Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer points to a chart showing the impact discovery law changes have had on small municipalities. Photo by David Luces
Town supervisors in Suffolk County say recent criminal justice reform has caused “unintended consequences” to municipalities and local code enforcement. They are asking the state to exempt small municipalities from new guidelines, among other things.
The issue they have is with the state’s new discovery provisions, which require names and contact information for complaints to be turned over within 15 days of arraignment. In turn, it has eliminated anonymity, which many municipalities rely on when it comes to handling code violations.
“You’re not going to call, you’re not going to complain, what does that do for the quality of life?”
— Ed Romaine
Rich Schaffer (D), Town of Babylon supervisor and chair of the county Democratic committee, said at a March 5 press conference they usually receive a lot of anonymous tips from concerned residents but have noticed many are not willing to come forward with the new changes.
“They don’t want to put their names down, and quite frankly we don’t want to [either],” he said. “We want to be able to go after the offenders and educate them on how to clean up their act and be a good neighbor.”
A letter signed by all of the county’s town supervisors was sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in January. The group said with the new standards in how case information is turned over to the courts, it means there are currently no distinctions between a homicide case and a “municipal code violation for high grass.”
The supervisors said the reform was rushed through the legislature and didn’t give municipalities enough time to formulate a public education campaign. In addition, the changes hurt them on a local level because the state “got involved in things that we didn’t need their involvement in,” Schaffer said.
Supervisors also complained the requirement for after issuing a summons, a court date must be set within 20 days. Officials said it used to take a month to process cases, but now there are four additional “hoops to jump through” to process a complaint. A case could take up to two years to be resolved.
Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said the criminal justice reform has had a “chilling effect on code enforcement.”
“So now, if you live next to a guy that has a house with two illegal apartments and four or five unregistered vehicles and trash on the property, if you call, we are obligated by state law to tell the guy next door that you called,” he said. “You’re not going to call, you’re not going to complain, what does that do for the quality of life?”
The four supervisors called on the state Legislature to pass a bill that would allow townships to handle their own code enforcement cases and reinstate anonymity.
State Sen. Jim Gaughran (D-Northport) and state Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) are proposing bills that would allow anonymity for those reporting local code violations, let municipalities take these cases out of district court and allow them to create their own administrative bureau.
Chad Lupinacci (R), Town of Huntington supervisor, said many of the problems discussed can be eliminated if municipalities had their own administrative bureau. Huntington is one of three municipalities in the state to have one.
“The bureau should be up and running sometime in May,” he said. “Code enforcement officers, instead of having to comply with these changes, will be able to just enforce the code and ensure that neighborhoods are safer.”
Brookhaven assistant attorney David Moran said they will work in compliance with the law but called it an “unfunded mandate” with no real direction given how to be in compliance.
Schaffer said he’s volunteering Babylon to be the guinea pig regarding not following the new law and seeing what comes out of it.
“I’d like to be the test case to challenge the system,” he said.
Brookhaven’s Landfill Set to Close in 2024, Romaine Says a Plan is Needed Now
The Brookhaven Landfill is set to close in 2024, but while the town has put aside money towards that end, a concrete plan has yet to materialize. Photo from Google maps
About 100 people crowded into the lower level of a Melville office building Feb. 27. All were there to talk about what ends up in the trash bin. Yet, despite the dry subject matter, all knew that garbage will be the talk of Suffolk County and beyond in just a few short years.
New York State DEC Regional Director Carrie Meek-Gallagher speaks about what it will take to impact the looming garbage crisis. Photo by David Luces
The Long Island Regional Planning Council hosted a meeting about what Long Island does with its garbage and, in particular, how the region will dispose of millions of solid waste when the Town of Brookhaven landfill closes in 2024.
The discussion brought together local elected officials, environmentalists, waste management company representatives and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, among others.
Michael White, vice chair of the planning council, outlined the issue to attendees in a presentation.
Currently, the Brookhaven landfill handles over 350,000 tons of ash annually from energy-from-waste facilities, in addition to handling 720,000 tons of solid waste.
“Solid waste management is achieved through a public and private sector partnership,” White said. “Trash is either burned or exported to four energy-from-waste facilities on the island.”
The facilities in Hempstead, Huntington-Smithtown, Babylon and Islip are all operated by Covanta Energy. The Babylon location handles about 50,000 tons of waste.
“The remainder of the residential trash is shipped off on trucks to upstate landfills,” the vice chair of the planning council said.
White said waste from Oyster Bay, the Town of North Hempstead, Riverhead, Southampton and East Hampton get driven off the island.
“We have thousands of tons of waste shipped off Long Island every day, resulting in further stress on our aging and congested highway and bridge infrastructure,” he said. “And this approach is bringing us ever-increasing costs.”
In a panel following the presentation, experts and officials discussed potential solutions and ideas to what was called a “looming crisis.”
“The amount of waste generated on Long Island is increasing,” White said. “With the current volume at the Brookhaven landfill, that means 720,000 tons a year of waste has to find a home somewhere, and another 350,000 tons of ash from the energy from waste facilities will have to find a home somewhere.”
Will Flower, the vice president of regional trash carting company Winters Bros., said statistics show each person produces about 4 1/2 pounds of waste a day. Each day 2,000 trucks transport waste off the island.
An option mentioned was increasing the use of rail cars to transport solid waste. About 6,000 rail cars carry 600,000 tons of waste off the island.
Other attendees and panelists said stakeholders need to come up with more innovative ways to handle waste. Ideas included turning ash into building materials and pulverizing recyclable glass to use in road materials.
“It’s not a looming crisis — It’s now.”
— Ed Romaine
Flower showed a piece of landfill equipment damaged by glass as a result of it being put with other waste, adding that glass can be and should be recycled.
Since China’s 2018 decision to ban the import of most plastics and other materials used by its recycling processors, a number of municipalities have altered programs and in cases have reduced or eliminated recycling. Suffolk County has recently created a Regional Recycling Assessment Task Force in an effort to tackle the issue.
Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) called for a regional effort.
“It’s not a looming crisis — It’s now,” he said. “Either we get together as a region to resolve this and have a path forward, or this is going to be yet another thing that makes Long Island less desirable to live and work.”
The supervisor stressed that the region needs to act to find ways beyond either burning or storing waste in landfills.
“I can’t believe in 2020 that’s the only two ways to deal with waste; we need to do something now before we run out of time,” he said.
Officials from the planning council said they plan on forming a subcommittee to look at the solid waste management crisis and asked attendees to help them develop further recommendations.
Brookhaven Town officials, with Supervisor Ed Romaine at the microphone, join local representatives from the state and nearby townships to protest the LIRR’s planned fare hike. Photo from TOB
Local and state officials, along with citizen advocates voiced a collective message to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York City during a press conference at Ronkonkoma train station on March 2: “Stop shortchanging Long Island.”
The group called on the MTA to abandon its plan for a systemwide 4 percent fare increase in 2021 for Long Island Rail Road customers, including those in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The decision was a part of the NYC Outer Borough Rail Discount plan which offers an up to 20 percent discount for city riders.
“Everything is being pushed out to Long Island in terms of expenses and it won’t be long until you’re expected to buy them a coffee and a bagel as well.”
— Ed Smyth
“Long Island is not the cash cow for New York City,” said Ed Romaine (R), Brookhaven Town supervisor. “This is unconscionable, this is a handout to the city at the expense of Long Island.”
Romaine said a typical Ronkonkoma LIRR commuter who purchases a monthly parking pass, monthly train ticket and unlimited ride Metrocard would have to pay $7,224 annually.
“The MTA has not made the capital investments it should on Long island — what about our riders?” Romaine said.
The supervisor added that Long Island has already been shortchanged regarding electrification, as there is no electrification east of Huntington and none past the Ronkonkoma station.
The discounts were mandated by the state Legislature as a condition of its approval of congestion pricing legislation, which would create new tolls for drivers in Manhattan to help fund the authority’s $51.5 billion capital program. The plan will go into effect in May of this year.
Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) also took issue with the MTA’s decision.
“We had the congestion pricing vote, which I voted against it,” he said. “This is completely counterintuitive to the folks using the trains. Congestion pricing was meant to get individuals to start using public transportation and not use their vehicles.”
He added that the MTA has billions of dollars of subsidies from the state and federal government.
“This is a New York City problem — we should not bear the brunt of it,” he said. “Mayor [Bill] de Blasio [D] should pay for this — they are overwhelmingly serviced [by the MTA].”
The MTA board is made up of 21 stakeholders appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), including people recommended by unions and municipalities such as the city and surrounding counties. Kevin Law represents Suffolk County, and was nominated by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D). The other Long Island representative, David Mack, represents Nassau.
Despite their differences, officials continued to agree with the planned change at a Feb. 26 board meeting, saying they expect the up to 20 percent discount to entice Queens and Brooklyn commuters to use the LIRR if they live far from a subway line.
MTA officials say this is a pilot program up to one year’s duration.
However, on Long Island, other local officials voiced their displeasures.
“This is unconscionable, this is a handout to the city at the expense of Long Island.”
— Ed Romaine
Ed Smyth (R), Huntington Town councilman, said commuters will essentially be paying for their ticket and for somebody in NYC.
“Everything is being pushed out to Long Island in terms of expenses and it won’t be long until you’re expected to buy them a coffee and a bagel as well,” he said.
Kevin LaValle (R-Selden), Brookhaven Town councilman, said the MTA plan would negatively affect the progress they’ve made to bring transit-oriented development to the area.
“On a town level, this is something we’ve been working on for years,” he said. “The Tritec [Ronkonkoma Hub] development is an example of that. It will make it easier for Long islanders to get into the city. With these fee increases it will make it harder for them to afford to live here and ride here.”
Palumbo added he will be writing a letter to Cuomo in the coming days and will ask Long Island representatives from both political parties to sign it. The assemblyman is hopeful the plan can be changed before the NYS budget deadline next month.
“Hopefully he can see it, and this can be fixed on April 1 — I’m just hoping that it doesn’t fall on deaf ears,” he said.
When Newsday published its account of racial discrimination in housing last December, people were sad to read it but most said it was not a surprise.
By documenting it with the results of 25 testers we are forced to look for explanations and then for solutions. Racial attitudes from the past were carried over by the federal government; it advocated racially restrictive covenants on deeds to prevent homes from being occupied by African Americans, Jews and other minorities.
The Federal Housing Administration’s manual in 1936 stated that deed restrictions should prohibit occupancy of homes “except by the race for which they are intended” lest “incompatible racial elements“ would cause housing values to fall. In 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race-restrictive covenants were not enforceable, but the practice remained. The 1968 Fair Housing Act signed by President Johnson finally made racial discrimination illegal.
Blatant discrimination began to give way to steering; black house hunters were shown homes only in minority or integrated areas while whites were shown houses in overwhelmingly white areas. As people of color began to buy homes in mostly white areas, block busting by real estate brokers took advantage of the situation by scaring white homeowners into selling their homes at lowered prices.
The U.S. Justice Department ruled racial steering illegal under the Fair Housing Act and both state and federal governments launched efforts to investigate and curtail steering and block busting. Local agencies like the Human Rights Commission and Suffolk Housing Services have been able to bring cases of discrimination and steering to court with some success.
And yet the testers in the current study showed that significant proportions of homebuyers of color were not shown homes in areas with better schools or primarily white populations, but African Americans, Latinos, and Asians were shown homes in areas that the testers told white homebuyers they would not want to live in.
It is significant that the salespeople chose to match their prospective buyers with the schools in the districts they were shown. They knew that white buyers would want to live in the areas with the best schools that they could afford. They showed the buyers of color homes in areas with poorer schools, even though they too wanted to live in the areas with the best schools they could afford.
The Newsday article was followed by County Executive Bellone’s announcement that a testing program will be launched by Suffolk County. New York State has already started trainings for the real estate industry with strict enforcement of the rules that should guide them.
But can the solution rest with enforcement of civil rights laws? At the LIVE Newsday event, panels of experts discussed the article on discrimination and filled in some of the spaces. The method of funding schools in New York State, if not changed, will continue to createcompetition for funds between “good” areas and “bad” ones.Deep seated public prejudices and fear of changes that might affect home values often influence real estate brokers, who can play a role in re-educating the public about housing discrimination but who are not insensitive to the attitudes of their clients.
How can we, as the community, change our attitudes? Can community planners in towns and villages find ways to include all segments of the community to find solutions? The Village of Patchogue worked with the Long Island Housing Partnership to build workforce housing priced for families with lower incomes, chosen by a lottery. Located near the railroad station, it has brought together a diverse group of younger families and stimulated the building of other housing downtown. The entrepreneurship ofLatinos in Patchogue has supported the growth of the business district.
Other sustainable developments throughout Suffolk County are redeveloping vacant malls and stores to build affordable and workforce housing, overcoming the shortage of available land and finding ways around the need for sewers. The L. I. Housing Partnership has formed a land trust to acquire and own the land that it leases to homeowners, reducing the cost of homeownership.Vision Long Island’s website VisionLongIsland.org gives examples of development projects that address issues of diversity.
Make your voice heard. Let your county, town and village representatives know that you want all neighborhoods to welcome housing for a diversity of people in thriving communities.
Nancy Marr is first vice president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.
The 2020 U.S. Census could be pivotal for New York, which could potentially lose one or two U.S. reps from a general loss of population. Stock photo
It’s a once-in-a-decade request, and this year’s census could determine just how much local schools, governments and nonprofits get in aid from the federal government. Not to mention, this year’s count could determine if New York could be sending one or two less U.S. representatives to Washington out of its current total of 27.
It has enough officials worried that New York State is funneling money around to different counties to get people to fill in the survey. Suffolk County is expected to receive $1.019 million toward its efforts. Officials have called for additional funds toward the census in this year’s budget, though most don’t expect the money to materialize before the census starts rolling in mid-March. New York State has made $20 million available of a total of $60 million to go toward engagement efforts in local municipalities. $15 million is going to the state’s 62 counties.
“It’s the principle that we count, and we should be counted.”
— Martha Maffei
This year, galvanizing the populace to take the census has become a phenomenon, with players at the state, county and local level putting a heavy emphasis on this year’s survey. On the line, advocates say, is a correct political representation on a federal level as well as $675 billion annually in federal funds for prioritizing road work, school aid, grants and Medicaid funding.
Due to the 2010 census, New York lost two congressional seats, and some have said this year’s count could lose the state one or two more. Local groups, both small and large, have the task of energizing enough people to gain an accurate headcount.
Like herding cats, that’s much easier said than done
Suffolk County Complete Count Committee was created in 2019 in part by the nonprofits Health & Welfare Council of Long Island and Long Island Community Foundation to generate engagement for those efforts.
Rebecca Sanin, president of HWCLI, said they have around 300 groups, including nonprofits, religious organizations, business organizations and governments, participating at least to some degree in outreach among 11 subcommittees. The nonprofit has also established guidebooks and graphics for everyone from immigrant leaders to hospitals to senior citizens.
“We’re really trying to build momentum, where the end is a 10-year funding impact to our region,” Sanin said.
The committee has become a hub for joining up the disparate groups looking to promote the census. The state has its own CCC, and other counties have been encouraged to create their own committees. County Executive Steve Bellone (D) was named to the New York State Complete Count Committee by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
“Suffolk County is not only the largest suburban county in the state of New York, but we have the fourth largest and hardest-to-count populations in New York state,” Bellone said during a 2019 meeting with the Suffolk Complete Count Committee. Approximately 40 percent of county residents live in hard-to-count areas, he said.
People will start to see this year’s census mailed out in mid-March, and the census process continues for the next several months. Stock photo
County officials have hosted census job fairs this year and last, with positions paying $17 to $23 an hour.
Governments at both county and town level have started putting notices of the census in official emails and releases. Brookhaven Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) had been drafted to partner with the complete count committee. She said the town is working on a project with the tax receiver’s office to send out a reminder in the midyear tax receipts that goes out to every household in Brookhaven. They have also started to include information about the census in town programs hosted this year and had representatives from the census table at town events.
“Undercounting of communities can have a domino or ripple effect on community projects and issues for years to come,” the councilwoman said in an email. “A complete and accurate count of your community can result in improved infrastructure and schools, better community health and programs and much more.”
Steven Collins, who works for the U.S. Department of Commerce as a partnership specialist for the census in Suffolk, said the big game changer this year is the now-four different ways residents are going to be able to respond to the census. People can now respond over the internet, over the phone or using the usual mailed in paper survey. The fourth way is when all other options are exhausted, and when census operators have tried to reach an individual by several other means, an enumerator will knock on one’s door.
Though not all see the incentivized online component as a good thing. Sanin said there are many who have a general distrust of putting information online, due to the many examples of private companies being hacked to get access to a user’s personal data. There is also a large digital divide, and many still do not have easy access or understanding how to use the online component.
Despite the online component, census promotion still requires boots on
the ground
Stony Brook University has been active in trying to get students signed up for the count but have also started concerted efforts to encourage indigenous groups, especially those living on Long Island’s South Fork, to sign on for the census.
Despite how seriously census takers have been in requesting surveys, that still has not stopped multiple areas coming back with low response rates, some barely above 50 percent.
In Suffolk County presentations to the complete count committee, some communities are shown as much harder to count than others. While much of the North Shore shows a response rate of 70 percent or better, a large area in Huntington and Huntington Station, with sizable minority populations, have a response rate of 60 percent, at worst.
At www.censushardtocountmaps2020.usa, researchers have used previous census data to track which areas showed lower census participation.
In Brookhaven, one area with low turnout happens to be around the hamlets of Ridge and Upton and in Selden and Centereach, especially in the area along Route 112 that has a previous response rate of only 60 to 65 percent.
There are portions of Long Island with much worse representation. There are certain parts of West Babylon with a response rate as low as 0 to 60 percent.
SEPA Mujer, a nonprofit immigrants rights advocacy group, has chapters in several of the areas that show low response rates, including Riverhead, Huntington Station and Patchogue. Martha Maffei, the executive director of the nonprofit, said they have formed coalitions at two of their three chapters specifically to energize the community for the census. Many of their organizers and members have advocated for local immigrants to take the census which comes with the task of convincing the immigrant community the information will not be used against them by immigration enforcement.
“It’s the principle that we count, and we should be counted,” Maffei said.
Usually, she said, organizers take the tack of arguing that filling out the census will mean more funding for their school districts and how it will offer them better political representation.
The complete count committee has organized 13 total groups on the immigration subcommittee who have all pledged to move through these communities. The issue, she said, is money, compounded with the amount of ground these volunteers have to cover, with only the some $1 million to be spread amongst all of Suffolk.
“Fear nurtures an undercount, and an undercount nurtures our continued inequity.”
— Rebecca Sanin
Still, she’s optimistic these hard-to-count areas will be more active than 2010.
The census is meant to track everyone, including those undocumented immigrants, in order to get a full understanding of total population, but in 2019 the potential for a citizenship question to appear on the census created a tornado of partisan bickering, with opponents saying such a citizenship question would specifically target Latino groups and incentivize them to not respond to the census, thereby limiting the political capital such groups could wield. Officials said the pro-citizenship question was needed to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965, designed to help blacks overcome legal barriers to voting during the Jim Crow era.
In November of last year, The New York Times reported on disclosures from the White House hinting that Republican strategists had political reasons for encouraging a citizenship question, that it would increase Republican influence and political power once totals for the census were drawn by undercounting residents in largely Democratic areas.
Judges ruled the question illegal under Title 13, which states the government can only use data from the census for statistical purposes. Collins reiterated there will be no citizenship question on this year’s census, and all information is kept extremely confidential and secure.
Yet the idea still lingers in the minds of some residents, and it is something census advocates said they have had to work around.
Sanin and Maffei said the citizenship question has undoubtedly had a cooling effect toward the census, though to what extent is hard to gauge.
“We feel we are going from one attack to another,” Maffei said. “There is a lot of trauma in this community.”
The general distrust in government and in government systems is high, and trying to encourage people “living in the shadows,” as Sanin put it, is where much of the past year’s efforts have gone.
“Fear nurtures an undercount, and an undercount nurtures our continued inequity,” she said.
The Old Field Lighthouse. Photo by Huberto Pimental
When Old Field residents go to vote in the March village elections, there will be a familiar name missing from the ballot.
Michael Levine
Mayor Michael Levine has decided not to run again after 12 years in the position.
A partner with Rappaport, Glass, Levine & Zulio, LLP, Levine and his wife have lived in the village since 1992. He has two grown children, a son, who is also a lawyer, and a daughter, who is completing her master’s at Stanford University and planning to start medical school in the fall.
Recently, Levine answered a few questions via email discussing his decision not to run for mayor and his experience in the role.
Why did you decide not to run?
I’ve been the mayor for 12 years. It has been an unbelievable honor and privilege, but I decided it was time to give another resident the opportunity to be the mayor. All good things must come to an end every now and then.
What made you decide to run for mayor 12 years ago?
Twelve years ago, I was approached by numerous residents and asked to consider running for mayor because there was some animosity between certain board of trustees members at that time, and it was believed that an outsider who had no specific agenda might be able to calm things down and move the village forward. I believe I did just that — earned the trust of my fellow board members and helped to get the village back on the right track.
What did you find to be the most challenging part of being mayor?
One of the most challenging aspects of the position has been trying to keep village expenses under control in light of increased costs associated with goods and services and the 2 percent tax cap law. Even though from an outsider’s perspective the village is associated with some degree of affluence, the village operates on an incredibly shoestring budget and any unforeseen expenses can have a very detrimental impact on the overall financial health of the village.
What did you find the most rewarding?
One of the most rewarding aspects of being mayor has been getting to know some incredible residents and assisting them by timely considering their building permit applications. The turnaround time for the submission of an application for a permit to the time that it gets before the board for consideration is sometimes no more than a month or two. Another very rewarding aspect of the position has been the ability of the board to avoid lawsuits against the village. As an attorney, I know how to commence a lawsuit, but I also know how to avoid one too. During my administration, we have been very successful in avoiding litigation against the village.
Any advice for the next mayor of Old Field?
One of the keys to being a good mayor is to be responsive to the residents. I was elected 12 years ago to help out the residents of the village, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to be accessible at all times, try to give them what they want and be very open to their suggestions. I believe I did that, and this is one of the most important pieces of advice I can pass along to the next mayor.
Do you think you will still be involved in the village in some way?
I will continue to be very involved in the village. It’s in my blood to be community minded. I would hope every resident would feel the same way. Right now, I am working with other residents on a complete renovation of the village lighthouse with the hope that we will be able to fully restore it to its initial beauty.
The Village of Old Field will hold its election March 18 at the Keeper’s Cottage, 207 Old Field Road. Trustee Bruce Feller will be running for mayor, and Thomas Pirro will be running for a second term as trustee.
The building at 116 West Broadway was once used by the SCWA and by a bank. Photo by Kyle Barr
The Port Jefferson ferry owners have big plans for Port Jeff, which could include removing and replacing existing structures along West Broadway, and potentially, at the ferry dock itself.
Fred Hall, the vice president and general manager for the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, said the company’s intent is to demolish an existing structure owned by the company at 116 West Broadway and install a new, two-story structure where they would move their offices.
Site plans for the new ferry company office building at 116 West Broadway. Photo by Kyle Barr
Their current offices, right next to the ferry dock, would remain for the time being, but the eventual plans, Hall said, are to demolish them as well.
That building on West Broadway, which the company bought in December 2018, has sat vacant for a number of years, it once housed a well by the Suffolk County Water Authority, and had previously been a bank. Hall said they asked their architects if any part of the structure could be preserved. According to planning board documents, architects said the base could not support a second story.
“As much as we wanted to preserve that building, we asked our architects and they said virtually all of it needs to come down,” Hall said.
Currently, the ferry company is seeking permits for demolition, which it expects in a matter of weeks, and will start on the building’s removal.
The new building will stand at 36 feet and 9 inches tall. The village code sets the standards for such buildings at 30 feet, and the company is currently seeking a variance on the building’s height, which should come up in a public hearing at the village’s planning board of appeals Feb. 27 meeting. The building plans show an accounting center, call center and multiple offices.
Documents from the village Building and Planning Department show members from the planning board at the Dec. 23 meeting requested a handicap lift be added instead of a ramp for the front gate and their preferences to break up the “flat, planar aspect of the facade,” by possibly adding recessed entrances and other elements. The next planning board meeting is set for March 12.
While plans for a new office are underway, the ferry manager said the larger issue is trying to reconfigure the pier area to add more space for vehicles and pedestrians.
With offices moved out the way, Hall said removing the existing building next to the ferry terminal will also allow for what he called a “separation of vehicles and walk-on traffic.” Currently, pedestrians offload from the stern of the ferry, but have to walk across the street along Broadway to get access to Port Jefferson. The company has plans for jetways, like what’s usually seen in an airport when boarding a plane, for people to exit or enter the ferry.
Removing the building, he added, would allow line of sight to the harbor from Main Street.
The ferry building has been a fixture in Port Jefferson for more than 70 years, having once been a restaurant called The Ferry House, but that aspect of the site closed in 1985, according to Hall. The current building is “cobbled together” of three separate buildings.
While the beginning of the year is typically tax season, it is important to remember that property tax exemptions can be applied for at this time. There are different programs that homeowners should be aware of in order to potentially save with respect to property taxes.
Most individuals are familiar with the STAR program, which is the New York State School Tax Relief Program. Another program that people may not be as familiar with is the exemption for persons with disabilities. New York State offers local governments and school districts the ability to opt into a grant reduction on the amount of property taxes paid by qualifying persons with disabilities.
The eligibility requirements for this exemption is based on the individual’s disability, income, residency and ownership. For the disability component, the individual must demonstrate a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits the person’s ability to engage in one or more major life activity (e.g., walking, hearing, breathing, working). The applicant must submit proof of disability via an award letter from the Social Security Administration, an award letter from the Railroad Retirement Board, a certificate from the State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped, an award letter from the U.S. Postal Service or an award letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
If the disability is not permanent, the applicant will be required to certify the disability each year. For the residency requirement, the property must be the “legal residence” of the disabled person and currently occupied by the disabled person. There is an exception for absence due to medical treatment. For the ownership requirement, all property owners must be disabled. The only two exceptions are for spouse- or sibling-owned property. In those cases, only one owner needs to be disabled.
With respect to the income eligibility, the basic exemption is a 50 percent reduction in the assessed value of the legal residence. New York State allows each county, city, town, village or school district to set the maximum annual income limit at any figure between $3,000.00 and $29,000.00. If the disabled person makes between $29,000.00 and $37,399.99, the localities can give a less than 50 percent exemption based on a sliding scale. Proof of income of the most recent tax year is required to be submitted with the application.
All income sources are countable except Social Security Income (SSI), Foster Grandparent Program Grant monies, welfare payments, inheritances, return of capital and reparation payments received by Holocaust survivors. Certain medical expenses can be used to offset gross income. For example, medical and prescription drug expenses that are not reimbursed or paid by insurance may be deducted from total income.
Additionally, if the owner is an inpatient in a residential health care facility, the monies paid by the owner, spouse or co-owner will not be considered income in determining the exemption eligibility. Each municipality may be more generous with the exception than others.
Finally, even if all requirements are met, if there are children living in the home and attending public school, the disabled owner is typically not eligible for the exemption. This can be waived by the school district under specific circumstances.
New York State sets out broad eligibility requirements that each municipality can narrow down. It is important to find out the exact requirements for your specific municipality to determine if you qualify for the exemption. The exemption for persons with disability can offer a substantial relief for those who qualify.
Nancy Burner, Esq. practices elder law and estate planning from her East Setauket office. Visit www.burnerlaw.com.
Stony Brook and Smithtown residents are concerned about future traffic problems if developments like Gyrodyne's proposed plans and others are completed. File photo by Jonathan Kornreich
One county committee’s hope to analyze the impact of development along a local road has been dashed for the time being.
At its Feb. 11 general meeting, the Suffolk County Legislature tabled a resolution to study a segment of road in the vicinity of the Smithtown and Brookhaven border.
The resolution, introduced by county Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), would allow the county to analyze the Route 25A corridor in St. James and Stony Brook to determine the regional impacts associated with proposed and planned development projects in this area. It would also identify vacant and preserved parcels as well as existing zoning, amongst other criteria.
The county’s Economic Development, Planning & Housing Committee recently passed the resolution, 5-1, with only county Legislator Robert Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) voting against it.
“I don’t disagree with the bill, but I’m a realist.”
— Rob Trotta
In the vicinity, the proposed development of Gyrodyne, also known as Flowerfield, which would include a hotel, assisted living, offices and sewage treatment plant, has drawn criticism from residents and elected officials in both Smithtown and Brookhaven. While the property sits in Smithtown, many have expressed concerns that additional traffic will impact Stony Brook, and the sewage treatment plant would have a repercussions on local waterways. Other properties with proposed and rumored development have also been cited as concerns.
Trotta, before the Feb. 11 general meeting, said he voted “no” in the committee because while he would like to see preservation of open spaces in the area, he said there is not much the county can do. In the case of Gyrodyne, the property is already zoned for light industrial use.
“I don’t disagree with the bill, but I’m a realist,” he said.
Trotta, as well as opposers of the resolution who commented at the Feb. 11 meeting, said Gyrodyne will only be developing 25 acres of their 75 acres and there will be a 200-foot buffer of trees and shrubs. The property is already partially developed with rental space.
Hauppauge-based lawyer Timothy Shea criticized the resolution and said larger projects in Yaphank and Ronkonkoma have not undergone the same scrutiny from the county as the Gyrodyne project. The lawyer said when representing the developers of Stony Brook Square, which is being completed across from the train station on Route 25A, he faced similar opposition.
“The resolution here is designed to wrest control of the Gyrodyne process from the Town of Smithtown,” he said. “The catalyst is the Stony Brook community. They are a very well educated, well-organized community.”
Natalie Weinstein, president of Celebrate St. James, said the sewage plant on the property would help with the revitalization of Lake Avenue. She said there have been a number of government and private studies that have been conducted regarding the roadway, adding the proposed Route 25A analysis would be a waste of money which could be better spent on a traffic circle at Stony Brook Road or to hire experts in street light timing.
Speaking of Gyrodyne’s plans to include a buffer, Weinstein said, “The plan is actually a beautiful use of space from a design point of view.”
Cindy Smith, who heads up United Communities Against Gyrodyne Development, spoke in favor of the corridor study that she hopes will take a cohesive look at both sides of the road.
“If they had actually done their homework back then they would know that 25A is already over capacity and the major north-south road, which is Stony Brook Road, is over capacity by 60 percent.”
— Cindy Smith
She said in 2017 the county’s Planning Commission’s superficial review for the Gyrodyne proposal allowed the project to move forward without a traffic study.
“If they had actually done their homework back then they would know that 25A is already over capacity and the major north-south road, which is Stony Brook Road, is over capacity by 60 percent,” Smith said.
George Hoffman, 2nd vice president of the Three Village Civic Association, also spoke in favor of the bill and said there needs to be a balance between smart development and preservation.
“I think it would be helpful to planners,” he said. “It’s not to stop Gyrodyne. It’s just to get a good picture of what’s going on there, and that information will help planners in Smithtown and in Brookhaven make the right choices for the community.”
In a phone interview Feb. 12, Hahn said she was disappointed that the resolution was tabled.
She said when it comes to Gyrodyne she disagrees that the 200-foot buffer would be beneficial. She said it will not block the view of what they want to build. Hahn added that the study is not only about Gyrodyne but also proposed and rumored projects.
She added when heading east on the 25A corridor, the familiar locations around Gyrodyne and BB & GG Farm in St. James make you feel like “you’re home.”
“It’s so bucolic,” she said. “It’s beautiful. It holds a special place in my heart. Just the sense of place it establishes with those open vistas. I would just hate to lose that because it’s on both sides of 25A.”
She said she is concerned that there hasn’t been an adequate traffic study or consideration of a regional sewage plant, adding the amount of nitrogen that travels into the Long Island Sound has to be looked at carefully.
Hahn indicated she is not opposed to revitalization in St. James, but she said there needs to be a longer discussion of a sewage treatment plant and to look at a central location that would be more beneficial to other areas in Smithtown.
“I think there’s a bigger plan that should happen for that so that we’re not talking piecemeal with just one downtown getting what they want,” she said. “There could be something on a larger scale that would benefit multiple communities, multiple business districts and protect our water.”
The resolution will be on the agenda for the county Legislature’s March 3 general meeting which will be held in Riverhead.
A Town of Huntington official resigned over an alleged “vulgar” email sent to other staff members about another employee. This comes after board members questioned his two-week suspension last week.
The office of Supervisor Chad Lupinacci (R) confirmed that Public Safety Director Peter Sammis resigned from his position Feb. 10 in the middle of a two-week unpaid suspension.
In a Feb. 4 statement, Councilwoman Joan Cergol (D) said she was contacted by members of the press who asked her to comment on “inappropriate and unacceptable behavior of a town department head.”
She said she was informed by a journalist that a department head sent an email to two male employees Nov. 26, 2019. The email, from his town account, contained “vulgar and sexual reference about a female town employee.”
“The town supervisor and town attorney subsequently confirmed the information was accurate but could do little to assuage my outrage over having learned about it in this manner and failed to provide satisfactory answers as to the many questions I have over its handling and eventual questionable disciplinary action,” she said.
In a statement last week, Lupinacci said the town could not comment on personnel matters.
“The town’s policy regarding not commenting on personnel matters is one that is very important and in place to respect the interests of all parties involved in any particular situation,” he said. “As a result, we intend to continue to honor that policy and not discuss the specifics of the matter referred to in recent media reports. That being said, we believe it is important to note that the matter at issue came to the town’s attention through its normal oversight procedures and not through a complaint from any employee. The matter was addressed with the employee involved in a manner consistent with town practice.”
In her statement last week, Cergol said she expected answers to various questions including why, as a Town Board member, she wasn’t notified of the incident and why wasn’t the department head suspended immediately after the discovery of the November email. She also questioned whether the employee’s email account was reviewed to see if there were any other emails that violated the town’s email policy.
“The manner in which this incident was handled, its lack of transparency and apparent departure from Town of Huntington protocol demand further investigation and satisfactory answers to the Town Board,” Cergol said at the end of the statement.
After Sammis’ resignation, Lupinacci said in a statement that the town takes such incidents “very seriously” and provides “mandatory training for all employees to address and help prevent these types of situations.”
“The employee was dealt with harshly, immediately, and in a manner consistent with the advice of our director of personnel and outside labor counsel, who also advised that the Town Board’s involvement in disciplinary action was not warranted,” he said. “I would remind my colleagues that outing the alleged subject of the email, and not respecting her privacy, was completely inappropriate and initiated the victimization of this employee, who was not aware of this incident before town officials ran to the press with it, which is exactly the reason why it is our policy not to comment on personnel matters.”
On Feb. 12, state Sen. Jim Gaughran’s (D-Northport) office announced in an email he would introduce state legislation “that will strengthen reporting requirements for sexual harassment complaints and violations of the Human Rights Law.”
Blatant discrimination began to give way to steering; black house hunters were shown homes only in minority or integrated areas while whites were shown houses in overwhelmingly white areas. As people of color began to buy homes in mostly white areas, block busting by real estate brokers took advantage of the situation by scaring white homeowners into selling their homes at lowered prices.
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