Huntington "Energeia" Corruption Includes "Dirty Cop" Convicted Felon
By Maureen Daly and Rupert Deedes
The corruption in Huntington’s crony land deals has exposed the tentacles of a cult-like construction and land developer club called “Energeia,” that has infiltrated Huntington Town government, and municipalities across Long Island, for over a decade - and which has deep ties to a notorious criminal felon ex-police chief.
Energeia was founded in 2005 by then-former Suffolk Legislator Paul Tonna (R-West Hills) to attract and indoctrinate local influencers in the dogma - and lucrative business - of mass apartment housing construction.
Tonna and Energeia have coordinated the recent proposal to re-zone one square mile (800 acres) of Melville for thousands of
high-density apartments, together with Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth (R-Lloyd Harbor), Councilman Sal Ferro (R-Commack) and accused “Ponzi land fraudster” developer Gregory DeRosa.
The Energeia scheme revolved around inviting important leaders from across Long Island, mostly related to municipal land zoning, to an “exclusive” invitation only private group. Free for public officials, five-figures for private developers.
Upon the acceptance to Energeia, participants would be required to attend a multi-day "retreat" where Tonna sought to “indoctrinate” officiants with the dogma of mass rental apartment housing construction.
These “leaders” were then “groomed” to invite other people in power, who could all later be tapped when Tonna needed support or favors as a lobbyist for his land developer clients.
Tonna built Energeia together with a criminal - ex-Suffolk County Police Chief (now convicted federal criminal felon) James Burke - considered by many as one of the most “evil” and “corrupt” public officials ever in the history of Suffolk County.
Burke was convicted in 2016 of beating a young handcuffed male prisoner - at Suffolk Police headquarters - after the youth
stole a bag from Burke's car that contained Burke’s stash of "really nasty porn."
This after a seedy disciplinary record of "forgetting" his gun at a prostitute's house, and lying to Suffolk County Police Internal Affairs.
Burke and his mentor ex-Suffolk DA Thomas Spota (himself now too a federal criminal felon) ran Suffolk law enforcement like a crime organization, lying to the FBI, blocking investigations into serial killings (the Gilgo murders), setting-up honest cops, extorting money, and ordering police to lie and perjure themselves to the FBI and Courts.
After release from federal prison, Burke was arrested again last year for exposing his genitals in a local public family park, and soliciting "blow jobs" from men in the park.
Tonna enlisted Burke to join Energeia in 2007, and Burke immediately became a leader on Energeia's Board.
Burke recruited and built-out Energeia’s “membership,” which was critical at that stage of the groups evolution for the network needed for Tonna to move his land development applications forward.
Following Burke's federal criminal conviction, Tonna was one the few people to write the federal Court asking the Court to "go easy" on Burke.
“I strongly believe that Burke’s admitted wrongdoing pales in comparison to a career devoted to the administration of justice and passion for the safety of Suffolk County residents,” wrote Tonna.
Burke was sentenced to 46 months in prison. After he was released, Tonna put out a welcome home statement, celebrating Burke's release from prison, and praising him as "a friend.”
Shortly thereafter, Burke was arrested for exposing his genitals at the family park in Suffolk County, soliciting oral sex from a man, and then leveraging his status as a former law enforcement official with police to try to get out of the arrest.
The Energeia scheme was built-out to include leaders from across Long Island, and the “end-game” was a hostile takeover of the Town of Huntington, its elected officials, and special districts, to push through a massive Melville apartment re-zone, which would benefit Tonna’s main client, accused fraudster and Energeia member Gregory DeRosa of G2D Development, whose four Melville properties could increase in value by over $100 million.
A sweeping re-zone of one square mile (800 acres) of Melville office space with a tight grip on every facet of municipal oversight of housing applications, would turn Melville into a “billion dollar fortune” for DeRosa’s Melville properties, Tonna’s lobbying firm, Energeia members, and the Huntington politicians financially enmeshed.
One of the "honest cops" targeted by Burke is Robert Trotta, now a Suffolk County Legislator (R-Kings Park). He is aghast at the revelations of involvement of the criminal felon Burke with Tonna and Energeia.
"Given my 25 years in law enforcement and 10 years with the FBI, the Energeia attendee list contains some of the sleaziest, most unethical people in Suffolk County," stated Trotta to the Leader. "It's politics as usual on Long Island, with elected officials being manipulated for their own gain..."
Tonna tried to re-zone Melville in 2015 and 2021 through fellow Energeia member and DeRosa’s land attorney, former Huntington Councilman Marc Cuthbertson (D-Northport). Those prior Melville apartment rezone efforts were unsuccessful, largely due to opposition from former Town Supervisor Frank Petrone (D) and Councilman Gene Cook (R).
Cuthbertson’s successor, Ferro, a fellow Energeia member who recently received a $1 million unsecured mortgage from DeRosa, then re-introduced the Melville re-zone earlier this year.
The recent collapse of DeRosa’s $50 million “Ponzi land scheme” has lit-up Tonna’s Energeia group and the central role it has played in the Melville mass apartment re-zone.
On April 4th of this year, Tonna sent out “a Call to Action” to Energeia members, calling for members to come-out and support Ferro and Smyth’s Melville mass apartment re-zone resolution before the Huntington Town Board.
Energeia members listed in support were from finance, construction, and real-estate firms that handle heavy construction and commercial development - including fraudster Gregory DeRosa.
Interestingly, one Energeia member listed in support of the re-zone is a representative of Four Forty Five Real Estate, an LLC owned by Ferro to manage his apartment complex in Greenport in eastern Suffolk County.
That member also owns a construction firm and is on the Board of Directors of the “subcontractors trade association,” and was enlisted as a member in Energeia at the same time Ferro was, in 2018.
The Tonna “Call to Action” includes a Legal Memo of "Rezone Melville" talking points, prepared by a Huntington land use attorney, who was enlisted in Energeia in 2010.
Tonna has served as the elected Commissioner of the South Huntington Water District since 2006. The water district has environmental jurisdiction over the Melville re-zone and employs that attorney as a paid counsel to carry out water district business.
The memo circulated by Tonna, provided by the attorney, suggests NOT immediately conducting environmental studies required by law for a Type 1 action under the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQRA) law.
In layman's terms, water district officials are trying to “delay” required water quality studies from being conducted, to allow for an expedited re-zone of Melville - that would financially benefit an elected official and his client.
That “delay” was also coordinated by Town officials: Smyth and Ferro have engaged in “vitriolic” attacks against Town residents who asked about the required SEQRA environmental studies at public hearings on the Melville mass apartment re-zone.
Ferro claimed at the September, 2024 Town Board meeting that the “engineer reports” were just completed. Yet the Town Board has never voted to authorize any outside independent firm to conduct studies or reports, and no documents are on file.
Tonna also recruited and enlisted the Huntington Town Director of Planning as an Energeia member in 2015. He is the “official” architect of the Melville apartment re-zone resolutions and “co-wrote” one of the various Melville re-zones alongside Tonna, according to filed documents.
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by the Planning Director shows the Melville Mass Apartment Re-zone being classified as a "Type 1 action," but then rules that studies on schools, water quality, and traffic, do NOT need to be conducted, claiming absurdly that thousands of new apartments - and thousands of additional residents - would have “no adverse (negative) impact on the community.”
A member of Huntington's Town Planning Board also enlisted in Energeia in 2008 and served as the Chairman of the previous Melville re-zones, alongside Tonna and the Director of Planning
That person is - coincidentally - the Executive Director of the real estate brokerage that brokered DeRosa’s November, 2021 land purchase of 560 Broadhollow Road in Melville, just days after Ferro's November 2021 election.
The Broker's press release celebrating DeRosa's November 2021 Melville land purchase boasted that the land was "currently zoned - light industry - there are rumors of a new overlay zone, which will create another potential avenue for the developer.”
Not "rumors" at all: Multiple sources put DeRosa, Ferro, and Tonna all together in meetings planning the Huntington Town Resolution for that "new overlay zone."
Beyond the Town and Water District, the Half Hollow Hills school board, which encompasses Melville, has come out strongly against the apartment re-zone, in large part because there are no environmental impact studies.
The School Board contends that the EIS “mocked-up” by the Town on potential student enrollment is fabricated and the re-zone would result in nearly double the number of new students the Town claimed, according to their calculations on similar, but much smaller, high density apartment projects in the school district.