Airbnbullets

 

Queens Chronicle

Shots were fired at a group of teenagers’ car as they rode along 38th Avenue and 209th Street in Bayside early last Saturday morning, the New York Police Department reported. One passenger, 19, suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his back. He was rushed to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens and as of Monday was in stable condition.

According to Capt. John Portalatin, commanding officer of the 111th Precinct, the group of teens, at least one of whom is from Nassau County, were looking for parking near an AirBnB party at approximately 2:50 a.m. when a group of four to six individuals began firing rounds at their car.

An arrest has not been made in the incident, nor is the shooters’ motive known; the investigation is ongoing. Portalatin added that the NYPD is still looking for video footage of the shooters fleeing the scene.

The NYPD’s 111th Precinct, which includes Bayside, has long been considered one of the safest — if not the safest, alongside the 112th — precincts in Queens or even the city. Saturday morning’s occurrence is the 111th’s first shooting incident this year; the injured passenger is its first shooting victim.

“The police are on top of it, we’re taking it very seriously, and we’re doing everything we can to avoid these incidents in the future,” Portalatin said.

According to the office of Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside), the house where the party in question was held, located at 208-16 38 Ave., has been occupied by squatters for roughly two years, and that they are renting it out on AirBnB. His office told the Chronicle that it has been working to get in contact with the bank that owns the house, which is in foreclosure.

Stephen Markowski lives across the street from that house, and heard the shots fired on Saturday morning — in fact, he initially thought it was fireworks before a neighbor corrected him. He has been monitoring the squatting situation since its beginning.

“Not only don’t they own it, but they’re making money off of it,” he said.

 

 Queens Chronicle

A rally was held in Bayside on Friday to address a recent shooting that took place in front of a foreclosed home that was being used as an Airbnb rental by squatters, according to the community.

 “This has been going on for two years,” said Stephen Markowski, who lives across the street from the house located at 208-16 38 Ave. “They tried to keep a low profile, but we were joking one day that they are probably renting it out on Airbnb. Sure enough there was the house listed on the website, not once, but twice.”

The rental of the home by squatters has been a cause of public safety concern for the surrounding homeowners who live within the 111th Precinct, which has been considered one of the safest if not the safest precinct in Queens, according to the NYPD. Saturday morning’s shooting was the first shooting of the year within the precinct. 

Nearly 20 shots were fired at a car the victim, 19, along with a group of other teenagers rode along 38th Avenue and 209th Street in Bayside as they were going to the Airbnb for a party, according to officials. The victim was later sent to NewYork-Presbyterian on Monday and was in stable condition. 

“Twenty shots,” said Markowski. “What is it going to take for a public official to act on it?”

Robbie Schecter, 74, was out of town during the shooting, but lives around the corner from the foreclosed home. 

“We’ve been here for 43 years,” said Schecter. “We’ve never seen anything like this happen before. It’s an incredibly peaceful place. We take walks around here to go to Bell Boulevard to go to the restaurants. Our kids love to come here to visit us from Long Island because there it’s just a bunch of strip malls. This is a neighborhood.”

Schecter’s neighbor Donald Chen, 73, agreed. 

“I’ve lived here since 1983,” said Chen. “The worse thing that happens sometimes was a set of robberies. We are very close to Clearview Expressway, so it’s easy to get away, but something like this? No.”

The squatting has become a scourge, according to state Sen. John Liu (D-Bayside).

“The transient occupants have held late night parties and threatened the neighbors here,” said Liu. “We’ve seen just last week shootings on this block — could you imagine 19 shots being fired on this block — one shot landing in someone’s stomach. Another landed in a car seat. Thankfully there was no baby in that car seat.”

Liu and Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside) said they have called upon the city, specifically the Department of Buildings to take a look at what is happening at the house and to issue a vacate order. 

The DOB sent inspectors to the home ahead of the press conference, according Liu. He said he is giving them to time to make a determination on a vacate order. 

“We are exploring every option to get these people out of this neighborhood,” said Braunstein. 

Liu said he was demanding that Airbnb stop listing the property. 

Markowski said that the squatters use different names for every time they list the house. 

“Every time we get Airbnb to take down a listing they put one back up,” said Braunstein. “We have also been in contact with the bank to expedite eviction proceedings and foreclosure proceedings. This has been going on for two years now and this past weekend this issue has reached a new level of urgency.”

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), who lives a few blocks from where the shooting took place, called into the meeting from Washington, DC. 

“I received calls from some of my neighbors about the horror that happened,” said Meng. “This has been a nightmare for our community. Bullets were literally flying around in the middle of the night. It could have hit any of our family members, friends or neighbors. Airbnb needs to take this problem more seriously, otherwise they have blood on their hands.”

Hours after the rally, Airbnb said that it has cancelled all bookings for that house and will continue to do so in the future, according to the congresswoman via Twitter. She further iterated that Liu and Braunstein will be watching closely to make sure the company keeps its word.

As the rally concluded, former homeowner Joe Carrollo spoke to residents, police and elected officials to clarify that he cannot evict the homeowners himself because the house has been the property of Citi Bank and Bank of America since 2018. He personally handed over documents to the 111th Precinct to prove that he is no longer responsible for the property and said he was equally upset about what has happened to his former home of 15 years. 

He later noted that one of the banks has plans to auction the house on June 16 and who ever takes over the property will become the person who has to evict the squatters unless Citi or Bank of America steps in to evict.

Stephen Markowski lives across the street from that house, and heard the shots fired on Saturday morning — in fact, he initially thought it was fireworks before a neighbor corrected him. He has been monitoring the squatting situation since its beginning.

“Not only don’t they own it, but they’re making money off of it,” he said.