New police substation to help keep Long Island's Mastic Beach library branch safe

There has been so much criminal activity at the Mastic Beach library branch that its board decided to end its traditional library services. 

Now, a new police substation is coming directly across the street.   

A library is supposed to be a safe, quiet place to read and learn. Complaints about crime and safety at the one in Mastic Beach have been anything but quiet. 

"Drug activity, violence ... we've had staff threatened," said Mastic Beach Library director Lonna Castro. "Drug deals on the computers, people putting drugs in the bathroom ceiling." 

"Inappropriate behavior, refusing to leave. Coming in with, smelling of marijuana, smoking marijuana," library trustee Chris Ricciardi said. 

There have been nearly 100 criminal incidents there this year, and the staff is afraid to work at night. Things are so bad, the board voted to close the library to the public at the end of the year and switch to appointment-only programming. 

"It's kind of like taking lemons and making lemonade. We can give the community more of what they're asking for in a safer way," Castro said. 

Now, Suffolk Police are stepping in, with patrols inside and out. 

"We will have a substation in the form of a trailer within a week on this lot that is owned by Suffolk County," County Executive Ed Romaine said. 

The police substation will be directly across the street. 

"That omnipresence is going to make a big difference," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said. "The Suffolk County Police Department is here. We are going to be here indefinitely." 

Residents say the vagrancy problem is nothing new. 

"The state sends parolees, halfway houses. I have five sex offenders within a quarter mile of my house," Mastic Beach resident Maura Spery said. 

There will also be mental health professionals. 

Library officials welcomed the news. 

"We are not closing, though. We are not giving up. Mastic Beach deserves a wonderful library," Castro said. 

"I would urge the library not to close any of its services," Romaine said. 

The library is set to close to the public on Dec. 29 to be reconfigured for its new programming, which would launch in March. Library officials say they'll revisit that plan if the police substation makes a difference. 

The area around the library is set for a massive redevelopment that will break ground within the next two years.