How did that LIE sinkhole happen? We have the deets

Daily Point

Bottomless pit blame game

When a sinkhole opened up on the Long Island Expressway on May 14, Nassau County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman immediately blamed his opponent — Gov. Kathy Hochul.

"Sinkhole Happening Now: Under Kathy Hochul, roads are crumbling," Blakeman's campaign Facebook page posted. "The Long Island Expressway now has a giant sinkhole. Just a few weeks ago, we saw a chunk missing from a bridge and drivers could see water. Kathy Hochul continues to fail us."

But The Point has learned that the state is not culpable for the sinkhole near Exit 49N.

While the cause of the sinkhole is still under investigation and there may be multiple factors that led to it, a well-known Long Island contractor — one with Republican ties — was doing work in the area as recently as the early morning hours of the incident.

A state DOT statement at the time the sinkhole developed alluded to the real cause, saying the sinkhole "appears to have been caused by a contractor working under permit on a local municipal sewage project." Officials have confirmed the project was through Suffolk County's Department of Public Works.

The work that may have disrupted the ground beneath the heavily traveled roadway was related to a sewer project for development efforts in the Town of Huntington, sources said. Heavy equipment being used for the sewer work was parked on the grass next to the LIE's North Service Road for days before the collapse.

Republican donor and contractor Anthony Labriola confirmed to The Point Tuesday that his company, ALAC Contracting Corp., has been doing sewer-related work underneath the LIE — and was working at the site as recently as 4:30 a.m. the day the sinkhole developed, which happened in the early afternoon. But, Labriola said, he does not think his company's actions caused the sinkhole.

"The state DOT is not sure actually why this happened yet," Labriola said. "But yes, we're doing a big sewer job there."

Labriola said the work his firm is doing involves a process called "jack and bore," a method that allows workers to tunnel under the LIE from the south end to the north end to push a "30-inch steel sleeve that's 400 feet long" from one end to the other. But Labriola also noted that underneath the LIE, there were pockets of different types of soil and other materials, and open, void-like areas with less compacted soil that might also have led to the sinkhole. After the sinkhole occurred, Labriola said he sent his workers to backfill it with more compacted material to hopefully prevent it from happening again.

Labriola is brother to Republican Oyster Bay Town Councilman Steve Labriola, a former assemblyman and former town clerk. Over the years, Anthony Labriola has donated thousands of dollars to county, town and local Republican committees and last year gave $700 to Blakeman's county executive reelection campaign.

Steve Labriola also previously worked as deputy Nassau County comptroller to George Maragos, but left Maragos' office just weeks after a dispute regarding Maragos' involvement in delaying the approval of a contract for the rebuilding of West Shore Road in Mill Neck after Superstorm Sandy — a contract given to ALAC Contracting Corp., Newsday's news division previously reported.

In November 2024, Anthony Labriola and his companies agreed to pay more than $121,000 to settle claims by Attorney General Letitia James that the contractors illegally built a storage facility and parking lot on a protected "buffer area" in West Babylon, near the Carlls River.

Labriola told The Point that he has robotic survey equipment that monitors the road surface for concerns, but added that sinkholes happen so quickly that "there's really no warning."

In a statement, Blakeman did not respond to Labriola's involvement, instead focusing his attention on the governor.

"The LIE — a state highway — is America's Largest Parking Lot because of the failures of Kathy Hochul, who would rather spend money on illegal migrants than infrastructure," Blakeman said in the statement. "From holes in local bridges to sinkholes on the LIE, New York is crumbling on Hochul's watch."

But Labriola said there's no single political official or other entity to blame when a sinkhole like the one on the LIE occurs, especially because a void underneath a roadway could have existed for a decade or longer before it suddenly opens into a sinkhole.

"This is not political," Labriola told the Point. "These things can happen. It could have been an existing void, the change in material, or something else. There's no way to say for sure. There's nothing we did that could cause that."

Now, Labriola said, he's waiting to be able to finish getting the pipe across the highway so his team can continue its work. But he says the remediation work his staff has done means that there shouldn't be any further concerns.

"We do not think it could happen again," Labriola said.

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

Pencil Point

'Iran' with the plan

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Final Point

Upstate congressman seeks to influence LI elections

Hudson Valley Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan is making waves across the state and on Long Island with a political action committee endorsing 85 candidates at various levels of government.

Ryan's Patriot PAC is endorsing four local Democrats, he announced last week. Ryan's PAC backs Democrats with public service backgrounds, including law enforcement, the military and public school teachers. The PAC's website aggressively announces what type of Democrat gets endorsed: "Pragmatic. Patriotic. Pugilistic. Building the vanguard of Patriots who will defeat MAGA."

Ryan, who represents CD18, was first elected in 2022. His seat is rated "Solid-D" by the independent Cook Report.

The Long Island Democrats endorsed by Ryan's Patriot PAC are Sean McCarthy, Olena Nicks, Joe Scianablo and Sara Topping. McCarthy, a former precinct commanding officer for the Nassau County Police Department, is challenging North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, who has the Republican and Conservative lines. Scianablo, an attorney, is running against Republican Hempstead Town Supervisor John Ferretti in a rematch from last year. Nicks is running for reelection as Nassau County legislator in the 5th Legislative District against Moshe Hill, who has the Republican and Conservative lines. And Topping is running for reelection as a Southampton Town trustee as one of six candidates for five seats.

An elected official creating a PAC to broaden his or her influence is nothing new in New York. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has Courage to Change PAC, which supports progressives, and former Rep. Elise Stefanik has E-PAC, which backs Republican women at the federal level. Stefanik's Save New York PAC is in hiatus, though, with the website's candidates list reading "COMING SOON." The site was last updated a year ago.

Ryan's Patriot PAC gets more granular with endorsements of candidates at the county and even town levels of government. "One race at a time, in offices big and small, we're going to deliver for the Patriotic Majority," Ryan said in a news release.

The Patriot PAC accepts applications for endorsements and gets possible names from local political leaders. Ryan said his PAC supports "folks who love this country, love their communities ..." by providing candidates "... the resources, support, and advice they will need to help them win in November."

Last year, 76% of Patriot PAC-backed candidates won their elections. Scianablo, however, lost last year despite Patriot PAC backing and a $15,000 donation from the group, according to state Board of Elections campaign finance filings.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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