'Love Island' jab in Hempstead Town race

Daily Point

Democratic challenger Scianablo takes a pop culture swipe at Ferretti on his Instagram account

Sunday night, "Love Island," the very hot reality show where a group of single contestants live in an isolated luxury villa and date for several weeks, had its season’s finale. Yet, the number of memes, gifs, and references that came from the show are bound to remain relevant for the whole summer, especially when they have politicians keeping them alive ahead of fall elections.

Democrat Joe Scianablo, who is running for Hempstead Town supervisor, referenced the show on his personal Instagram account, using a meme to take a jab at his opponent, incumbent Republican John Ferretti.

This season on the show, one couple in particular took the spotlight for being incredibly toxic, Melanie and Sincere. While trying to find his "perfect" connection, Sincere explored his feelings with other women. These women are called bombshells because they enter the villa trying to "shake things" up with existing couples. Despite his exploration, he still convinced Melanie she was his top choice. However, his actions showed otherwise, and many viewers were critical of how poorly Sincere treated Melanie and were hoping to see her dump him, but she never did.

Scianablo wants Hempstead voters this fall to do what Melanie chose not to do — dump Ferretti and elect him. Ferretti beat Scianablo only last year but there's a rematch in November due to the mechanics of the new even-year voting law. Ferretti was appointed interim town supervisor in 2025 after Don Clavin stepped down last summer. The controversial maneuver led Scianablo to file a lawsuit claiming that Ferretti and the board violated New York’s Open Meetings Law. While he won on the improper process, the town board eventually followed procedure and properly appointed Ferretti.

Scianablo lost to Ferretti by 6.03 percentage points in the GOP-dominated town. The "Love Island" reference shows that Scianablo is leaning into pop culture connections that may reach nontraditional voters.

Scianablo told The Point that he used the reference to highlight the dysfunction in today’s politics.

"If that gets someone to stop scrolling and pay attention to their local government, then it has done exactly what it was intended to do. We’re meeting residents where they are, rather than spending thousands of taxpayer dollars on self-promotional mailers like my opponent."

Nassau County Republican Committee chairman Joe Cairo, responding to the Point’s request to Ferretti for comment, said in a statement, "Hempstead Town neighbors have responded enthusiastically to John Ferretti's leadership, which has delivered an 18% general town tax cut for 2026. Meanwhile, his opponent was part of the New York City District Attorney's Office, which gave criminals art classes instead of jail."

Only time will tell if Scianablo will be the bombshell entering the "villa" of Hempstead to shake things up or if Ferretti and his constituents will remain coupled up together once again.

— Christine Wallen christine.wallen@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Wired to never get tired 

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Final Point

The politics of Blakeman’s opioid money-fueled PSAs

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s new public service announcements on opioid abuse are airing on regional radio — just as his campaign for governor heats up. With less than four months left to Election Day, when voters will choose between Blakeman and Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Republican is seeking to expand his name recognition regionwide and compensate for running a relatively underfunded campaign while trailing badly in polls.

Even more unusual than the fact that taxpayers are funding his positive media exposure is the political backstory that led up to it: Blakeman had to be lobbied and prodded to spend the opioid funding the county was awarded.

On May 12, Newsday reported that Blakeman’s office had reversed its decision to transfer $14 million in interest accrued from unused opioid settlement funds into a different part of the county budget. Until then interest on the almost $100 million settlement money — targeted for drug abuse prevention, treatment and education — could have been used for other purposes.

Democrats in the county legislature and fiscal monitors had been pressuring Blakeman to use the accrued interest as intended. Outcry also came from parents of individuals who died following drug overdoses. Blakeman has resisted spending opioid funds on fentanyl testing strips as professionals advised.

Six weeks after word came that Blakeman was walking back the controversial 2025 funding switch, the county announced a $41,000 allocation to run public service ads related to the opioid crisis from June 17 through Aug. 9.

That’s very expedient for Blakeman’s efforts to present himself as a community-minded incumbent.

The ads address the dangers posed by opioids like fentanyl, which was linked by U.S. health officials to nearly 300 overdose deaths per day. Opioid overdoses in Nassau County reportedly declined last year, part of a wider trend largely attributed to increased emergency use of naxolone.

Ava Pinto and Mario Mancia-Alvarenga, two local students who are part of the Levittown Community Action Coalition (LCAC), worked with the YES Community Counseling Center, for which the county provides funding, to create them.

"We are so proud of Mario and Ava," Blakeman said. "You guys did an amazing job. And by doing it, you’re saving lives, and you’re really helping our community so much.” Perhaps Blakeman learned in his day job that using the public settlement money as prescribed could have a positive effect. 

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

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