Panico Sounds Alarm Over Crime, Albany’s Socialist Shift

A rash of shootings, stabbings and gang violence across Suffolk County has Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico warning that Long Island faces an increasingly dangerous future under a state government moving further toward the socialist left.

“There is a cult of lawlessness in this state. We live under the rule of law and crime must be punished,” Panico stated, pointing to cashless bail and other pro-criminal policies of the left.

Recent incidents referenced by the supervisor include a student stabbed at Sachem High School East, a teenager shot after exiting a bus in Mastic, a gang-related shooting at the Bellport train station, and the arrest of a Smithtown High School West student after police discovered a handgun, ammunition and a knife in his backpack.

Security concerns have also forced the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library to curtail hours at its Neighborhood Road branch, with plans to eliminate traditional services in favor of scheduled programs.

The violence recalls the 2022 gang shooting outside then-Congressman Lee Zeldin’s Shirley home, where two people were wounded while his daughters were inside.

“I am very worried about Long Island and our future,” Panico told the South Shore Press.

Democrats emerged from Tuesday’s election with veto-proof supermajorities in both legislative chambers, strengthening their influence over state policy.

Panico criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul, saying she “casts herself as a moderate but threw in with the Socialist Democrats for the purpose of political expediency.”

He warned that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda will push Albany further left, threatening suburban taxpayers.

“It will be interesting to watch the coming year when you have the mayor’s approach of putting his foot on the gas toward socialism,” Panico said.

Panico also questioned the state’s commitment to investigating suspected fraud involving taxpayer-funded daycare and medical transportation programs.

“I don’t understand why the state will not actively pursue waste, fraud and abuse,” he said, noting Brookhaven had provided evidence of suspected wrongdoing but that nothing has been done.

“There’s a lack of understanding in Albany that government can’t be everything to everyone because it runs on tax dollars, and the people are overtaxed,” the supervisor continued. “We see an abhorrent waste of taxpayer dollars.”

Panico also pointed to bus riders skipping fares amid Mamdani’s unfulfilled promise of free transit, another example, he argued, of expectations outpacing reality.