Long Island job fair.

One more month of private sector job gains and Long Island can claim three consecutive years of employment growth, analysts said in announcing April’s employment data Thursday.

The New York State labor department reported that LI’s private sector job count increased by 30,500 compared to last April, marking 35 consecutive months of growth in the region. LI’s year-to-year private sector growth rate was 2.9 percent, a full percent higher than the state’s total private job growth of 1.9 percent.

“Part of it is Sandy but there’s been overall increased construction projects in the region,” said Pital Shatel, associate economist at the state labor department.

Only recently has the construction sector seen double-digit gains, Shatel said. Previously, the industry was only gaining jobs at a 1 to 2 percent clip. Specialty trade contractors saw a 12.2 percent growth, she noted in her report.

Natural resources, mining, and construction brought in 3,300 jobs compared to April 2012, educational and health services grew by 7,200, and professional and business services by 5,300, the labor department said. Trade, transportation, and utilities enjoyed the largest gains, with 8,400 more jobs.

Manufacturing, information and financial activities lost a combined 2,100 jobs and the public sector shed 3,300 jobs, mostly in education.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces LIPA proposal on Monday, May 13.

The Long Island Power Authority could be hit with a severe power downgrade if New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gets his way.

The governor laid out a proposal Monday that would shift the embattled utility company’s day-to-day operation to PSEG, the New Jersey-based company slated to replace National Grid next year, and would freeze rates for three years, slash LIPA’s staff considerably and reduce LIPA’s debt load.

Essentially, LIPA would become a holding company, but would remain under government ownership for tax purposes and to ensure reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the governor said.

“Simply put, LIPA is broken,” Cuomo said at the afternoon briefing.

The governor’s long-awaited announcement regarding the utility’s future comes more than six months after Superstorm Sandy pummeled LI, knocking out power to more than 90 percent of the 1.1 million homes and business that LIPA serves. LIPA came under intense pressure amid the storm’s aftermath from local and state officials, including Cuomo, who at his state-of-the-state address in January said “the time has come to abolish LIPA. Period.”

The governor didn’t go that far Monday, nor did he call for LIPA to be privatized, which he suggested early on after the Oct. 29 storm. But he made clear that the utility’s power would be diminished considerably.

“I think the storm was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Cuomo said, joined in Albany with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “It is the status quo and it has failed.”

Cuomo is seeking to privatize much of the utility’s operation by transferring duties to PSEG come January, improve customer service during storm response and stabilize rates—partly by instituting a rate freeze through 2015. He’s also calling for more government oversight of the utility.

“Getting rates down is essential,” Cuomo said, “getting the cost of power down is essential.”

He decided against privatizing the LIPA altogether, noting that doing so could endanger future reimbursement from FEMA. Sandy aid has already been allocated to cover the cost of raising or relocating LIPA’s power lines so property owners don’t have to foot the bill as they continue construction of their storm-ravaged homes.

The proposal would also impact LIPA’s staff, cutting it from 90 to 20, the governor said, and would slash the number of board members from 15 to five.

Cuomo is looking to push the proposal through this legislative session, which ends at the end of June. The top leaders in the state Senate and Assembly gave no indication that they would pass the bill through their respective chambers.

Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), co-leader of the state Senate, said he “will closely review this plan,” and added that officials are moving the in “right direction.”

“I think this is a thoughtful plan that has many great ideas,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan). “It’s an important step in the right direction.”

Both Mangano and Bellone accepted the governor’s recommendations.

“I think we have a critical moment to be responsive to this issue,” Cuomo said.“There is no alternative because the status quo is dangerous for Long Island.”

Jones Beach was significantly damaged by Superstorm Sandy but officials expect the popular beach to be open in time for Memorial Day Weekend. (Photo: Christopher Twarowski/Long Island Press

Bring on the waves.

Long Islanders received a bit of good news Monday that all New York State-run beaches and parks are expected to be open by Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start of summer, despite significant damage from Sandy.

Many area parks and beaches were battered by the October superstorm, which caused extensive damage to shore-front roads, structures and contributed to significant dune and beach erosion. Several repair projects are still ongoing, some of which will continue after the parks are opened.

“Our parks and beaches are not only popular destinations for vacationers, but they are also important economic drivers for our communities,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “We will continue to work diligently to ensure that these great assets are in safe and good condition for visitors to enjoy this summer.”

The news was met with cheers from local officials still dealing with post-Sandy repairs. Officials noted the economic boost of opening up the parks just in time for the holiday weekend.

In 2012, more than 18 million people visited state parks and beaches on Long Island and four state parks on LI—Jones Beach, Robert Moses, Sunken Meadow and Heckscher—ranked in the top 10 in the state.

“Our parks and beaches on Long Island are the escape that people need,” said New York State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey, adding that Jones Beach State Park has more yearly visitors than Arizona’s Grand Canyon. “Sandy caused a lot of destruction but our crews and contractors are fiercely working to get us in great shape to kick off the summer.”

But plenty of repair work remains before the parks and beaches can be opened to visitors.

Many of Jones Beach’s electrical vaults were submerged during Sandy and crews are still working to replace and raise panels to prevent damage from future storms. The beach’s popular theater, which was submerged in four feet of water, is still a work in progress. The theater suffered damage to the VIP boardwalk, tented areas, orchestra seating and entire electrical system, officials said.

Fields 2, 5, 10 and West End 2 of Jones Beach are currently open to the public but areas between the West Bathhouse and the East Bathouse remain closed due to boardwalk damage.

Crews are also installing planking on top of the Central Mall and lifeguard stands in that area, including Field 2.

At Robert Moses State Park, workers are currently restoring a section of the roadway at the south side of the park’s traffic circle that collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean after Sandy, officials said. Construction at the beach includes placing 500,000 cubic yards of sand to replenish Fields 4 and 5, and more than 300,000 cubic yards of that sand is being dredged from the Captree State Boat Channel. All parking fields will be open come Memorial Day, officials said.

“We are confident that Memorial Day Weekend will be as good or better as we saw last year,” said New York State Parks Deputy Regional Director George Gorman.

Construction efforts are being funded by the state but parks department officials will soon apply for federal reimbursement.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation had barred residents from harvesting shellfish in underwater lands in the Great South Bay and South Oyster Bay on Oct. 29, 2012—the day Sandy struck Long Island.

State environmental officials said severe coastal flooding and massive power outages had forced them to close those areas to shellfish harvesting in order to protect public health.

The closure was lifted at sunrise on Saturday.

Shellfish harvesting is permitted in these areas:

Town of Hempstead: All the normally certified shellfish lands in South Oyster Bay, lying easterly of the Wantagh Parkway (Jones Beach Causeway).

Town of Oyster Bay: All the normally certified shellfish areas of South Oyster Bay.

Town of Babylon: All the normally certified shellfish areas of Great South Bay.

Last Hurricane Sandy dog, Bruno, greets the media before leaving for Westchester.

Four months had passed and all but one displaced animal at an emergency Nassau County pet shelter had been released when a group of dedicated volunteers campaigned to find the dog a permanent home.

They were intent on living out a promise made to the animals when Hurricane Sandy slammed Long Island and turned their owners’ lives upside down. The pact: leave no animal behind.

In a bitter sweet celebration Saturday highlighted by the Rottweiler’s happy farewell from the shelter, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano thanked all volunteers for their spirit, dedication and steadfast commitment to care for each and every animal that walked through the doors of the abandoned gymnasium at Mitchel Field in Garden City—even the turtles, rabbits, parrots and Betta Fish.

Nassau County “kept the shelter open to ease the stresses” for owners impacted by Sandy, Mangano said inside the makeshift shelter, which housed its last guest, Bruno, for the final time Friday night. Bruno is headed to a Northwind Kennels, a rescue organization in Bedford, which will keep him comfortable as they vet potential families that could adopt him.

Bruno with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano.

All that remained at the shelter Saturday were disassembled metal crates, more than a dozen wooden pallets holding pet food, water and other necessities, and a brick wall festooned with photos of the some of the 55 cats and dogs adopted or released to their owners or foster home. In total, 515 pets were sheltered at the gymnasium during and after Sandy. The remaining pets returned to their owners.

Eventually, the celebration became all about Bruno as members of the press were finally able to meet the 7-year-old dog for the first time, albeit at a safe distance as not to stress out the pup.

“He’s been so traumatized from being ripped away from his life,” Nassau County SPCA spokesman Gary Rogers said of Bruno, who was displaced when he and his owner were left homeless by the Oct. 29 superstorm. The Rottweiler’s owner, Christopher, lost his job and has been unable to find work since.

The pair finally split up recently when the owner told volunteers that he had to think about what’s best for the dog and “not myself,” according to Rogers.

Their relationship ended with a tearful goodbye, Rogers said, with Christopher on the floor crying with Bruno.

Bruno’s story took on a life of its own after the Nassau County SPCA sent out a news release pleading for another group to help find him a home. Rogers estimates that the SPCA has received more than a thousand inquiries about Bruno through phone calls and emails, including one such inquiry from a local soldier serving in Afghanistan.

“Bruno has reached new heights,” Mangano said.

That Bruno and other pets were allowed to live in the shelter for as long as they did was a credit to Nassau County, volunteers said, because pet shelters rarely remain open beyond several weeks following an emergency.

Rogers said he’s never witnessed 100 percent of pets find a home following an emergency and noted that the shelter took in animals from Suffolk County and New York City after they closed their respective pet shelters after a few weeks.

“That put an added burden here,” he said.

Mangano thanked the SPCA, Wantagh-based Pet Safe Coalition, HUG and county employees that volunteered their time during the four months the shelter was open.

All that’s left is finding Bruno a permanent home.

“I think we’re going to try and keep him in Nassau County,” Mangano said.

Bruno was the last displaced dog from Superstorm Sandy. (Photo: Handout)

A national animal rescue group has stepped forward to help the last displaced Hurricane Sandy dog in Nassau County find a home before the emergency shelter he was staying in since the storm closes Saturday, a Nassau County SPCA spokesman said Friday.

UPDATE: Bruno leaves pet shelter

Bruno and his owner were displaced from their Long Beach home following the Oct. 29 superstorm. The Rottweiler’s owner, who lost his job after the hurricane, was hired outside New York State and had to say goodbye to the pup.

On Thursday, the Nassau County SPCA sent out a heartfelt news release regarding Bruno’s dire situation and pleaded for help finding the “strong and sometimes stubborn” dog a home.

Bruno’s story touched the hearts of pet lovers across the country and quickly went viral. Now someone is stepping in to help.

The county will say farewell to Bruno at a press conference Saturday, when they will officially identify his saviors. Bruno has yet to be adopted, but there is a plan in place to help the dog find a new family, officials said.

“Bruno is a devoted dog,” said Gary Rogers, spokesperson for the Nassau County SPCA. “He has a strong and sometimes stubborn Rottweiler personality that would fit best with an owner who understands the breed, but he becomes a loveable puppy around the people he really knows and trusts. He has had a very difficult last few months and we are desperate to find him a happy ending.”

Beverly Poppell, vice president of Wantagh’s Pet Safe Coalition, one of the volunteer groups that took care of the 515 animals displaced by Sandy, said a lot of research went into Bruno’s case because “not just anybody could take him.”

The animals all had owners who dropped the pets off at the temporary shelter inside an abandoned former gymnasium in Mitchel Field to keep them safe during the storm. All but 50 of the animals returned to their owners and the remaining pets found new homes.

“It’s a wonderful thing that happened,” Rogers said Friday. “Everybody came together and worked together as a team.”

He credited Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano for allowing volunteers to keep the shelter open as long as possible. No animal was going to be left behind, he said.

“What Ed Mangano did here, he’ll forever have my respect,” he said.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone gives his second State of the County address in Hauppauge on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone proposed streamlining government processes, warned of continued budget deficits and rallied for rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy during his second State of the County address Tuesday night.

Between reflecting on his first year in office and doling out accolades, the first-term Democrat spent a significant portion of his speech reinforcing to legislators his plan to sell the John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility in Yaphank—a local political hot potato. If its sale does not go through, explained Bellone, he’d be forced to close the facility.

“The state of our county is that we are rebuilding,” Bellone, the former Babylon Town Supervisor, said before a packed legislative chamber in Hauppauge. “This is a county that has faced challenges before and always emerged stronger.”

His address comes as Long Island waits for billions in federal Sandy aid dollars to begin flowing nearly four months after the historic storm that seriously strained government resources across the tri-state area.

Bellone also reiterated support for the police department’s shift toward focusing on recidivism reduction, intelligence-led policing and improving the monitoring of sex offenders after he appointed Commissioner Ed Webber.

Legis. John Kennedy Jr. (R-Nesconset), leader of the GOP minority, questioned Bellone’s management skills and whether the county exec’s quest to speed up government would mean bypassing the legal processes established in the county charter.

“It appears that were tripping over ourselves to save pennies, when dollars are flying out of the window,” said Kennedy, vowing to launch an inquiry into the recent record-setting blizzard in his 10-minute Republican response to Bellone’s hour-long speech.

“Despite all of the changes that we have made to make our government smaller and more efficient, we still have a significant structural deficit,” Bellone said, meaning Suffolk still has more annual bills than recurring revenues after cutting 700 county workers. “While we’ve made great progress, we still have a long way to go.”

Some of the relocated guests of Olympic Motor Lodge on Vanderbilt Motor Parkway were reported to include Hurricane Sandy families, but an American Red Cross spokesman said there was no indication that any of the guests they assisted were Sandy victims.

The Red Cross responded to the scene and met with eight people—a family of four, a family of three and one man—and discovered that they were already being assisted by the Department of Social Services, which put them up at another hotel, Red Cross spokesman Michael de Vulpillieres said.

The blaze, which is being investigated by Suffolk County Police Arson Squad detectives, broke out just after 8 p.m., police said. According to police, a guest in a second floor room admitted that he had fallen asleep while smoking and woke up to a burning mattress. He unsuccessfully tried to put out the fire, which spread to two adjacent rooms, police said.

The motel was evacuated as firefighters from Brentwood, Hauppauge, East Brentwood and Central Islip descended on the motel and extinguished the blaze.

There were no reported injuries, police said.

The motel had 17 occupied rooms at the time of the fire, police said. The motel sustained fire and water damage, police said, adding that the investigation is continuing.

The Red Cross confirmed that Olympic Motor Lodge wasn’t a designated motel for Sandy victims, de Vulipillieres said. He noted that some guests may have been working on Sandy response, and were never affected by the hurricane.

House damaged by Hurricane Sandy. (Photo: Dan O’Regan)

Superstorm Sandy survivors trying to rebuild their homes now have another roadblock to deal with—late insurance reimbursement checks.

A New York State Department of Financial Services investigation found that $200 million in insurance funds requested by hurricane survivors have yet make it to homeowners. As of Jan. 27, banks representing 95 percent of the state were withholding funds for 6,611 borrowers, totaling $208 million. And the four largest banks—Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank and JP Morgan Chase—have yet to disperse 4,159 checks worth $131 million, according to the agency.

“After insurance companies have sent homeowners checks to pay for repairs, the money should not be sitting with the bank because of red tape,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “Banks need to use maximum discretion to get money into homeowners’ hands as quickly as possible.”

In December, the state was successful in freeing up a portion of insurance funds from banks, but now officials realize that funds aren’t moving quickly enough into the accounts of those who need it, according to Department of Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky.

“While we understand there are some limits on how banks release funds, we want to make sure that they are pushing those limits and getting insurance money out quickly,” he said. “We will work with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce barriers to the flow of insurance funds.”

There are several factors that have contributed to the delay. For some homeowners, checks are issued jointly to them and their bank or mortgage servicer, which requires the bank to endorse the check before homeowners have access to it. Federal rules from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also stipulate that banks receive proof of repair work before releasing money to homeowners.

In response to the findings, the financial services department sent a letter to banks and mortgage servicers recommending that they provide easily accessible information on their websites describing the procedures required to release funds and to immediately release all funds designated by the insurance company as “emergency” or “advance” funds.

Long Beach City Manager Jack Schnirman. (Photo: City of Long Beach’s official website)

After Superstorm Sandy swept in, the City of Long Beach was in “complete communication darkness,” City Manager Jack Schnirman testified at a Federal Communications Committee hearing Tuesday.

Schnirman’s testimony was part of a discussion about the effect Sandy had on local and state communication infrastructure when the Oct. 29 hurricane crippled the region.

Long Beach, which was one of the hardest hit areas during the deadly storm, had no access to computers, telephone, cable or Internet, and all cell tower batteries were dead by the morning, Schnirman testified.

“All mobile communications were lost,” Schnirman said.

All cell towers in the city were down during the storm and service providers were “nowhere to be found,” according to Schnirman’s remarks.

With the city’s infrastructure shot and cellphone and Internet service virtually nonexistent, the city had to rely on a local vendor’s gas-powered copy machine to print out daily flyers to communicate with residents. Local police went around the city with bullhorns to update residents on the condition of the city and its ailing infrastructure.

The city also relied on social media to inform residents who were able to connect to the Internet.

“We faced a variety of obstacles as we executed our crisis communications plan. We found that there is significant room for improvement with regards to wireless carriers’ infrastructure and response,” Schnirman said.

Schnirman was tapped by Sen. Charles Schumer to testify in front of the FCC after the senator had requested that the agency develop a plan to ensure another communications blackout doesn’t occur again in the event of a major storm or terrorist attack.

“Field hearings will increase our understanding of the problems encountered during Superstorm Sandy and harvest the best ideas to ensure that mobile phone service doesn’t fail after future storms,” Schumer said in a statement. “Mobile communication has become an essential part of our lives, and increasing its reliability must be a top priority.”

During his testimony, Schnirman recommended that municipalities have built-in generators for communications infrastructure,  all cell-phone carriers provide emergency contacts and easier access to cell towers on wheels.