Suffolk Closeup: The G In PSEG Could Stand For Goofy

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

The G in PSEG could stand for Goofy. 

 PSEG this month faces loss of the 12-year contract it got in 2013 to operate Long Island’s electrical grid for the Long Island Power Authority. This stems from its massive failures during Tropical Storm Isaias in August 2020 when more than 500,000 of LIPA’s 1.1 million customers lost power, many for days, and communications with PSEG to report outages and find out what was happening were impossible. 

As Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was central in getting PSEG to replace National Grid as LIPA’s private contractor—after National Grid’s major failures in Superstorm Sandy—said of PSEG’s Isaias performance: “Utility companies are beholden to ratepayers, and when that service is inadequate—or as in this case, a complete failure—those utilities need to be held accountable.”

LIPA is to make a decision later this month about going back to the original vision of LIPA when it was created by the state in 1986: being a full public utility operating Long Island’s electric grid itself and not jobbing that out to a private company. LIPA is also considering an alternative: strengthened provisions in its contract with PSEG.

It should decide to be a full public utility.  

And, also, the state should restore another part of the original vision for LIPA—having LIPA’s trustees elected. This would enable the Long Island public to control their public utility. (Now LIPA trustees are appointed, five by the governor, and two each by the State Assembly speaker and State Senate president.)

A big problem for Newark, New Jersey-based PSEG is its historic and current goofiness.

For example, before Isaias struck, LIPA was having an extremely tough time getting through to PSEG executives assigned to Long Island because they were in Puerto Rico as PSEG sought a contract to operate Puerto Rico’s electric grid. “If you wanted to contact the [PSEG] management team you had to call them in San Juan,” LIPA Chief Executive Tom Falcone told Newsday. PSEG didn’t get the Puerto Rican contract after all.

A huge historic PSEG goofiness story involves Richard Eckert, then PSEG’s vice president for engineering and construction, and a brainstorm he had in 1969 while taking a shower.

Opposition was increasing to building nuclear power plants in populated areas and there was the problem concerning the mammoth amounts of water they need as coolant—a million gallons a minute for a standard nuclear power plant. So, what came to Mr. Eckert was the notion of putting nuclear power plants in the ocean. And that became PSEG’s scheme—a string of nuclear power plants in the Atlantic starting off of southern New Jersey running north to 20 miles off Long Island.

This became one of my early articles on nuclear power and my first about PSEG.

I was driving along Dune Road near Hot Dog Beach in the Hamptons and noticed that a big meteorological station had suddenly popped up. On the chain link fence surrounding it was a sign with the name of Brookhaven National Laboratory. I called BNL and was told it had set up the station because a company from New Jersey, PSEG, planned to site nuclear power plants in the Atlantic. A BNL spokesperson said the laboratory had borrowed a 75-foot LST from the U.S. Navy and was also using aircraft and a trawler. Clouds of white smoke were being sent up to determine likely dispersal patterns of radioactivity from the floating PSEG nuclear power plants.  I was told the clouds, representing radioactivity, usually floated to Long Island because of prevailing winds being from the southwest.

PSEG convinced Westinghouse to manufacture the floating nuclear power plants. In 1970 Westinghouse set up Offshore Power Systems to construct them at a massive facility built on Blount Island off Jacksonville, Florida. The plants were to be towed up the Atlantic into position. In a book I wrote, Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power, I showed an Offshore Power Systems sales brochure and featured three pages on the project. Offshore Power Systems went bust in 1984, after losing $180 million (in 1970s dollars) on the failed venture. PSEG itself, meanwhile, according to NJ Advance Media, “sunk millions into the project and [its] customers would spend the next 20 years paying off a large share of those costs.”

More next week on the Long Island electricity decision ahead.

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. 

NYS Senator James Gaughran A Leader In Fighting Real Estate "Steering"

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

At a public hearing of the county’s Fair Housing Task Force this month on what government has done—and likely will do—in the wake of the Newsday expose of widespread racial “steering” in real estate sales in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, a state senator from Suffolk described his immediate action.

“I asked what is the law?” said Senator James Gaughran from Northport, who is an attorney. He said he was “shocked” to find that “violating” New York State’s Human Rights Law was “not a reason” for the state’s Secretary of State to “revoke a salesperson’s or real estate broker’s license.” So he promptly went to work on a bill to allow the Secretary of State “to revoke or suspend” the license of “any real estate salesperson or real estate broker found to be steering,” and also impose a fine.

His bill passed the Senate 59-to-1 (the only dissenting vote that of Senator Andrew Lanza of Staten Island). The sponsor of the bill in the State Assembly, where it passed unanimously, was Kimberly Jean-Pierre from Wheatley Heights. 

It was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo in August of last year. Said Mr. Cuomo: “We have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind in New York and the sheer scope and breadth of the unscrupulous and discriminatory real estate practices uncovered on Long Island is repugnant to who we are. While the federal government is focused on gutting fair housing regulations that have helped so many Americans, we are vastly expanding the state’s ability to crack down on unethical real estate agents and protect hard-working New Yorkers looking for a community to call home.”

Beyond Newsday’s investigative reporting, three Senate committees—on Investigation and Government Operations (of which Mr. Gaughran is a member); on Housing, Construction and Community Development; and on Consumer Protection—conducted a joint investigation. 

These included hearings for which subpoenas were issued to real estate personnel to force their testimony and also, said the 95-page report issued by the committees, “compelling their disclosure of corporate policies, training materials and staff manuals concerning compliance with the federal Fair Housing Act and any similar state or local laws.”

Mr. Gaughran, a former Suffolk County legislator, spoke about the report, titled “Final Investigative Report Fair Housing and Discrimination on Long Island,” and the 11 bills growing out of the state probe. The bills, passed by the Senate, are now heading to the Assembly. 

One of the bills requires the New York State Attorney General to regularly do the kind of testing Newsday did—sending testers into real estate offices to probe for discrimination. The newspaper, over three years, used testers in areas throughout Suffolk and Nassau Counties and found that many real estate agents directed minority potential homebuyers to neighborhoods based on their race. Some 49% of black testers and 39% of Latino testers were subjected to this, Newsday reported. That’s to a large degree why there what are called “ghettoes” on Long Island where minorities are concentrated, and thus Long Island being considered among the “most segregated” areas in the United States. Newsday’s series was headed “Long Island Divided.”

The Senate committees’ report states: “Formalized discrimination in residential real estate sales has a long history in the United States, becoming more pronounced as Black Americans migrated to northern states during the early 1900s.” It quoted from a “Code of Ethics” of the National Association of Real Estate Boards adopted in 1924 that stated, “A Realtor should never be instrumental in introducing into a neighborhood…members of any race…whose presence will clearly be detrimental to property values in that neighborhood.”

The law providing for the revocation or suspension of licenses to sell real estate can be a key to challenging a discriminatory practice—as long as there is regular testing so evidence can be brought against the offending real estate people. And, among the 11 bills is a measure raising fees for state licenses to sell real estate with that extra money to be used to fund fair-housing testing. Other bills requires real estate agents to take additional hours of anti-bias training for license renewal and would allow the state Division of Human Rights to mete out compensatory and punitive damage awards to victims of bias in real estate sales.

Suffolk Legislator Sam Gonzalez of Brentwood, chair of the county’s Fair Housing Task Force, who presided at the public hearing, said it will soon be making recommendations focusing specifically on Suffolk County.

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. 

Otters In The Nissequogue River - Who Knew?

Most people are surprised when they learn that otters can be found in the Nisseqogue River. Otters in Smithtown, who knew? Seatuck Environmental Association knew. 

Seatuck is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization based at the Suffolk County EnvironmentalLI Nature Org Center at the Scully Estate in Islip 550 South Bay Avenue, Islip NY 11751.

Seatuck is offering the public an opportunity to participate in monitoring projects, including monitoring otters, on Long Island. The organization is offering a web-based educational series for those interested in wildlife conservation. 

The educational webinar series highlights various community science opportunities that have been launched by Long Island environmental groups in support of local wildlife conservation efforts.

Anyone interested in helping scientists with their projects and learning about what is being done for water quality, horseshoe crabs, bats and an emerging coyote population – among other Long Island centered research — can tune in to the coming 2021 webinars. Seatuck Environmental Association, Long Island Sound Study, and New York Sea Grant is hosting the series.

“Community Science LI” spans the next seven months, coinciding with the volunteer monitoring season for each project. The webinars include monitoring projects focused on water quality, horseshoe crabs, bats, eastern coyotes, and diamondback terrapins - and incorporate presentations from local researchers, environmental management leaders, and community science project coordinators.

“Community Science LI” featured its first webinar in the series titled, “River Otter Monitoring”, on January 27th from 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM. The webinar drew over 300 attendees from various backgrounds, including members of the general public, students, professors, teachers, and environmental professionals. Most were from Long Island, but a few tuned in from New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, and even California. During the webinar, Wildlife Biologist Mike Bottini and Seatuck’s Policy Program Coordinator Arielle Santos discussed the natural history of River Otters on Long Island, their current distribution, tips on identification, and how to survey them in the field using the free Survey 1-2-3 platform. The recorded webinar and associated resources can be found on Seatuck’s website at https://seatuck.org/otter-watch/.

The next webinar will cover River Herring & American Eel monitoring on Long Island. The annual volunteer River Herring & American Eel Survey is one of Long Island’s longest running community science projects. Started in 2006, the survey engages volunteer community scientists to monitor runs of migratory river herring and American eels in rivers and streams across Long Island. The survey, organized by Seatuck and partners at the Long Island Sound Study, Peconic Estuary Program and South Shore Estuary Reserve – aims to find the waterways where “remnant” runs of river herring still exist and then to monitor the size and timing of those runs. This information is vital to improve access and restore local populations of these ecologically important fish. All webinar attendees will be able to participate in in-depth discussions with local project coordinators on how to survey for river herring and American eel in their communities. The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, February 25th, from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM. Registration is required.

For more information on future webinars, the full event schedule, and registration information, visit https://seatuck.org/community-science-webinars/.

Suffolk Closeup: 67th Suffolk County Sheriff Making A Difference

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr., who was elected in 2017 and began serving in 2018, has brought a host of reforms and new programs to the Sheriff’s Office.

The position of Suffolk sheriff goes way back—to 1683. It’s one of the oldest law enforcement posts in the County. Sheriff Toulon is the 67^th person to hold it. 

Sheriff Toulon is first African-American to have been elected to a nonjudicial countywide officeSuffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. in the history of Suffolk County. Earlier, he ran for the Suffolk Legislature (and there were some calls to police about a black man going door-to-door when he campaigned).

The Sheriff’s Office is a big operation—with 1,200 employees, 275 of them deputy sheriffs. It operates two correctional facilities, one in Riverhead and one in Yaphank.

Sheriff Toulon has long experience. He spent 22 years as a uniformed member of New York City’s Department of Corrections at Riker’s Island, rising to the rank of captain, and then was named deputy commissioner of operations for the department. His father had been a warden at Riker’s.

A Lake Grove resident, Sheriff Toulon in 2012 became assistant deputy Suffolk County executive for public safety. 

He is highly educated with degrees that include a master’s in business administration and a doctorate in educational administration. 

He was raised in The Bronx (for two years he was a batboy for the New York Yankees).

He has overcome serious health problems: beating Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1996 and pancreatic cancer in 2003.

From his swearing in as Suffolk County sheriff by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, he has been engaged in non-stop action. This has included initiatives outside and inside the Sheriff’s Office. 

Among them, he established a Sandy Hook Promise School Safety Initiative because of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut, the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary or high school in U.S. history. It has now reached 22,000 Suffolk school children with a focus, explains Sheriff Toulon, that includes youngsters become aware of “signs of a peer in distress.”

He launched the Human Trafficking Initiative, a first at any jail in the nation, in which identification is made of, and special help given, to inmates who have been victims of trafficking. 

Sheriff Toulon has been extremely concerned about gang activity in the county, notably because Suffolk, he notes, has the nation’s “third largest” M-13 gang. He journeyed to El Salvador to meet with officials there and develop a “partnership” with its government in combatting gangs. The Sheriff’s Office teaches Suffolk students about gangs through the national Gang Resistance Education and Training program. 

He has instituted a Senior Rehabilitation Pod Program, also believed to be the first program of its kind in the country, through which inmates over 50 are separated from younger inmates and provided programs specifically geared for them. 

He assembled a task force named Deconstructing the Prison Pipeline to study the causes of and seek to better deal with of juvenile delinquency.  

For young inmates there is a program titled Choose Your Path which offers vocational training, schooling, counseling, pre-release and post-release transitional services, and mental health support. They spend 40 hours a week in the program.

And there are more. 

Sheriff Toulon has coordinated closely with such entities in the county as BOCES, the Suffolk Department of Labor, the School of Social Welfare at Stony Brook University and the Suffolk Department of Health Services.

Among his key goals are seeking “to get to kids before they get to me” and “to work with persons incarcerated so they can change their lives….We don’t give up on anybody.”

Suffolk Legislator Bridget Fleming of Noyac, with background also in the criminal justice system in New York City—for years she was an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office—describes Sheriff Toulon as a “reform superstar.” Vice chair of the Suffolk County Public Safety Task Force, she says that in “thoughtfulness and compassion, he is truly a visionary” and “very extraordinary in the history of corrections in Suffolk County.”

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 County Legislator Rudy Sunderman To Step Down From Legislature

Suffolk County Legislator Rudy Sunderman (3rd LD) will resign from the Legislature to pursue his career at the Suffolk County Fire Academy.

Legislator Sunderman (R) won election in 2017 filling the seat of Kate Browning who was term-limited out of office.

Mr. Sunderman was indicted in 2019 and is facing charges for allegedly lying to theSuffolk County Legislator Rudy Sunderman Suffolk County Board of Ethics about working for the Centereach Fire Department.

ABC News in 2019 reported:

“On December 6, 2017, Sunderman received an opinion from the Suffolk County Board of Ethics that continuing to serve in these roles while serving as a legislator would constitute a violation of the Suffolk County Code’s prohibition on dual office-holding. Sunderman resigned from his position with the Center Moriches Fire District.

Sunderman is alleged to have attempted to circumvent that ruling by creating a shell company in his wife’s name, Now That’s Fire Management, Inc., and arranging for the Centereach Board of Fire Commissioners to hire him through that company for $10,000 per month.

Between January 2, 2018, and June 30, 2018, despite the Board of Ethics’ determination, Sunderman allegedly continued to perform the duties of a district manager for the Centereach Fire District, including personally signing over 600 vouchers and other official documents as district manager for the Centereach Fire District.

Vouchers and purchase orders that Sunderman signed as “DM” or “District Manager” included those that authorized $60,000 in payments to Now That’s Fire Management, which authorities say is a violation of state municipal law regarding conflicts of interest.

“Mr. Sunderman was personally put on notice: the Ethics Board told him specifically not to engage in this employment,” Sini said. “Not only did he continue his work with the Centereach Fire District, but, while doing so, he personally authorized $60,000 in payments to the shell corporation that he had created in his wife’s name.”

Following receipt of a complaint, the Suffolk County Board of Ethics began an investigation into Sunderman’s employment with the Centereach Fire District. On October 29, 2018, during a deposition in connection with the investigation, Sunderman allegedly perjured himself on numerous occasions, including denying that he received any income from his continued work for the Centereach Fire District.

Bank records obtained by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office showed that Sunderman was a signatory on Now That’s Fire Management’s corporate bank account, that the account was used for Sunderman’s personal expenses, and that Sunderman had personally engaged in over 100 transactions and spent thousands of dollars using a debit card issued to him on that bank account.

Sunderman also allegedly denied under oath managing fire district staff members after January 2018. Evidence developed over the course of the investigation showed that Sunderman continued to manage employees and represent himself as “District Manager” until he resigned from the position in June 2018, after the Board of Ethics began to investigate his conduct.

On April 23, 2019, Sunderman allegedly intentionally failed to disclose his outside employment and income as well as his wife’s income from the Centereach Fire Department on a financial disclosure form filed with the Suffolk County Board of Ethics for the 2018 reporting year.”

Rudy Sunderman won reelection in 2019.

Suffolk County Republican Chairperson Jesse Garcia issued a statement wishing Sunderman well in his new position and offered some assurance to the committee  “Rest assured, the Brookhaven and Suffolk County Republican Committees are well prepared to retain this important seat.”

There will be a special election to fill the vacancy.