Hells Angels moving its headquarters to a vacant church on Long Island
CENTEREACH, Long Island (WABC) -- There's a new tenant inside an abandoned church in the Suffolk County hamlet of Centereach.
Hells Angels, the notorious motorcycle club, will soon relocate its headquarters to the former house of worship on Lynbrook Street.
They say 'Love Thy Neighbor', but this wasn't the sort of neighbor they had in mind on the street.
"They're not people who care," said Centereach resident Barbara Frer King. "They're people who do what they want to do."
"This is a residential neighborhood. Not a nice move," said Centereach resident Laura Fellone. "These poor people will never sell their houses. I mean who's gonna wanna buy them?"
But it seems the Hells Angels like it, so much the motorcycle club bought the old Baptist church, vacant for years, with the intent of opening a club house there although we couldn't get all the details on their plans from them directly.
"We do plenty for the community, I'm sorry I have no comment," said one member.
"We understand that the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club has a fearsome reputation but once you get past that image, once you get past that prejudice, and get to know these folks as your neighbors, I think everything is gonna be just fine," said Hells Angels attorney Ron Kuby.
In fact, Kuby says if anything, the Hells Angels could make any block safer. And some residents in the area agree.
"You got guys like that protecting, making sure everything is cool, I got no problems like that," said Centereach resident Roberto Rodriguez.
A spokesman for the Town of Brookhaven says town officials couldn't do much about this even if they wanted to, and some do.
The most they can do is make sure the group is in compliance with local building codes.
"They're busy trying to make improvements out there right now, well..like great big Christmas elves, working away, trying to restore this old church structure," said Kuby.
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