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Clarifying recent events at Sherwood-Jayne Farm

Preservation Long Island would like to clarify the events that took place at the Sherwood-Jayne Farm on Nov. 8.

The entire 12.5-acre farm is private property, as are the grazing sheep and pony. We have made access to the animals and the property available to the public as a community benefit.

Considering that the farm site is not an active animal farm, we came to the realization earlier this year that the aging animals will soon require care beyond what we can provide. The decision was not financially driven — it was in the best interest of the animals.

While Susanna Gatz has undoubtedly been a loving caretaker, she is not the only person capable of caring for the animals. She was first made aware of PLI’s plans for the animals and the change in her status as early as April.

We understand how community members will miss the sheep and Snowball — as we will — but we have committed ourselves to finding a solution that will provide animals of an advanced age with the services they will require.

After working within the community and searching for the best possible fit, we found Berkshire Sanctuary Farm, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing aging animals with a serene location and professional veterinary care.

When Susanna’s friends arrived to protest the transfer of the animals to Berkshire on Nov. 8, we did allow children onto our private property to say goodbye to the animals as a courtesy. Unfortunately, the noise and activity of Susanna’s adult protesters stressed the animals into a state where Berkshire felt it was not safe to humanely move them during the commotion.

We hope we have not lost the opportunity to provide the animals with a forever home at Berkshire.

Alexandra Parsons Wolfe

Executive Director

Preservation Long Island

Sherwood-Jayne Farm animals should be allowed to stay

Sherwood-Jayne Farm on Old Post Road in East Setauket is a jewel of our community.

Thanks to the actions of people within our community and elsewhere, the farm has remained a lovely and happy place for both adults and children to enjoy just as Mr. Howard Sherwood envisioned long ago.

Unfortunately, the owners of the farm, Preservation Long Island, have decided to remove the animals from the residence, sending the four sheep to Berkshire Farm Sanctuary in Peru, Massachusetts, and Snowball the pony to an undisclosed location on Long Island.

I googled the sanctuary to find out about its purpose. Their mission is “to rescue, rehabilitate and provide a safe haven for abandoned, abused and neglected companion and farm animals and promote humane education and compassion to all beings.” This is a beautiful mission, but the animals at Sherwood-Jayne have never been abandoned, abused or neglected. They have been tenderly and compassionately cared for all their lives.

On Wednesday, Nov. 8, the executive director of Preservation Long Island, Alexandra Wolfe, and a security guard arrived at the farm with minimal notice with the intention to promptly remove the animals from the farm. Ms. Wolfe then refused to give information to the current caretaker as to where Snowball would be heading or who would be caring for her.

This action showed medical neglect as there was no exchange of information about the care that Snowball has received to keep her alive and well. Thanks to the uprising of concerned local neighbors, this event was drawn to a halt, and at the end of the skirmish, the animals remained at the farm. None of these actions make sense to me, or to many community members.

The animals should be allowed to live out their remaining days in their happy and safe place at the Sherwood-Jayne Farm.

Bonnie Dunbar

Setauket

Notice of important civic meeting on Jefferson Plaza

As president of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association, I want to inform my neighbors of the opportunity to shape the future of our community and have your voices heard. 

On Tuesday, Nov. 28, we will gather, as we do most months at 7 p.m. at the Comsewogue Public Library, 170 Terryville Road, and hold our regular civic association meeting. Check out our website at www.pjstca.org for future meeting notifications and join with others who seek to beautify, improve and celebrate Port Jefferson Station/Terryville. 

While I believe all our meetings are enriching and interesting, this particular meeting is of significance as it will be dedicated to the discussion of the redevelopment by Staller Associates of the Jefferson Plaza Shopping Center, where the Post Office is on Route 112.

The proposed project envisions the construction of 280 units of residential apartments in two structures, which could reach 50 feet in height, as well as include 49,000 square feet of new and updated commercial space to serve the new and existing residents.

Such a proposal presents this community with an opportunity as we seek to renew and revitalize an area that has been a concern to many and has focused us on quality-of-life issues in our community. But, as with any potential change, there are related impacts that have been raised by active members of our civic and the broader community as occurred in February 2022 when the developer presented this concept to 125 concerned citizens who attended that night.

More recently, I heard this past weekend that up to 80 people met at the shopping center on a cold Sunday morning to discuss the new project and connect with their neighbors.

It is my hope on Nov. 28 to facilitate an informative and vibrant discussion of all the implications — positive or negative — such an opportunity presents in order to develop consensus of how our community views this pivotal development. I am certain there will be spirited debate as there are many opinions to be aired by everyone. I also hope we can do so with an attitude of acceptance, decorum and mutual respect.

All of this activity is taking place in advance of a public hearing at 5 p.m. on Nov. 30 at Town Hall when the Brookhaven Town Board will consider this zoning change request. Therefore, I invite all those interested to join us on Nov. 28, so we can raise our voice two days later at the Town Board and help influence the future of this hamlet we are so proud of in a positive direction.

Ira Costell, President

Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association

Have our leaders ever traveled along the Port Jeff Branch?

You can learn a great deal about the priorities of our elected officials by what they do and don’t do when it comes to delivering funding for transportation projects.

Over the past few days, U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer [D-NY] and Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY], joined by Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] and others, announced federal funding of $1.3 billion toward advancing the $1.6 billion East River Tunnel reconstruction, $1.6 billion toward the $3.1 billion Metro North Bronx East Penn Station Access, $3.4 billion toward the $7.7 billion New York City Transit Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 and $3.8 billion toward Amtrak’s $16.8 billion Gateway Tunnel (for two new tunnels plus rehabilitation of two existing Hudson River tunnels connecting New Jersey with Penn Station) projects.

Not a dime as a down payment to pay for any National Environmental Policy Act review, additional planning or preliminary design and engineering for the $3 billion-plus MTA Long Island Rail Road double tracking electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch.

This seed money, in the millions, is necessary if these improvements to the LIRR Port Jefferson Branch can become eligible for any future Federal Transit Administration Capital Investment Grants New Starts Core Capacity Full Funding Grant Agreement for $1.5 billion many years down the road.

Schumer, Gillibrand and Hochul, by their actions — or in this case, inaction — have clearly indicated no interest in supporting any advancement of future capital improvements to the Port Jefferson Branch. Commuters, residents, taxpayers, project advocates and others may want to consider withholding your potential campaign contributions and votes when they run for another term in office.

This is the only influence you have.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Editor’s note: The writer is a transportation analyst and former director for Federal Transit Administration Region 2.

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File photo by Raymond Janis

Appreciation for community support

The farm animals at Sherwood-Jayne Farm in Setauket. File photo by Nancy Trump

‘Tis the season of gratitude, and I wanted to take a moment to thank all of the community members who have taken the time to support the animals at the Sherwood-Jayne Farm in Setauket.

The love I have felt from each of you has meant so much. Thank you for the phone calls, the visits at the farm and the tracking down of me on social media to share your kind words and encouragement. While the animals have continued to live on the property, this is due to the plans of Preservation Long Island to remove them being put on hold — meaning that the potential of the animals leaving the farm is still a very high probability. So to all of you who spoke up to help put those plans on hold, I ask you to do it again. These animals are a legacy to the Sherwood-Jayne Farm and a treasure to our community. Let’s keep the conversation going and the beauty of our town intact.

 

Susanna Gatz

Setauket

Saying thanks for local road repair

I have to say thank you to the town [Brookhaven Highway Department] for repairing the road on Terryville Road in Port Jefferson Station. They did a wonderful job.

Kitty Shults

Port Jeff Station

A plan for reducing energy rates

The biggest chunk of my utility bill, like that of all ratepayers, covers “delivery fees,” not the price of gas.

This subsidy allows gas companies to expand their methane-leaking infrastructure at a time when common sense tells us we should be reducing reliance on gas in favor of solar and wind power.

Delivery fees also fund lobbying campaigns to encourage more gas usage and derail mandated clean energy projects. Some companies even promise they’re moving to “renewable natural gas,” which is nearly all methane, the most effective means of heating our atmosphere and oceans, causing more intense rainstorms and flooding.

The health risks of indoor gas pollution should have us seriously considering electric stoves and other home appliances. Indoor pollution from electric stoves can easily exceed health guidelines, spreading throughout our homes. Such concentrations of toxic substances would be considered illegal if it occurred outside, and dramatically increases children’s risk of asthma.

On a state policy level, it’s time for Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] to include the NY HEAT (Home Energy Affordable Transition) Act in her executive budget after state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie [D-Bronx] blocked its passage.

NY HEAT sets out a timely and strategic right-sizing of the gas distribution system in a just and affordable manner. Removing the 100-foot subsidy rule, or “free hook-up,” and prohibiting installation of gas service into areas previously without it would save consumers $200 million a year. This is a logical move, as new home construction is already required to shift to all-electric. NY HEAT would also empower legislators to gradually decommission gas pipelines and cap energy costs for low- and moderate-income families at 6% of income.

NY HEAT addresses our rising utility bills, while helping to decarbonize our communities.

Debra Handel

Shoreham

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Preserving Long Island’s water starts with your vote

A recent article in Newsday described how the tourist industry is booming on Long Island and particularly in Suffolk County.

We have our farms, beaches, vineyards, state and national parks, museums, fishing and other water activities, theaters, music venues and, of course, a diversity of people. What underpins all of these things is the quality of our environment, especially water. Water that we drink, bathe in, cook in, swim, harvest and play in.

If we do not protect this resource, we will become known as the island surrounded by filthy water with contaminated drinking and bathing water that makes residents and visitors alike sick. All of this would not make for good tourism slogans.

If you want a healthy life and healthy economy, then be sure to vote, and vote for the candidates that pledge to protect this life-giving resource. Vote the Democratic line A and protect our beautiful island.

Deirdre Hensen

Miller Place

Democratic policies wrong for Suffolk

Suffolk County went red last year because Democrats running New York State have given us policies local voters found wholly unacceptable.

Incumbents, even long-serving ones, lost races because they didn’t grasp the sea change in priorities for county residents.

It began with a disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s [D] deadly mishandling of the COVID-19 public health emergency. In addition, the real-time results of Dem-endorsed cashless bail hit home when Suffolk suffered 399 fentanyl overdose deaths in 2022, and Officer Michael LaFauci miraculously survived a shooting from an alleged assailant, whose prior arrests should have kept him off the streets.

Proudly proclaiming New York state and its five boroughs “sanctuaries” has been a humanitarian disaster, a security risk and fiscal nightmare. The latter is sure to cost already-overburdened taxpayers a ton of money.

Even hardworking, productive people fleeing NYS in record numbers have not been a wakeup call for Democrats. None of these crises have been critical enough for Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] to call her one-party rule Legislature back to Albany. There remains no serious attempt to reverse their poor decisions regarding our high taxes, growing crime and flood of unvetted migrants.

On the contrary, they have candidates running on platforms pretty similar to the ones costing them elections less than a year ago.

Long-serving, former Assemblyman Steve Englebright [D-Setauket] has voted for cashless bail, remained mum on our sanctuary status and been part of the Dem bloc that got NYS rated as having the highest overall tax burden in the U.S.

As someone who’s had cordial, respectful conversations with Steve, this is not meant to be a personal attack. But, his endorsement by the Working Families Party is a clear indication they believe he remains in step with many of their far-left positions, which puts him out of step with the changing concerns of Suffolk voters.

Jim Soviero

East Setauket

School literature at Three Village school district and America’s legacy

Upon reading the letter about the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” [“Challenging the assigned literature at Three Village school district,” The Village Times Herald, Oct. 19] I was wondering if the letter was written tongue in cheek. Our record of how we have treated Native Americans is absolutely horrendous.

To say, “With a few exceptions, we have been nothing but kind to the so-called Native Americans,” is a gross and inexcusable perversion of American history. Native Americans have been murdered, forced off their land, moved across the country, forced to live on reservations and assigned to the horrors of poverty and alcoholism.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony paid a bounty for Indian scalps. These are the same people who supposedly “broke bread” with Native Americans. The book referred to in the letter is a story of the life of one teenager and how being a Native American affected that life.

The book’s discussion is of the life of a teenager, similar in age to the juniors in our high school. Those juniors are 16 to 17 years old. This is not a manual for decadent behavior, but rather a story of what one Native American has lived through. These stories are known to our teenagers in their lives growing up in 21st century America.

Unfortunately, this letter distorts American history and shows little faith and understanding of America’s teenage population.

Stuart Bernstein

Setauket

Distinguishing between opinions and prejudice

Regarding the letter, “Challenging the assigned literature at Three Village school district” [The Village Times Herald, Oct. 19], I am astonished that you would publish such an ignorant and bigoted letter, which was so off the wall I thought at first it was a joke.

We have a long, rich tradition of free speech in our country, which says that everyone is entitled to their opinion. But an opinion unsupported by evidence is a prejudice. And while people are entitled to their prejudices, you do not have to lend them legitimacy by printing unsupportable claims about how the Europeans treated the Native populace with mercy and kindness (Google the “Trail of Tears” sometime), or that 16- and 17-year-old high school juniors need to be protected from literature that might lead them to perform “decadent acts on themselves,” presumably meaning masturbation.

I’ve got a feeling the horse has long since left the barn on that one, which recalls the old joke: “99 out of 100 teenage boys admit to masturbating — and the other one is lying.”

People are allowed to believe all kinds of nonsense, but you are under no obligation to amplify and legitimize it.

Kenneth Wishnia

East Setauket

The case for transitioning Long Island’s homes from gas to electricity

The Oct. 19 article on Long Island’s opposition to the NYS natural gas ban [“NYS natural gas ban meets intense local opposition on Long Island,” TBR News Media website] details some potential issues predictably raised by those concerned about change or invested in the status quo, but some of these concerns don’t stand up and others are addressed in legislation passed by the Senate last year and which proponents are now urging Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] to include in her budget this year.

Breathing clean air inside our homes will be a significant benefit to everyone currently using gas, most especially our children.

Both LIPA and PSEG Long Island state that the present electrical system is quite adequate to handle minor additional loads from stoves and heat pumps, especially since winter loads are lower than summer loads.

Only about 1,100 new homes are built on all of Long Island each year, limiting the impact on job elimination. While plumbing demand will decrease when electricity replaces gas, the demand for electricians will rise.

Affordability is a critical consideration as we move forward in the energy transition, and the proposed NY Heat Act directly addresses the issue in two ways. The bill will cap energy bills at 6% of income for low- and middle-income families. In addition, the legislation would do away with the “100-foot rule,” which requires customers to pay for the extension of gas lines to buildings within 100 feet, regardless of need. Estimates state that the 100-foot rule could result in a savings of up to $75 per month on energy bills for low- and middle-income families.

Most importantly, the switch from gas to electric will dramatically improve indoor air quality, leading to improved health for NY residents. In the U.S., children living in a home with a gas stove have an increased risk of asthma by 42%. Chronic exposure is linked to cancer and heart disease.

“The levels of [indoor] air pollution can easily exceed health guidelines and would be considered illegal if they occurred outside,” Sandra Steingraber, co-founder of Concerned Health Professionals of New York, said. “These vapors quickly spread throughout our homes and in some cases raise bedroom benzene concentrations above acceptable health benchmarks for hours after the gas stove has been turned off.”

Both the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association have recognized the links among gas stoves, nitrogen dioxide pollution and increased respiratory illnesses in children, and have called for a transition away from gas stoves and toward electrification of home appliances.

Stuart Braman

Port Washington

Editor’s note: The writer is an adjunct research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.

The importance of local restaurants

Why not patronize your neighborhood restaurants during Long Island Restaurant Week Oct. 25-Nov. 5 with a wide variety of lunch and 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 20-25% 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 employs hosts, bartenders, waiters, busboys, cooks, cashiers and 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 we have so many great neighborhood restaurants in Centereach, Cold Spring Harbor, Commack, Hauppauge, Northport, Mount Sinai, Port Jefferson, Smithtown, Stony Brook and other nearby communities in Suffolk County from which to select.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Supporting Chad Lennon for Suffolk

As a Vietnam War combat veteran with a Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star V Device and Air Medal, I am asking not only all veterans but all to vote for Chad Lennon for Suffolk County’s 6th Legislative District. 

Chad is a major in the U.S. Marine Corps and a proven leader. While serving in Afghanistan, he was wounded and received a Purple Heart. I can tell you firsthand that Chad is always assisting veterans and their families. He stands with our men and women in blue and will always back them.

He will be active in stopping drugs that are decimating our young generation as well as keeping environmental issues top of mind. Chad has proven himself as a leader and will bring that learned experience to the 6th Legislative District. Vote Chad Lennon.

Joe Cognitore

Sgt. 2/8th First Cav Air Mobile Recon

Rocky Point

Two incumbent Suffolk County legislators stifle democracy

As we approach Election Day, some incumbent Suffolk County legislators are counting on voters to have short memories. Three months ago, they voted against allowing you to vote on the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act.

This act was passed by the New York State Legislature earlier this year as part of the state budget. It’s the product of many years of delicate negotiations. It has overwhelming bipartisan support from Suffolk County state and congressional representatives, earmarking millions of dollars of New York State money for the benefit of Suffolk.

It also would mean additional millions of federal infrastructure dollars for Suffolk. It addresses, after decades of inaction, the underlying causes of the serious and worsening problems with water quality in our county, producing extensive algal blooms and fishkills in our lakes, harbors and estuaries, and growing nitrogen pollution of our aquifers.

In spite of all this, county Legislators Leslie Kennedy [R-Nesconset] and Trish Bergin [R-East Islip] voted to not allow this act to be put to the voters on the November ballot. Doing so, they effectively stymied it, since it requires voter approval to take effect.

They offered lame excuses for this, such as proposing to “fix” the act. They know this is bogus. The act, which allocates state money to our county, is state, not county legislation. There was griping about the 1/8 of 1% increase in the sales tax, which amounts to $50 on $40,000 of nonfood or clothing purchases in one year. Is that too much to finally deal with our water pollution problem?

Most likely, the real reason for blocking voters from approving or rejecting this act was to protect their own political fortunes, hoping that with it off the ballot voters who care about water quality won’t show up.

Which brings up the real issue: The flagrant arrogance of putting themselves above the people who elected them. If you oppose the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act, fine. You should be able to vote to reject it. If it’s rejected by the voters, that’s the way democracy works. The way democracy doesn’t work is by having politicians use their power to disallow voting.

Whatever your views on the act itself, you should vote for Denis Graziano or Derek Stein, who oppose Kennedy and Bergin, respectively, to send the message that politicians who use their power to block voters have no business representing them.

David Friedman

St. James

 

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Reviewing Figliola’s campaign record

Voters deserve elected officials who are transparent and truthful about who they are.

When a politician is seeking elected office, we must consider the candidate’s views and whether they are a good fit for the office they seek to represent.

Consider the case of Anthony Figliola, who is running for Suffolk County Legislature after an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Congress in 2022.

2022’s Anthony Figliola ran as a MAGA Republican who opposed reproductive rights, sought to ban books and censor what is taught in public schools, and opposed lifesaving science in the form of vaccines. 2022’s Anthony Figliola happily posed with election denier Rudy Giuliani and was endorsed by extremist organizations, including Moms for Liberty and various “patriot” groups.

In 2023, there seems to be a new Anthony Figliola, who says he’s running for a “nonideological” position. This is patently false. We’ve seen how partisan politics have infected our county, with the Suffolk Republicans refusing to allow a referendum on water quality and sewer infrastructure on our November 2023 ballot.

Who is the real Anthony Figliola? The county’s 5th Legislative District deserves an honest legislator, not a political chameleon.

We have the opportunity to elect Steve Englebright [D-Setauket], whose decades-long record on environmental protection, public education and public health is clear and consistent. Englebright deserves our support on Nov. 7 to represent us in the Suffolk County Legislature.

Ian Farber, Setauket

Shoshana Hershkowitz, South Setauket

Anne Chimelis, Setauket

Christine Latham, Stony Brook

Challenging the assigned literature at Three Village school district

After learning about the book, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” assigned to the juniors in the Three Village school district [see “High school novel stirs controversy among Three Village parents,” The Village Times Herald, Oct. 5, also TBR News Media website], I’m compelled to speak out.

Why would any educator encourage our innocent and still-developing children to be exposed to material that stains our magnificent heritage? With a few exceptions, we’ve been nothing but kind to the so-called Native Americans.

Didn’t we break bread with them on the very first Thanksgiving? Didn’t we tutor them about our advanced form of living?

Didn’t we provide them with many large reservations on some of the most fertile land available in all of America?

We even opened the National Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan.

However, that’s not the most offensive element of the book in question.

The truly decadent part practically serves as a manual for depraved sexual behavior. It subtly encourages our children to perform decadent acts on themselves.

We know that not fully mature children tend to mimic what they see and learn. If the children read this book, do we really want them closing bedroom doors and privately committing vulgar and unhealthy autoerotic acts? And what will it lead to?

Bruce Stasiuk

Setauket

Local elected officials can kickstart Port Jeff Branch electrification

Concerning “Staying On Track: Port Jefferson Branch electrification gains ground in MTA’s 20 Year plan” [TBR News Media, Oct. 12], it has still not left the station.

The $18 billion Phase One Gateway Hudson River Tunnel, $7.7 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase and $5.5 billion Brooklyn Queens Light Rail Interborough Express Connector for Gov. Kathy Hochul [D], Sens. Chuck Schumer [D-NY] and Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Janno Lieber are still the top three transportation priorities.

In the race for federal funding, which is necessary for double tracking and electrification, the Port Jefferson Branch, along with 19 other expansion and enhancement projects, still has no committed funding.

Lieber recently announced that the agency will study extending a future subway line even farther along West 125th Street in Manhattan, if funding could be found. This third phase of the Second Avenue Subway could easily cost $7.5 billion. This is on top of $3.4 billion in Federal Transit Administration funding toward the hoped-for $7.7 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase 2.

The next opportunity for MTA to commit funding to advance Port Jeff Branch electrification would be within 15 months, when the 2025-2029 Five Year Capital Plan is adopted. This will be followed by the 2030-2034, 2035-2039 and 2040-2044 Five Year Capital Plans.

Funding needs to be programmed in increments. First, for preliminary design and engineering to support the National Environmental Policy Act review.

Local elected officials who support this project could tap into their own town, county or state funding to find several million dollars. This could pay for the environmental review and advance this project.

Following NEPA is necessary to preserve FTA funding eligibility. Next, request permission from FTA to enter the Capital Investment Grants New Starts/Core Capacity program.

Then comes final design and engineering, property easements, land acquisition and utility relocation. This would be followed by $1.5 to $2 billion in local MTA funding to leverage a similar amount in federal funding under a future FTA CIG Full Funding Grant Agreement. These actions would be spread out over several MTA Five Year Capital programs. As each Five Year Capital program comes and goes, it will delay any hope of seeing Port Jefferson Branch electrification in our lifetimes.

A completion date of 2040 is a moving target. Will it be 2040, 2045, 2050, 2055 or later? Who knows?

Larry Penner

Great Neck

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Green dreams, commuter realities

Greatly improved service along the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Jefferson Branch is possible and necessary.

The time is opportune. New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requires state agencies to move toward zero-carbon emissions. Virtually all local leaders of both parties support green energy for the Port Jefferson Branch. It is among the highest priorities of the Long Island Sierra Club, and it would substantially improve our local economy and real estate values.

This issue needs the attention of Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] as it brings to light the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s lack of initiative regarding the CLCPA.

There is also the issue of MTA/LIRR accountability to local communities. Relocation of the Port Jeff train station to the Lawrence Aviation Superfund site in Port Jefferson Station would eliminate two grade-level crossing bottlenecks and two rickety, narrow bridges — one of which the state has agreed to repair at great expense. 

The LIRR has spent hundreds of millions of dollars eliminating grade-level crossings in Nassau County. Moving the station to Lawrence Aviation would be vastly less expensive than any of the Nassau projects.

LIRR planners suggest they want to electrify and “double track” the Port Jefferson line – not in our lifetime. I believe this is a “deal killer” pitched to prevent anything from being done. The LIRR planners admit that more land must be acquired by eminent domain to double track. This clearly gives the planners an excuse to spend money elsewhere.

The LIRR planners state it is not feasible to electrify the Port Jefferson Branch because there is insufficient ridership to sustain the investment. What was the population density along the Ronkonkoma line when they electrified the Ronkonkoma Branch? The LIRR planners strip ridership off the Port Jefferson Branch and then tell us the ridership will not sustain the investment.

To the MTA and LIRR, create a “one-seat ride” for the people of the North Shore. A ride that can go from Port Jefferson to Manhattan, “a better ride.” It is time to put our feet in the starting blocks.

And remember: We pay taxes, too.

Bruce Miller

Port Jefferson

Kornreich’s advocacy efforts spur local victory

It’s not simply about what our elected officials promise, but what they actually do. I just read your article, entitled, “Local candidates appeal to Three Village voters at civic meeting“ [The Village Times Herald, Oct. 5, TBR News Media]. Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich [D-Stony Brook] is quoted in the article, stating that he has concerns with overdevelopment in the Three Village area, and he is particularly frustrated with the public notification process in the Town of Brookhaven. Well, I can tell you firsthand that he has done something about it. 

I recently moved into an established condominium complex in Setauket. Shortly thereafter I attended a meeting, set up by Kornreich wherein he informed my neighbors and me about a development proposal pending on a lot behind many of our homes. The development proposal was extremely ambitious and would have retired deed restrictions on several acres of previously covenanted, protected natural buffer (open space) in order to construct a new road. After the meeting, a few of us asked Kornreich to put us in touch with the developer of the project, which he did. We met with the developer and the councilmember several times over the last six months, in a process facilitated by the councilmember. We convinced the developer to dramatically change his proposed project in a way that would eliminate the need for the road and a new entrance (the project involves adding to an existing senior, luxury apartment complex). The outcome was a big win for the (our) environment, as several acres of open space were spared. 

Last night, Oct. 3, everything was formalized at the required public hearing at Town Hall regarding the project. The first town-required public notice had been mailed to surrounding land owners just a few weeks prior. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Town Board formally approved the rezoning required for the project, contingent on the non-disturbance covenants for which the developer originally sought relief staying in place. How did this happen? How did we end with a noncontentious hearing, an acceptable development project and preservation of threatened open space? It took early work with the community, long before the actual site plan and rezoning application hearing; early work initiated and enabled by Kornreich’s outreach to our community. That is actually ”doing.”

Bill Spitz

Setauket

Jen Hebert’s vision for Huntington

Jen Hebert is running for the Huntington Town Board in the upcoming November election.

I strongly believe she’s the best possible candidate for the job. She brings vast experience from her nine years serving on the Huntington Board of Education. She also ran a local nursery school for many years, so she understands the challenges of being a small business in our town. Most importantly, Jen has experience representing her neighbors and being a voice for our community.

As a school board member, Jen fought tirelessly for Huntington students, staff and families. But she was also a careful and respectful steward of taxpayer money. Jen was completely dedicated to the job of school board trustee, almost never missing a meeting or event in the nine years she served.

During her time on the board, Jen worked to strengthen the curriculum, add extracurricular programs, improve and modernize district buildings, and build community trust in the board of education. Jen was also an integral part of the team that found a path to reopening the Jack Abrams school as an innovative STEM magnet school.

Huntington needs a proven leader like Jen Hebert on the Town Board. She’s an independent thinker, and has the experience and integrity we need and deserve.

Cathy Ribando

Huntington

Examining recent claims at Port Jeff village board meeting

I am compelled to address the comments made by trustee Drew Biondo during the recent Port Jefferson board meeting, specifically concerning alleged ethical violations of the previous administration. These statements, in my view, were not only unfounded but also potentially damaging to the harmony and trust of our community.

First, it is crucial to highlight that the current mayor, Lauren Sheprow, and Deputy Mayor, Rebecca Kassay, were both active and essential members of the very administration trustee Biondo criticized. They sat beside him during the meeting, serving as living reminders of their consistent dedication to the community’s welfare. Even more insulting was the fact that trustee Stan Loucks, another target of these accusations, was not present at the meeting to defend himself or respond. Such an approach is neither fair nor conducive to fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect. The trustees voted on all resolutions with integrity and a deep commitment to the community’s best interests. To levy such hefty accusations against them, especially when they were an integral part of the decisions made, is both dangerous and misleading.

The auditors have spoken, and their verdict is clear: The past administration has left healthy reserves of $1.8 million and a balanced budget. No violations or significant discrepancies were found. To publicly challenge these findings without substantial evidence is not just misguided but irresponsibly accusatory. It is imperative that we, as a community, ensure that our conversations and disagreements are rooted in fact, rather than conjecture or personal bias.

The placement of trustee reports after the public comment section in board meetings also deserves scrutiny. This order denies the public an essential opportunity to respond or reflect on the reports presented, undermining the spirit of community engagement and open dialogue.

But, beyond these immediate concerns, it is essential to note the broader implications.

Port Jefferson is at a pivotal moment in its history. Rather than becoming entangled in conspiracy theories and chasing elusive “smoking guns,” we should channel our energy toward tangible progress and collaboration. Clinging to unfounded accusations and creating obstacles only hinders our collective efforts to move the village forward. Our shared goal should be to build a stronger, connected community that thrives on mutual trust and shared ambitions.

Every comment, every decision and every action should move us closer to that goal. Let us put aside personal vendettas and focus on the broader vision for Port Jefferson — a village of progress, cooperation and shared dreams.

Let us work together, with facts and mutual respect, to ensure the bright future Port Jefferson deserves.

Traci Donnelly

Port Jefferson

 

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Curriculum literature

I recently read a book about a boy in high school.

He had a supportive basketball coach who passed along quotes like “The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field or endeavor.”

He had a teacher that inspired him to do more with his life than previous generations. We should all want our children to achieve more than we have. This is a key part of the American dream. As such this book is patriotic in the best sense of the word.

There are too many inspiring role models in the boy’s life to list here.

This book provides a valuable perspective of a Native American who grew up on a reservation. A perspective that would be foreign to many of us if not for books like this one.

Some passages in the book are uncomfortable to read. Like a teacher admitting at one point the goal was to kill Native Americans; not literally but instead killing their culture. It’s uncomfortable, but unfortunately that is part of our history. Those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and those that prevent history being taught fully intend to repeat it.

The title of this book is “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and the 11th-grade students at Ward Melville High School are lucky to have it as part of their curriculum.

Recently, some parents accused this book of being smut because of a few sentences referring to self-pleasure. Something not unique to this book and something most students are aware of by high school if not sooner.

It’s pretty clear that based on their objectives, the so-called Moms for Liberty and those associated with them are not truly for liberty. Instead, they should be called “Moms for Tyranny.” Their goal is to take away the freedoms of other people. Whether it’s an attempt to have a book removed or it’s an attempt to infringe on others civil liberties, it’s a level of tyranny that never should have left the dark ages.

A famous ship captain once said, “No one is so important that they can usurp the rights of another.” On that note, no one should ever infringe on a student’s liberty to read a great and patriotic work of literature as part of their curriculum.

Ian Farber

Setauket

How to pay for transit improvements

A Long Island Rail Road train arrives at Stony Brook train station during rush hour. Photo by ComplexRational from Wikimedia Commons

Here is how to pay for the transit initiatives outlined in last week’s editorial [“Interconnected trails: Local transit reimagined for Long Island,” Sept. 28, TBR News Media].

Federal funding is available to pay for Long Island Rail Road electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch. The project must be included in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority 2025-2044 20-Year Needs Assessment plan and upcoming 2025-2029 Five-Year Capital Plan.

The MTA must ask for and obtain permission from the Federal Transit Administration to enter this project in FTA’s Capital Investment Grant New Starts Core Capacity Program. MTA Chairman John “Janno” Lieber, LIRR Acting President Robert Free, U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer [D-NY] and Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] along with the next Suffolk County executive must also be on board in support.

Apply for federal and state funding to purchase smaller buses and create new services. Suffolk County Transit was created in 1980 as a county-run oversight and funding agency for a group of private contract operators, which had previously provided such services on their own.

These companies manage the maintenance and operations of their buses. Buses are paid for by grants from the FTA with the 20% local share split between Suffolk County and state Department of Transportation. Both Suffolk County and NYSDOT provide operating assistance to cover shortfalls from farebox revenues.

Suffolk County Transit and Huntington Area Rapid Transit Bus both use FTA grants to pay for buses, paratransit vehicles, fareboxes, radio communication equipment, bus shelters, bus stop signs and other capital improvements required by private operators to continue providing safe and reliable service that riders count on. They can be used to pay for additional transportation service to serve residents, especially those who reside in low-density neighborhoods.

Operating subsidies are required to establish new service or increase the level of service and reduce the amount of time one waits for a bus on existing routes. Same for adding more off-peak, evening and weekend service. Many of the less dense towns will also have to step up and provide financial assistance to help pay for new services to communities with little or no bus service.

Funding for MTA or Suffolk County Transit is a four-way dance between what riders pay at the farebox and a combination of capital and operating assistance from Suffolk County, Albany and Washington via the FTA.

Everyone needs to have skin in the game. TANSTAAFL — “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” — or in this case, bus or train ride.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

The writer is a transportation analyst and former director for Federal Transit Administration Region 2

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SBU ascends in national rankings

Stony Brook University is thriving. We welcomed our largest-ever incoming class this year and are seeing great momentum from the Simons Infinity Investment and our leadership of The New York Climate Exchange. The energy is palpable.

You know how truly special Stony Brook is, and the world is recognizing it, too.

The U.S. News & World Report 2024 Best Colleges rankings have just been released, and for the second year in a row, we moved up significantly and have solidified our spot as the No. 1 public university in New York.

We are now nationally ranked No. 58 overall and No. 26 among public universities, up 19 and 5 spots, respectively. In addition, we climbed to No. 12 in the U.S. for social mobility, which ties us at No. 2 among all Association of American Universities.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support.

Maurie McInnis, President

Stony Brook University

Reconfiguration urgent for Three Village school district

It has been more than 40 years since the idea of reconfiguration was first discussed in the Three Village Central School District.

As a strong supporter of the changes that are long overdue, particularly the ninth grade being moved to the high school where it belongs, I am dismayed to find that it has been pushed back at least one more year. At the board meeting held on Sept. 13, Superintendent Kevin Scanlon announced that all will remain as it is until at least the 2025-26 school year, stating that the shift needed to be done correctly, not quickly (I paraphrase). [See story on page A5].

Now while I agree that the move should be given its due diligence, and I believe that the superintendent has the district’s best interest at heart, I am truly tired of the endless delays. There are so many ninth graders that have been disadvantaged by the continued housing of high schoolers at the junior high level, my own child included. The lack of electives that are offered to our “freshmen” is simply not fair, and it is so disheartening that our students will continue to suffer for it. 

When this idea was first floated back in the early 1980s, Ward Melville had graduating classes that were twice as big as anything in the recent past or near future. Wings have been added onto a building that was far smaller when I graduated in a class of 752 and yet will more time be wasted trying to find room to add another grade?

The board and the administration need to stop wasting time on this ridiculous “start time” discussion and make reconfiguration happen already. Every high school on Long Island — and New York state — starts within the same time frame that we do. Teenagers aren’t going to bed any earlier, and a 20-minute start time shift won’t change anything. It’s simple reality.

High school starts early and ninth grade belongs at Ward Melville. Conducting another survey is just sending the pitching coach to the mound for a bullpen stall.

Stefanie Werner

East Setauket

Municipalize LIPA

The contract between the Long Island Power Authority and the private PSEG-Long Island expires December 2025. 

There are arguments on both sides of the question, but mostly from PSEG for the status quo. And why not? They’re making billions as a private, for-profit corporation and want it to continue. 

Why municipalize? First, the utility would be more efficient with fewer management people needed. Conflicts and delays would be cut because the management structure is united to provide optimal electricity.

Also being state owned and run, there are no shareholders to satisfy, so maintenance and upgrades are done timely and effectively. I remember with National Grid and PSEG, tree trimming was reduced to cut costs. 

With Long Island having a high amount of overhead transmission, there were so many service interruptions from trees damaging wires, they were forced to increase the trimming. Events like this will not happen with a municipal grid. Other benefits are lower borrowing rates and access to federal and state funds.

Should we worry about the government running the show? LIPA is a New York State authority like the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority running the tunnels and bridges, or the Transit Authority. They get the job done, have significant maintenance equipment and personnel and create many jobs. A private company wants to reduce personnel and equipment to cut costs and maximize profits.

And from the Tennessee Valley Authority, a government electricity provider: “The Tennessee Valley Authority provides electricity for 153 local power companies serving 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six states, as well as to 58 large industrial customers and federal installations. We don’t get taxpayer funding; our revenues come from sales of electricity.” They started in 1933 and have a great history of electrifying the South reliably and cost effectively. Can you imagine private companies doing this?

Or the Bank of North Dakota, “a state-owned, state-run financial institution. It is the only government-owned general-service bank in the United States. It is the depository for all state funds in North Dakota, and uses these deposits to fund development, agriculture and small businesses.” It was unaffected by the banking crisis, and being state owned, does not have to please stockholders.

It is way past the time for LIPA to maximize its advantages to benefit the public. The public-private partnership is inefficient, wasteful, raises costs and cuts quality. A properly staffed and equipped municipal power authority is needed now, especially with the attempted transition to “green” energy and its many critical issues.

Mark Sertoff

East Northport

Leave a mark on local military history

The Rocky Point Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6249 is creating the Suffolk County World War II and Military History Museum and Learning Center that will open on Dec. 7.

We are in the process of collecting military artifacts from veterans and their families that will be exhibited in this museum and creating a history library. If you have any items that you would like to donate or give to Post 6249 on loan, it will surely help our efforts to give this museum a local feeling of patriotism and service from our residents.

There will also be a Wall of Honor for all veterans: active, reservists, National Guard, war and peace time for all Armed Forces components. All veterans are welcome to have their names engraved in black granite on a masonry wall that will be surrounded by a “victory garden” of plants and flowers, especially during the spring and summer.

Anyone who served in the military from all parts of Long Island or this nation could be added to this memorial wall. The cost is $125 for the first name and $100 for each additional person. It is our goal to have over 100 names placed on the wall by our opening and the names of veterans are coming in every day.

We have many families that are adding multiple names of loved ones who have proudly served this country. If there are companies, unions, law enforcement organizations or families who would like to sponsor the creation of this museum, there are opportunities to financially help with $500-$3,000 donations.

All names will be written on a black granite plaque that will be placed at the museum for all to see for many years to come. If you would like to donate any type of item, have a family or friend’s name placed on the Wall of Honor and/or have a sponsorship, please contact Rich Acritelli at 631-839-2996 ([email protected]); or Joseph Cognitore at 631-873-8272 ([email protected]).

The museum will be located directly across the street from the VFW Post 6249, near King Road and Broadway, within the new condominiums on the former site of Thurber Lumber.

Richard Acritelli, Curator

Joseph Cognitore, Post Commander

Rocky Point VFW Post 624

Animal shelter management reflects poorly on Town of Brookhaven

Politics has indeed become a blood sport in daily life.

With the use of social media and the willingness to complain, the Town of Brookhaven’s animal shelter volunteers are among those with a loud voice. After reading the article in the local newspaper [see story, “Volunteers and officials express concerns over Brookhaven animal shelter,” TBR News Media website, Aug. 5] and hearing a report on NPR Radio, these animal lovers have good reason to complain.

These reports about volunteers criticizing the Brookhaven animal shelter are concerning. Volunteers are the lifeblood of an animal shelter. They do a tremendous amount of work for free.

What Brookhaven Town needs is a new animal shelter. The Town of Islip ultimately did just that. It was built because of the constant clamor of complaints from its volunteers and other interested parties.

Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine [R], a person who knows the politics of consensus decisions, has not been responsive. He has heard the continual complaints from the shelter’s most ardent advocates. Yet, he remains silent and unconcerned about those animals who spend time in a shelter about which they are unable to complain.

The conclusion I draw is that if the supervisor of the largest town on Long Island does nothing to help animals who have no voice of their own, what will his response be as a candidate for Suffolk County executive to those who are at least able to express themselves.

Joseph Fritz

East Islip

 

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The scope and size of The Stony Brook School’s proposed expansions

In response to your Stony Brook School article on Aug. 31 [See story, “The Stony Brook School submits application for new buildings as neighbors voice concerns”], please note a total of 95 signatures, not “over a dozen,” were submitted to the Town of Brookhaven Zoning Board at the Aug. 23 meeting opposing the indoor practice facility. You can review the video of that meeting on Channel 18 to see when I actually presented the board with the petition.

It is true that the Stony Brook School’s representatives — the lawyers and architect — presented an updated plan that we were only informed of the changes an hour before the case was called before the board, eliminating the access of the indoor sports facility from Chubb Hill Road and also eliminating the 14 proposed parking spots, which is good. 

The new proposed access road will be at Quaker Path, pending the fire department’s approval. But the proposed size of the building itself is huge: 35,000 square feet and 46-feet tall. 

It’s like a Costco smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood. A metal building of that size will significantly impact the aesthetics of the beautiful wooded area of old Stony Brook.

Please note that the proposed 35,000 square feet is 23,800 feet over the currently permitted size of 11,200 square feet. And the proposed 46-feet height is 11-feet taller than the currently allowed 35 feet. The school said they would do nice landscaping around the sports facility, but you can’t hide a 35,000-square-foot, 46-feet-high metal building.

The Stony Brook School only has approximately 400 students grades seven through 12, so the question is why such a large building is needed for a small student body when other schools in our area that have many more students do not have an indoor sports facility. Once the metal building is up, the local residents will be stuck with this monster of a building in our backyard.

Potentially The Stony Brook School can use this sports facility for any function sports or nonsporting event any time of day and night. 

The school can also rent out the facility to outside groups, though the school’s representatives at the Zoning Board meeting said they would not do that. 

I’m not so sure of their sincerity. The next ZBA meeting to discuss this proposal is on Wednesday, Sept. 20.

Hope Wolinski

Stony Brook

Polluted groundwater affects more than the tap

A recent letter by George Altemose [“An alternative to advanced septic systems,” Sept. 7, TBR News Media] suggested that instead of increasing Suffolk sales tax 1/8% to help fund upgraded, nitrogen-reducing septic tanks, it would be more cost effective to eliminate the nitrogen after it has already entered the groundwater. But only the groundwater that comes from Suffolk County Water Authority wells and into our homes as drinking water.

What about the polluted groundwater from old cesspools and septic systems that’s now going into our beaches, bays and other waterways, killing fish and creating dead zones?

Old cesspools and septic systems need replacing, and they should be replaced with upgraded, nitrogen-reducing systems and there are rebates and grants to help pay for it.

Another consideration, according to one local company’s website, is that the upgraded systems work best when homeowners use less water and fewer chemical cleaning products. So in the long run the homeowner will be motivated to reduce water use by running only full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher and to stop buying expensive cleaning products with harmful chemicals and instead make their own homemade cleaners using baking soda or white vinegar to prolong the life and improve the performance of their new, high-tech septic system.

Remember, we live on an island and there are grants and rebates to help pay for the upgraded systems because we all benefit from Long Island’s beautiful beaches and abundant wildlife.

Diane Ives

Copiague

Editor’s note: The writer serves on the executive committee of the Sierra Club Long Island Group.

SCWA can’t ward off algal blooms

While the Suffolk County Water Authority can do something about nitrogen in drinking water, it does not and cannot do anything to reduce the excessive amount of nitrogen in the drinking water of those of us that get our water from our own wells, nor can it do anything to reduce the amount of nitrogen in our lakes, ponds, streams and saltwater bodies. In those bodies, it is a fertilizer for all sorts of life.

Plant life, called algae, grows and reproduces at an increased rate when fertilizers are present in the water. In large numbers, they form a “bloom” which actually changes the color of the water.

Two of these are brown algae and green algae. Brown algal blooms — aka brown tides — shadow the seafloor, which leads to the death of seagrasses. It also can slow the growth of shellfish.

Red algae, which contains saxitoxin — a nerve damaging toxin — when present in large quantities as in a red tide or red algal bloom, can kill many fish and shellfish and sicken any animal that ingests the water, including making humans quite sick. Red algal blooms also deplete water oxygen levels, resulting in fish not getting enough oxygen through their gills and dying as a result.

Then there is blue-green algae, which is actually a bacteria — aka a cyanobacteria — that grow in number in shallow, still, warm bodies of fresh or salt water. It, too, contains a neurotoxin called microcystin that is known to cause rashes and make people sick. In fact, it is an excess of this toxin that has killed dogs and other animals when they drink the water.

All because of excess nitrogen that the no drinking water process does or can remove.

Jane Fasullo

Setauket

The system needs a reset

It makes no sense that inflation creates a work shortage [See story with Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio [R-Riverhead], “Giglio: Long Island still grappling with labor shortages, inflation,” Sept. 7, TBR News Media].

How else can you keep up with inflation if you don’t work? And, if wages increase, you also increase prices, which creates inflation. 

This is putting the carrot on the stick in front of the donkey. Add to this Big Government and high taxes. The system needs a reset.

Frank Grande

Northport

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Sen. Schumer gives support to Sound Beach post office reopening 

Dear Postmaster General DeJoy,

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Photo by U.S. Senate Photographic Studio/Jeff McEvoy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Charles E. Schumer

U.S. Senate Majority Leader (D-NY

Lack of emergency response from PJV

I take the safety of this community very seriously.

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

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

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

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

These are from actual social media posts on Sunday: 

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

“This is so scary.”

“They heard a bomb was going to explode.”

My daughter “is working downtown today.”

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

“No communication. People are very angry.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kathianne Snaden

Port Jefferson

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

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

Port Jefferson’s motorcycle noise

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

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

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

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

Dave Gross

Port Jefferson

Palumbo way off the mark on migrants

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

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

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

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

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

Adam D. Fisher

Port Jefferson Station

The time is now for PJ Branch electrification

A Long Island Rail Road train arrives at Stony Brook train station during rush hour.
Photo by ComplexRational from Wikimedia Commons

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

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

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

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

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

We pay taxes, too.

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

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

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

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

Bruce Miller 

Port Jefferson

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

An alternative to advanced septic systems

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

George Altemose

Setauket

 

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Prostate cancer awareness: Take it personally

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Many readers may have either had the disease, know someone who’s had it or tragically know a man who’s lost his life to it. Having touched all three of those bases, I’d like to address this subject from a personal standpoint.

For me, it began with the insistence of my “old school family doctor” and friend to begin carefully monitoring an incrementally rising, but not especially high, PSA score. “Dr. John” felt it was important to establish a “baseline” number and then watch for increases based on the percentage of any jumps.

After almost a decade of “watching,” John recommended I see a urologist, who urged having a biopsy done. That’s when the idea of having cancer in my early 50s suddenly became a real possibility. How could that be when I had no overt symptoms? I went for the test, and another one a few years later. Both came back showing nothing growing. The third time, however, was not a charm.

Plans needed to be made going forward. My wife and I carefully studied all the treatment options and chose laparoscopic surgery, to be done at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital in New York City.

When everything was confirmed we sat down with our children to go over the arrangements. It was a tough conversation, but she and I had confidence in my terrific surgeon and our decision. The operation was a complete success followed by a full recovery.

Having read articles on the possibility of this type of cancer running in some families, I brought male cousins into the loop. The emphasis was on following PSA results with a focus on the percentage of increase from previous scores. Shortly thereafter, two were diagnosed and very successfully treated for the disease.

A stunning, heartbreaking, little known statistic regarding this oft-times silent killer is how it has an especially outsized, negative impact on African Americans, who die at about two times the rate of their white peers.

Given advancements in testing, diagnosis and treatment, this disease is beatable. Have frank conversations with your wives, loved ones, doctors and men you’ve known who’ve had prostate cancer. If you’re a Black man, you need to be especially vigilant.

The trick is to not let this illness get too far ahead of you. Be proactive! September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. All men should take it seriously and personally.

Jim Soviero

East Setauket

Electrification survey a likely dud

The online survey being conducted by the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning to understand the extent of public support for electrification of Long Island Rail Road’s Port Jefferson Branch is nothing new.

It is available on the Village of Port Jefferson website. The idea has been periodically advocated since the 1960s by generations of elected officials with no success. In 1970, electrification was extended from Mineola to Huntington. In the 1980s, discussions took place between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, LIRR, Suffolk County and elected officials over which branch should be electrified first.

The Ronkonkoma Branch was selected over the Port Jefferson Branch. It took 35 years before completion of full double track-electrification between Hicksville and Ronkonkoma. The estimated cost to extend electrification east beyond Huntington today is $3.6 billion. This will increase over time.

Billions are necessary to pay for planning, design and engineering, environmental review, land acquisition for construction of power substations, expansion of commuter parking, relocation and/or consolidation of existing stations, new stations and platforms, new electric multiple-unit car storage yard, double tracking, third rail, signals and construction management.

From start to finish could require 15-20 years. For the project to proceed, it must be included within the MTA’s upcoming 2025-2044 Needs Assessment plan, due to be released in October.

To pay for future construction, the project would require a Federal Transit Administration Full Funding Grant Agreement under the national competitive discretionary Capital Investments Grant Core Capacity New Starts program. It would have to be matched by $2 billion or more of local MTA sources.

Even if the project is given a green light, based upon my past experiences on other FTA-MTA-LIRR projects, Port Jefferson Branch electrification will not be completed until 2040 or later.

Supporters should lobby Gov. Kathy Hochul [D], MTA Chairman Janno Lieber and LIRR President Catherine Rinaldi if you ever want to see this project get underway within your lifetime.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Beyond nuclear deterrence

Joseph Levine’s letter [“Context for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Aug. 24] suggests that mutual assured destruction, or nuclear deterrence, will keep superpowers from launching preemptive nuclear strikes because of the prospect of devastating retaliation. This view reflects current U.S. policy and is held by many thoughtful persons, but there is a risk associated with this policy that deserves discussion.

The technological complexity of the current system of command and control of thousands of nuclear weapons on high alert capable of being launched within minutes leaves us vulnerable to disaster. A history of close calls involving accidents, computer failure, false alarms and human misjudgment shows the system is vulnerable and that its failure could lead to an accidental nuclear war.

In a world without nuclear weapons our nation, possessing overwhelming military superiority, could not be held at risk by an impoverished North Korea led by a dictator. The U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has not been signed by the U.S. and other nations that possess nuclear weapons, but it is a step in the right direction toward a safer world.

Lester Paldy

South Setauket

Editor’s note: The writer is a distinguished service professor emeritus at Stony Brook University and a former Marine officer, who served as a member of the U.S. nuclear weapon negotiating delegations with the Soviet Union in Geneva, Switzerland, and at the U.N

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