Suffolk County District Attorney Calls For Legislation To Press Charges On Drug Dealers

American Cruise Lines, which specializes in coastal and river cruises on small ships with a capacity of about 100 “mature and affluent” passengers, has included the Village of Sag Harbor on the itinerary of its Yankee Seaports cruises, which are scheduled to weigh anchor next spring. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that the company’s plans have caught village officials off guard, with those interviewed saying they were only just learning about them via the local rumor mill. “I’m not going to make any special accommodations for them,” said Mayor Tom Gardella, who questioned if the company planned to tie up at Long Wharf or drop anchor out in the bay and ferry passengers to shore. If it is the latter option, he suggested there may be little he could do to stop them, comparing them to the many charters that visit the harbor each summer. “How am I going to stop people from coming into the village?” he asked, suggesting it would be about as easy preventing cars from entering the village via Route 114. Harbormaster Bob Bori said he was also just learning about the company’s plans, saying it had yet to contact him. “How they can advertise without permission is beyond me,” he said. The weeklong cruises, which are advertised on the company’s website, americancruiseline.com, will depart from Boston and conclude in New York City, with stops at Plymouth, Massachusetts; Newport, Rhode Island; New London and Old Saybrook, Connecticut; and Sag Harbor and Port Jefferson along the way. 9 cruises for next year are scheduled from May 6 to October 21, 2024. According to the company’s website, ticket prices range from $5,030 to $8,010 per person, with all passengers accommodated in staterooms with broad views of the passing scenery. ***Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney yesterday announced the indictments of 30 people in a sweeping narcotics case that involved at least one fatal overdose, calling for a “death by dealer” state law that would allow for felony homicide charges in cases resulting in overdoses. “Despite the warnings, despite the carnage, we still get inaction,” Tierney said at a news conference at the Arthur M. Cromarty Court Complex in Riverhead. The Suffolk D.A. was flanked by law enforcement partners and a table that bore some, though not all, the confiscated possessions of the alleged dealers: guns, cash, satchels of cocaine and an animal sedative called “tranq.” Police and investigators also confiscated fentanyl as part of the investigation but said that drug was too lethal for display. Nicholas Spangler reports on Newsday.com that synthetics like fentanyl — cheap, potent and often mixed with other drugs like heroin — helped drive opioid deaths in New York State to nearly triple between 2010 and 2020, and in 2021 there were more than 5,800 such deaths statewide, according to a report last year by NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office. The latest totals from the state Health Department put confirmed opioid overdose deaths on Long Island in 2021 at 699 and 517 in 2022. ***Long Island had a poverty rate in the single digits last year, far lower than the national poverty rate, as well as a median household income far higher than the national median, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released today. Yet the region faces challenges in the real estate market, and a large pocket of the population is in great financial need, some local experts say. Olivia Winslow and Arielle Martinez report on Newsday.com that the new data for 2022 also shows the poverty rate among families headed by single mothers on Long Island continues to be higher than the rest of the population. "The economy remains strong. Inflation is coming under control," said John Rizzo, an e