Tax cut proposed for burger joints that allow seniors to linger (not an early April Fool's joke)

From the Times Ledger:

State Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Flushing) has proposed a new tax credit for restaurants that allow seniors to hang out in their establishments.

The new tax credit is an attempt to tackle a fight between business owners and seniors who sit socializing in their restaurants for hours on end.

The issue was highlighted when a group of Korean seniors were kicked out of a Flushing McDonald’s by police after spending hours sitting in the franchise after only buying a $1.09 cup of coffee each.

News of the controversy spread quickly all the way to Korea and prompted Kim to broker a compromise between the two groups that would have the McDonald’s extend its maximum sitting times during non-lunch hours, which the seniors agreed to respect. Kim said the spat was indicative of a larger problem that seniors do not have enough public spaces where they want to congregate.

“Older adults don’t want to be confined to one place. Instead of telling them where they have to go, we’ll go to them,” Kim said. “This is one of the possible solutions than can help alleviate the problem.”

A couple weeks after the controversy in Flushing, a group of predominantly Guyanese seniors were kicked out of a Burger King in Richmond Hill for staying too long.

Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows), whose district includes the Burger King, is setting up a summit so that the Guyanese seniors and the owner of the burger joint can reach a compromise similar to Kim’s.

The lunatics have taken over the asylum, folks.

He doesn't speak for all Guyanese

Dear Editor,

Residents of Richmond Hill are opposing a move by New York City zoning officials to downzone the area making it difficult to expand one’s home or build large homes. This will prevent families from expanding their living space or having adequate space for worshipping in mandirs, masjids and churches.

A public hearing was held on Wednesday evening in Richmond Hill on the proposed rezoning of the Richmond Hill area. The Queens Zoning Board plans to downgrade the area making it virtually impossible to construct multi-dwelling units on certain blocks. The rezoning emphasizes keeping the one and two-family houses ending other multiple dwelling units that had existed prior to Guyanese settling in the area.

At the public forum, Guyanese spokespersons complained about the lack of interest shown in the proposals advanced by area residents for balanced development. Their proposals were not given consideration. This was the sixth in a series of meetings at which the Guyanese community expressed their dissent for the proposed changes. However, as community leaders complained on Wednesday evening, the zoning board has ignored their opposition to the downzoning of the area and has not included their suggestions on how to deal with the shortage of housing in the area among the growing immigrant population. It is felt that the area is downzoned primarily because of the changing faces in the community with the area losing its Italian and Irish dominance.

The public forum was organized by the Richmond Hill Economic Development Corporation led by activist Vishnu Mahadeo. This gentleman should be applauded for his work for he is one of the few who is taking on the battle to have fair zoning in the community and who is also an advocate for other rights for the community.

The community leaders at the forum expressed concerns that the proposed downzoning for the majority of properties in the area of focus will not allow exemptions for religious institutions. There are a dozen temples and a few masjids and churches serving the Guyanese community in the area. Vishnu Mahadeo told the planning representatives that the Guyanese community “is now evolving from the basement and house temples to the more established looking mandirs, mosques and gurdwaras.“

Other community advocates also spoke on the impact of the downzoning on the social and economic structure of Richmond Hill. Attorney Albert Baldeo lashed out at the zoning commissioners and leaders of District 9 for not respecting the views of Richmond Hill community leaders. Darmin Bachu, a lawyer and chairman of the RHEDC, said: “Immigrants want to move in here, and they want as much housing as they can get. They want to celebrate this place in large numbers, and the business community wants the highest zoning it can get.”

It is felt that the area should be upzoned to allow for high rise buildings to accommodate the growing population. The city stands to benefit with higher property tax if the area is rezoned and development is allowed. Speakers told the Board that rezoning should provide for much needed housing opportunities. It is noted that the downgrading will impact on investment and affect the surroundings of the area, taking away much needed jobs and space for community get-togethers.

Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram

(FYI: The downzoning refers to the area south of Jamaica Avenue.)

Letter to editor from Staybroek News.

Now click the link above and read the responses from the Guyanese readership, who are almost unanimous in their support of the downzoning, citing reasons familiar to readers of this blog.

A sample:

"Most residents of Richmond Hill, including the many Indo-Caribbean home owners, are pleased with the proposed zoning. People are tired of the real estate agents building outsized, ugly homes all over the neighborhood and selling them for twice their value. The people who are raising objections are business owners (many of whom live in Jamaica Estates and Long Island), slumlords who own property in the area but don't live there and the uninformed --like Mr. Bisram."

Interesting, no?

The Guyanese Beavis and Butthead

From the Daily News:

Two hard-partying young men have been hit with attempted murder charges after they copped to setting a fire in a Queens building that nearly killed two elderly residents, officials said Tuesday.

Imran Ali, 23 and Devindra Ramnaryan, 21, both immigrants from Guyana, left a club on Liberty Ave. in South Ozone Park about 2:30 a.m. on July 23, officials said.

As they were leaving, they became enraged because they thought someone was throwing rocks at them from a nearby rooftop, law enforcement sources said.

After forcing their way inside the building where they thought the attack had originated, they lit a fire in a second-floor hallway - then took off.

Investigators believe they were drunk at the time.

Ali was arrested by Fire Marshals on July 27, officials said. When he was hauled into Queens Criminal Court prior to his arraignment, he quipped to investigators: "This is the first time I have ever been here when I wasn't drunk!" a law enforcement source said.

JFK bomb plotter gets life in prison

From the NY Post:

A judge [Wednesday] sentenced a former member of Guyana’s parliament to life in prison for plotting to blow up fuel tanks at Kennedy Airport.

Abdul Kadir received the sentence in federal court in Brooklyn.

Kadir and another former JFK cargo handler Russell Defreitas were convicted earlier this year on multiple conspiracy charges.

FBI agents arrested them in 2007 after an informant infiltrated the terror plot and recorded them discussing it. Prosecutors said the men wanted to outdo the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and sought the help of militant Muslims, including an al-Qaida operative, in Guyana.

Kadir told the judge on Wednesday that he was a peace-loving man who never wanted to harm Americans.

Sentencing for DeFreitas is set for Jan. 21.

With AP

17 busted for mortgage scheme

From NY1:

Law enforcement authorities have arrested more than a dozen people in connection with a multi-million dollar mortgage rescue fraud in Queens, the district attorney announced from Kew Gardens this afternoon.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown says 26 refinanced residential properties worth about $13 million were stripped over more than $3 million in equities.

Brown said 17 people have been charged, including two attorneys who were allegedly involved in the scheme. They face charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

"The defendants are charged with creating a human tragedy of immense proportions for the homeowners, most of whom are members of Queens' Guyanese community, who had turned to them in desperate need of saving their home from foreclosure," said the district attorney."

The charges allege Roger Huggins and Inderpaul Sookraj were the ringleaders, operating a Richmond Hill firm which claimed to be a home foreclosure rescue company.

Victims included not only the homeowners but also mortgage lenders like J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Met Life and Countrywide.

In one case, Huggins and Sookraj are accused of filing fraudulent documents which said they purchased a Jamaica, Queens home from a woman who had died a year earlier. They later flipped the property at an inflated price and kept the entire loan proceeds.