Frank Buonanotte Vs. The State Of New York

Frank Buonanotte is the former CEO of Crossings Recovery Centers. Up until February of 2006, Crossings was the largest provider of outpatient substance abuse treatment on Long Island with offices throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Unfortunately, Crossings was unjustifiably shut down by the state of New York. The diabolical actions that led to the demise of the company were executed by Henry Zwack, General Counsel for the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) in Albany. Zwack's wrong doings were co-conspired by the acting commissioner of OASAS, Shari Noonan.

This was a classic example of political corruption. Zwack and Buonanotte had a verbal dispute over the telephone and, in retaliation, Zwack abused his political power by executing a series of unlawful events that led to the destruction of one of the most valuable and respected treatment agencies on Long Island. Since the State closed Crossings, local newspaper articles have indicated a drastic increase in DWIs and drug related crimes. In the May 15, 2001 issue of Newsday, Suffolk County was quoted by saying, "With the recent closing of privately owned chemical dependency clinics, Suffolk County is experiencing a shortage of treatment services." The article also indicated that the county is asking the Governor and the State Legislature to provide additional funding to help them keep up with the growing demand for substance abuse problems on Long island. Sadly enough, if Henry Zwack hadn't closed Crossings, all of the needs of the community would have continued to be met at no cost to tax payers. Since Crossings was a private agency owned by Frank Buonanotte, no tax subsidized funding was necessary to allow it to operate. So not only are Zwack's power hungry ways costing taxpayers more money, they have increased the ongoing drug and alcohol problem on Long Island.

Long Island is home to over 3 Million residence. OASAS' own statistics indicate that about 15% of any given population usually requires some type of alcohol and/or drug treatment. That means almost a half a million people on Long Island are struggling with substance abuse problems. How could this man have been allowed to deprive so many people these extremely needed services? What kind of politician are we dealing with? Why hasn't anyone brought this man to justice? It seems as if Henry Zwack has a long history of political corruption. All you have to do is Google his name to read all of the trouble he has caused.

Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman, the attorneys representing Frank Buonanotte in his lawsuit against the State, have filed the Civil Action with the United States District Court. Below are just a few of the complaints filed against OASAS, Zwack and Noonan:

Violation of Due Process
Violation of Equal Protection
Breach of Contract
Breach of Fiduciary Duty as Receiver
Breach of Statutory Duty as Receiver
Fraud
Interference with Contract
Defamation of Character
Libel
Slander
Injurious Falsehood
Abuse of Process

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in court. Frank Buonanotte and Crossings have the benefit of their good reputation of being an outstanding health care provider in the community. Zwack and Noonan have a long history of political corruption and OASAS is already being viewed as an incompetent regulatory agency. Let's hope the good guys win this time and prevent Zwack from causing any more harm to the public. Buonanotte is hopeful that he'll get Zwack and Noonan indicted for their unspeakable actions that have left so many lives on Long Island without the clinical care that was so desperately needed. The full lawsuit can be viewed at www.FrankBuonanotte.com.

By: Long Island Current

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