Patchogue has seen tremendous growth over the last several years. What was once a struggling downtown area is now alive and well. There are chic new apartments, great trendy restaurants, and cute shops lining Main Street. Restaurants and nightlife have once again returned and it’s all been great for the Patchogue economy. A recent Newsday article noted that Patchogue has seen a 700 million dollar economic boom from 2000 to 2017.
While this is all good news, there are some issues with Patchogue’s exploding economic scene, many of the local restaurants transition to pubs and bars late at night. Often, these restaurants remove tables to create extra space to fit more bar patrons and accommodate dancing. This has led to overcrowding which in turn has led to safety issues. When you mix alcohol into any equation you have a recipe for disaster.
Often in situations like this, we see dangerous conditions such as wet slippery floors develop. This presents a slipping hazard and can lead to a visit to the Emergency Room. Another issue we see in situations like this is the overserving of alcohol which can lead to several more issues; violent behavior increases when a person is intoxicated, resulting in more assaults, and there is an even greater chance of slipping, tripping, and falling when you are intoxicated as your coordination is diminished.
To combat the issue of overcrowding, the Town of Patchogue has recently passed a new ordinance making it illegal to remove tables from a restaurant without a permit. This is aimed at cutting down on crowds.
Another issue that arises when a town has an active bar scene is drunk driving. In one recent incident, a drunk driver was arrested for driving the wrong way on Main Street. In another incident, a drunk driver crashed into a building. As you can see, drunk driving is a danger to everyone, not just other drivers, so it’s important to always be vigilant of automobile drivers.
Another issue in Patchogue is increased criminal activity. With the influx of people into the area, there has been a rise in certain crimes, including car break-ins. So, always be sure to take all valuables out of your car and lock your car doors. It’s also best to park your car in well-lit areas.
The economic growth in Patchogue is something that we all should enjoy, however, it’s always a good thing to exercise a little caution.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.
For many, the Autumn season on Long Island is the best season. The temperature ranges from crisp to comfortable, Maple trees create a vibrant assortment of reds and oranges, and apple picking and fall festivals are abundant all over the island. We are excited to be a part of multiple Long Island communities and wanted to inform you of some upcoming events that can be a lot of fun for the whole family.
Hosted by Festivals on the Bay at Tanner Park Beach, Fall on the Bay is one of the biggest and most exciting Fall Events on Long Island. The event will be hosted on October 20 & 21 and tickets can be purchased here.
The event will be supporting local businesses and will feature live music, food trucks restaurants and a pumpkin beer tent. For kids, there will be a Bounce Castle Maze, hay rides and a Halloween themed “Spook Walk”. Oh and did we mention that the price of the ticket includes free parking, food, beer tastings and access to all of the different attractions mentioned above? If you have any questions you contact Festivals on the Bay through their Facebook page.
This event is completely free to attend and will take place on October 13th at Main St in Patchogue. It will feature some of the typical things you would find at a fall festival like face painting, pony rides and live entertainment. But Patchogue will have some other events that other fall festivals won’t have.
In addition to having a petting zoo and a costume parade, Patchogue will be hosting their 5th annual chili and chowder contest. For only $10 you can taste all of the best chilis and chowders that the participating restaurants in Patchogue have to offer and vote for your favorite to be crowned “Best Chili or Chowder” of the year. The event will begin at 11am and has a rain date for the following Saturday. Additional information can be found at the Facebook page of Patchogue’s Chamber of Commerce.
If you live in the Smithtown or Hauppauge area, you might want to take your kids to the Monster Mash this year at Hoyt Farm. Hoyt Farm is a Nature Preserve in Commack that has picnic areas, nature walks, playgrounds, fields for sports and other activities, and an animal farm.
To be a part of this children’s festival, you must be a Smithtown resident. You need to register ahead of time for your child as they stop selling tickets when they fill up the park. The event will take place October 20th and 21st and will begin at 12pm.
Nothing says October like Oktoberfest. If you live in Nassau, you might want to go to Crossroads Farm’s very own annual Oktoberfest celebration. Featuring local brews only from Long Island along with great wines, the event will be hosted on October 13th from 1pm – 6pm.
In addition to the typical beer and bratwurst you’d find at any Oktoberfest, this event will be fun for the whole family and have a very fall festival feel to it. Children can enjoy activities like pony rides, hay rides, pumpkin painting and a petting zoo. If you aren’t into German food, there are still other great food truck options like the Empanada Queen and the Good Eats Grill. You can purchase admission tickets on their website.
Long Island is such a diverse and lively place to live, with so many fun things to do with the family. Unfortunately, at this time of year, car accidents tend to increase. This could be due to the fact that drivers have not yet adjusted to the increased darkness and changing weather conditions. There are also more drivers on the road now that schools and colleges are back in session. Halloween is also has more fatalities than any other holiday, due to an increase in drunk drivers on the road on that day.
That is why at Palermo Law, we decided to expand our offices so that our clients can be helped in a convenient manner. Dealing with an injury is a really devastating situation, and we want to do all we can to help those injured receive the financial help they deserve. In addition to our main office in Hauppauge, we have three other locations in Suffolk county in Huntington, Babylon and most recently in Patchogue. We also have an office in Garden City for people who have been injured in Nassau County. We are wishing everyone a happy and safe October.
Long Island has always been a wonderful place to live for millions. With it’s natural diversity, history and proximity to New York City, Long Island is a beautiful and convenient place for people of all backgrounds. All these advantages however, come with its challenges. Affordable housing for Long Island residents is a real struggle. Due to this problem, some towns have had difficulty getting newer, younger people and families to populate their towns and boost the local economy.
Former Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy wanted to tackle this problem. His plan was to simply create affordable housing within close proximity of the Main Street of local villages on Long Island. Simple enough right? Well Levy was able to pool together $15 million to follow through with his plan. However, most towns were not interested in new developments due to the fear of too much density in the area. Interestingly, only one town was interested in using all of that available money; and that town was Patchogue.
Patchogue had seen some decay in its township from the 1960s onward. What was once a popular shopping town, Patchogue lost a lot of its economy when major malls were built on Long Island. As the 90s emerged, it had a generally poor reputation. It was clear something had to be done to revitalize the town. Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri was willing to take whatever they were willing to give him. Soon after agreeing to this offer, three major housing complexes were built within walking distance to Main Street in Patchogue. As a result, many young people not only began occupying these new complexes, but all of the local Laundromats, supermarkets and delis saw an increase in revenues. Business owners took notice and soon thereafter, more bars, restaurants and theaters began to appear. Patchogue quickly became a thriving town. The only issue was there was not enough parking to compensate. Now people around the island are drawn to Patchogue’s nightlife and can save themselves a trip to Manhattan or Brooklyn for a fun night out.
Patchogue has become a trend for Long Island towns due to the success of Levy’s plan. Since then, many other townships such as Bay Shore and Farmingdale have followed this trend to allow developers to create projects for them to boost local business and create lively towns. This adaptation is a progression for Long Island’s changing economy. Director of Vision Long Island, a smart growth planning advocate group, Eric Alexander commented that 60 out of 100 of Long Island’s downtown business districts have revitalization plans with 40 actively in motion. What’s most rewarding for him is the feedback from business owners and new residents who are enthusiastic about improvements in their own community.
Till this day, Patchogue continues to enjoy the benefits of Levy’s proposal. While other mayors on Long Island were scared of the idea of over density in their township, Pontieri was able to epitomize the opportunities of new affordable complexes. Efforts continue to be made to keep the town of Patchogue prolific for local businesses with many events organized by the Patchogue Chamber of Commerce. Last year Patchogue hosted their very own New Year’s Celebration along with their own “ball drop”, scheduled at 9pm, so that the whole family could enjoy. The event did prove to be fun for the whole family and plans have been made to have it again this year.
Mayor Pontieri still has more plans up his sleeve for Patchogue’s future. His goal for 2018 was to finish up many projects so that he could begin his “dream projects”. They plan to account for the current popularity of the village with new parking solutions and aggressive crime management. This along with plans for expanding parks and walkways will amplify the town’s charm. The village will also begin working on brand new developments including a Main Street Hotel, a new brewery and a Shorefront Park.
We are proud at Palermo Law to be a part of the Patchogue Community and are excited for what is in store for the future of this town. We have our own office right in Patchogue village just off of Main Street. At Palermo Law, we devote ourselves to helping people in the community gain their deserved financial compensation when inflicted with injury.
Patchogue is often known for it’s nightlife. Once the sun goes down, you will begin to notice restaurants moving tables and turning on colorful lights. The problem is these restaurants do not have the license or permission to turn their restaurant into a nightclub. Patchogue Village Attorney Brian Egan defines a nightclub or cabaret as “The permanent or temporary removal of chairs from such an establishment to permit any live entertainment, disc jockeys, dancing, [during] hours of operation beyond normal times of dining”.
As a result in June 2018, the Patchogue Village Trustee Board have voted to ban nightclubs on Main St in Patchogue Village. The hope is to make the downtown area much safer. There is only one legally approved restaurant in Patchogue called the Stereo Garden to operate as a nightclub. The rest of them are mostly restaurants clearing their tables and chairs to illegally become like nightclubs. Paul Pontieri, the mayor of Patchogue says, “Nightlife in the village has grown to a point where some limited controls need to be put in place to help manage it. This piece of legislation does that.” The high amount of nightlife in Patchogue definitely poses potential safety hazards. It creates 3 big potential problems.
Every property owner is responsible for the safety of anyone that enters their establishment. So if someone gets injured due to an unsafe condition, it is the owner who is responsible for the injury. The problem with many of the restaurants operating as nightclubs is that they are now operating as an establishment they do not have the licenses and approval for. This could easily cause overcrowding.
Overcrowding can cause a number of issues. For one, buildings are required to have a yearly inspection by the fire department to note potential fire hazards so that the owner can make the building safe. When Patchogue restaurants convert their building into a nightclub, they are no longer under the same conditions that the fire department has inspected. Likely, the amount of people that crowd a nightclub exceeds the maximum occupancy. If the worst case scenario happens and there is a fire, it could be extremely difficult to get an overcrowded building of people outside where it is safe.
The other safety hazard with overcrowding is pushing, shoving or even trampling. This is more likely with nightclubs having an increased chance of intoxicated people present. If this occurs and results in an injury however, it is the owner of the premises who is responsible. They have created an unsafe conditions by overcrowding their establishment beyond what is considered safe.
Legal Dictionary defines Assault & Battery: “Assault is an act that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent, harmful, or offensive contact. The act consists of a threat of harm accompanied by an apparent, present ability to carry out the threat. Battery is a harmful or offensive touching of another” (https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Assault+and+Battery). Some have commented on the fact that the nightlife in Patchogue has resulted in fights. One Patchogue resident commented, “The nightclub ban is probably going to stop, you know, a lot of fights. People get drunk, and they take the fights outside. So the nightclub ban is actually a smart ban.”.
Alcohol intoxication is known to increase chances of fighting. Over-drinking decreases inhibitions and could increase aggression. This means that even small misunderstandings could turn into a fist fight. And for criminal offices, voluntary intoxication (getting drunk) is not a defense for an assault or battery case. If you receive an injury because an intoxicated person physically assaulted you, you are entitled for compensation.
When people are out late, they are probably drinking. Restaurants in Patchogue are operating as nightclubs because of the amount of money they make from selling alcohol. The high amounts of nightlife in Patchogue increase the risk of people who are over-drinking. Ultimately, this could lead to more intoxicated driving on the road. Intoxicated drivers are incredibly dangerous to share the road with.
We recently discussed in an earlier blog post how to tell if a drunk driver is on the road and how you should respond. Pay special attention if you are driving near Patchogue village at night time. Hopefully, this ban reduces the number of intoxicated drivers in eastern Long Island.
Palermo Law has represented many injured individuals including those affected by premises negligence, assault, and drunk driving. The Mayor and Board of Trustees in Patchogue are implementing steps to make Patchogue Village a safer environment at night. However, if you have suffered an injury in Eastern Long Island, we have an office right in Patchogue and can set up a free case evaluation so you can receive your necessary compensation.
We’ve always focused our practice on fighting tenaciously for the personally injured with the utmost personal attention, drive and determination. We’re proud and active members in the Long Island community, passionate in devoting ourselves to causes that aid our community in the best ways possible (learn more about some of the community causes we participate in). It’s been 20 years since we established Palermo Law, P.L.L.C. Since then, we’ve expanded our practice, opening new offices throughout Long Island in order to better serve victims of personal injury.
We’ve had several clients with injuries so severe they simply couldn’t make it to our office. We’re always willing to visit clients wherever they are, whether they are in the hospital or at home, if they are unable to make it to one of our offices. We’re here to help our clients in every way possible. And we’re always on the move from office to office. Since our inception, we’ve opened offices in Hauppauge, Babylon, Huntington, and Garden City, serving both Suffolk County and Nassau County.
We’re proud to announce the brand-new opening of our Patchogue Office, conveniently located on Route 112. It’s an easily accessible, beautifully furnished new office and we couldn’t be happier. We go the extra mile to accommodate all of our clients, ensuring they have the most comfortable experience possible with easily accessible offices around Long Island and a highly-knowledgeable, warm and compassionate staff.