Suffolk County, NY - April 16, 2014 - On Wednesday night, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone will join scores of residents to answer questions about the most pressing issues facing Suffolk’s diverse communities: jobs, housing, and diversity. The event will feature remarks from the County Executive, who will then respond to questions from a wide cross-section of local residents on issues including Long Island’s foreclosure crisis, the need to generate more stable, high-paying jobs, and efforts to embrace the growing immigrant population.

WHAT: Community Forum with County Executive Steve Bellone on Jobs, Housing, and Diversity.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 16th, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Brentwood Public Library, 34 2nd Ave., Brentwood, NY
WHO: The event will feature Suffolk County...| read more ››

Steve Bellone, meet Riverside.

The Suffolk County Executive was given a bus tour of one of Southampton Town’s poorest, most crime-ridden, rundown neighborhoods Wednesday morning in hopes of getting his support for a number of ongoing efforts to revitalize the area.

And judging by Mr. Bellone’s comments following the tour, the plan may have worked.

“My overall impression is that it’s one of the more exciting planning opportunities and community revitalization opportunities that I’ve ever seen,” he said of the Riverside area in an interview. “It is something that has so much potential for great things.”

Southampton Town has a number of revitalization plans underway for Riverside, some of which will need county support in order to move progress forward...| read more ››

Brentwood, NY - April 17, 2014 - On Wednesday night, more than one hundred Suffolk County residents from Latino, African-American, and immigrant communities joined Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone for a forum hosted by Make the Road New York, New York Communities for Change, the Long Island Civic Engagement Table, and the NAACP. Residents who came together at the Brentwood Public Library posed questions about the most pressing issues facing Suffolk’s diverse communities: jobs, housing, and diversity.
Participants in the event were thrilled to have the opportunity to ask questions on a wide range of topics affecting communities of color, including housing discrimination, addressing the foreclosure crisis, how to combat wage theft, and the status of efforts to welcome...| read more ››

HUNTINGTON - Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone signed the Tobacco 21 bill into law Monday making Suffolk the first county in the nation where customers must be at least 21 years old to buy tobacco products.

The bill's sponsor, Legislator Dr. William Spencer, says the law will save lives and contain health care costs.

"I'm very excited because this will go a long way toward helping young people in this community," Spencer told News 12.| read more ››

While cars sped by on North Ocean Avenue Saturday morning, Assemblyman Edward Hennessey called on New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo to provide funding to make area roadways safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

“Our roadways are dangerous and we need to slow people down,” said Hennessey, standing at the corner of North Ocean Avenue and Shaber Road, where 29-year-old Melinda Resto was killed after she was struck by a car while walking home from a school event in December 2012.

Resto, said Hennessey, is just one of a multitude of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths that could have been prevented with safer roads. In 2012 in Suffolk County, 41 pedestrians and seven bicyclists were killed. In that same year, 559 pedestrians...| read more ››

Assemblyman Edward Hennessey is joining the call to delay using Common Core test based assessments.

“The rush to implement the Common Core curriculum and the tests and evaluations associated with it have caused an overwhelming amount of concern, pressure and anxiety for our children, parents, teachers, and schools,” Assemblyman Hennessey said. “I too am extremely concerned.”

If true educational progress is to be made whereby children, educators and schools will become empowered and invigorated with the skills, knowledge and tools necessary to tackle the challenges of today, it must be made with the understanding that we are dealing with people, Hennessey noted.| read more ››

Assemblyman Hennessey joined union members and fellow elected officials from Local, County, and State government to call on Verizon to bring FIOS to Brookhaven Town.

“Brookhaven Town Hall was filled to capacity with residents and unions, all demanding that Verizon build out FIOS in Brookhaven Town. I was proud to stand with them. Bringing FIOS to the town means jobs, service to residents at competitive prices, and economic development,” said Assemblyman Hennessey.

Pictured left to right are Assemblyman Edward Hennessey, Michael Gendron, CWA Local 1108; Patrick Guidice, IBEW 1049; and Donald Dunn, CWA Local 1108.| read more ››

(Long Island, NY) Assemblyman Edward Hennessey (D-Medford) announced that the Assembly passed a piece of legislation that would implement the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Act (A.9135). This act sets a 6-percent participation goal in the awarding of state contracts to service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, which doubles the goal of the federal government.
“Helping New York’s service-disabled veterans pursue business ventures will strengthen our local economies while also doing right by the brave men and women who served our great nation,” Assemblyman Hennessey said.

New York is home to more than 900,000 veterans, 72 percent of whom have served during periods of conflict. Specifically, there are over 50,000 veterans living in Suffolk County , the largest population of veterans in New York...| read more ››

Assemblyman Edward Hennessey (D-Medford) announced that the Assembly passed the 2014 -15 state budget that provides tax cuts to families & businesses, invests in education and creates a better economic environment.
Increasing State Aid To Education

This year’s budget increases school aid to our local schools by $22 million. Included with this increase is funding to eliminate the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) that has cost schools in Brookhaven $46.8 million in state aid.
“The final state budget takes a big step forward in restoring GEA but it still falls short of bringing us to where we need to be,” Assemblyman Hennessey said.

“That’s why I will continue to push for passage of my legislation to immediately eliminate the...| read more ››

Great River, NY - April 2, 2014 - County Executive Steve Bellone was by joined Legislator Jay Schneiderman, Legislator Thomas Cilmi, Suffolk officials and a dozen Suffolk County veterans to announce the opening of the 2014 golf season and new fee reductions for veterans and active military personnel. The new legislation, sponsored by Deputy Presiding Officer Schneiderman, (I-Montauk) expands a pilot program that make the veteran fee reductions at county golf courses permanent.

“After one of the harshest winters on record, we gather to say goodbye to winter and hello to the 2014 Suffolk County Golf Season with new discounted rates for veterans and active military personnel,” said Suffolk County Executive Bellone. “I thank Legislator Schneiderman for sponsoring this legislation...| read more ››