Affordable housing for Christmas

 

Queens Chronicle

The JFK Hilton will soon be the Baisley Pond Park Residences now that the city closed a deal on Monday to convert the South Jamaica hotel into affordable housing with the help of a nonprofit and a real estate group that focuses on creating multifamily homes.

The cost for the city to partially acquire and develop the property is projected at $167 million. Located at 144-02 135 Ave., the space will be transformed into 318 permanent units for low-income and formerly homeless New Yorkers, according to the office of Mayor Adams.

“Digging our city out of this severe housing shortage will require every tool in our toolbox, and our administration helped win an important fight to add this hotel conversion,” Adams said in a statement. “Advancing this plan ... is a sign that we can think outside of the box and take advantage of the opportunities in front of us. I want to thank our partners in Albany for making it possible to turn empty hotels into affordable homes and our development partners who will deliver on the promise of this idea for hundreds of New Yorkers.”

The development partners, which include the nonprofit RiseBoro Community Partnership and Slate Property Group, a real estate lender and operator primarily focused on the adaptive reuse of property for family housing, acquired the property for $64 million.

MSquared, a women-owned real estate development and impact-investing platform, will also be a part of the project.

“Our city faces an urgent need for quality affordable housing and Baisley Pond Park Residence is a great example of how we can utilize new strategies and funding sources to address this crisis head-on,” said Alicia Glen, founder and managing principal of MSquared, in a statement.

MSquared provided a key $4.4 million predevelopment loan. The city will get $48 million from the state’s new Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act program. The remaining capital is being provided through a $50 million senior loan from the city Housing Development Corp., which is being serviced by Chase, and the project is funded with an allocation of 501(c)(3) bonds from HDC.

There will be 192 shelter residents with CityFHEPS vouchers in the homes, according to city Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park.

Aracelia Cook, president of the 149th Street South Ozone Park Civic Association, said she is excited about the prospect of affordable housing in the Southeast Queens area.

“We definitely need more permanent housing,” Cook told the Chronicle. “Instead of just another hotel to be a center for migrants.”

Earlier this year, the hotel was closed permanently and later it was used as a shelter for asylum seekers, prompting a protest.

“We need a more permanent housing solution,” Cook said. “They spoke to us about their vision and we are looking forward to partnering with them.”

Cook said RiseBoro and Slate Property have been talking to members of her civic since April and she is glad to see that the deal is finally done.

The hotel, which is a half-mile from JFK Airport, will have full kitchens, ADA-compliant bathrooms, community rooms, a computer lounge, fitness room and on-site laundry. The landscape architecture firm, OSD, has also designed a stunning indoor/outdoor garden space for residents. Rent will range from $784 for studios to $1,493 for a two-bedroom unit, according to the city.

 

Hotel-shelter turned murder scene

From the NY Post:

A 33-year-old man who lived at a Queens homeless shelter was allegedly stabbed to death by a fellow resident of the facility — which neighbors ripped as a beacon for crime that is now spiraling out of control.

A 28-year-old woman who lived nearby her whole life and declined to give her name, said the shelter has brought its share of problems to the neighborhood.

“Shelter’s been here about 3 years,” she said. “Last year or so, cars started getting broken into. Out of control now, every night! My son can’t go in the park. Not even in daytime! Look! Like a prison yard. … Walking around drinking out [of] brown bags! All day, every day! It wasn’t like this back when it was the airport hotel. Never like this.”

“Anything not nailed down disappears,” said a 64-year-old neighbor who identified himself as Mike L. “Steal right out of the front yard. Junkies! I yelled at a guy a couple days ago, like 10 in the morning going through my garbage, on the side of the house. Day is worse than night. Now they’re killing each other — and we’re next.”

“This ain’t getting better,” he added.

Wow! So are Steve Banks and most of the lefty media going to call these people racist for opposing the shelter in their neighborhood? Or are we going to admit that some neighborhoods have valid reasons for not wanting violent criminals living near them?

Pig on the lam

  

NY Daily News

 This little piggy should have stayed home.

An abandoned piglet was rescued from a Queens park but cops and animal control officials are on the lookout for another one that slipped away, officials said Monday.

After receiving a call about a loose pig near Baisley Pond Park creative cops cornered the panicked porker under a car and managed to get her into a crate. The neighbor who discovered the pig had managed to keep her in the area by feeding her potato chips.

From there, it was on to the animal rescue folks at Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, who gave the pig a new home and a new name — Babe — while nursing her back to good health.

But before little Babe could cry wee wee wee, cops learned there was another pig in a poke.

“Unfortunately, a few hours later after we got this piglet from the NYPD they called us back and told us someone reported another piglet running loose,” said anthrozoologist John Di Leonardo, president of Long Island Orchestrating for Nature.

“We are currently working under the assumption that someone abandoned them in the park there. The first one was found a few blocks from the park. This other one has been spotted inside the park hours later.”