Residents Rally To Demand: 'Have You Seen Congressman Lee Zeldin?'

RIVERHEAD, NY — The signs look and read like "missing" pet and child posters: "Have you seen Congressman Lee Zeldin?" they read. "New York District 01 has lost its elected official and ask that he be returned so that he can serve the public that elected him."

The signs will be carried by a crowd expected to gather Tuesday from noon to 2 p.m. at 235 Griffing Street, at the old courthouse building in Riverhead. The rally is meant to bring together constituents who will march to Zeldin's office on West Main Street to "demand a Town Hall meeting," organizers said. The police have been notified, marchers added.

The rally has been organized by the creators of the "Let's Visit Lee Zeldin" Facebook page; organizers said the purpose is to bring public attention to his "refusal" to host a Town Hall meeting with his constituents.

"Not only has the congressman refused to schedule a time to meet in person with his constituents, he is canceling previously scheduled public meetings," said Greenport mom Kathryn Quigley, who is helping to organize the event and who has also been instrumental in a previous rally outside Zeldin's office, as well as meetings with Mark Woolley, Zeldin's district director.

"Rather than meet with the people he represents, the congressman is insulting, misrepresenting and avoiding those who want to speak with him. Constituents will continue to peacefully gather and respectfully request the congressman do his job and listen to the people in his district," Quigley said.

So far, constituents have rallied on Jan. 3, then, a group of 13 went to Zeldin's office in Riverhead to discuss the Affordable Care Act. And on Jan. 31, about 90 people attended a gathering at a meeting room in the Riverhead Library to speak with district Mark Woolley about their position on Muslim ban, said Eileen M. Duffy.

On Jan. 28, Duffy added, a group of more than 100 were outside to protest when Zeldin was receiving a Man of the Year award in East Patchogue. "He used that 'incident' to cancel an event at the Southampton Library in April," Duffy said, adding that he accused the protestors of committing crimes. Duffy did not attend that event, she said.

Since Jan. 3, she said, "We have been calling and sending letters and talking to his scheduler to set up a Town Hall. In the past, the Riverhead office has been open to the public Tuesday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Just today, they put on the website that all visits are by appointment only."

While technically Zeldin hasn't missed any meetings, "he's not scheduling any public meetings and canceling future meetings," Duffy said.

Jennifer DiSiena, communications director for Zeldin, responded to questions from Patch on Monday.

"When the congressman is not in D.C. for votes, he is frequently at events across the entire First Congressional District, including evening, weekday and weekend events," she said. "The congressman attended back to back events all weekend long this past weekend. Additionally, the congressman frequently hosts mobile office hours across the district where constituents can walk in and sit down with the congressman or a member of our staff for a one on one meeting without needing an appointment first."

She added, "Since 2015, our office has hosted mobile offices hours across the district, including in Southampton, Riverhead, Southold, Smithtown, Mount Sinai and Mastic, just to list a few of the towns. Our office also conducts many Telephone Town Halls and distributes a monthly e-newsletter as well as other direct outreach, including social media. Every single constituent who contacts our office receives a response from the congressman or staff by either phone, email or letter. Congressman Zeldin has had two straight years of public forums, telephone town halls, and mobile office hours."

But, she said, "The legislative calendar at this particular moment in time is packed. Staff is always on hand to take immediate concerns and get them to him and the legislative team. We already have several mobile office hours and telephone town halls being planned for the year."

As for charges that Zeldin has missed planned public meetings, DiSiena said that isn't true.

"No," she said, when asked if he had. "There was a meeting in about 10 weeks that the congressman was going to appear at to speak. Unfortunately, the meeting was co-opted, renamed and rebranded by a group of liberal activists who were already holding strategy meetings to turn it into a disruptive show for their own political theater. It is greatly unfortunate that this great event, which the congressman has attended before, was hijacked by those who just a few weekends ago chose reprehensible tactics to harass attendees at an event the congressman was at, including banging on the sides of the cars driving by and jumping in front of cars to stop them. Requiring a police presence just to get cars through and into a venue does not reflect well or help their cause."

Quigley said that while she personally did not attend the East Patchogue meeting in question, video accounts of that gathering where Zeldin alleged people were banging on cars was, in fact, "peaceful." She added, "The protest was peaceful, the actions he described did not occur, and it was the protestors who requested a police presence in order to ensure safety for all."

DiSiena said those who said the protest was peaceful were lying to the media. "The congressman was with a Suffolk County detective, as well as the congressman's wife and children, and there were many people banging on the sides of the car, in addition to one person who jumped in front of the vehicle to try to stop it. There were other accounts like this from attendees," she said.

Bob Vecchio reached out to Patch in an email to describe his account of what transpired at the Rotary event: "While the protest was not violent, it was not peaceful and was, in fact, intimidating — as I, along with my wife and our friend, were harassed verbally as we slowly approached the catering hall where the event was held," he said.

"Protesters crowded both sides of the road to the point it was barely wide enough for my truck to make its way through the crowd . . . they were right up against both sides of my vehicle. Someone had to duck out of the way of my side view mirror, they were so close," Vecchio wrote.

"In addition," he said, "at one point, while listening to names and insults being hurled in our direction, one lady standing in the front passenger side of my vehicle actually shined a light into my eyes through my windshield, which driving a 3/4 ton truck created a potentially dangerous situation.

"So, were there protesters? Absolutely. Were they peaceful? I would respectfully disagree with that assertion as someone who had to navigate through the narrow passing that they left open on the road. I was there to support our local Rotary who helps the hungry and homeless in our community as well as children around the world with polio vaccines. I've attended this event several times in recent years and never was subjected to anything like this."

Zeldin, Quigley countered, "is maligning those who disagree with him. And spending his time on national media rather than focusing on the legitimate concerns of his constituents."