SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - "Race Doesn't Exist-It's A Social Construct"

Suffolk Closeup

By Karl Grossman

“How Do We Build A Just Long Island?” That important question is being asked at a series of five public forums organized by the organization Erase Racism.

Creating a “just Long Island” is quite an undertaking—considering a history in which the KKK was a major force on Long Island in the 1920s, it’s where Nazis from all over the New York Metro came and marched at their Camp Siegfried in Yaphank in the 1930s and where African-Americans have been consigned through real estate “steering” to communities aptly called “ghettoes.” Further, antagonism toward the latest immigrant group, Latinos, has been intense. 

Moreover, the composition of students at schools here is based on neighborhoods, and with their make-up being extremely different, most schools are nearly all-white and several nearly all African-American and Latino. 

(R) Elaine Gross, executive director of Erase Racism, Laura Goode, retired nurse (L)I went to the forum in Riverhead last week held by Erase Racism, based in Syosset. Its executive director, Elaine Gross, opened it by noting that Long Island has been determined to be “among the top 10 segregated metropolitan regions in the country.” The purpose of the forums, she said, is to “try to activate the public” and cause change. 

First there was a panel of three experts, then the 100 people in attendance formed into discussion groups and then a representative of each came forward with proposals of her or his group.

“All humans alive today share a common ancestor in Africa 150,000 years ago,” said panelist David Micklos, executive director of the Dolan DNA Learning Center at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a world leader in genetic research. 

“All humans share 99.9 percent of their genetic material,” said Mr. Micklos. “Biologically there’s very little difference between any two human beings.” He contrasted the slight genetic difference between people of only “one-tenth of one percent” to the genetic differences between types of corn in Mexico which range from 5 to 10 percent. .

“Race doesn’t exist—it’s a social construct,” said panelist Anthony Zenkus, senior director of education and communications at the Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk and a professor at Columbia University. “White is a skin tone, not a racial identity.”

There was the “invention of whiteness,” and this “props up supremacy….Long Island is one of the most segregated regions because we have some of the richest, most elite communities in the country. Economic inequality and racial inequity, class and race are inextricably linked.”

Miriam Sarwana, a graduate student in psychology at Stony Brook University, spoke on the results of racism, how “nonwhites on Long Island are five times more likely to be arrested as a result of traffic stops” and in Suffolk County 53 percent of all arrests and 67 percent of felony arrests in the past decade were of people of color. 

Involved, said Ms. Sarwana, is “structural racism.”

On Long Island, said Ms. Gross before the break-out session, “we are structured to be racially separated. We can’t let this stand.”

After a re-assembly of attendees, representatives reported their group’s recommendations. “We need to look deeply inside ourselves and identify different biases that we have,” said Laura Goode, a retired nurse at Riverhead High School. If “we can acknowledge this we should be able to overcome it.”

We need to “break our generational curses,” said Lawrence Street, a leader of the Eastern Long Island chapter of the NAACP. “If we don’t do that…things will remain the same.” We must “begin that dialogue and talk about it.”

“Schools are silos, breeding grounds, of segregation,” said long-time teacher and former Suffolk County Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher. The pattern of schools lacking diversity needs to be changed, she said. Needed, too, she said, is affordable housing which has routinely been stopped by a ‘few loud voices…and politicians got nervous.”

The need for diversity in schools so young people can get to know young people of other backgrounds is critical, I’d say, based on my 40 years of teaching at SUNY/College at Old Westbury. The college for a half-century has had a goal of having diversity be a key part of the educational experience. It’s among the most diverse colleges in the U.S. There are equal amounts of white, African American and Latino students as well as Asian-American, Native American and foreign students. The faculty and administration is comparably diverse. No group is in a majority. It’s wonderful to see the students get to know each other and get along beautifully. 

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. 

Legislator Trotta Seeks To Recoup $1.5 Million From Former Police Chief Burke

Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta 13th L.D.The Ways & Means Committee will meet Thursday at 12:30pm in Hauppauge. One of the topics that will be discussed will be Legislator Trotta’s bill to recoup, from the former Chief of Police James Burke, $1.5 M paid by Suffolk County taxpayers to settle a lawsuit with Christopher Loeb.  

Legislator Trotta has been very vocal in his outrage and recently expressed his criticism saying “Crime Does Pay in Suffolk County …Christopher Loeb, a petty thief, gets $1.5 million from the Taxpayers, and James Burke, convicted criminal and former Chief of Police, earns $600,000 pay out and a Multi-million Dollar Pension from the Taxpayers.”

Earlier this year, the Suffolk Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee settled a federal lawsuit brought by Christopher Loeb against Suffolk County. Mr. Loeb was beaten, while handcuffed, by then Suffolk County Chief of Police James Burke. For his actions, Mr. Burke was arrested and convicted on civil rights violations and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Burke was sentenced to almost four years in Federal prison. 

According to Suffolk Legislator Rob Trotta, a retired Suffolk County Police Detective and 10 year member of the FBI Violent Crime Task Force, “As Police Chief, James Burke took an oath to fulfill the obligations of the office of Chief of Police and to up hold the laws of this county and this state and he did not. His admitted criminal activity and gross misconduct constituted not only a violation of the law, but also a breach of the agreement he made with the county. Burke’s actions have harmed the county and its taxpayers. Upon leaving the county, Burke received a lump sum payout of $630,000 and he receives a yearly pension of almost $150,000. It’s clear that he has the means to pay the taxpayers back and he should pay. The taxpayers should be outraged that County Executive Bellone allowed this conduct to go on and did nothing about it.”

Legislator Trotta’s legislation directs the County Attorney to commence legal action to seek reimbursement from Mr. Burke to recover the 1.5 million dollars of taxpayer money that was paid to Mr. Loeb to compensate him for Burke’s illegal actions. “I believe as an elected official we have a fiscal responsibility to recoup the taxpayers’ money from Mr. Burke,” said Legislator Trotta.

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP- Women Underrepresented In Elected Offices

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

There has never been a woman representing Suffolk County in the U.S. House of Representatives and there has never been a woman representing Suffolk in the New York State Senate—but that will end in the new year when Monica R. Martinez becomes a state senator.

The story of Ms. Martinez, born in El Salvador, an educator who had to sacrifice what was higher pay in her position as a middle school assistant principal after becoming a Suffolk County legislator, is a very American story especially in regard to the changing demographics of the United States.

“I came to this country at the age of three,” related Ms. Martinez of Brentwood in her literature during her run for the State Senate. “My parents sacrificed so much and fought so hard to give me the opportunity to succeed that I have dedicated my life to the belief we must make the opportunity to fulfill the American dream available to everyone. That is the reason I attended college and became a teacher, it is the reason I stepped up to serve the community in the Suffolk County Legislature, and it is the reason I am running today for the New York State Senate.”

Well, that’s the good news.

The bad news: there are but two females among the 10 town supervisors in Suffolk and there will be only men representing Suffolk in the U.S. House of Representatives—the case for more than two centuries. Although Ms. Martinez broke through a political glass ceiling, the other four senators from Suffolk will be men. And further, of the 12 members of the State Assembly representing Suffolk, only one in the new year will be a woman. 

One out of 12! That’s not fair or equitable considering that women comprise more than 50 percent of Suffolk County’s 1.5 million population. 

There have been two women in the Suffolk Assembly delegation this year and last. But incumbent Assemblywoman Christine Pellegrino lost in last month’s election. 

The one woman in Suffolk’s Assembly delegation will be Assemblywoman Kimberly Jean-Pierre of Wheatley Heights who was re-elected to a third two-year term. She is the daughter of immigrants to the U.S. from Haiti. Like Ms. Martinez, who received a bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University, a master’s degree in secondary education from NYU and an administrative degree in school leadership from Stony Brook University, Ms. Jean-Pierre is also well-educated. She received a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College and a master’s in public policy from Stony Brook University.

Both have extensive community experience, Ms. Martinez as a high school social studies teacher and school administrator and Ms. Jean-Pierre as director of the Wyandanch Resource Center and before that a vice president of the Babylon Town Industrial Agency. And before that Ms. Jean-Pierre worked as community outreach director for former U.S. Representative Steve Israel and was an aide to Suffolk Legislator DuWayne Gregory, presiding officer of the Suffolk Legislature. Speaking of glass ceilings, he is the first African-American to attain what is considered the Number 2 position in Suffolk after county executive, 

“On the stumps and on the march, women broke down barriers in 2018,” was the post-election headline in The Christian Science Monitor. The headline was moderated with a sub-head in the middle of the page noting: “Women’s representation in federal government jumped in 2018, but they still make up less than a quarter of Congress.”

The U.S and Suffolk County still have far to go in terms of females in elected office.

Suffolk has already come far on this, relatively. When I first started covering Suffolk County in the 1960s, the county’s governing board, the centuries-old Suffolk County Board of Supervisors, made up of the supervisors of each of the county’s 10 towns, consisted of ten men. Its members throughout its history were only guys, white guys, incidentally.

The big breakthrough in terms of females in government in Suffolk County came in 1973 with the election of Judith Hope as East Hampton Town supervisor, the first woman town supervisor in Suffolk. Ms. Hope, however, was too late to be a member of the Suffolk Board of Supervisors, it having been phased out in 1970 for a Suffolk Legislature based on districts of equal population, a result of one-person-one-vote court decisions. The Suffolk Legislature has had an OK, but not great, female membership—currently five of the 18 legislative seats are held by women. Among them is Leslie Kennedy of Nesconset whose district includes Smithtown  And women have been presiding officers of the legislature. 

Ms. Hope went on to become chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Party—the first woman to head a major political party in New York State. And she subsequently launched the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee committed to the important mission of bringing more women into elected office in the state.

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 - Solar A Great Thing To Do Something We Have To Do

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

“Vibrant” is the word used by Dean Hapshe last week about the state of the solar power industry. A major reason for this—“the price of the panels has come down,” he noted. And although the LIPA rebates for installing solar are now gone, the cost of panels “has dropped to a half of what they were 10 years ago,” said Mr. Hapshe. Thus, solar is still a very economical investment. Also, federal and state incentives are still in place

Dean is project manager of Suffolk County-based Harvest Power. He’s a pioneer in solar energy, starting off in the field in 1980. He teaches solar power installation and design. Dean is, indeed, a dean of solar power.

He installed the system at our house in what as of the new year will be a decade ago. Our house is a classic “saltbox” more than 100 years old.  Solar for my wife and me has been well worth it. 

Even on cloudy days, the LIPA/PSEG meter on the house regularly goes backward—signifying that we’re producing more electricity than we’re using. The excess goes back to the grid. If over a year’s period, the excess is more than what one consumes over the year, you get a check for that extra amount. No longer is it the $200-plus a month we used to spend for electricity. 

In addition to the 38 photovoltaic panels on our roof, there are two thermal panels—which heat up water and send it into the house. Even if it’s cool outside, at play is a dynamic comparable to the heat which builds up inside a car from the sun when you leave a car parked. It might be 50 degrees outside but the thermometer on the hot water tank in our basement shows water coming down at 100 degrees and more. 

Although the LIPA rebate no longer exists, the federal incentive of a 30 percent tax credit for the cost of a solar installation is still here. It will reduce to 26 percent in 2020 and move further downward after that. But, noted Mr. Hapshe, through the years, when this incentive was in trouble, Congress got involved. Meanwhile, New York State still provides a $5,000 incentive towards the price of a system.           

And at the same time the cost of solar panels has substantially reduced, their efficiency—how much electricity they generate—has gone up. The efficiency rate of solar photovoltaic panels to produce electricity on homes, businesses and other terrestrial settings is now comparable to the efficiency of panels pioneered for use in space. 

The cost for an average residential installation today is $30,000 to $35,000, Mr. Hapshe said. Thus the “payback”—the time when the price of installation has met what had been one’s electricity cost—is about seven years, he said. For thermal the “payback” in terms of savings on oil or gas to heat water is half that.    

Mr. Hapshe of Patchogue got into solar because “solar energy is the right thing to do. God has given us this wonderful Earth and we must be stewards. I’m so glad I’ve done this.”

After graduating from Boston University, Mr. Hapshe went directly into the solar field. “I was sitting in the third-floor library at Boston U.,” he recalled, “thinking of what I would do when I got out of college Only two things came to mind, one was recycling and the other solar energy. When I got out of college, a friend of mine said her husband worked for a solar energy company and would I be interested? I jumped on that and got hired right away.” 

His commitment, “comes from years of realizing how beautiful this planet is,” witnessing the damage being done to the Earth and wanting to make things better. Because of climate change, for example, “I’ll never get to see the glaciers at Glacier National Park.”

“I feel I have to do my little part,” he said. “It’s all anybody can do. If we all do something together, we can have something for our children and our grandchildren.”

Harvest Power, headquartered in Islip Terrace, installs solar systems all over Long Island and elsewhere in New York State and now also in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts. It has 60 employees. It does both residential and commercial installations. It has done 30,000 installations so far.

            “Solar is a great thing to do,” said Mr. Hapshe, “and it’s something we have to do.”

And a year ago to bring solar-generated electricity to those who might not be able to have panels on their roofs because of their direction or configuration or they live in apartments, the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency and PSEG Long Island began a program in which solar panels are installed on large structures and the “green” electricity from them sold, he advised. Harvest Power is involved in installations and sale of electricity in this undertaking with structures now being utilized in areas in Suffolk including Center Moriches and Shelter Island.

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. 

Op-Ed School Safety Should Not Be A Partisan Issue

Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta 13th LD

Last week, Democrats in the Suffolk County Legislature tabled my proposal to help make our schools less prone to shootings. The proposal doesn’t degrade any other county services, it doesn’t cost taxpayers anything more, nor does it infringe on anyone’s constitutional rights, it does, however, come from a Republican. Majority Democrats like Senator-elect Monica Martinez and Legislator Rob Calarco blocked my proposal, yet previously spent 2 million dollars of taxpayer money on an app that could be used by some school personnel to speed-dial 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency, an app, whose own terms of use state that it should not be used as a substitute for dialing 9-1-1. The steps that we take as elected officials must be responsible ones, driven by public safety, not public relations, and there is no place for playing politics when it comes to the safety of our children and teachers.

You don’t need to have been a police officer or a detective, like I was for 25 years, to know that bad guys like soft targets. No, my bill doesn’t require that we arm teachers or principals; it would simply require shift changes for Suffolk County Police Officers to occur at schools rather than at fire departments where practical. As a police officer, I participated in thousands of shift changes and each of them could have been conducted at a school. A greater police presence at schools, even if it’s just for 30 additional minutes three additional times per day can only help in preventing further tragedies.

While the national debate on this issue can be a contentious and unproductive one, often pitting those who want to abolish the Second Amendment against powerful and righteous Constitutionalists, my initiative is one that both Democrats and Republicans can support, or at least, they should.

In the United States, since 2005, there have been 10 school shootings where at least five people were killed. Suffolk’s lawmakers have a duty to ensure we are implementing common- sense and constitutional solutions to combat this epidemic. Sadly, my initiative, which neither comes at any additional cost to taxpayers, nor infringes on any American’s constitutional rights is being blocked by Suffolk County Democrats.