Long Island Community Hospital workers face Friday deadline for new contract

Long Island Morning Edition

The MTA’s operating expenses will climb 3% to nearly $20 billion in 2025, and it’s planning for a 4% fare and toll hike next year to help pay for them, officials said this week.

On the same day that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a congestion pricing plan that will charge most motorists $9 for driving below 60th Street in Manhattan during peak hours, it also unveiled a new financial plan that includes a $19.9 billion operating budget next year, and plans for fare and toll increases in 2025 and 2027. Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that the updated financial plan and proposed budget, which will be voted on by the MTA Board next month, did include some good news. Higher-than-expected ridership on the Long Island Rail Road, whose ridership reached 88% of pre-COVID levels last month, is contributing to a slightly improved financial picture at the MTA, compared with its last financial update in July. A projected 2027 deficit was reduced by $50 million, and the agency is on track to meet a $400 million annual cost-cutting target.

Although the MTA Board would have to vote on a rate increase, the financial plan assumes the agency will raise fares and tolls next year, returning to its schedule of adjusting rates for inflation every-other-year. After sticking to that schedule for more than a decade, the MTA did not raise rates in 2020, 2021 or 2022, citing pandemic-related affordability concerns.

Fares and tolls did go up by 4% and 6%, respectively, last year. But MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber points out that, following a 10% reduction in the cost of a monthly LIRR ticket in 2022, many Long Islanders are paying less for their commutes than they did five years ago.

A monthly ticket between Hicksville and Penn Station currently costs $287. A one-way peak ticket from Ronkonkoma to Penn costs $20.50. Tolls at MTA crossings including the Queens Midtown Tunnel and Throgs Neck Bridge are $6.94 for E-ZPass holders.

***

Firefighters tackled a blaze at a Mattituck house yesterday morning that left one person dead, one injured and a family with four small children displaced, their home in ruins.

According to Southold Town Police Chief Steve Grattan, Suffolk County arson detectives found a body at the home. The individual has not been positively identified, but is believed to be the missing adult male, he said.

The Suffolk County homicide squad is now handling the investigation, Grattan said. Lisa Finn reports on Patch.com that the community has opened its hearts to help those left homeless: A GoFundMe, "Support Erick Morales' Family After Fire," was created by Audrey Dwyer. "Early this morning, one of our local families suffered a terrible loss. A fire swept through the house of Erick Morales. They lost everything.”

According to Grattan, a 911 call came in at about 9:45 a.m. about a fire at a residential home near Sound and Westphalia Avenues in Mattituck. The first responding officer arrived at the scene within one minute and observed that a portion of the house was already heavily engulfed in flames and the fire was spreading rapidly, he said.

One person was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center for precautionary evaluation, Grattan said.

The structure suffered significant damage and collapsed, Grattan said.

Residents of the home told police 13 people from two families live in the building, although most had left for work or school before the fire broke out, Grattan said.

The home, which the chief described as a "complete and total loss," sits behind Amagansett Building Materials, along Middle Road, also known as County Road 48. The business has a lumberyard adjacent to the home that caught fire. Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the lumber yard, Grattan said. By about noon, firefighters in a bucket raised high above the charred resident were dousing the smoldering remains.

***

The Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce will officially launch tomorrow evening with a reception at Atlantis Banquets in Riverhead, bolstered by support from the Guatemalan consulate in Riverhead. Juliana Holguin reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the founders aim to kickstart their plans to support local entrepreneurs and those aspiring to become business owners. According to Linda Vega, president and founder of the chamber, the idea to unite entrepreneurs from her country into one entity was conceived a year and a half ago. Since then, they have quietly worked on identifying local businesses and their needs and are now ready to introduce the community to the benefits of joining the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce.

After the launch on Thursday, the board members of the new Chapina Commerce Chamber will embark on numerous plans they have in mind: seminars, workshops, keynote lectures, and all types of advice for local entrepreneurs. They dream of the chamber becoming a constant resource and information hub for business owners.

***

Construction of a hotel, playground and amphitheater at the Riverhead town square could start by next summer. Dawn Thomas, who oversees the town’s planning and economic development, told the Riverhead Town Board last Thursday that development on the multifaceted project, which is receiving tens of millions of dollars in public and private investment, could start in August 2025 with the demolition of the existing building on the east side of the square to make way for a new mixed-use building with a boutique hotel and condominiums. The groundbreaking on the construction of the public space and the playground planned for the square could begin as soon as September 2025. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Thomas said a completed agreement with the town’s designated master developer for the project, J. Petrocelli Development Associates, is expected by the end of this month. The town square project in Riverhead has been years in the making and has six major components: the upper town square abutting East Main Street; the lower town square and playground, which is currently a parking lot; the amphitheater on the East End Arts campus; streetscape improvements to East Main Street, including the narrowing East Main Street; the boutique hotel on the east side of the square; and the multi-level parking garage north of East Main Street. “So much work has been going on for the last six months, and I know it doesn’t look like it outwardly,” Thomas said. “And so we wanted to really just update and make this sort of a regular occurrence so that everyone can see where we’re at and what’s happening.”

***

The cost of groceries to make Thanksgiving dinner at home will be a little cheaper than it was last year, but still 19% higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report. Tory N. Parrish reports in NEWSDAY that the nationwide average cost of groceries for a classic Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people is $58.08, a 5% decrease from the price last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 39th annual Thanksgiving survey of grocery prices.

It’s the second consecutive year of declines, after soaring inflation pushed Thanksgiving dinner costs to a record high of $64.06 in 2022, according to the Washington, D.C.-based group's report, which was released today.

“We are seeing modest improvements in the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for a second year, but America’s families, including farm families, are still being hurt by high inflation,” federation President Zippy Duvall said in a statement.

Most of the menu items on the federation’s list have declined in price since last year, mostly due to price volatility in crops, but the star of Thanksgiving dinner — the turkey — made the biggest difference to the overall cost of the meal, the federation reported.

The average price of a 16-pound turkey is $25.67, or $1.68 a pound, a 6% decline from the cost last year, according to the report.

“The turkey is traditionally the main attraction on the Thanksgiving table and is typically the most expensive part of the meal,” federation economist Bernt Nelson said in a statement. “The American turkey flock is the smallest it’s been since 1985 because of avian influenza, but overall demand has also fallen, resulting in lower prices at the grocery store for families planning a holiday meal.”

Among the grocery items included in the federation’s classic-dinner menu were a 16-pound turkey, 12 ounces of cubed stuffing mix, two frozen pie crusts, a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix, 1 pound of frozen peas and 3 pounds of sweet potatoes.

***

Wonder why Cutchogue has its own Parks? The Cutchogue Civic Association hosts a presentation by the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Park District Commissioners at its monthly meeting tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. in the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library. They will discuss the park district’s history, operations, tax structure, budget and vision for the future. The meeting is free and open to the public. More details are at cutchoguecivicassociation.org

The Cutchogue Civic Association is a not-for-profit, community-based organization whose mission is to inform and educate residents about issues of community interest or concern. The association provides a neutral forum that promotes discussion, collaboration and the expression of diverse ideas.

***

Union workers at Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue are facing a Friday deadline to reach a new contract that must include updated staffing ratios, the union said. Victor Ocasio reports in NEWSDAY that workers at the hospital, represented by the Brookhaven Memorial Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, said although negotiations had been productive, the staff’s current contract expired on Oct. 31. Both management and the union agreed to extend the contract until Nov. 22.

The 306-bed hospital was the last fully independent hospital on Long Island before it merged with NYU Langone Health in 2022. The hospital remains a separate corporation from NYU Langone, but is an affiliate of the Manhattan-based health system.

"Long Island Community Hospital is at the table in good faith negotiating this contract and remains committed to supporting our nurses as they continue to provide quality and compassionate care for our patients," James Iorio, director of media relations for NYU Langone Health, said in a statement.

Among the line items the union is seeking in the contract are increases to wages, expansion of medical coverage, and updates to staffing ratios for patient-facing staff, said Desiree Moore, president of the union and a registered nurse at Long Island Community.

"Cost of living [has] gone up exponentially in Suffolk, so we definitely want a fair market wage to reflect that, but we also want to be competitive with our surrounding hospitals and NYU facilities," Moore said.

The union is seeking a two-year contract, Moore said, while hospital management is seeking a three-year agreement, the same length as the union’s current expired contract.

The Brookhaven Memorial Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, which represents 700 employees at the hospital, including nurses, physician assistants, respiratory therapists, and lab technicians, is an affiliate of the New York State United Teachers union.