Smithtown Dish – small bites of foodie news

Smithtown Dish – small bites of foodie news

By Nancy Vallarella

Looks like 2014 will bring some changes over at Mirabelle at the Three Village Inn.  According to Chef Guy Reuge there will be a merging of the restaurants.  I am guessing he is referring to Mirabelle and the more casual Mirabelle Tavern.  Stand by.

HEALTHY COMFORT FOOD – Oxymoron?  Not at the Whole Foods Supper Club, Lake Grove. Enjoy 4 courses for $15. Moday, January 27 at 6:30pm. To reserve spot call 588-1466. 

If you haven’t gone yet… Commack Winter Farmer’s Market is located at the Suffolk Y JCC, 74 Hauppauge Road, Commack. They are there Sunday’s from 10 – 1:00pm through February 23.  You will find many vendors from King’s Park Farmer’s Market along with some interesting new products.  

Smithtown Student Kyle Geringer Awarded Liberty Medal By Senator Flanagan

Senator Flanagan Presents Liberty Medal To Smithtown Student

Photo Caption: Senator Flanagan and Principal Kull-Minarik (second from right) join with Kyle Geringer, his brother Matthew and his mother Diane after Kyle received the New York State Senate Liberty Medal. Senator John Flanagan (2nd Senate District) recently presented the New York State Senate Liberty Medal to ten-year-old Kyle Geringer of Smithtown for his efforts in alerting his Smithtown neighbors about a chimney fire at their home.  Senator Flanagan joined Kyle and his family in his fifth-grade class at Accompsett Elementary School, which is taught by Mr. Scott Miller, for a special ceremony organized by Principal Jeanne Kull-Minarik.

Kyle was in his home on November 23rd when he saw flames rising out of his neighbor’s chimney.  He wisely informed his parents about the situation, who then contacted their neighbors to warn them of the unknown danger.  Due to Kyle’s quick-thinking action, the Smithtown Fire Department was immediately contacted and arrived on the scene to put out the fire before it could spread to the rest of the home.

 “Kyle took the initiative by acting swiftly to help protect his neighbors, which helped prevent the fire from spreading any further.  He is proof that heroes live right in our community and come in every size,” stated Senator Flanagan.  “Kyle is a hero who has set a great example for all of his classmates to follow.”

The New York State Senate Liberty Medal was created in 2000 and is one of the highest civilian honors that a New York resident can receive. It is awarded by the New York State Senate to individuals who have merited special commendation for exceptional, heroic, or humanitarian acts and achievements on behalf of their fellow New Yorkers.

Community Activist To Town Board "Enforce Town Code"

Ms. Gary addressing Smithtown Town Board members Jan. 7th“Walk softly and carry a big stick” may have been the policy of the 26th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, but almost one hundred years after his death (1919), it is making a come back and has become the policy of members of the Old Northport Road / Lawrence Road Task Force. Members of the task force work vigilantly to protect their community from rogue business practices. At last week’s town board meeting task force member Michelle Gary addressed town board members, politely and intelligently. She explained the objectives of the task force, “We want the town to enforce current zoning. We don’t want it changed or new zoning, we want the current zoning enforced”.  

The big stick?  The voice of residents, voters, alliances between organizations, and the tenaciousness of home owners who are highly motivated to protect their homes, families and quality of life. The message is simple: businesses need to play by the rules and Smithtown needs to enforce them.  At last week’s meeting Ms. Gary announced a new affiliation. The task force has become a registered  Neighborhood Watch Group. This national organization, once known for providing neighbors with strategies for preventing crime, has evolved into an organization that also helps residents “combat the negative impacts of business and industry”said Gary. 

The Old Northport Rd./Lawrence Rd. Task Force along with the Kings Park Civic Association, Commack Community Association and the Fort Salonga Civic Association all have a stake in the *solutions for this corridor that at times has been referred to as the ‘wild west’.  A lightly tethered alliance has formed to resolve issues in the area that include abusive land mining, dumping, storage, environmental concerns, odors, large trucks in residential areas, hours of operation, zoning, etc..   

How successful the task force will be remains to be seen. Armed with cameras and video equipment task force members have documented illegal business practices and presented their findings to the Smithtown Town Board, Town Attorney and Public Safety. They respectfully argue that before any consideration is given to changing zoning in the area, businesses need to be compliant with current town law.  Individually, some members put a great deal of effort in the November election hoping to get a board sympathetic to “residents”. Newly elected Councilwoman Lynne Nowick is seen as a swing vote.  Ms. Gary’s appearance at the board’s first meeting of the year was used to restate the goals and objectives of the task force.

Mike Cox and Attorney V. Trimarco make presentation to Kings Park Civic AssociationSmithtown’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) will meet tonight (BZA Meeting Tuesday, Jan. 14). On its agenda is an application for a zone change for a business on Old Northport Road. Property owner, Mr. Michael Cox, made a presentation before the Kings Park Civic Association on January 9th and acknowledged that he, along with many of the businesses along Old Northport Rd, is in violation of certain parts of Smithtown Town Code. In the audience was Ms. Gary listening, asking insightful questions, always respectful. When questioned after the meeting about her thoughts on the Cox proposal she reiterated the position of the Old Northport Rd/Lawrence Rd. Task Force, “We want the town to enforce its current code.” 

*article amended the word “finding”was removed.

Planning For Smithtown's Sesquarcentennial Has Begun

Town Historian Bradley Harris has kicked off the planning for Smithtown’s March 3, 2015, 350th Anniversary. Earlier this month Supervisor Vecchio started the process by sending a letter to Mr. Harris asking him to begin planning for a commemorative celebration.  Supervisor Vecchio encouraged Mr. Harris to form a committee and start the planning, “it is my belief that the committee would need at least one year to calculate costs, consider types of events, group participation, etc.”

Harris is already working on putting a committee together and is focusing on appropriate activities to celebrate Smithtown’s Sesquarcentennial (350th anniversary). A former teacher, Smithtown Councilman, and current Town Historian, Mr. Harris is certain the celebration should include more than a parade. “Smithtown has a rich history and its 350th anniversary provides a great opportunity to educate residents and celebrate the wonderful town in which we live.” 

There is a consensus that whatever celebratory event(s) take place, activities should include all of the hamlets this photo was found on Long Island History throughout Smithtown.

There was a 300th tricentennial celebration 50 years ago in 1965 which was very popular with residents.

Mr. Harris provided the following piece of history about Smithtown’s founder Richard Smythe.

“Richard Smythe first came to America aboard the ship known as the John of London that sailed from England for St. Christopher’s in the Caribbean West Indies on October 2, 1635. Why he chose to emigrate to America at this time is not known, but he was travelling with 33 other passengers, all single young men and women. The passenger manifest lists six women, ages 18-21, and 27 men ranging in age from 18-28, one Richard Smith, age 22, among them.  It almost appears to have been a “singles cruise.”  Ships sailing for the West Indies followed a course that took them along the New England coast and it would have stopped at Boston along the way.  Richard Smythe could have ended his voyage in Boston or perhaps gone on to St. Christopher’s and then come back to Boston at a later date.  Where he was living and what he was doing at this time in his life is not known. The first definitive mention we have of Richard Smythe appears in the town records of Southampton, L.I., dated October 26, 1643. The entry concerns a ruling of the Southampton General Court and directs a Thomas Hyldreth to settle a dispute he was having with “Mr. Smith” by paying him “three pounds and twelve shillings and foure pence” worth of English wheate to settle “all matters of Controversie” that had arisen between them.  

His possession of the “Nesaquauke” lands was confirmed on March 3, 1665, when the Royal Governor of the Colony of New York, Sir Richard Nicolls, granted him a patent. This Nicolls Patent recognized his ownership of the lands on the eastern bank of the river and acknowledged his disputed claim to the lands on the western bank.  The Patent required that Richard Smythe settle ten families upon the land within three years, unless he was able to resolve the dispute he was having with Huntington over possession of the lands on the western bank, then he was required to settle twenty families upon the land within five years.  To encourage Richard  Smythe to settle families upon the land, the Royal Governor declared that Richard Smythe’s lands shall have the “like and equal priviledges” as any other town in the Colony, and that his lands would be exempt from paying taxes during the three (or five) years while he established families on the land. (An early tax abatement plan.) 

In effect, the Patent created Smythe’s Town or Smithtown. But it took Richard Smythe another 12 years of contentious legal battling with the Town of Huntington before he prevailed  in colonial courts and was granted the lands on the west bank of the Nissequogue River.  Then a second patent granted in 1677 by the Royal Governor of the Colony of New York, Edmond Andros, reaffirmed Richard Smythe’s ownership of the Nesaquake lands on both sides of the river, and acknowledged that the lands owned by Richard Smythe were to be called Smithtown and were to be treated as a “township.” Read more 

Patrick R. Vecchio is unique in that he is the longest serving town supervisor in New York State  and has already served as Smithtown’s Town Supervisor for 10 percent of its history. 

If you have an idea as to how you would like to see Smithtown celebrate its Sesquarcentennial send them to pat@smithtownmatters.com.

Letter To Editor - The NY State Pet Dealer Bill Is Law

The NY State Pet Dealer Bill is law!

Thank you Governor Cuomo. Today the Governor signed what is known as the Pet Dealer Bill, a bill that gives local municipalities the right to enact stricter legislation protecting animals in our communities.  In the United States there are seven puppies or kittens born for every human born.  There will never be enough homes for all those animals, so a good percentage of them are destined to be disposed of via euthanasia.  When someone can go out shopping for clothes, and come home with a puppy they passed in a pet shop in the mall, you know that even the “lucky” puppies that make it to a home often don’t last there very long.  

The surplus of animals is wrong for the animals who are cruelly treated, wrong for taxpayers who foot the cost of managing the welfare of surplus animals, and just plain wrong for society.  

This is just a first step to solving the pet overpopulation problem.  In other states where similar laws have already passed, pet shops, now without the endless supply of puppies, have begun working with shelters.  The pet shops are now providing adoptable shelter animals to the public.  Laws should now be passed at the county level, and even right here in Smithtown, banning of the sale of puppies and kittens raised in cruel and unhealthy puppy mills.  The Smithtown Town Board now has the right and the responsibility to adopt ethical and tough new laws to crack down on puppy mills and bad breeders who place profit above the health and safety of animals.  It’s the right thing to do.

Sandy Trehy

Adopt A Boxer Rescue

Kings Park NY