The-Leader_1989-05-04

              XocMMhooI *ptes
V^oll be 'Motber of Year'T
t«cpacc*t,ti Freeport -^aldwin
L SSlhYcjr. N a 18Freeport.N.Y. 11520 omculiKwspiperoflteViUigeofFreepon-FretponaxlBaldwmScJKioIDUtricU Tbursdiy.May4.1989 25c
BLUE RCBBO NISTIED to tiM In fongtound MT«Sd Uvy, hMd
of Itw •tayoi't Tuk font on Dtuea. tp—kt « t h * Uck-oK
connwiilM ot «h» va»B»'» iiinu»l c»mp«l8n to i)«inonitm»
•olWMtty «ot!ntt (lnia> by iBiplayIng « • iMKin* thnucMit
•^••poR-'tte wMit « n s Iwld n th* Moiil* Rigby Apanmcma.'
-i-
ROUNOTHE ClOCK GUARD pravMMi by th* Emixirt Peso*
Dni«itiiwirt»tMe»l«Rlgbyw»»»»M«ml««t<»»ilL
1st blue ribbon at Moxie Rigby
by Paul Laursen *"
The annual "Freeport Says
No to Dni{^* blu« ribbon cam­paign
waa Idcked <iffoa Satur-day
with a rally at ih« Moxie
Rigby apartment complex on
Buffalo Avenue, an.area fre­quented
by drug pushers
before police stepped up foot
patrols last week.
TiM symbolic first Uua rib­bon,
dgnitying oppodtion to
Olegal o r u ^ waa pinned on a
tree 1^^ two local yoongsters.
. 'the ribbons go up today; and
come down in two weelci^' said
Operation PRIDE director
Tedd Levy. He asked
Freeporters to put them on
their trees and boines^ but not
on telephone pcjea. Last year,
9,000 blae ribbons were dis-tziboted.
Ihey are available at
the Freeport libnuy. Village
Hen, the BecrMtioa CenUr,
the EOC. the Fkm0y Commu­nity
Center, Freeport High
School, and Dodd Junior H i^
School, among other sites.
Mr. Levy added, "Vfeire htre
to show our support for the
people of Moxie Rigby," noting
that the nle waa selected two
months before the shooting of
anti-drug activist Roberta
Whethera.
Speaking for a group of cler­gy
at the rally, the Rev. Robert
Oawley of the Community
Church of the Naxarene told
the local residents, 'We are
suppNorting yon, not Just by
praying for ypu, but actively
woikjng throu^ our own con­gregations.
We are working
together in unity, the clergy,
pc^ce, schools, and other orga-nizattoaa,*
He and other cler­gy
members read pertinent
Bibltt passagea. t h e other der-
§r included Pastor B£chacl
ickson and Christina
Soltvelt of Christ Lutheran^
and ^ Rev. Daniel Haxna of
Transfiguration Episc^ai
Church.
Mayor Dorothy Storm noted
that "this is a poignant time
for Freeport. Pnteport's hurt­ing.
All the actions we've
taken were not enough to pre­vent
the shootinff of the anti­drug
activist;
"TVe needed the communi­ty's
help' to light the drug
problem, along with federal
state and county funding, she
added. *We cannot do it
alone.' Noting that 60 drug
arrests were made in the
Moxie Rigby area alone last
year, she declared that
"Freeport does say no to
drugs."
A resident of the complex
told Ihe Leader that 'it's nicer
here now" since the police
started round-the-clock
patrols. Before, drug dealers
were coming and gdng in the
halls of the complex, blowing
their car horns and talking
loudly, and showing 'no
respect' for the residents. A
resident of the complex for
evr a quarter of a century,
she added that in the last two
or three years, the drug prob­lem
in the complex has been
"ridiculous."
Arrest in Whethers shooting; security pledged
by Sue Morgan
"PItOMlSINU INCHhAgEg"tB£UBmr at th* Mexte Rigby
Apartmants bi tha wafca of tha thoodng of tanant Robarts
Whathars war* officalt who gaOmwd »t thm Buffalo Avanua
housing project last waafc. Ftom laft ara. Mrs. Whathars'daugh-t
»r aiid sistar. Mayor Dorothy Storm. Nassau County Exacutfva
Thomas Quibtta! U.S. Sanator Alphonaa D'Amato end Fraaport
PoOca Chief Joseph King. pr>oto» b / S » « Grtvw«
Freeport police Usi week
arteittd l^year^old Rodnty
Graysotf for the' shooting c^
Mone Rigby tenant Roberu
Whethcn, an incident which h ^
focused media attention on the-
Viliagc and prompted calls for
iscrcucd tctttrity at the drag rid­den
Buflslo Avenue bouiing
project
The youth. aUo a residem of
the tpartmem building, was met
by police last Tuesday at Free-port
High School as be left night
daxses he titcnds there. Mr.
Grayson was diarged with fust
degree assatdt, criminal possess­ion
ofa firearm, criminal use of a
firearm, and an ontttandiog New
York City w&rtaot for possession
of stolen properly. He was being
heU without bail at the Nissao-
County jail in Mincota.
Police told Tbc Leader the
sohilion of the April 21 shooting
of Mrs. \VT)eihcrs, who was rec- ^
ovcnng from a shoulder wound
at Nassau Comity Medical Ceo-ter,
had comets a result otpoGce
~ invotipiioa and invoNcment of
ihe Moxie Jtigbylensnts.—
"There was initially a lot of
reloctance OD the part of the
tenaats." a police spokctmao
said, "but when ibe impaa of
what bad happened hit. tbcy
• cooperated."
The morning after the in-rst.
federal, county and idllagc oCTu
cials gathered at Moxie Rigby to
announce a stepped up effort to
secure the complex against drugs
and violence which included
round the clock patrols by the
Freepon Police Department, a
direct hotline to the I^eral Drug
Enforcemcfii Agency, and «
ptotnisc from United Sutes
Senator Alphonse D'Amaio to
speed a grant application to fund
addittooal police for the ViUage^
carrentiy undcrmaimed fotcc
As teteviuoQ cameras and uni-fonned
police on the Moxie
Rigby roof looked on. Senator
D'Amato told media representa^
tivts and tenants who gathered to
watch that be bad vhited Mrs.
Wbctbcrs is the hospital tod met
with her iamily.
•WeVt talking about good,
decent families that sh ould not be
held faosuge under the gun of the
drug tTade," the Senator said.
"Tbcy deserve lo Uve free from
the worry thai a drug pusher's
buUrtcan rip through their wiur.
dbws at any time to maim or kill
at nDdom."
Senator D'Amato said the
an tenants. The Village itself has
imuntaioed a drug hotline for
tome time.
Mrs. Whethcrs'tister, whohat _
asked not to be identified, (okl
TbeUtdtr. "We feel much better
with the 24-haiir po&ce pres­ence,"
and she praised Senator
D'Amato. Mayor Dorothy
Storm and Police Chief Joseph
King for "their personal
intervention,''
-She didn't die. thank God."
the woman said of bei siiter.'but
look what^ happened as a result
That will make her cope with this
better. She ts hoping that what
happened to her was not in vain.
What happctkcd to my sister
could happen to anybody."
Al^ough police have raided
the complex on sevcnl occasions
ai^ last year arrested $t individ­uals
on various drug charges
there, most arc back on the streets
quickly, a viUige spokesman
said.
Senator D'Amato aiiribu-ltd
thercvolvingdowsituationto
insufficiem jail space and said he
planned to imroduct brgjslatt-onto
Dtilize cx-militaiy bases. >n
Drug Enforcement Agency had p. articular Fort Dix. t_o _ho^u se
__plcdgBd-to.puaoc.*iqt-«id-a&-drU|^ offtfjJeix'fratf the irmtaic
leads on drug activity reported area
aBODyoottiJy to the new DEA
hotline at 212-399'SI4Uod he
urged tenanU to cooperate by
uking advaauge of the hotlioe.
He added that a mailing describ­ing
the hotline would be-scnt rtr'
"The law provides nodctcrrrni
today." be declared
Mayor Dorothy Storm said
tbe 24-hour police guard at the
complex was begun after diicus-