Ambrosino was asked about the long-awaited decision by Empire State Development on the development of Belmont Park in Elmont, which was expected last year, and which Empire’s press secretary, Jason Conwall, told the Herald in March would come “soon.” “My gut is you’re not going to see that for a little while,” he said, “but it’s a big issue. Any decision you make in life, you’re going to alienate 20 percent of the people, or make 50 percent of the people upset. They have to weigh the merits…”

Ambrosino also emphasized the importance to Elmont’s livelihood of residents’ shopping locally. “We need to do a better job of changing the psychology of some people living in Elmont, to get them to shop here and play here,” he said. “We will do a better job of making it more accessible and user-friendly, but we also need Elmont to invest in this community … If you’re going to go out to eat, eat at the local restaurant. It’s very hard to keep a business open if no one’s going there.”

And about those potholes . . .

As the conversation came to an end, a comment about warming temperatures sparked a discussion about potholes across the county that are still being filled after a harsh winter.

“That’s huge,” Ambrosino said of the problem, “but it’s nature, it’s life. We had a terrible winter, and I went through four tires! … The infrastructure needs work, but the infrastructure needs to be paid for, and we’re not going to raise taxes. So, I mean, we … have to find a better way to do it. There’s always efficiencies, but sometimes we do need to make an investment in the community.

“I think it’s no problem issuing bonds to pay for all this as long as it’s being invested in a capital project that is going to bear fruit,” he added. “Our roads are critically important, our parks are critically important, our sewers, our water treatment — all of that is important. If that starts to become inadequate, that’s going to affect our lives. You need people to invest. It’s the ‘Field of Dreams’: If you build it, they will come.”