Community

Unity Town Hall event relocated to Hilton Garden Inn

A Riverhead-North Fork Unity Town Hall scheduled for Sunday in Riverhead has been relocated from St. John the Evangelist School to the Hilton Garden Inn on Route 58. An organizer said the switch in venues is due in part to concerns about the meeting’s subject matter, which conflicts with the beliefs of the Catholic Church.

“It was moved because people in the Catholic hierarchy would not allow a meeting that included Planned Parenthood to take place on their property,” said Dinni Gordon of Greenport, adding that organizers were told by the church over the weekend that they could no longer gather at the school.

The Unity Town Hall was designed to bring together communities and groups on the North Fork who feel targeted in today’s society. Ms. Gordon said she hopes this event will spark the formation of new committees dedicated to dealing with societal issues.

Topics to be discussed at the gathering include immigration, women’s rights and the environment. Ms. Gordon said a representative from Planned Parenthood will be in attendance.

Sister Margaret Smyth, a co-chair of the event, did not give a specific reason for the relocation.

“For our reasons we decided on a change of venue, which the committee agreed to,” she said.

The event, which drew inspiration from similar Town Halls for Unity held in Stony Brook days after the presidential election and in Nassau County in January, will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

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