daily point
Burke in the book
Sometimes, books and their real-life themes collide. That was recently the case with Nelson DeMille’s new novel “The Table” and former Suffolk County Sheriff James Burke.
The book, which fictionalizes the still-unsolved murders of Gilgo Beach, also depicts a story of corruption in Suffolk law enforcement, including a Burke-like police chief with risqué tastes who may interfere with the investigation.
The plot line apparently did not sit well with the real-life official. “Brick read the book,” DeMille said in a Newsday Lifetime Author Series interview last week, referring to the former police chief who served prison time after admitting he assaulted a suspect. And worked to hide the beating. The suspect entered Burke’s vehicle and stole items including pornography and sex toys.
DeMille said Burke “had dinner with someone I know and the person I know said he wasn’t happy with the book because it implied he might be involved in the murders.”
“But you know,” DeMille continued, “you have to call it like you see it.”
Burke is not related to the events in Gilgo. Newsday previously reported how Burke, under FBI investigation for beatings and cover-ups, “removed the FBI from investigating Suffolk police, including Gilgo.”
Former Suffolk Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart, who also previously headed the FBI’s Long Island office, “acknowledges that federal law enforcement assistance can help county police.”
In the Newsday Live/Long Island LitFest interview, which will be available for viewing on newsdaylive.com on November 29, DeMille said, “I represented the corruption that I thought existed that everyone seemed to agree with.”
The thriller also features a Suffolk district attorney willing to play outside the bounds of the law, seemingly to former county DA Thomas Spota, who was indicted on federal charges in 2017 for covering up Burke’s beating. was involved in the suspect
DeMille, a Long Island native who has written about the area in previous books, said he was intrigued by how government injustice could happen in such a reasonably affluent urban area:
“It was like I was saying, how does this happen here, this kind of deep corruption.”
– Mark Chisano @mjchiusano
Talking point
Rolling the dice
As New York nears approval of a full casino downstate, some on Long Island are moving and scrambling to get a piece of the action. And casino companies are ready to play.
On Dec. 1, the Suffolk County Association and the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce are sponsoring a forum titled “Small Business Opportunities If Downstate Gaming Expands on Long Island.”
This is a mouthful – but the existence of the forum, with a list of participants, says more.
In addition to representatives from the two county chambers, two representatives of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation — former Gov. David Patterson, now a senior vice president at Sands, and Norbert Resler, Sands’ director of procurement — will attend.
Then there’s a name on the list that at first glance seems like an odd addition: Hon. John Callahan, former mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The obvious question: Why would a former Pennsylvania mayor attend a forum on gaming on Long Island?
Answer: Because more than a decade ago, Las Vegas Sands opened a gaming complex, which eventually included a casino, a hotel, restaurant, concert venue and more in Bethlehem — and Callahan was then mayor. and
Sands Senior Vice President Ron Reese told The Point he hopes the forum will provide an opportunity to talk to Long Island business owners and others about how they can benefit from and potentially open a casino on the island. Preparing for the complex.
“It’s important for both sides to engage in dialogue,” the president said. “We’ve spent time on Long Island, we’ve enjoyed getting to know the people on Long Island, and now we’re excited about the opportunities it will bring.”
The chairman noted that a casino resort could offer such opportunities for local small businesses in a variety of industries, from restaurants and retail to security, flowers, lighting and information technology.
The forum, which will also include Discover Long Island’s Christian Reynolds and Ryan Stanton of the Long Island Federation of Labor, will be held at the South Farmingdale Fire District Station on Locust Ave. It comes as government officials and the Gaming Facilities Board prepare. Publish a request for applications that will begin the process for developers, casino operators, and others to apply for licenses in one of the three following states. According to the schedule set by the government, this RFA should be released in the first week of January.
But the competition is already in full gear. Even as Sands explores its options, other companies are looking at sites across the region, most recently Saratoga Casino Holdings, the Chickasaw Nation, Legends and Thor Equities bidding for a casino and hotel resort at Coney Island. reveals his plans for
– Randy F. Marshall @RandiMarshall
The point of a pencil
Full Court Press
Credit: ncpolicywatch.com/John Cole
For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons
Last point
Surveying the area
One of the biggest debates coming out of the midterm elections in New York is about the quality of Gov. Cathy Hochul’s field campaign.
The operation was carried out by a coordinated campaign of New York Dems, and there has been much criticism — including from members of the state legislature — that the state party’s work was not enough to get some voting Democrats off the finish line.
To get a better sense of the lay of the land, Point asked state Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs what it was exactly that brought the party to field work.
Jacobs sent us a memo outlining a total investment of $6 million. This includes the party appointing 37 field organizers, seven regional organizing directors, 12 student organizers, and a handful of others in leadership roles.
The memo lists nearly 1.4 million phone calls, nearly 900,000 door knocks, and more than 5.4 million text messages from the party and the boycott campaign across the country. Field efforts included a program to recruit and track absentee voters, as well as a robocall sent by former President Barack Obama to 566,000 Democratic voters to close the race. According to the memo, state party field workers worked in some of the closest congressional districts, including all four Long Island races. They were more active in some districts, such as CD4, where “NY Dems staff were a large part of the program and managed all strategic area decisions,” Jacobs wrote in an email. Democratic candidate Laura Gillen defeated Republican Anthony D’Esposito in the Democratic-leaning district.
How should all this be explained? It’s difficult to compare apples-to-apples how much money the state party has spent on field efforts over the years, because the coordinating committee doesn’t disclose separately, and this was the first race for the top of the ticket. Furthermore, not all cycles are equally competitive. Jacobs was not state director during Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s runs in 2014 or 2018, but he was in 2010.
“There was a field program,” Jacobs wrote to this point. “I remember being involved in it, but it wasn’t that big.”
As for the major criticisms of the party’s demise, Jacobs wrote that there was a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the role of the state party as opposed to country parties: “Obviously, the state party will never It does not have the capacity to accommodate full field operations in the region.Every corner of the state – every corner of every district.
– Mark Chisano @mjchiusano
Point of programming
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