Levy does a lightning flip-flop on slaying query
Parts of Newsday's exchange during and after a press conference with Suffolk Executive Steve Levy and with his spokesman Mark Smith today consisted of rather straightforward questions that yielded non-sequitir replies. The context, of course, is that Levy has been on the grill over the slaying of Marcelo Lucero, as previously described at length.
This is all from a public appearance in a public place. The lightning part: He said he'd answer questions after the budget briefing -- then departed. Draw your own conclusions.
Reporter Reid Epstein: You said, uhh, late last week that you’d be going to some services over the weekend for Mr. Lucero. I was curious which services you went to over the weekend.
Levy: We’ll deal with that after this press conference.
Epstein: Can you…
Levy: Tomorrow.
Mark Smith, deputy press secretary: This is for budget only.
Levy: Yes, this is for budget only and…
Epstein: Why?
Levy: Tomorrow we’ll be having a major speech.
Reporter Rick Brand: Why?
Levy: We're trying to stay focused on the budget here today. I'll be happy to talk with you one on one after this, Reid, but for this purpose we wanna stay focused on the budget and I appreciate everyone coming down here today.
Epstein: Can you tell us whats going to be in your speech tomorrow?
(Levy walks out of the room)
Later, with Mark Smith:
Epstein: What was the point of him saying I’m going to talk to you one-on-one if he’s not going to do that?
Smith: He meant he would talk to you one-on-one about budget questions.
Epstein: No, I asked him a question about Mr Lucero and he said I’ll talk to you one on one and then left.
Smith: As I explained before the press conference, this is a press conference about the budget....
....Epstein: Why would he say that if that’s not true?
Smith: Well, he’s not going to talk to you one on one. So…
Epstein: He just said he’s going to talk to us one on one. What did he mean when he said he’ll talk to us one on one.
Smith: Guys, this is getting silly. He’s giving…
Brand: No it isn’t. He said himself…
Smith: He’s giving an address tomorrow at the American Jewish Council, hes giving an address tomorrow night on News 12 and that is the focus of…
Epstein: What did he mean when he said he’ll talk to us one on one if youre saying that he wont talk to us one on one? What did he mean by that? You heard him say it too.
Smith: I cannot tell you what he meant, but we’re done.
Epstein: Why did he run out of the press conference so quickly.
Smith: We’re done.
Later on…
Epstein: Why does he think it's more effective to do that than to do take questions or to show up at any of these community events?
Smith: It’s, you know, as we said before, he doesn’t , he doesn’t want himself to become the story. And, umm,
Epstein: Then why is he taking 10 minutes of TV time?
Smith: Well, because there the message gets out, not the story. And there is a difference between the message and the story.
Epstein: What does he think that difference is?
Smith: The message you'll hear tomorrow night. The story is when reporters at a budget press conference try to bring up uh, unrelated questions and then try to get video footage and photographs from Newsday...
Epstein: Should we not ask questions or take video footage of his press conferences?
Smith: If that becomes the story, its unfortunate. Because that’s not the message.
Epstein: Whats the message?
Smith: The messsage, you’ll hear tomorrow night or tomorrow morning. It wont be the same word for word, because on News 12 obviously we'll be constrained by time.
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Comments (3)
Typical move by Levy avoiding the real questions that everybody is concerned with rather than how he is "saving" Suffolk County money. Furthermore, why is there a need for two press conferences about the subject tomorrow? Oh that’s right because he completely blew it on this and has to save face, or could it be that he is actually taking the twenty or so media relations people he has on staff and putting them to work for a change?
This is classic Newsday.
Hey Reid, get over yourself. Stop carrying the water of the Newsday editorial board, and cloaking their editorializing as "reporting" in what you do. It's very clear that you have tossed aside anything you were taught about being objective in journalism school to get ink. Do you get paid by the printed word?
How come nobody but me uses their own name on these things? Don't you people have any spine or integrity?
Look, Jellohead Levy has been a pandering anti-immigrant weasel for years and he's not going to stop now - he just has to find a way to pretty it up and make it seem more reasonable and less incendiary.
Personally, I’m a fan of the Greg Fischer Immigration Plan; an earned citizenship plan that everybody respects. And I’m not just putting words in the air to get the guy elected.
Geez, we’ve been from Supreme Court in Riverhead to the Appellate Division to NYS Court of Appeals to Eastern District Federal Court to 2nd Circuit Federal court, to expose this whole sleazy, sordid collusion between the major parties, the Board of Elections, the rubber-stamping judges and lawyers who profit from the game, and the sheeple like Rich Schaffer and Neil Tiger who think allowing candidates to run unopposed and robbing voters of their 1st and 14th Amendment rights is just fine, as long as we keep electing political sock puppets THEY control. We’re still working to void the election and force a Special election for the 1st Senate District.
Can’t say whether or not we’ll prevail in US Supreme Court. But it’s good to be fighting shoulder to shoulder with a real warrior who won’t give up, won’t give in, and can’t be stopped.
Justice or death,
Terri Scofield