Gun shots go off inside of notorious noisy hookah lounge

 

Freedom News 

 Two men were shot and one suspect was taken into custody following a dispute in front of Kloud Tequila Grill and Hookah Lounge on 192-08 Northern Boulevard, in Flushing Queens.

 According to police, a 29-year-old man was shot twice in the leg twice and another male, in his mid 30s, was grazed by a bullet to the back of his head.

Both gunshot victims went to New York Presbyterian Queens hospital with non life threatening injuries.

 The cause of the altercation is unknown at this time. Responding officers recovered a firearm at the scene and took a 19 year old male into custody.

Numerous complaints over the year have not been successful in closing Kloud. After the shooting, a petition was established to have the Queens business be shut down.

Auburndale noise terror

 

 QNS 

 Hundreds of Auburndale residents and small business owners rallied on Saturday, Oct. 16, for the shutdown of a rowdy neighborhood lounge that has been disrupting the quality of life in the area for the past eight months. 

Residents were gathered outside of Kloud Tequila Grill (Silk Hookah Lounge LLC), located at 192-08 Northern Blvd., where they voiced their frustrations about inappropriate illegal activity occurring at the lounge. 

Ever since Kloud Tequila Grill opened, Tsourapis says her family’s life has been a “living nightmare.”  

“We can’t sleep because of the loud music and screaming until 5 a.m. every day. The constant noise, drag racing, garbage and sexual activity right outside of our home is affecting our health and neighborhood safety,” Tsourapis said. “Even though they’re operating without a liquor license, none of our many 311 complaints or calls to the police have made a difference. City Hall must shut down Kloud Tequila Grill now."

 According to residents, the incidents at Kloud Tequila take place on a daily basis, seven days a week, much of it occurring from midnight to 3 a.m. over the past eight months.

Despite numerous complaints to government agencies and law enforcement, residents say nothing has changed. 

The Auburndale Northern Association has launched an online petition for an investigation into the bar.

Dosung Andrew Jung, who represents one of the many small businesses on the block, said they’re concerned about the way Kloud Tequila Grill is conducting their business.

“Every day, we find garbage, vomit, empty liquor bottles scattered around the block,” Jung said. “Our safety is put at risk with drag racing by intoxicated patrons. Our quality of life is ruined with unacceptable noise from Kloud and sex acts inside parked cars at night. We demand City Hall shut down Kloud now!”

 Change.Org

We demand an immediate investigation into Kloud Tequila Grill (Silk Hookah Lounge LLC), located at 192-08 Northern Boulevard, Queens, NY 11358.  

We support the local residents and small business owners in the neighborhood surrounding the block between Northern Boulevard and 45th Avenue (north-south), and 192nd and 193rd streets (east-west) in Queens, New York, who have suffered greatly from the actions of Kloud Tequila Grill (Silk Hookah Lounge LLC) on a daily basis, seven days a week, from midnight to 3 o’clock in the morning, over the past eight months.

Reported incidents include illegal sale of alcohol without a license, sale of alcohol to intoxicated patrons, loud music, littering and vermin, public urination, the construction of unsafe building structures without a permit, drag racing and drunk driving, violations of COVID-19 executive orders, public sex acts, etc.  We believe many of these incidents constitute serious violations of New York State and City Law, are potentially life-threatening, and must be immediately addressed.

Despite numerous complaints to government agencies and law enforcement over the past eight months, nothing has changed. 

We have documentation of these incidents, including dozens of 311 service requests, and can provide much more, including photographs, video, and eyewitness testimony.

Cellar murder story’s twist

From NBC:

The father of two toddlers who were found seriously hurt in their Queens home last week — one of whom later died — jumped to his death from a Midtown hotel, police sources said.

Mohammad Reza Torabi, the father of the 1-year-old twins, was found dead Saturday after jumping from the Renaissance New York Hotel 57 on East 57th Street, according to police sources.

Police had been interested in questioning Torabi about the incident prior to his death, the sources said.

Auburndale cellar becomes murder site

From CBS 2:

Police said they were called to a home on Ashby Avenue in the Auburndale neighborhood shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Sources told CBS2 the woman lived in the basement unit with five children, all under the age of 10. She was the only adult home at the time, sources said.

Police said officers found the little girl, identified as 1-year-old Elaina Torabi, unconscious and unresponsive and rushed her to Flushing Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Her brother was taken to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in critical condition.

The Administration for Children’s Services removed three other girls, ages 2, 4, and 5, from the home, unharmed. Sources told CBS2 there was no ACS history at the house.

Remaining ugly in Auburndale

From the Queens Chronicle:

When a new owner planned to tear down and rebuild four derelict attached two-family homes in Auburndale, it opened up the possibility that the community would no longer have to look at the eyesore.

The plans have been scrapped, though.

Community Board 11 member Henry Euler discussed the situation at the advisory council’s meeting on Monday.

The homes, on 47th Avenue near 197th Street, were built in 2005 but never finished. Because they have never had a certificate of occupancy from the city — there is an issue with egress — no one has been able to legally live in them. The property has a construction fence at it.

Euler, who is a resident of Auburndale, said at the meeting that the new buyer had met with CB 11 members at a committee hearing about his plans at the end of 2016. But, he continued, the board didn’t hear from him after that.

Cease and desist list now in effect

From the Times Ledger:

A cease-and-desist list targeting unwanted real estate solicitations went into effect with the new year, allowing residents of northeast Queens to opt out of receiving fliers and door-to-door visits.

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), who fought to have at least part of an expired cease-and-desist zone restored, reminded residents of Auburndale, Bayside, College Point, Malba, Murray Hill, North Flushing, and Whitestone to add their addresses to the list on the Department of State website.

“There may be 1,033 houses already on the list, but there is always room for more,” Avella said. “The Department of State will continue to accept new submissions and will update the list monthly.”

The cease-and-desist list established by the Department of State emulates a zone covering all of Queens County that was established in 1989 and expired in 2014. At three public hearings, residents and civic associations blasted the real estate industry for tactics they considered aggressive and complained of fliers littering their communities.

According to the Department of State, “no licensed real estate broker or salesperson shall solicit the sale, lease or the listing for sale or lease of residential property from an owner of residential property located in a designated cease-and-desist zone if such owner has filed a cease-and-desist notice with the Department of State indicating that such owner or owners do not desire to sell, lease or list their residential property and do not desire to be solicited to sell, lease or list their residential property.”

The new list will expire in 2022, but the IDC senator is hoping to get a law passed in the state to ban real estate solicitations in Queens indefinitely.

Francis Lewis tree massacre

"Why are old growth city owned curb trees being cut down near Francis Lewis & Crocheron?

Those trees are big...must have been there since the 1950s!

Couldn't they have just trimmed them?" - The Flushing Phantom

Pushcart parking problem

"Hello there. I wrote to you some time ago about the parking of many cars with expired out of state (Illinois) license plates on the streets of Auburndale. Well they are still here, taking up space, still with expired Illinois plates, likely uninsured, as you can see in the pictures. But newer to the area is this covered push cart. It's parked on 35th Ave, by 172nd street, the address is 172-06 35th Ave. It's a push cart, not a vehicle with license plates. I'm not sure what function it serves to whoever it belongs to. But it doesn't belong on a public street. Why is it allowed to be stored there? Sometimes it's chained to the stop sign, other times it's not. Directly across the street on 35th Ave is a very busy public school, this is a high traffic area at drop off and pick up times. 311 has been called, the response is nothing was found. 311 has become a terrible joke which cost the taxpayers bundles of money to operate. Or is it the local police precinct? Likely both.

Thanks Queens Crap!" - anonymous

West Nile spraying this week

From NBC:

To reduce mosquito populations and the risk of West Nile virus, the New York City Health Department plans to spray pesticide from trucks on Tuesday and Wednesday in parts of Queens.

The spraying is scheduled between 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday, weather permitting. In case of bad weather, application will begin Wednesday.

No human cases of West Nile virus have been reported this season.

The neighborhoods to be sprayed include parts of Auburndale, Corona, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Kew Gardens Hills, Murray Hill, Pomonok, Queensboro Hill, Utopia, Bellaire, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Floral Park Center, Glen Oaks, Hollis Hill, Little Neck, and Oakland Gardens.

There's a house under there somewhere

From the Queens Chronicle:

An Auburndale house that has practically been engulfed by overgrown foliage has became a thorn in the side of neighbors on Utopia Parkway.

Built in 1925, the two-level residence at 32-51 Utopia Pkwy. was converted to two apartments about 20 years ago. Since then, the owner, Michael C. Lee, has received citations for the overgrown conditions and trash in the front yard as well as rats on the property.

Neighbors say they don’t think anyone lives there, but that the property is cleaned up once or twice a year, the owner is believed to pay the fines and nothing changes. Despite calls to area elected officials and 311, raccoons, opossums and rats are spotted regularly on the grounds, which quickly returns to the neglected condition.

According to Community Board 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld, there have been numerous complaints about the Utopia house. In the past, the Health and Sanitation departments have been called in to eliminate the rats and clean the grounds.

Crocheron Ave littered with out-of-state junk cars

"Here in Auburndale, (on Crocheron Ave near 172 Street) what we have is a growing problem of cars with Illinois license plates. All five cars are owned by the same person, all of the plates have expired stickers. One of the cars is immobile, so is permanently attached to another with a tow bar.

Not only are these cars an eyesore, they have created a parking nightmare, and obviously are uninsured.

The attached pictures are of the two attached vehicles, others can be provided.

Here's a list of license plates as well.

S864356 VW Bug
H883574 Chevrolet Suburban
H950596 Toyota Corolla Wagon
17277X Ford F350 Truck
A425936 VW Bus

Local police have been contacted many times, as well as 311, no one has done anything. The cars rarely move, seemingly just for street sweeping, and are quickly parked back in place.

Any help is appreciated, I have been a reader of your website for a long time.

Thank You." - anonymous

Never ending variance goes down in flames at CB7

From the Times Ledger:

After a couple hours of yelling, confusion and chaos, Community Board 7 voted Monday night to extend a variance for an Auburndale business on Northern Boulevard, preserving the conditions of a previous agreement.

At issue was an application by Utopia Realty, at 167-04 Northern Blvd., to renew its variance, which has been based on a 10-year term, to last forever and to remove a provision which requires the owner to consult the board if he is considering selling the property.

The board’s Land Use Committee had already unanimously rejected the request and instead voted in support of renewing the existing variance for another 10 years.

Around 20 civic leaders and residents attended the meeting to voice their support of the committee’s recommendation.

Chuck Apelian, vice chairman of CB 7, was one of the lone dissenting voices to the Land Use Committee’s recommendation, arguing the 10-year variance put an unfair burden on the business.

“There seems to be some kind of hysteria that we’re rezoning all of Queens. We’re not,” he said. “It’s a small business. It’s half of what’s allowed.”

After a heated discussion, the board voted 31-4 in favor of extending the variance with the prior conditions.

More mosquito spraying tonight

From the Queens Courier:

On Monday, Sept. 8, there will be West Nile spraying in parts of Queens to help reduce the mosquito population and the risk of the disease.

The spraying will take place between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 6 a.m. the next morning. In case of bad weather, the application will be delayed until Tuesday, Sept. 9 during the same hours.

The following neighborhoods are being treated due to rising West Nile virus activity with high mosquito populations, according to the city’s Health Department:

Parts of Auburndale, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Murray Hill Pomonok, and Queensboro Hill (Bordered by 46th Avenue, Holly Avenue and Kissena Boulevard to the north; Main Street and Elder Avenue to west; Long Island Expressway to the south; and Hollis Court Boulevard to the east).

Parts of Astoria, Jackson Heights, Steinway and Woodside (Bordered by 19th Avenue and 81st Street to the north; 45th Street to the west; 25th Avenue and Brooklyn-Queens Expressway West to the south; and Brooklyn-Queens Expressway East, 25th Avenue, 77th Street and Grand Central Parkway to the east).

Con Ed performs rescue after car accident

Con Edison Crew Rescues a Baby, Two Women Trapped at Scene of an Auto Collision
Four Con Edison workers rescued a baby and two women earlier this week when the cars they were driving in collided, bringing down a traffic light and exposing electric wires to spilled gasoline.

“We heard a loud crash and saw gasoline pouring out from under one of the cars right next to the pedestrian crossing sign that was hit,” said James DeVita, Brooklyn/Queens Overhead Supervisor. “And we saw people inside, trying to get out.”

The collision took place about 12:30PM Tuesday at the intersection of Francis Lewis Blvd. and 53rd Ave. in Queens. One car caromed off a pedestrian crossing sign at the northwest corner of the intersection causing the sign to topple and break.

The Con Edison workers immediately lowered themselves from their overhead buckets and ran one-and-a-half blocks to the accident scene.

“It was kind of crazy. We were standing in gasoline and then we saw the baby in the back seat,” said Rich Coyle, Chief Lineman.

DeVita and another Con Edison Lineman, Chris Jensen, quickly worked to free the baby and an unconscious woman in the driver’s seat. “I finally had to cut the little girl out of the seat. The gas fumes were getting pretty strong,” added DeVita.

Another lineman, Mauricio Rincon, also helped with the rescue, including getting another injured woman out of the other car by bringing her over the front seat to the back in order to get her out through the undamaged rear door.

“And all this time, we could see those exposed wires – something we know about,” said DeVita. He also dialed 911.

The crew managed to quickly get all the victims far enough away from the accident scene just as NYPD and FDNY responders arrived and aided the victims. The two women and baby are unidentified and the extent of injuries unknown.

“I have a six-year-old daughter,” said Lineman Rincon, “and that’s all I could think of was to get that baby out of danger.”

The workers were installing an overhead transformer in front of nearby P.S. 62 as part of Con Edison’s summer preparations.

CB11 votes no to restarting construction

From the Queens Chronicle:

Community Board 11 voted Monday to recommend that the city Board of Standards and Appeals disapprove the plan of a new owner to finish developing four attached brick houses on 47th Avenue off 198th Street in Auburndale, despite a longstanding effort to resolve what residents and board members have regarded for years as a potentially dangerous eyesore.

The site has access on 47th Avenue but uses a 198th Street address due to the configuration of the houses.

Elizabeth Bennett, a lawyer representing the owner, argued that the project should be allowed to proceed based on the building code standards that were in place in 2005, when a previous owner completed a substantial amount of the project, not new standards that were passed in 2008.

Bennett said the legal principle behind the request was the common law doctrine known as vested rights.

But during the board’s discussion period, some members who voted against the request said they were unconvinced that the owner was entitled to vested rights and wanted to see the site held to the newer building code standards.

And even some board members who believed the owner was entitled to be grandfathered in said the project does not provide enough space for fire truck egress.

Bennett argued that no Fire Department objections have been raised so far and that even if they were at a later date, the BSA has approved projects with even less egress.

The board voted 34-4 with 2 abstentions. Its action is only advisory. The application now goes to the Borough President’s office and then to the BSA.

And we all know what will happen at Borough Hall and 22 Reade Street.

See previously.

Just awful in Auburndale

Several years ago, a developer bought an old farmhouse in Auburndale, tore it down and replaced it with crap. The construction shut down with the houses unfinished.

An astute QC reader sent in this photo of the eyesore with the comment, "It's NY! Put in as many houses as you can fit!"

The address was formerly 197-20 47 Avenue, but it has been changed to 47-04 198 street. There are 4 two-family houses, one behind the other. Thanks to our messed up zoning laws, this is allowed.
What did this construction replace? A really old 1-family farmhouse on a large lot. Here's the 1924 aerial shot from CityMap. The house was there until 2005.

A better site for a school than Kiel Brothers?

From the Times Ledger:

Members of Auburndale community groups are puzzled by a vacant lot on Northern Boulevard that appears to be under construction but has remained unchanged for more than four years.

The boarded-up site, at the corner of Northern Boulevard and 196th Street, has some nearby residents wondering what, if anything, will take its place. The property formerly housed a gas station that was demolished in 1998 and the city Department of Buildings began issuing new building permits in 2002.

Since then, 32 permits have been issued for various types of work, including new buildings, alterations and sign construction, but no work applications have been filed since 2009.

Henry Euler, first vice president of the Auburndale Improvement Association, said the lot has been vacant for years and has been the subject of some complaints filed by various groups.

“My civic association had registered complaints because there were a lot of old things stored on the site, like garden nursery-type materials at one point,” he said. “The construction fence had been in disrepair and no permits were posted.”

Euler said the community has talked about several options for what could be built where the lot now stands empty but has no confirmation about what is really happening. One possibility mentioned by some nearby residents was to turn the lot into a school, which Euler said the community is in need of, according to the city School Construction Authority.

He said the SCA had contacted Community Board 11 about the need for a new elementary school in the Bayside-Auburndale area, and last month the City Council approved a plan to build an elementary school at 48th Avenue and 211th Street in Bayside. Residents who live near the site, now occupied by Keil Brothers Garden Center, still are strongly opposed to having the school so close the backyards of 31 homes, but the SCA is believed to be moving ahead with its plan.

Euler said he believes the lot on Northern Boulevard is large enough for a school and would satisfy those who are looking for another one in the area.

Another possibility for the property, he said, is to turn it into some type of community space.

Soccer club chooses its candidates

"A 501c3 cannot participate in the political process

To whit:

7.25.3.3.4 (02-23-1999)
Express Powers that Cause Failure of Organizational Test
Directly or indirectly to participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office (Reg. 1.501(c)(3)–1 (b)(3)(ii));

This is a clear violation of their ability as a 501c3

Regards,
Look Out Queens"

Interesting.  You'd think their legal counsel would  have advised them against doing this.

Stop butchering street trees

From CBS New York:

Residents of certain sections of Queens have said their beautiful, tree-lined streets are being massacred, and the storms of the past year are not to blame.

Rather, as CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez reported, the residents of Auburndale and Bayside blame Con Edison.

Con Edison contractors have been making the rounds trimming trees around power lines. But the odd-looking end results are not aesthetically acceptable for the many neighbors.

Con Ed officials said, “Overgrown and fallen tree limbs are the leading cause of power outages during storms, and their tree maintenance program is critical in keeping the lights on.

But some residents argued there has to be a better option.

“The ultimate solution is to put the wires underground, because this way it’s for safety reasons,” said Henry Euler of the Auburndale Civic Association. “And it’s less likely to lose power during storms and it just looks better in the neighborhood.”

Auburndale arboricide

"Auburndale - old trees sawed down at 45-28 Francis Lewis Boulevard to make way for another hideous McMansion. When will this end?" - Anonymous


It won't.