Congressman Lee Zeldin's Statement Regarding His Diagnosis Of CML

On Saturday, September 18, 2021, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), candidate for governor of New York, issued the following statement regarding a diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Congressman Lee Zeldin“Through early detection, last November, I was diagnosed with early stage chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). I then began treatment with an immediately positive response and no side effects. Over the last 9 months, I have achieved complete remission, am expected to live a normal life, and my doctor says I currently have no evidence of this disease in my system. My health is phenomenal, and I continue to operate at 110%.

“Right now, I’m once again criss-crossing New York State in our campaign for Governor, hitting Monroe, Wayne, and Ontario Counties yesterday, and Jefferson, Lewis, and Hamilton Counties today. At no point have we slowed down at all and my lowest gear is always ALL IN. I have also not missed any Army Reserve Duty as a result of this diagnosis. 

“I’m grateful for all of the men and women in the medical field who have not only treated me these past several months, but who pour their heart and soul into treating so many others in need of their expertise, energy, and passion. The medical field in our country is filled with the very best of society.”

Congressman Zeldin’s Hematologist Jeffrey Vacirca commented in Congressman Zeldin’s statement, “In November 2020, following a diagnosis of early chronic myeloid leukemia, Congressman Zeldin began targeted therapy, to which he immediately responded extraordinarily well and has achieved complete remission. Successfully treated early chronic myeloid leukemia is now a chronic disease, which carries a normal life expectancy. Congressman Zeldin is incredibly healthy, is expected to enjoy a normal life and has no evidence of disease.”

According to the Mayo Clinic “Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is an uncommon type of cancer of the bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made. CML causes an increased number of white blood cells in the blood.”

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Part II Hauppauge-Based LI Housing Partnership Tackles Affordable Housing Crisis

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

With the average price of a house in Suffolk having now gone up to $525,000, the affordable housing situation in the county has become yet more of a predicament for so many people. “The need for affordable housing has reached crisis proportions,” the county government’s affordable housing website declares.

What is being done, what has been done, to deal with this crisis?

A relatively new affordable housing program, the Long Island Partnership Community Land Trust, has been acquiring land for affordable housing in western and central Suffolk. 

The Community Land Trust is an initiative begun in 2018 by the Hauppauge-based Long Island Housing Partnership. The Partnership says in its mission statement that its aim is to “provide affordable housing opportunities to those who, through the ordinary, unaided operation of the marketplace, would be unable to secure, or remain in, a decent and safe home.”

The Community Land Trust, a not-for-profit corporation set up by the Housing Partnership, “acquires multiple parcels of land throughout a geographic area with the intention of retaining ownership of these parcels forever. The new homeowner owns the home on a parcel and the land remains in the Community Land Trust, thereby making the home more affordable,” says literature on the program. The Trust “retains” the land “for the community and never sells it” and “provides a very long-term lease of land, typically 99 years, for the exclusive use by individual homeowners.” 

Peter J. Elkowitz, Jr., president and CEO of the Housing Partnership, said property for this initiative has already been acquired in Smithtown, in Patchogue and Bellport in Brookhaven Town, in Melville in Huntington Town and in Babylon Town.

The program “makes homeownership possible for many through this innovative program that offers homes that have a lower cost since the land is not added to the purchase price.”

As part of the arrangement, “legal restrictions” are put in place, said Mr. Elkowitz, to prevent the owner of a house on Land Trust property from “flipping it” for profit. The land, he said, must remain in the affordable housing “pipeline.”

The Housing Partnership calls the program “a new model of homeownership” which will produce “permanently affordable homes.” 

A program to help the East End is the Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Act which for a second time has passed the New York State Legislature and is heading to the state’s new governor, Kathy Hochul, for her consideration. In 2019, her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, vetoed the measure. If she signs it, it would go to the voters in the five East End towns for their approval.

It would provide for a half-percent tax on real estate transfers and “give the towns of the Peconic Bay region the authority and resources needed to establish a dedicated fund to provide needed housing opportunities,” says a legislative memorandum attached to it.

The Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Act was sponsored by State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. of Sag Harbor and State Senator Anthony Polumbo of New Suffolk. 

It would levy an additional half-percent to the two-percent real estate transfer tax currently existing on the East End through the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund. This tax, which began in 1999 after state approval and then support in referenda in the five towns affected, has raised more than a $1.7 billion since. Proceeds are used to save farmland and open space, maintain water quality and for historic preservation.

Under the title “Justification,” the “Memorandum in Support of the Legislation” for the Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Act, states, “The adverse impact resulting from the lack of housing opportunities is severe….Traffic congestion is intensified by the importation of labor from areas with lower housing costs” and “the lack of housing opportunities is resulting in residents being forced to live in substandard, illegal conditions. The unique demographics and economics in the Peconic Bay region and a lack of affordable dwelling units are contributing to this housing shortage.”

With the money brought in under the program says the body of the legislation, “A town may provide financial assistance to a first-time homebuyer who is a resident of the town or who is employed in the town.” It could be “in the form of a grant or a loan.”

Western and central Suffolk County towns could also, with state legislation submitted on their behalf, then state approval and passage in local referenda, have their own Community Housing Act.

 More next week on the affordable housing crisis.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Smithtown Recreation Announces Horseshoe League Champions

Smithtown Recreation is pleased to announce our 2021 Horseshoe league champions as well as second place finishers.  

On Wednesday, August 18^th the first round of the Horseshoe league semi-finals were played in the best of 5 format.  The 1^st place team, Lou Malandra & Larry Bond and 2^nd place team Paul Williams & John Parish

had a bye while 3^rd place team Justin Flores & Chris Malandra played 6^th place team of Anthony Esgro & Mike Rozza.  Justin & Chris won 3 – 0 and will play in the finals against Paul & John.  

Fourth place team, Jay McConnell & Peter Sikinger played 5^th place team, Ed Riss & Jeff Barrington.  Ed & Jeff won 3-2.  Ed & Jeff will play Lou & Larry in the finals.

On Wednesday, August 25^th, 1st place team of Lou & Larry played Ed & Jeff.  Lou and Larry won 3-0 and waited to see who they would face in the finals.  Paul & John played Justin & Chris.  Justin & Chris won 3-1 and advanced to the finals to play Lou & Larry.  

In the championship match Lou & Larry won 3 – 2 against Chris & Justin.  Congratulations to Lou & Larry for winning the 2021 Smithtown Recreation Doubles Horseshoe League!   

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Housing In Suffolk County

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

“Welcome to Suffolk County’s affordable housing website. The need for affordable housing has reached crisis proportions throughout the county.” Those are the opening lines of Suffolk County government’s website involving affordable housing here.

Indeed, it is a crisis!

When we purchased our first house in Suffolk, in 1964, in Sayville, the price was $19,000. And there were plenty of houses at the time up for sale in the $15,000 to $17,000 range. But we opted for a roomier place to raise our family after renting for three years (initially, a cottage in Islip for $75 a month).

That was a long time ago, of course, and there’s been a change in what a dollar is worth, and salaries have gone up appreciably. Still, says Jim Morgo, the first president and CEO of Long Island Housing Partnership from when it began in 1988, even with the change in value of a dollar and increases in salaries, the percentage of the rise in the price of housing in Suffolk substantially exceeds that. (As for rents, they’re now “close to $3,000 a month,” he notes.)

Mr. Morgo’s successor after his 17 years at LIHP, Peter J. Elkowitz, Jr., said in a Long Island Metro Business Action presentation last month—titled “Affordable Housing, Opportunities & Obstacles”—the average price of a house in Suffolk had just gone up to $525,000.

“The big issue is supply of homes under $400,000. They are very difficult to find these days,” said Mr. Elkowitz. This $525,000 price had “gone up 19% from the same time last year,” he said. (The $400,000 price is considered, debatably, as “affordable.”)

A big factor: COVID-19 and “people looking for more space to live in,” he said. This involves “health issues.” COVID-19 refugees have flocked to Suffolk County since the pandemic began.

There is “an extremely limited” market overall of houses for sale here with commonly would-be buyers “offering cash on the spot,” said Mr. Elkowitz. 

“LI homes sales soar as Suffolk median price breaks the $500,000 barrier,” was the headline of a Newsday story by its real estate reporter Maura McDermott in June. It started: “Want to buy a home in Suffolk County? It is likely to cost you at least half a million dollars.”

As for houses on the East End, a follow-up story she wrote in August began: “Even the ‘affordable’ East End isn’t so affordable anymore. A year’s worth of COVID-19 bidding wars has driven prices up into the $1 million range in East End communities that once were reasonably priced destinations for those seeking idyllic places to live and vacation on Long Island.”

What about when, hopefully, this pandemic is over or recedes substantially? Ms. McDermott quoted Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel, a real estate appraisal company which conducts research on market trends, saying the ability to work from home “is not going away even if the pandemic is brought under control or eradicated. Remote work is now an embedded factor in the location calculation of consumers.”

According to realtor.com, the “median sold home price” for a house in Sag Harbor is now $1.3 million. We moved from Sayville to Sag Harbor in 1974 buying a house on an acre and a quarter for $45,000.

The unaffordability of a house on the East End now is exemplified every day of the work week by what’s been dubbed “the trade parade”—the line of bumper-to-bumper traffic on Route 27, County Road 39A and Montauk Highway, in the morning very slowly heading east with tradespeople and others who would never be able to afford a house today on the East End. And then, as afternoon arrives, the “trade parade” reverses direction and bumper-to-bumper returns west very slowly. 

The Suffolk County “affordable housing” website says: “Families and businesses have all felt the repercussions of this challenge as young workers and our elderly have left Long Island for more affordable housing elsewhere.” Mr. Morgo points out: “In places like North Carolina and parts of Pennsylvania you can get double the size of a home at half the price here.” 

“The issue,” says the county’s website, “did not develop overnight, nor can it be solved overnight. It will take all of us working together to find a multitude of solutions to keep our families together.” 

Next week: what is being done, what can be done, to deal with this crisis?

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Hurricane Henri Was A Wake Up Call

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

We dodged a bullet with Henri hitting Rhode Island head-on rather than us last week. But the hurricane threat is far from gone. With the hurricane season running from June 1 to November 30, the threat in the short-term remains possible, and assured in the long-term.

And this comes as climate change is causing more frequent and more severe hurricanes (and other what’s being called extreme weather events). Global warming is heating waters on which hurricanes feed. States along the Gulf of Mexico have been the most impacted in recent times by quickly developing major hurricanes. But the Atlantic coast—including where we are—is a hurricane alley, too.

It seemed definite (as much as hurricane predictions can be definite, although forecasts have gotten very good in recent years) that Henri would strike us.   

Began an article in Newsday: “Long Island stands in the crosshairs of a hurricane that could potentially wreak havoc with flooding, power losses, downed trees and all the misery that come with that.” As for electric outages, an accompanying story was headlined: “Dire Warning On Outages.” It began: “PSEG Long Island said the potential for ‘severe damage’ from Hurricane Henri could cause outages that last up to two weeks…” Two weeks! 

At gas stations on Long Island were lines of cars with people filling up containers for gas to feed generators. At hardware stores, there was a run on bar oil for chain saws getting readied to deal with fallen trees. And there was justifiable high anxiety.

But, amazingly, on the morning that Henri was to clobber us came the report that it had shifted to the east and would likely make landfall in Rhode Island. “A difference of 30 miles compared to the earth’s diameter of 7,900 miles may not seem like much, but it can be when you’re dealing with a hurricane,” said Newsday meteorologist Bill Korbel.

What’s to learn? Two major things:

For decades I’ve written about the need to underground electric lines on Long Island. In April, I related how Kevin Law, on his last day as president and CEO of the Long Island Association, sent a letter to President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer requesting federal help for the undergrounding of electric lines here.  I noted that Mr. Law knew the situation well from previously being president and CEO of the Long Island Power Authority, which owns those lines. He asked that funds be made “available to make electric grids more resilient to climate disasters on Long Island…to bury the electric grid on Long Island.” He linked this to “efforts to invest in our national infrastructure.” And, since, two bills providing trillions for infrastructure work in the U.S. have been passed by Congress. 

Mr. Law pointed out that there are “approximately 10,000 miles of overhead [electric] lines” on Long Island. “Major storms, including Hurricane Isaias, Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Gloria demonstrated the immense vulnerabilities of our grid. These storms caused significant disruption and widespread damage such as downed trees and fallen power lines and left most of Long Island’s residents and businesses in the dark, with some out for longer than a week.”

Hurricane Gloria in 1985 caused a loss of electricity to 700,000 electric ratepayers on Long Island—but nearly all telephone service continued without interruption. Why?  It was because, in the 1970s, telephone lines here began being placed underground. 

The details of the infrastructure legislation are still to be worked out. There is time to include funding for undergrounding electric lines on Long Island. A push by our federal representatives is needed.

Then, re-emphasized by Henri: the need for relocation of structures built in vulnerable areas of our coasts. “Fortunately, Long Island was spared the brunt of Henri,” says Kevin McAllister, founder and president of the Sag Harbor-based organization Defend H20. “But our sigh of relief will be short-lived, as there most certainly will be a next time. Whether it’s a named storm or a winter nor’easter, storm surge will be a constant and growing threat and compounded by an accelerating sea level rise. Our days of living on wetland fringes, sand spits, isthmuses and some sections of barrier islands are numbered. The sooner we accept the inevitable and monumental changes that are underway, the sooner we can start moving back, off and out of vulnerable areas, the more resilient we will be. We know where they exist, so let’s get started. For Long Islanders will rue the day we failed to listen to Henri’s wake-up call.”

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.