Bellone and Schaffer together again

Daily Point

Dueling Dems unite for Calone fundraiser

Whether Democrat Dave Calone can pull off an Election Day victory against Republican Ed Romaine in the race for Suffolk County executive remains to be seen. But he’s already performed a minor political miracle — the local equivalent of getting the Hatfields and the McCoys to sit down and eat grub together.

On Nov. 1, a two-hour Calone fundraiser at the Huntington Hilton will feature incumbent Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. But the gala will also be attended by Bellone’s longtime antagonist, Rich Schaffer, who is the Suffolk County Democratic chair and Babylon Town supervisor.

Some Democrats at the Hilton event — which starts at 6 p.m. and is closed to the press — might be surprised to see the two men together again in a joint cause. Bellone and Schaffer — once political allies in Babylon where Bellone was formerly the supervisor — have been at odds for years.

“Dave is the only thing that Steve Bellone and I agree on,” Schaffer joked to The Point, about their joint appearance for Calone.

Bellone, first elected county executive in 2011 but term-limited from running again, endorsed Calone on Oct. 12 as his successor. Meanwhile, Schaffer has been working with Calone’s outside campaign advisers. Bellone isn’t providing advice to Calone’s campaign but says he’s happy to appear as the headliner at the Nov. 1 event even if things appear a little awkward with Schaffer. “We both support Dave and that’s not a problem [appearing with Schaffer],” he added.

Schaffer says Calone’s campaign is “well-funded”-- helped by $750,000 from Calone himself — and claims that it is “the first coordinated” race among Democrats since Bellone’s initial win in 2011. Organizers of the Nov. 1 fundraiser say Schaffer and Bellone won’t be sharing a dais because it will be a cocktail hour-like event, rather than a formal dinner. It has yet to be decided who will be speaking at the event besides Calone and Bellone.

“I think we’re in the ballpark,” said Schaffer when asked about the chances of an upset win by Calone. “I’m very happy with what Dave has done.”

— Thomas Maier thomas.maier@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Unraveling world

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Data Point

The shortage behind LI's housing shortage

It’s election season and building multifamily homes as a solution to the dearth of affordable housing on Long Island has been a central topic with candidates who have been interviewed by the editorial board. Building apartment projects near transit centers, developing residential units above single-floor businesses, and permitting accessory dwelling units are all possibilities.

There’s one thing everyone agrees upon — there simply isn’t enough housing on Long Island, even if they don’t necessarily want to see it in their community.

The most recent census data confirms that less than 18% of the million or so homes on Long Island are multifamily houses. These include apartment units or condominiums, or as the American Community Survey describes them, units in structures containing two or more housing units that share a common entrance or hallway. In Nassau County, 22% of housing, around 106,000 homes, are multifamily; less than 15% of Suffolk County’s houses, roughly 90,000 of them, are multifamily. For comparison, about 36% of housing in New Jersey and 34% in Connecticut are multifamily homes.

Earlier this year, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal on statewide land use intended to boost the construction of more affordable homes was strongly opposed by many Long Islanders and most public officials. Critics of the proposal stated that building more multifamily housing would burden existing infrastructure, create more traffic, and for others, change the Island’s suburban character.

Since 2000, Long Island’s population has grown by 6% but is beginning to show signs of decline. With home prices at a record high in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, unaffordable housing has likely contributed to fewer people moving into the Town of Hempstead, a near 20% drop since 2020. With about 800,000 residents, however, Hempstead is already the most densely populated town on Long Island. Only 19% of its homes are in multifamily structures.

The Regional Plan Association found in 2022 that Nassau and Suffolk Counties only permitted seven residential units for every 1,000 residents in the last decade resulting in years of too little building and a housing shortage.

— Karthika Namboothiri karthika.namboothiri@newsday.com

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