Library in Mastic Beach shortens hours over safety and security fears
A library spokesperson said there are no plans to close the branch.
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The Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library is working on a plan to transform the Mastic Beach branch into a programming center, which would require people entering to have valid library cards, instead of being able to walk in, a library spokesperson told News 12.
The plan does not call for permanently closing the branch, according to the spokesperson.
This development came one day after the library announced the Mastic Beach branch altered its closing hours four hours earlier than normal on Mondays through Saturdays because of ongoing safety concerns.
The branch was previously open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but will now operate until 5 p.m. The branch's Sunday hours of 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. were not changed.
"I think it's actually a pretty good thing," one librarygoer told News 12. "Why do they have to pay everybody to come here and make it unsafe for everybody else who's working here?"
A note on the library website said the changes were made "particularly as daylight hours grow shorter, to help provide a safer environment for patrons and staff."
"Unfortunately, the Mastic Beach branch has experienced ongoing safety and security challenges, including vandalism, drug-related activity, threatening behavior, and incidents involving violence and firearms in the surrounding area," Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Board of Trustees President Joseph Maiorana told News 12 in a statement.
News 12 reached back out for an interview with a library official, but no one was made available.
Suffolk County police said the Seventh Precinct assigned two officers to patrol the area surrounding the Mastic Beach branch from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. from May to the middle of September.
During that time, they issued 15 summonses for open alcohol on Neighborhood Road, made two drug-related arrests and one arrest for assault following a shooting incident in the area on Aug. 23 around 1:15 a.m.
Suffolk County police said there have been increased patrols around the clock since that detail ended.
There have been 45 calls for service so far this year to the Mastic Beach branch, Suffolk County police said.
16 were for disturbances, 11 were for alarms, four for criminal incidents, two for larceny, one for vandalism and one for a domestic incident. The department said there have been 45 calls for service year to date to the "Mastic Shirley Library," including 16 for disturbances, 11 for alarms, four criminal incidents, two larcenies, one for graffiti and one for domestic violence.
"It creates an atmosphere that becomes uncomfortable and we just want to make sure that the downtown area becomes a place where people can walk and shop freely," Suffolk County Legislator Jim Mazzarella said.
Suffolk County Legislator Jim Mazzarella, whose district includes Mastic Beach, said he believes the branch will get to a point where they can bring back full-time hours.
Library officials haven't commented.
The Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Board of Trustees will hold its next meeting on Monday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the main library at 407 William Floyd Parkway in Shirley.
