The Mineola village board is looking to add a local law to make aggressive panhandling illegal, to combat the the issue of beggars by the train station, Mayor Scott Strauss said at Wednesday’s board meeting.
The board will hold a public hearing about the law on May 16.
Panhandling is not illegal in New York State.
“If it’s not on the state books we’ll put it on our books,” Strauss said. “We need to work this through as quickly as we can.”
Trustee Dennis Walsh also told residents not to give money to the panhandlers, “no matter how needy they appear to be.”
Walsh cited other ways to help the homeless, such as donating to the Interfaith Nutrition Network, or INN, in Hempstead.
Walsh said the INN is one of his favorite charities and he understands that homelessness can happen to anybody, but said “you don’t help aggressive panhandlers by giving them a dollar.”
“If you give money to the homeless people down by the train station you’re only encouraging them,” Walsh said.
Strauss also told residents to call 911 to report cases.
If residents only call the third precinct station, and not 911, the cases are not reported.
“You’re not taking away any calls or service from anybody else they are structured … in a priority order,” Strauss said. “Please, reach out, call 911 if you need to.”
During the meeting members of the board also recognized Trustee Paul Pereira who is celebrating his 25th anniversary of teaching in the Mineola school district.
The board also approved a request for the American Legion to use village streets, Memorial Park and Village Hall for the annual Memorial Day Parade.
The parade will be held on May 28.
American Legion will also have access to the community center for parade preparations the Saturday before, from 10 a.m to noon.
The board also approved a day off for essential employees who were required to work on March 21 during the storm when the village offices were closed.
The day off must be used within one year of the date of occurrence or it expires on March 21, 2019; it can not be used as a partial day off.
