Editorial - Dear Town Clerk Vincent Puleo,

Dear Town Clerk Vincent Puleo,

Congratulations on your recent coup d’tat. Overthrowing New York State’s longest serving Supervisor is quite an accomplishment.  And this is a twofer a Supervisor and Councilwoman, WOW!  How can we possibly thank you for doing that which the public refused to do, dump Vecchio?  It’s not like an election means anything, who believes that nonsense about democracy and citizens exercising their right to determine who leads them?  

Oath of office ceremony Jan. 1, 2014Why do we need any of that when we have a super hero like yourself waiting and waiting and waiting thirty days and thirty nights. It must have been difficult to contain yourself at the last board meeting knowing that the residents pouring their hearts out to the board were doing it for naught. You knew the board, the votes, the actions they took were bogus.  But you sat there and waited.  Was Mr. Zollo in the audience to witness the mockery of democracy or was that by chance?

I can’t imagine why anyone would believe that you had a responsibility to your constituents to ensure that the oaths were filed in your office as stated on the Town Clerk’s page of Smithtown’s website item 1A.  And all of that talk about a moral responsibility, what’s that about?  Politics is for winners and by your actions everyone will know what an awesome winner you are.

Besides ethics, morals and integrity are concepts meant for the voters, not winners. Another concept that you exposed as a falsehood is that a conservative like yourself is about being frugal with taxpayer money. Now that’s something we can all chuckle about. What is this special election going to cost residents? I’m thinking hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s the great part of being the winner you are, you don’t have to worry what people think of you and don’t have to explain yourself . 

Town Clerk Puleo, thank you again for finding a way to rid the town of  Vecchio. I don’t know when you will see this,  because I understand that you are out of the office for a few days. Enjoying your success I guess. I do have a question for you: who should Smithtown voters trust. Is it you? Is it our town council? A newly appointed board member?  A Conservative? Or no one?

I don’t mean to go on and on with this letter, but since you waited thirty days and nights before letting the public know that the oaths were not filed, I figure you are a patient man. Who does a winner like yourself envision as the new supervisor? Creighton? He was rejected by the voters (not that that would bother you), Wehrheim? Maybe yourself? You have nothing to lose if you ran, you could still hold on to your office. That’s what a winner might do.

One more thing awesome elected Town Clerk Vincent Puleo,  on second thought, a winner like you doesn’t need any advice or support from me. I’ll reserve my support for voters.

Pat 

Smithtown Dish – small bites of foodie news - LI Pulse Highlights Alpine Bakery

Smithtown Dish – small bites of foodie news

By Nancy Vallarella

Congrats to Smithtown’s Alpine Bakery for being one of the five bakeries celebrated in this month’s issue of Long Island Pulse Magazine. Beside their 30 year family owned history, the Alpine’s from scratch cannoli was highlighted in the article titled Master Sweets.

ShopRite customers take notice that Newsday home delivery customers in Smithtown received ShopRite of COMMACK sale circulars in place of ShopRite of HAUPPAUGE sale circulars last week. ShopRite stores are individually owned and sale items can vary from store to store. ShopRite of COMMACK circulars did not have in store coupons. Bring your COMMACK circular to the HAUPPAUGE store and they will give you a circular with in store coupons effective thru Saturday, February 9.

A Municipal Parking Lot For Kings Park? Councilman Creighton Asks For Appraisal Approval

Site of proposed municipal parking lotA 20-22 parking space municipal parking lot on Pulaski Road in Kings Park has been proposed by Councilman Robert Creighton.  The cost of the wooded lot located behind the Park Bakery Shop pre-appraisal is $279,000. Councilman Creighton along with Councilman Wehrheim support the purchase of the lot and would like to move forward by getting an official appraisal of the property. 

The appraisal is expected to cost approximately $2,000.  The proposed municipal parking lot is a response to 604 signatures on a petition calling for increased parking in the hamlet of Kings Park. At the Tuesday morning work session Councilman Creighton asked his colleagues to give him a “yes” or “no” on moving forward on the appraisal. The response was “NO” from Supervisor Vecchio and “we need more information” from council members McCarthy and Nowick. Councilman Wehrheim was not at the work session but supports the proposed municipal parking lot and moving forward on the appraisal. 

Pulaski Rd., Kings ParkAll council members agree that there is a need for additional parking in downtown areas throughout the town. How the town will address its parking deficit is the issue before the board. Supervisor Vecchio adamantly rejects the concept that taxpayers town wide should shoulder the cost of building a parking lot that will benefit a small number of businesses in the area. “In addition to the cost of purchasing the property there are the additional costs of drainage, paving, striping and maintenance of the property. I do not believe residents in Smithtown, St. James and Hauppauge will want to pay for this.”  said Supervisor Vecchio.   

Councilman Creighton feels that the proposed lot will help to address the parking deficit in the area. “It’s not about building a parking lot for businesses, you build it for the the residents who shop in the area, the people who use the businesses. Additional parking may encourage more people to shop in local stores.” Councilman Wehrheim agrees, “The whole Kings Park business district would benefit from additional municipal parking.”

Create a Business Improvement District (BID) was a suggestion that Supervisor Vecchio offered. A BID would allow business owners in the special district to tax themselves for improvements they support. Councilman McCarthy asked for an aerial view of the site and Councilwoman Nowick concurred, “More information is needed before I can support this proposal.  If we move forward on this we will need to bond the project and that is something that I am unprepared to support at this time. I need more information and will make my decision when I get answers.”

“We need more parking but we need to explore grants and other means of funding projects.” said Councilman McCarthy. 

Councilman Creighton reiterated his position, “a simple yes or no. Yes we get an appraisal, no and the project doesn’t happen. It really shouldn’t take two weeks to get an answer.”

SHS West's Alex Ladouceur Wins County High Jump Championship

THREE GENERATIONS CELEBRATE COUNTY HIGH JUMP CHAMPIONSHIP

On Sunday, February 2nd, Smithtown High School West track and field star, Alex Ladouceur (center), won the hotly contested Suffolk County schoolboy indoor high jump championship with a leap of six feet - three inches. The meet was conducted in the state-of-the-art Suffolk Community College Brentwood campus field house before an overflow crowd of enthusiasts from throughout Long Island. Flanking Alex moments after his victory are the new champ’s father, Jeb Ladouceur Jr. (left), and grandfather, Jeb Sr. (right). Jeb Jr. is a lifelong resident of Smithtown, president of Encore Advertising in Deer Park, and is himself a graduate of Smithtown West. The elder Ladouceur, an award winning novelist, has lived in Smithtown with his wife Elizabeth for 50 years. For the record, Alex’s proud Mom, Carolyn, snapped this picture of ‘the boys’ on the family’s big day … which happened to be Super Bowl Sunday.

What's Cookin'? Smithtown - Local And Trending

What’s Cookin’?  -  Smithtown

By Nancy Vallarella

2014 Resolutions & Trends

By now most New Year’s resolutions are broken and forgotten. The key to keeping resolve is to make it simple and practice the resolve long enough for it to become part of one’s lifestyle or habit. Here’s a great example: Whenever I can, I will think local first.

Valentine’s Day, birthday celebrations, anniversary; make reservations at a local fine dining establishment and consciously help to build our local community.  This is very easy if you live in Smithtown. There is so much to choose from. Here are some places to resolve to dine in 2014 and why.

Kitchen a Trattoria, St. James – referred by Smithtown foodie hipsters as K.a.T. is in transition. The new logo reads The Trattoria. I have eaten here more times than I can count. What I can count on here, is a consistently great plate of food that is farm fresh from a menu that changes daily.  It will be exciting to see how former chef and now new owner Steven Gallagher makes this place his own. 

Tate’s, Nesconset – Who knew a strip mall on Smithtown Boulevard, housed a fine dining establishment? The New York Times, Long Island Pulse Magazine, and Sara Fingerman, Lifestyle Editor for Milieu Magazine - that’s who. Sara recently posted on her facebook page referencing Tate’s, “Celebrating my birthday early at my favorite restaurant.” At Tate’s they make their own bread, pasta and desserts.

eatMosaiceatMosaic, Saint James – Chef Jonathan Contes reminds me of my BFF’s kid brother from when I was in college.  Don’t be fooled by boyishly good looks. 2014 will mark this restaurant’s ninth year in business. Chef Contes has culinary talent that is well seasoned and creative.  Best to make reservations well in advance as seating is very limited.

One month into this year and these are the new trends I have repeatedly observed: Collards, Super Food Pairings, Eggs, Oatmeal, Cauliflower, Spiral Cut Zucchini, Balsamic Glaze and Flourish.

Collards are the new kale.

Creative and new super food pairings are appearing everywhere such as quinoa and berries for breakfast and a sunny side up egg topping a bowl of oatmeal.

Which reminds me; eggs are now popular morning, noon and night. On salads, perched on a piece of beef and poached in vegetable sauces. Eggs are moving on from being a breakfast only item and finding their way onto lunch and dinner entrees. 

Oatmeal is not far behind. Savory oatmeal dishes are being featured in several food magazines combined with ingredients like bacon and mushrooms.

Cauliflower is being reinvented by being cut in thick cross section pieces. It is then grilled or roasted. 

Pasta is out and zucchini is in. Spiral cut zucchini has a growing fan base of gluten free dieters and veggie fans. Spiral cut carrots are a close second because it is a fun presentation of this popular vegetable.

Balsamic glaze is back. It is the reduction of balsamic vinegar with honey or brown sugar. Celebrity chefs are using this pop of flavor on chicken, bruschetta and vegetable dishes. They are also referring to it as a “flourish”…

Flourish is the new culinary word used by Rachael Ray and other Food Network chefs when adding an unblended ingredient to a dish.  It is more than a garnish.  In addition to balsamic glaze, I have witnessed the use of this word in reference to lemon wedges being added to a platter of chicken and arugula sprinkled on top of pizza for a crunch and flavor.  Of all the trends mentioned, I’m thinking this one has the least potential to flourish. Time will tell.