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Brookhaven

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Dominick-Crawford Barn is now a historic landmark. Photo by Giselle Barkley

It’s history in the making.

Brookhaven’s Three Village Historical Society is continuing its quest to preserve the town’s history and educate the community after the Town of Brookhaven’s meeting on Thursday Sept. 17, at 5 p.m.

That Thursday, the town established the Three Village Society’s Ebenezer Bayles/Stephen Swezey house in Setauket and the dismantled Dominick-Crawford Barn, which will be located nearby, as historic landmarks in Setauket. The goal isn’t only to establish these buildings as historic landmarks but also classify them as a museum where residents can visit and learn about the history behind the house and the barn.

But it may take some time before the society fulfills its goal. The society had the nearly 155- to 168-year-old Dominick-Crawford Barn dismantled as part of its Crawford Barn Renovation Project.

According to John Cunniffe of Stony Brook, the architect of this project, the Village of Old Field originally wanted to take the barn down and use the land. Cunniffe said the village received the deed for the property several years ago but it didn’t do anything with the property until it decided the barn was “in their way.”

“The barn was left in a neglected state for quite some time,” Cunniffe said. “So the Historical Society found some funding to pay a contractor to carefully dismantle [the barn]. So it was that or watch the barn be demolished.”

Cunniffe also said establishing the barn as a historic landmark was not only important because of the barn’s long history but also because there is a town code requirement to classify the barn as a museum as it will rest on a residential property.

According to Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) the Society for Preservation of Long Island Antiquities used to own the property where the barn and the house will be located. They used to have an auction out of the barn that was there at the time. When SPLIA moved its headquarters from the Ebenezer Bayles/Stephen Swezey house location in Setauket to Cold Spring Harbor, it took the barn that was there at the time.

The Dominick-Crawford Barn, which was located on the east side of the junction of Old Field Road and Quaker Path in the Village of Old Field before it was dismantled, will be located to the left of the Ebenezer Bayles/Stephen Swezey House parking lot.

Thus far Englebright has helped provide $625,000 in grants to help fund the project. He also said the organization has held fundraisers with the hope of collecting additional funds to pay for the project.

While the Crawford barn was built around 1847 to 1860, the house was built in 1800. Former President of the Three Village Historical Society Steven Hintze said the house is of great importance to the community’s history.

“It was built before [the] Civil War. And many of [those houses] haven’t lasted. They haven’t made it to this point due to neglect,” Hintze said. “We were able to see [the Ebenezer Bayles/Stephen Swezey house] was starting to fall to disrepair so we started to move.”

After SPLIA moved, the Three Village Historical Society left its old headquarters for its new one in the house. The Three Village Society was originally operating out of an upstairs room in a house before purchasing the Ebenezer Bayles/Stephen Swezey house on May 14, 1998.

Cunniffe was unsure how long it may take before the organization can reassemble the barn, as the town’s decision to make it a historic landmark is one of many steps in the approval process to put the barn back together near the Three Village Society’s headquarters. Regardless, the Three Village Society wants to continue giving back with the hope that the project will allow residents to learn more about the history of the house and the barn. It’s a desire that Englebright supports.

“They are doing a great job and as long as I can possibly support them, I’m going to continue to do so,” Englebright said. “They are making it possible for us to have an even stronger sense of place, and that’s at the core of what it means to be a part of a community.”

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Brookhaven officials flood county public works offices with hopes of addressing water quality on North Shore

Stony Brook Mill Pond. Photo by Giselle Barkley

Just as the Town of Brookhaven officials are fighting to improve the Long Island Sound’s water quality, officials have also recently taken steps to combat the buildup of sediment deposits in Stony Brook Harbor.

According to a press release, Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) wrote a letter to the Suffolk County Commissioner of Public Works Gil Anderson on Sept. 14 urging the county to include a navigational channel to the “Stony Brook Boat Works” property. The channel will end south of Brookhaven’s “kayak/canoe launch.”

Officials noted that the creek, which flows from Stony Brook Mill Pond into the Stony Brook Harbor, has accumulated sediment deposits over the years, which is restricting tidal flow in that area. The growth of Phragmites, a common grass found in wetlands, has largely contributed to the sediment deposits. Romaine said the water is shallow in that area and it is difficult for the anchored boats at the Stony Brook Yacht Club to navigate the body of water during low tide.

“[The town] raised this issue because we think it should be examined,” Romaine said. “We think that the boaters particularly in the yacht club should have the ability to use the recreational waterways. We also think it would help [tidal flushing] for that creek.”

Romaine also said even if the project is approved, dredging the body of water depends on the amount of money available to execute the project. Once approved, the town will have to handle how and where the sediment is disposed. Romaine said hydraulic dredges, which dredge spoils and pump them half a mile away, and dewatering sites among others are ways the town can dispose of the dredge spoils.

In a press release, Romaine asked for the Stony Brook Task Force and Legislature Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) to support his position on the issue. Although Romaine submitted the letter to the county, it’s unclear when or if the Dredge Committee will accept the modified project, as the committee doesn’t meet regularly and is working on other dredging projects.

“It will take some time before the county addresses this. But if you don’t ask, you don’t get,” Romaine said in a phone interview. “This may not be their first priority but [the town] put the request in and we’re hopeful that it will get some attention.”

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Wined and wanted

Suffolk County police and Crime Stoppers are offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information about a man who stole a bottle of alcohol from Hamlet Wines & Liquors in Setauket. Police said the man stole a nearly $1,700 bottle of Chateau Petrus wine on Sept. 12 around 5:35 p.m. Cops said the man took the bottle of wine and hid it in his pants before he fled the store on foot. The police seek the public’s help to identify and locate the man. If you have any information regarding the theft,call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. To see the video of the incident, visit www.youtube.com/scpdtv.

A gem of a thief

A 20-year-old man from Port Jefferson Station was arrested at his home on Concord Circle for grand larceny. Police arrested the man on Sept. 20 at 11:00 a.m. and said the man stole more than $50,000 in jewelry and cash on the evening of Aug. 15.

Out of line

Police pulled over a 20-year-old man from Stony Brook and charged him with driving while ability impaired. Cops said the man was under the influence of drugs while he drove a 1989 Ford southbound on Route 112 in Port Jefferson. Police arrested him at the scene on Sept. 18 around 1:20 a.m. after he failed to maintain his lane.

Late library stroll

On Sept. 18, at 11:15 p.m., police arrested a 26-year-old man from Port Jefferson Station and charged him with burglary. Police said on June 24 at 5:25 p.m., the man entered a staff-only room in Comsewogue Public Library in Port Jefferson Station and stole a laptop.

Risky Rav4 ride

A 24-year-old girl from Miller Place was arrested at her home on Sept. 19 at 9:15 a.m. and charged her with operating a vehicle without permission. Police said the woman was operating a 2015 Rav4 without permission. Police didn’t disclose who the car belonged to.

A healthy heist

Around 9:10 a.m. on Sept. 19, at the 6th Precinct, police arrested a 43-year-old man from Lake Ronkonkoma and charged him with petit larceny. Cops said the man stole vitamins and dietary supplements from the CVS on Horseblock Road in Farmingville on July 5 at 12:30 p.m.

Gone with the grill

On Sept. 20, around 3:50 p.m., police arrested a 48-year-old man from Holtsville and charged him with petit larceny. The man was arrested at the 6th Precinct, for stealing a gas grill on June 14 around 1:00 a.m. from the Kmart on North Ocean Road in Farmingville.

Gimme some gas

Police charged a 28-year-old man from Centereach for driving while ability impaired on Sept. 17 at 1:20 a.m. Officers initially stopped the man for speeding down Nicolls Road in Stony Brook in a 2008 Nissan and discovered he was intoxicated.

DWAI disaster

A 48-year-old woman from Rocky Point was arrested and charged with driving while ability impaired. Police said on Sept. 18, the woman was driving under the influence of drugs when she got into a car crash with her 2014 Chevy Camaro on Route 25A in Port Jefferson. Police arrested the woman at around 10:08 p.m. at the scene.

Breaking and not entering

Police said between 2:00 and 9:15 a.m. on Sept. 17, an unknown person broke into the front driver’s side of a 2004 Honda Accord. The incident happened on Chestnut Street in Mount Sinai. Police said nothing was stolen from the car.

Handy house visit

Police said an unidentified person entered a residence on Radio Avenue in Miller Place through the backyard and stole a Bosch demolition hammer sometime between Sept. 18 at 5:30 p.m. and Sept. 19 at 9:30 a.m.

Cash register raider

On Sept. 20, around 8:48 p.m., an unknown person entered the Carvel on Route 25A in Port Jefferson and reached over the cashier counter before taking money from the cash register. Police didn’t disclose the amount of money that was stolen.

A serious workout

Police said an assault took place outside the Planet Fitness on Route 25A in Rocky Point. On Sept. 18, around 12:47 a.m., a man told police he was punched and kicked several times by another man before the complainant fled the scene. Police said the complainant was taken to John T. Mather Memorial Hospital to have his injuries tended to.

Partners in crime

Suffolk County police said a man and a woman stole cosmetics and clothes from the Walmart on Nesconset Highway in Setauket on Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m.

Shattered glass

Between Sept. 16 at 10:00 a.m. and Sept. 17 at 7:00 a.m., an unknown person broke the glass door of How How Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant on Nesconset Highway in Setauket. According to police, nothing was stolen.

Lexus lost change

On Sept. 19 at 12:48 a.m. on Cheryl Drive in East Shoreham, a man reported that an unidentified person entered his 2015 Lexus and stole cash from the car. Police didn’t say if the individual broke into the car or if the car was unlocked.

A daring steal

Police said on Sept. 16 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. an unknown person broke into a 2001 Ford and stole a driver’s license and Social Security card. The incident took place on Dare Road in Selden.

Walgreens wake-up

Around 1:00 a.m. on Sept. 20, an unidentified person stole cosmetics and razors from the Walgreens on Middle Country Road in Selden. The individual fled the store in a dark blue van.

A rocky night

On Sept. 19 around 7:05 p.m., someone threw a rock at a 2015 BMW near Route 347 in Stony Brook. Police said the rear passenger door was damaged.

Listening to the blues

A 35-year-old man from Bayshore was arrested for third degree criminal mischief on Sept. 20. He stole an Eclipse Pro 180 mp3 video player from Walmart in Smithtown according to police around 2 p.m. and was arrested at the store.

Not Ksmart at Kmart

On Sept. 18 a 40-year-old woman from Wyandanch and a 27-year-old woman from Medford stole assorted clothing from a Kmart in Commack according to police at 6:30 p.m. They were arrested on site and charged for petit larceny.

Sleepy in a Mitsubishi

A 24-year-old man from Nesconset was found passed out behind the wheel on Smithtown Blvd. at 1:10 a.m. on Sept. 16. He was inside a 2011 Mitsubishi and was transported to the 4th Precinct. He was charged with driving while ability impaired.

Pot bust

On Sept. 16 a 29-year-old woman from Selden was arrested for fifth degree criminal possession of marijuana. In the rear parking lot of 7-Eleven in Nesconset at 5:45 p.m., she was found in a 2007 Lincoln with marijuana and was arrested at the scene.

Why have one drug when you can have two drugs?

A 22-year-old man from Brentwood was arrested on Sept. 18 at the 2nd Precinct. He was found on the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Commack Road at 1:25 p.m. with marijuana and cocaine in his possession. He was charged with criminal possession of marijuana and third degree criminal possession of a narcotic drug.

Sandman take the wheel

Police arrested a 19-year-old woman from Commack on Sept. 17 after they observed her sleeping behind the wheel of a 2013 Honda Civic when her vehicle rolled forward into an unmarked unit car at 5:45 a.m. She was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Wild times on Wildwood Lane

A man reported that another man punched him in the face on Wildwood Lane in Smithtown at 9:45 p.m. on Sept. 19.

U-turn turns U-crazy

While making a U-turn on Sept. 19 due to construction, the driver was approached by a man who started yelling and calling him names, and then stuck his hand inside the car and threatened to punch the driver at Bowers Court in Smithtown at 2:40 p.m.

Raise the roof

Suffolk County police said a 41-year-old man and a 16-year-old man, both from Huntington, were arrested on Sept. 19 at 3:30 p.m. for opening the protective safety cover to the roof and gaining access at Walt Whitman mall in Huntington. They were both charged with third-degree criminal trespassing in an enclosed property.

Schoolyard blues

On Sept. 18, a 17-year-old man from East Northport was arrested at the 2nd Precinct and charged with petit larceny. Police said on Sept. 16 at 12:45 p.m., he stole cash out of someone’s purse at Northport High School.

Rocky car ride

A man told police that on Sept. 18 at 11:10 a.m. while making a right turn on Broadway in Huntington, he began to yell at a passerby on the street. The passerby then threw a rock at the man’s car and shattered the vehicle’s rear break light.

Bed theft and beyond

A 43-year-old woman from St. James was arrested at the 2nd Precinct on Sept. 18 for fourth-degree grand larceny. Police said on Aug. 16 at 3:30 p.m., she took a Bank of America credit card from someone’s purse at Bocu Salon in Commack and then used it to buy items at a Bed Bath and Beyond in Lake Grove.

Burglary and a buzz

A resident on Makamah Beach Road in Northport told police that someone broke into his or her house at 8 p.m. on Sept. 16 and stole a sound system, two PlayStation devices, four remotes and many bottles of wine and beer.

Can’t af-Ford anymore problems

A 47-year-old man from Huntington was arrested on Sept. 18 at 6:01 p.m. on Oakwood Road in Huntington Station and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08. He was stopped after police said witnesses said they saw him using a non-hands-free mobile device while driving a 1997 Ford. When police stopped him, they also found that he was driving without an interlock device in the car that he was required to be driving with due to previous DWI arrests. They also discovered he was driving while under the influence.

Ring the alarm

On Sept. 17, a 17-year-old woman from Huntington Station was arrested and charged with first-degree falsely reporting an incident after police said she pulled the fire alarm at Walt Whitman High School at 11 a.m.

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Turn in dangerous or illegal animals at amnesty event

Brookhaven officials are urging residents to turn in endangered or dangerous animals on Oct. 10. Last year, people turned in alligators and marmosets. File photo

Residents can turn in any protected, endangered or threatened animals that require special New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permits without fear of penalties or questioning on Saturday, Oct. 10.

Brookhaven Town’s second Amnesty Day at the Holtsville Ecology Center will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and people owning dangerous or illegals animals will be able to hand them over to trained professionals from the town, the DEC, the wildlife service and the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The agencies will relocate animals turned in that cannot be kept at the ecology center.

“All too often people will harbor unlicensed or illegal pets without realizing the dangers they pose or the amount of care they require,” Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro said in a press release. “This often leads to these animals being dumped by someone who once had it as a pet. An example of this is the 25-pound alligator snapping turtle that was recently found in the Nissequogue River in Smithtown.”

That turtle, a freshwater reptile that officials said had enough power to bite off a human finger or toe, was discovered in the stream opposite the Smithtown Bull on Route 25 in Smithtown in late August. It is not indigenous to Long Island — it is usually found in the region from eastern Texas to the Florida panhandle.

At the Amnesty Day on Oct. 10, residents can “do the right thing for the safety of their neighbors and for the well-being of these animals,” Losquadro said.

Last year’s town event saw 25 animals turned in at the ecology center, including a western diamondback rattlesnake, a green anaconda, four boa constrictors, an American alligator and two marmosets. It was the most successful amnesty event the SPCA has ever had.

“The purpose of this effort is to get these illegally possessed animals into a controlled environment where they can be cared for properly,” SPCA Chief Roy Gross said. “People who are in possession of these animals unlawfully can turn them in to us without fear of prosecution. No one will be asked to give their name.”

The ecology center is located at 249 Buckley Road in Holtsville.

For more information, call the Suffolk County SPCA at 631-382-7722, NYSDEC at 631-444-0250 or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 516-825-3950.

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Supervisor Ed Romaine listens to resident concerns at the town meeting. Photo by Giselle Barkley

Civic leaders in Three Village are calling on Brookhaven to put the brakes on a local law that could potentially limit the number of vehicles parked on town roads.

In an attempt to crack down on illegal rental housing in Brookhaven, elected officials mulled over a proposal at a work session late last month that would restrict the number of permitted vehicles at a rental house to one car per legal bedroom, plus one additional car. But Shawn Nuzzo, president of the Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook, said imposing “separate and unequal” laws would infringe on residents’ most basic rights as Americans by determining which Brookhaven natives would be allowed to park their vehicles on the street.

The civic president wrote a letter in opposition of the town’s proposal.

“While it is certainly in the town’s purview to determine how our roadways should be used, our laws should apply equally to all,” Nuzzo wrote in the letter. “It is unwise to create restrictive laws meant to apply only to certain members of our society — in this instance, based on their homeownership status.”

Nuzzo said he submitted his remarks on the law for the board to consider at its Sept. 17 meeting, when the town will look to add an amendment to Local Law 82 in the Brookhaven Town Code, which oversees rental registration requirements. The proposed vehicle restriction was only the latest in a string of initiatives the town put forward to prevent illegal housing rentals, including one measure that outlawed paving over front yards to make way for parking spaces.

The measures were borne out of an issue Bruce Sander, president of the Stony Brook Concerned Homeowners, helped bring to the forefront after communities in and around Three Village became hotspots for illegal or otherwise overcrowded rental homes filled with Stony Brook University students. Sander was only one of many Three Village natives to come out against the overcrowded housing debacle, citing quality of life issues such as noise and overflowing trash.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said at the Aug. 27 Town Board work session that he believed restricting the number of vehicles parked in front of rental homes could be a helpful tool in fighting illegal rooming houses.

“Normally, what we have to do is try to get inside to cite them, but to do that requires a search warrant, which judges are reluctant to give without probable cause,” Romaine said. “However, one of the other factors that these illegal rooming houses generate is the fact that there’s a lot of cars around. If we could control the number of cars, we would be better able to cite people.”

Looking ahead, Nuzzo said he planned on forwarding the proposal to the state attorney general’s office as well as the Southern Poverty Law Center to delve into the legality of a township restricting the number of vehicles parked in front of any given home, and whether or not the town can selectively enforce such a measure.

“If the Town Board feels street parking regulations are necessary, then those regulations should be implemented town wide,” Nuzzo said. “To target only certain residents for selective enforcement is un-American, and quite possibly illegal.”

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Randall Road received a makeover, getting repaved and restriped. Photo from Frank Petrignani

Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro and Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) have teamed up to have the major thoroughfare Randall Road repaved and restriped in the hamlets of Ridge and Shoreham.

“The widening and re-paving of Randall Road is a major improvement that will ease traffic flow and reduce congestion,” Bonner said. “I commend and thank Superintendent Losquadro and the Highway Department for their continuing efforts to make driving more convenient and safer for everyone.”

This roadway extends from Whiskey Road to New York State Route 25A, with Albert G. Prodell Middle School, three highly populated retirement communities and several neighborhoods located directly off it.

Randall Road has also been widened where it meets Route 25A. The widening of the street has accommodated the installation of a new, dedicated left-hand turning lane for motorists turning westbound onto 25A, increasing capacity at the intersection and preventing cars from getting backed up at the traffic light.

“This roadway serves as a connecting point for motorists traveling between mid-Brookhaven and the North Shore,” Losquadro said. “I was able to coordinate the paving and road widening projects at the same time in order to cause as little inconvenience as possible to residents and motorists. Now that the project is complete, it is very gratifying to know we were able to address the concerns of residents living in both Ridge and Shoreham with one project.”

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Brookhaven Town wants to limit the number of cars allowed per house. Photo by Elana Glowatz

Long Island is infamous for its numerous layers of government, and sometimes those layers try to legislate too much of our lives.

An underlying misconception about what truly affects “quality of life” is forcing our elected officials to pitch laws that are more knee-jerk reactions and overregulation than appropriate responses. We are seeing it in several North Shore communities, like in Brookhaven Town this week.

As part of the town’s fight against overcrowded and illegal rental houses — many of them inhabited by students in the neighborhoods around Stony Brook University — officials want to limit the number of allowed vehicles per bedroom in a house, to help them track the number of people living in a home.

But elected leaders are reacting based upon unrealistic expectations of what “quality of life” should mean to the average Long Islander.

Telling a homeowner how many vehicles they can have, based on the number of bedrooms in a home, is drawing a dangerous line in the sand. What would that do to the basic Brookhaven nuclear family with four older kids, sharing two bedrooms? What would that do to the average car collector? Let’s also not forget about a different — but relevant — issue on Long Island: It’s difficult to even get around out here without a vehicle because of shoddy public transportation. And now we are going to limit the number of cars a family home can possess?

There are already provisions in place to penalize irresponsible neighbors who make too much noise, don’t properly dispose of trash or park on lawns — true quality of life issues. Cracking down on vehicle ownership is beyond the pale, especially if everyone is parked legally. If we cannot use existing provisions to track or police rentals, perhaps they are not enough of a nuisance for us to get involved.

Neighborhoods change. People build. People leave. New people with new personalities come in. These things happen, and it isn’t the job of our county or town officials to make regulations in an attempt to control that.

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Bill would limit cars allowed per bedroom

Supervisor Ed Romaine listens to resident concerns at the town meeting. Photo by Giselle Barkley

It’s a battle between the town and landlords as officials and concerned homeowners keep trying to combat illegal housing.

A proposed Brookhaven Town law aims to prevent overcrowding in rental homes by limiting the number of allowed tenants to four unrelated people — half as many as currently permitted — and restricting the number of permitted vehicles at a rental house to one car per legal bedroom plus one additional car. At a four-bedroom rental house, that translates to five allowed vehicles.

The proposal is the most recent in a string of initiatives to prevent illegal house rentals, including a measure that outlawed paving over front yards to make additional space to park cars.

“That’s how bad it was,” Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said during last week’s Brookhaven Town Board meeting.

The housing issue came to the forefront a few years ago with the help of Bruce Sander, the president of Stony Brook Concerned Homeowners. In Three Village and neighboring areas like Port Jefferson and Middle Country, residents have spoken against illegal and often overcrowded rental homes that are filled with Stony Brook University students, citing quality of life issues such as noise and overflowing trash.

Romaine said the rules detailed in the proposed law would make it easier for the town to identify rental homes that house more people than legally allowed.

“There are a number of people who have taken over foreclosed houses for sale with four bedrooms,” Romaine said. “They’ve carved it up and put around eight to 10 students in them.”

Sander said students aren’t the issue — landlords are.

“The law department and town investigators are on top of this all the time because the landlord never obeys the laws,” Sander said in an interview, referring to landlords who rent houses to more tenants than legally allowed. “It’s just the nature of the beast; it’s just what they do.”

Sander helped found Stony Brook Concerned Homeowners around three years ago, after he moved to Stony Brook and identified two illegal boarding houses across the street from him. As the boarding houses became disruptive, residents in the area became concerned.

“I saw the value of my house and the value of my property just go down the tank.”

Tracking the number of people living in one rental home has been difficult for the town, but officials hope counting cars will make the process easier. The town’s overall goal is to provide legal housing for students without disrupting their neighbors.

“Stony Brook is a middle to upper-middle income,” Romaine said. “People moving in with their kids expect a certain quality of life.”

One member of the concerned homeowners group said at the town board meeting that he would like the town to focus on property upkeep as well.

“We’d like [the homes] to stay at a level of cleanliness and order that the community has around [the home],” the man said.

While rental housing and landlord issues are not as bad as they once were, Sander said there is more to be done.

“We still have a lot of work to do; these houses are in disrepair,” Sander said during the board meeting. “Some of these landlords just believe that they’re immune and that our group is going to go away. Well no, we’re growing. We have 1,400 to 1,500 homeowners that are standing strong against these illegal houses.”

The public hearing on the latest proposed law is set for Thursday, Oct. 1, at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall in Farmingville.

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The dangerous reptile sits on a table at Thursday's press conference. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

By Victoria Espinoza

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.

A 25-pound alligator snapping turtle was found this past weekend in the stream opposite the Smithtown Bull on Route 25 in Smithtown, with enough power to bite off someone’s finger or toe, officials said.

“We’re just lucky the gentleman who found it knew how to handle it, and knew to contact us,” said Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “This reptile is capable of taking toes and part of a foot clean off. People are constantly walking by this area barefoot, including children.”

A father and son, both Suffolk County residents, found the reptile while they were preparing to go kayaking, officials said. Gross said that this freshwater reptile is not indigenous to this area, and is mainly found from eastern Texas to the Florida panhandle.

SPCA Chief Roy Gross handles the alligator snapping turtle on Thursday, Aug. 27. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
SPCA Chief Roy Gross handles the alligator snapping turtle on Thursday, Aug. 27. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Gross and Dan Losquadro, highway superintendent for Brookhaven Town, both said that this is another example of people dumping reptiles in public places, creating a serious threat and risk to the public.

“This is a dangerous animal. We don’t want animals abandoned. But we don’t want to endanger the public,” Losquadro said.

According to Losquadro, the turtle will be transported to the Holtsville Ecology Center, where it will be given shelter and a veterinarian will make sure it is physically healthy, and identify what gender it is.

The ecology center is a refuge for all abandoned animals. Gross said that over the years there have been many incidents of animals being released to the public, and that someone guilty of this can be faced with multiple charges and prosecuted.

Gross suspected this was originally someone’s pet, but stressed that this is not the kind of pet you want to have.

“I can’t imagine curled up on the couch watching television with this guy,” Gross said.

When transporting the turtle to the SPCA’s office, he said the turtle was able to make a hole in the container he was being kept in, and was trying to escape.

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Mountains of mulch dwarf Councilman Dan Panico, Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro and Supervisor Ed Romaine at the Brookhaven Town highway yard in Setauket. Photo from Brookhaven Town

The severe thunderstorm that slapped around the North Shore earlier this month had one benefit: Lots of debris leads to lots of mulch.

Brookhaven Town officials announced recently that the town now has a large supply of mulch to give away to residents, and both mulch and compost will be distributed for free, as supplies last. Residents must bring their own containers to the distribution locations throughout the town and must load the materials into their vehicles themselves.

Pickup locations, which opened for distribution on Aug. 24, include:

• Percy Raynor park, at Route 347 and Belle Mead Road in Centereach, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the weekend.

• Rose Caracappa Senior Center on Route 25A in Mount Sinai, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the weekend.

• Brookhaven Town Hall’s south parking lot, off 1 Independence Hill in Farmingville, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

• Robert Reid park, at Defense Hill Road and Route 25A in Shoreham, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the weekend.

• Holtsville Ecology Center, on Buckley Road in Holtsville, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information and pickup locations, call 631-451-TOWN.

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