'Heartbreaking' acts of vandalism at former Dowling campus anger residents, Islip Town officials

Oakdale residents and Islip Town officials said they are increasingly frustrated by vandalism at the former site of Dowling College in the South Shore hamlet, including the property’s century-old Vanderbilt mansion.

Residents said a neighborhood watch group composed of private citizens found more than $50,000 worth of damage on the 25-acre campus two weeks ago, including broken stained-glass windows, smashed furnishings and office equipment used as battering rams. The incident has led to renewed complaints about the Delaware-based developer that owns the site, and demands for more police patrols near the campus.

Vandals last year removed 120-year-old copper gutters that could be valuable on the black market, residents said.

"They made it through World War I, they made it through the Great Depression, they made it through World War II," said Oakdale resident Michelle Burke. "In 2020, they get stripped from the building."

Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter wrote to Acting Suffolk Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron on Aug. 3 to request increased patrols near the site. Carpenter suggested that shift changes occur at the property to increase police presence in the area.

A police spokeswoman said Thursday that Cameron "has asked the [5th] precinct to increase patrols in the area" and will consider holding shift changes there.

The former college campus has been largely abandoned since 2016, when Dowling closed after filing for bankruptcy.

Mercury International LLC bought the site at an auction for $26.1 million in 2017 and announced plans to redevelop the school as an educational center.

Carpenter said in an interview last week that Mercury officials may be "actively seeking someone to purchase the property."

Attempts to reach Mercury’s local representative, Don Cook, were unsuccessful. A phone number for Cook, a Huntington Town resident, has been disconnected, and he didn’t respond to an email message.

Carpenter said the town has cited Mercury for "a laundry list of violations," adding that she met earlier this month with Cook to discuss security and other issues.

A 2018 zoning change requires the site’s owner to preserve historical features on the grounds, including Idle Hour, the 70,000-square-foot mansion built in 1901 by railroad baron William K. Vanderbilt.

But Oakdale residents said Mercury has sharply curtailed security in the past two years, making the property a tempting target for vandals.

"They also cut most of the lighting," said Maryann Almes, president of the Oakdale Historical Society. "It is really a sitting duck."

Burke, a social studies teacher at Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, said she and her husband and daughter moved to Oakdale five years ago because of the mansion. She called it "quirky, but it’s awesome. If you know the history of it, it’s so cool."

Seeing the vandalism, however, is "just heartbreaking," she said.

Almes said the property is a key part of Oakdale’s history and that residents have urged town officials "to keep the pressure on" Mercury to care for the site.

"It’s a game that they’re playing," Almes said, referring to Mercury officials. "And the game that they’re playing, unfortunately, is playing with the history of Oakdale, and we don’t like that."

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.