Local issues loom large in this election season

Election Day is creeping ever closer, and, understandably, the national election is critical for all of us, with issues such as inflation, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and others that will impact all of us for the next four years. While the presidential race seems to suck up all the oxygen in the room, however, there are important local issues affecting our daily lives that involve the Nassau County Legislature, and I wanted to share my thoughts on two of them.

First, the Mask Transparency Act. The county’s legislative majority recently passed this groundbreaking local law, which prohibits the wearing of a mask in public. The purpose of the legislation is to prevent those who intend to commit nefarious acts — for instance, theft, or the harassment of people based on their religious or political beliefs — from deliberately hiding their identities from cameras or police by wearing masks.

If police see someone wearing a mask, the law allows them to investigate, and they ultimately can request that the offender remove the mask. If the person refuses, he or she can be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor. Of course, there are exemptions, such as those for people who wear a mask for health reasons or because of their religious beliefs. So far, since the law went into effect in mid-August, two people have been arrested and charged, one who was carrying an illegal weapon and another who was found with burglar tools. The law is working as intended.

While the legislation enjoys wide support, it has also faced some opposition. This opposition seemed to center on those who claim that the law endangers their health — although health needs are a clear exemption — and some who believe that the law is biased against minority communities, although there is no basis for such a claim.
Unfortunately, some of the opposition to the law resulted in unseemly behavior at the Legislative hearing that led to its adoption, when some speakers refused to honor the rules that apply to all public speakers at such hearings. Shamefully, one sitting legislator joined in this bad behavior, shouting baseless accusations of bias against Black people, leaving the dais, and attempting to impede police officers who were trying to remove a disruptive person so that the hearing could continue and the opinions of the many people waiting to speak could be heard. I am certainly hopeful that we will never see a repeat performance of that kind of behavior in the legislative chamber.

While The Mask Transparency Act is being challenged in the courts, I believe that this powerful public safety tool for the police to utilize will survive all challenges and remain in effect.

The second issue is the Sands New York integrated resort. For decades, the huge parcel of land around the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum has been underutilized, despite numerous attempts by successive county executives to find a productive use. To date, all such attempts have failed.

We hope that challenge may soon be over, thanks to the efforts of County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who negotiated an agreement with Las Vegas Sands to, potentially, build a world-class entertainment and hospitality complex on the site. This development, once completed, would provide thousands of permanent jobs, while the construction phase would likewise employ thousands of union workers. The project, if approved, would be a huge economic boost for Nassau County, and would greatly assist in keeping our taxes down by generating tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenues.

The Legislature recently began a comprehensive environmental review that, once adopted, will lead to a vote by the Legislature to approve the necessary lease for the Sands to develop the site. After that it will be up to the Town of Hempstead to approve the necessary zoning, and from there it will hopefully result in Gov. Kathy Hochul selecting the Sands for one of the three downstate gaming licenses that will be granted, ultimately allowing this transformative project to become a reality.

Howard Kopel represents Nassau County’s 7th Legislative District and is the Legislature’s presiding officer.