Ginny Fields' neighbors suing the assemblywoman

Oakdale neighbors of Assemb. Ginny Fields have filed a lawsuit charging that she, her son William and tenants launched an intimidation campaign against them in a dispute over a school bus stop and cottages rented illegally on Fields' property.

The abuse-of-power lawsuit charges that Fields (D-Oakdale) had claimed that a public right-of-way used for a bus stop was instead her private property and that she used political influence to discontinue its use. It also says she began harassing neighbors after they reported to the Town of Islip several code violations on a nearby property where Fields has acknowledged illegally renting out two cottages.

According to the lawsuit, Fields, with her son and tenants, threatened neighbors, blared a sexually explicit radio station in their direction, rode a motorbike along the property line and drove a truck dangerously close as they waited for the school bus.

Fields, who has been in the State Assembly since 2004, declined to comment on the charges in the lawsuit yesterday. Her son, William Fields, could not be reached.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court by Carol and Peter Schwasnick, who live around the corner on Montauk Highway. They charge that the harassment began in April 2007, after they reported code violations involving cottages being rented at 5 and 7 E. Shore Rd., two of six homes on the cul-de-sac owned by Fields and her husband, Walter, property records show.

The lawsuit charges the following:

Bus stop. William Fields, 30, drove at high speeds and dangerously close to Peter Schwasnick's car on several occasions as he waited for his daughter at the bus stop at East Shore Road and Montauk Highway, and Ginny Fields laid railroad ties studded with nails along the shoulder to prevent the Schwasnicks from parking there.

Verbal harassment. Ginny Fields, 63, swore at Peter Schwasnick, 41, an elementary school physical education teacher and said, "We've been through this, you can't be here. I'm not playing games. You don't know who you're dealing with. You're done."

Political influence. Soon afterward, Fields "used her influence" with district Superintendent Alan Groveman to eliminate the bus stop.

"False reports." After the Schwasnicks and another parent complained to the district about the bus stop removal, Fields made "false reports" to Islip Town, alleging code violations on their properties.

Noise. Ginny Fields and her tenants in May and June 2008 rode a motorbike along the Schwasnicks' property line. When the Schwasnicks called Suffolk police to complain about the noise, police asked Fields to stop. But she continued to ride. And William Fields in June 2007 backed up his truck to the property line and played a sexually explicit radio station at high volume.

The suit also charges that Ginny Fields' tenants turned sprinklers on the Schwasnicks, threw eggs at their house and urinated near their fence.

The Connetquot Central School District said yesterday district buses no longer make stops at the location next to Fields' property. Instead, a bus now makes stops at two nearby locations on Montauk Highway.

Kevin O'Brien, assistant superintendent for business, said Groveman, the superintendent, had been advised not to comment on the lawsuit. "There is a process we do have for changing bus stops and that is followed," O'Brien said.