Push to reopen police substation near Abrams school

Suffolk Legis. Jon Cooper introduced a bill Thursday to reopen a police substation near the Jack Abrams School in Huntington Station in response to residents' demands for an increased police presence to deal with continuing street violence, drug dealings and gang activity in the area.

Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor), the legislature's majority leader, said re-establishing a substation - one had been located at the corner of Pulaski Road and New York Avenue from 1996 to 2006 - would heighten the county's police presence, deter crime and help make the streets of Huntington Station safer for the entire town. He said it also would signal that Suffolk County is serious about stopping crime in Huntington Station.

If the bill is approved by the Public Safety Committee on Sept. 9, Cooper said, the full legislature would vote on it Sept 16. Cooper said he introduced a similar bill about eight months ago, but it didn't get out of committee.

"I think the difference is it's reached a tipping point in the community and residents of Huntington Station have had it with promises of revitalization," Cooper said. "They want to see something concrete. I think more elected officials are listening today partly because the public is more vocal."

The substation was closed as part of a countywide mandate from County Executive Steve Levy and Police Commissioner Richard Dormer to shut down all existing annexes and substations. The Huntington Station substation was closed without prior notification. At the time, officials said the officer who sat there for 12 hours a week would be better utilized as part of a foot or bike patrol in the area.

Asked about the substation, Levy spokesman Dan Aug said in an e-mail Thursday that Levy and Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone have agreed on a multipronged approach to address Huntington Station issues. The e-mail said details would be released Friday. It did not comment specifically on the police substation bill.

Levy and Petrone met privately Thursday in Hauppauge; the session had been scheduled for the offices of the Huntington Housing Authority on Lowndes Avenue in Huntington Station, where the town is in the process of establishing an outreach office for residents to lodge quality of life complaints. But the meeting was moved to the county executive's office at the last minute.

Matt Harris and two other area residents were hoping to intercept Levy after the meeting to plea for the reopening of the police substation and to demand more action from elected officials.

Harris said reopening the substation would begin to address growing problems in Huntington Station.

"I want a police annex back in Huntington Station," he said. "The people in the community are not being fairly served by the money they pay in taxes for police services. They are not doing enough to protect us."