Long Beach shuts MLK Center over faulty fire alarm system

Long Beach officials and the Nassau County fire marshal have shuttered the city’s MLK Center, where volunteers said they were making meals daily to serve 300 families and seniors, over a faulty fire alarm.

City workers locked the doors of the center Wednesday night, a week after the fire alarm at the city-owned facility malfunctioned. Officials found the fire command system's 20-year-old motherboard needs to be replaced. The city was working on Thursday to replace it or determine whether the system needs to be overhauled. 

The MLK Center has been closed to the public since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the kitchen is used by volunteers to prepare food to be delivered to homebound seniors and families affected by the pandemic. The center is leased by the nonprofit MLK Inc. group, which city officials also said did not have a health permit to cook hot food at the site.

The Long Beach building and fire commissioner inspected the facility and deemed it an unsafe structure last week. MLK workers continued to use the kitchen to store and prep food, but moved cooking to barbecues outside.

MLK chairman James Hodge, who was laid off from the city’s water department last month, said volunteers stopped using the stove after the fire alarm failed. He said he has been helping to prepare meals for hundreds, including homeless families staying at the Plantation Hotel in Island Park and homebound seniors. He found the center locked when he returned Thursday.

“I tried to put my key in the door, and the locks were changed,” Hodge said. “All we’re trying to do is feed the community. This is an injustice and we’re calling on everyone to speak out on the injustice by the city of Long Beach to be rescinded. People are coming to get lunch, but there is no lunch we can give them.”

Long Beach officials said they increased meals served at the city’s soup kitchen and deliveries for homebound seniors. The city has offered to work with volunteers to transfer food from the MLK Center.

Nassau County fire marshal officials issued a letter to Interim City Manager Donna Gayden on Thursday that the North Park facility on Riverside Boulevard cannot be occupied without a 24-hour fire watch, which was not provided.

“If something happens it’s a liability to the city,” Long Beach spokesman John McNally said. “It’s not a liability the city can afford financially and not an acceptable liability from a human standpoint. It’s not fair to the volunteers.” 

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.