If you live on Long Island, raise your hands. Okay, all of you are excluded from this exercise. If you are still with me, name me five towns near Stony Brook University. I have found that this proves to be a hard task for mainlanders. Some of you I’m sure succeeded: Port Jefferson, Setauket, Centereach, Hauppauge, Lake Grove, etc. But for every one of the knowledgeable folks there are at least two who say, “um, Smith Haven?”
Now, it is important to note that this is not their fault. It should be no surprise that most non-Long Island Stony Brook students get their lay of the land courtesy of the S60 bus route to the mall and back. It is a shame that this is the case, though.
Adventurous individuals may allow curiosity get the best of them and travel the other direction on the bus, but a majority does not. And since that is the case, a majority of students do not know about some of the hidden gems within spitting distance.
Take for instance Port Jefferson. This small village is the perfect college town, minus college students. Nice restaurants and cutesy shops line the streets on one side, the Long Island Sound on the other. Fine, so it may not be the nicest place in the winter, but come spring, the town will remain peacefully devoid of Stony Brook students.
Again, this is not the fault of students. Whose fault is it? We don’t want to place blame on the university because there hasn’t been much (if any) dialogue to ease the commute to the surrounding neighborhoods, but consider this the first polite request. On the weekends, is it too much to ask for a bus or two to make stops in Stony Brook Village, Port Jefferson, etc.?
In doing so, the university may find that it accomplishes a few things. A) It provides students with something else to do on the weekends besides stomping up and down the aisles of Target, and b) it just might encourage students to stay on campus on the weekends, something that I’m sure any university official would admit to being a big deal.
In the meantime, we encourage everyone to do some exploring beyond the borders of the university and the strip malls. Somewhere nearby there could be your new favorite coffee house or the perfect chic clothing store or an independent movie house with your name on it. And if not, don’t worry. I’m sure there’s a Starbucks nearby.
