The TIMES of Smithtown
Volume 28, No. 1
Serving Smithtown • St. JameS • neSconSet • commack • hauppauge • kingS park • Fort Salonga March 5, 2015
$1.00
Paint Nite at the Whaling Museum
also: ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’ at Theatre Three, LI Pet expo, Ward Melville’s Brianna Cea
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Smithtown honors supervisor Supervisor patrick vecchio holds back tears as the town Board votes to rename town hall in his honor. By phil corSo
Running through history Smithtown celebrates anniversary with snowy sprint through town
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Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio (R) is now a permanent resident of town hall. The Town Board voted Tuesday, the 350th anniversary of Smithtown, to dedicate the building at 99 West Main St. in honor of Vecchio in front of a packed public meeting — a move that caught the sitting supervisor off guard, leaving him speechless and teary-eyed. Vecchio took to his office in
town hall after the motion and sat down, while wiping tears from his eyes. “I’m overwhelmed,” Vecchio said. “Didn’t see that coming.” He kept to business as usual once the resolution was adopted, asking the public if there was anyone who wished to be heard before closing the meeting. The idea was only days in the making, according to Suffolk County Legislator Robert Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), who worked alongside state Assem-
Photo by Phil Corso
Smithtown’s town hall is now dedicated in honor of Supervisor patrick vecchio. a ceremony to celebrate the honor will be announced soon.
blyman Mike Fitzpatrick (RSaint James) to honor the 38year supervisor. The legislator commended the town board in a statement Tuesday for what he called a well-deserved action. “Supervisor Vecchio has been a longtime friend, neighbor and mentor of mine,” Trotta said. “I am thrilled that the building where he has spent the past 38 years leading the town of Smithtown will be named in honor of him.” Fitzpatrick said he and Trotta found the honor most suitable and worked alongside McCarthy and the town board to find the most appropriate place to dedicate to the supervisor. McCarthy had floated the idea of naming town hall in his honor and Fitzpatrick said it was an easy idea to get behind. “We’re all town residents. We’re all constituents. We’re all friends,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s done a great job. He’s been the steady hand at the ship of Smithtown and he’s most deserving of the distinction.” The supervisor shifted his eyes around the room in confusion as Councilman Thomas McCarthy (R) read the official resolution.
Photo by Phil Corso
“It’s hard to keep a secret from him,” McCarthy said in jest. “I don’t think he knew.” The councilman said he tried to persuade Vecchio over the weekend to call a special Town Board meeting for Tuesday night, when the councilmembers would be celebrating the town’s anniversary at the Smithtown Arts Center. But Vecchio stayed by the book, forcing the councilman’s hand to announce the dedication at the 2 p.m. regularly scheduled town board meeting. He and Vecchio placed the original resolution, signed by each member of the board, into a new time capsule marking the moment. In it, the town remarks on Vecchio’s life, being born in Manhattan’s Little Italy; being raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn; moving to Smithtown in 1968; and serving as supervisor for 38 years and counting. “During his illustrious tenure as town supervisor, Patrick R. Vecchio has enriched the lives of generations of town residents and maintained an unwavering commitment to fiscal responsibility,” the resolution read. VeCCHIO continued on page a8