Even though it might feel like doomsday is near, with gas being $4.09 a gallon, people losing their houses, the rising cost of food, the ever-growing energy demand and loss of jobs, it’s nice to know that relief might be in sight. If you are a first-time homebuyer and you live in Suffolk County you can apply for a grant equal to 75 percent of a down payment to a maximum $12,000 or $14,000 depending on your income level. The program does not fund closing costs and applications can be obtained by calling the Suffolk County Community Development office at (631) 853-5705. Applications are accepted by mail only, and on a first-come, first-served basis. To be eligible, an applicant must be a first-time home-buyer, have a total household income within HUD guidelines, have a documented minimum annual family income of at least $29,000, attend mortgage counseling at a not-for-profit housing agency, occupy the property as a principle residence and live or work within Suffolk County as of April 1, 2008. Additionally, the maximum appraised value of a house cannot exceed $396,150. Eligible housing consists of single-family homes, condominiums, and cooperative apartments. Eligible home purchase areas include the Towns of Brookhaven, East Hampton, Huntington, Smithtown, Riverhead, Southampton, Southold and Shelter Island. So for those of you who want to own your own home, go for it and good luck pursuing your “American Dream”.

A lot of you might already know that I live in Huntington. Part of why I love living in Huntington is because it has so much to offer and because I can walk everywhere. From galleries to restaurants, to the parks and beaches, oh and don’t forget good shopping. Spring is finally here….the days have been beautiful and it’s so nice to finally get outdoors. There’s so much going on too! Over the weekend I went to the Tulip Festival at Heckscher Park. If you have a chance take a walk through the park…they have planted tulips everywhere. Make sure you check out the museum’s latest exhibit, "To Infinity and Beyond: Mathematics in Contemporary Art," which includes paintings and sculpture inspired by numbers, geometry and patterns. The title is taken from the Pixar film “Toy Story” and named after character Buzz Lightyear. The museum has been under renovation for the past year and has had $1.5 million in improvements, including new skylights and a "transcendental" indoor paint job. The Heckscher museum was founded by industrialist August Heckscher in 1920 and houses 2,200 pieces of European and American art encompassing the 19th to 21st centuries. On your way out be sure to visit the 9-11 memorial fountain.

Last week, I wrote about the National Association of Letter Carriers annual food drive happening on Saturday, May 10th and it just so happens that this week I got to meet with Randi Dresner, President and CEO of Island Harvest, the region’s largest food bank, and I even got to see their headquarters in Mineola. As a lot of you probably already know, this is an issue that is very important to me. A couple of weeks ago there was an article in Newsday regarding hunger on Long Island, which solidified the impending problems people here on the Island are facing. Unfortunately when people are forced to make the decision of whether or not to pay their mortgages, rent, utilities, car payments or insurance it is all too common for many households to cut or skim from their food budgets to make ends meet.

Luckily Long Island has agencies like Island Harvest that does an extraordinary job of rescuing surplus food and getting it out to the community. They rescue surplus food supermarkets, delis, caterers, hotels, wholesalers and distributors, it is then delivered free of charge to soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and community centers. If you saw the inner workings of this operation I can almost guarantee you’d find it truly fascinating…I did. What I think is even more amazing is that they have over 1,000 volunteers. Additionally, they offer many programs throughout Long Island, like their Coin Harvest campaign, which runs February through May, and you can choose any two weeks to hold the program in your school or business. Over 90 schools throughout Nassau and Suffolk County participate and Island Harvest will go into the schools and educate students about hunger here on Long Island. Another program that has been very successful is their Kids Alliance-Weekend Food To Go Program, which provides weekend backpacks of nutritious food to schoolchildren for whom a school lunch or breakfast might be their primary source of nourishment. The backpacks contain four ready-to-eat meals that are age appropriate with multi-lingual tip sheets regarding nutrition, health, and related topics and a list of local food resources for parents. For more information, visit Island Harvest.

A while back I wrote a blog about Long Island’s food banks and how they are short of food and not because people aren’t donating but because need is up. Hopefully, there will be some relief in sight as the nation’s largest single day food collection is approaching and will hopefully help to restock community food banks throughout the nation. Stamp Out Hunger is now in its 14th year. Together with the Campbell Soup Company and the United States Postal Service and partnering with the National Association of Letter Carriers, the food drive will be accepting non-perishable food items such as canned meat and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice. Last year, more than 70 Million pounds of food were delivered. This year, on Saturday, May 10th letter carriers will collect food during their normal mail route. Donations should be placed by the mailbox or your front door to allow for easy pickup. Most post offices are participating in the program but you should check with your local post office or letter carrier for more details. For more information, visit the following link; http://www.helpstampouthunger.com/learnMore.aspx

It’s spring…so it’s time to treat yourself! This week is National Spa Week,from April 14th-20th spa’s across the nation will offer a host of treatments at special discounted prices. Spa week was created to educate consumers about the therapeutic benefits associated with spa treatments and how services like hot stone massages and facials can lessen stress and enhance your overall well being. For those of you who have had a spa treatment of any kind, you know that when you walk out you feel like a new person…relaxed, stress-free and exhilarated. So for this week only, a number of spas are offering a $50 treatment. Here on Long Island participating spas include Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa in Woodbury and Garden City, Gurney’s in Montauk and Moss Spa & Yoga in Cold Spring Harbor, Moss Spa is a yoga day spa and offers green manicures and pedicures (I’m actually dying to try this place but haven’t had a chance-hhhmmm-maybe this weekend?) A personal favorite of mine is Gurney’s, grab a girlfriend, your mom or your other half and spend the day at Gurney’s…it’s worth it! You can have lunch or dinner at the Sea Grille, which overlooks the ocean and you get to use all spa facilities for the day which includes a salt water pool, a gym, steam room, sauna, roman baths, and if the sun is shining, go out and lounge on the deck and work on your tan. For a complete list of spas go to spaweek.org.

Last week, the LIA board of directors heard from one the country's leading experts on economic development, Dr. Gerald Gordon, President and CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Fairfax County, Virginia. What Dr. Gordon said was a real lesson for Long Island.

First of all, there are a lot of differences between Fairfax County and Long Island. One county government; one school district; about six districts overall. Compared to two counties; 125 school districts; and over 900 taxing jurisdictions overall on Long Island. But there are many similarities as well. Similar demographics, proximity to a major city. O

Economic development, however, is a major difference. Granted, Fairfax started is remarkable run of development with a pretty clean slate; most of the county was open space 30 years ago. But listen to this record of growth: in the last 25 years, office space in the county grew from 32 million square feet to over 107 million square feet; and jobs grew from 243,000 to 620,000 (more than the District of Columbia). As a result, the property tax rate has decreased form $1.47 to 89 cents per $100 of assessed value.

That growth was accomplished through the creation of a coherent plan for growth, plus the disciplined dedication of the Economic Development Authority to the task of bringing companies to the area. The county funds the Authority to the tune of $7 million each year, which supports a $2 million advertising program and twenty professionals situated around the country and the world pushing the value of doing business in Fairfax County. Oh, and they use no incentives like tax abatements. None. Never have. And now they're focused on the value of focusing on the creative economy. (Dr. Gordon hosted last year's National Conference on the Creative Economy.) That's real economic development.

And that's what Long Island doesn't have and needs badly.

I did not know Bob Greene when he was with Newsday. I did not know him when he was developing his remarkable reputation as a journalist. I came to Long Island after that. Shortly after I arrived here, I was asked by the late Paul Townsend, founder and publisher of Long Island Business News, to participate as a panelist on a weekly TV show on the station now known at WLNY TV10/55. The other panelists were Bob Greene and Dr. Lee Koppelman. After doing a few shows, Bob and I concluded that we needed to spice things up a bit, to be more animated for television purposes. So, every time Bob or I thought the conversation needed some energy, we'd kick each other under table and then we'd begin to argue. Most of the time, we we didn't even agree with the position we were advocating. We'd just argue, almost to the point of calling each other names. Paul and Lee would look at us like we were a little crazy. But Bob and I would wink at each other and have a good laugh afterwards.

Bob Greene was a remarkable man who had an equally remarkable career. He was a consummate journalist, and by that I mean he was disciplined about accuracy. As a former investigative prosecutor, I recognized in Bob the characteristics of a professional investigator; he was adamant about the truth and not afraid to challenge anyone who he thought was not speaking the truth. He was perceptive and intuitive, experienced and knowledgeable. Bob Greene was the real deal. As he goes to his final rest today, I will be grateful that I knew him, as will so many other people.

Matt Crosson
April 14, 2008

It was never clear that the Broadwater Energy LNG proposal was designed to be good for Long Island. The LIA argued that if Long Island was going to bear a disproportionate share of the burden of Broadwater by having it off our shore, we should get a disproportionate share of the benefit. In our view, that should have come in the form of Broadwater's agreement to sell natural gas to residential consumers and to LIPA at lower-than-market-rate prices. That would have benefited all Long Islanders, not just gas users, because if LIPA received lower priced natural gas the cost of producing electricity from gas-fired generators should be lowered, and with it electric rates across the Island.

But Broadwater refused to agree to that, even in principle. Given the breadth of the opposition to their project in the region, I always was puzzled that Broadwater did not try harder to structure their plan so that it would be good for Long Island. I went beyond being puzzled to sheer amazement during a conversation we had with the leadership of Shell, one of Broadwater's owners. In the course of a lengthy, detailed discussion, a Broadwater representative repeated the oft-heard argument that Broadwater would save every Long Island household about $300 each year. Something about the way that was said stimulated in me the niggling feeling I sometimes used to get as a prosecutor when I was cross-examining a defense witness. So I asked how much they estimated Broadwater would save every household in Connecticut. "$400" was the reluctant reply. $400 in Connecticut and $300 on Long Island! Long Island, which would bear the burden of Broadwater's proximity. What a great deal.

While we'll never know for sure, I suspect that Governor Spitzer might not have reached the same conclusion Governor Paterson reached. I suspect that Spitzer would have approved Broadwater because of the fairly obvious need for more natural gas in the region. The ramifications of the Spitzer meltdown may be more far reaching than we yet can imagine.

But we on Long Island are now left wondering what our alternatives are. In other words, Governor, if not Broadwater, what? The State of New York should not be able to reject one means of getting natural gas to this region without aggressively pursuing an alternative. Is there a realistic alternative to Broadwater's plan for a floating LNG terminal?

The Islander East pipeline is an obvious answer, but our energy "allies" in Connecticut, notably Attorney General Blumenthal, who was so anxious to join forces to oppose Broadwater, have spent years and large amounts of taxpayer dollars opposing Islander East as well. (That's the same Attorney General who tried to block the Cross Sound Cable to bring us more electricity because it would have disturbed two acres of oyster beds.)

This question of "what now" must be directed squarely at Governor Paterson. And I think it's fair to do so. Just three weeks ago, the Governor said he probably would need more time to evaluate Broadwater. Given the circumstances, that certainly would have been reasonable. But he didn't take that extra time before disapproving Broadwater. It would be fair to assume that before making that decision the Governor considered the question, if not Broadwater, what? And it would be more than fair for Long Island to want to know the Governor's answer to that question.

Matt Crosson

Long Island’s legislative delegation has accomplished great things in the State budget for the region’s taxpayers. The addition of over $230 million in new school aid will ensure that any unavoidable tax increases in school districts will be minimized. Over $250 million in new capital construction funds will help advance a variety of important projects across the Island. And reform of the Wicks Law will help keep down the cost of public works projects. All in all, Long Island did well in the budget process, and we all owe our state legislators a debt of gratitude for their work.

Matt Crosson

This Saturday the Town of Huntington is hosting a “Family Earth Day Expo” at Town Hall from 9 am to 1 pm. People are encouraged to bring plastic shopping bags and turn them in for an “eco-friendly” reusable shopping bag. Residents of the town should drop off any e-waste they might have such as TV sets, computer games, and old cell phones, and the town will properly recycle them. The expo will also feature a “Green Showcase” which includes demonstrations on how to install solar energy in your home, using non-toxic cleaning products, making your own biofuel and how to make compost and garden organically. Multiple forum topics like anti-pesticide programs, organic lawn care, safe cosmetics and healthy food will also be discussed. A “touch a truck” program where kids are invited to climb on fire trucks, ambulances, garbage trucks and a biofuel motorcycle that runs on vegetable oil is also part of the program. The Town of Huntington, Covanta, Commerce Bank and the Solar Center are sponsoring the expo. The event is being held rain or shine in the Town Hall parking lot at 100 Main St.

As an ice-breaker into Long Island’s networking community, the LIA is inviting YPs and MBA students to connect with LIA businesses and build their network of peers and contacts at a special “After Hours” event on Wednesday, April 30th from 6 to 8 p.m. at Doolin’s Pub located at Nassau Coliseum. A workforce initiative, recruiters are welcome to meet prospective employees in a networking environment and YPs in the workforce are encouraged to foster relationships for their businesses. Hosted by the New York Islanders & Dragons, the event features guest speaker Chris Dey, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Operations for Charles Wang’s sports properties, who will discuss his career, overseeing Charles Wang’s sports properties and foundation, and leadership in the community. Dey is also President of the Honolulu-based technology firm, IPTV, LLC., and a board member of the Long Island Association. Dey has an extensive background in business, sports marketing and television production. Participating colleges include: Adelphi University, C.W. Post, Hofstra University, Molloy College, New York Institute of Technology, Polytechnic University, and Stony Brook University.
For more information contact hshivokevich@longislandassociation.org or call 631.493.3036.

March is Women’s History month and I thought I’d write an entry on women who have inspired me, role models I may have encountered through the years. However, the only woman that comes to mind is my mother. According to history we’ve come a long way, gaining the right to vote nearly a century ago and the women’s liberation movement of the 1960’s. Women’s history might reach another milestone this year, for the first time in U.S. history a woman just might be the Democratic Presidential nominee. Politics aside, wouldn’t it be nice to see just how a woman might run our country? As the Commander in Chief of what is considered the most powerful nation in the world, what would she bring to the table? How will she manage the Country? I’ve often wondered why so many other countries have historically been so willing to accept female presidents? I got my answer in an op-ed piece in the “New York Times” written by Kerry Howley back in January. “If you’ve ever wondered why India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Philippines seem readier to elect women than the United States, here’s your answer: Societies that value a candidate’s family affiliation and therefore have a history of nepotistic succession, are often open to female leadership.” Benazir Bhutto and Indira Ghandi broke through gender barriers because of their family names. Jo Freeman, a feminist political scientist, has pointed out that six of the first 14 women elected to Congress were the widows of incumbents and three were daughters of politicians. It’s certainly going to be an interesting presidential race to watch and who knows, maybe this time next year Women’s History month might be celebrating the first female President in US history and women and young girls across the nation might have someone to look up to?

There are some noteworthy things going on around Long Island. Green Drinks Long Island is hosting its Spring Equinox event on Wednesday, March 26 at the Argyle Grill and Tavern in Babylon Village from 5:30 to 9:30 pm. For those of you passionate about the environment this is a great way to network with people in the field.

If you’re into vaudevillian ragtime blues, hillbilly swing and old time country (think unsolicited fun) you can check out Wiyos, a string band from Brooklyn, on Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 pm at Last Licks Café located at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington, 109 Browns Road in Huntington.

Definitely start marking your calendars for the “Sixth Annual Hamptons Restaurant Week” starting March 30 to April 6. Restaurants will offer three-course prix fixe for $21.95 all night except Saturday, when it will be offered until 7 pm (if you’re looking to get out on Saturday night for dinner I suggest making a reservation for 6:30pm so you can still catch the prix fixe). Restaurant week participants will also include wineries, lodging and other local business on both forks. For a full list of participants visit www.hamptonsrestaurantweek.com.

Spring starts tomorrow and now is a great time to start heading out east and exploring the towns and restaurants. One of my personal favorites is Sag Harbor, where there is so much to do and see and it’s impossible to get bored. My favorite place in town is black cat books. I am fascinated by used bookstores. There are also lots of little specialty shops like Bella Casa owned by Larry & Maria Baum, who make special trips to Italy every year and hand pick ceramic tableware, furniture, paintings, soap, fragrances, and linens. This is a great place to go if you’re searching for things that are one of a kind and great for gifts. While you’re in town visit La Super Rica if you’re in the mood for Mexican food. The drinks are awesome and the crowd is cool. This year I’m going to try to get to Della Famina in East Hampton and will most likely hit up another favorite in East Quogue, the Stone Creek Inn, which is modern French Mediterranean. I promise you won’t be disappointed in this restaurant, which has a great wine list too. If you would like to contact me with any suggestions of your own, email me at Cfratello@longislandassociation.org. Happy eating!

In October of last year, the LIA, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, KeySpan/National Grid and Congressman Steve Israel hosted a “Non-Profits” for leaders of Long Island’s Non-Profit's at the Nation’s Capitol. (I got to tag along for this trip). The group received information from the Long Island Congressional delegation and their staffs on how to better leverage support for their programs and how to apply for grants. This week, Bethpage Federal Credit Union hosted a follow-up meeting with participants. Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy addressed the group and said, “Non-Profits will have to get creative”. Given the fact that the Non-Profit Sector makes up almost a third of Long Island’s workforce, there is growing concern among the Non-Profit community about how their organizations will survive with the impending recession and budget deficits facing Long Island. Members of the group shared tips on what Non-Profits can do to receive federal assistance. Everyone agreed that it is essential to first establish a relationship with your representative at all levels of government. Congressional staff and Non-Profit participants also recommended researching your electeds to find out what specific interests or issues they are involved in, because that generally dictates where they might be more inclined to give grant money. Another recommendation was to have your board members write letters of support given that the appropriations process is very competitive. As I said in last week ’s blog, need on Long Island is rising and it is only a matter of time before demand for services will be up.

The New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief is holding a hearing on Long Island today. LIA President Matt Crosson provided the following preliminary written testimony:

Written Testimony of
Matthew T. Crosson
President of the Long Island Association
Before the
New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief

March 5, 2008


Thank you for the opportunity to present written testimony to the Commission on the subject of property tax caps.

For the purpose of this testimony, I will not reiterate what the Commission already well knows: New Yorkers in general, and Long Islanders in particular, bear a property tax burden that is among the highest in the nation. That burden must be relieved.

I intend to address in this testimony only some broad principles that the Commission should adopt to guide its work, particularly its preliminary recommendations for a statutory school property cap, which the Commission is required to provide to Governor Spitzer by May 15, 2008. . I will address the many more detailed issues surrounding this complex question in separate testimony at a future time.

Consider the Context

The historical context within which the Commission is working is important to the validity of its conclusions. The Commission should take into account not just the property tax burden borne by New Yorkers, but also the economic issues the state will confront during the next two decades, the period that would be affected positively or negatively by property tax caps.

Using Long Island as an example, New York has been able to achieve prosperity in past decades largely because of the higher productivity of its workforce. On Long Island specifically, the workforce that began settling here after World War II was somewhat younger and somewhat better educated than the nation’s workforce. As a result, it was more productive. That productivity eventually produced the $136 billion two-county economic output that Long Island, and the state, enjoy today.

The quality of education in New York was the key to that growth and prosperity. Again using the Long Island example, people moved to this region, and stayed here, more because of the quality of our schools than any other reason. The Long Island’s schools gradually developed a reputation as one of the best K-12 systems in the nation. And the quality of the system’s graduates underscored that reputation when they entered the workforce. That dynamic is at the very heart of the continued prosperity of this region, and the rest of New York as well.

More than ten years ago, McKinsey and Company published a study entitled “The War for Talent” which looked forward to the time when Baby Boomers began to retire in large numbers. The study concluded that the relatively smaller number of people born after the Boomers would leave a large and long-lasting gap in the nation’s workforce. As other studies subsequently showed, the increase in the nation’s native-born workforce that fueled our economic growth in recent decades effectively would come to an end.

The time that the McKinsey study looked forward to now literally is upon us. Beginning in just two years, the available workforce in New York and the nation will begin to shrink. As Baby Boomers enter retirement in larger numbers, the workforce will shrink to such an extent that the nation as a whole will not be able to sustain even one-third of our historic levels of job creation. There simply will not be sufficient people in the workforce to fill those jobs. That will engender a “war” for talent in which regions, and states, will compete intensely for well-educated and trained workers to meet the demands of companies that want to grow. The best companies will go to where the talent is. And that will be where, among other things, the best education is.

In the context of property tax cuts, the point is very simple: this is the worst possible point in time to do anything that might undermine the quality of education in New York, or cause New York’s reputation for high quality education to diminish.

Basic Principles

Point One: Cap the State First

There is a principle of fundamental equity arguing that the State of New York should not impose caps on other levels of government unless and until it imposes a cap on itself. After all, even by Governor Spitzer’s own figures, his revised 2008-2009 state budget would increase General Fund spending by 5.2 percent, with inflation pegged at 2.6 percent. In prior years, spending increases were even higher relative to inflation.

Of greater concern in the specific context of property tax caps, is the rising state debt. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli recently called for a new state debt cap after finding that state debt rose to $51 billion last year, a 31 percent increase in five years. Just last week, the Comptroller said that New York’s debt payments would increase by nearly 50 percent in the next five years if the Governor’s budget were adopted unchanged.

Unfortunately, there is nothing new about this situation. And that is precisely the problem with imposing property tax caps without restraining state spending. New York State has an undeniable tendency to shift governmental burdens and expenses to other levels of government when the state is grappling with its own profligate spending habits. It is as though the state is effectively “sweeping the problem under the rug” by shifting costs or obligations to the counties, cities, towns, villages, and districts. Usually, the shift is done in ways so well disguised that average citizens never really understand what is happening. Until their property taxes go up.
If New York State’s costs, especially its debt burdens, continue to rise, the temptation to shift some of its costs to lower levels of government will be very strong. Yet, if that happens when those lower levels of government are constrained by a property tax cap, the result can only be a damaging reduction in services. The only way to avoid that is to control spending and debt generation at the state level before establishing property tax caps.

Point Two: Remove Mandates First

Every reasonable proponent of property tax caps, especially as they would apply to school districts, agrees that the districts need to be relieved of fiscal and operational mandates imposed on them by the state in order for caps to work. If the mandates are not removed, but spending is curtailed, eventually the quality of education has to suffer.

It is one thing to say that mandates should be removed, it’s entirely another thing to get it done. The danger here is obvious: capping property taxes may be a popular thing to do; people understand it. They do not understand the complex mandates that school districts have to deal with, and most people do not care. It might be easy to pass property tax caps today on the promise of fixing mandates later.

But New York state government does not have an enviable record of sticking to its promises. How many dedicated funds have been invaded, how many legislative expectations have been unrealized in New York? The answer is, too many to count. Any property tax cap applied to school districts should take effect only after the mandates that unnecessarily burden the districts have been removed by the Legislature. That precondition actually might help generate the mandate reform Albany has talked about for years but done little to actually accomplish.

This requirement – that property tax caps not take effect until after the mandates that constrain school districts are removed from law and regulation - should be at the top of the Commission’s recommendations. The requirement should be unambiguous and firm. No property tax caps should be enacted in New York unless and until all of the mandates that handcuff school district spending have been removed by law.

Point Three: Do Not Widen the Gap

There is no question that one of the serious problems that has beset states that have enacted property tax caps has been the inexorable widening of the gap between the quality of education in wealthier and less wealthy school districts. Democratic principles seem to require that people have the right to “break” the cap in their jurisdiction by referendum to spend more money of they so choose. Wealthier school districts always are more likely to do that than others. Even requiring a “supermajority” of two-thirds to approve a cap-breaking referendum has not been successful. The gap always widens.

Given the existing social patterns in this state, which already show unmistakable signs of widening gaps between rich and poor, that result in the educational system would be deeply damaging. As repeated experience in under-funded school districts has shown, it is exceedingly difficult to bring a school district back to high quality education standards once it has fallen. The Commission must find a way to both permit people to use the democratic process to provide more funding for their schools if they wish, and also ensure that students in less wealthy areas do not suffer from an inferior education caused by inadequate funding.

Conclusion

I appreciate the opportunity to present these broad principles to the Commission in advance of its May 15th deadline for a preliminary report relating to school districts. I will submit more detailed testimony, dealing with the practical issues surrounding property tax caps at a future time.