More than a century ago, the Long Island Contractors’ Association began its history as member firms excavated sand from the shorelines of Port Washington. Founded as the Nassau-Suffolk Sand and Gravel Association, we continue today to represent the region’s heavy construction industry, with great respect for the natural resources of the place we call home.
Port, as locals call the community, remains a fitting reminder of the enduring connection between our natural environment and our economic needs.
Nestled on the Cow Neck Peninsula in Nassau County, Port Washington juts into Long Island Sound, with Manhasset Bay to the west and Hempstead Harbor to the east. Beginning in the 1870s, this sand-mining community boasted what was considered the largest sandbank east of the Mississippi River. Its navigable waterways provided easy barge access, allowing an estimated 140 million cubic yards of local sand to help build the famed New York City skyline, including the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, as well as the city’s subway system.
Today, little remains of that once-dominant sand-mining industry. Former mining property has been reclaimed for new uses, including the beautiful Harbor Links golf courses. Port Washington’s evolution illustrates how economic development and environmental stewardship can coexist across generations.
The expression “any port in a storm” suggests that when circumstances become difficult, we take whatever safe harbor is available. But Port Washington isn’t exactly “any port.” It is a community with a long history of confronting changing circumstances while planning for the future.
Like many Long Island communities, Port Washington continues to balance environmental protection with economic sustainability. Earlier this year, local officials celebrated nearly $2.2 million in federal funding secured by U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi for aging sewer infrastructure in Manorhaven and the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District. That investment follows an earlier $5.8 million federal award for improvements to the district’s wastewater system, helping protect Manhasset Bay while supporting the community’s future.
Port Washington is also at the center of discussions surrounding the Propel NY Energy project, a major transmission initiative designed to strengthen the downstate electric grid. Proposed submarine transmission facilities in and around Hempstead Harbor have prompted scrutiny from local leaders and residents as the project moves through the regulatory process. It is another example of the challenge facing Long Island: meeting our environmental, economic, public health, and energy needs responsibly and simultaneously.
LICA has always worked to promote infrastructure projects that seek collaborative and successful solutions to those challenges. Perhaps it is fitting, then, that another leader with roots in Port Washington now occupies one of New York’s most important environmental posts. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton grew up in the community and understands firsthand the relationship between Long Island’s natural resources and its economic vitality.
“As Long Islanders, we know that things like water quality and natural resources are critical to our livelihood,” Lefton recently told a Long Island Association audience. “These things are not in competition but actually complement each other.”
Those words could just as easily describe Port Washington’s evolution over the past century. They also reflect the challenge Lefton now faces as DEC Commissioner, overseeing an agency responsible for protecting the state’s air and water, wildlife, and natural resources while administering environmental regulations that touch nearly every major infrastructure project.
That is no small responsibility.
Our industry knows that protecting the environment and building the infrastructure necessary for a strong economy need not be opposing objectives. Done thoughtfully, each can strengthen the other.
We hope you enjoy our cover story on Commissioner Lefton, a Port Washington native whose roots provide an appropriate foundation for the challenges ahead.
After all, when it comes to navigating those challenges, it helps to know how to find a safe port in a storm.