Suozzi Hits The Ground Running

Anton Community Newspapers • 132 East 2nd Street • Mineola, NY 11501 • Phone: 516-747-8282 • FAX: 516-742-5867

Suozzi Hits The Ground Running

Written by Carol Frank and Christy Hinko Friday, 22 February 2013 00:00

Levittown: New Suburbia?

“We have to wake up to the reality, that America’s first suburb, Levittown, has to be the new suburbia; when I think of the southeast part of Nassau county, It’s probably one of the only places left in the county that is consistent with the original suburban concept; it’s still working there,” said County Executive challenger, Thomas Suozzi, of Glen Cove. “It’s still the closest to our original suburban dream; it hasn’t been as ruined as other places.”

This, among myriad issues facing the county that Suozzi would work to fix if elected to the position of county executive, was forefront in the topics of a recent interview by the editors at Anton Community Newspapers.

When his own daughter went away to college, he began to wonder if she would ever come back to Long Island, not just because of the high cost of living, but whether there would be areas that would appeal to a young adult. “Suddenly, young people leaving the island became very real to me.”

Tom Suozzi meets with Anton Newspaper editors.

Back to the county role in all this he said, “Borrowing, borrowing is the issue... Instead, we need revitalization. We need cool downtowns like Garden City, Rockville Centre and Great Neck. People live there in walkable communities with shops, restaurants and a train station...Let’s preserve open space, but let’s develop downtowns ... take derelict areas and rebuild them.”

He pointed to Hempstead saying, “It was never properly planned ... I would try to work more with local governments...Hempstead is too spread out. Build the center into a downtown and change the zoning on the outskirts.”

And then he veered into the contentious HUB situation. For starters, “It’s a disgrace we lost the Islanders.” Then moving on, Suozzi said, “It’s a valuable piece of property, some 70 acres. It’s accessible, but it’s un-walkable...Create development that connects Hofstra University, the community college, Omni Building up to Roosevelt Field Mall ... Let the developer make the money, but demand that he create an environment where a corporate office would want to be ... When I was younger, I wanted the best deal. Now, I say, let’s transform this place.”

He described the area as “little islands that could be connected by high speed busses... A private developer needs to be doing this. It’s an opportunity for office buildings, housing … we have to create places where people want to be. It’s not just about affordability.”

From one day to the next, the race for leading Nassau County out of a fiscal swamp has become super-charged as the possibility of three Democrats fighting for the county executive hot spot to oppose incumbent Republican Edward Mangano in the general election takes shape.

Suozzi in an interview with editorial staff from Anton News said, “I’m very proud of what I did governmentally, but I blew the politics...If I’m elected again, I will be a lot better politically.” Responding to a question about consolidation and his earlier efforts to eliminate some special districts, he acknowledged that, “while I believe that consolidation sometimes works, it didn’t fly politically...I wouldn’t go that way again.”

Instead, Suozzi pointed to his love for the job of county executive, solving problems and having a vision for the future. And skipping over potential Democratic rivals, his remarks focused on critiquing the current administration.

He said that a number of factors came together in making the decision to run again. “ I kept my mouth shut to give Mangano a chance to do his job,” but his concerns grew as the county continued “runaway borrowing,” increased police overtime due to force cuts, bond downgrades by Wall Street, and lack of follow-though on numerous projects.

He emphasizes that, “I was always about property tax relief and so I was asked by Governor Spitzer and then Governor Paterson to chair a commission about tax relief. Now we have the property tax cap in place....Why are property taxes so high in NYS? We spend more per student than any other state in the U.S. despite the fact that our results aren’t any better than other places ... we’re in the middle or below in some cases.”

He also laid much blame for high property taxes at New York State’s door saying, “They mandate what local governments have to do, but don’t fund any of it... I worked harder than anybody to fix property taxes. We only have three alternatives to deal with the tax burden...raise state aid, cut expenses or raise property taxes.”

Asked about Mangano’s police precinct consolidation, Suozzi commented, “It was poorly communicated with the public and it was awfully implemented and hasn’t been done fully. They make grand pronouncements and then they don’t do it. I’m not against the idea if they keep the buildings staffed and there’s a police presence in neighborhoods.”

He added that he favored the privatization of the county bus system, but thought that Mangano’s plan to consolidate sewers was a terrible plan because “it would raise rates by 3 percent every year for the next 25 years. You’d have double the sewer rates. Why is it OK to let the private guys raise rates?”

Regarding freezing tax assessments for Sandy homes, he is concerned that a 4-year freeze while they’re being redeveloped, yet staying at a frozen level, would affect the assessments and cause the property tax burden to shift to other homes in the area creating an imbalance and a greater burden. He added, “ I have no confidence in the current county administration’s competence to implement this.”

As to the idea for requiring school districts to pay certiorari claims, he said, “That’s the wrong approach. It’s just shifting the burden from the county to the school districts. I will be coming out with a detailed plan on that.”

Suozzi concluded, “If I’m the guy who helps change the direction of Nassau County... that will be enough. I would be very satisfied if I got that opportunity.”

News

Rebuilding Together Long Island

Thursday, 16 May 2013 00:00

After Massapequa resident Sol Goldstein and several friends helped finish building a house for a family 20 years ago for Habitat for Humanity, they had a question: “What do we do now?” They were all retired, had enjoyed working together and accomplishing something for a family in need, and wanted to do more.

“I was looking for something [to do] hands-on,” said Joe Botkin, of Williston Park, a retired principal, who had worked with Goldstein in building the home.

Soon, Goldstein, a retired technician and technical manager for ABC television, learned of a national volunteer organization based in Washington, D.C., that offered free home repairs for low-income seniors, persons with physical handicaps, veterans, and families with small children.

After sending $12 for a handbook, Goldstein and his friends began “Rebuilding Together Long Island,” now one of the 189 affiliates of “Rebuilding Together” around the country.

“It exploded,” Botkin said, attracting both people who needed home repairs and volunteers eager to do the work — everything from fixing a faucet to installing wheelchair access ramps to undertaking major repairs on homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

The group, based in Massapequa, is working on opening an office in Farmingdale. They will celebrate their 21st anniversary at their annual dinner, May 22, at Stuart Thomas Manor, Farmingdale. For information, call 516-541-7322.

“There has been a greater demand for our services since Superstorm Sandy,” noted Bob Ellis, director of Rebuilding Together Long Island, their only paid staff member. The organization has made major repairs on seven houses devastated by the hurricane, including three in Massapequa.

“We average about 100 homes a year,” Goldstein, president of Rebuilding Together Long Island, said. “We have about 300 volunteers” working on houses around Long Island, especially in Western Suffolk and Nassau.

“The experience of helping people is fantastic,” said Botkin. “We’ve all had good lives and we’re happy to give back. Besides, it beats sitting inside the house and watching the boob tube.”

“Our volunteers are mostly retired and they get a lot of joy in the good they do and in working with each other,” Ellis said.

Rebuilding Together relies on financial donations as well as donations of materials, supplies, equipment, and time from contractors and craftsmen, and others.

“We wish we could do more,” Botkin said.

Organizations like The Long Island Board of Realtors and the Nassau County Bar Association work with Rebuilding Together, offering donations as well as recruiting volunteers to work alongside them.

Rebuilding Together receives referrals from social services agencies, churches and other houses of worship, and veterans’ organizations.

Their projects vary. The organization does light carpentry, plumbing and some electrical work, but for any new electrical work, they hire an electrician. “We also do sheet rock and spackling. We paint only what we repair.”

Their biggest projects have been hurricane repairs. “That might take us two weeks,” Goldstein said. “On one of those homes, we had to put in 50 sheets of sheet rock.”

Others have noted the organization’s accomplishments.

“We are engaged in a joint endeavor with them to help people who can’t afford home repairs,” said Elaine Leventhal, director of We Care, the charitable arm of the Nassau County Bar Association. “Our members, especially our Young Lawyers Committee, receive a lot of satisfaction working with them.”

Rebuilding Together also receives appreciation from those they have helped.

Cindy Johnson noted that Rebuilding Together built a ramp for her 93-year-old mother’s Massapequa Park home.

“It is a fantastic organization,” said Johnson.

Having the ramp has helped immensely for them to get their mother in and out of the house for medical treatment and even socially and recreationally.

“We took her outside for Mother’s Day and she said: ‘How wonderful it is to be in the sun,’” Johnson said.

“We also receive a lot of letters,” Goldstein said. “Many of them are heartwarming.”

“I’m very grateful for those wonderful people coming into my home and giving me the help that I needed very badly,” one Levittown woman wrote.

“Without your help, sometimes I think I would go under,” an Old Bethpage resident noted.

An 89-year-old Massapequa resident and her 92-year-old husband appreciated the work on their home, including a wheelchair ramp, which has helped her get safely in and out of their home for a doctor’s appointment, and also the installation of pull bars, which have helped him take showers without assistance.

“They did a magnificent job,” she wrote. “I cannot say enough to express my gratitude.”