Gov. bashes Santos for promoting AR-15

Used In Mass Killings National Gun

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

Gov. Kathy Hochul bashed U.S. Rep. George Santos for co-sponsoring a bill to make the AR-15 the “national gun of the United States” last week.

Hochul, in a statement, criticized the embattled congressman for his connection to the bill. Santos had previously been seen on the House floor wearing an AR-15 lapel pin on his jacket before introducing the legislation.

“It’s outrageous and appalling that New York Congressman Santos would attach his name to legislation that would designate the AR-15 as the ‘national gun of the United States’,” Hochul said.

Hochul urged Santos to remove himself from the legislation, especially due to the recent mass shooting in Buffalo and for the connection a Dix Hills family has to the Parkland, Fla. shootings. AR-15s were used in both shootings.

“This weapon of war has been used in mass shootings across the United States — from my hometown of Buffalo, where the shooter used a modified AR-15 to murder ten people in a despicable act of white supremacist terrorism, to

Parkland, Florida, where the shooter killed seventeen innocent people with an AR-15-style weapon,” Hochul said.

Scott J. Beigel, who grew up in the Roslyn area, taught geography and coached the cross-country team at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland before he was one of the 17 people killed in February 2018. A gunman entered the school equipped with a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and pulled the fire alarm.

Biegel was seen on footage herding 31 students to safety in his classroom before he was shot. His mother, Linda Beigel Schulman, has led a foundation in her son’s name and worked to pass gun violence legislation and spoken across the country on the topic of gun violence.

The Roslyn-area native attended the 2020 State of the Union with Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and gave a talk on her experiences alongside Suozzi at Temple Beth Sholom in East Hills, the temple she attended growing up. Beigel Schulman agreed with Hochul’s comments on Santos last week.

“I stand with @GovKathyHochul against this deplorable act by

@Santos4Congress,” she tweeted. “New low for someone who can’t go lower.”

Efforts to reach Santos for comment on the matter were unavailing.

The newly elected congressman has been the subject of multiple investigations on various levels for lying about his personal, professional and financial background since being elected to the 3rd Congressional District seat in November.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee several weeks ago for allegedly violating the Ethics in Government Act, saying the Republican must be held accountable for deceiving voters and Congress.

The Ethics in Government Act, officials said, was created to “preserve and promote the integrity of public officials and institutions,” which Torres and Goldman said they believe Santos has failed to adhere to.

A nonpartisan ad hoc group, Concerned Citizens of NY-03 sent out a press release expressing their support for the expulsion resolution on Thursday, saying that Santos is “unfit to serve in Congress.”

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NIFA okays Nassau contract with police

BY ROBERT PELAEZ ecutive Bruce Blakeman described the negotiations between the two parties as “exhaustive,” but expressed his pleasure with the agreement.

The Nassau Interim Finance Authority unanimously approved a new $170 million, 8 ½-year contract between the county and its Police Benevolent Association on Tuesday.

“I believe this agreement keeps our police department at the highest levels of salary in the nation but at the same time has provisions that enhance the safety of our communities and guards the taxpayer’s money,” Blakeman said in a statement earlier this year.

“I think it is a good agreement,” Barsky said. “It does a lot of things that will help the county in the future, in terms of capping termination pay, providing more appearances and more work [and] providing necessary training for the officers.”

The agreement will run retroactively from Jan. 1, 2018 until July 1, 2026 and increase the top base pay for officers from $122,000 to $141,000. The agreement will also increase the starting pay for new officers from $35,000 to $37,333.

The contract also increases pay by 15% during the duration and includes nearly $6,500 in stipends for officers with six years of service and $3,750 stipends for those with 15 years of service, according to legislative documents.

The county legislature unanimously approved the deal on Feb. 6. Nassau County Ex-

The county failed to come to an agreement with the 1,800-member union during the tenure of Democratic County Executive Laura Curran. Contract proposals of the same length were submitted and provided officers with a 25% raise over eight-and-a-half years.

Annual stipends of $3,000 for officers wearing body cameras were agreed on by the county and the union, which officials said costs taxpayers $8 million each year.

Democrats attempted to add an amendment in the county’s budget to hire more than 100 new police officers. Blakeman’s $3.88 billion budget included the hiring of 36 additional officers.

“Police officers are often confronted with danger and put themselves in harm’s way as they fulfill their oath to serve and protect the public in Nassau County and across the nation,” Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) said.

PHOTO BY NOAH MANSKAR

The Nassau County Legislative Building.