County Executive Steve Bellone during a press conference in Hauppauge. Photo from Suffolk County
Last week, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) announced the county’s comprehensive police reform and reinvention plan, which was approved by the Legislature back in March.
According to Bellone, the reform plan seeks cultural change in the Suffolk County Police Department, with enhanced civilian oversight, increased accountability and transparency through the use of body cameras, and an expanded mental health crisis response among many other initiatives and policy changes.
The plan focuses on seven major points for reform: training and continuing education, recruitment and staffing, community policing, traffic stops, arrests and warrants, mental health response and police systems, accountability and body cameras.
The body camera program has been a topic of debate not just locally, but nationally. While some believe that officers should not have to wear them, many think that it would be beneficial to not only those in uniform, but also to the county — it could save us money in terms of potential lawsuits or settlements.
Right now, the county has a pilot program where a limited number of SCPD officers wear body cameras. In an effort to increase transparency and accountability, the police reform and reinvention plan proposed that body worn cameras be deployed as standard police worn equipment for all county police officers who engage with the public in the course of their professional duties.
According to Bellone, starting in 2022, body-worn cameras will be deployed for approximately 1,600 SCPD officers with an incentive of $3,000 additional pay over the course of two years to wear them. Suffolk County has included, in its capital budget, $24 million over a five-year period for the purchase of the cameras, implementation of the program and maintenance of the body-worn cameras and data systems.
Nassau County has implemented a similar program while other jurisdictions in the U.S. have already begun giving officers bonus pay, negotiated by the police unions, for wearing cameras.
While the financial incentive might seem unfair to some, it’s not the worst thing.
If an officer gets a boost for wearing something that could help accountability and trust within the local police departments, then so be it. It would then create a domino effect, resulting in other officers jumping on board until each one is armed with a camera.
If all SCPD officers eventually sport a body cam, the bad apples will be weeded out and trust could come back to those who risk their lives on the job.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) tested positive for COVID-19.
The County Executive, who is vaccinated and has been observing mask mandates, is unsure of how he contracted the virus.
Bellone has mild symptoms and is currently not receiving any medical treatment.
“I hope this serves as a reminder to all residents that while we are making incredible progress in the war against COVID-19, we are not done just yet,” Bellone said in a statement. “I encourage anyone who is eligible to receive their booster shot to do so.”
At this point, no other members of his office staff or his family has tested positive.
Bellone said he feels in “good health and spirits,” according to the statement. He will continue to carry out the duties of the County Executive.
Meanwhile, the percentage of positive tests on a seven-day average in Suffolk County fell below 3% on Oct. 20, dropping to 2.9%, according to the Suffolk County Department of Health.
Local health care providers have been encouraged by the overall decline in positive tests, which they attribute in part to ongoing vaccination efforts.
The Food and Drug Administration provided emergency use authorization for the Moderna booster for a specific groups of people who were fully vaccinated at least six months ago. Those groups include: people 65 years and older; people 18 through 64 who are considered at high risk; and people 18 through 64 with occupational exposure.
The FDA also approved the use of a single booster dose for people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago.
The FDA also allowed a mix and match approach to boosters, authorizing those who received one type of vaccination to choose a different booster. Local health care providers said studies have shown that people who received the J&J vaccine had a higher antibody response after receiving a Moderna booster.
“The available data suggest waning immunity in some populations who are fully vaccinated,” Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodccock said in a statement. “The availability of those authorized boosters is important for continued protection against COVID-19 disease.”
Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said the FDA would gather additional data as quickly as possible to assess the benefits and risks of the us of booster doses in additional populations and plans to update the healthcare community and the public in the coming weeks.
For more information on vaccines in the area, residents can go to the web site: suffolkcountyny.gov/vaccine.
The web site also includes answers to frequently asked questions, such as: what are the side effects after I get the COVID-19 vaccine, is it safe to get a COVID-19 vaccine if I have an underlying medical condition, and what should I do if I am exposed to COVID-19 after being vaccinated.
Early in the pandemic, Bellone remained in quarantine and managed his responsibilities from home after Deputy County Executive Peter Scully tested positive for the virus. Bellone didn’t test positive at that point, although he, like so many others in the early days of the disease, waited days for the results of his COVID test.
$26 million facility opens at Nissequogue River State Park
Nissequogue River State Park is the home of the new DEC Division of Marine Resources headquarters. Photo by Rita J. Egan
The Nissequogue River State Park has become the central hub for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Division of Marine Resources headquarters.
Nissequogue River State Park is the home of the new DEC Division of Marine Resources headquarters. Photo by Rita J. Egan
DEC and state park officials as well as Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) gathered Oct. 7 at the state park for the ribbon cutting of a sustainability-focused facility.
Funding for the $26 million building came from New York Works, and the facilitywill house a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-certified shellfish microbiology laboratory. The DEC anticipates the lab will be certified by the FDA by Spring 2022.
The division currently works out of an office in East Setauket and will continue doing so while the FDA-certification process for the new Kings Park laboratory is conducted. The building also has a lobby the public can visit with a marine permit office and restrooms.
Jim Gilmore, director of the division, said the project began more than 10 years ago. He said being located in a medical park in East Setauket made them a “fish out of water” as they had 20 boats but were five miles from the shore. He said one day after a meeting in Northport he took the scenic route back and decided to stop at the park.
“I drove by here and saw the sign, and I came in and I said, ‘What a beautiful park and what a great place with the water access. Maybe we could move the marine division instead of having a leased space, actually build something here and have a cooperative thing with the parks department and run our operations more efficiently,’” he said. “So, fast forward to today, and we have this beautiful complex, this building and this property that was a terrific, cooperative effort between two agencies.”
He added that apart from the new facility making it easier to get boats in the water than the East Setauket location, it is “designed for more efficient operation of DEC marine division” and furthers its mission to understand fisheries management and manage over 30 recreational and commercial species.
“Things we used to be able to take a day for us to do we could do in a half day,” Gilmore said.
The division annually also certifies 1.2 million acres of shellfish harvest area with its FDA lab.
Basil Seggos, DEC commissioner, congratulated Gilmore on the completion of the project and said Gilmore has taken the marine division to the next level.
Seggos said for years the marine district has been under threat.
“It’s pollution,” he said. “It’s overfishing. It’s developing down on the waterfront. Now we start to look at some of these really big sort of existential problems that we have to handle — there’s multistate issues and fish migration and, of course, climate change and the warming of our waters, the acidification of our waters.”
He said battling the issues is just not a result of policies created in Albany but also the groundwork done by the division on Long Island.
“This beautiful building supports the staff that are protecting 2,700 miles of shoreline,” Seggos said, adding that it includes Long Island, the Atlantic side, all the embayments, New York City and the Hudson River.
He added that 1.2 million acres of open water is taken care of by the staff, and nearly 350,000 jobs are dependent on the work that the division does.
A fish tank in the building’s lobby. Photo from DEC
State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said the new DEC building and the recently opened Charles and Helen Reichert Administration Building and visitors center in the NRSP are a symbol of a relaunch of the park.
“I think this building and our building down the hill and the marina in the future are real signs that it’s time to reinvest in this park and make it into the place,” Kulleseid said, adding that the park covers 521 acres.
“It’s vitally important to aquifer recharge, all kinds of things, and in one of the most densely populated parts of the state,” he said.
Bellone said it was a joint commitment on all levels of government, including Town of Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) who was unable to attend the event due to another commitment.
The county executive added that the protection of marine resources was critically important to the future of Long Island, and it was crucial to make sure those resources were sustainable.
“This is the state saying that these resources are critical and that we are committed to protecting them,” he said. “I’ve talked about this before: Water is everything here. It’s our quality of life, it’s our recreation, it’s our economy. The reason, or a large part of the reason, people live here is because of the extraordinary natural beauty, the assets, the bays, the Sound, the ocean, lakes and rivers. We have an obligation to protect it, but if we don’t we’re not going to have a prosperous future. And so this dedication of a building is a wonderful thing.”
After the press conference, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) sent out a press release announcingthe completion of the headquarters.
“From recreational anglers out for a day to commercial shellfish harvesters who have fished our state’s waters for generations, the health of New York’s marine ecosystem is critical to the economic health of our coastal communities,” Hochul said. “This new facility is evidence of our ongoing commitment to protecting New York’s diverse marine life while leading the way in the development of sustainable infrastructure.”
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Facility features
• Facility is LEED silver-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council for energy efficiency construction.
• It includes water-use reduction and rainwater management features, environmentally conscious and low pollution-emitting building materials, and facilitates the production of solar-generated energy.
• Features at the new facility include:
Ground and roof-mounted solar panels equipped to generate about 100,000 kilowatt-hours of energy each year.
LED lighting, energy-efficient electrical systems, and optimized water process used to reduce consumption.
Indoor environmental air quality controls, outdoor heat-reduction materials, and reflecting paint to minimize
energy use.
Low-impact refrigerants.
Environmentally friendly, low-emitting, and recycled construction materials.
High-quality indoor daylight and views of natural outdoor spaces to reduce the use of electrical lighting.
Green and electric vehicle parking and charging stations for visitors and staff.
Bike rack and a connection to a nature trail.
Rainwater bioretention and rain gardens to help reduce stormwater runoff.
Native and adaptive plants and trees to promote the health of the local ecosystem.
Working with the rideshare company Lyft, Suffolk County is offering free rides for senior citizens, veterans and people who are driving impaired to get their vaccinations for COVID-19 at county-run sites.
Starting on June 1, seniors who are over the age of 60, veterans and driving impaired residents can contact Suffolk 311 to schedule a pick-up and drop off to receive their inoculations.
The county would like residents to have an “equal ability to get their vaccines,” regardless of whether they have easy access to transportation, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said at a press conference announcing the program. “It’s not only good for them and their health: it’s good for all of us. It means that we will get closer to the numbers and the level of vaccinations we need to say that we have put this virus behind us.”
Suffolk County will be able to schedule and pay for the rides on behalf of residents, according to a Lyft spokeswoman.
The effort is a part of Lyft’s Universal Vaccine Access program, which started in December of 2020. Lyft has created more than 100 such partnerships and is facilitating access to rides throughout the country.
Lyft drivers will not wait outside while residents receive shots. County staff can arrange for pick up and drop off up to seven days in advance when residents call 311.
When seniors, veterans or driving impaired residents need transportation for their shots, county staff can request a ride using Lyft’s Concierge platform, which allows groups to request rides on behalf of those who may not have access to a smartphone or a bank account.
Bellone indicated that the county put out a competitive process to select a partner who could allow residents who don’t have access to a smartphone or who haven’t downloaded an app to secure a ride.
Lyft is committed to helping communities reach an “immunity that is going to get our economy back on track and our community back to normal,” Jen Hensley, head of government relations at Lyft said at the press conference.
Bellone shared his appreciation for the efforts of Senator Chuck Schumer (D).
“Without [Schumer’s] support, we wouldn’t be in a position to be able to offer a program like this,” Bellone said.
Vaccination efforts have helped reduce the spread of the virus, according to a recent interview with Gregson Pigott, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.
Lyft has also partnered with the White House.
From May 24 through July 4, anyone going to get their shots can get a ride code through the Lyft app or web site for two free rides during normal pharmacy hours of 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. of up to $15 each.
The county’s partnership with Lyft is the latest effort by Bellone to increase the number of people who have received the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
Through a “Lift Your Spirit, Take Your Shot” campaign, residents who are 21 years old and over and who receive their shot at a Suffolk County run site during the month of May will get a ticket that they can redeem at a participating brewery, winery and distillery for a free beer, tasting, glass of wine or cocktail.
Eight businesses are participating in that effort, including Del Vino Vineyards in Northport.
County Executive Steve Bellone with Dr. Gregson Pigott in front of the vaccine pods in Hauppauge. Photo by Julianne Mosher
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) is encouraging residents to get their COVID-19 vaccines.
On Thursday, April 29, he joined Dr. Gregson Pigott, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, Dr. Shaheda Iftikhar, deputy commissioner for the Department of Health Services and Holly Rhodes-Teague, director with the Suffolk County Office of the Aging outside the H. Lee Dennison Building to announce the second phase of the county’s “Take Your Shot” campaign.
With vaccine hesitancy on the rise, the multi-media campaign will utilize TV, radio and targeted digital advertisements to address misinformation and build trust for those still on the fence.
Bellone said at the press conference that as of April 29, there were 271 new cases of COVID-19 within the last 24 hours out of 15,628 tests.
“That’s a positivity rate of 1.7%,” he said. “That is huge.”
He added the last time the county saw a number nearing the 2% mark was at the start of the virus’ second wave back in the fall around Halloween — before the Pfizer vaccine became available.
“We are below 2% positivity, but we’re back in that 1% range where we were throughout the summer last year, when we were still dealing with the pandemic with no vaccines,” he said. “So, this is significant.”
Bellone noted maintaining the lower number is proof that the vaccines are working.
Aline of people ready to get their vaccines. Photo by Julianne Mosher
“We want to get to the point when we say this virus is behind us once and for all, and the vaccines are the key to reaching our goal,” he said. “You need to be doing everything that we can to get people vaccinated to #TakeYourShot.”
The first phase of the Take Your Shot initiative was originally launched late last year in an effort to foster public awareness and designed to encourage county residents on the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccines.
The second phase launched last week will continue to help remove potential barriers for people getting the vaccine.
“As of yesterday [April 28], more than 660,000 residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Suffolk County,” he said. “That’s nearly 45% of our residents. While we’ve made tremendous progress over the last few months, at this point, there are no excuses, vaccines are available to everyone 16 and older.”
Right now, the Pfizer vaccine is the only shot eligible to teenagers, and Bellone said he’s encouraging high school juniors and seniors to do their part.
“We have a lot of school-related activities that are opening up and coming back — prom, graduation — and we’re very excited that those are going to happen,” he said. “Getting vaccinated is a way to reduce the spread of the virus and make those big gatherings safe.”
Bellone had another message to young people.
“You have a stake in this county,” he said. “You can be part of the effort to completely defeat this virus in and help save lives.”
The county also announced walk-in vaccination appointments available at select county vaccine pod locations.
“Our residents are busy, they want flexibility,” he said.
Started on April 29, residents can visit the Selden campus at Suffolk County Community College and get their vaccines anytime between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.
“We’ve seen promising progress,” he said. “As more of our economy continues to open up, we want to return to normalcy.”
This week, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) officially signed a new law stating that drivers must give bicyclists a 3-foot distance on the road.
Photo by Julianne Mosher
We think it’s great, and know how important it is to share the road. No one wants to hurt someone who’s riding for leisure or exercise.
But what concerns us the most are the riders who might feel entitled, who don’t follow their own rules of the road.
Yes, vehicle drivers — especially on Long Island — can be awfully aggressive and distracted at times. But to play devil’s advocate, it isn’t just the car drivers. We have seen some aggressive bike riders, too.
There are times that sharing the road on a busy street like Route 25A or Nesconset Highway is near to impossible. The driver of the vehicle slows down traffic to abstain from the biker, who is weaving in and out of their bike lane.
Not all bike riders are bad, and again we think it’s great they are staying fit and not thrusting carbon dioxide fumes into the air. But, just as there are bad apples to everything, we are begging those riders to not take this new law in vain.
While car drivers are now more responsible for keeping a safe distance from a bicyclist, we are asking the rider to do the same.
Please don’t ride your bike in traffic, and please pay attention, yourself. Please don’t be a nuisance to the people trying to get to work during rush hour, and please, please, please stop at stop signs, too.
If we all abide by the rules of the road, all of us will be safe and laws like this won’t even have to be considered down the road.
The former Café Bada-Bing finally went “bada-bye.”
Steps away from the train station in Port Jefferson, construction crews began to knock down the former vacant bar on April 12.
Last known as the Bahia Bar & Discotec, the plot will soon be home to a new mixed-use site with 45 units of housing and more than 3,000 square-feet of ground floor commercial space to be called Port Jefferson Crossing.
The company behind the build, Conifer Realty, LLC, joined village officials as demolition began.
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Village Mayor Margot Garant put her hard hat on and got behind the bulldozer, to help knock down its first wall.
“This is a revitalization project that’s been going on now for many years,” she said. “We’re finally out of the planning process and into the building process.”
This is the first step toward giving Upper Port its much-needed facelift, including revitalizing the train station, building affordable and safe housing for young people and senior citizens close to the LIRR.
According to the IDA, Port Jefferson Crossing is a $24 million project that will construct 45 units of residential workforce housing in the heart of Port Jefferson.
The affordable housing component will be given out based on a lottery system, and will be located at 1609-1615 Main Street, currently the site of two vacant buildings.
“The public private partnership with the Brookhaven IDA, Suffolk County and the Village of Port Jefferson is instrumental in bringing Port Jefferson Crossing to fruition,” said Roger Pine, vice president of Development of Conifer, in a statement. “This is a long-term partnership that will bring continued revitalization to areas most in need in Long Island.”
Garant added that this project was a collective effort of several state agencies to bring life back to uptown, and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) complimented the mayor for her efforts.
“Some good things are happening,” he said. “You’re making things happen here on the local level. You’re doing the things necessary to create vibrancy, to create opportunity to create a place that people will flock to here, right around this train station.”
He said that a mixed-use building like this one will make the region more attractive to young people.
Photo by Julianne Mosher
“We need to build a growing sustainable innovation economy,” he added. “You’re at the fore-front of doing that work and making it happen. And certainly, building more affordable housing in our downtown is key, not only to revitalizing and creating more vibrancy downtown, but to creating a prosperous economy.”
The land-clearing demo will take about two weeks before its ground-breaking event and the actual building.
Activists attend a rally for police reform in Hauppauge March 15. File photo by Julianne Mosher
This week, dozens of groups across Long Island stood together, calling on lawmakers to adopt “The People’s Plan” for police reform, including one outside county offices in Hauppauge on March 15.
Created by community task force and advocacy groups, the plan is in response to a separate version Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) submitted to lawmakers last week.
And it’s needed, especially since the plan has taken into consideration feedback from retired law enforcement, civil rights attorneys, advocates and activists.
Earlier this month, Bellone held an urgent press conference, alleging the assault from police on a man who stole a car and ran from the cops, in Port Jefferson Station — our backyard.
Of course, there are two sides to every story.
The county’s current police reform proposal directs the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission to review complaints of police misconduct. That being said, the police department would still have the power to investigate and discipline their own.
The plan created by advocacy groups would create a community council to review and hold the police accountable for misconduct.
What’s wrong with that?
By allowing the community to deliberate on what was wrong, it would alleviate some of the stresses that police officers constantly deal with. It might even prevent the “bad apples” from doing bad things.
A year after Breonna Taylor’s death and nearing 365 days since the George Floyd killing, 2020 was a mess filled with protests, anger, fear and arguments.
We’re three months into 2021. Let’s start anew, afresh and let open conversations prevent the beatings of innocent people, prevent unlawful deaths and make the communities we live in a better place for everyone — no matter their gender, race, income level or role in society.
Transparency is a good thing in all walks of public life.
Dozens of community activists from across Long Island rallied outside Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s (D) office in Hauppauge this week, asking lawmakers to adopt “The People’s Plan.”
Earlier this month, police reform advocates created their own plan to hold law enforcement accountable and calling on them to be transparent within the community.
“We’re gathering here today nearly a year after the George Floyd uprisings because our communities took to the street and said enough is enough,” said Elmer Flores with Long Island United to Transform Policing and Community Safety. “We are yearning for change. And for far too long our elected officials have not met our demands with the gravitas that it demands.”
Some of the plan includes civilian oversight of police misconduct, creating unarmed traffic enforcement and ending pretextual stops when someone is pulled over.
“Mistrust is pervasive between the police and the communities they are supposed to represent,” he added. “And part of that is that we need to get to the root causes of why crime happens and how we can address it and prevent it from happening. But to do that, it requires leadership. It requires bold and effective action that’s going to change the way policing happens on Long Island.”
This plan is separate from the reform Bellone submitted to lawmakers last week, and these local activists demand the reforms be included in the plan due to the state April 1.
Jackie Burbridge, co-founder of the Long Island Black Alliance, said to the crowd that for years the Suffolk County Police Department has been actively turning a blind eye to crime being committed in this county in order to continue harassing people who are not white. She said the recommendations that the county task force came up with don’t go far enough in preventing or mitigating discriminatory policing.
“The plan that was released by Suffolk County in response to Governor Cuomo’s [D] executive order falls short of the transformative changes to the way we conceive of public safety that this moment in our community members are demanding,” she said. “Black and brown communities across Long Island are overpoliced, resulting in outsized opportunities for interactions between vulnerable community members and police officers. … It’s not that people are being brutalized because cops see threats. They don’t see threats in our community, they see prey. And what we need is police reform that’s actually going to address that.”
The collective groups have spent months crafting the 12, research-backed proposals for structural reform that make up the 310-page “The People’s Plan” to address numerous structural components of transforming and reimagining policing and public safety on Long Island.
Suffolk’s police reform proposal directs the county’s Human Rights Commission to review complaints of police misconduct.
However, the police department would still have the power to investigate and discipline police misconduct. Activists say they are asking for lawmakers to consider other measures, like mental health counselors for certain situations, and create a community council to review and hold police accountable for misconduct.
Members from local groups headed to Hauppauge, too, including Myrna Gordon of the North Country Peace Group, to show their support and signs.
“How can we not be here?” she asked. “It’s what we need to do to keep fighting for peace and justice. We need to see that Steve Bellone is on board with ‘The People’s Plan,’ and every peace and justice group in Suffolk County and the Three Village area needs to be on board.”
Peggy Fort, a member of the United For Justice in Policing Long Island and Building Bridges in Brookhaven groups, said ‘The People’s Plan’ addresses not just the community, but could benefit police officers, acknowledging the stresses police officers face.
“We’re not trying in ‘The People’s Plan’ to micromanage the police department,” she said. “What we’re trying to do is really address the problems and the racial bias that exists.”
Ducks at Niegocki Farms in Mount Sinai enjoy the snow Feb. 1. Photo by Tricia Niegocki
Suffolk County officials urged residents to stay home during a winter snowstorm that’s predicted to add a foot or more of additional snow and will pack winds that could gust as high as 50 miles per hour.
Tricia Niegocki of Niegocki Farms in Mount Sinai took this photo of her son going out to feed the farm animals Feb. 1.
“We ask people to stay off the roads today,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said at a press conference at the Department of Public Works Maintenance Shed in Commack.
Bellone and Suffolk County Police Department Chief Stuart Cameron urged residents to be careful when shoveling snow, particularly if they are unaccustomed to physical exertion, to check on older neighbors and relatives, and to be careful with snow blowers.
“Never put your hand in a snow blower,” Cameron said. Cameron said a resident tried to clear the chute of his snow blower during the last storm and injured his hand.
Bellone said residents who are in need of heating assistance can call (631) 854-9100. Residents who have non-emergency issues can call 311, while anyone dealing with an emergency should call 911.
At around 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning, a car sideswiped a police car. The officer went to the hospital with minor injuries and was released.
Cameron said the officer had been in his car at the time of the accident. Had he been outside the car helping a motorist, he could have been killed.
The overnight accident “highlights the dangers [officers] face when they’re stopped,” said Cameron, who added that the county has had a “variety” of accidents that are related to the storm.
Gaynor Park in St. James is transformed into a winter wonderland Feb. 1. Photo by Rita J. Egan
“If you have to go out, please be very cautious,” Cameron said.
Bellone said the storm and efforts to remove snow will last more than a day, especially as wind pushes snow back onto the roads.
“This is something we’ will be dealing with throughout tonight and into tomorrow,” Bellone said. Snow plows will still be on the roads tomorrow.
Suffolk County has shut down busses today and will provide notifications and updates about tomorrow.
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