Uniondale firm picked for bond counsel

Suffolk's Bellone administration has picked as its new bond counsel the Uniondale firm Harris Beach, where prominent Nassau Democrat Tom Garry is a partner and former Nassau Executive Tom Suozzi works "of counsel." The firm was one of two interviewed by a panel that included county attorney Dennis Cohen, Treasurer Angie Carpenter, Comptroller Joseph Sawicki and Terry Pearsall, top aide to Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook). It stands to make $150,000 to $250,000 a year in fees.

Though uninvolved in bond work, Garry, a veteran election lawyer, attended interviews. Hawkins Delafield & Wood was the Levy administration's bond counsel for six years. Said Bellone spokesman Jon Schneider: "It's a decision on who can provide the best service."-- Rick Brand