CLOSE
Tags Posts tagged with "Larry Penner"

Larry Penner

by -
0 232

Snaden is a vote for stability

On Monday, June 5, I ran my last public meeting as mayor of Port Jefferson Village. Over my 14-year tenure, I have run and attended well over 6,700 meetings and spent countless hours serving and representing this great village.

It has truly been my great honor to serve, protect and build our community, stabilizing the tax base, building our reserves now to well over $2 million, while improving our parks, paving our streets and reducing crime (as Suffolk County police reported at our last meeting).

It is hard work, committed work and work that doesn’t result from a crash course. It is work that comes from spending lots of time sitting in the seat, getting to know your partners, revenue streams, who to call and when to call. It takes thick skin, the ability to listen and most of all — the ability to know when it’s time.

I am endorsing Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden to be our next mayor — to be my mayor. Why? Because she is ready – she has trained for five years, is more than capable and she cares and has passion for this community.

I made the decision to retire because I knew my successor was ready, willing and able. You can’t learn this job in under a year — it’s not possible. And for goodness sake, why would we want a neophyte mayor when we can elect Kathianne and keep our trustees in place so they can continue to learn and serve? 

Doing otherwise would be so detrimental to the trajectory of this village — it would wreak havoc and result in a devastating, unstable and inexperienced board creating damage that might be irreparable for years to come. 

A vote for Deputy Mayor Snaden is a vote for stability and to keep your board intact so we can move onward and upward together. Please be responsible and get out to vote on June 20 at the Village Center. After our 14 years together, please help me in this one last request: To vote for Katharine Snaden to protect our beloved Port Jefferson and ensure it remains our very own beautiful destination — for a lifetime or a day.

Margot J. Garant

Mayor, Village of Port Jefferson

Sheprow will shake up status quo

As a lifelong resident and former trustee of Port Jeff, I am enthusiastically supporting Lauren Sheprow for village mayor. 

A vote for the opponent will maintain the status quo at Village Hall. We cannot afford to continue the fiscal and land-use policies of the current administration. 

In 2008, when I was a trustee, a significant and illegal situation in a residential area was brought to the board’s attention. Shockingly, 14 years later, the problem persists. We need a mayor who will be proactive, respond quickly to problems and represent all of us. That person is Lauren Sheprow. 

Sheprow will ensure land-use decisions are made with the advice of village professionals, taking into account the need to preserve the character of our cherished village while revitalizing certain areas. We can and must do better.

Please join me by writing in “Lauren Sheprow” in the write-in space for mayor on the ballot.

Virginia Capon

Port Jefferson

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

Snaden’s commitment to public safety

As someone with a career in law enforcement, I admit to being very impressed by Kathianne Snaden. 

Deputy Mayor Snaden’s ongoing dedication to public safety has truly been something to behold. Even as a new trustee, I often remember seeing her at the Suffolk County Police Department 6th Precinct monthly meetings, engaging with the department, taking notes and advocating for more involvement by SCPD within the village. This was going on since day one of her being an elected official.

 Her involvement with SCPD over the years — both at Village Hall and at the 6th Precinct — still continues to this very day. There have been ever evolving improvements with our own code officers, her many different initiatives such as having code officers on bicycles, code officers meeting every inbound train uptown and working with the schools to allow code officers to be a presence there, again to name a few. 

She is always interacting with the 6th Precinct Whiskey Unit every summer, always being on call and present whenever necessary at any time of day or night. She has even gone on a few ride-alongs to really dig deep and be involved in every aspect of public safety. It’s so refreshing to see.

It is true, the flowers in the village are beautiful. However, what is more beautiful is an elected official who has worked on improving the safety of our village for years since day one. I am confident Kathianne will use this experience and institutional knowledge as our mayor to continue making Port Jeff the best it can be.

Keith Ottendorfer

Port Jefferson

Sheprow will bring change

Experience counts, but wisdom counts more. Networks, contacts and vision count more.

Lauren Sheprow brings to our village a wide range of professional management experience, an extensive network of contacts in the village — including myself, Stony Brook University and beyond, and a tradition of resident enfranchisement. She will also bring integrity.

You will need to write in Lauren’s name on June 20, and you will need to write in exactly as prescribed. This, because your current establishment continues its tradition of unfair dealing; this, because your current establishment throws out petitions on technicalities — instead of saying, “Take this back, you forgot something.”

The opposition response? Getting a little scared? Eliminate the competition. We are seeing character assassination in the form of unsigned attacks.

Do you know your village history? Seems a lot like what happened to Mark Lyon when he was trustee. (Mark had made a negative comment on the Lombardi’s renovation to Port Jefferson Country Club, a last-minute leak that cost him his seat.)

I have a lot to say about Port Jefferson, but I say it in signed letters or in an open public forum.

There is much that is not being done and much that needs to change.

Remember our recent code enforcement scandal? It didn’t have to happen. I warned the board of trustees of this. 

We need to look to our future. We are losing 50% of our power plant revenue but we could lose the other 50% starting in 2027.

Decommissioning

It is time to attend to this. Lauren will reach out and bring in people with the networks to address these issues. Conversations with LIPA, PSEG, National Grid and the new public LIPA. Conversations about future technologies — here in Port Jefferson.

LIPA, LIRR, Lawrence Aviation, revenue from solar installation battery storage — here in Port Jefferson. We need to start attending to all of these big issues.

Lauren will bring in the people of Port Jefferson who can make it happen. Lauren will lead.

Bruce Miller 

Port Jefferson

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

Is this your village?

It is changing. Is it changing for the better? Behemoth apartments. A code enforcement group that seems out of control.

I put in much time and effort working with the Grassroots Committee to Repower Port Jefferson. The whole community was involved. What happened to that community effort? It seems like little is happening. It seems like it has all been pulled inside the village. All is secret.

The school district and the community are no longer involved. No efforts are being made for a positive economic future. Are we just awaiting taxes doubling? There are alternative sources of tax revenue but they are not being pursued. Ms. Snaden suggests “experience” in her campaign. Experience in what? Our planning department is just a rubber stamp for developers. Code enforcement?

Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency

This committee is giving your tax dollars and services away to multimillionaire developers. Apartment buildings are not “industrial.” Where are the long-term jobs the IDA was designed to create? The first village development on Texaco Avenue was well through the planning process as a private sector investment. The IDA board was scrambling to throw money at this development and win favor with this developer — and future developers — before time ran out and the plans approved.

Uptown is a mess. But why? We have ordinances to ensure decent commercial housing. Were these ordinances ever enforced? Or were these four blocks allowed to deteriorate to give developers greater leverage for more dense development through more dense zoning? (Speaking of dense zoning: Maryhaven? Really?)

Above-ground parking garages? We are looking more like Queens every year.

What’s your comfort level with our current Village Hall? Let us not be intimidated by one joker with an iPhone. Let’s reopen Village Hall to our villagers.

 Remember, Lauren is for the residents.

Molly Mason

Port Jefferson

AHEPA upholds American ideals

Almost exactly 100 years ago, in the summer of 1922, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association was established.

The organization was formed in response to attacks on Greek immigrants by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist and anti-immigrant groups operating across the country. Although now, several generations later, Greeks are successful and well established in American society, to this day AHEPA remains active and continues to promote the best qualities of Ancient Greek society, including philanthropy, education, civic responsibility, integrity, family and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism. 

Always faithful to its history, AHEPA was instrumental in the restoration of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, through which millions of immigrants flowed, often with little more than one or two pieces of hand luggage and a dream.

This past weekend, I was invited by AHEPA and the local Greek-American community to be recognized for public service. To receive an award from an organization of this quality was truly humbling, and I am very thankful to the community for its kindness. 

Reflecting on the history of AHEPA, I was reminded that although Greek immigrants ultimately overcame their challenges, successive groups of immigrants continue to face the same fears, the same attacks and the same bigotry.

People rarely leave their native countries and immigrate to the United States because things are going great for them at home. The choice to leave behind their food, language and culture is a painful decision, never taken lightly, and very often in desperation. 

But Lady Liberty doesn’t just open her arms to the wealthy, the gainfully employed and the highly educated. Her invitation extends to “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me” [Emma Lazarus’ famous 1883 sonnet, “The New Colossus”].

Fortunately, throughout history there have been those with compassion and courage who have stood up to defend true American ideals. Our nation is a nation of immigrants, and although immigrants sometimes arrive with empty pockets, they have that hustle which helped build America into the amazing land of opportunity it is today. 

I am so proud to know the good people of AHEPA and my many friends within the Greek community who have been a beacon of moral courage, compassionate leadership and democracy not just for 100 years, but for thousands.

Jonathan Kornreich

Councilmember, Town of Brookhaven

Stony Brook

Carlton “Hub” Edwards: an uplifting story

Congratulations to Rita J. Egan and The Village Times Herald for a wonderfully uplifting story on Carlton “Hub” Edwards [“Veteran Stories” series in Arts & Lifestyles section, also TBR News Media website, May 25]. 

A Korean War veteran, he’s been a knowledgeable, affable, active and patriotic fixture in our community for many, many decades.

One of Ms. Egan’s many interesting highlights features Hub unquestioningly trading his baseball glove and local team jersey for the uniform of our United States Army. What people may not know is he made that switch after being drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers, who happened to be one of the top three or four Major League teams in 1951.

The pitcher of three no-hitters simply said, “Uncle Sam took first precedence,” feeling even today that the military can provide much-needed discipline for young people.

Whether it’s been Hub’s work at the American Legion Irving Hart Post 1766, his Bethel AME Church or our Three Village Historical Society, the post’s community liaison Joe Bova summed up things perfectly: “He really felt strongly about what his commitment to people should be and that just transferred over to the community he belongs to.”

Talking to Hub or his lovely wife, Nellie, whether it be at the Memorial Day ceremony or during a Frank Melville Memorial Park concert, is both a treat and an enriching experience. Here’s hoping those who haven’t read the article will now take the opportunity to do so.

Jim Soviero

East Setauket

Yes, words do matter

I found the title to Shoshana Hershkowitz’s recent letter on the immigration debacle taking place quite ironic [“Words matter in immigration dialogue,” May 25]. Let’s examine “words matter” for a moment, shall we? 

I wonder if anyone remembers when people were caught entering our country illegally, they were referred to as illegal aliens. That term was legally accurate, yet deemed offensive to progressives. The acceptable words to describe a person in our country illegally then became undocumented immigrant. 

Now, the words (that matter) have become “asylum seeker.” Asylum is defined as protection granted to a political refugee. It was not intended to bypass the legal immigration process for people that want to enjoy all of the benefits of living in the United States. I think honest people can agree that not everyone coming over our border illegally is a political refugee. 

I fully support legal immigration. No one is above the law in the U.S. Once again, the compassion and goodness of the people of this country is being taken advantage of by progressives that created this unprecedented and unsustainable surge. 

I read that Vice President Kamala Harris [D] was supposed to be figuring out the “root cause” of the surge at our border. I have not seen her give an explanation yet. Could it be progressive policies? For example, in New York, politicians declared a sanctuary state and gave out over $2 billion of taxpayer money to noncitizens through the Excluded Workers Fund. Is that an incentive to come here illegally?

Ms. Hershkowitz quoted Kevin McCaffrey [R-Lindenhurst], presiding officer of the county Legislature, stating, “We don’t know who’s coming over.” Is that not a true and fair statement? Ms. Hershkowitz says asking that question implies that asylum seekers are a danger to us. How extremely disingenuous of her. 

Our leaders cannot ask simple, reasonable questions about who enters our country now? Can Ms. Hershkowitz personally vouch for all of these people? In New York City, the mayor was housing some of these people in public school facilities. Our governor is considering using our taxpayer-funded universities to house these people in our neighborhoods, and our elected officials cannot ask any questions without being labeled xenophobic or accused of demonization? 

Seems like Ms. Hershkowitz’s rhetoric is a bit extreme to me. Does constantly labeling people who you don’t agree with politically as evil or dangerous, just for asking questions, bring us together or divide us?

Words matter … indeed.

Charles Tramontana

East Setauket

Open letter to Assemblyman Ed Flood

Dear Assemblyman,

I urge you to vote for the Birds and Bees Protection Act when it comes before you this week. The bill (A7640/S1856A) will protect honey bees and other pollinators from neurotoxic pesticides known as neonicotinoids which are having a devastating impact on bees.

You might not be aware, but the original bill was worked on by Maria Hoffman, my wife and longtime state Assembly staffer and local Setauket beekeeper, in response to the massive die-off of bees caused by these new genetically manufactured nerve agents that are coated on corn and soybean seeds and then spread by contact with bees as they forage for nectar and pollen.

You should also know that the bill is very specific and bans only neonic-coated corn and soy seeds and does allow farmers to use locally applied pesticides if their crops are threatened.

Beyond the partisan wrangling of our elected officials that seem to take up so much of government lately, you should know that your Assembly district has a strong environmental leaning by both Democrat and Republican residents of the district. The Birds and Bees Protection Act has strong support districtwide and your constituents will appreciate your leadership on this important bill.

George Hoffman

Setauket

Another Birds and Bees plea to Assemblyman Flood 

How disheartening to think the state environmental bill A7640/S1856A, the Birds and Bees Protection Act, that has the bipartisan support of Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine [R] and other local legislators, may not be supported by our new state legislator Assemblyman Ed Flood [R-Port Jefferson]. 

Maria Hoffman, a local Setauket beekeeper who originally helped formulate this bill, was a steadfast advocate for environmental protection and a dear friend who passed away last year. Many in the community knew and respected Maria.

We are very dedicated to protecting our waterways in this district and wholeheartedly support this bill. Its intent is to protect honey bees as well as all other pollinators from neurotoxic pesticides known as neonicotinoids. 

These nerve agents are coated on corn, soy and other seeds prophylactically to avoid agricultural pests. They are now widely used by large nurseries as well to avoid pests during transport of stock to local stores. 

There is significant opportunity for misapplication by both farmers and homeowners which leads to residue of these toxins in field margins, local waterways and potentially the produce we eat. Integrated pest management, regulated by the EPA, would still permit farmers to treat threatened crops. 

I urge Mr. Flood to respect the strong environmental leaning of both Democrat and Republican residents of his district. These constituents will value leadership in passing this important bill.

Anne Chimelis

East Setauket

Boating safety is necessary

Thanks to TBR News Media for their timely editorial on boating safety [“Safety key to a successful summer,” May 25].

The sobering facts about boating safety should be of concern to everyone who enjoys the water this year. There is little doubt that the use of a personal flotation device, or life jacket, would have contributed to saving a number of lives lost due to drowning.

There are a number of organizations which offer short courses that provide a New York State boating safety certificate or its equivalent, including the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and the United States Power Squadrons — America’s Boating Club.

Just this past spring, the Mount Sinai Yacht Club, in association with the Suffolk County Police Department, ran a boating certificate course for the general public. These courses give you an opportunity to talk to instructors and get all your questions and concerns answered.

The requirement for all operators of a motorized vessel to have a boating safety certificate is being phased in by age. As of Jan. 1, 2025, every operator of a motorized vessel in New York state waters will be required to have a boating safety certificate or its equivalent.

Beverly Tyler

Certified instructor and past commander

Old Field Point Power Squadron

MTA’s continued staffing, safety failures

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority inspector general’s report on excess employee overtime and safety issues is nothing new for Port Jefferson Branch riders.

Every generation of MTA chairmen, agency presidents, board members, finance officers and executive management who manage agency budgets has made the wrong choice. They believed it would be cheaper to pay overtime than hire additional employees, whose critical specialized skills were necessary for maintaining functioning safe and reliable transportation operations.

They thought it would be less expensive by avoiding the costs of training, full-time salary plus fringe benefits, medical insurance and pensions by not increasing the headcounts of various departments. This has contributed to excessive overtime and potential safety issues.

The LIRR should have the ability to hire more full-time and part-time employees to deal with routine and emergency workloads. This would provide a larger pool of employees resulting in less overtime, excessive and unsafe work hours for employees.

Another option is upon reaching retirement eligibility, allow employees to collect 50% of their pensions while still being able to work part time. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber and LIRR President Catherine Rinaldi should include both in the next round of contract negotiations with SMART Transportation Division 505 Union General Chairman Anthony Simon.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Severe lead poisoning of local swan

We live in Port Jefferson, close to Mount Sinai Harbor. Last Sunday, a swan came to visit us, which was most unusual because they never come up from the harbor. This juvenile looked really sick. We called Lisa Jaeger, who rescues animals, and she trapped the swan and brought him out to the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays, where he was diagnosed with severe lead poisoning. The swan may not survive. He will be at the wildlife rescue center for a long time.

Severe lead poisoning? How did this happen? We have learned that duck hunters often use lead shot — even though it’s illegal — and it falls to the bottom of the harbor and gets ingested by swans.

How much lead is sitting at the bottom of the harbor? Are the clams, mussels and oysters that fishermen dig up from the harbor contaminated, too? People kayak and swim here and walk their dogs, and we worry that the dogs could also ingest the lead.

We want Port Jefferson residents to be aware of how our harbor is being polluted. Perhaps we can work together to ensure that no other swans suffer as this juvenile is suffering.

Cynthia Kravitz

Peter Boerboom

Port Jefferson

A sad episode for Smithtown

How ironic it is that those who ran Martine Francois-DePass out of town with their bigoted and hateful social media campaign are themselves Exhibit A for exactly that which they so passionately deny: Namely, that racist discrimination against Black people, far from being a thing of the past, is still very much with us. [See June 1 story, The Times of Smithtown.]

It’s yet another reminder that America in general and Smithtown in particular continue to be far from the ideal of a color-blind society to which we all aspire.

What a missed opportunity. An opportunity to expose Smithtown children to a positive authority figure from a minority background. An opportunity to move the needle on the perception of Smithtown as a community hostile to non-whites. An opportunity to stand up and defeat fear and bigotry. The decision of Ms. Francois-DePass to withdraw from consideration as principal of Smithtown Elementary in the face of a campaign of vilification and hate against her is our loss, not hers.

Does anybody seriously believe that if Ms. Francois-DePass was white, her every word on social media would have been subjected to the same kind of aggressive and invidious scrutiny? Not that there was anything troubling about her social media posts. She supports Black Lives Matter and racial justice. What a surprise. Is that the litmus test? If it is, it amounts to a frankly racist refusal to countenance the hiring of just about any Black person.

One Smithtown parent stood up at a school board meeting and proclaimed that Ms. Francois-DePass was unqualified. What nonsense. She has degrees from Boston University, SUNY Stony Brook and an advanced degree from Fordham. She also has an advanced certificate in educational leadership and administration from Long Island University, experience as a New York City school teacher for 18 years and as an assistant principal here in Suffolk in the Longwood school district for four years.

Another parent posted that he was going to tell his child not to recognize this “piece of trash” and to “disregard any guidance/direction given by this person.” What a great example for his child.

Is this how some parents want to be “involved” in their children’s education? Racism is still very much with us largely because it’s passed down from generation to generation. What a sad, sad episode this is for our Smithtown community.

David Friedman

St. James

by -
0 136
File photo by Raymond Janis

Residents deserve better than one-party rule

In the May 4 edition, the editorial board highlights that the Brookhaven landfill is a major issue in this year’s Town of Brookhaven elections [“The landfill election”]. We need bold leadership to tackle Long Island’s decades-long solid waste crisis. This is an issue of economic, environmental and racial justice that we can no longer afford to ignore.

Carting our garbage off of Long Island to another community is not a sustainable solution. We must reduce our waste, and this cannot only rest on individual households, but also on businesses and producers. We can incentivize waste reduction with pay-as-you-throw programs. We can also utilize the knowledge of experts like Stony Brook University’s research associate professor David Tonjes, whose work on waste management provides guidance on how we can address this crisis with innovation and ingenuity. We are capable of long-term, sustainable policy, but only if we have the political and moral courage to do so.

It is clear to me that the current Town Board are not the people to meet this moment. The past decade of one-party rule in Brookhaven includes a botched rollout of the recycling program, our roads in disrepair, and gerrymandering our council districts to bolster a weak incumbent in the 4th Council District. They have left us with a solid waste crisis, used nearly $250,000 of our taxpayer dollars to pay an EPA fine for air quality violations in 2020, and ignored the voices of the directly impacted residents of North Bellport time and again. They do not deserve to be reelected in 2023.

Outgoing Supervisor Ed Romaine [R] must be held accountable for his role in the failures of the Town Board he has led. Romaine is seeking the office of Suffolk county executive, and he must be questioned about the harm he has had a hand in creating in the Town of Brookhaven. We as voters must consider if he is fit to handle higher office, given the mismanagement of our municipal government under his leadership.

We deserve better elected officials than we currently have in our town government. The communities of color who have been disproportionately impacted by the landfill crisis deserve to be listened to by our representatives. There is too much at stake to accept the status quo and small-minded thinking of the current Town Board. It is time for bold solutions that meet the urgency of the moment. It is time for change.

Shoshana Hershkowitz

South Setauket

Still no funding for Port Jeff Branch electrification

Funding to pay for a number of transportation projects and pay increases for transit workers were items missing from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s [D] $229 billion budget.

There is no new funding to advance Hochul’s three favorite NYC transportation projects: the $8 billion Penn Station improvements; $7.7 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase 2; and $5.5 billion Brooklyn-Queens Interborough Express light rail connection. Also missing was funding to advance the $3.6 billion Long Island Rail Road Port Jefferson Branch electrification project. All Port Jefferson LIRR riders have to date is the ongoing LIRR diesel territory electrification feasibility study.

There was no additional funding to pay for upcoming 2023 NYC Transport Workers Union Local 100 contracts for LIRR and Metro-North Railroad employees. The MTA only budgeted for a 2% increase. NYC TWU president, Richard Davis, will ask for far more so his 40,000 members can keep up with inflation. Both LIRR and MNR unions, with thousands of members, will want the same.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Maryhaven: a breakdown of process

Our village process is broken. Let’s take the Maryhaven project as a recent example of what’s wrong.

This proposed development should have been brought to the Port Jefferson Village Board of Trustees via the Planning Board, which is responsible for overseeing all building-related matters.

But during the recent public hearing, we learned from the developer that he’d been in discussions with the mayor, deputy mayor and village clerk for well over a year, despite the fact there was still no proposal before the Planning Board. The first time the rest of the trustees heard about the project was when it was announced by the deputy mayor at a public meeting on March 6 of this year.

It’s likely the village attorney was also aware of these talks. As previously reported in this paper, he was pressing the village to be “proactive” and change the code to rezone the property in order to clear the path for the developers, whenever they were ready to apply. To that end, he proposed the May 1 public hearing. The attorney also suggested that if the code modification wasn’t suitable to the residents as is, there would be an opportunity to make adjustments. That is not entirely accurate.

We know this from our experience with the Mather Hospital expansion. Before the project came to a public hearing, the village made several decisions, from seemingly irrelevant (at the time) code changes to the most crucial, allowing the hospital a variance for extra clearance. The latter resulted in 2 precious acres of forest being cleared.

The impression the village gave at the time was that residents would still have a chance to weigh in. But when that time came, despite nearly 70 letters protesting the clearing of the forest and all the objections raised at the hearing, it was too late.

The Planning Board’s position was that its hands were tied by all those prior decisions, and it did not have the tools to consider the objections. In other words, we should have been paying attention when Mather first announced the master plan.

So forgive us if we’re skeptical when the village attorney tells us that we’ll have an opportunity to comment on the project overall at a later date.

Ana Hozyainova, President

Holly Fils-Aime, Vice President

Port Jefferson Civic Association

Declining public revenue in Port Jeff

The spirit of New York’s Freedom Of Information Act is transparency and access. Its introduction states, “The people’s right to know the process of governmental decision-making and to review the documents and statistics leading to determinations is basic to our society. Access to such information should not be thwarted by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality.”

The issue of the future tax revenue from the Port Jefferson Power Station is critically important to both the Village of Port Jefferson and the Port Jefferson School District. So, it is surprising to me that the LIPA settlement agreement is not made available on the village or school district websites. And when I asked the village that a link be included, I was told that the village attorney advised the village not to put it on the website. I would have to complete a FOIL application. I did so. It had no redactions, and nothing in the document contained any confidentiality clause. The Town of Huntington puts its Northport Power Plant LIPA agreement on its website. So what is the objection to making the Port Jefferson agreement accessible to all on our websites? Would they prefer to have the fewest taxpayers know its full terms and potential consequences?

While both the village and school district are quick to tell us how little our tax bills will rise when promoting 30-year bond proposals, their assumptions are highly suspect given the lack of any reasonable assurance that the LIPA benefit will survive beyond the glide path expiration just four years away. Both the Port Jeff and the Northport agreements state that any extensions under the same terms beyond the 2027 expirations are dependent on power needs of National Grid. With repowering off the table, and the state’s goal of 70% renewable energy by 2030, it would seem there is little likelihood of any significant extension beyond expiration. The Port Jefferson Village budget for 2023-24 reveals LIPA taxes covering 36% of property taxes while the school district budget includes LIPA representing 42%.

It’s time for the village and school district to face the elephant in the room and (1) make critical information available on their websites and (2) for any discussion of potential costs to taxpayers, include calculations that consider a potentially abandoned power plant and taxpayers having to face 60%-plus tax increases to make up the LIPA loss.

Robert J. Nicols

Port Jefferson

Time to put the brakes on spending

Port Jefferson and Belle Terre residents are facing a school district budget and bond vote Tuesday, May 16, at the Port Jefferson high school from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.

It’s a rather hefty price tag being proposed: $47 million for the proposed 2023-24 budget and close to $16 million additional for a bond focused entirely on enhancements to the high school.

While district residents have been more than generous in past years in support of our schools, maybe it’s time to ask if spending over $50,000 each year to educate a student is really feasible. (That’s the amount when you divide the proposed 2023-24 budget by the 933 students in the district, as suggested by Deputy Superintendent Sean Leister as a simple approximation of the per pupil costs, at the village board meeting on May 1.)

Perhaps this is the time to put the brakes on this spending and take a hard look at the future of the high school and consider alternatives.

Charles G. Backfish

Port Jefferson

We need to say ‘no’ to the school bond

Port Jefferson School District residents will be asked May 16 to approve an almost $16 million bond entirely for the benefit of the high school building. The more crucial question to be asked is: “Why are we considering this enormous expenditure when our high school student population is still dwindling?”

According to the school district’s own numbers — found on the district website or online (Long Range Planning Study, Port Jefferson Union Free School District 2021-22) — our enrollment numbers are declining precipitously. On page 18 of the report, our high school’s total enrollment grades 9-12 by 2031 will be a mere 233 students. Divide that number by the four grades in the school and your average graduating class size by 2031 would be only 58 students.

Port Jefferson high school’s small size cannot be compared to that of a prestigious private high school. Even most of the top private schools like Choate, Phillips and Exeter keep their total high school enrollment over 800 students. Most parents want a high school atmosphere that is academically, athletically and socially rich for their children — a true preparation for college. A high school with less than 240 students can’t realistically provide that.

Our high school is presently functioning with the classroom configurations it has had for decades. Before we invest many millions to move art, tech ed and music to the main building to create team and trainer rooms, let’s first focus on what we do if the high school population keeps dwindling, as the district study projects. 

Perhaps we could maintain a strong pre-K through 8th grade school system here and investigate tuitioning out our high school students to Three Village and/or Mount Sinai. This solution has been used successfully by many small school districts. Other larger local districts are facing declining enrollments as well, undoubtedly because of the high home prices and high taxes presenting an obstacle to young families seeking to move to this area. Given that reality, neighboring school districts would welcome our high school students.

Right now, we need to say “no” to the school bond. Before we spend almost $16 million on the high school building, we must find a solution to this ongoing decline in enrollment. To keep ignoring this serious issue is unfair to our already stressed-out taxpayers — and equally unfair to our future high school students.

Gail Sternberg

Port Jefferson

Experience matters

Kathianne Snaden is running for mayor and Stan Loucks is running for reelection as a trustee for the Village of Port Jefferson. They have worked together on the village board for four years. 

Kathianne has shown to be tireless and dedicated to the betterment of every facet of our village. She has opened the doors to the internal workings of government by live streaming the board meetings, originating the Port eReport and the practice of responding to every and all questions from everyone. As the liaison to the Code Enforcement Bureau, she is totally committed to improving public safety and was responsible for increasing the presence of the Suffolk County Police Department. Kathianne is also our liaison to the Port Jefferson School District. This is an important relationship that was absent and created by Kathianne. 

Stan Loucks has been devoting his retirement years to the Village of Port Jefferson. Prior to his election to the village board in 2015, he was on the tennis board, the board of governors, the greens committee and the Port Jefferson Country Club management advisory committee for a total of 20 years, including chair. Stan has been the liaison to the parks and recreation departments, deputy mayor and liaison to the country club. 

He is a hands-on person who will always be directly involved in any issue related to his duties. He has been directly responsible for numerous projects and improvements such as renovation of the golf course; building a new maintenance facility, driving range, fitness center, membership office; upgrading village parks; initiating relationships with our schools and much more. 

Kathianne was TBR News Media Person of the Year in 2019, and Stan was Person of the Year in 2021. Seems like they would be the team that we would want to represent our village.

Experience, knowledge, integrity, dedication and hard working are qualities that we need.

Jim White

Port Jefferson

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

WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL

We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation.

Email letters to: [email protected]

or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

by -
0 174
File photo by Raymond Janis

Support Healthy School Meals for All bill

Every child deserves to be fed, and in a nation as wealthy as ours, no child should go hungry. The April 20 editorial [“Food before football: Long Island’s uphill battle against childhood hunger”] correctly identifies the crisis of child hunger, and how our government is failing to adequately address the issue. There is a legislative answer to this crisis in New York, and it is the Healthy School Meals for All bill. Our state Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] must pass it this year.

The bill ends the policy of means testing, and establishes permanent funding for every child to receive breakfast and lunch at school at no cost. This saves struggling families money on their grocery bills, and eliminates the stigma that may prevent children from utilizing the current program. The cost in New York would be less than 0.01% of the state budget, with $200 million of state dollars supplementing the federal assistance provided to New York. It is estimated that this will provide an additional 726,000 students in New York state access to two meals a day. Currently, one in seven of New York’s children are food insecure, and this disproportionately impacts students of color. 

Children are more than just a test score. If a child is hungry, it is difficult for them to learn, to play and to grow. The Healthy School Meals for All legislation addresses the needs of the whole child, and is economic justice for New York’s children and families. 

This bill is supported by many organizations across the state. Suffolk Progressives, the group I founded, is a proud supporter of the bill, and I encourage others to join the call to reduce child hunger by asking their lawmakers to sign on. I urge constituents to reach out to state Sens. Anthony Palumbo [R-New Suffolk], Dean Murray [R-East Patchogue] and Mario Mattera [R-St. James], and Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio [R-Riverhead], who are not currently listed as co-sponsors of the bill. 

Childhood hunger is not a partisan issue, and all of Long Island’s lawmakers should get behind this legislation. The Legislature must pass Healthy School Meals for All, and Hochul must sign it into law in the 2023 legislative session. New York’s children are depending on it.

Shoshana Hershkowitz

South Setauket

Let’s patronize our local restaurants

Why not patronize your neighborhood restaurants during Long Island Restaurant Week April 23-30 with a wide variety of both two-course lunch and three-course dinner specials all year long.

My wife and I don’t mind occasionally paying a little more to help our favorite restaurants survive. Don’t forget your cook and server. We try to tip 20 to 25 percent against the total bill including taxes. If it is an odd amount, we round up to the next dollar. If we can afford to eat out, we can afford an extra dollar tip. When ordering take out, we always leave a dollar or two for the waiter or cook. It is appreciated. 

The restaurant industry employees include hosts, bartenders, waiters, bus boys, cooks, cashiers, parking valets, wholesale food sellers, distributors and linen suppliers. There are also construction contractors who renovate or build new restaurants.

Our local entrepreneurs work long hours, pay taxes and provide local employment especially to students during the summer. If we don’t patronize our local restaurants, they don’t eat either. Why travel into Manhattan when there are so many great neighborhood restaurants in Centereach, Cold Spring Harbor, Commack, Huntington, Mount Sinai, Northport, Port Jefferson, Selden, Smithtown and Stony Brook?

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Maria’s No Mow May campaign

Sadly, Maria Hoffman passed away in 2022. She was someone who was involved in everything and anything that touched our community — historical preservation, open space protection and environmental issues.

There was no issue too large, or too small, that Maria wasn’t part of — and always achieved with a smile on her face.

Her involvement was done with a quiet style and grace, and while her voice was soft and light, her influence was great.

Anyone who enjoys West Meadow Beach, the Setauket to Port Jefferson Station Greenway, the cultural, historical and art institutions in the area — they all need to give special thanks to Maria’s legacy.

Maria was an avid beekeeper.

She loved her bees and maintained a number of hives.

Her eyes sparkled whenever she spoke about bees — she marveled at their unique abilities and intelligence.

And she was deeply concerned about the declining bee populations across the country.

To honor the legacy of Maria and to protect the bee, butterfly and bird populations, the Three Village Community Trust is kicking off its 1st annual Maria’s No Mow May campaign.

No Mow May is an international movement that first was popularized by Plantlife, an organization based in Salisbury, England. The simple goal of No Mow May is to allow grass to grow during the month of May, creating an important spring habitat for early season pollinators. No Mow May is really easy — do nothing!

Don’t apply any fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides or pesticides.

While community residents might not want to leave their entire lawn unmown for the month of May, just allowing a small area to be part of No Mow May will make a difference to the environment.

You’re likely to see yard signs saying “ join Maria’s No Mow May campaign throughout the community.

Join the Three Village Community Trust, your friends and neighbors in Maria’s No Mow May. Just like Maria — bee special!

Herb Mones

President, Three Village Community Trust

Eliminating bail reduces recidivism

A recent letter by Jim Soviero [“Dem Albany County DA Soares criticizes bail reform,” April 6] essentially reprints a New York Post op-ed piece by Albany County DA David Soares deriding bail reform. Soviero takes great pains to emphasize Soares’ political affiliation (Democratic) and race (Black).

As I’m sure Soviero would agree, even Democrats can be wrong sometimes. And regardless of Soares’ race, neither he, nor Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, nor even Soviero himself are better equipped to decide what’s best for New York’s African-American community than that community itself. Polling shows that the overwhelming majority of Blacks support policies reducing incarceration. If bail reform is as terrible for the African-American community as Soviero’s crocodile tears seem to suggest, there’s a simple remedy — they can vote out of office their representatives who voted for it. That’s not about to happen. Instead, the voices most stridently denouncing reform are those exploiting the politics of fear and division.

If just jailing people made our streets and communities safer, the United States should be the safest country in the world. After all, we lead the world in incarceration, both absolutely and per capita.

As far as the cherry-picked statistics Soares relies on and Soviero repeats to denounce reform, they’re all wet. A study released this March by John Jay College, the preeminent criminal justice school in the state, shows that the 2020 bail reform law has actually reduced the likelihood of someone getting rearrested. “Fundamentally, we found that eliminating bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies reduced recidivism in New York City, while there was no clear effect in either direction for cases remaining bail eligible,” said Michael Rempel, director of John Jay College’s Data Collaborative for Justice.

All of this obscures the fact that the purpose of bail is for one thing only — to restrain those judged to be a flight risk. It is not to lock up people, sometimes for weeks or months in horrible conditions, who are legally innocent. Unless we are willing to drop the presumption of innocence from our legal system entirely. 

I’m sure that Soviero would agree with me that the recently indicted former president is legally entitled to the presumption of innocence. So why is it that he, who is rich and powerful, is entitled to this, but someone who is poor and powerless is not? I don’t know what to call that, but I certainly wouldn’t call it justice.

David Friedman 

St. James

Editor’s note: We are publishing this letter because it responds to an earlier letter. In the future, we ask that letters mainly speak to local issues.

Local residents toast George Washington’s visit

This past Saturday local residents gathered on the corner of Bayview Avenue, East Setauket, and Route 25A to commemorate the 233rd year of our first president George Washington’s visit to Setauket on April 22, 1790. Several in attendance read excerpts about Washington and his life, including a poem written by ChatGPT on Washington’s trip to the Roe Tavern in Setauket.

As many know, Washington came to Setauket during the first year of his presidency to meet with Capt. Austin Roe who ran a small tavern on what is now Route 25A near East Setauket Pond Park. Though the president’s diary was sparse about the true intentions for his five-day trip to Long Island, many believe it was to thank those who had been part of the Culper Spy Ring that was founded in Setauket and critical to Washington’s success against the British troops and mercenaries encamped in New York City.

This is the second year that local resident Rick McDowell and his brother Ken organized the gathering. They are already planning next year’s commemoration for another rousing cheer to our first president and to the Setauket spies who helped him win the War of Independence from Britain.

George Hoffman

Setauket

May 1 public hearing on Maryhaven is urgent

It’s concerning that a Village of Port Jefferson public hearing on changes to zoning for the Maryhaven Center of Hope property is still scheduled for May 1.

Especially since the follow-up work session on April 25 raised more questions than answers — even for some of the trustees. Further, from what we understand, the Board of Trustees has not even received a formal request from the developers, and the Building Department has no record of any application. So why the rush?

The village attorney argues that having the zoning hearing now allows the village to be proactive when the developers are ready to apply. But this remedy seems more preemptive than proactive because the residents don’t yet have enough information to make an informed decision.

Not only were we not included in any of the prior discussions, but it does not appear that a full due diligence was conducted.

It might be too late to call for the hearing to be postponed. But it’s not too late to request that no binding decisions on Maryhaven be made until residents have a chance to review the facts and, perhaps, propose other options for the property.

In order to get answers, we urge you to come to the public hearing at Village Hall on Monday, May 1, at 6 p.m.

Ana Hozyainova, President

Kathleen McLane, Outreach Officer

Port Jefferson Civic Association

No interest in changing Port Jeff Country Club to a public course

This is an open letter to the editor, to the members of the Port Jefferson Country Club and to the residents of the Village of Port Jefferson.

It has been brought to my attention by several members of the country club that inaccurate messaging is being shared around the course — that as part of my Port Jefferson mayoral campaign platform, I intend to convert the country club to a public municipal golf course, and make golf at the country club free for all residents. At first, I thought it was a joke. Because nothing could be further from the truth. Then when more people started asking me if it were true, I knew I had to address this publicly.

I have no interest or intent in changing the country club to a public course. I hope those who consider voting for me see through this political ruse and know I would never be so reckless or fiscally irresponsible. It will remain a private municipal course, as it always has been from the day Mayor Harold Sheprow acquired it, and as it was established when the decision to buy it was voted upon favorably in 1978 by the residents of Port Jefferson.

I will always support making the club and its restaurant facilities a welcoming and inclusive environment for all residents. Giving memberships away for free does not enter into that equation.

If PJCC members or village residents have questions and would like to personally discuss this or any information that has the appearance of being contrary to what I stand for — see my website www.sheprowformayor.com under the “platform” tab — I can be reached by email at [email protected].

Lauren Sheprow, Trustee

Village of Port Jefferson

Editor’s note: The writer is the daughter of former Port Jefferson Mayor Harold Sheprow.

by -
0 164

Slippery slopes

The Village of Port Jefferson and the Village of Belle Terre need to get together about the views from Port Jefferson Harbor. The views to the west side of the harbor are of busy commerce while the east side has historically been a beautiful natural bluff, with houses discretely sited, until the advent of the McMansion. The new buildings are becoming an eyesore, but worse, the steep slopes are eroding.

 

Michael Schwarting

Port Jefferson

Earth Day is every day

Celebrate Earth Day, April 22, every day. Besides recycling newspapers, magazines, glass, plastics, old medicines, paints and cleaning materials, consider other actions which will contribute to a cleaner environment. 

Leave your car at home. For local trips in the neighborhood, walk or ride a bike. For longer travels, consider public transportation. MTA NYC Transit subway, bus, Long Island Rail Road, the buses of Suffolk County Transit, Huntington Area Rapid Transit (HART) and Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) offer various options funded with your tax dollars. They use less fuel and move more people than cars. Many employers offer transit checks to help subsidize costs. Utilize your investments and reap the benefits. You’ll be supporting a cleaner environment and be less stressed upon arrival at your destination. 

Many employers allow employees to telecommute. Others use alternative work schedules, avoiding rush-hour gridlock. This saves travel time and can improve gas mileage. Join a car or van pool to share commuting costs. 

Use a hand-powered lawn mower instead of a gasoline or electric one. Rake your leaves instead of using gasoline-powered leaf blowers. Pollution created by gas-powered lawn mowers or leaf blowers will surprise you. 

A cleaner environment starts with everyone.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Silence on upcoming school bond vote

Did you hear that? No? Neither did I.

I’m not hearing much about the Port Jefferson School District’s nearly $16 million bond that’s up for a vote soon. It’s the same day as the budget vote on Tuesday, May 16, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Earl L. Vandermeulen High School cafeteria.

School tours? Not a word.

Postcard in the mail? Nope. But it must be coming. It’s the law.

Robocall? My phone’s not ringing.

Why the different tactic from last fall’s failed bond proposal when the rusty pipes and other wanted design changes were highlighted for the public? 

Even a recent Facebook post about the school district presenting at a coming Port Jefferson Village public board meeting mentioned the budget and omitted the proposed bond. The district, I was told, must present the budget at the village board. But, apparently, not so much the bond. Further inquiries were being made.

You see where this is going.

You say budgets? Boring! 

You say $16 million bond and some folks might be interested in attending … and voting.

So what is going on here? What’s the secret? Why the silence?

Silence works.

Silence is the sound of a harried resident with no student in the district unaware and uninformed about having their voice heard and their vote recorded on an issue directly affecting their increasingly strained pocketbook. Silence is the enemy of a fair and open government and process. Silence should never be condoned.

Omission, too, is a form of silence. A laryngitis. And it’s happening right before our ears.

I’m reminded of the school district administration’s postcards sent last fall announcing an important meeting for residents that conveniently omitted the then bond proposal. Remember? The district omitted the word “bond” on the postcard, I suspect, to not rally budget-strapped residents. The district, I’m sure, will deny my interpretation but optics matter.

Rinse. Recycle. Repeat. It’s happening again.

Now, the school district is presenting its school budget to the village board and public attendees on May 2 at Village Hall. The proposed $16 million bond should be given equal time, public discussion and attention and not just passing mention as a part of an annual budget presentation. The bond amount, time and date of the vote should be plastered across the village including on a banner across Main Street.

When the district is purposefully transparent, it will have rightfully earned my vote, and maybe yours too. I hope they do.

Until they do, sign up at www.myvillagemyvote.com to be reminded about upcoming important budget votes and elections. If they won’t do it, residents can.

 

Drew Biondo

Port Jefferson

Legitimate issues with wind and solar power

The letter by George Altemose [TBR News Media, April 13] raises some very legitimate issues with wind and solar power. Politicians are often happy to say that power will be 100% carbon free by a certain date. Such claims as Sunrise Wind providing power for about 600,000 homes as Altemose recounts makes clear the claim is about making electricity generation carbon free; the much more difficult issue is to make all energy use carbon free. Currently, electricity generation amounts to one-third of the energy used by New York state, and of that, about half is already carbon free, coming mainly from nuclear and hydro sources. The other energy uses are about one-third for transportation and one-third for everything else, such as heating buildings and industrial uses. The national goal is to decarbonize electrical generation at the same time that other energy requirements are shifted to electricity, for example, electric vehicles and heat pumps. 

Electrical power generation has to be matched with the demand. As Altemose points out, wind and solar are intermittent sources and there are times when more power is needed than they can produce. It is important that the system includes sources that provide a baseline power such as nuclear, and also power that can be turned on when needed such as hydro. Altemose mentions several forms of energy storage systems that would need further development to address the shortfall in renewable energy. Another key component is the ability to import power from other regions where the wind may be blowing or the sun shining, and for this the grid must be modernized and upgraded. The Inflation Reduction Act includes $65 billion to upgrade the grid and make it more resilient. Once the grid is improved then market forces for electricity should help to distribute energy from the whole country to where it is needed. A high voltage DC line can carry power 1,000 miles with only a few percent losses. 

Additional power will need to be added to the electrical system, to account for electric vehicles and heat pumps. Estimates are that this is comparable to the percentage increase in electrical demand that happened when air conditioning became more widespread. It will happen over tens of years and all systems must be improved over that time scale.

This transition to green energy will not be easy, and the fossil fuel companies will continue to fight it tooth and nail, but we must do it to keep the Earth a good place for humankind. The U.S. has put more CO2 into the atmosphere than any other country, including China, so we must lead the solution of this worldwide problem, and it is good for business to do so. 

Peter Bond, Stony Brook 

Gene Sprouse, South Setauket



by -
0 177
Pixabay photo

Attend May 1 public hearing on Maryhaven

On Monday, May 1, the Village of Port Jefferson will hold a public hearing at Village Hall at 6 p.m. to change the zoning for the Maryhaven Center of Hope — located across from St. Charles Hospital — to develop condos there.

Our elected officials are tasked with balancing the need for development with the equally important need to preserve open space. But striking that delicate balance is challenging, which is why it’s essential that we, the villagers, contribute to these discussions.

At the moment, not many details have been made available — not even all the trustees were fully briefed when the public hearing was approved April 3. As a result, the Port Jefferson Civic Association has not yet formed an opinion about this development. However, we do advocate and hope for thoughtful planning that both reflects the historical nature of our village and respects the environment.

But given what has transpired with some of the other apartment complexes that have gone up in the village, we can’t be confident that the public hearing will be anything more than a formality.

That’s why we encourage residents of Port Jeff, in the spirit of meaningful community engagement, to ask questions and make their voices heard, either by attending the May 1 hearing in person or writing letters. A strong showing from the public will help ensure that this hearing will not be just a formality and the concerns of the villagers will be addressed.

Ana Hozyainova

President

Port Jefferson Civic Association

Support community newspapers, Albany

Passage of the proposed New York Local Journalism Sustainability Act by the state Legislature is important to assure survival of local journalism. Most communities are down to one local daily or weekly newspaper. Newspapers have to deal with increasing costs for newsprint, delivery and distribution along with reduced advertising revenues and competition from the internet and other news information sources.

Daily newspapers concentrate on international, Washington, Albany, business and sports stories. They have few reporters covering local neighborhood news. Weekly newspapers fill the void for coverage of local community news. 

I’m grateful that your newspaper group has afforded me the opportunity to express my views via letters to the editor along with others who may have different opinions on the issues of the day. 

Albany needs to join us in supporting weekly community newspapers. Readers patronize advertisers, who provide the revenues to help keep the newspapers in business. 

Let us hope there continues to be room for TBR News Media chain publications such as The Times of Huntington, Northport & East Northport, The Times of Middle Country, The Village Times Herald, The Port Times Record, The Times of Smithtown and The Village Beacon Record.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

The Constitution must be defended

We are facing a moment when an individual has been accused of committing crimes and is being given all the constitutional protections afforded him by the United States of America and the State of New York.

If we are to believe the media, that individual, and those surrounding him, are threatening our society with violence if our constitutional laws are followed.

Also, if we are to believe the media, many of those making threats are elected members of our government, themselves sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States of America.

While most of the current debate is coming from one side of the political spectrum, I have lived long enough to see the other side ignore constitutional law enough times to fill me with an equal level of disgust.

I, and millions more Americans, have risked or given our lives to defend the Constitution. One of my ancestors, Benjamin Franklin, risked everything to give us the Constitution. What right does a group of greedy politicians, without regard to political party, have to spit on those sacrifices?

Before you take a side, get out your history books and read about Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler, each, had millions of supporters. What did that get us?

Francis G. Gibbons Sr.

Terryville

Community mourns swan together

On Monday, March 27, the mother swan, who had made the Frank Melville Memorial Park her home, died from injuries she had sustained. How? Why? No one will ever know for sure.

Mother Nature can be cruel. A week earlier people had noticed her odd behavior. She swam to the left, sometimes in small, frenzied circles next to her nest, but not on it. Her mate had taken her place. The community came together. Dozens of people tried to help. They watched and wondered, stopped their cars, and offered assistance. We consulted wildlife rescue groups, as well as Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown.

On that Monday morning, I was one of the people who stood and watched her listing like a sinking ship, her head sometimes underwater. She looked weak, lethargic, exhausted — near death. Someone speculated that she had gotten tangled in the pond vegetation. We secured a kayak and attempted a rescue. What we saw was worse than we had imagined. Her leg was tightly wrapped in a heavy mass of weeds. In freeing her, we saw that the leg was only bone, the skin sheared off, bleeding out. She was taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center where she died. On the park’s Facebook page, the outpouring of grief was overwhelming. But we were reminded that swans are not pets. The park did not own her; it only loved her.

On Saturday, April 1, the father swan was back on the nest, sitting on their eggs. Whether they will hatch, no one knows. But we’ll be watching.

Kerri Glynn

Setauket

by -
0 197
Pixabay photo

Correction: Good Energy is New York-based

First, thank you for the in-depth March 9 article about Community Choice Aggregation in Long Island. It is a well-written article that shares much important information about CCA programs. 

Long Island residents and businesses can benefit from such programs for years, so the more information, the better. Such CCA programs will enable Long Islanders to secure stable, low energy rates and also feature renewable energy options. That is, indeed, important news for Long Islanders.

As a media contact for Good Energy, I would like to add a small — but important — correction and a clarification to that article. 

Good Energy is mentioned as being a London-based company. It’s an understandable error because there is a United Kingdom-based company with the same name as ours. However, Good Energy LLC is based in Manhattan, with employees on Long Island and has been helping New York and other states create CCA programs for more than 20 years. 

 For our company, it’s important that residents of the Town of Brookhaven and the rest of Long Island know we are a New York-based business working for New Yorkers. We look forward to serving Brookhaven as the energy consultant for their CCA program. Part of that service is providing Brookhaven with new, exciting renewable energy options. 

 I would also request that your publication clarifies the scope of Good Energy’s CCA program: The Town of Brookhaven’s Community Choice Aggregation Program is for gas, electricity and renewable energy. 

In fact, Good Energy is currently working with Brookhaven officials to develop such renewable energy projects. More news about that will be coming soon.

Doug Donaldson

Media Representative

Good Energy LLC

New York

Fund the state’s new campaign finance program

In a representative democracy, money should not be the determining factor in whether a person can run for public office. When working-class people run and serve in public office, our government works better for working families. Yet too often, the process is dictated by wealthy donors and special interest groups, making it difficult for the average person to run for office and win. The New York State Public Campaign Finance Program would help to change that.

This new state program would eliminate barriers and level the playing field for good, qualified people to run for public office. Under the new system, individual contributions of between $5 and $250 would be eligible for public matching funds, enabling candidates — incumbents and challengers — to spend their time fundraising among more of the people they seek to represent, as opposed to wealthy megadonors. This makes it easier for ordinary people without access to wealth to run for office, with the support of our communities.

Instead of officeholders who are beholden to corporate donations, special interests and megadonors, they would be listening to constituents who built their campaign, one small donation at a time. Furthermore, these small donors would be engaged in the process to a greater degree, as they have a personal connection with the candidate who represents them and the community. This is what a government of, by and for the people is all about.

Unfortunately, no one will be able to make use of public campaign finance if there is no funding allocated to the program. Our legislators must take bold action and fully fund the Public Campaign Finance Program this year, so that candidates can begin using it in the 2024 election cycle, as the law intended. This funding must be a part of our fiscal year 2024 budget that is currently being negotiated in Albany.

We in Suffolk County know all too well that special interests dominate the process. Special interests who hold power with our Republican and Conservative county legislators that killed Suffolk County’s public campaign finance program before it began. We cannot let this happen again at the state level. I urge you to let your state legislators know that you support New York’s Public Campaign Finance Program, and that you want your government to represent you, not the special interest groups. That is the leadership and democracy we deserve.

Shoshana Hershkowitz

South Setauket

Friendly, generous people

I would like to share how my wife and I have twice been the recipients of little acts of kindness.

The first occurred when we were dining in a Port Jefferson restaurant with another couple. The man, John, was telling us that he had fought in Europe in World War II. A few minutes later, our waitress informed us that the people in the next booth had paid for John’s meal. A thank-you for his service. We, of course, went to their booth and thanked them. 

More recently my wife and I had finished lunch at Outback Steakhouse in East Setauket, and the check arrived. The total appeared to be wrong, and I asked our waitress about it. She explained that the couple at the next table had some money left on their gift card and requested that it be applied to our bill. Unfortunately, they had left before we learned this, and we could not thank them. Whoever you are, if you read this: A profound thank-you for your generosity. I will pay it forward.

Steven Perry

Rocky Point

On the road again

March 12 was the 101st anniversary of East Northport resident Jack Kerouac’s birth.

It made me reread one of his best writings, “On the Road.” His works remind me of the more adventurous spirit of youth.

Sadly, as we get older, with more responsibilities and less free time, there are fewer journeys to take, but the ideals of Kerouac continue to live in all of us.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL 

We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation. 

Email letters to: [email protected]

or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

by -
0 943
Photo by Joseph Cali

The decades-long proposal to electrify the Port Jefferson Branch line of the Long Island Rail Road is nearing yet another derailment.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, public owner of LIRR, is expected to unveil its 2025-2044 20-Year Needs Assessment in October. Larry Penner, a transportation analyst and former director for Federal Transit Administration Region 2, considered that document pivotal for the project’s future advancement. 

“If the project is not included in that 20-year document, then none of us are going to be alive to see electrification,” he said, adding pessimistically that electrification “is not on the radar screen” of senior MTA or state-level officials.

Requests for comment submitted to the press offices of the MTA, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY1) went unanswered.

A cry unheard

‘It’s appalling that they’re using diesel in this day and age.’

— Bruce Miller

Generations of North Shore residents and community leaders have called upon the MTA to electrify the Port Jeff line to no avail.

Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) has been among Long Island’s loudest and most prominent proponents of electrification in recent years. In an interview with TBR News Media last summer, he said public investment has shifted away from the Island.

“Our voice has not been raised,” he said. “There hasn’t been an investment in providing modern technology” to this region.

Village of Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant voiced similar frustrations. According to her, a fully electrified rail would boost local and regional economies, expediting travel to Manhattan and between North Shore communities, namely transit to and from nearby powerhouse Stony Brook University.

The project “would incentivize people being able to take the train not only into Stony Brook but into the city in a really timely manner,” she said.

From an environmental perspective, former Port Jeff Village trustee Bruce Miller decried the existing railway infrastructure as “ludicrous.”

“It’s appalling that they’re using diesel in this day and age,” he said, adding, “Everyone is making every effort for green energy in all fields except for the MTA and the Long Island Rail Road.”

Illustration by Kyle Horne: kylehorneart.com @kylehorneart
Illustration by Kyle Horne: kylehorneart.com @kylehorneart

State legislators join the cause

Local leaders are not alone in their disappointment over the long delay. State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) condemned what he considered an imbalance between the state taxes Long Island spends and the infrastructure dollars it gets from Albany.

“Long Islanders already contribute greatly to the MTA and deserve better access to more reliable and dependable rail service,” he said in an email, referring to Port Jefferson Branch electrification as a “critical project.”

At the western end of the branch, state Assemblyman Keith Brown (R-Northport), whose district includes travelers from Huntington, Greenlawn and Northport stations, expressed dismay over the state’s billowing budget yet few returns for North Shore residents. 

He noted the apparent contradiction between Albany’s green energy priorities and the MTA’s continued use of diesel locomotives, which are due for replacement in the coming years.

Referencing the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which targets an 85% reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050, Brown regarded the continued dependence upon diesel technology as inconsistent with state law.

“They can’t really replace the existing fleet with diesel trains,” he said. “At the same time they’re calling to stop the use of gas in homes, the MTA and LIRR can’t be purchasing diesel locomotives.”

The Empire State Passenger Association is a transit advocacy group that aims for improvements in public transportation services throughout New York state. ESPA president Gary Prophet said the passenger association has endorsed Port Jefferson Branch electrification over the years, referring to the project as necessary and justifiable given the volume of commuters along the line.

“That is a heavily used branch of the Long Island Rail Road that should be electrified,” he said. “It probably should have been electrified in the past, but it just hasn’t happened for a variety of reasons.”

A history of inaction

The original concept of Port Jeff line electrification dates back over half a century. However, planning began in earnest in the early 1970s when electrification of the North Shore line extended up to Huntington.

Derek Stadler, associate professor and web services librarian at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, has closely followed historical developments along the Port Jeff Branch. 

He attributes the failures to electrify the line to a combination of resistance from property owners near the tracks, engineering challenges, financial setbacks and bad luck.

“In the ‘80s, they had money set aside to start working on it though they hadn’t secured the funds to complete it,” he said. “Then in 1985, the president of the MTA postponed that indefinitely.” Stadler contends this was the closest the project ever was to moving forward.

In the ‘90s, the MTA launched a fleet of dual-mode locomotives which are still in use today. Despite the good intentions, Stadler maintains that this fleet has not adequately substituted for electric service. Given the high costs to repair and replace outdated train cars, Stadler regarded this effort as a poor long-term investment. 

“They have spent more money on that new fleet and repairing them than if they would have done the electrification way back in the ‘80s,” he said.

Prioritization problem

‘If I’m the MTA, I’m electrifying the East End before I electrify the North Shore.’

— Richard Murdocco

The current cost estimate of Port Jeff Branch electrification is $3.6 billion, though that figure will almost certainly climb. To secure these dollars, however, the North Shore is competing against other project proposals across Long Island and New York state.

Throughout LIRR’s history as a public railroad company, North Shore riders have lost out consistently to their inland counterparts traveling along the Ronkonkoma line. Richard Murdocco, adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science at SBU, chronicled this pattern, saying the pursuit of Port Jeff Branch electrification continues running up against the hard realities of the MTA’s prioritization scheme.

“The question is: Is electrification really the priority on the North Shore, or should you electrify east of Ronkonkoma?” Murdocco said. Given the spur of recent growth in Yaphank and new developments in the Town of Riverhead, he added, “If I’m the MTA, I’m electrifying the East End before I electrify the North Shore.”

Further hampering investment into the Port Jeff Branch is the topography along its route. Given the large hills and frequent bends, the flatter main line may win the day for its comparably simple engineering logistics.

Murdocco said the MTA could either electrify the Port Jeff Branch, which “meanders along the hilly terrain, or you get a straight shot through the Pine Barrens, where there’s already talk of them doing it, where they’re welcoming it and where there are no neighbors to disrupt.”

‘Suffolk County does not have the political clout that it used to.’

— Larry Penner

Political and financial distress

Penner claims the political and financial currents are also working against North Shore residents. Suffolk County’s state representatives are increasingly in the legislative minority in Albany, leaving mere “crumbs on the table” for infrastructure improvements.

“Suffolk County does not have the political clout that it used to,” he said.

Even so, the MTA is encountering a systemwide economic crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic, with daily ridership hovering around 65% from pre-pandemic levels. Murdocco insists that many of the labor trends unleashed by COVID-19 will likely linger indefinitely.

“There’s no denying remote work is here to stay,” the SBU adjunct professor said, adding, “We don’t know how long the ramifications of the pandemic will last.”

Meanwhile, the MTA is facing even greater fiscal strife over looming labor negotiations. With recent inflation, Penner said the agency could lose potentially hundreds of millions from renegotiated union contracts.

“All of this plays into the bigger picture of MTA’s overall health,” Penner said, which he considered dismal based on state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s (D) most recent analysis. “They’re barely staying afloat maintaining existing service, systems and repairs,” the former FTA official added.

Penner, Stadler and Murdocco expressed collective pessimism about Port Jefferson Branch electrification getting underway within the next decade. “As of right now, I do not see this project happening within 10 years because I do not see a fiscal way for anyone to pay for it, given the MTA’s current financial status,” Murdocco said.

Looking for answers

Given the hefty $3.6 billion price tag, Miller proposed exploring alternatives to electric service. He cited examples in Germany, where zero-emission hydrogen-powered train cars recently went online.

“Hydrogen technology is new but they’ve developed it, and it’s working in Germany,” the former village trustee said. “I don’t think they’re exploring enough options here.”

But implementing high-tech propulsion technologies may be out of reach for the MTA, which uses a late 19th-century fuel source to power the Port Jeff line. When asked about these potential innovations, Brown expressed skepticism.

“As far as hydrogen is concerned, that’s all it is right now — experimental,” the state assemblyman said. Rather, he favored pursuing electrification in a piecemeal, station-by-station fashion, dispersing infrastructure funds for the project over several annual budgets.

Penner implored community members to adopt a policy of maximum pressure upon their elected representatives. 

“I wouldn’t give a dime to any elected official unless, with your campaign contribution, there’s a little note in your check [that says] you have to promise me that electrification of Port Jefferson will be your number one transportation priority,” he said.

Stadler emphasized executive support, arguing that several system expansions during the administration of former Gov. Nelson Rockefeller (R) were made possible by the chief executive’s commitment to seeing them through.

“A lot of money has to be budgeted for it,” he said. “State leaders have to be involved in it, and pressure from the governor” can be a reliable instrument.

To make the electrification dream a reality, Garant said all levels of government should pool their energies around this cause. “It’s certainly going to be a long-term plan for the region,” she said. “You need partners on every level, from the federal and state levels to the town and county.”

Prophet said megaprojects, such as the $11 billion East Side Access extension into Grand Central Madison, have taken up much of the political and economic capital in New York state.

“I think there’s a lot of emphasis on large projects that make a big splash,” the passenger association president said. “Politicians need to spend a little more time on smaller projects that may not make a big splash but may help commuters and people looking to travel between cities.”

Setting the stakes, Penner returned to the 20-year capital needs assessment. He equated the North Shore’s present predicament to a baseball game.

“You’re in the ninth inning with two outs,” he said. “The last at-bat is the 2025-2044 20-year capital needs assessment.” He concluded by saying, “If this project is not included in that document, then the ball game is over.”

by -
0 101
Nicolls Road. File photo by Rachel Shapiro

County Road 97, commonly known as Nicolls Road, is one of Long Island’s main thoroughfares, connecting Stony Brook on the North Shore to Patchogue on the South with nearly 16 miles of highway. For years the county has examined ideas to relieve rush hour traffic; now it is proposing a rapid-transit bus system, high-occupancy vehicle lanes and 16 roadside bus stops.

“It’s going to be dual function, and also reduce congestion on Nicolls Road, so its two birds, one stone effect,” said William Hillman, a chief engineer at Suffolk County’s Department of Public Works.

In a 2015 county report prepared by multinational engineering firm Parsons Brickerhoff, the project cost was originally estimated at upward of $200 million, though plans have been scaled down slightly since then.

“By making the buses faster, more reliable, more frequent, we may have a chance to get people to sit in it and get out of their cars.”

— Kara Hahn

Babylon-based engineering firm Greenman-Pedersen, which was the latest company tapped to research the Nicolls Road project, presented April 2 summaries of its initial plans at Suffolk County Community College. 

The plans, as they currently exist, call for 16 new stations positioned along Nicolls as bus terminals connecting to existing Suffolk County Transit routes. The plans would also include 16.5 new miles of dedicated lanes to bypass traffic congestion. Service of these bus lines include a frequency much higher than any current county bus, from a weekday peak of every 10 minutes to a weekend peak of 20 minutes.

Presenters did not offer details on the buses’ fuel source nor did they describe where new stoplights or other traffic slowing devices may be implemented. Larry Penner, who worked for more than three decades in the Federal Transit Administration regional office and now comments on ongoing projects as a self-described transit historian, said that buses typically get right of way in among normal traffic.

Mike Colletta, a project engineer at engineering firm Greenman-Pedersen, which created the most recent presentation on the road, said the firm was recently put onto the project by Suffolk County, and is still in the very early stages of design.

County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) said the Legislature has been approving the project, applying for grants and getting funding toward the corridor studies for years. The project still has a while to go before the county can estimate the true impact on traffic. County officials worry that people will not use buses.

“By making the buses faster, more reliable, more frequent, we may have a chance to get people to sit in it and get out of their cars,” Hahn said. 

While representatives from the county and engineering firm could not give an estimate into the amount of vehicles, Penner said the county still has many things to consider, including costs of roughly 10 new buses, 16 stations and proposed amenities, such as real-time bus locators, similar to the units found at the train stations. Seating and overhangs for the stations themselves must also be factored in.

“Here’s the challenge they face: The density in Suffolk County is far less than Nassau, and far less than New York City,” Penner said. “How many people would drive to one of these 16 Bus Rapid Transit stations and how many people will take a commuter bus and switch to the rapid transit when you can get in your car and get there much more quickly, that will be the challenge they face, because time is money for people.”

These proposed stations would link up to existing Suffolk County Transit bus routes. Multiple existing bus routes already travel along or intersect with Nicolls, including the 3D, the S62, S69, 6B, S58 and 7A, though only two routes use the county road for a significant distance. Service on Suffolk County Transit has also been spotty for a long time, with users often left waiting for buses for over an hour. 

Bruce Morrison, the president of the Selden Civic Association, said he is skeptical of the project, questioning how many people would use it, especially with existing issues on the regular county buses.

“If it’s not attractive to the public, you’re going to have empty buses.”

— Bruce Morrison

“Will they get the ridership?” Morrison said. “If it’s not attractive to the public, you’re going to have empty buses.”

Buses would operate in the HOV lanes on the inside of the road and along the specialized bus lanes along the outside portions of the road. One proposed route would take these buses down the Long Island Expressway, through the Ronkonkoma Train Station and the expected Ronkonkoma Hub project as well before linking back up to Nicolls. 

County Executive Steve Bellone (D) has been touting his Connect LI plan for years. In 2014 the county started exploring several other possible projects. Expanding Route 110 and the Sagtikos Parkway is among the other options. In 2015, Bellone shared his expanded plans for $300 million bus transit plan to connect Long Island’s downtowns, colleges, research and business centers. 

At one point, the county executive’s office floated the idea of building a rapid transit in the median of the well-populated road. Environmental impact studies are ongoing and necessary to ultimately receive federal funding.

In addition to the new route, engineers are also touting designs for a new trail that could run parallel to Nicolls. This path would be akin to the Rails to Trails project, but unlike the 3-mile Greenway Trail from Setauket to Port Jefferson Station, and the upcoming 10-mile project from Wading River through Mount Sinai, this path could be well over 15 miles of trail, crossing under the LIE and over other high trafficked roads like Middle Country Road. The 2015 study allocated $15 million for the biking and hiking trail.

Prev123Page 3 of 3
TBR News Media is your local news and entertainment website.
We provide you with the latest breaking news and information for your community.
Contact us: [email protected]

Most Viewed

©