Mamaroneck REVIEW THE
June 15, 2018 | Vol. 6, Number 24 | www.mamaroneckreview.com
Council proposes gun ban for town buildings By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer More than a year after scrapping similar legislation, the Mamaroneck Town Council has once again introduced a proposal to ban firearm possession on town property. Presented during a council meeting on June 6, Mamaroneck lawmakers are seeking to create an article in the town code to include a ban on possessing firearms in both town buildings and town-leased buildings. The town originally proposed the ban in late 2016, following the controversial opening of a gun store near an elementary school in Harrison; however, after ardent disapproval from the public and questions over the proposal’s constitutionality, Mamaroneck lawmakers nixed the idea altogether. “In America, anyone can challenge anything they want, but we feel the new proposal would be a well-grounded law based on previous court decisions,” said Town Supervisor Nancy Seligson, a Democrat. “I think it would be able to stand up against a chal-
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lenge if it was tested.” Under the proposed article, only police officers, employees of banking institutions whose job requires transporting money and “individuals in the service of the United States” would be exempt from the gun ban. The previous proposal banned individuals from possessing firearms on all property owned by the municipality, including sidewalks and parks, in addition to buildings owned by the town. According to Seligson, the new plan only restricts gun owners from possessing their weapons in town buildings, such as the Mamaroneck Town Center or firehouse. Consideration of the gun ban comes around the same time as a slew of recent shootings across the U.S., including one at Texas’s Santa Fe High School on May 18 in which eight people were killed and several others were injured. Prior to that, the shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February that saw 17 people killed, led several municipalities across the country to begin enacting legislation restricting firearm possession as a way to combat gun violence. In the proposed article, the Town Council explains it “is mindful of the right to bear arms,” as enumerated by the Second Amendment; however, the council continues it is also “aware of the country’s current plague of shootings of, and other types of attacks on, innocent persons in schools, in the workplace” and other public areas, in proposing such legislation. According to the proposal, the Town Council’s goal is to provide “a safe working environment for GUN BAN continued on page 8
STOPand STUDY With a residential building moratorium already underway, the village of Mamaroneck now plans to study the impacts of development after hiring an outside firm. For story, see page 11. Photo/James Pero
Activist to sue village, claims police harassment Parking app OK’d BY FRANCO FINO Staff Writer Luis Quiros, a local activist and longtime resident of Mamaroneck, plans to file a lawsuit against the village for alleged harassment by police, the Review has learned. Known for his political activism for Mamaroneck’s Hispanic and Latino population, Quiros, 72, told the Review that he is being harassed and stalked by members of the Mamaroneck Police Department because of his race, and plans to file a lawsuit against the village in the near future. Quiros has already filed an official charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC, claiming that he has been unfairly
disciplined, threatened with termination and is being stalked at his home and work site by village police. He is currently employed by the village of Mamaroneck as a school crossing guard and as a park ranger, in which he patrols various parks across the municipality. Quiros is also an adjunct professor at Fordham University in the Bronx. In the complaint filed with the EEOC, which the Review obtained a copy of, Quiros alleges that “various members” of the Mamaroneck Police Department, including police Chief Chris Leahy, harass him at his job site when he’s working as a school crossing guard.Quiros, who is stationed at the corner of Hoyt and Mamaroneck avenues near the train
station, said he was addressed by Leahy in March at his job site to discuss complaints filed against him by other village residents, which he believes have been made up to get him fired. According to a letter from the police chief, which the Review also obtained a copy of, the Mamaroneck police have received “multiple complaints” from residents about Quiros taking pictures while working as a crossing guard, instead of focusing on crossing pedestrians. Additionally, Quiros believes several moving violations that he’s been issued in the last two months are racially motivated because the tickets were issued by QUIROS continued on page 13
By JAMES PERO Staff Writer The village will deploy the use of a mobile parking app allowing motorists to pay for parking using their smartphones after authorizing a contract this week. A contract with mobile parking providers ParkMobile— which the village Board of Trustees voted in favor of unanimously on June 11—will mark a change of direction after village officials flirted with signing a deal with PARKING continued on page 11
INSIDE LMCTV CEO retires See page 7.