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South Shore residents aim to revitalize area

BY JOIE TYRRELL | joie.tyrrell@newsday.com

February 19, 2008

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Bob DeBona piloted his Lincoln along the waterfront of Mastic Beach on a recent day and pointed out the sandy beach along Narrow Bay that he loved as a boy.

But as he turned a corner, the challenge of his onetime summer idyll came into view. There among the reeds and sandy brush stood a burned-out shell of a house, windows boarded up and scorched furniture scattered on the hardscrabble lot in front.

"It is really important we take back these houses, get the area cleaned up. ... The peace and the tranquillity we had here ... was like no other," said DeBona, 61, president of the Mastic Beach Property Owners Association.

For years, civic groups and residents have been calling for the cleanup of the Suffolk County South Shore communities of Mastic, Mastic Beach and Shirley. Those voices have grown louder after three students in the William Floyd School District, which serves the area, were approached by men.

The problem, residents and local leaders say, is mostly with rental properties, leased out by absentee landlords who let houses fall into disrepair and junk pile up in yards. The low-income communities, once affordable summertime retreats, continue to draw tenants who can't afford to live anywhere else. For example, in 2006, residents learned four registered high-level sex offenders were residing in one Mastic home on Eleanor Avenue.

"We are banding together as different groups to say 'Enough,'" said Mark Smothergill, president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Mastics and Shirley. "My point here is we are a waterfront community, we should be more affluent."

The Town of Brookhaven is trying to help that effort and earlier this month presented a revitalization plan for Neighborhood Road and Mastic Road in downtown Mastic Beach. It's designed to redevelop the areas as pedestrian-friendly spaces that draw residents, visitors and businesses. The public comment period on the project runs until March 6.

From boom to bust

It was the lure of the South Shore that first brought city dwellers to the region. In 1926, newspaper entrepreneurs ran ads that said: "Mastic Park is a new summer resort created by the Brooklyn Citizen. Get into the BOOM." Lots as small as 20 by 100 feet sold for $55.

Families from the boroughs, including many immigrants, bought in. In what once was Mastic Beach's downtown, Neighborhood Road thrived well into the 1960s.

But as the first generation passed away, the next generation bought bigger homes elsewhere. The bungalows were bought by absentee landlords who turned them into year-round rentals.

Now, many rental homes sit on postage-stamp-size lots, some in need of repair and others with weatherworn Christmas decorations remaining on the lawn even at the end of January. The busy and sometimes dangerous William Floyd Parkway nearly bisects the communities, and Sunrise Highway borders it to the north.

There are signs of progress, though. New homes with clean vinyl siding and front porches have started to be built, and the two marinas in Mastic Beach owned by the civic group have been well cared for.

Problems from rentals

The Town of Brookhaven does not have estimates on how many suspected illegal rentals the area has, but code enforcement numbers show an increasing number of housing violations there.

"You are never going to get rid of rentals, however, this is where we are working with the Town of Brookhaven to enforce town codes," said Suffolk Legis. Kate Browning (WF-Shirley).

In 2007, the Town of Brookhaven issued 550 to 600 building department violations in Mastic, Mastic Beach and Shirley, up from 136 in 2005, said town spokesman Tom Burke. There were also 850 to 900 law department violations in 2007, up from 150 in 2005. Those cover violations such as illegal apartments.

And waiting times on litter complaints have dropped as well, he said.

Residents taking charge

Town Councilman Keith Romaine, whose district includes the Mastics and Shirley, advocates hiring a special prosecutor in the town's law department for housing enforcement and forming a Brookhaven housing and community court

But, for residents like DeBona, more must be done and soon. Since November, he and other members of the property owners group have patrolled Mastic Beach by car. They take note of unregistered vehicles and properties in disrepair, and they turn their findings over to the police and to the town.

He wants to restore the waterfront community that is barely a half-hour's drive from Westhampton, where homes sell for millions. Not far away is the 13-acre Old Mastic estate of Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

Yet, the area continues to be maligned, an easy target.

"The whole town has a self-esteem problem when they shouldn't," said Kelly McMasters, 31, a Manhattan writer who grew up in Shirley and has a book, "Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town," coming out in April. "The sort of feeling of insignificance gets a bit heavier, because you are right next to the Hamptons. The cracks show more than they would normally in a small town."