Category: Politics

The telephone poll of 984 voters was conducted Feb. 14-18 and 21-22. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

How are you and your family compared to fours ago?

How much opportunity for success does a young LI person have today?

Would you say that you are better off now than you were four years ago, worse off, or about the same?

	Better off	Worse off	About the same	Don’t know/No opinion
Total	21%	28%	49%	1%
Nassau residents	23%	28%	48%	1%
Suffolk residents	20%	29%	51%	1%
Males	23%	26%	50%	1%
Females	20%	30%	49%	1%
Ages 18-34	32%	22%	45%	1%
Ages 35-54	29%	26%	45%	0%
Ages 55+	17%	30%	52%	1%
Democrats	26%	21%	52%	1%
Republicans	19%	35%	45%	0%
Independents/ Other	18%	31%	50%	0%
Liberal	31%	16%	52%	1%
Moderate	23%	25%	52%	1%
Conservative	15%	39%	45%	1%
White	19%	29%	50%	1%
African American/ Black	30%	29%	41%	0%
Latino	30%	23%	47%	0%
Less than college	18%	33%	48%	1%
College degree	25%	24%	50%	1%
Catholic	19%	32%	49%	1%
Jewish	26%	21%	53%	0%
Protestant	20%	35%	44%	1%
Other	29%	20%	51%	0%
Earning less than $50K	12%	44%	43%	2%
Earning $50K-$100K	17%	29%	53%	1%
Earning $100K+	31%	21%	48%	0%

Do you think that a young person coming of age today on Long Island has more opportunity to be successful than someone coming of age 25 years ago, about the same, or less opportunity for success?

	More opportunity	About the same opportunity	Less opportunity	Don’t know/No opinion
Total	13%	12%	72%	2%
Nassau residents	15%	12%	71%	2%
Suffolk residents	12%	11%	74%	3%
Males	12%	11%	74%	3%
Females	14%	12%	71%	2%
Ages 18-34	23%	13%	62%	2%
Ages 35-54	11%	6%	82%	1%
Ages 55+	13%	14%	70%	3%
Democrats	17%	12%	68%	2%
Republicans	12%	10%	76%	2%
Independents/ Other	8%	13%	77%	2%
Liberal	16%	18%	64%	2%
Moderate	15%	9%	73%	3%
Conservative	9%	11%	79%	2%
White	9%	12%	77%	2%
African American/ Black	34%	13%	52%	0%
Latino	27%	8%	55%	9%
Less than college	16%	13%	69%	3%
College degree	11%	11%	76%	2%
Catholic	11%	13%	75%	1%
Jewish	12%	13%	75%	0%
Protestant	16%	9%	71%	4%
Other	17%	12%	68%	4%
Earning less than $50K	18%	14%	65%	3%
Earning $50K-$100K	14%	14%	69%	3%
Earning $100K+	11%	8%	81%	1%

The poll, conducted Feb. 14-18 and 21-22, had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The margin of error for Nassau voters was 4.5 and for Suffolk, 4.4.

Which of these issues is most important for Long Island?

How serious is corruption among elected officials on Long Island?

How serious a problem would you say corruption is among elected officials on Long Island?

	Very serious	Somewhat serious	Not very serious	Not at all serious	Don’t know/No opinion
Total	45%	39%	10%	1%	4%
Nassau residents	49%	36%	11%	1%	4%
Suffolk residents	42%	42%	10%	1%	4%
Males	45%	39%	11%	2%	3%
Females	46%	39%	10%	1%	5%
Ages 18-34	39%	44%	9%	1%	7%
Ages 35-54	46%	39%	11%	1%	4%
Ages 55+	46%	39%	11%	1%	3%
Democrats	47%	41%	7%	0%	4%
Republicans	43%	38%	14%	2%	3%
Independents/ Other	47%	39%	11%	2%	2%
Liberal	43%	43%	8%	1%	5%
Moderate	45%	39%	10%	1%	4%
Conservative	45%	38%	13%	1%	3%
White	45%	40%	11%	1%	3%
African American/ Black	56%	35%	6%	2%	1%
Latino	46%	35%	7%	0%	12%
Less than college	47%	40%	9%	0%	4%
College degree	44%	38%	12%	2%	4%
Catholic	47%	37%	12%	1%	2%
Jewish	44%	41%	8%	1%	6%
Protestant	44%	43%	8%	0%	4%
Other	40%	40%	11%	2%	6%
Earning less than $50K	43%	41%	10%	0%	5%
Earning $50K-$100K	40%	46%	8%	2%	4%
Earning $100K+	49%	36%	11%	1%	2%

As you consider corruption among elected officials both on Long Island and the recent criminal convictions of statewide leaders, which of the following two positions is closer to yours?

	Corruption is an inevitable part of politics that we can try to address but we must ultimately expect it to continue	Corruption costs every taxpayer dollars and it damages our democracy, we must find ways to end corruption in politics once and for all	Don’t know/No opinion
Total	17%	81%	2%
Nassau residents	19%	79%	2%
Suffolk residents	15%	83%	2%
Males	17%	81%	2%
Females	16%	82%	2%
Ages 18-34	36%	62%	2%
Ages 35-54	14%	85%	1%
Ages 55+	14%	83%	2%
Democrats	15%	82%	3%
Republicans	18%	81%	1%
Independents/ Other	17%	81%	2%
Liberal	18%	80%	2%
Moderate	16%	82%	2%
Conservative	17%	82%	2%
White	16%	82%	2%
African American/ Black	20%	78%	2%
Latino	29%	67%	4%
Less than college	17%	81%	2%
College degree	17%	81%	2%
Catholic	17%	82%	1%
Jewish	18%	80%	2%
Protestant	18%	81%	1%
Other	14%	82%	4%
Earning less than $50K	20%	79%	1%
Earning $50K-$100K	16%	83%	2%
Earning $100K+	17%	83%	1%

The poll of 954 registered voters on Long Island was conducted Feb. 14-18 and 21-22. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.

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Eight of the state’s nine video gaming facilities have seen their revenue slow or decline in recent years. The one exception has been Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, Queens, which took in more than $792 million in the 2013-14 fiscal year, up from more than $696 million the year before. Here are figures from the State Gaming Commission for each video lottery terminal parlor for every full fiscal year of operation, ending with the 2013-14 year. If nine gaming facilities are hard to track, click on names in the color key to remove places until you are down to one; then you can turn others on or off as desired.

For each person in the state, the governor plans to spend

$7,173

Total Budget: $141.6 billion

By Matt Clark and Matthew Cassella
Published: Jan. 22, 2015

Local schools*

State aid to local districts

$1,166 PER PERSON

$23 billion Total

UP $1.4B

Medicaid

State-funded portion

$885 PER PERSON

$17.5 billion Total

UP $749M

Local assistance

Transportation, tax rebates, health and social services and other local programs

$1,115 PER PERSON

$22 billion Total

DOWN $747M

SUNY/CUNY

Excluding staff benefits, debt payments and capital projects

$295 PER PERSON

$5.8 billion Total

DOWN $56M

Operating costs

For state agencies; payroll, fringe benefits, contracts

$1,019 PER PERSON

$20.1 billion Total

UP $521M

Debt

Repayments on state loans

$280 PER PERSON

$5.5 billion Total

DOWN $307M

Capital projects

Construction, infrastructure and one-time purchases

$475 PER PERSON

$9.4 billion Total

UP $1.4B

Federal aid

For Medicaid, school aid, welfare, homeland security and other federal programs

$1,938 PER PERSON

$38.3 billion Total

UP $929M

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Source: New York State Division of the Budget; U.S. Census Bureau

* Schools funding is for the state fiscal year and assumes that the State Legislature will also adopt Cuomo’s education reform package.

Published: Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014 By Matt Clark matt.clark@newsday.com

Just a few months after becoming Nassau County’s district attorney, Kathleen Rice announced a policy change that would help define her tenure. Rice said she was appalled that DWI defendants testing at twice the legal blood alcohol limit of .08 routinely had their arrests reduced to infractions — the equivalent of a traffic ticket that doesn’t result in a criminal record. That practice would end, Rice pledged. On her watch, she said, drivers with a blood alcohol content of .13 or more would no longer be able to plead their case down to an infraction. That policy change and other aggressive moves to combat driving while intoxicated have helped propel Rice, a Democrat, to what a poll last week found to be a 10-point lead over Republican Bruce Blakeman in November’s race for a seat in Congress representing the 4th District. But her statements to crack down on DWI were more than just fodder for campaign ads and stump speeches, according to a Newsday computer analysis of New York Unified Court System data. When comparing the eight years before Rice took office to the eight years after, through 2013, Newsday’s analysis showed the plea deals Rice opposed plummeted, as she had pledged. Before Rice took office, roughly 3,400 of 6,800 defendants with at least a .13 blood alcohol content pleaded their DWI cases down to infractions. Under Rice, only 260 defendants did so, even though her office handled about 2,500 more cases than were handled during her predecessor’s final eight years. “It is probably the issue I am most well-known for, and I’m going to keep being vocal about it,” Rice said in a recent interview. “We were allowing the worst of the worst drunk drivers to get a slap on the wrist.”

Changes across LI

Newsday’s analysis found that Rice’s policy shift was followed by a similar change in Suffolk County. Plea bargains there dropped from 2,700 in the eight years before Rice took office in Nassau County to 580 in the eight years after. Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, who has held that position since 2001, did not return a request for comment. Another set of data obtained by Newsday — from the STOP-DWI Association, a state alcohol and highway safety program — ranks counties annually based on the percentage of DWI defendants convicted on the top charge they faced. STOP-DWI data show that Nassau County went from 28th among the state’s 62 counties in 2005 to fourth in 2013 and first among the 21 counties with at least 500 convictions. Rice’s effort hasn’t been without its critics, and the policies have also failed to coincide with a significant reduction in alcohol-related crashes, a review of state accident statistics shows. But Rice has earned praise from those who believe DWI is a crime that warrants a strong punishment. Rich Mallow, New York State executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said he was guardedly optimistic when Rice took up the issue of drunken driving during her 2005 campaign for district attorney. When told of Newsday’s findings, Mallow said Rice deserves credit for following through on her pledge. “When you have a DA that comes out and supports her word, that’s a wonderful thing, and she certainly has,” Mallow said. “She has been a wonderful DA for this cause.” Rice’s plea deal change was the opening salvo in her battle against DWI. She said she also worked with sometimes-reluctant members of the judiciary to set up a DWI court to more effectively and efficiently handle cases; worked with police to improve enforcement of the crimes; brought a new DWI-education program to 57,000 high school students; and became a major proponent of Leandra’s Law. Among other changes, that 2009 state legislation made it a felony to drive drunk with a passenger age 15 or younger. “There was a prevailing cultural sentiment about drunk driving on Long Island that it was one of those socially acceptable crimes,” Rice said. “I saw the numbers, I saw the statistics, and they were alarming and they were frightening.” Rice’s actions brought her recognition, including a feature on the television program “60 Minutes” for her decision to prosecute Martin Heidgen of Valley Stream for murder after a DWI crash. Heidgen, who was initially charged by Rice’s predecessor, Denis Dillon, plowed head-on into a limousine coming from a wedding. The crash killed 7-year-old Katie Flynn and the limo driver, Stanley Rabinowitz, 59. Rice’s office secured two murder convictions against Heidgen in 2006. He was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison, and the New York State Court of Appeals upheld the convictions in November 2013. Not all reactions to Rice’s DWI crusade have been positive. Criminal defense attorneys have accused her of unfairly saddling defendants with criminal records and other hardships based only on the amount of alcohol in their blood. Misdemeanor offenses can carry much higher penalties than infractions beyond adding a criminal record. Another component of Leandra’s Law requires those convicted of criminal DWI to install ignition-locking devices intended to curb drunken driving for at least one year on all cars they own or operate. Misdemeanor convictions might also lead to fines up to $1,000, a year in jail and at least a six-month license revocation. Those convicted can also face hundreds of dollars in legal, court and traffic school fees and the loss of their car in a government forfeiture proceeding.

Case by case

Mineola lawyer Robert Brunetti said some clients with no criminal histories are having their lives upended because Rice’s office is not taking into account all of their circumstances, including whether a criminal record would cause them to lose their jobs. He suggested the district attorney should use community service or other sentences in lieu of giving defendants criminal records that will follow them for the rest of their lives. “The people that have these alcohol problems or made a mistake, they are paying the ultimate price,” Brunetti said. “I don’t think any other criminal offense is treated as seriously as DWI, other than maybe sex crimes. The average, law-abiding citizen is getting pounded. So is their family.” Rice said her office does take into account the circumstances of defendants — including whether they will lose their job — and negotiates appropriate pleas with defense attorneys. She said the only mandatory sentence for those convicted of a misdemeanor is the one-year ignition lock requirement in Leandra’s Law. “Defense attorneys like to have a bogeyman — and I get I’m an easy target — but … it was the New York State Legislature that imposed that pretty strict law,” Rice said. Garden City lawyer Thomas Liotti has filed three unsuccessful lawsuits challenging Rice’s DWI policies. He said her office has repeatedly refused to punish his clients without giving them a criminal record that will follow them through job applications for the rest of their life. “There needs to be more flexibility and more understanding in the plea policies and more latitude to account for people who do have extenuating circumstances and also to provide for alternative sentencing,” Liotti said. Many of the 260 cases in which a Nassau County defendant pleaded to an infraction are examples of her office taking into account extenuating circumstances, Rice said. Others may have been pleaded down due to perceived weaknesses with the government’s case. She said veterans and youth programs allow such pleas after extensive community service or alcohol treatment, among other penalties. “I agree with the defense’s position that each case should be handled on a case-by-case basis,” Rice said. “That’s how I handle every case in the office. No two defendants are alike.”

No big shift in traffic stats

Despite the tougher stance Rice has taken, traffic statistics do not show a decline in alcohol-related accidents that’s as dramatic as the drop in plea deals, especially compared with the rest of the state. According to New York Department of Motor Vehicles data, alcohol-related Nassau County crashes that caused injuries or deaths have declined 14.6 percent since Rice took office through 2012 — the most recent data available — compared with the seven years before. Statewide there was a larger, 16 percent decline, and in Suffolk County the decline was 6.3 percent. When looking just at alcohol-related fatal crashes, Nassau County’s figures increased 5.6 percent under Rice, going from 178 in the seven years before she took office to 188 in the seven years after. Statewide, the fatal crash increase was smaller, at 3.6 percent. Suffolk County fatal crashes increased 16.8 percent over the last seven years, the Newsday review of the data shows. Traffic safety experts said the statistics likely do not indicate that tougher enforcement hasn’t had an effect. They pointed out that the numbers are small — New York has among the lowest rates of fatal alcohol-involved crashes in the country — and national accident rates have been stagnant or increasing recently after decades of decline. James C. Fell, a senior research scientist with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation with 45 years of traffic safety research experience, said studies have shown many of the strategies Rice has pursued have been effective in reducing crash rates. He expressed support for her decision to change the plea-bargaining policy. “Your chances of getting into a crash are probably 20 times or 30 times greater than someone who is sober when you are at .13,” Fell said. “I kind of agree that they shouldn’t be pled down.” In the past, Rice has said that traffic fatalities have declined since she took office, and the data show that has been true during certain time periods. She pointed out that the state includes crashes involving sober drivers but drunken passengers or pedestrians in its count of “alcohol-related crashes” and that other factors such as traffic volume can make it “really hard to capture that number.” “I am proud of my office’s success,” Rice said. “There’s no going back to the days of pre-2006, that is for sure.” Rice, who has made DWI a significant component of her campaign for Congress, said she plans to continue her fight against DWI and other traffic safety issues in Washington if she wins her election. “This is an issue for which I am already known nationally,” Rice said, “and I think I would bring a very credible voice.” To read the original comments on this story, click here to view the thread in Disqus.

Scroll down for detailed results from the Newsday/News 12/Siena College poll of the New York State senate District 7 race. The poll, conducted Sept. 28 to 29, surveyed 441 likely voters via landline and cellphone and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

To see raw data, click here.

To read the story, click here.

1. Is New York State on the right track, or is it headed in the wrong direction?

2. Do you have a favorable opinion or an unfavorable opinion of Andrew Cuomo?

3. Do you have a favorable opinion or an unfavorable opinion of Rob Astorino?

4. Do you have a favorable opinion or an unfavorable opinion of Howie Hawkins?

5. Do you have a favorable opinion or an unfavorable opinion of Adam Haber?

6. Do you have a favorable opinion or an unfavorable opinion of Jack Martins?

7. Do you have a favorable opinion or an unfavorable opinion of the New York State Senate?

8. If the election for governor was held today, who would you vote for if the candidates were:

9. How likely would you say you are to vote for (Andrew Cuomo/Rob Astorino/Howie Hawkins)?

10. If the election for state senator was held today, who would you vote for if the candidates were:

11. How likely would you say you are to vote for (Adam Haber/Jack Martins)?

12. What is the most important issue you want your state senator to be working on in Albany?

13. In November, all 63 senate seats will be up for election. After the election, who would you like to see control the state senate: only the Democrats, only the Republicans or a coalition of Democrats and Republicans, like we have now?

State Sen. Jack Martins leads Democratic opponent Adam Haber by 25 points in the race for New York’s 7th Senate District, according to a Newsday/News 12/Siena College poll released Wednesday.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they would vote for Martins (R-Mineola), a two-term incumbent, while 31 percent said they would vote for Haber, an East Hills businessman. Fourteen percent were undecided.

The poll was conducted with 441 likely voters on Sept. 28-29, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points. To see more results, click here.

Who would you vote for today between Adam Haber and Jack Martins?

Martins is backed by 82 percent of Republicans, 33 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of independents/third-party voters. Poll results show Haber has the support of 53 percent of Democrats, nine percent of Republicans, and 30 percent of independents/third-party voters.

“Not only is Martins at this point doing a fantastic job of getting support among his Republican base, he gets a third of all Democrats, and more than half of independents — that is a strong coalition,” said Donald P. Levy, director of the Siena Research Institute.

Levy said Haber, a Roslyn school board member who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Nassau County executive last year, has “certainly got a big hill to climb in terms of name recognition.”

Martins’ spokesman E. O’Brien Murray said in a statement that the results “show the voters know as a husband and father of four girls, Senator Martins knows what matters to Nassau families. He has worked hard to cap property taxes and lower income taxes for the middle class, created jobs, delivered more state aid for schools, and make life better for Nassau County residents.”

What is the most important issue you want your state senator to be working on in Albany?

Haber spokesman Jacob Tugendrajch said that the results come as “campaign season is just getting started” and that Haber has more time to connect with undecided voters.

“As TV ads and direct mail balance out over the last month of the campaign, Nassau voters will see that Adam Haber’s message of lower taxes, women’s rights and fully funded schools are the clear choice for this district,” Tugendrajch said.

The poll found that Martins has higher name recognition than Haber: 55 percent of respondents said they were unaware of Haber or had no opinion on his candidacy, compared with 35 percent who had no opinion about Martins.

Addressing the name-recognition issue, Levy said, “We have seen these races change from September to Election Day. Certainly Haber has an opportunity; there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in the district. . . . Martins won his last race by not a large margin, but he’s done what appears to be a good enough job to endear himself to most voters.”

Property taxes were the top issue among respondents, with 29 percent calling it the most important issue lawmakers in Albany needed to address — 18 percent said job creation; 14 percent said education and 11 percent said state taxes.

Thomas Jannazzo , a Franklin Square Republican, said he planned to vote for Martins because he has met him at several community events.

“He’s an honest, down-to-earth guy,” said Jannazzo, 46, a former restaurant manager who is currently on disability leave following a back injury. “He takes the time to listen to people and their problems.”

Vijay Goswamy, 68, a retired health care administrator who lives in Hicksville, said that as a Democrat, he plans to vote for Haber after meeting him at a local Indian-American festival in August. “He was very approachable,” Goswamy said.

The Senate has been under the bipartisan control of the chamber’s Republicans and five Democrats who broke from party ranks in 2011 to form the Independent Democratic Conference.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they favor keeping that coalition in control, while 23 percent said they would like to see Republicans in control, and 13 percent favored Democrats regaining full control.

The district covers central Nassau and North Shore communities, including Mineola, Hicksville and Port Washington.