A Medford local last week stumbled upon a homeless encampment off Route 112 and the Long Island Expressway.
Then the person anonymously uploaded photos and a lengthy video documenting the situation to a neighborhood Facebook page. There, commenters tagged Councilman Neil Foley, Brookhaven Town’s deputy supervisor.
Now the wheels are in motion to get the place cleaned up, and get the people living there help, Foley told Greater Long Island.
“I went to visit the place,” he said. “There were four or five tents back there for probably five people, maybe more. They were going to the bathroom over there, eating over there and it was just disgusting and horrible, obviously. When there’s homeless issues, 99 percent of the time these people are dealing with mental illness or addiction, sometimes both. You have to handle it very delicately.”
So here’s what happens next, he said.
It’s on New York State to maintain the wooded and grassy areas along Interstate 495, so Foley has coordinated with state Sen. Dean Murray for a cleanup that should happen later this week.
Then the county police and Department of Social Services work together to get the people relocated.
Last week, a video was uploaded online by an anonymous local who stumbled upon a homeless encampment in Medford off Route 112 and the Long Island Expressway.
— Greater Long Island 📰 (@Greater_LI) September 4, 2024
Now the wheels are in motion to get the place cleaned up, and get the people living there help. pic.twitter.com/v5jBSmUtxC
“Unfortunately, this is not a one-off,” Foley said. “These camps are everywhere and all four corners of Long Island. Again, you’re largely dealing with mental illness and addiction, so when you’re going in there it’s not just to remove them, per se, but to try to find a way to help them.”
There wasn’t anyone there when Foley showed up, however.
“When I do come across these people, typically they’re pleasant, but shocked to see anyone,” he said. “But any time I’m in this situation I just say I’m here to help.”
He said the state will conduct a cleanup, likely by Friday, though first they have to coordinate efforts with a contractor to deal with any hypodermic needles.
“But this is on [the state] to clean up,” he said.
The place was littered with garbage, shopping carts and kerosene tanks.
“The fence was cut open,” Foley said. “You wouldn’t see it because of the time of year. Usually we see these types of camps in the fall or winter. But in this case someone [not living in the encampment] went back there and discovered it.”
Greater Long Island has reached out to state and county officials for additional details.
Scroll down for more photos. (Credit: Anonymous Facebook user)
