Laura Curran reverses, says Nassau will reopen two police precincts

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran on Monday said the county plans to start reopening two closed police precincts next year, reversing course after weeks of sparring with lawmakers who wanted to restore them using funds in the 2019 budget.

Curran, a Democrat, said the county will reopen the closed Sixth Precinct in Manhasset and Eighth in Levittown some time next year, using money from the police budget.

The precincts were closed under a 2012 consolidation plan aimed at saving millions of dollars and converted into the more lightly staffed community policing centers.

Curran supported the precinct reopenings in her 2017 election campaign. But last month she expressed concern about the cost of restoring the precincts, and she also said there weren't enough detectives to staff them.

On Monday, however, Curran said the precincts can be reopened using existing funds.

"When I ran for county executive, I recognized the need to reopen the Sixth and the Eighth precincts. Today I announce that becomes a reality," Curran said at a news conference in Manhasset.

"It’s a compromise,” Curran said in an interview Monday. “I have to say, I did campaign on reopening the precincts. I didn’t want to get into it too hastily, but my job is leadership, and my job often entails compromise, and that’s what this is.”

Lawmakers on Oct. 29 unanimously approved Curran's $3.075 billion budget proposal for 2019, with amendments that included $1.6 million in funding to begin the process of restoring the precincts.

Curran sued the county Legislature last week to stop the budget from taking effect, saying published legal notices did not include itemized spending increases and that the sales tax projection was illegally boosted.

But a state Supreme Court justice on Nov. 5 declined Curran's request for a temporary restraining order. Curran then vetoed the legislature's budget amendment. She said Monday she would withdraw her lawsuit.

Curran said the administration will use existing funds to pay for items in the budget amendment that Democrats had wanted. Along with the precinct reopenings, the items included money for bus service in Plainview and Port Washington, security officers in public parks and offices that serve minority communities.

The legislature still is scheduled to meet Tuesday to consider overriding Curran’s veto. Democrats said Monday they would vote to uphold the veto, because they got an agreement to preserve the funding they wanted.

A supermajority of 13 votes is needed for the veto override. Republicans outnumber Democrats, 11-8.

Despite the loss of Democrats' votes, Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) said in a statement Monday the legislature would meet Tuesday and "consider an override."

Nicolello said Curran's "reversal on these items comes after she wasted taxpayer dollars on a frivolous lawsuit against the Legislature. Her protests on our budget amendments ring hollow in light of this historic reversal on the opening of the 6th and 8th Police Precincts, after she claimed she could not pay from within her budget.”

Curran said she plans to address concerns about a shortage of police detectives in upcoming contract negotiations. The administration and unions say police officers are reluctant to apply for the promotion because of concerns about adequate pay.

Curran also noted that on Saturday, the county's 911 call center experienced increased wait times between 7 and 9 p.m. Curran, on Twitter, encouraged residents to call police precincts, including the Sixth and Eighth.

“That was another reason why this kind of sealed the deal,” she said.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.