Arrest Made At Long Beach Pavillion - Weekend Performances Questionable

The music went silent earlier than planned Friday night at the Long Beach Pavilion at Long Beach, Smithtown.  The Labor Day weekend celebration kicked off at 6pm with Four Shades of Grey playing Classic Rock and a beach crowd of around one hundred people mostly families. Sometime around 7:30 pm things changed dramatically when the Nissequogue Police showed up and made an arrest. According to witnesses the person arrested was Fred Fox of Foxies on the Beach.The police are not giving out any information at this time.No information has been given as to whether or not there will be music tomorrow. Events were scheduled at Long Beach for Sat., Sun., Monday.

Update on Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 10:17AM by .

According to the Nissequogue Police dispatcher the arrest was handled by Smithtown Public Safety.

Update on Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 3:22PM by .

Velvet Fog performing at Long Beach Pavilion Sat. Sept. 5 -2pm 

After an abrupt halt to the music at the Long Beach Pavilion last night the music began again today with a performance by local band Velevet Fog.  The concession stand is open for food. Wine and beer will not be served. The Pavilion will be open as scheduled Sat. thru Mon. 2-6pm

No Endorsement - Smithtown Republican "Stunned" By Campaign Mailer

 

A campaign mail piece from the Inzerillo campaign has caused a stir amongst some Republicans.  The campaign piece mailed to Republican women aligns Lisa Inzerillo, a challenger in the Republican primary for Smithtown Town Council, with Carly Fiorina and Lynn C. Nowick. 

Carly Fiorina is in a Republican primary battle in a quest to become the party’s nominee for the office of President of the United States. Lynne C. Nowick is a councilwoman on the Smithtown Town Board who ran a successful primary challenge against Republican incumbents Kevin Malloy and Thomas McCarthy in 2013. Nowick was a Suffolk County legislator (13th LD) at the time and due to term limits was unable to run again for the legislature. Nowick and Thomas McCarthy won in the primary and in the general election in November of 2013. 

The campaign piece includes photos of Fiorina and Nowick. In a phone conversation with Councilwoman Nowick she expressed her surprise at seeing her photo on the campaign mailer. “Imagine getting your mail and seeing your face on a piece of mail. I was stunned.” Said Nowick.

“I am not endorsing anyone in this primary, may the best person win.” Said Nowick. According to incumbents Robert Creighton and Edward Wehrheim, whom Ms. Inzerillo is challenging, Ms. Nowick approached them and told them about seeing her picture on the mailer and asserted that she was neutral in the primary. “I can’t speak for Carly Fiorina but I never gave my approval nor was I asked for my approval to put my photo on the campaign piece.” Said Nowick. 

There is nothing illegal about the mail piece but it does bring into question whether the piece was intended to mislead the public, said one experienced campaigner. Incumbents Creighton and Wehrheim agree and see this as misleading. Mr. Wehrheim questioned whether misleading the public is indicative of how Ms. Inzerillo will serve the public if elected. Mr. Creighton also expressed his concern that the mailer was misleading and questioned Ms. Inzerillo’s use of a person’s photo without approval. “Ms. Nowick was emphatic that she did not approve the use of her photo nor the implication that she is endorsing Ms. Inzerillo. Ms. Nowick said she is remaining neutral and I believe her.” said Mr. Creighton.

In a conversation with Ms.Inzerillo she seemed surprised that the mailer was controversial. In her response to a question about the mailer she neither attacked her opponents nor defended the mailer she simply stated, “I’m finding that in politics everything you do and say can be and too often will be twisted.”

One thing the three candidates agreed on was a wish that the political conversation would change to issues and their plan for Smithtown.

Is This Any Way to Construct A Dunkin' Donuts?

Residents of Lancaster Avenue in Nesconset have accepted the fact that a Dunkin’ Donuts is going to be on the corner of Smithtown Blvd. and Lancaster Ave. They have even accepted the fact that the town approved the applicant’s request for a drive-thru at the site. What they have a difficult time accepting is the way the construction at the site is impacting on their lives. But that’s not their only concern, they worry about school starting and the safety of the children on the block.

Construction at the site began earlier this year. According to residents construction has been in a start and stop pattern for months. This was confirmed in conversations with Smithtown’s planning and building departments. Everyone seems to be pointing to PSEG as the cause of the delay. Architect of the project Steven Cataldo, in a telephone conversation, emphasized that the owner of the property Anthony Pellizzi would like nothing better than to have this job site completed. Mr. Cataldo said that the delays are out of the control of the owner. 

Patron leaving site after it was fenced offOn Wednesday, August 27th residents of Lancaster had enough. The contractor tore up the parking lot at the site eliminating the parking for nail salon which is open despite the construction. Patrons and employees were forced to park off the site. According to residents there was no signage and patrons of the salon were parking along Lancaster as were the construction vehicles and employees from an auto body shop. Neighbors reported having their driveways and access to mailboxes blocked.  One family, the O’Bray’s, posted a no parking sign on their mailbox and posted a trash can with the same sign on the road in front of the mail box. To no avail as people continued to park in front of the mailbox. One patron of the nail salon ended up hitting the trash can and having it wedged under her car. 

A trip to Lancaster verified the neighbors complaints. The road was almost inaccessible. People trying to access the salon were searching for parking, making dangerous U-turns. When they finally parked they were walking over a torn up parking lot around heavy equipment and heavy trucks. The site looked like a mine field. According to neighbors the contractor was leaving the site without cleaning up and fencing it in. Signs indicating where to park were not posted and the contractor was not listening to them.

A call to Public Safety, Building Department and Traffic Safety changed everything. Within hours a town engineer, building inspector and public safety visited the site and things began to change. The site was cleaned up, fencing was appropriately placed and signage telling people where to park. 

Building Inspector Joe Lorifus went to the site and identified problems. There was a report of odors on the site. Suffolk County Department of Health was also visiting the site and determined that wet sheet rock in the dumpster was the cause. Although there were no summonses issued, the contractor was told to address the dumpster and drainage.

Smithtown Building Permits Coordinator Joe Arico, in a phone conversation, said that the site was known to his department and stated that the department  had received calls from residents and Legislator Kennedy.  Mr. Arico promised to maintain a presence at the site with regular visits from Inspector Lorifus. Mr. Arico wanted all the parties to understand that the Building Department was very serious about addressing the concerns of the residents and about ensuring that the site was excavated and built according to Town Code and the site plans.

Legislator Kennedy said she was pleased that the residents concerns were being addressed. Ms. Kennedy said she was glad to call on the residents behest, but acknowledged that the problems could only be addressed by the Town.

Lori and Marissa Hagenbruch For people patronizing the nail salon it was confusing trying to figure out where to park and how to access the salon. Many of them spoke in favor of the Dunkin’ Donuts but were somewhat troubled that there wasn’t much thought given to safety during the construction or the impact that it was having on the residents and the nail salon.

 A healthy amount of skepticism remains with the families on Lancaster.  Mr. O’Bray and Mr. Gary, two of the most vocal residents on the block, were unimpressed with the contractor’s clean up of the site. “The contractor lied about everything. What we want is honesty. Clean up the site, put up the safety fence, post the parking signs and do the job right. That’s what we ask.” As for Mrs. O’Bray, she wants peace of mind that the kids on the block can be safe during construction and when the Dunkin’ Donuts opens.

Gabriella Carucci Student At SHSW Named A LI Arts Alliance Scholar-Artist

HSW Student Named Scholar-Artist

Smithtown High School West student Gabriella CarucciGabriella Carucci, a student at Smithtown Central School District High School West, has been named one of 20 Long Island Arts Alliance Scholar-Artists for the 2015-2016 school year. 

The Long Island Scholar-Artists program recognizes students who excel academically and in the areas of music, music, visual arts, dance, theater or media arts. More than 150 students from public, private and parochial Long Island schools submit their best work.

Gabriella, who was chosen in the area of theater arts, will be recognized on Sept. 9 at an event at Half Hollow Hills High School in addition to an end of year reception at the Tilles Center at LIU Post. Gabriella’s profile and photo will also be published in Newsday. 

This is only the second time a student from the Smithtown Central School District has been chosen for this honor in the area of theater arts. Beyond their outstanding performance, students must have a near perfect GPA.

Photo courtesy of the Smithtown Central School District

OP-ED - Celebrate Women's Equality Day

By Larry Vetter

The 19th Amendment of the US Constitution is ratified granting women the right to vote. Celebrate Women’s Equality Day.

This year, women’s equality day is celebrated on August 26. It is somewhat amazing to think that women have only been able to vote in the United States for less than 100 years. August 18, 1920 was the culmination of what began in 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY. Essentially it took 72 years of protests and hard work to achieve this goal. Most of the women who began the struggle in 1848 never lived to see the results.

Obviously the right to vote was cherished by all citizens. Think of the struggle various groups fought and the numbers of Americans killed and injured in wars to achieve that right and to get to where we are today. Let’s now fast forward to 2015 Smithtown.

We have roughly 100,000 US citizens living in Smithtown of voting age. Of that number only about 82,000 are registered to vote. That means that 18,000 people don’t exist on voter rolls to begin with. Out of the 82,000 registered, roughly 18,000 per year vote in Smithtown whether it is a presidential year or simply local elections. Out of that group, roughly 12,000 votes are the same year after year with a straight across the line vote regardless of who is running. Therefore, those 12,000 people have been dictating how 100,000 voter-aged people’s town is run, money is spent and how we live our lives. To sum up, 18 to 19% of those eligible, vote each year. Those are the types of numbers reflected in disenfranchised areas such as poverty or crime-ridden districts where the populace feels the government has failed them. Smithtown is neither a poverty stricken nor a high crime area. So the question is “Why?”

There are several theories as to this phenomenon with the top being that a typical voter feels that their vote is meaningless. There may be some truth to that statement but the typical excuse I hear runs more along the lines of, “it was raining on election day”, “it was too cold”, or “I worked late and had to get home to the kids”.

Is it possible that maybe everyone is just tired of the annual “reality show” circus surrounding our politics? Instead of being a time to put our best foot forward, election season has become a time of airing out dirty laundry, slander and endless childish insults. It is well past time to take our government out of the hands of the people that treat it like a candy store, and elect individuals that can perform with skill and integrity and accomplish the jobs they were elected to do. Don’t we owe that to our children for whom we are to be role models and don’t we owe that to Susan B. Anthony for whom the 19th amendment is named.

Larry Vetter is the 2015 Democratic candidate for Smithtown Town Council