STRIKE A POSE
Rick Sullivan of Miller Place was taking a walk at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai at sunrise on July 27 when he came upon this beautiful doe. He writes, ‘Once in a lifetime stroke of luck! It was as if she was posing for me.
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Town of Brookhaven pools and beaches will now have stations so people can get their SPF.
During a press conference at Cedar Beach West in Mount Sinai Thursday, July 29, Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) announced that new, free sunscreen stations will start to pop up thanks to a collaboration with Northwell Health.
The touchless applicator stations will release the sunscreen so people can use it before they head to the beach — a reminder as soon as they walk in that it’s there.
“We can’t stress the importance of sunscreen enough,” Bonner said. “You have to start when you’re very young, you have to prevent the burns and prevent the exposure that builds up over time — even if it’s an overcast day.”
Nancy Uzo, vice president for public affairs at Mather Hospital, said that skin cancer affects one in five adults by the time they hit age 70.
“If you have had five bad sunburns in your lifetime, your risk of developing melanoma goes up substantially,” she said.
The free sunscreen program was initiated to generate awareness about how sunscreen can make a difference in the spread of skin cancer and melanoma.
The program was launched by Creative Advertising Concepts which set up the first sunscreen program, in the City of Long Beach with partner Winthrop Hospital, back in 2017. Currently, CAC manages 13 programs with 11 on Long Island and two in Westchester County.
The sunscreen dispensers are endorsed by IMPACT Melanoma — a national nonprofit dedicated to working to reduce the incidence of melanoma.
Romaine said that when he was young, he never used sunscreen — and it led to skin cancer later on.
“I’ve had surgery on my arm, surgery on my head, the tip of my nose from skin cancer,” he said. “It is something that happens if you get too much sun exposure. … You’ve got to protect yourself. We have to say ‘no’ to skin cancer.”
COLORS OF TWILIGHT
Helen O’Rourke of Centereach captured this tranquil scene at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai on May 27. She writes, ‘Beautiful North Shore sunset, never gets old.’
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The Town of Brookhaven came together last weekend to clean up its community.
For its 13th annual Great Brookhaven Cleanup on Saturday, May 15, people from the North Shore, South Shore and Middle Island gloved up and grabbed their garbage bags to help keep their town clean.
In Port Jefferson Station, specifically, the train car located on the corner of Routes 112 and 347 had a large group of volunteers to help cleanup.
The Chamber of Commerce was joined by members of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association, elected officials, community members and local Girl Scouts joined in picking up trash and brush to prepare the spot for its upcoming summer concert series.
“I’m really excited to be here today,” said Councilman Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook). “This is a really important project for Port Jeff Station, and I’m really excited to see it start to take shape.”
Kornreich said there are “big plans for the area.”
“It’s exciting for the next few years to see it come to fruition,” he added.
Last year, the Great Brookhaven Cleanup was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, approximately 1,600 Brookhaven residents helped tidy up their communities. This localized event is part of a greater cause, the Great American Cleanup — the nation’s largest organized cleanup, beautification and community improvement program.
“The Brookhaven cleanup gives us townwide exposure, which helps our local community,” said Craig den Hartog, PJST chamber member and owner of Emerald Magic Lawn Care. “The more help the better, and it just starts with one person.”
On the Long Island Sound, town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) joined volunteers from Suffolk County Girl Scout troops 1522 and 2755 to clean Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai.
“Thank you to all of the volunteers who participated in this year’s Great Brookhaven Cleanup,” Romaine said. “The pandemic canceled last year’s event, but people came back enthusiastically and in large numbers. It was a success because of the community members who have dedicated themselves to keeping Brookhaven clean every day of the year.”
To celebrate Earth Day April 22, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) announced a new initiative that will keep local beaches clean.
The elected officials gathered at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai that morning to unveil its new beach cleanup baskets, in which the town has partnered with Long Island-based nonprofit Relic Sustainability.
The group, from Remsenburg on the South Shore, collaborated with the town due to Relic’s Coastal Collaborative project, which encompasses seven preexisting stations across Long Island.
“Our goal is to collaborate the town, businesses and community members to collaborate in combating beach pollution that is a growing issue on the coast line of Long Island,” said Alex Kravitz, COO of Relic.
The stations give beachgoers the opportunity to take a basket on the beach, pick up trash and deposit it into a trash receptacle.
“What better way to celebrate Earth Day?” Romaine said. “The baskets are 100% recycled plastics. You pick one up, walk along the beach, pick up some garbage and put the baskets back. … We want this in all of our town beaches and we want to keep them clean.”
While Relic Sustainability has seven stations, Cedar Beach is the first in the Town of Brookhaven to utilize its concept.
Aiden Kravitz, CEO of the nonprofit, said the goal is to reach even more beaches.
“By the end of the summer, we’re hoping to have a bigger partnership with the county with 40 to 50 stations,” he said. “The goal of the program is to help relieve the pressure of trash on the beaches by stimulating voluntary trash pickup from the community. We view the heart of the program as a collaborative between the town, ourselves, local businesses and the community members — everybody plays a role.”
Bonner said she was excited for the new initiative because of the “tremendous garbage problem, not only on Long Island, but in the United States.”
“I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Earth Day than to launch a program that addresses the litter that plagues all of our beaches,” she said. “I encourage people who come to Cedar Beach to use one of the baskets and pick up litter before they leave for home. It’s something we can all do to advocate for a better environment.”
Relic also sells organic apparel that gives back to local waters. For every T-shirt sold, they plant five oysters back into Moriches Bay.
The clothing items are available at relic-design.com.
Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) announced Dec. 21 that the town was awarded a 2020 Long Island Sound Futures Fund matching grant to fund the town’s Coastal Environment and Community Resilience Education Program. The Town will match the $8,799 grant with $4,450, making the total conservation impact $13,249. The grant combines funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
“The Long Island Sound is vital to the ecology and economy of Brookhaven town and it is our goal to preserve it for future generations,” Romaine said in a release. “Thanks to the Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant, we will continue to increase public awareness and encourage participation in our environmental protection efforts in the town.”
Brookhaven’s year-long Coastal Environment and Community Resilience Education Program will run from Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2021. The goal is to foster conservation by bringing people to the Long Island Sound or by bringing the Long Island Sound to the people. The town’s environmental educator will conduct presentations paired with hands-on activities tailored for each audience at public libraries throughout the Town of Brookhaven. Presentations and tours will include detailed descriptions of the intricate balance of the coastal ecosystems, the wonderful flora and fauna on the shore, dunes and salt marsh, and the positive and negative impacts of human activity in these places.
The program will also include informative, guided tours of Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai, including the town’s Marine Environmental Stewardship Center and shellfish and eel grass restoration projects. There will also be nature tours for people of all ages and hands-on conservation programs with the Junior Environmental Stewards at Mount Sinai Harbor and West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook. The series will create more sustainable and resilient communities by increasing knowledge and engagement of the public in the protection and restoration of the coastal environments of Long Island Sound.
Brookhaven town Bay Constables issued summonses against a group of people they said were illegally harvesting oysters from Mount Sinai Harbor. Officials suspect the group was harvesting for use in a restaurant upstate.
On Tuesday, July 28 Brookhaven Bay Constables were patrolling Mount Sinai Harbor by boat and observed approximately eight people harvesting oysters. They radioed a senior bay constable who was on shore patrol to respond to a road ending where these individuals were. The constables found that the group had approximately 100 oysters in their possession and issued a summons for taking shellfish from uncertified waters.
A town spokesperson said bay constables had been alerted to several incidents of illegal shellfishing over the past several weeks in Mount Sinai Harbor, where the taking of shellfish is prohibited by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation from May 1 through October 31.
The town said the vehicle the group were travelling in was registered to Wasabi and Ginger Sushi Restaurant in Larchmont.
Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said in a release that taking shellfish from uncertified waters can be a health risk, and he urged state and Westchester county officials track the oyster robbery back to the restaurant “to investigate the restaurant these individuals were associated with to ensure that the food they are serving is safe for the public.”
Brookhaven Town operates one of Long Island’s largest municipal shellfish hatcheries in Mount Sinai Harbor, growing more than 2,000,000 oysters and 1,000,000 clams at the mariculture facility. These shellfish are planted in bays and harbors throughout the town when they reach maturity to help clean local waters and revive local fisheries.
“Our harbors, bays and waterways are tremendous assets, and part of the reason so many of us call Brookhaven our home,” Romaine added.
In response to the expected high temperatures Monday, July 27, and Tuesday, July 28, the Town of Brookhaven has extended the hours at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai, West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook
and Corey Beach in Blue Point. Lifeguards will be on duty and restrooms will be open until 7 p.m. on both days, instead of the normal 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.
Davis Park and Great Gun Beaches will be open as normal from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The town’s Holtsville Pool will remain open as normal with two sessions daily from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and
2:30 pm to 6:30 pm. The pool is open for residents only. Online pre-registration and payment is required. Go to www.BrookhavenNY.gov/HoltsvillePool for more details. Social distancing is required and strictly enforced at the Holtsville Pool, town beaches and all town parks and recreation facilities.
A Brookhaven Town resident parking sticker is required for beach and pool parking. The sticker can only be
purchased online at www.BrookhavenNY.gov/Stickers. For more information, call 631-451-TOWN (8696) or visit www.BrookhavenNY.gov. Beaches are open to Brookhaven town residents only.
Approximately 8 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the oceans each year, according to the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy. Long Islanders have seen what plastic waste can do to their waterways and beaches firsthand.
Cayla and Iris Rosenhagen, two 14-year-old twins from Selden, wanted to change that and in July 2019 they created a beach cleanup initiative fittingly called the Beach Bucket Brigade.
Throughout the summer, the duo hosted seven beach cleanups, and with the help of about 300 volunteers they were able to remove more than 23,500 pieces of litter off Long Island beaches — 45 percent of that was plastic waste.
The sisters said now that they are not too focused and busy planning events, they’ve been able to reflect on the success they’ve accomplished these past few months.
“We are ecstatic, everything has gone so well, and everyone has been so supportive of us,” Cayla said.
From a young age, the sisters have had a keen interest in the environment, nature and animals. They said they would go out on their own and do cleanups and wanted to see if they could get more people involved.
“They really thought of everything, they’ve done this all on their own and really made their vision a reality.”
– Jane Bonner
“We had the idea for a couple of months and we wanted to find a way to get the community involved,” Iris said. “We reached out to the Town [of Brookhaven] and they liked what we had in mind.”
Brookhaven Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden) said it was great seeing young people take the initiative for a good cause.
“The presentation they gave us was so well done, we were immediately all on board and wanted to help in any way we could,” LaValle said. “It has been a great collaboration and the whole program/initiative really sets up well for the future.”
One of the events hosted by the twins included a Beach Bucket Brigade Books at the Beach event that involved a story time for young kids before heading out to clean the beach. At all cleanups, for each bucket of trash volunteers returned they were given a raffle ticket in which they could win eco-friendly prizes, recycled toys and products donated by a number of local businesses.
“They really thought of everything,” said Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point), who attended one of the beach cleanups at Cedar Beach back in August. “They’ve done this all on their own and really made their vision a reality.”
For the duo’s effort, the town honored them by making Sept. 12 Cayla and Iris Rosenhagen Day. They also appointed them to the youth board, which advises the Brookhaven Youth Bureau about issues affecting young people.
The twin sisters said they have already begun formulating ideas and events for next spring and summer. They also stressed that there are small things people can do to alleviate the abundance of plastic waste.
“What kind of eco-friendly [New Year’s] resolution are you going to make?” they said. “Everybody can do their part and cut out the amount of plastic they use.”
Like LaValle, Bonner has been impressed with what the Rosenhagen twins have accomplished.
“We have been blown away by their presence and passion, this is not the last time you will hear of Cayla and Iris — they are going places and they have a bright future,” Bonner said.
To find more information about Beach Bucket Brigade and future events visit their Facebook page.
By Peggy Spellman Hoey
Coastal Steward Long Island has a three-pronged plan of attack in an unending, dirty battle — the one all environmentalists have been fighting — to keep local beaches and waters clean for years now. And it seems to be working.
What started out as loosely organized beach cleanups led by a local resident has spread to incorporate aquaculture conservation, restoring shellfish to Mount Sinai and Port Jefferson harbors, and marine education teaching youngsters about marine life and water quality. Its education programs include harbor seining and marsh exploration, shellfish hatchery tours and plankton microbiology, in which students use microscopes to identify plankton.
Through its fundraising efforts, the group is also able to subsidize busing costs for schools that cannot fund field trips to the center.
The organization’s long-standing partnership with the Town of Brookhaven at its beach and marina complex on Long Island Sound in Mount Sinai allows for its educational programs to be run out of the Mount Sinai Marine Environmental Stewardship Center. In the complex’s maricultural center, the oyster seeds are grown for eventual release into the harbor.
Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) called the organization a good partner and a nice complement to the town and its work to restore water quality.
“They are all about water quality,” she said. “Their message is the right one and their heart is in the right place.”
In addition to its beach-cleaning projects, about four years ago, the group began leading underwater cleanups, recruiting local divers to volunteer their services to remove debris such as garbage, mechanical parts, and household items like furniture that has ended up on the water’s bottom.
The addition of educational programs and underwater cleanups evolved from the group’s efforts to clean beaches after organizers realized something had to be done to address the trash coming in with the tide.
“There is no end to beach cleanups, but if we educate before it gets in the water, we keep it out of the water in the first place,” said Denis Mellett, a dive instructor who serves as the president of Coastal Steward LI.
Ashly Carabetta, the organization’s executive director, said the group has also seen success with one of its newer programs, the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit, where youngsters get to listen to guest speakers, including scientists and educators such as aquanaut Fabien Cousteau, a documentary filmmaker and the grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
“It’s just a great opportunity for these kids to get to be surrounded by people in the field [of marine science] and talk amongst themselves,” she said.
Another part of the program includes a segment where participants break off into groups and develop a project for which they apply for grant money and then work over the next year to complete the project. The projects can be anything from creating a children’s book about water quality to devising a plan to limit single-plastic use in schools.
Giving the group a final plug, Bonner noted it is always looking for volunteers, and it’s a well-rounded organization with which anyone of any age can become involved.
“This is a nice way to be involved and you are really making a difference — beach cleaning and water quality,” she said.
Carabetta noted the importance of a beach cleanup is that anyone can do it, but the organization does have other roles to fill.
“We are looking for volunteers, part-time educators to try to expand our reach in many ways,” she said.
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