Photo credit – Matt Meduri
In May, Congressman Nick LaLota (R, NY-01) announced that he had secured $1.38 million for flood mitigation to improve stormwater infrastructure in Kings Park and Smithtown. $1 million is set to renovate the stormwater infrastructure on Main Street in Smithtown and the remaining $384,800 is set to improve similar infrastructure for the Kings Park LIRR Business District Stormwater Infrastructure Project.
The funding was secured from the Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill that was signed into law in March.
Smithtown renovations have been necessitated by antiquated stormwater infrastructure that is unable to handle the large and frequent amounts of rainfall, causing basement floods in Main Street businesses and sending road runoff into the Nissequogue River tributary nearby.
Kings Park renovation will reduce stormwater contamination in the Long Island Sound Watershed.
Congressman LaLota joined Smithtown elected officials and stakeholders at Tide Park on Tuesday afternoon, just off the Route 25 municipal parking lot utilized by residents and businesses where ground will break to install sixteen drainage pools and five catch basins.
“When I was first elected, I told Supervisor Wehrheim how much I love the Town of Smithtown, and he replied, ‘Show me the money,’” LaLota remarked humorously. “And we’re here today to present $1.384 million to the Town of Smithtown for very much-needed projects here.”
LaLota said that while some issues put before the federal government are “quite big and strategic” as they relate to issues of inflation, immigration, and foreign policy, “preserving the quality of life and the affordability in great towns like Smithtown” are otherwise universally agreeable.
“We have to make proper investments into our community to ensure it remains an affordable, beautiful place to live and work,” said LaLota, adding that “too many of our families” are moving out of state because they feel there are “better opportunities” elsewhere.
“But we want them to stay here, and we have to do things at various levels of government to keep people here to ensure Long Island remains an awesome place for us all to be,” added LaLota. He mentioned similar efforts from State representatives, including $900,000 procured by Senator Mario Mattera (R-St. James) and $200,000 by Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-St. James) for quality-of-life improvements.
“This parking lot is the lot that services all of these businesses on Main Street [in Smithtown], so this infrastructure is going to be very beneficial to those businesses,” said Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R-Kings Park) (pictured above). “Unfortunately, when we get two or three inches of rainfall, their basements flood. That’s going to be rectified. There’s also an environmental value here. These drainage structures under the parking lot are over thirty years old. New drainage structures will drain the water so that it will not run onto Main Street, and ultimately into the Nissequogue River.”
Wehrheim added that “local government cannot afford to do these massive projects,” requiring help from higher levels of government. He said that with leaders from Congress, Suffolk County, and New York State, Smithtown is approaching $120 million worth of capital approved since 2018, calling that latest check “monumental.”
“We’re in the process of sewering all three business districts,” said Wehrheim. “St. James is almost complete, Kings Park is underway, and County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) has dedicated $101 million in the 2025-2027 capital budget to sewer Main Street in Smithtown.”
“When I said ‘show me the money,’ Congressman LaLota came to Smithtown and showed us the money,” Wehrheim quipped.
Senator Mario Mattera, Ranking Member on the Energy Committee (pictured below), said that LaLota “cares” about Smithtown and the environment.
“We [Smithtown] are finally coming into the Twenty-First Century with help from our great leaders,” said Mattera. “We don’t need the drainage going into the Nissequogue River and we don’t need that freshwater and saltwater intrusion. We need to make sure that we’re replenishing our aquifer. We are all here to keep our environment clean.”
Mattera also mentioned, as a seven-year member on the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) Board, that it’s important to him that Suffolk County and Smithtown have “the cleanest, purest water for generations to come.”
“Infrastructure is not pretty, it’s not something to point at and say ‘look how attractive that project is.’ It’s actually quite dirty and messy,” said Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick (pictured above). “But infrastructure is what makes everything else possible. Once this project is completed, the quality of life will continue to improve here in Smithtown.”
Barbara Franco, Executive Director for the Greater Smithtown Chamber of Commerce (pictured below), spoke on the project as well, calling it a “significant” day for Smithtown.
“This project is providing state-of-the-art parking for our local residents, small businesses, and it’s monumental for us,” said Franco, adding that the renovations to the Route 25 municipal lot “will take Smithtown up another notch by accommodating a crowd of visitors and creating a walkable downtown business district.”
During the round of questions, Supervisor Wehrheim addressed just how substantial the rainfall has become in recent years.
“It’s no longer an inch-and-a-half of rain, which is what these drainage structures were built for. It’s three, sometimes four inches, over just a couple of days. These drainage structures are failing,” said Wehrheim. “Once this water floods out this parking lot, it gets pitched towards Main Street, and it winds up going into the backs and basements of these buildings.”
Wehrheim said that new drainage structures have already been implemented in parts of downtown Smithtown, including behind Napper Tandy’s Irish Pub. The new drainage system is “calculated to handle these three-to-four-inch rainstorms.”
Wehrheim also said that road runoff flowing into the Nissequogue River contains contaminants, such as oil that drips from vehicles during transit.
In terms of how runoff will be treated, Senator Mattera said that wells with Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) systems will treat the water. AOP systems are capable of removing contaminants such as 1-4 dioxane and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), two substances often referred to as “forever chemicals,” as they are virtually indestructible and found almost everywhere.
Mattera and company also mentioned that the project will generate “good-paying” union trade jobs.
LaLota added that of the eight towns within the First Congressional District, the $1.4 million check for Smithtown is “one of the bigger ones.”
Other elected officials present were Smithtown Councilmembers Tom Lohmann (R-Smithtown), Lisa Inzerillo (R-Kings Park), Thomas J. McCarthy (R-Nissequogue), Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), and Suffolk County Clerk Vincent Puleo (R-Nesconset).
Elected officials took a stroll through Chop Shop Bar & Grill, located directly adjacent to Tide Park and the Route 25 municipal lot just north of Main Street. The Messenger spoke with general manager Melbin Rivera on how his business has been affected by the antiquated stormwater infrastructure.
Rivera, who has been the general manager at Chop Shop for three years, says that the stormwater levels have increased dramatically in that short time period.
“Lately, it’s been a complete disaster. It’s not normal; it’s not something you expect,” Rivera told The Messenger. “The big problem [from flooding] is the air quality inside the restaurant.” Rivera says that dirty water caught in the restaurant’s twelve-inch crawlspace under the floor creates musty air that ruins Chop Shop’s atmosphere.
“Lucky for us, we don’t have a basement,” said Rivera, indicating the aforementioned space where rainwater collects in times of flooding.
“It’s great that they’re doing this project,” he said, citing that “temporary solutions” only go so far.
Pumping water out of small crawlspaces can cost thousands of dollars, and remedying a basement flood can pose an astronomical cost to a business, as well as disturbed schedules, storage, and business hours.
Chop Shop Bar & Grill is located at 47 East Main Street in Smithtown and can be reached at 631-360-3383.
