SUFFOLK CLOSEUP : Suozzi Says Time Is Right For North Atlantic Rail System

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman 

With the big push by the Biden administration for infrastructure work, there’s a call for creation of a “a high-speed rail spine” with trains moving at “150-200 mph” between New York City, across much of Long Island, and then from Port Jefferson through a tunnel to be dug under the Long Island Sound. The trains would emerge at New Haven, Connecticut and connect to Hartford, Providence and Boston.

“Linked to this spine will be a network of “high performance—110-120 mph—intercity rail links connecting all of New England’s mid-sized cities and Long Island’s major centers to each other and to New York and Boston,” stated a letter sent this month from 22 members of the House of Representatives to the leaders of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Representative Tom Suozzi whose district includes part of Suffolk is leading the effort.

What’s being called the “North Atlantic Rail Network,” acronymed NAR, would be “the nation’s first integrated high-speed, performance and regional rail network serving the seven-state New York/New England region,” said the letter. “It can serve as a prototype for new 21^st century rail networks in the nation’s other megaregions….This proposed network will underpin the continued growth and prosperity of the…region for decades to come… This region has long been one of America’s economic engines, with 11% of the nation’s population and 14% of its economy. NAR will address the severe and growing highway, rail and air congestion…”

The letter described the scheme as meeting “high priorities of the Biden Administration.”

Does the plan have a chance?

For starters, it would be expensive. At a now estimated $105 billion, “the project would be among the most costly public works projects in American history,” relates Newsday. The possible availability of loads of federal infrastructure dollars softens this—although Republicans in Congress are not in tune with all the funding the Biden administration seeks. Then there is the projected time for construction: 20 years.

A model for high-speed (150 mph) trains exists in Europe. Once off such a train in Europe, you can easily get around on connecting trains, trolleys, buses, and not need a car. China now has the fastest high-speed trains in the world, moving at nearly 220 mph. 

There are already critics of the NAR project. Priority for spending infrastructure dollars should be on “things that we need, not things that are fantasies,” says Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at NYU. “High-Speed Rail on Long Island? Not So Fast,” was the headline of Stony Brook University professor of public policy, Richard Murdocco’s column “The Foggiest Idea.” He said the plan fails to “meet…more immediate infrastructural needs” and “policymakers should focus on encouraging transit ridership post-pandemic.” 

There have been numerous proposals through the years for bridges and tunnels from Long Island to Westchester County or New England. They started in 1938 with the proposal by Royal Copeland, a three-term U.S. senator from New York State, for an island-hopping 18-mile bridge from Orient Point and then across Plum, Great Gull and Fishers islands landing in Groton, Connecticut or Watch Hill, Rhode Island. 

In the 1960s, Robert Moses pushed unsuccessfully for bridge from Oyster Bay to Rye. 

In 1979, New York Governor Hugh Carey set up a tristate advisory committee to consider cross-Sound bridges from sites at Riverhead, Wading River, East Marion, Port Jefferson and Orient Point. But the panel found that expanding cross-Sound ferry service was preferable.

In 2003, there was a drive by the Long Island Association and the Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties for a tunnel starting at Exit 68 on the LIE going under a 100,000-acre pine barrens state preserve and then the Sound to New Haven. Bob Yaro, president of the Regional Planning Association, warned: “That far east on Long Island there are apt to be very serious growth impacts.” Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, protested: “Some Long Island leaders are still in denial that this is an island, not a highway to New England.”

Meanwhile, there’s that relatively slow but pleasant way to leave eastern or central Long Island, if you have the time—ferries from Orient Point to New London or Port Jefferson to Bridgeport. The latter line was founded in 1883 by backers including P.T. Barnum and has outlived his circus.

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. 

Candidate Mike Siderakis Calls On Governor To "VETO THE LEGISLATION"

Mike Siderakis, candidate for Suffolk County Legislator 12th district, held a press conference Tuesday morning at the NYS office building in Hauppauge. Standing alongside Nora Higgins, regional coordinator from the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF), he called on Governor Cuomo to veto the parole reform bill working its way through the legislature. (S. 1144-A A.5576-A)

Siderakis, a thirty year veteran of law enforcement, said he was calling the press conference to speak for the residents in his community and to ensure their safety. Siderakis and Higgins said the legislation Governor Cuomo is being asked to sign will not make the public safer and does not hold criminals accountable. He suggested that before enacting the legislation there should be a discussion with stakeholders including law enforcement and parole officers. 

Siderakis said, “We’ve seen this movie before, and we know it ends badly. We can’t allow New York to jump headfirst into complex reforms of the criminal justice system, yet again, without thinking this through. “ 

He pointed out Albany’s criminal discovery reform, which he said pitted district attorneys against unworkable deadlines for disclosure. The legislation required local governments to disclose information about indictments and arrests within fifteen days. Enacted, the flawed legislation needed to be reformed after only months on the books.

“The safety of the residents of Suffolk County is my first, second, and third priority. I have spent my entire adult life protecting and serving the people of New York, and I will continue that fight as your legislator. Today, that means holding our public officials in Albany accountable.” 

He called the legislation heading to Cuomo’s desk “a mess”. He stated, “This bill, no matter how well-meaning it might be, will leave our communities less safe by adding several roadblocks and barriers to enforcing the terms of parole on convicted criminals. It adds a huge burden on our already over-taxed court system, shifting judgment and discretion from our experienced parole officers to our crowded and underfunded courts. This bill is unworkable and, mark my words, will itself need to be reformed down the line if passed.This is just one more unfunded mandate that will have the consequence of making our communities less safe.”

Nora Higgins called for the Governor to veto the legislation known as “Less is More” saying it would remove the ability of parole officers to sanction parolees who violate terms and conditions of parole. Higgins said the legislation removes all meaningful consequences for parolees bad behavior and ties the hands of parole officers and makes it much harder for them  to help parolees transition successfully back into society. There has to be some consequences, we cannot be a society with a revolving door putting everyone at risk by not providing the help to parolees who need resources and services.

Higgins said, PEF opposes the legislation which it claims creates an unfunded mandate on the courts, increases caseloads for NYS’s 800 plus parole officers who oversee 34,000 cases, the legislation ignores the fact that parole is part of a sentence for a crime.” It ignores the crimes committed and the victims of the crimes. Parole is part of the sentence for the original crime committed. They are doing their sentence without bars. Infractions committed on parole has to mean something. Parolees need to be supported mentally, financially and physically so they can get back on their feet. The legislation as presented denies the resources for real full-entry planning.

Siderakis, Higgins and retired parole officer Joan Siegel spoke of the need to enforce sentencing and the victimization of the public when criminals are not held accountable for their actions. 

Smithtown Landing's Greenskeeper's Cup Results

By Jerry Gentile

On June 12th and 13th the Greenskeeper`s Cup was played at the Smithtown Landing golf course.

The Championship Flight was won by none other than Bob Marsicovetere, who continues his fine play with a super gross score of (77). Second place went to Emmett Cassidy with a fine gross (79).

The A Flight winner went to two time former SLMGA Champion (1994) & (2004) Chris Koenig with an excellent gross (76). The (76) was also low gross for the tournament.

Second place went to Ryan Hillen with a nice (83).

Honorable mention must go out too Kevin Cohen (see pic in Golf Talk) who managed a smooth (81) but his net score was not enough to overcome Ryan.

Our B Flight was won by solidly consistent Ken Wolf with a fine (82). Second place went to 6` 6“ (Too Tall) Tim Mulcahy (He’ll say at one time it was 6` 7“). C Flight was a squeaker with Bruce Falkenberg beating out Doug Dortman on a match of cards, both shot a respectable gross (90). D Flight was won by Ed Doherty with a very respectable gross (85). Ed also won Low Net. Second place went to the `tiptoe putting wizard` Angelo Difrancisco (89).

Congratulations to all the golfers on a fine tournament. JG SLMGA PR Board Member.

The pic is sweet, swinging lefty Kevin Cohen on his way to a 3rd place finish in the A Flight Division.

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP : Diversity In Education

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

Alleged bias in hiring in a Suffolk County school district could lead to a statewide law prohibiting discriminatory practices “in relation to the qualifications of professionals in education.”

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. of Sag Harbor is a co-sponsor. The legislation has been introduced in the State Assembly by Michaelle Solages of Elmont, chair of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus. She is also the deputy Assembly Democratic leader. 

The bill cites a 2019 state Department of Education study, titled “Education Diversity Report,” that states that “New York’s student population of students of color is 50 percent. The racial and ethnic composition of the teacher workforce does not reflect the diversity of the student population.” 

It goes on: “Access to a racially and culturally diverse teacher workforce is beneficial for all students, particularly for students of color, who often thrive in classrooms led by teachers who share their racial and cultural backgrounds. This bill would encourage educational institutions to signal and embrace the importance of teacher and school leader diversity as well as change the recruitment practices to identify qualified applications.”

Mr. Thiele commented: “I think that everyone can point to a teacher in their lives as they went through school—whether grade school or high school—who made a difference as a role model or mentor.” But he said, in many schools in the state, commonly “nobody on the faculty looks like students they are teaching. The bill is designed to make hiring patterns more transparent and provide greater diversity. I think it is of critical importance.”

The measure grows out of an investigation by the Islip Town branch of the NAACP which “has identified racially discriminatory policies and practices that are used by the Brentwood Union Free School District to increase the employability of whites and reduce the employability of Blacks.”

The branch president, William King Moss III, said that “the Brentwood School District often times does not interview any Black applicants for a given teaching position even though the Black applicant is more qualified than white counterparts.”

There are 18,500 students in the district, nine percent of whom are Black, while of its 1,300 teachers, 2.5 percent are African-American. 

The district has an 80 percent Latino student population and 20 percent of teachers are Latino but this, said Mr. Moss, is largely due to a New York regulation that holds that “English-language learners” require specialized instruction. So, there is hiring of Spanish-speaking teachers because the district “does not have a choice even though it has an apparent white-first agenda.”

Mr. Moss was the 1995 salutatorian at Brentwood High School. He went on to Harvard where he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a masters’ in mathematics education. A Brentwood resident, he taught mathematics for 11 years in Brentwood and was involved in developing the “fair hiring policy” for the district which, he says, it “fought tooth and nail” and now “often ignores.” For the past 11 years he has been director of academic affairs in the Lawrence School District. 

The Brentwood School District denies bias in hiring with its attorney having declared: “Brentwood has been a leader in increasing the diversity of its teaching and administrative staff.”

“Teacher Diversity in Long Island’s Public Schools” was the title of an extensive report issued in 2019 by The National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University—which reflected Brentwood as not being alone on Long Island.

Prepared by William Mangino, chairperson of and professor in Hofstra’s Department of Sociology, and Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the center, it noted that, “For example, 61 percent of Long Island public schools do not have a single Black teacher…”

It said: “Because diversity brings different viewpoints, understandings and cultural frames, people who are exposed to diversity blend these various ideas.” Further, “if people of color are not adequately represented among the teaching force, whites and non-whites alike will gain the mistaken impression that people of color are not appropriate for such roles.”  The report spoke of a “lack of effective efforts to recruit and retain minority teachers. Most of the minority educators dispute the contention of many school district officials that they are being aggressive and creative but that the pool of qualified minority applicants is too small.” It said that “racial disparities could even widen” without an effort to make “the hiring of minority teachers a priority.”

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 : The Race To Replace Lee Zeldin

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman 

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming has announced her seeking to be the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the lst Congressional District in next year’s election—and now the field has more declared and possible entries.

The incumbent, Republican Lee Zeldin, wants to run for New York governor in 2022.

On the GOP side, there’s a potential nominee to run in Mr. Zeldin’s stead with a name well-known in this area: LaValle. 

Kevin LaValle, a Brookhaven Town councilman from Selden, is a cousin of Kenneth LaValle, a state senator from Suffolk from 1977 until last year when he retired. Kenneth LaValle, of Port Jefferson, a teacher and school administrator before running for the State Senate, was a big vote-getter during his tenure. 

Kevin LaValle is also the brother of John Jay LaValle, a Brookhaven Town councilman from 1996 to 2000 when he was elected town supervisor. John LaValle departed town government in 2005 and in 2009 became Suffolk Republican leader for a decade.

Could the LaValle name and Kevin LaValle being from Brookhaven Town provide him with an advantage in a lst C.D. contest?  Nearly 500,000 residents of the lst C.D., which has a total population of somewhat over 700,000, live in Brookhaven Town.

Another Brookhaven Town Republican councilman seriously considering the race is Neil Foley of Blue Point. “The possibility is real,” he said. “I’ve been blessed with people coming up to me, constituents, family members, encouraging me to run. I’m very interested in running.”

Mr. Foley said his emphasis—as a councilman since 2014—is “listening to the district. We’re elected to be the voice of our district. I’m a big listener.” He describes himself as “my own type of Republican.”

In addition to being a town councilman, he is vice president of New York Cancer & Blood Specialists based in Port Jefferson Station. He sees health issues as highly important. “We need to get people proper health care.”

Kevin LaValle commented, also in an interview last week: “I’ve been talking to friends, family and supporters. I certainly have an interest. I’m reaching out to appropriate people trying to make the most informed decision. This is a huge decision.”

He said Mr. Zeldin, from Shirley, also in Brookhaven Town, “has set a roadmap for the district” in his four House terms. As to issues, Mr. LaValle said “we have to worry about the environment on the East End; the business community that has been so significantly affected by the [COVID-19] shutdown, and now we are starting to open back up and we have to get business owners thriving again; and we are seeing a rise in crime and we have to make sure our police departments have the necessary tools. These are a few issues.”

In addition to being a councilman, Mr. LaValle is a mortgage loan originator at Lynx Mortgage Bank. “I like helping first-time homebuyers,” he says.

Beyond populous Brookhaven Town, a minor portion of the lst C.D. includes all five East End towns—Southampton, Riverhead, East Hampton, Southold and Shelter Island—most of Smithtown, and a sliver of Islip. Legislator Fleming resides in Noyac in Southampton Town. Part of her county legislative district of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island extends into southeastern Brookhaven. 

She seems highly likely to get the Democratic Party’s designation. She announced her run for the lst C.D. seat at the start of last month flanked by a group that included Suffolk Democratic leader Rich Schaffer; the presiding officer of the Suffolk Legislature Rob Calarco; and town Democratic chairs. Ms. Fleming would be the first woman to represent Suffolk County in the U.S. House of Representatives. She previously was a member of the Southampton Town Board and, in Manhattan, an assistant DA.

Her Democratic competition: two men in uphill tries. 

John Atkinson of Farmingville is described on his campaign website as a “progressive Democrat” who “has refused to take any campaign donations from corporations or political action committees.” He states: “Our country has many problems, and our entrusted elected officials in Washington represent themselves and their big money, corporate donors instead of representing us…If I am elected to Congress, I vow to vigorously fight to take on the corruption that has entrenched D.C. for far too long within the governing process and restore the power back to you.” 

Austin Smith is a bankruptcy attorney with a practice in Manhattan that specializes in assisting with student loan forgiveness. He has a bipartisan history having started in politics as a “full-time” fundraiser for the late GOP Senator John McCain and working in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign “contributing ideas about addressing student debt,” relates Yahoo Finance. 

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.