9/11 advocates cheer funding deal — until Trump, Musk step in

Daily Point

WTC health program supporters, LI House reps looked triumphant — until they weren't

Wednesday afternoon, at around 3 p.m., House leaders including the three Republican members of Long Island’s House delegation gathered with advocates for 9/11 first responders to celebrate a deal to fund the World Trade Center Health Program through 2040. It would have guaranteed future funding.

Smiles abounded, as they posed with Speaker Mike Johnson to commemorate reaching a long-sought goal. 

Two hours later, everything fell apart, as President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, now also his apparent chief strategist for legislation, blew up a must-pass budget bill, threatening any Republican who voted for it with primary challenges. It’s unclear where that impasse leaves the 9/11 funding fix — House Republicans said late Thursday afternoon they had a new spending deal but no details were immediately available — but for now, no one is celebrating.

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

Talking Point

Plan to move MacArthur terminal rejected

For a good half-century, many movers and shakers on Long Island have been trying to move the MacArthur Airport terminal to the north side of the facility, where it could connect to the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station.

But when an effort to do that came before the Islip Town board this week, it went down with a resounding thud.

Among the appropriations on the town’s agenda during Tuesday’s meeting was about $1 million toward a planned request for qualifications for developers to show interest and present ideas or plans for the terminal move. The money would have come out of the airport’s reserve fund — not the town’s general fund.

But the town board voted, 4-1, to remove the measure from the list of appropriations it was approving, leaving its future up in the air. The only board member to support the RFQ proposal was Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter.

The rejection came despite efforts from Matthew Aracich, president of the Nassau Suffolk Building and Construction Trades Council, and at least one other speaker, who took the podium during public comment to advocate for moving forward on the terminal effort.

In recent years, the terminal effort has become part of a larger plan to build a project known as Midway Crossing, which could include a convention center and life sciences space.

Mitch Pally, who heads Midway Crossing’s local development corporation, told The Point that moving the terminal has been a Long Island goal for 50 years. The latest vote doesn’t change that, he said, adding that efforts to secure funding for Midway Crossing will continue.

"We’re hopeful the state will continue to understand the importance of the project but it does unfortunately lead to the feeling that some people don’t want that to happen," Pally said.

Moving the terminal, Pally added, "will make Midway much better than it would be on its own." He said he hopes Gov. Kathy Hochul will consider Midway Crossing in next year’s budgeting, especially when it comes to the project’s infrastructure needs.

"Everybody is hopeful this would be a short-term impediment," Pally said.

Carpenter told The Point she’s not giving up, either.

"I’m very hopeful that when everyone involved realizes the importance of it and what it actually means, not just to the airport and the town, but certainly to the region as a whole, they will reconsider and we can move forward with it," Carpenter said.

Left unsaid, of course, is that the board may have a different idea about the importance of moving the terminal. Their vote against it was not the only time they bucked Carpenter in Tuesday’s session. The board — which includes fellow Republicans John Lorenzo, James O’Connor and Michael McElwee and Democrat Jorge Guadron — also voted to bring the hiring of deputy commissioners under the town board’s purview, instead of the control of department commissioners, and to approve an agreement with OpenGov to provide software on permitting and licensing. Carpenter was the sole opposition to both of those efforts, too.

"There was obviously a difference of opinion," Carpenter told The Point. "We’ll see how things unfold."

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

Pencil Point

Pay to pray

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Reference Point

Christmas in wartime

Over the years, Newsday’s editorial board has often contemplated Christmas against the backdrop of the times. Never perhaps were those times more fraught with anxiety than in 1941.

Newsday was barely one year old and Congress had declared war on Japan and Germany days earlier when the board took stock of the holidays on Dec. 19, noting simply, "Christmas this year will find the United States at war."

To take the temperature of the region, the board turned its page over to Long Islanders via its "inquiring photographer." Several residents channeled the feeling expressed by Estelle Vetter, of Mineola, who essentially said the times called for a bigger celebration than ever.

"Many of us will have near and dear ones away from home this Christmas," Vetter said. "Instead of being sad or depressed about the situation, I feel that we should all make a special effort to be happy and to make as many other people happy as we can. Give ... give ... give. Give gifts, time, cards, effort, thought or wishes. It doesn’t matter what you give just as long as your act makes someone else a little happier."

One of those dear ones away from home was George C. Martin, identified as an Army private in the 432 Signal Maintenance Co. stationed at Mitchel Field. After noting that he was a long way from home, Martin seemed to capture the poignancy of a nation at war but not yet fighting, saying, "I think every one of us feels that Christmas this year means much more than the usual exchange of gifts, each better than the other. It means a strengthening of spiritual and friendship bonds."

Roslyn attorney Clarence E. Steinberg reacted to the uneasy uniqueness of the moment, saying, "This Christmas, apart from all other Christmases should be devoted to a re-appraisal of values, human and otherwise, which the day was originally intended to symbolize ... This year in particular when many may have to curtail gift sending due to rising prices or lower incomes, the unity of our nation and the good wishes and prayers for our neighbor should be in our hearts and minds."

In the end, though, Strathmore Village resident Mrs. Herman A. Wiegand said, Christmas is Christmas and normalcy must prevail.

"Well, I have children and with children in the home Christmas and Santa Claus go hand in hand, war or no war. Santa is as indispensable in my home as liberty and freedom is to America. So we will carry on as usual this year. Our hearts may be heavy for our boys in the active war but because of that we should make this Christmas gayer and brighter. Sadness and unhappiness should be kept out of the picture. Because if you keep a smile on your face everything seems better."

— Michael Dobie michael.dobie@newsday.com

Programming Point

This is the last edition of The Point in 2024. Happy holidays! See you in 2025.

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