Police have made a third arrest in connection with the several businesses and vehicles damaged in Huntington early on Thanksgiving.
The suspects allegedly targeted eight local businesses and five cars that day. According to the Suffolk County Police Department, officers from the 2nd Precinct Crime Section canvassed the area, reviewed video surveillance and followed up on anonymous tips to identify and get to the trio.
Four businesses on the small stretch of Stewart Avenue were listed as victims of the vandals, including a furniture store, Gold Coast Lobsters, an x-ray supply company and an unnamed building that was under construction. Police also listed the Italian restaurant Bravo! Nader just down the street, on Union Place, as well as a telecommunications company on that same block. According to police, the nearby Stop & Shop on Wall Street and the Value Drugs on New York Avenue, across Route 25A from the other seven locations, were also hit.
William Strein mugshot from SCPD
The first suspect, 18-year-old Huntington resident Francesco Volpe, was arrested on Dec. 19 and charged with three counts of criminal mischief and three of making graffiti. About a month later, police arrested 21-year-old William Strein, of East Northport, and charged him with six counts of each of those offenses.
Police announced on Friday that officers had arrested the third suspect, 27-year-old Queens resident Drake Mandrell, the day before. Like Strein, he was charged with six counts each of criminal mischief and making graffiti.
Attorney information for the three was not immediately available. According to police, they will be arraigned at a later date.
Police asked that anyone with information about these incidents or similar ones called the Crime Section at 631-854-8226 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-220-TIPS.
Residents and Brookhaven officials will address ways to improve Route 25A near the Stony Brook train station, above, in the first phase of the study. Photo by Giselle Barkley
After decades of waiting, Brookhaven officials said they were taking legitimate steps toward giving Route 25A a face-lift — starting with Stony Brook.
The town board approved a resolution on Thursday, Jan. 14, to conduct land use studies for Route 25A in Three Village and Port Jefferson Station. The town said it would be holding several meetings over the coming months at which residents can suggest ways to improve the de facto Main Street, especially near the Stony Brook Long Island Rail Road station and where Route 25A meets Nicolls Road.
This three-phase study will start with the Smithtown line to Nicolls Road. The two other phases, including the Port Jefferson Station study, will follow. Route 25A near the Stony Brook train station is part of the first phase.
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said the town will use money from a contingency fund in its operating and capital budgets to fund the study. The town hasn’t established dates, times and location, but Romaine said meetings will begin once the weather gets warmer in March or April.
“It’s long overdue,” Romaine said about the study. “We will be sending letters to [the Department of Transportation]and ask them to participate because a lot of the work we’re going to comment on are things [DOT has] to do, like additional sidewalks.”
Several civic leaders across the Three Village and greater North Shore community came out in full support of the land use study on Thursday with hopes of spurring the town board to expedite progress along 25A.
“The intersection of Nicolls Road and Route 25A is really the gateway to the communities of the Three Village community, and quite frankly it’s sort of a hodge-podge of commercial and retail buildings,” said George Hoffman, vice president of the Three Village Civic Association. “We also have a real problem with safety … because the corridor is really lacking crosswalks and sidewalks.”
The town also asked Stony Brook University to participate in this study. Similar land use studies and plans for Route 25A were conducted in 1963 and 1975 according to Robert de Zafra, former president of the Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook. A third study was conducted around 20 years ago.
Current civic leaders like Shawn Nuzzo, president of the Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook, have tried kick-starting revitalization efforts for Route 25A near the Stony Brook train station for several years. Nuzzo has often been at the forefront of all discussions relating to upgrading 25A and ushering in a new era of commercial and residential prosperity across the main road.
At Thursday’s town board meeting, Nuzzo said the town was finally taking a different approach when working with civic groups.
“There’s been a lot of false starts with this area because it was based in the past on this old top-down model, where the people at the top were going to tell the people at the bottom what they’re going to live with for the next 50 years,” Nuzzo said at Town Hall before Brookhaven passed the resolution. “But this model now with this corridor study and community visioning, this is a bottom-up model.”
Over the last several years, Stony Brook University students have worked with their professors to propose idealistic and practical ways to improve the area by the train station. The groups have been hosting events with residents at the Bates House in Frank Melville Memorial Park in Setauket and other locations, where they have pitched their plans based on various land studies of the 25A corridor.
Professor Marc Fasanella from Stony Brook University has been leading entire classes on the revisioning of Route 25A and challenging his students with finding realistic ways to make the corridor more appealing visually and logistically.
In a previous interview with Times Beacon Record Newspapers, he said the crux of the challenge was to think outside the box, no matter how outlandish the plans might seem.
“We looked at this as a tremendous opportunity for our students and for the community moving forward,” Fasanella said. “Are we dreaming? Of course we’re dreaming.”
Nuzzo said the area by the train station has united people throughout the community, but the entire corridor, especially near the LIRR, can not only be safer but also more visually appealing to the community.
“This is an issue that transcends political lines,” he said. “This is an issue that has unified both the civic association and the Chamber of Commerce who have historically been at odds with one another. We’re in that redevelopment phase of this corridor and this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a community vision to have something nice for 75 to 100 years.”
Update, Oct. 12, 1 p.m.: Police have identified the pedestrian killed on Oct. 7 as 27-year-old Rocky Point resident Alejandro Chamale Cubule.
A pedestrian was killed in Rocky Point late Wednesday while attempting to cross a busy road in the dark.
The Suffolk County Police Department said the victim was trying to cross Route 25A just east of Rocky Point Road when he was hit by a 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe. That car had been driving east on Route 25A.
The driver, a 27-year-old Rocky Point resident, stayed at the scene of the crash, which occurred just after 11:30 p.m., police said.
Police did not immediately identify the deceased, pending notification of his family.
The Hyundai was impounded for a safety check.
Detectives from the SCPD’s 7th Squad are investigating the crash. Anyone who may have witnessed it is asked to call them at631-852-8752.
A gas station and convenience store is proposed for the corner of Route 25A and Woodbine Avenue in Northport Village. Photo by Rohma Abbas
The entrance to Northport Village off of Route 25A could be in store for a face-lift.
Long considered an eyesore by some, the corner of Woodbine Avenue and Route 25A is the subject of a zoning board application for a gas station and convenience store.
Applicant Edward Clark, of Babylon, and his architect Harold Gebhard, of Lindenhurst, are seeking area and use variances to move forward with the plan, but the zoning board wants more information — particularly on traffic impacts — following a public hearing on the proposal last week.
Currently, a vacant white building that was once a gas station and auto repair shop sits on the property. The applicant is seeking to rehabilitate the current building, add a canopy, gas pumps, a convenience store and eight parking spaces. If approved, a maximum of six cars could gas up at a time. Clark said he’s been in discussions with BP to be the new gas station.
The convenience store would sell soda, coffee, packaged foods, bread, milk and more, but there would be no food preparation on site, Clark said. He said he needs the convenience store to offset the cost of gas.
Zoning board members expressed some concern about the appearance of the project, especially the size of the convenience store and the height of a proposed canopy atop the gas pumps. Clark and Gebhard said from its peak to the ground the canopy would be about 18 feet high.
Zoning board member Arlene Handel said she was concerned about the height of the canopy obscuring a “historic entry point” to the village.
“It’s very much an important part of the character of the village,” she said. She added that a tall canopy “is really going to cut upon the view.”
ZBA Chairman Andrew Cangemi had a flurry of questions about the project that were mostly traffic-related. He wanted to know the number of cars the project is anticipated to generate during hours of operation and its peak hour volumes, and how the lighting would look.
Some residents in the audience expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal and questioned whether the community needed another gas station. But Cangemi pointed out that the site needs work and a gas station had already existed there.
“We understand something’s got to go in there,” Cangemi said.
Clark said he’s been trying to move forward with developing the site for several years and called the long process a “nightmare.”
“I’ve been paying rent, real estate taxes on this property for three years to get to this point now,” he said.
The public hearing will be held open until Sept. 16. Cangemi asked the applicant to come back with a traffic study.
A $6.5 million project to repave and repair Route 25A will resume in Northport and Cold Spring Harbor on Monday. File photo by Rohma Abbas
Route 25A’s $6.5 million makeover is set to resume in Cold Spring Harbor and Northport on Monday, Aug. 10, the New York State Department of Transportation said on Friday.
Motorists can expect travel lanes to be shifted between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. in both areas. In Cold Spring Harbor, repair and repaving will be underway between Glen Way and Lawrence Hill Road. In Northport, the work will span Elwood and Middleville roads, according to the DOT. No travel lane closures are expected — a single travel lane will be maintained in each direction.
The DOT estimates those sections of Route 25A to be complete in about two weeks, weather permitting.
The work is part of a larger 10.6-mile project along Route 25A/Main Street/Fort Salonga Road between NY Route 108 in Cold Spring Harbor and Bread and Cheese Hollow Road in Fort Salonga, all within Huntington Town. The top layer of distressed pavement along the project area is being removed and replaced with new asphalt and the DOT is replacing traffic signals and installing fresh pavement markings, including bike lane striping and more visible pedestrian crosswalks. The project also includes the installation of rumble devices on the center yellow lines to provide noise and vibration warnings to motorists who may stray across into oncoming traffic. In addition, workers will clean and repair drainage structures to improve roadway runoff.
Construction is being staged on shorter, limited sections of the project area, and the work is taking place during off-peak day and nighttime hours, depending on each area’s overall needs and characteristics. On-street parking will not be permitted during the construction work. Drivers are being warned of the construction and urged to use alternate routes to avoid travel delays. Local officials, businesses, schools and emergency service providers have been notified about the repaving operations in their areas.
Posillico Civil, Inc., of Farmingdale, is under contract with the DOT to perform the project.
“When completed, these pavement repairs will improve motorists’ safety and help maintain the integrity of NY Route 25A/Main Street/Fort Salonga Road in the Town of Huntington,” according to the DOT.
Drivers who cannot use alternate routes are reminded to drive carefully through the work zone for their safety as well as the safety of the highway work crew.
The construction work may be canceled, postponed or prolonged due to inclement weather.
For up-to-date traffic and travel information, motorists should call 511 or visit www.511NY.org. Travel information can also be obtained from the INFORM Transportation Management Center cameras at www.INFORMNY.com.
7-Eleven is seeking to set up shop in Centerport. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
The Huntington Town Zoning Board of Appeals is pushing pause on considering a plan to build a 7-Eleven in Centerport and wants more information on the proposal’s potential traffic and environmental impacts.
The application, which was scheduled for a public hearing before the ZBA today, Thursday, July 30, has been taken off the agenda, according to Robert Riekert, deputy director of planning and environment for the town. The decision came after the town received an engineer’s analysis of the 7-Eleven proposal earlier this week, requesting the applicant, 7-Eleven Inc., respond to a list of issues.
“The meeting was adjourned until a further date due to insufficiencies in their application,” Riekert said in an email.
Plans for a 7-Eleven have been in the works for a few years now. The company had tried to establish a new 7-Eleven store two years ago — the ZBA even granted approval for the business in 2013 — however, the effort was shut down by a lawsuit filed by Huntington attorney Darrin Berger, who worked with residents and the Centerport Harbor Civic Association. According to Berger, both 7-Eleven and the town didn’t properly evaluate the project’s impacts under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, also known as SEQRA.
The New York State Supreme Court agreed that the environmental review was not conducted properly, so progress for the 7-Eleven halted.
7-Eleven is seeking to set up shop in Centerport. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
If approved, the convenience store would be a one-story, freestanding market on a 21,553 square foot parcel. An existing automotive repair shop currently on that land would be demolished to make way for the business. The proposed public hearing was meant for the ZBA to review a request for a special use permit and area variance in order to demolish the auto repair shop.
Dunn Engineering Associates P.C., a town-appointed engineering firm that reviewed the applicant’s traffic analysis, requested that 7-Eleven re-evaluate several points in its application to build a store on the northeast corner of Route 25A and Little Neck Road. Their concerns predominately had to do with traffic safety issues. Dunn Engineering Associates sent their opinions on the proposal to Christopher Modelewski, chairman of the ZBA, this week.
According to a letter from Walter Dunn Jr., president of Dunn Engineering Associates, to Modelewski, the applicant should request accident data in the vicinity of the proposed 7-Eleven site along Route 25A, Little Neck Road and Centerport Road.
“This data should be analyzed to minimize the possibility of traffic safety concerns created due to the addition of the proposed 7-Eleven convenience store,” Dunn said.
Traffic safety issues also included sight distance. Dunn said the engineers performed a sight distance investigation and concluded that 7-Eleven’s traffic engineer should review and verify the adequacy of the two proposed access points and the engineer’s findings.
In a previous letter, the firm noted that Route 25A and Little Neck Road both have considerable horizontal and vertical curvature in vicinity of the proposed site. In order to make sure that the curvature wouldn’t have a detrimental impact on the operations of the proposed access points, sight distance was evaluated at both locations.
While the engineers’ study discovered that sight visibility was limited at a certain section, it was determined that, due to traffic signals, a car would not be going at a fast enough speed for this to be considered dangerous. “Therefore sight distance at this driveway location is considered accurate,” Dunn wrote
7-Eleven has proposed establishing new turning lanes at the intersection if they are approved, however, the letter urged that 7-Eleven redo their capacity analyses for the separate right and left turning lanes and through lanes. Dunn Engineering Associates said that 7-Eleven should reverse their proposal of a separate right turn lane, and a shared left turn/through lane for more successful traffic flow.
The applicant also submitted a proposal to widen the west side of Little Neck Road to provide a southbound approach to Route 25A. This would provide a separate left turn lane and a combined through/right turn lane. Dunn suggested that this proposal be added into the traffic impact study so the town could further examine this possibility.
A final suggestion engineers introduced involves the issue of delivery trucks coming in and out of the area to supply 7-Eleven.
Kenneth Barnes, regional development director for 7-Eleven, made a statement in an affidavit in May, according to Dunn Engineering Associates, that there would be a commitment to restrict the size and movements of delivery trucks.
It was suggested that this commitment be added into the traffic impact study along with a statement, so that the town’s previous concerns that larger sized trucks couldn’t safely maneuver through the site or entrance of the proposed 7-Eleven are mitigated.
Meanwhile, Centerport residents are continuing their fight against the possibility of a new 7-Eleven.
Gloria Wertheimer, president of the Centerport Harbor Civic Association, said last week her group feels the project would bring additional traffic to an already congested area and a busy intersection. They also feel that it does not fit in with Centerport at all, a small business, local community driven area.
“It doesn’t belong here, we feel it’s going to draw the wrong type of crowd,” Wertheimer said.
7-Eleven did not return multiple calls seeking comment this week.
Residents brainstorm during the Community Vision Forum. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
North Shore lawmakers are gauging the public’s opinion as they revisit what Route 25A should look like.
Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) gathered residents, business owners, community leaders, teachers and elected officials at a forum at the Kanas Commons of The Stony Brook School on Monday, June 30, to discuss the future of the section of Route 25A between Main Street in Stony Brook and Bennetts Road in Setauket.
“As your councilperson, I thought it was important to engage in a community discussion regarding this issue,” Cartright said to the 95 residents gathered. She said that many members of Stony Brook, Setauket, Centereach and the greater Brookhaven area had been vocal about creating a discussion on this issue.
The public was divided into groups once they arrived at the forum and each group represented a different issue facing the road. The various issues included uses and zoning, traffic safety and transportation, design and aesthetics, impact on nearby businesses, Stony Brook University, community relations and infrastructure.
Each group was given a list of questions to discuss and then present to the entire forum. These questions were designed to get an idea of the changes the community wanted, the problems they thought this zone needed to address and what things the community wanted to preserve.
“This is a precursor to a land use plan,” said Brenda Prusinowski, the deputy commissioner for the Town of Brookhaven. “There are many steps to go once anything has been discussed here.”
Prusinowski said she was encouraged by the high number of residents that came out, and expected that everyone would come up with a great discussion to make the community better.
“This should be a gauge of what the majority wants, but also what every individual feels is important as well,” Cartright said.
Cartright urged that everyone keep an open mind and accept that conflicting opinions will arise. However, as the night unfolded, it seemed that a majority of the community members were on the same page.
Major issues that were brought up, in terms of improvement, were safety measures for pedestrians and bicyclists, the architecture and look of the downtown shops and better parking options near the Stony Brook Long Island Rail Road station.
Residents expressed a desire for a more cohesive look, while still maintaining the historical nature and heritage of the town, which leaders in attendance also support.
“We have a great sense of place, and that is important to all of us, that we maintain that,” said Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket). “We want people to see the historic and charming feel of this community.”
Groups also said that although students from Stony Brook University can rent bikes to ride downtown, they still needed more safe paths to take. If students felt safer to go for a bike ride, residents argued they would be investing more into the area businesses by shopping there more frequently.
Many people said they felt there was almost an “iron curtain” between the students of Stony Brook University and the towns of Brookhaven and Stony Brook, and that more needs to be done to integrate the students.
Yet, other residents said that they feared the towns are losing their identity to the university.
“We were not brought together tonight to react to a problem, rather to look at our values as a community,” said state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket).
Englebright said that this community is host to a large economic engine with the university and that keeping the community great benefits the university and vice versa.
Preserving local small business was also very important, as no one said they were interested in seeing a national chain pop up anywhere near Route 25A.
Brookhaven Councilwoman Valerie Cartright, right. File photo by Elana Glowatz
Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) is inviting all North Shore residents to attend a community forum looking into potential visions for the future of Route 25A in Stony Brook and Setauket.
The forum is scheduled for June 30, at 6 p.m., inside the Stony Brook School’s Kanas Commons, located at 1 Chapman Parkway, Stony Brook.
RSVPs can be sent to [email protected], or call (631) 451-6963 by June 26.
A young woman from Rocky Point was killed early Friday morning when her car hit a dump truck on Route 25A.
According to the Suffolk County Police Department, the woman, 29-year-old Michelle McDonald, was driving east in a 2009 Mercedes sedan at about 6 a.m. as a 2003 MACK dump truck was backing out of a driveway just past Monroe Street. The vehicles collided.
McDonald was pronounced dead at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson, police said. The truck’s driver, a 43-year-old man from South Setauket, was not hurt.
Motor Carrier Safety Section officers inspected the truck and impounded the Mercedes for a safety check.
Detectives from the 7th Squad are investigating the crash. Anyone with information may call the squad at 631-852-8752.
$6.5 million state project resumes in Fort Salonga
Roadwork on Route 25A in Fort Salonga. Photo by Rohma Abbas
A $6.5 million state project to repave a 10.6-mile stretch of Route 25A in Huntington Town resumed in Fort Salonga on May 20.
Repair and repaving work began at Bread and Cheese Hollow Road in Fort Salonga and will proceed westward to Middleville Road in Northport, according to a statement from the New York State Department of Transportation. Posillico Inc. of Farmingdale, under contract with NYS DOT, is performing the work. That section of the roadwork is expected to be completed within two weeks, according to a statement from the DOT.
The statement indicated that three of the most deteriorated sections of Route 25A were repaired prior to the harsh winter weather.
The scope of the project is to repave Route 25A, Main Street and Fort Salonga Road between Route 108 in Cold Spring Harbor and Bread and Cheese Hollow Road in Fort Salonga. The pavement along the 10.6-mile project route will be removed and replaced with new asphalt and the traffic signal loops will be replaced.
The project includes installation of fresh pavement markings, including bike lane striping and more visible pedestrian crosswalks.
In addition, audible rumble devices will be added on the centerline, which will provide noise and physical vibration warnings to motorists who stray into oncoming traffic.
Drainage structure repairs are included in the project to improve roadway runoff.
“When completed, these pavement repairs will improve motorists’ safety and help maintain the integrity of NY Route 25A/Main Street/Fort Salonga Road in the Town of Huntington,” according to the statement.
In an effort to begin the project while minimizing its impact, the construction has been arranged to be shorter and limited to sections of Route 25A, according to the state. The work will also take place during off-peak days and night hours depending on the area.
The travel lanes will also be shifted during the work to accommodate construction activities. A single travel lane is being maintained in each direction. On-street parking is not permitted during this construction work, according to the release.
The NYS DOT is urging drivers to use alternate routes in an effort to avoid travel delays. Local officials, businesses, schools and emergency service providers are being notified about the repaving operations in their local areas.
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