Long Island briefs

WANTAGH

Court denies appeal by strip club owner

The state's highest court has denied an appeal by strip club owner Billy Dean, leaving the opening of his planned Mile High Club in Wantagh in limbo.

New York State Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman decided on Tuesday to deny the motion filed in March.

Dean appealed the February ruling by the New York State Appellate Division justice panel that affirmed the Hempstead Town appeals board's denial of a cabaret permit for a club with a "Las Vegas Style" feel on Sunrise Highway.

The license for the Wantagh venue would have allowed live music, dancing and entertainment, but prohibited topless or nude entertainment.

"The Court of Appeals was rock solid on the law, and the decision does the 'right thing' by area homeowners," Supervisor Kate Murray said in a statement. Dean's attorney, William Cohn of Uniondale, did not respond to requests for comment.

Dean and partner Rori Gordon in October 2011 unsuccessfully sued the town appeals board and its seven members in State Supreme Court and then appealed to the appellate division for denying the cabaret license.

The denial reversed the board's approval of Dean's application more than a year earlier.

Dozens of residents opposed the club because of its proximity to a residential neighborhood.

Dean owns Billy Dean's Showtime Cafe in North Bellmore, which he bills as "Long Island's Number 1 Strip Club."

The town appeals board has yet to decide on a petition for a cabaret permit renewal for the North Bellmore location; the permit expired March 28, 2012.

ISLANDWIDE

Lane closures for re-striping overnight

An $8.4 million project that delivers new pavement markings to various state roadways on Long Island is underway, the state Department of Transportation said.

The pavement-marking work requires night and off-peak short-term lane closures on roadways throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties, the agency said in a news release Wednesday.

Overall, 27 locations on several roads will be re-striped "to assure proper visibility and maintain safe traffic movement and vehicle operation on Long Island," the release said.

New pavement markings will be provided on the following state roadways: the Sagtikos, Sunken Meadow, Bethpage, Ocean, Meadowbrook and Wantagh parkways, and on state roads 25, 25A, 25B/Hillside Avenue, 25C/Union Turnpike, 27, 27A, 102, 109, 110, 111, 112, 231 and 878/Nassau Expressway.

As with most roadwork projects, the operation is weather-dependent and may be canceled, postponed or prolonged due to inclement weather, the agency said.

Drivers are urged to be alert and careful when approaching work-zone areas.

Up-to-date traffic and travel information is available by calling 511 or visiting 511NY.org. Motorists also can find information at informny.com and on their handheld communication devices at informny.mobi.

FREEPORT

Immigrant laborers to get health advice

Immigrant day laborers who gather at a hiring center in Freeport will receive health-safety advice for more than a year under a new program seeking to guide them in obtaining the medical care they need.

Pulse of NY, a Levittown nonprofit that focuses on health care issues, is using a $20,000 grant from the Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund to cover the cost of the program, which entails sending a bilingual health care expert to meet with workers every other week at the shape-up site known as the Freeport Trailer.

The outreach effort, which started in March and will last 18 months, aims to connect those workers with resources where they can seek treatment; to discuss how they can prevent injuries and to teach them their rights as patients, said Ilene Corina, Pulse of NY's president.

"We found that people who don't speak English, specifically the Hispanic or Latino community, either avoid care or are ignored and feel vulnerable," Corina said, "and they have the right to the same outcomes as everybody else."

The help is welcome, said Liz O'Shaughnessy, director of CoLoKi, the nonprofit that maintains the trailer.

"The guys that come to the trailer seem to be lost in the system, and they are workers providing valuable service to the local economy," O'Shaughnessy said. "They need to know how to go about getting help for any injuries they get on the job or just medical care they need in life."

KINGS PARK

Farmers market opens Sunday

The Kings Park Farmers Market is slated to open for the season on Sunday.

The market, started in 2011 by Kings Park Civic Association members Aly Elish-Swartz and Anne Marie Nedell, features baked goods, produce and seafood, among others.

"We're very excited to have the market start up again," said Elish-Swartz. "It has given back to the community in so many ways by offering locally grown produce, donating fresh produce to the food pantry in Kings Park and hosting a multitude of fundraisers."

New this year is grass-fed beef from Thera Farms in Ronkonkoma. Past vendors are set to return, including Laurie's Granola and Kalypso Greek Yogurt, as well as fruits and vegetables from Fink's Country Farm in Manorville; breads and pies from Blue Duck Bakery of Southampton and Southold; pretzels from Bearberry and plants and flowers from Garden Fusion.

The market's opening day will also feature acoustic rock band Time Passages and face-painting and arts and crafts for children by Abrakadoodle.

The market will be held Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through mid-November at the municipal parking lot, on Route 25A at Church Street, across from the Kings Park Fire Department.

For more information, contact market manager Bernadette Martin, director of Long Beach-based Friends & Farmers Inc., at bmartin@ligreenmarket.org.

GLEN COVE

Council OKs $7M capital budget

Glen Cove passed a $7 million capital budget Tuesday night that includes slightly more than $4.6 million of new borrowing.

"We have infrastructure needs, there are a lot of repairs," Mayor Reginald Spinello said at a City Council meeting on Tuesday. "There's a lot of things in our infrastructure that are aging, and we need to pay attention to that."

Spinello said the city needs to do more capital spending and will continue to address its infrastructure needs next year.

The largest item is a $3 million ferry terminal building at the waterfront that will be funded with $1.8 million in grants and $1.2 million in borrowing. The ferry terminal is seen as key in a planned mixed-use waterfront development called Garvies Point.

Other large items include $1 million for street improvements, $500,000 for a new water well, $300,000 for park improvements, $350,000 for improvements to the firehouse and $345,000 for sanitation trucks and a dump truck with a plow. Some smaller items include $100,000 to upgrade water meters with radio transmitters, $81,000 for two police vehicles and $60,000 for golf carts.

The city borrows using short-term debt instruments called bond anticipation notes, or BANs, that it typically refinances at a later date with long-term bonds.

The city currently has $38.7 million of bonds and $19 million of outstanding BANs, according to the city comptroller.

BROOKHAVEN TOWN

Volunteers sought for Saturday cleanup

Brookhaven officials are seeking volunteers to help clean up the town on Saturday.

Volunteers are needed to pick up litter, clean roads, rivers and lakes, and revitalize parks during the seventh annual Great Brookhaven Cleanup. It is part of a national cleanup effort that drew more than 2.3 million participants in more than 15,000 communities in 2012.

Supplies such as gloves, trash bags and pickers are available through today from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Brookhaven Town Hall, 1 Independence Hill, Farmingville.

Individual volunteers or groups may register at the town website, brookhaven.org, or by calling 631-451-8696. Registration ends at noon today.

Two members join development agency

Two new members have officially joined Brookhaven Town's Local Development Corp. and Industrial Development Agency.

Michael Kelly, principal of Kelly Development Corporation of Patchogue, and Martin Callahan III, partner and vice president of National Computerized Agencies in Coram, had been appointed to the unpaid positions by the Brookhaven Town Board.

Kelly, of Stony Brook, and Callahan, of Miller Place, replaced Gasper Celauro and Peter Moloney, both of whom resigned in recent months.

Town Supervisor Edward P. Romaine said in a statement that Kelly and Callahan "bring a wealth of real estate development and business experience to the boards of the Brookhaven IDA and Brookhaven LDC."

The seven-member LDC and IDA, which share the same members and meet monthly, consider and award applications for town economic assistance, such as tax-free loans.

On Wednesday, the IDA accepted applications for assistance for a proposed extended-stay hotel in Ronkonkoma and a planned 74-unit apartment complex in Port Jefferson. Both applications face further review, including public hearings.

COMMACK

Gas station owners cited for tree removal

Operators of a Commack gas station removed trees from its rear buffer without proper permits, according to a violation notice.

The Smithtown Town Building Department issued the violation notice last month to Alfred Properties Corp. at the gas station, at 2207 Jericho Tpke., said town building director Joseph Arico. The violation notice meant that they had to immediately stop cutting trees, he said.

The operators received a building permit to install tanks on the property in February, but did not receive a permit to remove the trees, said Arico.

The property came before the Smithtown Town Planning Board in March, after Garden City-based Bolla LI Operating Corp. requested a zone change, from wholesale service industry to neighborhood business, to demolish structures at the site of a former gas station and build a new 24-hour gas station and convenience store.

Eugene DeNicola, a Sayville attorney, representing Bolla was not immediately available for comment. Neither representatives from Alfred Properties Corp., which records show has an office in Westhampton Beach, nor Bolla CEO and president Harry Singh could be reached.

Smithtown Planning Board member Conrad A. Chayes Sr. said he visited the site and "saw a substantial pile of cut branches and tree trunks" in the rear buffer near neighboring homes. "No matter how many little bushes they plant, it would take a long time for them to replace what was removed."

Chayes said he planned on "grilling" Bolla representatives about why the trees were removed, adding, "It's certainly not going to help their application."

CENTERPORT

Jen Chapin returns to perform May 24

Harry Chapin's daughter, Jen, is coming back to her hometown area to perform a concert to benefit an anti-poverty group founded by the legendary folk music star whose hits included "Cat's in the Cradle."

Jen Chapin will perform at 7 p.m. May 24 at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Roman Catholic Church in Centerport to raise funds for WhyHunger, which her father and Bill Ayres, a former Catholic priest, founded in 1975. Chapin was killed in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway in 1981 at the age of 38.

"It's truly meaningful for me to perform at this beautiful hometown church on the Long Island Sound, and to play a benefit for WhyHunger there is all the more potent," said Chapin, who grew up in Huntington and lives in Brooklyn. "Our Lady Queen of Martyrs has held so many memories for me and for many loved ones, and I hope we can gather many old friends for the show to enjoy, and join in the fight for food justice."

Chapin, who was 10 when her father died, said that returning to the Huntington area strikes a deep chord for her and memories of her father. "I am still very emotionally tied to Huntington," she said.

Ayres, who is executive director of the Manhattan-based WhyHunger, said, "Carrying on Harry's legacy through music and activism, Jen's longtime commitment to WhyHunger has helped us raise tremendous funds and awareness for our work over the years."

WhyHunger runs a national hunger hotline. Tickets are $25.