Editorial: Schneiderman in Suffolk 2nd Dist.
Jay Schneiderman, Democrat running for Suffolk County Legislature, 2nd District, in Sag Harbor. (July 11, 2011) Credit: Gordon M. Grant
His independent streak makes Legis. Jay Schneiderman a bit of a man without a political home, but it doesn't seem to have hurt his ability to get something meaningful done for his constituents.
Schneiderman, 49, a member of the Independence Party from Montauk, saw a need for Sunday bus service in his East End district, to serve people who work for a living and have no other way to get back and forth, and he got a pilot program going. This summer, it served almost 600 people per Sunday on two lines. Riders on those lines paid an extra 50 cents to help defray the cost.
His Republican opponent, Cornelius Kelly, 39, of East Quogue, runs a title insurance abstracting company. The issue that got him interested in running this race was the county's housing homeless sex offenders a few miles from his home. He says Schneiderman's independence from either major party caucus impairs his effectiveness on that issue, and deprives him of leverage. But that view is off the mark. Kelly is energetic and appealing, but Schneiderman is indeed effective. Newsday endorses Schneiderman.
