Hobbs in, Ryan out as Hempstead Village Mayor

Daily Point

Waylyn Hobbs Jr. elected Hempstead Village Mayor

In a stunning upset, Hempstead Village Trustee Waylyn Hobbs, Jr. seems to have beaten incumbent Don Ryan to become the next mayor of the village, The Point has learned.

Thomas Garry, Hobbs' attorney and an election law expert, confirmed to The Point Wednesday that Hobbs garnered the most votes, with a margin of 687 separating him from Ryan.

The results are expected to be certified Wednesday evening. The two other mayoral candidates were trustees Lamont Johnson and Herberth Flores.

Garry, the vice chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Party, said the process dragged into the early-morning hours, as the counting was moved from the polling places to village hall, and disputes emerged over absentee ballots. After the machine tally was done, Hobbs was up by more than 500 votes, Garry said, with the rest of Hobbs’ votes coming from absentee ballots.

The county party made a push for Hobbs, according to Nassau County Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs, who confirmed that the two trustee candidates on Hobbs' slate, Clariona Griffith and Kevin Boone, won as well.

"I am confident in saying that Waylyn Hobbs is going to be the next mayor," Jacobs told The Point Wednesday afternoon.

Jacobs told The Point that it’s rare for the Democratic party to go "all in" on a village election, but that this time, in Hempstead, was different. After seeing the results of the November elections, and noting the importance of the absentee ballots, Jacobs said he decided to turn his sights to Hempstead. The party put "tens of thousands" of dollars into the race, and utilized more than 40 volunteers, and some paid workers, to get out the vote. Besides mailers and phone banking, the party put a lot of time into the absentee ballot effort as well.

"I had a sense that this time if we put our minds to it and put our efforts into it … we could get it done," Jacobs said.

Jacobs said he made the decision to focus on Hempstead because the village needed a boost and different leadership. Among the key issues that Hobbs has focused on are safety, village services, and economic investment, said incumbent trustee Jeffery Daniels.

Garry noted that Hobbs will have a particular opportunity because he will be working with a supportive village board, with his two new trustees, Daniels, and Hobbs’ own replacement, whom the board itself will appoint.

"The stars have aligned," Garry said. "So [Hobbs] has a finite period of time to show the world that the village of Hempstead can actually do something and be positive as opposed to being stuck."

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Talking Point

Working Families Party snubs Curran

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran has not received the Working Families Party’s endorsement for her reelection bid, The Point has learned.

It’s a turnaround from her 2017 race when Curran, a Democrat, did get the minor party’s endorsement. This time around some members took issue with Curran stances like criticisms of state bail reform and a controversy over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the Nassau jail, according to a source familiar with the endorsement process.

"The Working Families Party endorsement process reviews candidates' records of leadership and advocacy on key WFP priorities," a WFP spokeswoman said in a statement to The Point. "We look forward to continuing our work with all Long Island leaders to support policies that protect and lift up working people, communities of color and vulnerable New Yorkers."

Curran campaign spokesman Max Kramer pushed back regarding her record of "standing up for working families — never raising taxes during her three plus years in office and leading Nassau County through and out of the COVID-19 pandemic."

"She fights for her values and what she believes in, regardless of if that costs her an endorsement and I’m confident her record will speak for itself," Kramer said in a statement.

The flap over the endorsement is one example of the somewhat divergent paths that the state Democratic and Working Families parties have taken in recent years. Many of the labor unions that once bolstered the WFP have departed, at least partially in the face of widely-reported pressure from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, no WFP fan. That has left the WFP’s activist wing with less reason to temper criticisms of more mainstream Democrats. Hence the possibility for clashes between the left and further left in more moderate areas like Long Island.

Despite losing the WFP’s imprimatur, Curran’s campaign says she’s being backed by 1199 Service Employees International Union and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, previously affiliated with the WFP. She’s also being endorsed by RWDSU locals 338 and 1102.

Meanwhile, the county Democratic Party isn’t wasting time softening up Curran’s newly announced GOP opponent Bruce Blakeman, with a new website TheTruthAboutBruce.com and a digital ad branding the Town of Hempstead Councilman as a "career politician."

—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Pencil Point

This year's gold

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Final Point

Will Cuomo's two residential housing provisions be included in the final state budget?

Two key provisions in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s executive budget would allow for new ways to push for the development of residential housing.

However, the one-house budget produced by the State Assembly pushes back on both provisions, and the State Senate only accepted one of them, so it’s unclear whether they will go forward in the final budget.

One key provision would allow for more flexible zoning to allow vacant commercial property or underutilized hotels to be converted into housing – but it would only apply to New York City. Cuomo’s budget proposal notes that the pandemic led to an "urgent and significant interest in addressing the high commercial vacancy rates and underutilized hotel properties."

Neither one-house bill included this policy proposal. But Long Island advocates said they saw the idea as something vital for the Island as well.

"I think there clearly is a way to have the state participate in the redevelopment of underutilized shopping centers and other facilities for this type of housing," said Mitch Pally, who heads the Long Island Builders Institute. "This could be another first step on Long Island in encouraging municipalities to take a good look and a hard look at the opportunities that may be in their community. If you make it available to Long Island, with some tweaking, it does send a signal that this is important."

A related provision focuses on development around train stations, a concept Cuomo’s budget calls "rail advantaged housing." The policy change would allow for a faster environmental review process on certain development proposals if they meet uniform standards to be established by the Department of State. The provision would include a mitigation account; developers would have to pay a certain amount that would go towards mitigating environmental impacts. The proposal would apply to developments that were approved by the supervisor or mayor of a town or village.

While the Senate’s one-house budget accepted the rail advantaged housing proposal, the Assembly did not include it.

Local advocates of transit-oriented development said the provision might not help most developments move forward on Long Island, as zoning and town board approvals are still required – and that’s often where such developments stall. But it could ease the process for some.

"The intentions I believe are good and the effort is welcome," Long Island Association chief executive Kevin Law told The Point. "It remains to be seen who opts in and how we make this work."

And from a perception perspective, the provision would make a difference, too, supporters said.

"It is a statement by the state that we want to do everything we can to encourage this type of housing development," Pally said.

Now, the question is whether the final budget will include either policy – or both.

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall