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"I just moved into Nassau County and Executive Souzzi seems to be running a good ship. After having lived in Yaphank near the recently and controversially re-opened Suffolk County Skeet Range that was peacefully closed for almost five years, I was lucky to have escaped with my sanity, but not with the full value of my home. Once I settled in, (and could think without constant gunshot noise) I decided to do some research about Nassau to find out what goes on here, and I discovered some fascinating things. I already knew that the range’s vendor, Mark Wroobel, owns a gun store here in Nassau. What I found intriguing was that his Father-in-law, Bill Marshall, was the former budget director for then Nassau Supervisor Tom Gullota and also served as the Deputy Receiver of Taxes for former North Hempstead Supervisor Ben Zwirn.

Ben Zwirn donated in excess of $32,500 to Steve Levy’s campaign for Suffolk County Executive. Currently, Ben Zwirn is the Assistant Deputy County Executive to Mr. Levy. It’s no secret that Steve Levy’s allegiance is to the special interest groups that were pushing to have the range re-opened despite numerous concerns about its location, (a Core Pine Barrens Preservation Area and immediately adjacent to a substantial residential neighborhood) and its inability to operate in abidance of local laws, (Brookhaven Town noise laws). So when, in November of 2002, Mr. Levy, Ben Zwirn and Parks Commissioner Ron Foley met privately with John Cushman of S.A.F.E., (a politically supportive sportsmen’s organization), to find funding to reopen the range, the notion of backroom dealings arose. While searching for future vendors to reopen the range, only one, Mark Wroobel, son-in-law of Bill Marshall (former colleague of Ben Zwirn) became the frontrunner. Mr. Wroobel, originally from Nassau County, had contributed to the campaign of former Suffolk Legislator and now State Assemblywoman Ginny Fields who was instrumental in passing, (some might say ‘railroading’) legislation exempting the range from county noise laws, to try to make it easier to reopen the range. In fact, when the range reopened, Mr. Wroobel hosted a political fundraiser there given by “Friends of Ginny Fields” where alcohol was served while shotguns blasted away only 100’ from a South Country School District bus stop!

As far as Brookhaven Town noise laws are concerned, in 2005, Steve Levy met with civic leaders and told them the county would not spend any money on the gun range unless an agreement was in place with the town of Brookhaven regarding their noise laws which still applied to the range despite Suffolk’s self-serving exemption. John LaValle, who was the Town Supervisor at the time, issued a letter to Levy saying no deal. Also intriguing is that the range re-opened in 2006 after the Pine Barrens Commission did not take jurisdiction of its own lead polluted land where the range operates. The commission is charged by NY State law to protect this land, and jurisdictional action by the commission would have prevented the Gun Range from re-opening and (surprise!) Steve Levy is a sitting member of this commission. Presently, Mark Wroobel is suing the Town of Brookhaven in Supreme Court because Town Supervisor Foley is enforcing his noise laws – the very laws that Wroobel & Levy knew existed and knew would be enforced long before re-opening the range and are now being violated every 3 seconds, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. On the face of it, it would seem silly to re-open a gun range knowing the town would enforce its noise law but apparently common sense is no obstacle to Mr. Wroobel and Mr. Levy. And since the circumstances surrounding the reopening of the range smack of behind-the-scenes dealings and the “players” are all either related to or are friends of one another, it comes as no surprise.

So, good bye my Yaphank friends.

I feel your pain and I hope this information helps you find peace in your lifetime.

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