Letters to the Editor: September 7, 2023

Sen. Schumer gives support to Sound Beach post office reopening 

Dear Postmaster General DeJoy,

I write regarding United States Postal Service (USPS) operations in the hamlet of Sound Beach, New York, on Long Island’s North Shore, where the local post office was shuttered months ago without warning. Sound Beach residents, community leaders and elected representatives are troubled by the lack of communication about the closure from USPS and the apparent lack of any work being done on-site to remedy the situation.

It is my understanding that the Sound Beach post office was shuttered around May 29, 2023, after a potential structural issue at the facility was uncovered. According to community leaders, the only official notification to the community since the closure has been the placement of signs in the building windows stating that the post office is temporarily closed for safety reasons, as well as a statement to a local media organization by a USPS spokesperson stating that the building “remains closed awaiting necessary repairs.” There are also concerns regarding undelivered mail to Sound Beach residents and reported short staffing at the Miller Place post office, where Sound Beach post office personnel have been relocated. I ask that USPS provide me and other community leaders with detailed information about the closure and what work is being done to rectify the situation, including answers to these specific questions:

1) What are the structural issues that have been identified at the Sound Beach post office building?

2) Where is USPS in the process of remedying the structure issues at the facility and what is the timeline for reestablishment of services at the post office?

3) What is the estimated reopening date of the Sound Beach post office?

4) What exact measures are being taken to ensure that mail delivery and postal services are smoothly and adequately provided to Sound Beach residents?

5) Is a temporary location within Sound Beach being considered for postal operations and services? If no, why not?

As you know, local post offices are the bustling center of healthy communities across New York and the country. Reestablishing a post office in Sound Beach is critical to ensuring vital services are accessible to all those who need them. I urge you to work with stakeholders to reestablish operations at the Sound Beach post office as quickly and safely as possible.

Thank you for your attention to this important request. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my staff.

Charles E. Schumer

U.S. Senate Majority Leader (D-NY

Lack of emergency response from PJV

I take the safety of this community very seriously.

On Sunday afternoon, there was a scary and extremely unsettling incident that took place in Port Jefferson. Suffolk County Police Department, village code officers and other first responders, including a SCPD helicopter, were deployed to the harbor area. 

Seeing the helicopter and emergency response, I was concerned about what potentially could be unfolding, yet no word came. In desperation, I turned to social media to see if any information was posted from village officials. There was nothing. 

What I found instead were panicked messages from residents, also desperate for information, and rumors and hearsay about what might be going on Down Port. Was it a bomb? Had someone targeted the ferry boats or ferry terminal?

Social media was rife with comments and conjecture about what was happening. Instead of information, residents posted their fears, concerns and panic online, as there were over 100 comments on social media posts in real time.

These are from actual social media posts on Sunday: 

“My son is down there and I was panicking.”

“This is so scary.”

“They heard a bomb was going to explode.”

My daughter “is working downtown today.”

My daughter “too, she’s working the boats!”

“No communication. People are very angry.”

Despite this, there was not one word from the administration or the mayor [Lauren Sheprow], the self-appointed commissioner of public safety, to calm the concerns or panic. This is the same mayor, who during her reorganizational meeting, chose to deactivate the safety committee.

While I agree that “law enforcement agencies … are responsible for, and lead the communication efforts,” that in no way precludes the administration from coming out in front and informing residents, calming fears and letting the community know the situation is being handled.

Port Jeff Village has an emergency communication system called Code Red, which is designed to keep residents safe. The mayor chose not to use this system nor to communicate through social media or the village website.

It’s shameful that village officials were asleep at the wheel and allowed this incident to unfold and did not take any action to inform residents. Our community was expecting, at least, a Code Red notification. Instead, residents received nothing. Zero communication. Not a word. 

During times of crisis, strong leadership that inspires confidence in local government is paramount for a strong community.

Strong leadership or leadership of any kind was nonexistent during this time.

Kathianne Snaden

Port Jefferson

Editor’s note: According to the village website Sept. 4, a bomb threat was made at Port Jefferson Harbor Sunday, Sept. 3, 1:40 p.m., but no bombs were found. 

The writer served as trustee of the Village of Port Jefferson from 2019-23, holding the position of deputy mayor and commissioner of public safety.

Port Jefferson’s motorcycle noise

On Saturday, Sept. 2, we were enjoying the wonderful food and service on the porch at The Fifth Season restaurant at 34 E. Broadway. It was a beautiful evening near the boats and the beach, and a pleasure to be outside. 

Unfortunately the extremely loud noise made by motorcycles passing by was deafening. 

To an extent, the noise is a safety measure for riders, but there is no reason for the exaggerated degree frequently in use by some, especially on the narrow and crowded streets of Port Jefferson.

The noise is at a level to be startling and disturbing to anyone near it and likely harmful to riders themselves. Consideration should be given to requiring a reasonable legal threshold or possibly setting aside a special parking area and street restrictions.

Dave Gross

Port Jefferson

Palumbo way off the mark on migrants

In New York State Sen. Anthony Palumbo’s [R-New Suffolk] op-ed [“Local control is key to protect communities from migrant crisis,” Aug. 31, TBR News Media], he blames lack of leadership for the immigrant crises and argues for the need for local control. Unfortunately, his argument is way off the mark.

The failure of leadership comes from Congress in general and Republicans specifically for failing to pass a comprehensive policy and plan for dealing with immigration. We are not the only country facing a crisis — hundreds of thousands of Central and South Americans as well as Africans are desperately fleeing war, famine, lack of security, gang warfare and the effects of global warming.

The world needs a plan to both stabilize those countries and provide for asylum seekers. Seeking asylum is a basic right. The U.S. should subscribe to international standards for asylum; an asylum claimant must demonstrate persecution based on one of the five protected grounds — race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

We should have sufficient judges to quickly process cases, admit those who qualify and deport those who don’t. We need standards to admit those not seeking asylum. Finally, the question is not local control — which runs the risk of not-in-my-backyard claims — or state or national control, but both a comprehensive plan and the acknowledgement that all Americans should welcome immigrants.

It should not be left to the border states, nor should we accept the stunts of Govs. Ron DeSantis [R-FL] and Greg Abbott [R-TX], who have shipped immigrants north without notice or the agreement of the immigrants themselves.

Adam D. Fisher

Port Jefferson Station

The time is now for PJ Branch electrification

Please forward this information to friends and relatives in Port Jefferson and include friends and relatives who reside along the North Shore, west to Greenlawn.

I have been working with the U.S. Green Building Council and the Sierra Club on the Port Jeff Branch electrification project for many years. (The USGBC-LI is focused on green transportation.)

The LIRR has told our village’s Conservation Advisory Council and me that there are challenges to modernization and electrification of the line.

We are not seeing this as an “all or nothing” proposition. We can provide the LIRR planners with options if they need assistance. We can electrify now and “double track” in the future. Better is better than nothing.

This is an economic issue for our area and a green issue for Long Island and New York state. Much money is being spent to improve transportation elsewhere throughout the state.

We pay taxes, too.

New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act — signed into law in 2019 — requires public agencies to work diligently toward New York’s zero-emissions goals.

Diesel locomotion does not conform. Driving from the Port Jefferson line to the Ronkonkoma line for a decent ride does not conform. Building unnecessary parking garages and paving acres of asphalt for parking does not conform.

Suffolk County has designated space at the Lawrence Aviation Superfund site on Sheep Pasture Road for the LIRR that would help with electrification and eliminate two grade-level crossings and two old and obsolete bridges. This would be valuable to our local economy and traffic flow as well.

The time is now. If we do not make progress in the short term, it may be decades before we have better transportation.

Bruce Miller 

Port Jefferson

Editor’s note: The writer is a former Village of Port Jefferson trustee.

An alternative to advanced septic systems

The Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act, if passed by referendum vote, would provide an increase in the county sales tax of 0.125%, thereby increasing the combined New York State and Suffolk County tax rate to a whopping 8.375%. The reason for this, we are told, will be to provide reimbursements to beleaguered homeowners who have been required to have advanced wastewater treatment technology installed as part of their cesspools.

Although there is considerable controversy regarding the wisdom of passing this legislation, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that the widespread, possibly even universal, requirement for these high-tech, electric cesspools is a good idea. But is this reasonable?

There are a number of significant problems associated with these units. The initial installation expense is comparable to the cost of a new car, and maintenance and inspection issues are likely to be an ongoing nuisance forever.

But what is the alternative? A much more sensible approach, in my opinion, would be to leave the present concrete cesspools as they are, and to develop large-scale denitrification systems to be installed and operated at the distribution sites of the Suffolk County Water Authority. 

These systems would process the nitrate ions, which are composed of nitrogen and oxygen atoms, and produce pure, clean nitrogen and oxygen gasses, which could be released into the atmosphere with no ill effects whatsoever. As a result, the nitrate level of the purified water can be made as low as desired. As a bonus, power could be provided by solar arrays or windmills. And, as we were told by former state Assemblyman Steve Englebright [Perspective, “Let the people vote for clean water,” TBR News Media, Aug. 17], “Pure water is our most essential resource.”

In the early 1900s, Fritz Haber developed a method for synthesizing ammonia from gaseous nitrogen and hydrogen, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1919. This revolutionized the manufacture of fertilizers, at a reasonable cost, which helped to feed millions of people throughout the world. 

If Haber could devise a methodology for combining nitrogen and hydrogen in a cost-effective manner over 100 years ago, surely we can figure out how to separate nitrogen from oxygen just as easily today. And I have no doubt that the SCWA can build, maintain and operate a few hundred of these systems with far greater efficiency, much lower cost and infinitely less aggravation than 380,000 Suffolk homeowners would expend on the electric cesspools buried in their backyards.

George Altemose

Setauket