State's $350M fund offers LI chance for major projects to improve its future
Potential uses for the $350 million Long Island Investment Fund include the Nassau Coliseum, above, waterfront businesses such as those in Freeport; the Enterprise Park at Calverton; and a potential relocation of the Yaphank LIRR station. Credit: ALL Island Aerial/Kevin P. Coughlin
We're in the money.
Now, the question is what to do with it.
A last-minute addition to this year's state budget created the so-called "Long Island Investment Fund," earmarked "for projects located within Nassau and Suffolk counties."
The language is overly broad, the details far too few. But in essence, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature gave Long Island $350 million for … just about anything. Coming in the wake of public money controversially bestowed on a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills, Long Island's bonanza seems steeped in politics, but with the potential to do good.
How would you spend $350 million improving Long Island?
The last time Long Island received significant state funding, the money went to Long Island University’s new veterinary school, a bioelectronic medicine facility affiliated with Northwell Health’s research arm, in Manhasset, and new buildings for Hofstra and Stony Brook universities, among other projects. This time, let’s hear your big ideas on how $350 million can be used to make life in the region better. Tell us how you want this money spent here: https://newsday.com/LIstatefunding
The region must make sure its newfound windfall delivers some big results.
That starts with how it will be managed.
This pot of money should not be doled out by individual state lawmakers for pet projects or to curry favor in their districts. They already have member-item cash for that. The decision to establish instead a new work group within the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council makes far more sense. The work group would advise the council, which then would advise Empire State Development. That's a lot of layers. The money could end up mired in a bureaucratic morass. But local, independent voices must be heard.
The LIREDC already has a long track record of managing state funding for key projects across Nassau and Suffolk. Chairing the work group are Jim Morgo, former head of economic development for Suffolk County, and Rich Guardino, former Hempstead Town supervisor and executive director of the Long Island Regional Planning Council. Kevin Law, the likely next chair of ESD, can assist Morgo and Guardino in guiding the process with the region's best interests at heart.
WANTED: BIG PROJECTS
Despite the lack of guidance or substance in the budgetary language, it's clear the investment fund should be used for significant projects that would make a real difference on Long Island. In an interview with the editorial board, Morgo said he'd want to find ways to have a "substantial impact on substantial problems." That's a good starting point. It means getting beyond the potholes and smaller fixes — a chance to think bigger, to be innovative, to break new ground, to embrace what's best for the region's future.
Start with the larger swaths of land still waiting for development, in need of a financial boost. That could include Enterprise Park at Calverton or Heartland Town Square in Brentwood. Both the Nassau Hub and the Ronkonkoma Hub received funds from an earlier pot of money established in 2015. Nassau's share is still waiting to be spent. That past money must be spent first, but if projects on the two properties need additional state support, the new pot is one way to make that happen. That's especially true in Nassau, where the Coliseum has become a complicating factor for future development that must be resolved.
Related to the Ronkonkoma Hub, improvements to Long Island MacArthur Airport and its connections to other public transit might also fit the fund's parameters. Upgrades to the Long Island Rail Road, from moving the Yaphank station to boosting development projects near train stations, could be part of the mix, too.
EYE ON THE FUTURE
These funds also offer an opportunity to think more creatively, to plan for Long Island's future. Look to the industries and to the research and technology that will fuel the region's emerging green and blue economies. Could we, for instance, do more with ferries for transportation, or with industries that rely on the water that surrounds us? Could we do more to prepare our younger workers for new careers to come, through programs at our high schools, colleges, and universities?
Then, of course, there's housing. While these state funds won't go directly to building homes, they could go toward infrastructure or other improvements necessary for the kinds of housing the Island needs.
And there are plenty of other possibilities. Many a Long Islander likely has a good idea worth considering. Please tell us your views.
Key to all of this: Developing clear record-keeping so the Island's residents know how the money is to be spent, along with timelines, metrics, and results. Holding state and local leaders within ESD and the REDC accountable is important, as is determining what projects worked and what didn't, where jobs were created and how other efforts impacted the Island.
Only then can the Long Island Investment Fund, and the successful projects that hopefully come from it, guide the region into its future.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
