Panico levels racism charges; says village policies keep neighboring black and brown people from the beach
In 1963, Bellport Village purchased a stretch of Fire Island across Bellport Bay for $25,000.
But the valuable piece of property, called Ho Hum Beach, remained outside of the land considered part of the incorporated Village of Bellport for 55 years.
That was until 2018, explained Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico, when the Town Board unanimously passed a resolution that allowed the village to annex the beach as part of its borders.
The language in that resolution states:
“Be it resolved, that the Town Board of the Town of Brookhaven hereby finds that the annexation of the aforesaid territory is in the overall public interest to the extent that the continued use and benefit of the subject property, known as Ho Hum Beach, for the residents of the Town of Brookhaven is assured and the maintenance and responsibility for said property is assured by the Village of Bellport.”
It was that language that Panico posted on an easel during a press conference at Brookhaven Town Hall on Tuesday in Farmingville.
In January, at his inauguration, Panico publicly said he was determined to open the beach to non-village residents of the town. Because until Sunday, when the town started running its own water taxi from Bellport Marina to usher non-residents to the beach, only villagers and their guests were allowed on the village ferry — the only realistic way to reach the barrier island.
The town’s contracted water taxi operation, H20 Limo, which holds 25 passengers and had scheduled two round-trip runs to Ho Hum that day, was swiftly issued a notice of violation by village code enforcement.
“It should be clear, the Town Board and the Town of Brookhaven is not looking to invade the Village of Bellport,” he said at Tuesday’s press conference. “Not looking to overrun the village. All we simply asked for was a handful of dates for a program for the people of North Bellport (outside the village) to go over and enjoy the beauty of Long Island.”
For her part, Bellport Village Mayor Maureen Veitch told Greater Long Island on Sunday — the day the notice of violation was issued — that unlike with the village golf club and tennis club, the ferry is restricted solely to residents and their guests because it’s small with a limited capacity, and because the utilities at Ho Hum Beach are not designed for large amounts of people.
She also cited safety concerns, and mentioned other ocean beach options for non-village residents to enjoy.
“From Great Gun in Center Moriches, to Smith Point and Davis Park, there are nearby beaches with public facilities and infrastructure suited for larger crowds, including parking, safe dockage, bathrooms, snack bars, and more,” she said in a message posted to a Facebook group for village residents.
Many commenters in that same Facebook group insisted that since village taxes go toward maintaining the marina and beach, those should thus remain village assets not subject to town interference or open to non-taxpayers, in so many words.
Veitch could not be reached on Tuesday via call or text message for updated responses, and Greater Long Island waited more than two hours before publishing this story without her remarks. But she issued this statement, in part, to News 12 Long Island:
“Supervisor Panico has asserted that the Village of Bellport does not welcome non-residents to its beach, and I want to set the record straight. Panico chooses media stunts over coordinating with village leadership and has not responded to my attempts to reach him to meet and work out a path forward.
“The Bellport ferry, docks and beach facilities are paid for and maintained by the village residents via additional taxes and fees. We routinely welcome non-resident guests to the beach in a planned and safe manner, such as the 40 members of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Bellport Area who visited the beach last week. We regularly create opportunities for non-residents to use the beach in a coordinated and safe way.
“Bellport’s limited docks are not set up to accommodate commercial taxi companies. When the Supervisor paid to bring water taxis to Bellport docks this past Sunday without notifying the village in advance, he did not know that we had a paddleboard event that morning and young sailors out on the bay nearby. Panico is putting politics over people and safety”
Still, Panico described all the reasons he’s been given from the village for not allowing small groups of non-residents to enjoy Ho Hum Beach as “absurd.”
He also reiterated his charge that there’s a racial component to keeping the beach for village residents, while emphasizing he called the press conference only after learning that a village trustee was loading up the town’s website with bogus water taxi registrations to thwart town efforts to bring non-residents to the beach.
To help illustrate his points, he invited members of the minority communities of North Bellport — immediately north of the predominantly white village — to speak at the press event.
They stood behind him with signs that read “Ho Hum for Everyone” and “Free Our Beach.”
“We have the right to go over [to the beach],” Panico said. “We only simply sought to bring two handfuls of people over for a limited program. And at that moment, a village trustee took it upon themself to go and undermine the program. Why? You’d have to ask that person why.
“But for the people behind me, because of this pattern, they feel it was done for a specific reason.”
Among the people behind him was Tracy Todd Hunter of Patchogue, who grew up in the Bellport area and currently serves as the president of the Brookhaven Town Branch of the NAACP.
“We stand behind the Town of Brookhaven in this fight to end this designed land-lock to people who look like me,” he said. “We plan on doing everything in our power to put an end to this exclusion and hold everyone accountable. As always, we hope to participate in forthcoming talks on how we can achieve equity, equality and justice.”
On the charges of racism, Mayor Veitch said Sunday, “I’m not sure what [Panico] is talking about when he talks about that. Racism is a thing, there’s no doubt, but I think you’ll have to rely on him [to elaborate].”
“It’s not about racism,” she added about the village’s ferry and beach policies. “It’s an incorporated village.”
“I’m not afraid [so speak up]. If it isn’t right, I’m going to say something,” said Mark Burks, 56, who told Greater Long Island he and other Black people are not comfortable in Bellport Village. He lives five houses north of the village border.
It’s also a village that some Black residents, such as Mark Burks, 56, a lifelong Bellport-area resident who lives just five houses north of the village border, says isn’t friendly to people of color, such as himself.
And he didn’t mince words.
“Past that church right there, it’s a problem,” he said, pointing to the Ruth African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which sits smack on the border of the village and North Bellport. “We’ve been to Patchogue Village [to the west]; we have no problems there, none at all. Not like the Bellport Village here. To me, they’re just straight racist. You go down there, they start looking at you funny. And then the Bellport police come driving around.”
“It’s only fair,” he said of opening the beach to non-village residents, especially when they live nearby. “We all live in the Town of Brookhaven.”
He also said he wasn’t concerned about speaking up.
“I’m not afraid. If it isn’t right, I’m going to say something,” he said.
The town has retained former federal prosecutor and town supervisor Mark Lesko as legal representation, though for his part, Panico said he’s hopeful the town and village could work things out.
But if not, “the town is going to pursue all of its legal options to ensure that town residents have access to Ho Hum Beach,” Lekso said at Tuesday’s press conference.
He said it’s clear the Town Board’s resolution “has been violated.”
“The town will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the rights of its residents, including potentially filing a lawsuit,” Lesko said. “Lastly we’re going to refer this matter to [New York] Attorney General Tish James for her review. We believe that the village’s actions here violate substantial rights of the town’s residents and that the attorney general should examine what’s happened here to determine whether there have been any constitutional rights violations.”
Check back at greaterlongisland.com for any updates.
Top: Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico at Town Hall on Tuesday. (Credit: Maya Duclay)
