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Thursday, August 6, 2026 ~ Volume 138 ~ Issue Number 38 ~ $1.00
County to Refund Drivers for Red Light Camera Fees By Matt Meduri Suffolk County’s Red Light Safety Program was authorized in 2009 and took effect in 2010. For fourteen years, Suffolk drivers faced 216 cameras at various intersections through western Suffolk. After a significant push from Hauppauge Republicans in the County Legislature, the program ended in December 2024. However, what remained was the legal ramifications of the administrative surcharge that was found to have been illegally applied. Beginning in 2013, the $30 administrative fee was tacked onto the $50 fine. A State appeals court ruled in 2024 that the fee was illegal because it violated a “plain reading” of the State law authorizing such programs. State law authorized a $50 fine and a $25 late fee. Now, the County has struck a $57.5 million class-action settlement that will repay drivers up to $36 for those administrative fees. $30 will be for the surcharge itself, $6 for interest. The County has agreed to pay up to $45 million, plus the admin costs of the program. The plaintiffs’ lawyers will receive $12.5 million. Reimbursements per driver could be closer to $20 if all eligible drivers apply on the website, which has not yet been rolled out.
A red light camera at Patchogue Holbrook Road and Furrows Road in Holbrook, December 2024 (Credit - Matt Meduri)
Hundreds Celebrate San Remo Centennial By Matt Meduri Removed from the hustle and bustle of suburban life in Suffolk lies a quiet hamlet nestled in the northeast corner of Kings Park. Directly abutting the Nissequogue River, the community of San Remo was established in 1926. The Sam Remo Property Owners’ Association was formed the same year. The community followed a similar trajectory to Lake Ronkonkoma - a hidden gem turned into a summer colony by affluent city-slickers. Named for Sanremo, a northern Italian municipality on the Mediterranean Sea, San Remo was developed by the New York City-based Smadbeck Corporation, who subdivided the land into lots. Those lots were heavily advertised in Corriere D’America, a newspaper that would later be called Il Progresso that was heavily geared towards the Italian American. Continued on page 10
The entrance to San Remo on St. Johnland Road (Credit - Matt Meduri)
FULL STORIES ON:
County Bans Sale of Synthetic Kratom Page 5
HSW Welcomes New Principal Page 13
Legislators Tour Historic Home on the Nissequogue Page 15