A host of issues were aired at the regular meeting of the Pattersquash Civic Association, including squatters, speeding, and Sunrise Wind, which has started the installation of a 17-mile transmission cable through the heart of the community.
Members expressed concerns over a proliferation of group homes and sober facilities that have brought elements to the area that residents find undesirable. According to county officials, the Mastics have over a dozen homes with 15 residents each. “These are grown men without a job and not much to do all day but hang around,” one civic member said. “They’re urinating in public, walking around with open containers of alcohol, fighting, and showing up at the food pantries looking for something to eat.”
The residents applauded the police foot patrols in the Neighborhood Road Business District and suggested more of them over officers driving in a dedicated “Whiskey Car,” where they only respond to calls within the immediate area. They had mixed feelings about the removal of a bench in front of the library annex, which was meant for people to rest but became a hangout for loiterers.
According to Officer Jim Anson of the 7th Precinct COPE Unit, the hybrid operation of walking during the day and driving at night resulted in 68 arrests from Memorial Day to the end of the summer. The violations included open container infractions, disorderly conduct, and open warrants and mainly consisted of “regulars” familiar to the police. “We want to keep up an omnipresence where people see us and feel safe,” Anson said.
On the subject of loitering in front of the multi-person residences, Legislator Jim Mazzarella said he is working to get landlords to file trespass affidavits, an action that gives the police more authority to disburse crowds. With cooperation from the owners, the legislator explained, police can go from issuing citations to criminal trespass arrests. He noted that some owners are “scam artists” who abuse the system by collecting rents through government programs for multiple tenants. “We can’t arrest our way out of this problem. We need cooperation from the landlords.”
Mazzarella said he is working with Brookhaven Town officials to ramp up home inspections and the possibility of condemning them. “We need to get this under control, or the community will never flourish,” a resident stressed, while another said a complete rebuild of the business district with new living space and shops as proposed under the Beechwood redevelopment plan would help solve the problem.
The legislator also reported the results of a local traffic crackdown. Suffolk police wrote 250 tickets on Mastic Road and its side streets, including 111 for stop sign violations in August. Over the last few months, over 3,000 tickets were issued on William Floyd Parkway. “We’re not seeing an overall change in driver behavior, except in micro areas where we have an increase in enforcement,” Mazzarella pointed out. “People see it; they’re going to drive more safely.”
According to the legislator, traffic has tripled around Eleanor Avenue since the Poospatuck Reservation started selling cannabis. “It’s a drain on this community and the police,” he said, adding that patrols will increase during Halloween. Mazzarella also reported that the budget proposed by County Executive Ed Romaine includes funding for 225 new police officers. He addressed the recent “Fast and Furious” gathering of reckless drivers in Shirley, saying the county’s network of red light cameras and license plate readers helped arrest violators racing and blocking intersections.
Civic President Frank Fugarino brought up the federal home-raising effort for those on the Mastic Peninsula who experience flooding. According to Mazzarella, new permits will not be required as long as a home remains within its current footprint. They also discussed the November 5 public vote on raising the sales tax an eighth of a cent to generate funds for new sewers and Innovative/Alternative septic systems for homeowners to fight the nitrogen pollution plaguing the area’s water resources. As replacements for cesspools, the I/A systems can cost up to $30,000.
In a lengthy presentation before one of the area’s more active civic groups, Mazzarella announced an $80,000 county grant to Pattersquash and Save Great South Bay to remove invasive species from local wetlands. The project, facilitated by Creek Defender Walt Meshenberg, will increase wildlife habitat and mitigate the effects of storm surges. The legislator also announced that the replacement of the Smith Point Bridge will be delayed a year due to design changes, with construction now expected to get underway in 2026.
State Assemblyman Joe DeStefano was also on the civic speaker’s list and introduced himself to some of his new constituents in the Mastic/Shirley area, who he picked up from Assemblyman Fred Thiele under redistricting. Standing for reelection to his fourth term, DeStefano pledged to keep up the fight to repeal the state’s disastrous cashless bail system and give judges more discretion in holding criminals with multiple arrests. He said the fentanyl crisis can be tamed by strengthening the U.S. southern border, where illicit drugs pour in.
Noting the inflation that is crushing Tri-Hamlet Area residents, especially low-to-middle-class households, DeStefano discussed his “Rescue New York” agenda, which emphasizes cutting taxes, reducing regulations, and improving the state’s business climate, in addition to pausing the state tax on fuel and other taxpayer-friendly measures, such as cutting government spending.
“It is the policies of the Progressive Democrats who control the state and the Biden-Harris administration that have given us this inflation,” DeStefano said. “Everyone should remember that when they go to vote.”
DeStefano has been holding regular meetings with local leaders to find solutions to the peninsula’s flooding problems. “Mastic Beach is no longer the forgotten child. It’s such a jewel that cannot be overlooked,” he said, pointing out that the officials representing the area are all “rowing in the same direction.”
Rounding out the civic’s busy agenda were reps from the Sunrise Wind electric generation project who detailed the transmission line path from its offshore turbines and measures they’re taking to reduce disruptions during construction. The 124-mile cable from a site south of Montauk Point will make landfall at Smith Point and travel up William Floyd Parkway before heading west through the Surrey Circle neighborhood. Residents, citing traffic congestion, especially during the rush hours, asked that the work be done at night.