The wheels on the budget go round and round

Daily Point

After welcoming Hochul, Romaine seeks funds for Suffolk Bus

Budget talks in Albany may be done, but local officials aren’t done seeking their share of the pot.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine has sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, seeking additional funding for Suffolk County Transit — the bus system that traverses the sprawling county.

In his letter, Romaine argued, as had his predecessors, that the county’s transit system receives the least funding of any system statewide. And he called the county “the region’s most economically disadvantaged county,” noting a per capita income of $35,755.

While Romaine wasn’t specific in his ask, he said Nassau County’s public transit state allocation amounted to $103 million in 2022, while Westchester’s stood at $85 million. Suffolk’s funding, he said, was just $40 million.

“Suffolk County’s current funding constraints limit the ability to effectively serve our residents,” Romaine wrote. “With additional funding, we plan to introduce 50 micro-transit vans, enhance service accessibility, build bus shelters, improve security, integrate technology for passenger use, and upgrade to electric buses.”

In an interview with the Point, Romaine said he also hopes to find ways to tie bus service to existing train service.

“I am looking to improve public transportation but it’s hard when we get shortchanged — and not by a little, but by a lot,” Romaine said. “How about some help, Governor? How about leveling the playing field so all of your suburban counties in the downstate area can have similar subsidies …? Then I’ll build you a better bus system before I leave this office.”

Romaine noted that while most Long Island residents believe they need cars to get around, there are many who can’t afford one.

“And do we want everyone in a car? I don’t,” Romaine said. “I want public transportation to be easy, reliable and dependable. Imagine if it was more convenient. Imagine if we get greater subsidies and I could do more routes. I think our ridership would blossom.”

Suffolk County bus service saw 2.59 million riders last year, and 683,000 riders thus far this year, county spokesman Michael Martino said.

According to state officials, Suffolk County’s public transit had 2.9 million trips in 2022, compared with 18 million trips for Nassau County’s public transit system and 20.9 million trips in Westchester. All three systems, state officials said, saw equal increases in state aid, at 5.6%.

But in his letter, Romaine noted that just 37% of Suffolk’s public transit budget comes from federal and state aid, compared with 77% of Nassau’s.

Romaine told The Point that he’d like to see Suffolk’s percentage rise to 70%. He noted that the county’s bus service cost per hour stands at $114, compared with $160 per hour for Nassau and $198 per hour in Westchester.

Romaine also nodded to one of Hochul’s central priorities: housing.

“These improvements are critical as we expand residential developments near new train stations and downtown areas to attract and accommodate a growing number of young professionals,” Romaine wrote in his letter to the governor.

Romaine’s letter comes as he has attempted to establish a positive relationship with Hochul, an effort that observers have highlighted as being in direct contrast to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who has criticized the governor and earlier this year asked the state to “stay out of Long Island.” Romaine went to Albany for Hochul’s State of the State speech in January, where he visited the governor to tell her she would “always be welcome in Suffolk.”

And Hochul already has focused her attention on Suffolk, most recently providing 13 acres of state land for an East Farmingdale housing development at Republic Airport, the first example of the state's efforts to build housing on state land.

Romaine told The Point he’s hopeful that after those steps in building that relationship, Hochul would come through for Suffolk now.

“That would depend on her leadership and where she’d like to take the state,” Romaine said. “Governor, think about who you’d be helping … I want public transportation to be the absolute option for most of the residents of Suffolk County … I can’t do it with the limitations you’ve placed on me.”

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

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The Job Creator

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Final Point

NUMC board meeting canceled

The board of the Nassau University Medical Center was scheduled to meet Thursday night at 6 p.m., in what would have been its first gathering since January.

But at 4:20 p.m. Thursday, board members received an email from interim Chief Executive Megan Ryan, saying the meeting was canceled.

“Unfortunately, we do not have quorums for tonight’s board meetings to proceed,” Ryan wrote in the email. “Two board members did not respond re their attendance and we just received many cancellations.”

Ryan told The Point on Friday that the meeting “is being rescheduled and the board members are being polled for dates at this time.”

But multiple board members told The Point they had not received any communication on Friday regarding an effort to reschedule the meeting.

The board meeting cancellation comes just a week before the state’s May 17 deadline for NUMC to respond to the state’s latest requests for detailed information regarding the board’s management and finances. NUMC previously asked the state for $125 million — but the state has sought additional details and contingencies before agreeing to provide any money to the public safety-net hospital.

Sources told The Point that the board meetings require a quorum of eight. One source said several board members had “personal or professional commitments that came up last minute.”

The NUMC board hasn’t met since January, when members voted not to extend Anthony Boutin’s appointment as chief executive. But that was a special meeting, in which the board was unable to talk about regular business. Before that, the board held six meetings in 2023, with the most recent regular meeting taking place Dec. 7. The unpaid board used to meet 10 times a year — but in 2022, under NUMC Chairman Matthew Bruderman, the meetings were scheduled quarterly.

Board member Jason Abelove, a Democrat, told The Point Friday that he doesn’t have any recent financial statements, or any records of the hospital’s current cash position.

“We’re in trouble. It’s not a joke,” Abelove said. “There are revenue opportunities, there are ways to do this, but the board has to work together collaboratively, and I’m very disappointed that we’re unable to do that … How can we work collaboratively if we’re not even meeting?”

Abelove said he’s particularly concerned about the communication Bruderman and Ryan have had with the state without any board involvement.

“I’m disappointed that Mr. Bruderman is doing all of this work with the state without involving the board in any way, shape or form,” Abelove added. “I don’t think that’s the best way to handle the crisis.”

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

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