Have the Guardian Angels made a difference in Greenport?
Like it or not, the Guardian Angels are digging in their heels after months of outreach in Greenport and Riverhead.
The crimson-clad community-watchers say they’ve been patrolling once or twice a week in Greenport since November and in Riverhead since May. And while official statistics are unavailable, some are optimistic that their efforts to curb gang violence in Hispanic communities are working.
“It’s statistically too early to tell how they’ve made a difference, but I know they’ve made a difference just based on what I’ve heard from some of the shopkeepers along Railroad Avenue,” said Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter.
For residents, the organization has, at the very least, been fairly visible. Of close to 50 people interviewed in Riverhead and Greenport, nearly three-quarters indicated they’d had seen a beret-wearing watchman at least once in recent months.
In fact, 21 people said they’ve seen the Angels two or more times — most often on weekends and in the late evening.
In Riverhead, the percentage of people surveyed who have seen Guardian Angels is lower, but that could be due to logistics: the Angels have only been running patrols there for two months, compared to eight months in Greenport, and they concentrate almost exclusively on the area around Riverhead’s railroad station.
The group’s success around the train tracks is particularly difficult to determine. Most businesses and residents interviewed were terse and did not want to give their names, and several did not speak English well enough to discuss the Guardian Angels with a reporter.
On Railroad Avenue, two businesses reported seeing the Angels, but two others had not. A bartender at the Loose Caboose Pub said she saw them only when they first arrived to make a formal show of being in Riverhead.
“I don’t think they’re necessary,” she said. “The police can handle it.”
RED-CAPPED CRUSADERS AND THE NORTH FORK
The Guardian Angels, based in New York City, first came to Greenport Village in 2005 to help deter drug dealing in the area around Third Street Park. Their leader, Curtis Sliwa, said they left around 2007.
Concerned village residents contacted the Guardian Angels again last November after a bloody fight between alleged members of MS-13 and the 18th Street Gang broke out in that same park and continued into Southold.
While their focus years ago was on the drug trade in the village, Mr. Sliwa said his group’s mission this time around is to connect with the Latino population and prevent gang activity. So far, he claims, he has spoken to people in Greenport with MS-13 tattoos and has identified gang graffiti in both the village and Riverhead.
Greenport Mayor George Hubbard said the group was never formally invited by the Village Board, but that he still supports their presence.
“Anything that’s going to make the streets safer or make people more comfortable, I’m on board with that,” he said. “I think our police department does a really good job. They try to keep in touch with everything that’s happening … but additional help is never a problem.”
The Angels’ primary focus has been “right in the immigrant community itself,” Mr. Sliwa said, and patrols take place near St. Agnes Church, near the Third Street Park and along Front Street downtown.
In Riverhead, a string of violent attacks on Hispanic men throughout 2014 prompted Mr. Walter to explore proactive solutions to increase safety, and he eventually settled on the Guardian Angels.
“These attacks were pretty savage,” he said. “While these folks are living here, we have to make sure they have a safe place to live.”
Both areas see patrols a minimum of once a week, usually during the evening on weekends, though Mr. Sliwa wants to bump that requirement up to two nights a week.
Members of the New York City branch arrive in Riverhead by train around 3 p.m. — convenient since their main beat is right by the tracks — and depart on the last train around 11 p.m.
In Greenport, however, the Angels are supported by a batch of local volunteers. Aware that most of those volunteers have jobs during the day, Mr. Sliwa said they tend to patrol from about 7 p.m. to midnight.
“Members of the Guardian Angels work, just like day laborers and the rest of the immigrant community,” Mr. Sliwa said. “So you’re not going to see them during the day.”
Oscar Sanchez, a handyman who lives near Third Street Park, was one such volunteer. He has not done patrols in several months — during the summer, he wanted to spend more of his free time with his children — but the Guardian Angels still call him frequently and he plans to resume patrols soon.
“It’s a good thing to have them because the people feel more safety,” he said.
Mr. Sanchez first learned of the organization when they visited his church about seven months ago to recruit new members. He approached them with interest, and they welcomed him.
The group provides each volunteer with a signature red beret and jacket to wear while on duty and offers training in self-defense and patrol strategies.
Mr. Sanchez said his neighborhood has seen some challenging times in the past, but he now feels safe enough to leave his bike unchained in front of his house every night.
“I like to see my neighborhood nice and quiet,” he said. “I don’t really see violence or anything.”
A MIX OF IRE AND PRAISE
For all the attention, however, local opinions on the Guardian Angels remain varied — from distrust to a shoulder-shrugging “Why not?” to outright support. In general, interviews revealed that businesses tend to be more accepting than residents, especially in Greenport.
“I think they’re terrific,” said Claudia Helinski, owner of Salamander’s on Front Street. “If the Guardian Angels can provide any positive influence whatsoever for kids without parental guidance, that’s a good thing.”
Ms. Helinski said she’s aware of increasing gang activity in Greenport and hopes the Guardian Angels will mitigate their influence.
“It’s a far reach for the Guardian Angels to come out here [from New York City], but not too far for gangs,” she said.
Several businesses on Main Street in Riverhead also offered positive opinions on the group’s efforts.
“They are an added presence to other, more official venues,” said Steve Siegelwaks, owner of East Main Street’s Green Earth Grocery. “Perhaps it can help all of us get to that place of safety after hours.”
Outside the tourist hub in each downtown area, most residents offered some variation on, “Well, they can’t hurt.”
But others remain unconvinced of the Guardian Angels’ efficacy.
“The times I have seen them, they’ve been on their phones,” said Lisa Labbe, who lives near Third Street Park in Greenport. “They’re a more antagonistic presence than a productive presence.”
A woman working at Mr. Roberts in Greenport, who declined to give her name, said the Guardian Angels are ineffective.
“I see only really old people — if they see a fight, they cannot do anything” she said. “We all pay enough taxes. Police can do their own job.”
Some worried about the message the Guardian Angels’ presence sends, claiming that their visibility makes it seem as if the North Fork is a hotbed of gang warfare and rampant drug use.
“They’re a visible symbol that [Greenport] may be a troubled area,” said Jack Weiskott, a Fifth Street resident. “It’s not actually troubled, but the Angels emphasize what some people already think: that Greenport is iffy.”
The Angels have encountered indifference from Southold police, too.
Chief Martin Flatley has said several times in the past year that they lack specific knowledge of the area’s needs and that his hiring of eight new officers in November was sufficient. He did not return several requests for comment on the subject over the past week.
Sister Margaret Smyth of the North Fork Spanish Apostolate, a Hispanic outreach organization that’s active in both communities, said the Guardian Angels contacted her when they began patrolling Greenport, and spent their first few outings near St. Agnes. Since then, however, she has not seen them in the village.
The group never spoke to her in Riverhead, Sister Margaret said. She noticed them once walking near Riverhead High School, but said she has not seen their patrols near the railroad station. Moreover, she added, the families that come into the Apostolate seeking help have not mentioned seeing the Guardian Angels in Riverhead.
NOT A DETERRENT, BUT A ‘BRIDGE’
Several residents criticized the Angels because they feel that the police are enough to handle the North Fork’s needs. But for leaders behind their presence — namely, in Riverhead — the police are exactly not enough.
Some, including Mr. Sliwa and Mr. Walter, say that Hispanic populations distrust police as a result of cultural differences. In Central and South American countries, they explained, police are either corrupt, ineffective or both, so people from those regions turn to gangs for protection.
Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller, despite pushback from the police union, had offered similar thoughts before the Angels arrived.
Such a gap is the reason Mr. Walter chose to invite the Angels in the first place. Concerned that his police force — which is mostly white — is too culturally distant from the at-risk Hispanic community, he was hoping to find a group that could make a connection.
Mr. Sliwa argues that his organization’s strategy is indeed racial, but not discriminatory.
“If there are people who feel we are targeting blacks or Hispanics, I’d say, ‘Yep — if they’re Bloods or MS-13s,’ ” he said.
Though the Guardian Angels can conduct citizens’ arrests and are trained in self-defense, they are here first and foremost to “build a bridge into the Latino community,” Mr. Sliwa said.
The Guardian Angels are looking to grow their presence in Suffolk County.
On July 11, the organization conducted its first fundraiser for outposts in Riverhead, Greenport and South Huntington, where they also patrol, and drew about $22,000 in donations — $10,000 of it from Guardian Angels board member and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis.
“It’s hard to justify taking money from New York City where we have our own needs and then spending it in Suffolk County,” Mr. Sliwa said.
The majority of money raised will be spent on transportation for members, Mr. Sliwa said. Some will also go toward uniforms.
Once they are able to find affordable space in Suffolk, the Guardian Angels will set up operations out here.
The organization is also looking to bring a Junior Guardian Angels program to the Greenport school district by late fall, Mr. Sliwa said.
Correction: Due to an editing error, an incorrect author was listed for this story. The article was reported and written by Chris Lisinski.
Photo Captions:
1) Guardian Angel Benjamin Garcia talks with two women at a Greenport laundromat last November. (Credit: Guardian Angels)
2) The Riverhead railway station, where the Guardian Angels conduct most of their patrols. (Credit: Chris Lisinski)
3) Guardian Angel’s founder Curtis Sliwa (Credit: Grant Parpan)