The new owners of Claudio’s got a “fast-tracked” approval of their wetlands permit at Thursday’s Greenport Village Board meeting, as officials expressed concern over the disruption the work could cause for other businesses if Claudio’s doesn’t complete construction by Memorial Day. 

The wetlands permit was needed to replace bulkheading in three areas at the waterfront site.

Normally, when the board holds a public hearing on a wetlands permit application, it doesn’t vote on the proposal until the following month, at the next Village Board meeting.

On Thursday, the board held the hearing and also decided to vote on the application at the same meeting, at the urging of board member Julia Robins.

“I think that if the contractor doesn’t finish with this work by Memorial Day weekend, it’s going to have a serious impact on the downtown business district,” she said. “Right now, I counted about 30 to 35 [parking] spaces [in the Claudio’s lot] that are barricaded off [because of ongoing work].”

Ms. Robins worried this would have customers at the three Claudio’s restaurants searching for parking elsewhere in the village.

“Plus we have a new hotel here and they’ll have an additional impact on our parking,” she said. “So I’m very concerned that we give these people the opportunity they need to get to work right away.”

John Costello, the marine contractor for Claudio’s, said one of the bulkheads in front of the restaurant was built in 1952 and is “eminently dangerous” and could collapse.

“It’s been falling over for almost 15 years,” Mr. Costello said. “I have seriously repaired it several times during that time.”

A temporary deck was placed over it “because somebody is going to fall through a hole,” he said.

Trustee Mary Bess Phillips said another issue facing Claudio’s is that their permit with the state Department of Environmental Conservation expires on Aug. 18. She questioned if the work could even be done by then.

Mr. Costello said if someone told him to do the job now, he could get it done by the current expiration of that permit. He said he will make an application to renew the permit. The DEC and Army Corps of Engineers permits must be in place before the wetlands permit can be issued, officials said.

Tora Matsuoka, whose company is managing the restaurant for PWIB Claudio Real Estate LLC, the new owners, said by phone on Friday, “We will definitely have everything open by Memorial Day.”

He said one of their goals is to remain open year-round.

Trustee Doug Roberts, in his last meeting on the board, said everyone wants Claudio’s open by Memorial Day, but he asked why the wetlands permit wasn’t applied for earlier.

Mr. Matsuoka said they acquired the property in April of last year and it was in bad condition then. He said they didn’t realize that the DEC and Army Corps of Engineers permits that were already in place needed to be transferred to the new ownership name. He said the Army Corps permit took a long time to get because of the government shutdown.

“We’re not looking for any special treatment,” Mr. Matsuoka said. “Our main concern is safety.”

The village’s Conservation Advisory Council, which makes recommendations to the board on wetlands permits, also suggested that, consistent with the village’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan, Claudio’s should install a pumpout station, and it should provide a maintenance schedule that will certify that the bulkhead will last 30 years.

The board eliminated that requirement Thursday after Mr. Costello questioned how anyone could guarantee a bulkhead for 30 years. Instead, the town is requiring an “ongoing maintenance schedule” for the bulkheads.

tgannon@timesreview.com

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A family quilt led Mattituck resident Mark MacNish to the Mattituck-Laurel Historical Society last fall and now, an effort is underway to revitalize the 55-year-old organization. 

“Each square was signed by members of the Duryea and Bergen families,” Mr. MacNish explained, noting the quilt that dates back to 1870. Though he lives just up the road from the historical society, he never visited, but figured it would make a worthy home for the family heirloom.

After receiving a tour from vice president Emily Tuthill Best, who also has family ties to the home, Mr. MacNish began volunteering as a curator and docent on weekends, guiding visitors around the 1799 Jesse Tuthill House and 1841 Ira Tuthill House.

“It’s a treasure trove, but needed sprucing up,” he said.

Soon, he was curating rooms in the museum to construct a narrative.

“The more involved I got, the more I realized that the museum was in trouble,” he said.

The organization, which operates on a budget of about $20,000 a year, has struggled to stay afloat in recent years with most of the finances drawn from a family estate, according to Ms. Tuthill Best, the vice president whose father was born in the home.

Acknowledging that the problem isn’t unique to the Mattituck-Laurel Historical Society, she noted that the number of volunteers have also dwindled.

“This is going to be a make it or break it year for us,” she said. “We’ve planned more events than we’ve ever done before.”

Working with Ms. Tuthill Best and her husband, Erich Cramer, Mr. MacNish has planned a ramped-up series of events, including a monthly lecture series set to begin May 5 with Robert Harper, a Mattituck resident and member of the town’s Historic Preservation Commission. Other speakers include Southold Town Historian Amy Folk, local history librarian Suzanne Johnson, and Tricia Foley, a Brookhaven resident who recently published a book about Mary Booth, founding editor of Harper’s Bazaar, whose historic home is located in Yaphank.

Mr. MacNish one day hopes to host re-enactments and better utilize the New Egypt schoolhouse — perhaps for crafters, book or garden clubs. “Community interest is what the society needs and what will keep it alive,” he said.

The board is also pursuing grant opportunities, starting with a site assessment that would outline what the society’s’ needs are.

“To get grants, you must demonstrate economic viability,” said Mr. Cramer, who serves as the board president. “We want to transform [the organization] into something viable.”

Future grant funding and fundraising will help expand existing displays, create new ones and address infrastructure issues such as heating, plumbing and repairs to the 220-year-old structure.

Issuing a call to action, Ms. Tuthill Best said tasks for volunteers appeal to a range of interests from history to fashion to gardening, as well as volunteers to help identify new sources of funding.

“It’s a wonderful time to come on board,” she said. “We’re open to new ideas and energy.”

And, she said, you don’t have to have a familial connection to the property to get involved.

Ms. Tuthill Best doesn’t like thinking about having to close the doors, and she feels a grave responsibility to preserve local history.

“It’s a window into the past. It’s important to understand how the East End of Long Island ties into American history,” she said.

None of the board members like to imagine having to close the museum’s doors for good. “It’s a cache of local history that may not be missed until it’s gone,” Mr. MacNish said.

Upcoming events

The Mattituck-Laurel Historical Society will host an April Showers Tea Party Sunday, April 28, at 2:30 p.m.

Step back in time at the 1841 Ira Tuthill house, located at the corner of Main Road and Cardinal Drive, for an event featuring homemade petit-furs, cookies, tea sandwiches, scones, an array of teas and raffle baskets.

Admission is $25 and tickets must be purchased in advance, either online through Eventbrite or at Bauer’s Gifts on Love Lane in Mattituck.

All proceeds will benefit the historical society.

tsmith@timesreview.com

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The Suffolk County Historical Society in Riverhead is one of the county’s genuine treasures. The holdings of this 133-year-old institution include furnishings, important paintings and other artwork, and its library is a trove of primary-source documents favored by researchers and historians. 

So it was welcome news last week when the society announced the opening of a new wing that is fully compliant with the American with Disabilities Act. Now, thousands more people who were otherwise shut out by the building’s steep stairs and lack of an elevator can visit and enjoy the museum.

The improvements include a ground-level entrance that will allow handicapped visitors to avoid the very steep stairs that face Main Street. On-site parking has been added, along with accessible restrooms and — best of all — an elevator.

This important rehab cost approximately $1 million, and the project’s major donor, the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, helping get it started. Local architects Gary Jacquemin and Robert Stromski did the design work.

Construction began last May with the hope that the work would be completed by the end of the summer. But higher than expected groundwater greatly slowed the project — the Peconic River runs along the opposite side of West Main Street, perhaps 50 yards from the front of the building. A time-consuming dewatering project commenced, throughout which the museum remained open to the public. Considering the historical society’s popularity, that’s something to be proud of.

A host of local officials attended a ceremony last week to showcase the renovations . Frank Grasso, a board member of one the donors, the John C. Dunphy Private Foundation, said he wanted to be involved in this important project. His words helped sum up why the effort — and the historical society — matter so much.

“We just like the idea of adding value to a community center, and that’s where it started,” Mr. Grasso said. “We learned as we went along, as we’re still learning, what this is all about. The character of the place, the museum … I think it made good sense to support the local community… You can do things that help people individually, or you can do things that help people collectively, so we saw this as an opportunity to help people collectively.”

Amen to that.

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After eight years, all 12 chapters of the Southold Town Comprehensive Plan have now been completed. 

At a work session Tuesday, town planning director Heather Lanza outlined several remaining steps that must be taken before the Town Board can formally adopt the plan.

During her presentation, she recommended that the board hire AKRF Inc., an environmental engineering firm, to complete a State Environmental Quality Review Act review pursuant to New York State law at a cost of $34,500.

Ms. Lanza also reviewed proposals received for graphic design, formatting and editing of the comprehensive plan and recommended retaining AKRF to complete that work as well for an additional $34,950. Both the graphic design costs and SEQRA review will be funded by state grants, she said.

“We want to make it easier to read, take the numbers in the plan and make it into easy-to-understand graphics. That’s mainly for the public,” Ms. Lanza said, who will have an opportunity to review the material before public hearings on the plan are scheduled. “[The plan] has two purposes. One is for the public and the other is for government agencies, including the Town Board, to be able to use in detail so you know you’re being consistent with it when looking at new legislation.”

Planning staff have also been editing completed chapters of the plan, some of which were written several years ago, to include more recent data. For example, the original economic development chapter recommended forming an economic development committee, which was created soon after the chapter was completed in 2011.

Ms. Lanza said many facets of the Comprehensive Plan reflect ongoing town initiatives, such as addressing the need for more affordable housing and continuing to preserve land.

“We’ve already been doing all of this, but it’s good to have it in the plan,” she said.

Completing the Comprehensive Plan, an effort that began in 2010, took over 3,000 hours, 64 public meetings to date and $106,990 that the state will reimburse, according to Ms. Lanza.

She anticipates that AKRF will be able to complete its work by the end of May, at which point additional public outreach can begin.

At the work session, Supervisor Scott Russell reiterated that the Comprehensive Plan is more than just a zoning map, but will provide the underlying support for decisions made in the future.

“It doesn’t just guide the town, it defends the decision making down the road,” he said.

The completed plan can be reviewed online at http://www.southoldtownny.gov/123/Comprehensive-Plan.

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More than 35 families flock each week to a tiny building outside Cutchogue’s North Fork United Methodist Church in order to put food on the table. 

But come July, when the church relocates to Southold, those families will have to leave the hamlet of Cutchogue to get what they need from a food pantry.

As the combined Southold, Cutchogue, Greenport and Orient congregation prepares to migrate to a new building at the southeast corner of Horton’s Lane and Route 48, church volunteers are eager to find a new home for the Lord’s Cupboard Food Pantry.

The roughly 1,000-square-foot pantry, which sits on the east side of the parking lot at the Cutchogue church, will be sold along with the church itself. Douglas Elliman real estate agent Kristy Naddell said she cannot disclose the name of the buyer until the closing is completed in July. Four months ago, the church was listed for sale at $849,000.

Most of the pantry donations, which include meats, dairy and canned goods, come from the Island Harvest food bank in Smithtown, which operates a smaller location in Riverhead, said Susan Duffin, director of the Cutchogue pantry.

The church has limited funding, Ms. Duffin said, so it’s unclear how much money will be available after the move. As a result, the church is looking for an affordable — or donated — space to house the pantry, as well as funding or a grant to help pay any rent.

Longtime volunteer and church member Nancy Marschean said North Fork UMC, which doesn’t have the budget to support the pantry, has considered renting some local properties in Cutchogue, but the prices are “very high.”

Most local rentals with at least 1,000 square feet cost $2,000 to $2,300 per month, Ms. Duffin said.

But finding a location in Cutchogue is necessary, she said. The Main Road pantry is easily accessible via the bus stop in front of the church.

Ms. Duffin said the pantry could be housed within the new church — but that’s a last resort.

“There’s a food pantry at Mattituck Presbyterian, CAST is in Greenport and there’s a couple other pantries in Greenport,” she said. “So, you know, we’re kind of in between the two and we’d like to keep it that way.”

Cutchogue Presbyterian Church is interested in partnering with North Fork UMC on the pantry relocation, Ms. Duffin said, but that church has limited space available.

Volunteer and church member Bob Duffin said the church pays roughly $2,400 a month in electric bills for the pantry, which houses five freezers and several refrigerators.

Ms. Duffin said the pantry caters to all families, seasonal workers, homeless people and anyone in need.

“These are not just seasonal workers,” Ms. Duffin said. “These are locals who are out of business, don’t have jobs or can’t make enough to survive.”

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 and Riverhead Buick GMC.

Get the daily update delivered straight to your inbox each weekday morning by subscribing to our newsletter. Or listen through Apple Podcasts by subscribing to Closer Look. 

Here are the headlines across the North Fork for Monday, April 1:

NEWS

Claudio’s project fast-tracked; goal to complete work before Memorial Day

Mothers of scouts urge Riverhead to add drunk-driving program

North Fork United Methodist Church move will uproot food pantry

Coffee shop owners have ‘decided against’ business venture with disgraced restaurateur

SPORTS

Girls Lacrosse: Waves think positive, results follow

Boys Lacrosse: Lightning doesn’t strike twice for Riverhead

Boys Tennis: Southold/Greenport’s Brigham, Quinones play like champs

WEATHER

Expect sunny skies Monday with a high near 47 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Windy conditions will make it feel much colder, however. Expect a low of 25 tonight.

The post Daily Update: Claudio’s update, drunk driving program pitched, food pantry in need appeared first on Suffolk Times.

It was April Fools’ Day, but the Babylon High School softball team was no joke. Neither is Mattituck’s slugger, Jaden Thompson.

Thompson has opened the season on a tear, but not even her bat was enough against the defending Long Island Class B champions. Alexa Tenety’s pitching, supported by 10 runs of offense (and 14 walks), was more than enough for undefeated Babylon to cruise, 12-2, in a Suffolk County League VI game in Mattituck Monday.

Tenety allowed only one earned run over the full seven innings, with eight strikeouts. The senior righthander issued only one walk and gave up seven hits.

A big part of Tenety’s job was limiting Thompson to one hit — an RBI single. Thompson has gotten off to a terrific start this season. The senior third baseman’s numbers are, well, nothing less than phenomenal. Through Monday’s game, she is hitting .696 (16-for-23) with three home runs, 14 RBIs, three triples and two doubles. She also scored 13 runs and stole six bases. That’s quite a haul.

“Her numbers are great,” Mattituck coach Kim Gerstung said. “She’s just a great player, though. She hits the ball hard. She’s fast, so that helps.”

But Gerstung has seen this show before. Thompson had this same sort of start to 2018. As the coach recalls, Thompson hit over .700 in the first half of last season.

“She’s been hitting very well,” Mattituck first baseman Lexi Burns said. “She’s always been like that. She focuses. She doesn’t get down on herself.”

Had Thompson done anything differently to prepare for this season?

Her answer: No.

“I think as I go up there: ‘What do I need? What am I looking for?’ ” said Thompson, who delivered a three-run homer in a 10-8 victory in East Hampton Friday and a solo shot in a 12-6 win in West Babylon Saturday.

Thompson is a year-round player who participates in travel ball. That helps immensely.

How does she feel standing in the batter’s box these days?

“It feels good,” she said. “Sometimes it can be a little stressful, but most of the time I know I’m here for my teammates and I try to do what I can.”

And that has been a lot. But trying to beat Babylon (4-0, 2-0) was a tall order. Gerstung said it has been over 10 years since Mattituck’s last win over Babylon, a consistently strong team. “The fact that they didn’t run rule us for the for the first time in, I think, five years says a lot,” she said. “We at least played with them and played a full game with them. To me that’s a win for us.”

Babylon opened with a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning before Mattituck (5-1, 2-1) answered with two runs and four hits — all infield singles by Dominique Crews, Burns, Thompson and Ashley Perkins — in the bottom half.

It was 5-3 through three innings. In the fourth, Babylon blew things open with a six-run explosion highlighted by RBI singles from Alex Katsionis and Meghan Flaugher.

Tenety held Mattituck to one hit — a fourth-inning single swatted by Ana Farr — the rest of the way.

Leadoff batter Emily McGurk finished with three hits and two RBIs. She was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. But there were no homers on this day, not with a relentless wall of wind blowing in from the outfield.

Katsionis drove in three runs. Flaugher had a pair of singles (one for a run) and walked three times.

Burns singled and a doubled for Mattituck.

“We fought hard, we played hard, we did our best out there and that’s all you can really ask for,” said Perkins.

The loss snapped a five-game win streak for Mattituck, which counted Southold/Greenport, Rocky Point and Southampton among its victims.

With Thompson’s proficient hitting, the Tuckers hope to contend with Babylon and Center Moriches for the league leadership.

Mattituck centerfielder Aniah Thompson said of her sister Jaden: “She does very well, especially against faster pitchers because [in] travel [ball]; that’s what she’s so used to. She’s definitely brought her ‘A’ game this season.”

That’s no April Fools’ joke, either.

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Mattituck slugger Jaden Thompson is off to a hot start, hitting .696 (16-for-23) with three home runs and 14 RBIs in six games. (Credit: Bob Liepa)

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As local government agencies near completion of Phase II of the Bay to Sound Integrated Trails Initiative, a town official updated members of the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association last week on what lies ahead for the project.

As of March 25, the project’s second phase has resulted in 2.1 miles of new trails, 78 additional acres ready to be opened to the public and four new boardwalks to allow safe travel through wetland areas along the trails. Looking further into Phase II expansion, John Sepenoski of the town’s geographic information systems said his team and local village, town and county volunteers plan to make restorations at Skipper Horton Park and find new ways to protect the North Fork’s wildlife, while still giving the public opportunities to enjoy it.

“Work that we still need to complete on Phase II — the construction of two wildlife observation blinds, the construction of five more boardwalks, the construction of two new trail head parking areas … and the creation of approximately 1.2 miles of new trails opening an additional 35 acres of open space to the public,” Mr. Sepenoski said.

The Bay to Sound project formally began in 2007. It proposes that a trail network linking Suffolk County land, Southold Town and Greenport Village preserves and parkland be expanded upon such that residents and visitors may utilize the area between the Peconic Bay waterfront and the shores of Long Island Sound.

The village, town and county partnered on the project, which initially received $107,000 in state funding from the Department of Transportation and Suffolk County. Southold Town, Greenport Village and other local organizations matched those funds to the tune of $52,000. In 2016, the partners applied for grant funding and were awarded $245,000 by the Department of State under Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund. Those funds were specific to the project’s second phase, which began in April 2016.

The first phase, on the other hand, lasted from the project’s inception through 2015, a period during which volunteers spent a total of 530 hours identifying and engaging in the cleanup of dumping grounds in dilapidated buildings and the removal of septic systems.

“As of the completion of Phase I, 234 acres of the preserves and parkland were considered open to the public,” Mr. Sepenoski said. “We had 6.5 miles of nature trails and we also had seven miles of bike paths that were part of Greenport Village’s bike trail system and Southold Town’s Seaview Bike Trail System, as well as NYS-designated bike Routes 25 and 114.”

A staggering 29,250 pounds of trash and junk equipment were removed from the project area during Phase II, a figure that took many aback during the meeting. Also in the works for Phase II is the development of educational materials and public outreach related to stormwater, habitat restoration, the Peconic Estuary and the Bay to Sound Project, according to Mr. Sepenoski.

Many locals were curious as to whether potential bike trails might be in the making or whether any existing trails were suitable for cycling.

“Not at this time,” Mr. Sepenoski said. “The bike trails are the ones designated on the streets, but the open space at this point, that’s not going to happen. The county’s permission for all the properties that they hold was strictly for hiking trails.”

Others were concerned about an overwhelming number of designated markers along the trails, specifically citing those near Laurel Lake.

“A lot of those are not actually the town’s markers,” Mr. Sepenoski said. “At one point, there were four competing groups. One of them was stealing our signs and using thumb tacks to put them up in different places. Originally, the town put some of them there … we use the little red/green/blue arrows and it says ‘trails.’ ” The false markers, Mr. Sepenoski said, are hugely distracting because, at points, they result in hikers trespassing on private property, including some of the Suffolk County Water Authority’s holdings.

Plans for Phase III and beyond were announced at the meeting as well. Most notably, Phase III will include native plantings and habitat restoration of farming areas, while future phases might lead to additional trails spanning over 100 acres.

“Probably the number one question I’ve gotten over the past two years on this project is: When will it be done? And my answer is always: I don’t know,” Mr. Sepenoski said. “In part because this was originally conceptual. It’s basically turning 12 years old this year, but we’ve just slowly worked on it and as we’ve worked on it, we’ve acquired more property.”

After the completion of Phases II and III and the future expansion plans, the trail system would include 16 miles of trails, Mr. Sepenoski estimated.

mkhan@timesreview.com

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Luke Altman remembers playing with Legos in the children’s department at Mattituck-Laurel Library as a toddler. The 16-year-old from Laurel recalled that children’s librarian Barbara Moore would watch over him and other children, becoming an ever-present mentor during his younger days. 

“I was there for a lot of my life,” he said. “As a baby, my mom took me to the library. As a younger kid, I went to Lego and science programs.”

In an effort to give back to the place and people that shaped his childhood, Luke, a sophomore at Mattituck High School, has completed dozens of community service hours in the library’s children’s department and with other local organizations over the past year.

His work has not gone unnoticed. On March 23, Luke received the President’s Volunteer Service Award in a ceremony at the library attended by Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo, Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell and Town Trustee Greg Williams, representing Congressman Lee Zeldin.

The award, endorsed by the President of the United States, is based on the number of community service hours completed in a certain time period. By completing 50 hours of service in one year, Luke met the requirements for the bronze-level award for his age group. He also received letters of recognition from Mr. Zeldin, state Sen. Ken LaValle and President Trump.

Most of his work, he said, was done at the library, where he shelved books, cleaned toys and greeted community members. He also volunteered within his school and at Kent Animal Shelter in Calverton, where he took care of lost, abandoned and rescued cats.

For Luke, the award was more about recognizing his mentors at the library. He credits teen services librarian Sara Colichio, library director Jeff Walden and Karen Letteriello, head of the children’s department for providing guidance on how to navigate helping the community.

“It gave the library their moment,” he said about the ceremony. “They helped me out a lot with this.”

Ms. Letteriello, who previously co-led children’s programs with Ms. Moore, said she remembers working with Luke when he was a child.

“He’s so intelligent, and he knows what needs to get done for this library,” she said. “He’s so kind to the kids … some people thought he worked here.”

In addition to making time for community service, Luke juggles a variety of sports and extracurricular activities, including varsity cross country, varsity wrestling, JV tennis, engineering club and all-county chorus. He also serves as student council vice president and snagged a spot on the school’s high honor roll.

It was never his goal to win an award for his effort, Luke said, which was strictly a result of helping the community.

“The library helped me a lot as a kid,” he said. “It was about giving back. That kind of turned into the opportunity to get the award, after I had completed so many hours there.”

Luke credited his parents, Christina and Jason, for motivating him to get involved in community service. They also volunteered locally during their teenage years, he said.

He accepted the award in memory of Ms. Moore, who died July 2016 from kidney cancer, saying she had a lasting impact on his life.

“She was a huge part of my childhood,” Luke said. “As a kid, she was always present at the children programs. She’d help run them, she’d be there. She was always present.”

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 and Riverhead Buick GMC.

Get the daily update delivered straight to your inbox each weekday morning by subscribing to our newsletter. Or listen through Apple Podcasts by subscribing to Closer Look. 

Here are the headlines across the North Fork for Tuesday, April 2:

NEWS

Luminati defaults on $10M loan; facing eviction at EPCAL

Phil’s Waterfront Bar and Grill in Aquebogue becoming ‘On the Docks’

Bay to Sound project continues to progress with miles of new trails

Mattituck High School student honored with President’s Volunteer Service Award

SPORTS

Softball: Babylon’s no joke; just ask Mattituck

WEATHER

Expect increasing clouds today with a high near 47 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Rain is likely after 9 p.m. tonight with a low around 37.

The post Daily Update: Luminati facing eviction, Phil’s Waterfront sold, trail system expanded appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Andreas Emmanuel Markakis of Southold died Thursday, March 28. He was 91.

Visitors were received April 1 at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold.

The Divine Liturgy will be celebrated Tuesday, April 2, at 11 a.m. at Transfiguration of Christ Greek Orthodox Church in Mattituck, officiated by Father Ignatios J. Achlioptas.

Interment will follow at Southold Presbyterian Cemetery.

The post Andreas Emmanuel Markakis appeared first on Suffolk Times.

William A. Smith of Mattituck died March 26 at Long Island Community Hospital in East Patchogue. He was 92.He was born in the Bronx Aug. 7, 1926, to Anna (Noll) and William H. Smith. The family lived for a time in Bogota, N.J., before moving to Little Neck, Queens, where he attended school.

Bill later served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946. On Aug. 26, 1951, he married Vera Chudiak and together they made their home in Mattituck, where Bill and his family had summered.

For many years, he served as a correction officer with Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, retiring as a lieutenant.

In his free time he enjoyed fishing and crabbing.

He is survived by his wife, Vera; his two children, Thomas (Barbara) Smith of Mattituck and Donna (John) Carbone of Cape May, N.J.; his three grandchildren, John Carbone, Angela Smith and Claire Smith; and his two great-grandchildren, John Ryan and Declan Carbone.

Visitors were received March 28 at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck, where U.S. Army honors were rendered. The Liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated March 29 at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Riverhead. Interment followed at Sacred Heart R.C. Cemetery in Cutchogue.

Memorial donations may be made to the Mattituck Fire Department Rescue Squad.

This is a paid notice.

The post William A. Smith appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Robert Cocorikis passed away in Westchester County March 20, 2019. He was 78.Bob was born in Harlem in 1940, joining older siblings Jimmy, Bill and Helen. Later, little brothers Mario and Richie Mandalone joined the family.

Along with his siblings, Bob, known as “Red” to family and friends, started working at a young age to help support the family, even leaving high school early to be of greater help. His jobs as a schoolboy included making deliveries for Coletti Brothers Beer Distributors and Gristede’s Supermarket.

Later, Bob worked for Reliable Sprinkler in Mount Vernon and then for the New York Housing Authority, where he worked his way up to district superintendent. After Bob retired from the city he started Robert Cocorikis Plumbing and Heating. He enjoyed starting his day drinking coffee and sharing jokes with his friends at Consolidated Plumbing in Mount Vernon. He retired his business in 2005, but gladly continued to provide advice to his longtime customers.

Bob did not have any children, but family was always extremely important to him, spending weekends playing with Helen’s children and teaching them to drive, fish and shoot. He loved hunting with his beloved dog, Dudley, nephew Sal, brother Mario and boyhood friend Ray Merlotto at “Johnny’s Farm” in upstate New York.

Bob met Maria (Gerosa) Bulis in 1982 and became an important figure in the Bulis and Gerosa families, who have summered in East Marion since the 1950s. The families, especially Maria’s children and grandchildren, were a bright part of Bob’s life.

Bob was a wonderful cook, renowned “couch Jeopardy champion” and joke-teller. He and Maria enjoyed spending their summers on the North Fork with family. Bob was crazy about the grandkids, waking up extra early to make sure they had the fluffiest pancakes for breakfast, or a new kite to fly or rocket to launch, whenever they came to visit. Maria and Bob enjoyed traveling together, seeing the Grand Canyon, Alaska, the Mediterranean, Russia, Turkey, China, Hawaii and the Pacific Coast Highway.

Bob is survived by his life partner, Maria Bulis of Bronxville/East Marion; her sons, Eric (MJ) and Rudy (Ann Marie), and grandchildren Rudy, Maggie and Emerson Bulis, all of Greenwich, Conn.; his sister, Helen Gisonni of Fishkill, N.Y.; his brother, Mario (Anne) Mandalone of Southold; niece and nephews Eve-Lynn Gisonni of Greenlawn, N.Y., Sal (Delores) Gisonni of Hopewell Junction, N.Y., Doug Mandalone of Muttontown, N.Y., and Paul Mandalone of Austin, Texas; as well as grandnieces and grandnephews Amanda, Samantha, Daniel and Gabe Gisonni. Bob was predeceased by brothers Anthony James (Jimmy) Cocorikis, William (Bill) Cocorikis and Richard (Richie) Mandalone.

This is a paid notice.

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Peter M. Todebush of Cutchogue died Thursday, March 28, 2019, at the age of 83.

Born June 4, 1935, in Madras, India, Peter was a graduate of the Trinity-Pawling School; Colgate University, where he was an All American lacrosse player; and Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I.

He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1957 to 1962.

A career in finance in New York and Chicago followed naval service, culminating as founding partner at Jackson Associates, a member firm at the Chicago Board of Trade. He served as second vice-chairman of the Chicago Board of Trade in 1996 and enjoyed a lifelong interest in economics.

Peter and his beloved wife of 57 years, Mary (née Hawke), retired to Naples, Fla., in 1997, dividing their time between Florida and Cutchogue until moving permanently to Cutchogue in 2014. An avid golf and tennis player, he was a member of North Fork Country Club for over 30 years.

Peter was a devoted husband, father and grandfather — his greatest joy was his family. His wife, Mary, his “Poochie,” was the love of his life. Peter’s sense of humor, patience and intelligence will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.

Peter was predeceased by his parents, Ralph and Minnie Todebush of Cutchogue. In addition to Mary, Peter is survived by his son, Roger, of Chicago; daughter, Kristen, and son-in-law, Michael Ryan; and granddaughters Lindsay and Charlotte Ryan of Manhasset.

Memorial donations in Peter’s name may be made to Cutchogue New Suffolk Free Library and the Cutchogue Fire Department.

This is a paid notice.

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Georgianna V. Danowski of Aquebogue died March 28. She was 89.

She was born Nov. 16, 1929, to Anna (Sarnowski) and George Berkowski in Southold.

Ms. Danowski attended Southold High School, married her husband, John, and became a homemaker.

She enjoyed knitting, shopping and loved working on Polak’s farm, her family said.

Ms. Danowski was predeceased by her husband in 2005; her son, John Jr.; and her daughter, Renee Danowski-Linnen. She is survived by her son Larry (Donna) of Riverhead; her grandchildren Tyler, Marisa, John, Jamie, Jessica, Brian and Christopher; and her great-grandchildren Kaden and Aiden.

Visitors will be received Sunday, March 31, from 2 to 6 p.m. at McLaughlin Heppner Funeral Home. A service will take place Monday, April 1, at 9:30 a.m. at St. Isidore R.C. Church in Riverhead followed by interment at the church’s cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the Shrine of our Lady of the Island, 258 Eastport-Manor Road, Eastport, NY 11949.

This is a paid notice.

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Hi, I’m Joanna Mazzella and I am the owner here at Mint on Love Lane.

We opened this store 15 years ago in 2004, when there was not much on Love Lane. We saw potential in the street, loved the name of the street, and it seemed charming. We took a risk and it worked out. We’ve seen it grow to be the beautiful street that it is. 

We’ve had more stores open since then and now we have stores in Locust Valley, Plainview, Stony Brook and Westhampton Beach.

I was always in fashion. I went to FIT and graduated with a degree in fashion design. I worked for a buying agency in the city. I absolutely loved it. I would go to a bunch of shows and showrooms and pick out their buys for the new season.

Then I moved out here, worked at a couple of boutiques in the Hamptons.

I always wanted to have my own store. I thought it was time for the women of the North Fork to have a little more fashion in their lives.

I’ve always loved clothing. When I was in high school, everyone always used to joke “Oh, Joanna, you’re showing up in a new outfit again.”

I love putting looks together.

We have a lot of different lines, all trends based around what’s going on in fashion. We’re always keeping up with those types of trends and colors for the new season. We’re always discovering a new brand we want to show our customers, or a new dress we’re dying to wear ourselves. Everything in here is the kind of stuff that we all love and we want to wear. I love seeing the whole store come together for a new season. It’s the most exciting part by far.

We’re never bored here. We’re constantly getting new boxes in, we’re inventorying, we’re splitting inventory to go out to other locations.

We have a good grasp on what people really want to wear and what they feel good in. That’s what it’s all about, is making women feel good in what they’re wearing, because it improves their day.

“The Work We Do” is a News-Review multimedia project profiling workers around Riverhead Town. It is made possible by Peconic Landing. See more photos every Monday on Instagram @riverheadnewsreview.

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Baseball had been ingrained in Nick Grathwohl’s younger life.

“Every morning before school I’d wake up, hit baseballs and then go to school, come home and do it all over again,” he said.

Grathwohl played middle school ball in seventh and eighth grades before taking two years off, something he now regrets.

Why did he go on sabbatical?

“I don’t know,” he said. “I just didn’t play and it upset me because my whole family played baseball so I had to get back into it.”

The Southold High School junior is back in baseball, and the First Settlers can be grateful for that. Grathwohl is undoubtedly a help, and they need all the help they can get.

Southold returns the bulk of its 2018 playoff team, having graduated only two players, Billy Burns and Luke Hansen. Still, the work Class C Southold has ahead of it in Suffolk County League VIII is considerable. That means facing Class B teams like Babylon and Center Moriches.

Southold’s first four games have all been one-sided losses — two apiece to Pierson/Bridgehampton/Shelter Island and two to Babylon. Meanwhile, state Class B champion Center Moriches awaits. “We have a tough road ahead, so we got to play our best ball,” said senior shortstop Jake Okula.

Losses like the 21-7 shellacking Southold suffered to Babylon Tuesday at Jean W. Cochran Park in Peconic are tough to take.

“We’ve been hanging our head, especially after these four losses, but they are two tough teams,” Grathwohl said. “I mean, we should just keep our heads up because we got a tough schedule this year. It’s been hard but we all realize we are a team and we are going through this together.”

Okula, asked what is most important for his team now, said: “I think just staying positive for those games that we are going to be in. Right now we can’t just hang our heads because then we’re going to embarrass ourselves.”

Babylon (2-2, 2-0) gave Southold all it could handle and then some, with an 18-hit barrage. Leading that hit parade was Antonio Tufano, with a five-RBI game from 4-for-4 hitting. Justin Vega went 4-for-6 with two RBIs. Bobby Molinaro and Eric Trapani each had two RBIs and two hits. Gino Vano and Aidan Brown also drove in two runs apiece.

Babylon drew 11 walks. Ten Panthers had at least one hit.

“There were plenty of times when our pitchers made good pitches and they just hit the ball,” said Southold coach Greg Tulley.

The undoubted highlight for Southold, though, was Grathwohl’s first career home run. After two walks and a fielder’s choice loaded the bases in the fifth inning, Brendan Duffy brought home a run with a sacrifice fly. That set the stage for Grathwohl, the designated hitter who zeroed in on a first-pitch high fastball that he smashed over the leftfield fence. The three-run shot, estimated at around 330 feet, cut the Babylon lead to 12-6.

“I hit it in the sweet spot,” Grathwohl said. “I did not think it was a home run but then, like after I rounded first, I’m like, ‘That’s got to be gone.’ And you just hear the crowd going crazy, and it felt great.”

Okula (2-for-3) said: “That was a shot. Hopefully we’ll see some more. This is like a real park. This is like a mini-Yankee Stadium. That was cool to see him put one out.”

What does Tulley want to see from his players?

“Especially in a game like today, just not hanging your head, just keep putting the effort in, keep grinding, having good at-bats, making the plays in the field,” he said.

Okula said: “We have the talent. It’s just a matter of is it all going to come together? We knew that today we had a bit of a challenge ahead of us.”

Grathwohl sounds ready for the challenges to come.

“Every day is a new day, so you should never count yourself out of a game,” he said. “You always want to be in it.”

Take that from a guy who is happy to be back in the game. He said, “It feels good to be back.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Southold junior Nick Grathwohl, who was out of baseball the last two years, blasted his first career home run, good for three runs. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk)

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Scientists from Suffolk County’s Cornell Cooperative Extension hosted an educational forum on the state of our climate system Saturday morning, as part of “Rising Waters. Receding Shorelines,” an information session led by nonprofit SoutholdVOICE. 

Two members of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Marine Program, also a nonprofit group, spoke to an audience of between 75 and 100 local residents at the American Legion in Southold, discussing rising sea levels, strengthening tropical storms, vulnerable roadways and the future of agriculture and marine life on Long Island. They also addressed a handful of natural solutions for coastline resiliency, including the prospect of creating a “living shoreline.”

“We’ve seen about a 0.8-degree [Celsius] increase, on average, of the global temperatures,” Matthew Sclafani, Ph.D., said, citing data from the NASA Earth Observatory. Dr. Sclafani serves as the senior extension resource educator for the marine program.

This increase, Dr. Sclafani explained, has real-world implications across the board — namely, that it can cause seawater to expand and ice to melt, resulting in sea level rise. Rising sea levels are leading to more frequent and extreme storms, Dr. Sclafani said, which means faster wind speeds, increased precipitation and, potentially, an impact on soil cover. This, in turn, could have detrimental effects on crops and, therefore, on the livelihoods of farmers.

As more water pushes up against the shore, issues that most strongly affect low-lying areas arise. Suffolk County is riddled with shoreline issues, with many especially vulnerable low-lying coastal communities.

Chris Pickerell, director of CCE’s Marine Program, suggested a “living shoreline” as a potential option — if the terrain and other factors support one. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, living shoreline projects use different types of structural and organic materials, such as wetland plants, submerged aquatic vegetation, oyster reefs, sand fill and stone to avoid erosion from high winds and to harden shorelines. These shorelines also work to improve and maintain the well-being of aquatic marine life.

Also of great consequence, Dr. Sclafani said, are the potential impacts that rising sea levels may have on groundwater. According to the United States Geological Survey, sea level rise can create not only roadway flooding, but flooding into the island’s septic systems and basements.

“There’s also [the concern of] saltwater intrusion into our freshwater supply,” Dr. Sclafani said. “What happens is, the saltwater comes closer to our supply wells and that interface between saltwater and freshwater as our sea levels rise is dangerous.”

Climate change, Dr. Sclafani said, is a tricky thing — but it’s something that people can work toward dealing with.

“We have a great propensity for fight or flight, so if something is immediately pressing we respond quickly and we deal with it … Climate change is a slow burn issue,” he said. “It takes a long time to feel the effects of climate change. It’s happening and it seems like it’s happening, potentially, at an accelerated rate. And there are things we can do about it. We do have time to react and adapt.”

Mr. Pickerell said coastal resiliency options include installing bulkheads, but emphasized that bulkheads can end up destroying a significant amount of vegetation. He recommended planting Spartina alterniflora, or cordgrass, at mean sea level. Doing so behind a wall of rocks can allow the Spartina to thrive and protect the shoreline.

He also introduced to the audience the Cedar Beach Creek Habitat Restoration Project, on which his team just received a permit to begin work.

The project will restore critical ecosystem functions to the 65-acre marsh and beach lands, which have since 1930 been the victim of large-scale erosion and marsh degradation. It is set to create more than 19.5 acres of salt marsh and marsh islands through clean dredged material, new oyster reefs, 1.7 acres of new seagrass meadow and to improve three acres of new open water habitat through increased and improved flushing, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“This is a project we’re looking to do to demonstrate various methods that can be used by local residents,” he said. “The whole idea is to come up with some scenarios that would be permitted by the [town] trustees. We have to do it this summer to complete installation.”

Funded by grants from the county and Peconic Estuary, the project will cost $728,782. It will, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, “establish and enhance three critical marine habitats in the Peconic Estuary.”

“We’re not able to help in all of these cases,” Dr. Sclafani said, “and that’s a more challenging problem. Like Chris [Pickerell] said, it’s not a magic bullet. There’s no one answer, but it hopefully offers a few natural methods to preserve habitat while protecting the shoreline.” Dr. Sclafani said he understands that people may not buy into the exact mechanisms of what is happening to the climate or to their environment, but that it is all being closely documented by a number of agencies.

“People are starting to feel these things, whether it’s through storm flooding or more of these episodic and catastrophic events,” he said. “It’s impactful to people’s lives and it’s impactful to the economy.”

mkhan@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 and Riverhead Buick GMC.

Get the daily update delivered straight to your inbox each weekday morning by subscribing to our newsletter. Or listen through Apple Podcasts by subscribing to Closer Look. 

Here are the headlines across the North Fork for Wednesday, April 3:

NEWS

Driver in fatal crash asks for adjournment; judge ‘out of patience’

New considerations for Riverhead School District voters this May

SoutholdVOICE climate change forum introduces issues, potential solutions

DA: Suffolk County Police officer from Shoreham falsified time sheets

Library budgets approved in Riverhead, Baiting Hollow

SPORTS

Baseball: Babylon bats bash Southold, 21-7

WEATHER

It’s expected to remain cloudy through mid morning today, before gradually clearing, with a high near 59 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Winds could gust as high as 34 mph at times today. Expect a low of 34 degrees tonight.

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The Southold/Greenport High School robotics team, R.I.C.E. 870, has made history once again. Its most recent win at Hofstra University marks the first time the team has won two regional competitions in one season. 

The team competed last weekend at Hofstra’s FIRST Robotics Long Island Regional after having achieved first-place victory two weeks earlier at the 2019 Finger Lakes Regional competition. The Finger Lakes win clinched a spot in the world championships in Detroit, considered the largest student-focused STEM celebration in the nation.

“It was remarkable,” team adviser and Southold High School math teacher Christine Schade said. “We’re breaking records. We’re looking forward to — and we’re feeling really good about where we are in the world arena.”

R.I.C.E. competed against 47 teams again at the Hofstra competition. The teams work in alliances — three teams make up an alliance with a single bot per team. If one bot fails, the alliance moves on to the next.

“In this regional, there were two other teams ranked higher than us and we were No. 3,” Ms. Schade said. “In the finals, we beat the No. 1 alliance in the third match of the best two out of three. In the first finals round, we won by one point, in the second one we lost by one point and then in the third round we won by a little bit more.”

The team went 10 and 0, remaining undefeated throughout the tournament, according to co-adviser Bob Gammon. They competed against groups from a number of different countries, including China, Norway, Turkey and Brazil.

The team’s biggest snag? Their third robot browned out. It wouldn’t move and wouldn’t start up because its motors were drawing too much electricity and its circuit breaker tripped. That bot, which was playing the alliance’s defense, sat inactive for 35 minutes before resetting.

“The robot just completely shut down,” said Greenport senior Jake Mazzaferro.

Jake is one of two students who lead R.I.C.E.’s media team and has been a member since his junior year.

“It was just the other two robots in the alliance doing all the work and we ended up beating the other team. It was a great match.”

Ms. Schade said the team mentors and members had high hopes going into this match, especially because they’d already secured a ticket to worlds. Still, Jake said, R.I.C.E. – which stands for respect, integrity, compassion and equity — powered on defense and overcame its challenges.

“Teams that we [competed] against played some hard defense against 870,” Ms. Schade said, “so that kept our scores and our performance down a little bit. It didn’t throw us, but it certainly made for some nail-biting matches.”

On top of that, R.I.C.E. received a yellow car, which Mr. Gammon attributed to referees interpreting the rules a bit differently this time around. He said it affected the entire tournament for R.I.C.E. — and for the alliance at large. The robotics club also had to compete against Team 3015, Ranger Robotics – with which they were allied in Rochester. Though it was bittersweet to oppose a former ally, Mr. Gammon said, the team prevailed.

Ms. Schade said the mentors found this regional, as well as the Finger Lakes contest, to be especially challenging.

“That’s what makes this win so wonderful, is that the competition was strong,” she said.

The teams are required to build and program one bot during the six-week build season. Southold/Greenport’s bot, unofficially named “Java the Hut,” was created by the build team. Neither students nor mentors are permitted to work on their bots after the build season ends or between competitions.

“When we left Hofstra, we put our robot in a bag and sealed it up,” Ms. Schade said. “We have to ship our robot to Detroit next week.”

In between competitions the team reviews film of past performances to identify areas for improvement.

At the Hofstra regional, the team also earned the Entrepreneurship Award. The award went to the group’s business and marketing department, which is headed by Southold junior Will Dickerson and overseen by mentor Judi Fouchet. The award goes to the team that develops the strongest business plan. Team R.I.C.E.’s plan addressed the club’s sustainability both from a financial perspective and in terms of human resources, outlining what the next steps would be if and when team advisers retire or mentors move on.

“The robot and that side of the team always gets all the accolades,” Mr. Gammon, said. “It was very gratifying to work with some of the other mentors and kids and see them get the award. It’s usually something that the larger schools get, just by the nature of the award.”

When the team arrived at Hofstra Friday, Ms. Schade said, judges came around the pit area to speak to students about the specifics of their bots and plans.

“They want to know that the kids know their robot,” she said. “The same thing goes for the business plan. Kat Kilcommons, because she was one of the students that helped create the business plan, she spoke to the judges very eloquently about what was in the plan.”

R.I.C.E. will compete in the Detroit world competition April 24-27, facing off against 400 teams from around the globe.

The team is fundraising for the trip by selling paper stars in exchange for a donation of $5 to the team. Donors’ stars will be displayed either at one of the high schools or at the business of one of a team sponsor. To purchase a star, contact a team R.I.C.E. member or mentor. Each student has been given the goal of selling 20 stars.

Photo Credit: Christine Silvestro

mkhan@timesreview.com

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