as Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in 1966.

She also appeared famously in “Giant” with James Dean (1956) and with Richard Burton in “Cleopatra” in 1963 for which she was paid the then-stunning sum of one million dollars. Taylor became an international star and appeared solo on the cover of People Magazine 14 times.

Taylor was a significant voice in the battle against AIDS, helping to raise funds for research and playing a major role in focusing public opinion on the epidemic. For her tireless efforts, she was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001.

“It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS,” she said, “but no one should die of ignorance.”

Performances of “The Elizabeth Taylor Story” will run from May 9 through July 17 and take place on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and select Fridays at 11:30 a.m. and on Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Advance reservations are required. Tickets are $48 general admission, $45 seniors. For more information or to make a reservation, call 631-689-5888 or visit www.wmho.org.

Convicted Stony Brook home invasion rapist sentenced

by Phil Corso - May 7, 2015

0 6822

Stony-Brook-rape-hitman-Spota_Ruizw — District Attorney Tom Spota speaks at a press conference about Patrick O'Sullivan, who was convicted of raping a woman in Stony Brook in 2012. File photo by Michael Ruiz

The East Moriches man convicted of raping and sodomizing a woman in Stony Brook was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday at Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead, the district attorney said.

Patrick O’Sullivan has been convicted of raping a woman while she was housesitting in Stony Brook in 2012. Photo from Robert Clifford

Patrick O’Sullivan, 23, pleaded guilty to charges of rape, criminal sexual act, burglary, sexual abuse and conspiracy in relation to the Nov. 20, 2012, incident, at a residence where his victim was house-sitting. Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota said the man wore a mask and carried a loaded rifle when he entered the house through an unlocked door. He fired his weapon twice and sexually assaulted the victim after restraining her with duct tape.

While in custody at the county jail following his arrest, O’Sullivan was also charged with conspiracy after prosecutors said he tried to hire a hit man to kill the victim and another person he believed would testify against him, Spota said. The plot was foiled when the man he tried to hire notified the police.

The conspiracy charge alone landed O’Sullivan a concurrent prison term of up to 25 years, Spota said.

O’Sullivan appeared before Judge Barbara Kahn in county court Thursday morning for sentencing.

At the sentencing, he apologized to the victim, who also provided a statement. He said he hoped she could one day forgive him, a spokesman for Spota said.

In a moving testimony, the woman, who is not being identified because she is the victim of a sex crime, relived the horrific experience and the subsequent days before an arrest was made.

“For over an hour that night I was terrorized, tormented and violated. He showed me bullets and told me I shouldn’t make him use them,” she said in court Tuesday. “He left me in a house tied up, naked, violated, broken and alone. It was 10 days before an arrest was made, 10 days when I couldn’t bring myself to walk outside my house. It was eight months before I could return to work.”

The victim called her attacker a sociopath who made the conscious decision to commit “purely evil acts” of violence against her and said the memories of her attack will always be with her.

“There aren’t words to accurately describe the sheer panic, terror and fear when someone walks into a room and they are dressed in all black, wearing a ski mask and pointing a rifle directly at your head,” she said. “It is a moment that never leaves you. It is a moment in time that changes you forever.”

O’Sullivan waived his right to appeal in February and a permanent order of protection was issued for the victim, the district attorney said.

Police blotter: Suffolk County incidents and arrests through May 4

by TBR Staff - May 7, 2015

0 136

Dangerous duo
Two men from Commack — one a 22-year-old, the other 23 years old— were arrested at the precinct in Smithtown and charged assault with intent to cause serious physical injury. Police said the two men, while working in concert with one another, punched and struck a male victim in the head with an object, causing physical injury, on July 5, 2014. One man was arrested on April 26, the other man was arrested on May 3.

An expensive habit
Police arrested a 24-year-old woman in Smithtown on April 28 and charged her with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, in one instance, with intent to sell. Police also said she had a bench warrant out for her arrest. On April 23 by 3:23 p.m., police said she sold a quantity of heroin to someone in exchange for cash. She was arrested on April 28 at 6:10 a.m. on Blydenburg Avenue in Smithtown.

Ford-ified with tape
An 18-year-old woman from Holbrook was arrested in Smithtown at the precinct on April 27 and charged with third-degree criminal mischief, with damages greater than $250. Police said the woman damaged a 2005 Ford, scratching the car with her key and affixing duct tape to the vehicle’s paint.

Boozy temper tantrum
A 32-year-old man from Stony Brook was arrested in Smithtown at 5:25 a.m. on April 26 and charged with resisting arrested and disorderly conduct: obstructing traffic. Police said the man, who was highly intoxicated, and arrested at the corner of Edgewood Avenue and Glenrich Drive in St. James, was standing in the middle of the street, obstructing traffic and being violent and belligerent as cars tried to pass. He also refused to comply with an officer’s demand to place hands behind his back. When he was transported to the 4th Precinct, he refused to get out of the police vehicle, but eventually did.

The smoking gun
A Smithtown man filed a report on May 3 against his male neighbor on Route 111, claiming the neighbor was yelling at him. Police said the dispute erupted over an ongoing issue: the neighbor smoking on his patio. The complainant told police smoke drifts into his property.

Tire troubles
Two cars were damaged in separate incidents on Pine Acre Drive in Smithtown sometime between 11 p.m. on April 27 and 5 a.m. on April 28. Police said an unknown person punctured the front driver-side tires of a 2008 Toyota Highlander and a 2013 Dodge Ram using an unknown object.

Plate stolen
Someone took a license plate affixed to a 2008 Kawasaki motorcycle parked at LA Fitness on East Main Street in Smithtown sometime on April 27.

Storefront damaged
Someone gouged the front door and frame of Andre’s Precision Auto on Smithtown Boulevard, causing damage near the locks, sometime between 8 p.m. on April 30 and 9 a.m. on May 1.

Gimme my money
A man at Americas Best Value Inn on Nesconset Highway in Nesconset told police on April 26 that another person he knows at the inn pushed him because he asked him for $25 he wanted back. No one pressed charges, police said.

Bad reality checks
A 19-year-old man from Huntington was arrested in Huntington on May 2 and charged with two counts of petit larceny. Police said that, in separate incidents, he took the checking account numbers of two individuals and cashed checks. The incidents occurred on April 3 and April 13.

Crash ‘n go
Police said a 46-year-old Hauppauge male was arrested on April 28 in Huntington at the 2nd Precinct and charged with leaving the scene of a car accident. Police said the man was driving a 2008 Toyota on Broadhollow Road in Melville on April 10 at 2 p.m. and he collided with a 2000 Jeep, causing damage to the rear end of the vehicle. He failed to stop and speak with the driver.

Burglarized bling
A 40-year-old man from Huntington Station was arrested in Huntington on April 27 at the 2nd Precinct and charged with fourth-degree grand larceny of property valued at more than $1,000. Police said that sometime between 1 a.m. and 11 p.m. on April 26, the man removed an iPad, gold and a watch.

Popo push
A 22-year-old woman from Central Islip was arrested in Greenlawn on April 30 at about 9:20 a.m. and charged with second-degree obstructing governmental administration. Police said she pushed a police officer trying to take down a police report.

Best friends forever
A man claimed his friend punched him in the face and kicked him on May 2 on East 13th Street and Varney Avenue in Huntington. The victim was taken to the hospital.

Prints, kettle missing
A Huntington man told police that he discovered several items missing when he went to his dad’s house on Marine Street to help him pack his belongings. The items included a Currier and Ives lithographic print and a solid copper kettle. The incidents occurred sometime between April 21 at noon and April 25 at 3 p.m.

Cat fight
Two female friends punched, kicked and pulled each other’s hair at a house on Park Avenue in Huntington. The incident was reported on May 3 and no one is pressing charges.

Food fight
On April 29, an employee at Wendy’s in Port Jefferson Station reported that a co-worker scratched their arm, causing minor redness. No charges have been filed.

Bulking up
An unknown person stole three protein bars from a gas station on Route 112 in Port Jefferson Station on April 29 shortly after 4:30 p.m.

Clipped
A man was making a deposit at Bank of America in Port Jefferson Station on May 1 when he left his money clip on the counter. When he returned shortly after, the money clip and the cash it contained were missing.

Fore!
The windshield of a 2013 Honda was damaged on May 3 while parked at a residence on Village Green Drive in Port Jefferson Station. An errant golf ball from the neighboring golf course may have been to blame.

Mystery fire
An unknown person set a grassy median, property of Suffolk County, ablaze on County Road 83 in Mount Sinai on May 4. If caught, the person could face a fifth-degree arson charge for the 2:30 p.m. incident.

Bandits
Two unknown males entered a residence on Canal Road in Miller Place shortly after midnight on April 30 and stole property including cash, a rifle and a wallet.

Through the window
An unknown person entered a Patchogue Drive home in Rocky Point through an unlocked window on April 30 at some point between 9:10 a.m. and 9:10 p.m. The suspect rifled through drawers, closets and medicine cabinets and stole jewelry, a Sirius radio docking station and a laptop.

Tale of the robber
A woman discovered property from her 2015 Nissan Murano was missing while on her way home from North Shore Public Library in Shoreham on April 28. Police said a tablet and its case, a wallet — including a driver’s license and debit and credit cards — were stolen from the unlocked car while it was parked at the library.

Flagged
An unknown person destroyed a flagpole at a residence on Briarcliff Road in Shoreham in the early morning of May 2. The person broke the pole in half and then stole the flag.

Secret garden
An unknown person entered and stole items from a garden nursery on Middle Country Road in Centereach between May 1 and May 2. According to police, the person entered through an unlocked door and stole two iPhones, one iPad and assorted coins.

Passed out
A 23-year-old Centereach man was arrested on May 2 after police observed his vehicle stopped at the center of Huron Street and Dillon Avenue in Port Jefferson Station. Police said the man, who was impaired by drugs, was passed out in his 2002 Hyundai and the keys were still in the car’s ignition.

Teen angst
Four West Babylon teens were arrested in Selden on first-degree robbery, displaying a firearm, on April 28. According to police, the four teens — three aged 17 and one aged 15 — entered a Middle Country Road gas station shortly after 10 p.m. and threatened an employee with what appeared to be a weapon and demanded money.

Household items stolen
Someone stole household items and cleaners after walking through the garden department at the Walmart on Nesconset Highway in Setauket-East Setauket on April 26.

Phone jacked
Someone playing basketball at Sayville Coastal Sports on West Road in Setauket-East Setauket told police that he returned to his gym bag to find his iPhone stolen. He reported the incident on April 26.

Window screen damaged
A female complainant told police that she opened a window in her home on Old Town Road in Setauket-East Setauket and found the screen cut. The window was not damaged. The report came in on April 25.

Remembering the Lusitania, 100 years later

by Daniel Dunaief - May 7, 2015

0 169

Lusy-Liverpool-dock-w — The Lusitania is docked in Liverpool sometime before 1912. Photo from the Michael Poirier Collection

Nancy Dorney will spend several hours at Pier A in New York City on May 7 honoring relatives she never met.

A retired shop owner from Stony Brook, Dorney will join officials from Great Britain, Ireland, Germany and other countries to pay tribute to those who took a journey that ended abruptly and in many cases tragically exactly 100 years earlier when a German submarine torpedoed and sank the British ship Lusitania off the coast of Ireland as it was heading for Liverpool.

Among the 1,198 killed that afternoon were 128 Americans, which included 39-year-old pianist Charles Harwood Knight and his 42-year-old sister Elaine. The Knights were Dorney’s great-great-uncle and aunt and, for a time, were also her grandmother Millicent Lawrence’s guardians. After the sinking, which took 18 minutes, the Knights, who were traveling in first class, were never found.

The Knights “disappeared off the face of the Earth because they decided to take the ship that day,” Dorney said.

The sinking of the Lusitania, like the loss of the Titanic three years earlier, raised questions about what actions could have prevented the death of so many at sea. It also triggered active discussion about what role the United States could or should play in World War I.

The German government had warned of an aggressive campaign to sink ships around the British Isles that they believed were carrying munitions and reinforcements for the war. Some thought the Lusitania, which, at 24 knots, was the fastest cruise ship active at the time, could avoid becoming a target. The ship, however, had shut down one of its boilers to keep down costs, bringing its top speed to 21 knots, said Michael Poirier, co-author of the book “Into the Danger Zone: Sea Crossings of the First World War.” In the waters where the Germans had been patrolling, the ship was only going 18 knots, said Poirier.

The Lusitania “was handicapped by not speeding through the danger zone,” Poirier said. There are so many “what ifs,” he added.

In the aftermath of the sinking, opinions in the United States were sharply divided over the proper course of action. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, who had run for president three times and was an outspoken member of the Democratic Party, urged the country to steer clear of involvement.

Bryan thought the sinking didn’t immediately require farm boys from the middle of the country to risk being “killed for the rights of wealthy Americans to travel through war zones,” said Michael Barnhart, a distinguished teaching professor in the History Department at Stony Brook.

Even if America didn’t enter the war, Bryan didn’t want the sinking to become “a line in the sand,” where, if the Germans cross that line in the future, America “paints itself into a corner and has no option but to go to war,” Barnhart continued.

Teddy Roosevelt personified the other side of this argument, urging the United States to come to the aid of the British. Roosevelt viewed the sinking of the Lusitania “as an example of barbarism,” Barnhart said.

Political cartoonists at the time described the Germans in terms similar to the way people view ISIS now, Barnhart said.

Sensing that the country wasn’t eager to become involved in war, President Woodrow Wilson demanded that “Germans give the citizens of neutral nations a chance to get away in lifeboats before the ship on which they had been sailing was sunk by a German submarine,” explained Richard Striner, a professor of history at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. The Germans told Wilson the British had deck guns on their passenger ships that the British could use if the submarines surfaced. Wilson, Striner continued, suggested the British get rid of these guns but, not surprisingly, the British refused.

Ultimately, however, Wilson did what Bryan feared, indicating that future attacks would bring the country closer to war. In protest of the president’s posturing, Bryan resigned. In 1917, the Germans “realized that turning the U-boats loose would bring the U.S. into the war,” Barnhart said, but, they resumed their attacks anyway amid a shift in political winds in Germany. The United States joined the war on April 6, 1917.

As for Dorney, she has delved deeper into the lives of distant relatives who were important for her grandmother. Charles Knight, who people called by his middle name Harwood, was an accomplished pianist and, as Dorney described, a bit of a character. He forgot the organ music he was supposed to bring to a family funeral and played a somber version of a ragtime song from 1896, called “There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight.”

The last anyone heard from the Knights was when they sent a note to Dorney’s grandmother that contained a list of first-class passengers aboard the Lusitania, with names including Alfred Vanderbilt and Charles Frohman. A theater producer, Frohman helped develop such stars as Ethel Barrymore and John Drew, relatives of current actress Drew Barrymore.

As the former owner of Pride’s Crossing, a housewares and furniture store in Stony Brook, Dorney said she has an appreciation for what she’s learned about the Lusitania. The woodwork on board was “beautifully made and included interior design and artwork that were magnificently done.”

Dorney and those attending the wreath-laying ceremony in New York will heed the words Poirier said are so often connected with the sinking of the Lusitania: “Lest we forget.”

Free mulch and compost for Brookhaven residents

by TBR Staff - May 6, 2015

0 136

Mulch-Brookhaven-2w — The town is offering free mulch and compost, above, to town residents as supplies last. Photo from Brookhaven Town

Brookhaven Town has started giving away free mulch and compost to residents as part of a push to get some more green around town.

The mulch and compost will be distributed, upon submitting proof of residency, as supplies last. The material is not bagged, so people must provide their own containers and load the mulch and compst into their vehicles themselves.

Local distribution sites are open at Brookhaven Town Hall in Farmingville, on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Percy Raynor Park on Route 347 in South Setauket, on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on weekends from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and the Rose Caracappa Center on Route 25A in Mount Sinai, on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on weekends from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The material is also available at the Holtsville Ecology Center off Buckley Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday; at the town landfill on Horseblock Road in Brookhaven hamlet on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. and on Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon; and at the town compost facility on Papermill Road in Manorville on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.

All six sites are open to residents, but commercial vehicles may only pick up mulch and compost at the landfill and the compost facility, where there will be a fee of $12 per yard.

For more information about the mulch and compost distribution program, call Brookhaven Town at 631-451-TOWN.

In class-action suit, Latinos allege Suffolk police targeted them

by Rohma Abbas - May 6, 2015

0 106

Suffolk-police-car-cope-Donlonw — File photo

A contingent of 21 Latinos from Suffolk County has filed a class-action federal lawsuit suit against the Suffolk County Police Department, claiming several officers robbed them or issued them traffic citations in unfounded, race-based stops over a 10-year period.

Lawyers also charge the department with failing to correct a culture of discriminatory policing that has existed for years within the police force.

The case comes more than a year after Suffolk County Police Sgt. Scott Greene was arrested after a January 2014 sting operation uncovered he was taking money from a Latino driver. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Wednesday, April 29, lists Suffolk County, its police department, Police Chief Ed Webber, Greene and others as defendants. LatinoJustice PRLDEF and the firm Shearman & Sterling LLP are litigating the case pro bono.

Greene’s arrest sparked the lawsuit, according to the attorneys. LatinoJustice PRLDEF and the nonprofit organization Make the Road New York, which provides services for Latino and working class families, claimed after Greene’s arrest it learned from “dozens of victims who had been too afraid or thought it pointless, to complain about widespread police criminality,” according to a statement by LatinoJustice PRLDEF.

Meanwhile, Bob Clifford, spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota, responded to the suit in a statement last week. He said that after the DA’s office spent hundreds of hours interviewing more than 50 individuals with LatinoJustice PRLDEF and Make the Road New York, two indictments encompassing 81 criminal charges involving 27 Hispanic victims were returned against Greene alone.

“There is no credible evidence that Greene acted with other police officers,” Clifford said.

All the 21 plaintiffs are anonymous and all, except for one, are male, according to the lawsuit. In a phone interview this week, Foster Maer, senior litigation counsel for LatinoJustice PRLDEF, declined to provide details on where in Suffolk the individuals live, nor could he say if they are related to one another. The sting operation involving Greene occurred in the Farmingville, Medford and Coram areas, according to the lawsuit.

In its statement, LatinoJustice PRLDEF alleges that most of its 21 plaintiffs were stopped and robbed while driving, while others were sitting in a parked vehicle or walking down the street.

“The victims claimed that one or more officers would, in clear violation of police rules, get a hold of the victim’s wallet and then return it a few minutes later with one or two hundred dollars missing,” according to the statement.

The firm also stated that it requested the DA expand the investigation beyond Greene and claims the DA “has not replied to the request and in fact has only indicted Sgt. Greene in the robberies.”

Clifford, in his statement, however, said some of the incidents LatinoJustice PRLDEF claims the DA ignored are covered by the indictment against Greene.

“At no time did LatinoJustice provide any information whatsoever that any victims were robbed by police officers,” he said. “At no time did LatinoJustice provide any audio tape to investigators regarding any alleged crime.”

Asked how the firms would prove the alleged crimes occurred by officers other than Greene, Maer said the case would rely on victim testimony as “pretty hard proof.” He also said Suffolk County has access to location data of police cars, something he hopes will help narrow down officers involved in crimes.

Scrutiny of Suffolk County’s police practices toward Latinos is not new. In 2013, the county Legislature ratified a settlement with the federal Department of Justice, culminating a five-year long investigation following the stabbing death of Ecuadorian Marcelo Lucero, labeled a hate crime.

The 2008 case, which ignited tensions in the county over perceived anti-Hispanic bias within the department, also gained national prominence. That settlement outlines a number of reforms within the department, including a minimum of annual training for officers on removing bias from policing and on identifying hate crimes; designating officers who will interface with local communities to hear concerns and work to solve neighborhood problems; meeting with leaders of the Latino community as well as other minority communities for feedback; and sending all allegations, formal or informal, of police misconduct to the SCPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau for investigation, as well as track complaints and analyze trends.

“As we have done continuously since the beginning of this investigation, we continue to urge victims to contact the district attorney’s office,” Clifford said.

Suffolk legislator pushes green roof pilot project

by Phil Corso - May 5, 2015

0 125

Legislator-Kara-Hahnw — Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn file photo

A North Shore lawmaker is calling on Suffolk County to give green a chance.

Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) is pushing a pilot program that, if enacted, would inject green roof construction principles into roof repair or replacement plans for one county-owned building on a trial basis.

A “green roof” uses a garden or plantings to increase energy efficiency by insulating the building in the winter and reducing solar absorption in the summer, to decrease the need for heating and air conditioning, according to the not-for-profit Green Roofs for Healthy Cities organization. Green roofs can also attract various pollinating insect species, which would serve as an environmental benefit to the surrounding region.

“Structures that employ green roof concepts report increased energy efficiency,” Hahn said. “In the municipalities that have already installed these roofs, officials have discovered that being green is saving green.”

If enacted in Suffolk County, the pilot project would take root atop one county-owned building, Hahn spokesman Seth Squicciarino said. The county’s Department of Public Works would monitor the green roof to measure the benefits.

If successful, similar roof renovations could sprout up throughout the county.

Hahn said the DPW would select which building in Suffolk should get the roof repair or replacement project, select a vendor for the work and provide periodic reports on its progress as the seasons pass.

The plan was first put onto the table March 3 and the county Legislature’s Public Works, Transportation and Energy Committee mulled over the proposal at its April 20 meeting.

Hahn said municipalities throughout the country were already looking into similar projects and, in some cases, requiring new construction projects to include green roof principles. As for Long Island, green roofs are already in full bloom on the SUNY Old Westbury campus and on the East End’s southern fork.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized green roof projects as an effective management practice that, if implemented on a large scale, would reduce the volume of stormwater entering local waterways and lower water temperatures to enhance water quality. New York City has already enacted a $5.23 rebate for each square foot of many green roof projects, and the city of Syracuse has allocated nearly $4 million toward 37 different green roof projects to date.

Benner’s Farm celebrates May Day

by Heidi Sutton - May 5, 2015

0 107

Benner’s Farm in Setauket held a May Day festival on Sunday, May 3, much to the delight of the local community. The festivities included a dance around a maypole, live music and other activities.

1 of 4