Supervisor hoping to rid Riverhead train station of homeless
Cites complaints, concerns about area's image
18 comments below
Maureen's Haven driver Arthur Bridenstine (left) and screener Charlene Mascia (center) check homeless clients at the Riverhead railroad station last Thursday night. The clients spent the night in a local church.
Citing complaints, Town Supervisor Sean Walter is pushing to see the Open Arms Care Center move its volunteer soup kitchen out of Riverhead train station, where it feeds the area's hungry.
He's also calling on Maureen's Haven, which runs a sheltering program for the East End's homeless, to stop picking up people at the station.
"We have a tremendous problem at the train station," Mr. Walter said at a Town Board session last week. "We need to ask Open Arms not to use it as a soup kitchen. We've gotten so many complaints about it from people getting off the railroad. It's not the image we want to portray."
The town leases the 100-year-old train station from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for free, on the condition that it be occupied. The MTA hasn't used the building as a train station since 1972. The town, in turn, subleased the station to Open Arms in January, also for free. The lease expires June 21.
It's not clear if Mr. Walter has the support of the entire Town Board to not renew the lease, at least until alternative sites are found.
"I feel sorry for these people," Mr. Dunleavy said. "A lot of them are good people in unfortunate situations."
Town Board members Jodi Giglio and George Gabrielsen both said they wouldn't support moving Open Arms and Maureen's Haven until the town first finds a new location for them.
"We have an obligation to everybody in town, including the poor," Mr. Gabrielsen said.
"I have always been a proponent of feeding the hungry," said Councilman Jim Wooten, though he agreed with Mr. Walter that the groups should find another spot in town.
"It never is a pretty picture," Mr. Wooten said. "I understand the image and perception that this has on the Railroad Avenue corridor, and the town's desire to change that. I feel a different location that's more appropriate and one that doesn't lend itself to misperceptions has to be found."
Mr. Walter said the town may want to explore having a police department substation at the train station, especially if the town is able to acquire the armory building on Route 58 for use as a new police headquarters and justice court. A substation would give the police a presence closer to downtown.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently proposed eliminating passenger train service on the North Fork, except on weekends in the summer.
Open Arms was booted from First Congregational Church of Riverhead in early 2009 after 14 years of running a daily soup kitchen for the needy there. The church said it wanted to lease the space to other programs.
Open Arms then signed the sublease with the town and moved into the Riverhead train station building. Instead of soup, it began serving prepackaged foods such as sandwiches and hot chocolate, because there are no cooking facilities at the train station, said Zona Stroy, the group's chairperson.
"We usually serve about 100 people per day, which is about the same as we served at the church," Ms. Stroy said. The numbers are higher in the winter, she said.
Ms. Stroy said town officials have not contacted her directly about moving.
As for Maureen's Haven, its volunteers pick up homeless people at the Riverhead train station at 5 p.m. each night during the winter and take them to local churches to sleep.
Dennis Yuen, the program director at Peconic Community Council, which runs Maureen's Haven, said he'd spoken with Mr. Walter twice about relocating the pickup point from the train station. He said he doesn't believe the town can require them to move, although he acknowledged that "the town can try to discourage" the use of the station.
"In my opinion, we're doing a public service to people in need of shelter and to the Town of Riverhead," he said.
"It's a cold-weather program, mainly to keep these people alive," Mr. Yuen said. "I'm just looking forward to finishing the next couple of weeks."
The program runs from Nov. 1 through April 1, so it only has a few more weeks to go.
He said some of the alternative locations suggested by the town, such as the Henry Pfeifer Community Center in Calverton, are too far removed from the rest of the East End. Town officials have suggested the County Center in Riverside, but it doesn't have an overhead shelter, he said.
Maureen's Haven also picks up homeless at the Hampton Bays LIRR station.
About 30 churches participate in the program, and while it normally helps about 200 individuals each winter, the numbers climbed to about 325 this season, Mr. Yuen said. Many of the people served by the program are local North Fork and South Fork residents who have run into difficulties because of the economy, he said.
Mr. Walter said the town would work with Open Arms and Maureen's Haven to find other locations for their programs.
Still, Mr. Dunleavy said, it's a misconception that the homeless are causing problems around the station.
The people who use the soup kitchen are very polite, he said, and are not the ones who hang out at the train station all day. He said people who take a bus from the station to Southampton in search of work often come back by noon if they are unable to get work. They hang out all day and are cause for unease and tension in the area, he said.
He questioned whether the town would have the authority to ask Maureen's Haven to move, because the station is a public bus stop.
tgannon@timesreview.com
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18 comments found
Huh? : 10/26/2010
So, if I understand correctly, taking care of those in need -- i.e. showing LOVE -- is not what Sean Walter would have us show people. It's no secret that Riverhead is run down. But, at least, feeding the homeless and providing them shelter shows that someone is doing SOMETHING about the situation. This economy is a hard one. We must band together as a community.
free food : 4/2/2010
send for ICE
Re: Train Station & Homeless : 3/22/2010
It might very well be that the people who go to the train station for food and the ones who cause the problems are two different groups. The trouble is a lot of the homeless do not live in Riverhead --- at least, not the ones causing the trouble. There's another aspect to this problem. The train station is also a designated bus stop. A lot of the problem vagrants and homeless people come from further west on the island. They come up here to 'kill time' at the library, seeing how the bus stop is convenient to that location. At the end of the day, they catch the last bus back to wherever they commuted from. This problem has to be fought on two fronts: 1) somehow putting pressure on the MTA to make that a viable train station by adding more trains and getting some kind of food concession [paying customers] in there to cater to the working public who take the trains and buses to work. 2) Putting a police station hub by the train station, as someone else suggested, would be a great idea too.
: 3/21/2010
Why don't they use one of the many empty buildings that are in Riverhead town?
Homeless : 3/21/2010
To the person who wrote that the homeless who are helped by Maureen's Haven are illegal aliens, I have to say that you obvioulsy do not know what you are talking about. I have cooked for the program since its inception and the people I have met include teenagers, women who are working but can't save enough money for the first last and security payments on an apartment, men who have lost their jobs. The percentage of Hispanic people in the programis very low. The rules are strict and they should NOT be leaving the building once they are dropped off. IGNORANCE is not BLISS. Bigotry is dangerous. Volunteer for one night and see reality. There but for the Garec of God could be you.
doorsteps to Riverhead : 3/19/2010
Welcome to Riverhead proper-------We have the welcoming committee at the train station and then we have the Riverside traffic circle as the doorsteps to Riverhead village...... Is it any wonder why Riverhead has the reputation that it has
Paranoia : 3/19/2010
"Paranoia will destroy ya"
Moving the Soup Kitchen : 3/19/2010
It is a good idea to move the Soup Kitchen to another location. Recently my daughter was taking the train to Nassau to visit her sister and she was frightened by the people hanging around the train station. There must be a more appropriate location.
First Impressions : 3/19/2010
The homeless should not be in that station. It hurts the town economically (and by extension the homeless themselves) when the first impression visitors arriving by rail get of our town is the poor and mentally unstable. I am not saying we shouldn't help them...it's just that they shouldn't be our welcome mat. Nor should a suffering downtown be further dumped on. I applaud Supervisor Walter.
Imagine by John Lennon : 3/18/2010
Imagine all the people living for today eh eh-a-a... You may think I'm a dreamer but, I'm not the only one.
God bless all he poor people.
Sincerely,
Johnny Nova
Homeless : 3/18/2010
We are so quick to get rid of hard working people who fell bad on their luck, its terrible when we stop helping each other. To all of you who think they are a nusencse I hope to God it never happens to you are a love one. No one is above GOD and we are here to love and help one another, not put our nose up at others who have less.
soup kitchen : 3/18/2010
I'm not here to pick on anyone but I really don't think a empty train staton is the proper plae to hand out food to anyone. It is a public place where people still use the train. I 'm sure someone could find a more suitable place in this town with all the empty buildings on main street.
Maureen's Haven : 3/18/2010
I have a better idea than the author who suggested the Supervisor's home. Why not his/her home? Where is your own altruism? What better way to use a facility that taxpayers funded to renovate for $ 1million dollars. After the homeless feed themselves do they hop on the bus and look for work? Is this another form of "social justice"? An already strapped,Riverhead Police, must patrol the area since the MTA are MIA for years another form of double taxation and receiving one service. Let me guess Maureen's Haven is tax exempt? Welcome to Riverhead a treasure trove for social misfits.
homeless etc : 3/18/2010
i have an idea... how 'bout maureen's haven schedule their pick up on wading river manor road in front of mr walter's house... the train station is a public place, not residential, it's accessible from many places, etc... it makes sense...
maureen's haven is a fabulous organization... they have strict control on the guests they house, they don't "wander" around near the churches that i've ever seen, they are a polite group of people, and extremely appreciative!
train station : 3/18/2010
Maureen's Haven shuttles these homeless to local churches in my neighborhood and then the wander our property. I think it is a problem and I also think that train station is a horrible sight. Something needs to be done. This is how Riverhead is viewed it made the front cover of the SH Press this winter and this is what people see of Riverhead. NG!
riverhead : 3/18/2010
The homeless have homes , there just not in this Country and they refuse to go there !!! I've seen the train station , it's another santuary hiring site for Illegal Alien Day Laborers !!!
homeless : 3/18/2010
If there was such a big concern about building a hiring hall for illegal immigrants a while ago, why isn't there a big concern about building a homeless shelter for the homeless? The powers that be are more concerned about votes that the illegal immigrants may give to the politicians than the homeless. Watch out folks, our president is pushing to grant amnesty to the illegal immigrants before the next election so he can garner their votes in order to get re-elected. Is any politician concerned about the homeless people? The homeless need a voice instead of the illegals
Out of sight : 3/18/2010
yea, let's pick on the homeless, because that's the most important thing riverhead has on its' agenda. They are an easy target. They can't fight back. Never mind the free business tax give-a-ways, the empty stores on main street, the over paid school administrators. The high property and school taxes. The terrible road conditions. Lack of activities for our youth .High local unemployment. The lack of police presence on sound ave, and main street. Let's put the cold, hungry, un-sheltered homeless out of sight and out of mind so the rich will feel good. Sean's plan for the hungry and homeless is.......WHAT?........good plan Sean..... Sean Walter, your a disgrace.
