Road paving hits a political pothole in North Hempstead

Daily Point

Dem councilwoman alleges her district is being overlooked; GOP supervisor disagrees

Political sniping in the Town of North Hempstead is nothing new. But in the last few days, town officials hit one of the biggest potholes in local politics: Paving the roads.

In a newsletter sent to her constituents on Monday, North Hempstead Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte told residents that this year’s town paving schedule was produced with a "lack of input and transparency" — and with significantly uneven results.

Dalimonte said her district — District 6 — would have just five roads, or 9,010 linear feet of pavement, repaved this year. That’s the lowest of any of the six council districts, two of which will each have more than 75,000 linear feet, along more than 70 roads each, repaved. And Dalimonte shared photos with The Point of roads in her district that are in bad shape — but are not on the to-be-paved list.

In the past, she said, road paving was split fairly equally between the six districts and council members were consulted on which roads should be paved. This, she said, is the first time she can recall when there was an extensive disparity — and it came, she added, with a lack of communication with the town council members.

According to data provided by the town, Dalimonte's district had 20,731 linear feet paved last year, as every district in 2024 fell between 12,500 linear feet and 29,000 linear feet. 

Dalimonte, a Democrat, said the decision was politically motivated, and put the blame on North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, a Republican who is up for reelection this year.

"This was completely unfair," Dalimonte said. "Stop the politics. What happened to my district, it’s not right."

In response, DeSena noted that the two districts at the top of the paving list are split politically: District 2, which will have 76,331 linear feet of road to be paved, currently led by Republican Councilman Edward Scott, and District 4, with 75,705 linear feet to be paved, led by Democrat Christine Liu. And, she noted that her opponent in this year’s town supervisor race is Dave Kerpen, who lives in Port Washington, in Dalimonte’s district, a traditionally blue part of the town.

But one North Hempstead Democratic source told The Point that both districts are considered politically purple and could flip in any given year. Scott, for instance, beat Democrat Peter Zuckerman by just 87 votes in 2023. Dalimonte’s district, meanwhile, is generally considered a safe Democratic seat.

DeSena, however, told The Point that the decision of which roads to pave was made by the town’s Department of Public Works and the Highway Department.

"Of course it’s not political," DeSena said. "I resent that when I try to do something that is good government, she makes it political … This is the opposite of political. It was needs-based."

DeSena noted that this year, the town will be paving more than 40 miles of roads, nearly double last year’s total of 23 miles.

The paving breakdown shows that the town’s other three districts are getting more paving than Dalimonte’s — but less than the two at the top of the heap. District 1, held by Democratic Councilman Robert Troiano, will have 24 roads, or 21,521 linear feet paved. District 3, held by Republican Councilman Dennis Walsh, will have 13 roads, or 10,930 linear feet paved. And District 5, led by Republican Councilman David Adhami, will have 22 roads, or 23,727 linear feet paved.

"This is pitting neighbor against neighbor," DeSena said. "I trust the engineers’ recommendations better than the council people."

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

Pencil Point

The scales of truth

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Final Point

Unopposed pols raise pots of cash

Suffolk County’s two top law enforcement elected officials are running for reelection and have raised a lot of cash to fend off challenges from … nobody.

District Attorney Ray Tierney and Sheriff Errol Toulon raised $265,112.95 and $155,588.13, respectively, for their 2025 reelection campaigns, according to July 15 periodic financials filed with the state Board of Elections.

Neither has an opponent, and both have been cross-endorsed by the major parties, so why the need to raise buckets of money? 

Tierney spent about $133,000 on fundraising in the filing period and has $757,662.48 in the bank. He received $46,050 from various law enforcement political action committees. Toulon spent just $12,000 on fundraising and garnered $31,600 from law enforcement PACs. He has $518,721.57 total.

Riverhead Town Superintendent of Highways Mike Zaleski, also running unopposed, still raised $20,600 and reported $27,305.86 in the bank. Southold Town Clerk Denis Noncarrow, running unopposed, raised $11,925 and has a balance of $16,393.65.

And some Suffolk politicians not even up for reelection until 2027 raised large sums of money.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico, who was elected to a four-year term in 2023, spent just $24,346.90 on fundraising but raised $274,386.00 and has $1,360,665.68 in the bank. Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro, who was also elected to a four-year term in 2023, raised $153,850.00 since Jan. 15 and has $695,086.78 in the bank. And Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, elected in 2023, raised $251,276.00 and has $674,430.34 in the bank.

That’s an awful lot of money raised in a noncompetitive year. Then again, in politics, money is power, and politicians know how to keep the spigots open.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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