Suffolk volunteer firefighters to be prioritized affordable housing in newly signed bill

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine signed a bill Tuesday that creates a new housing incentive to help recruit and retain volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel.

Flanked by first responders in front of the Brookhaven Fire Department, Romaine signed the bill while acknowledging the county needs to be proactive in creating affordable housing "for all categories of our citizens."

"I look forward to signing this bill, but I will say that does not stop our efforts for affordable housing," he said. "It only starts the beginning of our efforts."

He said creating more housing requires a collaborative approach between federal and state partners as well as locally with towns and villages.

The bipartisan legislation requires any new affordable developments that receive county workforce housing money to set aside at least five units or 10% of the property's total number of apartments, whichever is less, for volunteer firefighters and EMS workers. Lawmakers approved the bill last month.

Officials say the measure can help aging  volunteer departments retain and recruit new members at a time when housing costs continue to climb. Newsday reported last week the median price of a single-family home in Suffolk reached $700,000 for the first time.

Romaine said there is a need to help first responders.

Suffolk County has contributed funding toward 1,064 affordable units created between 2018 and 2024, Newsday previously reported.

Eugene Perry, president of the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, said he plans to discuss the bill with the organization’s legislative committee "to see if there’s a way we can do this statewide."

Peter DiPinto, chairman of the Brookhaven Board of Fire Commissioners, said the housing incentive could "100%" be used by the department in its promotional material to recruit new members, along with other benefits such as tax breaks.

"If you look at the people here, you don’t see too many young people," he said of the volunteers at the news conference.

The Suffolk bill sponsored by Legis. Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue) grew out of another measure  first proposed last November by Legis. Rebecca Sanin (D-Huntington Station). Thorne said the bill is "one step in making sure that the local firefighter is local."

He added in an interview that promoting affordable housing "is something that is always on our mind" and pointed to projects in his district, such as the 91-unit Greybarn Patchogue development under construction in East Patchogue.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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