New town court dedicated to former justice Allen Smith

For years before his death in 2020, former Riverhead Town Justice Allen Smith lobbied hard for an expanded town justice center. 

“I did not know the esteemed, honorable Allen Smith as well as many of you do,” Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said at a ceremony honoring Mr. Smith at the old Town Hall at 200 Howell Ave. Tuesday. “But I had many personal dealings with him during my first year in office … and he was a determined man, I can tell you. He reminded me and reminded me of the desire, the need, for a larger and a more efficient Town of Riverhead Justice Court complex over and over again — delivering reports, delivering site plans, delivering newspaper articles, delivering opinions, delivering [Office of Court Administration] records — to the point that I had to have a whole cabinet for him.

“Well, I know the judge is looking down and smiling on us today when he sees this beautiful day and this great turnout,” Ms. Aguiar continued. “It is finally coming to Riverhead, and it’s coming to fruition and his dream is going to now be a reality.”

With that, the supervisor unveiled a plaque dedicating the site to the veteran jurist — and renamed the building the Judge Allen M. Smith Justice Court. 

In nearly half a century of public service, Mr. Smith served as Riverhead’s town attorney, town supervisor, a 48-year Riverhead Fire Department volunteer, a Riverhead Board of Education member, a Suffolk County assistant district attorney, a longtime Riverhead Rotary Club member and ultimately town justice — a position he held from 2000 until his death in 2020. 

Longtime Riverhead attorney Peter Danowski said that his friend Mr. Smith was in a league of his own. 

“LeBron. Michael. Allen. You never needed to know the last name. If you’re in this town and someone said ‘Allen said it,’ did they ever say ‘Allen Smith’ or ‘Allen who?’ It was always Allen. He was just like LeBron, just like Michael. 

“The one thing he cared about was the town and the people he grew up with,” Mr. Danowski continued. “He was a man of principle. He was the guy to let you know where he stood. And it transcended politics … Allen [was] a straight shooter and a great guy.”

During his lengthy career in Riverhead, one of the Aquebogue resident’s proudest achievements in a lifetime filled with accolades, awards and the admiration of his colleagues was his creation of the East End Regional Intervention Court, better known as the East End Drug Court. 

Mr. Smith and Southampton Town Justice Deborah Kooperstein received approval in 2003 to launch the drug court on the East End. 

“If you take someone with this type of problem, send him to jail and then release him into the same settings he was in before he got arrested, he’s likely to exhibit the same pattern of behavior afterward,” the judge said in a 2003 interview.

“At least 70% of the criminal calendar is drug-related in one way or another,” Ms. Kooperstein added, also in a 2003 interview. “You have people selling drugs to support a drug habit.”

Riverhead Town Justice Lori Hulse, who served alongside Mr. Smith, said in 2020 that he was “so highly esteemed in the Riverhead community and in the legal profession that he seemed larger than life.

“He had been a judge for 15 years when I came on, and we quickly became friends and trusted colleagues,” she wrote in a statement following Mr. Smith’s death at age 77. “He could be relied on without question and earned many accolades and awards throughout his career. It’s hard to imagine him not working at his desk; discussing legal issues, providing advice with incredible institutional knowledge, making a joke with a smile, referring to himself as ‘Uncle Allen’ as he offered his help. He was dedicated to dispensing justice equally and even-handedly, and helped countless people while presiding in drug court. He was a well-respected jurist, but more than that, he was a compassionate, decent man. He will be terribly missed.” 

Mr. Smith was born in Greenport in 1943 and lived his whole life in Riverhead, serving as town supervisor from 1975 to 1980.

In 2020, Mr. Smith was named by the Riverhead News-Review as its 2019 Public Servant of the Year for his distinguished service to the community. 

In 2019, the Kiwanis Club of Greater Riverhead honored him and four other residents at its 18th annual Breakfast of the Stars, which recognizes those “who are quietly supporting the mission of Kiwanis, changing the world one child, one community at a time” by giving back to the community.

In 2015, the East End Emerald Society named Judge Smith grand marshal at its second annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Jamesport.

In an interview after Tuesday’s dedication, Mr. Smith’s partner, Charlene Mascia, said it was “wonderful” to witness the ceremony. 

“Allen fought hard for a new courthouse for a long, long time,” she said. “So I know the court will finally be in a bigger building, and safer a building, for all. It’s wonderful to see.”