MOUNT SINAI, NY – On Monday, November 23rd, Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker joined Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine and Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner to announce the official acquisition of a 15 acre parcel formerly owned by the Little Portion Friary in Mount Sinai. The 15 acre purchase will complete the acquisition of a total of 59.3 acres for County Park land in Mount Sinai. Approved legislation, 1555-2017, authorized the county to move forward in acquiring the property under the Suffolk County Drinking Water and Protection Program. The property is in addition to 44.3 acres that had been acquired in 2014.
This parcel will be a wonderful addition to Suffolk County Park’s inventory, joining the acquisitions of Cordwood Landing in Miller Place, Chandler Estate and Heritage Park in Mount Sinai,
said Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker. My hope is that purchasing this parcel will help protect the environmental integrity of the area and provide our community residents with another county park to visit and enjoy the natural beauty of Long Island.
The now fully acquired 59.3 wooded acre lies over a significant groundwater aquifer and is within the watershed of the Long Island Sound national estuary, serving as a source of freshwater for the estuary system. Suffolk County and the Town of Brookhaven entered into a partnership to purchase the property for $1,653,300 with Suffolk County accounting for 75% ($1,239,975.00) and the Town of Brookhaven for 25% ($413,325.00) of the cost.
Our partnership with the County to acquire this property has been in the works for some time and I am very happy to see it finally come to fruition,
said Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner. Open space acquisition is one of my top priorities and we must pay particular attention to the sensitive ecosystem along the North Shore. I will continue to work with all levels of government to identify, protect and preserve our most sensitive environmental assets.
This joint acquisition by the Town and County is a result of our mutual commitment to protect our environmentally sensitive shoreline,
said Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine. Our partnership has resulted in many land purchases in the past and we will continue to preserve more open space throughout the Town of Brookhaven.
The 15 acre portion of the Mount Sinai parcel will join recent additions to Suffolk County Park land including a 9.9 acre wooded parcel near Pine Lake in Middle Island, Cordwood Landing County Park in Miller Place, and Chandler Estate in Mount Sinai. The partnership between Suffolk County and the Town of Brookhaven has made the creation of active recreational parks such as Heritage Park in Mount Sinai possible for the community. Legislator Anker and the Town of Brookhaven have further plans to work in collaboration on another community park in the Longwood area. I am proud to have worked hard to preserve thousands of acres of land in Suffolk County,
said Legislator Anker. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to ensure that we are protecting and preserving environmentally sensitive areas on Long Island.
For more information, please contact Legislator Anker’s office at 631-854-1600.
Pictured L-R: Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner, Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine
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