Well let us thank Father Frank and Pax Christie for the increasing problem of homeless and vagrants. They are "cabbed" into the area for the shelter, but if they are drunk, high or do not meet whatever other estandards Father Frank has established they are turned away from the shelter - but not "cabbed" back from whence they came. No PJ/PJS/Terryville is fast becoming the dumping ground for these people. Have you noticed what is happening at the Jefferson Plaza? Homeless loiter there - drunk, fighting, accosting customers - I do not shop there anymore - and only use the Post Office when absolutely necessary. I have taken to buying stamps on line just so I do not have to go there.

Part 2: So it is no surprise that the railroad station is fast becoming over run with these vagrants. And our tax money is being spent to run them off - but to where? So, if they are homeless where would they get $500 to pay the ticket? "If they get to court and they don’t pay then a warrant is issued for their arrest." - and they don't pay but a warrant is issued, so when are they arrested? If they don't show up at court then what happens? Arrest is no big deal for them - they get someplace to sleep and food to eat, the they are dumped right back where they came from! This problem will not be solved by increasing constables in one area and doing nothing in another - Father Frank and Pax Christie must be stopped from bringing them here in the first place. I am not so cruel and heartless that I don't care about these people, but I do care about my families quality of life more. We now have homeless walking around our neighborhood - and we are 4 miles from the shelter! Can we not make a central homeless shelter as was suggested at the Civic Association? Use the old Pilgrim State grounds or CI Hospital grounds - these could be made up into singles, families, Alcohol/drug abusers units. The Dept of SS could have an office right there to help them, there could be medical facilities, even a small police precinct - everything to help these folks and get them back on their feet.

Part 3: And then we can stop dumping them in select areas all over the island - Father Frank, you could help a multitude of people this way - the homeless and those of us trying to preserve a quality of life for their families.Maybe the Civic Associations throughout the towns can come together and work on this?

Obviously, "The Fix Is In" between Law Enforcement authorities vying for this "hot potato"...LIRR Police, Suffolk County Police, and PJ Constables...and Tax Payers and Citizens, again, are getting the "sticky end of the stick" with the PJ Constables "showing up".

Be advised that Hope House residents are given Free Range here.

Unfortunately, only a fatality at this location, say, with an LIRR rider, will force the issue... something that "they" or the diocese can't cover up, only then will something be done.

Be sure, criminal incidents have been covered up, though.

Don't "buy" all of this stuff from the PJ Constables...it's just a continuation of the cover up.

Without getting into all the reasons that increased presence by the PJ Village Constables is warranted (that subject has been thoroughly covered by the previous posts), I personally think it is a good idea. I often return from NYC late at night, and although I never personally feel threatened, I can certainly see why women or girls getting off the late trains would be intimidated by the vagrants who hang out at the station, especially when walking to the Village Parking Lot. I have seen the positive difference the Constables make. There really is no added cost to Village residents since we are paying the Constables anyway, and there really aren't a lot of trains for them to "meet" after 8:00 PM anyway.

I havent seen any, unfortunately. I guess maybe they only meet rush hour trains, but it's those weekends ane evenings, particularly those of us waiting for the train at night, where we need their presence. I stopped waiting for the train at night months ago and take a bus to Smithtown or Stony Brook just so I dont have to wait there.

They are All "afraid" of Father Frank's domination of the area, than doing what they legally should for Tax Payers and Riders, and have made a secret accommodation with him and his "charges".. he has Free Reign, though they would be reluctant to admit it in public.

The fact is Port Jefferson station and Upper PJ are ghettos in everyones eyes because of the amount of bums, drug addicts, and delinquents in the area. The only way it will be fixed is if the people peition or they put in a no loitering law in Upper Port. Another idea is to make an small building or hotel for them to stay when they need shelter other than Hope House.

How about "forcing" Father Frank and Hope House/ Pax Christi live up to the Civic Responsibility" that Everyone Else has in this locality ?

Anything "wrong" with that, or do "They", genuinely, have some kind of Special Dispensation From "Quality Of Life" Laws in this area ?

Well, we all know they have a "Special Dispensation"...how about just exercising their Responsibility to the community, to the "other half", who funds and supports them ?

Is it Really asking that much from them ?

What's a little Silly about this discussion, is from our socalled Community Leaders like Father Frank, most of us expect, a little more sensitivity about their "place" in our community...and all we seem to get is Arrogance.

Another "Hope House" isn't the answer, as it will only make The Problem worse by increasing the numbers of these types of people and makine "this type of behavior" more prevalent.

Kudos to the constables for their efforts to protect the LIRR riders...But what of the residents, business owners, landlords and general visiting public (the latter being a vanishing breed!) in that area?....Why don't they get the same protection? ..Why do the constables drive up to meet the trains, hang in the LIRR parking lot til the riders have gotten safely to their cars and then drive right out of the area without even riding around the block a few times? .....The problem issues (homeless, drunks, drugs, gangs) have been brought to the attention of the mayor, constable chief, constable supervisors, officiers, and SCPD...SCPD HAS stepped up efforts and has been active in ticketing and arrests...In contrast PJ Officials have done virtually nothing...How about constables walking a beat?...How about constables doing regular ride thru's?....WHY is the town spending tens of thousands for these idiotic "pie in the sky" revitalization plans, instead of using that money to FIX the problems that exist?...Buidling owners & business owners have hundreds of thousands of dollars and decades of hard work invested there, why don't they rate pro-active attention?...Is the answer just knock down what's there are rebuild?...WHY?...Let's save what we have and protect those who are already there!

As for the MTA Police (LIRR) why can they set up their traffic/ticket stops at regular intervals at the tracks and profit from these tickets, but hold no responsiblity for their riders safety at the station?

Excellent commentary Mels Ditties. But your first comment about Hope House is incorrect. The residents there do roam our neighborhoods - they are not contained as in a prison. We, the residents, business owners, landlords and all the tax payers of this community need to band together to get these problems solved. Father Frank has been given free reign by the government officials and the churches here. He needs to be stopped - he is turning our community into the dumping ground for vagrants, drunks and drug users. I am not saying all of them are his doing, but the vast majority are. Father Frank needs to see our side of the story - stop cabbing these people in and then having them roam the area because they do not meet your standards. If they do not meet the standards of a homeless shelter, do you think they meet the standards of our communities? We need to get Father Frank out of here and let him find a central area for all homeless (as I said before what was suggested at the PJST CIvic Association, utilize abandoned grounds like Pilgrim State or CI Hospital) Everything would be centralized, it would open up jobs for people to at Social Service, the SCPD, medical/dental offices - all on the grounds. Father Frank could have his own detox station. The government officials need to understand that we have had enough!

So BLI, we need to stop giving to collections for Father Frank, stop the church groups form cooking for Hope House (I think these people should be cooking for themselves and learning life skills!) Maybe we need to start a petition to make him motivated - maybe PJ and PJST needs to look into a lawyer to stop him from ruining our quality of life! He is a runaway train and the officials (government and church) have to protect us - the taxpayers!!!!

Obviously, Father Frank is too protected to be touched. I do not believe thats the only reason that the homeless are rising in the area. Its also word of mouth in other shelters in Huntington/ Ronkonkoma/ Brentwood.. etc. Its only a matter of time until this homeless sanctuary called Port Jefferson Station is at a tipping point. (Someone gets shot) At that point the area is going to decline to the point that middle class families are moving out in the area in bundles. And for good reason, the quality of life is terrible. The Heatherwood apartment project in the area is criminally active and I notice that there are prostitutes that roam the streets at night around Cherub Ln and 112.

Unfortunately, "Someone" has, probably, already been shot, Or Worse there, and the Public has not been informed about it...and as far as the Heatherwood Apartments are concerned, their online webpage, self-testimonial says it All...

"For more than 50 years, Heatherwood has been committed to creating Long Island Rental Communities to complement the natural beauty of Nassau and Suffolk counties. Heatherwood Communities believes in building in harmony with nature to protect our rental properties from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Heatherwood Communities is a privately owned, family run company that develops and maintains rental communities. We are a leader in rental communities in Long Island, providing the best customer service for you and reliable maintenance for your apartment or townhome."

http://heatherwoodllc.com/ida/6

Yep, The Fix Is In !

The Public has been "done in" again by The Political Elites in the area. When it comes to sustaining a Money Making Proposition, they are Expert at it !

A "tipping point"...that's long passed !

There is No Thing that the Voting Public will Not Ignore or "Stomach" here.

Can anyone please explain WHY these constables can drive thru upper Port multiple times a day/night to meet these trains, but do nothing to police the uptown area?...If, as stated in the article, " Most will leave the station on their own when they see the constables coming." why not have them have a presence on the uptown streets?....

The town is happy enough to collect the taxes from these property owners, how's about treating uptown as it were as important as downtown?....

It is my understanding, that the Village Constables are former police officers, whose main qualifications is that already have a license to carry a gun.

If they do have any actual "police action", they just slough them off to the appropriate law enforcement entity... be it LIRR Police, Suffolk County Police, etc.

Most of these people that hang out in Upper Port do get "scared off" by any police presence...the Hope House "residents" are, most likely, "schooled" as to what they can or can't get arrested for so you see, it's basically A Game.

And the Tax Payers are the Losers !

BIL...Many of the constables do carry guns...and many are former police officers...Although there is a concern for the safety of those who do not carry sidearms (eg. constables...no real concern for the safety of the residents/biz owners...just the constables) why can't we have the armed officers patrol upper port?...WHY can't they drive around...how about getting out of their cars and walking a beat? (they actually DID do that a couple of years back and it was effective at keeping the peace and the degenerates away)....WHY despite numerous pleas for help is upper port being totally ignored?...

Quite a few years back (probably over 4 years) there was a shop owner (who has since closed and actually left the state) who predicted that the Big Plan was to let upper port rot...Rot to the point where it would become easy for the town to utilize eminent domain and rip it all down and rebuild to their specs....At the time, we all thought he had lost his mind....Now, it seems to be feasible...Especially if the PTB continue to ignore all requests for assistance...