Lesko, Bishop form business retention unit

In 2009, Melville-based OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced it was relocating to Westchester. Last month Buybuy Baby's Garden City headquarters and Bed Bath & Beyond's Farmingdale office said they would relocate to Union, N.J. And last week Arrow Electronics Inc. said it will move its corporate offices from Melville to Englewood, Colo.

On Thursday, Long Island officials said they have had enough of the departures.

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) and Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko said they are forming a Business Retention Task Force composed of seven executives to try to stop the exodus.

Lesko, a former federal prosecutor, said "a crime" is being committed against the Island, which he said is "the theft of our businesses" by Southern and Western states.

"Not only are companies leaving, but our government doesn't know anything about it," Lesko said. "We read about it in Newsday. States are setting up to poach our companies."

Arrow and OSI never contacted Long Island or New York State officials about their plans.

Bishop said the Island needs "an environment in which businesses can prosper."

Lesko, a Democrat, said each of the task force members will telephone five or six companies and ask them what they need to remain on Long Island.

OSI eventually agreed to keep some jobs on the Island.

But Martin Cantor, director of the Long Island Center for Socio-Economic Policy, a Melville-based think tank, said Island officials face a monumental task, given the region's high costs, which are mostly beyond officials' control.

"It used to be companies would stay on Long Island because of the quality of life, the beaches and the access to New York City," Cantor said. "But now our costs, like energy, school taxes and payrolls, have gotten so high that the soft and fuzzy benefits of Long Island no longer matter."

Lesko said the effort will receive high priority. He said he knows of several Brookhaven companies that are being "wooed" by other states. He declined to name the companies.