Suffolk County Police arrested four people during a New York State Liquor Authority Inspection at a Port Jefferson bar early Saturday morning.
On July 3, 6th Precinct officers, in conjunction with, New York State Liquor Authority Investigators, Port Jefferson Village Fire Marshal and Port Jefferson Village Constables, conducted an inspection at Barito, located at 201-C Main St. at approximately 12 a.m.
The owner of the bar, Matthew Murray, 40, of Ronkonkoma, was charged with NYS General Business Law: Employing an Unlicensed Security Guards, an unclassified misdemeanor.
Brandon Pressley, 34, of Bellport, Jeremy Marrero 34, of Bellport, and Dustin Mariboe, 32, of Patchogue, all of whom were security guards at the bar, were charged with NYS General Business Law: Unlicensed Security Guard, an unclassified misdemeanor.
There were 348 people in the bar, which was over its capacity of 120 people, and the establishment was closed for the night.
The four men were issued Field Appearance Tickets and will be arraigned at a later date.
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Six people were arrested at the start of the holiday weekend in Port Jefferson Station.
Highway Patrol Bureau Selective Alcohol Fatality Enforcement Team (SAFE-T) officers conducted a sobriety checkpoint at the intersection of Route 112 and Hallock Avenue during the overnight hours of July 3 into July 4. from 11:05 p.m. until 2:15 a.m.
The checkpoint was part of an ongoing holiday weekend enforcement initiative targeting alcohol and drug impaired driving. A total of 435 vehicles went through the checkpoint.
The following people were charged with Driving While Intoxicated:
Cesar Ortiz, 32, of 54 Carver Blvd., Bellport
Erik Anderson, 38, of 208 Terryville Road, Port Jefferson Station
Richard Russo, 61, of 12 Mark St., Port Jefferson Station
Hashim Qayyum, 23, of 619 Hawkins Road, Selden
Alexia Smith, 23, of 3540 Gregg Court, Wantagh
Salvatore Laduca, 58, of 7 Blueberry Ridge Road, Setauket
All six will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on July 4.
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Sometimes there are other events that happen Down Port that require assistance.
Along with the car accidents, fires, and animal rescues, the Port Jefferson Fire Department had to get innovative last week when a 14-year-old girl accidentally got locked in a dressing room.
At approximately 1 p.m. on June 22, Suffolk County Police 6th Precinct officers responded to Kate and Hale, located at 227 Main Street, to help Giavanna Diesso, of Hauppauge, get out of an unusual situation.
Diesso’s mother, Danielle, said that while she was checking out at the counter, Giavanna was finishing inside the dressing room — which nearly a century ago was the First National Bank of Port Jefferson bank vault.
Giavanna Diesso after being saved. Photo from PJFD
When her friend, Ava, 14, left the dressing room, the group joked that they should lock Giavanna in — and her 7-year-old brother Vincent took it literally, giving the door a shove.
“The door shut, and I was terrified,” Danielle said. “I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get her out. I wasn’t sure of the measure they would need to go in order to get her out. I was concerned about air, concerned about her feeling safe, but she maintained such composure. It’s unbelievable.”
The teen stayed cool and collected while the fire department headed inside to assess.
“I was just wondering how long it might take before someone would come to get me out,” Giavanna said.
The department headed into the store, where her family and friends were frantically worried.
“The first arriving rig was our rescue seven, and obviously as soon as they walked in, they realized something was going on,” said third assistant chief Steve Erland.
The team assessed that Giavanna was safe inside and had plenty of oxygen. Then, they got to work.
“Once we knew she had air, we were able to step back and kind of reevaluate, and take the time, to come up with a plan,” he said.
Photo from PJFD
Through the metal door, firefighter Tom Meehan asked the girl to record her surroundings with her iPhone to see how much room they had as they planned a way out.
“She was great,” Meehan said. “She followed directions.”
Ex-chief Brennan Holmes got the air chisel off from the rescue truck to work on the 100-year-old wall. When the first hole was made, he was able to see Giavanna inside, where he was able to assess how big the next opening should be. Through the hole, they handed her a bottle of water and an N95 mask.
With some more chiseling, Holmes and Captain Christian Neubert were able to pull her out — which was caught on film and has since gone viral online.
“This is not something anybody does every day,” Homes said. “But once that first hole was through, and we were able to see her and realize everything was going to work out, it was a great feeling.”
Joined with help from the Terryville Fire Department, Erland said the whole rescue took about 90 minutes.
And considering this type of event is not something firefighters are typically trained for; they were proud of how it all ended up.
“What makes it odd or challenging is this is not something we’ve ever practiced or talked about,” Neubert said. “We’ve never talked about, like, all right … what do we do if we get a girl locked up in a dressing room?”
But with teamwork, the whole procedure went smoothly.
Holmes said the closest training they would typically get in a similar nature would be for a building collapse — so that’s why a plan was needed from the start.
“Having a plan was the big step one because we don’t normally do that,” he said. “But then when it was breaking concrete, we knew that we could do this.”
Cookies sent to the PJFD as a thank you from the Diesso family . Photo by Julianne Mosher
Danielle was happy to have her daughter out and said she will forever be grateful to the Port Jefferson Fire Department.
“First responders certainly are not given the credit and gratitude that they really deserve,” she said. “They leave their families to come across a situation. They’re not even probably 100% sure what they’re getting into so, it’s incredible.”
While the tale of Giavanna and the vault has made national headlines since her Tuesday rescue, Holmes said it was a happy ending.
“It worked out,” he said. “And that’s the best part of the whole story.”
The Port Jefferson Fire Department is always looking for volunteers. If interested, visit them on Facebook or call 631-473-8910.
The code officers were preparing to head home for the night.
After patrolling Port Jefferson village’s busy streets, the group was finishing their night shift — to end at 2 a.m. Saturday, June 19.
But four minutes before they were to get into their cars and drive home, shots were fired.
“We heard shots — you know, pop, pop, pop, And we were, like, that’s not fireworks … you could tell,” said code officer Wayne Bohm.
Code officer and detective James Murdocco, who has been with the village since 2013, headed to where the noises had come from. He was alone in his vehicle.
“I was flagged down,” he said. “I noticed the group — a gentleman came over yelling and screaming that somebody was shot.”
Murdocco parked and secured his car, quickly approaching the young victim. His partner, Brent Broere, tended to the second victim.
Murdocco said that upon arriving, he saw a male on the floor, shot twice — severely in his leg.
“The right leg was in pretty bad shape. He didn’t look good, and he lost a very good amount of blood,” he said.
He noticed that someone attempted to put a tourniquet on his leg, but it wasn’t working.
“I took it apart, redid it and made sure it was tight above the bullet wound,” he said. “At that point, I assessed him again. He was a little bit of in and out of consciousness — I believe because of either shock and the loss of blood.”
He, along with village chief of code, Fred Leute, decided then and there that time was of the essence and the man needed to get to the hospital right away.
“It decided to put him in a patrol car and take him to Stony Brook Hospital,” Murdocco said.
With Suffolk County police assisting by closing intersections, he said he drove as fast as he could along Route 25A, getting the bleeding victim in his back seat to safety.
“It felt like forever,” he said. “It was almost like an eternity in that car … it was a really tough car ride.”
Murdocco added that if it wasn’t for the training he has received on the force, along with Leute’s advising, he might have not been able to help save the victim’s life.
“The doctors pretty much said that if we hadn’t driven them, the likelihood is he wouldn’t have made it,” Leute said.
On the other side of the lot, Bohm began tending to the second victim, a young man shot in the abdomen with internal injuries.
Officer Wayne Bohm. Photo by Julianne Mosher
“He was bleeding internally,” he said. “So, he was in kind of grave shape, but he was alert.”
While waiting for the ambulance, Bohm sat with the victim and helped him into the vehicle.
“Time is of the essence, especially internal injuries,” he said. “He needs surgery, that’s the only way you’re going to be able to control the bleeding.”
Relatively new to the constable team, Bohm has 20 years of law enforcement experience with the New York City Police Department. A 20-plus volunteer with the local fire department and EMS, he also worked at the emergency rooms of bothMather and St. Charles hospitals for a decade.
“I like to help people,” he said. “That’s why the joined the fire department, police department, worked in the emergency rooms. I’ve always helped people. That’s my goal in life.”
Officer Broere helped tend to his victim and, once he was stable, he noticed the fleeing car leaving the parking lot.
“I called in the description of the vehicle and the direction of where it was fleeing to,” he said.
“I heard Suffolk County PD officers start pulling cars over off the radio from that description.”
Broere, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who joined after the September 11 attacks, said anything can crop up while on the job.
“You take your shift off knowing that anything can obviously, possibly happen,” he said. But I mean, it’s a surreal experience.”
But he, along with his team who tended to the two victims, said thinking about the horror isn’t an option when a job has to be done.
“You go through the motions, what you’ve been taught, and your muscle memory,” he said. “And you don’t really think about it until after it’s over.”
Leute added that both victims are now stable, while the alleged shooter, 20-year-old Port Jefferson Station resident Ethan Ladd, was charged with two counts of assault in the first degree, a felony. He was arraigned at the First District Court in Central Islip on Monday, June 21, and released on $25,000 bail.
For a shift that was supposed to end early Saturday morning, the officers didn’t get home until a little past 6 a.m.
“They are true heroes,” said trustee Kathianne Snaden. “Not a lot of people would run toward gunfire, and they did. They put their lives in danger every single day and are always there to help.”
Murdocco noted that he and his code officers do more than what makes the news. Over the course of his tenure, he has assisted in seven Narcan saves when overdoses happen in the village.
Always working closely alongside the SCPD, when a call comes in through 911 — and code officers knowing it’s in village boundaries — they rush to the scene to assist.
Murdocco said just over three weeks ago another overdose happened on Main Street. He administered the Narcan, and luckily the young woman survived.
“And we’re within under a minute to get there,” he said. “It’s not like we’re waiting, looking with binoculars for somebody to park illegally and write them a ticket. We’re really responding to what we’re trained for.”
The Friends of the Port Jefferson Library recognizes the role and contribution of libraries in the lives of young people.
For this reason, they offered an opportunity for graduating high school students, with a Port Jefferson Library card, who have contributed to the library as well as the Port Jefferson community a chance to win a scholarship.
Winners were selected by members of the Friends of the Library after reading scholarship applications and essays. Awards were given to those that exemplified having been part of the library community.
We are excited to announce the winners of the second annual Friends of the Port Jeff Library’s scholarship are Hailey Hearney and Peggy Yin.
Both applicants showed that the library has been an essential part of their lives and how it has guided them in their future pursuits.
Organized in 1998, The Friends of the Port Jeff Library have actively supported the library with special events and programming over the last few years. The Friends of the library is a group of individuals, families and organizations working to improve the library’s facilities, technologies, collections and special programs to benefit the community.
Congratulations Hailey and Peggy!
Photos and caption from the Port Jefferson Free Library
An inside look at the PJ Lobster House. Photo by Julianne Mosher
What turned out to be a stressful summer has ended up working out.
James Luciano spent half his life working at the PJ Lobster House in Port Jefferson. Originally located on the corner of Main Street and North Country Road in Upper Port, the business was forced to move into the former Ocean 88 space at 134 Main St.
Luciano started working at the original location in March 2000. A friend at the time asked him to help in the kitchen.
“I was in high school at the time,” he said. “I started working in a kitchen, and then I just slowly worked my way up.”
At only 18, during his first year of college, Luciano began managing the restaurant. He said that at the time the Lobster House’s original owners — a lobsterman and his wife — didn’t have anyone who could do the day-to-day chores. That’s when he stepped up and the rest is history.
“I kind of took over at that point, and then slowly evolved it from being a fast-food fish market into a full-scale restaurant. I oversaw the whole operation,” he said.
While being a student by day, he helped change the shape of the spot. He separated the fish market and the dining room into what its layout has been known for since. He got real plates, china and alcohol — not just beer and wine. He helped expand the menu from two pages to 10.
When Luciano finished school, he decided it was time to either move on or take full charge. That’s when he officially purchased the restaurant.
“The original landlord actually gave me the loan to buy the Lobster House from the previous owner because he wanted a long-term tenant,” he said. “He gave me a 14-year lease and the loan to buy them out. Then we just expanded over the time.”
According to Luciano, that lease was up last July. For more than a year before that, he started sending the landlord letters and making phone calls to find out what the next steps were in the terms of their agreement.
Luciano said the landlord was short, and then eventually stopped answering his inquiries altogether.
“I was getting kind of nervous,” he said. “What’s going to happen? What are we going to do?”
He said he met with developers from The Gitto Group. Then he found out that they were in talks to buy the property, where his location sat, for a new planned apartment complex. The group already owns The Hills at Port Jefferson Village, across from Port Jefferson train station, and The Barnum House at the corner of Barnum Avenue and Main Street. The group is also in the middle of creating The Brookport, an apartment complex going up where the old Cappy’s Carpets building once stood.
With the cost of the property being too much for Luciano to buy back on such short notice, he and his team began scrambling to find a new home for the Lobster House. As a member of the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District, he was able to talk to the owner of the mall on Main Street who gave the idea to move into the former hibachi space in the back.
“We talked some numbers, we made a deal and it worked out very beneficial,” Luciano said. “And then we got hit with a pandemic, so then we were like, ‘Well now, what?’”
The cost to move was expensive and with capacity limits, indoor dining restrictions and PPP loan confusions, the COVID-19 crisis made the situation harder.
“It was a rollercoaster ride, for sure,” he said.
But as usual, Luciano made the best of the situation. He began the buildout of the new location throughout the summer with a skeleton staff due to COVID restrictions.
“That being said, I’ve been going 24/7 since the pandemic,” he said. “My last day off was March 23 last year, other than Christmas.”
With the help of the village, local fire department and the Town of Brookhaven, the new PJ Lobster House was able to open the first week of December 2020.
“As soon as we unlocked the door, we’ve been busy ever since,” Luciano said.
The move allowed the restaurant to have lunch specials and more dining space. He brought in a sushi chef and a big bar for quick bites and a drink.
Luciano said that at first he was angry, stressed and betrayed. But six months later, it’s all water under the bridge.
James Luciano. Photo by Julianne Mosher
“You know, like the old saying goes, you make lemonade out of lemons,” he said. “That’s pretty much what we did here, and I think having to be pushed to move was really beneficial because we really evolved into this animal.”
And while business is better than ever, new struggles ensued in light of the pandemic. Hiring a kitchen staff has become near to impossible and the state Liquor Authority often made threatening visits to Luciano’s business. Parking has been “a nightmare,” and even swayed him to purchase a parking kiosk from the village where older clientele can pay for parking without using the QR reader meters in the back lot.
“We get a huge amount of people that complain on a daily basis about the parking and how to pay for the parking,” he said.
The new kiosk, which personally costed him $2,500 to obtain, now helps visitors pay with a card rather than their phone.
But he continues to power through.
“Overall, I’m extremely happy with the location,” he said. “The clientele is much different, the relationships we’re developing with the people now is much different than what we had uptown.”
The fish market has now gained regular customers, who have started bringing their friends.
“We’ve developed that hometown restaurant the village was kind of lacking where everybody’s going to,” he said.
While Luciano spent his entire career, from teenage busboy to owner, in Port Jefferson, the Coram native and resident said he’d eventually want to settle down here, full time.
“I told the Gittos that I’m waiting for my penthouse on the top from the building that you took from me,” he joked.
In light of the recent shooting that happened in Port Jefferson village early Saturday morning, local officials said an increase in police presence and an extension of code officers’ hours will begin immediately.
On June 19 at 1:56 a.m., shots were fired in the parking lot of the bar located at 109 Main St.
Two men, a 22-year-old and a 20-year-old, were hit, causing serious injuries.
According to Fred Leute, village chief of code enforcement, code officers were getting ready to end their shift at 2 a.m. when they heard the sound of gunshots.
Leute, along with three other officers, ran to the scene where one of the code enforcers used his belt to create a tourniquet for the man whose leg was severely injured by the bullet.
“We realized he was going downhill quickly,” Leute said.
Two of the officers tended to one victim, while the other two brought the man with the leg wound to the Stony Brook Trauma Center.
At the time of the shooting, the village’s Suffolk County Police Department Whiskey Unit was at Mather Hospital with an individual they transported there earlier for a medical condition.
Since the two Whiskey Unit officers were tending to another person, village officials have decided to have code enforcement extend their hours until 6 a.m. and will increase their police presence Down Port.
On Tuesday, June 22, trustee Kathianne Snaden and Mayor Margot Garant spoke with SCPD 6th Precinct Inspector Patrick Reilly to request more officers patrolling the village. They also spoke to Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) and a representative from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) office.
“After speaking with Legislator Hahn, Inspector Reilly and the governor’s office, and exploring all avenues of enforcement, we can confirm that we will have an increased Suffolk police presence in the village,” Snaden said.
Additionally, the village has extended code hours until 6 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays to keep an eye on the popular local bar scene post-COVID.
“We are taking a zero-tolerance stance on establishments serving alcohol to minors,” Snaden said.
Garant said during Monday’s board of trustees meeting that she was “deeply disturbed” by the incident.
“But we’re grateful that the two young men are still with us,” she said.
Garant added that this type of behavior will not be tolerated in the village.
“We are working with all our state agency partners to bolster police presence, enforcement and proactive measures to prevent underage drinking at our establishments,” she told TBR News Media on Tuesday. “We are committed to doing what we can as a village and local authority.”
While the investigation is still ongoing, just 30 hours after the incident, 20-year-old Port Jefferson Station resident Ethan Ladd was charged with two counts of assault in the first degree, a felony.
He was arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Monday, June 21 and released on $25,000 bail.
Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers and two good Samaritans rescued a man who nearly drowned in Port Jefferson on Sunday, June 21.
Alan Goldberg was attempting to anchor a boat on Whitehall Beach when he lost his footing and became unresponsive in the water at approximately 2:30 p.m. Two good Samaritans on the beach, Frances George and Karl George, performed CPR until Marine Bureau Officers Cory Kim and Shane Parker arrived on scene and transferred Goldberg onto Marine Delta.
The officers, with the assistance of Frances George and Karl George, continued CPR while transporting Goldberg, 70, of Coram, to the Port Jefferson Boat Ramp. He was transferred to a waiting ambulance and taken to St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson with serious injuries.
Frances George, 30, and Karl George, 65, both of East Setauket, were not injured.
The Old Homestead stood near the corner of what is now Port Jefferson’s Winston Drive and Crystal Brook Hollow Road.
Photo by Arthur S. Greene; Photo from Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive
What is now Belle Terre, coupled with an area in today’s Port Jefferson, once comprised the 1200-acre Oakwood estate.
Surrounded on three sides by water, the property featured a country house, tilled land, woodlots, a hothouse, fruit and nut trees, sheepfolds, springs, an icehouse, a dairy, pigpens, barns and outbuildings.
The estate even included a private cemetery, the Sugar Loaf Burying Grounds, where some of Oakwood’s workers and their family members had been interred.
Mary B. Strong, known as “Lady Strong,” presided over the estate. In 1880, she was considered the wealthiest woman in Brookhaven Town, where she numbered among its largest taxpayers.
Oakwood is depicted on this portion of J. Chace’s 1858 Map of Suffolk County, L.I., New York. Photo from Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive
William A. Hopkins and Charles A. Davis, Miss Strong’s trusted overseers, supervised day-to-day operations at Oakwood, everything from milking cows to cutting cordwood.
Lady Strong and her servants lived at the estate’s Old Homestead which stood near the corner of what is now Port Jefferson’s Winston Drive and Crystal Brook Hollow Road.
A short walk from tranquil Mount Sinai Harbor, the country house was the scene of elegant parties hosted by Miss Strong and surrounded by grounds lovingly tended by a gardener.
Responsible outdoorsmen were welcomed at Oakwood, where they hiked its shaded paths, hunted, trapped and gathered berries. Vacationers from Bridgeport, Connecticut sailed across Long Island Sound and pitched tents on the property at Camp Woodbine, while day-trippers picnicked on the estate at Saints Orchard.
After Lady Strong’s death on April 9, 1885, Oakwood reverted to her nephews, but through neglect, the once well-maintained estate went to ruin.
In spring 1901, surveyors were seen marking Oakwood’s boundaries and that winter advertisements had appeared in the New York Times announcing the property’s sale.
The Old Homestead stood near the corner of what is now Port Jefferson’s Winston Drive and Crystal Brook Hollow Road. Photo by Arthur S. Greene; Photo from Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive
Clinton L. Rossiter, vice president of the Long Island Loan and Trust Company, purchased Oakwood from Mary B. Strong’s heirs in 1902. Rossiter represented a group of investors who planned to build a “private residence park,” known today as Belle Terre, on the land.
Over the ensuing years, the site was developed, and the Old Homestead was destroyed in a suspicious fire, leaving only street names such as Oakwood Road as reminders of Lady Strong and her vast estate.
Kenneth Brady has served as the Port Jefferson Village Historian and president of the Port Jefferson Conservancy, as well as on the boards of the Suffolk County Historical Society, Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council and Port Jefferson Historical Society. He is a longtime resident of Port Jefferson.
On June 10, Village of Port Jefferson clerk Barbara Sakovich was honored at the 2021 Long Island Village Clerks & Treasurer Association Installation of Officers in Sands Point.
She was joined by other village clerks from across the island.
Winners were selected by members of the Friends of the Library after reading scholarship applications and essays. Awards were given to those that exemplified having been part of the library community.
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