Housing for homeless sex offenders has been removed from two towns in Suffolk County.

Westhampton, NY – August 19, 2013 – The Westhampton and Riverside trailers formerly used by the Suffolk County Department of Social Services to house homeless sex offenders have been disconnected and removed from their sites, according to an email from Acting Suffolk County Department of Social Services Commissioner John O’Neill to Legislator Jay Schneiderman and Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst.

County Executive Steve Bellone ended the emergency housing program in May of this year at the request of Legislator Schneiderman and Southampton Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, who for years protested the presence of the trailers on the East End as an unfair burden. Former DSS Commissioner, Janet DeMarzo, first...| read more ››

Suffolk County has approved having a county veterans affairs specialist work out of Southampton Town offices, a move officials believe will provide better access to benefits and services for East End veterans, their spouses, dependents and survivors.

Both the Suffolk County Legislature and Southampton Town board unanimously passed the joint service agreement to station one of Suffolk’s veterans services officers in Southampton.

Veterans services to be provided by officers per the agreement include help in determining qualifications for federal benefits, assistance in preparing and submitting applications, help in tracking the status of applications, and answering questions about benefits.

Veterans groups have said that some services are underused by those on the East End because of the travel time to offices...| read more ››

(Montauk, NY) Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman (I-Montauk) introduced a bill on July 30, 2013, to establish strict guidelines for the use of Methoprene within estuaries in Suffolk County.

Methoprene, an insect growth regulator, is considered a biochemical pesticide that is acutely toxic to estuarine invertebrates, including valuable food and commercial species like crabs and lobsters. Environmental Protection Agency studies have found that Methoprene can be lethal to non-target organisms such as lobsters and crabs.

The lobster population in the Long Island Sound has decreased dramatically over the last decade, corresponding with the introduction of new pesticides such as Methoprene, into waters along the Long Island Sound.

“The county should be doing everything it can to limit the unnecessary introduction...| read more ››

The Riverhead Town Board is discussing Southampton Town’s proposal for a footbridge across the Peconic River into downtown Riverhead at its work session Thursday.

Vince Taldone, president of the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association, is speaking before the board on the proposal, which his organization and Legislator Jay Schneiderman has pushed as part of an overall effort to jump-start business development in the beleaguered Riverside hamlet.

In addition, the board is discussing the Knightland application for excavating permit, which would be used to build a commercial development at the corner of Sound Avenue and Route 25A in Wading River.

That application has withstood legal challenges, and the attorney for the applicant — developer and EastWind Caterers owner Kenn Barra...| read more ››