The Port Times Record - March 9, 2023

The PORT TIMES RECORD

Community Choice Aggregation

Brookhaven joins energy revolution

BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Community choice aggregation, a revolution in energy procurement, is making a splash throughout Long Island.

Starting in May, the Town of Brookhaven will launch a CCA program, contracting with England-based public limited company Good Energy for a fixed rate for natural gas consumers over the next two years.

In an interview, Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) explained how the program would operate. Under the longstanding method of natural gas delivery in the town, National Grid — based in the U.K. and northeastern U.S. — purchases the supply and delivers the gas. CCA alters this dynamic.

“CCA is just a method of purchasing a

commodity on a communitywide basis,” he said. Under the program, “all of the customers of National Grid in a certain area are getting together to say, ‘We’re going to jointly purchase fuel cooperatively from a different source.’”

That source, Good Energy, has agreed to supply gas at a fixed price of 69.5 cents per therm. “That locks in the price for all customers” for two years, the councilmember said.

National Grid, which still operates the delivery systems, will continue to bill customers for those services. The only section of the bill affected by the changes will be for energy supply.

An August report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration states that the natural gas market saw record volatility last year due to demand changes, storms and geopolitical unrest.

Given the many variables that contribute to fluctuations in gas prices, Kornreich suggested

Brookhaven homeowners and businesses would be less beholden to the volatility of the market under CCA. “We’re going to pay just one price for the next two years,” he said.

The town is also hedging that the market price of natural gas will rise over the next two years. If that happens, CCA will deliver discounted gas to Brookhaven ratepayers throughout the contracted period.

“The expectation that I have, as given to me by the corporate representatives with whom I met, is that there’s going to be a savings to the customers,” Kornreich said. “My hope is that this price is competitive over a two-year period.”

He added, “Based on the models that they’ve shown me, this price will — over the long term — on average be lower than what they would have paid if they had just rode that market price.”

STORY CONTINUED ON A12-13

PORT JEFFERSON • BELLE TERRE • PORT JEFFERSON STATION • TERRYVILLE

Pixabay photo

Our Lady of Mercy Academy, Senior, and Seaford Resident Meghan Andersen, was named the N.S.C.H.S.G.A.A. Basketball Player of the Year!

Meghan has committed to play Basketball at Fairfield University.

Pictured with Coach and Huntington Resident Randy Todd. For more information, visit www.olma.org.

Local officials call for MTA to replace Sheep Pasture Road Bridge in Port Jeff

Local officials gathered for a press conference on Friday, March 3, at Brookhaven Town Hall to call for the Metropolitan Transit Authority to replace the Sheep Pasture Road Bridge in Port Jefferson with a span that can adequately handle increased motor vehicle traffic on the top roadway.

The new bridge construction would also allow for future third rail electrification expansion below on the LIRR right-of-way and reconfiguring the

roadway above to reduce the severe traffic angle.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro (R), Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) and New York State Assemblyman Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson) attended the press event. The railroad bridge, constructed in 1906, is the responsibility of the MTA, while the town is tasked with maintaining the vehicle roadbed. The town has applied for a $15.8 million

Pictured above, left to right: Town of Brookhaven Deputy Supervisor and Councilman Dan Panico; Supervisor Ed Romaine; Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro; Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich and New York State Assemblyman Ed Flood. Photo courtesy the Brookhaven public information office

PJ village board discusses East Beach bluff, public safety and the environment

BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees met on Monday, March 6, with a public meeting covering the East Beach bluff, youth programs, irrigation systems and public safety.

The board continued planning for the phase II upland wall project between the East Beach bluff and the restaurant facility at Port Jefferson Country Club, approving a modification to its drainage plan to accommodate racket sports facilities for $5,500.

Approaching its budget season, the board adopted a local law to enable it to approve a budget with a tax levy that exceeds the default tax levy under New York’s General Municipal Law. The local law passed 3-1, with Mayor Margot Garant absent and trustee Lauren Sheprow voting against it.

The board deliberated with Lisa Perry, president of the village-based nonprofit Long Island Foundation for Education & Sports, a children and family services group which rents a room in the Village Center.

The village lowered the room’s rental rate from $42 to $35 per hour following the COVID-19 pandemic to assist LIFFES with its expenses. Perry emphasized the program is a

service to the community.

Following some back-and-forth, the board passed a resolution to continue billing the nonprofit at a $35 per hour rate for the remainder of LIFFES’ spring season. The two parties would revisit the rates for its fall season by May.

Suffolk County police officer John Efstathiou delivered the department’s report on public safety, noting the problem of vehicular theft throughout the area.

“Let’s lock our cars,” he said. “Let’s keep our cars locked in our driveways. Let’s lock them when you park in a parking lot because people are out here stealing many items from people’s vehicles.” He added, “Do not leave your keys in the car.”

Resident Arthur Epp inquired about xylazine — also known as tranq — an animal tranquilizer appearing in fentanyl supplies throughout the country.

Efstathiou said the 6th Precinct “has not seen that yet.” Because Narcan does not help in instances of xylazine overdose, he

suggested the substance would remain on the department’s radar.

Acting code enforcement chief John Borrero delivered the code department’s report. He took over as acting chief following the suspension with pay of Fred Leute last month.

Borrero reported a recent incident of two Rottweilers attacking a small dog. “They tore him up pretty good,” the acting chief said, adding that the owner received two citations.

Borrero urged, “Please keep your dogs tied up.”

Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden reported that the Jericho-based Beechwood Organization is in its final stages of closing on the Maryhaven property, with plans to convert that area to residential housing.

“Their plan is to build condos on that site,”

Acting code enforcement chief John Borrero during the code department’s monthly public safety report on Monday, March 6. Photo by Raymond Janis

‘Please keep your dogs tied up.’

VILLAGE

Make a Statement...

MTA Bridge

Continued

grant to repair the roadway structure through the BridgeNY Program. The LIRR is also interested in developing a second track along the existing railroad, according to town officials.

“At 117 years old, the Sheep Pasture Road Bridge needs to be replaced with a new one that can handle the vehicle traffic load of today, not 1906 when it was built,” Romaine said. “This is the type of project that the MTA should be spending money on.”

Losquadro decried the lack of public investment from the MTA in the local area. “Long Island, specifically Brookhaven Town, has been repeatedly shortchanged by the MTA when it comes to capital infrastructure investment,” he said. “It is imperative that the MTA expend the necessary funds required to replace the Sheep Pasture Road Bridge.”

Kornreich expressed similar sentiments. He stated that MTA should go further than maintaining existing infrastructure, advising the agency to explore electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch line.

“Unfortunately, for many people in my community, it feels like the MTA is taking us for a ride,” he said. “We pay an increasing share of the burden and don’t see it coming back in terms of improvements in service and infrastructure.”

The councilmember added, “Public transportation is incredibly important, and although we are hopeful we’ll receive this major grant from New York state, my constituents are calling for a more consistent and substantial commitment to local rail service. We want the MTA not just to repair and maintain structures like the Sheep Pasture Road Bridge but to move forward on electrification and improve schedules on the Port Jefferson line.”

The Sheep Pasture Road Bridge in Port Jefferson. Photo courtesy the Brookhaven public information office

Port Jeff Village trustee announces run for reelection

Let’s return to a small high school in Cherry Valley, near Cooperstown, where I was an all-county athlete in three different sports.

PERSPECTIVE

The school was small, and the village was also small, to the extent that I could not fulfill my goals to work with and help people and different organizations.

After high school graduation, I went to SUNY Cortland, where I majored in physical education and health education. This was perfect. I knew this would lead me to a career that would also allow me to work with children and adults. As a senior, I was fortunate to meet Peggy Ulmer, who eventually became my wife.

Graduation came quickly, and I landed on Long Island, where schools were expanding and springing up all over Nassau and Suffolk counties. I took a position in the Plainview-Old Bethpage school district as a physical education teacher. Wow, 13 schools and over 10,000 students. Indeed, it wasn’t Cherry Valley.

Over the next 34 years in Plainview, I moved from teacher to athletic director of the junior high to athletic director of the high school and eventually to districtwide director of athletics. Every day of every year, I was doing what I loved, working with youngsters and adults in classrooms and various athletic facilities.

In 1980, we bought land and built our home

in Port Jefferson. This was one of the best decisions we ever made. I immediately joined the Port Jefferson Country Club to play tennis and golf. I volunteered to serve on the tennis board and eventually became its chair. I also ran for a position on the board of governors, was elected and became the chair of that board. I was forever expanding what I loved doing, giving my time to make things better.

Then in 1995, retirement came along. Now what?

A major part of my time became open and empty. I turned to the country club, where I volunteered to work as chair of the greens committee. That committee work eventually led to my appointment to the country club’s management advisory committee. I was elected chair of that committee in 2005 and served until Mayor Margot Garant finally twisted my arm enough to run for village trustee. I am at a point now where I am asking to continue working for the betterment of our community.

I often hear the comment, “I want to finish what we have started.” Well, I know that there is no finish. A challenge is always waiting to be solved, fixed, improved or implemented. I welcome each one and will work tirelessly toward success. Do we always reach what we want? No, but I guarantee 100% effort.

My vision going forward involves maintaining our infrastructure, providing a safe community through solid code enforcement, providing an allencompassing recreation program, upgrading our beautiful parks and beaches, finding new sources of revenue and working to keep our budget under control. These items are the responsibility of the entire board of trustees.

By Stan Loucks

More specifically, each trustee is the liaison to a different facet of our village government. Currently, I am the liaison to the parks department, which includes all of our parks and beaches, and liaison to the country club. I know that many of you have never had the

opportunity to see the entire club, and I would love to show it to you. Call me at 631-2753730 or email me at trustee-loucks@portjeff. com, and I will give you a tour of your club.

The country club serves over 500 members, runs on a $2.9 million budget, increases all of our property values and costs the nonmember resident zero dollars. Yes, your country club is totally independent while still being a wonderful village asset.

We are working on expanding the social aspect, which should be present at the club. We have constructed a beautiful patio with a barbecue station and a separate patio that contains a firepit.

The club employs two full-time certified PGA professionals who offer group and private lessons and clinics, and camps for all ages. These camps, clinics and lessons are available to everyone.

We are excited that we will have access to East Beach this summer. To that end, the parks department is renovating both bathrooms at the beach and also bringing those kayak racks back into our system. To learn more about your club and parks, visit portjeff.com or portjeffcc.com.

So, we not only found out how I became a trustee, but we discovered what I have done, what I am doing and what I can do moving forward.

Catholic Health and Long Island Cares partner to fight food insecurity

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

A local health care system and nonprofit have joined forces to help patients in the area. Catholic Health and Hauppauge-based Long Island Cares food bank have been working together to help patients battling food insecurities.

“We have to engage health care partners in the fight against hunger,” said Jessica Rosati, Long Island Cares vice president for programs.

A pilot program was launched last summer in Catholic Health emergency rooms, including St. Catherine of Siena Hospital in Smithtown and St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, to identify residents who need grocery supplements. The initiative includes health care practitioners screening emergency room patients for what are called “hunger vital signs.” If a screener deems a person is food needy, the patient can take a bag that has enough food for one or two people for three days.

Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein, Catholic Health vice president and chief public and community health officer, said there has been data showing that 10-15% of Long Islanders experience food insecurities.

“We don’t want people leaving our hospitals and going to a home with no food,”

Eisenstein said.

The doctor said questions asked during screening include if there is enough food in the patient’s home or if they have enough money to buy more. Eisenstein said the bags are meant to be a bridge until a person can receive additional help. Health care professionals will also ask patients if they need help connecting with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, or social services.

Rosati said food insecurity is a social determinant of health.

“It makes a lot of sense for health care providers to start screening individuals for food insecurity, simply because it has such a strong correlation with other diseases and disorders,” she said. “If we can treat people when they immediately come in, then we have a better chance of linking them with the appropriate services so they have all of their needs met — not only their physical health, but everything else.”

Eisenstein added that the hope is to prevent unnecessary readmissions. He gave the example that if a patient with congestive heart failure may not be able to afford nutritious food, they may be back in the emergency room with health problems.

He said unnecessary admissions might mean financial consequences for a health care system, but ensuring people don’t return to

the emergency room unnecessarily is part of a hospital’s mission “to be humane and serve the most vulnerable.”

According to Rosati, more than 1,000 meals in to-go bags were distributed at all six Catholic Health hospitals to date. She added all the food included in the bags are nonperishable, shelf stable, and staff ensure food is nutritionally sound before being purchased.

She added Catholic Health officials approached Long Island Cares about initiating the program and the health care system has taken ownership of the program and found donors to expand it. She commended Catholic Health

for its efforts, adding that such an initiative is “imperative for people’s overall health and the success of their health,” and hopes other providers will take note.

Bags are now also being distributed throughout the Catholic Health’s ambulatory care, walk-in clinics, home care operations and cancer institute locations throughout Long Island, including Smithtown, Port Jefferson, Commack and East Setauket.

Uniondale-based Harris Beach law firm recently donated $5,000 to the program, according to Long Island Cares, which will cover 2,000 meals.

Catholic Health patients identified as having food insecurities will be able to take home a bag with enough food for three days. Photo from Long Island Cares

The following incidents have been reported by Suffolk County Police:

Lake Ronkonkoma chiropractor arrested

Suffolk County Police arrested a chiropractor on March 3 for allegedly forcibly touching three female patients at his Lake Ronkonkoma business in 2021 and 2022. Three women contacted detectives to report Ronald Bernardini, a chiropractor at Lake Chiropractic, located at 201 Portion Road, allegedly forcibly touched them during their appointments between February 2021 and October 2022. The victims came forward after Bernardini was arrested in October 2022 for sexually abusing a teen at his practice. Fourth Squad detectives charged Bernardini, 65, of Smithtown, with four counts of Forcible Touching. Detectives are asking anyone who believes they could be a victim of Bernardini to contact the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452.

Setauket teen bicyclist killed on Route 347

Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that killed a bicyclist in Setauket on March 2. David Zerella was driving a 2015 Dodge Charger westbound on Route 347 at Wireless Road when his vehicle struck a bicyclist who was crossing Route 347 at approximately 6:30 p.m.

The bicyclist, Qamat Shah, 14, of Setauket, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Zerella, 36, of Port Jefferson, and his female passenger were not injured. The Dodge was impounded for a safety check. Detectives are asking anyone with information to call the Sixth Squad at 631-854-8652.

Merchandise stolen from Target in Selden

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man who allegedly stole assorted merchandise, including a Dyson vacuum, from Target, located at 307 Independence Plaza, on Feb. 25 at approximately 10:10 a.m. The stolen merchandise has a value of approximately $575.

CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Wanted for Port Jeff Station burglary

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify the man who allegedly burglarized a Port Jefferson Station restaurant in January. A man broke a glass door to enter Chick-fil-A, located at 5184 Nesconset Highway, on Jan. 20, at approximately 12:05 a.m. He allegedly took several iPads from an office, and then fled in a sedan.

Arrests made on murder of PJS man on Greenway Trail in June of 2021

Following an investigation by Homicide Squad detectives, Jose Martinez-Vazquez and Tiffany Diaz-Cabrera were arrested on March 5 for the alleged murder of Benjamin FloresMendez, who was found stabbed to death on the Greenway Trail, near Clifton Place, in Port Jefferson Station on June 17, 2021. MartinezVazquez, 24, and Diaz-Cabrera, 20, both of Port Jefferson Station, have each been charged with Murder 2nd Degree.

Human remains found on Shirley beach

Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are conducting an investigation after human remains were found on the beach at Smith Point County Park in Shirley on March 6. Smith Point County Park employees called 911 at 1:35 p.m. after a woman reported to them she had located what appeared to be a human bone. Police responded and located the bone in the sand. The remains were taken to the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner for autopsy to determine the cause of death and to make an identification.

— COMPILED BY HEIDI SUTTON

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.

Do you recognize this man? Photo from SCPD

Ronald Bernardini

Do you recognize this man? Photo from SCPD

Village Board

Continued from A3

Snaden said. “We have a lot of apartments being built uptown. We had some apartment buildings down here, but these will be ownerowned condos.” The deputy mayor added that Beechwood would soon submit its application to the zoning and planning departments.

Trustee Rebecca Kassay reported that the village is exploring potential solutions to the drought problem on Long Island, considering irrigating the golf course at PJCC using rainwater.

“This is the direction everyone seems to be going in,” she said. “The water situation has been serious.”

Trustee Stan Loucks reported that permits are now available for kayak racks. “If you have a kayak, canoe or vessel, you can pick up your applications right now,” he said. “The lottery for those racks will take place on April 3.” He added, “Hopefully, we have enough racks this year, so we don’t really freeze anyone out.”

He also reported that the walkways at Harborfront Park would be renovated in the

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Trustee Sheprow said the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council approved the date of Aug. 17 for the village’s annual community

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golf outing at a rate of $75 per player.

“Whoever wants to play who lives or works [in the village], volunteers for the fire department, working in the school district, works at the hospitals is welcome to participate

in that golf outing,” she said, adding, “It was very successful last year.”

During the meeting, Snaden presented Drowned Meadow Cottage historian Mark Sternberg with a village proclamation for his research connecting Port Jefferson to the Culper Spy Ring.

Following the presentation, Sternberg delivered a brief address thanking those for supporting him in his historical endeavors and discussing the momentum behind the village’s local history.

“The energy with the cottage is so incredible, and I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t see smiles on so many people’s faces that are coming through,” he said. “It’s been an incredible ride, and I can’t wait to continue it.”

During the public comments, resident Myrna Gordon petitioned the village board to consider banning single-use plastic containers, particularly for village-sponsored events.

“I would hope that an ordinance or request can be made that the only kind of containers that can be used are environmentally friendly or paper products,” Gordon said. “We have to do away with the plastic.”

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Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden presenting Mark Sternberg, Culper Spy Ring historian at the Drowned Meadow Cottage, with a village proclamation. Photo by Raymond Janis

SBU’s Pikitch, others ‘optimistic’ about the U.N.’s High Seas Treaty

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Determined, passionate and committed representatives to the United Nations, including the United States, spent over 20 years trying to hammer out an agreement to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.

This past Saturday, after extending a deadline, representatives of 193 countries in New York verbally agreed to terms of a High Seas Treaty designed to reduce pollution, protect biodiversity and share ocean resources.

While individual countries still have to ratify the treaty, scientists like Ellen Pikitch, endowed professor of Ocean Conservation Science and executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, praised the agreement.

“It’s fantastic,” Pikitch said. “It’s been needed for so long.”

Lisa Speer, a marine scientist and the director of the International Oceans Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, has been working to educate and encourage government leaders to understand what’s at stake and how to protect the oceans.

“This is a big step forward for biodiversity conservation on a global level,” said Speer.

“This provides me with a lot of encouragement.”

In addition to the educational and advocacy work she did over the years, Speer spent much of the last 36 hours at the U.N. surrounded by others who had slept on the floor or in various rooms and hallways amid the effort to get this treaty across the finish line.

“Everybody was really emotional,” she said, with spontaneous applause and cheers continuing for a long period of time. “A lot of us have been here since the beginning. There were celebratory hugs and thanks and tears of joy for the efforts of so many people” including some who were not in the room but had worked for decades on this treaty.

The view of the importance of biodiversity in the oceans has changed considerably over the last few decades.

“For most of human history, the high seas have been viewed as an empty wasteland,” Speer said. Now, however, people recognize that it’s “probably the largest reserve of biodiversity left on the planet.”

This treaty, Pikitch and Speer added, can and should help ensure that humans can explore and discover some of that biodiversity before it might otherwise disappear.

Speer is hopeful that United States senators, who will have a chance to vote on the treaty, recognize that the country has “a very strong interest in making sure it has a voice in

decisions affecting half the planet. It’s in our interest to be full participants in that process.”

Pikitch, who is an expert in the field of Marine Protected Areas, suggested that the process of coming up with a framework to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by the end of the decade involved considerable back and forth with various interest groups within each country.

“It’s not that easy to determine how this area would be managed,” Pikitch said. Various groups have “concerns that differ among different parts of the global community.”

Pikitch pointed out that a Convention on Biological Diversity late last year agreed that the world would protect 30% of the lands and waters by 2030.

Pikitch said such a goal was unattainable without this High Seas Treaty, which addressed the parts of the ocean that had previously been off limits to such protections. The treaty and the establishment of marine protected areas will be “huge for biodiversity,” Pikitch said.

Piktich suggested that the commitment over two decades and the increasing public awareness of the importance of ocean resources offers her hope that this treaty, for which numerous details are still in the works, will offer effective protection.

“There’s a huge amount of passion and commitment by countries of the world to work this out,” she said. “They did not give up.”

Game On retro arcade opens its doors to local youth groups

BY DANIEL FEBRIZIO DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

youth group — and not only church groups.

According to Whitworth, they need to provide adult supervision for the kids, who then have free rein to play the games in the arcade. Since Game On is located in the Smith Haven food court, kids can take a break to get something to eat.

COMMUNITY

Game On retro arcade, located in Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, recently started a program that enables local youth groups to use the arcade completely free of charge.

Tristan Whitworth, the owner of Game On, has been dedicated to supporting various communities over the years, and he thought this would be a great way to reach out to local youth. The program started organically, Whitworth said.

“A customer asked me if he could have a youth group visit, and then I just thought that would be a cool thing for other churches to do,” he said. “And then it kind of took off.”

Michael Caggiano, of Cornerstone Bible Church of Port Jefferson Station, took his group to Game On last year to utilize this program.

“My youth group had an amazing time at the Game On arcade,” Caggiano said. “To have Tristan opening up his space like that to the community and the youth in particular is a blessing.”

Game On has hosted over a dozen large groups in the past few months. The youth groups are scheduled for weeknights when the arcade is less busy than usual. The program is open to any local

Whitworth, who also runs a social club at his church for children on the autism spectrum, views Game On as a community and family based arcade.

“I grew up in this. There were arcades everywhere … anything I can do to bring it back.”

Now Whitworth is hoping that this youth program will be a way to give back to the people that supported Game On during COVID-19.

“We just want to give back as much as we possibly can to our community,” he said. It’s “been a tough few years and I’d really like to do as much as we can for everyone right now.”

The game machines at the arcade all run original hardware and monitors — there are no replicas. They boast a number of different rare retro games, such as Baby Pac-Man, which is a combination of regular Pac-Man and pinball. There are also Ms. Pac-Man and Super PacMan games.

“On a weekend, [all the Pac-Mans] are being used at the same time, to the point where you almost need another Pac-Man,” Whitworth said.

Game On also has stores in Miller Place,

Patchogue and Smithtown. These three locations primarily sell video games, toys, action figures and other collectibles. The Smith Haven arcade opened in January 2022 and is the newest location. Youth group representatives can reach out at Game On’s Facebook page, via email at gameonvideogamesli@gmail.com, or by

phone at 631-821-4263.

“It’s a really special night for them to go out and be together and do something instead of just going to the church community center,” Whitworth said. “It’s just a change of pace.”

For more information, visit the website gameonmp.com.

Game On’s retro arcade in the Smith Haven Mall features retro arcade games such as Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, above.

Photo by Daniel Febrizio

The U.N.’s High Seas Treaty aims to reduce pollution, protect biodiversity and share ocean resources. Stock photo

A Suffolk-forward vision to increase housing options

The cost of housing is among the most crucial issues facing Long Island’s future, and it is an issue I have personally worked to address. As chair of the Suffolk County Planning Commission, I eliminated red tape and helped to get shovels in the ground for housing developments. Now, I have serious concerns about an Albany-centric, one-size-fits-all plan to increase housing options, but I am confident that we can address our housing needs if we employ a Suffolk-centric approach.

Perspective

Commission — a representative body made up of members from each of Suffolk’s 10 towns and two from its villages — we should create a regional housing plan designed to maximize the needs, capacity and desires of each part of the county. In such a plan, we will identify areas for future housing development and encourage the redevelopment of underutilized properties.

We need more housing options to allow working families to thrive, young people to stay and seniors to comfortably retire in Suffolk County. However, the existing piecemeal approval processes have left us with too little housing which, due to simple supply and demand, costs too much.

With a median home price of $545,000 and few rental units available in Suffolk County, our young people are compelled to move away. This exodus imperils our future and places Long Island businesses at a competitive disadvantage when needed workers cannot afford to live here.

By Dave Calone

To execute such a plan, we need New York State to partner and deliver the incentives needed to facilitate development. For instance, the state can offer funds to municipalities that contribute most toward the countywide goal, that most quickly approve housing and that create housing for a variety of income levels. Moreover, it can provide necessary infrastructure investments that will allow future growth in municipalities that want to develop.

The housing crisis has grown over decades and needs to be addressed with urgency. However, the proposed solutions from Albany don’t make sense for Long Island, and Suffolk County in particular.

One-size-fits-all mandates that ignore local realities and discretion would be both ineffective and counterproductive on Long Island. Suffolk County is home to 1.5 million people spread across more than 40 municipalities. Requiring each municipality to increase housing by 3% over a three-year period cannot be done without seriously undermining other regional goals like waterquality protection and traffic mitigation. A state commission overriding home rule — Albany usurping zoning power from localities — due to a failure to satisfy this often unreachable mandate is a nonstarter.

Instead, we can set and achieve regional goals that meet the moment and maintain local governance, with the state serving as a crucial partner providing incentives and resources to help us reach those goals. Here’s how.

First, we organize and plan locally. Through the Suffolk County Planning

In addition to organizing a regional effort, the county must play its part by seeking innovative solutions to address our housing needs. For example, Suffolk County, our largest landowner, should audit all of its properties and determine which could be repurposed to develop housing at a reduced rate for our taxpayers. Moreover we must seek avenues to eliminate red tape, and specifically for homes that are consistent with the regional housing plan, the county Department of Health Services must streamline and prioritize the review and approval process. The county should also increase regional capacity for housing creation by helping to form other development tools, like land trusts, as well as providing planning resources and guidance to municipalities.

With major investments and opportunities coming to Long Island, this is an exciting time for our region, but we must act to capitalize on our opportunity. To support working families, provide local businesses with employees, and secure countywide safety and prosperity, it’s imperative that we address the housing needs across our region — and the best solutions will start here in Suffolk.

Dave Calone, a former prosecutor, business leader and previous chair of the Suffolk County Planning Commission, is a candidate for Suffolk county executive.

Part II: Legislative races ramp up across levels of government

BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Local legislative elections are shaping up, with candidates across levels of government gearing up for county, town and village races.

Suffolk’s 5th District

Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), whose 5th District encompasses Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station/Terryville and Three Village, is termed out due to 12year term limits for county legislators.

ELECTION 2023

To fill the open seat, former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and former congressional candidate Anthony Figliola have stepped up.

Before receiving his party’s nomination, Englebright had previously occupied the seat from 1984 to 1992, after which he entered the state Assembly. He described this year’s bid as “coming home.”

“It’s been some 30 years in Albany, but my heart is always here in the community,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done.”

The core issues facing the 5th District, Englebright contended, are those related to the environment and public health. He stated his core priorities are protecting Long Island’s sole-source aquifer and its coastal waters.

“Science has advanced, and the connection between our drinking water and our tidal waters is more explicitly understood now,” the former assemblyman said. “The challenges are awaiting a legislative response to the science, so I’d like to be a part of that. I think I can make a meaningful contribution.”

He said he hoped to continue working toward preserving open space if elected and also emphasized protecting the Setauket and Port Jefferson harbors from contamination. He viewed restoring the county’s information technology systems, promoting affordable housing and limiting sprawl as central.

Figliola was the third-place finisher in 2022 during the GOP primary for New York’s 1st Congressional District. Among his professional credentials, he has served as deputy supervisor of the Town of Brookhaven and is currently executive vice president of a government relations and economic development business. A resident of East Setauket, he will represent the Republican Party in this year’s 5th District contest.

“With Kara leaving, we need someone who has a plan for the future of our district to make sure that we represent everybody,” he told TBR News Media. “I’ve done a

tremendous amount of work with small business, with the environment and volunteerism in this community.”

He added, “I just jumped at the opportunity to be able to represent the people that I live and work with.”

Like Englebright, Figliola stressed the importance of water quality in the Setauket and Port Jeff harbors. He said he would also explore opportunities for more sewers, addressing electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch line of the Long Island Rail Road as an area of concern.

“I want to continue the work that I’ve been doing on a volunteer basis for almost seven years, which is to help bring the electrification of the Port Jefferson rail line here,” he said.

He added that supporting small business districts, preserving and developing parks, and encouraging community-based planning will be in focus.

Brookhaven’s 1st Council District

Incumbent Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook), the sole elected Democrat in the town, is up for reelection this year. He entered the Town Board after a special election in March 2021 to replace former Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station), who had won a seat on the state Supreme Court.

“Serving this community is something I’ve been doing for almost two decades through service on the [Three Village] school board, the [Three Village] Civic Association and other nonprofits like the Boys and Girls Club,” he said. “Community service is really my life’s passion.”

Kornreich stated that land use would remain a top-level interest if reelected, expressing concerns with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) housing proposal for Long Island.

“One of the big looming policy issues that we’re facing is this potential threat from the governor’s office about seizing zoning control and handing it over to bureaucrats in Albany who don’t understand our communities,” he said.

The incumbent added, “We do have an affordable housing crisis — it’s just very difficult for people to find affordable places to live, and we have to address that. But we have to address it in a thoughtful way that’s sensitive to the makeup of these communities and the built environment where they currently exist.”

He also touched upon the quality of life issues that affect his constituents, such as

Steve Englebright, left, and Anthony Figliola are the Democratic and Republican nominees, respectively, for Suffolk County’s 5th District. Left from Englebright’s Facebook; right file photo

Jonathan Kornreich, left, and Gary Bodenburg are the Democratic and Republican nominees, respectively, for the Town of Brookhaven’s 1st Council District. Left from the Brookhaven town website; right courtesy Bodenburg ELECTIONS CONTINUED ON A11

Elections

Continued from A10

overdevelopment and sprawl. He pledged to focus on building viable downtowns and parks while protecting the environment.

Carrying the Republican Party’s nomination in the race for CD1 is Gary Bodenburg, a special education teacher who ran for the Comsewogue Board of Education last year.

“I believe good government is needed at all levels, so I plan on continuing the mission and vision of [Brookhaven Town Supervisor] Ed Romaine [R] in maintaining fiscal responsibility by controlling taxes and spending, addressing environmental concerns and also keeping a close eye over the overdevelopment of our suburbs,” Bodenburg said.

The Republican candidate addressed other policy concerns, such as streamlining services within the town government to “provide better value for our tax dollars.”

“Specifically, I think it’s important that we address a 25A corridor study,” he said, adding, “I also look to finalize plans with Lawrence Aviation, as well as better enforcement of housing codes for problems with off-campus student housing.”

Bodenburg said that reducing the impact of traffic and improving town parks and marinas would also be on his agenda.

Port Jefferson’s Board of Trustees

So far, only two candidates have emerged

in the villagewide race for the Port Jefferson Board of Trustees election on June 20. Two seats are up for grabs — one uncontested, as Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden is running for mayor.

Trustee Stan Loucks will seek his fifth election, having joined the board in 2015. During his tenure, he has served as trustee liaison to the parks department and Port Jefferson Country Club, coordinating with the administration on stabilization plans for the East Beach bluff.

“I love working for the village, specifically the areas that I’m assigned to,” Loucks said. “I just want to keep going. That’s the bottom line.”

Asked what policies he would seek to implement in the coming term, Loucks said reinvigoration of PJCC would be a continued area of emphasis. “I’d like to see more social activities and more community get-togethers focusing around what I think is the gem of the village, and that’s the country club,” he said.

Between new racket sports facilities, recreational programs and the finalization of coastal engineering projects along the bluff, he expressed optimism for such a revival of PJCC. “I want to see it come back,” he said.

Former village clerk Bob Juliano is also in the running. He has had considerable professional experience in municipal government, holding various administrative posts throughout his career in Port Jeff, Westbury and Lindenhurst villages.

“I have the knowledge and experience

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of being a clerk and a treasurer for the past 30 years for three different municipalities,” Juliano said. “I figured I could use that expertise and my knowledge and my knowhow and put it to good use for the community that I live in.”

If elected, Juliano said he would like to “slow down what’s going on uptown.” Like Kornreich, he expressed apprehensions over Hochul’s housing priorities. And similar to Loucks, he proposed exploring a better use for PJCC.

“I’m very concerned about the country club,” he said. “I know they’re progressing with the wall and everything, which is a fantastic thing, but I’d like to see the country club be more viable as well as more welcoming.”

This is the second of a two-part story. To read about the races for Suffolk County executive, Brookhaven town supervisor and Port Jeff Village mayor, see story, “Suffolk County exec race prompts turnover across local government,” at tbrnewsmedia.com.

Stan Loucks, left, and Bob Juliano are both declared candidates for the Port Jefferson Board of Trustees. Left from the Port Jefferson village website; right courtesy Juliano

Brookhaven joins energy revolution Continued from COVER

CCA: An energy revolution

Community choice aggregation first came about in the 1990s as a model of procuring energy whereby a municipality can pool the buying power of its residents to negotiate favorable energy contracts.

Gang He is an assistant professor in the Department of Technology and Society at Stony Brook University, whose research focuses on energy and climate policy.

The assistant professor regarded the traditional relationship between energy consumers and suppliers as heavily skewed in favor of suppliers, referring to consumer protections under CCA as correcting the power imbalance.

“When utilities deal with residents, residents have no power,” Gang He said. “It’s a monopoly, and it’s heavily regulated by regulators. A CCA can play a role in helping the residents to have more negotiation power.”

Paul Fenn, founder and president of the Massachusetts-based CCA firm Local Power, drafted some of the original enabling legislation for CCA in Massachusetts, California and throughout the U.S. In an interview, he traced the history of CCA.

Fenn said vertically integrated investor-owned utilities have historically operated as monopolies and cartels, given their guaranteed rates of return by state regulators and energy market deregulation.

CCA, he said, seeks to rectify this.

“The basic definition is that CCA is a

Promoting renewables

model of energy supply that is neither a monopoly nor a cartel,” he said.

He likened the energy model to Costco. “The reason that large users achieve cheaper services is like going to Costco,” he said. “If you’re buying 200 rolls of toilet paper instead of 20, you pay a lower price.”

CCA applies this framework to the energy supply, giving the small consumer the perks of a bulk purchaser by pooling the buying power of entire communities.

“It’s a way for small users ... to gain the economic buying power enjoyed by the largest corporations,” he said, adding, “The aggregations are designed to deliver the benefits to the user and not to the supplier.”

Two factors, according to Fenn, have contributed to the rise of CCA nationwide.

On the one hand, the economic model has been tailored and perfected to benefit individual users over large suppliers. On the other hand, renewable technologies have progressed to the point where they are now competitive with fossil fuels.

Fenn characterized CCA as a revolution for capitalizing on the convergence of

Anne Reynolds is executive director of Alliance for Clean Energy New York, a group of private companies and nonprofits partnering to expand green energy opportunities throughout New York state. Reynolds indicated that CCA could be interpreted in two ways — as an economic model or as a way to promote green energy.

CCA “can be purely an economics choice,” she said. “You can think of it as a collective buying co-op,” but “most of the examples in New York state are when the community also wants to get a renewable energy product.”

Reynolds stated that CCA is not the main objective of ACE NY as CCA “hasn’t been the primary way that renewable energy products are getting built in New York, which is what we focus on,” she said.

Her organization instead emphasizes the construction of large-scale, gridconnected renewable energy projects through long-term contracts with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the state must procure 70% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2050. When asked whether CCAs offer a pathway toward a greener future in New York, Reynolds responded that there must be a mix of large-scale and smallscale projects.

“To get there, we’re going to need an unprecedented construction of renewable energy projects — offshore wind, wind, solar, batteries,” she said. “To get that done,

these projects need to have a guaranteed market for their power, what they refer to as offtake agreements.”

She added, “Having those offtake agreements with the State of New York is one way to do it. Having the offtake agreements with communities in New York is another.”

One way CCA can promote new development in renewables, Reynolds said, is through community distributed generation, often referred to as community solar.

“Community choice aggregation programs can be a great tool for getting community solar built, paid for and delivered to people,” she said. “For the state to meet its goals, and for Long Island especially, it’s going to require a little bit of everything.”

The Southampton model

Brookhaven is not the only municipality in Suffolk County implementing CCA. In the neighboring Town of Southampton, local officials are exploring a different posture, with an energy plan geared toward electricity instead of natural gas.

Lynn Arthur is the energy chair of Southampton’s volunteer sustainability committee and the founder of the

nonprofit Peak Power Long Island, a consultancy group that services municipalities and their constituents on renewable energy technologies.

Arthur said there are currently two CCA administrators operating on Long Island, Good Energy and Bedford Hills-based Joule Community Power, Southampton’s CCA administrator. She notes that the difference in administrators has placed the two municipalities on separate trajectories.

In Southampton, the Town Board is working toward obtaining electricity from 100% renewable energy sources by 2025. Arthur said that goal is coming into focus.

“It’s only natural that we would try to get a power supply contract for 100% renewables for electricity,” she said.

To meet this task, Arthur suggested CCA would play a pivotal role. She is now advocating for the Southampton Town Board to submit a request for proposal to supply electricity from 100% renewable sources.

Brookhaven

vs. Southampton

Weighing Brookhaven’s CCA against Southampton’s, former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) suggested that Southampton has the upper hand.

“I think Southampton’s model is the better one,” he said. “Electricity is the future. We should be moving away from natural gas.”

But, he added, “to the extent that the Town of Brookhaven can get started with [CCA] is promising. I think the inevitable success of what Southampton is doing will compel their next-door neighbor, Brookhaven,” to follow suit.

Despite Brookhaven’s gas-exclusive CCA, Fenn did not say that gas aggregation

was inherently brown and electricity aggregation green. Rather, he said promoting renewables through CCA is a matter of how a program is implemented.

He objected, however, to the limited scope of Brookhaven’s CCA initiative.

“This program is defined narrowly as a discount-only program, and I think that’s not a particularly good idea,” he said. “It’s hard to argue against stabilizing people’s rates, but it won’t help the environment if that’s all they’re doing, and it may hurt it.”

Creating competition

Fenn regarded municipalities as sometimes prone to short-term thinking. While gas aggregation is a step toward unshackling ratepayers from the market’s volatility, he said it is incomplete.

Instead, he advised Brookhaven leaders to explore fuel switching, that is, transitioning residents from natural gas to electricity. The heat pump, for example, constitutes one way in which a home’s heating can be fulfilled by electric power instead of gas.

“Apart from the climate crisis, which says stop burning this stuff, there are so many reasons” to transition off fossil fuels, Fenn said. By fuel switching, “you’re adding electrical load when you do that, but you’re deleting gas demand.” By creating a separate program

for electrical aggregation, Fenn said Brookhaven could correct course, providing gas customers with greener options for heating.

Asked whether the Brookhaven Town Board could add a second CCA administrator for electricity, he responded affirmatively. “Just deliver both, and you can,” he said.

Arthur emphasized that municipalities can have separate CCA administrators for gas and electricity. She suggested Brookhaven add a second administrator for electricity to further competition.

“Fundamentally, if competition is good, and if you want everybody to go to electricity and get away from gas, then you should have [CCA administrators] compete with each other,” she said. Local vs. centralized intervention

Fenn noted the decline of municipal power since the Civil War, which he said had rendered local governments impotent compared to their state and federal counterparts. He criticized the tendency of local officials to outsource services to third-party vendors.

“Part of the problem is the dependence on third parties cripples the governments by making them intellectually captive to those service providers,” he said. “We believe municipalities should have skin in the game and should use the power that they have.”

Fenn attributed the climate and garbage crises in the United States to the decline of municipal powers and the failures of centralized government. He encouraged local policymakers to embrace programs like CCA to counteract these downward movements.

“There has to be knowledge, responsibility and therefore control”

vested in municipal government, he said. “CCA uses contractors to provide services, but they’re firmly under the control of the municipality.”

While CCA proposes a local solution to a global climate phenomenon, questions remain about the best forms of intervention.

For Reynolds, tackling the climate crisis requires a centralized intervention from the higher levels of government, with local governments doing their part as well.

“We absolutely need both,” the ACE NY executive director said.

For the state to reach its aggressive emission mandates, “you’re going to need larger power projects, too, like offshore,” she said. “But it shouldn’t be an either or question.”

A sustainable future

Gang He viewed the growth in renewable energy, evidenced by over $1 trillion in worldwide investment last year, as a turning point in energy history.

“Renewables have gained momentum,” the SBU assistant professor said. “The challenge is how do we maintain the momentum to deliver the outcome that we desire?”

Arthur recommends CCA to local officials as a way to do so. “It’s so clear that this is such a great opportunity to move the needle on renewables and, at the same time, lower costs for their constituents,” she said.

Asked whether Brookhaven’s CCA could spur interest in a similar program for electricity, Kornreich expressed optimism that the town’s program would foster better energy stewardship.

“I hope that it does open people’s eyes to the possibility and to get people more comfortable with the concept of being a more conscious consumer of utility power,” he said. “Whether it’s gas or electric, people can understand they can choose and that their choices will have an impact on the environment.”

Though acknowledging some of the drawbacks to the Brookhaven program, Englebright expressed encouragement about moving away from the preexisting procurement structure.

“Great journeys are made a step at a time,” the former assemblyman said. “I like the idea of moving away from monolithic energy sourcing.” He added, “A more distributed power system is to our advantage, ultimately — more competitive, less monolithic and more responsive to the public.”

For more details on the Town of Brookhaven’s Community Choice Aggregation Program, visit the website brookhavencommunityenergy.com.

According to the website, “Eligible customers will soon receive additional information in the mail regarding product features, including information about the renewable energy option.”

‘A CCA can play a role in helping the residents to have more negotiation power.’

— GANG HE

‘Community choice aggregation programs can be a great tool for getting community solar built, paid for and delivered to people.’

— ANNE REYNOLDS

‘I like the idea of moving away from monolithic energy sourcing.’

— STEVE ENGLEBRIGHT

‘It’s so clear that this is such a great opportunity to move the needle on renewables and, at the same time, lower costs for their constituents.’

— LYNN ARTHUR

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WE’REHIRING! TECHNICALMANAGER

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WE’RE HIRING! TECHNICAL MANAGER

The successful candidate will be a vital member of the Production Department at the Staller Center for the Arts, reporting to the Production Manager. The Technical Manager will directly operate and oversee theatrical equipment, events, and production requirements in the Main Stage (1000+ seat concert hall/proscenium theater), Recital Hall (375+ seat concert venue), and the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery.

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Editorial Choose community choice: It’s sound economics

Community choice aggregation is a nationwide revolution in energy procurement with transformational implications for Long Island.

The benefits of CCA are threefold. It offers ratepayers an avenue for lower energy costs. It introduces competition into the energy marketplace, incentivizing public utilities to deliver a better product. And it places entire communities down a path toward 100% renewable energy.

The popular fiction is that fossil fuels are cheaper and more efficient than their expensive and immature renewable counterparts. CCA proponents challenge this thinking, stipulating that renewables can outperform fossil fuels with the proper economic structure, a structure supporting energy consumers instead of suppliers.

Classical economics indicates that one company controlling the entire supply of a given commodity constitutes a monopoly. Since the Industrial Revolution, vertically integrated utilities have exercised exclusive control over the supply of energy, setting prices arbitrarily and controlling the market at will.

CCA seeks to flip this dynamic on its head, introducing competition into the energy market using the bulk-buying power of a community of people. Though they are opted in automatically, ratepayers can opt out at any time at no expense. More importantly, CCA gives municipalities a choice over the energy source, with the option to select renewables over fossil fuels.

Competitors’ cheaper, greener power may incentivize utility companies to deliver a better product. If consumers want affordable and renewable energy, the utility’s rational choice would be to invest heavily in renewables and reduce rates. Competition spurs innovation and growth, benefiting all parties.

Here at TBR News Media, we hold that local governments must be highly active and potent and challenge the centralized bureaucracies in Albany and Washington when those fail to deliver meaningful results for our communities. For too long, state-regulated utilities have not done enough to counteract the effects of climate change.

A U.S. Energy Information Administration report notes, “In 2021, renewable sources and nuclear power, together, supplied 54% of New York’s total in-state generation from utility-scale and smallscale facilities.” For New York state to reach its energy goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the report indicates that figure must climb to 70% by 2030.

To meet this task, local governments must do their part, negotiating on behalf of their residents for 100% renewable energy. CCA offers our local officials the means to fulfill this end.

The Town of Brookhaven recently instituted a CCA program for a two-year fixed rate on natural gas prices. Given the volatility of today’s international gas markets, Brookhaven’s program has potential cost benefits.

However, the town has only dipped its toe into the greater CCA dialogue. A gas-exclusive program offers merely the financial rewards of the CCA model without the reduced greenhouse gas emissions. We encourage Brookhaven leaders to study the Town of Southampton’s model, where electricity may soon be procured from 100% renewable sources.

In the meantime, other municipalities should take a close look at CCA. The portside Village of Port Jefferson — already grappling with the hazardous effects of coastal erosion and worsening flooding — could send a strong message by joining this effort. Other municipalities, such as the towns of Smithtown and Huntington, could do so as well.

CCA is a cost-effective, market-friendly and environmentally sustainable policy. For residents and the natural environment, it is time for all our local leaders to take it seriously.

Letters to the Editor

Here’s to our health

I wish to thank Comsewogue Schools Superintendent Jennifer Quinn, our administrative staff and current school board who did a herculean job at Monday’s board of education meeting.

Quinn and board president Alexandra Gordon strongly held up our Comsewogue school community values. At every turn, they embodied courteous professionalism, authority and care in the face of unruly conduct by Moms for Liberty, Loud Majority and Proud Boys.

Many were inside the board room after their religious/political protest. Suffolk County police and school security staffed the building to help keep peace. Bored with the agenda of this regularly scheduled meeting, the protesters bubbled up, casting aspersions and demands.

When shouts filtered into the boardroom from the exterior entry doors, Quinn immediately saw to our Comsewogue student board representative and their parent, having them escorted through a side door to their vehicle. Remnants of Moms for Liberty and Loud Majority protesters began pounding the exterior doors as our board room filled to capacity. The police prevented them from storming the building.

Some signed up to address the board. Using practiced political and religious talking points, they couched their rhetoric in terms of “safety,” while their partners simultaneously belittled the needs of LGBTQI+ individuals including Comsewogue students and parents who were watching the streamed meeting.

At one point Moms for Liberty prayed aloud, one on their knees on the floor of the boardroom before the podium, in an effort to have their deity intercede for them. Throughout, our school district staff

WRITE TO US … We welcome your letters. They should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style and good taste. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include a phone number and address for confirmation.

Email letters to: editor1@tbrnewsmedia.com or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

and board members remained reliably considerate, lawful and responsible.

Disinformation wielded by hate groups has serious consequences. Some residents have absorbed a firehouse of its toxic cocktail. I trust the Comsewogue School District community is healthy enough to survive it.

Joan Nickeson Terryville

Democratic policies and pols bleeding NYS dry

Right after the personal political interests of New York state’s most powerful elected Democrats, the rest of us come “first.” Too harsh? Ask yourself if any of today’s top Dem “leaders,” along with their downballot groupies, have publicly argued against the failed policies largely responsible for NY’s last three major crises.

New Yorkers have suffered through a catastrophically mismanaged pandemic, a huge spike in violent crime and now a flood of illegal migrants. The first two came while the state was under single-party Dem rule, while the border “surge” came right after President Joe Biden [D] was sworn in.

No worries if you’re having trouble recalling Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] forcefully addressing any of these calamities as lieutenant governor or governor. She did nothing memorable or consequential. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer [D], who holed up in D.C. while senior living facilities were recording hundreds of COVID-19 deaths and NYPD officers were being attacked within blocks of his Brooklyn office, has remained MIA. Newly installed Brooklynite House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY8] has

mirrored Chuck’s 0 for 3 on the crises. Former NRA favorite Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D], who notably bragged about sleeping with a gun under her bed, has remained typically invisible and thus consistently inconsequential. But what would you expect from a political crew whose party’s programs have been widely responsible for the Empire State’s dramatic downturn. Albany’s deadly push to fill nursing homes with COVID patients along with criminal-friendly cashless bail “reforms” have proved disastrous. And now a wide-open southern border is taking its toll on New Yorkers.

After Dem politicians proudly declared the Empire State a sanctuary, New York City alone has been flooded with almost 50,000 illegal immigrants, creating problems we’re not prepared to solve. Those would include infrastructure overload, violent cartels peddling deadly fentanyl, a further decline in our quality of life and a financial burden amounting to billions of dollars we do not have.

A clear symptom of the contempt our state’s “ruling class” has for its tax-paying citizens was highlighted when we learned that border crashers wound up in 4-star Manhattan hotels on the public dime, while hardworking New York families struggle to make ends meet.

This upside down, backward and failed governing approach taken by NY’s Democratic politicians has not gone unnoticed by hundreds of thousands of now-former residents. Numbers released by the Census Bureau, using data representing the two years since the beginning of the pandemic, shows our state has lost over a half-million people.

In spite of discredited political schemes, our shrinking population and even the surprising 2022 GOP gains flipping the House, there’s no indication Hochul, Schumer, Jeffries and Gillibrand, along with their party sycophants, have any plans to stop bleeding New York state dry.

That’s because, right after these woke, elitist, political masterminds, the rest of us come “first.”

Jim Soviero East Setauket

Comsewogue High School, above. File photo

Chores I’d like an artificial intelligence to tackle for me

I’m really writing this. Or am I?

Now that I’ve seen artificial intelligence in action, I know that the system, such as it is, can write impressive pieces in much shorter time than it takes me to write a column or even this sentence.

Grocery shopping: I’m sure I get similar foods each week. Maybe my AI system could not only buy the necessary and desired food items, but perhaps it could reduce the ones that are unhealthy or offer new recipes that satisfy my food preferences.

Dishes: I’m not looking for a robot akin to “The Jetsons,” but would love to have a system that removed the dirt and food from my dishes, put them in the dishwasher, washed them and then put them away. An enhanced system also might notice when a dish wasn’t clean and would give that dish another wash.

over-the-counter supplies, such as band-aids. Perhaps it could also pick out new birthday and greeting cards that expressed particular sentiments in funny yet tasteful ways for friends and family who are celebrating milestone birthdays or are living through other joyful or challenging times.

Still, it’d be helpful to have an AI system that recognizes these regular needs and coordinates an optimal time (given my schedule and the time it’ll take to travel to and from these events) to ensure I don’t miss an appointment and to minimize the effort necessary.

For the inconveniences, an AI system would help by:

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF

And yet, I don’t want a machine to write for me or to reach out to you. I prefer the letter by letter, word by word approach I take and would like to think I earn the smile, frown or anything in between I put on your face as a result of the thinking and living I’ve done. However, I do see opportunities for AI to become the equivalent of a personal assistant, taking care of needed conveniences and reducing inconveniences. For conveniences, how about if AI did the following:

Laundry: Okay, I’ll admit it. I enjoy folding warm laundry, particularly in the winter, when my cold hands are starting to crack from being dry. Still, it would save time and energy to have a laundry system that washed my clothes, folded them and put them away, preferably so that I could see and access my preferred clothing.

Pharmacy: I know this is kind of dangerous when it comes to prescriptions, but it’d be helpful to have a system that replenished basic,

Staying on hold: At some point, we’ve all waited endlessly on hold for some company to pick up the phone to speak to us about changing our flights, scheduling a special dinner reservation or speaking with someone about the unusual noise our car makes. Those “on hold” calls, with their incessant chatter or their nonstop hold music, can be exasperating. An AI system that waited patiently, without complaint or frustration and that handed me the phone the moment a person picked up the call, would be a huge plus.

Optimize necessary updates: Car inspections, annual physicals, oil changes, and trips to the vet can and do go on a calendar.

with our ads

Send reminders to our children: Life is full of balances, right? Too much or too little of something is unhealthy. These days, we sometimes have to write or text our kids several times before we get to speak with them live. An AI system might send them a casual, but loving, reminder that their not-so-casual but loving parents would like to speak with them live.

Provide a test audience: In our heads, we have the impulse to share something funny, daring or challenging, like, “hey, did you get dressed in the dark” or “wow, it must be laundry day.” Sure, that might be funny, but an AI system designed to appreciate humor in the moment — and to have an awareness of our audience — might protect us from ourselves. Funny can be good and endearing, but can also annoy.

BY LEAH S. DUNAIEF

There is something new, and I hope you will find exciting, in this issue of the newspaper. If you will look at the advertisement for Elegant Eating on page 9 for those of you that get The Times of Smithtown or the back cover for The Village Times Herald, you will see a QR code within the border of the ad. Run your mobile phone camera over the code, and it will open up to a 30-second video.

The new addition, in effect, turns the flat, two-dimensional print ad into a talking motion picture, however briefly. This gives significantly extra punch

to the ad. It’s also fun for the reader.

We will repeat this for the other four newspapers, The Times of Huntington & Northport, The Village Beacon Record, The Times of Middle Country and The Port Times Record next week.

We can, of course, offer the same process for news stories. An article about someone newsworthy can carry a QR code that then permits a live viewing of that person speaking to the viewer.

For now, we will concentrate on providing this service to advertisers, refining the process as we go along. And we have priced this offering accordingly to allow many business people to afford coming aboard.

In addition to viewing the short on a mobile phone, the video will also run on the home page of our TBRnewsmedia website under the banner, “Video spotlight on

business.” Our website has approximately 150,000 viewers per month. Further, the advertisers can add the video to their own web page if they would like. Advertisers should check with their sales reps for more information and to get started.

In adding this new feature, we hope to have a meaningful interaction between print and the web. Print, of course, is being challenged as digital news and advertising have lessened to some extent the dominance of print. With this new service, it is our intention to bring the best of both worlds to the advertising side and also the news side of our media output.

The value of print, with its responsibility for vetting and fact checking both stories and ads, cannot be overstated in this present climate of enormous misinformation on the web. In bringing print to the web, and the benefits of the web to print, we hope to

engage our readers further and serve our local communities. We also hope, by being innovative, to help our bottom line.

We know communities need local news outlets to inform and protect them, as well as to hold a mirror up to record their daily lives and achievements. Towns where newspapers have failed in the last decade are now referred to as news deserts and have suffered for their loss. Ill-considered developments, poorly sited landfills and unfortunate actions by unworthy local government officials have been only some of the consequences, with no strong voice to give outcry on behalf of the people. Many energetic journalists have been thrown out of work. We believe the key to survival in this age is to embrace change and join with its best aspects.

Hence our latest enhancement for you.

D. None of the above

Here’s how to have fun

Comsewogue community rallies around a little Warrior in need

BY CHRIS MELLIDES DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

When a family member is diagnosed with cancer, the road ahead can be hard and uncertain. And when this diagnosis befalls a child, the situation appears even more dire. While it can be difficult for families affected by this disease to seek assistance, it is all the more meaningful when a community answers the call and comes together to offer its support.

have people that know my situation, care about me and went out of their way to make sure that in that time there was something in place because I don’t know what I would have done.”

COMSEWOGUE

At a Comsewogue School District Board of Education meeting Feb. 6, Colleen Tanaka, a care coordinator for kids with special needs and single mother of two, stood to address the room. She shared the story of her 8-year-old son, Tenzin, who in June 2022 was diagnosed with T-ALL leukemia. Tanaka’s eldest son, Paxton, has been attending school, though Tenzin has yet to do so since the family’s move into the district.

Tanaka said that when her youngest son began feeling unwell he was taken to see his pediatrician, an ear, nose and throat doctor and an allergist. Tenzin was originally diagnosed with parainfluenza virus type 3, which can cause a variety of respiratory illnesses and was in line with some of the symptoms he was experiencing. This would ultimately be determined as a misdiagnosis.

“He really was just very fatigued, not keeping down food,” Tanaka said. “They put him on medication and within two days he was vomiting water. The poor kid could not stand without wanting to pass out and his lips were just bloody and chapped.”

When Tenzin was admitted to the emergency room at Stony Brook University Hospital, the mother said that the doctor examining him was visibly concerned, immediately calling for bloodwork, followed by an X-ray to rule out the presence of any tumors, according to Tanaka.

Tenzin was officially diagnosed with leukemia on June 2 and was immediately admitted into the hospital for further treatment.

“I think the biggest thing is that this child went from being a typical 8-year-old whose biggest worry was getting up and going to school to, like, we almost lost him the first night,” his mother said. “He was that sick.”

One of the attendees at the Feb. 6 meeting was Joan Nickeson, who sits on the facilities and legislative advocacy committees at CSD. Nickeson sat directly behind Tanaka and, upon hearing the mother speak, described feeling as though “the planets aligned.” At the close of the meeting, Nickeson asked Tanaka whether there was anything she could do to help.

“I immediately asked if she had a Venmo account and donated some money because she revealed that she was a single parent,” Nickeson said. “When families are faced with these sort of diagnoses, often one parent in a two-parent family loses their income to care for their child, and she’s a one-parent income family.”

Tenzin’s story also drew the attention of

the school board, including BOE trustee Rob DeStefano, organizer of the Terryville Volunteer Connection. Board members, along with the district’s superintendent of schools, Jennifer Quinn, spoke with Tanaka, offering supportive suggestions and well wishes.

“I felt like I moved into this district and nobody knew what was going on with our family,” the mother said. “It wasn’t until I went to the board meeting and then the outpouring started.”

DeStefano said that since learning about Tenzin and his family, he has noticed a massive response from the community.

“Hearing any of our neighbors enduring this challenge is initially a gut punch for sure,” he said. “But upon processing the situation, the response is to explore ways to assist and ensure they know they are not alone.”

As the organizer of the Terryville Volunteer Connection, DeStefano works with community members to help champion local causes. The goal of the group, he indicated, is to connect residents with causes that build pride and spread good throughout Long Island.

“The connection among our local residents, our schools and the students within is strong,” the school board member and volunteer organizer said. “We are a family of Warriors and that is once again proven by the awesome outpouring of support we’re witnessing here.”

Fundraisers

As a local resident with three children attending Comsewogue School District, Laura

Feeley took a creative approach to helping Tenzin and his family during their time of need, starting a district-approved T-shirt fundraiser that went live on Feb. 8.

The red shirts for sale are emblazoned with a yellow lightning bolt on the front, reminiscent of the logo worn by DC Comics’ The Flash, Tenzin’s favorite superhero. The back of the shirts bear the name Tenzin’s Fan Club.

Feeley said that there has been a fair number of T-shirts already sold, adding that she hopes the fundraiser will reach 200 shirts in the near future.

“I thought it would be a great idea to not only show moral support by wearing the T-shirts, but also raising funds,” she said. “I think people need to know how much mental, monetary and social strain it puts on not only the child but the whole family.”

Feeley added, “It’s a devastating disease and holds so many negative repercussions. This is why I think the shirts are a great idea — it’s showing the family we care enough about them to show it on our backs. Tenzin is a strong fighter who deserves all the support that we can give him, along with his family as well.”

A GoFundMe was created by a close friend of the Tanaka family at the time Tenzin was diagnosed. It has already raised over $16,500 as of March 7. The mother, while appreciative, said that the experience felt strange to her and that she wasn’t keen on the idea at first.

“It was a lot to process, but it was a saving grace because I was able to pay some of my bills at that point,” Tanaka said. “I’m very fortunate that I

In addition to the GoFundMe page, a program through Meal Train was created for Tanaka’s family, which the mother is grateful for and helps her take her mind off of cooking for her children after sometimes spending all day at Stony Brook Cancer Center where Tenzin receives his outpatient care.

Asked about her experience with Meal Train, Tanaka expressed her appreciation for the service. “It’s almost like a website that gives a little information on the family and people can go on there and pick dates that they either want to cook a meal and bring it to us, send a meal or donate money,” she said.

A great kid

Tanaka said that while Tenzin is currently on a feeding tube and undergoing chemotherapy, his medical team has recommended that when the third grader feels hungry he should eat.

The mother said that her son’s favorite place to eat is at Applebee’s and that she has lost count of the number of times she’s had to make Uber Eats and DoorDash orders to be delivered to the hospital. Later, Applebee’s became more involved with the family and has even pledged to donate Tanaka a meal each week while Tenzin is receiving care.

“I guess one of the PTA moms or somebody had reached out to Applebee’s and told them that this kid loves it,” Tanaka said. “And they had given us a couple of gift cards and things. So, we actually went there and he got to sit and actually eat there. I know it sounds crazy, but to him that was the best part of his day.”

When asked to describe her son, Tanaka was forthcoming. “He is quite the individual,” she said. “Tenzin is very headstrong, determined and he’s always been that way.”

Tenzin’s mother added, “He’s very into Minecraft [video games] and Lego building. He’s probably one of the kindest 8-year-olds I’ve ever met — just very empathetic, always thinking of others before himself. He’s just a great kid.”

Quinn conveyed just how welcoming the district has been to Tenzin, despite him being a newcomer. She also noted how endearing the community has been in assisting him and his family.

“I can’t express how proud I am to live and work in a community that is always so willing and able to step up and help anybody when they’re in need, like true Warriors,” she said, adding, “Tenzin is the definition of a Warrior.”

The superintendent added, “I think the big takeaway is how brave he is and how as I said before, no child should ever have to face something so terrible. But we’re going to be here with him. His mom anticipates that he should be done [with treatment] in the spring, so we’re really looking forward to him getting past this and putting it behind him — and living a full, happy life.”

Tenzin Tanaka playing on a swing set at his mother’s home. Photo by Samantha Blandi