SUFFOLK CLOSEUP : Behind Closed Doors LIPA And PSEG Reach Deal

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) quietly, behind closed doors and with the involvement of a top state energy official—the chief executive of the state’s Department of Public Service—agreed on a settlement last week allowing PSEG to continue to operate Long Island’s electric grid to 2025.

This happened despite a contingent of state lawmakers from Long Island signing a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo calling on LIPA to “terminate its contract with PSEG LI as soon as possible and become a true public power company.” The 15 called on LIPA to operate the Long Island’s electric grid itself, not contract out the responsibility. They included State Senator Anthony H. Palumbo of New Suffolk and, from the Assembly, Fred W. Thiele, Jr of Sag Harbor; Steve Englebright of Setauket; Phil Ramos of Brentwood; Steve Stern of Dix Hills; and Kimberly Jean-Pierre of Wheatley Heights. “Across the country, publicly owned utilities have proven more affordable and reliable…are more responsive to customer needs,” they said. 

It happened despite a $70 million “breach-of-contract” lawsuit LIPA brought against PSEG in December charging the Newark, New Jersey-based private company with “grossly negligent performance” in dealing with Tropical Storm Isaias last year. Some 535,000 LIPA customers were left without electricity, some for more than a week. The LIPA suit accused PSEG of “corporate mismanagement, misfeasance, incompetence and indifference, rising well beyond the level of simple negligence.”

It happened despite the overwhelming percentage of people speaking at public hearings held recently by LIPA on its future testifying that that it should operate the Long Island electric grid itself and not continue with PSEG. “We need to revamp the entire structure,” said Laura McKellar of Greenlawn. Indeed, at that May hearing LIPA CEO Tom Falcone spoke of PSEG’s “sub-par” performance in Isaias and went on to say that that deeper “management failures” at PSEG had since been discovered. Mr. Falcone said: “It’s time for a course correction.”  

The new LIPA contract agreement with PSEG came about without transparency. As Mark Harrington wrote in Newsday last week, it was “reached early Sunday morning.” And, he reported, “The settlement terms were reached by officials at the highest levels of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Department of Public Service, including DPS chief executive John Howard.” 

 Mr. Howard was appointed to that post by Governor Cuomo in February and, at the same time, designated by the governor to be chair of the New York State Public Service Commission. Mr. Howard praised the new contract as an “historic agreement.”

Mr. Thiele is calling on LIPA’s trustees to reject the deal. A key problem, however, is that Governor Cuomo appoints five of LIPA’s nine trustees. Mr. Thiele emphasized how for months there has been analyses and hearings about the future of LIPA and it seemed “we were headed toward a favorable decision in regard to public power’—for LIPA to itself run the Long Island electric grid. “And then the governor injected himself and the process was short-circuited—and this contract falls out of the sky.”

“The legislature needs to get involved with this—how this deal came about,” declared Mr. Thiele. And he said he and Mr. Englebright, who is also chair of the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee, are discussing, for starters, legislative hearings. 

“The agreement between LIPA and PSEG-LI reached behind closed doors this past Sunday marks still another betrayal of LIPA’s ratepayers,” he said in a written statement. The “original vision” for LIPA under the Long Island Power Act of 1985 was for “a full public power company accountable directly to the people of Long Island.” It “is clear that the third-party service contract model is a failure. It lacks oversight, transparency, and accountability. No other utility in the nation even has such a convoluted management structure.” 

In Newsday, Mr. Englebright, referring to the governor, spoke of “the apparent manipulation of this issue from an invisible puppet master.” Also, it was reported that the governor’s office didn’t “provide a comment to criticism of the deal.”

Organizations led by the Long Island Progressive Coalition, in the forefront in seeking that LIPA get rid of PSEG and becoming a full public utility, issued a statement declaring: “It seems that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made a deliberate choice to ignore the stated preferences of Long Island ratepayers and elected officials, and instead decided to exert his influence in this moment on behalf of PSEG.”

Also, simultaneous with extending the PSEG contract, LIPA last week agreed to settle its $70 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against PSEG for $30 million.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Golf News: The President's Qualifier

By Jerry Gentile

Played on a beautiful June weekend on Long Island, the President’s Qualifier was completed.

Mel Vizzini who partnered with Bob Pogoloff for an amazing net (26) on their first 9 holes.The President’s Cup, one of the most prestigious tournaments of the SLMGA season is decided by two man teams, who first have to qualify with 1 of 16 low net scores. The President’s Championship Cup is then determined by match play of the 16 teams at a later date in the season.

It is always a `nail biter` event with plenty of drama for the members.

The top three teams in the qualifier go to, Patrick (not Tony) DiClemente and Tony Mauro, net (60), Dick (Quiet) Stevens and Emmett (Congenial) Cassidy, net (62), Mel (Carmelo) Vizzini and Robert (Pogie) Pogoloff net (62). `Tip of the Cap` goes to Mel and Pogie, they had a `mind boggling` (26) on the front 9. Honorable mentions go out to David Capo with a 3 under (69), Derek Downing (72), Ed Haliasz and Jesse Kovacs both scored (76).

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP : Seaweed Farming Is Here On LI

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

“Kelp Help” is the title of an article in this summer’s issue of Sierra magazine, the publication of the Sierra Club. Its subtitle: “Can farming seaweed put the brakes on climate change?” 

“Seaweed agriculture,” the academic publication Frontiers in Marine Science has reported, is “the fastest-growing component of global food production.”

Seaweed farming has come on strong worldwide, and it is being developed now in Suffolk County as a way to counter a number of severe environmental problems. 

Dr. Christopher Gobler, co-director of the Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University and a professor within the university’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, commented last month about how a small area of kelp can absorb as much nitrogen as several of the new Innovative/Advanced (I/A) septic systems being installed to reduce nitrogen emanating from cesspools. As to climate change, he notes how kelp soaks up carbon dioxide.

His team has been harvesting kelp from test “farms” in Moriches Bay, Great South Bay, Peconic Bay and in the Long Island Sound.

The kelp of choice—sugar kelp—is native to Long Island. A brown rubbery plant, it can grow underwater in fronds up to 15 feet long and astonishingly quickly.  Also, sugar kelp appears, said Dr. Gobler, to contain compounds lethal to the red algae that can infect shellfish and cause sickness, indeed death, in people. Kelp can be used as fertilizer.

And, moreover, it’s edible. Attending a “kelp-tasting” sponsored by the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program at Noah’s restaurant in Greenport at which she received “a much-needed grounding in the current state of help farming,” Charity Robey, the food columnist at The Shelter Island Reporter, “learned a number of new ways to use kelp in cooking.”

“Toasted kelp,” Ms. Robey related, “is like a blue-corn-tortilla-chip-of-the-sea. It is full of umami, a taste that is also associated with meat and mushrooms…” Chef Noah Schwartz also, “For the starter…wrapped a tenderized strip of savory kelp around a chunk of seared yellow fin tuna. Definitely a crowd-pleaser.”

Frontiers in Marine Science declared that “seaweed agriculture…offers a slate of opportunities to mitigate” climate change.  The largest seaweed-producing nations are China, Indonesia and the Philippines. 

“The Upshot.” Sierra says: “Seaweed farming has promise. In addition to sequestering carbon, it can provide habitat for fish and mitigate local effects of ocean acidification.”

“Still,” declared the magazine, “the most effective way to sequester carbon is to not release it in the first place.”  Quite correct, but this and seaweed farming are not mutually exclusive. 

Meanwhile, in the realm of aquaculture, there’s the push underway in many parts of Suffolk for growing oysters—not only because they taste wonderful but for the environmental good they can do.

“Oysters eat murky water for lunch,” notes the website of the Save The Great South Bay Oyster Project. “If we bring them back in volume, they’ll clean the bay better and faster than any human can. Did you know that one oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day. What could that mean for The Great South Bay? It’s been calculated that 5,000 acres of oyster farms in the bay would be enough to deal with 147% of the nitrogen problem. A clean bay AND 5,000 acres of oysters, with each acre producing $100,000+ in revenue. A revitalized bay AND a revitalized shellfishing industry. And the resurrection of a way of life that has seemingly vanished.”

To our west in New York City, the “Billion Oyster Project” is underway—and there’s a link to Suffolk. On little Fishers Island, northeast of Orient Point and part of Southold Town, what’s now the Fishers Island Oyster Farm was begun in 1981 by Sarah and Steve Malinowski. “We got our start during a time when only a few people were exploring the possibilities of modern aquaculture, and it took a lot of determination, collaboration, and a few serendipitous accidents for us to arrive at where we are now,” Steve explains. 

They started growing clams and put out a handbook on clam aquaculture. Then, in “the mid-1980s brown tide…decimated the Peconic Bay scallop industry.” And they began growing scallops “to restock scallops into Peconic Bay. Meanwhile, the hatchery where we were obtaining scallop seed mixed some oyster seed into a delivery. Thus, we began to grow oysters!”  

Soon the Fishers Island oysters were being served in restaurants far and wide. And not only were oysters being exported west, but their son, Suffolk native Peter Malinowski, co-founded and became executive director of the Billion Oyster Project. It has so far planted 45 million oysters many of which have been growing in a reef the project built, “the largest reef in New York Harbor history.” Declares the project: “It took less than 100 years for New Yorkers to wipe out the oyster population in New York Harbor. And, the Billion Oyster Project is rebuilding this natural resource and habitat.” 

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Commack's Trannyman Mike Ingoglia Receives VFW Certificate Of Appreciation

Pictured from left: Vice- Commander Al Krauth Legion Commander Kevin Eaton Owner Mike Ingoglia VFW Commander George Hohenstein Service Officer Tom Mooney

By Tom Mooney

The Smithtown VFW, and Smithtown American Legion presented Mike Ingoglia with a Certificate of Appreciation for his proud exercise in citizenship and patriotism in his prominent display of the American Flag at his Trannyman Transmission shop on Jericho Tpke in Commack.

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This is the third business recognized by the vets, having also recognized Smithtown Ford on Middle Country Rd. in St. James, and Vehicle Tracking Solutions(VTS) on Veterans Highway in Commack.

“Having served our country, either in wars or peacetime, we have a collective affinity for the red, white & blue, and greatly appreciate when it is proudly displayed so prominently.”

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP : "COVID CAUTION"

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

COVID-19 has taken a substantial toll in Suffolk County. As of last week, exactly 4,000 people have died from the disease since it appeared in Suffolk last year, according to the county’s Department of Health Services figures. The number of “reported” COVID-19 cases in Suffolk, says the department, has been 201,070. 

Meanwhile, some “57.6% of the [county’s] total population of 1,481,093 has received at least one dose” of an anti-COVID-19 vaccine. This includes “70.1% of the population ages 18+” receiving “at least one dose.”

These figures are presented by the department on its COVID-19 website at: https://suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Health-Services/Health-Bulletins/Novel-Coronavirus

Also, last week the 600,000th death in the United States from COVID-19 occurred. There have been 52,995 people in New York State who have lost their lives to the disease. The first death from COVID-19 death in Suffolk happened on March 16, 2020. 

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last week that because more than 70% of adults in the state had received at least one dose of an anti-COVID vaccine, New York is lifting most COVID restrictions. “This is a momentous day and we deserve it because it has been a long, long road,” said Mr. Cuomo. The easing means “a return to life as we know it.” Can it really be “a return to life as we know it?” One sure wishes so after a harrowing, isolating, extended ordeal since the disease struck. 

There was a realistic front-page headline last week of Newsday: “COVID CAUTION.” Its article began by reporting that “a day after…Cuomo lifted COVID-19 restrictions across a wide swath of social activities, some on Long Island said…they are not ready to abandon the safety measures adopted to stop the spread of the virus.”

The Newsday story importantly noted: “Two of the three available vaccines require two doses, spaced weeks apart, to be considered complete. On Wednesday, the level of adults in the state who had one shot was 70.4%, but only 51% of the total state population was fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

It quoted a Columbia University School of Public Health professor of epidemiology and medicine, Wafaa El-Sadr, saying: “I feel nervous about it. Our biggest shield against this is vaccinations, and we still have a long way to go to get sufficient coverage of vaccinations.”

Vaccination has been the key to challenging COVID here and elsewhere. 

“Take Your Shot” was the title of the Suffolk County campaign to encourage people in here to get vaccinated. As Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said as the drive kicked off in December: “Immunization is one of the greatest medical advances of modern times. We’ve used vaccines to entirely wipe out smallpox, and in the U.S.” with vaccines” we’ve come extremely close to eradicating polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella, and tetanus, among others. We are hopeful that Suffolk County residents will look to the successes of immunization and get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them.”

But some don’t take seriously the amazing medical research that the COVID-19 vaccines represent. And in nations around the world, there are inadequate supplies desperately needed.

Meanwhile, Daily Mail.com just headlined: “EXCLUSIVE: The post-pandemic summer is in full swing in The Hamptons.” It reported: “People were lined up at restaurants and the house parties…that had disappeared from Hamptons agendas during the shutdown have struck up again,” it reported. 

The Times ran a front-page story this month stating: “As reports of new COVID-19 cases and deaths plummet, and as many Americans venture out mask-free into something approaching normalcy, the slow-down in vaccinations present a new risk, especially in the South. As coronavirus variants spread and restrictions are eased, experts fear that the virus eventually could surge again…Experts now believe that the United States may never achieve herd immunity, the point at which the virus dies out.” The article ran next to the lead story on the Times front page with a headline about the Biden administration sending 500 million doses of anti-COVID vaccines “To Nations in Need.” The piece included President Biden’s declaration that “we have to end” COVID “not just at home, which we’re doing, but everywhere.” 

It’s not just the South. Consider Livingston and neighboring Linn County in Missouri. Both had “confirmed” cases “down to zero” but in late May “had the highest number of new COVID-19 cases…not just in Missouri but the country,” said USA Today. Their “fully vaccinated” rate: “under 30% of residents.”

With COVID-19 a highly-infectious disease and with variants continuing, this worldwide plague must be dealt with fully and globally if we are to really be in a post-pandemic period. 

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.