(Greenport, N.Y.) – The Resident Art Committee of Peconic Landing, a continuing care retirement community, will host the opening gala reception of “The Rest is Art: A Celebration of the Bench as an Art Form,” in Peconic Landing’s permanent outdoor sculpture garden on the grounds of historic Brecknock Hall, 1500 Brecknock Road, Greenport, Sunday, June 30, at 4 p.m.

Peconic Landing Sculpture Garden

In addition to the artists whose sculpted benches are chosen, the juried exhibition will include at least two new pieces from artists participating in past shows. A labeling system on individual artworks featuring QR codes will link readers to the exhibition catalog on Peconic Landing’s website. Guests will have an opportunity to meet and greet the artists. Music will be provided by East End Brass, and refreshments will be served.

The event is free and open to the public as part of Peconic Landing’s Community Connection program which includes a thriving cultural arts program showcasing an ongoing schedule of exhibitions, performances, concerts and lectures. Reservations are required and can be obtained by calling 631-477-BLUE.

In 2010, Peconic Landing’s Resident Art Committee announced the opening of its permanent outdoor sculpture garden on the grounds of Brecknock Hall. After two years of juried sculpture exhibitions, this became the area’s first permanent sculpture exhibition showcasing high-quality works by local and international sculptors that best complement and enhance this unique building and surrounding landscape.

This year’s exhibition, “The Rest is Art: A Celebration of the Bench as an Art Form,” presented by Peconic Landing’s Resident Art Committee, is curated by Dominic Antignano, himself a sculptor of note and Peconic Landing cultural arts coordinator. Peconic Landing’s Resident Art Committee is the energy behind the sculpture garden, as are the other committees that work on all of Peconic Landing’s programs.

For more information about Peconic Landing and the many partnerships and programs for which it has become so well known, please visit www.PeconicLanding.org.

Peconic Landing is an innovative, not-for-profit CCAC-CARF-accredited continuing care retirement community (CCRC) located on the waterfront in Greenport, N.Y., on the North Fork of Long Island. Among its long list of achievements, Peconic Landing is the only equity-based LifeCare community in the state of New York. It is a member of LeadingAge and LeadingAge New York and embraces a healthy, active lifestyle infused with a sense of exploration, creativity and generosity of spirit.

(Long Island, NY) “Existing law requires senior citizens, who have elected not to participate in the income verification program, to go through a complex renewal process every year in order to qualify for the Enhanced STAR (School Tax Reduction) Program,” said Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau). “My bill provides for a simplified renewal application process for seniors.”

Currently, senior citizens who are eligible for the state’s Enhanced STAR program must file a long and complex form yearly if they choose not to participate in the income verification program. A simplified form, especially in cases where income eligibility information remains the same, would relieve both seniors and tax assessors of needless paperwork, wasted time and unnecessarily expended energies. Hannon’s bill requires the state to develop a shorter, simplified renewal application for those already receiving the Enhanced STAR benefit.

“Several years ago, at my urging, the State enacted an income verification program for those receiving the Senior STAR,” said Hannon. “This has been a great benefit – but not everyone participates in this, for myriad reasons. For those folks, the simplified form would be a great help.”

Hannon’s bill was passed by the Senate unanimously. This bill has been sent to the Assembly.

(Long Island, NY) Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst and Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman today announced the planned closing of a homeless shelter located at the Hidden Cove Motel in Hampton Bays. According to a letter received Monday, June 10, from John O’Neill, Acting Commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Social Services, use of the facility will be discontinued by September 30 of 2013. The decision was made in light of the adoption of IR 1233-2013 on April 30, a County policy that aims to benefit homeless children by placing them in shelter locations near their home school districts.

“Supervisor Throne-Holst and I met with the County Executive and Acting Commissioner O’Neill on Friday to explain that few, if any, of the families who have stayed in the Hidden Cove Shelter are from Southampton Town or anywhere on the East End,” said Schneiderman.

“In light of the County’s newly adopted policy to focus on minimizing the dislocation experienced by homeless children, as well as the recent opening of two large homeless shelters in Western Suffolk, it was appropriate to re-evaluate whether a facility located in an area were homelessness has a very low incidence, is still needed,” he said.

The Hidden Cove Motel, which has 33 units in total, has accommodated more than 28 families at times, and is currently housing 20 families. As an outcome of the meeting, it was agreed that SCDSS would stop placing new families at the site, effective immediately. Those currently living in the shelter will be transitioned to longer term housing over the next several weeks.

Throne-Holst and Schneiderman were advised that because of the new space availability in the Western Suffolk shelter centers, and the ongoing efforts to transition families into more permanent housing, the Hidden Cove location may be empty as early as July, but certainly by early September.

“We appreciate SCDSS and the County Executive’s office working with us on the local level to best meet the needs of sheltered families and children, while welcoming us to the table to best address and work cooperatively on these programs and constituent needs. This is a very welcome change from the previous administration that kept us entirely removed from this process. This is a great example of all levels of government working productively together,” said Throne-Holst.

The shelter at the Hidden Cove Motel is located at 33 A West Tiana Rd in Hampton Bays and is operated by the not-for-profit agency Community Housing Innovations, Inc. It was opened in October 2011.

A copy of the Acting Commissioner’s June 10 letter is attached, along with a copy IR1233-2013.

(West Islip, NY) – Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center’s Chukwuma Egbuziem, RN, was recently honored by the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council (NSHC) at the Woodbury Country Club as a nominee for the 2013 Nurse of Excellence Award. Nomination for this award is based on several criteria, including significant achievement within a specific area of nursing and the demonstration of leadership and quality performance. Mr. Egbuziem was honored from a field of more than 500 nurses at hospitals from across Long Island.

Pictured (L-R): Patricia Darcey, MS, RN-BC-NE, Chief Nursing Officer and VP of Patient Care Services at Southampton Hospital and Chair of the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council Nurse Executives Committee, Nominee Chukwuma Egbuziem, RN, Good Samaritan Hospital Senior Vice President of Nursing and Chief Nursing Officer Jeanne K. Dzurenko, BSN, MPH, RN, and Gara Edelstein, MSN, RN, Chair of NSHC Nurse of Excellence Sub-committee and Senior VP of Administration and Chief Nursing Officer at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center.

Mr. Egbuziem is Performance Improvement Coordinator in nursing informatics for the Center for Dialysis Care in Bay Shore. Mr. Egbuziem started as an LPN at Good Samaritan in 2003. In his current role, he serves as an advocate for patients and fellow nurses. In 2011, he initiated a program to recognize peers for continuing their education and exhibiting exceptional nursing skills.

“He readily shares his knowledge and expertise to further develop other nurses so they can provide the best possible care to the patient and their families,” one colleague said of Mr. Egbuziem. “He is dependable and has been consistently chosen to work as a preceptor to orient novice nurses to the dialysis center.”

As Performance Improvement Coordinator, he is responsible for establishing and maintaining an ongoing continuous Quality Improvement program for all dialysis facilities. Mr. Egbuziem holds a bachelor’s degree of science in computer engineering from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Nigeria and a master’s in nursing informatics from Excelsior College, Washington, DC. He is a board member of American Nephrology Nurses Association – Long Island Chapter and a member of Ugiri Progressive Community, a philanthropic organization committed to helping the poor in Africa. He resides in Selden.

NSHC began in 1955 as an advocacy organization empowered to safeguard the interests of its member hospitals and to better plan, coordinate and finance health care services on Long Island for the residents of the region.

Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center is a 537-bed (including 100 nursing home beds), voluntary, not-for-profit hospital located in West Islip.  The medical center, which has more than 3,775 employees and 900 physicians on staff, had nearly 28,000 patient admissions and nearly 100,000 emergency department visits in 2012.  Good Samaritan is a member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island. Visit the website at www.good-samaritan-hospital.org.

The medical center supplies residents with the tools necessary to maintain good health.  This includes community lectures, screenings, health fairs and other community programs and services.

Assemblyman Hennessey on LIPA Restructuring: Oversight, Rates, PILOTS:

(Long Island, NY) Governor Cuomo has outlined a plan to restructure LIPA. The plan would reduce what many agree to be LIPA’s top-heavy board from 15 members to 5. The state would still maintain government ownership but would bring in a new utility, PSEG, from New Jersey for operational control. And finally the Governor proposes a rate freeze until 2015.

While I agree wholeheartedly with the Governor that LIPA has never worked for Long Island ratepayers, I also believe that it makes no sense to embark on a plan that ratepayers are going to have to pay for and live with, without a complete airing of the plan with the public.

And for now, the plan in my view is missing key oversight as it places a Public Service Commission on Long Island with no teeth. This is an old problem that needs to be solved if ratepayers are truly to be served. It is important to note that NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has also expressed concerns about oversight issues because with the Governor’s plan, the new LIPA would not be subject to state comptroller or attorney general reviews.

Further, the Governor’s plan, which freezes rates for three years, does nothing to protect ratepayers from increases after three years. This kind of rate-increase protection is mandatory if we are to keep rates reasonable. Finally, the plan provides minimal reform with respect to the PILOTS (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) that go to subsidize some of the wealthier neighborhoods on Long Island.

We need real leadership from the Governor to cut through years of insider deals and political favoritism that make up the LIPA packages that are presently in place, and the bill that is on the table doesn’t do any of that.

Governor Cuomo is on the right track. There clearly needs to be an overhaul of LIPA and how delivery of power is managed and carried out on Long Island. Nothing could be plainer after the response to Super Storm Sandy. But the fine details of the Governor’s plan are crucial. Ratepayers have a right to know what kind of oversight the new structure will have and what it will mean in terms of rates moving forward.

I urge my colleagues in the state legislature and Governor Cuomo to ensure that the future provider operates transparently and is accountable and responsive to ratepayers as well as being prepared for the next storm.

(Long Island, NY) The New York State Senate today passed a measure to deter terrorist recruitment and punish those who seek to employ others for their criminal plans. The bill (S1520), sponsored by Senator Carl L. Marcellino, would complement law enforcement’s efforts to expose groups who actively seek to engage in terrorist activity by creating a new crime to prosecute those who recruit others to assist them.

“Active recruitment for terrorism is a growing trend which requires an immediate response,” Senator Marcellino said. “As law enforcement actively seeks to unearth these groups and defeat their heinous schemes, we have a responsibility to hold accountable those who solicit individuals for terrorism. There’s no question that as long as extremists are able to attract new recruits the fight will never end.”

Terrorist organizations and their membership are in a perpetual search to recruit new members. This bill makes it a Class C felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, when someone with the intent of committing a crime recruits, solicits, requests, commands, importunes or otherwise attempts another person to engage in terrorist conduct.

The bill will be sent to the Assembly.

Groups Hail Assembly Passage of Mercury Pollution Prevention Bill and Urge Immediate Senate Action

(ALBANY, NY) Environmental groups applauded the New York State Assembly for passing a bill this afternoon to reduce mercury pollution in New York. The legislation would create a mandatory program to collect and safely dispose of mercury-containing thermostats, a major source of mercury in the waste stream.

The groups urged leaders in the State Senate, where a more modest measure has been proposed, to meet as soon as possible with the Assembly to negotiate on language that both houses can agree upon and pass before the legislative session ends on June 20th.

While thermostats containing mercury are no longer sold in New York, they pose a serious environmental threat when they are disposed of improperly. Each year more than a ton of mercury ends up in New York’s landfills and incinerators from discarded mercury thermostats, poisoning New York’s air, land and water. Fish in hundreds of lakes and streams in New York are unsafe to eat because of mercury contamination.

Other states have taken action to address this problem. With a collection rate of just over 1%, New York currently ranks 37th in the nation for the collection of these mercury-containing thermostats. Separate bills have been introduced in both the Assembly (A. 1048, Sweeney) and the Senate (S. 1676, Grissini) that would require the manufacturers of mercury-containing thermostats to establish much more effective collection programs for out-of-service units.

Environmental groups are urging the Senate and Assembly to work out the differences between their bills and create a robust collection program that will protect our environment from mercury poisoning. Any final agreement must include strong performance standards, a financial bounty to encourage greater participation, and grant the DEC the authority to make changes to the program if collection targets are not met.

In addition to environmental and public health groups, Covanta Energy, the NYS Association of Reuse, Reduction and Recycling (NYSAR3), the City of New York, and many local governments are calling for passage of this legislation.

The New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) was founded in 1989 as a nonpartisan, policy-making and political action organization that works to make environmental protection a top priority with elected officials, decision makers, and voters by evaluating incumbent performance and endorsing and electing environmental leaders to office in New York State.

(Long Island, NY) The New York State Senate today passed a bill to stop perpetual repeat offenders who continue to commit misdemeanor crimes. The bill (S1521), sponsored by Senator Carl L. Marcellino (R, Syosset), establishes a new felony-level crime of aggravated criminal conduct to bring stronger penalties against those who commit a misdemeanor after having been already convicted for multiple misdemeanors within the past five years.

“Until tougher laws are in place for criminals who are convicted of repeat misdemeanors, there is no deterrent, they just become experts at gaming the system,” said Senator Marcellino. “These criminals may not make the news, but they adversely affect the quality of life for law-abiding citizens. It is time to do something to get them off the streets of New York State and behind bars.”

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services reports that 8,824 individuals had been convicted of five or more misdemeanors within the three years that ended Dec. 31, 2010. Of those criminals, 1,600 of them had 10 or more convictions in the same time frame, and a staggering 169 criminals had 20 or more convictions.

This legislation would create the crime of aggravated criminal conduct where an individual commits a misdemeanor and has been previously subjected to four or more qualifying misdemeanor convictions within the preceding five years. Each conviction must have been a crime in New York State and be a class A misdemeanor. In calculating the five-year period, any period of time during which the criminal was incarcerated for any reason between the time of commission of any of the previous convictions and the time of the present misdemeanor will be excluded for the five year period time frame. The crime would be a class E felony, punishable up to 4 years in prison.

The bill has been sent to the Assembly.

Longtime Transit Advocate will Work to Help Implement Connect Long Island

(Hauppauge, NY) County Executive Steve Bellone has written a letter to Governor Cuomo requesting the re-appointment of Mitch Pally as the Suffolk County representative to the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) Board. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is North America’s largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.1 million people in the 5,000-square-mile area fanning out from New York City through Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. As Suffolk’s representative to the MTA Board, Pally will work hard to help implement County Executive Bellone’s Connect Long Island plan to connect transit-oriented development projects with Bus Rapid Transit in order to help revitalize our region.

“Mitch has been a staunch advocate for Suffolk County’s transportation needs,” said County Executive Bellone. “ I have had the pleasure and honor of working with him on many transportation initiatives and have witnessed first-hand his commitment to Suffolk County residents and the economic vitality of the Long Island region. Mitch truly understands the future of transportation on Long Island and how it relates to economic development and supports the creation innovative ways to address the transportation needs of Long Islanders.”

“It has indeed been a honor to represent the people of Suffolk County on the MTA board for the past eight years and I am very thankful to County Executive Bellone for having the confidence in me to continue this public service for another term,” said Pally. “The County Executive has set out a very important and forceful policy statement with regard to Connect Long Island and its importance to the economy of Long Island and I look forward to working towards its implementation with my fellow MTA board members. Mass transit is becoming more important every day to all of our residents and I will continue to pursue a variety of initiatives which are in the best interests of our county, our region and the entire State of New York.”

Pally has served on the MTA board since 2005 and has served as the Long Island Chair as well as has been a member of the Capital Program Oversight Committee, Finance Committee, Metro North Committee, and Bridges and Tunnels Committee. He also served as Chief Executive Officer of the Long Island Builders Institute; the largest home building trade association in New York State – in 2010.

Pally had been affiliated with the Weber Law Group of Melville, New York, from 2006 to 2010. Prior to Weber he worked at the Long Island Association, the region’s largest business and civic organization from 1985 as director of legislative and economic affairs and in 1992 became vice president for government affairs, responsible for all governmental and community affairs.

He has also held a number of positions in the New York State Legislature. From 1975 to 1985 he served in various capacities to the New York State Senate Committee on Transportation and the Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices, serving both as chief counsel from 1983. During his service to the Senate, he played a key role in drafting such important transportation legislation as the nation’s first seat-belt law, a child restraint law, reserved parking space for drivers with disabilities law, and the Transportation Bond Issues of 1983 and 1979, reserved parking spaces for drivers with disabilities, and others.

A public-benefit corporation chartered by the New York State Legislature in 1965, the MTA is governed by a 17-member Board. Members are nominated by the Governor, with four recommended by New York City’s mayor and one each by the county executives of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, and Putnam counties. (Members representing the latter four cast one collective vote.) All Board members are confirmed by the New York State Senate.

(Long Island, NY) Saturday, Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (R,C,WF,I-Huntington Station) and Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R,I,C-East Northport) were joined by members of the U.S. Coast Guard and local boaters for a day of awareness. The festivities included vendors, nonprofits, businesses, and marine organizations.

Assemblymen Chad Lupinacci (right) and Andrew Raia (left) together at their 2013 Vessel Safety Check and Boating Awareness Day.

“Thousands of Long Islanders enjoy water sports each summer, from fishing, to sailing, and jet skiing,” said Lupinacci. “While we want everyone to have fun, the most important part of having a successful day on the water is ensuring everyone’s safety. Despite the recent inclement weather, we had an outstanding turnout. Hopefully the boaters were able to learn something that will keep them safe this summer. I want to thank the members of the Coast Guard, as well as everyone else who helped make the event such a success.”