MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. - Addressing the sensitive topic of homelessness, Mount Kisco Mayor J. Michael Cindrich recently outlined several issues affecting both the unhoused and the community at large, including health, safety, and quality of life.
“I just want to make sure the public understands the challenges,” he said at the Village Board’s Jan. 6 meeting.
Cindrich also wanted to make it clear that while the village fully understands that more needs to be done, there are resources for folks in need.
For example, the Emergency Shelter Partnership, a coalition of houses of worship that provides safe and warm places to sleep for homeless folks from the fall to early spring, and the Interfaith Food Pantry, based at the United Methodist Church on Main Street.
Heightening ongoing concerns was the discovery last month of the body of a man who authorities have identified as homeless.
Early on Sunday, Dec. 22, someone flagged down a police officer near the intersection of Lexington Avenue and Lieto Drive to ask him to check on a possibly intoxicated man in the woods.
The officer found the lifeless body of 59-year-old Adalmo Ramirez-Garcia. Several open containers of alcohol were found nearby, police said.
There were no signs of any physical injuries and the death was determined to be non-suspicious. However, the exact cause won’t be known until toxicology and other tests are complete.
(Average temperatures that night were well below freezing, according to one weather site.)
A lot of the community’s anxiety could have been alleviated had the police issued a press release --immediately following the discovery of Ramirez-Garcia’s body -- reassuring everyone that there was no danger to the public, the mayor contended.
Neighbors Link Grieves
Neighbors Link, a Mount Kisco-based nonprofit organization that aims to “strengthen the whole community through the healthy integration of immigrants,” confirmed that Ramirez-Garcia had been an active participant in its programs, including English classes and workforce training.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss of human life,” said its executive director, Carola Otero Bracco, on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
What Can Be Done?
Seeking to dispel any misinformation – or deliberately misleading information -- that may be circulating, Cindrich addressed the role and responsibilities of local law enforcement.
There are things police can, and cannot do, legally when handling cases of panhandling, loitering, public intoxication, and public consumption and possession of alcohol, he said.
Under state law enacted in 1974, public intoxication is not a crime. It can be a violation if the intoxicated person becomes a nuisance, or is a danger to themselves, others, or property. (However, under local law, consuming and possessing alcohol or narcotics in public IS illegal.)
If someone is incapacitated, unconscious, or unable to make a rational decision, a police officer can legally take that person to an emergency room or other facility “against his will,” Cindrich explained.
Then it’s up to the examining doctor to determine whether the person is “a risk to himself or others.” If he or she isn’t, then they have the right to refuse further medical intervention, such as entering a treatment facility.
As far as panhandling goes, “it’s a First Amendment right to go up to somebody and ask for a dollar. Unless it becomes a confrontation where someone gets into your private space, insults, or touches you, it’s not a crime,” Cindrich said.
If a panhandler is just standing in front of a store and not blocking its doorway or impeding pedestrians, all an officer can do is politely ask them to move along.
“If they could do more, they would do more,” he assured the public, upset by allegations from certain quarters that the village simply isn’t taking action.
“Nobody’s sitting on their hands. Nobody’s ignoring the issue,” he emphasized.
Support Needed
Chronic alcoholism is a mental health issue, Cindrich said.
More help is needed from the county’s Mobile Crisis Response Teams, which serve Mount Kisco and 17 other municipalities, and Social Services also needs “to take an interest in people who are homeless,” he added.
Cindrich said, however, he’s impressed with the way the MCRT follows up on their initial investigations.
“It’s a significant task,” he said later.
(The Mt. Kisco-Bedford Times reached out to the county for comment but had not heard back by press time.)
There have been discussions along these lines, he said.
Cindrich’s also has been asked why the Emergency Shelter Partnership, which is made up of 30 faith-based institutions, can’t take in intoxicated people.
“Number one, they don’t have the resources,” he explained.
Also, often homeless folks don’t want to go to shelter because “they don’t like authority.”
Those that do choose to go are required to be “responsible,” he said. “This isn’t a babysitting effort. They’re providing a service and that service is faith-based by volunteers.”
Cindrich pointed out that shelters in the county and large cities don’t take intoxicated people or “those who’re prone to causing disturbances.”
Other resources include Neighbors Link, which is headquartered in Mount Kisco, and the Interfaith Food Pantry, which is based out of the United Methodist Church on Main Street.
“Follow up” sometimes is lacking even for those that do actively seek help, both he and Deputy Mayor Theresa Flora agreed.
“The few that go into treatment because of a hospitalization or arrest come out and then have no support afterwards,” she said, adding: “I don’t know how to fix that missing piece.”
Calling the situation “sad,” Flora asserted that “there’s no easy answer to this. It’s a multifaceted problem and it’s going to take a multifaceted approach and constant monitoring.”
Emergency services such as the ambulance corps are already being stretched to limit because of the increase in calls, she added.
Trustee Tom Luzio suggested that a social worker could be hired to coordinate the efforts of village departments and civic or nonprofit organizations.
Flora understands why police may feel “frustrated,”
While loitering may not be an arrestable offense, it can have a negative impact on people’s perception of safety, especially in the downtown area, she said.
Nevertheless, Flora thought that it’s imperative that the village continues to “make an effort to help the ones we can help.”
“I’m glad you let the residents know that we’re trying,” she told Cindrich.
Saying he’s “open to suggestions,” the mayor said one possible approach might be to put “on notice” bodegas, delis, gas stations, and other places that it’s a violation of state law to sell alcohol to an intoxicated person.
“We’re going to get the message out with both the police visiting these establishments and the creation of a flyer to remind them (shop owners) of their obligations and what the law is,” Cindrich said.
‘All About Leverage’
Responding to the quality-of-life issues raised during board comments, resident Lou Terlizzi noted: “It’s really not fair to anyone – the residents, business owners, shoppers, employees, even the people who need help – if we just ignore the problem.”
To the former police officer, it’s “really all about leverage.”
“In what I’ve seen, during my experience in law enforcement, it’s jail versus treatment,” he said, recounting incidents of intoxication he’s personally witnessed in Leonard Park and downtown.
Merely approaching people in the street and asking them to get help “isn’t going to work,” he said.
What might is having a liaison in court who could “steer” folks who’ve been arrested into treatment programs.
“Whether they initially go in begrudgingly, or whether they go in with the genuine interest of getting help, once there they have a chance,” Terlizzi said.
“We’re not going to save everyone. It’s never going to be 100 percent, but you’re giving everyone who needs help a chance and you can save some people, people who will actually benefit from treatment,” he added, expressing the hope that tragedies like the one that occurred on Dec. 22 can be avoided in the future.
Compassion
Expressing compassion for any human being who may be suffering from homelessness, mental illness, addiction, or other problems, Cindrich agreed that “nobody wants to see a person pass away, for whatever reason.”
Hoping to dispel the rumors about the ways Mount Kisco is handling the homeless situation, he re-emphasized that “nobody is condoning this and to suggest that this village isn’t doing its part is outrageous.”
“I know in my heart what we’re doing,” Cindrich said later, allowing that communities always can, and should, be looking for ways to do more.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here