Making Nissequogue a Place of “Healing”

The push to construct a public garden in Nissequogue State Park grounds

By Chad Kushins

Last week, details were unveiled for New York’s state parks within the Town of Smithtown, including plans for funding allocated towards Nissequogue River State Park. 

At a Kings Park Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting on April 18^th, Deputy Director of the Long Island Region of State Parks, and former State Senator, Brian X. Foley spoke in regards to $14 million that was secured for the park by State Senator John J. Flanagan.  According to Foley, those funds are slated for the demolition of some of the condemned and vacant structures of the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center.

In an additional effort towards beautification, the Commack-Kings Park Rotary is planning to install a “healing garden” on the property, kicking off with an upcoming “wine and cheese” fundraiser on May 2^nd. 

“The biggest project taking place within he property will be the demolition of fifteen buildings and a few other, smaller structures,” Director of the Long Island Region of State Parks Ron Foley [no relation] told Smithtown Matters.  “Once that is complete, then the main focus is to clear the full area of dangerous and hazardous materials, which is always part of that type of project.”

According to Foley, the actual demolition is slated to begin in early July of 2012, with an approximate completion date of November 2013 – however, it could be finished well before that time.  “The contractors are confident that the work could be done quite a while before November and we agree, once it’s underway.” 

Additionally, Foley stated that the proposed “Healing Garden”, while only being one facet of the finished park, will bring an area of “serenity and quiet” to the property as a whole.  “Right now, much of the park property off of St. Johnland Road is already open to the public and people are free to come and enjoy it.  But the garden will be a specific area where visitors can sit in peace and quiet, see the butterflies, and have a place of serenity.”

According to Foley, the “Healing Garden” is a collaboration between the Commack-Kings Park Rotary Club and the Nissequogue River State Park Foundation. 

The park is located on the banks and bluffs of the Nissequogue River.  The park was initially announced in 1999 on the site of the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center.  Many of the hospital’s original buildings remain standing in the park, and a few have been renovated and reused, most notably Building 125, the former Veterans Administration Building which currently serves as the main park office.  Recreational events for residents usually take place there, in the public-friendly areas, including, bird-watching, fishing, canoeing and kayaking, hiking, biking, and guided tours, many of which are conducted by the Nissequogue River State Park Foundation. 

The proposed “Healing Garden” takes as its inspiration the numerous such designated areas located within public sanctuaries, monasteries, and other places of mediation, where the design and layout is made to exist concurrently with the natural surroundings.  In New York’s Central Park, eight separate areas are officially designated as “quiet zones” and the Nissequogue State Park “Healing Garden” would function for similar usage. 

According to Commack – Kings Park Rotary Club President, Pat Biancaniello, “the idea of a “healing garden” came about when Assemblyman Steve Engelbright suggested a tour of Snug Harbor Park in Staten Island. One look at the wonderful gardens at Snug Harbor and its creative reuse of the property and I was sold.”

Our Rotary Club was looking for a local project that was meaningful and would have a lasting impact on the community.  “A “healing garden” on the grounds of a former psychiatric center was very appealing.  But the intent of the garden is so much more. We are hoping to create a place of serenity for reflection and rejuvenation.”

According to Nissequogue River State Park Foundation Chairman Mike Rosato, the “Healing Garden” is slated for construction in the more northern end of the grounds.  “Right now, we’re just preparing for the first phase of the demolition,” Rosato told Smithtown Matters.  “We’re looking forward to partnering with New York State Parks Recreation and Historic Reservation and the Rotary to establish the garden.  It will provide the public with a peaceful place with the park, overlooking the Long Island Sound and the Nissequogue River.”

Additional information regarding the future plans for Nissequogue State Park are available through the Foundation at their official website: http://www.ourstatepark.com/ as well as the park’s official site through New York’s Park and Recreation: http://nysparks.com/parks/110/details.aspx

The Commack-Kings Park Rotary’s “Wine and Cheese” fundraising event, aiming to meet the financial needs of the proposed “Healing Garden”, will be taking place at Nissequogue State Park, 799 Saint Johnland Road in Kings Park, on Wednesday, May 2^nd.  As a formal affair, the event is a donation of $50 per plate, or $75 per couple.  Further information is available at http://www.commackrotary.org/

Man Arrested for Aggravated DWI with Child in Vehicle; Child’s Father Flees Scene

Suffolk County Police today arrested a man for driving under the influence of drugs with a four-year-old child in the vehicle - child’s father arrested after fleeing from the scene.

While on routine patrol, a Fourth Precinct Community Oriented Police Enforcement (COPE) officer observed a 1995 Lincoln sedan cross over the center divider line on Route 25, east of Southern Boulevard, in Smithtown at 11:40 a.m.  When the officer pulled the driver of the vehicle over, the passenger, Paul Lucente, 30, of Kings Park, fled the scene, leaving his four-year-old child in the backseat.  Further investigation revealed that the driver, Benjamin Laudonio, 26, of Stony Brook, was under the influence of drugs.

Benjamin LaudonioLaudonio, was charged with Operating a Motor Vehicle Impaired by Drugs, Aggravated DWI with a Child Less Than 16 Years Old (a Felony under Leandra’s Law), Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 3^rd Degree, One Count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7^th Degree.

Lucente was located a short time later and arrested.  Fourth Precinct detectivesPaul Lucente charged Lucente with one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7^th Degree and one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

Fourth Squad detectives are continuing the investigation.  Anyone who has information is asked to call detectives at the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452.

A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Titanic Passenger James Clinch - Part Of Smithtown's History

1912 - Titanic And Smithtown

By Rita Egan 

All photos courtesy of the Smithtown Historical Society

With the recent re-release of the movie Titanic, the 1912 tragedy is brought to the big screen once again. With a storyline revolving around passengers from both the upper and lower social classes, movie goers can get a glimpse of what life was like a hundred years ago.

James Clinch SmithTo get a sense of Smithtown and its residents in the early 1900s, one can look at the lives of Titanic victim, James Clinch Smith, and his sisters. Descendants of town founder, Richard Smythe, the siblings were prominent local citizens, and their lifestyles and homes brought a sense of high society to our area.

Children of Judge J. Lawrence Smith, James, Bessie, Cornelia, Kate and Ella all maintained homes in our township that still stand today. Despite their father’s career as a lawyer turned judge, the Smiths had a humble upbringing. In herBessie unpublished manuscript written in May of 1926, Bessie described their post-Civil War childhood as being a poor one. Like many during that era, they experienced rations where meat could only be eaten on Sunday and most of their food came from the farm.

However, in 1886, the Smith siblings and their mother Sarah inherited a significant amount of money from Sarah’s aunt. According to a November 2, 1886 The New York Times article, their Aunt Cornelia was the widow of the wealthy A.T. Stewart, who was the owner of the first department store in New York City. Besides being the recipients of the generous inheritance, the Smiths married impressive spouses.

James Clinch, a lawyer like his father, married a musician and composer, Bertha Ludington Barnes, in 1895. According to Portrait and Biographical Record of Suffolk County, (Long Island) New York, Bertha worked primarily in Paris, France, and James would travel regularly between Europe and New York. The young Smith inherited his father’s homestead in 1889 and was on the Titanic to return to Smithtown and prepare the home for the couple’s return to the states. This structure remains today in its original location on the property of the Smithtown Historical Society.

Smithtown Historian, Brad Harris, said James had a great interest in horses. He owned the St. James Driving Park, a horse racetrack that was located at Edgewood Avenue and Fifty Acre Road from 1888 to 1905, and he was a member of the Smithtown Hunt Club, which was established in 1900. James and his wife also enjoyed the lifestyle of high society in New York City. The resident of Smithtown was well liked by many and was remembered fondly in the Book The Truth About the Titanic written by his friend Archibald Gracie.

Gracie, who watched helplessly as James was engulfed by a wave on the ship, wrote of his friend, “He never showed the slightest sign of fear, but manifested the same quiet imperturbable manners so well known to all of his friends.”

Bessie’s HouseWhile James may have added the spirit of horse racing and the hunt to our area, the Smith sisters added the feel of the Long Island Gold Coast with their country estates. This was mostly due to Bessie’s marriage to prominent architect Stanford White in 1884. To this day, all of the sisters’ homes exist in Head of the Harbor as private residences.

In her manuscript, Bessie wrote of the couple’s home at Box Hill. It was the spot that she and her sisters would pass on their way to the beach at the harbor when they were younger. Whenever their buggy would reach the hill, the young Bessie would get out and run across the fields to take in the view.

The Whites acquired Box Hill in 1892 and quickly expanded the once simple Carman’s farmhouse. According to the AIA Architectural Guide to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island, White added many personal touches to the home. The structure features walls covered with split bamboo, a staircase of green tiles and 16h century Italian spiral pillars. Box Hill is also known for its pebble-dashed exterior that was accomplished by submerging pebbles in wet cement.

When the Whites moved to Head of the Harbor, Cornelia Stewart and her husband, lawyer Prescott Hall Butler, already owned the estate By-the-Harbor. According to Images of America: St. James, White’s architecture team of McKim, Mead and White designed the casino and playhouse on the property that is now used as a private residence. The structure included a large ballroom where the Smithtown Hunt Balls were held and also a squash court in the north wing.

The Butler property was once the spot of the highest wooden windmill. According to Colonel Rockwell’s Scrap-Book, the four-sided structure was 28’ in diameter and 150’ above the bluffs. Overlooking Stony Brook Harbor, the windmill was designed by White in 1893 and completed in 1895. The windmill that once supplied spring water to the houses on the property burned down in 1964.

Sister Kate also chose to live in the Head of the Harbor right by Bessie and CorneliaKate’s Home in a home designed by White. According to Noel Gish’s Smithtown, New York, 1660 – 1929:  Looking back Through the Lens, Kate moved back to our area when her husband Reverend J.B. Wetherill passed away. The Wetherill Mansion was completed in 1895, and is described by the AIA Architectural Guide to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island, as octagon in shape. With the look of Maltese Cross, each face of the structure is surrounded by a gable with alternating round-headed Palladian windows.

Ella lived in the old family homestead of Sherrewogue on Harbor Road with her husband noted golf architect Devereux Emmet.  White also worked on the designElla of Ella’s home to convert it into a country estate, and by 1912 she had acquired 600 acres of land in the area. According to Colonel Rockwell’s Scrap-Book, Sherrewogue most likely was built before 1688, and due to Ella, it remained in the family until 1935.

Ella’s HomeThe Smith sisters not only contributed beautiful estates to the area. Visitors to St. James Episcopal will find the family’s involvements in the early days led to White designing three of the stained glass windows in the church. According to the church’s brochure, oak choir stalls were donated by Bessie in 1901.

According to the website Antiques and the Arts Online, the family also contributed to the Episcopal chapel in Stony Brook that is now All Souls Church. The original baptismal font and communion service were donated by Cornelia and Kate, while White contributed architectural plans as well as the gold leaf in the ceiling decoration.

Harris said it was Cornelia who contributed the most to our town. Among her financial backings were a school in St. James in 1880 and the first permanent library structure in Smithtown. In 1911 Cornelia donated property for the building. Located on the north side of Middle Country Road where we find Route 111 today, the town’s first library was designed by Cornelia’s son, Lawrence. The building was moved across the street in 1950, and the original structure has remained as the children’s wing.  

Taking a closer look around town, present residents can feel the effects of the lives and contributions of the Smith siblings; their influences allowing a bit of the early 20^th century to be carried into modern times in Smithtown.  

7th Annual Spring Car Show At St. Patrick's Fun And Successful

Photos By Diane Cameron

Enthusiastic Crowd Turns Out for St. Patrick School’s

7th Annual Spring Car Show Fund Raiser in Smithtown

Smithtown, NY — April 16, 2012 — The 7th Annual Spring Car Show for the benefit of St. Patrick School in Smithtown attracted an overwhelming crowd of car enthusiasts and families out to enjoy a day of fun on Sunday, April 15. The event was held on the grounds of St. Patrick School from 9 am - 4 pm and featured a wide array of collectible, classic, unique and unusual cars, motorcycles and trucks. Admission was free for all children and there was plenty for them to do as their parents enjoyed browsing through the various isles of automobiles on display and vendors who set up shop. The Batmobile, Bumble Bee, Back to the Future Car, Herbie the Love Bug, and General Lee Charger were just some of the amazing cars on display.

The First Annual Spring Car Show for St. Patrick School was organized by John and Cindy Forlenza in 2006 and quickly became a very popular event among car enthusiasts from all around Long Island. A proud owner of a 1957 Chevy Bel Air himself, Mr. Forlenza established this event and organized it each of the past seven years as a way to raise funds for St. Patrick School, where he and his wife have sent their children for their elementary school education. Mr. Forlenza is proud to say that 100% of the funds raised each year directly benefit the school and have helped to offset expenses that arise throughout the course of the school year in order to help maintain and improve the educational standards of the school.

Nesconset Resident Rosa Feeney, Author of NIMBY

A Storyteller In Our Own Backyard

Local author Rosa Feeney incorporates Nesconset history into a first novel of romance and intrigue

By Chad Kushins

Rosa Feeney may have waited years to write her first novel, but research and a passion for local history were two elements that came naturally.  

An attorney of over twenty years, Feeney was involved in investigations surrounding the Nesconset Armory property, advocating its eventual sale and transition into the now-standing state-of-the-art Smithtown Library Nesconset branch.  With her experience in the court room and a working knowledge of town politics, Feeney has run a successful private practice in Smithtown for over a decade, specializing in insurance litigation.  But last year, she undertook, undoubtedly, one of her greatest challenges – putting pen to paper and writing her first novel.

Playfully entitled Nimby – an anagram for “Not In My Backyard, played up for its quirkiness on the novel’s cover – Feeney’s literary debut walks a delicate balance of modern romance and courtroom drama; she even describes the book as an entry in the popular “chick lit” genre, modestly claiming that the book’s tone and aesthetic is purposely conversational and light in its style.  As an attorney, Feeney spent years writing non-fiction books and articles about law, making her foray into fiction a fun change for both her and her readers.

Indeed, those looking to add a “page-turner” to their list of summer reading beach books won’t be disappointed – especially those Smithtown residents who may find the story’s sub-plot a little close to home.  Telling the story of 24-year-old Gabriella Estephan, a lawyer working at the fictional Law Office of Harting & Rutherford – a character blended of complete imagination and, Feeney admits, some of herself – the book sees the young protagonist biting off a little more than she can chew when her latest work assignment develops into a mystery involving …  the Nesconset Armory property.

Feeney took time to speak with Smithtown Matters about her new book, the learning experience of entering the world of fiction writing, making time to follow your passions, and why Smithtown residents will love reading a romantic suspense novel where the locale will seem strangely familiar…

How would you describe the book’s tone and its genre?  Is it suspense, or romance – or maybe historical fiction, since the Nesconset Armory plays such an important role in the plot?

Well, there is some suspense in it, but I would actually categorize it as “chick lit” [laughs].  It’s very light, even though the cover doesn’t give that appearance.  It’s written in that kind of genre, honestly.  It’s very light, but there is some suspense and mystery in there, too.

Without giving too much away, what role does the Nesconset Armory play in the story?

Well, it’s basically the center of the story.  Gabriella [the protagonist] is a law student and she becomes entangled in this web between the politics of the town involving the Armory and the law firm that she’s working for.  

Did you have to take any form of precautions when writing the book, since it’s based on a real place and a true-life scenario, especially one that was so hotly-debated and controversial among Smithtown residents?  Where you nervous about what local officials might think?

Sure, but when you read the story, there’s such a mix and mingle of people, and places, and characters.  There is, of course, some inspiration from real people who were involved, but it was more of a mixture of things that happened to me during my entire life and career.  I didn’t take any real people and turn them, directly, into characters.  

In the book, did you have to give any real background on the Armory itself, or did you have to conduct additional research?

Yes, I did.  But, because I was involved in the Armory debacle for fifteen years, I had a lot of information.  I ad accumulated boxes of documents – the history of the Armory and interviews with people that I knew in the community.  There’s a segment in the book that explains its full background.  

When you go on to write another book, maybe a sequel, do you think you’ll make it another blend of fact and fiction – maybe pick another local area to use as the setting for the plot with more local history?

I think that that will be unique to this book.  It was a situation that I don’t think could happen again.  I’ve actually started the next book – the sequel, if you want to call it that – and the same main character is involved.  But this time, it’s much more of a legal-based book.

So how much of your lead character is really based on you and how much is from your imagination?

I would say about fifty-fifty [laughs].  

How long had you aspired to write?  Was that something that you always dreamed of doing even before pursuing your law career?

Actually, it was a more-recent interest.  I had spent many years writing non-fiction – like articles for law journals and things for clients – and wanted to try something that was fiction.  I wanted to do something that was purely enjoyable, I wanted to make up a story and make it go wherever I wanted.  

Since you have your own law practice, how were you able to make time to write the book?  What’s your normal creative process like?

Well, I’m not a TV watcher, so at night, my release is that I sit there with my computer on my lap and I type.  It’s like when people relax by working in their garden.  It was a release and a way to unwind and I think that anybody can really find the time to do something they want if they really want it enough.  I have two kids and between that running my own business, I had to do it at night.  And little by little, slowly but surely, I finished it.  It took about a year.

Do you write everyday?

Not every day, but I try as much as possible.  There were breaks as I went along.  You know, I’d get so involved with something at work and I couldn’t possibly make time on certain days – but in the beginning, it was intense.  I would work, work, work – then there would be a small break.  It’s certainly better when you sit and write it, straight through every night, but I work with the time I had.  Sometimes life gets in the way [laughs].

I liked the title right away.  As a local reporter, I understood the reference of “Nimby”, but many people may not of heard it before.

Well, the book is now self-published, but I consulted an agent first.  She wanted to change the title, or expand it, saying a lot of people may not know what “Not in my backyard” meant, or that “Nimby” is a term for it.  

I also liked that your website offers visitors the chance to see the process you went through in choosing a cover.  You posted all of the alternate covers and they’re all pretty impressive.  Was it a tough choice?

Definitely.  My graphic designer, Catherine Hanson, is fantastic.  She came up with all these amazing covers and, at first, I could not decide which one to go with.  Finally, I said, “I’m going to post all of them up there [on the website] so people can see how many great options there were.”

She did a great job.  Where did you find her to do the cover?

[Laughs] She’s my niece!

It sounds like there was a lot about this book and how you designed it that was personal to you.  Would you say that it was a learning experience, just getting it done and ready for publication and then, finally, the promotion?

Oh, absolutely.  I’m learning something new everyday, even with the book complete.  Promotion is it’s own thing and it’s just as tough.  But the internet was a huge resource and I read dozens of books on the publishing industry while the whole process went on.  As far as getting the word out there about the book, locally it’s been easier, since the story pertains to Smithtown.  But the topic of the book is something that’s very common everywhere, that “not in my backyard” concept, and I wanted to get that across, too.

What advice do you have for other people, especially those who work full-time day jobs, who would love to get started in pursuing a dream of writing a novel?

Just do it!  Just get out there and don’t be afraid.  Don’t let anything hold you back and you don’t even have to show it to anyone.  Just do it, even if it’s only for you – and you may be surprised at what you can do.

Rosa Feeney will be appearing at the Smithtown Library Nesconset Branch on May 10^th at 7:00pm.  For more information on the author or to order a copy of Nimby, visit www.rosamfeeney.com.