Serving as Hochul’s Long Island ‘eyes and ears’

Rob Calarco was having a busy Friday.

He’d just gotten back from Fire Island, where he met with the mayor of Ocean Beach, and was catching up on some emails when a reporter sat down across from him for an interview at a downtown Patchogue coffee shop.

It’s all in a day’s work for Calarco, who, since January, has worked for Gov. Kathy Hochul as assistant secretary for Long Island Intergovernmental Affairs.

It’s also a role tailor-made for Calarco, a Democrat who represented the Patchogue-Medford area for five terms in the Suffolk County Legislature. He served as presiding officer in his final term, but lost a bid for re-election to Republican Dominick Thorne in November 2021.

As “the eyes and ears of all things Nassau and Suffolk,” Calarco travels Long Island meeting with elected officials and leaders from nonprofits and the private sector, trying to build support for Hochul’s priorities—which include public safety, combating retail theft, and making Long Island a more affordable place to live. He also brings back to the Governor’s office the feedback he hears from those he meets with.

“I have an opportunity to work with a terrific governor, who’s focused on the needs of the people of Long Island,” said Calarco, who has four people working for him in the Long Island regional office.

It’s a role that’s not always easy, as Hochul’s plans to expand affordable housing haven’t always landed with local officials on Long Island.

But, as Calarco points out, a growing number of municipalities have expressed interest in becoming Pro-Housing Communities, meaning they get priority for $650 million in discretionary state funds for agreeing to allow more affordable housing units to be built in their communities.

Sometimes Calarco has the happier task of helping bring state resources to Long Island, such as a $3 million state grant for a solar energy installation at the Patchogue LIRR station that will help provide power to an expanded village sewage treatment plant.

After leaving the county legislature, Calarco served as assistant regional director for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 1.

He was also Italian-American of the Year at last year’s St. Liberata Feast.