As predicted temperatures well into the 90s reach the area, Woodstock town supervisor Bill Mckenna has announced the operation of the emergency cooling center at the town hall at 76 Tinker Street.
The town is not equipped to run an overnight shelter. A cooling or warming shelter is meant to be temporary.
Filmmaker Chris Finlay, who produced the documentary Homeless in Woodstock, has criticized McKenna for only opening the lobby of the police dispatch, not the front hallway or courtroom.
“The dispatch room is a tiny room at the front of the police station. It is inadequate and unsafe for the purposes of sleeping,” Finlay said. “Why does our town supervisor continue to perpetuate this cruelty upon our most vulnerable members of our community?”
McKenna said whatever was required will be available at the town hall as heat relief.
“If there are enough folks that we need to open the town hall, we will,” he said. Transportation to the overnight shelter in Kingston is also available.
Finlay noted homeless people do not want to sit in a police dispatch room. They feel uncomfortable even asking police to open the town hall, he said.
Finlay said the facility should be open through the heat wave. “The temperatures are going to be up in the high 90s during the next four days,” he said. “I’m not looking for a shelter right now, just a place where our homeless community can stay cool for four days and nights.”
Councilmember Marie ElenaConte sent an email to McKenna and copied the town board asking for a plan and for the air conditioning at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center.
“People are going to be in distress,” she said. “Monday and Tuesday’s temps are going to be brutal. We need a supervisor who takes an active role in residents’ safety.”
McKenna said Conte was well aware the town hall was available.
“As for your comment about me taking an active role, that’s hilarious coming from the laziest councilperson the town has seen in years,” he added.
Finlay will have another screening of Homeless in Woodstock on June 28 at 7 p.m. at Mountainview Studio. All proceeds will go to Family of Woodstock and the Hudson Valley Clubhouse.
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