Commack's Trannyman Mike Ingoglia Receives VFW Certificate Of Appreciation

Pictured from left: Vice- Commander Al Krauth Legion Commander Kevin Eaton Owner Mike Ingoglia VFW Commander George Hohenstein Service Officer Tom Mooney

By Tom Mooney

The Smithtown VFW, and Smithtown American Legion presented Mike Ingoglia with a Certificate of Appreciation for his proud exercise in citizenship and patriotism in his prominent display of the American Flag at his Trannyman Transmission shop on Jericho Tpke in Commack.

-

This is the third business recognized by the vets, having also recognized Smithtown Ford on Middle Country Rd. in St. James, and Vehicle Tracking Solutions(VTS) on Veterans Highway in Commack.

“Having served our country, either in wars or peacetime, we have a collective affinity for the red, white & blue, and greatly appreciate when it is proudly displayed so prominently.”

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP : "COVID CAUTION"

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

COVID-19 has taken a substantial toll in Suffolk County. As of last week, exactly 4,000 people have died from the disease since it appeared in Suffolk last year, according to the county’s Department of Health Services figures. The number of “reported” COVID-19 cases in Suffolk, says the department, has been 201,070. 

Meanwhile, some “57.6% of the [county’s] total population of 1,481,093 has received at least one dose” of an anti-COVID-19 vaccine. This includes “70.1% of the population ages 18+” receiving “at least one dose.”

These figures are presented by the department on its COVID-19 website at: https://suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Health-Services/Health-Bulletins/Novel-Coronavirus

Also, last week the 600,000th death in the United States from COVID-19 occurred. There have been 52,995 people in New York State who have lost their lives to the disease. The first death from COVID-19 death in Suffolk happened on March 16, 2020. 

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last week that because more than 70% of adults in the state had received at least one dose of an anti-COVID vaccine, New York is lifting most COVID restrictions. “This is a momentous day and we deserve it because it has been a long, long road,” said Mr. Cuomo. The easing means “a return to life as we know it.” Can it really be “a return to life as we know it?” One sure wishes so after a harrowing, isolating, extended ordeal since the disease struck. 

There was a realistic front-page headline last week of Newsday: “COVID CAUTION.” Its article began by reporting that “a day after…Cuomo lifted COVID-19 restrictions across a wide swath of social activities, some on Long Island said…they are not ready to abandon the safety measures adopted to stop the spread of the virus.”

The Newsday story importantly noted: “Two of the three available vaccines require two doses, spaced weeks apart, to be considered complete. On Wednesday, the level of adults in the state who had one shot was 70.4%, but only 51% of the total state population was fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

It quoted a Columbia University School of Public Health professor of epidemiology and medicine, Wafaa El-Sadr, saying: “I feel nervous about it. Our biggest shield against this is vaccinations, and we still have a long way to go to get sufficient coverage of vaccinations.”

Vaccination has been the key to challenging COVID here and elsewhere. 

“Take Your Shot” was the title of the Suffolk County campaign to encourage people in here to get vaccinated. As Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said as the drive kicked off in December: “Immunization is one of the greatest medical advances of modern times. We’ve used vaccines to entirely wipe out smallpox, and in the U.S.” with vaccines” we’ve come extremely close to eradicating polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella, and tetanus, among others. We are hopeful that Suffolk County residents will look to the successes of immunization and get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them.”

But some don’t take seriously the amazing medical research that the COVID-19 vaccines represent. And in nations around the world, there are inadequate supplies desperately needed.

Meanwhile, Daily Mail.com just headlined: “EXCLUSIVE: The post-pandemic summer is in full swing in The Hamptons.” It reported: “People were lined up at restaurants and the house parties…that had disappeared from Hamptons agendas during the shutdown have struck up again,” it reported. 

The Times ran a front-page story this month stating: “As reports of new COVID-19 cases and deaths plummet, and as many Americans venture out mask-free into something approaching normalcy, the slow-down in vaccinations present a new risk, especially in the South. As coronavirus variants spread and restrictions are eased, experts fear that the virus eventually could surge again…Experts now believe that the United States may never achieve herd immunity, the point at which the virus dies out.” The article ran next to the lead story on the Times front page with a headline about the Biden administration sending 500 million doses of anti-COVID vaccines “To Nations in Need.” The piece included President Biden’s declaration that “we have to end” COVID “not just at home, which we’re doing, but everywhere.” 

It’s not just the South. Consider Livingston and neighboring Linn County in Missouri. Both had “confirmed” cases “down to zero” but in late May “had the highest number of new COVID-19 cases…not just in Missouri but the country,” said USA Today. Their “fully vaccinated” rate: “under 30% of residents.”

With COVID-19 a highly-infectious disease and with variants continuing, this worldwide plague must be dealt with fully and globally if we are to really be in a post-pandemic period. 

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Golf News: The William Quinn Memorial Tournament

By Jerry Gentile

On a beautiful Father’s Day Weekend, June 19 & 20th, The William Quinn Memorial Tournament was held. Bill Quinn was loved by so many members. He was a super individual that is sorely missed. 

I have just received the results from Mike Pepa and Scott Bromberg. They and Scott Weber, as Board Members, do a fantastic job keeping the membership statistically informed. Kudos go out to all of them.

-

The Championship Flight was won by Derek Downing with a low gross (72), second place went to Ray Hubbs (83).

-

Honorable mention go out to Brian Thornton and David Capo with scores of (78) and Daniel Grove with a respectable (80).

-

A Flight went to `big hitting` Sean Blau (81) and  second went to `quiet`, Jim Thompson (83). B Flight went to `long-standing` BJ Bjornson (83) and second to Chris Shannon (85). C Flight went to John Bonhurst (91) and second went to `hard hitting` Tom Menchini (92) in a match of cards with Bruce (back brace) Falkenburg and Paul Catalano. Ray Winslow won the D Flight with a fine (88), Pete O`Keefe was second. `Tip of the Cap` goes out to David Ranneklev (92) earning the last spot in the Masters Tournament. 

-

See you soon at the President Cup preliminaries. JG, SLMGA PR Board Member

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP : Suozzi Says Time Is Right For North Atlantic Rail System

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman 

With the big push by the Biden administration for infrastructure work, there’s a call for creation of a “a high-speed rail spine” with trains moving at “150-200 mph” between New York City, across much of Long Island, and then from Port Jefferson through a tunnel to be dug under the Long Island Sound. The trains would emerge at New Haven, Connecticut and connect to Hartford, Providence and Boston.

“Linked to this spine will be a network of “high performance—110-120 mph—intercity rail links connecting all of New England’s mid-sized cities and Long Island’s major centers to each other and to New York and Boston,” stated a letter sent this month from 22 members of the House of Representatives to the leaders of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Representative Tom Suozzi whose district includes part of Suffolk is leading the effort.

What’s being called the “North Atlantic Rail Network,” acronymed NAR, would be “the nation’s first integrated high-speed, performance and regional rail network serving the seven-state New York/New England region,” said the letter. “It can serve as a prototype for new 21^st century rail networks in the nation’s other megaregions….This proposed network will underpin the continued growth and prosperity of the…region for decades to come… This region has long been one of America’s economic engines, with 11% of the nation’s population and 14% of its economy. NAR will address the severe and growing highway, rail and air congestion…”

The letter described the scheme as meeting “high priorities of the Biden Administration.”

Does the plan have a chance?

For starters, it would be expensive. At a now estimated $105 billion, “the project would be among the most costly public works projects in American history,” relates Newsday. The possible availability of loads of federal infrastructure dollars softens this—although Republicans in Congress are not in tune with all the funding the Biden administration seeks. Then there is the projected time for construction: 20 years.

A model for high-speed (150 mph) trains exists in Europe. Once off such a train in Europe, you can easily get around on connecting trains, trolleys, buses, and not need a car. China now has the fastest high-speed trains in the world, moving at nearly 220 mph. 

There are already critics of the NAR project. Priority for spending infrastructure dollars should be on “things that we need, not things that are fantasies,” says Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at NYU. “High-Speed Rail on Long Island? Not So Fast,” was the headline of Stony Brook University professor of public policy, Richard Murdocco’s column “The Foggiest Idea.” He said the plan fails to “meet…more immediate infrastructural needs” and “policymakers should focus on encouraging transit ridership post-pandemic.” 

There have been numerous proposals through the years for bridges and tunnels from Long Island to Westchester County or New England. They started in 1938 with the proposal by Royal Copeland, a three-term U.S. senator from New York State, for an island-hopping 18-mile bridge from Orient Point and then across Plum, Great Gull and Fishers islands landing in Groton, Connecticut or Watch Hill, Rhode Island. 

In the 1960s, Robert Moses pushed unsuccessfully for bridge from Oyster Bay to Rye. 

In 1979, New York Governor Hugh Carey set up a tristate advisory committee to consider cross-Sound bridges from sites at Riverhead, Wading River, East Marion, Port Jefferson and Orient Point. But the panel found that expanding cross-Sound ferry service was preferable.

In 2003, there was a drive by the Long Island Association and the Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties for a tunnel starting at Exit 68 on the LIE going under a 100,000-acre pine barrens state preserve and then the Sound to New Haven. Bob Yaro, president of the Regional Planning Association, warned: “That far east on Long Island there are apt to be very serious growth impacts.” Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, protested: “Some Long Island leaders are still in denial that this is an island, not a highway to New England.”

Meanwhile, there’s that relatively slow but pleasant way to leave eastern or central Long Island, if you have the time—ferries from Orient Point to New London or Port Jefferson to Bridgeport. The latter line was founded in 1883 by backers including P.T. Barnum and has outlived his circus.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Candidate Mike Siderakis Calls On Governor To "VETO THE LEGISLATION"

Mike Siderakis, candidate for Suffolk County Legislator 12th district, held a press conference Tuesday morning at the NYS office building in Hauppauge. Standing alongside Nora Higgins, regional coordinator from the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF), he called on Governor Cuomo to veto the parole reform bill working its way through the legislature. (S. 1144-A A.5576-A)

Siderakis, a thirty year veteran of law enforcement, said he was calling the press conference to speak for the residents in his community and to ensure their safety. Siderakis and Higgins said the legislation Governor Cuomo is being asked to sign will not make the public safer and does not hold criminals accountable. He suggested that before enacting the legislation there should be a discussion with stakeholders including law enforcement and parole officers. 

Siderakis said, “We’ve seen this movie before, and we know it ends badly. We can’t allow New York to jump headfirst into complex reforms of the criminal justice system, yet again, without thinking this through. “ 

He pointed out Albany’s criminal discovery reform, which he said pitted district attorneys against unworkable deadlines for disclosure. The legislation required local governments to disclose information about indictments and arrests within fifteen days. Enacted, the flawed legislation needed to be reformed after only months on the books.

“The safety of the residents of Suffolk County is my first, second, and third priority. I have spent my entire adult life protecting and serving the people of New York, and I will continue that fight as your legislator. Today, that means holding our public officials in Albany accountable.” 

He called the legislation heading to Cuomo’s desk “a mess”. He stated, “This bill, no matter how well-meaning it might be, will leave our communities less safe by adding several roadblocks and barriers to enforcing the terms of parole on convicted criminals. It adds a huge burden on our already over-taxed court system, shifting judgment and discretion from our experienced parole officers to our crowded and underfunded courts. This bill is unworkable and, mark my words, will itself need to be reformed down the line if passed.This is just one more unfunded mandate that will have the consequence of making our communities less safe.”

Nora Higgins called for the Governor to veto the legislation known as “Less is More” saying it would remove the ability of parole officers to sanction parolees who violate terms and conditions of parole. Higgins said the legislation removes all meaningful consequences for parolees bad behavior and ties the hands of parole officers and makes it much harder for them  to help parolees transition successfully back into society. There has to be some consequences, we cannot be a society with a revolving door putting everyone at risk by not providing the help to parolees who need resources and services.

Higgins said, PEF opposes the legislation which it claims creates an unfunded mandate on the courts, increases caseloads for NYS’s 800 plus parole officers who oversee 34,000 cases, the legislation ignores the fact that parole is part of a sentence for a crime.” It ignores the crimes committed and the victims of the crimes. Parole is part of the sentence for the original crime committed. They are doing their sentence without bars. Infractions committed on parole has to mean something. Parolees need to be supported mentally, financially and physically so they can get back on their feet. The legislation as presented denies the resources for real full-entry planning.

Siderakis, Higgins and retired parole officer Joan Siegel spoke of the need to enforce sentencing and the victimization of the public when criminals are not held accountable for their actions.