Islip Town Dems face the payback music

Daily Point

Fallout begins from Schaffer-KCQ fight

After a bitter intraparty leadership fight, Suffolk County Democrats appear to be humming a Garth Brooks tune by burying the hatchet — only to leave the handle sticking out.

County party leader Rich Schaffer promised he wouldn't seek payback against any committee members who didn't support him in his fight against Southold Town Democratic Party chair Kathryn Casey Quigley earlier this month.

But Islip Town Democrats are saying they're now in the crosshairs after town chair Leigh-Ann Barde switched allegiance from Schaffer to Casey Quigley leading up to the chair vote. And was very public about it. Barde told The Point her committee has been blocked from a long-standing agreement to use the county party's headquarters in Bohemia as a meeting place and have been forced to hold their meeting Wednesday night on Zoom.

Was it logistics or payback?

"Absolutely it was payback," Barde said. "There's no other reason. We always had permission to use the office. [Schaffer] was the one who claimed there would be no retribution. What else do you call this?"

Bryan Sokolowski, political director of the county party, refuted that claim as "ludicrous."

"They're screaming retribution, but that's not true," Sokolowski told The Point, saying that staff are working overtime in the Bohemia headquarters to meet Friday's campaign finance filing deadline, and staff are still cleaning up after the leadership election.

An emailed response Barde received to an email asking to use the Bohemia office simply states: "Please find other arrangements as the office is not available."

Barde took her fight to Facebook in a post alerting Islip Dems to the meeting change and asking for donations. She said that plea raised $5,581 in less than 24 hours.

When asked about Barde's fundraising pitch, a Suffolk County Democratic source and Schaffer supporter quipped: "That's probably more money than she's ever raised, so congratulations on that."

Barde also said her committee's access to a volunteer recruitment app used to mobilize campaigns was rescinded, although Sokolowski said Islip has its own access. Another Democratic source said the continued sniping could detract from elections campaigns already on the ground that rely on the app.

"It's not helpful to our campaigns," the Democratic source said.

The leadership battle splintered also some Smithtown Democrats, with the town party's corresponding secretary, Shala Pascucci, announcing on social media that she was leaving the party organization after she was "excluded" by other Smithtown Dems from internal messages because of her support of Casey Quigley.

"I can't be part of a governing body that operates that way," Pascucci told The Point, adding that she remains active in campaigning to get Democrats elected.

Sokolowski said with just over a month before Election Day, Democrats should heed Schaffer's call to unite to win seats. "Our chair has called for unity ... to win elections against Republicans in November," Sokolowski said.

But Barde said Democrats in Islip have united — behind her. Of the support she's received from Islip Democratic committee members since going against the grain to support Casey Quigley, Barde said: "It means the world to me. This committee is my chosen family. These bonds we have were formed in the trenches."

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

Pencil Point

No pressure

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Final Point

MTA's Lawrence Aviation deal complete

After years of starts and stops, the deal between Suffolk County, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Suffolk County Landbank to transform the former Lawrence Aviation Industries property is finally done.

The transaction closed Wednesday morning, multiple sources confirmed to The Point.

In the deal, the MTA purchased 46 acres, or a third of the land, from the Landbank for $10, which was paid by an actual paper check Wednesday. The MTA hopes to build a rail yard on the land, paving the way for potentially relocating the Port Jefferson Long Island Rail Road station farther west and, in the longer term, possibly electrifying the Port Jefferson line.

Closing the deal is the first step toward any of those upgrades. Getting to this point, however, has been a difficult, yearslong struggle, dating back to 2023, when the MTA first agreed to the initial agreement. There were fights with the state Department of Transportation, which originally wanted the option of building a highway someday in the future, and battles in the State Legislature, which eventually passed legislation that protects the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway, which cuts through the property. At multiple points, it looked like the deal might fall apart, as Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine and others expressed reservations and sought reassurances.

Come Wednesday, Romaine and others were celebrating.

"This has been years in the making," Romaine said in a statement. "Lawrence Aviation burdened this community for decades. From the start of my administration, I made moving this property forward a priority. We are turning a long-standing liability into transportation investment, renewable energy and productive public use."

In recent months, there was hope emanating from the MTA and various advocates. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Greenway legislation in July and indicated that the new law gave the MTA the right to construct the rail yard. If and when the rail yard materializes, officials could potentially relocate the Greenway on the land.

Hochul on Wednesday called the deal a "win-win for transportation and green space on Long Island."

"When we signed legislation in July, we protected the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway while preserving the ability to improve rail service on Long Island into the future," Hochul said in a statement. "Today, we deliver on that commitment by securing this property and ensuring that the Port Jefferson community has this beloved greenway permanently preserved while allowing the MTA to plan for long-term upgrades to LIRR service for tens of thousands of riders."

Now the question is what's next. Multiple officials noted that the MTA will have to fund the various Lawrence-related projects in the coming years, but MTA executives said they were committed to future improvements.

Said LIRR President Rob Free: "Securing this land gives us the flexibility to plan for the railroad's expansion and modernization opportunities."

And MTA Board member Sammy Chu noted that to really reap the benefits, the surrounding communities will have to take advantage of added rail service by allowing for housing and other development nearby.

"I'm really glad that everyone came together to make sure we kept the pathway open to getting the modernization of this rail done at some point," said Chu, who worked on the Lawrence deal since he first joined the board four years ago. "A big part of moving this forward will not just be making sure we can get the funding to do it in the future but also making sure that all the municipalities that represent the stations around this line make sure that nearby properties can be zoned to make the best use of the increased capacity on this branch."

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

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