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Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association

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Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine, second from left, presented proclamations to PJSTCA president Ed Garboski, third from left, and Sal Pitti, third from right. Photo by Raymond Janis
Sarah Lansdale, Suffolk County economic development and planning commissioner. Photo by Raymond Janis
Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn, above. Photo by Raymond Janis
Deputy Suffolk County Executive Peter Scully. Photo by Raymond Janis
Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine. Photo by Raymond Janis

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

Lawrence Aviation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

County sewers

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reports

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

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

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

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

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

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

Civic elections

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

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

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

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

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

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Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association vice president Sal Pitti (left) and president Ed Garboski are set to step down before the end this year. File photo by Raymond Janis

The Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association is working through an executive transition process that has sparked criticism within the organization.

During an October general meeting, PJSTCA president Ed Garboski and vice president Sal Pitti announced they had each sold their homes. This announcement prompted internal discussion about transitioning the two highest posts.

Under PJSTCA bylaws, Garboski and Pitti were no longer members in good standing. In the same meeting, the body passed a resolution allowing Garboski and Pitti to stay on until the end of 2023.

With talks of transition underway, some members are butting heads with leaders and a clash of organizational vision has ensued. [See story, “PJS/T civic association announces big changes for community and civic,” The Port Times Record, Jan. 26, also TBR News Media website.]

Representing local interests

PJSTCA represents the residents of the 11776 zip code and Comsewogue School District. The civic coordinates frequently with various community and governmental entities.

Garboski regarded serving as president to be a serious time commitment. “People don’t realize the amount of time you put into this and the sacrifice you put into this,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.”

Pitti maintained that holding executive office requires a degree of tact and an ability to give and take throughout negotiations. “If your opinion is set before you enter any kind of negotiation or discussion … it’s a dead-end road,” he said. “Government officials are going to shut down. They’re not going to want to deal with you.”

Raising the stakes even higher, civic member Ira Costell described the numerous ongoing changes within the hamlet. “We in Port Jeff Station are facing a significant accumulation of development pressures that really are going to dictate the future face of our community,” he said, regarding the civic’s leaders as having “some significant opportunities to shape the face of our area.” 

Joan Nickeson, a Terryville resident who has recently rejoined the civic and is involved in several other groups throughout the community, discussed the role the civic association plays in local decision-making. 

“Unfortunately, the electeds have just a handful of groups that they can tap into to try to get a feel” of the public will, Nickeson said. “This civic association is small, but it’s the go-to place for a lot of the electeds.”

Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook), who represents Port Jeff Station/Terryville on the Town Board, supported this claim and indicated that his office coordinates closely with the civic.

“People from that civic association are people who know, collectively, every street, every store, every need of the community, as well as every challenge that they face,” Kornreich said. “In order for me to make land use decisions, I need to be able to consult with them closely and frequently, which I do.”

Gradual vs. swift succession

Two competing approaches have emerged amid the coming changes to the executive board and greater community. On the one hand, some seek urgency to allow for continuity of operation following Garboski and Pitti’s departures. On the other hand, the current leaders favor a gradual approach to give time to train their successors.

Garboski and Pitti’s original plan was one of incremental transition. They preferred holding a special election in the summer, allowing the incoming leaders to shadow them and gain relevant experience on the job.

“What I had called for originally was that we would have a special election around July or August so that we could get people that are interested,” Garboski said. “Those people, we would take under our wing and bring them up to speed on everything that’s going on.”

Pitti suggested this slower transition process could enable the incumbents to show the newcomers the ropes, instructing them on the delicate art of back-and-forth local deliberations. 

Affirming the time it takes to learn these strategies, he suggested a rush to replace the current officers could be detrimental to the organization in the long run.

“Hopefully, if we have some members that are interested, we could slowly transition them into the position,” he said. “A lot of the things we do take time. But we manage to come to a compromise in that time that makes the majority of people happy.”

While Garboski and Pitti expressed willingness to stay on the executive board, Costell challenged whether this was the right course of action. With neither the president nor vice president in good standing, according to the bylaws, “it just didn’t seem a viable way to proceed,” Costell said.

He instead favored speeding up the process, which he said could generate interest in serving and incentivize possible successors to announce their candidacies sooner. “I just figured let’s start the ball rolling with this nominating process and see if anybody comes forward,” he said.

A nominating committee

The bylaws empower the president to appoint three to five members to serve on a nominating committee for executive board elections. On Tuesday, Jan. 24, the members voted to create a nominating committee, with prospective officers to be announced at the next meeting.

As Garboski organizes the nominating committee, Pitti offered that he hopes to see some candidates step forward who understand the stakes and are sensitive to the responsibilities of the position. 

“I’m hoping we get somebody that’s looking to do the job and do it correctly,” he said. “That all comes down to who the membership votes for.”

The committee’s composition and the timeframe for a special election are still to be decided, according to Garboski. However, no member has declared his or her candidacy to date.

“Nobody’s saying they want the job, but they’re saying they want an election,” the civic president said. “Let’s see who gets nominated.”

Parting of the ways

Costell stated that his objections to Garboski and Pitti’s proposed transition are grounded in principles rather than personal considerations. 

“I’m a stickler for principles above personality,” he said. “This has got nothing to do with Ed and Sal individually. They’re both fine gentlemen who have given good service to the community.” 

But, he added, “It’s my belief that the principle is that we need to be represented by those members of the community who are likely to be ongoing and consistently present in the community and who can shepherd these projects through in the long term.”

Kornreich also complimented the outgoing leaders on their time serving the community. “I think that Sal and Ed’s leadership style has always been very inclusive,” he said.

Both Garboski and Pitti acknowledged the considerable efforts that go into representing the civic on the executive board. Given the time constraints, Garboski offered that his successor would have a tall task ahead.

“I said we would have a special election, that I said in October when we announced all of this,” Garboski said. “But if they want to have a regular election and get us out sooner, that’s fine.”

He reiterated, “I think we should have waited and had a special election later in the year, so we have time to get some good candidates for the job.”

Even so, Pitti expressed his desire to see the civic and community head along the right course.

“Am I a little discouraged that it’s ending like this?” he said. “Yes, because I thought we built a better camaraderie within the civic,” adding, “I just hope the community continues to move forward. As long as it’s moving in a positive direction, I’ll be happy.”

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Suffolk County Police Officer John Efstathiou during a general meeting of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association on Tuesday, Jan. 24. Photo by Raymond Janis

The Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association met at Comsewogue Public Library Tuesday, Jan. 24. The civic discussed public safety, the Lawrence Aviation Superfund site and its executive board transition.

Suffolk County Police Officer John Efstathiou delivered the report on public safety, sharing various crime statistics and trends throughout the area.

While catalytic converter theft has fallen off considerably, Efstathiou said carjackings are surging. “This month, I think we’re somewhere close to 20 in the [6th] Precinct,” he said. “Please lock your vehicles. Take your keys. Don’t leave anything in your vehicles that you don’t want stolen.”

Robberies during exchanges through Facebook Marketplace have also spiked. Efstathiou noted that even one of his colleagues, an off-duty police officer, was robbed after agreeing to meet someone through the e-commerce platform.

“It can happen to anyone,” he said. “Be aware that it’s taking place, and maybe bring somebody with you as well when you’re doing something like that.”

Frank Gawdun, team leader of Chick-fil-A’s nationwide rollout canopy program, presented to the civic association regarding a proposed canopy at the franchise’s location on Nesconset Highway.

Given the high traffic volume at the location, Gawdun suggested that the canopy proposal would address possible safety concerns. “We’re seeing numbers of anywhere from 47 to 54 cars every 15 minutes,” he said. 

The canopy system would enable two Chick-fil-A employees to be posted outside, moving traffic within the drive-thru more efficiently. “All we’re trying to do is let you guys know that we have an eye on this, and we want to do this canopy project as fast as we can and hopefully get it up this summer,” Gawdun said.

After discussion among the members, the civic association passed a resolution to draft a letter stating the civic has no objection to the proposal, subject to further input.

Andrea Malchiodi, assistant director of Comsewogue Public Library, gave a string of updates on upcoming events to be held at the library. Bus trips will be returning in the spring, with a trip planned for the Bronx Botanical Garden in April. The seed library will also reopen sometime in March.

Earlier this month, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) visited the Lawrence Aviation Superfund property, announcing $450,000 in federal funds to help demolish 14 remaining buildings. [See story, “Schumer announces $450K to help demolish buildings at Lawrence Aviation,” The Port Times Record, Jan. 12.]

Charlie McAteer, corresponding secretary of PJSTCA, updated the civic on planning for the Superfund site. Following the demolition of the structures and cleanup of any lingering contamination, plans are in the works for a passive solar farm. 

Another segment of the property would be for a rail yard, helping the Long Island Rail Road with logistics. The remainder of the property would serve as open space.

The meeting concluded with a discussion over a succession plan for the civic’s two highest-ranking officers. In October, Ed Garboski and Sal Pitti, the civic’s respective president and vice president, announced they would vacate their posts by the end of 2023. [See story, “Port Jefferson Station/Terryville civic talks … shake-up at the helm,” The Port Times Record, Oct. 27.]

The body passed a resolution to create a nominating committee to vet prospective candidates for the two positions. 

Under PJSTCA bylaws, the president is empowered to nominate members to a nominating committee of no fewer than three and no greater than five members. 

Garboski agreed to send out an email to all members “so that everyone knows we’re forming a nominating committee,” he said.

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The PJSTCA executive board during its December monthly meeting. Photo by Raymond Janis

The Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association met Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Comsewogue Public Library for its monthly meeting.

PJSTCA vice president Sal Pitti delivered the report on public safety. Given a noticeable uptick in phone scams and malicious email attachments, Pitti stressed the importance of staying on high alert for these threats.

“The bottom line is that if you don’t know the other person on the other end of the phone, don’t send them money,” he said. “If you get an email from somebody you don’t know — and I don’t care how official the email looks — don’t click the link. That’s their way into your computer system.”

Noting the ongoing fallout of the September ransomware attack against the Suffolk County government, he added, “It can happen to anybody.”

The civic’s corresponding secretary Charlie McAteer announced the renaming of the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway trail in honor of outgoing New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket).

“Steve Englebright was the person who initially, in 2001, got the $2 million-plus for the initial project, which opened in 2009,” he said. “I think that given all of the things he has done in the community, that is a nice plus.”

Student representative Max of Comsewogue School District reported that the high school would host its Holiday Spirit Week with various themes next week.

CPL assistant library director Andrea Malchiodi reminded the members that donations are being accepted for Toys for Tots. “December 17 is the last day for that,” she said. “Food is always welcome for our food pantry. The Tree of Warmth will be collecting hats, gloves, mittens and scarves until January 31.”

During last month’s meeting, members vigorously discussed the planned retirement community to be developed at the intersection of Terryville and Old Town roads. [See story, “PJS/Terryville civic hosts November meeting.”]

McAteer reported on a recent meeting between civic leaders, members of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce, representatives from Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich’s (D-Stony Brook) office and the developer of the site.

The developer is “talking about putting in a very small, just over 2,100-square-foot clubhouse, an outdoor swimming pool, a pickleball court and two bocce ball courts,” McAteer said. “The [residential units] will all be two stories high.”

Summarizing his thoughts on the exchanges, he added that the developer’s team “seemed to be amenable to our small, minor suggestions. I thought it went well.”

Multiple civic members expressed their interest in contributing to the proposed community garden on the John F. Kennedy middle school property. Pitti said he hopes to begin planning for the garden in March after fleshing out some details of insuring the facility.

Near the end of the meeting, member Paul Sagliocca inquired whether the civic association could collectively apply greater pressure on the Town of Brookhaven Highway Department to repave Terryville Road.

“I want to see if we come up with a subset of this meeting and prioritize the road because we’re missing out,” he said.

Responding to Sagliocca’s request, Pitti suggested the highway prioritization process within the town is steeped in politics and bureaucracy. While Terryville Road has been on the department’s list for roughly a half-decade, Pitti added that it will be up to the department when the roadway gets repaved. 

The town’s Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro (R) could not be reached for comment by press time.

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Pictured above, the PJSTCA executive board. File photo by Raymond Janis

The Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association gathered at Comsewogue Public Library on Tuesday, Nov. 15, for its monthly general meeting.

Representing the Comsewogue School District, students Kylie and Max delivered a string of reports on various upcoming events within the district. Kylie referred to the high school’s recent annual Trick-or-Treat Street as “a huge success.” 

Max reported parent-teacher conferences would take place on Monday, Nov. 21, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov. 23, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Community members are welcome to attend Spanish Heritage Night on Dec. 9 from 7-9 p.m. in the high school cafeteria.

Ed Garboski, president of PJSTCA, announced that the area had received a grant for streetlights along Route 112. Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) facilitated the funding, according to the civic’s leadership. 

These funds, combined with money made available to the community through the new Nissan dealership, should cover lights for the entire strip. The body passed a resolution to draft a letter thanking the councilmember and his staff for their efforts to illuminate the corridor.

PJSTCA vice president Sal Pitti announced a recent “huge arrest” related to catalytic converter theft, a crime trend throughout the region. Pitti reported that law enforcement arrested 21 individuals in a multistate initiative, charging 13, two of whom were from Suffolk County.

“This was a Department of Justice operation that was done with multiple agencies across multiple states,” he said. “Mind you, this does not mean it stops. They got a lot of people that we assume are the main people, but they might not be.” He added, “Arrests are being made on it, but we don’t know where it will go from there.”

Garboski discussed spring plans for the community garden near the middle school. “If anyone has ideas, wants to volunteer or help get it moving for the spring, please let us know,” he said.

The members also discussed a 5-acre, 40-unit planned retirement community to be developed on the corner of Terryville and Old Town roads. Civic member Lou Antoniello, who was involved in the 2008 Comsewogue Hamlet Comprehensive Plan, described the historical background behind this local development discussion.

“Back in 2008, the people who owned that [parcel] were the people who owned the shopping center adjacent to it,” he said. “During the hamlet study, they made it known that they wanted to build a shopping center next to the one they already owned.” He added, “The people who lived in that community said they didn’t want it.”

Through a series of compromises made during the time of the hamlet study, the community and the property owners agreed upon zoning that property for a small retirement community. Since then, the Town of Brookhaven has rezoned that land to PRC Residence District.

Civic member Ira Costell suggested the community take a greater interest in that development as the process works through the Brookhaven Planning Board.

“That owner has an as-of-use right to develop that property in that fashion,” he said. “It’s going to be important that we pay attention to the site plan review process at the Planning Board level to decide if we want to influence how that development proceeds.”

Later this month, the civic’s executive team will meet with town officials and Planning Board members. Asking the members how to represent the interests of the community, Pitti offered that it would be wise if he and others pressed the town to limit all new development to residential rather than commercial.

Garboski and Pitti announced during the October meeting they had recently sold their homes, triggering a reshuffling of the civic’s top two posts. [See story, “Port Jefferson Station/Terryville civic … shake-up at the helm.”]

Inquiring about the coming transition process for the civic leadership, Costell proposed beginning those procedures now. 

“Perhaps we can start to talk about a transition group or committee that can join in on some of these conversations and shape where things go in the next several months,” he said. “I think we really need to have a coalition that we can build here so that we can move forward given the changing tenor of the times here.”

Responding, Pitti suggested that he and Garboski intend to finish this year as usual and begin working with possible successors starting in 2023. However, he stated that bringing other members to the upcoming meeting on the Terryville Road PRC development would be unwise.

Costell’s concerns centered less around any one meeting and more around the overall transition process. “I’m trying to indicate that we don’t want to throw somebody into the deep end of the pool next year,” he said. “I’m looking for a principle, an idea, for how we can incorporate some of the people who want to shape this community beyond your time here.”

Finding some common ground, Garboski said members must decide who will fill these top positions given the demands and constraints. “Amongst yourselves, first figure out who wants to take this over,” he said.

Resolving the matter, Costell offered that the organization is working toward a resolution. “You’re making the perfect point that some sort of transition is an ideal circumstance,” he said. “If you’re comfortable with how that’s happening, and the group is as well, that’s fine by me.”

The civic will reconvene Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m

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Pictured above, the PJSTCA executive board. Photo by Raymond Janis

The Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association met Tuesday, Oct. 25, at Comsewogue Public Library for its monthly general meeting covering various topics.

Due to a recent shortage of Suffolk County COPE officers, civic vice president Sal Pitti, whose background is in law enforcement, delivered the public safety report. He concentrated on the crime trend of catalytic converter thefts in the area.

“It’s a multiagency, multilevel thing going on, and we’re not the only ones,” he said. “They’re getting hit upstate. They’re getting hit downstate. They’re getting hit everywhere in New York and in other states.” 

The most popular models among auto thieves, according to Pitti, are the older models of the Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, and Ford F-150. Given the uptick in this phenomenon, he announced the Suffolk County Police Department is exploring an auto crimes unit.

“The last time I talked to the commissioner [Rodney Harrison], he told me he’s working on establishing an auto crimes unit … that can get more in-depth, more cross agency and get more information from other places,” he said.

A student representative from Comsewogue School District announced an upcoming Halloween event at the high school. “This upcoming Friday, Oct. 28, from 4 to 6 [p.m.] is Trick or Treat Street at the high school with diverse clubs and organizations creating a safe environment for the young trick-or-treaters,” he said.

With news from the library, Comsewogue director Debbie Engelhardt announced that Andrea Malchiodi has recently assumed the role of the assistant library director. 

“Andrea brings excellent experience to the library, most recently having worked at the Lindenhurst Memorial Library as a department head and prior to that at Mastics-Moriches-Shirley [Community Library],” Engelhardt said.

Also making an appearance was Bruce Miller, former Port Jefferson Village trustee. Miller gave a string of updates on the ongoing efforts to electrify the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Jefferson Branch line.

Though MTA is funneling billions of dollars throughout New York City and Nassau County, Miller held that the railroad is showing little concern for the needs of its North Shore riders.

“There’s $10 billion on the table for the MTA, and they don’t show a lot of preference for the Port Jefferson/North Shore line,” Miller said. “They’re stripping off ridership from this line here, who are commuting to Ronkonkoma and some [going] as far as Hicksville or Huntington to get a decent ride.”

Responding to this assessment, Charlie McAteer, the civic organization’s corresponding secretary, concurred. “I think your point is well taken that we’re losing ridership because it’s inconvenient,” he said.

Pitti chimed in, discussing how electrification would tie into an overall plan to redevelop the Lawrence Aviation property. However, according to him, the gears can only begin to turn with a commitment from the MTA-LIRR.

“Everything is set and ready to move forward, but we all know how everything moves,” the vice president said. “We’re basically waiting for the MTA.”

Ed Garboski, president of PJSTCA, updated the members on the Town of Brookhaven’s redistricting process, which concluded on Thursday, Sept. 29. [See story, “Brookhaven town board unanimously adopts new map, concludes redistricting process.”]

Garboski said the Town Board selected a map that constituted the least amount of change for Council District 1. This district encompasses Port Jefferson Station and Terryville. “They made the least amount of change for our area,” he said.

While CD1 remained primarily unchanged by the end of the redistricting process, a tiny sliver of the community east of Pine Street shifted into CD2. However, Garboski suggested this change was understandable.

“Most of the people in the area that got redistricted go to Mount Sinai schools,” he said. “Everything else stays. The [Train Car] Park stays in our area. The revitalization area. All of the things that everyone was concerned about, we have.” Following this outcome, the civic leadership sent a letter of thanks to the Town Board for keeping the PJS/T community intact.

Before adjourning, Garboski and Pitti announced they had sold their houses recently. Within about a year, both will no longer be residents of the area, precipitating a turnover of the civic’s top two posts.

The body passed a resolution to allow the two civic leaders to stay in their seats for the interim period. A special election will likely take place in the fall of 2023.

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The Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association held its Meet the Candidates forum at Comsewogue Public Library on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

The Democratic and Republican nominees for New York State’s 1st Senate District and 4th Assembly District attended this civic meeting. The candidates received time to deliver opening statements, then answered questions covering a range of local subjects, followed by closing remarks. 

(Left to right) Anthony Palumbo, Skyler Johnson, Steve Englebright, and Edward Flood. Photos by Raymond Janis

Introductions

Before entering elective office, incumbent state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) worked as an attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. He was in private practice for roughly 10 years before running for the state Assembly in 2013. He served the 2nd Assembly District until 2020, after which he assumed his current position.

Challenging Palumbo is Democrat Skyler Johnson, a 22-year-old Mount Sinai native and former political aide to Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren. If Johnson were to win this November, he would become the youngest person to serve in the state Legislature since Theodore Roosevelt.

In the Assembly race, incumbent state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) is also up for reelection. Englebright, a geologist by training, joined the state Assembly in 1992. Before that, he served as a Suffolk County legislator for nearly a decade.

Edward Flood is Englebright’s Republican challenger in this race. Flood serves as an assistant attorney for the Town of Brookhaven and is the town’s lead prosecutor for town code violations.

LIRR electrification

Each candidate supported electrifying the Port Jefferson Branch line of the Long Island Rail Road, with some variations in approach. 

Englebright advocates moving the existing Port Jefferson train station onto the county-owned Lawrence Aviation property. This plan, the assemblyman believes, would bring value to the community in the form of cleaner air and higher property values. 

“I am working to try to get the Long Island Rail Road to come into the modern age,” he said. “We will prevail. The first thing to do is to have a community that’s united. … If this community is supportive of that, that will be a big boost.”

Flood condemned the MTA for its historical neglect of Long Island communities. He seeks to pressure the MTA’s governing board and add a local representative to that body. “I don’t believe we have a local representative, and I don’t think anyone on that board cares much about us,” he said. “That needs to change.”

Johnson criticized the needless delays for residents traveling to New York City by rail. He favored allocating more state resources to address these concerns.

“It’s not the most fun trip getting onto the Long Island Rail Road,” he said. “We need to continually invest in the Long Island Rail Road because that will properly benefit our communities, it will help people commute, help people live better lives, and it will make our communities cleaner and safer.”

Palumbo underscored several of these points, backing his support behind moving the Port Jeff train station to the Lawrence Aviation property. “All of those issues are extremely important to this community,” he said. “I think we all agree that this is something that needs to be done.”

Homelessness

Another central topic for Port Jefferson Station/Terryville residents is homelessness. 

Flood proposed that many of the problems associated with homelessness stem from alcohol and substance abuse. He proposed strengthening addiction treatment programs and mental health services. 

“Unfortunately, addiction is rampant throughout the homeless community and possibly the reason why they are homeless,” the Assembly candidate said. “We need to do a better job finding resources to adequately treat people.”

Englebright approached the subject of homelessness through the lens of planning. According to him, this requires offering a coherent vision for the Port Jefferson Station area, much of that concentrated around managing the Lawrence Aviation property, followed by investment.

“That would make it possible for us to accelerate the investment into Port Jefferson Station itself,” he said. “We hear a lot of talk about transit-oriented development, and this is the appropriate place for that policy to be fully fleshed out.”

Johnson supported a “great investment into mental health” to ensure people experiencing homelessness receive the necessary tools to get off the streets. He also said the issue is tied to the affordability and housing crises on Long Island. 

“We do not have proper affordable housing, and we do not have proper workforce housing on Long Island,” the state Senate candidate said. “I’m going to make sure that we do everything that we can to bring home the funds so that we are investing in housing projects, while investing in our critical infrastructure, our public transportation, our roads to make sure that we are keeping up with the flux of people coming into our community.”

Palumbo discussed homelessness as a multifaceted issue, requiring changes in affordable housing, enforcement practices and mental health services.

“I think, generally, Long Island is unaffordable,” he said. “We need to lower the cost of living on Long Island, make it all more affordable, and most importantly do what we can to deal with an affordable housing crisis.”

Concluding remarks

During their closing statements, the candidates were asked to provide their two highest legislative priorities that would also affect Port Jefferson Station/Terryville residents.

Johnson stated his two highest priorities would be affordability and infrastructure improvements. “We need to make sure that we are putting money back in the pockets of everyday people,” he said. “And I’m going to make sure that we do that, and we’re going to make sure that we are investing in our roads and infrastructure.”

Palumbo said his two highest priorities are closely linked to one another. He first hopes to alleviate the burden of high taxes and the unaffordable cost of living on Long Island, then tackle rising crime rates.

“I think other things will fall in place if we get control of the crime issue,” the state senator said. “Coupling that with affordability … we’re losing people for a number of reasons in New York, and we shouldn’t be losing anyone.” He added, “We’re an amazing state, and we need to do what we can to save it.”

Though he did not identify the two highest priority issues, Flood highlighted several matters he would like to remediate if elected. Among these are rising crime, bail reform and better state budgeting.

“I see firsthand some of the effects the state has put into place in terms of bail reform,” Flood said. “They’ve added extra hardships to prosecutors and those in criminal justice, and you see it in an increase of crime, in the inability of a district attorney to bring cases forward, and in that, you have local governments who are handcuffed in trying to comply with a lot of these laws.”

For Englebright, his two highest priorities are the electrification of the Port Jefferson line and better community planning. The assemblyman foresees many positive effects if the existing railyard relocates to the Lawrence Aviation property.

“This is, after all, Port Jefferson Station,” he said. “Our station area should be enhanced, and the plan that we put forward for that should not just be something that looks like South Brooklyn. It should look like a vision of what this community should look like when it looks itself in the mirror.” He concluded, “It should be a place of pride. I believe it should be a public park.”

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Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) presented a proclamation to Lou Antoniello, whose dream of bringing Shakespeare to the Train Car Park has finally come true. Photo from Joan Nickeson
By Aidan Johnson

Port Jefferson Station/Terryville is receiving a breath of fresh air with the help of public funds and engaged community members.

In an exclusive interview with Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook), he discussed ongoing work throughout the hamlet such as the revitalization of the Train Car Park at the intersection of routes 347 and 112. Kornreich believes the area is finally getting the care it deserves.

For many years, the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association had dreamed of making the park a central hub for the community. Residents created an ambitious plan, and the town even hired engineers, but the plan never materialized. 

Despite the idea of revitalizing the Train Car Park falling by the wayside, when Kornreich entered office in March 2021 he met with local civic leaders to discuss their priorities. Since the park remained at the top of their list, they decided to approach the project for a second time. 

“Once we really understood that the [original] plan for the park was not feasible, we decided just to break it into achievable steps and go for the intent of what they were trying to do,” Kornreich said. This process worked, and both a stage and a fence were built.

Resident and member of the civic association, Lou Antoniello, had long wished for the Train Car Park to serve as a venue for the performing arts. With the new additions, those aspirations have finally become reality.

Last month, Antoniello fulfilled his dream of bringing “Shakespeare in the Park” to the Train Car Park. On Wednesday, Aug. 3, “The Taming of the Shrew” was played there. Kornreich, who had helped bring Antoniello’s wish to fruition, felt that the performance night encapsulated all the hard work and years of devotion everyone had put in. 

“It was like an idyllic evening, and a lot of people came,” the councilmember said. “It just was such a happy night.”

In addition to the Train Car Park, plans are in the works to give the Jefferson Plaza a facelift. Similar to the park, the plan to redevelop the shopping center has been in the making for quite some time. 

“Like so many plans, things gestate for a long period of time before they are born — and certain ideas for a long time,” Kornreich said, adding, “I believe it was [town] Supervisor [Ed] Romaine [R] who came to them and suggested that instead of redeveloping the whole thing as commercial, it would be a more interesting project if you had mixed-use development — half residential and half commercial.” 

There is hope that the Jefferson Plaza redevelopment project will catalyze more investment throughout the area. [See TBR News Media story, “Developers pitch plans for Jefferson Plaza,” June 23.]

Overall, the councilmember expressed excitement about the direction he sees Port Jefferson Station/Terryville taking. 

“I think there’s going to be a diversity of housing stock,” Kornreich said. “I think that it’ll be a place where younger people can and will want to live … a place where people can live in proximity to public transportation.” He added, “People want to live someplace walkable, and maybe it’s starting to move away from the car-centric lifestyle.”

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Members of the Brookhaven Redistricting Committee hear comments from the public at Comsewogue Public Library on Tuesday, Aug. 16.

The Brookhaven Redistricting Committee held a public meeting at Comsewogue Public Library on Tuesday, Aug. 16, to hear comments from residents across the township.

For the third straight week, citizens of Port Jefferson Station/Terryville presented a united front, urging the committee to keep the hamlet intact on the Brookhaven Town Council.

Logan Mazer, a Coram resident whose “map of least change” has received generally favorable reception in recent weeks among the public, addressed why he believes the proposed maps on the redistricting committee’s website would harm communities of interest.

“The two proposed maps make a few edits to the current boundaries that are clearly not acceptable,” he said. “The first, of course, is splitting up Port Jeff Station from the rest of CD1 and including [part of] Mount Sinai. This cannot stand and any new map that this commission considers and any map that the Town Council considers must reunite Council District 1.” He added, “Our priorities need to be keeping communities together.”

Charlie McAteer, corresponding secretary of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association, informs the committee of the historic ties between Port Jeff Station and Terryville. Photo by Raymond Janis

‘We have worked hard over the past 15 years … and all of this has been brought forth to get us to this point where we’re redeveloping our area as one vision, one hamlet.’

—Charlie McAteer

Among those in attendance who advocated for preserving Port Jefferson Station/Terryville within CD1 was Charlie McAteer, the corresponding secretary of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association.

“We are one hamlet,” he told the committee. “We have worked hard over the past 15 years — 2008 was the hamlet study for the Comsewogue district — and all of this has been brought forth to get us to this point where we’re redeveloping our area as one vision, one hamlet.”

Joining this cause was John Broven, an East Setauket resident, who compared the current redistricting process to that of 10 years ago. After investigating the 2012 process, Broven found that the committee then had worked collectively as an apolitical, independent unit.

Unlike 2012, Broven suggested that this year’s hearings have been marked by controversy and that he is “genuinely worried at the prospect of gerrymandering … along with the illogical splits between Port Jeff Station/Terryville and also Mount Sinai.”

Nancy Marr, president of the League of Women Voters of Brookhaven, outlined her own displeasure with how the hearings have been advertised to the public.

“In this case, the publicity to inform and involve people has been inadequate,” she said. “I hope next time it’s better. Despite many hearings that were scheduled, most people in Brookhaven Town did not know about them in time to come and participate.”

Shoshana Hershkowitz, a South Setauket resident and a statewide organizer for Citizen Action of New York, discussed the findings of the 2020 U.S. Census, which indicate the changing demographics of Suffolk County residents.

“It is clear that the population of New York state and the population of Suffolk County shifted dramatically,” she said. “We were at 19% minority communities in 2010. We are now at 33% in 2020. That is a 76% increase.”

Despite these demographic changes, Hershkowitz said the two proposed maps on the committee’s website target the two most diverse council districts in Brookhaven: Districts 1 and 4.

“Neither of these districts requires much change,” Hershkowitz said. “They’re both within that 5% deviation,” mandated under town code. She advocated for the transfer of territory from District 6 into District 2: “The logical thing is to move from 6 into 2. Do not disrupt these diverse communities.”

Gordon Heights Civic Association president E. James Freeman spoke on behalf of the residents of Gordon Heights, who presently reside in Council District 4. He reiterated that Districts 2 and 6 are the only ones requiring change, and that any proposal to expand Council District 4 into other areas of the town would dilute the voting power and disenfranchise the people of his community.

“We are always coming in here to be able to fight, to be able to be heard, to be able to be seen, to be able to be represented,” he said. “The weight of the many is often carried by the few. You don’t have a lot of faces in here that look like me but, believe me, things will still get done as long as we have a collective voice across all people.”

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Residents traveled to Brookhaven Town Hall, above, to resist two draft proposals on the Brookhaven Redistricting Committee's website. Photo from the town website

For the second consecutive week, the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville community gave a strong display of community solidarity, this time during a public meeting at Brookhaven Town Hall on Thursday, Aug. 11.

Joined by neighbors from around the township, residents spoke out against two proposed maps for the redistricting of Brookhaven Town Council. If approved, the proposed maps would make significant changes to the existing boundaries of Council Districts 1 and 2, severing large chunks of Port Jefferson Station from Terryville and cutting Mount Sinai in half.

Public comments

Logan Mazer, a Coram resident, has proposed an alternative to the maps on the redistricting committee’s website. He told the Town Board that the only two districts requiring change are Districts 2 and 6 — the former being underpopulated and the latter being overpopulated. Because the two districts share a border, Mazer proposed the simple transfer of territory from District 6 into District 2 to correct the population imbalance.

The map of least change “doesn’t really change the political alignment … it doesn’t produce any gerrymandered districts and it protects communities of interest that are being carved up in these new maps for no discernable reason,” Mazer said.

Throughout the evening, Mazer’s map received favorable reactions from those in attendance. Among the supporters of the Mazer map is Lou Antoniello, a member of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association, who considered the draft proposal a way to transfer the burden of costs and maintenance into District 1.

“They showed that there was a portion of Mount Sinai — a beautiful section down by Cedar Beach and the surrounding community — which is a high-maintenance area for Mount Sinai that would be swapped out for the relatively self-sufficient area of Terryville,” he said. “I am here tonight to tell you that I don’t think that map is a map that should be voted on.”

Joan Nickeson, a Terryville resident and community liaison for the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce, discussed the phenomenon of cracking, a practice in political redistricting that dilutes the voting power of an area by distributing its population across districts.

“It is unconscionable that you would crack our high school from the rest of its district, and crack neighbor from neighbor, and actually cleave members of the chamber of commerce from the chamber of commerce office,” she said. Addressing the board, she added, “I want you to remember to keep [the] 11776 [zip code] together when you go to vote.”

Paul Sagliocca, also a member of PJSTCA, shared the historic neglect of PJS/Terryville. He said that recently, the community has begun to counteract that narrative, introducing a Shakespeare in the Park event at the Chamber Train Car Park and building momentum for positive changes to the area.

Sagliocca asked that the board not impede the development of the area by dividing community members across political boundaries. “It is on the up — we do not need to be divided,” he said. “I would really wish that when it comes time to vote, that Port Jeff Station/Terryville stays in one solid community within District 1.”

Francis Gibbons, a Port Jefferson Station resident and member of the PJSTCA, said the redistricting process has diminished the public’s faith in its institutions. “Why are we continuing with this farce?” he asked. “I believe disenfranchisement brings with it a lack of political faith in our system. When you have a lack of faith, after time it brings civil war.”

Community members were joined by allies from the village of Port Jefferson. Bruce Miller, a former trustee of Port Jefferson Village, criticized the process. He considered the multiple cancellations of public hearings in CD1 as a way to silence the public.

Miller also suggested that the proposed maps fail to advance the interests of the town. “Just leaving Mount Sinai and Port Jefferson Station and Terryville the way they are seems to be a more appropriate strategy,” he said. “All this straining, all these machinations, result in small gains but are a bad look that angers the public needlessly.”

Also attending was Port Jeff Village trustee Rebecca Kassay. Speaking on her own behalf, Kassay told the Town Board that plans to divide Port Jefferson Station/Terryville would impair the village’s own efforts to revitalize its uptown areas.

Citing her history of coordinating with the PJS/T chamber of commerce and the civic association, the village trustee said, “To see the work slowed at all by political lines, by having these two communities needing to go to two different councilmembers, that would surely slow down the work and the progress of the area at large.”

Kassay also described how a breakdown in procedure can alienate ordinary citizens from the political process, leading to cynicism and distrust of their elected officials.

“There are people who truly believe that all politicians get into office and then they serve themselves or they serve their parties, and I don’t want that to continue,” she said. “I want all elected officials to stand up and make decisions and show their allegiance to their constituents and not their party.”

Supervisor’s reply

Following the public comments, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) responded to those in attendance. He thanked the residents for coming out and for expressing their opinions. The supervisor affirmed his trust in the Town Board to listen carefully to constituent concerns.

Romaine also discussed the criteria that he will use to evaluate the proposed maps, saying that he favors a map that offers fewer “splits” of communities of interest.

“As supervisor, I’m going to tell you, I’m going to be looking for a map with less splits,” he said. “Your comments were very helpful. We’re looking for less splits.” Referring to his colleagues on the Town Board, the supervisor added, “I think they’ll sit down and they’ll take all the comments that you said … and they will consider all of them.”

The next meeting of the Brookhaven Redistricting Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 16, at 6 p.m. at Comsewogue Public Library, 170 Terryville Road, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776.

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