Thursday, October 1, 2026
County Legislator Tom McKevitt is a familiar face in the East Meadow community, a lifelong resident.
A Republican, McKevitt was first elected to the Legislature in 2017, and represents the 13th District, which includes East Meadow and Salisbury as well as parts of North Levittown and Bethpage. He previously served many of the same constituents for over a decade as a state assemblyman.
Since his last re-election bid in 2023, some key events have taken place in East Meadow, perhaps most notably the International Cricket Committee Men’s T20 World Cup last June. A temporary stadium was erected in Eisenhower Park, and the competition drew fans from all over the world and generated significant revenue for the county. Tournament organizers had pledged to restore the park afterward — work that McKevitt said he was eager to see completed.
But the county got involved in litigation with the organizers after they failed to meet the July deadline to repair the park and its fields.
“I think we cooperated as much as we could’ve,” McKevitt told Herald reporters in a roundtable interview. “The cricket area is all fully grown in again, but it’s probably about six months behind where it should’ve been.”
He is hopeful that renovations in the area will be completed by next spring.
Among the other issues that McKevitt has focused on, catalytic converter thefts were of particular concern in Salisbury, largely due to the area’s proximity to the Wantagh Parkway. The county has since enacted legislation that McKevitt believes has helped reduce the number of those thefts.
“If you’re now going to try to bring a catalytic converter to a junkyard, junk shop, you have to have the indication of where it came from,” he said.
The Nassau County Correctional Facility, in East Meadow, has been in need of roof repairs, which have been completed. A small section of the facility is being used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house local detainees, and McKevitt said he has not heard of any concerns among East Meadow residents about it. The jail, McKevitt said, is underutilized now because of state bail reform laws, and ICE’s use of cells actually generates revenue for Nassau County.
“The jail has a much lower capacity — it’s probably down almost 40 percent,” he said. “We have the space. We might as well make some income from it, rather than just let that space go to waste.”
Next to the correctional facility, the Nassau University Medical Center, a public safety-net hospital, provides care to all patients regardless of their ability to pay. The hospital, home to a Level 1 trauma center and burn center, was recently taken over by the state, in accordance with provisions in New York’s budget. The takeover has created tension between county leaders and state officials, and while McKevitt did not delve into the possible reasons behind the state’s decision, he said that his dedication to NUMC’s survival remains unwavering.
He added that he had met with its new administrators, who have experience managing hospitals. “It is a necessity that NUMC survives and that it continues to operate,” McKevitt said. “I haven’t heard of anything, seen anything negative happening. I’m not worried about the next 90 days — I’m worried about that next 10 years and where the investment is going to be.”
This is McKevitt’s 12th re-election bid, including his time in the assembly. “I control this part of the world, and I am going to keep this part of the world as good as I possibly can — and that’s what I try to do.”
