Paul LaRocco

Nassau County paid 14,205 current and former government employees a total of $1.25 billion in 2024, an increase of nearly 11% from 2023, according to payroll data obtained under the Freedom of Information Law. Forty-seven percent of the payroll budget, or $584 million, went to the police department. You can explore the department breakdown in this interactive chart: Video Player is loading. Current Time 0:00 Duration 0:00 Remaining Time -0:00 Beginning of dialog window.

Suffolk County paid 16,993 current and former employees a total of over $1.18 billion in 2024, an increase of 5% from 2023, according to public payroll data obtained by Newsday through the Freedom of Information Act. Just under half of the payroll budget, or $562 million, went to the police department. You can explore the department breakdown in this interactive chart: Video Player is loading. Current Time 0:00 Duration 0:00 Remaining Time -0:00 Beginning of dialog window.

Matthew Sherwood measures the cost of Bethpage Community Park contamination in missed opportunities. The 41-year-old investment manager, who is blind and walks with a guide dog, said the park four blocks from his home "could be a safe place" to take his 3-year-old daughter to — if much of it wasn’t a fenced-off plot of tainted soil. "It's frustrating hearing stories from others using it when they were a kid: ‘A family place;’ ‘A beautiful park,’ " said Sherwood, a Bethpage resident since 2016.