Legislator Wants To Make Cash/Credit Pricing Clearer At Gas Pumps

Maureen Rossi

Suffolk County’s deputy presiding officer Legislator Jay H. Schneiderman represents the second LD which includes the South Fork, Southampton, East Hampton, Shelter Island, East Moriches and Eastport and has 58,000 constituents.  People travel from around the world to visit this bucolic stretch of land to enjoy the vast waterways, beaches and marine activities.  He says visitors as well as the residents are vulnerable to unscrupulous gas station practices.

Late in March the legislator issued a press release calling for legislation to protect consumers from deceptive practices at gas stations.   According to Schneiderman, dual gas pricing (the practice of having different price for cash and credit) should be made abundantly clear for patrons.   “Consumers using their debit or credit cards should receive proper notification from retailers of the price difference of a gallon of gas between and cash and credit purchases before they consent to that transaction,” he said.   “A hardworking resident shouldn’t be caught off guard filling up their gas tank, that’s highway robbery.”

Schneiderman’s legislation would require a consumer to acknowledge the cash/credit price difference before committing to the purchase. According to Schneiderman a screen would display a notification that says: “YOU WILL PAY _____ MORE PER GALLON FOR THIS CREDIT/DEBIT CARD PURCHASE THAN IF YOU PAID CASH. PRESS YES TO PROCEED WITH THIS TRANSACTION OR NO TO CANCEL.” 

Critics of this proposed law say most hard-working people and those living on a budget check prices before mindlessly filling up.   Suffolk County Legislator John M. Kennedy (R, 12^th district) says this proposed legislation seems like overkill and in addition, is unwarranted.   “We have a posting requirement right now regarding price differential between credit and cash purchase,” he explained.   Kennedy says State law prohibits placing a surcharge on the credit card purchase but merchants are allowed to discount cash purchases – hence the disparity. 

Tom Cilmi (R, 10^th district) agrees with Kennedy’s statement about the existence of sufficient laws in place.  “To protect himself, a consumer is simply required to pay attention,” he declared.  “If someone has the presence of mind to look for some sort of cash-credit differential calculator at the pump, then he should have the presence of mind to notice the relatively large displays indicating both prices also on the pump. This is a knee jerk reaction and that’s a bad way to legislate.”

Kennedy says there is a real legal question as to whether we could compel gas station operators to implement this pre-purchase consent.  “Further, based on the range of technologies out there, older, smaller stations with mechanical pumps would have to obtain new equipment,” he added.    

Kennedy points out that meeting the demands of gas station inspections has become increasingly difficult.   “With the required testing of the octane grade at each pump, the epitome of testing is Sunoco, with five octane grades per pump and with up to sixteen pumps, a Weights and Measures Inspector can be at a facility all day.,” said Kennedy.

Schneiderman says he is merely trying to protect consumers.  “Typically a driver will see the large sign in front of the gas station advertising the price and think that is what they will pay at the pump or something close to it if they use a credit card,” Schneiderman said.   “However, there are several stations where the price difference is substantial and the consumer gets tricked into paying $20 or more simply because they used a credit card.”  Theoretically, an electronic transaction should only cost a station owner a few pennies.

“The bottom line here, once again, is that government has a responsibility to make sure that a consumer can easily ascertain what the price is for a commodity, but we don’t have to beat the consumer over the head to ensure that they really actually read the notices that the merchants are compelled to put out,” declared Kennedy.

If Schneiderman’s bill gets passed, gas retailers wiil have six months to make necessary changes to their automated pumps.   He is calling for a hefty $1,000 penalty for those disregarding the law.  Is it enforceable?  Probably – and if the debated legislation is approved it would be enforced by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs, an arm of Suffolk’s government that inspects gas pumps throughout the county.

Kennedy says he sees no reason for the bill and said he will oppose it. Cilmi agrees and says the bill is unnecessary, impractical and reactionary.

“It’s amazing, New York is already at the very bottom of the list of business-friendly states and we have elected officials struggling to find ways to make us even LESS business-friendly. It shows either a complete lack of understanding or a lack of empathy for the ever-mounting challenges facing small businesses today,” said Cilmi. 

Cilmi does not deny that certain station owners use gimmicks to lure unwary customers into their stations.  However, he says those owners should be exposed and consumers should quite simply just avoid patronizing them.   Neither Kennedy or Cilmi said they have received any complaints from their constituents regarding this issue. 

Kings Park Junior Zachary Marcone Attends M.I.T. Conference Returns Home With Award

Maureen Rossi

Zachary Marcone looks like your average high school kid but average he is not.  First of all he’s a boy and he does not play video games.  Now that you’ve regained consciousness, the teen defies his species in a myriad of other ways.  He smiles, he makes eye contact and the Kings Park teen can speak extensively on global issues, physics, the fundamental nature of the universe and the use of drones in impoverished countries.

Zachary was recently honored along with other Kings Park students at the school district’s March 25^th Board of Education meeting.  Marcone is the founder and president of the Model United Nations Club at Kings Park High School. He recently won the Best Position Paper Award at a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) Conference.   “There were many different committees, one of those committees was going to be debating drones,” he explained.  

At the M.I.T. conference Zachary represented the the small South African country of Zimbabwe.  It is a complicated country with sixteen official languages and a heritage that is equally diverse.  Zimbabwe gained sovereignty from the United Kingdom back in 1980.   According to organizations like  Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch the government of Zimbabwe violates the rights to shelter, food, freedom of movement and residence, freedom of assembly and the protection of the law. There are aggressions against the media, the political opposition, civil society activists, and human rights defenders.  Zimbabwe does not have a pristine record with regard to human rights.    The nation’s armed forces include approximately twenty-thousand members, their paramilitary presence is equally large with approximately twenty thousand members. 

“I had to decide should there be restrictions on drones – as a small African nation with a declining economy the use of drones might be deemed a threat by larger countries,” he extrapolated.     Marcone felt that the unmanned aerial surveillance technology would be a detriment to Zimbabwe.   “However, from a U.S. perspective, I think that drones are actually a safer form of warfare,” he added.

Drones have made headlines in the U.S. over the last year as declassified information about the nation’s use of them filtered out. Drone use inside the U.S. has become a subject of much debate.  The U.N. does not have a position banning the use of drones but often weighs in on the subject as they have been increasingly utilized on a global level as the technology has advanced. 

According to a recent statement by the U.N., “the lethal use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, came under scrutiny in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as a United Nations human rights expert argued that the internationally recognized rule against arbitrary killing also applied to extraterritorial attacks by such weapons systems”. 

Marcone is fascinated by global issues and really enjoys the club he birthed and the forty members who have since joined.   The high school junior is also involved with the Science Research program as well and is the co-founder of yet another club, Science Olympia.   “We prepare for the Science Olympiad every February, it’s hard to explain what we do but I love the Physics component,” he explained.  Marcone enjoys Physics because he says it encompasses all the sciences.   What’s on the horizon for this teen?   He says he has his eyes set on Columbia or Stanford after he graduates Kings Park High School.

Marcone shared that he has a younger brother in seventh grade.  He credits his extraordinary love of learning to his parents and primarily his mother who took him to so many museums as a child.  “My mom really fostered my love of Science, she would take me to New York City to the planetarium and all the museums, that’s probably what got me interested in learning and Science,” he shared.   He says he has always enjoyed learning new things and when he was a young boy Animal Planet was his favorite television show.   He says his parents are very smart people, his dad is in the Mathematics field and works with statistics and his mother is a stay at home mom.  

Marcone said he plans on going to Board of Education meetings in the future because he found it quite interesting.    Last week he and his mock UN team were in New York City.   He says he loves the people involved in his U.N. club and traveling around, but mostly he loves learning about the issues that shape our geopolitical climate and fate.  

Smithtown Dish – small bites of foodie news

By Nancy Vallarella 

Vegging Out

Here is a great recipe from the folks from Meatless Monday.

Although it received mixed reviews in my household, it disappeared quickly. The biggest complaint was the texture of the crust which had only a hint of crispness. The cauliflower, egg and cheese mixture for the crust produces a thin frittata consistency. I recommend baking the crust on the back of a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Modifications of convenience were made. All of the cheeses were replaced with Trader Joe’s Quattro Formaggio and Uncle Giuseppe’s Italian Seasoning was used in place of the green spices.  

My additional veggies of choice were asparagus, zucchini, and sliced fennel in addition to the sweet potato and kale. The fennel was the star addition. It came through slightly with a clean and bright finish. 

Get creative. Develop different veggie combinations. The folks at Elegant Eating turned the crust into toasts and topped with goat cheese and grapes.

• 1 small head of cauliflower, stems removed, leaving only the florets
• 1/2 cup (60g) mozzarella, split
• 1/4 cup (25g) parmesan
• 1/4 cup (60g) cheese of choice (I used cheddar)
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 egg

For the Toppings

• 1/2 cup (135g) sweet potato, peeled, and chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup kale (65g) in small pieces
• 1/2 cup (60g) vegetable 1 of your choice (such as summer squash)
• 1/2 cup (25g) vegetable 2 of your choice (such as mushrooms)

Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).

Put the cauliflower florets into a food processor. Blend until it becomes fine pieces (some say it looks like snow). Place the cauliflower in a microwaveable bowl, heat, covered, for 3 minutes to cook through. Place the cauliflower onto a tea towel/dish towel laid out flat. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

Twist up the dish towel around the cauliflower, and squeeze over a sink, as hard as you can, for a few minutes to remove as much liquid as possible. The more you remove, the crispier your pizza will be! Empty the cauliflower into a bowl (and throw that dish towel into the washing right away….it begins to smell pretty quickly!)

Add 1/4 cup mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper into the bowl. Stir well. Add the egg and stir until it is well distributed, and sticky.

Using your hands, combine the “crust” into a ball, it will be pretty wet. Place the ball onto a greased pizza stone (or back of a greased baking tray) and press down to even out to make a round circle crust. It should be a little thicker than a usual thin crust pizza.

Put aside for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, brush the sweet potato with oil and put on a baking tray. Place in the oven; remove after 10 minutes to move sweet potatoes around so the potato does not stick. Add the other vegetables with a little oil, and cook for another 10 minutes or until the potato is soft. Remove and give the vegetables a few minutes cool for you to be able to handle them.  At the same time the potatoes go back in, place the crust in the oven for 15 minutes, until the edges are beginning to brown.

Remove the pizza crust from the oven, use a spatula or pie server to gently go under the crust to ensure it has not stuck. Layer with 1/2 the remaining mozzarella and half the other cheese. Place the cooked vegetables on top, along with the kale, and cover with all the remaining cheese.

Place back in the oven for 10 minutes, before turning the oven to broil for the remaining 5 minutes until it the cheese begins to bubble and brown.

Cut into slices, and carefully lift onto plates! Enjoy!

Historic Appointment - Sandy Miranda - Smithtown's First Female Director Of Parks, Buildings And Grounds

By Maureen Rossi

Sandy MirandaA dozen yellow roses adorned the desk of Sandy Miranda on Friday when Smithtown Matters visited her. They were congratulatory in nature as  Ms. Miranda was recently appointed Director of Parks, Buildings and Grounds for the Town of Smithtown - a historic appointment as she is Smithtown’s first female Director of Parks, Buildings and Grounds.

Ms. Miranda was first employed by the Town in 1986 as a part time employee in the Planning Department. She transferred into the Parks Department around 1995 and has worked her way up from a clerical position to administrative assistant before being appointed director unaninimously by the Town Board on March 20.  The long-time town employee takes over leadership of Smithtown’s 2nd largest department. “I’m absolutely thrilled to death, I’m still in shock,” she explained. 

Sandy Miranda may be in shock but the people who appointed her are not. Sandy has a reputation as someone who is not only dedicated but very competant. Supervisor Patrick Vecchio has known Miranda for a long time and fully supported the appointment. “I am proud the Town Board elected to put a woman in a very important postion, in the 2nd largest department in the town”, said Vecchio. He is not alone, Councilman Creighton supported the appointment and said, “Sandy is a long time employee of the town who is well qualified to be the first woman in this position and I think it is an important step for the town and will work out very well.”

The Parks Department has a $7.2* million budget, sixty-five employees and is responsible for Smithtown’s eighteen parks, the Bluff, the Marina, Hoyt Farm and the beaches.  In addition to the maintenance of those outdoor facilities, the department maintains every building owned by the town of Smithtown including the Smithtown Municipal Country Club and Pool.  

The Department’s responsibilities also include the repair and maintenance of town vehicles and is charged with the cleaning and plowing all municipal parking lots in town including the three Long Island Rail Road stations. The Park’s Department also hires and supervises lifeguards, park attendants and issues permits for camping and picnicking at town facilities. She said her’s is a very visual department but they handle everything in and outside town buildings.   “The Bull, that’s us, toilet overflows, that’s us,” she laughed.   

“This is our busiest time, from now until Memorial Day we are in high gear,” Miranda reported.  “Right now we have a sand project going at Callahan’s and Short Beach,” she added.    

Miranda says she has been provided an outstanding Assistant Director, Richard Kazanecki.  The main focus for she and Kazanecki will be “beautification”, keeping all town properties and beaches pristine.

Miranda is extremely excited about her new position and enormously grateful for the opportunity to head the department.  “I’ve got a fantastic Assistant Director and I’ve got great supervisors to run my five different divisions, everyone has been very supportive”.   She said she has learned so much from the many outstanding directors she has worked for including Town Councilman Eddie Wehrheim.   She said Wehrheim was incredibly generous in imparting his vast knowledge while he was the Director and she looks forward to working with him in a different capacity now.  “I certainly look forward to working for the Town Board to keep Smithtown one of the best towns on Long Island,” said Miranda. 

Ms. Miranda has been residing in Smithtown since 1981 and is very proud of that. She reiterated over and over.  “I want everyone to feel that way”. She is mother to three girls who are all grown and grandmother to four grand-daughters.  Her granddaughters ages are 5, 4, 3  and the youngest 7 months old, and all live close by. Miranda’s elderly parents reside in her home and she says her 89 year old father is so very proud.  “Never in a million years did I expect this – I started as a clerk typist, every day I go home and my parents still can’t believe it,” she shared.    Miranda also thanked Supervisor Pat Vecchio for having given her an opportunity to work for the town she loves many many years ago.   “Everyone in the town has been so very good to me, they are all fantastic,” she ended.

 * correction was made original posting left out the decimal point. 

Theater Review - "The Music man"

“The Music Man” Produced by: The John W. Engeman Theater, Northport - Reviewed by Jeb Ladouceur

In the late fifties, after a decade of trying to find acceptance among show business producers, Iowa native Meredith Willson finally got the break he needed when playwright/screenwriter Franklin Lacey agreed to help him trim down his then-wordy libretto for “The Music Man.”

The first thing that had to be done, Lacey insisted, was to throw out a long stretch of dialogue in which con man Harold Hill explains why the parents of River City have “…got trouble.” Willson wasn’t about to part with the loquacious narrative entirely; he properly felt it was essential in illuminating the plot. So what the inventive Willson did was turn that rambling spoken sales pitch into a song. The piece, of course, became the signature number in “The Music Man.”

But that’s not the end of the fortuitous story involving playwrights Willson and Lacey, and their decision to alter the original libretto for what became the 46^th longest running musical in Broadway’s storied history. Director Morton DaCosta and his producers decided that “Ya’ Got Trouble” was the most difficult number in the show to handle, thus they used it when screening hopefuls for the part of Harold Hill. Singers by the dozens tackled the tongue-twisting composition, but bigwigs Kermit Bloomgarden and others were unimpressed … until actor Robert Preston (whose singing range was limited at best) took the stage.

Preston’s career had included thirty-five movies and half a dozen stage shows at that time, many of the productions casting him in fast-talking roles, and “Ya’ Got Trouble” was right up his alley. Bloomgarden, DaCosta and company signed their Music Man on the spot.

Had things turned out differently, Meredith Willson might never have found the perfect fit for the lead in his Midwestern gem of a show, and local theatergoers could have been ultimately deprived of one of the finest musical productions ever presented on a Long Island stage—that’s how good “The Music Man” was at Saturday’s Engeman Theater press opening in Northport.

In the hands of prize-winning Director Igor Goldin, Rob Gallagher turns in a spectacular performance as the slick salesman Harold Hill. His acting/ singing range is incredible as he delivers numbers like the lively “Seventy-Six Trombones” to provocative “The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl” and Willson’s tender ballad “Till There Was You” with equal aplomb. I was privileged to review the original “Music Man” for my college newspaper at its debut on Broadway in 1957, and I can assure you that Gallagher is every bit as good as the iconic Robert Preston was that opening night.

Much the same can be said for Kim Carson as straight-laced librarian Marian Paroo, Ray Demattis as River City’s tongue-tied Mayor Shinn, and the remarkable Patti Mariano who plays Marian’s sometimes profane Irish mother perfectly. Perhaps it goes without saying that 2013 Encore Award Winners Jennifer Collester Tully (Mayor Shinn’s robust wife Eulalie) and Katie Dolce (their perky daughter Gracie) are ideally cast in their featured roles, and both perform flawlessly. Those two ladies wrote the book on stage presence.

Ten-year-old Jeffrey S. Kishinevskiy as the lisping Winthrop Paroo is simply adorable. The play’s plot resolution revolves around him…quite a responsibility for one so young! But like everyone else in this beautifully staged musical, especially the impeccable barbershop quartet (Richard Costa, Kenny Francoeur, Kevin Necciai, and Kilty Reidy), Jeffrey’s more than equal to the demanding task.

And any critic would be remiss if failing to acknowledge Heidi Friese (as the endearing teen Zaneeta Shinn) and her three actress/dancer partners who’ve been molded into a colorfully clad, precisely coordinated foursome under choreographer Antoinette DiPietropolo. Her charges don’t muff a jump or pirouette, and the orchestra doesn’t miss a single note in two hours.

This show runs through May 18…and I’d be surprised if every performance between now and then isn’t sold out, as Saturday’s was. I know I’m going back—and soon—if I can get in.

Award-winning Smithtown writer Jeb Ladouceur is the author of eight novels, and his theater reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. In Ladouceur’s next thriller, “Harvest” due in late summer, an American doctor is forced to perform illegal surgeries for a gang of vital organ traffickers in The Balkans.