Living in a very busy section of Port Chester on North Main Street, Sean A. McNerney has seen a lot of different problems in his neighborhood.
In response, he put up a fence and installed a security camera to watch the front of his house. On Sunday, he ended up with a new problem and a big surprise when he checked the video footage from his camera.
He and his wife woke up Sunday to find a man passed out in their back yard. As a result, Port Chester police arrested the man for criminal trespassing, noting that the man was highly intoxicated.
As the police went on their way, McNerney checked the video from the video camera and discovered that the man had been passed out in front of his home for hours and that he had been apparently robbed by several men who over the course of the night saw him on the ground.
"I was seriously just shocked when I watched it," said McNerney, who writes about his experiences as a resident of North Main Street in a blog for Port Chester Patch. "I mean, that guy was searched by random strangers no less than five times while he lay there."
Port Chester police said the man arrested for trespassing did not complain to police about being robbed. Police said that the man was still highly intoxicated when he was taken to police headquarters.
Yes, illegal immigrants play a major role in the overcrowding issue plaguing our community and also play a bigger role in some of the other issues being faced by our country, the biggest criminals in our overcrowding issue are the property owners. Not every single person living in an illegal apartment or people who live in an overcrowded legal apartment (which is a more common and bigger problem than people realize) is an illegal immigrant. These slumlords endanger people's lives, hurt the education of our children, and steal services from the community. Until these property owners are thought of and treated as the criminals that they are, the overcrowding issue will not get any better and probably will get worse.
Best thing to do is poke your eyes out ...
If there wasn't this enormous influx, there wouldn't be the demand. And the folks demanding village housing would not ever settle for some of the conditions the slumlords present to tenants ... legal or illegal. You're right. The BOT has to go after these landlords with a vengeance. I find it stunning that they, for the most part, have escaped non-stop scrutiny and public pressure. What gives? More and more, I wonder what new leadership might accomplish.
I agree with your statements and positions, but the issue of BOT inaction is directly related to the lack of a majority and leadership that is willing to take chances. As a Village we get sued a lot, from trip and falls on our sidewalks to eminent domain abuses and we win many more than we lose. However we have a Mayor who is more interested in being the Mayor forever by pandering to special interests rather than doing whats right for everyone in our Village. After 5 1/4 years what do we have? Water downed entertainment Laws that senior members of our department rallied against. They want Laws to stop the abuse to neighbors/residents of these bars that cater to certain groups and bus in prostitutes or women willing to urinate in the street. If not for the change in the BOT, the comprehensive master plan would still be stalled and let's not even bring up that the last two Budgets would still have been overly inflated, our Taxes would be even higher. I don't expect much to get passed between now and the next election, not for me not trying but for the opposition of the Mayor. I say black and he says white. He does not work with all the members of the BOT. We are in need of leadership and not personal agendas.
I would love to answer your question about why the Village does not go after and punish severely the landlords that have ruined our community. The answer is not that complicated, however multi-tiered. Some of the reasons are State Laws that make it very difficult for municipalites to enter and inspect properties (especially surprise inspections). As a matter of fact, most of the time there is a lead time given and landlords generally hide things before the inspectors arrive. A friend of mine who lives near a house that was inspected, told me of a plethera of mattresses being moved out of a house the day before an inspection, only to return again the minute the inspector left. The closeness of the people of the village. Many people don't want to "tell on their neighbors" and let things go. The real question really becomes, however, is what happens when people are caught? Why are the fines and punishments not severe? As I have said in the past, without severe penalties that actually are levied, it simply becomes a "cost of doing business" and everyone moves on. Answering that question becomes a little bit more dicey.
There is a considerable amount of truth in George's post, but it does not slash all hope. Yes it is difficult to get into one two and three family homes, but George is wrong on neighbors turning in neighbors, it does happen and sometimes it goes through the politicians rather than the complaint line. I send tips to Mr. Steers often. I have been calling for six months or better now a standardize fine schedule for our prosecutors along with an effort to realign the duties of the prosecutors. I have been successful on the realignment, which was based on personal observations and a great amount of input from the Staff. However standardized fine schedule has been stopped by the Mayor. I don't know why, maybe because its my idea but it is stalled. I also believe that the Mayor is trying to co-op my issue on an amnesty program because he schedules it and a discussion on entertainment Laws for a night when I said I would be absent. The Mayor is transparent, I say black and he says white. Aidan, I don't see much progress until those who want change and enforcement gives the right leaning members of the BOT a majority. I am willing to push the envelope, the Mayor is not. We can do more, we must do more.
Too many villagers feel like they're caught up in some sick-sad Catch-22. They know what they want this village to become, but everywhere they turn they smack walls. The village has become a smaller version of a sanctuary city ... where every issue from schools to housing to social services is predicated on soothing those who have decided to abuse those who foot the bill and make the village go. Too many folks feel that their well-being is somewhere way down the list. We've no alternative but to "push the envelope" ... we've pushed every other button and no one answers.
Speak for yourself.
The exception happens when it is such an egregious list of violations and the property owner and the Village can not come to an agreement the prosecution starts in the Courts. The goal is compliance.
But you do need to report something if you see something. You need to vote in each election and you need to elect those that you believe will make a difference. I have been here for over 50 years and I am not satisfied about much of anything, even the progress of the BOT I serve on. Lack of vision, leadership and a majority has left us very little to show for the two years there, other than the budget process which is not great but has gotten better. It kind of reminds me of the last BOT, dysfunctional and lost for nerve and direction.
There is always the issue of imposing to many fines and the property owner saying take the property because there is no way they can survive. The overall theme is compliance and a fine enough to cover our time and expense, as well to create the deterrence from further violations.
I say black and he says white. If its my idea to amend the Laws, he fights against it. If I try to collected 100,000 plus dollars on scofflaws, he rejects it. The list goes on. But the best is his current sewer rent plan that he sucked me in on that unfairly taxes senior citizens, and home owners with one one or two people in the home, all because the Mayor did not get all the information, State government approvals before her ripped it out of the budget and started us down a path with blinders. The truth hurts Bea, but you "Bea Alert" and adjust those blinders for the 16th.
Everyone should ask their contractors as well, annually.
Thank you
I think the theme needs to start to shift a lot more towards deterrence than just recouping the cost of catching a person who is breaking the law and stealing services from the honest taxpayers of the community. The problem has risen way past the point of an I'm sorry and I won't do it again (all the way to the bank with all the money they've pocketed away over the years) will suffice. People don't build illegal apartments not knowing exactly what they are doing. Yes, maybe having too many people living in a legal apartment might not be as clear, but unless the penalties hurt, it simply is a "Cat and Mouse" game. I know you have mentioned an amnesty period in the past. Maybe the village needs to offer an amnesty period prior to the penalties becoming much harsher, even at risk of losing their property. Tell everyone, listen, starting such and such a date, things are going to get a lot worse for you if you get caught. Come clean now and things won't be as bad or else, the village and school district will pick you clean of all that you have stolen from them both and the honest taxpayers.