http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ ... -apnewyork

Trustee says he did not call Westchester day laborers `locusts'

By JIM FITZGERALD
Associated Press Writer

September 14, 2006, 6:37 PM EDT

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A village trustee who used the term "locusts" in connection with day laborers testified Thursday that "It was an analogy, not a characterization."

Trustee Joseph Angilletta took the stand as a defense witness in a lawsuit filed by six Hispanic immigrant day laborers seeking an injunction against what they call harassment, selective law enforcement and discrimination that prevents them from finding work on the streets of Mamaroneck.

Angilletta testified that he voted at a January meeting to close down a laborers' pickup site because other communities had failed to establish such sites and day laborers from beyond Mamaroneck, in Westchester County, were straining the village's resources.

On cross-examination, he was asked about a statement he reportedly made at the meeting, referring to the workers from out of town.

"These are not residents of the village," the newspaper quote said. "They are locusts. They are takers. They come in here and take, and they won't ever give back to the community."

Angilletta testified that he actually said, "They are like locusts," and that he meant "day laborers from New Rochelle swarmed Mamaroneck like locusts."

"I never called anyone locusts," he said.

He noted that he had apologized for the remark and said it was not aimed at any particular ethnic group.

Mayor Philip Trifiletti testified that the increased police presence that the workers complain about "is important for the community" and should be continued.

He said the drop in the number of laborers that followed the closing of the site "could have been an end-product" of the intensified enforcement of village laws but the laborers' ethnicity had nothing to do with it.

"Our intention was to bring control to an out-of-control situation," he said, claiming the increase in laborers had produced an increase of quality-of-life complaints from residents.

Some of those residents also testified Thursday, including the owner of a day care center who said the extra police scrutiny had made Columbus Park safer for the children and for the "pretty girls" she employed.

Earlier, village police Officer Matthew DiRuzza, who has been named by several plaintiffs as an especially intimidating figure who forces them to abandon the sidewalks where they solicit work, testified that he did not recall any such encounters.

However, on cross-examination the plaintiffs' lawyers played a short video that appeared to show DiRuzza standing close to a few laborers, his arms crossed in front of him, staring at them from behind sunglasses _ just as some of the plaintiffs alleged.

DiRuzza said the video showed he was "observing for quality-of-life issues in the area."

He also testified that because he wears sunglasses on patrol, he did not understand how anyone could tell if he was looking at him or her. Judge Colleen McMahon had DiRuzza put his sunglasses on and look at her.

Two plaintiffs have alleged that DiRuzza intimidates them into moving by placing his hand on his gun; DiRuzza testified, "I do sometimes rest my hand in the area of my weapon." He said he had never asked anyone to move because of his or her race.

The plaintiffs' names and immigration status are not being made public because they say they fear retaliation.