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Last week’s wildfires posed physical, mental health risks
BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COMBrian Colle saw it coming, but the word didn’t get out quickly enough to capture the extent of the incoming smoke.
When patients come to Schwaner with these breathing problems, he asks them if what they are experiencing is “typical of previous exacerbations.” He follows up with questions about what has helped them in the past.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has done a “fairly decent job” of regulating industrial pollution over the last few decades “whereas wildfires have been increasing” amid drier conditions, Yazdi added.
HEALTH
The smoke from raging wildfires in Quebec, Canada, last week looked like a “blob out of a movie” coming down from the north, said Colle, head of the atmospheric sciences division at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. As the morning progressed, Colle estimated the chance of the smoke arriving in New York and Long Island was “80 to 90 percent.”
Colle, among other scientists, saw the event unfolding and was disappointed at the speed with which the public learned information about the smoke, which contained particulate matter that could affect human health.
“There’s a false expectation in my personal view that social media is the savior in all this,” Colle said. The Stony Brook scientist urged developing a faster and more effective mechanism to create a more aggressive communication channel for air quality threats.
Scientists and doctors suggested smoke from wildfires, which could become more commonplace amid a warming climate, could create physical and mental health problems.
Physical risks
People in “some of the extremes of ages” are at risk when smoke filled with particulates enters an area, said Dr. Jeffrey Wheeler,
director of the emergency room at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson. People with cardiac conditions or chronic or advanced lung disease are “very much at risk.”
Dr. Robert Schwaner, medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine and chief of the Division of Toxicology at Stony Brook University Hospital, believed the health effects of wildfire smoke could “trickle down for about a week” after the smoke was so thick that it reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the ground.
Amid smoky conditions, people who take medicine for their heart or lungs need to be “very adherent to their medication regimen,” Schwaner said.
Physical symptoms that can crop up after such an event could include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness or breathing difficulties, particularly for people who struggle with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Schwaner is concerned about patients who have had lung damage from COVIDrelated illness.
The level of vulnerability of those patients, particularly amid future wildfires or air quality events, will “play out over the next couple of years,” he said. Should those who had lung damage from COVID develop symptoms, that population might “need to stay in contact with their physicians.”
It’s unclear whether vulnerabilities from COVID could cause problems for a few years or longer, doctors suggested, although it was worth monitoring to protect the population’s health amid threats from wildfire smoke.
Local doctors were also concerned about symptoms related to eye irritations.
Schwaner doesn’t believe HEPA filters or other air cleansing measures are necessary for the entire population.
People with chronic respiratory illness, however, would benefit from removing particulates from the air, he added.
Wildfire particulates
Area physicians suggested the particulates from wildfires could be even more problematic than those generated from industrial sources.
Burning biomass releases a range of toxic species into the air, said Dr. Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, an air pollution expert and environmental epidemiologist from Stony Brook University’s Program in Public Health.
In her research, Yazdi studies the specific particulate matter and gaseous pollutants that constitute air pollution, looking at the rates of cardiovascular and respiratory disease in response to these pollutants.
Mental health effects
Local health care providers recognized that a sudden and lasting orange glow, which blocked the sun and brought an acrid and unpleasant smell of fire, can lead to anxiety, which patients likely dealt with in interactions with therapists.
As for activity in the hospital, Dr. Poonam Gill, director of the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program at Stony Brook Hospital, said smoke from the wildfires did not cause any change or increase in the inpatient psychiatric patient population.
In addition to the eerie scene, which some suggested appeared apocalyptic, people contended with canceled outdoor events and, for some, the return of masks they thought they had jettisoned at the end of the pandemic.
“We had masks leftover” from the pandemic, and “we made the decision” to use them for an event for his son, said Schwaner.
When Schwaner contracted the delta variant of COVID-19, he was coughing for three to four months, which encouraged him to err on the side of caution with potential exposure to smoke and the suspended particulates that could irritate his lungs.
Suffolk County celebrates landmark housing legislation for veterans, people with disabilities
BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COMA countywide housing initiative recently got a bit sweeter for veterans and people with disabilities.
Public officials, veterans and disability advocates together with community members gathered Friday, June 9, at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge, where Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) ceremonially signed two landmark pieces of legislation.
U.S. Census Bureau data indicates Suffolk County is home to over 56,000 veterans, the highest concentration of any county across New York state and among the highest in the nation. The census also indicates that 6.1% of the county’s 1.5 million residents are with a disability under 65.
Under the new local laws passed unanimously by the Suffolk County Legislature last December and signed officially by Bellone in January, funds and housing units will now be set aside to accommodate veterans and those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“We are committed to, in this county, making sure that everyone in our community is included,” Bellone said during the recent ceremony.
The two bipartisan legislative packages were introduced by Majority Leader Nick Caracappa (C-Selden) and Legislators
Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset), Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), Stephanie Bontempi (R-Centerport) and Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai), among others.
Caracappa, who chairs the county’s Veterans & Consumer Affairs Committee, noted the sizable veteran and disabled populations, suggesting the county is pursuing a proper course for these historically underserved communities.
“We have far too many veterans on our streets [who are] homeless,” he said.
“We have far too many individuals, family members, neighbors, friends with disabilities who are willing, able, ready for a life of independence and dignity.”
Kennedy decried the lack of initiative across all levels of government in supporting these demographics. “We would be nowhere without our veterans, and we have done so little to assist them as life goes on,” she said. “This is us moving forward.”
The county legislator added, “For those with impaired abilities, they deserve to live on their own.”
Trish Calandra of Wading River, in an emotional address, shared the story of her two children with autism, who are both now living on their own.
“To see them living this great life was something I really needed to help others achieve,” she said. “There’s still more to do.
We need to get this across this state. We need to get this across this country. We have so many people who need assistance and need help.”
Tom Ronayne, director of Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency, celebrated the legislation, noting that Suffolk County has “set the bar high.”
“For the people who are most directly affected by what is happening here today, their lives are changed profoundly,” he said. “They can lay down and go to sleep knowing that they have a safe, affordable place to live and that tomorrow will not challenge them in the ways that yesterday may have.”
He concluded, “Welcome to Suffolk County because this is how we do it here.”
Smithtown BOE debates Secaur’s contract among other issues
BY SABRINA ARTUSA DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COMDuring the Smithtown Central School District Board of Education meeting on June 13, the board was divided on the motion to amend Superintendent Mark Secaur’s contract.
EDUCATION
The amendment’s immediate implications were unclear, but discussion suggests that the amendment would raise the superintendent’s salary. However, the specific conditions of the amendment were undisclosed.
“I think this moves him up toward the middle of the pack,” said Vice President Michael Saidens to board members. “Monetarily, I don’t think there is anything in there that is astronomical.” According to data released by the New York State Education Department in May, Secaur’s salary is $259,984 and he receives $62,806 in benefits.
Stacy Murphy, one of the trustees who opposed the motion, was uncomfortable with the amendment. “We are putting ourselves in a position where the superintendent’s contract ends in the middle of the school year,” she said. “What’s the rush?”
BOE President Mathew Gribbin supports the movement, although he declined to publicly answer Murphy’s question. Gribbin lauded Secaur’s performance as superintendent. Proponents of the movement, such as Gribbin and Saidens, made it clear that they want to ensure that Secaur stays in the position long-term.
“I hope Mark is here for 10 dozen years. I think he is the right man to do the work,” Saidens said.
Murphy and fellow trustee John Savoretti question the details of the contract. Gribbin said that the contract was distributed to the board a week before, but Savoretti said there was no opportunity for discussion prior to the meeting. Gribbin neglected to publicly reveal the motivation behind the amendment, stating “extenuated circumstances” influenced the motion and that he is “not at liberty to discuss.”
The argument led to one audience member, Andrea Elsky, to criticize the board’s disunity. Elsky told the board to have a “special meeting” beforehand and to remember that they are “one board.” “It’s a disgrace,” she said, a sentiment that was met with applause from the audience.
On a different issue, Kevin Simmons, the assistant superintendent for instruction and
administration, presented a new approach to the Disabilities Education Act. Simmons talked of a data-driven approach to identify trouble areas, and thereby direct assistance to the students that need it. Simmons acknowledged the disparities among certain subgroups and mentioned potential fixes, such as counseling and course catalog revisions.
Bringing up another concern, Smithtown High School East senior Andrew Guidi, spoke to the board about their decision to arm security guards. The February decision has received both criticism and support from Smithtown residents. This was Guidi’s second time approaching the board asking them to reconsider.
“If it has been seen that armed guards do not help prevent violence, and it actively is making people feel unsafe as an effect, why would this decision be passed?” he asked the board. Guidi said many of his peers feel unsettled knowing that they are in such close proximity to a deadly weapon, “no matter who is in possession of such a weapon”.
Gribbon responded that there wasn’t a clear solution to the threat of mass shootings, but he hoped the fact that there is protection would “ease people’s minds.”
The following incidents have been reported by Suffolk County Police: Man killed on the LIE when vehicle strikes tractor trailer
Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that killed a man in Hauppauge on June 12.
Brian Nieves was driving a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee in the middle lane of the westbound LIE at approximately 3:15 a.m. when the Jeep struck the rear of a 2012 Peterbilt tractor trailer, driven by Rafael Mercado. Nieves, 38, of Bay Shore, who was alone in his vehicle, was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Mercado, 55, of Medford, who was also alone in his vehicle, was not injured.
The Jeep was impounded for a safety check. Suffolk County Police Motor Carrier Section officers conducted a safety check on the tractor trailer at the scene. The collision caused all westbound lanes near Exit 56 of the expressway to close for several hours.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on this crash to call 631-854-8452. Drug manufacturing lab busted
Suffolk County Police on June 8 arrested a man who allegedly owned and operated a functioning drug manufacturing laboratory in Ronkonkoma. Fifth Precinct Patrol officers and Canine Section officers responded to a report of a burglary at Quantitative Laboratories, located on Pond Road, at approximately 3:30 a.m. While searching the premises for the burglars, officers discovered equipment and chemicals consistent with the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
Following an investigation by Fifth Squad detectives, Arson Section detectives and Narcotics Section detectives, with the assistance of members of the New York State Police and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Matthew Leshinsky, the owner and operator of Quantitative Laboratories, was arrested. Significant quantities of solid and liquid methamphetamine, ketamine and cocaine were confiscated from the premises, along with approximately $40,000 in cash.
Leshinsky, 23, of 132 Sunrise Lane, Levittown, was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 1st Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd Degree, five counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree and Unlawful Manufacture of Methamphetamine 3rd Degree.
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Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man who allegedly broke the window a Chevrolet SUV in the parking lot of Walmart, located at 85 Crooked Hill Road, on June 11 at approximately 6:15 a.m. The suspect allegedly stole a wallet from the vehicle and fled in a dark-colored SUV, possibly a Chevrolet Suburban.
Man killed in Smithtown crash
Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that killed a man and seriously injured another man in Smithtown on June 8.
Michael Bittleman was driving a 2018 Nissan westbound on Middle Country Road, near Highway Place, when the vehicle crossed into oncoming traffic and struck an eastbound 1989 Mercedes Benz in a head on collision at approximately 9:30 p.m.
Bittleman, 36, of East Northport, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The driver of the Mercedes, John Zeumer, 63, of St. James, was transported to the same hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on this crash to call 631-854-8452.
— 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.
Curiosity and serendipity lead Kenyan woman to new life on Long Island
BY MALLIE JANE KIM DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COMGrowing up in Kenya
AMERICAN DREAM
As a child in Kenya, Maureen Nabwire Manyasa-Zangrillo, now 35, loved learning about the world, but never dreamed she’d wind up living in the United States more than 7,000 miles away.
She lived several different lifestyles moving around Kenya as a child, she said, following her father’s developing career as an agricultural scientist to cities and villages and back again, fostering her love of new places and different kinds of people. As she grew up, so did that passion, expanding outward from her region and continent to encompass the entire world atlas she loved to study.
So when a serendipitous meeting over a charity project gave her a chance to travel to the other side of the world to make a new life on the North Shore of Long Island, she was ready. Now married to Joey Zangrillo, owner of Joey Z’s Restaurant in Port Jefferson, she is in the perfect setting to keep learning. “My love for geography and reading maps really helps when I meet people,” she said. “I have a clue about almost every corner of the globe.”
Before she even started primary school, Manyasa-Zangrillo had lived in Nakuru, the fourth largest urban area in the nation; her family’s village in Busia near the Ugandan border; a remote agricultural field station outside of Kenya’s capital Nairobi; and finally the thriving urban capital itself.
When it was time to start school, ManyasaZangrillo’s parents moved her and her younger sisters back to the quieter Busia, where they stayed with an aunt in a circular mud hut built in the traditional manner of their ethnic group, the Luhya tribe, while her father started the long process of coordinating construction of a modern brick house.
It was common in Kenya for breadwinners to work in the cities but keep their families back home in the villages, and such was the case for Manyasa-Zangrillo’s father. So building the house was slow progress over the next four or five years, with her father coordinating the work whenever he could make time to be home from Nairobi. Her mother, a primary school teacher, was gone awhile also to advance her training at teachers college.
Both parents made sure to stay connected to the girls. The father would send letters and packages to his daughters through the local
bus company’s courier service, and — since landlines were rare — would schedule times to talk. Manyasa-Zangrillo remembered friends with landline telephones in their offices coming to tell the family what time to wait at the local payphone booth. She and her sisters would crowd around. “You’d find all of us at the booth — he’d talk to us turn by turn,” she said. “That’s how we found ways to connect.” Once the house was finished, the family finally had a landline of their own.
At age 10, Manyasa-Zangrillo’s lifestyle changed yet again, when she went to a Catholic boarding school, run by a very strict nun. “She was tough on us,” Manyasa-Zangrillo said, recalling that after parents visited, the staff would check the students to make sure they weren’t bringing in any outside food, drinks or treats.
Amid the rigid schedule and lack of comfort food, Manyasa-Zangrillo discovered bright spots: literature and geography. The curriculum included many storybooks, in both English and Swahili. For Manyasa-Zangrillo, reading was a beautiful escape. “It was a way of distracting myself from all the craziness and strictness that was going around,” she said.
Her beloved geography also gave her mind space to travel. “They would teach us about different areas — you learn about the geography, the weather of all these places, the planting, cultivation, commerce structures and all those things,” she said. “I was just curious about places.”
As she was growing up, she saw her parents rise in their education and careers. Her father obtained his university degree, a master’s and eventually a doctorate in plant breeding for arid and semi-arid regions, and her mother earned a bachelor’s in special education. “I’d see how strong willed they are,” the daughter said. “It was really motivating to see.”
This motivation helped Manyasa-Zangrillo succeed in her own education, earning a government scholarship to university herself. She struggled, though, to know what to study. In the end, she settled on law. “I wasn’t crazy about it,” she said, remembering she looked into other options like English linguistics, but her dad was even less crazy about that idea. “You have good grades — a top performance,” he told her, encouraging her to choose a major he saw as more serious.
After completing her education, she was admitted to the Kenyan bar and landed a job at the firm where she had carried out her required internship. She found ways to enjoy it. Serving documents or filing petitions, for example, took her all around the region. “I liked it because I love traveling, and I love seeing and exploring,” she said. “It was fulfilling my adventurous self because I’m going to new towns, new places.”
Charitable deeds
Another thing that helped fulfill her curiosity were opportunities to serve. Along with her sisters and other neighbors in Nairobi, where her family had relocated, Manyasa-Zangrillo had started a group called Youth for Change as a means to serve underprivileged children. So when her close friend from law school, Annette Kawira, invited her to volunteer at Bethsaida Community Foundation’s home for orphans, vulnerable children and children who had been living on the streets, she was happy to go along.
By 2016, Kawira had moved to the United States and found herself, of all places, in Joey Zangrillo’s Port Jefferson restaurant, then called Z Pita. Zangrillo had started a nonprofit organization and apparel company promoting racial reconciliation, and he was also donating 10% of his profits to charity. When Kawira saw a sign about the restaurant owner’s philanthropy, she remembered the Bethsaida orphanage and made a fast friendship and partnership with Zangrillo.
As the two organized fundraising on Long Island, Manyasa-Zangrillo served as the woman on the ground in Kenya, liaising between them and the children’s home. Logistical texts and FaceTime interactions between her and Zangrillo blossomed into friendship — she enjoyed his sense of humor — then took on a flirtatious air. Interest sparked.
By the time he planned to take a trip to Kenya to visit Bethsaida and meet the children
LaLota blasts federal, NYC immigration policies during town hall
BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COMContinuing the contentious immigration debate in Suffolk County, U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY1) denounced federal and city “sanctuary” policies during a telephone town hall Monday night, June 12.
POLITICS
LaLota, who serves on the House Homeland Security Committee, reported that the southwest sector of the U.S.-Mexico border has become the focus of the committee’s public safety and drug prevention efforts.
“More than one million undocumented, unvetted people have illegally crossed our border since President [Joe] Biden [D] took office,” LaLota said. “Drugs are coming across that border every day. China’s making the fentanyl being smuggled across the southwest border.”
“Fentanyl is killing so many of our young people,” he added. “And while counties like Suffolk are dealing with that fentanyl problem, a migrant crisis is brewing, too.”
Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration policy allowing swift expulsion of asylum seekers on public health grounds, ended May 11. Since then, New York City has already cared for over 46,000 new migrants, according to a mayor’s office report
published June 5.
Mayor Eric Adams (D) has publicly called for counties across New York state to assist his city in a statewide immigration “decompression strategy.”
LaLota sharply criticized New York’s sanctuary city status, saying Adams and the city council have opted to “not enforce federal immigration law on those who are in our country illegally.”
“The result of the city’s policy, coupled with Biden’s open border, is that New
York City has now become overrun with illegal migrants and those claiming asylum,” LaLota said, adding, “Like, 70 percent of those asylum claims are not legitimate — they don’t meet the traditional criteria for asylum.”
As NYC grapples with the logistical constraints of handling the migrant surge, LaLota said the city’s public services are “becoming overrun.”
“Veterans, the homeless, the mentally
impaired and other Americans are now being put to the back of the line or rejected services because folks who are not in this country legally are taking those services,” the congressman said. “That, to me, is un-American.”
He added, “We Long Islanders should not have to bear the weight of the mess at the border and the [problems] exacerbated by those sanctuary city policies.”
Hauppauge funeral home owner faces federal U.S. Capitol riot charges
BY MALLIE JANE KIM DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COMPeter Moloney, 58, of Bayport, was arrested June 7 for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Moloney is co-owner of Moloney Funeral Homes, which has seven locations throughout Long Island. He is now on administrative leave with no involvement in dayto-day operations, according to the business.
POLICE
“We will not allow his actions on January 6 to distract us from our everyday focus on providing care and comfort for families during their most difficult times,” read a June 8 spokesman’s statement.
Moloney, who was identified as the protester dubbed “Black Bono Helmet” by internet sleuths two years ago, now faces eight charges related to his alleged actions during the Capitol riot. Court documents say Moloney, donning a bike helmet and protective eyewear, sprayed law enforcement officers with Black Flag Wasp, Hornet, & Yellow Jacket Killer. This kind of preparation, documents say, “indicates that he went to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, prepared for violence.”
He is also accused of attacking members of the news media, who were there to photograph the breach of the Capitol.
On the day of the arrest, his brother and coowner Dan Moloney said in a statement, “For over 90 years the Moloney family has served our neighbors during their most trying times and has a long and proud history of supporting the law enforcement and first responder communities. The alleged actions taken by an individual on his own time are in no way reflective of the core values of Moloney Funeral Home, which is dedicated to earning and maintaining the trust
of all members of the community of every race, religion and nationality.”
Peter Moloney appeared at the federal courthouse in Central Islip June 7 following his arrest, and was released on $100,000 bond. Outside the courthouse, his lawyer stressed that Moloney has not entered a plea, and the arraignment is scheduled for June 20 before a District of Columbia judge. “He is presumed innocent pursuant to the laws
of the United States of America, and we’ll proceed accordingly,” the lawyer said.
Moloney is one of more than 1,000 individuals from around the country who have been arrested in connection with the riots since the incident in 2021, according to the Department of Justice, and more than 270 of those have been charged with “assaulting or impeding law enforcement.”
The DOJ investigations continue.
AMERICAN DREAM
Continued from A7
in 2017, he was also looking forward to meeting her. She remembered being nervous about what he would be like in person, but after she opened her door to him, she said, “he just busted in with so much energy, and I was like, OK, we’re going to get along.”
For his part, Zangrillo was drawn to her compassion. “What made me fall in love with my wife is when I saw the love in her eyes for the children in the orphanage,” he said. “That second, I knew.”
To Long Island and marriage
The trip was a success and plans to install a well at the orphanage moved forward, as did plans for Manyasa-Zangrillo to visit Long Island, which she did that fall. Joey Zangrillo sent Kawira and another Kenyan friend in a limo to pick her up from the airport, and she was charmed. Manhattan charmed her, too — it was larger than life, just like the movies. She even sat in the audience at “The Daily Show” to see the comic Trevor Noah she’d watched back in Africa.
Manyasa-Zangrillo found the Port Jefferson community and Zangrillo’s friends welcoming and warm, but the weather less so. “The drastic hot to cold — I felt like my ears were going to fall off,” she said.
The weather wasn’t enough to keep her
away. After a couple months back in the more temperate climate of Kenya, she kept thinking about New York, Zangrillo and the possibilities. “In my legal profession, I was wallowing a bit,” she said. “Am I going to do this for the rest of my life, yet I’m feeling like this is not what I really wanted to do.”
So she took a risk and came back in early 2018, still unsure what the future would hold. Zangrillo was more certain. “He was like, ‘You know what? I would like you to stay.’”
They married that summer. “There’s no need to overthink something that is good,” she said of the quick timeline, adding that
where immigration law is involved, “you date through the marriage because you don’t have a long courtship.”
She found her transition to New York easy, partly because of Kawira and other Kenyan connections, but also because of her new husband. He’d told so many people about her and about the orphanage that restaurantgoers and friends were thrilled to meet her, and to learn more about her. “It’s so refreshing because when I walk in, people say, ‘You must be Maureen,’” she said. “Through the restaurant, I’m meeting people every day.”
For Zangrillo, having her in town is “a godsend,” he said. “It changed my life — I’m a happy man, with a happy life.”
Careerwise, the future is still open for Manyasa-Zangrillo. She has taken a paralegal class and is studying the American legal system in case she wants to return to her original career path. She helps at the restaurant and has introduced a top-selling menu item — the lemon potatoes. The couple are continuing their charity work, as well, with hopes to install a school library for students in a Nairobi slum settlement.
Now living in Setauket, Manyasa-Zangrillo has come to appreciate the North Shore’s feel and location, not too close and not too far from the city. “My life dream when I was younger was just to be somewhere that is full of nature and very serene, and the environment is cool,” she said. “I’d say I got it here.”
Carnival Closing Day
St. James – Smithtown Little League ends season with a Bang
BY STEVEN ZAITZ DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COMThe smoke cleared from the skies just in time, and the St. James-Smithtown Little League concluded its regular season and playoffs with a gala, daylong championship Saturday, June 10, at Gaynor Park in St. James.
Due to the poor air quality from the Canadian wildfires earlier in the week, the weekend was jam-packed from sun-up to sundown with baseball and softball games from all age groups. In addition to the exciting action, players, parents, and fans enjoyed music, face painting, a bouncy house and the smell of smoke of a much more pleasing nature wafting from the east parking lot — free hot dogs and hamburgers all day long. There were also churros, cotton candy and big, salty pretzels.
“It was the best ceremony and festival we’ve ever had for the league,” said S.J.S.L.L. President Richard Tomitz. “We were able to raise a lot of money for (former New York Jet and current radio voice) Marty Lyons’ foundation and Legislator Rob Trotta’s donation to our league is much appreciated.”
Lyons, whose construction company LandTek helped build the league’s new turf fields, also runs a foundation that works with children from ages 3 to 18 with terminal illnesses and grants them wishes. His foundation has raised $43,000,000 since its inception four decades ago.
“Never take anyone or anything for granted
in this world,” Lyons told the crowd. “What we have today, we might not have tomorrow, and we should give thanks to God for the opportunities that he’s allowed us to have. I do this every day of my life.”
Through the sale of raffle tickets and individual donations, Tomitz raised several thousand dollars for the foundation. Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta also spoke to the crowd and presented Tomitz with a check for $2,500 as Trotta’s office, S.J.S.L.L. and BusPatrol America — an organization devoted to creating a system to sustain the safety of children as they travel to and from school — have partnered to help the Suffolk County Police Department to issue tickets and enforce critical law to change driver behavior.
“We want to bring the number of school bus accidents and violations to zero in Suffolk County,” said Trotta in his remarks to the crowd.
When the microphone and podium were removed from the field, it was time for
baseball. In the first game, the 11 and under minor league championship game pitted Trophy Hut v Smithtown Ninja, with Trophy Hut winning 15-9.
The 12U Championship was played next and Armor Fence defeated Memas Little Italian 12-7.
Armor Fence capped off an undefeated season with the win.
In Majors Softball, La Familia won the Championship 9-2 in finals vs. Team Sciortino.
For the smaller players, Tee Ball and Coach-Pitch leagues for kids 4-7 also played their finales on a colorful,
balloon-filled, and sun-splashed morning, afternoon into early evening. The eight-year-old All-Star game kicked off the activities early in the morning.
Although the 2023 S.J.S.L.L. intraleague season is in the books, the action is just heating up for baseball and softball in Smithtown. Six different age groups have qualified for participation in Williamsport tryouts, which is where the Little League World Series is held each August. In July, Smithtown will host the New York State Softball tournament, which will send the winner of the 12 and under group to North Carolina to compete on a national level. The Smithtown girls who played on the 11 and under team last year, won their State Bracket. Many of them are the 12U team this year and have a real chance of playing in the national championship. Tomitz is one of the coaches on that team.
“Everyone is really excited about the softball tournament coming here,” Tomitz said. “We can’t wait to host and hopefully win again. It’s going to be awesome.”
Long Island hip-hop artists celebrate the genre’s 50th anniversary
BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COMMany who visited the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in Stony Brook Sunday, June 11, may have thought they stumbled upon a family reunion. In a way they did, as Long Island hip-hop artists were on hand to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the genre at an event hosted by the museum and venue.
of Public Enemy as well as video jockey and director Ralph McDaniels. The panel members were happy to share the history of hip-hop on Long Island stories with attendees.
VILLAGE
The Sunday afternoon event started with a “knock out” presentation as the museum unveiled a statue of LL Cool J, born James Todd Smith in Bay Shore. The actor, rapper, songwriter and music producer’s successes include the hit “Mama Said Knock You Out” (1990) and his role on “NCIS: Los Angeles.”
The statue, known as The G.O.A.T. Monument, is officially titled “Going Back to The Meadows, A Tribute to LL COOL J and Performance at FMCP” and was created in 2021 by artist Sherwin Banfield. During the unveiling ceremony, Banfield pointed out different accents he included on the 8 1/2-feet tall, 600-pound statue, including a boom box with a cassette tape of the rapper’s debut album “Radio” (1985). Banfield also played homage on the piece to what he called “the determination pin.” The rapper’s right arm was paralyzed when he was younger, and his mother would pin his right sleeve to the mattress to inspire movement.
Composed of bronze, stainless steel, steel, winter stone, resin, cement and wood, the statue was displayed in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park for a year. It includes a solar panel that powers an audio system.
Blasts from the past
Visitors were treated to performances as well as a Q&A panel where the artists shared stories from the early days of their careers, many of them knowing each other since they were younger.
Before the performances featuring DJ Jazzy Jay (John Bayas), DJ Johnny Juice Rosado, AJ Rok (AJ Woodson) of JVC Force, MC Glamorous (Chaplain Jamillah), Dinco D (James Jackson) of Leaders of the New School and the group Son of Bazerk, the artists participated in the Q&A panel along with Keith Shocklee of the producing team The Bomb Squad and an original member
Shocklee, who was born in Roosevelt, said he, along with his brother and friends, started DJing by playing in his family’s basement in the 1970s. They then began to play at local youth centers around the Island and throw parties in friends’ basements and backyards. Soon they were DJing at the local parks. While others would go to Centennial Park in Roosevelt to play basketball, other young people would go to play music, Shocklee said.
“It’s something we did to stay off the streets of Long Island,” he said. “It wasn’t as dangerous as the Bronx or Brooklyn, but you had your stick-up kids.”
MC Glamorous, originally from Freeport, said events such as Roosevelt Day, Freeport Day and Wyandanch Day gave the communities something to look forward to and the artists a chance to perform.
“It brought people together, and we got a day to shine also with those jams,” she said.
Shocklee said Long Island hip-hop artists in the 1970s were aware the Bronx was the epicenter of hip-hop, where he said the DJ technique scratch, MCs, hip-hop culture and breakdancing were born and developed.
McDaniels said the hip-hop culture on Long Island was different from what was happening in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey. He said when he hosted “Video Music Box” he was able to compare music scenes.
“There was something going on in Long Island that was different,” he said. “When I heard Public Enemy, when I heard EPMD [from Brentwood], I was like, ‘This is different.’ This is not what the rest of the city or the rest of the country sounds like, and I think that’s what makes Long Island its own — or Strong Island — its own unique sound, because we weren’t as thirsty. We had homes. Some of us had parents. Some of us went to college. We were relaxed.”
McDaniels reference to “Strong Island” was a song recorded in 1988 by JVC Force sampling a phrase that Public Enemy’s Chuck D used while working as a DJ at Adelphi University’s radio
station, WBAU.
Woodson, who spent several of his younger years in Central Islip, said the reason the group recorded the song “Strong Island” was because “you literally had to be from the five boroughs to get respect.”
Bayas, who was part of the development of Def Jam Recordings, remembered when he would come down from the Bronx to play in Amityville, and the first time he said, “We’re going out to the country.”
During those visits to the Island, he said he met hip-hop artists Biz Markie, Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith — the latter two from EPMD — when they were children. Bayas said before hip-hop, if someone didn’t know how to play an instrument, they weren’t considered a musician. For that reason, he learned to play the drums and, as a DJ, he said he and others were always searching for the rare group to play at the parties.
“Hip-hop allowed us to be musicians because we have something to offer, because we know what music to play,” Bayas said.
The LIMEHOF received a surprise visit toward the end of the event from rapper Keith
Murray who grew up in Central Islip. The venue had to postpone its induction of The Fat Boys, from Brooklyn, as surviving member Kool Rock-Ski (Damon Wimbley) was unable to attend at the last minute.
Obituary
Memorial service to honor Coastal Steward founder
A memorial service for Coastal Steward Long Island founder David Johnson will be held at the Caroline Church in Setauket on Saturday, June 24, at 11 a.m.
The longtime Port Jefferson resident was born on August 30, 1958, in Duluth, Minnesota and lived most of his life on Long Island before moving nine years ago to Florida, where he died on October 16, 2022. Dave graduated from Kings Park High School in 1976 and studied Marine Biology at Southampton College.
Based in Port Jefferson, Coastal Steward Long Island is a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving and restoring Long Island’s coastal environment.
“Dave envisioned the reversal of the decline of the oyster population as a result of manmade pollution, disease and overfishing,” according to the organization’s tribute to its founder.
Twenty years ago, David spearheaded a
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shellfish restoration project in Mount Sinai Harbor, which continues today. The group has been responsible for seeding more than one million oysters to date, with each mature oyster filtering 50 gallons of seawater daily.
Coastal Stewards is also dedicated to educating students on marine ecology, organizing beach clean-ups and other pollution control projects with thousands of local volunteers.
David is the son of the late Mary and LeRoy Johnson of Fort Salonga. He is survived by two daughters, Zuriah Johnson and Amanda Arden (Richard), and a son David Johnson, Jr.; siblings Julie Johnson, Susan Curtis (Scott), and Steven Johnson; seven nieces and nephews; and longtime former partner, Ana Padilla-Perez. David’s first grandchild Vivian Rose Arden was born weeks after his passing. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Coastal Steward Long Island at www.coastalsteward.org/donate.
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Administrative Opening Monticello Central School
High School Principal
The Monticello CSD is seeking forward thinking and dynamic School Building Principal who can lead MCSD’s highly engaged faculty, staff, parents, students, and community. The successful candidate will have a vision of educational excellence, be highly motivated, and demonstrates an ability to impact student learning.
Starting Salary: $150,000
NYS SDA/SAS/SBL Certification Required plus 2 yrs. of previous administrative leadership and 3 yrs. exp as a classroom teacher preferred. Please apply online by June 15th at https://monticelloschools.tedk12.com/hire or OLAS EOE
Administrative Opening Monticello Central School
Assistant Elementary Principal
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Letters to the Editor Editorial
Election Day is only the beginning
Port Jefferson village residents will go to the polls this Tuesday, June 20, to select their new mayor, and endorse uncontested seats for two trustees and village justice.
Voting in a local election is a sacred act, empowering everyday citizens to shape the complexion of their community. Elections remind those in power that they are subordinate to the sovereign public. We encourage all to exercise their vote, making their presence felt and their voices heard at the ballot box.
But after Tuesday, the work remains unfinished. Elections are merely the starting point, not the destination.
In the coming term, the village board of trustees will enact laws and advance projects. Only after a long interim period will the voters have another bite at the apple. How many transformations may soon take place in the days between elections?
Money and influence can go a long way. Powerful, wealthy actors often use their clout for influence.
And yet, in the face of much uncertainty, there is one vital institution to safeguard the voting public. It is the interest group of and for the people: the Port Jefferson Civic Association.
Less than a year ago, villagers resurrected the civic association after over a decade in dormancy. Its members rose in opposition to a perceived lack of public input on pressing local matters.
In a short time, the civic has made substantial contributions on behalf of residents.
Its members successfully resisted the village board’s unilateral decision to extend the terms of service for village offices. The civic opened important communications channels around Maryhaven Center of Hope and future density. It even fought for and helped form a tree committee, among several other initiatives.
PJCA is setting the tone for what stable democracy looks like. The organization is giving a welcome voice to the people, and their government is now listening.
Regardless of Tuesday’s outcome, we believe the village is on the right track. A vibrant civic culture is blossoming before our eyes. We are confident PJCA will remain a forceful check on power, advancing resident interests fearlessly between Tuesday and the next election.
The moment is ripe for the people to take charge of their democracy. On Tuesday, we ask that you vote. On Wednesday and thereafter, we ask that you get in touch with your new mayor, village trustees and civic association in order to stay engaged in the political process.
This community belongs to the people.
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Not every migrant is an asylum seeker
The June 8 editorial makes an excellent point … for legal immigration.
The numbers quoted on crime from immigrants, are true … for legal immigrant communities, not from the illegal migrants crossing our southern border unimpeded (and now the northern border as well).
The United Nations defines “asylum seekers” as people looking for protection from political persecution, primarily. However, an important point that the U.N. also stipulates is that asylum needs to be granted from/to contiguous countries, for example the U.S. and Mexico, or the U.S. and Canada. Every migrant entering the U.S. from any country other than Mexico and Canada is entering the country illegally, committing a crime.
Regarding crime among illegal migrants, an estimated 4 million have crossed our southern border since 2020. Four million unverified, often untested for diseases — such as COVID — and in many cases human trafficked into indentured servitude paying off exorbitant fees to the cartels just to reach the border.
Once crossed, by definition they are criminals. The cartels have operational control of our borders, we are no longer a sovereign country. At last count, migrants from over 47 countries have been detained at the border. How many migrants have died just trying to reach the border? Unknowable. Each year over 100,000 Americans die from fentanyl poisoning, routinely coming across our border. Everyone knows someone who has lost a loved one, everyone.
There’s a significant difference between legal immigrants and illegal migrants. I agree with the editorial regarding the picture it paints, but for legal immigration.
We should address the legal immigration laws in the United States, welcome those that have something to offer the U.S., rather than enrich the cartels, abuse the migrants and further burden the taxpayer.
Rich Fleischman East SetauketBrain drain and the housing crisis
In contradiction to the June 1 editorial, “Plug Long Island’s ‘brain drain,’” it is not much of a puzzle how to get more of our youth to stay on Long Island. One need look no further than the housing crisis for causes and solutions.
I recently noticed upcoming property development near Bennetts Road and Route 25A in East Setauket that is exactly the opposite of what is needed to solve a problem everyone says they acknowledge: Four more expensive single-family houses, on 1-acre lots, all within walking distance of the post office, the Greenway, stores and restaurants, an LIRR station and Stony Brook University.
If we cannot muster the will to require higherdensity housing near transportation hubs and universities, then where?
The problem is hyper-local zoning decisions driven by existing homeowners so wealthy they don’t worry about their kids being priced out of the area, and a tribal political environment that makes it useful to scare homeowners about their property values. But what good are high property values if the brain — and youth — drain hollows out all other areas of life and the local economy?
Since we can’t seem to deal with new development sanely, can we at least make accessory dwelling units (basement and garage apartments, tiny houses, guest cottages) uniformly legal throughout Suffolk County? Even conservatives should support the right of homeowners to use their own property as they see fit. Reasonable limits on minimum lot size, maximum unit square footage, owner occupancy and rental agreement terms can address all the typical concerns.
The benefits of ADUs are myriad, and rapid increases in affordable, small housing have been demonstrated in Connecticut, New Hampshire and California. Homeowners can rent to young professionals to help pay the mortgage. Empty nesters can reside in ADUs while renting out the main house. Middleaged homeowners can accommodate aging parents or adult children without sacrificing privacy and autonomy. And every occupied ADU takes someone out of the local rental market, lowering price pressures across the board.
ADUs require no tax money or impact studies, adding housing rapidly. Technically, most areas of Suffolk County already allow ADUs and thousands of units already exist, but a patchwork of complex restrictions and daunting permitting discourage homeowners from building new or renting existing units. What is needed is a clear, countywide set of legal policies that provide homeowners with consistency, clarity and certainty.
John Hover East SetauketRepublicans inflame rather than inform immigration debate
This letter is a response to Charles Tramontana’s recent letter [“Yes, words do matter,” June 8] in answer to mine [“Words matter in immigration dialogue,” May 25].
I’ll reiterate that seeking asylum is legal, and that no human being is an “alien.” I believe that language needs to be based in truth, and must be used deliberately and accurately.
The truth is that Suffolk County is facing a lawsuit for the Republican legislators’ recent political stunt. We will now spend taxpayer dollars on lawsuits, dollars that could go to services and resources residents
desperately need in this county. We have no idea how many asylum seekers are coming to the county. No asylum seekers have been relocated to our county to date. This reaffirms that this is a political ploy propagated by local politicians to activate their right-wing base in a low turnout election year. Those fearmongering tactics have long been a part of their well-worn playbook.
Mr. Tramontana’s letter blames recent immigration policy as the cause for this issue. To understand the root causes of immigration, it’s crucial to look beyond the past two years. This is a decades-long issue, going back to the civil unrest in Central America in the early 1970s. In 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan [R] signed a bipartisan bill known as the Reagan Amnesty Act, offering a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
We had the opportunity to again address immigration in 2013 when the U.S. Senate passed a sweeping bipartisan bill with a 6832 vote, the most comprehensive since the Reagan Amnesty Act. Unfortunately, it was killed by the Tea Party House Republicans. We are still suffering the consequences of that squandered opportunity a decade later. Sadly, I do not believe that today’s House Republican majority has the willingness to solve this problem, which means we will continue to struggle with a lack of solutions due to political posturing and inaction.
Immigration, like many of the issues we’re contending with in this country, is a serious issue that requires leaders who engage in seeking solutions. The Republican members of the Suffolk County Legislature do not possess those qualities, and their rhetoric and actions on this issue inflame rather than inform. We can address this issue in a pragmatic and humane manner, but only if we engage in a good faith effort to do so. And to get there, we must choose our rhetoric carefully and thoughtfully, because words matter.
Shoshana HershkowitzSouth
SetauketLawmakers should remember their origins
The editorial supporting immigrants seeking asylum was wonderful [“Immigrants may be coming,” June 8]. We are a nation of immigrants — we all come from somewhere else. My ancestors came from Eastern Europe fleeing persecution and severe poverty. I wonder how many of the Suffolk County legislators who want to keep immigrants out, remember their origins.
Many of our ancestors underwent severe hardship to come here, none more than the immigrants coming now. All Americans, not only those of us living in border states need to do our share to welcome these people.
Adam Fisher Port Jefferson StationOpinion
Anticipating more wildfire smoke, local scientists urge climate change measures
The wildfires last week in Quebec, Canada, that brought an orange haze, smoke and record pollution to New York were not only disconcerting, but also were something of a reality check.
These raging fires occurred earlier than normal and, with a so-called cut-off low in Maine acting like a bumper in a pinball game driving the smoke down along the eastern seaboard, created hazardous air quality conditions from New York through Virginia.
in the season and it continues, [there will be] much more of an impact on people in terms of air quality, health, and well being.”
Dry conditions caused by climate change intensified the severity of these fires, making them more difficult to extinguish and increasing the amount of particulates that can cause lung and other health problems thrown into the air.
“This is like our Hurricane Sandy from an air quality perspective,” said Brian Colle, division head in Atmospheric Sciences at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University.
Scientists urged a multi-level approach to tackle a wildfire problem that they believe will become increasingly dangerous for human health.
mean for human health and the climate.
The heavy smoke that descended on New York, which some health officials described as creating conditions for those who spent hours outdoors that are akin to smoking several cigarettes, is “a wake up call that we need policies” to deal with the conditions that create these fires, McComiskey said.
BY DANIEL DUNAIEF“There’s a real concern about this intensity, the size of the fire, happening this early in the season,” said Allison McComiskey, chair of the Environmental & Climate Sciences Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory. “Typically, wildfire season starts later in the summer and extends through the fall. If we’re going to be having wildfires of this size this early
“Wildfire season is getting longer,” said Dr. Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, an air pollution expert and environmental epidemiologist from Stony Brook’s University’s program in Public Health. These fires are “spread because we have drier conditions, the vegetation is dry, we have droughts. Those require long-term solutions of trying to tackle climate change on a fundamental level.”
The intensity of the smoke and the cancelation of events like the Yankees and Phillies games has raised awareness of the downwind dangers from wildfires.
Forest management, including controlled burns, would reduce the available fuel for fires started by natural causes such as lightning.
“Forest management may be one approach,” said Dr. Danesh Yazdi. That alone, however, won’t solve the threat from wildfires amid higher temperatures and more frequent droughts, she added.
McComiskey added that researchers are “certain” that wildfires are going to increase in the future due to climate change and suggested that these events ratchet up the need for getting better predictive models about what these fires will
The increase by a “fraction of a degree in temperature is really not the point,” McComiskey added. “We need to decarbonize our economy and we need to move toward addressing the bigger causes of climate change.”
A wildfire occurring earlier in the year with smoke filled with particulates could raise awareness and attention to the dangers from such events.
“Having this kind of thing happen in the East Coast through New York and [Washington] DC, as opposed to where we typically think of bad wildfire happening out west, in Washington State and the Rocky Mountains, might help in terms of the awareness and urgency to take some action,” McComiskey added.
The lawyer who got his tail caught in the door, and other AI stories
You’ve heard of ChatGPT, yes? So had a lawyer in Brooklyn from his collegeaged children. While the lawyer has been in practice for 30 years, he had no prior experience with the Open AI chatbot. But when he was hired in a lawsuit against the airline Avianca and went into Federal District Court with his legal brief filled with judicial opinions and citations, poor guy, he made history.
All the evidence he was bringing to the case was generated by ChatGPT. All of it was false: creative writing generated by the bot.
the aisle in 2019 on a flight from El Salvador to New York, was advised that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. His lawyer, however, responded with the infamous 10-page brief offering more than half a dozen court decisions supporting their argument that the case should be allowed to proceed. There was only one problem: None of the cases cited in the brief could be found.
The decisions, although they named previous lawsuits against Delta Airlines, Korean Airlines and China Southern Airlines, and offered realistic names of supposedly injured passengers, were not real.
“I heard about this new site, which I falsely assumed was, like, a super search engine,” lamely offered the embarrassed attorney.
Now the lawyer stands in peril of being sanctioned by the court. He declared that he had asked questions of the bot and had gotten in response genuine case citations, which he had included in his brief. He also printed out and included his dialogue with ChatGPT, which ultimately at the end, offered him the words, “I hope that helps.”
But the lawyer had done nothing further to ensure that those cases existed. They seemed professional enough to fool the professional.
Now the tech world, lawyers and judges are fixated on this threat to their profession. And warnings exist of that threat being carried over to all of humanity with erroneous generative AI.
But this is not an entirely ominous story.
By using AI as an assistant, humans can focus on the judgment aspect of data-driven decision-making, checking and interpreting the information provided by the bot. Humans provide judgment over what is provided by a bot.
Ironically, the lawyer’s children probably passed their ChatGPT-fueled courses with good grades. Part of that is the way we teach students, offering them tons of details to memorize and regurgitate on tests or in term papers. The lawyer should have judged his ChatGPT-supplied data. Future lawyers now know they must.
Between you and me
BY LEAH S. DUNAIEFHere is the story, as told in The New York Times Business Section on June 9. A passenger, who had sued the airline for injury to his knee by a metal serving cart as it was rolled down
“Programs like ChatGPT and other large language models in fact produce realistic responses by analyzing which fragments of text should follow other sequences, based on a statistical model that has ingested billions of examples pulled from all over the internet,” explained The NYT.
TIMES BEACON RECORD NEWS MEDIA
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EDITOR
Heidi Sutton
Researchers at Open AI and the University of Pennsylvania have concluded that 80% of the U.S. workforce could see an effect on at least 10% of their tasks, according to The NYT. That means that some 300 million fulltime jobs could be affected by AI. But is that all bad? Could AI become a helpful tool?
As for education, emphasis should go beyond “what” and even “so what” to “what’s next.” Learning should be about once having facts or history, then how to think, to analyze, how to interpret and take the next steps. Can chatbots do that? Perhaps in an elementary way they now can. Someday they will in a larger context. And that poses a threat to the survival of humanity, because machines will no longer need us.
INTERN Aidan Johnson
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