Politics on the Hudson

Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano has concerns about the state budget’s impact on Westchester but he doesn’t seem ready to pull county police off state-owned parkways — a move that Long Island’s two county executives are threatening to undertake.

According to a report in Newsday this morning, Nassau’s Tom Suozzi and Suffolk’s Steve Levy are planning to reduce their police presence on the Long Island Expressway and Sunrise Highway to counter proposed state budget cuts.

While Spano has similar worries about the budget cuts, he isn’t likely to pull county police off state-owned highways in Westchester like the Hutchinson River and Bronx River parkways, said Susan Tolchin, his chief advisor.

“I doubt it very much,” Tolchin said. “We need to patrol our parkways.”