Harbor masters in Smithtown get new HQ

Overlooking the waters of Stony Brook Harbor, a newly completed headquarters now provides Smithtown’s harbor masters with better tools for their daily tasks of patrolling town waters, assisting boaters and maintaining water safety, town officials said.

The harbor masters are part of the town's Public Safety Department under its Waterways and Navigation Division and are responsible for patrolling the town's 57 square miles of waterways, including Smithtown Bay, Nissequogue River, Stony Brook Harbor and Long Island Sound. 

The harbor masters work closely with the U.S. Coast Guard, local fire departments and area police departments, including the Suffolk County Police Department's Marine Bureau, according to Town Public Safety Director Thomas J. Lohmann.

The $945,000 facility, constructed with federal pandemic relief aid, has replaced a structure that became outdated and too cramped for Smithtown's 12-member harbor master crew, according to Lohmann.

“It was a very small office that was never intended for the amount of use and traffic we had inside of it,” Lohmann said.

The new building took roughly a year to design and build amid construction supply shortages, according to Town Parks Director Joseph Arico.

He said the two-story headquarters has modern radio capabilities, office space, a dock where patrol boats can be fueled, a locker room and kitchen space for harbor masters, who run patrols 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Smithtown Councilman Tom McCarthy, who once worked from the old headquarters as an officer in what was then known as the town’s Marine Division, said the new facility was a “well-needed” upgrade.

“The old office we had was probably six feet by six feet," McCarthy said, adding that the new space will make it easier for harbor masters perform their jobs.