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MTA Bridge and Tunnel officers, the NYPD, and other law-enforcement agencies seized 286 vehicles and made 58 arrests during a September crackdown on ghost plates and persistent toll violators, officials said yesterday. Michael O’Keeffe reports in NEWSDAY that the multiagency task force cracking down on deadbeat drivers has conducted 44 operations so far this year that have resulted in 2,449 vehicles impounded and 521 arrests, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said. The violators have amassed approximately $17 million in unpaid tolls throughout the year, officials said.
“September saw six operations where Bridge and Tunnel officers joined our regional partners to fight against the ghost plates some people use to avoid paying their tolls,” MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Catherine Sheridan said. “This behavior won’t be tolerated. Pay your tolls, don’t risk losing your car.”
A ghost plate is a license plate that is obscured or unreadable, which drivers use to avoid tolls and traffic cameras.
Authorities impounded the 2,449 vehicles for a variety of reasons, including suspended registrations due to unpaid tolls, unregistered vehicles and suspended licenses.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels, through tolls and fees collected, has recovered more than 98% of the tolls owed by recidivist toll scofflaws since the inception of its DMV Registration Suspension Program.
This enforcement aligns with a coordinated strategy by MTA Bridges and Tunnels, New York City and state law-enforcement partners, who announced a joint effort against obstructed and counterfeit license plates last year. Since the start of the Open Road Tolling program, Bridge and Tunnel officers have interdicted more than 11,000 vehicles for persistent nonpayment of tolls.
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Boats are again able to safely transit the Shinnecock Canal after a county contractor completed repairs to a broken gate in the canal’s mechanical lock that had created hazardous conditions since early last month. The U.S. Coast Guard and Southampton Town Marine Patrol said that the lock and tidal gates were again operating normally as of Wednesday, October 2, after only about three weeks of disruption.
Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the canal has two tidal gates that open and close with the pressure of the tide flowing between Peconic Bay and Shinnecock Bay. When the tidal gates are closed, a mechanical lock allows boats to transit from the higher water of Shinnecock Bay to the lower water of Peconic Bay. The lock gate had broken on September 11, rendering the lock inoperable. In order to make the repairs, the contractor was required to build a cofferdam around the lock doors and pump out the water so that repair crews could work on the door. To keep the canal passable for emergency responses, the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, which operates and maintains the canal, chained one of the tidal gates open. Officially, the canal was not closed to boat traffic, but the Marine Patrol and Coast Guard had issued a notice to boaters that transiting could be dangerous. The 4,000-foot-long canal, constructed in 1884, sees upward of 27,000 boat trips each year.
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The Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Noyac is among the three national refuges participating in the Walk for the Wild program. As reported on 27east.com, Walk for the Wild is a time to celebrate the commitment to deepening human connections with nature and to protecting the thriving ecosystems on which we depend. The goal is to get people moving a distance of 5K on behalf of national wildlife refuges during National Wildlife Refuge Week, October 13 through 19 and to donate to the nonprofits that support the National Wildlife Refuge System. It also provides an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of the work done on wildlife refuges.
Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge, on the north side of Noyac Rd, protects 187 acres. The refuge is located near Sag Harbor, and includes a peninsula one and a half miles long, locally known as Jessup’s Neck, which separates Little Peconic Bay from Noyac Bay.
For more information about the refuge, go to fws.gov/refuge/elizabeth-alexandra-morton or call (631) 725-7598.
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Elementary school students with developmental or cognitive disabilities in the Patchogue-Medford school district will soon be able to apply skills learned in school directly to life at home.
Maureen Mullarkey reports in NEWSDAY that the district will officially open its new daily life skills apartment classroom at Barton Elementary School in Patchogue for its Academic and Career Explorers (ACES) special education students on Oct. 18., allowing students to learn daily life skills with the individualized attention they require.
Lori Goldstein, director of special education, said the idea for the space started about two years ago when teachers shared parents’ concerns about their children’s abilities to perform household tasks.
“The teachers were like, I know they can do these,” said Goldstein. “We just have to show them.”
The ACES program serves students with developmental or cognitive disabilities, such as autism or Down syndrome. While children in general education could be taught certain skills at home, ACES students may need more practice and different methods of teaching in order to learn, Goldstein said.
For example, the curriculum provides different types of visual support as well as reinforcements to encourage students to act independently. Some children use augmentative speech, such as use of an iPad, to communicate.
“When someone has a developmental disability, we have to teach them in a different way,” she said. “So that’s what we’re hoping to accomplish with this space.
Jessica Lukas, Patchogue Schools assistant superintendent of special education and pupil services added, “Our goal in special education is always to create a student that has the most independence as possible. These are skills that are necessary for life learned, long independence that’s to help the families. That’s always our goal, but also to help the student be successful.”
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The first two recreational marijuana dispensaries in Riverhead are set to open within the next two months after the town eased zoning regulations earlier this year, according to officials at both companies. Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that Riverhead is one of four Long Island towns allowing marijuana sales along with Babylon, Brookhaven and Southampton. The shops would join three other retail dispensaries that have opened so far, all in the town of Babylon.
Both would be second locations for the businesses.
Strain Stars, which opened in East Farmingdale in 2023, is planning to open in a vacant 14,400 square foot commercial building at the corner of Route 58 and Kroemer Avenue in Riverhead. Beleaf, which opened in Brooklyn last month, is converting a 3,200 square foot space in the Calverton Commons complex on Middle Country Road in Calverton for a dispensary.
A review by Riverhead’s planning department shows the locations comply with town zoning rules that allow dispensaries within 1,000 feet from homes if they lie on commercial corridors, including Route 58 and Middle Country Road. The Town of Riverhead approved the zoning change in March after acknowledging that earlier versions were overly restrictive.
Renovations are underway at both locations, which must obtain certificates of occupancy and a final state inspection and approval before opening their doors.
Dispensaries opening could inject the Town of Riverhead with tax revenue.
Under state law, a 4% tax goes to the municipality where a dispensary is located. A quarter of that revenue goes to counties and the rest goes to the town, city or village.
Babylon Town has collected more than $1.8 million from cannabis sales from two shops. A third dispensary, Planet Nugg, opened in East Farmingdale last month.
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The Restoration Advisory Board for the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton will hold its next meeting on Oct. 29, at the Residence Inn in Riverhead. The Tuesday night meeting is scheduled to start at 6:15 p.m. and end at 9 p.m.
As reported on Riverheadlocal.com, there will be an open house session prior to the meeting, beginning at 5:30 p.m. This session will feature informational displays and representatives from the Navy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The Residence Inn is at 2012 Old Country Road in Riverhead.
The public can attend the October 29th Restoration Advisory Board meeting in person, by phone, or virtually through the free webinar tool Microsoft Teams. Virtual attendees can join the webinar up to 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.
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Fall migration season is underway, meaning thousands of birds will leave their summer homes in the Northeast and travel along the eastern seaboard to points south for the winter. Most migrating birds tend to hug the coast of North America’s main landmass in the fall, but some birds, particularly raptors or birds of prey, follow the chain of coastal islands from Canada and New England.
“Being on the North Fork, we do get the migrants that just follow the chain of islands, you know, Fishers Island, Plum Island, that archipelago. We still get a lot of migrants coming through,” said Jennifer Murray, educator and naturalist at Turtleback Environmental Education Center of Peconic.
This can be a dangerous time for these birds. The weather is unsettled and there is the constant threat of predators, coupled with light pollution and other man-made threats.
Amanda Olsen in THE SUFFOLK TIMES reports that one of the biggest ways people can help migrating birds is by supporting and observing the national Audubon Society’s Lights Out initiative. This involves turning off outdoor lights between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., when most birds are migrating. Other actions include using downward-facing exterior lights.
“Most of the birds are flying at night, and they get disoriented by the lights and can go off-course or get confused … and fly into buildings. So, reducing light pollution in general is key,” Ms. Murray said.
Placing window alert bird decals on windows is another helpful intervention that prevents bird strikes. Birds cannot perceive glass, and reflections on the surface make it look like more trees or sky. “The birds see the reflection of vegetation in the windows, and a lot of times, they’re looking to almost behind them for a predator,” Ms. Murray said. “So, they’re relying on that peripheral vision. They’re not looking straight into the window. This is a major issue throughout the country, where thousands of birds can die in a single night.”
Specific to this time of year, when homeowners begin to put up Halloween decor, there are some common decorations that can pose a danger to birds and other wildlife. Birds and bats frequently become tangled in fake spiderwebs. Strobing lights can have an even greater disorienting effect than standard outdoor lighting.
Migration forecasts and maps for birds are available online at
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