EAST NORTHPORT
Matinecock Court Draws Protesters
Residents frustrated with lack of information on project; developer opens doors to public
By Mike Koehler/mkoehler@longislandernews.com

Almost 900 people have joined a Facebook group protesting the proposed Matinecock Court housing development.

Organizer Chris Triolo said he started the group after finding that he had more questions than answers about the affordable housing project.

“We don’t have the answers. We’re just kind of piecing it together,” Triolo said. “We’re not shown any plans. Has the public been notified what this will look like? Not at all. We just hear bits and pieces.”

The “Stop the Matinecock Court housing development project in East Northport” group on the social utility site has planned a protest for this Saturday. Members will stand on the corner of Pulaski and Elwood Roads across from the proposed location from 11 a.m. until noon. Triolo was unsure exactly how many protestors would join him.

“I have no idea. It could be 20, it could be hundreds,” he said. “We decided to do this last Wednesday. Why not this Saturday? This will be one of many.”

Greenlawn not-for-profit housing counseling agency Housing Help announced in January that Matinecock Court received a conditional site plan. The $43-million project has been tied up in lawsuits since 1978, but now a sewer treatment plant is all that stands in the way of construction. Plans call for 78 rental units and 77 owned units that blend in with nearby neighborhoods.

But Triolo and others said they are concerned about the clientele the affordable housing would attract, especially in upscale communities like Northport. With the not-for-profit funding the property, he worried new residents would not be required to pay rent or taxes.

“From the way I understand it, half of these are going to be rentals subsidized by the state, so nobody’s going to be paying rent,” Triolo said. “These people will be in our school system. They won’t be paying taxes.”

That’s not true, Housing Help Executive Director Susan Lagville said. While her group will own the condominium development, they could not receive enough financial assistance to even dream of offering free housing. In addition to regular payment, rental units will be subsidized with federal tax credit dollars and state housing trust monies. Those housing trust monies will help finance owned homes. As a not-for-profit, Housing Help doesn’t need tax credits and can sell them off to raise funds.

Lagville said some of the financial assistance afforded to new homeowners only applies as long as they own it.

“If they sell the house, they have pay the grants back,” she said. ”All of the homeowners get their own mortgages, and the rental units will have mortgages on them that we as the owner have to pay.”

Both types of housing also come with earning limitations. A family of four can earn no more than $61,000 a year to reside in a rental unit while families must make no more than $81,000 a year to own a home.

When the first of three lawsuits attached to Matinecock Court was settled 20 years ago, the court ruled it was unconstitutional for the Town of Huntington to limit all affordable housing in Huntington Station. However, Triolo questioned why the development was being created in East Northport.

Triolo grew up in Huntington Station but spent time with his divorced father in Northport. He is now a six-year resident of the Village of Northport and on his second home.

“I would love to live in Cold Spring Harbor, but I can’t afford it. I live in communities that are the next best thing. Northport is a fantastic community to live in and the reason it costs so much is because it has a great school system, great athletics, and that’s why it’s so desirable, just like Cold Spring Harbor. What gives anyone the right to live in a certain area?” he said, adding racism is not involved. “There’s a reason why this has been going on for 30 years. No one wants it. Why do we have to deal with this?”

The organizer also expressed concern that building such a development could make nearby trains more dangerous. LIRR tracks to the East Northport station lay nearby, and Triolo said protestors are concerned that the horns would have to be subdued once the condos are built and “put the community in jeopardy.”

Residents don’t have to worry about that, Lagville said. A number of houses just to the east of Elwood Road already back up against the tracks, no more than 200 feet away, and the horns still blare just as loud.

“The LIRR hasn’t done anything for those homes,” she said.

Lagville also disputed protestors’ claims that the property is contaminated. Most properties on Long Island contain some amount of arsenic from its past as farmland, but it is widespread and often not dangerous. East Northport, for example, was a former potato farm and many properties in the town likely contain the pollutants.

Despite noting that information was shared at numerous public hearings held during the three decades, Lagville invited the public to ask any questions. Meetings can be scheduled by calling her office at 631-754-0373.