‘It’s Just Not Right’: Nassau Democrat Groups Call For Opioid Funding To Be Released

MINEOLA, NY. — On a blustery, rainy Monday, protestors took to the steps of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building to call for Nassau County to spend more of the money it was awarded in a 2021 opioid settlement.

Protestors chanted things like, "It's just not right" and "What do we want? Funding!" They also held signs reading, "Show me the money," "Don't even think about misusing our blood money," and "stop the steal."

The settlement funds were given to the county as part of a 2021 settlement with a trio of opioid manufacturers, which set Nassau County up to receive up to $115 million. That money would be earmarked for mental health, prevention treatments, education and community support, then-County Executive Laura Curran said when the settlement was announced.

According to the protestors present Monday, including former County Legislator Dave Denenberg, Bellmore-Merrick Democrats leader Claudia Borecky and Nassau County Legislator Olena Nicks, just a fraction of those funds have actually been distributed.

“This funding, over $100 million, went to Nassau County from the state, to be used for programs. More than $90 million is still left and hasn’t been funded,” Denenberg said. “Less than 10 percent of the funding that’s gone to Nassau County has found its way to programs that save lives. We need that funding. Why has over 90 percent languished?”

Multiple speakers at Monday’s protest also voiced their opposition to a practice by which they said Nassau County had held the opioid funds in interest-accruing accounts and using that interest to fill out the county’s budget.

When asked about the interest accrual and the county's expenditures from the opioid funds, a spokesperson for the county referenced recent overdose trends and noted that the interest accrued from opioid funds wasn't unique.

"Like all other county funds, the interest accrues to the general fund," the spokesperson said. "Opioid overdoses have declined by 16 percent in just the past year. The money is being put to good use."

Blakeman’s office pointed to the number of opiate deaths in the county over 2023 (170), 2024 (115) and 2025 (58, with some still pending) to support its statement that the money was being spent effectively.

In the eyes of County Legislator Olena Nicks, who spoke at Monday’s demonstration, the lowering opiate death numbers would only be sufficient if they reached a specific number: Zero.

“One life lost is too many. And, although we’ve seen some progress, it is not enough. We’re still having a crisis, families are still facing the devastation,” Nicks said. “And even if there were no lives lost and we made such progress, we’d still need to focus on prevention, because it can happen to anyone. Addiction is not a crime, it shouldn’t be criminalized, it is an illness that anyone can succumb to. We need to make sure that we hold the administration accountable for getting the funds out and doing what’s right for the families of Nassau County. We cannot wait any longer, because addiction does not wait.”

Also present Monday was Larry Lamendola, co-chair of the Levittown Community Action Coalition and a father who has been personally impacted by the presence of opioids in Nassau County. Wearing a sign that bore the name, birth date and death date of his daughter, Lamendola recalled the way opioids had touched his life.

“My heart was broken on Sept. 19, 2019, when i found my daughter in her room. She died of Fentanyl poisoning,” Lamendola said. “The crisis isn’t over, folks…Fentanyl, substances, they don’t choose a democrat, a republican, an independent. We need this money released…The simple thing for Nassau County to do is to release that money, ask nonprofits to head this up for people in recovery.”