Huntington's Rotten Melville Re-Zone

Two weeks ago, Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth and Councilman Sal Ferro pushed a Resolution to re-zone 650 acres in Melville - 1 square mile - into a dense-pack urban apartment zone of up to 70 apartments per acre. They said that it was for a "Melville Town Center" - but there was no town center in the Resolution.  And no maps, schematics, plat layouts, architects reports with the Resolution - No Plan.

This newspaper published a detailed news expose on the Resolution - describing the terms of the Resolution, and doing a little math - which produced an eye-popping total of 45,000 apartments.  And that's after a 60% per acre set-aside for parking, driveways and access roads.

Within 24 hours of our article, Smyth called an "Emergency" Town Board meeting to "amend" the Resolution with 14 pages of amendments.  When you call an "Emergency Meeting" - during Easter week - to amend a Resolution - it's an admission that something is very, very wrong with the Resolution.

The Amendments purport to arbitrarily (and dubiously legally) "cap" the number of apartments at 3,000 - still making it - by far - the largest apartment development in Long Island history.  

Rather than say "Thank you Leader" for exposing an obviously flawed Resolution, Smyth and Ferro erupted with rage.

They denounced this newspaper and our staff as "liars" who "misinform" and "incite hatred" and "disinformation" and "bigotry."  Smyth's wife Coriander Smyth posted slander, calling our reporters "sleaze."

Worse were the threats - reported second-hand through town employees - that there were plans to "get" the Publisher and reporter. Dark threats about "divorce records" and our "families." About "looking over your shoulder."

At the Emergency meeting, one Council member, Brooke Lupinacci, denounced the Resolution and described the problems - and the evident scheme to create an urban city in Huntington. We re-print her remarks here.

This newspaper has supported many well-designed and thoughtful property developments over the decades. This isn't our first rodeo. We have supported Garvies Point, Oheka Castle's Condos, the Nassau Hub Sands Resort, and others. But all were transparent and solid proposals.

We support the concept of a Town Center in Melville. But that is NOT what is in this Town Board's Resolution. Instead it is a "bait and switch."

Never have we been confronted with such a lack of transparency, slander, crude insults and barely veiled threats - for publishing one descriptive news article. Not even from the loathsome scammer George Santos when we broke the national story of all his frauds.

What is going on in Huntington ? Is it because of the money involved - Billions in development cash... You know the answer.

The incredible arrogance and incompetence of Smyth and his gang trying to "sneak" this largest apartment development in Long Island history past the public - and then to smear and threaten a newspaper -  means there is a lot more going on here. Something very sinister.