Protesters in Shirley rally against proposed casino

A group of Brookhaven residents staged a protest at a busy Shirley intersection Saturday to voice their opposition to the prospect of a Shinnecock casino.

Cars lined William Floyd Parkway, blaring their horns in support of the 20 protesters rallying at the intersection with Montauk Highway.

"The time to talk is not when the shovel is in the ground," said Ira Brickman, 62, of Middle Island, who is concerned about what he sees as overdevelopment in Brookhaven.

Other protesters were concerned about the potential for increasing crime, traffic and pollution in their residential area.

"We want to make [the community] more economically viable but money isn't everything," said Delia McKernan, 40, of Shirley, president of the Smith Point Beach Property Owners. "The integrity of the community is more important."

The protest was staged outside the Floyd Harbor Centre shopping mall, less than a mile from Brookhaven Calabro Airport, one of six sites under consideration for a Shinnecock Indian Nation casino following the tribe's recent federal recognition.

The status gives the tribe the right to open a casino on tribal land. The tribe has said it wants to open one within commuting distance instead.

"Their recognition is long overdue," said Jamie Reason, 63, of Mastic Beach, a member of the Mastic Peninsula Historical Society. "But this area is inappropriate for a casino; it is one of the most historic sites on Long Island," he said.

Many at the rally argued the casino should remain on the Shinnecocks' 3,000-acre land in Southampton. "The casino is being pushed on us because we are middle class and Southampton doesn't want it," said Anne Fay, 44, of Manor Park, whose family has lived adjacent to Calabro Airport since 1972.

Others said services - sanitation, fire, and ambulance - would be burdened by a casino.