Levy back in public eye with two events

Almost five weeks after announcing that he is not running for re-election, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy returned to the public eye with his first news conference Wednesday.

The occasion was an announcement at the county's maintenance yard in Commack that the county will build two compressed natural gas facilities, part of an effort to make its fleet less reliant on gasoline. The county is converting vehicles to natural gas and also buying hybrids.

But perhaps more significant was Levy's public re-emergence. Although he has given several one-on-one interviews, he has been largely out of the public eye since the announcement March 24, including a week he took off afterward.

"This is what we like to do, roll up our sleeves and get under the hood," he said.

Levy was scheduled to have another news conference at his office Wednesday afternoon about the delivery of 160 BlackBerry smart phones to groups that work with domestic violence victims.

Levy said he hadn't given a news conference simply because issues like the CNG facilities -- which the Suffolk Legislature approved only Tuesday -- were still percolating.