Scannell v. Browne heats up

The third race between seven-term 5th District Nassau County Legislator Joe Scannell, a Democrat from Baldwin, and Chris Browne, a Republican from Rockville Centre, took a provocative turn last week. The flap was sparked by a mailing, produced by two Wantagh Republicans and distributed by the Nassau County Democratic Club, which asserted that in June 2010, Browne, a member of the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals, voted to approve construction of a strip club in Wantagh.

The letter, written by Kevin Milano and Vincent Ciro, alleged that Browne and fellow board members issued a special-use permit for the Mile High Club, a club to be operated by William Dean, who also runs Billy Dean’s Showtime Café in Bellmore. The mailing stated that the Showtime Café features “exotic nightly events such as Foxy Boxing and Female Hot Oil Wrestling.” The mailing urges 5th L.D. voters to consider: “If Christian Browne can vote to destroy our local neighborhood, just imagine what he will do to yours?”

Browne has been vehement in challenging the allegation that he and his fellow Board of Zoning Appeals members voted to approve a strip club. He has insisted more than once that the board approved a “license for a nightclub” only, and that the permit specifically included language prohibiting “topless” or “bottomless” entertainment.

In a written statement, Browne said, “In the past several days, I have been shocked and saddened by the conduct of Joe Scannell’s campaign. Mr. Scannell and his supporters have accused me of voting to approve a ‘strip club’ as a member of the Town Zoning Board of Appeals. This charge is outrageous and completely false.

“As the records of the Zoning Board reflect,” Browne continued, “I took no part in the original vote on the matter in question, as I was not present at the time that the Board voted on the matter. Moreover, those members of the Board who did vote did not approve a ‘strip club’ and, in fact, expressly prohibited adult entertainment at the site. Later, after listening to the concerns of the local community, I and the other members of the Board voted to entirely rescind the previous limited grant. The applicant is now fighting the case in court.”

The Nassau County Democratic Committee is charging that Browne voted for a strip club, insisting that the difference between Dean’s establishment and a “strip club” would be in word only. (They believe Dean ducks the label at his other establishment by requiring staff to wear pasties and G-strings.) “For Mr. Browne to assert that he never voted on this issue is completely untrue,” said Michael Florio, of the NCDC, in a written statement.

In an interview with the Herald, Browne aggressively denied that he voted to approve a strip club. “If [Dean] does something that contravenes the letter or spirit of the restriction [on nude dancing], then he should be held accountable for it,” Browne said, adding that he may contemplate legal action if the allegations in the mailing are not retracted.

For his part, Scannell has tried to distance himself from the flap. Although he told the Herald that he felt that a vote in support of building a strip club would be “despicable,” he disavowed any knowledge of the mailing at the center of the controversy. “I did not write the letter. In fact, I did not even receive the letter,” Scannell said. He added that he did not know the letter’s authors, Milano and Ciro.