The Setauket to Port Jefferson Station Greenway Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 8
November 2021
The Trail Mix is the monthly newsletter of The Friends of the Greenway. We established this bulletin to keep the Friends and users of the Greenway current on some of the “goings- on” regarding our Trail and to dispense a mix of bits and bytes of flavorful information. Hopefully, The Trail Mix will help to enlighten, inform and entertain our readers. The Friends of the Greenway is a committee of our parent organization – The Three Village Community Trust
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- Don’t Miss the Social Event of the Year!!
- Support the Greenway!!
- Unlimited Fun but Limited Tickets! Act Now!
We’re urging all Friends of the Greenway to attend this year’s Fall Gala of the Three Village Community Trust, our parent organization. This fun fundraiser helps all of the Trust’s properties, including our stewardship of the Greenway. Here’s everything you need to know:
The Three Village Community Trust will hold its Annual Fall Fundraising Gala on Wednesday evening, November 17th at the Old Field Club. This event supports the Trust’s year-round programs and projects.
Currently, the Trust is conducting major restoration work at the Hawkins Homestead, the Smith/deZafra House, and the three Factory Worker Houses. The Trust is also working to enhance both Patriots Rock Park and the Greenway Trail. With so many undertakings, this year’s Gala will be more an important than ever to keep the Trust moving forward to “Protect the Places We Love.”
The special guest and honoree at this year’s gathering is Maria Hoffman. An artist, photographer and naturalist, Maria is one of the most beloved and respected figures in our community and is widely known as “Everybody’s Best Friend.” Now, after three decades of community service as Chief of Staff to New York State Assemblyman Steven Englebright, Maria has retired and, at the Gala, will reflect on her life and career in the Three Villages.
Live music by the renowned Carl Safina and the Natural Causes will fill the party air with magical jazz, and there will be chances to win some fun-filled raffle baskets. The Big Art Raffle Prize this year is an oil painting by the well-known artist Nancy Bueti-Randall, titled Late Day at the Beach.
Tickets ($75 each) to the event can be purchased on the Trust’s website: threevillagecommunitytrust.org.
There is limited ticket availability, so everyone is encouraged to buy tickets now.
For more information:
Email: tvcommtrust@optonline.net
Call 631-689-0225
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Wow! Say Hi to Them!
On Saturday, November 13th, Cub Scout Pack 354 will be out on the Trail doing a cleanup! If you are out and about on the Trail, be sure to say Hello! This is a great group of young Trail Stewards! We appreciate their work over the years!
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Friends of the Greenway wish everyone a –
Secrets of the Greenway #2
As promised to you, we continue to reveal ‘Secrets of the Greenway.’ This series tells about aspects of the Trail that are interesting, or informative or inspiring. Today, our Secret revealed is titled…
Lessons Learned?
Undoubtedly, anyone who has traveled the length of the Greenway has seen the rusting and deteriorating buildings of the now closed manufacturing plant called Lawrence Aviation.
Unfortunately, this decaying site is immediately adjacent to the Greenway. The graffiti sprayed buildings create a visual blight, and the abandoned warehouses attract the homeless and vandals. A ‘spillover’ effect of the site are the many ‘tags’ often spray painted onto our Trail’s pavement in this area. We are constantly painting over this ground graffiti.
When you pass this site, keep in mind the property has an interesting history. In the 1940’s and 50’s the area, a sprawling 156 acres, was used in a variety of ways – farmland, a turkey farm, then a sand mine and an asphalt plant. In the late 1950’s, the opening of Lawrence Aviation coincided with the growth of Long Island’s defense industry.
During the Cold War, Lawrence Aviation was a leader in producing metal components for many of the aeronautics industries. The company specialized in the manufacturing of super-light, and ultra-strong titanium products -requiring the use of lots of caustic compounds, and chemicals in the process.
This highly profitable and lucrative business, however, was built, in a large part, on the age old mining and manufacturing model of ‘pump, dump and run.’ While pumping up their bottom line, there was insufficient government oversight and regulation. The corporation benefitted by this lack of supervision, and between 1959-1990 dumped, stored, buried and hid its industrial waste on the site – avoiding any expensive processing associated with the proper disposal of toxic materials. Secretly, Lawrence Aviation was the home for thousands of barrels leaking chemicals, large toxic lagoons (such an interesting word), decaying tanks, unlined cesspools, and chemically soaked soil. This created an expansive environmental hell-hole (are we allowed to use such language) in our own suburban backyard.
When the Cold War began to wind down, profits at Lawrence Aviation flagged, and the company ceased operations. With profits nestled deep in their pockets, the company leadership essentially walked away from the site, leaving any cleanup and remediation of its decades of environmental abuse to …You.
Yes, in the end, everyone got involved- the Suffolk County Health Department, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, everyone! Outrage. How could this happen!
Now a Federal Superfund site, taxpayers have been on the hook for tens of millions of dollars (some estimates are over $50,000,000) in cleanup costs, and likely will pay still more in the future to mitigate continual ground water pollution. In fact, no one really knows how much more money it will cost to remove the decaying buildings, and even if there are other remaining sources of contamination. Ouch.
Today, back taxes and penalties on the property, still held by Lawrence Aviation, are over seventeen million dollars.
Today, there is some movement on repurposing the property. This would require the County to act on its tax liens against Lawrence Aviation and take possession of the property. As a first step in this process, Suffolk County is applying for a feasibility study through the Regional Economic Fund. This study would explore Tax Increment Financing in taking control of the property, clearing it, removing contaminants, and redeveloping the land. (Tax Increment Financing? – in simplest terms, think borrowing against the future tax payments, and other revenues generated from the redevelopment, of the property.)
But no matter the outcome of these discussions, the Greenway, as well as the surrounding communities of Port Jefferson Station and Setauket, will continue to pay a price from the sad legacy of Lawrence Aviation.
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Thank you, Trail Stewards
Our monthly cleanup in October was spearheaded by Charlie McAteer, with a big assist by Dave Wang. The cleanup concentrated on the Port Jefferson Station portion, with lots of work done on the morning of Saturday, October 23rd. And, here’s a shout out to Norm Samuels who was out earlier in the week doing cleanup work on the Trail.
Wow, it was a great idea!
If you remember, in the September issue of the Trail Mix, we announced we are running advertisements and messages to fund Greenway projects. We wrote:
Want to advertise your business or service, and at the same time help the Greenway?
With the wild popularity of The Trail Mix (or at least we’d like to think so), we have decided to give businesses and individuals an opportunity to advertise in our newsletter. At the end of The Trail Mix, we’ll post advertisements and personal messages for the whooping sum of $25 per issue. All proceeds will go to the care and maintenance of the Greenway – gloves, tools, trash bags, cleaning supplies, and other basic necessities for the Trail Stewards and volunteers.
Interested in advertising: Contact hjmones@gmail.com with your content, and the payment method and other details will be emailed back to you!
Well, here are some of our advertisements:
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Kara Hahn, Suffolk County Legislator, is always out on the trail – running and training! And Kara is a longtime financial supporter of the Greenway! Thank You!
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And, we would like to recognize, again, a special donor to the Greenway:
Yes, we just received even more bulbs!!
Emerald Magic Lawn Care’s horticultural consultant, Craig den Hartog has been providing flower bulbs for the Greenway over many years at “no cost.” Craig’s generosity is part of his beautification effort known as Old Town Blooms. Why not support Emerald Magic who supports us!
www.EmeraldMagic.com
631-286-4600
631-804-9205
194-4 Morris Ave
Holtsville, NY 11742
Want to help the Friends of the Greenway. Here are three ways:
Be sure to attend the TVCT Annual Gala on Wednesday, November 17th.
Become a member of the Three Village Community Trust! Join by visiting www.threevillagecommunitytrust.org
And, consider the “Care to Share Program” at Investors Bank on Route 25A in Setauket. If you have an existing or newly established account at Investors Bank, simply by designating the Three Village Community Trust as your favorite not-for-profit, we will receive regular donations by Investors Bank to our organization!
Editor-in-Chief: Herb Mones
