Cornelius McShane, 83, of New York, N.Y., passed away Feb. 9, 2019.

Born Aug. 5, 1935, to parents Connell and Mary McShane, Neil spent his childhood in Far Rockaway, Queens, growing up with his sister Mary Theresa and first cousins Mary and Bill Madden.

He attended Catholic grammar school and eventually received a scholarship to attend Bishop Loughlin High School. After serving in France for several years as a member of the Armed Services, he returned on the G.I. Bill to earn a degree in finance from Saint John’s University and eventually an MBA from New York University. Hired by IBM upon graduation, he left shortly after that to start a 34-year career with Met Life in the real estate investments division.

On June 30, 1962, Neil married Carol Coleman. They spent their early married years in Stuyvesant Town, but decided after their fourth child was born that apartment living was not going to work for a family of six. A purchase of a delightful, but older home for $60,000 soon transpired and a new life for the family began in Montvale, N.J.

The children attended school, Carol secured a job as an elementary teacher and Neil dutifully boarded the 6:27 a.m. train every morning on his way to Met Life. He served as a member of the planning and zoning board for 17 years and was accordingly awarded Citizen of the Year in 1987.

In 1974, during the gas crisis, as Neil and Carol were searching for a summer rental on the North Fork of Long Island, they identified a suitable cottage but were then informed by their realtor that the owner was desperate to sell. With a $6,000 down payment and $2,000 owner financing, the home was theirs. Such began a life of weekend trips to Nassau Point, summers for Carol at the beach, summer employment for the kids and annual extended family gatherings at the end of August. Neil helped coordinate the Annual Children’s Picnic, the Garage Sale at the Beach and was elected president of Nassau Point Property Owner’s Association. In time, the simple cottage became a cherished place to celebrate life, friendship and family.

In the early 1990s Neil and Carol began living their dream retirement. With all their children graduated from college, they traveled internationally, expanded the summer cottage and based themselves out of Peter Cooper Village in New York City. And of course, there was more time to spend with the grandchildren.

Neil is survived by his wife; his sister, Mary Theresa Basile; children Neil Jr., Gregory (Peggy), Jennifer (Michael) and Christopher (Mishelle); and grandchildren Brendan, Aedan, Brigid, Erin, Shannon, Peter, Sean, Isabella and Joseph.

Visitors were received Feb. 14 at Gannon Funeral Home in New York City. A funeral Mass took place at Epiphany Church in New York City Feb. 15, followed by a reception in the basement of the church.

Memorial donations may be made to Epiphany Church, “Friends of Music.”

This is a paid notice.

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Christine B. Haeg of Mattituck, 98, died Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, at Peconic Bay Medical Center beside her husband, while holding hands. 

Both had been admitted to the hospital and shared the same room. Three days later, on Valentine’s Day, Joseph D. Haeg, 97, joined his beloved wife of 77 years, leaving family, friends and hospital staff in awe of the touching and befitting end to a remarkable love story.

Chris and Joe Haeg were residents of Mattituck since 1960. They are the beloved parents of Richard, Dennis (Marie) and Mary Jo; cherished grandparents of Kristen DeLumen and Kimberly Haeg; and great-grandparents of Brian and Logan DeLumen.

Christine was born Nov. 7, 1920, in Jackson, Mich., to Anna (Goddertz) and Lino Daddario. On April 5, 1942, she married the love of her life.

Before moving to Mattituck, Christine was a Cub Scout den mother for seven years in Queens and the first female in Queens County to receive the coveted Scouter’s Award. She was a Girl Scout leader in Mattituck for two years, a member of the Marion Council Columbiettes, American Legion Auxiliary and Riverhead Jamesport Homemakers Club. She was employed at the Suffolk County Clerk’s office, where she served as principal clerk.

Joseph was born Oct. 11, 1921, in Flushing, Queens. He graduated from St. Francis Xavier High School and Fordham University School of Business. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army’s 78th Infantry Division, 309th Battalion, in Germany as a platoon sergeant. Joseph was a New York City firefighter before retiring on disability. He was later employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory as a buyer, contracts specialist and administrator. At the time of his retirement, he served as manager of the Contracts and Procurement Division.

Joseph was very active in the local community, serving as president of the Mattituck Lions Club and as Strawberry Festival chairman. He also served as president of the Mattituck Senior Citizens Club and was a member of the Griswold Terry Glover Post of the American Legion, North Fork Environmental Council and Southold Town Republican Club.

The family has chosen to honor their remarkable love story with joint cremation and interment at Calverton National Cemetery.

Memorial donations in their names may be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

This is a paid notice.

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I’m Rita Hagerman, the co-owner here at Academy Printing Services.

We’ve been a printing business for over 70 years. I’ve been here for 30 years. 

Probably 90 percent of our business is from the North Fork and Shelter Island. We have a couple customers on the South Fork and a couple further up west.

I’m from Southold, and I came here when I was four years old, so I’m a local, not a native — but my husband, who owns the business, is 12th generation Southoldian. 

We love this building. It goes back to 1867, it was a schoolhouse, and that’s where the business name came from.

I usually come in around 7 o’clock, our pressman works from midnight to 8 a.m. I get a chance to go over things with him, and we look at the jobs, see what stock we might need. Customers can come in at 8 a.m.

I do design work, as does our full-time graphic artist. I also do billing, folding, stapling, sweeping the floor, whatever else comes with having a business. One of my favorite things is to design logos or to put them to use with all the different parts that a business might need. We do commercial printing, so that’s letterheads, envelopes, brochures, menus, stickers and invoices. We do a lot of the work here. We have three different kinds of presses – we have sheet-fed, we have letterpress and we have digital color. Our digital color machine is new; we’ve only had it about a year and we’re getting great color off of that. 

Having a small business is really nice. We try to benefit the community that benefits us. And I think we all have that feeling you love to do business locally. 

A lot of people are under the impression that you can buy things less-expensive online, and in most cases, that’s not true. It’s worth comparing, but what we do is give you personal art that’s not canned art that you just picked up off a website. And we love doing that. 

Academy Printing Services is located at 42 Hortons Lane in Southold.

“The Work We Do” is a Suffolk Times multimedia project profiling workers on the North Fork. It is made possible by Peconic Landing in Greenport. See photos on Instagram @thesuffolktimes.

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Town officials are considering a proposal to charge residents a $3 fee to dispose of waste oil at the town’s transfer station.

“The idea of making residents go over the scale is cumbersome and unnecessary,” said Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell during a work session Tuesday.

“When you’re a resident using the oil disposal area, it is a function of recycling, because the oil will be re-refined and burned elsewhere,” he said, adding that residents should not have to pay.

But the board agreed that businesses should. “I think we need to distinguish the two,” Mr. Russell said.

Citing public backlash on the proposed fee, Mr. Russell said solid waste coordinator Jim Bunchuk was willing to discuss the issue before any fees go into effect. “I think people raised a lot of good points as to why we needed to come back and revisit it,” the supervisor said.

tsmith@timesreview.com

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“I want Greenport to be like what it used to be,” said Penelope Rudder, co-founder of the Greenport Community Association. “Instead of being so isolated and not knowing who to call, we want to open the door … and be there for one another.”

After almost a year of planning and preparation, the Greenport Community Association has formed.

The new group aims to improve relationships between locals and recognize the skills of community members, Ms. Rudder said. 

After the success of the inaugural meeting Jan. 12, which brought roughly 30 people to Floyd Memorial Library, the group was motivated to commune again, Ms. Rudder said. The group has met twice since then. 

“For these first few meetings, we’re just listening, understanding what people love about living here and what they want to change,” Ms. Rudder said. “That commentary will help us build up the organization.”

Ms. Rudder, who created the Free Little Pantry in the village, said she and Randy Wade of Greenport sat down on a bench in Mitchell Park last summer to discuss a potential community-based organization. She said she knew the people of Greenport were eager to discuss local issues and connect, as she’s seen through the pantry, but there’s a lack of opportunity for them to do so. 

“There’s a gap in this community between people, how they relate to one another, get a deeper understanding for one another,” Ms. Rudder said. “We have that desire to be neighbors; we just have to sit down and make the time to do that.” 

The group will hold a potluck Saturday, March 23, at 6 p.m. in the community room at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on Main Street. All community members are encouraged to attend, chat and address community concerns. 

Moving forward, Ms. Rudder said, the organization plans to hold similar community-wide events to create rituals that bind Greenport locals together. 

The organization is still in the early stages, she said. Potential administrative roles and major topics of discussion will be defined once the organization receives more community feedback. When the time comes, the group hopes to be certified as a federal nonprofit.

“Randy and I are certainly the founders of this, we both had this idea and sat down — but it’s not only our ideas that will evolve,” Ms. Rudder said. “It’s mostly from what other people want. It’s not just our thing, it’s everyone’s thing.”

knalepinski@timesreview.com

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The daily update, a podcast briefing on what’s happening across the North Fork, is brought to you by Riverhead Ford Lincoln.

NEWS

Flyer promoting white nationalist group posted in Polish Town

Delays expected on Main Road Wednesday; fundraising underway for fallen detective’s family

WEATHER

It will be sunny with a high near 33 today, according to the National Weather Service. Snow is likely, mainly after 4 p.m. Wednesday.

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Lawrence H. “Hunt” Reybine, Jr. died Jan. 13, 2019, in Northport, N.Y.

He was born Dec. 29, 1947, to Ethel and Lawrence Reybine in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The family moved to Orient the summer of 1949.

Mr. Reybine graduated from Orient School in June 1961, Indian Mountain School in June 1962 and South Kent School in June 1967. He attended Southampton College before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1968.

Mr. Reybine loved sailing, fishing, clamming and gardening. His family and friends remember him as kind, gentle and sweet.

He is survived by his sister, Eleanor Myles and her children and grandchildren; and his sister, Brierly Reybine.

Memorial events will take place in the late spring.

Memorial donations may be made to Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (formerly NARSAD), 747 Third Ave., 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10017.

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Two women now in their 60s say they were sexually abused by priests at St. Agnes Parish in Rockville Centre when they were around 11 years old, and that one of those priests was John R. McGann, who would go on to be the Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Bishop McGann was a Monsignor and Auxiliary Bishop at the time of the alleged incidents. Also named were Monsignor Edward Melton and Rev. Robert L. Brown, all of whom were assigned to St. Agnes parish at the time and all of whom are now deceased.

A janitor at the church, John Hanlon, also was named. His status was not clear.

The two women are being represented by Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston attorney who has represented thousands of clergy abuse victims and who was portrayed in the movie “Spotlight,” which dealt with clergy abuse in Boston.

Mr. Garabedian said the two women decided to come forward when another clergy-abuse victim they knew came forward.

“When a victim comes forward, they empower themselves and other victims and they make the world a safer place for children,” he said.

Robert Hoatson, the president and co-founder of Road to Recovery, a nonprofit group that helps sexual abuse victims, joined Mr. Garabedian at a press conference in Rockville Centre Tuesday. He said he is a clergy abuse victim himself.

The two women, who were not named at the press conference, are offering to settle with the diocese for $10 million each. Mr. Garabedian said he has presented his information to the New York State Attorney General’s office. He added that he is preparing lawsuits in State Supreme Court.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre issued the following response: “We take all allegations seriously. Allegations concerning one victim were brought to our attention by Mr. Garabedian on Friday and those allegations were immediately reported to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office that same day.”

One of the women says she was sexually abused by Bishop McGann on five occasions while the other said she was sexually abused by him once.

The first woman claimed to have been abused by Bishop McGann for a period of five years, by Monsignor Melton for four years and by Rev. Brown for about seven years. One of the girls claimed to have been sexually abused by Bishop McGann, Monsignor Melton and Mr. Hanlon.

In late 1967 or early 1968, one of the girls, whose family was closely associated with the church, went to the church and took her friend with her. When they arrived, there were a group of priests in a conference room, who started passing the girls around, Ms. Garabedian said.

“The girls would see each other passed around, from lap, to lap, to lap,” he said. “They were sexually abused on those laps.”

He said the girls were in a room with priests who were drinking alcohol.

“I’d like to say it’s shocking but it’s become par for the course with the Catholic Church,” he said.

“It’s time to take Bishop McGann’s name off of school buildings and foundations and any sort of advertisement the Catholic Church does,” he said.

The now-defunct Mercy High School in Riverhead became Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School in 2002 when the Diocese took it over, although it closed last year. The building, with Bishop McGann’s name still on it, is currently unused.

Mr. Garabedian said he is seeking diocese documents about the priests and any sexual abuse allegations. He referred to these documents as “secret files” and said he was able to get those files in Boston, but that it took three years to do so, as the diocese there kept moving priests to different parishes when allegations where made against them.

Mr. Garabedian said there are no “checks and balances” in the Catholic church when it comes to sexual abuse, and that the priests who were in a position to do something about it were the ones who are sexually abusing children themselves.

tgannon@timesreview.com

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Two years ago, as he stood outside of First and South in Greenport, a “for lease” sign in the window of the adjacent space caught Jeremy Garretson’s eye.

“I remember looking through the window and wanting it to be my gallery,” the photographer recalled of the former Hampton Jitney and Century 21 Albertson Realty offices.

Now, it is.

Mr. Garretson and his wife, Ashley O’Neil, began leasing the space last month and plan to share the space. Ms. O’Neil will run her wedding and event planning business from the office.

“Within an hour of signing the lease, we had paint on the wall,” she said. Neutral gray walls and furniture allow the colors in his landscape photos to pop.

Walking into the gallery is like walking into his Instagram photo feed.

Stunning captures of the North Fork are hung on one side of the space, rivaling photos of dramatic landscapes taken during his travels.

Printed of Fujiflex paper, the prints are mounted to a non-glare acrylic similar to Plexiglas, adding depth to each photo. 

Jeremy Garretson and his wife Ashley O’Neill at the Greenport gallery. (Madison Fender photo)

“Walking in here and getting the full experience is part of it for me,” he said. And it’s a different experience than viewing them from a phone screen. “I could post this on Instagram,” Mr. Garretson said, pointing to a photo he took last year at Sequoia National Park in California. “But you lose the people in the background, the scale of the trees.”

Mr. Garretson was a founding member of the North Fork Art Collective, but always wanted to see his work grouped together as a collection. His inspiration came from the many small studio galleries he’s seen in other coastal towns, such as Cape Cod. His work frequently appears in The Suffolk Times, most recently for Saturday’s Washington’s Birthday parade.

He wants the gallery to be a welcoming environment with the same laid back feeling. “When I was younger, I remember walking around SoHo and wanting to go into an art gallery but feeling like I wasn’t the right type of person to go in there,” he said. “Everyone is welcome here.”

Mr. Garretson, 35, studied photography and digital art at Stony Brook University and started off by shooting abandoned buildings and exploring urban areas.

Over the next decade, a series of life events led him off course. He struggled with depression and addiction — and his camera gear was stolen.

“I was just in a bad place,” he said.

In 2015, as he got clean, he picked up a camera again.

“It gave me purpose. For the first time in my life, I had something I cared about,” he said.

Though their relationship was new, Ms. O’Neil, 41, supported him and told him they would get through it all together.

“He went from somebody who chased a high in a drug to chasing a high in finding a shot,” she said.

Last year alone, that thrill led him through the Sierras in California, through Canyonlands National Park in Utah and to the remote Faroe Islands.

“I always find the North Fork beautiful and inspiring, but you’ve got to see new things,” he said, adding that he enjoys the challenges of having to hike to get a perfect shot, and get used to different light. “It’s like flexing your artistic muscle.”

Though Mr. Garretson has always enjoyed the outdoors, shooting each dramatic landscape has had a profound impact. “It’s taught me to appreciate nature and conservation,” he said.

Back home, the Southold resident enjoys shooting at the very eastern end of the North Fork.

“I love Orient,” he said. “It’s special. You go across the causeway and it feels like you’re in a different world.”

Eventually, Mr. Garretson would love to teach photography workshops or host lectures at the gallery.

tsmith@timesreview.com

Photo caption: J. Garretson Fine Art Gallery is located at 102 South St. It is currently open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A March 1 grand opening celebration, in conjunction with the First Friday gallery walk, is planned. (Jeremey Garretson photo)

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The daily update, a podcast briefing on what’s happening across the North Fork, is brought to you by Riverhead Ford Lincoln.

NEWS

Sea of blue on first day of services for Det. Brian Simonsen

Riverhead Dems to run all-female slate in November election

Local photographer opens first gallery in Greenport

WEATHER

A winter weather advisory will be in effect this afternoon. There is a 40 percent chance of snow, mainly after 3 p.m. with a high near 34 this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Rain, snow, and sleet are expected before 11pm. That will turn to all rain after 1 a.m.

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Eleanor “Pat” Hamilton of Peconic Landing in Greenport died Feb. 18. She was 95.

She was born Feb. 3, 1924, to Edith (Bannerman) and John Patterson in Hempstead, N.Y., where she married William Hamilton Sept. 20, 1949.

Ms. Hamilton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y., and served in the U.S. Army as a Technician 4 from 1944 to 1946.

She was featured in two Suffolk Times articles, once for raising over $20,000 in 13 years by collecting cans and bottles for Brecknock Hall and other charities, and again in 2015 when she was interviewed about Victory Over Japan Day, which marked the end of World War II. She was an avid gardener, loved the beach and physical fitness and could be seen walking around Greenport, her family said.

Ms. Hamilton was predeceased by her husband in 2016; her son John in 2018; and her sister, Audrey Van Duzee, in 2009. She is survived by her daughter, Ann Duprey of Riverhead; sons William and David Hamilton, both of River Edge, N.J.; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

The family will receive visitors Friday, Feb. 22, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport. Services will take place Saturday, Feb. 23, at 10 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Southold, the Rev. Dr. Peter Kelley officiating. Cremation was private.

Memorial donations may be made to First Presbyterian Church of Southold.

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When a woman in central Queens suffered an unexpected attack and fought off an intruder in her home, Detective Brian Simonsen of the NYPD’s 102nd Precinct answered the call.

In that most vulnerable moment, he was there to comfort her, just as he had done so many other times during his 19-year career in law enforcement.

“She cried on his shoulder so long, her tears soaked through Brian’s shirt,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recalled during a funeral Mass Wednesday at Church of St. Rosalie in Hampton Bays. “She was in a moment of profound distress. He was the kind of person who arrived to make things right.”

Throughout his career, the 42-year-old Calverton man known as “Smiles,” who was raised in South Jamesport, left a lasting impression on all those he met. He was remembered as a hero who continued to give back even in death by donating his organs. Mourners packed the church and hundreds more officers stood silently outside to pay their respects to the first NYPD officer to die in the line of duty since July 2017.

“One day, not today and not soon, when we think of Brian we’ll feel more than the pain of his loss,” said NYPD Commissioner James O’Neil during the Mass.

Near the end of his remarks, Commissioner O’Neil announced a posthumous promotion to “detective first grade,” and the mourners rose to their feet for a standing ovation.

The mayor and police commissioner both delivered heartfelt remarks to the fallen detective’s surviving family, his wife, Leanne; mother, Linda; and 100-year-old grandfather, Vern, a World War II veteran.

“Our hearts go out to the Simonsen family,” Mr. de Blasio said. “We can only begin to imagine your pain, but we feel at one with you.”

Det. Simonsen’s wife, Leanne, is presented an American flag. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk)

Shawn Petersen, Det. Simonsen’s cousin and fellow NYPD officer, shared stories from their youth and described him as a great teacher. His cousin, he said, even taught him how to ride a bicycle.

“He put me on, gave me a push and said ‘Good luck!’ ” Mr. Petersen recalled.

He described Det. Simonsen as the strongest person he knew and someone with an “infectious personality that made you want to be around him.”

He faced heartache as a youngster, losing his sister and his father just six months apart. He was only 15.

“He immediately assumed the role of man of the house,” Mr. Petersen said. “He became the rock that supported the family.”

As he grew older, one piece was still missing from his life. He found that in the woman he married. Mr. Petersen recalled that his cousin told him he had met a woman in Las Vegas.

That had to be strike one, Mr. Petersen said. After all, who meets someone in Vegas?

Then he found out she lived in Chicago. Strike two, he thought.

There never was a strike three.

“We never saw him more happy and fulfilled,” he said.

Officers salute the casket. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk)

He then spoke directly to the fallen detective’s wife and mother, saying: “Brian was a great man because of both of you.”

In the community where Det. Simonsen served, he was known as “Uncle Brian” to neighborhood kids as they played whiffle ball, someone who could be counted on, someone people respected.

“I hope all Americans look at this example,” the mayor said.

Speakers noted the dedication he showed to commute 70 miles every day from his Calverton home to Queens. He had chances to move into different positions, but chose to stay in that community. The commissioner said it’s rare these days to see someone spend their career in one precinct. In his career, Det. Simonsen made close to 600 arrests, nearly 500 of them for felonies, the commissioner said. In his last case, he investigated a brutal robbery. Since his death, fellow officers have made two arrests in that case.

“Brian would have been proud to see that done,” Commissioner O’Neil said.

As the casket was carried out of the church, a trumpet played taps, the lone sound among the thousands that stood at attention. The procession then made its way to Jamesport Cemetery, where Det. Simonsen was laid to rest surrounded by his closest relatives, friends and fellow officers.

NYPD Chaplain Monsignor David Cassato sharing communion with NYPD Detective Brian Simonsen’s wife Leanne. (Credit: J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday)

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of the Diocese of New York, spoke to reporters outside the church Monday night about the grief friends and loved ones experienced.

“We’ve got some extraordinarily brave and generous and heroic people there, and to see their tears and the lump in their throats causes the same in all of us,” he said.

Wall-to-wall flower arrangements, many of them blue and white, lined the inside of the church and lobby where hundreds of mourners paid their respects during the wake services Monday and Tuesday. Several screens displayed photos, a smile on his face in each one.

A wedding photo of the detective and his wife was placed near the open casket, surrounded by some of his favorite things, including a bottle of Bud Light and hats for some of his favorite teams like the New York Mets and Giants.

Artist Jonny Castro, a Philadelphia police officer and the forensic composite artist for the department, presented a framed portrait sketch he created of Det. Simonsen to the family at Monday night’s wake. On Tuesday night, the portrait was displayed near the casket.

Mr. Castro said his goal in painting portraits is to portray officers as heroes. He’s done more than 400 to date, he said.

A large turnout with standing room only at the funeral service of NYPD Detective Brian Simonsen at Saint Rosalie Roman Catholic Church. (Credit: J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday)

“Every portrait that I’ve done always gets shipped to their families at no charge,” he said. “Just knowing that the prints will eventually end up in the hands of their loved ones is enough for me to keep doing this.”

Tributes to Det. Simonsen could be seen far and wide. The New York Islanders held a moment of silence before Saturday’s game against Edmonton at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. (The Rangers and Knicks have not played games at Madison Square Garden since the shooting.) The Mets shared a photo of a tribute the team posted at Citi Field in Queens.

Locally, blue ribbons were placed on posts and trees throughout the community. Two rows of American flags lined Main Road in Jamesport. A tribute created out of barrels, spelling out “NYPD Smiles” with American flags, was displayed just before the South Jamesport Road intersection. The display was a collaborative effort, completed Tuesday night by John Kramer, Tommy Stapon, Dan Baione, Keith Fink, Steven Begg, retired NYPD officer Tom Downey, David Fink and East End Sign Designs.

Among the thousands of officers who attended the funeral was Officer Ralph Brown of the Los Angeles Police Department. A Riverhead native who joined the LAPD in 1998, Mr. Brown became friends with Det. Simonsen.

“It’s really important that I be here,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

Mr. Brown said there’s a close-knit group of friends from Riverhead who are now officers in different departments. He said he was great friends with Richard Freeborn, who was recently honored as the Riverhead Officer of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of Southampton. Capt. Bill Hulse of the New York State Police was another close friend.

He described the bond that exists between fellow officers that keeps them close.

When the shooting occurred last week, Mr. Brown saw a news brief on TV as he prepared to leave for his 6 p.m. shift. All he knew was that two NYPD officers had been shot. As he arrived at work, a friend texted him from New York informing him that his friend, Smiles, was one of the officers shot.

He hoped for the best, that he had simply been injured, but the devastating reality quickly followed.

He struggled to make it through the rest of his shift, and his co-workers picked up on his emotional state. He felt a duty to continue his work, but his fellow officers told him he had to fly out for the services.

“It’s the final respect that you can pay,” he said.

He took a red-eye flight from L.A. late Monday and arrived in time to attend Tuesday night’s wake with friends from the Riverhead police.

“It’s almost overwhelming,” he said. “It’s definitely filled me with pride just to know that I can be here to bid him his final farewell in my LAPD uniform.”

Several fundraising efforts are underway to help support Det. Simonsen’s family. A GoFundMe created by Bill Bourguignon of Wading Riverhad generated $28,000 toward a $100,000 goal as of Wednesday afternoon.

“Please donate to help a hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty protecting the people he served,” the page reads.

Another GoFundMe created by Southampton Town Councilwoman Julie Lofstadis collecting funds for the family. The page was originally set up to cover costs for ribbons. But she noted that the Southampton Town Police Superior Officers Association offered to cover the costs of ribbons purchased. A GoFundMe spokesperson said its team works with campaign organizers when more than one campaign is started to ensure all funds are distributed correctly.

Additional fundraising is underway by Blue Lives Matter NYC, a nonprofit created to help law enforcement officers and their families in times of need. The organization has sold more than 3,800 Detective Simonsen shirts in his memory. The organization also has a fallen officers fund to which people can donate.

Det. Simonsen’s family noted that memorial donations may also be made to Healing Haven Animal Foundation, healinghavenaf.org.

Top photo caption: Pallbearers carry the casket out of St. Rosalie’s R.C. Church in Hampton Bays Wednesday morning. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk)

CORRECTION: The name of Shawn Petersen was misspelled in the original version.

joew@timesreview.com

SEE MORE PHOTOS:

Det. Simonsen’s badge number 3877. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk)

NYPD officers comfort each other. (Credit: Tara Smith)

A portrait of Det. Simonsen outside the church. (Credit: Tara Smith)

NYPD officers mourn the loss of Det. Simonsen. (Credit: Tara Smith)

Det. Simonsen’s mother, Linda, is escorted out of the church following the funeral. (Credit: Tara Smith)

The post Thousands mourn NYPD Detective Brian Simonsen at funeral appeared first on Suffolk Times.

The question was, was there a question? Was there a question as to whether or not Mackenzie Hoeg would play Wednesday?

Actually, there was.

Hoeg had rolled her left ankle in the Mattituck High School girls basketball team’s previous game five days earlier. “I went up for a rebound and landed on it wrong, but I’m all better now,” said the 5-9 junior point guard.

Playing with a heavily-wrapped ankle, Hoeg did her part, but it wasn’t enough for Mattituck against Pierson/Bridgehampton/Shelter Island in the Suffolk County Class BCD game at Centereach High School. Katie Kneeland scored her 1,000th career point and had 19 on the night as Pierson held off Mattituck’s second-half charge to prevail, 46-41.

Hoeg was Mattituck’s “sixth man” last season, but with the Tuckers having graduated all five of their starters from that team, her role changed. That meant more playing time for her and more leadership from her.

That leadership showed by her presence and play on the court.

“She played with a lot of heart, she really did,” Mattituck coach Steve Van Dood said. “You know Hoeg. She’s a warrior. She’s a fighter and she came out ready to go. So, she was ready and she did some good stuff tonight. She got to the rim. She distributed the ball; she didn’t turn it over. She played really good defense. I thought she had a great game tonight.”

Hoeg finished with a team-leading 14 points, not to mention seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. Perhaps more importantly for Mattituck, she said her ankle felt “fine” while out on the court. “While you’re playing you don’t even think about it,” she said.

That’s good news for the Tuckers because they will need her when Mattituck plays Carle Place or Cold Spring Harbor in the Long Island Class B final March 6 at Farmingdale State College. Hoeg has been a valuable piece for Mattituck, averaging over 10 points a game and running the offense.

Senior forward Julie Seifert called Hoeg “a little bit of a mastermind.” Seifert said,“Everything goes through her.”

But not even Hoeg’s efforts were enough to overcome League VI champion Pierson (19-3), which defeated Mattituck (17-5) for the third time in as many meetings this season. The margins of those games, in order, were nine, six and five points. “Closer and closer,” said Van Dood.

The Whalers, winners of 19 straight, had uneasy moments when Mattituck ran off a string of 13 consecutive points to pull ahead, 34-33, in the third quarter. Pierson coach Kevin Barron told a reporter it was the worst third quarter his team had played this season.

“All it takes is one play to get the momentum going your way,” Hoeg said. “Every possession matters.”

Jaden Thompson stuck a three-point shot for a 39-37 Mattituck edge early in the fourth quarter. It was Mattituck’s last lead. Celia Barranco (nine points) made a layup and Chastin Giles (14 points, six rebounds, five rebounds, five assists) banged in a three for a 42-39 Pierson advantage.

An extreme-angle bank shot by Sarah Santacroce pulled Mattituck to within one, but Pierson closed out the win with baskets by Giles and Kneeland.

Kneeland needed five points to become the third Pierson girl to reach the 1,000-point mark. She achieved that with 32.7 seconds left in the first quarter when she made the first of two free throws. The game was stopped while Pierson athletic director Eric Bramoff presented Kneeland with a commemorative basketball. Then the Whalers posed for a team photo, with the beaming Kneeland in the middle.

“She’s very versatile,” said Barron, who called Kneeland one of the best players he has ever coached. “She can beat you from the outside, the three-point shot, and she can score from the inside. She’s a tough player to stop.”

Pierson will play Mount Sinai (20-3) in the Suffolk small schools final Friday at Walt Whitman High School.

Asked if she was worried that Hoeg might not be able to play Wednesday, Seifert (12 points, 12 rebounds) answered, “A little bit in the back of my mind, but Mackenzie is one of the toughest players I’ve ever met in my life.”

Van Dood said Hoeg is “steady Eddie. You can count on her every night. She’s going to get her eight points. She’s going to play good defense. She seldom takes a bad shot.”

And it takes a lot to keep her off the court.

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Mattituck’s Makenzie Hoeg (14 points) hoists a shot over Pierson/Bridgehampton/Shelter Island’s Carly Browngardt. (Credit: Bill Landon)

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The gigantic scandal that is the Roman Catholic Church continues to grow worse, with new revelations of criminal behavior and the sexual abuse of children. With each new disclosure, the church itself looks more and more like a criminal cabal partly inhabited by pedophiles whose behavior was covered up and filed away, hidden from the public.

The latest report involves two women now in their 60s who say they were sexually abused as children by former Diocese of Rockville Centre Bishop John McGann. They were about 11 at the time of the alleged abuse, when McGann was a monsignor and auxiliary bishop. One of them said she was also abused by another priest in the diocese at age 5. The parents of these girls were devout Catholics who believed priests and bishops were in a special class by themselves and were to be revered. Little did they know the truth.

McGann is the once-esteemed bishop whose name adorned the Catholic high school in Riverhead, which was shuttered by the current bishop of the diocese — whose name appears in a grand jury report published last year about abuse by priests in Pennsylvania and the bishops who knew about it.

And, of course, McGann, like so many others of his ilk, wagged his finger in Catholic faces, lecturing on Catholic teachings and how to live the moral life, and freely criticized pro-choice politicians for their failings. As hypocrisy goes, there is nothing like Catholic hypocrisy.

At a press conference in Rockville Centre Tuesday, Mitchell Garabedian, the Boston attorney for the two women, laid it all out. The women did not attend the conference and were not named. His accusing words sounded like a broken record, as they have been echoed across the country — and the world — for the past 16 years as the sex abuse scandal has grown.

Last weekend, Pope Francis defrocked former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who once sat at the center of Catholic power, after a Vatican investigation found him guilty of widespread sexual misconduct, including abuse of young seminarians. A story in Monday’s New York Times described the hidden world inhabited by the children of Catholic priests. Earlier news reports this year spoke of priests and bishops sexually abusing and raping nuns — some of whom then had abortions.

Given decades of criminal behavior covered up by a sanctimonious hierarchy, the Catholic church itself looks like a deserving target for a RICO investigation, just as federal law enforcement went after organized crime.

During his tenure as bishop, McGann said on multiple occasions that there had never been a single accusation of sexual abuse against a priest in the diocese. He repeated this to reporters even after the scandal erupted in Boston in 2002, the subject of the movie “Spotlight.”

McGann was not only a liar, he was an abuser himself, according to the women’s accounts. It’s no wonder then that he covered up allegations against scores of priests under his supervision, who would later be named in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s grand jury report. Four of those priests once served in Sacred Heart Parish in Cutchogue, marrying young couples who wanted Catholic weddings and baptizing babies. Some parish families had these priests over for dinner. Little did they know.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Mr. Garabedian said that, on one occasion, around Christmas 1967, the two girls, who were both around 11 at the time, were “passed around from lap to lap” in a conference room and fondled and penetrated by a group that included McGann, Monsignor Edward Melton, Father Robert Brown and “two or three other priests the women could not identify.” Melton and Brown are both deceased. McGann died in 2002. And that’s too bad. It would be great to see them photographed in a perp walk on their way to prison.

Catholic priests. All together in a room. Passing two children around as sex toys. Here, Father, it’s your turn!

Then — what? Off to consecrate the host at the next Mass? Perhaps another homily denouncing pro-choice politicians for their failings? Or arrogantly dismissing divorced women from receiving communion? These priests must find it a burden to be so high and mighty.

What possible credibility does an organization have when it is so rotten at its core that the people in charge are as disturbed as some of the people under them? The McGann name should be stripped from any building, any foundation, any nonprofit where it still might be.

In his recent column titled “The Vatican’s Gay Overlords,” Frank Bruni of The New York Times writes of a book by an Italian journalist that describes the Vatican hierarchy this way: “… 80 percent of the male Roman Catholic clergy members who work at the Vatican, around the pope, are gay … And not all of them are celibate. Not by a long shot.”

To some Catholic conservatives, homosexuality is the key issue in the church. That’s wrong. Attacks around the country on gay men and women faithfully serving the church are nothing but a witch hunt. Homosexuality and pedophilia are vastly different. The issue is hypocrisy. Abuse has no sexual orientation, as Mr. Bruni writes. Yet there is something disturbing, he writes, about the book’s descriptions of Vatican officials — the very members of that hierarchy who condemn homosexuality as a central church teaching — linking up with male prostitutes in Rome.

This week, Pope Francis will convene a conference in Rome called “The Protection of Minors in the Church.” Just the name of the conference is an indictment of the church. All the bishops will attend. This conference, then another conference, and then another one in a few years, won’t change a thing in an institution with this many problems.

At the press conference, Mr. Garabedian said all sealed documents should be unsealed and all names of accused church officials should be released.

“I’d say it’s shocking,” he said, “but it’s become par for the course with the Catholic Church … This is unique in the sense that we have two little girls sitting in a room with priests who are drinking alcohol, and they are seeing each other passed around on priests’ laps. One girl finally just ran.”

An essentially closed society that is so deeply and disturbingly dysfunctional — where two young girls were abused “in the sacristy, in the church, in the rectory, in the girls’ homes, where the priests used to come over” — may be too far gone for any reform.

Steve Wick is the executive editor of the Times Review Media Group. He can be reached at swick@timesreview.com.

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Five Greenport Village residents will duke it out for two open trustee positions on the Village Board this year.

Last month, Lily Dougherty-Johnson and Cindy Pease Roe both announced plans to run for village trustee. After incumbent Doug Roberts announced he wouldn’t seeking re-election, two others also came forward as candidates: Greenport native Devin McMahon and business owner Peter Clarke — also came forward as candidates. These four, along with incumbent trustee Jack Martilotta, were confirmed to run after submitting applications and signed petitions by Feb. 13.

Trustees Mary Bess Phillips, who has served on the board since 2009, and Julia Robins will remain in their positions after retaining their seats in the 2017 election.

Mr. Martilotta, 44, whose four-year term expires next month, said he’ll do everything in his power to maintain low taxes if re-elected. 

“We’ve done well financially, we’ve been squeezing every nickel out of the people’s budget,” he said. “It can’t last forever, but I think the community appreciates that.” 

The 12-year Greenport High School science teacher and Army veteran, who has three children, said working in the school district often overlaps with his role as trustee. The network of parents and students he’s met, he said, helped the village open up the school gymnasium to students on weekends in winter.

“It’s a real honor and privilege to be a trustee,” Mr. Martilotta said. “I have three kids and I’m a pretty busy person — but it allows me the opportunity to talk to people inside and outside the village. It allows me to connect.” 

Mr. McMahon, 34, has worked and volunteered with the Greenport Planning Board for five years. Mr. McMahon, the bar manager at Lucharitos in Greenport, said he wants to improve the relationship between the village and local business owners. 

“There shouldn’t be surprises and constantly shifting goalposts when someone is trying to open a business,” he wrote in statement Tuesday. “Information provided by the village should be readily accessible, accurate and consistent. We can do better.”

Ms. Dougherty-Johnson, 38, who grew up in Greenport, said she also wants to improve the relationship between the village and residents by strengthening communication.

“The village should be responsive to residents and local businesses,” she said. “To form a vision for Greenport … it’s going to be a balance of comments from the residents and business owners.” 

Ms. Dougherty-Johnson, who volunteers at the Greenport Farmers’ Market, said she hopes to figure out a long-term plan for the village and foster a stronger community. She’s promoted her campaign, Our Home, via social media and door-to-door campaigning. It’s inclusive of young and older members of the village, she said. “I feel like I’m a good bridge between the newcomers and people who have been here for generations,” she said. 

Mr. Clarke, owner of Clarke’s Garden and Home, joined Greenport’s Business Improvement District in 2010, the same year he moved to the village full-time. During that time, he said, he found polarization between businesses and the community — businesses weren’t always focused on what was best for the village, he said. He said his business plan for Clarke’s Garden and Home benefits local businesses and outside residents. 

While he believes Greenport is operating “at a fairly high level” — with the addition of new housing lots and businesses being open during the off-season — there’s still room for improvement. 

“This has always been a commercial-based community,” he said. “I’m running on a more progressive platform that says these changes are good and we need to continue to improve, without losing what’s unique about the village,” Mr. Clarke said. 

Ms. Roe, 59, whose name will appear on the ballot as Cynthia Roe, said her strengths lie in marine and environmental issues. A local artist and 10-year business owner, she incorporates beach debris into sculptures to make statements about marine issues and said Greenport is dependent on a “clean, working waterfront.” 

“I’m a villager,” she said. “I’m a voice of the people. If I’m elected, that’s my strength — I want to help improve the quality of our working marine community.”

Mayor George Hubbard Jr., 59, who won a four-year term in March 2015, will seek re-election next month. The mayor has served on the Village Board for 12 years and is running unopposed this year. 

If re-elected, Mr. Hubbard said, he will continue addressing housing issues and pursue projects the board has started — including upgrades to local parks, stopping runoff into Peconic Bay and repairing over 100 curbs and sidewalks.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff in the works that we’re just designing now,” he said. “I want to continue to improve the quality of life.”

The village hasn’t raised taxes in the past four years, Mr. Hubbard said. While a tax increase can’t be predicted, he said he’ll try to keep a potential increase to a minimum. 

“We’ve been trying to use money out of pocket,” he said. “I’d like to continue that so we don’t put the burden on future board members and community members. We’ll try to keep budget increase low.” 

Voting in Greenport Village will take place Tuesday, March 19. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Third Street firehouse. 

knalepinski@timesreview.com

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Listings prepared for Times Review Media Group by Suffolk Research Service, dated Dec. 24-30, 2018.

Brought to you by:

AQUEBOGUE (11931)

• Sandstrom, F Trust to 498 Main Road LLC, 498 Main Rd (600-66-2-16), (R), $250,000

BAITING HOLLOW (11933)

• Knoedler, E & L to Feeks, Stephen, 170 Donna Dr (600-79-1-9.14), (R), $530,000

CALVERTON (11933)

• Wueger, F to Romanski, Richard & Maryann, 46 Golden Spruce Dr (600-80.1-1-68), (R), $510,000

• Yodice, D by Executor to Culcasi Home Builders Inc, Middle Country Rd (600-115.1-1-53), (V), $68,000

CUTCHOGUE (11935)

• Abatelli, R to Bennett Properties, 33150 Route 25 (1000-97-2-14), (C), $500,000

FISHERS ISLAND (06390)

• Ferguson, C Trust to O’Neil, Charles, Crescent Ave (1000-9-2-10), (V), $150,001

GREENPORT (11944)

• Moore, D & M to 145 Sterling Corp, 145 Sterling St (1001-3-4-36.3), (R), $1,250,000

RIVERHEAD (11901)

• Klodaski, C Trust to Rubio, Carlos, 1434 Roanoke Ave (600-83-1-12), (R), $329,000

• Marrin, C to Burgess, Kevin, 453 Marcy Ave (600-123-1-59), (R), $299,000

• Ferris, T to Torres, Nadiia, 422 E Second St (600-129-3-26), (R), $212,500

SHELTER ISLAND (11964)

• Jernick, V by Executor to Springer, Kevin, 18 St. Mary’s Rd (700-15-4-49), (V), $300,000

SOUTH JAMESPORT (11970)

• Fletcher, E by Executor to Petrone, Joseph, 10 Morningside Ave (600-93-2-9), (R), $1,550,000

WADING RIVER (11792)

• Mackenzie, D & Derosa, C to Keenan, Thomas, 44 21st St (600-53-2-25.1), (R), $287,000

(Key: Tax map numbers = District-Section-Block-Lot; (A) = agriculture; (R) = residential; (V) = vacant property; (C) = commercial; (R&E) = recreation & entertainment; (CS) = community services; (I) = industrial; (PS) = public service; (P) = park land; as determined from assessed values in the current tax rolls.)

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The daily update, a podcast briefing on what’s happening across the North Fork, is brought to you by Riverhead Ford Lincoln.

NEWS

Calverton Aviation and Technology seeks 90-day extension on ‘due diligence’ period

Potential trustees to face off in contested Village election

Riverhead CAP receives second consecutive Excellence Award at national forum

WEATHER

Lingering clouds and rain will fade throughout day, becoming mostly sunny with highs near 46, according to the National Weather Service.

The post Daily Update: CAT seeks extension, trustee candidates emerge, community coalition honored appeared first on Suffolk Times.

NYPD Det. Brian Simonsen was remembered as a hero at memorial services in Hampton Bays this week. 

Reporter Tim Gannon and executive editor Steve Wick share their thoughts on the services and the incident that claimed the live of the Calverton resident in the latest episode of the Times Review Media Group podcast Closer Look.

Click here for more coverage from throughout the week.

The post Riverhead, NYPD communities say goodbye to Det. Brian Simonsen appeared first on Suffolk Times.

A week after the lights went down and the red carpet was rolled up, publicist Chris DiGirolamo of Mattituck is still in disbelief over his recent Grammy win.

His client, renowned Cuban-American drummer Dafnis Prieto, took home the award for Best Latin Jazz Recording for his album “Back to the Sunset.”

Mr. DiGirolamo said he was driving on the Long Island Expressway with his wife, Nancy, and their two daughters when he got the news.

“It hit me like a ton of bricks,” he recalled during an interview Tuesday. “Seeing my name there with two people I’ve worked with for years … I was just like, how did this happen?”

Mr. DiGirolamo, who owns Two for the Show Media, has worked with Mr. Prieto since 2008. They connected immediately over a shared love of music. “I loved what he was doing, because I’m a drummer,” he said. “Each limb on his body acts like a different brain.”

They teamed up with producer Eric Oberstein, who launched a sort of grassroots effort to produce the big-band record. 

“We were up against four of the biggest other artists, who have money and label backing, and won. That shows a lot,” Mr. DiGirolamo said.

This marks the second win for one of Mr. DiGirolamo’s clients; an Afro-Latin orchestra he was working with won an award in 2008.

Dafnis Prieto took home the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Recording for his album ‘Back to the Sunset.’

Though thrilled to have won, he said Mr. Prieto is ready to get to work on the next project. 

“He’s probably the most humble man I’ve ever met,” he said.

Meanwhile, he’s gearing up for a new project with trumpeter Alex Sipiagin of Aquebogue, to be released this spring.

Mr. DiGirolamo’s foray into public relations was a happy accident. 

“I was freelance [writing] in the early 2000s, but it was getting old,” he said. “So from journalism, I knew how to get in and ‘bite,’ but had a lot to learn.”

Thirteen years later, he’s thrilled to be able to work from his home in Mattituck and spend time with daughters Sarah, 6, and Julia, 9, while still working in the music industry. “I’ve been playing the drums since I was 6, so to be working with people that I’ve idolized and being engulfed in music every day … it’s freedom.”

Whether writing about it, teaching it or producing it, music has always been a central part of the Bellerose native’s life.

Though he didn’t attend the awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles this year, he said seeing the show on television was incredible. “I have been in the past, as support. I’m not the guy going up and making a speech. But I wish I was there, because it looked like a good show.”

He hopes to take his children to the event one day.

Throughout his career, Mr. DiGirolamo has seen radical changes take hold of the music industry. 

“When I started doing this, record labels were closing up. Back then, they did everything. Suddenly, every musician in the world could make their own record, could put it on iTunes, social media. And you have to work 10 times harder.”

tsmith@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Chris DiGirolamo, owner of the Mattituck-based publicity firm Two for the Show Media, recently saw one of his clients win a Grammy. (Courtesy photo) 

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The daily update, a podcast briefing on what’s happening across the North Fork, is brought to you by Riverhead Ford Lincoln.

NEWS

Officials discuss upgrades for South Jamesport Beach park

Drummer who works with local publicist wins grammy for Best Latin Jazz Recording

Board discusses use of executive sessions, Thomas is appointed CDA director

WEATHER

Expect sunny skies with a high near 43 today, according to the National Weather Service. It will be mostly sunny Saturday with a high near 40. Rain with high near 51 is forecasted for Sunday.

The post Daily Update: New executive session rules, Grammy win, beach updates appeared first on Suffolk Times.