Serving The Willistons, Albertson, Herricks, Mineola, Roslyn Heights, and Searingtown
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Friday, June 23, 2017
Vol. 66, No. 25
RICE JOINS TRUMP SUIT, SUOZZI DOESN’T PAGE 6
LIRR TO OFFER POLICE TAKE DOWN FARE REDUCTIONS ALLEGED GANG MEMBERS PAGE 8
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Terry’s town power a subject of debate Ex Dem leader had influence over jobs, used clout as a club: sources BY N O A H M A N S K A R The Town of North Hempstead usually cuts paychecks for its employees and contractors on Fridays, but sometimes Gerard Terry couldn’t wait. Terry, who worked as the attorney for the town’s Board of Zoning Appeals and a special counsel in the town attorney’s office until last year, occasionally came to ask for his check on a Wednesday or Thursday, said Angelo J. Ferrara, a former deputy finance commissioner. “He would come into my office and say, ‘I guess they don’t know who I am,’” said Ferrara, who was fired from his post in 2013. He is not related to Angelo P. Ferrara, the Republican town councilman. That line from Terry reflects the influence he wielded, or attempted to wield, in North Hempstead’s government as an unelected figure who was never a full-time town employee, according to interviews with four current and former town officials. In addition to his legal work with
the town, Terry, 63, was the chairman of the town Democratic committee in North Hempstead, one of the party’s few strongholds in Republican-dominated Nassau County. He resigned in early 2016 following revelations of having more than $1 million state and federal tax debt, and has since been charged with state and federal tax crimes. Terry, an East Hills resident, appeared in federal court Tuesday and is scheduled to appear in state court on Friday. His attorneys have said they hope to resolve both cases. Terry’s role in the town gave him considerable influence over who was given town jobs that are not subject to civil service requirements, positions often called patronage jobs, the four sources told Blank Slate Media. Terry also used his clout, earned over more than four decades as a political leader, as a bludgeon within the town, the sources said. If officials went against his will, the sources said, he threatened them by not supporting their political campaigns, tryContinued on Page 57
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HERRICKS SCHOOL DISTRICT
Birthday bash On May 25, the helping hands and of about 150 Herricks Middle School students came together to assemble packages for the Birthday Wishes volunteer organization. See story on page 71.
Robert Campagna, E.W. building inspector, dies BY N O A H MANSKAR Robert L. Campagna, the Village of East Williston’s building inspector for more than two decades and the architect of its Vil-
lage Hall, died last Friday of complications from mesothelioma. He was 65. Campagna, a longtime village resident, was a passionate architect who cared deeply about the village and wanted to
help residents with their projects, Mayor David Tanner said. “He looked at the village as [if] it was a child, took care of it — cared about its future, cared about its well being,” Tanner said. Continued on Page 58
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