Too Close For Comfort: District Worried for Student Safety Following Daytime Shooting Near Abrams

A second shooting in less than eight months that occurred within range of Jack Abrams Intermediate School has Huntington parents and Board of Education members at their wits' end on how to protect the children in their district leading to a suggestion for a split schedule.

On Thursday, March 11 at approximately 1:53 pm, a group of four males were standing in the parking lot of the convenience store on the corner of New York Avenue and Academy Place, when someone fired shots at them with a 9 millimeter handgun from nearby woods, according to Suffolk County Police Second Precinct Inspector Edward Brady, at the board's meeting Monday, March 15. No one was struck and the four men fled the scene. A Suffolk County Police Department double-unit, a marked car with two officers, was on Lowndes Avenue at the time of the shooting and apprehended the four subjects. The shooter fled in a vehicle, Brady said.

Police immediately notified Abrams principal Mary Stokkers who immediately verified that all of the buildings' doors were locked and sent a ConnectEd phone message to parents.

Brady said no arrests had been made as of yet in the shooting. "No one is in custody at this time but we are working diligently to find this individual. The investigation is still ongoing and we have several good leads that detectives are following up on. This is completely unacceptable and we are working to stem this tide of violence that has come in to the Huntington Station area," Brady said.

His comments, as well as those of County Legislator Lou D'Amaro (D-17th) and Town Hall representative Joan Cergol, were met with some skepticism by parents.

Leg. D'Amaro said that much effort is being put in to curbing the violence and crime in the area, even though it may not seem like it sometimes.

He said the legislature supported an undercover county police unit that was set up to infiltrate gangs. "We're also working with Crime Bureau of [the office of District Attorney Tom Spota] which involves surveillance. I can't go into details but I want to assure you, it's happening," he said, adding that fellow Huntington representative County Legislator Jon Cooper was instrumental in installing security cameras in the area. "I think we have 16 to 18 in the area. They may not prevent crime, but they serve as a tool for solving crimes," he said.

D'Amaro said he was also asked by U.S. Representative Steve Israel, (D-Huntington), to express his concern about the issue and to relay what steps he has taken to combat the crime wave.

"Seven years ago he wrote a $750,000 grant that went to the Suffolk County D.A. because [Israel] realized this is a problem that has to be solved locally. But he wants not just initiative funding but ongoing funding. He wants me to tell you that's an appropriation he's going to be fighting for. And, just this weekend, he took an unpublicized tour with the local [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] contingent and looked at the hot spots to get a real feel for them and the problems."

Cergol,  executive director at Town of Huntington Economic Development Corporation, detailed the efforts the town is making toward solving the problems including a $3 million streetscaping project, an increase in patrols by the town's Department of Public Safety and use of a marked patrol car to the Abrams school, aquisition of the woods around the school for use as a community garden, applicaiton of grants to build a community center and development of a business incubator for Huntington Station, set to open soon.

Board President Bill Dwyer cut Cergol off saying that the steps taken by the town weren't completely relavant at that point. "This is all great, but we need to focus on things that are directly related to security in this area," he said.

Board member Rich McGrath said that he feels like strategies being taken by police and elected and town officials has been ineffective and will likely continue to be so. "It's like 'whack-a-mole.' You enforce laws here and the problem pops up five blocks away. For some this is new. Sadly, it's not to me."

The area has long been an area of high-crime and shootings have occurred very close to the school through the years. Most recently, a  shooting occurred in September the day before the 2009-10 school year began.

In July 2007, a shooting occurred on Columbia Street and Board of Education minutes state that the board debated how to protect students and employees at extensively and brainstormed ways to solicit help from elected officials to get the desired results.

In 2004, seeking to allay safety concerns of Lowndes Avenue residents as well as parents, teachers and students of Abrams school, at that time called the Huntington Intermediate School, the town, county police and the school district formed an anti-crime initiative known as the Lowndes Avenue Task Force.

But, as is evidenced by the continued crime, not much has worked.

McGrath said that in 2004, "the community stood up and said, 'Enough!' and then police approved a massive anti-crime effort and then you couldn't drive though Huntington Station without getting stopped, some said."

As a result, 155 people were arrested, according to McGrath. (Read a related New York Times article here.)  "It turns out a small group committed most of the crime. Police do know how to do it. It turns out when you look at where folks live, it turns out they live in the houses of a handful of landlords. It  mad us crazy. It's with taxpayers monies."

He said that one of the biggest Section 8 landlords in the area, Don Pius, "with hundreds of houses" is also one of Long Island's wealthiest people.

Section 8, less commonly but more formally known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program is a type of Federal assistance provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) meant to subsidize housing for low-income families and individuals.

"We're paying him hundreds of grands per month. He's getting rich. It's insane," an impassioned McGrath said. "Statistically the people who did that will live in one of these houses. Why is he allowed to do this to our community?" He said that the "landlords need to monitor" who lives in their house and be accountable for their tenants and not allow MS-13 and Latin Kings gang members to live there. "Absentee landlords is the housing from here to Pulaski Road," he said.

According to town records, everal of the properties in the area are owned by Community Properties, LP, which is in turn owned by a member or members of the Pius family.

At a public hearing held by the Town Board February 9, to consider legislation that would require Section 8 landlords to register their properties with the town, Don Pius spoke and said that there is a high demand for Section 8 housing and landlords are already burdened with high fees and taxes and that any more regulations would discourage investment in this type of rental.

Superintendent John Finello asked the Board of Education to allow administrators to explore all options to determine what would best ensure the safety of the district's students and staff.

"If one of those is to investigate split sessions, then we stand ready to do that," he said. Split sessions would allow the students at Abrams to attend school at a different building in a safer area.

"Upwards of 100 Abrams students per day walk to school," he said. "Some actually cross New York Avenue and walk down New York Avenue. It's dangerous and we're very, very concerned about it. We're just very lucky the incident took place at 2 p.m. and not 3:10 [when students are dismissed]."

Board Vice President Emily Rogan, whose daughter is a student at Abrams, said that while split sessions and moving students to a new school might be "traumatic," it's a serious situation. "We can't fool around," she said.

Trustee John Paci III said that perhaps the Board of Education could take back Town Hall, a former Huntington School District building. "Let them move here and that would solve our whole district's problem," he said.

The Board of Education seemed to have the district parents who were at the meeting, mainly scheduled to discuss the 2010-11 draft budget, on their side in this matter.

"To those elected officials or those representing elected officials who came up earlier, the problem with the shootings in Huntington is not the responsibility of this Board of Education. You need to get on the people in Washington," said district parent Nick Wieland.

Another parent, Arthur Danziger, said that he doesn't see enough of a police presence at the school. "We're spending millions and millions on sidewalks. Can we get two police officers here all the time?" he asked. He said he has noticed that police have a  shift change at the same time as dismissal and he does not see officers at that time.

Another district parent, Sharon Harris, asked if anyone from the Town Board was asked to come "knowing people are pissed off," she said. Dwyer said that the public portion of the agenda "is not a Q and A." Harris said,"A representative is not good enough. I didn't vote for the representative."

She said that she does see police at the school both in the morning and afternoon, but clearly that is not a deterrent.  "The criminals don't care if you're there or not," she said.

She also said the town's efforts seem futile, as well. "Joan, I appreciate everything you said about making everything pretty," she told Cergol. "But I don't think the criminals care if it looks pretty or not. Where is the Town Board?"

Board member Kimberly Brown agreed that the Board of Education can debate solutions but ultimately it is up to police and town officials. "When our superintendent said he can no longer be sure of the safety of our children, I got a little angry at our i. This is not our arena. It has to be e up by town and law enforcement officials."