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Thursday, November 30, 2023 ~ Volume 68 ~ Issue Number 52 ~ $1.00
Nikola Tesla’s Last Existing Laboratory
Photo by Matt Meduri
Fire at Wardenclyffe Lab
Severely Damaged in Fire
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)
By Matt Meduri Long Island is known for its rich history, famous beaches, and national significance throughout many eras of United States history. Additionally, it’s known for its relatively high number of celebrities, historical figures, landmarks, and cultural touchstones it has produced over the last few centuries. It’s also no secret that some of those iconic, famous, and/or historical assets are, in and of themselves, relative “secrets” of Long Island as well. Perhaps the best example is that of Wardenclyffe Laboratory in the tiny north shore Village of Shoreham. The Lab was one of many of the world-famous inventor Nikola Tesla but is the only one that is still extant today. The Lab’s historical society has been devout in preserving and renovating the structure, but unfortunately faced a devastating setback on November 21, as a large fire of indeterminate cause severely damaged the lab. A funding cause is now underway, and all levels of government are pledging to work together to not only rebuild the world-famous laboratory, but put it on a path of preservation and education for future generations to enjoy. The current investigation into the fire shows that the north side of the building has been mostly affected, including the roof, steel girders, and a portion of a wall.
The Tesla Science Center says that while “most of the laboratory’s core structure remains intact, some elements have been irreparably lost.” The Center also says that the northern side of the roof has been partially destroyed, along with the chimney and cupola. They also say that water damage from the firefighting efforts put the integrity of the brickwork into jeopardy, especially as the colder months set in causing the trapped moisture to freeze and further damage the structure. Thankfully, no historical artifacts and documents were lost or damaged in the fire, according to the Center. All artifacts are “safely stored offsite, in accordance with the standards set by the History and Collections Committee.” Before the fire, a $20 million restoration project was planned for the laboratory. Although the setback from the fire is major, the Center is still committed to moving forward with the planned renovation efforts. The Center says that moving forward, they aim to “preserve as much of the original laboratory as possible, despite the loss of a portion in the fire.” They are also “devoted to maintaining historical accuracy and recognize the laboratory as a symbol of hope and innovation globally.” Continued on page 3
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Continued from front cover
Fire at Wardenclyffe Lab, Nikola Tesla’s Last Existing Laboratory Severely Damaged in Fire
In addition to the long-term can count. However we [the Town] can restoration goals, the Center is also help, we will.” committed to keeping their short-term Rocky Point Fire Department Chief plans intact as well, including their planned Sean McCarrick recounted the difficulty Christmas tree lighting, which is still slated of the night of the fire. for December 2, 3:00p.m. to 6:00p.m. “We had a total of seventeen A press conference was held fire departments and EMS agencies Tuesday morning to publicly discuss the respond that night,” said Chief fire, the newly-changed restoration plan, McCarrick. “It was a very rough night and the path forward for Wardenclyffe. with a lot of wind and rain, and it was The conference was held in front of the very cold. They did a great job and I heavily-damaged building, where the want to recognize all of them.” small of smoke and burned wood still Thankfully, there were no serious hung in the air. injuries or casualties due to the fire. Marc Alessi, Executive Director of One firefighter sustained minor the Tesla Science Center, led the press bruising after falling off a ladder. conference and started it with a cinematic Alessi said of McCarrick’s video showcasing the Center’s initiatives leadership: “It would be a completely over the last several years. different day today if he did not “We are lucky to have the support provide the leadership that night A view of the damaged roof after the fire. (above) of many in the community and the local along with the two hundred Firefighters battling the blaze last Tuesday night. (below) (Credit - Tesla Science Center) foundations who have supported the lab volunteers who showed up to save building,” said Alessi. “We’ve had support the lab.” at every level of government. Michael Russo, President of the Mark Thaler, of Thaler and Associates, an architect and Board of the Center, and Jane Alcorn, a Board Member, engineer specializing in historic preservation gave a summary thanked the firefighters for their heroism and the community of the assessment of the building. for their consistent support throughout the years. They said “Thankfully, Nikola Tesla’s original building was fireproof that they hope to continue with “as much resilience as Tesla for the most part. The original brick walls are still standing,” did.” said Thaler. “We have lost some of the roof structure, but it Alessi said that support for the museum has hardly been will be able to be restored. We’re poised and ready to do that.” scarce over the years, extending not just off Long Island, but Engineers from Cameron Engineering discussed their around the world. remediation recommendations, including “strategic wall “The world saved this location with a world-recordsupports, selective demolition of the roofing, and covering breaking crowdfund on IndieGoGo,” said Alessi. “We raised the top to prevent any freezing and thawing effects on the $1.4 million in six weeks from 108 countries, all fifty states, building.” Engineers said that after the remediation process, and a total of 33,000 donors. Never has a cultural institution the group will take an “in-depth analysis” of the structure and and museum been started in this way. It was saved from the “develop engineering concepts to bring the building back to wrecking ball with that crowdfund. This is the first museum its historic nature.” in our state’s history - and most likely, our nation’s history New York State Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-New that’s going on a brownfield that’s been remediated.” Suffolk) of the First District remarked on the one-of-a-kind Giglio. “There are so many supporters throughout the world With the $3,000,000 now required to repair the lab, it historic nature of the property that happens to belong to to make sure that this last structure of Tesla’s is successful. joins the prior $6,000,000 needed for previously planned Long Island. We will keep doing what we’re doing to work with the Board renovations, bringing the new total to $9,000,000. Alessi “The fact that he [Tesla] was standing on this property of Directors to get this built so that our kids can enjoy the pointed out the significance of those figures. grinding out hours to bring his incredible ideas to fruition is all legacy of Tesla.” “Those numbers slapped me in the face: 3, 6, 9,” said the more reason we need to stay focused on its preservation,” Deputy County Executive Jon Kaiman (D-Great Neck) Alessi. “Tesla was all about those said Senator Palumbo. “This is an incredibly important historic represented County Executive Steve Bellone (D-West numbers in a lot of his research. The site, not just to this county, state, and country, but worldwide Babylon). irony is pretty overwhelming to me.” - it’s that unique. So, we will do everything we can, without You can donate to the restoration “Executive Bellone was honored to commit over question, on the state level to get the funding needed and get $1,000,000 to the future of this site and that commitment at this link, or by scanning the QR this project to the end.” https://www.indiegogo.com/ still stands,” said Kaiman. “Buildings can burn down and be code: Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow) of the rebuilt, but the person and the history, as well as the narrative projects/fire-at-tesla-s-lab-immediateSecond District mentioned that her colleagues in Albany that was created over 100 years ago, will continue. We have restoration-needed#/ remark on the lab’s residence in her district. the ability to reconstruct, but because the story behind the “It’s known throughout the world,” said Assemblywoman building is so strong and relevant, we will all stand together About Wardenclyffe Lab and continue this journey that started so long ago, and we’re [Suffolk County] so proud to be a part of that journey.” Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) is considered one of the most Suffolk County Legislator-elect Chad Lennon (R-Rocky Point) of the Sixth District also gave remarks on behalf of the important scientists and inventors of the modern age. His four short years at Wardenclyffe from 1902 to 1906 represent County. “Thank you to the firefighters for taking such care of the culmination of his career, in which he envisioned a “World this location,” said Lennon. “This location isn’t just local; it’s Wireless System.” His experiments resulted in the invention international. Moving forward, you have my advocacy going of Alternating Current (AC) of electricity, that is used today. forward. It was one step backward, but it’s two steps forward AC electricity can be transmitted over a long distance, and with it, Tesla pioneered X-ray technology, remote control, after today.” Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) and wireless communication. However, since Tesla could of the Second District voiced her continued support for the not bring his ideas to fruition fast enough to beat other inventors - including Guglielmo Marconi and his telegraph lab. “Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, this Tesla system - his financial backers abandoned him. He lost the Laboratory will rise as well,” said Bonner. “We will help you heavily-mortgaged Wardenclyffe in 1915, and his career [the Center] raise the money and get you back to where you never reattained the height that it did during his four years at were. You have had my utmost support for more years than I Wardenclyffe.
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Thursday, November 30, 2023
New York Work Zone Speed Cameras Revisited Speed cameras are not new in New York State. In fact, residents of New York City are no stranger to the devices in active construction zones. Drivers can actually see where the radars will be set up by consulting the Work Zone Safety Awareness website. However, for the rest of New York, the implementation comes as a surprise to some and an outrage to others. The first rumblings of speed camera imple-mentation on the Long Island Expressway (I495) became apparent this past spring during heavy construction the highway was receiving. Such cameras were implemented in certain areas, but the lingering uncertainty of the State’s seriousness on cracking down on speeding at-large was also met with the intense fear of being ticketed at each work zone - of which there were dozens throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. The move came off the heels of the state legislature’s 2021 approval of the “Automated Work Zone Speed Monitoring” pilot program. This past April, drivers were given warning rather than speeding fines. Governor Kathy Hochul (D) said in an April statement regarding the legislation: “This new pilot program will be instrumental in encouraging safe driving habits in highway work zones and protecting the lives of those who help maintain a safe and reliable highway system.” According to state data, there were 441 work zone intrusions last year. A “work zone intrusion” is defined as an incident in which a vehicle has entered a roadway or portion of a roadway that is closed due to maintenance or construction. Such incidents resulted in three deaths and fifty-six injuries to construction workers and drivers. As of November 20, thirteen locations across New York State were actively under radar technology surveillance, with the slated end date being
Credit - New York State
By Matt Meduri
November 22, just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Six of those locations were within Suffolk County: eastbound I-495 at Bluepoint Road, westbound I-495 at Holbrook Road, westbound I-495 at William Floyd Parkway, westbound Titmus Drive to Moriches Middle Island Road, Robert Moses Causeway and Great South Bay, and westbound Southern State Park and Udall Road. Two Nassau County locations - Loop Parkway with Long Creek and Meadowbrook Parkway with Sloop Channel - as well as two locations in Queens, one in Warren County, one in Jefferson County, and one in Orange County were also included. The radars detect vehicles traveling equal to or faster than the posted speed limit, with a grace window of ten miles per hour above the speed limit. This takes into account the varying speeds at which highway drivers tend to travel, allows room for passing or speeding up to match the speed of traffic when merging, or other occasional instances. The speeding triggers the system, which takes a series of photos displaying the vehicle’s speed and time of travel. According to the State, the cameras are not live cameras taking photos of each vehicle that passes.
First-time violators will receive a $50 fine, followed by a $75 fine if the second violation occurs within eighteen months of the first one. Third and all subsequent violations will earn a $100 fine per violation within that same eighteen-month period. Fines are issued within fourteen business days. All fines can be paid online, by phone, or mail, and all fines can be disputed online. According to the State, fines collected will cover expenditures related to the work zone safety program. If all expenditures are covered, excess revenues will be used for additional work zone safety initiatives. Cameras are not unmarked and the State has insisted on visible signage present at each cameraenforced location. The cameras, however, come with an interesting caveat: violations only produce fines, not points on a driver’s license. Points on a license tend to relay into increased insurance premiums. Since the Department of Transportation (DOT) is only scanning license plates to identify the car used to exceed the speed limit, rather the driver accelerating past the limit, points cannot be accrued on a driver’s license for their offenses, despite speeding being considered a moving violation that warrants both monetary fines and license points when filed by a police officer. Furthermore, since vehicles are scanned, there can arise situations in which the alleged speeding vehicle is ambiguous if vehicles are clumped together or if multiple vehicles are traveling at similar speeds. As an apparent “check” on the system, DOT staff review speed camera violations and will reject violations unless they undoubtedly know which vehicle was speeding.
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Editorial Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Speed Cameras: A Decent Idea with Horrible Implications Credit -Surveillance cameras from Wikimedia Commons
It’s difficult to truly file certain ideas and positions into “good” and “bad” categories. Most issues, especially political ones, have such large masses of gray area that it’s hard to even see the black and white areas without microscopes of myopia. Additionally, some issues that could be defined as objectively “good” or “bad” likely have ridiculously high standards for success or are such low-hanging fruit on the totem pole of morality that they’re not even worth debating or being used to define political factions. This doesn’t necessarily require one to file such an idea as a “good” thing or a “bad” thing, so we’ll just file them under “thing” for the time being. It’s no secret that the current political and social eras are defined by ideas of the latter category, especially in the age of hyper-sensationalist politics where leaders and talking heads try to score as many points as possible on the path of least resistance. Take, for example, the latest mantras of “just be a good person,” or perhaps “vote X, no matter who.” Such meritorious and comprehensive ideas are posed by only the loftiest of the lofty who sincerely believe their Mount Molehill ideas are definitive of their political careers, while simultaneously pointing their fingers at you for raising legitimate questions about their policy points. Surely no one can be against being a “good” - or “decent” - person, but with such a hot take, why didn’t we think of simply being “good people” sooner? Such an empty platitude cannot be entertained as legitimate policy. Obviously this is a primitive example but it’s a firm analogy. Words are just words, but concepts aren’t just concepts, and people shouldn’t be vilified or have their perspectives reduced simply because of asking questions they’re allowed to ask. Enter the latest concoction of New York State: the work zone speed cameras. Sure, no one can really be against being courteous of our hard working construction and maintenance workers putting themselves in dangerous situations by working on the shoulders and medians of some of our busiest highways. Sure, no one can be against legitimate efforts at ensuring their protections and penalizing
drivers who fail to be considerate of other peoples’ mortality. Sure, no one can be against the State for stepping in and doing what the State should do: protect its citizens. But there is a limit on when enough is enough and when enough might just be too far. Herein lies the dilemma of the slipshod political thought process of today: a “good” idea can be presented, but one that is accompanied by a rather large gray area that can be addressed with legitimate questions. The problem New Yorkers have isn’t with protecting roadside workers, it’s about living under a constant microscope that also functions as an ATM for the State. We’ve already been dealing with multiple levels of brutal backdoor taxation from multiple levels of government, including the red-light cameras, the bus-stop cameras, and now the speed cameras. Has someone told Albany that Suffolk County is one of the most expensive and highest-taxed places to live in the nation? If this was truly just about worker safety, then points would accrue on the license of the driver and would
pose an insurance premium increase. Since it’s obviously difficult to identify the driver of the car in the given scenario, license and insurance penalties cannot be imposed. That just leaves the fear of having to fork over another $50 to Albany keeping our roads in check. When the cameras were announced during the spring construction on the Expressway, some drivers were petrified of even slightly exceeding the limit causing cars to “platoon” together, limiting traffic flow, or suddenly brake, disrupting traffic flow and creating a more chaotic environment on a roadway that should otherwise flow smoothly. This also opens up the Pandora’s Box of constant government surveillance and the acknowledgement of living under a microscope that most New Yorkers have been dreading longer than they care to admit. What’s stopping the government from eventually posting these radars at every exit of the Expressway, or on other highways such as the Sunken Meadow Parkway, Nicolls Highway, or Sunrise Highway? Construction zone or no construction zone? The government can impose as many provisos and checks as they want, but just as they signed themselves unwarranted raises last December, why should anyone give them the benefit of the doubt that they won’t hand themselves the keys and drive themselves around recklessly - but not too recklessly, since there’s speed cameras up. That leaves the work zone speed cameras in the center of the Venn Diagram. It’s not truly empty policy, but it can be treated as such. It’s not over-the-top, but it’s not completely fleshed out either. t’s difficult to question the morality of its proponents, but we can’t trust the trajectory of this policy entirely. We can’t deny the effort is logical and the reason is right, but we can’t endorse the open-endedness of such a precedent being set. It doesn’t feature a dearth of substance like other posturing platforms do, and it’s also not low-hanging moral fruit. We’re not sure exactly where to file this idea, but we think the after effects of this one warrant more watching than the policy itself.
Give Out of Love Not Obligation ‘It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.’ - Mother Teresa When it comes to giving back to others, a truer statement couldn’t be made. Charity isn’t just something a community is supposed to do, but it is something it needs to do. Because at any moment, it could be us in the position of needing help. Most of the time, people look at charity through a lens of pity. In fact, many people use those words synonymously, as if those who are in need of extra help deserve to be looked down upon, as if those who ask for help have lost their dignity. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Sometimes our neighbors are put into situations that they weren’t prepared for, sometimes in the matter of hours. As a society, we think it will never happen to us, until it does. In times like that, we should be able to rely on our neighbors. There are hundreds of editorials and essays that say people should give to charity because “it makes them feel good about themselves,” which, in essence, is true. People feel good when they do things for others. However, hate and pity can be inflated if the only reason behind doing something good is to feel good about yourself, because then, there isn’t much good happening at all. To be clear, this isn’t some self-riotous way of saying that you need to be perfect to be charitable. A charitable donation is just that, and no matter what the intention behind it is, it will still help somebody who truly needs it. However, behind every
charitable donation should be love in the heart. Not pity on the mind, not tax writeoffs in the future, not positive PR on the brain. All in all, being philanthropic should be a natural urge, not an obligation. But if you are charitable by obligation, or simply for the residual benefits, be sure it comes from a place of love and care for those who would be charitable for you if such a need arose.
‘It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.’ Mother Teresa
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Thursday, November 30, 2023
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In Public Contracting, Fixing Discrimination with More Discrimination Isn’t the Answer By Erin Wilcox, Pacific Legal Foundation Since the Supreme Court put an end to college affirmative action programs last summer, many have been wondering what’s next. Employment? Military academies? Public contracting? All three, it turns out. But nothing highlights the absolute failures of racial preferences more than a new lawsuit in Houston challenging the city’s nearly 40-year-old minority business enterprise (MBE) program. From the beginning, Houston touted its MBE program as a remedy to racial discrimination that kept minority-owned companies from winning contracts with the city. The idea was that by forcing every bidder on city contracts to give a portion of the job away to small businesses owned by women or certain racial groups, those minority-owned small businesses would become successful, hire other minorityowned small businesses, and eventually there would be no need for the city’s thumb on the bidding scale. That the MBE program has been in place since 1984 will tell you something about how that idea panned out. When something is broken, you don’t wait 40 years for the fix to work. You wouldn’t wait four decades for the patch on your roof to finally stop water leaks during thunderstorms, or for a head football coach to have a winning season. So why, then, when the City decided its system for awarding public contracts was broken, has it stuck with the same failed fix since 1984? Because, despite the City of Houston’s “best efforts,” it turns out that you can’t fix racial discrimination against some racial groups by discriminating against other racial groups. Minority set-aside programs don’t work because they are rotten at their core. Minority set-aside programs don’t remedy discrimination—they don’t even really attempt it. Nor do they grow successful, thriving companies that can stand on their own merit. If they did, Houston’s program wouldn’t be needed anymore. Instead, set-asides send the message that minority-owned companies can’t hack
it without government help. Houston’s MBE program in particular creates ridiculously unfair outcomes. Take what happened to my client, Jerry Thompson, for example. Jerry is the owner of a small landscaping company that regularly bids on public contracts to maintain Houston-area parks, school yards, and playgrounds. Almost all of Jerry’s employees are Hispanic, yet his company doesn’t qualify as an MBE because Jerry is not a minority. That means that if Jerry’s company wins a landscaping contract with the City of Houston, he’s required to give away a certain percentage of that contract – often over $100K – to a competitor that is minorityowned. In other words, Houston forces Jerry to take work away from his Hispanic employees and give it to another company’s Hispanic employees, all because of Jerry’s skin color. This blatantly unconstitutional program isn’t limited to the City of Houston. In recent years, Harris County, the Port of Houston Authority, METRO, Harris Health System, and Houston Independent School District have either implemented MBE programs of their own or are in the process of doing so. Everywhere companies like Jerry’s turn, they’re being penned in by policies that value racial identity over who can do the best job at the best price. Like any successful small business owner, Jerry doesn’t give up without a fight. With pro bono legal assistance from Pacific Legal Foundation, he filed a federal lawsuit challenging Houston’s MBE program as a violation of his right to equal protection under the law. As the Supreme Court indicated in its affirmative action ruling in June, the days of laws prioritizing membership in a racial group over individual talents, skills, or accomplishments are numbered. For small businesses like Jerry’s, that day can’t come soon enough. It’s time for Houston to finally learn the lesson that the Constitution guarantees every individual has the right to equal protection of the laws. Erin Wilcox is an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation.
Letter to the Editor Don’t Get Excited About the Latest Mass Transit Projects There is nothing to celebrate concerning the opening of the new $600 million 7th Avenue 32nd Street Penn Station Entrance. Just like previous investments including the $1.6 billion Moynihan Station, the $300 million West End Concourse, and the $600 million 7th Avenue 33rd Street Entrance and enlarged Main Concourse - totaling $3.1 billion – the new opening does nothing to eliminate periodic cancellation and consolidation of LIRR, NJ Transit, and Amtrak trains utilizing either the East River or Hudson River Tunnels due to signal, power, broken rails, or other malfunctions. These investments provide no improvement for reliability of service or additional platform and track capacity. Periodic overcrowding at the platform levels will continue. This results in overcrowded trains with insufficient seating capacity. Some riders end up standing in the vestibules and aisles. The mad rush to board late arriving trains for the trip home will continue. Amtrak’s initiation of East River Tunnel rehabilitation starting in 2024 will result in one of four tunnels being removed from service 24/7. If a train stalls
Don’t forget to write, we’d love to hear from you! Email us at: editor@messengerpapers.com in one of the three remaining tunnels, thousands of commuters will be late. To preserve existing service, some LIRR rush hour trains will be canceled or combined. Until this work is over by the promised 2027 date, it is impossible to guarantee safe and reliable on-time service with a full schedule of trains, including a seat, to and from Penn Station for LIRR commuters. Larry Penner Great Neck Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously served as a former Director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office of Operations and Program Management. This included the development, review, approval, and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for NJ Transit, MTA, NYC Transit bus, subway and Staten Island Railway, Long Island and Metro North Rail Roads, MTA Bus, NYCDOT Staten Island Ferry, along with 30 other transit agencies in NY & NJ.
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Thursday, November 30, 2023
Why Is Hofstra Honoring Dr. Fauci?
By Steve Levy So Hofstra University has invited our nation’s former health czar, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to give a commencement speech in December. Does anyone else see the irony of laying out the red carpet for the man perhaps most responsible for unnecessarily shutting campuses down for unreasonably long periods of time during the aftermath of the pandemic? It seems that Dr. Fauci is a very nice man. He’d probably be a great neighbor. He’s affable, intelligent, and, in most cases, well-meaning. But he has made brutally bad decisions that have negatively impacted an entire generation, helped stifle our economy, and even led to the death of millions of people worldwide, including one million Americans. Sounds harsh, but it’s true. Let’s start with the most egregious error. At this point, there can be no doubt that Dr. Fauci was perhaps the planet’s strongest proponent of gain of function research, which authorizes scientists to play Dr. Frankenstein by deliberately manipulating viruses to make them more contagious and deadly within a lab setting. The intent is well-meaning. The theory is that the scientists can keep control of the newly engineered killer virus within the confines of the lab, with the hope they’ll be able to create a vaccine, should it ever be needed in the future if the virus metastasizes. The reality is that the procedure is so risky that the Obama administration banned it. But that didn’t stop Dr. Fauci from lobbying vociferously to reestablish a gain of functions program. He engaged in some shell games by funneling the funding not directly to
a lab, but rather through a third-party health organization, which thereafter coordinated with the Wuhan Lab in China, controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. That company, Ecohealth Alliance, was headed by Peter Daszak. He was perhaps the most villainous character in the pandemic saga. This doctor became the media’s point person for attempting to debunk the nownearly universally accepted theory that the virus escaped from the Wuhan Lab. Fauci himself is on record as acknowledging the huge risks associated with gain of function, but has consistently stated that the risk is worth the potential reward in developing vaccines for diseases that have not yet and may never hit the general public. We now know that in late 2019, some scientists at Wuhan had contracted the coronavirus. Some died and some were never heard from again, and China immediately went into an information lockdown. They refused to allow neutral international observers to get any information to help verify the origin of the virus. It appears that Fauci was complicit in promulgating the fake conspiracy theory that the virus emanated naturally from the eating of bats from an open market in the vicinity of Wuhan. Numerous scientists early on correctly debunked this theory, noting that the virus’ internal structure did not support the theory that it mutated naturally through animals. They claim it’s far more likely it was manipulated by human experimentation. This set off red flags for Fauci and his healthcare establishment minions. It was now evident that millions of people were dying
around the world because Fauci and Co. had pushed, and even funded, the gain of function research. Not wanting to be blamed, they created the fiction that the virus emanated from the market. But it was even worse than that. They also used the power of their office to ridicule and defame any scientist who dared state the truth that this was not a disease emanating from a wet market, but rather from a lab indirectly funded in part by Fauci. Fauci‘s arrogance was on full display when he stated that anyone criticizing or doubting him was doubting science itself, because … wait for it … he is science. What gall! His mistakes and intentional misdirections placed a dark spot on healthcare credibility in the U.S. Average residents in the past looking for guidance would usually take the word of these healthcare professionals. But now they take all of these pronouncements by our healthcare officials with a grain of salt, realizing that politics and self-interest may come into play from the healthcare establishment. And yet Fauci is being honored? And let’s not forget his insane lockdown recommendations that banned
unvaccinated students from campus even after it was abundantly clear that the vaccine, which was helpful in avoiding death for the vulnerable, did not prevent transmission of or getting the virus. Certainly, precautions were warranted in the early stages where we were still figuring out what was happening. But by the time the Omicron version was prevelant, it was well-documented that the vaccines were not preventing the spread or the ability to shield an individual from contracting the virus. So why the full-fledged lockdowns instead of just isolating the elderly and those with underlying conditions? An entire generation’s learning potential was diminished due to the Fauciinspired school closures, as evidenced by steeply declining test scores. And yet one of our finer learning institutions is honoring the man behind it. Next thing you know, we will be honoring Gov. Gavin Newsom for cleaning up San Francisco for a week to impress the leader of the Chinese Communist Party after Newsom himself caused California’s filthy conditions with his insane policies. Let’s stop honoring incompetence.
Former Suffolk County Executive and NYS Assemblyman Steve Levy is the co-publisher of Long Island Life & Politics.
To read more from Steve, visit lilifepolitics.com
This Week Today Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
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Thursday, November 30, 2023
National, State and Local Temperature Checks By Matt Meduri
State As the crime epidemic and migrant crisis continue to take New York by storm, retailers across the state say that they’re feeling the disorder and rampant crime in a particularly detrimental way.
Instead of dealing with typical shoplifting and store holdups - both of which retailers feel have not been adequately addressed under the Hochul Administration - retailers now face elaborate organized shoplifting rings, essentially a form of organized crime that consists of serial shoplifters swarming stores and/or regularly stealing from a set of locations, making it more difficult for incidents of theft to be controlled and disallowing struggling store owners to come up for air amid the current crime epidemic. Suggestions to help fix the problem come in the form of amendments to the notorious cashless bail laws that removed judicial discretion in detaining repeat offenders. Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-Staten Island) has previously called for judges to be returned their discretion to set bail on repeat offenders and detain organized and serial shoplifters. While retailers claim a $4.4 billion loss due to retail theft last year, Governor Kathy Hochul (D) last week vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have created a fifteen-member task force to combat organized theft. The Retail Council of New York State, an Albany-based lobbying group representing New York retailers, said they were “extremely disappointed” by Hochul’s failure to take up the bill. As of this summer, retail thefts in New York City have seen a 77% increase over the last five years, despite more police presence in retail areas and prosecutors looking into the problem.
Local Congressman Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), of the Second Congressional District, secured federal funding for Amityville’s police vehicles. (pictured below) Garbarino joined Amityville Mayor Dennis Siry, Amityville Police Chief Bryan Burton, and other Village and law enforcement officials at Amityville Village Hall on Monday to unveil three new police vehicles. “Our law enforcement officers need proper equipment to combat crime and effectively perform their duties. This is a matter of public safety and to ensure our officers have the tools they need to serve and protect,” said Garbarino. “These vehicles will help the Amityville Police Department modernize its fleet of police vehicles in order to better protect Amityville and the families and businesses that call this community home.” Amityville was rewarded $210,000 in the Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations bill through a Community Project Funding Request that Garbarino submitted on behalf of the Village. Credit - Office of Congressman Garbarino
The ongoing Israel-Hamas War has reached a point of relief for some of the hostages taken on both sides, but the current state of the conflict remains ambiguous, according to analysts. As of Wednesday, hostages have continued to be released and exchanged between Israel and Palestine as part of an ongoing six-day ceasefire. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed Tuesday the release of ten Israeli citizens and two foreign nationals from Gaza, and Israel’s military confirmed the reception of the hostages. The hostages were among some of the 240 people seized by Hamas during the October 7 incursion into Israel in which 1,200 people were killed. Israel said it released thirty Palestinian hostages from the town of Ofer and a detention center in Jerusalem. The ceasefire is the first - and so far, only - pause in the conflict since it began almost two months ago. (pictured above right) The truce was set to expire Tuesday night but both sides agreed to extend the truce to allow for more hostage exchanges, which have been mediated by the nation of Qatar. Since the truce started last Friday, eighty-one hostages have been released by Hamas, including sixty Israelis - all women and children - as well as twenty-one foreign nationals. Israel, on the other hand, has freed 150 hostages. The nation, as well as Long Island, continue to watch the release process as detained Americans, including a native of Nassau County remain under Hamas’ control. Omer Neutra, 22, of Plainview, was taken hostage into Gaza on October 7 after his tank was bombarded by Hamas gunmen. Neutra is a member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and holds dual Israeli-United States citizenship. His parents spoke at the Empty Shabbat Table display in front of the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge ahead of Thanksgiving before departing for Israel to speak with leaders regarding the hostage situation. All eyes are now on the expected duration of the ceasefire and if it will coalesce into possible negotiations. Qatar hosted spy chiefs from Mossad - Israel’s Central Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations - and the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to discuss the humanitarian crisis and discuss a potential deal. According to Egyptian media, Israel has claimed that the truce can be extended under the condition that Hamas continues to free at least ten Israeli hostages per day. Discussions in Qatar are reportedly swirling around the persuasion of Hamas to release male hostages. Israel claimed to have detected the detonation of three explosive devices on Tuesday in the northern Gaza Strip, a violation of the truce deal. Both Palestine and Israel have accused the other of violating the deal, but have reaffirmed their commitment to the ceasefire so long as it’s a mutual commitment.
Meanwhile, one of Hochul’s priorities this month was to sign the Health Equity and Opportunity legislative package, which requires free menstrual products to be provided in middle and high schools, requires cosmetologists to receive training in all hair types and patterns, designated March 8 as International Women’s Day, and removes or replaces instances of “gendered” language with gender non-specific terminology in State language. For example, the terms “feminine hygiene products” and “sanitary napkins” have been replaced in favor of “menstrual products and pads.” Of the bill, Hochul said: “We know now more than ever before the positive impact inclusivity has on communities, and in New York we’re taking the steps to ensure equity for all from healthcare to haircare. From simply updating the way certain products are referred to, to expanding access to vital resources for those who may need them most, as time progresses, so should our laws.” State Senator Roxanne Persaud (D-Brooklyn), the bill’s sponsor, said: “Outdated terminology perpetuates stigma surrounding menstruation, which ultimately discourages conversations that enable access to basic resources.”
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National
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News Thursday, November 30, 2023
Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Continued Uncertainty for Local PTA James Wilson Young Middle School PTA Remains Leaderless By James B. Teese With uncertainty abounding regarding the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) for the James Wilson Young (JWY) Middle School in Bayport, two things remain true at press time: there seems to be a scheduled PTA meeting and there are still vacancies for the three top PTA offices. An article in The Messenger two weeks ago detailed the controversy surrounding scheduled elections to fill those vacancies and the cancellations of those votes by the NYS PTA and its Suffolk Region. The page for the JWY Middle School on Bayport-Blue Point School District website reflects the lack of three officers: ”President: TBD; Vice President: Adrienne Cirone during her 2021 campaign for BBP Board of Education (above left) Adrienne Cirone’s picture used on a TBD; Treasurer: TBD; Secretary: Denise profile called Madeline Nasta (above right) Caperna.” It also notes that what would have been the year’s final meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 30. A call to the Principal’s office at the Middle School sought to clarify the meeting status. At press time, Principal John Andruszkiewicz had not returned the phone call. State and Region Stepped In As noted two weeks ago, resignations earlier this year by PTA officers left the organization in search of candidates to fill board vacancies. Since regulations require a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to operate with an elected board, the JWY Middle School PTA operations caused concern; indeed, New York’s Suffolk Region PTA officials stepped in to help correct the situation. According to its website, the Suffolk Region PTA: “interprets National and New York State PTA policies, procedures and programs; gives advisory and supportive services to units and councils through the director, officers, assistant and/or associate directors and chairpeople; confers with units and councils on local concerns and helps them resolve problems; [and]…organizes and charters units and councils,” among other missions. On October 2, 2023, Suffolk Region PTA Director Wendy Natalone sent an email to the JWY PTA membership stating, “it was requested that Suffolk Region PTA assist in facilitating the election to fill the vacancies and get this PTA unit back on track, as at this point, it is not a PTA unit in good standing and cannot function at all until the required officers are elected.” Director Natalone further informed members of the process for self-nomination for the vacant positions, that an election would be held on October 30, and that, in order to vote, members had to register by October 28. That meeting -- via Zoom, rather than in-person – was cancelled, apparently due to technical difficulties. There were other objections, however, by local candidates. Candidate for PTA President Jenna Micalizzi expressed her objections to The Messenger: “We cannot tolerate a system that enables a single individual to potentially register multiple voters and thereafter vote on their behalf. The potential for fraud in this instance is enormous. There is no way to trust these results,” she said, and we reported two issues ago. “Until a procedure is put in place to ensure the ‘one person, one vote’ concept is adhered to, these elections should be placed on hold.” Such objections and technical difficulties led to a cancellation of the October 30 vote – rescheduled for November 8, 2023. This vote was also cancelled. On the morning of November 8, the NYS and Suffolk Region sent yet another email to the JWY PTA membership: “Good Morning. Tonight’s Special Meeting of the James Wilson Young PTA, to elect the vacant positions, has been cancelled.” “No further meeting will be scheduled until NYS PTA &Suffolk Region have the opportunity to talk to the Principal, Council President, and Unit Secretary to determine the viability of this unit.” The email was jointly signed by Helen Hoffman, NYS PTA President and Wendy Natalone, Suffolk Region Director. Ongoing Uncertainty The Messenger attempted to gain answers to a number of outstanding questions from local officials and the Suffolk Region PTA. - Is there a rescheduled election? - Why would an in-person election not be held? - What is the precedent, and authority, for an online election as an alternative to in-person voting? - Is there a provision in the regulations providing for a special meeting and an inperson vote, if requested?
- Has the reported system irregularity (Zoom settings) been corrected? - What steps are being taken to ensure all interested PTA members are able to vote? Calls and emails to the JWY Middle School and the Suffolk Region PTA remained unanswered at press time. If an election is held this week, the candidates nominated include: for President, Jenna Micalizzi and Joelle Hawkes; for VP, Margherita Mulroy, Veronica Peterson, and Matthew Little; for Treasurer, Jensuh McCormack and Jennifer Ramirez. Without officers or a rescheduled election, the status and viability of the Middle School PTA organization remains in doubt. The parents, teachers, and students await answers.
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Smithtown Messenger - Brookhaven Messenger - Islip Messenger - Thursday, November 30, 2023
Holiday
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School Highlights Thursday, November 30, 2023
Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Three Village Has Talent Three Village teachers and administrators stepped on stage at Murphy Junior High School for “Three Village Has Talent II.” Presented by the Three Village Teachers Association and Three Village School Administrators Association, the talent show featured acts and performances by familiar faces in the district. This year, more than fifty faculty members performed and helped out behind the scenes. The event raised nearly $9,000 for student scholarships.
‘CommUNITY’ Celebration Brings Sachem Together
The Sachem Central School District community came together on November 18 for a districtwide celebration of unity. The second annual “CommUNITY” Fair featured cultural music and dance performances along with food tastings. Several members of the school community participated including student leaders from various clubs, dance teams, the robotics team and even outside organizations such as Canine Companions. The CommUNITY Fair was an opportunity for all Sachem families to come together to celebrate what unites everyone, while also recognizing differences. The event supported the district’s Culture of Care – showing that all students, staff, and families are welcomed and cared for in Sachem schools.
School Highlights Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Eastport-South Manor Gives Thanks
Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, Eastport-South Manor Central School District elementary students gave thanks in a variety of ways and settings. At Tuttle Avenue Elementary School students participated in a Thanksgiving celebration, which recognized and honored all essential workers in their school and the veterans in their community. It was a morning of poetry and song as each of the grade’s classrooms donned turkey and pilgrim headdresses and took to the stage to perform a variety of Thanksgiving holiday music and to recognize the important work that the faculty and staff do each day. At Eastport Elementary School, sixth grade students attended a Thanksgiving feast get-together. They ate their turkey and fixings, prepared
by the PTO, generous parents, and teacher George Marino. “I’m grateful for” placemats were also created by the students and included a family photo and a short description for which they are most thankful.
South Street Elementary School students also demonstrated generosity by donating baskets of nonperishable food items and toiletries. The baskets will be distributed throughout the community to families in need.
Eastport-South Manor Students to Attend SCMEA AllCounty Jazz Concert Three Eastport-South Manor Jr.-Sr. High School students were selected to represent the district at the Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association All-County Jazz Concert, held on November 4 at East Islip High School. Junior John Schroeder (bass) was one of 18 students in Suffolk County selected for the SCMEA High School All-County Instrumental Jazz Ensemble for Grades 10-12. Freshmen Kyler Albert (trombone) and Jack Gallagher (percussion) were two of 20 students in Suffolk County selected for the SCMEA Middle School All-County Instrumental Jazz Ensemble. The district congratulates the students on this outstanding accomplishment.
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History
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Thursday, November 30, 2023
America the Beautiful: How History Shapes our Electorate South Dakota - The Mount Rushmore State
Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
This is the forty-first of a series column that will look at the history of all 50 States, all 5 territories, and the Capital and the influence history has on our current political environments. The aim of this column is to capture that our country is not just red or blue, but rather many shades in between. Each Lower 48 state’s current political landscape can be traced back to its early settlement and geography and its particular involvement in the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, and the Civil Rights Era.
By Matt Meduri Despite its situation in the Great Plains, and square in the center of the Populist movement, South Dakota’s staunch Republican profile would greatly run ahead those of its Midwestern counterparts. Even so, South Dakota would go on to produce some of the most influential Democrats in recent times. Early History - Two Dakotas France is the first country to have held a claim over the land of South Dakota, looking to sustain the fur industry. After the land was traded to Spain, then back to France, the United States acquired South Dakota in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was the first to formally explore the area thereafter, and the fur trading industry dominated the first half of the 1800s. The 1850s saw the settlements of two of the state’s largest cities today: Sioux Falls and Yankton, allowing the Dakota Territory to be established in 1861, which also included North Dakota. As previously discussed in the North Dakota article, the two Dakotas experienced two different eras of growth and interests. While North Dakota was settled primarily for agriculture, South Dakota developed more of a mining profile with the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874. South Dakota was tied to larger cities like Omaha and Chicago via railroads, allowing its own cities to become larger and more influential. North Dakota, on the other hand, was much more sparsely settled and connected to Minneapolis by its own railroad. South Dakota considered its northern counterpart a land of “wild folks, cattle ranchers, and fur traders.” North Dakota found it cheaper to remain a territory, while South Dakota pushed for statehood and to retain the name “Dakota” for itself, which became akin to a certain brand of products and services associated with the region, much like “California raisins” or “Georgia peaches.” The two ended up sharing the name and were both admitted on November 2, 1889. President Benjamin Harrison (R-IN) shuffled the paperwork and signed them blindly, leaving it a question to this day of which Dakota technically became a state first. South Dakota’s statehood now allowed it to make decisions on key issues, such as prohibition, the location of the state capitol - which had previously been “stolen” by a corrupt North Dakota politician - land skirmishes with the Natives, agricultural issues, and women’s suffrage. The railroads allowed speculation that the city of Pierre could be the next Denver due to its location on the railroads, which led the state to select the city as its capital. In addition to railroads, South Dakota’s westward expansion was partly facilitated by wars with the Natives, most notably in the form of the Battle of Wounded Knee, the climax of the federal theater of removing Native tribes from the Great Plains. Most of South Dakota’s earliest settlers were from New England, and with much of its profile being agrarian, the state developed a staunch Republican-Populist political lean. Its first election
in 1892 went to Republican Benjamin Harrison, with William Jennings Bryan (D-NE), who ran on a fusion ticket with the Populist Party, winning the state in 1896 on the “free silver” to help indebted farmers. Progressivism was on full display in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, originally a Republican, split from the party against President William Howard Taft (R-OH). His third-party bid allowed Woodrow Wilson (D-NJ) to easily win the election. Roosevelt carried six states and because South Dakota’s Republican Party was controlled by Progressives, Taft was not on the ballot, allowing South Dakota to be the only state Roosevelt would carry with a majority of the vote. Outside of the 1896 and 1912 elections, South Dakota would become a fiercely Republican state. Of the thirty-three elections in which the state has voted, South Dakota has only voted for four Democrats and one Progressive. Twentieth Century Politics - A True Red State Like other farming states, South Dakota suffered immensely during the Great Depression. The 1920s farming crisis and the Dust Bowl further indebted and impoverished farmers, which pushed the state to vote for Franklin Roosevelt (DNY) in 1932 and 1936. South Dakota would quickly revert to the Republican fold in 1940, and since then, it has only backed one other Democrat: Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) in his 1964 landslide. South Dakota’s economy jumped back to life with World War II when the state’s heavy agricultural sector was needed. In 1944, Congress passed the Flood Control Act, constructing six large dams on the Missouri River, four of which are located in South Dakota. The projects brought hydroelectricity, boating, fishing, and other forms of recreation to the state’s economy. Tourism was also part of the state’s master plan as early as the 1920s. Part of this plan was an effort to draw tourists to the state, especially the Black Hills in the western part of South Dakota. The proposal was a large monument dedicated to the nation’s birth and development, memorializing some of its famed leaders. In 1927, Mount Rushmore National Monument was commissioned by President Calvin Coolidge (R-MA) and was overseen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum. Borglum died during its creation, allowing his son Lincoln to succeed him and finish the work. While South Dakota remained mostly agricultural - to this day, agriculture is still its top industry - the state retained its large Republican hue, but because of its ancestral Populist tendencies, continued to elect Democrats down ballot, but not as frequently as North Dakota.
In fact, South Dakota has one of the shortest political histories for the Democratic Party out of most states. In addition to having only won four presidential elections here, the party has also only elected five governors of the thirty-three who have served. Democrats last held the State Senate in 1992 and the State House in 1974. Since South Dakota’s admission to the Union in 1889, Democrats have only held the State House for six years and the State Senate for twelve. Despite its strong Republican leanings and the 1972 landslide won by Richard Nixon (R-CA), native son and Senator George McGovern (D-SD) would do better in his home state than most other parts of the country. He only won Massachusetts and the District of Columbia in that election. Farming concerns in the 1980s would deliver a single-digit win for George H. W. Bush (R-TX) in 1988, uncharacteristic of the state’s true conservative angle. The margins from 1988 to 1996 would be some of the thinnest for the Republican Party in the state. George W. Bush (R-TX), however, would turn the state back to its roots. South Dakota’s geography also reflects the Republican lean of the state, as the only counties that would flirt with the Democratic Party were the more populated eastern counties along the Missouri River. The strongest Democratic counties in South Dakota are those that are home to Native American reservations. Outside of the reservation counties is Clay County, home to Vermillion and the University of South Dakota. While reliably Democratic, Republicans are not overpowered here as they are in other college towns across the country. Even South Dakota’s urban counties, such as Minnehaha (Sioux Falls), Hughes (Pierre), Yankton (Yankton), and Pennington (Rapid City) are all firmly Republican. Current Political Leanings - A Firm GOP Hold In addition to hosting one of the longest presidential winning streaks in the country - a feat it has shared with eight other states since 1964 - South Dakota is home to the longest gubernatorial winning streak for any party in the country. No Democrat has won a governor’s race here since Richard Kneip in 1974. In the U.S. Senate, however, Democrats have had more recent success. Democratic strength to the upper chamber was on a forty-year drought until the election of McGovern and James Abourezk in the 1960s and 1970s. Another drought would produce Tom Daschle (D) in 1987, who would serve as Senate Minority Leader from 1995-2005 in broken stints, as well as Majority Leader from 2001-2003. Daschle was defeated by John Thune (R) in 2004, making him one of just a handful of incumbent party leaders to lose re-election. Senator Tim Johnson (D) also served with Dashcle, creating a brief period in which Democrats controlled both Senate seats until Daschle’s loss in 2005. Johnson served until his retirement in 2015. Republicans now control both Senate seats in South Dakota and neither have been remotely competitive since 2004. Today, the state still boasts agriculture as a main industry, but the presence of Citibank in Sioux Falls has transformed a once sleepy farming town to a regional economic powerhouse. Sioux Falls is also home to a burgeoning tech hub, giving the Great Plains a small taste of Silicon Valley. Low taxes and low regulation have made South Dakota an attractive destination in the last decade, prompting concerns it might gain some electoral power in the near future. Despite the population shifts to South Dakota, nothing seems likely to knock off its intense Republican ancestry any time soon.
Around Town Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
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Thursday, November 30, 2023
Town Clerk Kevin LaValle and “EJ’s PJs” to Hold December 6 Holiday Pajama Drive at Connect Church in Centereach On December 6, Town Clerk Kevin LaValle (R-Selden) (pictured right) will join EJ’S PJ’S founder Patricia Poggi to spearhead the Town of Brookhaven’s efforts along with EJ’s PJs to collect and distribute new pajamas to children of all ages who need them the most. This year’s event will be held on December 6 from 5:30p.m. to 8:00p.m. at Connect Church, 31 Horseblock Road in Centereach. For more information, go to www. ejspjspajamadrive.com or call Town Clerk Kevin LaValle’s office at 631-451-9101. EJ’s PJs Pajama Drive started with one mission in mind – to give out pajamas, and that mission has not changed since 2011 when Patricia Poggi and her sons started the drive. The name EJ’s PJs was inspired by Patricia Poggi’s three sons, Edward, Jeremy, and Patrick who are the backbone and driving force behind this annual fundraiser. EJ’s PJs began as a way to give back to the community and to take time out from the holiday season to reflect upon what matters most in this life, which is helping others.
growing fundraiser collecting new pajamas to donate to local charities. EJ’s PJs has grown to be an annual event, starting simply with a bin on the front porch of the Poggi residence where only friends and family donated, to now gaining the support of the local community and Town of Brookhaven with drop-off boxes located throughout Suffolk allowing our entire community to be a part of this wonderful act of charity by giving them the ability to drop-off their donations at a place most convenient to them.
Beginnings... “Poggi Plaid Pajamas” It is a tradition of the Poggi family to wear what they call their “Poggi Plaid Pajamas” every Christmas, and Patricia and her boys wanted nothing more than to be able to provide the same safe, cozy, and warm feeling a pair of new pajamas brings to people in our community who might not be fortunate enough to have. This is what sparked the conversation with her kids to create this ever-
Assemblyman DeStefano Obtains Grant for Bellport On November 27, Assemblyman Joe DeStefano (R-Medford), of the Third District, met with Bellport Village Mayor Maureen Veitch to see the village’s new public safety vehicle. To help purchase this vehicle, the Assemblyman obtained a $50,000 DASNY grant for Bellport. DASNY is a capital grant program on behalf of New York State that supports community and economic development. Assemblyman DeStefano and Mayor Veitch also discussed local issues and programs in the surrounding community and how they can become good partners in government to ensure that Bellport Village continues to prosper. “We both care about the constituents we represent; I believe we will be able to build a great working relationship” said Assemblyman DeStefano. The two also talked about local businesses in Bellport, how they both attended the Bellport Chamber of Commerce’s soup competition on November 25, and the need to continue to support local businesses in Bellport.
The drive has been successful with increasing the number of pajama donations each year thanks to the wonderful people we are surrounded by in our community and by the growing support we have gained from our many local businesses. EJ’s PJs wouldn’t be possible without everyone’s immense teamwork and effort. It has created a special network of hardworking and compassionate
people who come together annually with the same goal in mind of giving back to children in need, always returning to the Poggi family’s original passion the day they decided to begin collecting pajamas over the holiday season. “As this pajama drive has grown, we are so fortunate to have had special opportunities to work with more and more people and even attend special community events, like the Town of Brookhaven’s Annual Youth Interface Program Toy Drive, which we have been blessed to be a part of the past few holiday seasons,” says Poggi. “Being able to be a part of happenings as such makes us so happy because it is a way for us to give the gift of warm and cozy pajamas to more people in need every year.” “Our vision became a reality on December 11, 2021, thanks to Pastor Hank Kistler of Connect Church in Centereach, his wife Allison and thenCouncilman Kevin LaValle,” continues Poggi. “We were able to host a Breakfast & Pictures with Santa Pajama Party. Our goal was to collect 1,000 pairs of pajamas to donate. With the help of this in-person event, where admission was a pair of pajamas as well as all the collection boxes at local businesses and schools, we were able to surpass our goal and collected 1167 pairs of pajamas.”
Smithtown Messenger - Brookhaven Messenger - Islip Messenger - Thursday, November 30, 2023
NEW MEMBERS NEEDED
AMERICAN LEGION VETERANS STILL SERVING AMERICA
The William Merritt Hallock American Legion Post No. 155 115 Church Street Lake Ronkonkoma, NY Is looking for New Members
We meet at the Post twice a month 1st Tuesday of the month at 1:00 pm and the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm. We have a social hour with snack one hour prior to the meeting. Our meetings generally run about one hour. We take part in our local community parades and street fairs. We usually have three social functions with family and friends each year. We participate in a number of patriotic ceremonies. If interested in joining our Post and meeting some fellow veterans, stop by on a meeting day with a copy of your DD214. You can visit our website at: AmericanLegionWilliamHallockPost155.org
Falling for Fall Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Early Holiday Traditions
This weekly column looks to help readers enjoy the season of autumn by providing the best tips and information on scenic parks, fall-favorite activities, recipes, and more.
17
By Kaitlyn Foley There has been a long and heated debate about when it is too early to begin Christmas traditions. To some, the Christmas season should at least wait until December 1, and to others, about two weeks before Christmas will suffice. To me, it’s appropriate to start celebrations as early as Thanksgiving because there are some traditions that are more fun when given more time. Besides, the holiday season is known to be the happiest time of year, especially during winter which is otherwise dreaded by most in the northeast. So, why delay the happiness? Some of my favorite traditions take as long as three weeks to complete. Therefore, everything starts early. Shopping for presents, decorating the house, planning a holiday party; sure, that can all take a long time. But the best Christmas traditions involve the children, take a bit less planning, and declutter the home. Every year, children get more and more toys that pile up into a mountain in a corner of their room, never to be touched again. Avalanches of teddy bears and Barbie dolls spread across the floor, soon making it unclear whether the floor is carpet or hardwood. Instead of keeping the Andes Mountains in your home, try having the kids fill a bag of toys to be given away. Something to declutter your home, while giving toys that aren’t being played with to other children who will be excited to receive them. Each year, my brothers and I were given a bag or a box to fill with toys we did not play with anymore. The rule was if you haven’t touched it since school started, give it away. We’d fill the bags up with toys that haven’t been used and place them under the Christmas Tree. Then, we would wait for Santa to come get them and bring them back to the North Pole. There, he can recycle the toys, make them new again, and give them to other kids. Eventually, when we were old enough to understand, we were told that my mom gives them to various organizations across the Island, so that they can be redistributed to kids who will play with them. I loved this tradition, not only because it slimmed my mountain down to a hill, but it also taught me that I took many of my toys for granted, while other kids would be appreciative of one extra present under the tree Christmas morning. It taught me how to share with kids I didn’t know, and it taught me how to understand other people’s circumstances, to give back in areas that I have an excess. Some of the amazing local organizations run excellent toy drives every year. Angels of Long Island is collecting toys for kids, gifts for teens, gift cards, and bikes for their holiday drive. All items can be dropped off at the organization’s Patchogue location. Community members can also sign up to be a volunteer, be a “drop site”, or aid in distribution. Del Vino Vineyard in Northport has designated this years recipients to be the children of Dolan Family Health Center. A part of Northwell Health’s Huntington Hospital, Dolan Family Health Center is a mission-driven ambulatory care site that provides essential care to the underserved population in the Huntington area. New and unwrapped toys only.
This Week’s
Fall
Favorite Recipe
INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar • 1 egg • 2 1/2 teaspoons Orange Extract • 2 1/2 cups sifted flour • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped • 1/2 teaspoons shortening
Chocolate Dipped
Orange Butter
Cookies
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. 3. Beat in egg and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the orange extract. Gradually beat in flour and salt until well mixed. 4. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets; flatten with fork. 5. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. 6. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. 7. Melt chocolate and shortening in microwavable bowl on HIGH 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after 30 seconds. Add remaining 1 teaspoon extract; stir until chocolate is completely melted. 8. Dip each cookie halfway into chocolate mixture. 9. Let stand at room temperature or refrigerate on wax paper-lined tray 15 minutes or until chocolate is set.
Second Chance Toys collects and donates toys that are gently used and in good condition. Their mission is to keep plastic toys out of landfills by collecting and rehoming them to children in need. As a national organization, their dropoff locations do not extend to Suffolk County, however a few locations in Nassau are willing to come pick up toys within 30-100 miles. You can also register to be a collection site for our Suffolk County residents. Plastic toys only. The Messenger Papers is also collecting toys, both new and gently used, as well as new pajamas to be distributed to children in need around Long Island. We will be acting as a collection site for multiple organizations such as EJ’s PJs, Angels of Long Island, and Del Vino Vineyards. If you would like to donate, feel free to drop off qualifying items to our Press Office Monday through Friday from 9:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. at 558 Portion Road, Lake Ronkonkoma 11779.
Smithtown Messenger - Brookhaven Messenger - Islip Messenger - Thursday, November 30, 2023
TOWNLINE RAIL: ABOUT C&D DEBRIS Townline Rail is a proposed alternative to trucking locally generated incinerator ash from the Huntington-Smithtown wasteto-energy facility as well as Construction & Demolition (C&D) debris off Long Island once the Brookhaven landfill is closed. C&D, by DEC definition, is uncontaminated debris generated from construction, demolition, remodeling and land clearing Typical C&D debris includes brick, concrete and other masonry products, drywall, lumber and roofing materials Materials not accepted as C&D include: asbestos, corrugated cardboard, fluorescent lights, electrical fixtures containing hazardous materials, furniture, tires, fuel tanks and household waste C&D debris in an enclosed facility or sitting short-term in covered rail cars does not present a threat to the aquifer Proposed Townline Rail Terminal
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Townline Rail will save taxpayers money, create jobs, and benefit the environment. To learn more visit www.townlinerail.com
Expires 9/1/2024
Guest Column Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Overview - AMAC - The Association of Mature American Citizens
19
The Association of Mature American Citizens represents Americans 50 plus. AMAC is centered on American values, freedom of the individual, free speech, and exercise of religion, equality of opportunity, sanctity of life, rule of law, and love of family, with benefits at all levels. AMAC plays a vital role in helping build the services that will enrich the lives of America’s seniors. AMAC Action, a 501 (C) (4) advocates for issues important to AMAC’s membership on Capitol Hill and locally through grassroots activism. To Learn more, visit www.amac.us
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Educators Or Indoctrinators? By Robert B. Charles | AMAC America’s college and graduate experience is disintegrating before our eyes. What we think of as a “good education” is disappearing, a sort of communism-light replacing it. If this shocks you, it did me – until I had read so many new policies, new offices, rules, and mandates being pushed out, it no longer does. While good students and good facility on good campuses still exist, the beachhead of a non-political American education is fast eroding. On many campuses, objectivity has been replaced – intentionally and belligerently – by straitjacket conformity with subjective new norms and mandates, many leftist. All this is happening under our noses, many not realizing it. Almost overnight, on state and Ivy League campuses, leftist political ideology has replaced traditional emphasis on hard learning, original thought, meaningful life lessons, broadening of the mind, deep dives into hard or challenging ideas, and any sense that objective, non-political academic discipline is welcomed. Everything is now – by policy – leftist. Today, institutional “group-think” is not just swelling, encouraged, but mandated. Anyone who dares challenge leftist norms risks suddenly being investigated, fired, removed, forced to resign, retire, humiliated, or the student level given a poor grade, bad recommendation, no awards, reported to the administration for discipline, prejudice, racism, or just ignored, insulted, ostracized, mocked, or excluded. Thus, if someone challenges the Marxist term “equity” – look it up if your browser allows – as a concept diametrically opposed to traditional American belief in the individual, free speech, free exercise of religion, individual thinking, individual rights, and our Constitution’s premises, instead pushing group-think, group-anger, group-identity, and leveling or forced redistributive justice, they can be fired. Likewise, if anyone dares say that “diversity,” historically and in fact, does not refer just to skin color or origin or sex habits, but involves inviting different ideas to the table to get a better understanding of truth or mutual understanding, spurring debate among controversial views, they can be fired. Thus, so pervasive and perverse is this new push nationally to silence those who defend traditional individual liberties and equality, vocalize their faith, speak for settled biology, genetics, free markets, or demand individual thought or merit supersede conformity and mediocrity – to say these policies are just wrong – that even criticism is often swiftly punished. Lawsuits percolate, but are few. In short, the old understanding that a college and graduate education was about learning to think and think harder, was the next step in a solid, life-relevant, non-political, objectively sound, and nationally respectful life, is fading. Gone is respect for free speech, for the original and thus uneasy development of competing ideas, for critical review and criticism of these perversely conformist norms, or any reference to where they came from, what damage they are doing, how they undermine, dishonor, and even mock original thought. Administrative offices – sometimes called DEI or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – become, by definition Orwellian and excluding, of what they do not want to hear, see, acknowledge, understand or permit. They become oppressors of individual thought, of free, open, often controversial exchanges of strongly held views, punishers of honest dialogue, real thought, and anyone who is a critic for objective reasons of this movement away from merit and reality for subjectivity and enforced conformity. In effect, by using terms no one knows the history of, by redefining these terms to make them seem innocuous, friendly, and fair – then demanding all accept the new definitions, that the policies cannot be debated, that objectors will be fired, demeaned, isolated, or sued, they intimidate all fresh thought. These heavy-handed offices and leftist policies are effectively killing the whole idea of the liberal arts academy, which was formed – from the days of Dante at Oxford – to stir controversy, to surface
truth from a fierce debate over what it was, whether from a religious or secular perspective, from pro or limited government, from Ptolemy to Copernicus, from Newton to Einstein. If I could look every one of the administrators in the eye, face them squarely and point out the truth to them, it would be this: You either know what you are doing, you are bought into freedomsuppressing ideology, which perverts words to suppress individual equality, robust learning, diverse ideas, and inclusion of all – that is, you not want free and open thought, are afraid of it – or not. A real educator is not afraid of individuals being individuals, but wants that, not group-think. A real educator does not spurn diverse
ideas in the name of diversity. A real educator does not exclude asserting that is inclusive. A real educator does not fear losing in the marketplace of ideas, but wants truth. More bluntly whatever God, Godless power, or Government these newly assertive, anti-free speech, anti-traditional, antiindividual, anti-educational administrators and educators think they are serving, they disserve the country and truth. To me, that warrants a very serious relook. Bottom line: Educators afraid of ideas are not educators, they are indoctrinators. Suppressing free thought and speech is not only anti-educational but un-American.
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Guest Column Thursday, November 30, 2023
Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Move On from Marching-In Based on Price By Howard Dean When it’s time to come out swinging in partisan political battles, everybody knows which side I’m on. But that doesn’t mean we should overlook the successes we’ve delivered by working across the aisle. That’s how we unleashed American innovation in 1980 after a decade of torpor. Now, however, the threat to innovation is gathering again -- at a time when breakthroughs in tech like artificial intelligence are poised to take us to unprecedented levels of well-being, health, and prosperity. We need Democrats and Republicans to come together again to protect our culture of innovation from those whose policy priorities lie elsewhere. Back in the 1970s, federal mismanagement was stifling American R&D. By the latter part of that decade, taxpayer-funded research had led to around 30,000 patents. But because the government retained the patents and licensing rights to those discoveries, companies were hesitant to take on the burdens of trying to license them and develop them into commercial products. Less than 5% of these federally backed discoveries and inventions were ever licensed for development. In 1980, a bipartisan duo of senators -- Democrat Birch Bayh of Indiana and Republican Bob Dole of Kansas -- devised a legislative solution. The BayhDole Act delicately balanced the interests of the federal government, industry, and academia by
decentralizing the licensing of federally-funded R&D to universities and research nonprofits, rather than overworked federal administrators. This simple fix ignited the fire of American innovation. Scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and investors collaborated to create everything from once-a-day HIV meds to Google’s search engine and electronic funds transfers. But while bipartisan support for Bayh-Dole’s unlocking of innovation was strong, some advocates seem to believe we can undermine its foundations without serious consequences. These advocates are urging the government to make use of BayhDole’s once-obscure, but now notorious, “March In” provision to seize and relicense the patents of drugs they deem too expensive. If their theory held, then the government could march in at any point on any product that benefitted from federal R&D funding. There’s no surer way to kill off investment in tech development than the constant threat of taking away exclusive patent rights. This erroneous reading of march-in authority has been resoundingly and repeatedly rejected by both Republican and Democratic administrations, which have recognized -- correctly -- that Congress never intended price to be a valid criterion for triggering march-in. And while Biden administration officials rightly rejected the latest petition earlier this year, the
administration concurrently announced that it’s standing up a new government working group to further study march-in criteria. So rather than putting the matter to rest, the administration is prolonging the debate and uncertainty. To be blunt, American innovators can’t afford more ambiguity on the status of their intellectual property. With the knowledge that this working group will run through the whole of 2023, the equilibrium of industry, academia, and the public sector that’s powered American technological dominance for the past four decades still faces an existential threat. As Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo (D-RI) correctly noted, the Bayh-Dole Act is a “cornerstone” of American innovation. The Biden administration should stand up decisively for research and entrepreneurship. The debate around misusing march-in has gone on long enough. Howard Dean is the former chair of the Democratic National Committee and former governor of Vermont.
Theater & The Arts Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
21
Engeman Theater’s Enchanting
Beauty and the Beast is a Visual Feast!
By Cindi Sansone-Braff Once upon a time in a faraway land, this “tale as old as time” was the creative brainchild of the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Her fairytale entitled “La Belle et la Bête” (“Beauty and the Beast”) was published in 1740. The version we now know and love was adapted and revised by the French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and published in 1756. Almost 200 years later, the French filmmaker and poet Jean Cocteau wrote and directed a screenplay based on this beloved adaptation. In 1991, Walt Disney Pictures produced the award-winning animated film “Beauty and the Beast,” utilizing source material from Cocteau’s film and Beaumont’s adaptation. In 1994, Disney adapted this beloved film for the stage and brought it to Broadway, where it ran for 13 years. With a book by Linda Woolverton, music by Alan Menken, and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, this captivating musical includes songs from the original movie, plus some wonderful new ones, such as “Home,” and “If I Can’t Love Her.” A song cut from Disney’s animated film, “Human Again,” thankfully made its way back into the stage version. The showstopping number of the evening was “Be Our Guest.” This musical extravaganza, complete with dancing dishes, bedazzling costumes by Dustin Cross, can-can dancing with high kicks, cartwheels, and splits, tapdancing, sensuous tango moves, and bubbles bursting out of Mrs. Pott’s spout, had the audience laughing, clapping, and singing along. Much of the magic and wonder of this show is a result of the herculean efforts of the creative team. Accolades go out to the director, Drew Humphrey, for his attention to every detail and for bringing out the artistic strengths of this multitalented cast. Kyle Dixon’s imaginative and colorful scenic design seemed to take on a life of its own, magically transforming before our eyes. The high-energy choreography by Mandy Modic kept the show moving at a whirlwind pace. However, what captivated me the most was the opening number, where Kennedy Perez, dancing the role of the Enchantress, appeared otherworldly with her ethereal, graceful, and enticing classical ballet moves. Charismatic and charming, Daniela Rodrigo brought the right amount of sass and wit to the part of
Belle. She demonstrated her stellar vocals throughout the show and gave moving renditions of “A Change in Me” and “Home.” Rodrigo was most convincing as the dutiful daughter of Maurice, an eccentric inventor, brilliantly portrayed by John J. Trujillo. In Act II, when Rodrigo entered the stage looking stunning in the requisite voluminous golden-yellow ballgown, the audience showed their approval by breaking out in spontaneous applause. Joe Caskey gave an award-worthy performance as the Beast. With his impressive vocals and body language, he brought dimension to this complex character who goes from being an obstinate, spoiled, bullying Beast to a kind, gentle, and loving Prince. One of the show’s highlights was his heartrending delivery of the beautiful ballad “If I Can’t Love Her.” Caskey and Rodrigo had intense onstage
chemistry, which was most apparent as they lovingly danced around the ballroom. Tim Rogan aced the role of Gaston, the self-centered, muscular, misogynistic villain of the story. Although pompous and dim-witted, this part calls for a strong singer to convey a sense of macho bravado, and Rogan certainly brought those characteristics to the comedic song “Me.” Rogan was most convincing in the terrifying “The Mob Song” scene, where Gaston inspired the other villagers to go and kill the Beast. Noah Ruebeck portrayed Lefou, Gaston’s foolish, bumbling sidekick. This part is laden with slapstick and physical humor, and Ruebeck’s antics had the audience in stitches. And of course, everyone’s favorite characters, the servants, having been transformed into inanimate objects under the Enchantress’ spell, got some of the biggest laughs of the evening.
Caitlin Burke gave a memorable performance as Mrs. Potts and delivered a heartfelt rendition of the theme song, “Beauty and the Beast.” Sadie Mathers was endearing as Mrs. Potts’ young son, Chip, bringing warmth, cheerfulness, and wide-eyed curiosity to the role. Jonathan Cobrda, looking stunning in his dazzling golden suit and sparkling shoes, gave a hot, hot, hot performance, lighting up the stage as Lumiere, the candelabra. I loved his sexy interactions and onstage chemistry with the “Oh là là” Babette, the French maid turned feather duster, portrayed to perfection by the irresistible Samantha Littleford. Robert Anthony Jones brought his A-game to his portrayal of Cogsworth, the high-strung clock. The onstage banter between Lumiere and Cogsworth was another highlight of the show. Celia Tedde as Madame de le Grande Bouche, the opera singer, stole every scene with her incredible vocals and charismatic stage presence. The top-drawer ensemble includes Blaire Baker, Sam Brackley, Easton Edwards, Jackson Parker Gill, Grace Hamashima, Samantha Littleford, Sadie Mathers, Louisa Mauzé, John Neurohr, Kennedy Perez, Simeon Rawls, Noah Ruebeck, Mark Tran Russ, Celia Tedde, John J. Trujillo, Dwayne Washington, and Alyssa Yard. After each performance, cast members stand in the lobby collecting donations for the Ecumenical Lay Council Food Pantry of Northport. In this season of giving, please bring a few extra dollars to help this worthy cause. John W. Engeman Theater’s lavish production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a story filled with redemption and romance and a must-see for the whole family this holiday season. This spectacular show runs through December 31, 2023. Tickets may be purchased by calling 631-261-2900, going online at www.engemantheater. com, or visiting the Engeman Theater Box Office at 250 Main Street, Northport. Cindi Sansone-Braff is an awardwinning playwright. She has a BFA in Theatre from UCONN and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. She is the author of “Grant Me a Higher Love,” “Why Good People Can’t Leave Bad Relationships,” and “Confessions of a Reluctant Long Island Psychic.” Her full-length Music Drama, “Beethoven, The Man, The Myth, The Music,” is published by Next Stage Press. www. Grantmeahigherlove.com.
Health & Lifestyle
22
Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year The most wonderful time of the year. Is it? Is it really? It certainly can be if we handle it wisely. Remember those three guys who showed up bearing gifts? Well, nowhere does it say they put it on a payment installment plan, or worse, on a credit card with 18 % interest. They gave from the heart and from what they had, not what they borrowed. We enter into this season wide-eyed with visions of love and laughter. We think of all the amazing things we will give and be given. Christmas and Hanukkah are both wonderful celebrations with traditions that encompass gift giving. Because gift giving is good, it’s a sign of love, friendship, and appreciation, but at what cost? Debt is already a huge problem in America and holiday debt is a growing factor. LendingTree - a company that provides loans, credit cards and more - follows debt incurring trends. They reported this year that 35% of Americans took on holiday debt in 2022 — about the same percentage as the prior year (36%). But the average debt jumped to $1,549, up 24% from last year’s $1,249. This is the highest the company has seen since it began tracking average debt levels in 2015. So, not only is the trend of taking on debt to buy gifts for others continuing, the monetary amount of that debt is increasing. Remember, that is just holiday debt - in addition to “normal” debt we accrue all year long. CNBC recently reported that 25% of Americans still have holiday debt from last year based on WalletHub’s 2023 November shopping survey. Can you imagine trying to buy a gift for your sister and you haven’t finished paying off last year’s gift? Does she even use the rice cooker? Dave Ramsey - financial guru of Ramsey Solutions, Inc. - who has created a multimillion-dollar company helping people get out of debt uses the following example to illustrate the potential problem. Let’s say you put $998 of Christmas spending on a
wayhomestudio on Freepik
By Diane Caudullo
credit card with an interest rate of 17% - a very realistic scenario. You decide to pay only the minimum payment of $25 each month because it just seems easier that way, and because life happens and you still need your income to live off of in January. According to Dave - It would take you five years to pay off your balance! By the time it’s all said and done, your $998 of debt would cost you $1,481.55 - thanks to interest. That’s an extra $483 tacked on to your holiday bill for just one year of Christmas spending. But not you - as you insert, swipe, and tap your way through shopping - so excited with each amazing purchase to make so-and-so so happy - you know you will pay the balance, in full, first thing the day after Christmas. Ahhh, the best of intentions, and then life happens. Knowing that so many people fall into this trap each and every year, simply take a moment before the shopping begins. Make the list, check it twice, who do I really need and want to buy gifts for the year? Include the family you love so dearly and then all the “other” gifts that will most assuredly come up. One for the boss, the babysitter, the teacher, the mail carrier. Draw a hard line in the sand on who will get gifts and who will simply get a sincere thank you note or Christmas card. Then decide on a budget - a budget based on real-life numbers - not $1000 because that sounds like it would nicely cover the twelve gifts you want to get. Take the $600 that you can afford to take from your bank, give lovingly, and not miss a beat on your next set of monthly bills. Then take that number and break it down further, a budget within a budget per person. Remember to consider tax and possibly shipping if needed, and then stick to it. If the budget is a little tighter this year - and there is no shame in that - make the hard decisions. Sit out on the friend’s “Secret Santa”, buy a family gift as opposed
AVOID HOLIDAY DEBT
1. Use cash. 2. Set Budgets. 3. Shop Smarter. 4. Say No To Added Obligations.
to individual items. Shop the thrift stores or Facebook Marketplace. You would be amazed at what you can find there: brand new items still in the original wrapping are not uncommon, as well as candles, games, great books, and even clothes with original tags. Also, be honest with friends and family, up front, early on; say that you can’t do the gifts this year. Many are thinking it, few will say it. Feel the burden lift. Create new traditions in place of gift exchanges, such as a game night at the holiday party. No gift to someone you love should become a burden that you carry long term. No person you love, and who loves you, would want that gift.
Sports Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
23
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Winning Twice is Just as Nice By James Haupt
With this weekend marking the Long Island Championship for football teams all over the island, we see some familiar and new faces take home the trophy. There was some fantastic football being played this year, so it’s sad to see it come to an end. But the last few games did not disappoint as we were witnesses to some thrilling season finales. East Islip vs South Side On November 24, the Long Island Class III Football Championship game was hosted at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium. Matching up were the East Islip Redmen and the South Side Cyclones. These were two of the toughest teams on Long Island who had a combined 3 losses this season, 2 of those losses coming from the Redmen. East Islip got the scoring started early with a 75-yard strike from quarterback Thomas Costarelli (Jr.) to wide receiver Matt Ferraro (Sr.) for a touchdown with 11 minutes remaining in the first quarter. This was a big play that set the tone early for the game. They followed this with yet another touchdown pass from Costarelli, this time to wide receiver Matt McIntee (sr) for two yards on 4th down. The Redmen seemed to lose
momentum after this as they allowed 14 unanswered points going into the 4th quarter. The Cyclones scored two touchdowns, one coming off a fumble from their offense that was then recovered in the endzone for a score. This was a great defensive play by East Islip that just didn’t go their way. Despite being down in the 4th quarter the Redmen were able to answer back with the game on the line. Costarelli threw another touchdown pass for 22 yards to McIntee to take the lead. In the end, East Islip finished on top claiming their second Long Island Championship title in school history; their first since 2007, ending a 16 year drought. Costarelli finished with 244 passing yards and three touchdowns, with McIntee as his main weapon, recording 7 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns. It was an all-around stellar performance for the Redmen who can call their season a success. Bayport-Blue Point vs Seaford On the following day, November 25, the Long Island Championship for Class IV took place. It was a high scoring
Football: William Floyd Vs. Massapequa Just as Nice
including 230 yards from Aiello who also recorded 3 touchdowns. Wide Receiver Mike Luce (Sr.) had himself a day as well finishing with a pair of touchdown receptions. Similar to East Islip, this was BayportBlue Point’s second Long Island Championship victory in school history. The Phantoms were unique, however, as this win made them back-to-back Class IV champions. With both of their titles coming in the last two years, and holding a 23-game win streak, the Phantoms have a dynasty brewing. They are the team to beat in Class IV and will look to continue to dominate in the future seasons.
Magic Circle’s
Pancake Breakfast Santa 42 ANNUAL
WITH
By PJ Balzer This past Saturday at Hofstra University, the Suffolk County Class I champions William Floyd Colonials took on the champs of Nassau, the Massapequa Chiefs. The two Long Island football giants are both no strangers to the Long Island Championship game. Massapequa is 3-1 in past Long Island Championship games, with wins in 2021, 1994, 1993, and a loss in 1998. William Floyd is 5-8, with wins in 2011 and 2012, and, 2005-2007. Floyd’s losses were in 2001, 2003, 2009-10, 2016, and 2018-19. Both varsity squads are revered on the island and breeding grounds for talent. There were approximately 2,500 in attendance for the 12:00p.m. start on a beautiful day, the day after Thanksgiving. Massapequa started off the game with a long run on the opening kickoff, placing them in Floyd territory to begin play. They dominated both sides of the ball during the first
battle between the Bayport-Blue Point Phantoms and the Seaford Vikings. Both teams came into this game having terrific seasons, but one stood out more. The Phantoms had a perfect, undefeated season going into this game that they looked to continue. In fact, dating back to last year they had 22 straight wins heading into this matchup. Despite both teams being elite this season, only one could be crowned winner. The first half was completely controlled by the Phantoms as they led 14-0 at the end of the second quarter. running back Danny Aiello (Sr.) capped off this half with a massive 82-yard touchdown run giving them the two score lead. Aiello had himself a day as he scored his second touchdown early in the third quarter to make it 21-0. This started to have the makings of a blowout for Bayport-Blue Point. Seaford started to show some life, responding with a touchdown of their own. Ultimately, the Phantoms were just too much to handle as they ran up the score from that point on. They finished with a 42-20 lopsided win that completed yet another perfect season. They had over 400 yards on offense,
half leaving the Colonials scoreless at 21-0. Massapequa is also known for having one of the top defenses on the island. Many local sports buffs predicted this to be a much closer game than it was. Joey Diesso (Jr.) led the Chiefs with four touchdowns. The Colonials’ only touchdown came in the fourth quarter with a run by Jaquan Thomas (So.) who was pulled up from junior varsity to play with Floyd’s varsity team for the playoffs. The game finished with a score of 35-7 with Massapequa winning their fourth football Long Island Championship in school history. Despite the loss, William Floyd had a tremendous season, being crowned Suffolk County large school champ the week prior in a convincing win over Sachem North at Stony Brook University. They finished another great season with a 10-2 record. Massapequa finished undefeated at 13-0.
Saturday, December 2nd 8:30 am - 11:30 am Children $4 • Adults $8 Come bring the whole family for a real holiday treat filled with fun, food and memorable photos. Remember your camera for the perfect picture with Santa Claus!
Located at the
Union United Methodist Church 1018 Pulaski Road • East Northport
631.754.5565
Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Inset: QuackerJack of the Long Island Ducks greets the audience.
Messenger Spotlight
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Patchogue Kicks Off Christmas Season
By Matt Meduri While debate will eternally swirl around what day can be considered the official “start” of the Christmas season, some celebrations are large enough to convince us of one date over another. Enter the Village of the Patchogue, whose parade and festivities held Saturday evening are sufficient arguments for the commencement of the Christmas season to land on the weekend after Thanksgiving. While some people prefer a break between holiday celebrations, Patchogue spares no expense on an annual basis to officiate the Christmas and holiday season as soon after Thanksgiving as possible. The parade started at 6:00p.m., with pre-festival Christmas favorites played by the American Air Power Museum Band under the baton of Ed Albinski. Such standards included The Christmas Song, White Christmas, and Sleigh Ride - which featured a trumpet solo initiating the famous sound of the horse whinny. The band continued to play Christmas carols and tunes during the parade while sitting under the marquee of the Patchogue Performing Arts Center. The Main Street show consisted of many perennial floats, displays, and groups, but all were well-anticipated and much appreciated as they always are year after year. Local troops of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Knights of Columbus, and the Rotary Club all marched with their own banners and flair. Several groups from the Stage Door School of Dance also performed elaborate numbers from within their place in the parade. A fleet of 1930s-era jalopies cruised the street ahead of most of the parade, while the crowd was treated to the creative floats crafted by the local businesses and residents. AJ Spa and Hot Tubs of East Patchogue advertised their business on a trailer float that hauled a hot tub with two bathers enjoying the hot water. Holiday Productions of Shirley made their yearly appearance, as well as Elevate Church of Patchogue with their Mary and baby Jesus display. Additionally, the annual display of the Hagerman Express train float made its way through the parade, dedicated to the late Rob Taraskas, a long-time member of Hagerman Fire Department. Speaking of fire departments, several departments from the immediate and surrounding areas lent their engines for the lights displays throughout the parade. Fire departments included, but are not limited to: Hagerman, Patchogue, East Patchogue, Selden, Medford, Bellport, Lake Grove, North Patchogue, and Blue Point. Spectators were also greeted by the Grinch, Elvis, and even Central Islip’s own QuackerJack of the Long Island Ducks. Finally, parade attendees were greeted by the man himself, Santa Claus, as the Air Power Band played his unofficial theme, Here Comes Santa Claus. The fake snow sprayed from the rooftops onto Main Street tied the entire night together, and the cold temperatures led some to believe - at first - that the snow was an authentic, HallmarkTV-special-esque end to such a festive night. “It was a great parade, all the decorations were perfect,” says Alexa, 26, East Setauket. “The people in the parade threw candy canes at us, the fake snow was really cute, we loved the people dressed up as our favorite Christmas characters, and of course, all the kids were excited to see Santa.” With snowflakes and lights decorating the streets of Patchogue from now until Christmas, it’s safe to say one of Long Island’s most festive towns has outdone themselves yet again.