Local Clergy Meet on Day Labor Issue

by Judy Silberstein

(February 16, 2006) While the Village of Mamaroneck’s official day labor gathering spot has been closed since February 1, informal arrangements continue as do efforts to find alternative options. (See: Village of Mamaroneck Closes Day Labor Site: Reopening Is Contingent on Neighbors Opening Own Site.) On Friday, February 10, leaders from ten local houses of worship met at Larchmont Temple in a session convened by Mayor Ken Bialo and attended by Town Supervisor Valerie O’Keeffe and Village of Mamaroneck Deputy Mayor Bill Paonessa. This was a follow-up from the previous Friday’s meeting of all three municipal boards in the Town of Mamaroneck courtroom and was aligned with goals outlined then to find solutions that rely on private, non-governmental organizations and locations.

The Larchmont Temple meeting was considered preliminary, although there was mention of some potential sites for a day labor facility. The specific possibilities were all on private or church owned spaces, as is the case with New Rochelle's program at a former elementary school owned by St. Gabriel's Church.

The closure of the St. Gabriel program for the winter has been cited as one reason for an upsurge in the number of day laborers showing up at Columbus Park that motivated the Village of Mamaroneck Board to vote for a resolution closing their site. Reopening of Mamaroneck's program was made contingent on Town of Mamaroneck and Village of Larchmont developing their own site, but as yet there is no mention of a specific location in either of those communities. At the most recent meeting of the Village of Mamaroneck Board, on Monday, February 13, the board received petitions signed by hundreds of residents opposed to reopening the site and heard from advocates for the day workers, but no further action was taken.

Why is public land not being considered at this time? Public land has other uses, explained Mayor Bialo. Also, having a day labor site on public land puts the municipality in an awkward position because some of the workers may not be eligible for employment and some may not be getting the legal protections that regular workers are entitled to.

Religious organizations, with a different mission, see things in a different light. “The church has a history of sanctuary,” said Father Brian McWeeney of Sts. John and Paul, who recognized that this is a historical not a legal practice. “It’s in total keeping with our historical tradition - we can’t ignore the human problem no matter who created it.”

If nothing else, the meeting was a rare opportunity for religious leaders to convene. “It’s wonderful to get together like this and share our concerns – we don’t do this enough,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Sirkman. At last month's meeting of the Local Summit the rabbi had challenged the local clergy - himself included - to make these kinds of meetings an annual event. (See; Pluses & Minuses Cited in “Taking Temperature” of Community.) “When important issues arise, we know we have each other to raise the concerns for human rights,” said Rabbi Sirkman.

The religious leaders do have plans to meet again on the day labor issue in a few weeks. The next meeting is slated as a work session to develop a list of ideal characteristics that will allow each potential day labor site to be assessed and compared with other alternatives.

“It was an extremely cordial hour and half,” said Mayor Ken Bialo of the first meeting. There was a lot of positive energy in the room.”