Brookhaven IDA board member John Rose under fire for comments about affordable housing, recipients

A Brookhaven IDA board member is facing backlash from town officials and Long Island builders after he said at a board meeting he opposed tax incentives to spur affordable housing development because they attract residents who are "lazy" and don't "appreciate the way of life that we have here on Long Island."

John Rose, a Setauket developer, made the comments at a May 27 meeting of the town's Industrial Development Agency during a roundtable policy discussion.

The IDA board is weighing whether it should incentivize market-rate housing through economic benefits such as sales-tax exemptions and payments in lieu of property taxes.

After saying he was “not a fan of" those subsidies, which many officials credit with expanding Long Island's supply of affordable housing, Rose said subsidized housing "hurts the suburban way of life ... and I'm just not in favor of it anymore at this point.”

“I think developing those type of projects imports people from out of town that I don't think appreciate the way of life that we have here on Long Island," he said during the discussion. "And you can make it here if you, if you want to try. If you're going to be lazy, then you're going to have to go someplace else."

He added, "Not everybody deserves to be here. If you don't want to accept our way of life, I'm just kind of fed up with it.”

Rose's comments drew some support but also a wide range of criticism, including from advocates who see them as undermining efforts to develop affordable housing, and some who say they are reflective of past discriminatory housing practices on Long Island.

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico, in an interview, called the comments "baseless" and added they were "unsupported by the town board."

Attempts to reach Rose were unsuccessful.

Business leaders distance themselves

Leaders of business groups like the Association for a Better Long Island and the Long Island Builders Institute, both of which support efforts to expand affordable housing across the Island, quickly distanced themselves from Rose's statements.

They "reflect the kind of fear-based rhetoric that is too often used to oppose new development," Builders Institute chief executive Mike Florio said in a statement. "Such remarks have no place in a public discussion — especially when they come from individuals entrusted with serving on the IDA and representing the interests of the broader community."

Like other industrial development agencies on Long Island, Brookhaven's IDA considers applications from developers seeking tax benefits aimed at cutting costs for large developments, including industrial warehouses, commercial office space and new housing.

Advocates say tax incentives help address Long Island's chronic shortage of affordable housing by stimulating development of multifamily housing that developers otherwise might not consider.

While the May 27 discussion at the Brookhaven IDA meeting didn’t specify what benefits the board would consider, the board in the past has requested that multifamily projects receiving IDA benefits have at least 10% of units set aside to meet IDA income requirements. Past projects have been awarded IDA benefits, including sales and mortgage recording tax exemptions and PILOTs. 

Brookhaven IDA chief executive Lisa M.G. Mulligan, in a phone interview after the meeting, said Rose's comments were better understood “in the context of the larger conversation." 

“I understood him to say he wants to keep suburbia as suburbia. He doesn’t want there to be large apartment complexes. He wants it to be single-family homes that Long Island was sort of built on,” Mulligan said.

As for Rose referring to occupants of subsidized housing as “lazy,” Mulligan added: “I think what he was saying, he was acknowledging that Long Island can be an expensive place to live, but if you work hard, you can get ahead here.”

IDA chairman Frederick C. Braun III did not return a call seeking comment.

During the meeting, Rose said he didn't agree with subsidizing developers "at the taxpayers' expense ... especially when I'm paying $30,000 a year for taxes for my own home, and I'm subsidizing these other projects."

IDA board member Mitchell Pally, a former Long Island Builders Institute executive director, said he disagreed with Rose.

“I think the more people that come to Brookhaven, from all parts, makes Brookhaven a better place to live,” Pally said in a phone interview hours after the meeting. "[This is] not just a housing issue, but a diversity issue. It makes the community stronger.”

Brookhaven's population of 496,410 was 71% white, 18.6% Latino or Hispanic and 6.6% Black in 2025, according to U.S. Census data.

NAACP leader: Echoes of discrimination

Georgette Grier-Key, president of the Brookhaven chapter of NAACP, said Rose's comments contained echoes of Long Island's long history of discriminatory housing practices, such as "redlining" and covenants that barred Black residents in Levittown more than a half-century ago.

In a phone interview, Grier-Key said she found Rose's comments "disgusting," adding, "I think someone that makes comments like that ... is someone who shouldn’t be in a public position.”

A 2019 Newsday investigation found widespread evidence of unequal treatment of minority potential homebuyers. The stories spurred increased state fines and mandatory anti-bias training for real estate agents.

More recently, the Town of Oyster Bay in April agreed to settle federal and state claims over housing policies that critics said discriminated against minorities by giving preference to town residents.

Grier-Key said Rose's views similarly appear to promote discrimination of outsiders.

"What gives you the idea that the only people who are going to be interested in this kind of housing are coming from outside Long Island?" Grier-Key said. “I think there are undertones that he is not saying."

Panico, who was not at the IDA meeting, said he strongly disagreed with Rose's views. IDA members are appointed by the town board, which otherwise has no role in IDA decisions. Rose was appointed in 2024 after serving a previous IDA stint from 2009 to 2015, according to the IDA's website.

“The fact of the matter is, housing is very expensive because of a variety of factors. Laziness is not one of them,” said Panico, a Republican.

“[IDA members] should represent the values that the town board members hold," Panico said. "I’m not sure a comment like that can be taken out of context. To suggest that folks who are struggling, who in some way are struggling because they’re lazy, lacks any evidence to support the claim.” 

Kyle Strober, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island, said Rose's views are "extremely concerning" but don't "represent the ethics or integrity" of other Brookhaven town officials.

"De-incentivizing housing projects based on the fear of 'importing people' — people who come to the town for jobs, schools, and the same quality of life that existing residents enjoy — is not just bad economic policy for attracting new companies, it's bad policy for our region," Strober said in a statement.

Newsday's Celia Young contributed to this story.

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.