1. law, govt and politics

OUR TOWNS
Carl
MacGowan
[email protected]
631-843-3687
@CarlMacGowan
NEWSDAY / J. CONRAD WILLIAMS JR.
What I cover
Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray with Ava Parisi, 7, at the
town’s new veterinarian surgical van. ] Video: newsday.com/nassau
blood to local hospitals.
Jahmehl Lowery, an account
manager at Long Island Blood
Services, said the organization
faced a “blood emergency” for
the month of February due to
the recent snowstorms.
“We lost about 5,000 potential donations due to cancellations,” she said. “We need to
replenish our inventory.”
Lowery said general requirements to giving blood are that
the donor is between 16 and 75
years old, weighs at least 110
pounds, is fully hydrated, has
eaten at the time they plan to
contribute, and has ID.
The blood drive is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. No
appointment is necessary. For
more information, contact the
town personnel department at
631-360-7627.
— LAUREN R. HARRISON
H E M PST E A D
TOW N
— JOHN ASBURY
H UN T I N GTO N
American dance
to be performed
The Town of Huntington
plans to celebrate women’s
history month with a free
dance performance tomorrow.
Expressions of American
Dance will be held from 1:30 to
3:30 p.m. at the Huntington
Senior Center, 423 Park Ave.
The program will feature
members of the Huntington
I am planning to cover
today’s meeting of the
Brookhaven Town Board
of Zoning Appeals.
Find community
stories at
newsday.com/towns
Center for Performing Arts
providing demonstrations as
well as a DJ for dancing after
the presentation.
For more information, contact
Rhonda Shepardson at
631-351-3291. — DEBORAH S. MORRIS
A M I T YV I L LE
Restricted parking
in emergencies OKd
Amityville trustees on Monday passed a law authorizing
the mayor to restrict or prohibit parking during a weather or
snow emergency.
The law, passed by a 5-0
vote, is intended to keep streets
clear for emergency personnel
and public works employees
clearing snow or debris.
It carries a fine of up to $500
in addition to tow charges.
Weather emergencies will
be announced through a variety of media outlets and municipal bulletin boards.
Village Attorney Richard
Handler has said the need for
the law was evident after superstorm Sandy and several brutal
winters.
— NICHOLAS SPANGLER
BY CARL MACGOWAN
AND DEON J. HAMPTON
[email protected]
[email protected]
Medford civic leaders and
the Brookhaven Town Conservative Committee have
sued Suffolk Off-Track Betting Corp. in an attempt to
block a 1,000-terminal video
gaming parlor in the hamlet.
The suit, filed Monday in
state Supreme Court, says
Suffolk OTB officials have
failed to heed Brookhaven
Town zoning regulations or
obtain town officials’ consent
to build the casino on a Long
Island Expressway service
road east of state Route 112 in
Medford. OTB officials plan
to open the 98,000-squarefoot video lottery terminal
parlor next year.
The plaintiffs, including
the Affiliated Brookhaven
Civic Organizations, the Medford Taxpayers and Civic Association, several residents,
and the Conservative committee, seek a court order
blocking construction of the
facility in Medford or anywhere in Brookhaven.
The suit states that Suffolk
OTB has shown “unbridled
arrogance” and “declared
that it is above the law and
answerable only to itself”
while pursuing the Medford
site. The suit also alleges that
Suffolk OTB and Brookhaven
officials worked together last
year to craft zoning laws paving the way for the facility.
“If the Medford casino was
legal in the first place, there
wouldn’t have been the effort
that was made in the summer
to change Brookhaven zoning laws to make it legal,”
said Northport attorney
Peter Creedon, who is representing the plaintiffs.
Creedon said the casino
would bring with it disorderly conduct and excessive
drinking.
“The law is crystal clear,
that OTB casinos have to
comply with local zoning and
they have to submit to local
codes, which is only common sense,” Creedon said in
an interview
yesterday.
“We’re talking about a bankrupt gambling company fumbling with the Pandora’s box
of a gaming casino.”
Suffolk OTB president Phil
Nolan declined to comment.
He and Brookhaven officials
have said the state law authorizing gaming facilities in Suffolk and Nassau counties exempted them from local zoning laws. And Nolan said last
week OTB would not submit
site plans to Brookhaven for
an informal review and would
deal “exclusively” with the
state Gaming Commission.
Brookhaven Town Attorney Annette Eaderesto said
the lawsuit’s allegations were
“misleading. . . . They’re trying to allege a conspiracy,
which just isn’t true.”
The town is not a defendant in the suit. The town
board in January voted 6-0 to
oppose the casino.
Nassau Regional OffTrack Betting Corp. withdrew plans for a casino in
Westbury in the wake of
vocal opposition by local residents. OTB officials there are
seeking a new site.
The plan calls for video lottery terminals, like these in Queens.
NEWSDAY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
Hempstead Town officials
dedicated a mobile veterinarian surgical van yesterday to
spay and neuter pets and stray
animals.
Supervisor Kate Murray and
board members Anthony Santino and Erin King Sweeney left
yesterday’s town board meeting early to unveil the van at
the town animal shelter in
Wantagh. Town officials said
it is the first mobile surgical
van in Nassau County.
The van is designed to have
town veterinarians perform
sterilization surgeries at the
shelter and at local communities
Coming up
Civic leaders
sue OTB to halt
casino parlor
newsday.com
Van to spay, neuter
pets unveiled
throughout Hempstead and
southwestern Nassau County.
Town officials said the van will
also be used to push for higher
adoption rates and reduce overpopulation of stray animals.
Town veterinarians will use
two surgery tables in the van,
digital X-ray machines and a
dozen cages. No cost for the
van was given.
Hempstead animal control
officials are building a new
surgical suite while the van
will serve as a temporary site
for spaying and neutering.
Town officials plan to use
the van to trap and sterilize
animals in feral cat colonies
throughout the town.
Board members passed a law
earlier this year that all animals at the shelter would be
spayed and neutered.
Some animal activists and
Nassau County democrats
criticized the town in the past
for renting vans rather than
purchasing high-tech vehicles
for veterinarian services.
Hope for Hempstead Shelter
president Diane Madden said
the van is long overdue after
years of “wasteful spending.”
With my colleague
Deon J. Hampton, I cover
the Town of Brookhaven
and its villages and hamlets. What we try to offer
is an ongoing chronicle of
an enormous town — that
stretches from the Long Island Sound to the Atlantic
Ocean — as it grapples
with development pressures, environmental issues and the challenge of
maintaining programs in
the face of the state tax
cap. You’ll see us scribbling notes at municipal
meetings, so stop by and
say hello.
MEDFORD
NANCY BOROWICK
BROOKHAVEN REPORTER
A25