Post by ferryfast admin on Jan 31, 2006 15:54:09 GMT -5
CSF Blasts Local Paper
By Lisa Finn
The Independent
www.indyeastend.com/
A recent column published in The Suffolk Times and written by publisher Troy Gustavson has the Cross Sound Ferry fighting mad.
The CSF and The Suffolk Times, a publication of the Times/Review Newspaper Corp. in Mattituck, have a long history of contention. Gustavson was present at a rally organized on Labor Day by the Orient-based Southold Citizens for Safe Roads, an organization whose members question the amount of traffic generated on area roads. He has also often taken the ferry to task in his editorials.
“He just doesn’t like the ferry,” said Adam Wronowski, the vice president of CSF. But the fact is, in the past, the CSF was involved in a business deal with Gustavson; he teamed up with the company to publish Crossings Magazine, a CSF in-transit publication. Gustavson was so involved with the endeavor, said Mickus, he even created an advertising slogan: “Cross Sound Ferry: A good neighbor all year long.”
The business deal went sour, however, after a 1997 incident when Gustavson allegedly called CBS to tip them off about an Orient car accident during which a driver hit a tree and died. According to Mickus, Gustavson claimed the accident happened because the driver was racing to get to the high-speed Sea Jet, which commenced operations in 1995.
Not true, said Mickus, who said that a subsequent investigation revealed that there had been a suicide note in the vehicle and that the individual was not headed for the ferry — that there was no connection whatsoever between the fatality and the ferry.
CSF claims that CBS never contacted them for comment but took Gustavson’s word on the matter. Although Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Brook confirmed that a story was done on August 1, 1997 by field reporter Jennifer McLogan, assignment desk records before 2000 have been lost in a computer snafu and there is no way to determine who called in the tip.
McLogan did not return calls for comment. Brook said Gustavson’s name appears on a log of “witnesses” scheduled to appear.
After the erroneous tip, according to Mickus, CSF broke its business ties with Gustavson. It was a move that CSF said cost the publishing company over $100,000, as well as substantial ad revenue.
Gustavson, however, “said he cancelled the business arrangement because he didn’t want the appearance of a conflict of interest,” said Mickus. “In fact, we cancelled it.”
Gustavson did not respond to repeated calls and e-mails for comment.
“This has crossed the line into slander and defamation,” said Wronowski, who said that the company is considering pursuing legal action against the local paper for the recent column.
In his column, “The Observer,” Gustavson charged that CSF has “stooped to cooking the books in order to defend the indefensible.”
A statement, said Wronowski, that is “completely false.”
In his column, Gustavson questioned the monetary amount CSF said Southold would be liable for, should they lose the court battle. The $123.8 million, said Gustavson is an “astronomical figure,” and that Wronowski painted “a far more modest picture of the company’s value” when interviewed by The New London Day about fines levied against CSF. Gustavson questioned Wronowski’s 2005 quote: “As far as gross revenues go, we’re more than a million, but we’re not a $10 million company.”
The trouble with Gustavson’s interpretation, Woronowski said, is he was referring to the Thames Shipyard business in the article, not the Cross Sound Ferry; both are owned by his father John P. Wronowski, said Adam Wronowski.
By Lisa Finn
The Independent
www.indyeastend.com/
A recent column published in The Suffolk Times and written by publisher Troy Gustavson has the Cross Sound Ferry fighting mad.
The CSF and The Suffolk Times, a publication of the Times/Review Newspaper Corp. in Mattituck, have a long history of contention. Gustavson was present at a rally organized on Labor Day by the Orient-based Southold Citizens for Safe Roads, an organization whose members question the amount of traffic generated on area roads. He has also often taken the ferry to task in his editorials.
“He just doesn’t like the ferry,” said Adam Wronowski, the vice president of CSF. But the fact is, in the past, the CSF was involved in a business deal with Gustavson; he teamed up with the company to publish Crossings Magazine, a CSF in-transit publication. Gustavson was so involved with the endeavor, said Mickus, he even created an advertising slogan: “Cross Sound Ferry: A good neighbor all year long.”
The business deal went sour, however, after a 1997 incident when Gustavson allegedly called CBS to tip them off about an Orient car accident during which a driver hit a tree and died. According to Mickus, Gustavson claimed the accident happened because the driver was racing to get to the high-speed Sea Jet, which commenced operations in 1995.
Not true, said Mickus, who said that a subsequent investigation revealed that there had been a suicide note in the vehicle and that the individual was not headed for the ferry — that there was no connection whatsoever between the fatality and the ferry.
CSF claims that CBS never contacted them for comment but took Gustavson’s word on the matter. Although Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Brook confirmed that a story was done on August 1, 1997 by field reporter Jennifer McLogan, assignment desk records before 2000 have been lost in a computer snafu and there is no way to determine who called in the tip.
McLogan did not return calls for comment. Brook said Gustavson’s name appears on a log of “witnesses” scheduled to appear.
After the erroneous tip, according to Mickus, CSF broke its business ties with Gustavson. It was a move that CSF said cost the publishing company over $100,000, as well as substantial ad revenue.
Gustavson, however, “said he cancelled the business arrangement because he didn’t want the appearance of a conflict of interest,” said Mickus. “In fact, we cancelled it.”
Gustavson did not respond to repeated calls and e-mails for comment.
“This has crossed the line into slander and defamation,” said Wronowski, who said that the company is considering pursuing legal action against the local paper for the recent column.
In his column, “The Observer,” Gustavson charged that CSF has “stooped to cooking the books in order to defend the indefensible.”
A statement, said Wronowski, that is “completely false.”
In his column, Gustavson questioned the monetary amount CSF said Southold would be liable for, should they lose the court battle. The $123.8 million, said Gustavson is an “astronomical figure,” and that Wronowski painted “a far more modest picture of the company’s value” when interviewed by The New London Day about fines levied against CSF. Gustavson questioned Wronowski’s 2005 quote: “As far as gross revenues go, we’re more than a million, but we’re not a $10 million company.”
The trouble with Gustavson’s interpretation, Woronowski said, is he was referring to the Thames Shipyard business in the article, not the Cross Sound Ferry; both are owned by his father John P. Wronowski, said Adam Wronowski.