Editorial: Don't let feud hurt Patchogue

For the past few years, Patchogue has been in the vanguard of downtowns reviving themselves. A large part of that success has been the strong working relationship between Mayor Paul Pontieri and the village board. Sadly, a stark divide over one major element of the revitalization is threatening that progress.

The flash point was essentially a change in a crucial development at the village's Four Corners. Tritec Real Estate had proposed a hotel with retail and office space, plus rental units nearby. But in this economy, financing for the hotel wasn't there. So Tritec proposed 51 more apartments where the hotel would have been, bringing the total to 291. Pontieri -- and this page -- backed that change. Critics saw it as a bait-and-switch. A split board approved it in March, but ongoing legal action still clouds its future.

The fight is now Albany-style ugly. Two trustees on the losing side in March, including the deputy mayor, sent a letter to every household, leveling sharp charges at Pontieri. The mayor responded at length. He's no longer allied with Patchogue First, the party that has governed the village during its recent rise. And he took away the deputy mayor title from the trustee who signed the accusatory letter.

Continued sniping by those who lost the March vote could halt revitalization in its tracks. Key vacancies at the Four Corners are a virtual "don't invest here" sign. That has to get fixed, and the Tritec plan can do it. hN