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Suffolk County

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Debra Bowling of Pasta Pasta talks to County Executive Steve Bellone. Photo by Kyle Barr

This past weekend, President Donald Trump (R) was in Suffolk County, raising money for this reelection. During his time on Long Island, he called requests for financial aid amid the pandemic a bailout, repeating some of the language he used two years in response to Puerto Rico’s request for financial aid after Hurricane Maria.

“I couldn’t disagree with this more,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said today on a conference call with reporters. “We need federal disaster assistance to respond to, and recover from, COVID-19.”

Bellone said the county abided by guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and that it shut down its economy to protect the health of its population, lowering the death toll at the cost of the economy.

Approaching an argument the president has made against the reaction to the murder by police of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, Bellone suggested that the lack of financial support from the federal government would be a form of defunding the police, taking away salaries from public health workers and removing the financial support necessary for the safe return of students to in-person learning this fall.

“This should have nothing to do with politics,” he argued. “We are still in the middle of fighting a pandemic.”

The county executive urged the federal government to provide vital financial resources to fund these recovery efforts.

“When President Trump talks about federal disaster assistance as a bailout, this is flat out wrong,” Bellone said. The money he has requested, including during a recent trip to Washington, DC, he argued will pay for police officers. Bellone also pointed out that Long Island has provided ample financial resources to the federal government during more prosperous years through tax dollars.

By taking away state and local property tax deductions, the federal government has added billions to what Long Island sends to Washington as a region every year, Bellone said.

“The notion of a bailout suggests we did something wrong in Suffolk County,” the county executive continued. “The fact of the matter is, we all did our jobs here.”

Viral Numbers

Separately, Bellone said Suffolk County has managed to keep illnesses and deaths down in the public health battle against COVID-19.

In the last day, the number of people who have tested positive for the virus was 55 out of a total of 5,030 people who received a test. The rate of just over 1 percent is tracking with the positive tests for the last few weeks and is well below the 5 percent threshold schools have for reopening.

The number of residents who tested positive for the antibody to COVID-19 stands at 24,392.

Hospitalizations, meanwhile, continued to be well below the worst of the pandemic, when the health care system strained under the weight of sick residents.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 stands at 33, which is an increase of 2. The number of people in the Intensive Care Unit was three.

Hospital bed occupancy stood at 72 percent overall and at 67 percent in the ICU.

The number of people who have died from complications related to the virus stands at 1,998. Four people were discharged the hospital in the last day.

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PSEG trucks remove a downed tree in Mount Sinai Aug. 7. For several days, cars had to swerve around the tree that split the intersection of North Country Road and Crystal Brook Hollow Road. Photo by Kyle Barr

PSEG Long Island plans to restore power to the remaining 400 Long Island customers by midnight who haven’t had electricity since last Tuesday, when Tropical Storm Isaias hit.

“We remain committed to getting all customers related to last Tuesday’s storm restored by midnight tonight,” PSEG President and Chief Operating Office Daniel Eichhorn said on a media call Wednesday.

PSEG has 6,500 line workers and tree trimmers who are working to restore power from a host of states and continues to accept any other workers who are available.

This morning, PSEG moved workers from New Jersey, where it is headquartered.

Eichhorn assured residents that their bills would reflect the energy they used, which means that they won’t have to pay for electricity during the time their power was out.

The total number of outages in Long Island, including those who have been without power since the storm hit, stands at 10,500, which is a number that might increase this evening amid the predicted thunderstorms. Of those who are out, approximately 7,500 have lost power related to the storm, although Eichhorn said they are unlikely to have been without power for over a week.

Amid concerns about the pace of restoring power, the number of homes and businesses who were out and a communications problem on the day of the storm that made it difficult for residents to connect with their power company, Eichhorn said PSEG plans to use this experience to improve on the company’s storm-related processes.

Once the company restores power, PSEG will do a self assessment, which will include a “deep dive” into “lessons learned,” at which point the company will make immediate and long term changes to makes sure they are ready for the next storm.

Indeed, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) joined a growing chorus of politicians who expressed their concerns about the company’s readiness for the remainder of the hurricane season, which extends through the end of November.

“As we move towards the fall, we could be struck with a much more significant storm than this tropical storm,” Bellone said on a separate media call. “If that is the case, these issues need to be fixed. They need to be resolved before then.”

Eichhorn said PSEG hasn’t given much thought at this point to making the company’s assessment about its performance during the storm public.

Meanwhile, New York State Senator James Gaughran (D-Northport) called for the resignation of Eichhorn and Long Island Power Authority President Thomas Falcone.

Asked about the call for his resignation, Eichhorn said he was “aware of that” and the response of the company to the storm will be “part of our lessons learned and review. I’m pretty proud of the restoration efforts from our team. People have worked extremely hard and are very dedicated.”

Eichhorn added that PSEG would look into the IT issues that caused the frustration from customers and would “get better” and “make sure, for the next storm” they are “fully prepared.”

Eichhorn said he recognized the frustration people have been feeling, especially during a pandemic. Amid a discussion of residents in Cold Spring Harbor who blocked in a utility crew, preventing them from leaving until they restored electricity, Eichhorn said he understood that it’s a tough time to lose power, especially when so many people are working from home.

Still, he urged residents not to limit the ability of crews to react to the order of jobs. When crews are blocked in, they might help one or two homes or families at the expense of 100 or 200, he said.

PSEG wasn’t prepared today to discuss the possibility of reimbursing families for lost food during the outages, even as several politicians, including Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) requested that the company provide $500 to each household that lost power for more than two days.

“Our plan is to really focus on making sure we get customers’ [power] back today,” Eichhorn said. “Tomorrow, we’ll start looking at those other decisions.”

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Bellone: County Looking at Potential $800 Million Gap in Next Budget Cycle

Steve Bellone (D) and fellow Democrats celebrate keeping the county executive position. Photo by David Luces

As Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) among other officials continue their crusade to get federal assistance to local government, he said come next month, Suffolk may have to create a budget around a $800 million hole.

Counties on Long Island may be some of the hardest hit financially compared to other New York State counties outside New York City. During a media call Aug. 10 where Bellone talked with two fellow county execs from Upstate New York about the need for federal relief, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro (R) said his county was facing a lesser but no less devastating $60 million gap. This stacks up to the devastation caused by COVID-19 in each county. Whereas Suffolk County has seen over 43,000 cases and close to 2,000 deaths, the less populous Dutchess has seen 4,613 cases and just 153 deaths.

But overall, despite partisanship, all electeds are concerned with the impending financial cliff. The bipartisan National Association of Counties said in a release in late July that county budgets could see a total loss of $202 billion from the coronavirus pandemic.

“The outset of national disaster took us all by surprise, did not expect what has happened here, we knew from outset we would not only be dealing with a public health crisis, but followed by an economic crisis, a human services crisis and a fiscal crisis,” Bellone said. “I’ve been through fiscal crises before, but we’re calling this a fiscal emergency — we’ve never dealt with something like this before.”

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar (D) said it even more succinctly.

“I think the only worse thing you could do is drop a bomb on our county,” Garnar said during the Aug. 11 media call.

Hope rests on a federal bailout, but talks have been mired in political wrangling. The House of Representatives passed the $3 trillion HEROES Act almost three months ago that would have, among other stimulus, provided aid to state and local governments. The bill was universally supported by Democrats, though a select few Republicans including local U.S. Rep. Pete King (R-NY-2) also gave their support.

The Republican-controlled Senate refused to pick up the bill, and negotiations for its own stimulus bill stagnated. When negotiations later broke down between the While House and House and Senate Democrats, President Donald Trump (R) signed several executive orders Aug. 7. One such order authorized $300 out of $400 in additional payments to people on unemployment, though cash-strapped states who are facing their own financial crises are supposed to pick up the last $100. 

The bipartisan National Governors Association, led by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), has requested unrestricted $500 billion in state aid. The association criticized the president’s executive orders in a statement Aug. 10 for “the significant administrative burdens and costs this latest action would place on the states.”

Bellone and his fellow county executives said they were concerned that without federal assistance social services that have been overloaded since the start of the pandemic could be facing cuts and layoffs. The Suffolk County Executive said he is “having discussions with all our bargaining units” including the police union. 

“If you’re not going to provide assistance to local governments that provide public safety and public health … our public health workers, all services that we provide will be even more important,” Bellone said. “It will take a couple years at least to get back on our feet again. We are looking at extending this devastation and that’s just unacceptable.”

 

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said the morning of Aug. 7 that all regions in New York are given the green light to reopen in the fall.

The governor said he based the decision off of the infection rate in each region in the state. Much of New York has been hovering around a 1 percent infection rate for the past several weeks. 

Cuomo previously said if the infection rate in any region breaches 5 percent the state would immediately order schools’ closure.

“You look at the infection rate — we are probably in the best situation in the country,” Cuomo said during a media call Friday. 

Most school districts submitted reopening plans by the deadline of July 31. Some, like South Huntington and Northport-East Northport, submitted their plans after being granted an extension. Many have come forward with hybrid plans at at least some grade levels, meaning students will spend a few days in school and then the rest of the week learning from home. Some parents have criticized districts like Three Village for deciding on a full-time schedule for all grade levels. Other parents in districts like Smithtown have rallied for children to be back in school full time.

Still, Cuomo has said multiple times that each school district’s reopening plan is dependent on the district officials in communion with parents and teachers, saying “this is not a bureaucratic decision, this is a parental decision.” 

However, there were still many questions left open over what policies districts can hold, especially regarding the safety of teachers. Yesterday, Aug. 6, teachers union New York State United Teachers put out a news release calling for any school to close if any one individual in a school that tests positive should mean an immediate 14-day closure. The release also requested specific answers to how districts should conduct quarantining of potential cases and contact tracing.

The governor largely left the questions of those two elements up to individual school districts, though state Department of Health guidelines do mandate school districts conduct testing of symptomatic students. They also mandate people to wear masks when they are unable to socially distance at six feet, and if a student does not have a mask, the district is mandated to provide one.

“I can’t fashion a plan that would work in every school district because the circumstances are too different,” he said during the media call.“

Though school districts are mandated to take the temperature of every student that comes through its doors, the fear of asymptomatic spread, of the virus infecting people from carriers, is still a big concern. Cuomo called that a continuing “conversation.”

The tenor of the governor’s announcement revolved around the notion that parents, teachers and districts all had to agree to the plans. The next few weeks, Cuomo said, should be spent in even more discussion amongst the community to try and reach more common ground.

“I believe in New Yorkers, and New Yorkers will do it and they can decide how they will do it,” he said.

 

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Current models show Tropical Storm Isaias will hit Long Island with the strongest winds of the storm. Photo from National Hurricane Center

As Tropical Storm Isaias climbs from the southeast coast towards Long Island, county officials are deploying resources in the event of any damage from the wind and rain and encouraging residents to track the storm and, if necessary, avoid travel tomorrow.

The worst of the storm, which could have winds of 39 miles per hour to 55 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 65 miles per hour, may hit the island in the afternoon through the evening. Most of the county could get between two inches and three inches of rain, with one to two inches on the east end.

“When you consider the amount of rain we’re talking about, if we get hit with those numbers, that is a serious event,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said in a press conference today.

Bellone urged residents to secure loose objects or bring them inside on Monday to prevent any damage.

Residents who lose power can text OUT to PSE&G at 773454. Residents can also report an outage online, assuming they have the ability to connect online, through PSEGLINY.com, or they can call (800) 490-0075.

The storm surge could bring as much as 10 to 15 feet of breaking surf on Tuesday afternoon. The vulnerable shoreline could also have two to three feet of flooding with the high tide on Tuesday between 9 p.m. and midnight.

Suffolk County is prepared to handle evacuations, although Bellone said such actions aren’t expected.

Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) suggested in an email that customers remain in their homes while PSE&G crews are working nearby. If residents need to speak with representatives of the utility, PSE&G urged residents to practice social distancing and remain at least six feet away.

Hahn also suggested that residents keep their cell phones and tablets charged so they have a full battery. Lowering screen brightness and shutting down applications preserves battery life.

Bellone urged people to stay away from flooded streets. Cars that get trapped or that stall in flooded waters drain resources from the county, requiring rescue for the occupants of the vehicle.

The Emergency Operations Center, which has been active for months in the midst of the pandemic, is up and running and will have increased hours. The staffing at the center includes members of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, the Suffolk County Police Department, the Sheriff’s office, the Department of Public Works, the Red Cross, Long Island Railroad, the State Police and PSE&G.

The SCPD has deployed humvees to each of their precincts to prepare them for the storm. The Department of Public Works has also pre-deployed a number of resources, such as 62 chain saws, 13 full saw, 22 10-wheeled dump tracks, 35 debris clearance crews, among other machines and crews.

“All of that diverse equipment is pre-deployed and prepared to go in case we need to clear roads, address flooding or help evacuate individuals,” Bellone said.

Bellone urged residents to sign up for the Suffolk County code red emergency notification system, which provides customized messages to residents. People can sign up through the we site suffolkcountyny.gov/department/fres. The code red sign up is on the right side in blue.

Bellone urged residents to monitor the media for updates and to track the progress of the storm. Even if this storm doesn’t bring considerable damage, it may provide a dry run for what could be an active hurricane season, which will occur in the midst of the county’s ongoing efforts to recover from the pandemic caused by COVID-19.

This fall, in particular, could present numerous contemporaneous challenges, with the COVID threat, possible flu outbreaks, and the start of an uncertain school year.

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Sheriff Errol Toulon (D) cuts the ribbon on the new resource center. Photo by David Luces

Providing former Suffolk County inmates with the tools they need to be productive members of society was the inspiration for the creation of a new facility in Yaphank. At a July 30 press event, sheriff officials said the facility will assist with jobs search, housing and other needs as they head back into the community.

Joel Anderson, of Mastic Beach, speaks at the Suffolk County jail’s resource center. Photo by David Luces

The Sheriff’s Transition and Reentry Team Resource Center is poised to offer a range of “practical transitional services” for inmates leaving the county jail including employment assistance, connections to housing, treatment and mental health care, among other things. It is staffed by correction officers and human service volunteers from the nonprofit community.

The START Center had a soft launch in February, stayed open during the height of the pandemic and currently serves more than 100 clients. A ribbon-cutting ceremony, previously planned for early April had to be postponed. Suffolk Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. (D), District Attorney Tim Sini (D) and other county officials were on hand for the event.

Toulon said creating the facility had been a dream of his. At the event he spoke about his experiences working in law enforcement for more than 30 years and a moment he shared with his father.
“When I was a young child, I asked my father, a warden on Rikers Island, what he did for a living. He said, ‘We rehabilitate people,’” Toulon said.

When inmates are discharged and come into the center, they will be interviewed by one of the resource workers where they identify his or her needs. For example, if an inmate has an addiction problem, the center will connect them with the appropriate nonprofits.

“Whether it be housing, employment, education, SNAP benefits or transportation, we try to start the process as soon as possible,” Deputy Vincenzo Barone said.

He added that all inmates at the Yaphank Correctional Facility know about the program, with the center being a short walk from the jail there. Those being discharged from Riverhead will be picked up and brought to the START Center, where they will begin the intake process.

Joel Anderson, of Mastic Beach, who was released from jail in April, spoke at the press event about how the resource center has helped him get his life back on track.

“I’ve been in and out of prison all my life,” he said. “If I wasn’t a part of this process, being benefited by the program and services I wouldn’t be here to speak today. I’m standing here today because of the men and women who run this program. … I’m glad I made that call.”

Anderson said he continues to better himself every day.

“Rehabilitation is a process and it happens on a daily basis,” he said. “Now I have people I can reach out to — it’s not always peaches and cream. That wisdom, even if it is a little drop, makes all the difference in the world.”

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After returning from speaking with the Long Island’s bipartisan congressional delegation in Washington, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) again reiterated just how imperative it is that Congress sends relief to local governments desperately in need.

Bellone’s plea also comes off the back of horrific financial reports, including that the U.S. gross domesticproduct has suffered a 32.9 percent shrinkage in the second quarter of 2020. The deadline for the additional $600 added on to unemployment will run out by the end of this week. While a House of Representatives bill would restore that, among other pandemic benefits, the Senate has proposed a replacement $200 on top of unemployment checks. Senate Republicans have not yet proposed a comprehensive plan to update coronavirus relief, which includes money toward local governments hard hit by the pandemic.

Suffolk has already frozen salaries for management, embargoed funds from various departments and utilized resources from the tax stabilization reserve fund, which has resulted in $100 million in mitigation. The county executive said they are looking at other things they can do to cut costs at a local and state level.

The county executive said without such federal relief, Suffolk will need to start slashing several departments that many needy depend on and would result in higher taxes on already overburdened Long Islanders who have suffered months of job losses and belt tightening.

And as school districts release plans this week for reopening in the fall, many are still unsure if they will receive the state aid promised to them in this year’s New York State budget. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has said state aid may need to be cut at a point toward the end of this year if they do not receive any federal disaster relief.

“Schools putting their plans in place, and they’re doing that in an environment if they don’t know they’ll have the funding to do everything they need to do for our kids,” Bellone said.  “We need [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell (R)] to step forward and agree to a comprehensive plan here, give us the resources we need to get through this storm.”

Though the county files a budget in mid-September, Bellone said they can’t wait until then to get relief.

“Schools are weeks away from opening, we need a comprehensive package that faces all the challenges we face right now,” he said.

The pandemic has also created a crisis beyond the over 2,000 people dead from the virus in Suffolk County. Bellone said the number of suicide hotline calls are up 100 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. COVID-19 has meant a huge increase in demand for food-service based programs, such as Meals on Wheels which has seen a 60 percent increase in demand, according to the county exec.

The potential for another wave of COVID is still on the table, Bellone said, saying that Suffolk feels like it is “in the eye of the storm,” whereas the rest of the country has seen severe spikes in the number of coronavirus cases. If a second wave does hit the county, it could result in

“We’ve been hit as hard as you can get hit and still be standing,” Bellone said. “We know swirling all around us the storm is raging.”

Bellone said Suffolk will need to be communicating with school districts as “[COVID-19] cases inevitably happen in our schools.”

Viral Numbers

Suffolk County is currently looking at 43,170 positive cases overall, and in the last 24 hours the county has seen 86 new positive cases.. This is out of 6,247 tests conducted, putting the county at a 1.4 positive test rate. The positive test rate has fluctuated around 1 percent for the past few weeks.

19,127 people have tested positive for antibodies, meaning they had the virus.

Hospitalizations have hovered around the mid to low 40s over the past week, and over the past day it dipped to 38. Bellone said it was the first time since March that new hospitalizations were in the 30s.

Meanwhile, five more people have occupied ICU beds over the past day to a total of 15 in Suffolk. With 3,020 beds in Suffolk andwith 772 currently available, it makes Suffolk’s capacity at 74 percent. As far as ICU beds, the county has 395, with 147 available, meaning a 53 percent capacity.

Over the past four days, Suffolk has experienced no deaths related to COVID-19.

Bellone said while the percentage capacity of available beds is higher than the state’s goal of 70 percent, he is not worried as the number has fluctuated as more people have willingly entered the hospital for non-COVID related injuries or ailments.

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The southern pine beetle has been spotted in the Rocky Point Pine Barrens Preserve. Photo by Giselle Barkley

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and the county Legislature agreed to withdraw a resolution that would have diverted money from the land preservation program over a three-year period to help to close the county’s budget gap. 

SBU’s Christopher Gobler, with Dick Amper, discusses alarming trends for LI’s water bodies at a Sept. 25, 2018 press conference. Photo by Kyle Barr

The ballot measure called for increasing the percentage of sales tax that is allocated to the Suffolk County Taxpayers Trust Fund and decreasing the percentage of sales tax that is allocated for the Suffolk County Environmental Programs Trust Fund. Bellone withdrew the bill an hour or so before the Legislature was set to vote on it in a July 28 special meeting.

Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, said that the decision was a good result for the people of Suffolk County. 

“It took him [Bellone] a long time to reach a simple conclusion,” he said. “It would have killed a program that has been around for over 30 years. It is a commitment to water quality and land preservation.”

In the past month, the county executive has criticized Amper during calls with press for what he said was a misrepresentation of what the bill would do, and that Suffolk County would need to cover budget gaps due to the pandemic or suffer dire consequences. 

The decision comes after the Legislature last week voted 14-3 to approve another ballot measure that would transfer excess funds from the county’s sewer stabilization reserve fund to the general fund in an effort to budget deficits from the coronavirus pandemic. That referendum will come in front of voters Nov. 3.

Amper said he felt the Bellone administration was so concerned with the possibility both propositions could be lost when residents voted on them in November that the administration chose to stick with one instead of being “left with nothing.” 

Bellone confirmed this assessment in a statement. 

“We have come to an agreement to withdraw this resolution in order to focus our efforts on ensuring the passage of the ballot referendum regarding the Assessment Stabilization Reserve Fund,” he said. “I am also pleased that several key players within the environmental advocacy community have indicated that they will not jeopardize the approval of this pending ballot measure and instead leave it in the hands of the voters.”

Environmental groups were concerned that taking away funds from the drinking water protection program would cause more harm than good. The program was established through a public referendum back in 1987.

Under the program, revenues from a 0.25% sales tax are divided between sewers land preservation, property tax stabilization and water quality funds. 

“This is one of the most important environmental programs in Suffolk County,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “[Water quality] is not a partisan issue, everyone needs clean water and they benefit from this program.”

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. File photo by Alex Petroski

Still, the loss of this potential referendum leaves Suffolk County in potentially dire straits. A report of both Nassau and Suffolk finances released in early July said Long Island lost 270,000 jobs during the peak of the pandemic. Total job losses could eclipse 375,000 compared to pre-COVID levels. County leaders have constantly petitioned people to reach out to federal representatives to beg for budgetary relief.

The subsequent withdrawal and earlier ballot approval on the sewer fund is the latest instance of the county attempting to divert money from environmental protection funds. 

Back in 2011, the county borrowed $29.4 million from the sewer fund in order to balance the budget under former County Executive Steve Levy. The Pine Barrens Society sued the county, and won. The move was deemed illegal by the state appeals court in 2012 because the county failed to get voter approval. 

The county appealed that decision and lost again. The Appellate Division in Brooklyn ordered the county repay the funds last year.

Amper said the county is using the environmental programs as its piggy bank and sees voters as a way to “legally” take funds away. 

“The county doesn’t manage its fiscal affairs very well, they’re billions of dollars in debt,” he said. “The public put that money aside for a reason.”

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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. File photo by Alex Petroski

During a press conference July 28 at the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran (D) made the case for what’s at stake for Long Island the day before heading to Washington to urge the congressional delegation to provide financial support for the area.

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, which claimed the lives of close to 2,000 Suffolk County residents, Bellone and Curran urged the federal government to appreciate what was at stake as residents continued to deal with the mental health consequences of a deadly virus, job losses, and ongoing fear and uncertainty.

Indeed, the 64-year-old LICADD has had a 20 percent uptick in calls as people grapple with mental health problems and anxiety, Steve Chassman, the executive director of LICADD said.

“Many people have crossed an imaginary line, where the 6 p.m. drink became the 2 p.m. drink,” Chassman said in an interview. For some, that has even developed into an “11 a.m. drink.”

Data from police have shown the number of opioid overdoses, both nonfatal and fatal, have increased dramatically since the start of the pandemic, rolling back almost two years of decreases.

At the press conference, Bellone and Curran said they believe the long road to recovery ahead for Long Islanders requires the ongoing support of services like LICADD and the Hempstead-based Family & Children’s Association.

Bellone said he and Curran were heading to Washington to make it clear “we’re talking about people’s lives and families in crisis.” These type of services, including public safety, public health, social services and mental health, are “even more important today” and will be critical as “we seek to recover from this over the next several years.”

Long Island has been battling an opioid crisis that has wreaked havoc throughout the region. The pandemic has increased the risks from opioids, among other drugs, even as Nassau and Suffolk are “still dealing with the direct impacts.”

Jeffrey Reynolds, the president and CEO of Family & Children’s Association, suggested that it “makes no sense to help save someone’s life from COVID-19 only to have them die from a fatal overdose or suicide.”

He called the current challenges among Long Island’s “darkest hour,” which is “exactly what we are seeing on the ground.”

Reynolds noted that social isolation has strained the mental health of individuals and families. In the last two weeks, Reynolds has seen three overdoses, including one of his former staff members.

Reynolds urged Washington to recognize the need for mental health services is just as critical as the need to protect people from viral infection.

“Nobody in Washington or in Albany, from either side of the aisle, would dare say, for the second, third or fourth wave of COVID that we don’t have enough money” for personal protective equipment. “This is the same. Untreated social anxiety and mental health conditions rank right up there and need our full attention.”

In an interview, Chassman added that residents have also self-medicated through other outlets, including gambling, online spending, emotional eating and sexually acting out.

“These are unhealthy coping mechanisms for fear, anxiety and stress,” Chassman said.

Reynolds offered support to the county executives as they head to Washington.

Turning to Bellone and Curran, Reynolds said, “You have our voice and our good wishes as you go forward” to make sure “these vital services” remain available to Long Islanders.

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Trump Signs Order Discounting Undocumented for Congressional Seats

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The effects of COVID-19 have made collecting 2020 census data more difficult. With delays in census operations stalling momentum and despite the census self-response deadline pushed to Oct. 31, advocates have had the tough task of dealing with these and other obstacles. 

Currently, New York lags behind other states responding to the census, ranking 38th according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli (D). Only 57.8 percent of New Yorkers have responded compared to the national average of 62.3 percent. On the North Shore of Long Island, numbers are better but still are slightly behind from the equivalent date 10 years ago. 

‘These communities are being undercounted and under resourced.’

—Rebecca Sanin

Brookhaven Town, as of July 20, has a total self-response rate of 66.9 percent, Smithtown has a response rate of 75.6 percent and Huntington’s response rate sits at 71.5.

Rebecca Sanin, president of the Health & Welfare Council of Long Island which has taken a leadership role in promoting the census, said when the pandemic hit, the organization had to pivot and adjust its strategies. 

“We had to spread awareness and continue to promote the census virtually, as a way to handle the current situation,” she said. “We’re hoping to resume in-person outreach soon.”

The pandemic limited what the council could do, though it did create a COVID tool kit for its partners, which include over 300 nonprofits, religious organizations, business organizations and local governments. In addition, advocates were able to hand out census material and resource packets at Suffolk County’s six testing sites and at area food banks. 

“The census may not be your first priority right now, it is so important that we get an accurate count,” Sanin said. “The current crisis has made it more clear the need for federal and state dollars for emergency response.” 

Due to the 2010 census, New York lost two congressional seats. Some fear this year’s count could lose the state one or two more. Also on the line is billions of dollars annually in federal funds that could be used for road work, school aid, grants and Medicaid funding. 

In Suffolk, some communities are harder to count than others especially those with minority populations and also parts of the East End. The Town of Riverhead, for example, has a response rate of 56 percent. Other areas with a high density of minorities, including a small section of Huntington Station, have a response rate of just 45.3 percent.

The current and past censuses have not discriminated between documented and undocumented residents, as the survey is meant to give a full count to a place’s number of inhabitants. However, President Donald Trump (R) has repeatedly moved to discount undocumented immigrants from the census, including adding a citizenship question on the survey. Those efforts have been blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, July 21, Trump signed an executive order that would excluded undocumented immigrants from being counted in congressional districts, data which is used to divide up seats in Congress. The order argues the 14th Amendment’s definition of “persons” in regards the enumeration requirement was not defined, giving the president the authority to determine who counts on the census.

Advocates said this could have grave repercussions for Long Island’s final count.

“We are horrified by the president’s attempt, once again, to prevent an accurate census count, dehumanizing our neighbors in the immigrant community and obstructing the fair distribution of desperately needed funding,” Sanin said in a statement. “Today, the president has launched an attack against our neighbors on Long Island and across the United States who don’t have documented status, claiming that their humanity, their very existence, simply doesn’t count.”

According to data from the state comptroller’s office, small municipalities normally have smaller response rates. The Village of Shoreham, with a population of just over 500, currently has a 50 percent response rate. 

“These communities are being undercounted and under resourced,” the president of the Heath & Welfare Council said. 

An addition to the 2020 census has been the new ways people can respond. Individuals can now fill out the census over the internet, by phone or mailing in a paper survey. Brookhaven, Smithtown and Huntington have had internet response rates of 55.3, 64.2 and 62.2 percent, respectively. 

The council has been tracking internet/phone response rates in the county and for the most part the results have been positive. Though Sanin stressed that certain communities and groups of people may not have the luxury of responding that way. 

“Lots of communities will not be able to use those methods,” she said. “We will have to escalate our outreach in other ways.”

One of those ways is going to door to door. 

With the expectation of eventually restarting in-person outreach by going door to door or handing out information at public places, the council has continued to recruit census ambassadors to ensure all responses are being tallied. In the past they have given information at parks, summer concerts and other events 

“We’ve had to change our strategy, we still need to spread the importance of the census and our work and keep raising awareness,” Sanin said. “We’re really trying to keep the momentum [going].”

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