News

ITDC member Marcos Maldonado and others help Brentwood violent crime fall by a third

Good news for Brentwood community
Oct
14
2012

Violent crime has been cut by more than a third in Brentwood in the past three years because of increased police patrols, community renewal efforts, and an expansion of neighborhood watch groups.

Violent crime such as murder, rape and robbery has dropped from 223 occurrences in 2009 to 95 as of Aug. 31, the most recent date for which statistics are available. That's on pace for a reduction of about 36 percent.

Three years ago, the shootings of two young teens, one fatal, within five months galvanized efforts to stop the gang violence that had plagued Brentwood for years.

Police officials assigned Third Precinct Officer Charles Ross to create neighborhood watch groups in 2009. Watches in Brentwood have increased...| read more ››

Spending by outside groups top $2M in House race

Oct
14
2012

Spending by outside interest groups in the congressional race between Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) and St. James Republican Randy Altschuler has topped $2 million -- double the total spent by such groups when the candidates first squared off in 2010.

Prosperity First Inc., a new super PAC largely funded by East Setauket hedge fund manager Robert Mercer, on Tuesday purchased $104,868 in ads supporting Altschuler, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Over five weeks, the PAC has poured nearly $800,000 into the 1st Congressional District contest.
Bishop, seeking his sixth term, has benefited from only about 20 percent of expenditures by groups that operate independently of candidate committees. On Tuesday, the Communications Workers of America's Working Voices PAC bought...| read more ››

Joe Dujmic Calls for Transparency in LIPA Power Supply Agreement

Oct
12
2012

Huntington Station, NY - New York State Assembly candidate Joe Dujmic today called upon the Long Island Power Authority to release the full details of its recently announced Amended and Restated Power Supply Agreement (PSA) with National Grid, and delay implementation of the agreement until it can be coordinated with the utility's 2010 Request for Proposals for new power generation.

Dujmic also said that the long-term goal for LIPA should be to "maximize the use of renewable, Green Power sources."

Transparency and Full Details Needed

"An agreement of this magnitude deserves full transparency, with adequate time for public scrutiny and analysis by elected officials and ratepayer advocacy groups," said Dujmic.

"Right now, all we have is a...| read more ››

On the Right Path

Oct
11
2012

Earlier this year, a Blue Ribbon task force that I appointed to examine Suffolk County’s budget crisis informed us that we were facing a three-year budget deficit of $530 million – a shocking number that was far worse than we could have imagined.

With your support, we have taken the tough measures needed to pull our county out of this mess and avert a fiscal disaster. In just the past few weeks, I am proud to say that we have taken important steps to move Suffolk County forward including unanimous, bipartisan support for a contract with the PBA. And I am particularly proud to say something many thought unthinkable several months ago—I introduced a balanced budget which stays within the...| read more ››

Rich Schaffer Receives Important Endorsements In Supervisor Race

Oct
11
2012

In the race for Town of Babylon Supervisor, Rich Schaffer has received endorsements from the following important groups and organizations:

The Coalition of Suffolk Police Unions

Suffolk County Correction Officers Association

Suffolk County Probation Officers Association

Suffolk County Superior Officers Association

Suffolk County Detective Investigators Police Benevolent Association| read more ››

Dujmic Campaign Announces Key Addition to Campaign

Oct
10
2012

Huntington Station, NY - New York State Assembly candidate Joe Dujmic announced today that Jennifer Maertz has been added to his growing campaign team in the 10th Assembly District.

Ms. Maertz, a practicing insurance litigation attorney, ran for New York State Senate in eastern Suffolk in 2010. Despite entering that race late in the campaign cycle, Ms. Maertz made a strong challenge to an entrenched incumbent -- her vote total was in the top four of the 17 races the incumbent has run over three decades.

"Jennifer Maertz brings considerable experience not only as a volunteer on a number of political campaigns, but as a former candidate herself," said Dujmic. "I am excited to have someone of her caliber and...| read more ››

12,000 Telephone Poles Are Useless Duplicates

Oct
9
2012

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman recently succeeded in passing a bill, on September 13, to rid county roads of some 12,000 double utility poles marring the landscape along the highways and byways on this side of the Island. Despite the absurd number of these unsightly and redundant poles, it seems some local residents never noticed the poles or even knew they aren’t supposed to be this way.

“It’s basically like littering,” Schneiderman said of the offending poles, which suspend wires around the county for LIPA, Verizon and Cablevision. “It’s serving no purpose.” The legislator explained that all three companies are supposed to move their wires to the new poles, but that directive has often been ignored by one, two or...| read more ››

Social Security is Secure…Let’s Keep it That Way

Oct
9
2012

Social Security works, as it always has, for over 75 years. It is an insurance program that has provided benefits to millions of American workers since it was created by Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. Social Security’s opponents called it socialism from the beginning. It is not socialism; it is insurance. People pay into the program their entire working lives to insure they are not poor when they reach their older years and can no longer work. People who are older, people who are disabled, people who have lost a parent need Social Security to stay out of poverty.

Since 1981, more workers have been pushed into defined-contribution retirement plans not a defined benefit plan. The difference between...| read more ››

Islip officials pass law to exceed tax cap

Islip Town Hall
Oct
9
2012

"This is the hardest possible thing for a fiscal conservative to have to wrestle with," Croci said during the public hearing, which drew a large crowd. "We cut to the bone . . . It wasn't what I thought I would ever have to do my first year in office."

Several residents, however, accused Croci and the board of fiscal irresponsibility and urged a harder look at budget cuts.

"I'm just so frustrated," said Nancy Weibel, 63, of Bayport. "When I read that 65 percent, I almost fell off my chair . . . I voted for you, but honestly I don't think I will again."

Croci countered that the board has worked aggressively to cut spending. Earlier this year,...| read more ››

Fired by Tom Croci, Teresa Rizzuto now with FAA overseeing airports in 7 states and Washington, DC

Oct
7
2012

The former commissioner of Long Island MacArthur Airport, whose career was grounded in June when she was fired as the airport's leader, is taking off again with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Teresa Rizzuto, 51, of Bayport, begins working for the FAA at its Eastern Region headquarters in Jamaica, Queens, this week. Rizzuto will be manager for the Safety and Standards Branch of the agency's airports division, an FAA spokesman said.

She will oversee airports in seven states and Washington, D.C. Her job will be to ensure that the airports meet FAA regulations. The salary range for Rizzuto's job is between $113,000 and $175,000.

Rizzuto started an aviation career in 1992 as part of a ground crew at Kennedy Airport...| read more ››