East End Police to participate in "Click It or Ticket" campaign

The first strike since 1994 could shut down the Long Island Rail Road as soon as 12:01 a.m. Saturday...that's right after midnight tonight...as the MTA and five labor unions remain locked in a contract standoff.If commuters didn't have enough anxiety over the possible Long Island Rail Road strike, service to Penn Station was “extremely limited” this morning due to yesterday’s track fire.There are no eastbound trains leaving from Penn Station and “there will be reroutes, cancellations and delays,” according to the MTA’s TrainTime app.As reported by Newsday Staff, a 12-hour negotiation session yesterday between MTA managers and five LIRR unions ended last night without a deal, and with the two sides “very far apart,” according to one labor leader.The talks broke shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday and are expected to reconvene at 10 o'clock this morning — just 14 hours before a strike deadline.Asked if he thought a deal could be made with such little time left on the clock, Kevin Sexton, national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said “I hope so.”"What I can say is, at this point, the parties are very far apart,” Sexton said upon leaving the MTA’s Manhattan headquarters with other union leaders. "But we look forward to meeting with them tomorrow, and we'll take it from there.”Earlier in the day, the two sides noted incremental progress during yesterday’s marathon negotiations.***The Petrocelli hotel plan got a warm reception from members of the Riverhead Town Board yesterday and is headed for a public hearing next month on the site plan and special permit application.Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that officials reviewed the proposed 94-room downtown hotel from town square master developer J. Petrocelli Riverhead Town Square, a limited liability company whose managing members are Joe and John Petrocelli. Joe Petrocelli and other representatives of the development company presented plans for the five-story hotel proposed for 117–127 E. Main St., adjacent to the planned town square and East End Arts campus, during the Riverhead Town Board’s morning work session.The revised proposal increases the hotel room count from 76 to 94 rooms while removing the previously planned 12 condominiums. The fifth floor will now be built out as 14 suites with balconies or terraces instead of the condominium dwelling units, VHB environmental planner Christiana Kastalek told the board.The proposal calls for construction of a 69,738-square-foot mixed-use building on an approximately half-acre site. The building will contain:• a 116-seat restaurant with bar and outdoor terrace,• a coffee shop,• nearly 2,900 square feet of retail space,• hotel lounge and fitness facilities,• and 94 guest rooms, including 14 suites. Developer Joe Petrocelli described the project as critical to maintaining momentum for the broader downtown redevelopment effort.The Riverhead Town Board is expected to schedule formal public hearings on the hotel site plan and special permit applications for June 10. Project representatives said they are also seeking a foundation permit to allow construction work to begin as soon as approvals are obtained. “We’re ready to go,” Petrocelli told the board.***East End Police Departments will participate in the statewide May 2026 “Click It or Ticket”/“Buckle Up New York” campaign, which runs from this coming Monday, May 18 through Sunday, May 31, police have stated in a media release.During the two-week mobilization, officers will be conducting fixed and roving safety restraint details focused on seat belt and child restraint compliance.Police cited National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics indicating seat belt use has saved more than 345,000 lives since 1975, and that in 2024 there were 9,758 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes. The national seat belt use rate in 2024 was 91.2%, police said.Under New York State law, all front-seat occupants must be properly secured regardless of age. Since Nov. 1, 2020, all rear-seat passengers — both over and under age 16 — must also be properly secured, police said.Police also remind drivers and caregivers of New York’s child passenger safety requirements, including that children up to age 4 must be properly restrained in a federally approved child safety seat, and that backseat passengers under age 2 must be restrained in a rear-facing child restraint.For more information, residents can visit www.safeny.ny.gov.***Ticks take over lawns and yards across Long Island in the warm spring and summer months and stick around into the fall. And like many of us, they enjoy dining al fresco.Lisa L. Colangelo reports in NEWSDAY that many homeowners have turned to professional pest control companies to spray their yards to eliminate or at least control the tick population. Others prefer to tackle it on their own with store-bought tick killers and repellents.While not all tick bites cause diseases, such as Lyme disease, or trigger the red meat allergy known as alpha-gal syndrome, public health experts urge Long Islanders to be wary of these hearty arachnids, many of whom survived this past winter under the cover of snow."I think most people come in contact with ticks in their yards ... and yards can be risky areas," said Scott Campbell, Suffolk County’s chief entomologist, who oversees tick surveillance. "People have a tendency to take precautions if they are going for a hike, but not if they are in their backyards."The first step is figuring out if you have ticks in your yard and where they are."Not everyone has to spray," Campbell said. "You really have to assess the problem."Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, an entomologist based in Babylon and associate director at Cornell University’s Integrated Pest Management program, suggested a simple DIY approach. Take a light-colored piece of flannel and attach it to something like a broom handle and sweep it across the grass to look for ticks."The flannel is really a perfect substance, because the tick is kind of tangled up in there, and they don't fall off easily," she said.***Nancy Remkus, who grew up in Sag Harbor and has been minister at the First Presbyterian (Old Whalers’) Church in Sag Harbor over the last five years was chosen recently to receive a Suffolk County “Champion of Diversity” Award.Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker chose Remkus as the “Champion of Diversity” award recipient for Suffolk County’s District 2. Remkus opted to receive recognition at this coming Sunday’s service at 10 a.m. in the Old Whalers’ Church. Welker and her assistant, Cheryl Rozzi, will be on hand to present the award. The church will host a reception following the service downstairs in the social hall. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that Nancy Remkus was a beloved teacher at Sag Harbor Elementary School for more than 30 years. She created the school’s popular morning program, where students and their families start each school day by gathering in the gymnasium and singing a selection of songs.***Two weeks before the unofficial start of summer — traditionally the season of high water use across Long Island — the state has issued a drought warning for Nassau and Suffolk counties."Dry conditions and below-normal precipitation on Long Island have prompted DEC to ... issue a drought warning in Nassau and Suffolk counties," Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton said in a statement yesterday. "We are encouraging all Long Islanders to practice water conservation to protect the region’s valuable sole source aquifer water supply." Both counties had been on a drought watch; a drought warning is the second of four ranks, from watch to warning to emergency to disaster.Long Island has received 4 inches less rain than normal over the past three months and 9 inches less than normal over the past six months, per the NYSDEC statement.Tracy Tullis reports in NEWSDAY that abnormally low precipitation depletes the groundwater and the surface waters, such as streams and lakes, that are fed by groundwater. Long Islanders use on average 140 gallons of water a day, per person, about 55% more than the national average of about 90 gallons, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Last August, during a drought watch, water use did not decline significantly even as the Suffolk County Water Authority pleaded with its customers to conserve water.A drought warning doesn’t carry mandatory restrictions. But water suppliers are asking residents to take extra care with their water consumption in the coming weeks."With Long Island under a drought warning, Suffolk County Water Authority is urging all customers to be mindful of their water use and take the preservation of our water resources seriously," authority spokesman Daniel Dubois wrote to Newsday yesterday. "Outdoor lawn watering is one of the biggest drivers of demand on our system," he said. Customers should observe the odd/even watering schedule, he added.Other suppliers encourage residents to use "smart" sprinklers, which monitor the soil for moisture before watering, and observe the ban on watering between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when much of the sprinkler water evaporates before reaching the lawn.Outside of a slight chance of showers this morning, rain is not in our east end forecast until next Thursday morning when a 40 percent chance of showers is indicated.