Around town: the week of August 24, 2026
Six local notes from the week of August 24, 2026, in and around the Town of Smithtown, each with its source.
Skip the Water After This Week's Rain
If you were planning a swim at one of the town beaches this week, you might want to wait a day or two. The heavy rain we got pushed enough runoff into the water that a few beach spots got a swimming advisory. That is standard after a big storm. Runoff picks up whatever is sitting on streets and lawns and carries it into the Sound and local bays, and bacteria levels can spike for a bit until things flush out and settle.
These advisories usually lift once the water is tested again and comes back clean, so it is worth checking before you head out rather than guessing. Patch has the list of which beaches are affected, plus the timeline for when the water usually gets the all clear.
It is a small reminder of how much our weather here is tied to the water around us, storms and all. If you are still getting a feel for what living near the coast in this town is actually like day to day, our /towns/ page walks through the different neighborhoods and what makes each one its own.
Something New Coming at Suffolk County Community College
There is a leadership update taking shape at Suffolk County Community College, the kind of thing that ripples out into the towns around each campus even if it does not make the front page for long. The college has three campuses across the county, including the one in Brentwood and others that plenty of Smithtown families pass on their way to work or errands.
For the specifics on what is happening and what it means going forward, Long Island Business News has the fuller picture.
Community colleges tend to be a quiet anchor in a place, steady no matter what else is going on around them. Worth keeping an eye on if you are curious how Smithtown and the towns nearby keep building out their options, and if you want a wider view of the area you can always look through /towns/.
Seawolves Split the Points on Home Turf
Stony Brook's soccer squad played host again this week, and the game ended in a tie rather than a win. From what's being reported, the Seawolves had the better of the run of play but couldn't turn that into the extra goal it would have taken to come away with all three points.
That kind of result tends to sting a little more when you're the home side and you know you had chances. Still, a draw keeps things moving in the standings without costing ground the way a loss would. For the full breakdown of the match, Stony Brook University Athletics has the write up.
Having a Division I campus with its own sports calendar nearby is one of those small perks of living out this way, whether or not you ever set foot on the field yourself. If you're weighing a move closer to the area, I keep notes on the surrounding towns at /towns/.
Suffolk Recognizes Some Local Young People
Suffolk County put out its yearly recognition of young people who have done something worth noticing, and a few names on the list this year trace back to Hauppauge and Smithtown. It is the kind of award that covers all sorts of things, volunteering, community projects, everyday effort that adds up over time.
I do not have the full rundown of who was honored or for what, so I will point you to Patch for the actual list and the details behind each name.
It is a nice reminder that a lot happens in this corner of Long Island beyond the headlines about roads and construction. If you are curious what else is going on in the towns around here, /towns/ has more of that texture.
A Pharma Company Is Eyeing an Old Hotel Site in Hauppauge
A pharmaceutical company has its sights set on growing at the site of a hotel that once stood in Hauppauge. Word of the plan comes by way of Long Island Business News, which flagged the project as it starts to take shape.
Hauppauge has been quietly rewriting its own commercial map for a while now, with older sites turning into something new rather than sitting empty. A former hotel becoming a pharma footprint fits that pattern. It says something about how much interest there still is in this stretch of the Town of Smithtown, even for buildings that outlived their first purpose.
I will keep an eye on how this one develops as more comes out about scope and timing. If you are curious how commercial moves like this tend to ripple into the surrounding neighborhoods, or what it might mean for property values nearby, the town guide at /towns/ is a good place to look around, and /my-home-value/ can tell you more about where things stand close to home.
Volleyball Moves Outside for a Smithtown Rivalry Game
Monday brings something new to the district. Smithtown West and Smithtown East will play volleyball on synthetic grass instead of a gym floor, believed to be a first for high school volleyball anywhere on Long Island. The match happens at the East campus, with the boys starting things off in the afternoon and the girls picking it up once evening arrives.
East versus West has always drawn a crowd on its own. Taking the game out from under a roof and putting it under open sky gives this particular meeting a different shape entirely, more like a fall afternoon at a stadium than a typical gym night. Local reporting from The South Shore Press covered the matchup ahead of the first serve.
It is the kind of small local moment that sticks with people, a rivalry game turned into something a little more memorable. If you are curious what else is happening around town or thinking about what your own place here is worth these days, the town guide and the home value page are both good places to start.