Asharoken secures federal funds for damaged seawall

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The Village of Asharoken is taking steps to repair a damaged seawall to lessen the chances of extreme flooding on Asharoken Avenue.

Recently, the village secured $1 million in federal funds to repair its seawall. In his Feb. 7 report posted to the village’s website, Mayor Gregory Letica said he and Deputy Mayor Pam Pierce met with Town of Huntington officials to discuss the next steps. In the letter he said, the town supplied several templates to the village “to produce a Request For Proposal from engineering firms for design, permitting and construction supervision.”

In December 2022, former Congressman

Tom Suozzi’s (D-NY3) office in a press release announced that the federal funds were “needed to rehabilitate the Asharoken seawall in order to eliminate the threat of dangerous injuries and possible fatalities from extreme flooding on Asharoken Avenue.”

In the press release, Letica said Suozzi worked for six years to help the village acquire the funding.

“On behalf of the residents of Asharoken and Eaton’s Neck, I extend my heartfelt appreciation for his efforts to secure $1 million for seawall repair in the recent House and Senate appropriations bill,” Letica said. “It took a lot of hard work to get to this point, but it was worth it. This funding will allow the village to start restoring the seawall and assure that it will be there for years to come.”

The following incidents have been reported by Suffolk County Police:

Two people injured Huntington crash

Suffolk County Police Second Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that injured two people in Huntington Station on Feb. 21. Luis Reyes was driving a 2013 Honda Civic westbound on Columbia Street when his vehicle left the road and struck a tree on McKay Road at approximately 2:15 a.m. Reyes, 19, of Huntington Station, was transported to Huntington Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. His passenger, Carlos Garcia Mendoza, 18, also of Huntington Station, was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The vehicle was impounded for a safety check. Anyone with information on the crash is asked to contact the Second Squad at 631-854-8252.

Dix Hills man arrested for DWI

Suffolk County Police arrested a Dix Hills man on Feb. 19 for allegedly driving while intoxicated following a motor vehicle crash in West Babylon. Madison Cedeno, 41, was driving a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer eastbound on Sunrise Highway, at Hubbards Path, when the vehicle struck a 2019 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck at approximately 8:40 p.m. The Chevrolet overturned and came to rest on top of the guardrail. The Mercury struck the guardrail and the center median. Highway Patrol officers arrived at the scene and determined Cedeno was allegedly intoxicated. He was taken into custody and transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip where he was treated for minor injuries and released. The driver of the Chevrolet, an adult male, was transported to the same hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Huntington man charged with murder

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond

A. Tierney on Feb. 17 announced the arrest of Candelario Cordova, 53, of Huntington Station, who allegedly stabbed his friend to death, and then slashed and stabbed his friend’s wife when she tried to intervene. According to the investigation, on Feb. 16, the wife of Roque Cisneros, 58, looked out of the front window of her Huntington Station home and saw her husband sitting in the front passenger seat of an SUV. Cordova, a family friend of nearly 20 years, and who was seated in the driver’s seat of the SUV, appeared to be trying to get Cisneros out of the vehicle. When Cisneros’ wife saw Cordova suddenly pull away with her husband still in the SUV, she jumped in her car and followed them.

Wanted for Commack petit larceny

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the people who allegedly stole sterling silver jewelry from Hobby Lobby, located at 124 Veterans Memorial Highway in Commack, on Jan. 10. The man is also a suspect from multiple other larcenies at the same Hobby Lobby that occurred on different dates.

Cordova stopped his SUV around the corner on Oakwood Road, jumped out, opened the trunk, and retrieved a long knife. Cordova then opened the passenger side of the SUV and began stabbing Cisneros repeatedly in the neck and body. Cisnero’s wife attempted to stop the attack by grabbing Cordova, who then began slashing and stabbing her. Several passing motorists stopped and intervened, ultimately subduing Cordova until members of the Suffolk County Police Department arrived. The knife used during the attack was recovered at the scene.

Cisneros was pronounced dead at the scene. Cisnero’s wife was transported to Huntington Hospital where she was treated for her stab wounds. It is unknown at this time what the motive was.

— 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.

BY STEVEN ZAITZ DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The Commack Cougars boys basketball team continued their march to the Suffolk County AA championship by beating the top-seeded Smithtown West Bulls in the semi-final round on Tuesday night at neutral site Longwood High School. The final score was 48-43.

Commack senior center Ethan Meisel led the Cougars with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and he tied the score with a layup with two minutes left in the game after Smithtown West had been up by as many as 10.

But Commack, the fourth seed, outscored West 22-7 over the final 13 minutes of the game, and key free throws down the stretch by senior guard Mike Gitz after a gigantic offensive rebound by senior power forward Chris McHugh, with 10 seconds remaining in the game, sealed the win for Commack. Junior guard Nick Waga, who appeared to be seriously injured with 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, reentered the game to help close out the contest. Waga scored 10 points and handled the crunch-time pressure that West applied in their desperate attempts to create late-game turnovers.