Alleged suspects were seen driving what appears to be a light-colored sedan. Photos from SCPD
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the people responsible for stealing wallets and cash from unlocked cars in the Sixth Precinct in June.
Two individuals allegedly have been involved in multiple grand larcenies in the Setauket, Terryville, Stony Brook and Port Jefferson areas. The unknown persons allegedly entered the cars and stole wallets containing cash, credit and debit cards, and licenses. They were seen driving what appears to be a light-colored sedan.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Comsewogue Public Library honors original research committee during 55th anniversary ceremony
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), at podium, with Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) during the 55th anniversary celebration of Comsewogue Public Library. Photo by Raymond Janis
Surrounded by officials from the Town of Brookhaven, Comsewogue Public Library members honored their founding research committee during a 55th anniversary celebration.
The library research committee was the group of community members formed in 1966 during the library’s embryonic stage. The original committee members were the first to explore ideas and secure permissions to charter a new library that would serve the Port Jefferson Station and Terryville communities.
Debbie Engelhardt, CPL director, recounted the early history of the library and the important role the committee played in its development.
“Today we’re shining a light on the library research committee, a group of citizens who banded together and worked toward the goal of establishing a library for the community,” she said. “They formed in 1966 with an original committee of six members, plus an advisor, and followed the steps that New York State requires in order for the state to charter a public library.”
‘It was an act of tremendous vision to see a need and to start planning … We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to this research committee.’
— Jonathan Kornreich
While most of the members of the committee have passed, the library’s archives provide enough information to produce a likely narrative of its early history. Records indicate the committee envisioned the library to be a community hub for scholarship and intellectual enrichment.
“We do have many documents that help us piece together the timeline from back then,” Engelhardt said. “It appears the committee worked swiftly and that the community was supportive to where they did receive a charter.”
The idea to honor the research committee was first pitched by Jan Kielhurn, daughter of Jasper Newcomer, one of the six members on the committee. Kielhurn said she was browsing for a book one day when she decided to look for a plaque with her father’s name on it. Not finding one, she asked Engelhardt to explore ways to formally recognize the library’s earliest leadership.
“I had come up here to get a book and all the sudden I’m looking around and I realized there was nothing stating my father’s contribution to the start of this,” she said. “I had spoken to Debbie and she told me there was going to be a board meeting and she was going to bring it up then. That’s how all this all came about.”
The daughters of Jasper Newcomer, one of the six original members of the library research committee. Pictured: Lee Kucera (left) and Jan Kielhurn (right). Photo by Raymond Janis
Lee Kucera, Kielhurn’s older sister, remembers their father’s time commitment, dedication and collaboration with other committee members during the founding of the library. “They got together and went to wherever they had to go — several different places — to get the okey dokey on it,” Kucera said.
In 1967, Newcomer sadly died shortly before the library was inaugurated. At the time of his death, Kucera remembers her father’s enthusiasm for the project.
“He was very excited about it,” she said. “He was very, very interested in education and reading, and he really felt that was something everybody should have a chance to have.”
Knowing their father’s dreams for the institution and the personal sacrifice he and the committee had made for the betterment of the community, Newcomer’s daughters both agreed that he would be elated if he were around to see the library today.
“He probably would have been very pleased, probably looking for other ways to help it,” Kucera said. “He probably would have been instrumental in making sure that it had computers.” She added, “This would have been one of his babies.”
During a formal dedication ceremony, Engelhardt presented a plaque with the names of the original members of the library research committee. The plaque will forever enshrine these names in the library’s history, honoring the visionary citizens whose aspirations became reality, and whose imprint is left upon the community into the present day.
Brookhaven officials present two proclamations to the Comsewogue Public Library. Pictured (left to right): Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), Jan Kielhurn, CPL Director Debbie Engelhardt, Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) and Town Historian Barbara Russell. Photo by Raymond Janis
Brookhaven officials were also present at the ceremony. Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said events such as these help to remind people of the reasons for serving the community and the important function the public library plays as a repository of information for its members.
“All good ideas usually start with one or two people talking about something and then it grows,” he said. “Today, the town has issued two proclamations, one acknowledging the tremendous influence of this library on this community, the second on that research committee that started this with an idea.”
‘Libraries make us better citizens. Libraries build better communities. We’re here to celebrate libraries.’ — Ed Romaine
Since his time long ago serving on the Long Island Library Resources Council, Romaine said he has cultivated a deep understanding and appreciation for the valuable work that libraries perform every day in making communities wiser and better.
“They are repositories of a lot of information — not only the books, but all types of multimedia,” the town supervisor said, adding, “It’s where we come to learn about things, it’s where we come to educate ourselves about the world around us. Libraries make us better citizens. Libraries build better communities. We’re here to celebrate libraries.”
Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) was also in attendance. He highlighted the strong foundation laid down by the library research committee, a foundation which still supports the library into the present day.
“It was an act of tremendous vision to see a need and to start planning,” he said. “We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to this research committee.”
Since the founding of the library, the world has undergone remarkable transformations. These profound changes reshaped the ways in which humans relate to their technologies and to knowledge itself. Kornreich extolled the library’s leadership throughout its 55-year history for its willingness to adapt to changing times in service to the community.
“Fifty-five years ago when this was built, we wouldn’t have had computers or printers, there was no internet and there was no digital media,” the councilmember said. “They never could have imagined the changes that took place.” He added, “Under the continued wise leadership of our board and our library director, this institution continues to evolve and serve the community.”
‘Modern ideas and a progressive way of thinking I think have always been a part of the vision from back in the 1960s and it remains so today.’
— Debbie Engelhardt
Over a half century after the committee first laid down its foundation, the Comsewogue Public Library continues to exist in a symbiotic arrangement with the community. While men and women like Newcomer foresaw how a public library could foster creative thinking and community enrichment, the library and community members keep that visionary spirit alive today.
“It’s clear to me that from the research committee to the original library board to the original administration, there was a broad vision for an institution of excellence for this community,” Engelhardt said. “Modern ideas and a progressive way of thinking I think have always been a part of the vision from back in the 1960s and it remains so today.”
The names of the original members of the library research committee: Carol Benkov, Anne Herman, Florence Hughes, Laurence Lamm, Jasper Newcomer, June Tilley, and Gus Basile, advisor.
Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic President Sal Pitti protests a potential cell tower along Canal Road in 2019. File photo by Kyle Barr
If there’s a man around town, then that man’s more than likely to be Sal Pitti.
Whether he’s rolling up in his car to check on any reported problems, meeting with developers planning to build up in the Port Jeff Station area, running civic gatherings or attending town meetings focused on residential issues, it’s not hard to find the shaved head and thick, salt and pepper beard as the marked signs of his presence.
Pitti has been vice president and now president of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association over the past several years, and in that time has become a staple of community activism for the two hamlets. The retired ex-NYPD officer can be seen throughout the community, driving around with his current VP and friend Ed Garboski, as they check in on any supposed disturbances and the sites of any ongoing development.
Garboski said he was first introduced to Pitti through Joe Rella, the beloved former superintendent of the Comsewogue School District. Pitti was involved with the school’s Drug Prevention Coalition, and Rella asked Garboski to get involved. After talking for a good while, the two decided they should merge the coalition with the civic, and Pitti became an integral part of the PJS/T organization.
Since then, he’s become a major member of multiple committees, including Brookhaven Town’s Quality of Life Task Force and Suffolk County’s drug task force, for which Garboski said Pitti was instrumental in working with Suffolk County Police Department officials to close down several known drug houses in the community.
“He’s not going to give you lip service, and if there’s a problem he’s going to go after it,” the current civic VP said. “He’s committed to this community, whether that’s drugs or working on the homelessness issue. He’s got a lot of empathy for them. It’s not, ‘Let’s just get rid of them,’ it’s, ‘Let’s find out how we can help them.
Charlie McAteer, the civic’s corresponding secretary and previous Person of the Year recipient, has known Pitti for close to a decade. McAteer first interacted with Pitti through his stewardship of the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail, when he was helping to clean up the trail and the parking lot on Route 112 that marks a trail end. Over the years, both Pitti’s and Garboski’s activism drew McAteer into the civic more and more.
Sal Pitti with other members of the PJS/Terryville Civic discuss ideas for the Terryville Road community garden. File photo by Kyle Barr
McAteer said Pitti was instrumental in multiple recent community projects, including the revitalization of the community garden on Route 112, keeping on top of the Lawrence Aviation property with the Suffolk County Landbank, and more recently working with Brookhaven Town to secure the historical Terryville Union Hall under civic stewardship after the local historical society folded in 2019. McAteer said they are now talking with the town about renovating the property to bring it back to its original 1800s-era look.
Pitti “is really utilizing his retirement time to help the community,” McAteer said. “Having been a New York City police officer, now retired, he has such a repertoire. He puts people at ease, that way they can talk to him. And he will then be able to then convey any problems they have to the powers that be.”
Frank Gibbons, a longtime civic member and all-around expert about the area’s traffic history and issues, said Pitti is always willing to help anyone in the community.
“If anybody needs his time for anything, then he’s there,” Gibbons said. “You don’t have to ask him twice. Hell, most of the time you don’t have to ask him, he’s asking us, saying ‘Hey, will you come join us?’ Whether it’s cleaning up around the chamber of commerce train car, or cleaning up all the walking paths over to Stony Brook.”
Others who have known Pitti for a shorter time than Garboski and McAteer said his drive to see good work done is striking.
Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook), who is finishing up his first year as Brookhaven Town councilmember, said he has worked closely with Pitti ever since he came into office.
“Soon after I took office, I met with Sal and the board of the civic and we had a frank discussion about the community’s needs, wishes, challenges and opportunities,” Kornreich said over email. “I found Sal’s insight and level of connectedness to his community to be very inspiring. For no reason other than the betterment of his community, Sal has worked hard for many years, investing time, money and energy. One can’t help but be inspired to support his efforts.”
Andrew Harris, a special-needs teacher at Comsewogue High School and the school liaison with the civic, said Pitti and the other civic leaders are honestly concerned that their community remains a nice place to live, for all its residents.
“He’s a big dude, he’s an ex-cop, he looks like a pretty tough guy, you know?” said Harris, who is also a previous Person of the Year recipient. “But really, he’s the kindest, nicest guy you’d ever want to meet, personalitywise. The bottom line is he just volunteers his time for others.”
Girl Scouts of Troop 991 got to work on their Silver Award Project at the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce Train Car.
Pictured above are scouts Vanessa Molinelli, Olivia Vecchio and Emily Gaide. Behind them are volunteers pressed into service.
The Silver Award leadership project is one that scouts plan, prep and execute. These one entrails refurbishing the deck, rails, steps and handicap ramp at the early 1900s baggage coach “train car.”
The scouts organize schedules, responsibilities and fundraisers. They received building material donations from Home Depot of South Setauket and Margaritas Café Port Jefferson Station have been keeping them fueled.
While members of the Port Jefferson Fire Department were out helping residents during Hurricane Ida, they had their own issues back at the village’s firehouse.
According to the Port Jefferson Fire Department, water from the storm made its way into the firehouse, flooding the inside and submerging its antique Engine 3 in three feet of water.
The 1946 American LaFrance’s engine crank filled with water and might have been completely ruined if it weren’t for the help of a fellow fireman.
Danny Gruosso, a volunteer with the Terryville Fire Department and resident of Port Jefferson Station, said that this isn’t the first time he’s worked on the vintage truck known as, “The Frog.”
Photo from Port Jefferson Fire Department
Being a member of the adjacent department and a heavy equipment diesel mechanic by trade, Gruosso was asked before the COVID-19 pandemic to check the vehicle out since it was having some issues.
“Then I get a phone call on Friday after the storm that the truck was underwater,” he said. “They called me in a panic, and I said, ‘Don’t touch it, leave it alone. Leave it in the parking lot and I’ll be down there soon.’”
Gruosso headed down to the firehouse and pulled the engine’s filters out. He drained the oil and refilled it, flushed it and cleaned it. After a three-day-long process, he was able to save the motor.
“I was thankful that the storm was low tide because if that would have been saltwater, it would have been bad,” he said. “I still have a couple more things to just look over, but for the most part, she’s ready to rock and roll.”
A tedious project, he was happy to help out.
“Between the two departments we’re like a family,” he said. “We always look out for each other, and we have a lot of respect for each other. It’s a good thing.”
While the antique engine survived this storm, Gruosso said he’s ready to help again if Port Jefferson sees more flooding during the rest of this season.
“I told them, if we’re going to get another storm, I’m coming down. I’ll take the day off and personally drive down here and drive it back to my house,” he said. “It won’t fit in my garage, but I live up the hill and I’ll put it in the driveway with my other trailers.”
John Smillie and his American flag retirement drop off box at Comsewogue Library. Photo by Julianne Mosher
There’s a new way to donate old flags thanks to one local Eagle Scout.
John Smillie, from Boy Scout Troop 454 of Terryville, made it his mission over the last year to create an American flag retirement drop box for Comsewogue Public Library as his Eagle Scout Service Project.
He said that his mother, June, would enroll him in library programs since he was small.
“I’ve been coming here my whole life,” he said. “And it gave so much to my childhood that I wanted to give back when I had the chance, and this was my chance.”
It started last year, just before the pandemic hit, when Smillie was thinking about his project. After his initial idea fell through, he contacted the library who was thrilled to have him come on board.
“I knew we wanted to do something with the flag,” he said.
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Smillie said his troop always had a need for flags, because during summer camp, they have a flag retirement ceremony. Usually during the month leading up to the event, the scouts scramble to find flags to properly dispose of.
It is illegal to throw away an American flag, and they must be destroyed with dignity, preferably by burning.
“So, I took that need, and turned it into a solution to that need with my projects,” he said. “Now we can continually collect flags all year and then retire them properly in a ceremony at camp every year.”
The project took a long time, he said, and kept him busy on top of his already intense schedule. Between work, school, buying a car, applying for college and his other household duties, he said it was a challenge — but a fulfilling one.
When Smillie reached out to director Debbie Engelhardt last year, she was thrilled to have another scout donate his time and project to the library. She said that over the course of her nine-year tenure at Comsewogue, he is the second Eagle Scout to work with her.
“This was my second experience partnering as a beneficiary, which came right on the heels of the other project,” she said. “It was just a no brainer for me to want to help him, and to have the library gain a lovely project in the process, and to have that available for the community as much as we are open, is a win-win.”
Englehardt said literally a few minutes after the box was dropped off, librarians said they had flags to put inside.
“Five minutes later, it had its first deposit,” she said.
June Smillie said that it can be hard to find a spot to donate retired flags, since there aren’t many drop off boxes around. The only place she knew of was to give it to an associate at Ace Hardware. The box at the library makes it easy for others to find now.
“For him to want to do the box because it helps represent the military and his grandparents, it’s just very overwhelming because I know how much he cares about it,” she said. “I’m very proud of him, and I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more than what he’s already done.”
Smillie will hopefully achieve his rank within the next few weeks — a huge accomplishment he’s waited a long time for.
“It’ll open up so many doors for you and so many opportunities for you in the future,” he said. “You join pretty much an exclusive group of people who can say, ‘We went and achieved the Eagle Scout rank. We did this. We earned this,’ and just to be a part of that was always a goal of mine ever since I was young.”
Following the June 17 stabbing of 39-year-old Benjamin Flores-Mendez — who was found dead in Port Jefferson Station on the Greenway Trail — the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association called an emergency meeting this week to demand answers on a variety of issues from local representatives.
On Tuesday, July 6, nearly 150 people attended the meeting at Comsewogue High School. Suffolk County Police Department 6th Precinct officers joined elected officials from town, county and state offices to listen to topics such as the Lawrence Aviation space, homelessness, gangs and drug abuse which were brought up by concerned residents.
While the stabbing sparked the meeting, SCPD officials were unable to give details or answer questions surrounding the death, as it’s still an ongoing investigation.
But that didn’t stop Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), county Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), and town Councilman Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) from joining the panel. State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) could not attend, but a representative joined in his place.
“I’m going to tell you that myself and my colleagues from the Town Board are upset, disturbed by what we see is a growing problem in various communities in the Town of Brookhaven,” Romaine said. “And that is homelessness.”
According to residents, they have seen homeless people set up tents near the vacant and decrepit Lawrence Aviation buildings located adjacent to the Greenway on the Port Jefferson Station section.
Kornreich added that those who are homeless aren’t necessarily in that plight because of a financial issue — oftentimes it revolves around mental health problems or drug abuse.
“I think that what we need to try to do is to find a way, a compassionate way, to get these people the services that they need, that maybe they’re reluctant to take,” he said, adding it might require a greater investment in services from county agencies.
Englebright, who spearheaded the creation of the trail years ago, said the Lawrence Aviation project has been an issue for years and requires coordination from all levels of government.
“We’re in a moment of turmoil, not only locally but nationally,” he said. “We’re coming off of one of the worst years in the last 100 years because of the COVID infection that has ravaged our communities, and everybody is on edge — that includes disadvantaged individuals, and those who have ill intent. So, we have our work cut out for us.”
During the community forum, questions of hiking trails being linked to crime came up.
“The simple answer is no, there is no correlation, no cause and effect,” Englebright said. “Trails such as this are open space, and so they become targets to the opportunists.”
On the town level, Kornreich assured that meetings like this — between residents and local government — are what allows things to change.
“We’re all here because we have to renew our commitment to work together at all levels of government to face challenges like the ones we have in Port Jefferson Station,” he said.
The 6th Precinct commanding officer, Inspector Patrick Reilly, gave an update on crime statistics. In wake of the stabbing, new cameras were placed at the entrances and along the Greenway Trail. Reilly said more patrol officers have been out during the daytime and evening, as well as overnight. Plainclothes officers and the SCPD gang unit are on-site, as well.
The stabbing that happened last month was the only one in 2021 and 2020, Reilly said. Robberies are down this year, as well as a 100% decrease in aggravated assault.
“Overall, total violent crime is down 11.1%, total property crime is down 4.8%,” he said. “So, obviously, there are problems that still need to be addressed, and we will continue to do that.”
The next normally scheduled civic meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 20, at 7 p.m. at the Comsewogue Public Library.
Shannon Harrington, a senior at Comsewogue High School is the recipient of the 2021 Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce $500 Scholarship.
Shannon impressed the chamber as a volunteer at its 2019 Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce Summer Concerts.
She excelled in the Comsewogue School District’s virtual enterprise course this year, which is taught by Anthony Ketterer.
Shannon is accepted into the honors program in the Haub School of Business of St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia, which she will attend in the fall.
The Suffolk County Legislature has approved the purchase of 17.29 acres of open space within the Terryville Greenbelt — its vote providing county officials with authorization to complete the remaining steps of the acquisition process for these properties.
Through a partnership, the cost of purchasing these parcels will be divided between Suffolk County and the Town of Brookhaven at a 75% and 25% split, respectively. Additionally, the County and Town are expected to enter into an agreement for management and oversight of this open space by Brookhaven.
As part of the Central Suffolk Special Groundwater Protection Area and located within the heavily developed Port Jefferson Station community, the Terryville Greenbelt is situated south of Route 112, adjacent to the rear of Comsewogue High School, and is approximately 75 total acres.
The Town of Brookhaven has already preserved approximately 40 of the greenbelt’s acres through open space acquisitions and these 60 individual parcels will add to those existing municipal open space holdings to form continuous greenery.
“Preserving the Terryville Greenbelt parcels, located within a Special Groundwater Protection Area, in perpetuity highlights the continued commitment of Suffolk County to being a strong community partner to ensure protection of the local environment and our quality of life,” said Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket).
Suffolk’s efforts to preserve the greenbelt began in 2017, when Hahn gained approval for the appraisals of the parcels, the first step in a multi-phased county acquisition process.
That initial step commenced a complex process of contacting the 60 parcels’ owners, gauging the owners’ interest in selling to the county and appraising the sites.
According to a letter of support provided to legislators from the Port Jefferson Station Terryville Civic Association, “Given the past and present development in this hamlet this proposed acquisition is needed for both quality of life and of our drinking water. The community supports the need for this type of quality and amount of open space in our Suffolk hamlet.”
Councilman Jonathan Kornreich was also grateful for Hahn’s help.
“This is a monumental achievement for our community and I’m grateful for your passionate dedication to getting it done,” he said. “This latest addition to the 40 acres preserved by the Town of Brookhaven will further strengthen our shared efforts to protect our groundwater and provide more public access to precious green spaces.”
Drug dealers are designing and manufacturing fentanyl-laced drugs to resemble name-brand prescriptions. Stock photo
The Town of Brookhaven Council District 1 Drug Prevention Coalition and the Center for Prevention and Outreach’s SB IMPACT Coalition will be hosting a drive-thru wellness and drug takeback day.
Partnering with the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association, on Saturday, April 24, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. people can visit the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber Train Car at the southeast corner of Route 112 and Route 347 (entrance on Rose Avenue).
Officers from the Suffolk County Police Department 6th Precinct will be there to collect expired and unused prescription drugs.
The Town of Brookhaven E-Waste Recycling will gather vaping products.
Visitors may turn in any expired, unused or unwanted pill/capsule medications, vaping devices and vaping cartridges. Liquids and needles cannot be accepted.
There will also be a food drive for local food pantries.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the people responsible for stealing wallets and cash from unlocked cars in the Sixth Precinct in June.
Two individuals allegedly have been involved in multiple grand larcenies in the Setauket, Terryville, Stony Brook and Port Jefferson areas. The unknown persons allegedly entered the cars and stole wallets containing cash, credit and debit cards, and licenses. They were seen driving what appears to be a light-colored sedan.
