'GESTAPO TACTICS'

Marvin Jeffcoat, who heads Board 2's Veterans Committee, speaks to the advisory body. A late-night raid on the Borden Avenue Veterans Residence was condemned by veterans living at the shelter at Community Board 2's Thursday, Sept. 4 meeting at Sunnyside Community Services.

Several veterans came before the advisory body during the public comment period and stated that agents from the city Department of Homeless Services (DHS) showed up at the shelter, located at 21-10 Borden Ave. in Long Island City, for an unannounced inspection at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 3.

"The veterans at Borden Avenue are being mistreated," one veteran claimed, noting that the DHS agents went through rooms and cabinets and used force in several cases. "We're not going to stand for this," he said. "We should not be mistreated. We need your help so that we are not mistreated."

Another resident of the shelter claimed that DHS officers destroyed his brand-new laptop computer; another one disseminated photos of his room, which he claimed was ransacked by the DHS agents.

(Editor's Note: Due to the residents' fear of repercussions, the Times Newsweekly has decided not to publish the names of those residents of the shelter who spoke at the meeting.)

Yet another veteran spoke of an incident that occurred during the raid between a Hispanic veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder and DHS agents. The agents asked the man to empty his pockets; the vet, wearing cargo pants (with multiple pockets), began to empty them as the agents approached.

According to the veterans, as the agents came closer, the vet told them of his condition, and eventually snapped and shoved one of the officers in the chest, prompting several officers to beat him.

"It was absolutely, absolutely uncalled for," she stated.

"It reminded me of something from the Second World War," said another, who derided the raid as employing "Gestapo tactics."

"I'm so ashamed, I'm so hurt as a veteran who served his country honorably," he stated. "No matter what the circumstances are, no veteran should be subject to such brutality. And believe me, that's exactly what it was: brutality."

One of the veterans at the shelter, Eric Cherry, was arrested that same night for the fatal assault of local resident Nicholas Nowillo. (For more information on the incident, see the accompanying story on this page.)

Some of the veterans claimed that the two events were linked, with one veteran claiming that the crime was "a direct result of being abused at Borden Avenue."

"It was so inhumane how they treated anyone who put their life on the line for our country," he added.

Taking action

"When you accept quarters at the facility at Borden Avenue, do you sign a statement authorizing them to search your personal living space?" asked Marvin Jeffcoat, who heads Board 2's veterans' committee, of the veterans in attendance.

One of the vets responded that when the Institute For Community Living (ICL) took over the facility from the Salvation Army, the company made residents sign paperwork that would allow them to remain in their rooms.

Another vet said that the paperwork was given to residents three weeks ago, but that part of the documentation assured that residents' belongings would not be broken.

"What choice did we have?" the veteran stated. "The street?"

Some veterans did admit that there used to be drug issues at the facility, but added that the problem has been limited to "one or two people."

Gertrude McDonald, a member of the Advisory Committee, said she "never heard anything like this."

"You can rest assured, we have a very active council; they don't want us down there either, and now I know why," she added. "You will be getting help."

Jeffcoat told the veterans that while the DHS' actions were wrong, it does not give veterans the right to terrorize the community.

"I'd like you to go back and talk to our comrades and tell them to remember the oath of enlistment they took to protect this country. To me, that's a lifelong obligation," he said. "To go out and lash out at the community that's going to help them is not going to get them the response they want."

He asked the veterans who came to the meeting to write statements detailing what they saw on Wednesday night.

In his Veterans' Committee report later in the meeting, he also shared his frustration with ICL; according to Jeffcoat, the company's demeanor, which was friendly and receptive to local issues before the transition, has changed since ICL took over the shelter.

"They've been very uncooperative with me," he stated, noting that the Committee had asked ICL to report on certain "indices," including those related to drug use at the facility. "Basically, they stonewalled," he reported.

Specifically, ICL told Jeffcoat they seek to replace the Borden Avenue Veterans Shelter Advisory Committee, made up of board members and local residents, with a new Community Advisory Board that would consist of members who are hand-picked by ICL.

ICL, under this proposal, would only speak to the Advisory Board.

The company has also refused to grant Jeffcoat entry into the facility, as opposed to recent years when then-Veterans Committee Chairman Ron Casey would regularly have lunch with veterans living in the shelter.

Since ICL took over the shelter, "we don't know what our rights are, and we don't know how to stop them," one veteran said.

However, one veteran stated that DHS personnel had also mistreated ICL's security force. "When DHS came in, they disrespected everybody ... the problem that occurred last night was not an ICL problem."

"If they're not going to allow us to meet down at the shelter and to serve in the oversight role that we initially had," Jeffcoat stated, "my recommendation to the rest of the board would be that we take the position that we request that DHS void [ICL's] contract, or at least not renew it."

Jeffcoat stated that he would investigate the incident.

In an impromptu press conference near the end of the meeting, Jeffcoat stated that he does not believe that the DHS officers are trained to recognize people with serious cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

As of press time, a call to the DHS from the Times Newsweekly was not returned.