Thread: Another illegal house ordered shut

Another illegal house ordered shut


BY BART JONES
STAFF WRITER

August 11, 2005


Brookhaven Town officials Wednesday ordered shut a seventh illegally overcrowded house in Farmingville in a crackdown that is provoking cheers from many residents who complain their neighborhoods are being destroyed but worries among immigrant advocates that the tenants have no place to go.

The two-story house at 196 Berkshire Dr. was home to between 14 and 42 people and had various code violations, including exposed electrical wires, blocked doors, litter and no smoke detectors, said Inez Birbiglia, a Brookhaven Town spokeswoman.











Authorities identified the owner as Maria Rosa Esteves, who could not be reached for comment. Esteves lives in Selden, according to town officials and court papers.

Birbiglia told Newsday that tenants in the single-family house paid Esteves $50 a week in rent.

Some neighbors of the house praised the town action, saying the house and others like it were contributing to problems such as loud music and heavy truck traffic in the residential neighborhood.

"I'm happy. It's about time," said one resident who gave his name only as Tom.

Another neighbor, Steve Ferrante, 40, said truck traffic had gotten so bad that "the kids can't walk safely to school ... The quality of life just isn't there."

Advocates for the tenants, mainly Mexican day laborers, said they had no place to go. Several tenants in the house said four children ages 11 to 17 also resided there. Brookhaven officials told the tenants Wednesday they could get their belongings but had to be out of the house by last night.

"It can't be that they are throwing us out into the street," one woman who declined to give her name said in Spanish. "I haven't done anything except dedicate myself to working and raising my children."

In contrast to previous Brookhaven Town actions against overcrowded houses, advocates said they were notified by authorities a couple of hours ahead of time and rushed to the scene to assist the tenants.

Sandra Del Valle, a lawyer from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund in Manhattan, and Irma Solis, of the Workplace Project in Hempstead and Farmingville, told the tenants they would try to help them find emergency shelters -- a difficult task since most are undocumented immigrants and thus don't qualify for Suffolk County social services.

Peggy Boyd of the Huntington-based Family Service League said she was "thrilled" that she was notified ahead of time, but that her group needs at least two days' notice to properly prepare.

Birbiglia said that wasn't possible since the town did not know for certain if a judge would issue the temporary restraining order to shut the house down until the last minute.

The seven houses targeted since late June contained as many as 240 tenants, according to Brookhaven officials and court papers. Brookhaven officials say a total of 450 houses including approximately 150 in Farmingville are under investigation

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longi ... 5505.story

Originally Posted by Scubayons

Another illegal house ordered shut


BY BART JONES
STAFF WRITER

August 11, 2005


Brookhaven Town officials Wednesday ordered shut a seventh illegally overcrowded house in Farmingville in a crackdown that is provoking cheers from many residents who complain their neighborhoods are being destroyed but worries among immigrant advocates that the tenants have no place to go.

The two-story house at 196 Berkshire Dr. was home to between 14 and 42 people and had various code violations, including exposed electrical wires, blocked doors, litter and no smoke detectors, said Inez Birbiglia, a Brookhaven Town spokeswoman.

In contrast to previous Brookhaven Town actions against overcrowded houses, advocates said they were notified by authorities a couple of hours ahead of time and rushed to the scene to assist the tenants.

Sandra Del Valle, a lawyer from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund in Manhattan, and Irma Solis, of the Workplace Project in Hempstead and Farmingville, told the tenants they would try to help them find emergency shelters -- a difficult task since most are undocumented immigrants and thus don't qualify for Suffolk County social services.

Excuse me... this advolcate group knows they are undocumented aka illegal ? Doesn't the town officals and police know they are illegal too?
So why worry about finding them emergency shelter?
Toss the brats into fostercare, send the adults to the local lock up untill INS can haul them back to Mexico!?
Oh and charge the folks from the advolcate group with aiding and abeding the commission of a crime and lock them up too!

Brookhaven Town officials Wednesday ordered shut a seventh illegally overcrowded house in Farmingville in a crackdown that is provoking cheers from many residents who complain their neighborhoods are being destroyed but worries among immigrant advocates that the tenants have no place to go.

Uh here's an idea. DEPORT THEM!

Originally Posted by dman1200

Brookhaven Town officials Wednesday ordered shut a seventh illegally overcrowded house in Farmingville in a crackdown that is provoking cheers from many residents who complain their neighborhoods are being destroyed but worries among immigrant advocates that the tenants have no place to go.

Uh here's an idea. DEPORT THEM!

Amen to that

"I haven't done anything except dedicate myself to working and raising my children."

guess she forgot she was here 'ILLEGALLY'!