Homelessness

Maureen’s Haven is seeking a new location for its homeless outreach center after Riverhead Town filed a lawsuit aiming to force the nonprofit to vacate the Lincoln Street property it’s occupied for more than a decade.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar claims the Suffolk County Supervisors Association supports her emergency order. The chairperson of the organization says that's not true. Both he and at least one other supervisor say she did not have the legal authority to issue the order, which seeks to prevent asylum-seekers from being placed in lodging within Riverhead Town.

Letter: Downtown civic group calls on Town Board to expand Quality of Life committee to include more than 'business leaders and their interests' to be effective in its mission.

Riverhead Police said the body of a man known only as 'Oscar' was found in a “tent encampment” in a wooded area between Pulaski Street south of the railroad tracks and West Main Street. Police ask anyone with information about the man's identity or circumstances of his death to call police at 631-727-4500. All calls will be kept confidential, police said.

A fire broke out at a makeshift campsite in the woods off upper East Main Street early this morning.

Sr. Margaret Smyth of North Fork Hispanic Apostolate says the man who took the holiday lights and cords from the Flanders display is a 19-year-old who had a fight with his mother and left his home, located a short walk from the makeshift camp in the woods discovered by residents Saturday.

The "grinch" who stole Christmas lights and extension cords in Flanders turned out to be a homeless man living in the woods near the holiday display — he was using the cords to power an electric heater — and residents' anger and frustration turned into shock and sadness.

After a homeless man apparently froze to death in Greenport yesterday, advocates for the homeless say many don't seek shelter even in bitter cold weather.