DAN'S PAPERS, May 22, 2009 Page 51 www.danshamptons.com
Riverhead Protests Sex Offender Trailers
Debbie Tuma
By Debbie Tuma People driving around the Riverhead traffic circle at rush hour last Friday were surprised to find about 50 people standing there, holding and waving signs. They were protesting the location of a trailer outside the jail down the street that’s inhabited by homeless sex offenders from all over the County. “We feel that Suffolk County should share the burden of these offenders, but instead, they are all put here in Riverhead,” said Mason Haas, Riverhead Coodinator, who was joined by numerous civic groups holding up signs reading, “Protect Our Children,” “House Them Where They’re From,” and “Steve Levy Keep Your Promise.” Al Algieri, President of the East Quogue Civic Association, said, “Originally, we were told that the County was going to rotate this trailer around the area, but about two years ago they put one in Westhampton, near the drag strip, and about a year ago, they put another one here in Riverhead, near the County Jail. And they’re both still here.” Haas said his group’s concern is that the trailer is within a mile of schools, the library and the aquarium — all places where young people go. “I feel the County has misrepresented itself to our community, calling this a ‘secure environment.’ But these people can come and go, since they’re no longer in jail,” he said. “We’ve seen them walking in the woods and in the town.” Riverhead Town Police say that, so far, they haven’t seen any major safety problems with the inhabitants of the trailer, except for one instance of public urination. The trailer in Westhampton Beach houses 810 homeless sex offenders, while the one in Riverhead now houses around 20. By state law, the homeless population has to be housed. According to the County Department of Social Services, the homeless sex offenders are transferred each day to centers around the county for job counseling and training, and then transported back each night to their trailers in Riverhead and Westhampton. They have cots to sleep on in the trailer, but no showers or cooking facilities. Although the County claims the people don’t leave the trailer, except to look for work, residents claim otherwise. “Our concern is that they get to know the neighborhood,” said Andrea Spilka, President of the Southampton Town Civic Coalition, which is west of the Shinnecock Canal. Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, one of the organizers of this peaceful demonstration that had the permission of the property owners and the Town of Southampton, agreed that “Riverhead has become a dumping ground for the whole county’s homeless sex offenders, and it’s not fair that the East End has to take this on, when
some of these people could be housed in their own neighborhoods. We should work to find a more equitable solution to this problem.” Schneiderman said the number of residents who turned out last January during a major snowstorm to attend a forum on this subject at Riverhead High School, showed how important the issue is to the parents and teachers in the Riverhead/Flanders area. (continued on page 54)
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