Mt. Sinai and Stony Brook questions (New York, Brookhaven: houses, to buy, movie theaters)

[Glad2BHere]

Can anyone give me their thoughts or info on Mt. Sinai and Stony Brook?

I recently visited these areas and really thought they were beautiful, but I don't know much else about them. We are mainly looking for spacious properties, good schools.

[slynn41072]

I grew up in Mount Sinai. The schools are very good, the taxes are extremely high especially on newer homes(older homes are high as well). It is a nice area, but, it was also very boring growing up (honest opinion). Not much to do when you want a night out except going into Port Jeff Village. You need to travel to good resturants, the mall and its a two hour drive with no traffic into the city. As much as I loved Port Jeff, it does get old after awhile with being the only source of entertainment close by. My parents still live in Mt. Sinai, but they complain about having not much around them and the traffic. I would pick Stoney Brook if I had to choose if its in the Three Village school district or Setauket.

[OhBeeHave]

I'll leave slynn's assessment of Mount Sinai to stand. One question I would have is the impact of all the new development in that area recently upon the schools. Lots of house = lots of new children in the schools. Does the district have the space, are there any bond referendums out there? I have heard it's a good school district.

Stony Brook is in the Three Village Schools. For spacious properties, though, I would suggest Poquott, Strongs Neck and Old Field (all Setauket, 11733) which are all in the TVCSD, too Taxes in those areas are as high and higher than other areas in the 3Vs.

I live in Stony Brook Village and love it here -- the homes are very varied, and as much as the homes vary, so do the sizes of the properties. I have friends in bungalows on tiny lots living adjacent to homes which were once grand turn of the century summer estates on lots of land that are adjacent to 150 year old ship captains homes. It's a real mixed bag! A know one lady whose home was on the Underground Railway -- the false walls, tunnels and all still intact. Stony Brook Village, for me, is a very special place. My children are thriving in the schools and that matters quite a lot to me.

All of Stony Brook is a wonderful place for children to grow up. The development communities are laden with children, but the homes and lots are smaller. Together we all enjoy the 3V schools.

Setauket is a very beautiful area, also steeped in history. The development areas in Setauket were built after those in Stony Brook. Some of the homes are modest in size, others are larger -- the larger they are, the newer they are. There are some nice newer homes off of Pond with large homes and large yards. They are also should be situated far enough away from the plume area caused by the Northville leak some 15+ years ago. As AndreaII brought up in another Setauket thread, the area to the west and southwest of the Northville tanks (BelleMeade Road just south of Upper Sheep Pasture) is in the path of the plume. Houses in the storybook section of Setauket were impacted. The north end of the Three Village gated community might very well have been polluted, too.

If I had the means, I would move to Old Field. Large yards, limited access in, little traffic, an incorporated village with it's own PD. Lots of water front homes. It has more of an expensive, North Shore Nassau community feel -- sort of like I remember Mill Neck being back in the early 80's. The Incorporated Village of Old Field, NY

Strongs Neck is lovely, a little more development looking in spots, but lots of waterfront homes, too. The area goes back in time to the Strong family and the Setauket spy ring. Fascinating history. I find this area to be very family friendly, a little more laid back, and everyone cares about their homes. Strong's Neck Civic Association, Setauket, New York

Poquott is divided in to two areas: old and new. Old Poquott is older summer homes converted to year round; the properties are small and quirky, very wooded. New Poquott, especially Tinkers Bluff, features huge homes with sweeping lawns, very well manicured -- lovely. I love my friends in Pouott dearly, but the ones in the newer section can sometimes be a little pretentious. Welcome to the Village of Poquott

[iluvmycuties]

We used to live in the "S" section of Stony Brook (development at rt. 347 and Nicolls Rd.), but are now in Port Jefferson. How I truly miss the convenience of living so much closer to Target and the mall!

[flowergarden]

Hi Glad2bhere - We are also looking at the same area. The three previous responders to this thread have been kind enough to give me alot of information about the area. You may want to try and search the forum for Mt Sinai or Stony Brook and you will see the previous threads. It may give you more info.

My kids are a bit older and I think moving them to a huge school like 3 village will be hard on them as the new kids. I think we are looking at Mt. Sinai and maybe Port Jeff because the schools are more manageable. We come from a very competitive, large district now, but its different being the new kid in a large school. I know Ward Melville has a great reputation, but when I walked through the halls, I did not get a good feeling. If my kids were all in elementary school I don't think the size would be an issue, b/c they would have grown up there and would know alot of kids. Like you, these are all things that I am mulling over currently. However, until we actually sell our current home and go and look for homes in the area, who knows where we will end up!

I do have a question Iluv - you mentioned that the drive to Target, and I can also assume the mall and what not is longer. May I ask how long? How long does it take to drive from Mt. Sinai or Port Jeff to Target? It doesn't look that far on a map, but traffic is a different issue.

Also, Slynn, I really appreciated your comments about Mt. Sinai. I understand the whole "boring" thing. However, I think this is also linked to stage of life; a person in their 20's wants something different than someone in their 30's, 40's or 50's. As a family with a kid in high school, middle school and elementary school, we're looking for more "family life" things to do (movie theaters, beach, and sports) rather than tons of restaurants and night club type night life. Not that we don't enjoy going out to dinner, we do! I guess a 20 minute drive to a nice restaurant once or twice a month does not scare me off from "boring" Mt. Sinai. However, if there really are no "Family" kind of things to do and everyone hibernates in their own home, then that would be a problem. Could you elaborate a bit? Thanks!


Good luck on your move Glad2Bhere! Maybe we will meet at the some "newcomers" club!

[iluvmycuties]

Hi Flower!

Well, we know have to maneuver through the traffic on Main Street, then the traffic on Rt. 112 to get to Rt. 347. Then we have to manage the extra drive on Rt. 347 (through PJ and Setauket--terrible traffic especially around Wal-Mart). Our other option is 25a to Nicolls, but thaat is just as long b/c it is one lane. I would honestly say it adds another 15-20 minutes to my drive, seriously. I used to just come out of my development on 347 and cross over to Target or drive 5 more minutes to get to the mall. PJ is definitely not for those who want convenience!

[OhBeeHave]

I'm bouncing off of you, iluv...

I believe I have a failry good idea as to where Flower would be traveling from in Mt Sinai. It'll be more of a few turns here and there and then a straight shot down 25A->347. Target, with light traffic is about 15-20 mins if she heads out during school hours. The mall is about 20-25 min.

There's a nice, fairly new park in Mt Sinai at the triangle of 25A/Mt Sinai-Coram Rd/Rte 83 Patchogue-Mt Sinai Rd.

Movie theater on 112 a wee bit south of 347 is close by. Not one of the megalith theaters, which is a refreshing change of pace. The owner is community minded and often opens up with special discounts for groups like the scouts, sports teams, etc. First run movies.

You're going to have a long ride to the Ocean beaches, however the sound beaches (Brookhaven town ones) are a short ride away. If you don't already have some, get aqua socks as the sound beaches are rocky. They also don't have the waves that you get at the ocean beaches.

With regard to slynn's 'boring' comment -- LI can be boring for teens growing up. Believe me, I got into my fair share of trouble when I was young and bored..... I lived close enough to NYC to hop an express LIRR and be in the city in 30 mins. Cut school, hang in the city and hop a train back like nothing happened.... At least out in Suffolk, it's not such an easy feat LOL. We would cut, drive our cars to the beach and drink beer (which the kids out here are very capable of doing) party at homes where mom and dad weren't around because they have to work to support the lifestyle they lived (so much more of that now than when I terrorized Nassau.) We had names for our groups and slang for our vices. One group was the CWC -- it referred to going out and drinking Boone's Farm Wine, another group of us would be going for tacos -- which meant we were heading to the preserve to smoke weed. We thought we were pretty slick.

I don't want to alarm you, but kids do find LI boring growing up. Be on your toes. As adults, boring is good -- no leaking roof, the cesspool isn't caving in, life is good.

[flowergarden]

Thanks for your insight OhBeeHave! Based on what you describe,though, I think every suburb in the US is boring and asking for teen trouble! Unless you literally live in NYC or Philly, or any other major city, there is NOTHING to do if you are a teenager. That's why parents encourage their kids to get into sports, band, theater, church youth groups, anything that keeps teens engaged and busy. It's not really the "outside" stuff to do that makes a difference; it's getting engaged in what ever it is that speaks to you. That, or get a job. Well, that's what I tell my kids!!!

[slynn41072]

In response to why I said it was "boring" growing up in the Mt. Sinai area:

1. You need to drive for everything. Not a 5 min drive, but more like 20 min or more to the mall etc. For a teen growing up and not driving yet it was a hassle to get anywhere. As a adult, it was a pain to endure traffic to get to work as there are not too many job opportunities in Mt. Sinai.

2. Culture - again, travel into Manhatten was a very rare event for my family, even as a adult it was a hassle, 2 hours each way on the railroad and even longer in the car.

3. Mount Sinai beaches are "rock City" or Cedar Beach as its called. Most of Port Jeff beaches are Private (if I remember correctly). Now you need to travel to a beach or put a pool in like my parents did.

4. Restaurants - again nothing really to speak of unless you love White Castle and the diner. Travel to restaurants - your options are Port Jeff (madhouse in the summer or the hike down near the mall). I like driving 5 min to tons of restaurants, not 20 min or more.

It is a really nice area and I'm sure most of the people who live there love it, but I prefer to have amenties close by. Some people don't mind the drive and like the country feel.
My parents are getting up in age and Mount Sinai is building tons of homes and the traffic to get anywhere is becoming worse. Since they are not including amenities(restaurants, shopping) other than a park (which my parents in their 60's won't utilize) they are getting extremely frustrated. All of these people are using the same roads to go anywhere and its not like they are making the roads wider or building new ones.

I think if you are looking to buy in Mount Sinai and have all the facts(good and bad), only you know whats good for your family and what kinds of things you are looking for in a community and what kinds of things you like to do in your spare time. I don't think you need me to tell you what it is like. All you really need to do is drive around and see for yourself which I'm sure you have done already. If you like what you see, then you should be happy.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by flowergarden

Thanks for your insight OhBeeHave! Based on what you describe,though, I think every suburb in the US is boring and asking for teen trouble! Unless you literally live in NYC or Philly, or any other major city, there is NOTHING to do if you are a teenager. That's why parents encourage their kids to get into sports, band, theater, church youth groups, anything that keeps teens engaged and busy. It's not really the "outside" stuff to do that makes a difference; it's getting engaged in what ever it is that speaks to you. That, or get a job. Well, that's what I tell my kids!!!

They're going to need a lift to get to the job. Don't forget to pack your chauffeur's cap

How soon until the big move?