Nicole Fuentes
Fame and Rebel, a Main Street women’s clothing store, announced their closure at 89 East Main Street in Patchogue Village, earlier this year, citing concerns.
Owner Alana Miletti explained that they are a small business, typically with one employee working at a time, stating that safety was her No. 1 concern for closing. In the time she has been in Patchogue, five years, she said she and her employees have had multiple issues, including being spit on, being stalked and harassed, increase in theft, girls being followed to their car, their cars being broken into, and witnessing a brutal assault right out front.
Miletti said the store had an alarm system along with panic buttons and cameras in all their locations to ensure the safety of the employees. She said they have also made dozens of calls to the Suffolk County Police Department as well as Patchogue Village public safety.
According to Suffolk County Police Department data, a total of five calls were made to the Patchogue location in 2023, while there were zero calls made by the neighboring Goldberg Famous Bagel business.
2023: On Feb. 22, police responded to a disturbance; on March 1 they responded to a commercial alarm; on April 7 they responded to a criminal trespass in the third-degree call; on June 11 they responded to a petit larceny; and on June 17 they responded to another commercial alarm.
According to Patchogue Village public safety director Jim Berberich, he never had any issues in that area. As for patrols, mayor Paul Pontieri assured that the Village of Patchogue has maintained anywhere from 17 to 20 public safety officers and has maintained a solid relationship with SCPD, who has also noted an increased foot patrol presence, especially at night and on weekends.
Also, he said the village public safety officers are very much aware of all happenings on Main Street and have issued several violations to the known “characters” that seem to frequently cause disturbances.