Message From One of the Editors

As our readership continues to grow, so do the inquiries into who we are and why we started The Huntingtonian. I wrote this column to give our readers a better understanding of who we are and why we felt it was important to give the residents of Huntington a different perspective of what is going on in our town.

My husband and I moved to Huntington in 1998 shortly after we attended the Huntington Fall Festival in Heckscher Park. We instantly fell in love with the town and all it had to offer. I loved the quaint villages, the open space and the many farm stands. Sadly, most of them are gone today and have been developed into housing.

We wanted to buy a home in Huntington Village because we loved the historic homes as well as all the opportunities that School District 3 would offer for our future children.

Since open space was so important to us, we quickly realized that we would not be able to afford what we wanted in the village. We began to look in other parts of the town and we settled in a beautiful part of Huntington Station, where we now live. We live in a community with great neighbors and nice size properties. After moving into our new home, our life was nearly perfect and it seemed we found exactly what we were looking for.

Things started to change dramatically  as we became aware of some major issues that would eventually have a significant impact on our quality of life. Specifically including the events that led to the eventual closing of Jack Abrams School; Avalon Bay and the issues surrounding the Revitalization of Huntington Station.

As we began to dig deeper into the facts surrounding these issues, we learned that there was a deep rooted corruption throughout this town. We, along with several others, did our best to relay the information that we were uncovering to the public through various means but the efforts were futile. I considered writing a book, but realized the situation was ongoing and would not be conveyed well in a book. At first the situation was overwhelming to me. I felt that it was conflicting with my most important priority which is my family including my two young children. So I decided it was time to “put my head back in the sand” and go back to the person I was before I stumbled on the sinister aspects of our town. I realized quickly that this was not going to work. I would cringe as I would read blatant lies in other local papers. The arrogance of those who were causing the problems was sickening to me. Why wouldn’t they be arrogant? They have been blatantly abusing the system for decades. My throwing in the towel made me feel tremendously guilty. Service men and woman are loosing life and limb for my freedom and I couldn’t be bothered honoring that because it was inconvenient. I started to feel a sense of obligation to report the truth. My inner struggle continued because it conflicted with what I felt was best for my own family. After careful consideration and much discussion, we decided we would move out of state. The turning point was one evening when my oldest son said to me. “what type of neighborhood are you looking for?” My honest answer was “one just like the neighborhood we live in now”.

It was at that moment that I realized it was time to find a compromise. Despite the challenges, I was determined to make this work. Sharing the truth was important and it didn’t need to take away from my family and change what I loved so much about this town and the people here. Along with others, I turned my passion for research and finding the truth into a business.

I am thrilled by the success of our endeavor so far. The first edition was printed about two years ago and had a circulation of 2000 copies , we now have a print circulation of 20,000 copies and significantly more followers online.

Our next print issue will focus on reminding our readers about what Frank Petrone, Mark Cuthbertson and their cronies have been up to in the past few years. When I reread some of the stories we have published, it reminds me how important it is to let the people of Huntington know about what has been going on. And while I have a love for this entire town, I am especially concerned about the treatment of Huntington Station and the school district 3 community.  If you do not realize that this part of town has been discriminated against, you are not paying attention.

This is not about being a Democrat or Republican or Independence Party member or Working Family member or Liberal or Conservative or about any other background including race, or class or anything else but basic human values and human rights. It is simply about allowing good people to live in peace and making sincere efforts to help those who are most in need.

We are well aware that the current powers that be are terribly offended by what they perceive we are doing to them, what they fail to see is what they are doing to us.

I am hopeful that November will bring some much needed change to our town board and that things will be governed in a more just way.

Ilene Fucci

Huntingtonian Editor & Local Mom