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The Village of Port Jefferson

Construction of a retaining wall to fortify the toe of the East Beach bluff is expected to begin this year. Photo by Carolyn Sackstein

By Carolyn Sackstein

In a continuing effort to report on bluff erosion near the Port Jefferson Country Club at Harbor Hills, TBR News Media reached out to the Village of Port Jefferson to discuss the recent visit by assessors from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  

Village administrator, Joe Palumbo, detailed FEMA’s visit to the village. He said the inspectors were assigned to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ida last September to the recharge basins on Oakwood Road, Port Jefferson. 

“FEMA’s recent visit was to inspect and assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ida to the large and small recharge basins on Oakwood Road,” Palumbo said. “For some reason, this group of FEMA inspectors were not assigned to inspect the bluff project.” Adding that he hoped to get more clarity on FEMA’s plans, he said, “I had a call with FEMA to find out why and whether they are coming back to inspect [the bluff]. I hope to have a response to these questions on, or before, my next call with them.”

In an emailed statement, the village administrator provided additional historical context surrounding this issue. He described the difficulties of working with governmental agencies that lacked the sense of urgency necessary to secure the village’s assets in a timely manner.

“The village was unable to take action to stabilize the bluff until it received permits to do so from [the Department of Environmental Conservation] and Army Corps of Engineers,” he said. “It has been a long process. We submitted our permit to DEC in 2018 and received [approval] this past June.” 

Palumbo was also asked about the concerns raised by village residents, who want a public hearing and referendum on the matter. According to him, the village has worked closely with a coastal engineer who has provided an informed assessment of the proposed projects at East Beach.

“The village has been working vigorously with an experienced and qualified coastal engineer to develop a plan that will stabilize the bluff and protect the village asset that sits atop the bluff,” Palumbo said. “This plan has been presented and approved by a majority of the Board of Trustees, and is the plan that we believe is the best to preserve the bluff for many decades to come.”

Port Jefferson is not alone in its struggle against coastal erosion. Belle Terre is also taking up measures to counteract erosion of its beaches and mitigate storm damage. When asked if there was any intergovernmental cooperation between the villages of Port Jefferson and Belle Terre, Palumbo acknowledged the limitations of coordinating village responses.

“The Village of Belle Terre is a separate entity,” he said. “Our engineers had reviewed the measures taken and material used in Belle Terre, but believe the plan developed and materials being used to stabilize our bluff is the right plan that will last for decades to come.”

While the Port Jeff Board of Trustees has already approved a $10 million bond for the two-phased bluff project, Palumbo said the village is actively seeking grant funding that may subsidize the initiative significantly. 

“The village is looking at several funding opportunities, including through FEMA disaster declarations under Tropical Storm Isaias [last August] and Hurricane Ida; discretionary funds through Congressman Lee Zeldin [R-NY1] and Senator Chuck Schumer’s [D-NY] offices; and the [FEMA] Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.”

File photo by Heidi Sutton/TBR News Media

On Monday, April 18, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Port Jefferson gathered for an afternoon business meeting.

Mayor Margot Garant announced the withdrawal of a scheduled public hearing regarding the revocation of the operating license of the Curry Club at SaGhar. The mayor cited a recent development between the village and the proprietor, mentioning that the two parties have come to terms.

“The Curry Club at SaGhar is coming into compliance,” the mayor said. “They complied with all of our requests not to apply for nightclub status and … pretty much everything we asked for.”

In her report, Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden said the Earl L. Vandermeulen High School Class of 1982 has applied to use the Village Center for its upcoming class reunion, requesting a reduced rate. The board moved to accept this request, contending that the measure will promote greater use of the facility and will set a precedent for future classes to book their reunions locally. A graduate of the Class of ’82, Garant recused herself from this vote.

The board also announced that both Texaco Park and the village basketball courts will now accommodate pickleball instruction. Garant considered this a “wildly popular program” throughout the village. Snaden concurred, and also reported that the Texaco program will provide a free clinic for incoming picklers that is designed to introduce village residents to the sport. 

Trustee Stan Loucks announced that lines will soon be put down at Texaco Park to support the planned pickleball campus. He added, “Hopefully, down the road, pickleball will be someplace else,” leaving open the possibility that pickleball at Texaco Park will be only a temporary measure.

Trustee Bruce Miller shared his notes from two guest presentations delivered during an April 13 meeting of the Port Jefferson Harbor Commission. 

During Trustee Rebecca Kassay’s report, a robust debate ensued on the future of short-term versus long-term rental property codes. The subject was tabled for a later time as more information will be necessary for the board to settle the matter.

Correction: On April 21, The Port Times Record stated, “Trustee Rebecca Kassay reported that the village’s Arbor Day festivities are scheduled for Friday, April 29, when free saplings from the Saratoga Tree Nursery will be made available.” In an email, Kassay clarified this: “We indeed confirmed that Arbor Day is April 29th, but I stated that the saplings are not yet ready from the DEC nursery. I reported that as soon as I have a pick-up date for the saplings, I’d let everyone know … Additionally, the saplings will only be free to the first grade class; we will be selling them for $1 at the Farmer’s Market, date TBA.”

Port Jeff Village Trustee Stan Loucks discusses the East Beach bluff. Photo from the Village of Port Jefferson website

This week, TBR News Media sat down for an exclusive interview with Stan Loucks, trustee of the Village of Port Jefferson. In the interview, Loucks addressed the relative inactivity at the club, the looming $10 million effort to save it, and the controversy around bluff stabilization.

You are the trustee liaison to the Port Jefferson Country Club. What does that role entail?

The liaison to the country club means pretty much that I’m in charge of everything up here: the golf across the road; the tennis, which we will not have this year because of the erosion of the bluff; and I coordinate with the tenant upstairs. 

Could you inform the readers on how this building was acquired by the village?

In 1978 the mayor of the village was Harold Sheprow. I’m pretty sure the land was owned by [the Estate of Norman K.] Winston. He had a large building corporation up here in Harbor Hills. In 1978 the village voted to purchase not only the country club, but both East and West beaches were involved in that sale for about $2 million. 

Since its acquisition by the village over four decades ago, has this country club been a profitable investment for the village?

The country club has been deemed a self-sustaining, separate entity from the village in that we have our own budget. We have to pay our bills. We had a tennis membership last year of over 300 members and a golf membership of around 500 members. 

The revenue that we take in has to meet our expenses. The village taxpayer, after the purchase of the property and the payoff of the bond, contributes no tax money to the country club whatsoever. Everything up here is basically coming off the backs of the membership.

As a follow-up, is there any kind of rent that the country club pays to the village treasury?

No, we are not renting the property. We are an attraction, I believe, for the village. I believe the village benefits even if you’re not a member. I think they benefit from the fact that we have a country club that’s available to residents at a very, very reasonable rate. 

We have the two beaches that are kind of semi-private. There are nonresidents that can use our beaches because they are members of the country club. The only rent that’s collected is from the tenant upstairs and that rent money goes directly to the village, not to the country club. 

And that tenant upstairs, is that the concession?

That’s the concession. They own Danfords downtown. It has just recently changed hands [to TPG Hotels, Resorts & Marinas]. The Crest [Group] had this for a couple of years and when they sold Danfords, [TPG] took over the tenancy of this building not downstairs, but the upstairs restaurant and catering end of it [known as The Waterview at Port Jefferson Country Club]. 

The downstairs here is pretty much all country club. We have two locker rooms. We have a large meeting room. We have a fitness center and a membership office. That’s pretty much what we have downstairs. Everything else upstairs belongs to the tenant. 

What has been the return on investment over the several decades since the village purchased the country club?

In terms of dollars and cents, really nothing other than the fact that we have in our possession two beautiful beaches, a beautiful golf course — we did have beautiful tennis courts, eight of them. Other than that, the village has received considerable rent over the years. The only thing the village has gained financially is from the rent of this building. All of the money that is made by the golf course stays with the golf course. 

That’s pretty much all the village has gained from this country club, which is a lot. I think property values are certainly affected by what’s going on here. People want to move into this village and I think one of the reasons they want to be here is for the opportunities coming out of the country club. 

Right now, those opportunities have diminished a little because of what’s going on out there with Mother Nature. With all of the upcoming anticipated construction, we decided that we will not have any tennis membership this year. We can’t put people out there and put them in danger on those courts because at any given moment, a massive landslide can just let loose. There’s a huge ravine over there now. The gazebo that they used for their wedding receptions went over the bluff. The bluff is moving in on us. 

To backtrack a little, you said before that it’s kind of a private country club. What does that mean exactly? You’re a public official, so what is the connection between the country club and village? Is this a private or a public entity?

Well, it’s private in that you have to be a member to be on the facility and to play golf or tennis, but it’s public in that there is a public restaurant upstairs. I think very few people realize that, so in my mind it’s kind of a semi-private area even though we own it. 

By we, do you mean the village?

The village. The village owns it. Anyone from the public can come in here and go to the restaurant, but you cannot come in here to play golf unless you’re a guest of a member. The golf course is private just like any other club, but the property itself is not private. You don’t have to be a member to go to the beaches and, as I said, you don’t have to be a member to go to the restaurant upstairs. 

At the time when this property was purchased by the village, bluff stabilization must have been an unforeseen expense. In your view, is this property a depreciating asset?

That’s a tough one to answer. Since I started my term, I have walked that beach down there since 2015 with the Army Corps [of Engineers], with DEC, with other engineers. At that point in time, it was very obvious to me that this bluff was rapidly eroding. 

A lot of it was caused by global warming, storms and the Town of Brookhaven ignoring the repair of the two jetties in Mount Sinai Harbor. It took us from 2015 to just this past year to get the first permits, which are for the lower wall, that have already been approved. We finally got the permits from DEC. We waited a few more months for the Army Corps to approve. Once they approved, we put it out for bid. We got bids ranging from $4.8 million to $6.8 million. The bid was awarded and construction will begin shortly to do the lower wall, which runs from the bottom of the East Beach Road 450 linear feet along the bluff from east to west. 

That’s not going to save our tennis courts. The engineers have told us that the bluff is so steep now that it’s got to eventually level out to about 30 degrees before plantings can really go on there. A lot of our bluff is almost straight down and when it goes, it collapses. Right now the bluff is in a situation where, in my opinion, I don’t think plantings are going to hold on there. There are plans for another wall, what they call the upper wall, that’s supposed to go behind this building. There is an engineering plan in place to put a steel wall all around this facility. I’m not 100 percent sold on the idea that a wall is going to permanently protect the building because, if the bluff keeps on going, it may come in from the sides. 

The plans are in place and the drawings have been made. It has not been voted upon by the board yet to move forward with it or not. The $4.8 million bond for the wall has been awarded. I think the treasurer has figured out that it will cost the taxpayer about $170 a year. However, we are actively applying for help from FEMA. I don’t know how the taxpayers are going to react to it. We’re looking at a total of $10-to-$12 million to save this building, basically. I’m not sure how the rest of the board feels about this, but it’s scary. 

Just to go back to the original question, given all of these expenses, is this property a depreciating asset for the village?

Well, it depends on what you mean by depreciate. If it’s going to cost us $10 million to save it, that to me is a depreciation. It’s a burden that’s going to be put on the taxpayers. I guess, yes. If we lose this building, that’s a depreciation. One the other side of it, $10 million is also a big fiscal responsibility to put back on the village residents. It’s a tough one to answer. The village is receiving rent from the restaurant. I am not sure that the amount of rent that we’re getting is enough to offset a $10-to-$12 million bond. 

Although fewer than 10% of village residents are members here, the other 90% of village residents that are nonmembers will be included in that bond. What would you say to those 90% of resident nonmembers who are being asked to foot the bill to preserve an area that they do not use themselves?

I can only speak for myself here.

I thought we should have had a referendum to vote on the remainder of the repair work. I totally agree with the lower wall because I think the lower wall is going to help protect our beaches. The beaches are used by the entire village.

In terms of the clubhouse, my wife and I come up here every Friday and we enjoy it, but the village residents and the membership do not use the building the way it should be used. I can’t comprehend it. We come up here and always have a good meal and get good service. I sit there every Friday night and wonder why the place is not filled with people. 

We have 8,000 residents in this village. We have 500 golf members this year. The place should be frequented and it’s not. I don’t know the answer to that. I’m not so sure that if it were put to a vote it would be approved. We didn’t think it would be approved when the referendum went out to buy it, but it was. 

Yeah, I think it would be unfair to ask the village residents to pay for something that they do not use. However, I totally approved of the lower wall. I think that’s going to protect our beaches. 

In your view, is it a worthy undertaking by the village to save the clubhouse?

The mayor understands it too. She’s baffled by the same question that I have: Why do the residents not use the facility that’s available to them? They don’t take advantage of the programs that are run up here. Yeah, there’s a charge, but it’s something that you can’t get anywhere else.

I’m biased. I love this club and I’ve been here for a lot of years and I know the club pretty much inside and out. The one question I can’t answer is why people don’t use it. The other question that’s difficult for me to answer is, is it worth it to the rest of the residents who do not belong here? I guess the obvious answer is “no.” I want to save it, but it’s not a decision that one person can make. There hasn’t been a movement one way or the other. 

You would think that at a board meeting, if this was a major concern, that that boardroom would be filled with residents — and it’s not. The residents that were there at the last board meeting, they’re concerned about the park; they’re concerned about my taking over Texaco Park so that we could play pickleball once a week. They’re not concerned about the big, huge, major issue facing this village and that bothers me and it bothers the rest of the board. Where’s the interest? You’ve got a bluff that’s going to take away not only our country club, but residents along this bluff too. And they don’t seem to be concerned. 

Is there a possible incentive to bring more people into the club? Could the village make the course open to the public, like Bethpage State Park?

The possibility is there that you could open it up and make it a public course. I would not like to see that. I see five public courses at Bethpage — I’ve played a lot of them down there. Yes, the Black is gorgeous, the Red is not too bad, but the other courses down there are pretty beat up. I don’t think making this a public golf course will change the feelings of the community at all. They voted to buy the place, but now they don’t want to save it. To me, that doesn’t make any sense at all.

Another big question is: “Can it be saved?” Nobody gives us a guarantee. I am not the engineer, but I’m thinking there’s a potential that when you start driving steel into those areas that it’s going to fracture that bluff. The upper wall design is a very long line that’s being cut into that bluff and I’m not sure they can possibly do it without taking the back deck off of here and I’m not sure, if they can do it, that it’s not going to fracture that bluff. 

Is it possible for this to be more of a collaborative effort between the taxpayers and the village government?

I would love to hear from the taxpayers, the residents — and we haven’t. We believe that we’ve publicized it enough and I know there’s a constant stream of traffic going down East Beach Road [in Belle Terre]. People are looking at the bluff, but they’re not coming to the board meetings. They’re not telling us their feelings one way or the other. To me, it’s frustrating to see that. 

Boy, if I were a taxpayer, I’d be at that board meeting and say, “What’s going on here? We want to know. Where are we at? What are we doing? How much money is it going to cost us? When is it going to happen? Is it going to happen?”

I’d like nothing better than to see that board room filled with people, negative or positive. I want to know why the interest is not there. 

Is there anything else you like to say to the local readers of Port Jefferson? 

I love this village and I love this country club. I want to see the best result that we can possibly get. I don’t have the answers. I just don’t understand why the village and the membership do not use this building. It’s frustrating to me. 

For six months, roadway barriers, shown above, have blocked the intersection of Arlington Avenue and State Route 25A. Photo by Jim Hastings.

Public officials are addressing an ongoing dispute between the Village of Port Jefferson and the New York State Department of Transportation involving a roadway obstruction at the intersection of Arlington Avenue and Route 25A on the long hill leading into Port Jeff.

Due to its steep slope, Arlington Avenue requires a specific grade to allow vehicles to safely traverse the intersection without bottoming out. Under the current design, instituted in September 2021 as part of DOT’s sidewalk initiative throughout the village, the roadway remains impassable.

Stephen Canzoneri, public information officer for DOT Region 10, addressed the issue in an email statement: “The New York State Department of Transportation is working with the Village of Port Jefferson to address longstanding terrain issues at the intersection of Arlington Avenue and state Route 25A and hopes to reopen Arlington Avenue as expeditiously as possible.”

“Prior to them doing the work, there was no issue there.”

— Kathianne Snaden, deputy mayor of Port Jefferson Village

Joe Palumbo, Port Jeff village administrator, shared that the DOT has not yet put together a workable plan to resolve the matter.

“Their design there is not acceptable in terms of navigating the road from 25A onto Arlington,” he said. “The grade there is not sufficient for vehicles to go up and down that road.”

According to Palumbo, the grade issue remains the primary point of contention between the two parties.

“DOT is in the process of putting a design together,” he said. “Their most recent design that they had sent over to us is not acceptable. The village would prefer to have something that was similar to the grade that was there prior to the paving, or better.”

According to Palumbo, under DOT’s present plan, vehicles can still get stuck at the bottom of the slope. Kathianne Snaden, deputy mayor and commissioner of public safety, said there had been no problem with the grade before DOT’s changes.

“Prior to them doing the work, there was no issue there,” she said. “It is a steep hill, but cars could easily get up and down, emergency vehicles could get up and down, school buses could get up and down.”

Snaden objects to the addition of a sidewalk along the pavement. She said that by adding the sidewalk, DOT had created a grade that is different from that of the pavement. According to her, this presented a safety hazard requiring the intersection to be closed to traffic.

“They paved 25A and additionally, with the paving, they added a sidewalk,” she said. “The sidewalk, for some reason, they put straight across the roadway, which we’ve never seen before. In doing so, it changed the grade from a slant to more of an angle because the sidewalk, obviously, is low.”

Snaden said that the roadway closure, put in place by DOT six months ago, is a significant risk to public safety. “My concern, of course, is the safety of the residents,” she said. “We had a house fire on Arlington almost two years ago. The roadway was impassable, but that time it was because of a downed tree. When that house caught fire, they couldn’t get all of the firetrucks to that house.”

According to Snaden, as long as the intersection remains blocked, this scenario may repeat itself in the future.

The Port Jefferson Country Club at the edge. Photo from Village of Port Jefferson

It’s been a long and harrowing timeline of events for local officials and residents who use East Beach and the surrounding country club.

For years now, the village has been preparing for this moment, where the tennis courts and Port Jefferson Country Club have seemingly moved to the edge of the cliff overlooking the beach thanks to climate change and the ever-increasing erosion.

To the naked eye, one can see a gazebo in photos hanging by a thread. The tennis courts will be next. Eventually, if nothing is done, the club could potentially collapse into the harbor and have devastating impacts on the local environment. Over the course of several months, Mayor Margot Garant, village administrator Joe Palumbo and the village trustees have been anticipating this moment where something needs to be done now.

“We lost so much material,” Garant said. “The deck is approximately 30 feet from the bluff line … the gazebo isn’t there anymore. We’re getting very, very close to the bluff.”

Because the tennis courts are so close to the edge now, tennis at the country club had to be canceled for this season.

A view of the eroding bluff. Photo from Village of Port Jefferson

The backstory

In February, a representative from CGI Engineering, Varoujan Hagopian, presented to the board what could happen with three different options on the table: build a wall at the bottom of the bluff; renovate the building and surrounding areas upland; or do nothing at all.

Hagopian said that many clients he works with on the Eastern Seaboard are experiencing the same, or similar issues. “If you do nothing, this kind of erosion will continue,” he said. “I estimate the building will be totally damaged or gone in three to five years. I’m not trying to scare you, but these are realistic calculations.”

Hagopian added that although the building might be gone, that means it will impact the road and East Beach as a whole. The erosion won’t stop at the club.

Two weeks later at the March 3 work session, the board listened in to Garant’s presentation on the bluff, where she gave a detailed history of just how much East Beach has been through over the last decade.

The restoration project began in 2010, with engineering group GEI working on several projects that included the sea wall restoration, the west end wall extension, a ramp installation, a large jetty project and sand dredging, which was finally completed in 2021.

Garant said that the village and its surrounding beaches have seen devastating effects of different storms throughout the years, including Irene, Sandy and more recently, Isaiah back in September.

Aerial shot of Port Jefferson Country Club. Photo from Village of Port Jefferson

Finding funding

Meanwhile, Palumbo has been working with the DEC and with FEMA applications to try to get some federal funding — a feat that takes a lot of time and a lot of patience.

The East Beach Bluff Stabilization Phase I project’s DEC permit was originally filed in 2016, finally being awarded in June 2021, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval being obtained in September.

The DEC approved plans call for 454 linear feet of steel wall and rock revetment with tiebacks to stabilize the lower bluff and bolstering the “groin” to prevent further erosion into the roadway, according to a February presentation.

A significant expense of the entire project is the replanting of the entire flank of the hill which includes core logs, erosion control blankets, wood terracing, soil anchors and tens of thousands of native plants, including woody plants, beach and switch grasses.

The comprehensive project and detailed drawings were put out for competitive bidding. Twelve bids came in ranging from $4.8 million to $6.2 million. Funding the project will require a bond initiative, which will have an impact of increasing the typical household tax bill by approximately $147 per annum over the 15-year term if no other sources of funding are available or if no other budgetary changes are made.

The final awarded bid for the lower wall project ended up being $4.3 million. But when it comes to federal funding, the village is competing with other locations which have had their share of issues with Mother Nature.

“We were denied the application for the reimbursement of the bluff, they claimed, in short, that it was an existing condition,” Palumbo said. 

“We’re appealing that because we know it’s a preexisting condition and it’s going to be a condition that will continue to occur if our measures aren’t taken to the bluff.” 

The village has recently enlisted the assistance of Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY1), who is offering his full support to the appeal to FEMA and helping to seek other funding sources. 

Palumbo added that he has been in talks with decision makers with FEMA weekly, and has been scouring to find other types of funding that could help offset the cost.

“This is probably one of the most expensive projects any municipality on Long Island has ever had to deal with,” Garant said. “This is a severe erosion issue and it’s not going away. We might lose a lot more than we already have lost if we don’t act quickly.” 

For more information, including the plans to stabilize and restore the bluff, visit the website portjeff.com/eastbeachbluff. 

File photo

During the most recent Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees meeting, a representative from Suffolk County Police gave an update to residents about what has been happening locally and across the county with crime.

On Monday, March 7, chief of constables Fred Leute joined the officer clarifying statistics from Feb. 7 through March 7 comparing 2021 to this year. The officer noted that across Long Island, catalytic converter thefts have skyrocketed, as well as car thefts.

“Please lock your cars,” Leute said. “A continual problem across Suffolk County and across New York State are people targeting residential areas, checking doorknobs on cars and taking what is inside.”

Both Leute and the officer agreed that keeping a close watch on one’s personal vehicle is important, especially if the car has a garage opener. “If you have a garage opener and they break into your car, then they have access to your home and you,” Leute said. 

The police representative added that across the county, they are seeing an uptick in people leaving their keys in a running car, allowing people easy access to the vehicle.

“Don’t leave the keys in your car,” she said. “We’re seeing an uptick in people leaving their cars running at locations such as gas stations and 7/11’s with people hopping in and going for a joy ride.”

More locally, Leute mentioned calls about vehicles illegally parking in handicap spots down Main Street, particularly in the spot on the corner next to Starbucks. 

The officer added that in the past year, there has been an uptick in general calls for service, but a decline in assaults (zero in this time period). She reported there is an active investigation on one burglary, one criminal mischief charge and one larceny that was cleared by an arrest. 

She added that ambulance calls have gone up slightly, with one overdose ambulance call during this time period. She was happy to report that motor vehicle accidents have decreased significantly from 15 to just one. 

Recent shooting

Residents at the meeting were concerned over events that occurred early Monday morning Down Port.

“We did have a shooting occur just two buildings over [from Village Hall] over by the town parking lot across from SaGhar restaurant,” the officer reported.

While details were unavailable due to the active investigation, she said that the village cameras have been instrumental in helping and that she was, “pleased to tell you we have a suspect identified and we are currently seeking that suspect.”

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File photo by Kevin Wood

In 2022, Port Jefferson will become the first Long Island town to host the New York State Parking and Transportation Association’s professional development seminar on March 15. 

Port Jefferson benefits from the 50-plus attendees who will stay here, eat here and shop here for the day and overnight. 

The annual conference brings together parking and transportation professionals statewide to discuss new trends and technologies. Their events are typically held upstate New York.

Kevin Wood, director of parking and mobility and IT for the Village of Port Jefferson, was named the executive vice president of NYSPTA. 

Wood is serving triple duty that day as executive vice president, host and speaker in their professional development series presenting alongside other industry experts. 

“The goal is to help support the local economy while bringing a brand-new event to town, thus helping raise awareness of the village as a great place to visit and do business while bringing cutting-edge knowledge to our parking and mobility department,” Wood said.

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Members of the Port Jefferson Fire Department are pictured in front of the original firehouse on the east side of Main Street. Photo by Arthur S. Greene, June 1907; Photo from the Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive

The Suffolk County Volunteer Firemen’s Tournament, held in Port Jefferson on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 1901, was a bellwether event in the history of the village.

In tournaments of yesteryear, fire departments typically competed in a series of contests such as maneuvering hand-drawn equipment, laying hose, climbing ladders, and passing buckets of water.

Tournaments not only showcased the firefighting skills and physical fitness of the participants but also brought large crowds to the host village, publicizing its attractions and stimulating its economy.

Although the Port Jefferson Fire Department (PJFD) had never run a tournament and the Port Jefferson of 1901 was “terra incognita” to most Long Islanders, a committee of Port Jefferson’s residents and firefighters made such a strong case that Port Jefferson was selected as the event’s venue.

The village’s cheerleaders touted Port Jefferson as an undiscovered gem blessed with a beautiful village and harbor and easily reached by land and sea.

The event’s backers also contended that the village’s hotels and restaurants were fully prepared to entertain the throngs expected to descend on Port Jefferson and that villagers had raised earnest money to demonstrate their strong financial support of the tournament.

Port Jefferson’s champions also pointed out that the village had a straightaway on West Broadway between Jones (Main) Street and Barnum Avenue on which the contests could be run, and that nearby hydrants provided steady water pressure.

Once the PJFD received the go ahead to hold the tournament, work began on decorating downtown Port Jefferson with flags and bunting while Loper Brothers built a 2000-seat, covered grandstand along West Broadway as well as a judges’ stand.

The cover of the sheet music for the ‘Port Jefferson March — Two Step’ features a photograph of W. Kintzing Post, president of the Suffolk County Volunteer Firemen’s Association, and a view of Port Jefferson Harbor from the west side. Photo from the Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive

On Tournament Day, special excursion trains and steamboats brough2firefighters and their guests to Port Jefferson to enjoy the festivities, including a parade that began near Myrtle and Main and wound its way through the village. 

The impressive line of march featured over 1,000 Suffolk County firemen accompanied by their respective engines, trucks and carts. The procession also included delegations from Connecticut, including the Konomoc Hose Company of New London which brought its renowned band famous for playing the rhythmic “Port Jefferson March — Two Step.”

In the afternoon following the parade, various hook and ladder, steam engine and hose contests were held, and prizes awarded. Fire departments were also honored in “Best Dressed,” “Best Equipped” and other special categories.

By all measures, the one-day tournament was a resounding success. A record 5000 people reportedly attended the event, earning Port Jefferson a reputation for its hospitality.

The tournament was extensively covered in local and metropolitan newspapers, the articles depicting the village as the “Naples of Long Island” and bringing favorable notice to Port Jefferson and its businesses. 

Merchants saw dramatic increases in patronage. Liveryman John “Billy” Brown could barely keep up shuttling visitors from Port Jefferson’s railroad station to the village’s downtown.  

The fledgling PJFD, only organized in 1887, demonstrated it was as capable as well-established departments, such as acclaimed Greenport, in running a large-scale event.

Most important, the tournament contributed to popularizing Port Jefferson as a vacationland, presaging its entry into the lucrative tourist market and predating the village’s storied homecomings, concerts, festivals, regattas and other crowd-drawing events by years. 

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

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Port Jeff Village is asking residents to use the online parking sticker portal. File photo by Elana Glowatz

In an effort to eliminate lines and gatherings at Village Hall, the Village of Port Jefferson has created an easy-to-use portal online for residents to acquire their parking permits. 

Resident parking permits for homeowners and tenants must obtain a new 2021 parking sticker to be able to park in all municipal lots. 

In pre-COVID times, residents would fill out their forms at the clerk’s office, but instead the village is asking residents to apply online. 

Available on the village’s homepage (portjeff.com), a portal to apply for a new parking sticker asks applicants to provide a driver’s license, list their physical Port Jefferson address, and their vehicle registration.

Should the applicant’s license be listed to an address other than the physical Port Jefferson location, two documents — including a utility bill, automobile insurance, bank statement, notarized letter from their landlord, or voter registration card — are required as proof.  

Residents who would prefer to fill out the application on paper can download the form online, fill it out, attach copies of the required documents and mail it to the village’s clerk’s office. 

Susan Rodgers, owner of Susan Rodgers Designs. Photo by Kyle Barr

Susan Rodgers had her storefront on East Main Street in Port Jefferson for seven years. But because of the COVID-19 crisis, she decided it was time to change shape and focus on online sales for her Susan Rodgers Designs business. 

“The numbers were going continuously down,” she said. “So, I decided to react and be proactive.” 

Rodgers, a jewelry artisan known for her delicate and beautiful designs first opened her original store in Sayville 10 years ago. Three years later, she moved to the North Shore, settling in the village of Port Jefferson.

The Stony Brook resident said that while the village helped her grow her clientele, the pandemic made it harder to stay afloat because of high rent prices and less customers shopping. She made the hard decision to close her shop and focus on e-commerce at the end of August. She officially closed her door in mid-September. 

“It killed me because I was there for seven years but, as the years went on, I saw my site doing better than my store,” she said. “It made me realize I don’t need 800 square feet to show my work.”

Bernie Ryba, regional director of the Small Business Development Center at Stony Brook University, said that Rodgers isn’t the only small business owner to focus on online sales during the pandemic. 

“Businesses that were reluctant to be more accepting of social media marketing and making sales over the internet are now much more willing to do so,” he said. “We’ve really had a bump in internet retail and also the use of social media marketing.”

Ryba added that business owners during COVID-19 realized that taking on more debt wasn’t the best option, opting to check out of their leases. “Banks are working with more industries,” he said, “But more small businesses are trying not to take on more debt.”

And that’s why Rodgers decided to leave. “Every month was $4,000 just to keep everything afloat,” she said. “If it wasn’t for the pandemic, I could have hired more people to help out. … It was a tough decision, but I know I made the right choice.”

Now she’s working out of her home in Stony Brook with one assistant. By saving money on rent and by being home, she’s able to focus on her online sales, which have started booming. 

“Working on social media, contacting buyers …  these are the things I never had the time to do before,” she said. “During all of this, I was able to fine-tune everything that I already had.” 

Although it’s working out now, it was a heartbreaking experience to close her store, nonetheless. “I had to make a decision with my head and not my heart,” she said. “The sales aren’t there, it’s hard — and for my small business owner friends, too.”

Rodgers said that even with Phase 4 reopening, she still had customers who wouldn’t come out and shop because they were still too nervous. Now her customers can shop in the comfort of their own homes. 

“I’m still here,” she said. “I’m just different for now.”