MTA board could see some heavy lifting

Daily Point

Sammy Chu ready to take on the MTA

Sammy Chu is apparently willing to take on a heavy workload.

That’s particularly true this week.

Chu is awaiting confirmation by the New York State Senate for his new position as the Suffolk County representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, which could come as soon as Thursday.

But in his spare time, Chu is a powerlifter who became a national champion and world record holder in this week’s United States Powerlifting Association’s national competition in Atlanta, Georgia.

Yes, you read that right.

Chu, the chief executive of Edgewise Energy and former chief of staff to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, competes in a drug-free category, in the 45-to-49 age group and the “super heavyweight” class, defined as more than 308 pounds.

He was the only one in that category to successfully pass through preliminary competitions earlier this year, so his successful lifts this week made him the automatic national champion.

Then there was the record. Chu lifted 568 pounds in the deadlift competition — earning him the world record for his category. In squats, he lifted 572 pounds, his own personal best. Chu has been lifting weights for the better part of a decade, but only started powerlifting in 2019.

In a conversation with The Point before heading back to Long Island Wednesday morning, Chu said he sees a connection between his powerlifting and the work he hopes to do at the MTA.

“It took a lot of work for me to muster up the capacity to pull those lifts off,” Chu said. “And I know [the MTA board position] is a difficult job. But just as I focused on preparing for this competition and meeting my big goals, I’m not shy in tackling the task. I’m not intimidated by the work, and I am looking forward to meeting the responsibility head on.”

Chu said he’s hoping to shed some pounds, so he can compete in a different weight category next year.

In the meantime, upon confirmation, he hopes to start working on the MTA’s big challenges, from dealing with budgetary concerns to getting riders back on the Long Island Rail Road.

Talk about a heavy lift.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Talking Point

Remapped CD4 offers some hope for Dems

The tumultuous drawing and redrawing of New York’s congressional maps created some clear winners and losers in the Democratic scrum seeking the nomination in CD4. While the final tweak of the lines by the special master made the southwestern Nassau district a little more favorable to Democrats — it is now rated “likely D” by the Cook Report — not all of the party’s candidates benefited.

Nassau County Legis. Siela Bynoe dropped out of the contest on Tuesday, saying she was “incredibly disheartened to learn that the Westbury-New Cassel community has been carved out of the Fourth Congressional District placing my family home within the Third Congressional District.”

However, fellow Legis. Carrié Solages told The Point that the inclusion of Valley Stream, Inwood and all of Elmont strengthens his position. “In the original maps, only 15% of my legislative district was in the 4th … now 100% is,” he said. With Bynoe out, Solages is the only Black candidate running.

Laura Gillen, the former Hempstead Town supervisor, and Keith Corbett, the mayor of Malverne, remain in the hunt as well to succeed Kathleen Rice who is not seeking reelection.

The remapping also triggered new filing deadlines to get on the ballot, a lifeline to political newcomer Kevin Shakil. He was knocked out of the competition under the original maps when his petitions were successfully challenged by allies of Corbett. Under the new rules, Shakil, an insurance broker who is also the chief executive of American Islamic Radio, has until June 10 to file a new set of signatures.  “We are making sure all the addresses were verified and legible,” he said. “We have paid volunteers this time, we are empowering minorities to learn the political process.”

Shakil, who has been known as Kevin Bryan Menendez, said he brings a unique appeal: At 29, he is the youngest candidate, the only Muslim, the only Latino (he moved to Westbury from Uruguay at age 5), and the only South Asian (his father is Pakistani). Even though his home in Westbury was redrawn into CD3, Shakil said he will stay in the race and move to Freeport if elected.

While the remapping shakeout resulted in Gillen being the only woman in the race, the most significant consequence of the legal challenges could be the postponement of the primary date for House primaries to Aug. 23, separate from the marquee gubernatorial contests on June 26.

That means double get-out-the-vote efforts from local organizations. “A lot of people still don’t understand that there will be two primaries, that they have to make sure people vote in June and then again in August,” said Gillen, who intends to focus on her experience and electability in the general election.

Asked whether the postponed primary helps or hurts, Corbett, the last person who declared his candidacy, said it gives him more time. “It helps me greatly,” he told The Point. “I have more time to mobilize, to get endorsements, and fundraise.” 

— Rita Ciolli @ritaciolli and Lane Filler @lanefiller

Pencil Point

Learning to survive

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Final Point

Nassau County and its unions still have issues

With the long-running Nassau County battle over longevity pay now put to bed, the county and its public unions will be focusing on two big unsettled issues.

One, the negotiation of contracts for the PBA and COBA, the union for corrections workers, is standard. The other, comp time for COVID-19 work for CSEA members, is extraordinary.

The CSEA is pushing hard for months of COVID comp time for mostly front-line employees who had to work during the pandemic while nonessential county employees were off, the repercussions of which could cost in excess of $100 million. The issue is a pre-pandemic clause in the CSEA contract written with weather-related emergencies in mind, which states: "Any employee who is required to remain at work after the County Executive or designated representative has dictated that extraordinary circumstances exist for that particular geographic area or location within Nassau County, shall receive equivalent compensatory time off at straight time, hour for hour, as the employees who were sent home or directed not to work."

The question is whether such comp time needs to be granted in a long-term pandemic, as it would be for a snowstorm or hurricane. Nassau CSEA president Ron Gurrieri pointed to Department of Public Works employees, deputy sheriffs and police medics as workers who had to report, and were in many cases infected with COVID, while co-workers got paid but did not work.

Even within CSEA leadership, there has been considerable disagreement about what the workers are actually owed, and what the county can be made to pay, but Gurrieri contends his workers did all that was asked and have contract language on their side. The matter is in arbitration, but the complexity of figuring out who worked when, and what they may be owed, guarantees the issue won’t be resolved quickly.

Meanwhile, the PBA and COBA have yet to ink new contracts with the county, having worked without a current deal for nearly five years. The PBA deal is particularly tricky, because members voted down a deal the union and county made. At one time, the longevity settlement was considered the key to triggering a revote because it was a material change; now that issue is resolved.

But union leaders, county officials and NIFA members say new contract deals are likely close.

— Lane Filler @lanefiller