Islip not interested in new housing near MacArthur

Daily Point

Town favors research, hotel for 179-acre site

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s announcement Wednesday that she’s awarding $150 million for infrastructure improvements for the area south of the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station came as Islip Town and Suffolk County officials are trying to navigate what comes next at the 179-acre site. Previously known as Midway Crossing, the spot has been given a new moniker by some officials — Ronkonkoma South.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine has said he plans to issue a Request for Expressions of Interest in an effort to seek potential new developers for the 48 acres of county land. But to do that, he needs to know what Islip Town — which has zoning power — is willing to put there.

Now he has some idea. In a memo sent to Suffolk officials and obtained by The Point, longtime Islip official Mea Knapp, who works in Supervisor Angie Carpenter’s office, spelled out the town’s interests.

Knapp said Islip’s “least favored uses” include housing, warehouses and outdoor storage.

Uses “deemed appropriate” by the town, Knapp wrote, could include research and development, hotels with or without conference space, ambulatory surgery centers, restaurants, retail, and specialized manufacturing connected to the research uses. Knapp noted that the property could also include ancillary uses like a child care center, fitness club, specialty food shop, parking garage, or convenience market.

Knapp sent the memo to Suffolk Deputy County Executive Jennifer Juengst late last month, noting that her suggestions followed discussions with town board members and officials in the town planning department.

Carpenter told The Point in an interview Wednesday that the town’s effort to provide the county with some guidelines injects “common sense” into the process and represents a sign of how the town and county are working together on Ronkonkoma South.

“Why waste time? You don’t want them to come with some pie-in-the-sky mega warehouse plan when we don’t want a warehouse,” Carpenter said. “We want high-paying jobs that can sustain someone and make sure they can stay here.”

Sources told The Point that Suffolk County officials could use the town’s guidance as the basis for giving potential developers an idea of what they should look to build — or what they should avoid. The newly awarded state money — along with an additional $50 million promised by Suffolk — could go toward improving roadways and utilities or adding parking garages or other infrastructure to bolster any developers’ plans.

Beyond that effort, Carpenter and others at the town have been working on a plan to move Long Island MacArthur Airport’s terminal farther north, so that it’s closer to the Ronkonkoma LIRR station. Hochul said Wednesday that some of the infrastructure funds could go toward a pedestrian walkway to connect a new airport terminal to the LIRR station.

To make that happen, however, the town board has to give its go-ahead. Late last year, the board rejected a plan to seek developers interested in the terminal move.

But Carpenter noted in her remarks Wednesday that members of the town board — including John Lorenzo, whose district includes MacArthur — were present at Hochul’s news conference. Whether that’s a sign that the town board might change its tune remains to be seen. But a lot can change when the state suddenly hands over $150 million.

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Crossroads

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Great Eggs-pectations Point

Eggs-traordinary Increase

Signs about surcharges for egg-based food orders keep popping up at local bagel shops and diners while some supermarkets can’t even keep eggs in stock until the end of the day. At most stores, egg prices are higher than ever.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its consumer price inflation report. Prices for meat, poultry, and fish are up 6.1% over the last 12 months. However, eggs saw an enormous increase of 53% in the same period. The inflation report also reveals the national price of a dozen Grade A eggs in U.S. cities is $4.95, bypassing the previous record of $4.82 set two years ago.

If you plan on buying your eggs with bitcoin today, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data, you would only need 0.00005164 BTC. That seems like pennies — wait, do we still use them? — compared with seeing the price in U.S. dollars.

While bird flu continues to contribute to rising egg prices, some businesses felt they had no option but to raise their prices as they feared incoming tariffs and labor shortages due to deportation policies underway.

As for The Point’s weekly check, a carton of 12 large Grade A white eggs is still $6.99 a carton, the same as last week’s price at the Long Island supermarket we have been monitoring. However, it is worth mentioning that another branch of the same chain store about 8½ miles away has the same cartoon of eggs for $7.19. Good luck trying to protect your nest egg.

— Christine Wallen christine.wallen

Programming Point

As schools go on break next week and the nation celebrates illustrious presidents of the past, The Point also is taking a week off. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday, Feb. 24. Happy Presidents Day!

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