Riverhead supervisor honored by Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar was honored by the the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with its Supervisor of the Year award at the group’s first Annual Latino Leaders Luncheon on Wednesday.

The luncheon— attended by around 400 people at The Crescent Club in Bayville— looked to celebrate “exceptional community leaders, advocates and business professionals,” according to the organization’s website. This is the first year the organization put together an in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

“It was an incredible honor to receive such a prize,” Aguiar said in an interview Friday. “It made me believe that all my hard work has come to fruition and people are recognizing it.”

“The people who recognized me Wednesday I have worked with closely on many fronts, and it’s good to see the collaboration,” she said and added, “people are learning Riverhead is on sure footing and financially stable.”

Aguiar said she gave a speech “from the heart” at the event, where she spoke about her parents and her upbringing. She also said she spoke of her “journey as a little girl who didn’t speak English in her early years” to how she became town supervisor.

“People told me it was very inspirational,” Aguiar said.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, surprised Aguiar by giving her, in person, a certificate of special congressional recognition for “outstanding and invaluable service to the community.”

“I didn’t know he was going to be there, that was a very nice surprise,” Aguiar said.

Aguiar was also presented with a certificate of appreciation from the New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

Aguiar, a Republican, is entering her third year as supervisor of the Town of Riverhead. She was reelected to a second term last November, when she won a landslide victory against Democrat Catherine Kent, obtaining 59% of the total vote.

Of Puerto Rican heritage, she is the first Latina to be elected in Suffolk County to the office of town supervisor.

“When I ran for supervisor I ran with a vision for Riverhead, and moving Riverhead forward, a mantra that I still maintain,” she said. “I’m very inclusive, I have reached to all populations in Riverhead and the result is that I was reelected with overwhelming results.”

Before working in government, Aguiar spent 20 years in the New York Police Department, attaining the rank of detective sergeant.

She received her doctorate in business administration from Northcentral University in 2011, as well as a master’s in public administration and bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Aguiar is a member of the Riverhead Lions, Elks and Moose clubs and volunteers as a “puppy raiser” for the Guide Dog Foundation located in Smithtown.

Gary Vogel, a resident of Aquebogue and managing partner of East Coast Nurseries, a 173-acre nursery located in Riverhead that grows ornamental landscape plants in containers and ships them to distributors throughout the eastern United States, was honored by the chamber as the Employer of the Year.

“The Latino community on Long Island is not only an economic engine that we all depend on but a beautiful tapestry of cultures and personalities that enrich our lives in so many ways,” Vogel wrote. “It is truly an honor to be recognized as a small part of the community.”

Aguiar and Vogel were two of 10 honorees selected. Other awardees include Suffolk County Legislator Samuel Gonzalez, Consul General of El Salvador in Long Island Henry Salgado and leading heart surgeon, professor and system director of surgical heart failure for Northwell Health Harold Fernandez, among others.

L.I. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Luis A. Vazquez said in a message that they are “very fortunate to celebrate remarkable leaders in all industries, who prove to us, despite adversity, through perseverance and hard work, that anything is possible.” He added that “each honoree follows their passion that enhances traditions of integrity, innovation, and respect in their fields of work.”