Social services chief blasts Riverhead for ‘gestapo-like’ raid of homeless shelter

Riverhead town officials raided a Wading River motel used as an emergency shelter for homeless families Friday evening, an action that angered Suffolk County Social Services Commissioner Gregory Blass, who called the town’s behavior “gestapo-like,” “sleazy” and “despicable.”

A half-dozen Riverhead police officers, a code enforcement officer, a fire marshal, a building department inspector and a deputy town attorney descended on the Wading River Motel on Route 25 at about 5:30 Friday evening with a search warrant in hand, and spent the next several hours entering 37 guest rooms, questioning guests, photographing their identification papers and taking pictures of their rooms and personal possessions, according to one of the owners of the motel.

“We were looking for code violations and overcrowded conditions, as well as improvements made to the property without permits, including the installation of electrical and plumbing systems, and the possible construction of two illegal apartments on the premises,” said Riverhead Town Sr. Investigator Kevin Maccabee Friday night.

Maccabee said he could not say whether the town found any violations during the search, because the investigation is ongoing. “We need to compare what we found with town records to determine if there were any illegal improvements undertaken. It’s a process,” Maccabee said.

Anthony Marino of Port Jefferson, a principal in the company that bought the motel in January, said he was shocked by the town’s tactics.

“They asked every one of the guests for ID and took pictures of the ID,” Marino said. “Then they ran police checks on all of them.”

One woman was arrested on an outstanding vehicle and traffic law warrant, said Marino’s attorney, John Zukowski of East Setauket, who was called to the scene by his client Friday night. The woman was escorted from the premises by state police, leaving behind an infant child.

“It was intimidating and scary, especially for the children,” Marino said. “Most of the people here are mothers and children. They lost their jobs, they lost their homes. They’re living in a place like this. To have something like this happen, for the kids to have to see something like this is just horrible,” Marino said. “They came in and opened doors to the all the rooms. People were sleeping, some people were showering. It was just uncalled for,” he said.

Blass said he was incensed when he heard what was going on, after Marino and others called social services. The most infuriating thing, he said, was the timing of the action, after hours on a Friday, making it nearly impossible to halt. Blass, a Jamesport resident and the husband of former Riverhead councilwoman Barbara Blass, said he tried without success to reach Supervisor Sean Walter at home Friday evening.

Maccabee said the timing was just a result of the “availability of manpower.”

The social services commissioner scoffed at Maccabee’s assertion. “You’re telling me a Friday night is when municipal employees are most available to investigate an emergency shelter? That’s ridiculous. This was intended to intimidate, plain and simple,” Blass said.

“These people are not criminals. They are homeless families in an emergency shelter,” Blass said. “They are vulnerable and desperate. The majority of people housed in the motel are homeless Riverhead residents,” Blass said. “We try to keep families in their school district of origin,” he said.

“Mr. Marino is a reputable shelter operator who runs an excellent facility,” the social services commissioner said.

Blass said the motel is in full compliance with all applicable county and state laws governing emergency shelters.

In May, the town issued the motel operator a summons for operating without a rental permit. That matter, pending before Town Justice Allen Smith, was adjourned by the town a few weeks ago, Blass said. “Then the town purposely sought out the other town justice, who is not hearing its case, to sign the warrant. That is just plain sneaky maneuvering,” Blass, a former Family Court Judge, said.

Zukowski, the attorney for the motel owner, said his client was not issued any summonses during the action and was not told of any violations.

“They let everybody return to their rooms,” Marino added.

“These people probably had the right to have their social services counselors here,” Zukowski said. “There was absolutely no reason for the town to do what it did after business hours on a Friday night. The timing prevented us from seeking legal remedies to put a stop to it,” Zukowski said.

Marino said the town could have entered the premises with his consent to inspect it any time. “All they had to do is ask,” Marino said.

Marino said he had a meeting with Riverhead town attorney Robert Kozakiewicz three weeks ago to discuss settlement of the justice court action. “It was a very nice meeting,” Marino said.

“Kozakiewicz told me he would speak to his boss and if he needed anything else he’d let me know. I never heard from him,” Marino said. “Now this.”

Walter, who could not be reached for comment for this story, said in an interview in June the motel cannot legally be used as a long-term residence for people in need of emergency shelter. “By definition under our town code, a motel is intended as a place for travelers. These people are not travelers,” Walter said.

The supervisor said at the time Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller had alerted him to a spike in police calls to the motel, more than two dozen since the beginning of the year.

“The town does not want an emergency shelter,” Blass said. “They’ve made that clear. But the unfortunate fact is there are more homeless people in need of emergency housing in Suffolk County than we have places to put them since the economic downturn.” There are more than 400 homeless families in the county today, Blass said. “We have a moral as well as a legal obligation to provide them with a place to live.”