Call to action, Tues. Jan. 19th: Support the people of the Huntington Station Tent City!

Long Island Food Not Bombs would like to thank everyone who’s helped collect warm clothing and materials in support of the residents of the Huntington Station Tent City. Many of these items, including 50 winter jackets, were shared today with former residents. Everyone is extremely grateful for the support but there’s still much more that needs to be done. It’s time we stand up as a community and show the culprits of these heinous actions that we are going to take no more of it!

Tomorrow: Tuesday, January 19th:

Starting at 10am tomorrow morning (Jan.19th) and going through 4pm in the afternoon we are asking everyone to contact (call, email, fax, etc…) the Town of Huntington. Tell them to stop any further eviction activities until the Township of Huntington has an adequate Shelter System.

We still encourage everyone to continue making phone calls, emails, etc… after this date but we hope that you will make an extra effort tomorrow. The idea is to get as many people as possible to call at one time; that way we can’t be dismissed.

Please aim to call/email all the numbers, multiple times if possible. If the lines are busy it’s a good thing, it means our message is getting across; but with that said keep trying. If you end up getting the same person on the phone more than once you can simply reiterate your message and ask for any updates.

To be clear the Township of Huntington (200,000+) has no shelter system. We hope that you join us in asking that the town creates a 24/7 year round shelter system.

Phone Numbers:
Town Supervisor, Frank P. Petrone: (631) 351-3030
Councilman, Mark Cuthbertson: (631) 351-3172
Councilwoman, Susan A. Berland: (631) 351-3173
Councilwoman, Glenda A. Jackson: (631) 351-3174
Councilman, Mark Mayoka: (631)-351-3172

Make free calls:
If you are calling from out of state, country or do not wish to spend money on a phone call you can use the following web service to make the calls for free.
http://evaphone.com/

Emails:

fpetrone@town.huntington.ny.us, mcuthbertson@town.huntington.ny.us, sberland@town.huntington.ny.us, gjackson@town.huntington.ny.us, mmayoka@town.huntington.ny.us, jraia@town.huntington.ny.us, SCPD.2NDPRECINCT@suffolkcountyny.gov, SCPDINFO@suffolkcountyny.gov, jon.cooper@co.suffolk.ny.us

Template Email letter/Suggestions on What to Say When Calling:

Stop the Huntington Station Tent City evictions!

As a concerned voter I was extremely disturbed to hear about the eviction of Huntington Station Tent City and the violent and wanton destruction suffered by its residents. As a compassionate and rational person I believe that everyone has a right to survival and that acting on such a right should not be against the law.

With that in mind, I ask that the Township of Huntington and the Suffolk County Police department delay any further actions against the residents of the Huntington Station Tent City until an adequate 24/7 year round shelter system is created within the town. The seasonal housing provide by HIHI, while well meaning, is not a solution and completely inadequate to handle the hundreds of homeless within our township. If this simple humanitarian action can not be met then I insist that any further actions against tent city residents be postponed to prevent these men from freezing to death - any shelter is better than none!

It is my hope that both the Township of Huntington and the Suffolk County Police Department can act as responsible, caring and intelligent arbiters in this situation, supporting both a temporary and permanent solution. I also suggest that community organizations, such as Long Island Food Not Bombs, be consulted in this process. Food Not Bombs has experience with these issues in Huntington Station and embodies the voices of many whom will feel the affects of your actions. I thank you for your time and hope for your immediate action to rectify this situation.

Regards,

YOUR NAME HERE

For Wednesday, January 20th:
We hope everyone continues the phone calls/emails to the Township of Huntington, but on Wednesday we ask that people also start making calls to Suffolk Legislator John Cooper.

Legislator, John Cooper: (631) 854-4500

Future Updates:

As developments arise, we’ll be posting updates on our website. Stay tuned for actions we’ll be taking later in the week. If you were forward this email, feel free to add yourself to our mailing list at www.lifnb.com/newsletter