Cover photo: Legislature Candidate Sal Formica (R-Commack) (Credit – Formica for Legislature)
There are two open seats in the eighteen-member Suffolk County Legislature: the Babylon-based Fourteenth District – represented by Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) – and the northern Smithtown-based Thirteenth District – represented by Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga).
Legislature members are limited to six (6) two-year terms. All are elected concurrently. The open Smithtown seat has given rise to a familiar face in Smithtown, particularly Commack, but political newcomer Sal Formica (R-Commack).
Formica hosted his campaign kickoff event earlier this month at Smithtown Landing Country Club, a packed event with local leaders, law enforcement, and long-time community members.
Formica sat down with The Messenger for an intro to his campaign.
“I started out as a teller on the ground level – didn’t like that very much since there wasn’t a lot of room for advancement,” said Formica. “I had seen an ad with Chase Manhattan Bank looking for platform help. I started out on a platform and worked at 22 Grace Avenue in Great Neck.”
Formica moved up the ranks quickly, along with one of his closest friends They became the number-one and number-two people on Long Island for many years in a row in their industry.
While Formica’s friend went on to become a “big wig” at TD Bank, Formica decided his passion was to become a police officer. He nostalgically recalls his times as playing games of “SWAT” as a kid in his grandfather’s backyard.
A fulfillment of a deep-rooted dream, Formica got hired in 1990 and worked at the Seventeenth Precinct of the NYPD, the same precinct that the United Nations Headquarters calls home.
“I spent seven years there and I wound up getting called for the Emergency Services Unit,” effectively the SWAT team. Training took him about seven months, including becoming a certified diver, an EMT, and rappelling down from helicopters. After about three-to-four years of being in Emergency Services, FormiCa was made one of the snipers for New York City – one of just fifteen at the time.
“Anytime a high-profile dignitary came into town, whether it was our own president or a leader from elsewhere, I and my team were always deployed for that. We worked hand-in-hand with the FBI and the Secret Service,” said Formica, recalling having met Presidents George H. W. Bush (R-TX), George W. Bush (R-TX), and Bill Clinton (D-AR), as well as Donald Trump (R-FL) before he forayed into politics.
During such high-profile events – especially the U.N. General Assembly – Formica was either on a rooftop with a sniper rifle or riding in the armored security motorcades.
Formica retired from the service in 2010 and came into possession of a restaurant in Commack, Villa Di Vanzo, on Jericho Turnpike. He says that trying to gut and renovate the building took “ten months and a lot of aggravation” in dealing with the Town. He did, however, find help with then-Councilman, now-Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R-Kings Park), then-Town Clerk, now-County Clerk Vincent Puleo (R-Nesconset), and the late Councilman Bob Creighton (R).
“When [then-Supervisor] Pat Vecchio (R) was in charge, it was almost impossible to get permits, but that’s how I actually met Ed [Wehrheim]. I did everything the way they [the Town] wanted [as far as code and safety] and they helped me get open,” said Formica. “I paid ten months of rent without opening. It was crazy.”
Formica opened the restaurant in 2011 and sold it in June 2023. He served as owner and chef.
Formica later opened Bantry Bay Public House in Commack, now the location of Prime Burger. The venture didn’t last long due to unforeseen circumstances that surrounded his business partner’s family life.
Formica later served as the president of the Commack South Little League and was on the board for about fifteen years. He’s also a thirty-two-year volunteer of the Commack Fire Department, a position in which he continues to serve today.
“I have the finance background, managing people and budgets. That’s what I did before and after the NYPD. Sandwiched in the middle was public safety, not only protecting the civilian community on a daily basis, but also high-profile dignitaries as well. I know what it takes to secure locations and I know when something doesn’t look right,” said Formica.
As far as his campaign platform, Formica places public safety as “number-one”, and also calls the protection of Suffolk’s drinking water “crucial.” He points to a string of breast cancer diagnoses in certain communities.
“Most of Long Island used to be farmland. Where are we today? We’ve done a lot of building, there’s a lot of things buried in the ground that shouldn’t be in the ground. There’s a lot out there that needs to be corrected,” said Formica.
“Our taxes also have to be maintained; we are losing our youth here,” said Formica.
He takes the redevelopment plans of Smithtown’s three business districts as an at-large blueprint for attracting stable businesses, keeping families on the Island, and protecting the environment.
“A revitalization needs different components to work. I believe in what the Town [of Smithtown] is doing. The Town needs to be in sync, which I believe they are,” said Formica, adding that, should he be elected, he’ll serve with Legislator Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset) to pinpoint County funding to help the municipality.
“You have to present a good argument for where the funds are coming from, how much you need, and what the return on the investment will be,” said Formica. He also takes issue with the beleaguered modern-day Main Street, one of smoke shops – that often illegally sell marijuana – tattoo parlors and convenience stores. Such a makeup is all too familiar not just in Smithtown, but across the county.
“These are all quality-of-life problems that we have to find a way to harness. I know from twenty years as a police officer that it’s not realistic to try to catch every person,” said Formica. “But if everybody does their part within their township, hopefully we can minimize the damage.”
Formica is confident, if elected, in his ability to work with his seventeen colleagues on the horseshoe and County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches), who Formica calls a “unifier.”
Formica, a near-forty-year resident of Smithtown, is passionate about the current Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) currently taking place in Kings Park, stating that the Town has only moved into the Twenty-First Century due to the leadership of Supervisor Wehrheim.
“I’m saying this as a person who has lived in this community for a long time,” stated Formica, dismissing claims of overdevelopment and overreach as patently false.
Formica has earned the endorsements of the entire Smithtown Town Council, the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the entire Suffolk Police Conference, Local 138 (International Union of Operating Engineers), and Plumbers Local 200.
The Thirteenth Legislative District contains Fort Salonga, Head of the Harbor, Kings Park, Nissequogue, San Remo, St. James, and parts of Commack and Smithtown hamlet within Smithtown Township, and parts of Commack within Huntington Township.
Formica faces Frank Black (R) in the June 24 primary.
