From dusk till dawn and back again, a small group of hotline staffers handle potentially high-stake calls. The voices on the other end: Long Island abuse victims reaching out for help, sometimes while in harm’s way. Such calls may soon slip into silence or become fewer as ECLI-VIBES — an Islandia-based nonprofit that staffs the hotline and serves victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual assault — is one of several such organizations in New York due to see a reduction in state funding. Jennifer Hernandez, executive director of ECLI-VIBES, said the potential loss of funding amounts to a broken trust for clients who are often confronting a porous social safety net. Ms. Hernandez told NEWSDAY, “The worst thing that you can do is promise something that you can't deliver on, and we've learned that because trust is broken so much with our community, and it's like, you know, ‘Yeah, you're another person who says you're going to help me and can't?’” Tiffany Cusaac-Smith reports in NEWSDAY that the state Office of Victims Services, which doles out the money, said it received more requests for funding than it had earmarked for its two-year budget cycle that starts this year, resulting in a loss of funding for some organizations. The office also said fluctuations in federal funding from the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) contributed to the cuts. For instance, the state received about $70 million from VOCA in 2025 and $43.9 million in 2024, the agency said. At ECLI-VIBES, the loss would be seismic. The organization has received $1.3 million annually from the Office of Victims Services. But in a July letter, the nonprofit found its funding would drop to about $637,000, a 50% cut. The cut, which the Office of the State Comptroller must still review, will hit the nonprofit’s direct services, including the hotline, as well as its licensed social workers and mental health counselors. The organization may have to cut seven employees if it doesn’t secure additional funding through fundraising and other avenues. Each year, the organization ends up following up on about 6,000 domestic violence reports filed with the Suffolk County police. After that, the nonprofit's client care clinicians, licensed mental health counselors or social workers do safety planning and work with shelters, hospitals and other providers. The nonprofit also manages the county’s sexual assault forensic examiner program, which sends a healthcare provider to collect scientific evidence of assaults at hospitals. Some of those areas could be affected by the financial pinch, raising concerns among Suffolk officials including Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney Suffolk Sheriff Errol D Toulon, Jr. urged the state and federal government to factor in the impact of ECLI-VIBES’ critical services and restore funding. The NYS Office of Victims Services told NEWSDAY that it never received so many applications seeking so much funding. *** The Suffolk County Water Authority pumped a record amount of water to its customers in June, as 400,000 homes and businesses and thousands of acres of residential lawns, thirsty after a prolonged period of drought, sucked up more than 11 billion gallons of water that month. During that time, the water authority also came close to eclipsing its record for the most water it’s ever pumped at one given moment, which is about 550,000 gallons per minute. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that a wetter July and early August has eased the stress on the supply infrastructure, the SCWA says, thanks largely to homeowners who have installed smart systems that use weather forecasting or soil moisture and rainfall sensors to bypass automated watering schedules when watering is not needed. “It’s been a tale of two summers for us this year,” Daniel Dubois, the SCWA’s director of communications and external affairs, said this week. “In the early season we had a widespread drought across Suffolk County and water usage was really through the roof, particularly on the East End but across our service territory, also. In June, we set a record, 11.15 billion gallons. But since then we’ve had quite a bit of rain, so we’re in a much better position now.” To keep up with the soaring demand and the stresses on its supply systems, the water authority is pouring millions of dollars into infrastructure to prop up its supply network, while still wrestling with whether to introduce a new, third tier of its pricing schedule to help shift some of the burden of its costs on those who use the most water. Among the infrastructure improvements underway is a new water storage tank currently being constructed by the SCWA in Tuckahoe, which will boost the ability to deliver huge volumes of water to Southampton Village and its surroundings during peak demand times — which is invariably the early morning hours of summer days, when thousands of residential automatic irrigation systems are churning sprinkler heads to keep lawns green through blazing days. The tank will be able to hold 2 million gallons of water, to be pumped into the supply mains during times of peak demand to help keep water pressure stable. Construction of the tank will cost the SCWA — and, therefore, its customers countywide — $4 million. Southampton Village is home to several of the largest single sources of water demand in the SCWA residential portfolio — the homes that the authority refers to internally as “superusers,” because they suck up many times more water than the average residential SCWA customer does. *** Three Riverhead public safety officers were honored Tuesday night for their quick response to a speeding driver at the Polish Town Fair, action that officials said prevented injuries to fairgoers and vendors. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Traffic Control Officer Ryan Zaleski and Police Officers Matthew Neknez and Stephan Ady received proclamations from Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin and the Town Board for their roles in stopping the vehicle Sunday morning. Supervisor Halpin presented the three men with proclamations honoring them for their fast, heroic actions which he said undoubtedly saved lives Sunday. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, from our community, from each one of the Town Board members, for what you did … in fast-acting…selfless reaction time, with humility, and with kindness,” Halpin said. “Your regard for everyone else around you will forever be appreciated,” he said. *** Some Riverhead residents and immigration advocates are urging the town to consider legislation aimed at protecting public safety when federal immigration agents respond in Riverhead, but town officials say there are no plans to consider it. More than a dozen people, many wearing black T-shirts bearing pro-immigrant sentiments, urged the board Tuesday evening to act on or discuss a bill backed by Organización Latino Americana - OLA of Eastern Long Island, a Latino advocacy nonprofit. The bill sets procedures for how town governments and police departments respond to immigration enforcement activity, including by sharing incident reports publicly. Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that the new push comes amid reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sightings are up across Long Island and as other East End towns weigh policies to respond to those incidents. In neighboring Southold, the town board is expected to finalize policies next week requiring police to respond to reported ICE incidents for peacekeeping efforts. Minerva Perez, the executive director of OLA who pitched the bill to East End municipalities in February, said some officials have mischaracterized the legislation. She emphasized the bill isn’t intended to block ICE from working in Riverhead. "When there is a random ICE raid that comes to town ... we want to see more presence from law enforcement in a coordinated way," she said. The goal, she said during Tuesday's meeting, is "to make sure there isn’t a rise in panic and chaos and possible injury, which we’ve seen in the past in other areas.” None of the Riverhead Town board members responded publicly at Tuesday’s meeting, though several said in post-meeting interviews that they did not plan to act on the measure and view the town’s role as limited. “Riverhead Town police is not a part of those activities, and ICE doesn’t need to share anything with us. They’re not obligated to do that,” Councilman Ken Rothwell told NEWSDAY. While the Riverhead Town board has declined to take up the measure publicly, Supervisor Jerry Halpin said he met privately with Perez. “I have read their legislation and I did let her know that I would not, at that time, be bringing it to a work session,” Halpin said yesterday. “I believe our police department is doing an exceptional job keeping their finger on the pulse with it, and understanding what they can do to protect every citizen in our town.” *** Residents of Hampton Bays are being asked, for the second time this summer, to approve the sale of land on Montauk Highway that is owned by the Hampton Bays Fire District. The fire district will hold a public referendum at its headquarters at 69 Montauk Highway next Tuesday, August 25, from 6 to 9 p.m. Only residents who are registered to vote at an address within the Hampton Bays Fire District boundaries will be eligible to cast ballots. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the referendum asks residents to authorize the fire district’s commissioners to put the land it owns across the street from the current Hampton Bays Firehouse, at 84 West Montauk Highway, up for sale. In June, voters rejected a similar proposition at the...
