Crime rates have dropped around New York State

Long Island Morning Edition

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, backed by a display of law-enforcement muscle, vowed to keep former President Donald Trump and his supporters safe at tomorrow’s rally at Nassau Coliseum, Trump’s first campaign event since Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt in Florida.

Blakeman and Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the county is working with the U.S. Secret Service — which will be in charge of security inside the arena in Uniondale — and Homeland Security, the New York State Police, the NYPD and other agencies to prevent trouble.

"This will be the safest place in the country," Ryder said at a news conference yesterday in Mineola.

As reported in NEWSDAY, Blakeman and Ryder were accompanied by several mounted officers, a K-9 unit, an armored special operations vehicle, an Emergency Services truck and more than a dozen uniformed officers. A police helicopter buzzed over the news conference as Blakeman began speaking.

Blakeman said Nassau has a great deal of experience in hosting dignitaries and large events, citing the visit this weekend of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"This is nothing new," Blakeman said. "We are prepared and we are ready."

The doors of Nassau Coliseum will open at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and Trump’s rally is expected to begin at 7 p.m. Blakeman urged rallygoers to arrive well before 3 p.m.

"If you don’t have business in the area, stay away and traffic will be heavy for about 10 hours from noon until 10 p.m.," Blakeman said. "If you are not going to the rally, stay home unless you work in Uniondale or Hempstead. The traffic will be incredibly heavy."

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Home prices in Nassau and Suffolk counties reached records in August, as competition for homes continued to push prices higher. The median sale price in Nassau rose to $835,000 among deals that closed last month, while the median in Suffolk climbed to $680,000. 8.8% higher than in August 2023. Local real estate experts said falling mortgage rates could increase competition if the trend is not adequate to sway sellers to list their homes.

“We’re in uncharted territory, and I would not be surprised if the prices do not peak yet,” said Richard Haggerty, CEO of OneKey MLS. “… You would think the prices would have had a chilling effect on buyers. I don’t see any signs of that.”

The market continues to frustrate homebuyers because there are too few new listings.

Jonathan LaMantia reports in NEWSDAY that there was a slight uptick of 3.5% in houses on the market in Suffolk compared with last August but the number of listings in Nassau fell 7.5% from a year ago.

Across Long Island, the number of listings was down 1.4% compared with last year. There are still fewer than half as many homes on the market as there were five years ago in August 2019.

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The Cutchogue Civic Association will host a presentation and Q&A on “BESS: Another Look” with members of the Southold Town Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Task Force, the Cutchogue Fire Department and other safety experts and the New York State Energy Research & Development Agency this evening at 6 p.m. in the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Free Library.

All Are Welcome to attend this evening’s event which is Free

That’s “BESS: Another Look” from 6pm – 7:30pm in the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Free Library.

The Cutchogue Civic Association is a not-for-profit, community-based organization whose mission is to inform and educate residents about issues of community interest or concern. The association provides a neutral forum that promotes discussion, collaboration and the expression of diverse ideas.

For more info visit Cutchogue Civic Association.org

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Long Island’s roadways — many of which were designed nearly a century ago — are not equipped to handle the increasing frequency and severity of major rainstorms and rising sea levels, climate and infrastructure experts said.

But better maintenance of existing drainage systems could lessen the impact of flooding events, like the one that inundated portions of Suffolk County last month with more than 9 inches of rain, they said.

Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that Long Island climatologists said transportation infrastructure built during a time when Nassau and Suffolk were far less developed and populated will struggle to keep up with modern weather events. Much of the "natural sponge" that once covered much of Long Island has been replaced with "impermeable surfaces that can’t take in water," such as paved roads and parking lots, said Jase Bernhardt, an assistant professor at Hofstra University and the director of the school’s graduate sustainability program.

"Many decades of development have really weakened our ability to take in water at the surface, and makes us so much more vulnerable to flash flooding," said Bernhardt. Putting further strain on Long Island’s roadway network is a changing climate, according to Bernhardt, who pointed to federal data showing sharp increases in "extreme precipitation" events in the Northeast over the last 70 years.

A 2020 study pointed to the need to upgrade and modernize road drainage systems on Long Island, and to better maintain aging drainage infrastructure, including basins that can't be located.

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, in a statement, said addressing the county's water and wastewater infrastructure is a "main focus" of his administration. He said the August storm "proves again that things have changed and extreme storms are becoming the norm."

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Crime rates have dropped around New York State in the past year — even if people, according to public opinion polls, believe otherwise. Yancey Roy reports in NEWSDAY that updated statistics from the state Department of Criminal Justice Services show overall crime incidents in the 57 counties outside New York City dropped 9% from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of this year.

Violent crimes declined 5% and murders are down 10%. To be sure, those rates are declining following what had been an increase coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, crime incidents dipped 12% in Suffolk County and 18% in Nassau County, though it has seen some fluctuations by category.

Property crime had climbed steadily through 2023 but dipped 9% in 2024 so far.

But the data doesn’t match perception.

Even though the numbers are dropping, New York residents — by a roughly 3-1 ratio — tell pollsters crime is getting worse.

“There’s certainly a variance between the concerns people have and the crime statistics,” said Don Levy, pollster for Siena College. He said sometimes public opinion of crime takes a few years to catch up with actual trends, but also media and the political treatment of crime are important factors.

“This perception has permeated people’s thinking, that we have a lack of safety,” Levy said.

In Siena’s most recent poll in August, 54% of voters who were surveyed said crime was getting worse in the state; 16% said it was getting better. Long Islanders essentially matched that: 55% said worse, 14% better.

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Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine announced yesterday that new grant funding is available for homeowners whose houses were damaged by record flooding in Suffolk County on Aug. 18 and 19th. Beth Young in EAST END BEACON reports that the program is being administered by the Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc. with money from the New York Homes and Community Renewal agency, and is available for emergency home repair assistance and reimbursement for homeowners impacted by the flooding.

The application is online at lihp.tfaforms.net/5103433

The deadline to apply is October 7, 2024.

The storm, considered a 1-in-1,000-year rain event, forced the first-ever flash National Weather Service flood emergency warning in Suffolk County, and led to numerous road washouts, particularly along the North Shore of Long Island.

Suffolk County is advising residents who need additional information to contact the Flood Relief Program at [e-mail] or call 631.435.4710.

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In the bitter weeks after Democrats lost their House majority in 2022, party leaders searched for explanations. There was painfully high inflation. Qualms about the southern border. Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker, singled out a less predictable culprit: New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul. Ms. Pelosi argued that Democrats had lost five key races there because Ms. Hochul’s lumbering campaign misjudged discontent about crime, pulling down the whole ticket.

Nicholas Fandos reports in THE NY TIMES that two years later, close allies of Ms. Hochul say she remains embarrassed and indignant over blame that she believes was unfairly cast. But her frustration is also fueling a decision this fall to put the full force of her governorship into proving that she, and her state, can set things right for Democrats.

The governor has positioned the House races at the center of everything from her galloping fund-raising schedule to state policymaking, most notably halting New York’s most significant public transportation project in a generation amid opposition to it from must-win suburbs.

She is also trying to transform New York State’s Democratic Party from a perennial punching bag into a sophisticated turnout operation with 37 field offices and nearly 100 staff members. While the coordinated campaign is a partnership with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, Ms. Hochul has covered most of the $5 million price tag.

The turnabout, and New York’s strategic importance, has made Ms. Hochul’s maneuvering a consequential subplot in the broader fight for Congress. And it is no act of political charity.

With re-election looming in 2026 and potential challengers already circling, Ms. Hochul’s own political future may depend on her ability to mend frayed relationships with her fellow Democrats and overturn the perception, fair or not, that she is a political featherweight.