Scrap over scrap-metal bill in Suffolk

Rick Brand

May 12, 2008

Suffolk Legis. Jack Eddington thought his proposal was a "no-brainer."

The county police commissioner, the district attorney and County Executive Steve Levy all back his proposed scrap-metal bill requiring dealers report to police by computer, the identities of people who sell them metals like copper and aluminum worth less than $1,500 to help catch thieves.

Yet the Suffolk legislature, which has stopped the Shoreham nuclear plant and imposed stringent anti-smoking laws, balked late last month at regulating scrap dealers.

"It's the money trail," said the Medford Democrat, "And I've never seen it so flagrantly and openly abused." Eddington maintains the industry has spent nearly $300,000 in donations and mailings over the past two years.

Rick Brand Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

Kevin Gershowitz, president of Gershow Recycling Inc., Suffolk's largest scrap dealer, is just as adamant that Eddington and his wife, Assemb. Patricia Eddington - who sponsored the state scrap law - are driven not by policy but "personal vendetta" against his company. "Two people, who live 2,000 feet away from us, have made it their personal goal to put 500 families out of work," he said.

The clash comes amid a plague of metal thefts driven by rising prices. Aluminum bleachers have been cut up and hauled off, and copper piping stripped from a Half Hollow Hills church and the Mastic pool, causing thousands of dollars in building damage beyond the lost metal.

Eddington had expected his 2-year-old bill to finally reach a vote April 29, but it was tabled by a bare 10-vote majority when Legis. Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham) and Steven Stern (D-Dix Hills) offered a last-minute countermeasure. Their plan requires only that industry keep sale records for three years and boosts fines to $5,000 for dealers who do not comply. The two measures will now compete.

Gershowitz called the new bill stronger - something police dispute - because it has the "hammer" of heavy fines. "It would bring everyone into compliance overnight," he said.

Eddington countered that the rival plan affects only dealers and does nothing to track down thieves. His bill, in contrast, requires that dealers hold metals for three days.

Industry officials say Eddington's bill has stalled because they've worked hard to convince lawmakers many of its provisions are unworkable, violate privacy rights and would cost an extra $7.5 million a year.

But Eddington blames the money, noting Stern and Losquadro have each received sizable donations from the industry. Campaign records show Losquadro received $8,450 in 2006 and 2007; Stern, $6,760.

Lawmakers also worry, Eddington added, that the industry will campaign against them in their districts, as Gershowitz has done against him and his wife. "Every time I speak to someone, it's never about the poor reverend's church. It's about what the industry could to them," he said.

Two years ago, a Gershowitz political action committee spent more than $100,000 against the assemblywoman's re-election, to no avail. Last year, the same PAC gave $85,000 to the Brookhaven GOP. Gershowitz said he does not know how the party spent the money, but GOP sources say much of it went to Eddington's foe, Brian Egan.

John Zaher, Gershow's spokesman, defends the spending, blaming the Eddingtons for creating "fear of political retribution." He accused Eddington of "abuse of power" for using his chairmanship of the public safety committee to push his bill and get police backing.

Eddington dismisses that, saying he sponsored the bill at the request of Levy and the police. "I may not be in the legislature too long, but I won't be bullied, intimidated or threatened," he said.