JULY 26, 2018 • TIMES OF SMITHTOWN • PAGE A5
TOWN
Nesconset Tesla showroom to double as educational center Partnership struck between dealer and Farmingdale State College to create student internships on luxury electric vehicles BY KYLE BARR KYLE@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM
SARA-MEGNA WALSH
The Tesla Inc. showroom on Route 347 in Nesconset will offer students a chance to delve into the nuts and bolts of how the luxury electric cars work. The planned $700,000 renovation to the former Sixth Avenue Electronics shopping center at the corner of Route 347 and Hillside Avenue for a new Tesla dealership will initially work as a showroom, a service center as well as an educational and experimental center in an ongoing partnership with Farmingdale State College, according to Mohamad Zoghi, the acting chair of the automotive technology department at Farmingdale State College. “We are working with Tesla recruiters,” Zoghi said. “They recruit based on the demand of technicians at their locations. So, once there is availability at Nesconset location, [we will have interns there.]’’ The showroom would be the eighth Tesla-owned facility to open in New York. Normally, New York State law requires all car manufacturers to sell their vehicles through franchises. However, Tesla struck a deal with the state to permit it to operate up to five of its own dealerships. There is pending legislation in both the state Senate and Assembly that would allow Tesla to open an additional 15 dealerships
The site of the former Sixth Avenue Electronics will be taken over by Tesla Inc. within the state as long as five of the new locations are in upstate New York. Both bills are currently stuck in committee. In the meantime, Tesla will use this space for its continued educational partnership with Farmingdale students that was first announced in August 2017. Based on the needs set by Tesla, students
in the two-year and four-year automotive management programs can potentially obtain an internship working on Tesla’s electric vehicles and other products. Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) said the renovations will give life to a long blighted area off of Route 347. “They were given permission to go
inside and clean up that building, and now that they have their site plan they can go in and start the interior renovation and the exterior facade renovation,” Wehrheim said. “It’s cleaning up a real blighted section of that area.” The plans call for a more than 40,500-square-foot showroom with an attached service center in the renovated footprint of the old electronics store. The exterior lot would be relined to provide parking space for more than 300 cars in Tesla’s inventory as well as spots for potential customer use. The company behind the Tesla property development 1000 Nesconset LLC had its site plan finally approved at the July 17 Smithtown town board meeting. The company filed for a change of zone application for the property to transition from commercial business and neighborhood business to wholesale industrial in order to accommodate the outdoor storage a car dealership needs. Attorney Vincent Trimarco Sr., who is representing the development company, said that zoning on the property has already been changed and construction is close to beginning. “It’s imminent now that they’re going to start,” Trimarco said. Other Tesla-owned locations on Long Island include a display gallery inside Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station and a dealership in East Hampton.
Smithwest Service Center changes hands after 45 years After 45 years, a family-owned St. James auto maintenance and repair shop has been sold to a new owner. St. James resident Greg Vassar, 67, has been the owner of Smithwest Service Center since 1973. Vassar’s shop offers a wide variety of services and has performed even the most complex automotive jobs. “From changing the oil to changing the motor,” Vassar said, “New York State inspections and alignments, we do it all.” Greg’s father, John, originally started the business in a Mobil gas station located at the corner of Maple Avenue and Route 111 in Smithtown. Vassar began working at the shop in 1968 at 17 years old. He started out pumping gas, but by 1971 he was working as a full-fledged automotive mechanic. Vassar took over the business two years later when his father retired and moved to Florida. He relocated the business to Middle Country Road in St. James in 2013 due to the aging nature of the original building. The new location was more up to date, offered more affordable rent, and was in a more accessible location, allowing Vassar to grow the business beyond what was possible at the Maple Avenue location. This summer, Vassar sold the business to fellow St. James resident Angelo Scaglione. “He is eminently qualified to take over this business. Angelo has a youthful attitude and the energy that goes along with
ANTHONY PETRIELLO
BY ANTHONY PETRIELLO
At left, Greg Vassar and Angelo Scaglione stand outside the Smithwest Service Center, pictured above. it.” Vassar said, “My customers will be in very good hands.” Scaglione, 45, hopes to modernize the space and eventually add an auto body shop to the business’ offered services. He is a certified master technician under the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, who has been in the automotive repair industry his entire career. The new owner previously worked for and
managed King Bear Auto, an independent repair shop in South Jamaica, Queens, from 1995 to 2014. Scaglione was also a regional manager for Mavis Discount Tire since 2014, where he oversaw 14 shops. Scaglione has started the process of modernizing the business, having purchased and installed a state-of-the-art laser alignment machine in order to provide a more accurate alignment service for his customers
and their vehicles. “I want to make it a one-stop shop,” he said. “I want to make it where customers won’t have to go anywhere else but here.” Longtime customers can still expect to see Vassar, as he will still be working part time as a service writer, a liaison between the customer and the shop’s mechanics. Smithwest Service Center is located at 795 Middle Country Road in St. James.