Day-Laborer Hiring Site to Close

The controversial day-laborer hiring site on Depot Road in Huntington Station will close in June, Supervisor Frank Petrone and several members of the Town Board announced just hours before the scheduled 2 p.m. regular board meeting.

At a "community crisis planning" meeting that Councilman Mark Mayoka called April 28, Mayoka said that he would put forth a resolution to close the site at the board's May 4 meeting.

But it was unclear whether he would get the necessary "second to his motion" in order for the resolution to be put to vote.

Then Tuesday, just after 10 a.m., the announcement citing the poor economic climate as the reason to shutter the site was sent out.

At the April 28 meeting, a local shop owner asked why the day-laborer hiring site was kept open and said that her business has been affected adversely because so many people hanging around scares customers.

In recent weeks many business owners in Huntington Station have advocated for the close of the site but the Town Board didn't offer comment on it. Residents and parents of students who attend nearby Jack Abrams Intermediate School seem to think it adds to the potential crime and violence that plague their children following two shootings in the area and many also demanded it be closed.

Carter stated that the board sent a letter to the Family Service League, which for the past three years has run the site under contract with the town, noting the charitable organization's "considerable efforts to increase the site's usage by both those seeking employment and those seeking employees, and to provide pre-vocational, job placement, advocacy and referral services." 

The letter also noted that largely as a result of the difficult economy, use of the site had been steadily declining, making it economically unfeasible to continue the site's operation.

The letter noted, "We can no longer justify continuing funding for the site, especially since it appears no longer able to remedy the situation it was created to address: the public safety concern of persons soliciting work on public streets, creating dangerous conditions for potential employers, employees and passing motorists," according to the press release.

The letter was signed by Supervisor Petrone and Council Members Mark Cuthbertson, Susan Berland and Glenda Jackson. Councilman Mark Mayoka declined to sign the letter.

From the letter:

"It has become abundantly clear that the site, which was created in response to community suggestions more than a decade ago, is no longer serving its purpose, especially in this difficult job market," Supervisor Frank P. Petrone said of the decision. "Additionally, the Town and the Family Service League have so far been unable to obtain the commitments that would allow relocating to an indoor site and expanding its range of services."

The Town established the site more than a decade ago to provide a safe and manageable location for day laborers to gather seeking daily employment. It was created with the support and encouragement of the local business community, media, churches, citizens, law enforcement, social services agencies and elected officials of all political enrollments. It was the direct result of many meetings of citizens and business owners within the Huntington Station community who were concerned about the daily congregation of laborers in the business district and on neighboring side streets.

However, as the economy worsened, the number of jobs decreased and competition for the remaining few jobs increased. Both laborers and contractors abandoned the site; the laborers returned to the streets to seek work, hoping to gain an advantage over those who would use the site. According to Family Service League reports, the number of workers using the site daily decreased from a range of 150-175 in 2007 to 60-180 in 2008; it has continued to decline since then.

Over the past few years, the Town has been able to reduce its financial commitment as the Family Service League attracted private, not for profit partners and had been looking forward to further reducing its commitment. But it has become clear that such additional private funding will be difficult to obtain, especially since the funding appears contingent on a level of financial commitment the town is no longer willing to make.   

As the Huntington Station Action Coalition noted in its recent report, the Town must now turn its efforts toward identifying an alternative, indoor site that would serve all the residents of the Town as a work resource center. For the past year, the Town has been working with the Family Service League to secure such a site. The Town plans to continue the effort to identify both a location for the site and the public and private funding streams that would make such a center sustainable.

 The letter concluded, "We thank the Family Service League for its diligent, dedicated management of the site and look forward to working with it in the future on issues affecting the unemployed."