Brookhaven Town to Demolish Century-Old East Setauket Automotive Building

The century-old building at the center of Main Street in East Setauket that long housed East Setauket Automotive is coming down. Brookhaven Town officials have moved ahead with plans to demolish the municipally owned structure after an inspection found it too far gone to save, with Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D, Stony Brook) putting the cost contrast in stark terms: demolition will run "less than fifty thousand" dollars, while renovation would cost "a couple million."

The property, owned by the Town of Brookhaven, has lain vacant for about a year after the town opted not to renew the lease. The decision to tear it down followed a formal assessment by Town of Brookhaven principal building inspector Greg Brown, whose report cited a plethora of significant issues, including no present perimeter drainage, a sagging roof, failing supporting ceiling members, and windows and doors that would need replacement.

The findings effectively settled what had been a genuine debate. Kornreich acknowledged the town weighed "really valid points on both sides," including "some really interesting ideas of ways we could use the building as a public space if we kept it like a three-season farmers market." But the structural reality closed off that option. "The conversation kind of ended because we realized that the building was in such poor condition structurally that to fix it would have essentially left us with nothing left that was really historic," said Suffolk County Legislator Steve Englebright (D, Setauket). Kornreich was equally blunt: "It would just be a reconstruction, not a preservation."

Englebright, who was instrumental in securing grant money for the town to buy the property when he served in the state Assembly, described the building as "hastily constructed," adding that "50 or 60 years of automotive work has made it so that if you enter the building, you can still smell the petrochemicals that saturate the concrete slab."

Also factoring into deliberations was the building's position blocking the view of Setauket Harbor. Englebright said that when he was in the Assembly, opening that vista was a primary motivation for pursuing the purchase: "without seeing the harbor, it's hard to have a constituency for the harbor."

The town has not announced a demolition timeline, contractor, or a formal plan for how the parcel will be used once the building is cleared, though officials and area planners have indicated the site is intended for recreational purposes.