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Tell us your story! We would like to know about your experiences as they relate to the issues of housing, health, and safety in our community. Tell us what you have done, what has worked, and what has not.Tell us how things have changed for you and your family. Help us to help each other! Responses will be published, if you would like to remain anonymous please indicate that in your e-mail and your name will NOT be published. Send your story to Info@savefarmingville.com Thank you!
9-17-04 Our Story;
We bought our home in Farmingville in 1997. We are raising our four children here. We chose our property very carefully. Our neighbors all take great pride in maintaining thier property, and we have all invested a significant amount of money updating our homes.
We have watched our neighborhood go through many changes over the years. We have witnessed the frustration our neighbors in other parts of Farmingville as their streets and neighborhoods were being used to house and solicit work for the ever growing population of day laborers. We have seen house after house being bought up by unscrupulous investors. We have endured the crowds of men congregating in our business district each and every day.
On July 26, 2004 our next door neighbor sold their property to an investor. This man does not live in the house. The house, by his own admission, is occupied by 15 grown men. Since our initial conversation with him regarding the number of occupants we have witnessed six more men move in the house. That brings the total to 21. The situation continues to worsen.By last count thier were 29 men living in this single family home .
Our once quiet street is no longer safe. The traffic increase has caused us to have to keep our children from playing in front of our house. We cannot allow them to play ball in the street, or to let them ride their bicycles, rollerblades, or skateboards in the street in front of our house. Trucks, vans, and cars all come and go regularly picking up and dropping off the residence of the house next door. Contractors speeding in and out is an accident waiting to happen. Each day we watch as the men come and go, on bicycles and on foot usually in groups of three or more. Our children complain of feeling intimidated. The owner does not keep up the property which is obvious by the overgrown lawn, and the piles of garbage accumulating in the side yard. The doors of the house are left wide open, sheets, towels and broken blinds cover the windows.
One night in August one of the men drove home so drunk that his car landed on the front lawn. Our children are no longer allowed to play manhunt with their friends on a summer night. The risk is just too great. Thank God none of our children were mowed down by that drunk driver. Had he not stopped when he did, he would have driven right into our eight year old daughter’s bedroom.The next day the owner arrived, we decided to go and talk to him regarding the previous night’s incident. We explained to him what had happened and he assured us the man that was involved was no longer living there , and that “his men” do not drink, and he assured us their would be no more trouble. When our conversation got confrontational we called the police. While having this conversation with him we noticed a pipe leading from the house down the driveway. As it turns out , the pipe was draining an overflow of sewage. The odor coming from that side of the property was indescribable. While we were explaining ourselves to him and expressing our concerns for the health and safety of our family we could not help but notice the shed that was overflowing with empty beer bottles. The shed on the other side of the property is used to house at least one man . Just recently we have witnessed men urinating in the backyard, next to that shed. That shed is in clear view of our children’s playroom.This is what our children see when they look out their playroom window.
We filed a complaint with Operation Firestorm on August 15, 2004. We called the department of health on August 26, 2004 to report the unsainitary conditions of the property next door . The police officer that responded on the 26th of August assured us (by this time the neighbors were out in force) that he would be bringing this situation to his sergeants’ attention, and that something would be done. My neighbor has written letters to each of our elected officials.Other neighbors have done the same She met with Councilman Tullo, and he aranged to have the house inspected the next day. Unfortunately, the inspector was not given permission by the tenants to enter the house. We are in the process of documenting everything We have written and signed a petition that was given to the Town Board at their meeting on 9/7/04. And now, we have built this website. Our hope is to unite the community so we can put an end to this once and for all.
What is it going to take to get our community back? What has to happen before our Town Codes and our Laws are enforced? Do my children need to get sick from the pollution being generated next door? Does someone’s child need to be struck down by a speeding truck as it passes through our residential neighborhoods?
We, as well as our neighbors are tired of every elected official, every police officer, and every private interest group passing the buck. We are taxpayers, we are voters, and we have rights that are not being upheld. We will not stand by as our community is taken over by lawbreakers. The owners of these properties are being allowed to continue to make money hand over fist while we, the law abiding residence struggle to pay our mortgages and high taxes. This has been going on for far too long. Take a look around and what do you see? I see politicians that are afraid to take any responsibility for the monster they created. I see police officers that are as frustrated as the citizens they are have been sworn to protect. I see children that afraid to go out and play. I see parents that aren’t going to take it anymore. I see voters that cannot wait to oust the representatives that have turned a blind eye to this problem.
This is our home, this is our community. We will not give up fighting for what we worked so hard to get. We will not allow the laws to be ignored any longer. The problems concerning our community are not going to go away. It is time for the finger pointing to end, and the solutions to be found. We will not rest until, and unless it does.
9/23/04 update;
We have been documenting EVERYTHING. The inspectors have been back neumerous times, and we seem to be making some real progress! The rotting garbage has been cleaned up, and for that we are greatful. We attended the Town Board Meeting on 9/21 and we were given the chance to speak at a reasonalbe time. Unfortunatly there was not alot of support there from the community. We remained focused and respectful of the members of the Board, and had our questions answered and our concerns heard. We were assured that action is being taken, and will continue to be taken concerning not only our complaint, but all of the housing issues here in Farmingville. Let's hope it does! | 
