For months, members of Grace Episcopal Church in Jamaica have
complained of being hit with traffic tickets when they drop off elderly
people and those with limited mobility in front of the church on Jamaica
Avenue, where the city’s Department of Transportation installed a
busway in late 2021. Since then, parishioners have been working with
area elected officials and the DOT to find a solution.
With
tickets starting at $50 for parking in the busway and increasing up to
$500 after several offenses, the cost has weighed on churchgoers. But
part of the problem, says church vestry member Annette Manigault, was
the lack of clarity on how the street and bus cameras ticketing drivers
worked.
“We’re trying to make sure we can get the parishioners,
especially our elderly or disabled, into the church, because no one was
in knowledge of how the cameras are working, as well as the location
being not accessible for cars coming down Jamaica Avenue,” she said.
She
added that the nearest parking lots are several blocks away, making the
need to drop off those with limited mobility all the more vital.
Under
busway rules, no through traffic is allowed on Jamaica Avenue from
Sutphin Boulevard to 168th Street, seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 8
p.m.; cars on the avenue must make the first available turn off of it.
In
a recent walk-through of the site, which was attended by Queens
Commissioner Nicole Garcia, the DOT clarified to parishioners that the
busway does not prevent cars from accessing a given block of Jamaica
Avenue — it tickets drivers from continuing down it for more than a
block. Therefore, there are several ways churchgoers can drop off their
loved ones in front of the church without facing tickets, as detailed in
a DOT pamphlet the agency said it handed out at the walk-through.
If
traveling south on Parsons Boulevard, drivers can turn right onto
Jamaica Avenue, stop in front of the church, then turn right onto 153rd
Street. Drivers coming from the east on Archer Avenue can turn right
onto Parsons Boulevard before turning left onto Jamaica and making their
drop off, then continuing onto 153rd Street. From the west, drivers on
Archer Avenue can turn left onto 153rd Street and then right onto
Jamaica Avenue. After stopping, they can turn right onto Parsons
Boulevard and then right onto Archer again. The latter does, however,
require churchgoers to cross the street.
During a Cambria Heights Civic Association Zoom meeting last
Thursday, many residents aired their concerns about what will become of a
defunct area Rite Aid, located at 222-14 Linden Blvd.
Throughout
the online forum, several people said they had heard rumors that the new
owner of the former pharmacy’s lot intends to transform the space into a
transient shelter and worried that could destroy property values and
create safety problems.
Under the city Department of Buildings
certificate of occupancy, or CofO, Comments section, it was noted that
“the facility shall be operated by a philanthropic or non-profit
institution, sponsored by [the Department of Homeless Services] ... This
certificate shall expire when the ownership operation and use by an
institution or public agency ... ceases. The Class B multiple dwelling
classification of this building is lodging house.”
DOB’s
job filing data says there are no work permits filed, but the zoning
information, scope of work and cost affidavit sections have proposals
for a transient lodging house, which would include a community facility,
a cafeteria and eight dwelling units for 120 beds. If the proposal were
to go through, the project is expected to cost $607,170 in property
alterations.
Bryan Block, the president of CHCA, said there were about 60 objections to the proposed project as of April 11.
Some
of the objections to converting the space include a lack of egress, the
parking layout, the elevation of the lot, the noncombustible rooftop
hatch and whether the property was in a flood zone, according to DOB.
“The
civic was not notified about this and nothing came to the community
board,” said Block, “Yes, there was a rumor going around, but there was
nothing filed until a couple weeks ago. So, when we said it was a rumor,
it was because we didn’t have anything in writing from about three
weeks ago. We don’t go on rumors, we go on what we get from the city and
we still haven’t gotten anything from the city.”
The lot is zoned
R3-2, which in general denotes residential districts that allow a
variety of housing types, including low-rise attached houses, small
multifamily apartment houses, and detached and semidetached one- and
two-family residences. It is the lowest-density zoning district in which
multiple dwellings are permitted in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and
the Bronx, according to the Department of City Planning.
“The
site where the building is located is ... zoned residential, but it has a
commercial overlay, which allowed the Rite Aid commercial use there,”
said Steven Taylor, a CHCA board member. “The point I’m making is, they
have the ability to make this for residential use even though we’ve
always looked at it as a commercial use.”
The lot is 20,460 square
feet, including the 10,000-square-foot commercial building and 30
parking spots. It is a six- to 11-minute drive from five Long Island
Rail Road stations, the E,F, J and Z subway stations and the JFK
AirTrain. It was put up for sale on Dec. 12, 2023 and sold for $5
million on Feb. 16, according to several real estate websites.
State
Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) said seeking an injunction against the
DOB to prevent a shelter from being erected in the space could be a
possibility.
“I’m going to check with the councilmember if one has not been filed,” Comrie said.
Seventeen Eastern Queens civic leaders reiterated their opposition to
the state’s redevelopment plan for much of the Creedmoor Psychiatric
Center property last week after Borough President Donovan Richards
touted it as a “community-led effort” in a newsletter.
Area civic
groups oppose the plan because, they say, it will be too dense for the
region, with buildings that are too tall and lack adequate parking, and
that it will be too great a strain on existing infrastructure including
roads and sewers.
Richards, who regularly speaks of the need for
more housing in Queens and touts the projects slated to produce it,
included an item headlined “A New Day is Dawning at Creedmoor” in a
newsletter his office said was mailed to tens of thousands of homes
across Queens last week. The missive was timed to follow his April 12
State of the Borough address.
“The
largest community development project in the history of Eastern Queens
is on the horizon in the form of Borough President Richards and Empire
State Development’s draft Creedmoor Community Master Plan,” the piece
says. “The community-led effort aims to redevelop 50 vacant acres of
state land through the creation of more than 2,000 units of housing,
with 55 percent being designated for homeownership.”
Empire State
Development, the agency planning the project, has proposed 2,873 units
of housing on 58 acres of the Creedmoor campus. The plan includes 813
elevator co-ops in buildings of six to eight stories, 536 walk-up co-ops
in buildings of three to four stories, 186 triplexes in three-story
structures and 98 semidetached two-family homes of two stories. There
would be 377 senior homes, 431 supportive housing units and 432
apartments deemed affordable and granted by lottery, in buildings of six
to eight stories.
The civic leaders said in a letter emailed to
Richards on April 19 that they object to his calling the project
“community-led,” since area neighborhood organizations do not support
the plan and saw their own proposals for the property overridden.
They want a maximum of 1,000 units of two to three stories, and note that Community Board 13 passed a resolution to that effect.
“The
plan by Empire State Development is not acceptable,” the civics’ letter
says. “The layout is primarily four story, six story and eight story
buildings, which are not compatible with our communities. In fact,
except for one six story apartment building at 259th Street you will not
find anything on the Hillside Avenue corridor from Winchester Boulevard
to the city line higher than two stories.”
New York voters overwhelmingly reject having to pay a new $15 “congestion” toll to enter Midtown Manhattan, a statewide poll released Monday shows.
The Siena College survey finds that 63% of voters throughout the
Empire State oppose the toll, while only 25% support the pricing scheme
promoted by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA to curb congestion and
generate nearly $1 billion a year to fund mass transit.
In New York City, 64% of voters are against the first-in-the-nation
congestion pricing plan to enter the Manhattan business district south
of 60th Street compared to just 33% who back it.
An even higher 72% of voters who reside in the suburbs surrounding
the Big Apple — more likely to drive than take mass transit into
Manhattan — oppose the controversial toll that the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority could implement as early as June.
Opposition to the toll is one of the few issues that unifies all cross-segments of New York voters.
The new toll is opposed by 72% of blacks, 62% of Latinos, 62% of
union households, 75% of Republicans, 69% of independent or unaffiliated
voters, 75% of Republicans and even a majority 54% of Democrats.
Congestion pricing is being implemented because of a state law championed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democrat-controlled legislature in 2019 — yet only 34% of Democrats support it.
Hochul, Cuomo’s successor, has defended congestion pricing as a good thing amid a plethora of lawsuits to block it.
“A majority of Democrats, two-thirds of independents and
three-quarters of Republicans oppose the soon-expected congestion
pricing toll plan, as do approximately two-thirds of downstaters and a
majority of upstaters,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
One in seven voters — 14% of respondents — said they would travel
less to Manhattan to avoid the toll, while 17% said they would find
another way to get to Midtown that could include mass transit.
Another 14% of respondents said the toll would have no effect on
their travel patterns while 44% said they don’t go to Manhattan. The
poll queried upstaters who rarely venture into the Big Apple.
Congestion pricing imposes a $15 toll on cars traveling anywhere
below 60th Street between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9
p.m. on weekends.
Unwanted visitors are residing in the long-closed Triple Crown Diner
in Bellerose, according to members of the local business community.
Joe, who runs a restaurant across the street, told PIX11 News the
squatters enter at night via a rear staircase that leads to the roof:
“You’ll see people just randomly walking out of there. I pay close
attention. You’ll see a lot of garbage stacked up right there.”
Behind the diner, there’s a shed with a mattress on the ground. The identity of the alleged squatters remained unclear as of Friday afternoon.
“I know it has been reported to the 105th Precinct and it’s been
reported by them that they’ve come and located an opening in the
ceiling, the roof, that they’ve covered with plywood,” said Richard
Hellenbrecht, the treasurer of the Bellerose Civic Association. “For
anyone to get inside and squat in the diner is really terrible.
Another business owner, Jack, told PIX11 the neighborhood has recently seen some changes for the worse.
“Well, they shouldn’t be living there. They’re vagrants. It ruins our
business – it runs the businesses in the area. Sure, it bothers you,
but what can you do about it?”
Construction of a new community center in Queens serving young
adults with special needs is well underway – and long delayed, says
property owner Young Seh Bae.
It’s all thanks to a squatter identified by the Sheriff’s Office as Sean Johnson.
Investigators said he set up camp in the now demolished home
that once stood on a lot in the fall of 2022, and then illegally
claimed residence after being there for more than 30 days.
“They just broke into the house using the back door,” said Bae.
The Sheriff’s Office also confirmed marshals recovered a gun from
inside the home where Johnson was squatting, adding he was not present
to be taken into custody.
“They caused a nightmare for us. There were people coming and going.
They would come on to our side of the sidewalk to intimidate us,” said
Angela, who lives across the street.
Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said he supports updating squatters’
rights, which were originally enacted to help protect against bad
landlords.
“There was a reason that squatters’ law was put in place. And I think
people are starting to exploit what some of those reasons are,” said
Adams.
Under current New York State law, squatters are considered tenants if
they have had possession for 30 consecutive days or longer.
Bae said it ultimately took more than six months and six-figures in
legal fees to finally reclaim the property her family rightfully owns.
“It was very frustrating, not only mentally but financially. I have to say about $100,000,” said Bae.
State Sen. John Liu acknowledged his newly proposed legislation may
not be useful to responding police officers, but he added it will help
homeowners in a courtroom.
Liu’s bill clearly defines a squatter as someone who enters onto a property or building without title, right, or permission…”
The bill bans them from accessing a tenant’s rights and protections
under the law, and states squatters do not get any rights, even after 30
days of possession.
““New York State law, as it pertains to housing and property, it’s not
the easiest thing — no question. We need to erase any kind of ambiguity
in our state laws, and this bill will do just that,” said Liu.
Queens residents spoke out with frustrations Wednesday about a
run-down property in their neighborhood that they say is attracting
squatters.
“Sometimes the front door is actually creeped open. For years, people
have just been coming in, dumping garbage,” said Kamran, describing the
neglected house next to the home he’s lived in since childhood.
When Kamran says “years,” he means more than a decade.
During that time, he and his neighbors say there have been squatters
coming in and out of the run-down home.
The home, located at 245-04 Union Turnpike in Bellerose, is barely
visible behind the tall brush. Lydia lives within eyeshot of what she
says is an eyesore.
“When I see people there that I know are squatters, or they don’t
belong there because it’s been empty so long, I just call 911,” said
Lydia.
This is the third time in the last week PIX11 News has reported about a suspected squatting situation in Queens, from a now torn-down home in Bayside, to squatters who allegedly entered through the roof of the closed Triple Crown Diner – also in Bellerose.
PIX11 News took Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on a virtual tour of the property Wednesday.
The tour included a growing collection of New York City Department of
Sanitation tickets issued to the registered owner – Jan Robert Fortin –
who has no listed number and whose son did not answer PIX11 News’ phone
call requesting comment.
“So how do we resolve this issue? We need a change at the state law.
Yes, enforcement is one key piece of it. OK, they are going to end up on
Rikers on a trespass charge possibly. I also have to allude to the fact
that we are in a housing crisis, and people are squatting largely
because we are in this crisis,” said Richards.
The good news? About an hour after PIX11 News started reaching out to
multiple agencies, including the health department, Housing
Preservation and Development, and the buildings and sanitation
departments, a sanitation supervisor arrived at the house to assess the
situation.
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