32 People Found Living In Single Family Hamptons Home: Town

EAST HAMPTON, NY — A single family home in East Hampton had 32 people living inside — 18 of whom were sleeping on mattresses on a basement floor near a gasoline generator and storage tank, town officials said.

East Hampton Town Police, assisted by East Hampton Town's ordinance enforcement department, building inspectors, and fire marshals executed a search warrant at a house located on Railroad Avenue Sunday morning shortly after 6 a.m., a release from East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said.

The search revealed the 32 unrelated people occupying the single-family structure, town officials said.

“Overcrowded housing such as this not only places residents in dangerous conditions but poses a risk to public safety and the environment when septic systems are overtaxed, and diminishes the quality of life for others in neighborhoods designed for single-family residences. The town will continue to actively enforce our codes to insure the safety of all our residents,” Van Scoyoc said.

The property, which is off Abraham’s Path, is owned by Evan Davis of Jamaica, NY, the supervisor's release said.

Davis was not present and will be issued an appearance ticket at a later date when he is located, town officials said.

The house manager in charge of the residence, Braham Elorda, 32, of the Railroad Avenue address, was issued an appearance ticket to appear in East Hampton Town Justice Court, town officials said.

Beyond the "extraordinary overcrowding found during the investigation, the house was found to have substantial code violations that were direct threats to the life and safety of the occupants," Van Scoyoc's release said.

The gasoline generator and gasoline storage in the basement of the house where the 18 occupants were sleeping not only caused a fire hazard, in that there were no smoke detectors in place, but the use of the generator could have created deadly levels of carbon monoxide, Van Scoyoc said.

There were no required carbon monoxide detectors in place to protect the occupants, he added.

The multiple town code violation charges "could result in fines totaling tens of thousands of dollars," the release said.

In addition, the majority of the occupants were not from East Hampton, but have been living locally because they are employed by local businesses; they told investigators that they paid the house manager between $100 and $150 a week, in cash, to live in the house, Van Scoyoc said. Some had just arrived, and others had been living in the residence for a period of time, he added.

The execution of the warrant was the result of an investigation into the property initiated by the town's ordinance enforcement department, and the investigation is continuing, town officials said.

Tina Piette, attorney for Davis, said she hadn't seen the charges but spoke with David Betts, East Hampton's director of public safety, on Tuesday asking for an inspection of the premises.

"It's unfortunate things went down this way, when I think it could have been resolved in a different manner," she said. "There's also another issue and that is, to my knowledge, everyone in the house is here legally working for local businesses."

There is a long-standing need for dormitory type housing in town to house workers, Piette said. "It's not like this was a drug den or a party house," she said. "These people are working seven days a week, sometimes up to 10 hours a day. Who do you want to wait on you at the deli? Where are they supposed to go? They have to put their heads down somewhere."

No one was told to leave, or prevented from going back in, Piette said, adding, "This is just indicative of a bigger problem, and it's an issue that's been around forever."

Patch file photo.