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Village of Port Jefferson

PJ looks to add emergency command center to DPW site

by Kyle Barr - September 24, 2019

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Port-Jeff-Village-Hall_Suttonw — Port Jefferson Village Hall. File photo by Heidi Sutton

Port Jefferson village is looking to use a New York State Dormitory Authority grant to install a new emergency command center extension to the Department of Public Works’ storage facility.

The board voted unanimously to approve the $450,000 grant to put an extension on the left-hand side of the DPW maintenance and storage facility.

The village voted to approve the grant at its Sept. 3 meeting, saying it could lose access to those funds should it not meet deadlines. According to Interim Village Clerk Barbara Sakovich, the project is still in the early planning stages.

At the Sept. 3 meeting, village officials talked about a 20- by 10-foot addition to the left side of the DPW building on North Country Road. Mayor Margot Garant said she wished to install emergency equipment in the facility along with the new addition.

“If we don’t do this, we’re going to lose the whole $450,000,” she said.

Nicole Christian, the Port Jefferson grant writer, said she has already finalized the paperwork for the grant and has sent it up to Albany.

The command center is going to allow communications during a public emergency including storm events or any other natural disaster, according to Christian. It should allow communications with any emergency rescue units that shows up at the scene.

Alison LaPointe, the special village attorney for building and planning, said the plans for the site are still in their conceptual stage, and they are working with architects to hammer out details on site plans.

“The village is in the process of engaging an architect to work out the plan in terms of size and facilities,” she said in an email.

The village has not yet put any funds forward or gone out to bid on the project as it awaits confirmation of the grant funds from the dormitory authority.

*Editor’s note: Nicole Christian recently joined the TBR News Media staff as a proofreader. Her duties with the paper are separate from her work with the village.

Port Jefferson bar cited for giving alcohol to minors

by Kyle Barr - September 23, 2019

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20190923_094520 — Owners and employees at the Portside Bar & Grill have been cited by police for giving alcohol to people underage. Photo by Kyle Barr

A Port Jefferson bar has come under heavy scrutiny over allegedly providing alcohol to children underage.

Suffolk County Police said they have investigated Portside Bar and Grill, located at 252 East Main Street, in response to community complaints. Working with the New York State Liquor Authority, the investigation led to the arrest of Christopher Chernis, 34 of Holbrook on Saturday, Sept. 21. He was charged with unlawfully dealing with a child 1^stdegree, and was issued a field appearance ticket.

The owners of the bar were also cited for numerous Alcohol and Beverage Control law violations by the state Liquor Authority, according to police.

Bar owners could not immediately be reached for comment.

Coastal Steward cleans beaches, both out of and under water

by Kyle Barr - September 20, 2019

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Steward to host biggest cleanup of the year Sept. 21

Underwater (1) 8.18.19 — Coastal Steward board members and local divers plunge into Port Jefferson Harbor Aug. 18. Photo from Coastal Steward

There are monsters off the coast of the North Shore, but not the kind with purple tentacles and razor teeth. Some are man made.

The Coastal Steward boat is regularly used in beach cleanups. Photo from Coastal Steward

The nonprofit Coastal Steward Long Island has been hosting underwater cleanups in Port Jefferson Harbor for the past three years. This is amongst its other activities being the steward of the Town of Brookhaven’s Mariculture Facility in Mount Sinai while hosting beach cleanup brigades and educational seminars for adults and kids alike. But the nonprofit’s volunteers have been looking for a deeper clean beyond the shore.

Ashly Carabetta, executive director for Coastal Steward, said the garbage one sees when relaxing on the sandy shore is only a small part of the debris that sits in the ocean.

“This is our effort to go beyond the regular beach cleanup and extend it to underwater,” she said. “The trash that you see on the shoreline goes far beyond what is there.”

Deeper into the water many of the heavier objects have no chance to wash up on shore. Denis Mellett, president of the Coastal Steward’s board, is a local diver and dive instructor. He has assisted with diving cleanups all around Long Island, but said they chose Port Jefferson Harbor for their close working connection with the village. Other municipalities on Long Island, he said, can be hesitant to allow these cleanups when they could be liable for the divers well-being.

The board president said most people rarely think about what garbage has sunk to the bottom of the water. The rest of the garbage is often located closer to the shore underwater.

“The only stuff you often see or think about is stuff that floats,” Mellett said. “Typically, closer to shore is where you find the vast bulk of that debris.”

Coastal Steward board members and local divers plunge into Port Jefferson Harbor Aug. 18. Photo from Coastal Steward

The first cleanup took place in 2017, but last year the group had to cancel due to inclement weather. During the last underwater cleanup, which took place Aug. 18, 27 divers splashed underwater, going down to about 20 feet below the surface. Many were Coastal Steward board members.

“Divers tend to be very conscious of the environment, because it’s where we spend our time,” he said. “It’s like hikers. Hikers tend to take care of the woods, divers tend to take care of the ocean.”

In past underwater dives, the group has come up with umbrellas and engine parts, and they have even found soda and milk bottles from all the way back to the 1940s. One memorable piece of debris was a 10-foot rolled-up rug that Carabetta found at the bottom of Port Jefferson Harbor. At the time, some feared what they might find rolled up in such a large rug, but they were relieved to find nothing inside.

Much of the debris, like small boats or parts of engines, actually become part of the marine life’s habitat, so they don’t remove it. However, they also find parts such as vehicle batteries, which can release toxic materials into the water. Objects like those are especially what the Coastal Steward looks for in these underwater cleanups.

“Typically, it’s down there until it’s buried in sand or silt, or a diver goes in there and brings it up,” Mellett said.

Despite what may come out of the harbor during these dives, Mellett said the true purpose is to gather interest in doing their regular beach cleanups and as part of their educational services, especially trying to get people to be more conscious of what and where they toss away.

“You can clean the beach every single day but as the tide goes in and out it brings in more garbage,” he said. “The only way you can make a significant dent is if you can keep the garbage out of the water in the first place.”

The Coastal Steward is hosting its largest beach cleanup of the year Sept. 21 at the far side Pirate’s Cove in Port Jefferson. The organization will be using its boat to take people up to that area, and if they gather enough volunteers, they will take people further up, across to the western side of McAllister Park. Volunteers will meet at Anchorage Road South in Belle Terre village at 8:30 a.m. before marshaling out. People can visit www.coastalsteward.org or call 631-941-6528 for more information.

Port Jeff hires temporary extra jitney bus

by Kyle Barr - September 16, 2019

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Version 2 — The Port Jefferson, Stony Brook University Shuttle was cancelled this March, though the village hopes to start it up again next year. Photo from Kevin Wood

Port Jefferson village, in starting up its connection with Stony Brook University for transit into the village, has hired on another bus to man the original route in the meantime.

The village approved an agreement with Suffolk Transportation Inc. at its Sept. 3 meeting to act as village jitney for $75 an hour for the remaining months of the university’s Fall semester.

Mayor Margot Garant said this was to help hold their obligation to the University and still run its regular bus route. The new bus itself is colored white instead of red, but it’s expected to be similar in size and number of seats to the current jitney bus, according to Parking and Mobility Administrator Kevin Wood.

Wood said this is in the interim while they continue to look into an additional Jitney bus. He added he is also considering reducing the number of hours of the regular jitney route due to low ridership.

In 2018, the bus saw ridership as low as 27 in a week last September. Most jitney ridership occurs on event days, such as the Mini Makers Faire and the Dragon Boat Festival, which last year saw a ridership that week of 164. In 2018, the jitney saw an average of around 70 riders a week.

The first two-and-a-half spring pilot for the PJ/SBU transit showed 3,200 riders. Wood has said he expects more ridership in this term. The spring pilot cost the village about $14,000, Wood said.

“This is definitely bringing people into shop, that’s what it does,” he said.

Daily schedules will remain the same, though the last pickup will be at 10 p.m. from SBU. The schedule is anticipated to be Thursdays from 3 to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The loop starts at Port Jefferson train station along Main Street in what’s known as Upper Port, before heading into Arden Plaza in the village, continuing up West Broadway down Route 25A, stopping at Stop & Shop in East Setauket. Once on the Stony Brook campus, it will make stops at the main circle loop, West Campus and the Chapin Apartments before coming back down Route 25A and ending at Port Jeff train station.

The PJ/SBU transit bus is open to all Stony Brook students as well as Port Jeff residents and visitors.

Racers roar in annual Port Jeff Dragon Boat Festival

by Kyle Barr - September 16, 2019

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At each of the boats’ prow, a dragon, open-mouthed, roared its challenge to each other boat beating in time alongside. All day, Sept. 14, the dragons raced through Port Jefferson Harbor.

At the 6th annual Dragon Boat Race Festival, hosted by the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, 27 teams competed on a 250-meter, three-lane racing course in front of Harborfront Park. Each boat consisted of 20 paddlers along with one steersman and one drummer who beat out the time of the oars. The vast majority of teams were made up of amateurs, some whose first time stepping into a rowing position was at the Sept. 14 event.

Alongside the rows of tents used for the teams and their rowers, children could also watch and try their hands at traditional Chinese calligraphy and get their faces painted.

In addition to the ongoing races in the harbor, performers made use of the new stage at Haborfront Park for productions, from the Yiyuan Dance School showcasing a traditional Chinese and Xinjiang folk set to the Stony Brook-based Taiko Tides doing the classic Japanese percussion ensemble. Multiple martial arts schools gave demonstrations of Kung Fu and Karate.

Harborfields Tornadoes blow out PJ Royals

by Bill Landon - September 11, 2019

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The Harborfields Tornadoes had the measure of the Lady Royals of Port Jefferson in their season opener Sept. 10, winning the game at home 7-1. Senior Co-Captain Gracie Heil led the way for the Tornadoes with two goals, while junior Katie Davis scored along with an assist. Junior Kate Christensen, senior Mia Desiderio, junior Taylor Sammis and freshman Melissa Neder rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Harborfields senior keeper Zoe Krief made seven saves at net.

The Royals broke the ice in the second half when Sophomore Abigal Rolfe’s shot found the net with 18 minutes left.

Port Jeff plays an away game against Hampton Bays before they take on Kings Park in their first home game Sept. 18 at 4 p.m.

The Tornadoes retake the field Sept. 16 at home where they’ll try their hand against the Lady Kingsmen. Game time is also 4:00pm.

22 veterans kayak across Sound for PTSD awareness

by Kyle Barr - September 6, 2019

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22 veterans kayaked across Long Island Sound to help promote PTSD awareness. Photos by Kyle Barr

August 30 was a day about numbers.

Twenty-two kayakers in 11 boats. Twenty-two miles from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson.

On each of their minds, the estimated 22 veterans who commit suicide each day, and the many thousands more both veterans and others who suffer from PTSD.

In the final days of summer, the 22 veterans left Bridgeport at just after 10 a.m. and arrived in Port Jefferson at just before 5 p.m. As the fourth year of the event, called the 22-PTSD Awareness Challenge, those veterans have a long way to travel, having to turn their boats in a slight parabola to make it the full 22 miles.

Frank Lombardi, one of the co-founders of the event and a veteran himself, said the event is extremely poignant just by the number. Veterans Affairs averages the number of soldiers and veterans who commit suicide at approximately 20 a day.

“Twenty-two veterans make the 22-mile trek, and that’s the magic number,” he said.

22-PTSD Awareness Challenge was started in 2016 with Lombardi, fellow veteran Chris Levi and Alex Rohman, an executive of the Port Jefferson Station-based financial advisors Time Capital. That business, plus three others, helped get the first event up and running. At first, the three co-founders were the only ones to cross. Since then the number of veterans taking the challenge has only increased.

“I found that if I can get veterans to help other veterans, that’s the best way to help them,” said Rohman. “A lot of organizations compete for veterans, in a way, and we wanted to open this up to as many nonprofits as we can, so a veteran can walk in and see a multitude of services that can help.

On their arrival in Port Jefferson, the Port Jeff Village Center was crammed full of a number of veterans services initiatives for them to peruse. PSEG Long Island, while not sponsoring the event, aided the initiative through its community partnership program by providing volunteers. Eight of the kayakers were also employees of PSEG Long Island.

Two tables were for Independent Group Home Living Program, of which Lombardi is CEO. The money, Lombardi said, is going to Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk County, a subsidiary of IGHL that provides therapy services for veterans, among its other services for those experiencing family violence and rape. The first year of the event raised $60,000 to start a treatment program at VIBS, hiring a treatment specialist. While the amount they annually raise has gone down to around $15,000 per event, the IGHL CEO said the event now focuses more on outreach and getting veterans in touch with the services that can help them.

The veterans who kayaked said the Sound was relatively easy on the swell, though that didn’t stop the wind from picking up at the opposite direction once they neared Port Jefferson Harbor. The kayaks they rode in used pedals instead of oars, though the trek wasn’t any less tiring for it, with veterans of several different ages participating.

Friends and fellow veterans Martino Cascio, of Huntington, and Dennis Stringer, of New Hampshire, laughed as they described Cascio flipping their boat to dunk Stringer in the water.

Still, the two, who together completed several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, had a refrain running through their heads. Both have known fellow veterans who suffer from PTSD and others who took their own lives.

“I personally had a couple soldiers I was in a unit with take their own lives,” Stringer said. “It’s definitely affected me personally.”

Bayshore veteran Donna Zephrine has completed the kayak crossing several times. Having done two deployments in Iraq and having seen many of her compatriots from the army days suffer from PTSD, a few taking their own lives, she said the event truly helps gather veterans from all over into a single place where they might find life-saving services.

“I try to do it in remembrance of them, and all the brothers and sisters who are still struggling, and all those suffering from PTSD,” she said.

Mattituck veteran Tom Gross has done the event three years in a row. He served in the U.S. Army from 1984 through 1986 in the 82nd Airborne.

“Twenty-two vets a day commit suicide, that’s over 8,000 a year, that’s unacceptable,” he said. “It’s a brotherhood, I didn’t understand how much of a brotherhood it was 30 years ago when I was in it, and when I raised my right hand how far that would carry for the rest of my life.”

Marie Van Wagner Peshenka active Port Jeff church member

Obituaries

by TBR Staff - September 5, 2019

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Marie Anne Keane Van Wagner Peshenka, of Middle Island, died Aug. 16 in Riverhead. She was 85.

Born July 2, 1934 in New York City, Marie was the daughter of Francis Keane and Barbara Reidy Keane. Marie — often known by her childhood nickname Rianne — grew up in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan and graduated with a nursing degree from the Columbia University School of Nursing in 1955. While pursuing her degree, Marie met Paul Van Wagner and they were married in February 1956, shortly after her graduation.

Marie and Paul raised four children in Port Jefferson and were active members of the Infant Jesus R.C. parish. Marie worked as a registered nurse for a number of local hospitals and schools, including the Nesaquake Middle School in Smithtown school district.

After Marie and Paul retired, they moved to Green Valley, Arizona, in 1991. When Paul died in 1999, Marie moved to Prescott Valley, Arizona. There, Marie met and married Andrew Peshenka. Andrew died in 2013.

Over the years, Marie was most in her element welcoming family and friends into her home, visiting others for social gatherings and traveling. Marie was always “a good sport,” and was willing to play any dice or card game, to join any chorus, and to get up and dance to any new song. While married to Peshenka, Marie even took on the role of navigator for his road rally races.

In her later years, Marie also was an active parishioner and served as a Eucharistic minister at St. Germaine R.C. parish in Prescott Valley.

Marie is survived by her daughters Elizabeth Gibson, Jane Whitelock (Craig) and Ellen Harrington (Kevin); her son David Van Wagner (Lisa); her grandchildren Daniel Kohlmeyer (Marissa), Andrew Kohlmeyer (April), Matthew Whitelock, Diana Van Wagner, Erika Whitelock, Claire Van Wagner, Colin Harrington, Christopher Whitelock, Stephen Whitelock, Brian Whitelock, Jarrod Odom and Thomas Harrington; her great-grandchildren Angelina Kohlmeyer, Cameron Garcia, Blake Garcia, Madison Kohlmeyer, Liam Kohlmeyer, Declan Whitelock and Evalina Kohlmeyer; her sister Joyce O’Loughlin (Kenneth); and many nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, Marie was preceded in death, as stated, by her husbands Paul Van Wagner and Andrew Peshenka.

A Mass of celebration will be held Sept. 21, 12:30 p.m. at the St. Charles Chapel, 200 Belle Terre Road, Port Jefferson. A reception will follow at approximately 2 p.m. at Miller Place Inn, located at 195 North Country Road in Miller Place. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Germaine R.C. Church, Prescott Valley, Arizona, or a charity of one’s choice.

Mount Sinai Jetty project to start construction early September

by Kyle Barr - September 5, 2019

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Mount-Sinai-Jettys_Kyle-Barr — The Mount Sinai Jetty will see reconstruction early September. Photo by Kyle Barr

After a decade delay and wringing of hands, the Mount Sinai Jetty project is going to start construction within a week as the end of summer closes in.

The ramp up East Beach in Port Jefferson is splashed with waves at high tide. Photo from Margot Garant

Ed Morris, the Brookhaven Town Parks & Recreation commissioner, said construction is ready to start the project within the week. The contractor Bay Shore-based H&L Contracting is already in the process of gathering supplies. Materials will be stored at the Cedar West Beach Parking lot, which is down the road of the main town beach parking lot.

“H&L will be starting up a staging area sometime in the next few days — [and will] be mobilizing everything,” he said.

H&L’s $7.4 million contract to rebuild the east and west jetties, which has been crumbled mess for close to a decade. The jetties rocks collapsed and submerged at the seaward ends during high tide, and lower than 4 feet in some places. Holes in the jetty have also caused erosion to surrounding bluffs and beachfronts. The western jetty has been of particular concern to neighboring Port Jefferson village and its beaches.

Matt Miner, Brookhaven Town chief of operations, said an outside engineering firm did an underwater review of the jetties, which confirmed that sand is slipping through it. The rocks that will be placed in the jetties will match the size as the ones currently used and will restore the structure’s integrity.

In addition, Melville-based surveying and engineering firm Nelson & Pope is being paid $86,000 for full-time construction inspection services.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with a finalization hopefully by spring, Morris said. Construction will be done on opposite sides of the inlet, which the commissioner noted, to allow boats through in both the on and off season.

The jetties are expected to increase in height and become slightly wider. The west jetty will extend slightly further south than the east jetty.

One element of the project that is still to be determined is the outcome of the sand sitting at the bottom of the inlet. Suffolk County has promised to dredge the sand from its bottom once the jetty project is concluded. Port Jefferson Village officials have been chomping at the bit looking to get sand back to repair its rapidly diminishing East Beach. Morris could not confirm where the sand would end up.

“Ideally, sand would be going on both sides of the jetty,” he said.

In the meantime, Port Jefferson officials have plans to piggyback the town’s contracts to aid their own beach restoration efforts.

Mayor Margot Garant said the village will be entering into contract with H&L to drop off materials at East Beach and to use the village’s East Beach parking as a staging area. She said it was still unclear how much of the parking lot they would be using. With the massive amount of rocks the company will be hauling, it could mean several trucks traveling down the steep driveway on a consistent basis.

“I don’t know to what degree they’re going to be using the east end parking lot as a staging area for some heavy equipment, maybe not at all, but it’s mostly for access,” Garant said.

As of Sept. 3, the village attorney was set to go over the details with the contractor.

Port Jefferson has plans of its own to revitalize its easternmost beachfront. The contract with H&L allowing them use of the beach will give them stone for use in rebuilding its cracked concrete access ramp. Plans are for a steel wall to cut back 200 feet tied into the hill along the country club property. The mayor said they originally looked at 356 linear feet to run along the tennis courts area, but New York State Department of Environmental Conservation restricted them to the 200.

However, the mayor said the state has promised to allow them to create a rock revetment wall around that tennis courts area to help offset erosion.

The village is still waiting on its permits from the DEC before going out to bid on those projects.

Music video showcases why people return to Port Jeff

by TBR Staff - August 30, 2019

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como4 - 1 (1) — The Como Brothers play a set at the Port Bistro Pub in Port Jefferson. Photo from Kevin Wood

By Leah Chiappino

A small crowd gathered at the Port Bistro Pub to see The Como Brothers, a Long Island-based singer-songwriter duo, and see a new music video all about Port Jeff.

Kevin Wood on the red carpet with the Como Brothers. Photo from Kevin Wood

The band has toured the country playing its music, recorded with Grammy-nominated engineer Kenta Yonesaka, and even has had its songs featured on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” The two brothers were in Port Jefferson Aug. 27 to perform a set and release their new music video “Take Me Home,” which is centered around the Village of Port Jefferson.

The video was produced by Kevin Wood, the village’s parking and mobility administrator who doubles as the owner of his own production company Kevin Wood Media and the Port Jeff Pulse.

Wood petitioned the singing duo, whom he had known from them performing at Rocketship Park, to make a song “that was centered around the beauty and majesty of Port Jefferson.” Wood said despite the fact he may have “many friends that write music, few can write the catchiness of The Como Brothers.”

Wood said that he immediately loved the song once he heard the music duo recorded it and decided to try and make the music video. It centers around a character, Lily, who returns home to Port Jefferson after traveling around. It maintains simple shots of the band playing music on the streets of the village, as well as on the dock. Shots of the village are further showcased by video of Lily wandering around in contentment at being back “where she belongs.”

This was perfect for the actress who plays her, Kiley Holmes, as she is a Navy wife and has traveled around the world. “I knew Kevin had a game plan and I trusted him,” she said. “It fits perfectly because I’m so used to moving. It talks about traveling and then wanting to come back home. This is the fifth state that I’ve been in and I’ve even lived abroad for a while, so I totally got that feeling.”

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