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Casey Berry

The executive board of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association, above. Photo by Raymond Janis

The Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association met at Comsewogue Public Library on Tuesday, May 23, expanding upon the priorities set forth by its newly installed executive board last month.

Civic vice president Carolyn Sagliocca, chair of the Land Use Committee, updated the body on a proposed zoning change for a 1.3-acre parcel located on Cherub Lane in Port Jefferson Station between Port Jeff Bowl and 7-11.

Sagliocca said those familiar with the proposed zone changes are “looking to change the zone to J-6,” a Main Street Business District classification under Brookhaven town code. She added, “They’re looking to put possibly a mixed-use — apartments, with possibly retail underneath.”

Given the space restrictions, the civic vice president noted developers are limited in densifying the lot, estimating the space could realistically accommodate only 10 to 20 units.

Just across the street from the Cherub Lane parcel, the proposed redevelopment at Jefferson Plaza — owned by Staller Associates — remained a central talking point for civic leaders, who reiterated concerns about density. 

“We already know about the density that we’re talking about at the Staller project,” civic president Ira Costell said. “To add even more of that right across the street is something we’re concerned about.”

Casey Berry, COPE officer for Suffolk County Police Department, delivered the report on public safety. Berry said crime throughout Port Jeff Station/Terryville had been down, noting that call volume from the area has fallen as well.

The COPE officer reminded residents to lock their doors and not leave their keys or key fobs in their vehicles as the vehicular theft crime phenomenon remains unsettled. [See story, “As vehicle thefts surge, Suffolk police detective warns against leaving key fobs in cars,” Feb. 4, TBR News Media.]

Comsewogue High School students Kylie and Max each delivered reports from the school district. Kylie said local Boy Scout Pack 354 had posted bins at schools throughout the school district for American flags to be retired.

The high school’s CCC Club recently took a field trip to Calverton National Cemetery, where club members helped clean graves and learned about the cemetery’s history, Kylie added.

Max reported on the recent successes of Comsewogue’s varsity athletic teams, with boys tennis and lacrosse and girls lacrosse all punching tickets to the postseason.

Lou Antoniello updated the body on the ongoing work within the civic’s Bylaws Committee, which has started reviewing the bylaws and exploring potential changes. Once the committee has reviewed all the bylaws, Antoniello said the committee would post the proposed changes on the civic’s website and present them at a later meeting to be voted on by the membership.

He emphasized that the bylaws would be a collaborative effort among members over several months.

“It’s not as if we have a committee that’s making changes to the bylaws, and nobody else has input,” he said. “Everybody will have input. Everybody will have the chance to read them, and then we’ll have 30 days before a final vote.”

The civic will not meet next month. The next meeting is on Tuesday, July 25.

The Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association met Tuesday, Feb. 28, for an evening packed with local business.

Lawrence Aviation

Sarah Lansdale, the Suffolk County economic development and planning commissioner, updated the body on the proposed conceptual layout of the Lawrence Aviation Superfund site in Port Jefferson Station.

“We have come up with a plan of three basic uses of the property,” she said. “One is a light-industry use … for a proposed solar development. The property south of the Greenway is proposed to be for open space … and then a railyard, or railroad usage, on the northeastern section of the property.”

Lansdale also reported that the U.S. Department of Justice recently approved language within a global settlement agreement between 11 claimants, adding, “Now we’re getting them to sign on to the agreement. Of the 11, we have three remaining that have yet to sign on.”

The county is working to finalize a bid package to demolish the remaining buildings on-site during the warmer months.

County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) thanked Lansdale for continuing her efforts on behalf of county residents. 

“Very few people want to deal with difficult, complex projects like this,” Hahn said. “This was very difficult, we are so close, and I’m just grateful.”

Civic member Ira Costell objected to a Feb. 23 op-ed in The Port Times Record, “Village elections and Port Jeff’s rapidly changing challenges,” in which former Port Jefferson Village trustee Bruce Miller suggested expanding the limits of the village to derive tax revenue from the Superfund site.

“I think that’s something we need to discuss and take a position on shortly,” Costell said, adding that such a proposal “impacts our community and a potential tax base to the Comsewogue School District.” 

Civic president Ed Garboski and vice president Sal Pitti objected to the annexation proposal. Corresponding secretary Charlie McAteer said a discussion on the matter would be appropriate during next month’s meeting.

County sewers

Deputy County Executive Peter Scully delivered a presentation outlining the county’s clean water initiative, remarking that a comprehensive sewer plan has eluded county officials for decades.

“Most of Suffolk County is without sewer infrastructure,” he said. “Sewers throughout Suffolk County have not happened for a variety of reasons,” namely the enormous costs associated with their construction.

Cesspools remain the only waste treatment technology available to many county residents, which Scully indicated can impair the sole-source aquifer upon which residents depend for their drinking water. Leakage associated with septic tanks, Scully said, can contribute to brown tides, rust tides, algal blooms and fish kills throughout the county’s waterways.

To address the problem, the administration is pitching the Suffolk County Clean Water Plan, which includes a one-eighth of a penny per dollar sales tax, to create a local match program for federal and state subsidization of sewer infrastructure.

“Right now, there are tremendous funding sources available on the federal and state levels,” he said, noting the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress in 2021 and the recently passed New York State $4.2 billion environmental bond act. 

“Those are the two sources of funding that we’re all anxious to make sure our communities get a fair share of, and to do that we need a local match,” the deputy county executive said. “The [clean water plan] funding source that we’re talking about provides that local match.”

Reports

Andrea Malchiodi, assistant director of Comsewogue Public Library, announced that the library’s budget vote and trustee election would take place Tuesday, April 4.

Comsewogue High School students Kylie and Max updated the body on the news from the Comsewogue School District. Kylie reported that the high school’s business academy and work-based learning program were both approved career and technical education pathways by the New York State Education Department. 

Max noted Comsewogue’s recent athletic achievements, with the Warriors girls and boys basketball teams advancing to the postseason. The wrestling team vied for the county final, while the varsity cheerleading team competed at the national tournament in Florida.

Suffolk County COPE officer Casey Berry said the vehicle theft crime surge throughout the local area remains unresolved. “Lock your cars in your driveway and when you’re going to Starbucks,” she told the body. “Don’t leave the fob in the car.”

Berry also reported that officers within the department are being more active. “I think COVID affected law enforcement as well as the rest of the community in many ways,” she said, adding, “Our leadership is saying, ‘We really need to protect our community.’”

This boost in police activity, Berry added, is reflected by rising numbers of summons written by police officers, along with the department’s ongoing body camera initiative.   

Civic elections

Garboski reported the results of the nominating committee created last month after he and Pitti declared they would be leaving the hamlet before the year’s end, thereby vacating their posts.

Christine Allen and Costell were each nominated for the position of civic president, and Carolyn Sagliocca was the sole candidate nominated as vice president. The three candidates publicly accepted their nominations. 

Additional nominations will be accepted from the floor during the next meeting March 28, on which date a vote will take place. The newly electeds will formally enter their posts in April.

During the meeting, Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) presented proclamations to Garboski and Pitti for their long service to the Comsewogue community.

“You cannot put a price on the time, effort, energy, knowledge and dedication they have brought to this task,” Romaine said. “They have worked around the clock to improve the quality of not their lives, but the quality of life of everyone in this community.”

Sixth Precinct community liaison officer Will Zieman and COPE officers Casey Berry and John Efstathiou visit monthly civic meetings and engage in community programs. Photo by Kevin Redding

In areas patrolled by the 6th Precinct, the sight of a police car has become more comforting than daunting for residents this year. That’s largely thanks to the efforts of Suffolk County Police Department officers Casey Berry and Will Zieman, who spend their days bridging gaps between cops and the community.

In just the last few months, the dynamic duo have supplied clothes and food to homeless residents, brought holiday cheer to struggling families, helped young kids with their homework and taught high schoolers how to cook healthy meals. The two also bounce between nine civic association meetings each month where they listen and try to find solutions to concerns and complaints raised by residents.

“Work doesn’t feel like work,” said Zieman, 34, smiling from ear to ear. “Everywhere we go we have an opportunity to make a difference that’s going to be beneficial to everybody. Each day we get to pay it forward.”

Casey Berry participates in a Police Unity Night. Photo by Kevin Redding

Berry, 39, who takes part in monthly Nerf battles with local kids at Sky Zone in Mount Sinai and hosts community fishing trips, said she especially values the impact they have on youth.

“It’s immeasurable when we go to these events and they say ‘Officer Casey!’ and come running up to hug my knees,” she said. “That’s going to be a 15- or 25-year-old one day that might have a problem, and I hope my relationship with them will then positively affect their relationship with law enforcement for years to come.”

Both former patrol officers, Berry and Zieman — a Community Oriented Police Enforcement, or COPE, officer and community liaison officer, respectively — took on their new roles within the precinct in recent years as a way to better connect with the public they serve. In doing so, they strived to make patrol officers’ lives easier and their interactions with residents more effective by breaking down barriers and quelling divisions between the police and public.

“Will and Casey genuinely care about the job they’re doing and clearly enjoy it,” said Sgt. Kathleen Kenneally, the executive officer of the SCPD’s Community Relations Bureau. “They’re very open to having transparent conversations with community members. There’s certainly a strife going on nationally [between cops and civilians] that causes questions in our community and they’ve made a point to engage and answer sometimes difficult questions.”

Berry said there’s always an initial guardedness among residents at events with them, no matter their ages, and it’s the unit’s job to put people at ease.

“Once they see the person behind the uniform, we can really see and feel the shift,” Berry said. “We’re not just the uniform, not just that person they may have had a negative experience with two weeks ago or whatever. I think that can all get dissolved by more human interaction.”

“Work doesn’t feel like work. Everywhere we go we have an opportunity to make a difference that’s going to be beneficial to everybody.”

— Will Zieman

During big events like Coffee With a Cop and National Night Out — nationwide community-police bonding initiatives — Zieman chats with people about “unmasking misconceptions,” he said.

“It’s a two-way street,” Zieman explained. “Not every police officer is the same and not every person who looks a certain way or dresses a certain way is the same. People become more open with us quickly. And within our events, we always try and make it a priority to reach out and explore development with communities that are hesitant to interact with us.”

Keith Owens volunteers at St. Michael’s Recreation Center in Gordon Heights and has been a longtime friend of the officers, who host fun activities with youth groups there. But Owens said many of the teens at the center weren’t too interested in hanging out with Berry and Zieman at first, as they have had negative experiences with police in their past.

“They were asking the officers questions in the beginning, like, ‘Would you shoot us?’ and ‘Why do you have a gun?’,” Owens said of the kids. “But now they’re asking me, ‘Is Officer Will coming by today?’ The youth are telling me they feel more comfortable around law enforcement. Will and Casey go above and beyond for them — it means the world to me.”

Pastor Anthony Pelella of Axis Church in Medford, where the officers host their cooking workshop and coat drives for residents in the winter, said the officers make a huge difference in the community.

“They’re really outgoing and their personalities are wonderful — it’s contagious,” Pelella said. “We’re so blessed here in the 6th Precinct to have officers like them. They’re really making a difference … you just have to see Officer Berry on her knees looking at these little kids, embracing mothers, she’s just so loving and helpful toward them.”

The two officers joined the force in 2010 with backgrounds that prepared them perfectly for their current jobs.

Will Zieman at a recent Coffee With a Cop event. Photo by Kevin Redding

Berry, who grew up in the Commack area in a family of police officers, always knew she wanted to be in a helping profession and served for several years as a social worker in an outpatient mental health clinic. She was also an instructor in the police academy before switching to the COPE unit.

Zieman, for as long as he can remember, wanted to either be a teacher or a cop. The William Floyd graduate eventually received degrees in childhood and special education at St. Joseph’s University and taught for a number of years within the Sachem school district, teaching fifth grade in the elementary school and math and English in the middle school. When he took the police test, for a second time, and did well, he had some soul-searching to do, he said.

“I thought, would I be able to live out the rest of my life without regretting not taking the risk?” Zieman recalled. “In both professions, you have the ability to right certain wrongs and guide people in the right direction. Being a community liaison officer gives me the ability to tie it all together.”

The pair, along with new 6th Precinct COPE officer John Efstathiou, are tasked with being as innovative as possible when it comes to creating events that engage the community. Many of their frequent initiatives include hosting tours of the precinct for members of the Girl and Boy Scouts; giving food, clothing and other nonperishables to those in need in a mobile food pantry; and helping the senior community get rid of expired medications.

A recent pilot event, headed by Zieman and in partnership with 6th Precinct Cops Who Care and Heritage Harbor Financial Associates in Port Jefferson Station, provided 40 low-income families the opportunity to get professional holiday photos taken free of charge.

Nicole Tumilowicz, the director of events at Sky Zone, said both officers are invaluable.

“With the state of the country right now and police relations in general, I think the two of them just really embody what it is to be an approachable, relatable police officer,” Tumilowicz said. “They’re really hands-on and their attitude toward life makes it easy for people to relate to … if anybody needs the help of the police, these two people would be the ones you’d want to go to.”