Greater East End coverage is funded in part by Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, raising the expectations of what a community hospital can be.
In the continued effort to prevent Plum Island from becoming a playground for the wealthy, town supervisors and village mayors from across the East End have thrown their support behind Rep. Nick LaLota’s Plum Island National Monument Act, which he introduced in 2023.
Five supervisors and nine mayors from the five East End towns, which together comprise the East End Mayors and Supervisors Association, jointly signed a letter of support last week that was sent to both the the chair of the Congressional Natural Resources Committee and the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
The committee has not yet made its recommendations on the bill which, if approved, would include plans for wildlife sanctuary areas, preservation of the island’s lighthouse, built in 1827, and U.S. Fort Terry, as well educational and research facilities on the island.
The move would establish Plum Island as Long Island’s first national monument. New York City counts five: Governors Island, the Statue of Liberty, African Burial Ground, Castle Clinton and the Stonewall Inn. Fort Stanwix in Rome, N.Y, is also a national monument.
“We view Plum Island as a national treasure, with ecological, historic, and cultural values that extend well beyond the boundaries of our region,” the letter reads. “We believe it is most appropriate to have the federal government fully engaged in our conservation and long-term management efforts.”
“… Additionally, any future development could be negatively affected by sea level rise and coastal erosion, and disrupt natural systems on the island.”
The Plum Island Animal Disease Center had operated at the 822-acre island off Orient since 1954. However, the federal government ordered the facility closed and then moved those functions to Manhattan, Kans., about 55 miles west of Topeka, in 2005.
The Department of Homeland Security was originally required by law to sell Plum Island to the highest bidder. That was until then-Congressman Lee Zeldin successfully passed legislation to repeal that requirement. Rep. LaLota, who took Zeldin’s place as the representative of New York’s 1st Congressional District, stepped in with the 2023 legislation that would protect the entire island as a national monument. LaLota last spoke before the committee in March.
“Last year, I introduced my first bill to protect Plum Island for future generations. Recently, I had the privilege of visiting Plum Island with my colleague from the other side of the aisle, Representative Courtney from Connecticut,” he said. “The visit confirmed the critical need of protecting and preserving the island.
“Over the past 15 months, I’ve spoken to hundreds of constituents and advocacy groups on the important work that is ahead to preserve Plum Island, and I will continue my work to do just that.
“This hearing put us one step closer to protecting and preserving it for years to come.”
The supervisors and mayors said their association believes a national monument designation “would best suit the island and complex’s management needs, while also providing the broadest opportunity to engage local stakeholders in a successful management and public access strategy for the future.”
The Newsday editorial board also expressed their support for the measure last year.
Top: The Plum Island lighthouse, also known as Plum Gut, as seen in 2005. Credit: Mike and Carol McKinney. Photo Courtesy of US Lighthouse Society
