The TIMES of Smithtown
Volume 28, No. 22
Serving Smithtown • St. JameS • neSconSet • commack • hauppauge • kingS park • Fort Salonga July 30, 2015
Historic Amusement Parks of Long Island also: ‘The Cottage’ in Northport; beautiful babies; Stony Brook Film Festival winners announced
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Smithtown goes red in memoriam red ribbons show just one of the ways north Shore residents are remembering the fatal crash victims. By phil corSo
One week has passed, but no amount of time can ever truly heal the wounds endured by the greater North Shore community since four of its own were killed in a horrific limousine crash. Anyone driving through the streets of Smithtown and
North Shore star inducted
Kings Park’s own Craig Biggio joins Baseball Hall of Fame
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its surrounding communities this week could notice the red ribbons wrapped around trees in memory of Smithtown’s Brittney Schulman, 23, and Lauren Baruch, 24, as well as Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park, and Amy Grabina, 23, of Commack. The four girls were killed when Steven Romeo, 55, T-boned their limousine with
his pickup truck in Cutchogue last Saturday, injuring Romeo, along with limo driver Carlos Pino, 58, of Bethpage, Joelle Dimonte, 25, of Elwood, Melissa Angela Crai, 23, of Scarsdale, Alicia Arundel, 24, of Setauket, and Olga Lipets, 24, of Brooklyn. After the crash, Romeo was arraigned at Eastern Long
Photos Smithtown Historical Society
Island Hospital and charged with driving while intoxicated. He was initially ordered held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail, or $1 million bond, but that bail was reduced to $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond last Thursday, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota. At a press conference on FriCRaSH continued on page a4
Town pushes to spruce up Main Street lot By phil corSo
A vacant lot that used to be home to a lumberyard, across the street from Town Hall in Smithtown, is in the Town Board’s crosshairs. A recent waiver request from the applicant in charge of the 102 W. Main Street property set off a somewhat heated debate at Town Hall, when Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio (R) called out VEA 181st Realty Corp. for what he referred to as a lack of good faith in bettering the space. In the application, developer Salvatore DiCarlo requested the
gigantic pile of concrete slabs at the site be ground on the premises in a move that Smithtown Planning Director David Flynn said could reduce truck traffic in the area. At a work session earlier this month, Flynn told the board that DiCarlo needed to remove the concrete slabs from the property in order to grind them down and install a roughly 5-foot mound of vegetation in its place, as the property moves forward into development. Flynn said there was likely more material than necessary for future building LOT continued on page a4
Photo by Phil Corso
concrete slabs sit in the open lot on main Street in Smithtown.