Residents at Haven Marina faced off against their landlord’s attorney and village officials last Thursday inside a packed Manorhaven Village Hall.
Residents at Haven Marina, located at 12 Matinicock Ave., in Port Washington have been without power since May 6 and have been using gas-powered generators.
“It’s a very tenuous situation,” Village Code Enforcer Kareen Buckley said at the board meeting.
Buckley said he responded to a call about vandalism and went down to the marina, where he saw resident Nick Cyprus doing something to an electrical panel.
“Conditions were not good,” he said. “The electrical meters were tampered with. Raw wires were exposed.”
Cyprus said at the meeting that he was not vandalizing the wires, but had a new panel that he was trying to install.
“All the tenants knew I was shutting down the electric.” Cyprus said “I was almost arrested for trying to fix the electric. I don’t know what to say.”
“When someone starts slandering my name I get pissed off,” he added.
Village Attorney James Toner said electricity has be restored to the Marina, but not to the houseboats, which are awaiting inspection.
Toner said the majority of the boats will not meet the required code and that what started out as an alleged act of vandalism has “spiraled down to a safety issue.”
“I think ultimately the marina has to be shut down,” Toner said.
Because of the unsafe conditions, houseboat resident Stephanie Colten’s 13 year-old son was taken by Child Protective Services.
“CPS came to my door and said, ‘where is your son? He has to leave,” Colten said.
“Now I have to juggle my son around,” she added.
Haven Marina attorney Anthony Placentini said at the meeting that he received a letter from Nassau County Fire Marshal Nicholas Corrado the marina conditions were unsafe but that officials were giving the home owners temporary leeway “given the nature of the situation.”
“The safety situation has been ongoing for a long time,” houseboat resident Patrick Gibson said to Placentini. “Aren’t you responsible?”
Placentini said the Village of Manorhaven is the lead agency and that residents need to demand help from them.
Village officials disagreed with Placentini.
“You haven’t maintained this marina,” Toner said. “This is the worst marina I’ve seen in my entire life.”
“Are you going to provide residents housing to relocate them?” he asked.
Manorhaven resident and trustee candidate Kenneth Kraft agreed with Toner and said Haven Marina has never been close to the quality as the other marinas in the village.
“It’s a nightmare,” he said.
Kraft said he doesn’t want to point fingers, but believes some thing needs to be done.
“Somehow the village has gotten pulled in,” he said. “They need to sit down and work something out.”
“Some of the demands are too expensive,” Placentini said. “I think what Toner said is ridiculous.”
Manorhaven resident Jens Ruemenapp, husband of trustee candidate Barbara Ruemenapp, said he understands that the lawyer is just trying to do his job but needs to understand that people are going through a tough situation.
“You have to learn to be more cordial,” Ruemenapp said. “You’re attitude sucks.”
Haven Marina houseboat residents Arthur Fishbein, Edward Merkel, George Wendt, Peter Mohan, Nick Cyprus, Kathleen Sutherland, and Allan Glasser filed a lawsuit against Haven Realty seeking to prevent Boromand from evicting them.
A public hearing is scheduled on June 23 at Nassau County Supreme Court located at 100 Supreme Center Drive in Mineola.
Village officials said they are remaining neutral and that it’s a landlord-tenant dispute.
“The village doesn’t really have much say in the matter,” Buckley said. “The village’s position is that we are keeping a close eye.”
