News Of Long Ago -"Stanford White Becomes NYC's Leading Architect And Most Famous Citizen"

News of Long Ago by Bradley Harris, Smithtown Historian

(I have been writing about the daughters of John Lawrence Smith and their descendants.  Last week’s article was about Bessie Smith and her marriage to Stanford White.  This article takes a further look at their marriage and traces the meteoric rise of Stanford White’s career and fame.)

“Stanford White becomes New York City’s leading architect and most famous citizen….”

When Stanford White married Bessie Smith in 1884, he was 31 and Bessie was 22.  He was just getting established in his career as an architect and had only been with the firm of McKim, Meade and White for three years.  But he was “earning more than $12,000 a year from the firm” and was at last financially capable of moving out of his parents’ home into his own domicile.  “White was undoubtedly physically drawn to Bessie, but it is also certain that the position of the Smith family, well off, stable, with impeccable social credentials, was also in his decision to wed.”  It is more likely that he was committed to her emotionally as well, and truly loved her, since he “always treated his wife with great respect, and his letters are filled with affection and concern.  Typical is one written in February 1905 – scarcely a year before his death – to Bessie, who was in Italy.  The four-page missive opens with ‘My darling Bess’ and closes ‘With many kisses and hugs’ and ‘lovingly,’ hardly the words of an uncaring or estranged husband.”  Even so, by 1905, after 21 years of married life, there were many reasons why Bessie should have been estranged from her husband.  (David Lowe, Stanford White’s New York, Doubleday, N.Y., 1992, p. 95.

When Bessie and Stanford White returned from their six month European honeymoon, they moved into a small house at 56 West 20^th Street in New York City.  It was here that Bessie gave birth to a boy that was named Richard Grant White in honor of Stanford’s father.  When Stanford’s father died, his mother, Alexina Mease White, moved in with her son.  In her memoirs, Bessie mentioned that her mother-in-law moved in with them in the small house in the city.  Bessie wrote:  “She was a charming, most intelligent woman and she lived with us winter and summer for 36 years until she died at the age of 88.”  Even so, Bessie must have felt cramped living in the little house with her mother-in-law and a new baby.  On the other hand, Bessie must have been happy for Alexina’s help with her baby.  And then the little boy died “during an epidemic of so-called cholera” and that led the Whites to find another home.  (Bessie Smith White’s Memories written in May of 1926, memoir on file with the Smithtown Historical Society.)   

The Whites had another home “at the corner of Lexington Avenue and Twenty-first Street, on Gramercy Park” and Stanford “decorated the Gramercy Park house in a riot of imaginative details” since “he used his Gramercy Park house to charm, buffalo, wheedle and convince his clients of what they surely always thought their plans should have included.”  The house at Gramercy Park became the Whites’ home in Manhattan.  But after “September 26, 1887,” when “a second son, Lawrence Grant White, was born,” Bessie “spent more and more of her time” at Box Hill in St. James.  “She gradually abandoned her husband’s social whirl in the city to the necessities of ‘his professional interests.’” (Michael Macdonald Mooney, Evelyn Nesbit and Stanford White, Love and Death in the Gilded Age, William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1976, p.155.)

Stanford White’s professional  interests continued to grow as his work became known and his reputation spread.  “By the end of the nineteenth century Stanford White was New York’s most famous citizen” and “the city’s leading architect, but he was much more than that.  He was the city’s leading designer, decorator, stylist and chief arbiter of taste, but he was much more than these.  He was the leader of its leading artists, promoter of its best institutions, impresario of its most colorful entertainments, founder and organizer of its leading clubs, and often architect of them as well.  He served as a dedicator of the city’s permanent monuments and master of ceremony of its celebrations.  His immense energies were spent night and day in an attempt to give character to the city’s wealth, yet it was said of him that he never did anything for money.”  (Michael Macdonald Mooney, op. cit., p. 34.) 

     When it came to permanent monuments and public buildings, Stanford White “designed, then donated the designs, then organized the committees to raise the funds, then supervised the construction” as he did for the Arch on Washington Square, as he did for the Madison Square Garden arena on Fifth Avenue and Broadway.  “He organized, designed and built clubs in which, presumably their members might cultivate the arts of civilization: the Player’s Club, the Century, the Metropolitian, the Lambs, the Brook, the Harmonie, the Colony.  The architectural firm in which he was a partner – McKim, Mead and White, designed and built dozens of others.  He was a leader among his fellow clubmen.”  He designed and collaborated with other artists in building churches : “the Church of the Ascension, Judson Memorial Church … and the most beautiful church, it was said, ever designed in America – Madison Square Presbyterian Church.  His masterpieces would be widely imitated.”  (Michael Macdonald Mooney, op. cit., p.35.)

Stanford White designed and built palaces for the city’s rich.  “At incredible expense, he built and decorated palaces for the Astors and Vanderbilts; for the Goelets, the Oelrichs, the Cheneys, the Choates, the Hopkins, and the Whittemores.  He gave lessons in style to Henry Villard and William C. Whitney and Whitelaw Reid.  He showed his clients how to live comfortably and simply – if simplicity was their preference; or on a grand scale, either in the city, or in the country at Southampton, or in Newport.”  White “was famous for his ability to spend beyond his client’s budget and then wheedle and bully for even more to build as he imagined his client ought to live.  White tapped money from the rich for his city’s improvement, and his abilities at raising funds were described as ferocious.”  (Michael Macdonald Mooney, op. cit., pp. 35-36.)

White’s architectural influence extended far beyond New York City. “In collaboration with artists and sculptors, White taught Chicago how it should remember Lincoln – both standing and seated; he bullied New York into learning the difference between classical ‘junk,’ and the statue of Admiral Farragut in Madison Square; at the same time, he promoted a fountain with A Boy and a Duck in Prospect Park in Brooklyn.  With his partners, and with his firm’s time and expense, he helped lay out the Mall in Washington and the Lincoln Memorial.  His firm rebuilt and refurbished the White House, founded the American Academy in Rome to train artists, promoted the World’s Fair in Chicago, designed libraries, improved campuses at West Point, the University of Virginia, New York University, Columbia University, and Harvard.”  (Michael Macdonald Mooney, op. cit., p. 36.)

And White’s influence reached far beyond the field of architecture.  “To commemorate Christopher Columbus, White organized and created a city parade.  To decorate the Metropolitan Opera for an opening, he arranged twelve thousand roses.  He designed magazine covers, book covers, Pullman cars, and yachts.  He created pageants at Madison Square Garden to amuse the idle and he designed a perfect piece of jewelry at a moment’s notice for a soprano because, he said, she had a heavenly voice.”  White worked “at a breathtaking pace,” sometimes working “straight through the night, littering the floor around his drafting table with masterpieces, bellowing melodies from Beethoven into his empty studio.”  With so much creative energy coursing through his veins, “he loved, as he would any beautiful creation, pretty women.”  And this love of pretty women would bring about tragic results. (Michael Macdonald Mooney, op. cit., p. 36.)

In 1887, a group of investors formed the Madison Square Garden Corporation with the stated purpose of building a new arena for the National Horse Show and boxing matches on the spot where Fifth Avenue and Broadway intersected.  The Board of Directors of the new corporation “announced they would issue $1,500,000 in common stock” and chose Mr. J.P. Morgan as chairman and Stanford White as vice-chairman.  It was understood that “J. P. Morgan “was clearly responsible for the Garden’s financial reputation” and “Stanford White was in charge of everything else.”  The directors sponsored “a competition for the best design” of the new arena and “oddly enough the award was made to McKim, Mead and White.”  The formal opening of White’s “Palace of Pleasures,” as Madison Square Garden was known, came on June 16, 1890, after the directors had spent almost 2 million dollars over the original $1,575,000 budget.  “The New Madison Square Garden occupied the entire block, 465 feet long, and 200 feet wide, with side walls rising 65 feet. Its main amphitheater could seat 8,000 for the Horse Show, and as many as 17,000 for the fights.  In addition, the southwest corner housed the largest restaurant in town, the northwest corner included a 1,200-seat theater, there was another street-level theater, an arcade of shops along the Madison Avenue side, an open-air theater on the Garden’s roof for light comedy in the summertime, and rising above all a Tower on the Twenty-sixth Street side, topped by a nude statue of Diana by Saint-Gaudens, 300 feet above the sidewalk.” (Michael Macdonald Mooney, op. cit., pp. 185-186.)  

The tower that rose five stories above the Garden’s roof, was “thirty-eight feet square” and “contained a central elevator shaft surrounded by a spiral staircase.  The elevator rose through five floors of apartments and gave access to the studio apartment on each floor.  Stanford White retained the penthouse apartment in the tower for his own use and used the studio apartment for parties to entertain his most intimate friends.  Many of those intimate friends were entertained by showgirls Stanford White met when they performed in musical productions that were staged during the summer in the roof-top Casino Theater at Madison Square Garden.  In the summer of 1901, “the source of endless fascination, was the incredible success of a musical – Floradora.  Everyone had seen it, everyone talked about it,” and “everyone followed the affairs of the beauties in the Floradora Sextette.”  The Floradora Sexette were “six gorgeous,” boxum women who “paraded onstage” nightly in “frilly pink lace dresses with high collars, the dresses trimmed at their nipped waists with black velvet ribbon.  They wore black gloves and big black picture hats with feathers, and each one had had a little black ribbon round her neck.  Each was a picture of what a Gibson girl was supposed to be.”  And it was these ladies that were capturing the hearts of men nightly as they twirled their parasols and sang their songs and delighted the crowds that came to see them. (Michael Macdonald Mooney, op. cit., pp. 22-23.) 

Although the Sexette captured everyone’s attention, the musical had a supporting cast that included a young girl, “Miss Evelyn Nesbit, age sixteen,” who “had made her way from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to a part as one of the ‘Spanish dancers’ in Floradora.”  Evelyn “had an oval face, with a touch of olive in its color that added instead of subtracting from its baby’s milk complexion.  Her nose was straight, with a little Irish upward tilt.  The mouth was a bit full,” but when she pouted, “its effect could be devastating.”  She was a stunningly beautiful girl whose “body was as slim as a young boy’s, with straight legs and good knees, and not even a hint of a married woman’s bottom.  She knew perfectly well that voluptuous women were the current fashion, but she had already turned her lithesome form to her advantage anyway – she was a famous beauty as a model for artists and fashion photographers.  Her best, she knew, was her hair – copper curls, a great mass of them, surrounding her face and creating a contrast for her hazel eyes.”  This was the young beauty whose flawless features and air of innocence captured Stanford White’s attention.  (Michael Macdonald Mooney, op. cit., p. 22.)  

Smithtown Dish – small bites of foodie news

Smithtown Dish – small bites of foodie news

 by Nancy Vallarella 

8^th Annual Taste of Smithtown will take place Thursday, November 14 from 6-9pm at the Mercedes Benz dealership in Saint James.  Tickets are only $25. Over 30 local culinary businesses will present tastings while others have donated gift certificates and products for raffle. The organizers, Senior Resources of Long Island are literally rolling out a red carpet along with a step and repeat photo opportunity, cigar rolling and massage station.  This fundraiser benefits The Smithtown Children’s Foundation, Smithtown Food Pantry and Gift of Life.  

Happy Anniversary!!… Mosaic in Saint James celebrates year eight.  Chef Jonathan Contes promises a deliciously innovative eight course menu for $88/pp. This menu will be available for three nights only - Thursday, November 21 through Saturday, November 23.  Call for reservations 584-2058.

H2O Seafood Grill is presenting a three course; $40 fixed price dinner with ½ price wines beginning Monday, November 18 through Sunday, November 24 for its twelfth year in Smithtown.

Menu Updates…Buteras of Smithtown now has organic menu options. New York Stuffed Cone Company (Saint James) is heating up its menu with the addition of homemade soups, specialty burgers and latte creations with flavored ice creams. 

Reminder…Thanksgiving is just 2 weeks away! 

Tags: 8^th Annual Taste of Smithtown, Mosaic, H2O Seafood Grill, Buteras, New York Stuffed Cone Company.

BKF Designs by Dr. Barbara Kruger - A Commack Gem

Go local for your holiday gift giving!

If you are looking for a unique piece of jewelry for yourself or as a gift for someone consider jewelry created by BKF Designs in Commack.

Barbara KrugerAudiologist Barbara Kruger, Ph.D., is BKF.  Pursuing her creativity is not new to Dr. Kruger having grown up with parents who encouraged both her creative and scientific sides.  What is new is the amount of time she has to pursue her creative BKF Designsside. Barbara’s ability to focus on designing jewelry is a product of cutting back on her prestigious scientific career as an audiologist. 
Professionally Dr. Kruger has served as Director of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology in the Department of Otohinolaryngology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Montefiore Medical Centerr, Assistant Professor of Audiology, Columbia University, and Director of, and Clinician in, the Speech-Language and Hearing Program of the Special Education Department of the Brooklyn Diocese. She also served as Consultant Audiologist at the Suffolk Rehabilitation Center in Commack, New York. In 2006 Dr. Kruger sold her audiology practice, Audiology and Communication Services. In addition to practicing audiology on a smaller scale, she does some consulting and lecturing in audiology.

Dr. Kruger’s second career evolved from the application of skills from her first career in Audiology and her BKF Designsfamily’s myriad of interests in art, music, dance, and design.  “In audiology, one needs to know how to draw, make impressions of small circuitous curved ears and make or reshape the hearing aids or ear mold to fit comfortable in those curved ears. It’s just a small leap for me to designing and making jewelry.”  She watched BKF Designsher parents doing silversmithing and lapidary as hobbies in their retirement and enjoyed sharing design ideas with them.  About seventeen years ago with the sudden death of her mother, she began to pursue her interest in jewelry design.  She studied with Felicia Liban. Sandra Kravitz and Kathleen DiResta.  She has taken workshops with Steve Artz, John Cogswell, Amy Roper Lyons, Dennis Nahbetian, Linda Kindler Priest, Kathryn Osgood, Barbara Siedenath, and Marcus Synnot.

Barbara specializes in creating colorful enamels and cloisonné in sterling silver and mixed metal settings, some with stones to add balance or accent to the designs.  Often the modern, free form style has an analytic base.  BKF DesignsHer jewelry continues to evolve and takes many forms. Her love of color, texture, shape and design radiates from her jewelry art pieces.  In addition to cloisonné pieces, there are inspired arrangements of gem stones in intricate settings in silver or mixed metal, or with gem stones or lapidary stones (some self-cut and shaped) set in a series of simple settings.  Some pieces with color and texture are made from diachronic glass.  Some distinctive enamel pieces focus on depth, texture, and color with dramatic designed shapes. Some of these distinctive pieces include cloisonné’ with silver settings with accent gemstones. Some of the texture is from etched or milled patterns and riveted found items with a steam punk style.

BKF DesignsSo where does the name BKF Designs come from? As you may have guessed the BK is Barbara Kruger and the “F” is for Fred, Barbara’s husband of forty-seven* years.  According to Barbara, “Fred is a technical and design advisor and critic.” 

You may view Barbara’s jewelry Saturday, November 16 th at the Long Island Craft Guild’s “A Fine Craft Fair”. It is available on consignment in stores, at parties, and on exhibit in several galleries such as The BJ Spoke Gallery, The Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery, and The Phoenix Gallery. Contact Barbara at BKF Designs

 *Corrected the Krugers are married forty-seven years not thirty-eight as previously written.

News of Long Ago - "Susan Butler Matties Francis Cleaveland Huntington and the Huntingtons Build A Home In St. James"

News of Long Ago by Bradley Harris, Smithtown Historian

(I have been writing about the descendants of John Lawrence Smith and the contributions they made to Smithtown history.  My last article was about Charles Butler, John Lawrence Smith’s grandson, and his role in Smithtown’s past.  This article is about John Lawrence Smith’s granddaughter, Susan Butler, her marriage to Francis Huntington, the home they built in St. James, and the birth of their children – Prescott, William, and Christopher.)  

“Susan Butler marries Francis Cleaveland Huntington and the Huntingtons build a home in St. James….”

Susan Louisa Butler was the third child of Prescott Hall and Cornelia Stewart (Smith) Butler.  Susan was born on August 10, 1879, in the house known as Bytheharbor in St. James.  Like her brothers, Susan Butler was sent to private schools in New York City and then attended a finishing school to complete her education.  Two months before her 25^th birthday, on June 15, 1904, Susan married Francis Cleaveland Huntington, the son of Reverend William Reed and Theresa (Reynolds) Huntington of New York City.  The Huntington family had a long and distinguished past in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and when Susan and Francis were married in 1904, the Reverend William Reed Huntington was serving as the rector of Grace Church Parish in New York City.  In spite of the fact that his father held such a prominent position in the Episcopal Church in New York City, Francis and Susan chose to be married in the Episcopal Church in St. James, the little church where the Butler family worshipped whenever they were in St. James.  

The uniting of the Butler and Huntington clan was quite an occasion and wedding guests were brought out to St. James from New York City aboard a special LIRR car.  The little St. James Episcopal Church must have been packed with Huntington, Butler, and Smith family members who came to the wedding.  A reception followed the wedding and it was held at the Butler home “two miles north on Moriches Road” where Bytheharbor was located.  One of the wedding guests, Matilde Leverich, remembered her trip to the wedding and she told Barbara Van Lieu about it years later.  “Matilde Leverich and her mother, Mrs. Leverich, had come down from New York on the train in the special LIRR car” and when they arrived in St. James, “they went from the St. James station straight to the church where Matilde met Annie Tinker.”  Annie Tinker and Matilde Leverich, who both must have been 13 or 14 in 1904, hit it off immediately and struck up a conversation.  “Annie invited Matilde to drive with her to the reception at the Butler’s house.”  Matilde agreed to do so after discovering that Annie Tinker was driving a “four-in-hand coach” that had “one man with a ‘toot’ (horn) on the boot.”  Annie drove Matilde to the reception “circling around and coming in the far” entrance “drive with a flourish.”  It was only “after their safe arrival” that Annie confided to Matilde that it was “the first time” the “horses had ever been driven together!”  (“Account of the Susan Butler – Francis Huntington Wedding of 1904,” told to Mrs. Barbara Van Lieu by Matilde Leverich in the early 1960’s, biographical information on Susan Louisa (Butler) Huntington contained in the Huntington files of the Long Island Room, Smithtown Library.) 

Following their marriage, Francis and Susan Huntington lived in Timothy House, the grand old Smith family home that sits on the north side of North Country Road opposite the Episcopal Church.  Lawrence Butler owned this house having acquired it and beautifully restoring it as a colonial homestead in 1903, and he let the “newly-weds” live here “while their house on Moriches Road was being built.”  It was in Timothy House where Prescott Butler Huntington was born on July 26, 1905.  Prescott  was  Cornelia (Smith) Butler’s first grandson and to mark the occasion of his first birthday on July 26, 1906, Cornelia presented him with a gift of a house and 96 acres of land in Nissequogue.  The house on the neck of land known as Rassapeague was deeded to Prescott Huntington and held in trust by his parents until Prescott was married in 1930 and the house and land became his property.  It was a remarkable gift from a grandmother to her grandson and the property remains in the Huntington family’s ownership today.

When Francis and Susan Huntington’s house was completed in 1906, they moved in.  Their new home was built south of Moriches Road very near its intersection with Cordwood Path.  There is a small pond there and their new house of stucco and stone construction was built in the woods on the hill south of this pond.  According to a real estate brochure that advertised this house for sale in 1982 when William R. Huntington sold the property he inherited from his grandmother, the two and a half story house built “around 1907” was constructed of “stucco and concrete” and had “18 rooms arranged around central hallways.”  There were “8 master bedrooms,” with “4 master baths, 3 lavatories,” and a “servant’s room and bath.”  The house also had “an elevator, abundant closets and several fireplaces.”  The estate of 34 acres came complete with an “eight car garage,” a two story brick cottage with six rooms and a bath, and “a barn and other farm buildings.”  The brochure pointed out that the property was located on “one of the highest points in the vicinity” and “offered spectacular views” of Long Island Sound “from its terrace, porch, balcony and tremendous windows.” This was the house that became  Francis and Susan Huntington’s home whenever they came to St. James in the summer.  (Copy of a real estate brochure in the Huntington family files of the Long Island Room of the Smithtown Library dated 1982 by Barbara Van Lieu.) 

When the Huntingtons moved into this house in the summer of 1907, their family had grown to include two children.  On January 28, 1907, the Huntingtons became the proud parents of a second boy when Susan gave birth to William Reed Huntington. And then on February 27, 1911, a third son, Christopher Huntington was born.  The three Huntington boys spent winters in New York City where they were home schooled by tutors, and they spent their summers in the house off Moriches Road in St. James.  Their father, Francis Cleaveland Huntington, was an established attorney in Manhattan having been admitted to bar in 1892.  Francis Huntington started out his law career in a partnership with Thomas Rhinelander, and by the time he married Susan in 1904, he had become the senior partner of the “noted firm of Huntington, Rhinelander & Seymour.”  Unfortunately, Francis and Susan Huntington did not have a long married life together since Francis died in New York City on March 15, 1916, at the age of 51, leaving his young wife of 37 a widow with three small children – Prescott (10), William (8) and Christopher (5).  Susan became a single parent and raised the three boys on her own. (Information gleaned from a Butler family genealogy on file in the Long Island Room files of the Smithtown Library.)

Frank Huntington, whose father was Prescott Butler Huntington, remembers the remarkable lady who was his grandmother Susan Butler Huntington.  One of the stories that Frank always heard about his grandmother is how she coped with raising three boys after she lost her husband. She decided to take them on a trip to the west coast, and so when World War I ended, she packed up her boys’ belongings in steamer trunks, loaded the boys and their trunks aboard a commercial steamer, and sailed with them through the Panama Canal on a trip to California.  She took them to see many of the natural wonders and newly created national parks in California, and then came back home by train.  Long before the advent of cruising, Susan Butler Huntington took her boys on a once in a lifetime experience on a trip they would never forget.

From his perspective as Susan Butler Huntington’s grandson, Frank remembers his grandmother lived in the large house near the pond that was called “Butler’s Pond” or “Grandmother’s Pond” by members of his family.  He recalls that his grandmother had a big farm with its own farmhouse where the farmer lived who maintained the farm property, cultivated the crops in the vegetable garden, and cared for the chickens and ducks that were raised in coops.  It was very much a working farm and Frank has memories of his grandmother making “her own butter, bread and ice cream” in the big kitchen of her home.  He recalls watching her work as she made bread for the family and marveling at the strength in her hands as she kneaded the dough.  Frank’s mother always took her children with her whenever she stopped by grandma’s farm and Frank recalls that his mother used to follow a weekly routine.  They would first stop by “Uncle Charlie’s house” (Charlie Butler’s house on Branglebrink Farm) where they would pick flowers from the beautiful flower gardens that Uncle Charlie cultivated.  Then they would stop by Grandma’s house to get the week’s supply of vegetables – “beets, potatoes, swiss chard, freesh eggs,” and whatever else was in season.  On week-ends, Frank’s father, Prescott Huntington would take his boys and make a pilgrimage to Larry Smith’s general store to pick up the newspapers and then make a stop at his mother’s house to pick up a chicken and a duck for Sunday’s dinner.  Frank remembers that one of his father’s favorite questions as he served chicken and duck to his children was:  “What are you going to have?  Light, dark, or duck?”   

As Susan Huntington’s sons grew up, she sent her boys to boarding school at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Massachusetts.  According to Frank Huntington, “it was one of the better schools of the day” and each of the Huntington boys graduated from this prep school before moving on to attend Harvard University.  All three boys graduated from Harvard.  Prescott Huntington graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1926 and he decided to pursue a career in law.  He attended Harvard Law School graduating in the Class of 1929.  William Reed Huntington graduated from Harvard College and then went to the University of Virginia where he studied architecture and became an architect.   Christopher graduated from Harvard University and then attended Northwestern University where he got a Master’s degree in German.  He subsequently returned to Harvard where he taught German until World War II began.  Then he joined the Navy and his experiences in the war made him decide to enter the priesthood and he converted to Catholicism and became a priest.

When Susan Butler Huntington died in 1958, she left this world knowing that her sons had been given the best education that money could buy and that each of her sons had chosen a profession that they felt would give their lives meaning.  Each of these Huntington sons would go on in life to have an impact on the Smithtown and the wider world, but that is a topic that will have to wait until next time….  

Photograph to accompany this article:

Francis and Susan Huntington’s home, built in 1906 on the west side of Moriches Road on land that Susan had inherited from her mother Cornelia (Smith) Butler.  The house is still standing on the hill that is to the south and west of the pond that is near the intersection of Moriches Road and Cord wood Path.

Editorial - McCarthy + Malloy + Creighton = The MMC Hess Express

Don’t worry Commack we know what’s best for you! And It is a Hess Express 12 pump gas station and convenience store on the corner of Harned Rd and Rte. 25. REALLY? As a matter of fact we are so certain it is good for you we are going to move mountains to welcome this filling station which will be joining the many other Commack stations along Gasoline Row. We will grant a zone change, we will grant variances and if we need to do more, they will let us know. Because after all we are only thinking of you. You can thank us now or later. That is the message from the MMC team of Councilmen McCarthy, Malloy and Creighton.

In a Newsday article (November 7, 2013) Councilman Robert Creighton said the Hess Express proposal for a convenience store and 12-pump gas station was “a very good project” and statistics of the site show it is “not a terribly dangerous intersection. It is like every other intersection — when people violate the law it becomes a dangerous intersection.” Duh! 

The MMC threesome have been advocating this project for a long time and as election day approached, when the signs indicated that there might be a change in the composition of the board, they voted and gave Hess the go ahead. No worries according to Creighton it’s when people violate the law that it becomes a dangerous intersection. Newsflash, people violate traffic laws all the time, think of how many auto body repair shops are located throughout Smithtown.  Some of these violations are keeping Suffolk County afloat. 

The location of the project on the corner of Harned Road and Rte 25 where Sunken Meadow Parkway exits can not be considered to be like “any other intersection”. There is a tremendous amount of traffic at the location exiting the parkway is confusing.  Indian Head Rd. traffic heading east must make a left turn from Indian Head Road onto Jericho (RTE. 25). Drivers are often accelerating to catch the green light and seldom if ever pull entirely into the appropriate lane. These motor vehicle (mv) operators in cars, busses and trucks will be meeting up with vehicles exiting the MMC Hess Express. 

On Harned Road you will have mv’s crossing the lanes of traffic to exit and enter the MMC Hess Express. Creating traffic jams and creating a scenario for a real serious traffic accident.  

The role of our elected officials is not to act as a rubber stamp for commercial interests it is to protect the safety, interests and well being of residents. The decision made to approve the “MMC” Hess Express fails to do this.

Opponents of the proposal, Supervisor Vecchio and Councilman Wehrheim, could have tabled the vote on this application which would have allowed Councilwoman Elect Lynn Nowick the opportunity to review the plan and vote. But that didn’t happen. And now all that’s left are the legal challenges being made by Rudy Massa owner of Gasoline Heaven. I suspect that a judge will see Town Board approval and prefer not to get involved. After all who has the responsiblity to look after residents interest.

Don’t worry Commack - The MMC team was only thinking of you.

Pat