This Summer Add Salsa To Your Exercise Schedule

By Kia Edwards

Exercise seems to get a bad rap at times; it’s difficult, often makes you sweat and, worst of all, it can get BORING.  The last idea, however, can be fought.  Exercise doesn’t always have to be about running 5 miles with ankle weights and lifting dumbbells.  Getting fit is easier with these fun workouts:

High-Intensity Dance Classes

Trying something new such as Salsa lessons or even African dance can teach you coordination, balance and help you with rhythm (not a necessity, but a dress just looks better when you can move gracefully to the music). The movement involved in dancing naturally works your core and other large muscle groups to help you get lean. The Hokey Pokey won’t cut it since the aim is to get your heart rate up.  You may have to take it slow while learning the basic steps, but dancing is a great workout if you allow yourself to get lost in the music. Best of all, it’s a calorie burner. An individual weighing about 140lbs has the potential to burn 370-400 calories an hour while an individual closer to 180lbs can burn 450-480 calories.  Compare this to the idea that we burn approximately 100 calories per mile (the heavier you are, the more you burn), and you’re looking at a four mile jog/run to achieve the same results. 

Hiking

Forget the treadmill and elliptical.  Spring and summer mean it’s time to take your friends, family and/or spouse on a hiking trip.  The fresh air, good company and opportunity to see some exciting wildlife can help you forget you’re exercising.  Add your backpack for water, food or other necessities, and you’ll soon notice an increase in your fitness level.  The terrain is a large contributor when determining how many calories you can burn. A 2 mile hike with a generally flat terrain won’t burn nearly as many calories as a hike with a lot of hills, which can burn close to 600 calories for a 190 pound male. An extremely rugged terrain can burn up to 650 calories for the average female. 

Self Defense Classes

I believe every person should have a basic knowledge of how to defend themselves in case of an emergency…or in case your trainer really is driving you crazy.  Self-defense lessons can teach you how to protect yourself, and help you increase your strength and agility.  It works your muscles due to the force you use when punching and kicking, but it also a good way to improve your muscular endurance since you have to keep your arms up at all times.   An hour of a hard workout can help the average woman 400-500 calories per hour and some boxing classes claim to help you burn up to 1,000 calories per hour. 

Tennis

You don’t have to hit the ball like Serena or Djokovic to get a good workout from tennis.  It improves your hand-eye coordination and your reflexes since you never know where the ball is going to land. It’s a fun way to socialize and an intense match can help you keep fit.  You can also measure your fitness progress by playing tennis. The stronger you become (which you may have to use weights for), the harder you will hit the ball.  As your cardiovascular endurance improves, you’ll notice that you’re able to play longer games.  A person weighing 200lbs can burn over 500 calories by playing a moderately intense singles game. Hate playing outside? The University of Wisconsin conducted a study and found that you may burn 150 calories playing Wii Tennis for 30 minutes. It’s not as good as the real thing, but it’s better than sitting on your couch watching other people play tennis. 

Water Games

Games like water polo or pool basketball are great ways to work out without realizing it.  Your cardiovascular endurance will increase greatly due to the effort required to move around in the water. Moving around in water requires more energy and it’s perfect if you have bone, muscle or joint problems due to its low impact.  NutriStrategy states that an individual weighing 130lbs can burn 550+ calories an hour, while a 155 pound individual can burn close to 700 calories per hour. 

Having an unchanging workout routine is a recipe for falling off the wagon, or seeing a plateau in your weight loss.  Mixing it up with any of these activities, or others that you like to try will keep your workout plan fun and effective.  

*Sources for caloric burn were based on the following sources:

ACE Fitness

The American Council on Exercise

The International Sports Sciences Association

Mayo Clinic: Aerobic Exercise

NutriStrategy

Kia Edwards is a certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist who lives in New York City. She studied French and Economics at Colgate University, spent 15 years as a high-level competitive gymnast and 6 years as a gymnastics coach.  Her business, La Fortesse At Home Fitness Training, helps clients get healthy with simple at home exercises and nutrition counseling. www.LaFortesse.com 

Town Board Meeting - Starts Calmly Ends In Uproar

By Taylor Fleming

The Smithtown Town Board meeting on Thursday June 20, 2013 started calmly but ended in uproar. The Board unanimously voted “yes” to most resolutions, and personnel matters, except for two resolutions both to which Supervisor Patrick Vecchio voted “no.” The first resolution to which Supervisor Vecchio did not support Town Board Voted 4-1 in favor of the resolution (Supervisor Vecchio voted “no”)was for the Board to approve Zoning Petition #2012-06 by Bolla LI Operating Corp, changing a zone adjacent to the intersection of Route 111 and Route 347 from residential to Neighborhood Business.  The second was to authorize the waiver of fees, for a six-month period, for façade renovations and fees for site plan exemptions related to façade renovations for all buildings within the Central Business zoning district. Resolution 3-K was withdrawn.

Following the call to order, correspondences, resolutions and personnel matters the Town Board heard from five members of the community. All five speakers addressed opposition towards the proposal of St. Johnland Nursing Center to build a 50-acre complex on Sunken Meadow Road. 

Michael Chicvak of Kings Park quoted the oath of allegiance, which each board member must swear to before entering office. He reminded the Board of the duties and responsibilities they each promised to uphold for the town of Smithtown. “Now,” said Chicvack, “everyone of you must act.” He stated that 100% of the households in the neighboring Uplands areas, which he received signatures from, opposed the project. He then advised that the Board of Ethics look into this matter. “[The Town Board should] abide by the wishes of its residents,” Chicvack warned, “or we will vote you out of office.”

Next, Margaret Lewis of Kings Park took to the podium to express her opposition to the project. She stressed environmental protection and noted that the high prices of the proposed townhouses directly contradict the prospect of this unit as a place for senior citizens. “How can the town council support [this project] on environmentally sensitive lands?” Lewis asked the Board, adding her own warning to “please think of the long term consequences.” 

Sean Lehmann, president of the Kings Park Civic Association, presented a stack of numerous signatures in his hand to show the Board. He said he was “holding out,” however, as he discovered there were more to get. “This project should have been dead on arrival,” Lehmann contended. “Dead on arrival.” 

Following Lehmann’s remarks, Supervisor Vecchio and Councilman Thomas McCarthy addressed him, the other speakers, the Board and members of the community. “We do not have a zone hearing scheduled,” Vecchio said. He added that if they did he would have agreed with Lehmann. Councilman McCarthy said, “I’m voting no to scheduling it.” 

The next community spokesman was Rich Gorbecki who cited a letter from a New York State Park Official written in September 2012 which voiced concerns over the increased traffic, noise pollution, light pollution and negative impacts of St. Johnland’s project. “Please tell Greenbrier Corporation to take the Uplands project back to Texas,” he said. 

Christopher Borrella, who also addressed the Board, said that the project “doesn’t seem to me to make sense.” He stated that the Uplands project would lead to more police and fire department calls to service costing the community more money while depleting the value of houses in the neighboring areas. 

Finally, David Fennes asked the Board to give a show of hands for who supported the Uplands project. Smithtown Town Attorney John Zollo responded by stating that this gesture was inappropriate, as the zoning hearing has not been scheduled. 

After his response was met with much resistance from community members, Supervisor Vecchio said, “I choose to say to you I am opposed.” Councilman McCarthy followed suit, stating, “I already told you. I will not vote. I am against this project.” Councilman Malloy, however, questioned Fennes’ approach. “To cut it short,” said Malloy, “[and] say vote yes or no…then why have a public hearing?” He then told Fennes that he was jumping to conclusions regarding the Board’s opinions and that he did not support the project but rather, “we are in support for the concept of this project.” 

Fennes concluded his address by asking the Board a question: “Why put it here?” 

Following the last speaker, the Board moved to adjourn the meeting just past 7:30pm. 

Theater Review - "Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson"

THEATER REVIEW

“Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson”

Produced by: Smithtown Performing Arts Council

Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur

This musical about (of all things) the nation’s seventh president, opened at New York’s Bernard Jacobs Theater on October 13, 2010 and closed a scant 2 ½ month later due to poor attendance. That in itself is not a total indictment—lots of shows flop on The Great White Way—but “Grease” it ain’t. That record-setting staple arrives in town next month.

As experimental rock operas go, “Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson” is pretty typical fare, thus one wonders what the production is doing on the Smithtown Performing Arts stage when it could as easily have been cleaned up and presented at one of our local high schools. Could it be that our kids’ taste is improving?

Implausibly, Alex Timbers’ overstuffed book for “Bloody…” was nominated for awards in a couple of categories during its brief run, but the theatergoing public wasn’t buying it, and with good reason. This is the sort of story one envisions a wiseguy student writing to get even with a History teacher who has assigned the class a paper on the Jackson presidency.

Granted, the play has its serious moments, but they are few and ineffective. Not that the ambitious guy in the title role doesn’t give it his best shot: Young Jack Weppler tries to make a convincing case while castigating Native Americans with assorted ‘F-bombs’ and ‘S-bombs’ for example, but his pitch would have been better snarled than shouted. The trouble is, Weppler is so convinced of the magnificence of his delivery that he constantly pats himself on the back even before the lines have left his mouth.

Such miscalculations must be laid at the door of Director Ken Washington. It’s hard to believe that an old pro like him doesn’t know when an actor is flat out talking too fast.

Short of  re-writing the script, there’s not much Washington could have done about this play’s potty-mouth jokes, I suppose, but he could have cut Weppler’s ill-advised line addressed at an Indian Chief, “Your music is terrible!” That about sums up the whole ‘Bloody’score.

Similarly, the choreography in this show is non-existent, though the vocal contributions of the actors playing Martin Van Buren, John C. Calhoun, and Henry Clay are so-so. The same may be said for those of Jackson’s heartbroken wife Rachel, performed by Cai Radleigh.

Unhappily (or maybe not), the drums frequently drowned out the vocals in Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson … also, one wonders what this bunch of kids did for stage business before POTUS and FLOTUS popularized the presidential fist bump. This is the eighteen hundreds, folks.

Notes on my playbill: Before this rock opera is over, we might end up ruing the day Les Paul ever invented the electric guitar.

Fear not, theater lovers, a real musical (“Grease”) is on the way in July. And you won’t find those smutty F & S bombs there.

Award-winning Smithtown author Jeb Ladouceur has published seven novels. His theater reviews appear in dozens of L. I. newspapers. In Ladouceur’s next thriller, “The Dealer” due this summer, Israeli extortionists threaten to destroy Hoover Dam demolishing the Las Vegas Strip - if casino operators don’t pay millions.

To Study Or Not - Safety Is The Question For 111/347 Zone Change

By Taylor Fleming

Smithtown Town Officials Disagree Over Zone Change Petition at the Intersection of Route 111 and Route 347

June 19, 2013 6pmOn Thursday, April 25, 2013, Frank DeRubeis, Smithtown’s Director of Planning issued a memorandum to the Town Supervisor Patrick R. Vecchio and members of the Town Board regarding a Zone Change Petition for lots located adjacent to the intersection of Route 111 and Route 347 and approved by the Board in February. Bolla L.I. Operating Corp. hopes to change the zone on one lot, from a residential, single family lot to a neighborhood business lot and to develop a large filling station with a convenience store on the two adjoining lots.

DeRubeis noted in the memorandum that he did not believe the zoning was necessary as there is an existing filling station and convenience store north of these two lots. His major concern, however, was the implications of the “jug-handle triangle” created at this intersection. “The issue is safety,” said the Director of Planning. He contended that the presence of a “jug-handle” indicates that New York State wanted the least possible amount of traffic movement at this intersection. “With driving,” said DeRubeis, “we [the Planning and Community Development Department] want to simplify. If [driving] is so confusing…accidents will occur.” According to the New York State Department of Transportation, since 2009 eighteen accidents involving one or two cars have occurred within 200 feet of the intersection of Route 111 and Route 347. 

 Proposed site of 16 pump filling station and convenience storeDeRubeis believes that the zone change might present a traffic issue and suggested a town sponsored traffic study be undertaken. The developer conducted and presented a traffic study to the town which addressed traffic at the intersection and parking. The traffic study focused heavily on the lack  of traffic generation being created by the construction. What the study did not cover was the interruption of the traffic flow, which according to DeRubeis will be significant. Councilman Robert Creighton said he does not believe further traffic studies need to be conducted, but DeRubeis was persistent and said that rather than the traffic density and parking information provided by the builder, “what was important to us was access.” 

DeRubeis pointed out that the proposed access to the site, the  driveway location, for the filling station is not acceptable according to Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) standards. Reading out loud from “Driveway and Street Intersection Spacing” during the Board meeting on June 18, DeRubeis said, “A driveway or approach connection should not be placed within the length of an acceleration lane.” Therefore, according to DeRubeis, the proposed driveway at this intersection violates ITE standards and should not be considered. He also noted that Bolla Operating Corp. expected to receive 60-70% of its business from traffic already on the road. DeRubeis believed this would be problematic to the area during rush hour times. 

Councilmen Ed Weirheim and Thomas McCarthy support the proposal. Supervisor Vecchio remains undecided, stating that the project “revitalizes [the] corner” but “poses accident questions.” Vecchio also noted that while DeRubeis raised concerns, “there has been no opposition” from other members of the community. 

On Thursday, June 20, the Town Board with hold a meeting at which the proposal will be discussed and either approved or denied for environmental concerns. If approved, the proposal will then need to gain a series of engineering permits and gain approval from the New York State Department of Transportation. 

Editorial - What Are They Thinking? Do A Traffic Study For Rtes. 347/111 Intersection

If there is a corner in Smithtown that can be a poster child for dangerous and ugly it is the intersection of Rte. 347 and Rte.111. This area was once deemed one of the most dangerous intersections in Suffolk County.  The state has invested heavily in rebuilding the intersection making many physical alterations over the years. The most recent construction, a divider between east and west bound traffic,  has tied up traffic and cost millions in construction dollars.  The construction is part of the state’s plan to improve traffic flow safely and expeditiously. 

The Smithtown Town Board is moving in a direction that may negate some of the state’s work.  At the June 18th Town Board’s work session there was a discussion about a proposed zone change at the Rte. 347 Rte.111 intersection that would permit a sixteen pump gas station and convenience store at this intersection. The proposal calls for a zone change on a lot currently zoned as residential. 

At the work session  Frank DeRubeis, planning director for Smithtown placed a hot potato in the hands of the Board members. The proposal does not meet accepted transportation practices and may present a danger to the public, he warned.  According to DeRubeis, the information provided by Bolla LI, the company proposing the redevelopment of the property, is almost irrelevant. Increased traffic does not seem to be the issue but it does seem to be the issue most discussed in the traffic study presented by Bolla. The main concern for the  planning department is the disruption of the traffic flow and the havoc it can create at the intersection. The proposed plan would permit the egress of traffic onto a  road with a high volume of traffic and high speeds without an acceleration lane. This is a topic addressed in the Institute of Traffic Engineers manual (ITE)  which advises against creating this type of dangerous condition.

Safety is non-negotiable. The Town Board has been made aware of the very serious consequences a hasty decision can lead to. An unbiased traffic study is called for sooner rather than later. Voting for the zone change and hoping the state does something about it is not good governance, it is a dereliction of duty. Town Supervisor, Patrick Vecchio, has indicated a willingness to delay the vote pending a traffic study. He also acknowledged that there has not been any response from the public.  “Who knew?” was the response of neighbors in the area. “An article appeared in Newsday about the proposal and now we are hearing it is almost a done deal.”

Councilman Creighton, a candidate for Town Supervisor, said he does not believe there is a need for a new traffic study.  Why?  When serious safety concerns are raised by the planning department does it not warrant a second or third look at the project. The idea that the state will be the “decider” is not backed up by any fact. Towns approve and control zoning. The goal of redeveloping a blighted site is a good one but the key word when it comes to traffic is “safety”. 

Supervisor Vecchio, pull the item from the agenda and have an unbiased traffic study done as quickly as possible. 

Pat