Southampton Mayor Favors Laborer Hiring CenterBy Carissa Katz(2/14/2007) The Coalition for a Worklink Center, a Southampton group that has been advocating for a permanent hiring site for day laborers, has turned its attention to the Southampton train station, which is managed by the village and owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Carissa Katz
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At a press conference on Tuesday, the coalition unveiled a plan to use station property for a hiring center. “I prefer another location, instead of it being in the heart of the village,” Southampton Mayor Mark Epley said yesterday. However, he agreed to support that location if the M.T.A. approves it. The coalition has yet to approach the transportation authority. “Right now, it’s the best worst solution possible,” Mayor Epley said.
The plan, drawn up by Bill Chaleff, an architect, calls for an 8-foot-by-40-foot trailer to be placed on a green area across from the east end of the railroad platform. The trailer, a covered seating area for the laborers, and a one-way pickup lane that could accommodate 18 cars, would be shielded from the railroad parking area by trees and other plantings. The trailer would be donated by Catholic Charities and the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
The center would operate from about 6 to 11 a.m. and would have two full-time staff at most to help with the hiring process, said Sandra Dunn, a coalition spokeswoman.
In Southampton Village there are sometimes more than 200 men waiting for work in the morning near the 7-Eleven on North Sea Road and County Road 39. Their presence has drawn complaints from neighboring businesses and passers-by and been the target of frequent protests. Employers who stop to pick the workers up for the day only add to the traffic problems on North Sea Road, the mayor said. Advocates for the laborers say the conditions are inhumane and that the men deserve a covered waiting area and bathrooms, both of which they would have if a center were built at the train station.
“I’m not happy with the close proximity to a school, the impact on traffic congestion and residences . . . but my problem is I’ve got to get these guys off the street,” Mayor Epley said yesterday.
“We are only trying to work,” said Werner Maldonado, a day laborer who spoke at Tuesday’s press conference. “Please help us to have a safe place to be.”
“We’re here tonight not to debate, but to solve,” said Sister Margaret Smyth of the Hispanic Apostolate of the North Fork, a co-chairwoman of the coalition. “We have in our hands a solution. Are we going to put this into place or not?”
“We’ve been having this debate for years in the village, years in the town, and within the chamber of commerce,” said Bob Schepps, a village resident and president of the Southampton Chamber of Commerce. The chamber’s board of directors supports a hiring center in Southampton, he said.
The coalition has also won backing for the center from the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons and has been collecting signatures for close to a year from Southampton Town and Village residents who support the idea.
“I’m very confident that the group will be successful,” said Steve Kenny, a Southampton Town Councilman. The village, not the town, has jurisdiction over the property, but Mr. Kenny’s support is considered meaningful by the coalition, even if he does not speak for the full town board.
On Tuesday, he said he was at the press conference “as the face of government to say I really appreciate the hard work of the coalition in coming to grips with this problem. The immigrant population, the day laborers, are a vital part of our economy. Unfortunately most levels of government have not dealt with this correctly and appropriately.”
If the center at the railroad station is successful, he said, “I feel it’s very appropriate that if we’re not providing venture capital, we’re providing venture place,” he said, suggesting that the town might someday offer a location for a more permanent hiring center.
The coalition is hoping that the M.T.A. might allow it to use the property free of charge. The center at the station is considered a temporary solution. Eventually, the coalition would like a building large enough to offer programs such as English as a second language classes.
“We have to start with this and with getting contractors, homeowners, and workers together in a different scenario and a better environment,” Sister Margaret said. “We’re taking this step and trying to do it as carefully as possible.”
Support for establishing a hiring center at the railroad station in Southampton Village is in vivid contrast to an effort made in East Hampton Village over a year ago to keep day laborers from congregating at the East Hampton train station. Whether the coalition can reach an agreement with the M.T.A. remains to be seen, but with a hiring center on M.T.A. property at the Freeport train station, there is some precedent.