Twenty-five years ago, residents of North Amityville were being held hostage by incidents of violence that had become a daily part of their lives. Illegal drugs were being sold openly at the corner of Great Neck Road and Albany Avenue, and there were almost daily incidents of shoot­ings and gang violence. Families were living in fear and could not walk the streets in their neighborhoods. It took a concerted effort by an unyielding community, working with public officials and police to combat that culture. That effort is again underway as the incidents of violence not only in North Amityville, but also Copiague and Wyandanch have increased dramatically over the past year. “We certainly do not want to go back to those times,” said Rev. Stanley Gordon Smith, senior pastor of Bethel AME Church in Amityville, which hosted a community meeting two weeks ago to address the issue. “And we were very happy to see that the police are taking proactive steps and working with the community on this problem.”

In photo below, Rev. Smith of Bethel A.M.E. Church, S.C. Leg. Du­Wayne Gregory, Town Councilwoman Jacqueline Gordon, First Pre­cinct Inspector Cornelius McKenna and Town Supervisor Steve Bel­lone listen to residents' concerns at the meeting. Photo by Joe S.C. Leg. Du Wyane Gregory called the meeting and invited S.C. First Precinct Inspector McKenna, Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone and other officials and community groups to attend.

“We had a good conversation and established a part­nership to stand as one community against this epidemic of crime,” said Gregory, who added that the group is setting up other meetings and reaching out to local school districts. “We want to address this ‘no snitch,’ culture and build an environment where people feel comfortable coming forward with in­formation without fear of retribution,” he said. In 2009, there were two shootings in the North Amityville-Copiague. Between January of 2009 and 2010, there were 11 shootings, some fatalities, according to statistics provided by the SuffolkCounty Police Department.

“Despite the terrible events that led up to it, this was a good meeting,” said Bellone. “People in this community came together and talked in a positive way about how to move forward. There was no hand wring­ing or finger pointing; everyone just want­( ed to work to make things better.” The Town will be meeting with the owners of two housing units in the area, Andress Plaza and Cloverdale Garden apartment where some of the recent shootings took place. They want to work with them to ensure that any tenants there who engage in criminal activity are evicted—and quickly, said Bellone. Additionally, the Town will be putting up signs throughout the community telling residents who to call in the event they see any criminal activity. “Thecalls will be completely anonymous,” said Bellone. “We are sending out the message that if you engage in this kind of crimi­nal behavior, we are coming after you,” said Bellone. “Thecommunities of North Amityville, Wyandanch and Copi­ague will not tolerate it.”