Almost a year after Carol Ash took over the state parks department and inherited the headache of the Kings Park Psychiatric Hospital site, the commissioner met -- finally -- with veteran Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio.
Vecchio was impressed that she showed a lot of interest, he said, in his wall of photos taken from his the span of his career — starting when he worked for New York City Mayor John Lindsay as a bodyguard and extending to his encounters with other politicians and celebrities.
Ash made the trip to Smithtown town hall because Vecchio was unable to attend the walking tour of the property in October due to a family illness.
Vecchio said he described to Ash the full history of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center, from when it was first shuttered in 1996, including the three subsequent attempts to sell it to developers. He reiterated the town’s position opposing intense development.
Ash was on Long Island to speak with the state legislative delegation at a luncheon, regarding the need for extra funding in next year’s capital budget for repairs and updates to the parks.
At the conference was State Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport)...
Stacey Altherr
...who has been pushing for the state parks commissioner to begin clean-up of the Kings Park site, and who has proposed a $500 million bond for all state park repairs. Flanagan spokesman Robert Caroppoli said the capital bond was “discussed” at the meeting.