By Angela Marshall
Residents called on officials to provide better lighting and more police pat-rols and to install video cameras in the hope of scaring off potential perpetrators.
Alfreda Brewster, who has lived on Old Mill Court for 40 years, said the neighborhood was peaceful and safe until recent years. Our community is no longer safe,she said during the meeting on Tuesday, March 4 at the village's Martin Luther King Jr. Center. We're afraid to leave our homes.Ó
Most of the frightened residents live in two mostly minority low-income housing complexes on Old Mill Court and Meehan Lane, situated back to back off Centre Avenue a few blocks north of Sunrise Highway.
The panel consisted of representatives from the Rockville Centre Housing Authority, which oversees the apartments on Old Mill Court, and the Mill River House Association, which oversees the apartments on Meehan Lane. Mayor Eugene Murray represented the village, and Legislator Roger Corbin came to represent Nassau County. Village administrator Ronald Wasson sat in the audience, carefully noting everything that was said.
Law enforcement was also in attendance. In addition to Rockville Centre Police Commissioner Jack McKeon, the village police were represented by Det. Sgt. Kevin O'Toole and Det. Mike Norwood. Nassau County sent three officers who help cover the village and an assistant district attorney, Warren Thurer.
Although residents said they have seen a noticeable increase in crime over the past few years, Commissioner Mckeon said crimes have in fact decreased throughout the village. Crime is not up in Rockville Centre and crime is not up in the West End,he said.
McKeon said that while he didn't want to minimize the situation, he wanted to make it clear that there has not been an increase in shots fired. There have been three gunshot incidents reported on Old Mill Court and none on Meehan Lane this year.
After the meeting, the commissioner also said that not all reports have been confirmed as gunfire. He said the increased gang presence in Nassau County has caused residents' concern and awareness to rise, but he doesn't feel that gangs have made big inroads in the village. I think we're in good shape,he said.
Residents like Dorothy Little, who found a bullet from one of the incidents in her wall, can't help but be concerned. She said if she had been sitting in the chair in front of that wall, I would be dead, sleeping in my grave.Ó
I'm frightened to death,she continued, saying she is plagued by nightmares. I love young people, but I hate what they are doing.Ó
Another woman talked about seeing something funny in her mother's closet door. Ma, what is that?she recalled asking. Then it hit me. These are bullet holes.Ó
Thank God she was not in the bedroom sitting on her bed,the daughter said. You have to do something before somebody actually gets killed.Ó
The commissioner said he is frustrated by the lack of arrests for the gunfire incidents. McKeon said the police know who the shooter is in two of the incidents, but that nobody from the community will come to us and help us make an arrest. Our options are very, very limited.Ó
We don't know who it is,a teen yelled from the audience. Another teen said, It wasn't us.Ó
Many of the adults in the audience believe the drug sales and other crimes committed in the community are perpetrated by outsiders.
Illustrating how community members' lives are affected by the threat of violence, one young mother explained that the therapists her son needs to deal with his disabilities will no longer come to their house. McKeon said he would try to help the family.
We need money for our safety,said Brewster, who is a tenant representative on the Housing Authority Board. She called on officials to provide more lighting and security cameras.
Operating funds for the Housing Authority are provided by New York state. The Mill River House is subsidized by federal funds. Representatives of both complexes said budget cuts have made it impossible to provide more security measures. We certainly want to make it a safe community with the funds we have,said Cynthia Stackler of Mill River House. We're doing the best we can to maintain the property.Ó
The Authority received a $67,000 grant to install security cameras throughout the complex, but it is having trouble finding someone to do the work. Robert Pagnotta, chairman of the Authority Board, said most companies consider the job too small. Sixty-seven thousand dollars is just a drop in the bucket,he said.
Residents said that lighting in the courtyard of the Meehan Lane apartments is good, but that the street is dark. Resident Hilda Wright said, Anything can happen to you in the parking lot before you get to the courtyard where it's light.Ó
We are very concerned,said Mayor Murray. He said he wasn't aware that the community needed more lighting and promised to do a survey. Both Meehan Lane and Old Mill Court are lighted by the village because they are village streets.
Stackler is considering constructing a storage building to block the property line between the Meehan Lane apartments and those on Old Mill Court this spring. She pleaded for community support of the project, saying, I do not want it bombed or set on fire.Ó
Residents also called on officials to provide jobs for the community's young people to help them build self-esteem and learn that they have other options besides crime. Tony Brunetta, superintendent of parks and recreation, said the village employs as many teens as possible, but that federal youth employment grants have been reduced as well.
Legislator Corbin and Assistant D.A. Thurer both pledged to find a way to help the community. Don't give up,said Corbin, who will no longer represent the area after the next election, when new district lines will make the West End part of Nassau County's District 5. He pledged to bring in a security force before the summer to give the neighborhood temporary relief until a real solution can be found. We need to get you instant relief,he said.
