Dueling Demonstrations Held Over Ex-Hampton Inn Plan In Jericho

OYSTER BAY, NY — Around 100 people gathered Tuesday morning at Oyster Bay Town Hall to share their views on plans to convert a former hotel in Jericho into a transitional housing facility.

Dozens gathered in opposition to the project holding signs that said “Jericho Deserves Transparency,” “Thank you Supervisor Saladino” and “No Illegal Shelter.” The group, called Concerned Jericho Parents, has the support of Joseph Saladino, the Town of Oyster Bay supervisor.

A counter demonstration of fewer than 10 people also took place simultaneously.

Support Jericho Families, a group made up of residents who support the housing facility, organized the counterprotest. Supporters carried signs and a banner that read, “Every Family Deserves Safe Housing.”

The demonstrations come after an appeal was denied Monday that sought to lift a state judge’s temporary block on the conversion of the former Hampton Inn hotel into the Jericho Family Support Center. The temporary restraining order was issued by Judge Arthur Diamond in Mineola after the Town of Oyster Bay sued 120 Westend LLC, the developer of the transitional housing facility, earlier this month. The lawsuit put the future of the contentious project in the hands of the Nassau County Supreme Court, Patch previously reported. A hearing is set for Aug. 24 to address the town's request for a preliminary injunction against the project.

At Tuesday morning’s demonstration, protestors in opposition to the Jericho Family Support Center said they opposed the development of the facility because they felt the plan lacked transparency and was undertaken in violation of the Town of Oyster Bay’s zoning and permit laws.

“Today, we are here to make clear that this issue is one that is here to stay, that there are thousands of residents — voting, taxpaying residents — that are disgusted by the shroud of secrecy that this was approved with and the continued misinformation that is being disseminated,” said Jennifer Vartanov, organizer of the Concerned Jericho Parents GoFundMe campaign. “Where is the public input? Why were we ignored as residents and citizens?”

In its lawsuit against the facility’s developer, the Town of Oyster Bay said converting the hotel into a housing facility is "illegal" and was "undertaken without any permits or approvals from the Town." The plan also "creates a serious and imminent danger to the life, health, safety and welfare of the public," the suit said.

The facility, which is licensed and approved by the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, is designed to house up to 80 families for up to eight months each. Services would be provided by Community Housing Innovations, a federally and state funded nonprofit, making the Jericho Family Support Center Nassau County’s first state-licensed housing facility that would offer services to help individuals who are housing insecure find permanent housing, Patch previously reported. The state does not typically consult with local communities about similar housing facilities.

Marc Albert, a Jericho resident and member of the Concerned Jericho Parents committee, said at the protest that “we want to know that our community is safe. These laws are here for a reason to protect our community and protect the safety of our community.”

Opposition to the project, he added, isn't rooted in an opposition to people experiencing homelessness.

“There’s not a single person in our community, at least that I’m aware of, that is opposed to having a homeless person having shelter,” he said. “The issue is that it seems as though this plan was put into effect without even the slightest bit of thought. Without a single study — how is it going to impact our schools, how is it going to impact safety? None of that was done.”

Fellow resident John Harris attended the protest and told Patch he opposes the transitional housing facility because he believes there was a "deal made under the table."

"They just tried to ram it through without any community input," he said. "And it’s completely unfair to the community."

“Why should Jericho take the burden of so many homeless people?" he added. "They’re Nassau County residents, not Jericho residents."

About 50 families experiencing homelessness currently reside in four motel facilities near the former Hampton Inn. Before the Town of Oyster Bay’s lawsuit halted work on the Jericho Family Support Center, the county's Department of Social Services planned to move the families into the center toward the end of this summer.

Katherina Ginnis, a Jericho resident with two children enrolled in the Jericho School District, expressed concerns about how Jericho students would be impacted by the housing facility and the presence of families experiencing homelessness in the district.

“How can we trust [Nassau County] to make sure that they're not putting sex offenders, drug addicts, psychological people, who have kids who will be going to school with our kids” in the facility, she told Patch. "We feel like everyone did this behind our backs, and they're trying to finagle their way around it."

She said she was certain more costs will be involved to get kids help and additional services they need after experiencing homelessness.

The social services department has said that no one who has been convicted of sex crimes would be placed in the support center and the facility would not offer a drug treatment program. Community Housing Innovations also emphasized that it has years of experience creating safe living conditions at its 29 facilities in the county. The organization would have a curfew, 24/7 staff coverage, 100 security cameras and bag checks for everyone entering the facility.

The social services department previously expected 19 students from the facility to enter the Jericho School District this academic year from grades kindergarten through 12th grade. And according to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, students' temporary district — the Jericho School District, in this case — holds no financial responsibility for those students. Whenever a student is temporarily placed into a new school district, the child's original home district remains financially responsible for the students' education and transportation to school, social services officials said.

Sivan Komatsu, a Jericho High School graduate and organizer of Support Jericho Families, said she and other supporters of the housing facility came to counterprotest to ensure that the opposition would not succeed in preventing the Jericho Family Support Center’s creation.

“We're here because we are Jericho residents, students, graduates, parents, families, and because we care about these students. … They deserve safe housing just like we do,” she told Patch. “This housing facility is going to do nothing but good.”

Komatsu said she struggles to understand why the plan has caused so much controversy and backlash. “I really can't comprehend how people would be so proudly against people having safe housing," adding that while many opponents call the facility an "illegal shelter," the support center is "not illegal, nor is it a shelter."

She also noted the more than $86,000 the opposition group raised to fund legal services to derail the project, money that "could be spent actually helping people," she said.

“Because of these people dragging this out, [those families] are staying in what are called 'welfare motels,' which are dangerous. They have no services or support or anything,” Komatsu said. “These people are forcing these families to stay in terrible living conditions because they think that they didn't get enough transparency, whatever that means."

Tensions were palpable between the two demonstrations. Both competed to show their signs while Albert and Vartanov gave a news conference.

While verbally challenging Albert and Vartanov after they gave their statements, Komatsu was accosted by some members of the opposition.

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. What are you, 18-years-old? Go to college first,” Ginnis said after Komatsu turned away. Komatsu, 21, is a student at Dickinson College.

“Are you an attorney? Did you go to law school? Because I did, she did, he did,” Ginnis said, pointing at Albert and Vartanov. “A bunch of us have, sweetheart. So you can say whatever you want. It doesn’t matter, because you’re irrelevant.”

Tempers also flared during a brief confrontation between two protesters on opposite sides of the debate.

As one demonstrator in opposition to the facility took off his mask to shout, “No Illegal Shelter,” a protester in support of the facility used her sign to block his face and smack him with it, prompting Harris to call her “an agitator” and cries of indignation from the opposition.

Supporters of the facility responded with a chant, “We choose kindness.”

See a video of the demonstrations below.