Gov. Hochul plans to prevent local police departments from collaborating with ICE

Abandoned office buildings at Grumman Aerospace's former Calverton plant could be redeveloped into an indoor cannabis cultivation facility, but the Central Pine Barrens Commission must first give approvals. Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that the 20-acre property on the south side of Grumman Boulevard includes three buildings that were built between 1960 and 1988. They have been vacant since Grumman closed the facility, where the U.S. Navy once assembled and tested fighter jets, in 1996.

Signature Partners, a Manhattan commercial real estate firm, is the site's new owner. Fenced in by barbed wire, the campus of former office buildings recently sold for $750,000, according to a deed filed with the Suffolk County Clerk's office in early January. The property was previously owned by TJ Enterprises LLC.

Signature officials outlined preliminary plans to redevelop the property as an indoor cannabis grow facility during a meeting of the Central Pine Barrens Commission Jan. 21 meeting. The company needs a hardship waiver because the property is in the Central Pine Barrens Core Preservation Area and is considered new development, officials said.

Development is not typically allowed in the environmentally sensitive area so as to protect the environment and groundwater, according to the commission's land use plan.

In a Jan. 7 letter to the Pine Barrens Commission, the developers said a hardship waiver was unnecessary. The applicant seeks an “adaptive reuse” of existing buildings, rather than an entirely new development, the letter said.

“We are not going to change the envelope of any of the buildings,” Signature Partners' CEO, Andrew M. Weiss Jr., said at the meeting. “It’s a restoration type of project.”

Under the proposal, the existing buildings would be reused for cannabis cultivation following interior renovations, parking lot resurfacing, landscaping upgrades and improvements to septic systems, fire sprinklers and other utility connections, according to documents filed with the commission. Ten wooded acres would remain untouched, according to a concept presented to the commission. “We will do nothing to injure or impair the existing majestic pine trees,” the letter states.

The property is in Riverhead Town’s “Natural Resources Protection” zoning district, which allows agricultural production. Cannabis is considered an agricultural crop under state law.

Town site plan approval would also be required, though no official plans have been filed yet.

“At this early stage, we are focused on making our application to the Central Pine Barrens Board. Once that is complete, we look forward to working with the Town of Riverhead to ensure that this long abandoned property is restored and can once again become a significant employer and taxpayer,” Weiss said in a statement.

Weiss added that they plan to make a formal application to the Central Pine Barrens Commission for a hardship waiver. A public hearing would be held before the commission decides.

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New York's gubernatorial front-runners, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, are using well-known political figures as proxies to attack each other, with Hochul linking Blakeman to President Donald Trump and Blakeman associating Hochul with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Yancey Roy reports in NEWSDAY that this strategy looks to leverage the high negativity ratings of these proxies outside their own parties to energize voter bases, despite the risk that voters may not connect the intended dots. Analysts suggest that while using a bogeyman can be effective, it often results in low-information voting, ultimately disadvantaging voters.

"Gov. Hochul blasted Bruce Blakeman for putting his loyalty to Donald Trump ahead of New Yorkers" begins a recent Hochul campaign release.

"Donald Trump saying [Blakeman is] 100% MAGA. Pretty much the kiss of death...