Stony Brook Southampton To Serve As Satellite Pick-up Location For Heart of the Hamptons

Long Island Morning Edition

The Diocese of Rockville Centre may be on the verge of making history as the first Catholic diocese in the nation to have its bankruptcy case dismissed amid the clergy sex abuse scandal. Bart Jones reports on Newsday.com that after 3½ years and $100 million in legal fees, the diocese and hundreds of survivors of childhood sexual abuse by priests are in a stand-off in negotiations that bankruptcy experts say have all but blown up.

A court hearing on what happens next in the case is set for May 9, with the diocese now asking for the bankruptcy proceeding to be dismissed.

The abuse cases stem from the state’s 2019 Child Victims Act, which opened a two-year window for survivors to file lawsuits regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. By October 2020, the diocese declared bankruptcy, saying payouts from the cases could leave it financially ruined. It started negotiating with the survivors for a settlement.

Robert E. Gerber, a former U.S. bankruptcy court judge who is now involved in the case as a lawyer, said in a response brief to the court that when survivors voted on the diocese’s “final offer” of $200 million this month, the 86% rejection rate was the most lopsided such vote he could recall seeing in his 15 years on the bench. Attorneys for abuse survivors want $450 million.

With negotiations at a stalemate, the diocese asked for the dismissal of the bankruptcy proceedings. That would essentially bring the diocese right back to where it started but with the sex abuse cases unresolved. The cases would then return to state civil court for individual trials – the same place they were before being transferred to bankruptcy court.

Rockville Centre is the eighth-largest Catholic diocese in the nation, with 1.2 million baptized Catholics. It contends its very existence is at stake, since an outsized settlement could leave it unable to carry on its mission of spiritual, educational and charitable work.

Church officials say they have done everything possible to reach an agreement – selling off the diocesan headquarters and 200 acres of prime real estate at its seminary in Lloyd Harbor, cutting staff and streamlining expenses.

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Ice for Montauk's commercial fishing fleet comes from a machine at the Gosman's Dock property. Local fishermen say it's the lone machine capable of churning out vast quantities of ice they rely on to store and transport fresh catch. With Gosman's for sale, fishing interests are worried about the future. The East End Commercial Fishing Association formed last year to try to get financial support from the government for a new facility and ice machine. Joe Werkmeister reports on Newsday.com that in 2018, the Town of East Hampton’s planning board approved a site plan application from Inlet Seafood Inc. that included a proposed 5,520-square-foot icehouse, storage and office building, town records show.

Bryan and Asa Gosman, who are cousins and part owners of Gosman’s Dock, said that 11.6-acre property remains for sale, with no contracts drawn up.

Bryan Gosman, 51, said he and his cousin plan to continue running the seafood operation.

“The ice plant as of now, there’s no plans of it going anywhere,” Gosman said, while acknowledging the future beyond the next few years is harder to predict.

He said their seafood business relies on ice generated on-site, in addition to the proceeds from ice sales to fishing vessels.

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The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) is now accepting applications for its 2024 Student Scholarship program. The deadline for applications is Friday, May 10th, 2024.

Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame will award $500 scholarships to graduating students. These scholarships will provide funding to eligible graduating high school students from Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Queens, or Kings (Brooklyn) Counties who have shown an interest in pursuing a career in music. To apply and to read the eligibility requirements, please download the scholarship application.

Student Scholarships Applications Deadline: Friday, May 10, 2024.

All applications must be postmarked by the application due date in order to be accepted.

For more information about LIMHOF’s education recognition programs, contact Tom Needham, Education Advisory Board Chairman at [e-mail]. More information and applications for both programs may be found here.

The LIMEHOF Education Committee will base selections on the completed application and the following:

· 400-to-500-word essay on education and career goals.

· High school transcript.

· Letter of recommendation from an individual who can attest to the applicant’s commitment to a career in music.

Eligibility criteria is:

· Graduating high school senior from Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, or Kings (Brooklyn) Counties.

· Minimum 2.5 GPA.

· Accepted full-time at an accredited college or university.

· Demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in music.

· Financial need.

· U.S. citizen or legal resident with I-55 permanent residency.

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Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to restrict young people’s exposure to addictive social media feeds and increase child data protections fell out of the final state budget, but state lawmakers say they plan to pass both bills before the legislative session ends in June.

Both the social media algorithm bill and a bill banning online sites from collecting data from those under the age of 18 is expected to be taken up in the coming weeks. Keshia Clukey reports on Newsday.com that the bills have the backing of Democrats, who control the Senate and Assembly, as well as Hochul and NYS Attorney General Letitia James. They say the legislation will protect young people’s mental health by limiting potential negative effects of social media, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and keep minor’s data secure.

The proposals are running up against lobbying efforts of Big Tech.

Tech:NYC, a nonprofit industry group that has been lobbying on behalf of its members, including Meta, formerly known as Facebook, Google and Yahoo, applauded the decision to take the proposal out of the budget.

The budget process is not the "appropriate place to negotiate complex legislation," Tech:NYC president & CEO Julie Samuels said in a statement.

Hochul told reporters earlier this month that the lobbying efforts had nothing to do with the language not being included in the final budget, saying they just ran out of time, with negotiations focusing instead on a housing deal. Hochul said she and leaders plan to take up the legislation outside of session, which is scheduled to end June 6. The $237 billion state budget was approved April 20.

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Stony Brook Southampton will serve as a satellite pick-up location for Heart of the Hamptons (HOH) Food Pantry every Friday from 10am – 12noon. It began this past Friday in the university’s Fine Arts Parking Lot. Presently, Heart of the Hamptons is located in the Basilica of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary R.C. Church in Southampton Village, but will be moving to their new location in Southampton Village once construction is completed.

Members of the HOH Food Pantry can come to Stony Brook Southampton Campus on Fridays between 10am and 12 noon to pick up a variety of nutritious foods, including non-perishable items like canned soup, cereal, pasta, canned tuna, peanut butter, frozen meat, dairy products and more. Each qualified family will receive three large grocery bags, which contain 40 meals for the week. Last year, Heart of the Hamptons provided nearly 350,000 meals to community members. This year, they are on track to provide 450,000 meals to families in need. Over the last four years, HOH has seen an increase of over 500% in members and requests. For further information click here.

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The Hampton Bays Civic Association will hear updates on Southampton Town’s Battery Energy Storage System code update process and on the town’s upcoming hearing on transferring the former Bel Aire Cove Motel property to the Community Preservation Fund, along with information about Accessory Dwelling Units at its 7 p.m. meeting this evening at the Hampton Bays Senior Center, 25 Ponquogue Ave., Hampton Bays.

Last July residents of Hampton Bays boisterously opposed a large Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) just east of the Shinnecock Canal, during nearly three hours of testimony at a Southampton Town Board hearing.

Tonight’s meeting is at 7pm in the Hampton Bays Senior Center on Ponquoge Avenue.

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Blade, the helicopter charter company, was founded 10 years ago as a way for commuters going between New York and the Hamptons to avoid vehicle traffic.

This May it is introducing a new service, the Hamptons Streamliner, that, starting at $195 a ticket, will take passengers to destinations on eastern Long Island aboard … a bus. Andrew Zucker reports in THE NY TIMES that like Blade’s helicopters, seats on which start at $1,025, its buses are marketed as a luxurious option for Hamptons-goers. Seats can recline up to 45 degrees and passengers will be offered free refreshments like espresso martinis, PopUp Bagels and Sweetgreen salads as they make their way from Manhattan to stops in Southampton, Bridgehampton and East Hampton via the Long Island Expressway.

The 19-passenger coaches, of course, will be subject to the same gridlock and hourslong traffic delays any vehicle can encounter on the expressway — making the onboard perks a main draw, said Roisin Branch, Blade’s chief marketing officer. “This level of service is commensurate to what you would see in private aviation,” she said.

Ms. Branch said that Blade leaders saw a space in the market between more affordable Hamptons bus services like the 54-seat Hampton Jitney or 30-seat Ambassador — tickets for which start at $41 and $64 — and pricier modes of transportation like helicopters, which have drawn mounting complaints from residents of New York City and the east end about noise and other disruptions.

The Hamptons Streamliner is a partnership between Blade and the Jet, a high-end motorcoach service between New York and Washington, D.C., which supplied the two buses being used for the new transit service. (Each bus cost about a million dollars to buy and outfit, said Chad Scarborough, the founder of the Jet.) Operations will start just before Memorial Day weekend and run into the fall.

Hamptons-bound buses will pick up passengers at only one location in Manhattan: Hudson Yards, the neighborhood of luxury apartment buildings, stores and office towers occupied by technology companies like Meta and financial firms like BlackRock and Point 72. Buses returning to Manhattan will stop at an East Side location before ending their route at Hudson Yards.