 |
| Anthony Del Mundo/Daily News |
Councilman Dromm: I was deeply offended by your accusation that “Some of those who are now arguing the conditions are not up to par in the facility are the people who were involved with the hateful, vitriolic language being aimed at the residents” in the article “‘Three-nied’: Stringer says no to Pan Am deal” (Sept. 3, multiple editions).
I am one of the many who have brought to light the horrendous conditions at the Pan Am shelter. However, I have never made “hateful, vitriolic language” against these homeless families.
In fact, I would like to understand what you have done for your new constituents, outside of handing out knapsacks?
Did you effectively handle the out-of-control garbage problem? The rat infestation? The roach and bedbug problems? Most importantly, have you done anything to support the installation of a kitchen in each unit so that these families are in safe and humane living conditions? The answer to this is no, as I am sure you would have called the press to toot your own horn if you did anything.
Therefore, if you have no intention of advocating for a kitchen in each unit in the Pan Am shelter, I urge you to focus on the horrendous graffiti problem in Elmhurst, the out-of-control trash all over the streets and sidewalks and the loud airplane noise that is plaguing our area so that you have something to show come election time outside of making inaccurate and unjust statements.
J. Ramos
Elmhurst
________________________________________________
Dear Editor (Queens Chronicle):
Regarding the Pan Am shelter, Councilman Dromm was quoted in your recent article “‘Three-nied’: Stringer says no to Pan Am deal,” as saying “Some of those who are now arguing the conditions are not up to par in the facility are the people who were involved with the hateful, vitriolic language being aimed at the residents.”
By making these remarks Dromm is calling the new immigrants of his district hateful and malicious while ignoring the efforts they have made to improve the living conditions of destitute families at Pan Am. It was Elmhurst residents who raised hell and embarrassed the building management to put in a trash compactor, forced state and city agencies to inspect the hotel, got rid of the rats next to the recreation area and forced the landlord to make the hotel habitable. They have accomplished all this with zero help from Dromm.
The Pan Am building currently has an expired certificate of occupancy, making parts of the building illegal to occupy. The building has various uncorrected violations and tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid penalties. The FDNY could shut down the building at its next inspection and yet Dromm is welcoming families and children to stay in this firetrap. There will be casualties at the next fire; just look at the violations for inadequate sprinklers and fire doors.
Warehousing four people into a single room with bunk beds and no desk is not the solution. These residents need a lease, rent subsidies and job referrals to start from scratch. Dromm’s handshakes and schoolbags are not enough to get them out of the system.
Victor Enriquez
Elmhurst
18 comments:
People this is exactly the sort of thing you need to do to kill the machine.
A thousand cuts and it will lie bleeding on the sidewalk.
very well stated. fuck dromm.
Be sure to read the comments on the original article as well. Such as:
"I co-own an auto shop across the street from the Pan Am shelter, so I see the residents going in and out everyday. The resident take their kids to McDonald's daily and they do so by climbing over the rails to get to the other side of Queens Boulevard . This speaks volumes on the quality of food being served inside the shelter. Senators Avella, Klein and Addabbo are not even in this district and yet they travel all the way out here to voice their concerns. With other Elmhurst residents they forced management to take care of their trash and they force state and city agencies to inspect the hotel. They have accomplish so much with no help from Daniel Dromm."
"Whatever would possess a civil servant of Elmhurst to malign his constituents? Especially constituents who are working to protect the homeless residents of the PanAm Shelter? It makes me wonder what's in it for him? He hands out donated bookbags and shakes hands. And he thinks that is sufficient and everyone should thank him for it. Has he addressed any of the violations at the PanAm? Has he questioned why Samaritan Village does not have childcare at the facility? Has he questioned what services are provided for $3700 per room per month? It's sad that elected officials from other neighborhoods have stepped up to the plate while our own councilman does nothing."
"Dromm is perfectly fine with 216 families living in single rooms with an expired Certificate of Occupancy, and it's also fine that the residents are living with the rats, bed bugs, roaches, and lice. These residents need more than just school bags --- they need a lease, a place where they could cook their own food and not eating frozen dinners. If Dromm really cares he should order Samaritan Village to comply with the contract and offer full shelter services—this includes kitchens, daycare, heat, hot water, etc. For the sake of his constituents living inside Pan Am, Dromm needs to arm-twist the owner of the building to fix up all the violations and bring the building into compliance. Why is he not doing this?"
Another useless politician. He definitely has some problems with doing an effective job.
Bitch slap this motherfucker down and all the other asshole elected officials who have done exactly SHIT.
Just what you could expect from Danny Dromm, a man with his head up his ass (or someone else's).
The issues surrounding the shelter at the old Pan Am Hotel are not easy. The city needs more shelters for families, that is true. What is also true is that the tiny rooms at the Pan Am Hotel are not adequate for family living. The rooms don't have kitchens, there's not enough space, and, as has been widely documented, the building is not up to code.
It's good to see that community activists are seeing through the failures of elected officials to offer real solutions to community issues. It's plainly evident that the City Council and the mayor are asleep at the switch when it comes to dealing with homelessness, and their only answer is to put families into desperate situations, like at the Pan Am Hotel, without any timeline or plan to make these families' stay there temporary, until these families can be transitioned into permanent housing. This exact recipe for disaster can be seen in how the city treats people in city shelters and three-quarter houses, where city officials pretend that so long as people are given a bed, that that gratitude should be enough to overlook the many problems with these facilities. The community is right not to settle for this kind of shoddy treatment and duplicity.
Circling back to what is happening in Jackson Heights, and, more specifically, in Elmhurst, citizens are right to criticize Councilmember Daniel Dromm. The people living at the Pan Am Hotel need more than just backpacks. They need functional housing. Deliberately ring-fencing the problems at the Pan Am Hotel to such a minor focus is sort-sighted, and it is an example of why the public feels betrayed by its elected leaders. More and more, the public can see through the charade of these cynical machinations.
I understand the anger at Councilmember Dromm. I'm all for mocking elected officials, when they fail the public. More and more, I hear a lot of discontent with Councilmember Dromm, even from LGBT leaders in our City Council district. In 2013, I was asked by a community leader to consider running in the Democratic Primary against Councilmember Dromm. Even though I declined, I know the discontent is real, and, now, it's evidently growing. I just wish that that the picture used in this post wasn't from Gay Pride.
Thank you Louis. The photo was meant to show how Danny loves making a spectacle of himself but has no inclination to actually do hard work to get attention, such as by fixing the Pan Am situation. I thought Danny was aces when he brokered the Travers Park deal, but since then he has been quite disappointing. Please do not take the photo to be a dig at gays because it was not my intention. This man has basically written Elmhurst off and I hope he gets taken out in a primary.
Louis, you forgot to mention job training in your list of gov't shortcomings with regards to the homeless. After all the goal is to get people off of public assistance not just house them indefinitely.
"I just wish that that the picture used in this post wasn't from Gay Pride."....Why not, he obviously posed for the picture? Dromm is gay and proud of it. What's the problem?
I don't care if he's gay or straight - I care that he's an elected official who is a complete idiot and doesn't deserve to be in office.
The more shelters out there the higher the homeless population—so it’s job security for DHS employees. The Pan Am shelter is a firetrap, just look at their violations on failed sprinkers and missing fire doors. Stringer is upholding the law here--you can't legally live in a building with a valid Certificate of Occupancy.
I am studying architecture and my senior thesis was about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire where over 146 girls died due to smoke inhalations and blocked fire exits. Base on the violations posted online the Pan Am shelter has inadequate sprinklers, fire doors, and egress. Pan Am already had one fire and there will be others -- and Dromm will be held accountable for the casualties.
Given the expired CO, all the residents should be evicted. The sad part is the landlord knows this, City Hall knows this, and Dromm knows this. The writing is on the wall -- if the landlord doesn't want to spend $ to fix the violations and bring the building into compliance, the shelter should be shut down.
Don't worry
The $15 / hour minimum wage will fix everything!
No training or education required...
Louis, please run against Dromm in 2017. You are more thoughtful and more concerned about the district than he is. We need people who actually care about our community as our elected officials. Dromm is now only an incoherent puppet for DeBlasio and the UFT.
Having absolute knowledge of this, a large percentage of the families in the PanAm shelter are only current residents of NYC or NYS. Another dirty little secret to throw in the mix. dromm is the poster boi for scumbag politicians.
There he is with the rainbow flag. Dromm is only interested in gay rights.
What about the concerns of the rest of us? Do I have to "fag" for an upper class an at Sandhurst to get noticed?
These Dear Editor letters are spot on. Dromm needs to be ousted in the next election as he has done absolutely NOTHING for the Elmhurst residents. He is de Blasio's fool gofer and spineless puppet.
Post a Comment