SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Green Amendment On The Ballot In NYS

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

On the ballot in New York State on Election Day this November 2 will be what is being called the Green Amendment. It would be an important and powerful addition to the New York State Constitution. The Green Amendment declares: “Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”

Its prime sponsor in the State Assembly is Steve Englebright of Setauket, chair of the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee and an official from Suffolk long deeply committed to environmental causes. “It is simple,” he says. It would allow every New Yorker “to know that you can raise a family and pass on to the next generation a clean and healthful environment. This proposal is based on the premise that these rights are fundamental…and should be reflected in the state’s Constitution.”

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. of Sag Harbor, a Suffolk official, too, who has long strongly championed environmental causes, is a leading sponsor of the Green Amendment. He says: “It is a great thing.” By providing “a Constitutional right to clean air and clean water and a healthful environment, it elevates environmental policy and initiatives.” 

In the State Senate the prime sponsor is Robert Jackson of Washington Heights in Manhattan. He comments that “to add 15 words to the Constitution of our state, we are helping shape the future of New York….If the voters approve it in November, this language will finally put in place safeguards to require the government to consider the environment and our relationship to the Earth in decision making. If the government fails in that responsibility, New Yorkers will finally have the right to take legal action for a clean environment because it will be in the State Constitution.”

That prospect has led to opposition by The Business Council of New York State. In a memorandum to the legislature, it says it “fails to see the benefit in providing a direct right of action under the State Constitution to remedy an environmental condition because there are numerous adequate remedies available under current state law.” 

Challenging this is Delaware Riverkeeper Maya K. van Rossum, key in the initiative for a Green Amendment in New York State and states through the U.S., and in the U.S. Constitution, too. She is the author of a significant, indeed superb 2017 book, “The Green Amendment, Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment.”

“Passage of a Green Amendment in New York would be as beneficial for the businesses of New York as it would be for the people,” says Pennsylvania-based von Rossum. “A Green Amendment does not pit people and the environment against business; it joins them together in a common cause that benefits everyone.” An attorney, she says that “current…environmental protection laws are not truly recognizing and protecting the rights of people to a healthy environment. This is as much the case in New York as in other states across the nation.” 

“A Constitutional right,” she says, “would provide appropriate access to the courts in those situations when our governmental decisionmakers are not honoring the inalienable right of all people to a healthy environment, including when our current…environmental laws are allowing damaging levels of pollution and degradation to pass unchallenged.” A Green Amendment, she says, would give people a right comparable to Constitutional rights such as freedom of speech, religion, assembly and the press receive. 

Getting an amendment to the New York Constitution adopted isn’t easy. Passage in two sessions of the State Assembly and State Senate and then approval by the voters is necessary.

Leaders of 70 organizations in New York have announced their support for the Green Amendment. They represent groups including the League of Women Voters; Save the Sound; New York Public Interest Research Group; Food & Water Action; Long Island Progressive Coalition; Long Island Chapter Surfrider Foundation; and Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. Their joint statement notes that “while” the state’s Constitution includes a “Conservation Article” which says “the policy of the state shall be to conserve and protect its natural resources,” it is “limited in scope and only recognizes environmental protections as important public policy, not as a fundamental right.”

Actor Mark Ruffalo, who starred in the 2019 film “Dark Waters” based on the real-life legal battle against DuPont over its massive dumping of a toxic chemical that contaminated drinking water, writes the foreword to Ms. von Rossum’s book. He compares it to “Silent Spring,” the 1962 book of Rachel Carson that combined with her efforts, he notes, “are often credited with sparking the birth of the modern environmental movement.” The book “The Green Amendment,” he writes, “has the power to spark a new movement, just as Rachel Carson’s did.”

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 Cuomo's And Their Impact On LI's Energy

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

This is about Andrew and Mario Cuomo. First, Andrew: a man of contradictions.

With the dangers of nuclear power a journalistic focus of mine for decades, I thought his role in the closing of the Indian Point nuclear power plants—25 miles north of New York City (and with Long Island in accident range, too)—an act of courage. He faced fierce nuclear industry opposition. The two-plant facility shut down this past April. 

But while engaged in seeking to have Indian Point closed, Mr. Cuomo pushed for a $7.6 billion state bail-out to allow four aging nuclear power plants near Syracuse and also Rochester in upstate New York to keep operating. Their owners said they had become uneconomic to run. The Cuomo 2016 bail-out was linked to a “Clean Energy Standard” he advanced under which much of the electricity used in the state would come from “clean and renewable energy sources.” Under the $7.6 bail-out, the four nuclear plants were considered as producing “clean and renewable” electricity—despite green energy advocates saying this was false.  

Residential ratepayers, businesses and other entities including schools and governments in New York State have since been paying, and for years will continue to have to pay an added charge on their electric bills for the Cuomo nuclear bail-out.

Likewise, as the City & State website headlined, “Cuomo contradicts his own harassment law.” Mr. Cuomo, who will end being New York’s governor in a matter of days because of a major sexual harassment scandal, pushed for a less burdensome definition of sexual harassment in a law he signed in 2019. “It was a change that Cuomo celebrated and something he has taken credit for implementing,” noted City & State. But his actions, as determined by the New York attorney general, points to his having repeatedly violated this law and a cause he embraced.

Mario Cuomo, in the case of the Shoreham nuclear power plant on Long Island, was as strong as his son was on Indian Point—but in the end left Long Islanders unnecessarily with a bill of also more than $7 billion. 

I first met Mario Cuomo when he pursued the Democratic nomination to run for governor in 1982. I was co-anchor of the evening news on the then Long Island commercial TV station, WSNL-TV/67 in Smithtown, and Mr. Cuomo came to be interviewed. The battle over the Shoreham plant was raging and I questioned him about it. He seemed unaware of much concerning nuclear power. After the taping, I suggested we sit down and I’d offer him a book I had written, published in 1980, “Cover Up: What You ARE NOT Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power.”

In authoring the book, I felt it would be helpful to reproduce as facsimiles many government and industry documents to authenticate the facts. Mr. Cuomo’s jaw dropped as he examined the documents. For example, there was the passage of a report done by Brookhaven National Laboratory on the consequences of a nuclear power plant accident declaring that “the possible size of the area of such a disaster might be equal to that of the State of Pennsylvania.” 

Mr. Cuomo cringed seeing the reproduction of the “nuclear clause” that is still in every homeowner’s insurance policy in the U.S. which says: “This policy does not cover loss or damage caused by nuclear reaction or nuclear radiation or radioactive contamination.” 

This sit-down with Mr. Cuomo might have been a factor in his becoming opposed to Shoreham. The key to stopping Shoreham was the Long Island Power Act of 1985. Under it, the state would create a Long Island Power Authority to replace the Long Island Lighting Company, the builder and owner of Shoreham, and close the nuclear plant. As for cost, the act provided for the state to acquire the stock of LILCO, enormously reduced because of LILCO’s nuclear adventure, or to purchase LILCO’s assets. 

Citizens to Replace LILCO, the organization spearheading support for the act, called for acquisition of stock, far cheaper, it emphasized, than buying LILCO’s assets. Mr. Cuomo opposed that believing it too radical for Wall Street. So Long Island’s electric ratepayers got stuck with a far larger debt than necessary to stop Shoreham—now $7.5 billion. The Citizens to Replace LILCO chair, Maurice Barbash, spoke painfully for years about Mr. Cuomo telephoning him at his office in Babylon and, with the kind of bullying later to be closely associated with Andrew, threatening to send state auditors to look into his building business because of his group’s stance.

Also, under the act, LIPA was to have a board elected by Long Islanders which would set this area’s energy policy and chart its energy future. Mario Cuomo suspended that after LIPA was founded switching to having a board of trustees appointed by three officials in Albany: the Assembly speaker, Senate president—and governor. Goodbye to a grassroots democratic energy process here.

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 : Term Limits

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

In 1993, Suffolk County became the first county in New York State to adopt term limits for county officials. Now, legislation has been introduced to alter that law to provide that the officials covered would be barred from holding the same position for 12 years “in a lifetime, regardless of whether those terms are served consecutively or non-consecutively.”

The existing Suffolk term limits law only bars the county executive, legislators and the county comptroller from holding an office for more than 12 “consecutive” years.

But a problem with this arose this spring when a former county legislator, Kate Browning (D-Shirley) received the Democratic nomination to run again for the Suffolk Legislature. Ms. Browning had served as a legislator from 2005 to 2017. Then, term-limited by the 12 “consecutive” year rule, she did not run again. 

She took a job as director of code enforcement in the Town of Babylon. This year, with the resignation of Legislator Rudy Sunderman (R-Shirley) she sought to run again for her old seat on the legislature in a special election and complete his term.

However, a lawsuit was brought by two Republican voters in the legislative district and backed by the Suffolk GOP and State Supreme Court Justice James Hudson ruled her ineligible to run for the legislature again because of the 12-year limit. He wrote that the word “consecutive” in the Suffolk term limit law should be viewed as a “word of limitation and not as an invitation to run for office in the future” for the same office. But then the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court, reversed that, deciding the Suffolk term limit law “does not expressly impose any total or lifetime term limit.” 

Ms. Browning thus got back on the ballot, but lost the special election in May to Republican James Mazzarella (R-Moriches) by 3,207 to 2,106 votes. They will face each other again in the general election in November, this time running for a full two-year legislative term.

 In June, newly elected Legislator Mazzarella joined with fellow Republican Legislators Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holbrook) and Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst), the GOP minority leader on the panel, in introducing the measure that would alter the wording of the county’s term limit law to say it prohibits the county executive, legislators and the comptroller from holding the same office 12 years “in a lifetime.” Their bill is now in committee.

A pamphlet titled “History of County Term Limits” published by the National Association of Counties (which is online) starts by noting, “The Ancient Greeks and Romans were the first societies to implement term limits. They believed that a change of leadership periodically was good for government.” But it was only in the 1990s that “the demand for term limits started to spread in the United States.”

On the federal level, the 22^nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1951 limiting the U.S. president to two four-year terms. This, says the National Constitution Center in its online explanation, began with a push by “a Republican-controlled Congress…after Franklin Roosevelt won four consecutive terms in the White House.” Still, there are no term limits for members of Congress or, in New York, for elected officeholders in state government.

There’s debate over term limits. A piece published by the Brookings Institution, “Five Reasons to Oppose Congressional Term Limits,” says one reason would be “large swaths of lawmakers forfeiting their hard-earned experience while simultaneously requiring that freshman members make up for the training and legislative acumen that was just forced out of the door.” Yet, as the National Association of Counties relates, in the 1990s as “discontent spread” about elected officials, many in the U.S. “began to feel that new ideas and fresh leadership on a periodic basis was a desirable aim.”

That debate came to Suffolk in 1993. The late Legislator Herb Davis (R-Yaphank) whose bill on term limits was passed by the legislature 14-3, argued that with term limits “the voters get some fresh faces after a certain number of years.” The Davis measure was approved “overwhelmingly” by Suffolk voters in a referendum later in 1993, points out the former counsel to the legislature, Paul Sabatino II, a Huntington Station lawyer, who drafted the Davis bill. He commented last week: “The voters love term limits. The establishment hates them.”  

Still, what about elected officials who are basically irreplaceable? Here, in Suffolk, as an example, there is Legislator Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue), a fourth-generation Suffolk farmer, a champion of open space and farmland preservation, former president of the Southold Trustees, a position in which he gained extensive experience in shoreline issues—with climate change more critical than ever—and he was a member of the Southold Town Board. He’s a few years away from his term limit, but how can he be replaced?

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. 

Theater Review - 'The Million Dollar Quartet'

The Gateway Has a “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”

On December 4, 1956, a twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley together at Sun Records’ modest storefront studio in Memphis, Tennessee, for an impromptu jam session.  What came out of that serendipitous encounter was a mind-blowing recording dubbed The Million Dollar Quartet. Sam Phillips, the undisputed “Father of Rock’ n’ Roll,” launched the careers of each of these musical icons and was instrumental in getting these four legendary performers together for this once-in-a-lifetime event known as the “Mount Rushmore of Rock’ n’ Roll.”

Million Dollar Quartet, an award-winning jukebox musical written by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, brings that historical moment to life.  In many ways, this show is a tribute to the creative genius of Sam Phillips, who discovered and nurtured these four exceptional performers and many others. The show takes place in one day, giving this musical a certain intimacy that makes you feel like you were there watching the event unfold. 

The plot itself is a bit on the flimsy side, consisting of a lot of bantering among the boys, revealing their insecurities, petty rivalries, and ego-driven ambitions. However, the rapid-fire energy of the musicians, combined with their strong vocals, and the songbook which includes the chart-toppers “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Hound Dog,” “Who Do You Love,” “That’s All Right,” “Sixteen Tons,” and “Matchbox,” all come together to create a fantastic night of theatre.

The very talented Sean Casey Flanagan gave a strong performance as Sam Phillips.  Mr. Flanagan’s high voltage rocking out during the finale song, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” revealed Sam Phillips’s instinctual sense of rhythm and his undying passion and appreciation for the music he helped create.

As the King of Rock’ n’ Roll, Jacob Barton’s gyrating hip movements, expert guitar playing, and impressive singing made the audience feel that Elvis was indeed alive and well and strutting his stuff in Bellport.

Steven Lasiter was believable as Johnny Cash, and his soulful renditions of “Ghost Riders” and “Down by the Riverside” were two of the show’s high points.

Trevor Dorner as Jerry Lee Lewis blew the audience away with his exceptional piano-playing and high-energy performance of “Great Balls of Fire.” Mr. Dorner had some of the funniest lines in the show, and he delivered them with perfect timing. His physical comedy bits, including pounding the keyboard with his foot, raking his hands up and down the keyboard, and standing on top of the piano, received some of the biggest laughs of the evening.  

Nathan Burke gave a nuanced performance as Carl Perkins, a talented performer with a boulder-sized chip on his shoulder.  Mr. Burke rocked the house as he belted out, “See You Later Alligator.” Justin Bendel portrayed the bassist, Jay Perkins, Carl’s older brother.  He delighted the audience with his incredible musical talents and performed some entertaining tricks with his bass, including flipping the instrument and playing it while lying down!  

Mike Lucchetti, as Fluke, proved himself to be a most accomplished drummer, one who never missed a beat. 

Taylor Kraft as Dyanne, the girlfriend who accompanies Elvis to the recording studio, lit up the stage with her charismatic presence and gave a showstopping performance with her sultry rendition of “Fever.”

The show is directed with expert precision by Tim Seib and produced by Gershwin Entertainment. Kirk Bookman’s lighting design, Adam Koch and Steven Royal’s set design, and Jeffrey Meek’s costume design all added to the overall success of this show.

Music is a time machine, and this energetic musical will transport you back to the early days of Rock’ n’ Roll.  This show captured the essence of the spontaneity, fun, and uninhibited exuberance that characterized this musical genre.  

The US National Tour Million Dollar Quartet runs from now until Saturday, August 21. Tickets start at $49. Teen and youth prices are available for select shows. For more information, contact the Box Office at (631) 286-1133, or visit the website at TheGateway.org. 

Cindi Sansone-Braff is an award-winning playwright. She has a BFA in Theatre from UCONN and is a member of the Dramatist Guilds. She is the author of two self-help books, Grant Me a Higher Love and Why Good People Can’t Leave Bad Relationships.

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP : Legislature Approves Housing Advisory Board

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

The Suffolk County Legislature last week approved the creation of a Permanent Housing Advisory Board to focus on housing discrimination here. The formation of a 15-person board follows a three-year investigation by Newsday which, as the measure establishing the board noted, “uncovered extensive evidence of impermissible steering of consumers seeking to purchase a home” and this “on the basis of race” and “throughout Long Island.”

“This practice,” it went on, “has reinforced racial divides throughout communities, despite fair housing laws which prohibit such pernicious discrimination.”

Among members of the board: the presiding officer of the Suffolk Legislature who would be its chair; the executive director and also chair of the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission; representatives of organizations including: the NAACP; Latino Justice; Long Island Board of Realtors; Erase Racism; Long Island Builders Institute; Long Island Hispanic Bar Association; and Long Island Housing Services.

Formation of the board was recommended in a report of a Fair Housing Task Force, formed in the wake of the Newsday series, which recommended such a “standing” panel. It was was submitted to the legislature in June.

The Newsday series was titled “Long Island Divided.” As Newsday investigative reporter Keith Herbert wrote in a piece on “How We Did It”—“Two testers of the same gender and age bracket—but of different races or ethnicities—are given matching personas. The profiles typically include the same family status, education level, type of job, level of income and credit score. After being matched in a pair, the testers tell a real estate agent that they are searching for houses with identical qualities, prices and locations.”

What was documented: the “steering” of testers to houses for sale based on their race or ethnicity. This is a key to how through the years minority people have ended up in ghettos on Long Island.

As declares the Fair Housing Task Force report in an opening “Background” section, “Suffolk County has a long history of redlining and other housing policies that have led to segregation. A 2010 study conducted by Brown University Professor John Logan showed that Suffolk County was the 10^th most segregated county in the nation among similarly sized counties.”

What’s to be done?

Among the many recommendations of the Fair Housing Task Force is “increased support for the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission.” It says: “In particular, increased funding and support for the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission was identified as an area where the county could take immediate steps to further the goals of ensuring fair and equitable access to housing. Support for the Human Rights Commission is critical, not only to ensure they may continue their work well into the future” but “without having to rely on grant funding.”

It urged “fair housing testing” by the Human Rights Commission.

And, it recommended “increased funding for administrative law judges” of the commission to “strengthen its enforcement ability.”

The Suffolk County Human Rights Commission, created in 1963, is now down to an executive director, attorney Dawn Lott, and three investigators. As a reporter, I covered the commission in the 1960s. Its staff years ago was larger than it is today.

There have been attacks on the commission through the decades. Suffolk County’s first county executive, H. Lee Dennison, fired the commission’s dedicated executive director, George Pettingill. Anthony Noto, presiding officer of the Suffolk Legislature, was later to call for abolition of the commission after it pressed against discrimination by police. There have been other political assaults. Meanwhile, the population of Suffolk has increased and racism continues as the Newsday investigation showed. 

In my Investigative Reporting class which I’ve taught for 43 years as a journalism professor at SUNY/College at Old Westbury, as part of students actually doing investigative reporting, every semester some students seek to go out in Suffolk and Nassau Counties in mixed pairs racially or ethnically to look for apartments or jobs. I tell students that I wish by now they wouldn’t find discrimination. But they always do. 

To read the report of the Fair Housing Task Force, chaired by Legislator Sam Gonzalez, go to https://www.scnylegislature.us/DocumentCenter/View/78262/2021-Suffolk-County-Fair-Housing-Task-Force-Report-PDF

One of its conclusions: “Suffolk County communities clearly have been afflicted by steering and other unlawful discriminatory housing practices.”

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.