From the Queens Courier: When 38-year-old Joseph Moody moved to Woodside 20 years ago, day laborers waited for work on Roosevelt Avenue just as they do today. However, over time, the atmosphere of the neighborhood has changed, Moody said.
“As of late, the last 10 years, it has really been a problem,” he said, referring to men who catcall to women walking by and others who stumble around drunk.
“I find them to be a nuisance,” he said.
A particular group of a dozen men, who wait at 72nd Street, have clashed with local businesses, said several shop owners and employees who spoke only with condition of anonymity.
“I’ve been begging people to do something,” said one business owner who set up shop along Roosevelt Avenue 20 years ago and now is anxiously awaiting the end of the store’s lease to move to Astoria. The owner claimed that instead of seeking work, some of the men sell drugs and fake Social Security cards, harass women, and even destroy the property of storeowners who have complained about them.
“We really feel threatened. Even when the police come, we have to keep it all anonymous,” the owner said.
Last month, a graffiti tag, which read, “I’ll kill you,” appeared on the sidewalk in front of local deli, and local shops owners blamed the men who gather on the corner.
“Now we have to walk two blocks down in the cold just to buy a coffee or a gum because we can’t go across the street,” an employee said.
“There was a threat made,” said an employee of another store. “If you put that in the newspaper, they are probably going to set the store on fire.”
At another business near the intersection of 72nd Street and Roosevelt, the manager said, “They are always loitering there, leaving our entranceway dirty with food and cans.”
20 comments:
"We really feel threatened. Even when the police come, we have to keep it all anonymous," the owner said.
THIS is America?
I'd like to know what the police DO when they do come. Arrest them for loitering? Is anti-loitering still on the books?
Have these store owners ever turned to Gioia or Sears? If so, what was their response?
This is why we need enforcement regarding illegal immigrants. Years ago the INS would sweep the area and make arrests and deport those who were breaking the law. Now we are tolerating it? What a shame.
I feel for the shop owners. This will be the trend in Astoria soon if nothing gets done.....wait and see.
Why do we want people like this in our country?
How about this idea: Yes, round them up into one of these "centers". Then watch who comes to pick them up. Investigate those businesses and hit them hard with fines.
You have to accept illegal immigrants and welcome them with open arms. So what if their behavior turns your neighborhood into a slum? This is Queens, the most diverse county on earth, don't forget. If you don't like catcalls, public urination, threats, littering and loitering in your neighborhood, then you must be an Archie Bunker bigot. Remember: We live in Queens where all immigrants are good and criticizing them is not acceptable.
Thanks to Spitzer, Bloomberg, Bush, the Republicans and Democrats (each of whom has their own agenda tied to illegal aliens).
There is a way for any person on earth to get here and eventually become a citizen. There has been a legal way to residency and citizenship for years and nobody ever objected.
But now we are supposed to feel sorry for illegal aliens who have invaded our borders and want to jump the line to be ahead of legally arriving immigrants who have something to offer this country.
I have no sympathy for illegal aliens, any more than I have for bank robbers, pickpockets, drug dealers or anyone who breaks the law to get an advantage.
But, what's worse, is that the officials with their snouts in the public trough, are the ones who are promoting this lawbreaking and want us to pay for the crimes and the aftermath.
While those officials continue in office, the crimes continue.
This kind of stuff has been going on, more or less, throughout almost every period in our history.
Some time during the 1920s
the various newly formed Italian Mafia, Cosa Nostra
or The Black Hand
"took care" of these type of loitering, etc. problems.
That what store owners pay "protection for".
I heard a story once.....in Ozone Park (a-hem).....
of a trouble making "loiterer" in front of a local pizza parlor who was "never seen again" !
I'm not advocating whatever happened.....or verifying whether this tale was myth or fact.....
just reminding the authorities that when the police FAIL to do their jobs.....someone else might.
Good luck and good day !
They are a big problem in Astoria, a community that is going down hill with each passing day. We have complained and complained. We call the cops. We write letters to the paper.
Nothing gets done. They call us Archie Bunkers. Enough already! You don't dare call blacks Sambos. Then don't insult people from Queens by calling us that!
We hope to see this problem soon on Ditmars. Only then will the politicians do something about it.
Don't hold your breath. Those people up there don't think they live in the same borough as the rest of us.
I remember when the kids of all these 'guest workers' invaded that area for the first time last Halloween and were swarming all over the stores and littering the streets. They were horrified - oh, they are not from our neighborhood, they said.
I wouldn't buy a piece of property in that area if you gave it to me.
Actually, although the anti-loitering laws are on the books, the courts have found them to be unconsitutional, therefore not enforcible - This happened back in the 1970s. It is part of the reason they can't just round up the homeless
Huh...There's a shocker...An Irish guy standing outside a bar in the middle of the day...Go figure.
Clearly, illegal aliens are lawbreakers. Had they been sponsored by family members or a business entity under a work program there would be no problem. Yet, daily thousands of illegals line the major boulevards seeking meager jobs and demanding their rights. Are you for real. Our country is being handed away on a platter because of lame politicians and the inactive citizenry that refuse to hold them responsible for this mess.
We are supposed to be a nation of laws. Our elected officials are there to represent us. These illegals have already broken our laws by coming here illegally. Since they are not reprimanded (rounded up and deported), they feel that they can break other laws and nothing will happen to them. They are right. They know that our politicians will turn a blind eye to them. Until law enforcement start enforcing our laws, the problem will get worse. Where is the federal government in all of this? i.e. Immigration. Where is Homeland Security? This government does nothing for its own citizens, but love to pander to these illegals. It's a Disgrace. Our motto is GOD BLESS AMERICA -- it will soon be GOD HELP AMERICA!
I rather have people asking for jobs on my corner than those wack job "artisitic" hipsters (the L train Bedford Ave type) roaming Queens - is it too late yet?
When you spot some MS 13
(a vicious Salvadoran gang) grafitti.....
then it's time to crap your pants
and move the hell out!
These guys have been known to "settle scores"
with machetes !
Check out the crime stats.
Great, when you have someone touting the mafia and paying protection as a possible solution, its time to take a step back and re-evaluate.
Not for nothing but isn't that like going from the fryign pan into the fire?
If you need anybody rubbed out give me a ring and me and my boys will take 'em for a ride, yah, yah, yah.
Nice racism, commenters!
From, a Woodsider on 67th and Roosevelt.
Hey....anonymous "chitrool"....
nobody's touting employing the mafia.
It's a joke. Get a life.
H-m-m-m.....what do they charge ?
That's another joke "cretino" !
We've got a 2 for 1 special going on right now from now until Xmas, yah, yah, yah.
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