Hangry Assassin gets sprung on bail and his wife got busted for gun possession on the same day

 

 Queens Post

A Briarwood man who allegedly gunned down a food delivery worker in Forest Hills in late April has been released on bail.

Glenn Hirsch, 51, appeared in court in Kew Gardens Monday and a judge set bail at $500,000. He has been charged for the shooting death of Zhiwen Yan, 45, and will now remain free while awaiting trial.

Hirsch’s attorney Michael Horn argues that his client is innocent and that the police have nabbed the wrong person.

Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder set strict guidelines as a condition of Hirsch’s release, which includes monitoring by an ankle bracelet and limitations as to where he can go outside of his apartment.

Hirsch is accused of fatally shooting Yan at around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 30. Yan was shot in the chest while on his scooter making deliveries for the Great Wall Chinese restaurant located at 104-37 Queens Blvd.

Fox News 

Dorothy Hirsch, the 62-year-old wife of the man accused of gunning down a New York City Chinese food deliveryman amid an ongoing dispute with the restaurant over duck sauce, was arrested on Monday after police found eight guns and more than 200 rounds of ammunition hidden in her Queens apartment, according to a report. 

Police arrested the woman and charged her with gun possession after NYPD conducted a search warrant at her 84th Road apartment where she maintains a separate residence from her husband, New York Daily News reported. Her bail was initially set for $150,000. 

Records show NYPD recovered a loaded 9mm semi-automatic with a clip containing nine rounds and a .38 caliber revolver containing 10 rounds from a box in a back closet. 

Authorities discovered a second 9mm and a .45 caliber revolver in a bag in the same closet, according to police, while a .38 caliber revolver, a .357 caliber revolver, a 9mm pistol, and a .25 caliber pistol were located in a black zippered pouch, which also contained the rest of the recovered ammunition. 

Dorothy Hirsch’s lawyer, Mark Bederow, said that the woman — a registered nurse with no prior arrests — is "adamant" about her innocence and has refused to be used "as a pawn" in the case regarding her husband.

 

Flagship Diner forced to close to make way for apartment building

From PIX11:

Sunday was a bittersweet day for longtime customers of the Flagship Diner, which closed after decades serving up meals in Queens.

For 53 years, this 24-hour diner with a parking lot out front on Queens Boulevard was the center of so many peoples lives.

Customers would bring their children and grandchildren to the diner. They also made sure to come out to say goodbye.

For a year and a half, the diner’s owners have been battling with the landlord over a lease that was supposed to end next year so the property could be converted into a 7-story apartment building.

This day brought one of the owners to tears.

“We’re very sad, but it is relief that it is over,” Vincent Pupplo, co-owner of Flagship diner told PIX11. “There was a lot of pressure in the last year and a half so this is bittersweet.”

City employee parking abuse down a little

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Chronicle’s Michael Gannon has been investigating illegal parking by city employees — or people passing themselves off as such — for about a year, mostly on the congested streets around Borough Hall in Kew Gardens and neighboring Briarwood.

On Gannon’s last surveys of the area, conducted over the last week, he still found unticketed cars with placards parked illegally: alleged cops in No Standing zones and blocking fire hydrants, for example. Not much improvement there. But what he did not see were the vests, patches and caps that had been used as substitutes. So there’s been a change, but more needs to be done. City employees have enough privileges as it is.

Locals support the Flagship Diner

From DNA Info:

Dozens of Queens residents and several elected officials came together for a rally Tuesday to support a popular diner, which is currently facing a court battle with a new landlord after more than five decades in business.

The owners of The Flagship Diner, at 138-30 Queens Blvd., which has been a community fixture since 1965, said their new landlord — Jamaica-based White Rock Management — began harassing them shortly after White Rockpurchased the site for $6.125 million last year and promptly obtained permits to knock down the restaurant and replace it with a seven-story, mixed-use apartment building containing 64 units.

On Tuesday, patrons holding signs that read “No more buildings — Save the Flagship,” “Stop Unfair Landlord” and “Stop the Harassment White Rock,” said that the diner has been like a “second home.”

The diner's owners — Vincent Pupplo, Jimmy Skartsiaris and Frank Lountzis — said they were initially hoping to keep their business open until their lease expires in October 2019, and then most likely retire.

The landlord proposed to buy them out, offering each of them $100,000, but they turned it down, the owners said.

Since then, they said, the landlord sent them several "notices to cure," requiring them to address a variety of issues within five days if they wanted to avoid eviction, including accusations that their parking lot, sidewalk and back steps are in disrepair and have to be ripped up and replaced immediately.

The owners said that their lawyer was able to obtain a “Yellowstone injunction” for each notice which temporarily suspends the time period during which they must address the issues.

In July, the restaurant owners filed a lawsuit in the Queens County Supreme Court accusing the landlord of harassing them, with the first hearing scheduled for Sept. 19.

Elevator finally opens at Briarwood

From DNA Info:

Straphangers got a welcome surprise at the Briarwood subway station as they headed to work Monday morning — the elevator was finally running, three years after it was initially scheduled to be completed in 2014.

The elevator at the Briarwood station, which serves the E and F trains, was built as part of the $159 million Kew Gardens Interchange project, conducted by the state Department of Transportation in order to widen the nearby Van Wyck Expressway.

It was delayed many times, most recently due to 1,000-pound "specialized equipment that needed to be ordered to complete work on the elevator" necessary for its security cameras, fire alarm and intercom, the DOT said in March.

The equipment was later installed in the MTA’s communications room, officials said.

The elevator finally opened on Sunday afternoon, locals said.

Kew Gardens Interchange work complete

From DNA Info:

Driving around Queens may now be a bit less frustrating, after a major phase of the lengthy Kew Gardens Interchange Project was completed six years after it started, officials said.

The state Department of Transportation just finalized the $159 million reconstruction of a large portion of the Van Wyck Expressway in Kew Gardens and Briarwood, which seeks to reduce congestion and ease traffic flow in the area, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.

That phase of the Kew Gardens Interchange project included:

► reconstructing and widening the Van Wyck Expressway between 82nd and Hillside avenues;

► reconstructing the exit ramp from the northbound Van Wyck Expressway to westbound Queens Boulevard;

► constructing several bridges over the Van Wyck Expressway, including the Queens Boulevard Bridge over Main Street;

► building an extra lane on the Van Wyck Expressway between the Grand Central Parkway and Queens Boulevard;

► constructing a dedicated exit lane on the southbound Van Wyck Expressway to Hillside Avenue.

Residents will still, however, have to wait a bit longer for a new elevator at the Briarwood subway station, which was built as part of the project, as well as for three pedestrian plazas and landscaping along Queens Boulevard planned for the Kew Gardens and Briarwood area after it was overtaken by the construction project for many years.

Poor safety measures cited at Briarwood accident site

From the Daily News:

A Queens construction worker stood precariously atop a dangling I-beam before the 3-ton steel piece dropped without warning, killing him and a colleague, sources said.

City investigators were checking Wednesday whether Elizandro Enrique Ramos, 43, was wearing a harness or some other protection when he plunged to his death at the six-story building in Briarwood.

Building Department inspectors shut down the Queens project on Wednesday, citing the owners for failure to provide a safe work site — and for inadequate fall protection for workers.

Briarwood MP LLC was also rapped for failure to provide adequate exits on the unfinished building’s three lowest floors.

2 workers die on Briarwood construction project

From Eyewitness News:

Two construction workers were killed after a steel beam fell on top of a crane's operator cab in Queens Tuesday.

It happened just after 12 p.m. near the intersection of 82nd Avenue and 134th Street in the Briarwood section, close to where the Van Wyck Expressway and the Grand Central Parkway intersect.

Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said the 6,500-pound beam dropped from the fourth floor of the building onto the crane.

Chandler said it appears the rigging rope may have failed while the beam was being lifted, causing the piece of steel to break loose and fall to the ground. Though, the investigation is still ongoing. Wind does not appear to be a factor in the accident.

"It was a 6,500-pound beam going up four stories. I would say the wind would not have a major factor on that," said Chandler.

The workers killed were identified as flag man Alessandro Ramos, 43, and crane operator George Smith, 47. Both were trapped in the wreckage and died at the scene.

Crains reports that this isn't the first work-related death for the contractor.

Flagship Diner may face wrecking ball

From the Queens Chronicle:

For nearly 51 years, the Flagship Diner at 138-30 Queens Blvd. in Briarwood has served hungry Queens residents.

But according to city records, another half-century of juicy burgers and steaks may not be in the cards.

Department of Finance documents show the land the eatery sits on was sold to White Rock Management Group LLC on July 14 for $6.125 million, as first reported by real estate website New York YIMBY.

And according to Department of Buildings records, demolition permits were filed and approved for the site on July 26 and plans to construct a seven-story, 64-unit residential complex there were filed on Monday.

But in a Tuesday interview, diner co-owner Vincent Pupplo told the Chronicle he expects the Flagship to remain open at least through the remainder of its lease, which expires Oct. 31, 2019.

Assaulted by Briarwood park bums

"These same three gentlemen drink and urinate in public while my wife and I going running with our infant every morning. Today one of them slapped me as I confronted them as they walked past the Hoover children's playground section by Briarwood library. I called the police for the second time and they sounded like they knew who they were. All they have to do is show up at 7 am at the black top ball field across from Archbishop Molloy and they will see them everyday."

Respectfully,
Briarwood resident

Briarwood subway entrance finally reopened

From DNA Info:

A new entrance to the Briarwood-Van Wyck F train station finally opened Monday morning, more than a year after it was initially scheduled to be completed — but access was still limited because of ongoing construction.

Local residents, who for the past four years had to use another entrance across the Van Wyck Expressway, welcomed the long overdue completion of the project.

The new entrance, next to the Briarwood branch of the Queens Library and near Archbishop Molloy High School, was built by the state Department of Transportation as part of the $265 million Kew Gardens Interchange project, which started in 2010, and aims to widen the Van Wyck Expressway.

The DOT said that the reopening of the Briarwood subway entrance, on the corner of Main Street and Queens Boulevard, was delayed because workers came across a number of unexpected obstacles. Last year, they found lead paint in the existing tunnel and had to remove it. The cold winter last year also delayed getting materials and construction equipment.

Currently, residents can access the new entrance from Main Street only and the entrance is still surrounded by a construction area.

Access to the entrance from Queens Boulevard should be available next fall after an overpass is reconstructed.

Briarwood subway entrance construction almost done

From DNA Info:

Construction work on the new main entrance to the Briarwood-Van Wyck F train station, which was initially scheduled to be completed last fall, is almost finished, the state Department of Transportation said.

Diane Park, a spokeswoman for the state DOT, would not, however, say when the entrance will reopen, leaving skeptical residents to wonder whether crews will meet the projected deadline after a delay of more than a year.

Park said that the project requires the cooperation of various state and local agencies, as well as Con Edison, and has to be approved by the MTA. But she noted that “things are progressing" and “we are in the inspection phase."

Photos provided by the state DOT show a complete entrance, but Park said the entryway is in the middle of "an active construction zone." The reopening, she said, will require installation of lighting, building a concrete walkway and other landscaping improvements, she said.

Skeeter spraying at sites across borough tomorrow

For more info, click here.

Water main work to begin in Briarwood

From the Queens Courier:

Officials from the Department of Design Construction recently began construction of a $15 million water main project that will replace nearly century-old pipes in Briarwood, and explained the plan to residents on Thursday in a community meeting.

The project stretches from 84th Road and 164th Street and will end at Hillside Avenue and Queens Blvd. The city’s water pipes, which have been in place since the 1920s according to a DDC representative, will be replaced with larger new ones, accommodating for the population growth in the last century.

The current pipes, some which are six inches in diameter and others that are eight inches, will be expanded to eight and 12-inch pipes respectively. The expanded diameter will also allow the opportunity to increase water pressure, DDC officials said.

Work on the pipes started a few weeks ago and will continue until November 2015. Workers will remove and replace pipes one block at a time during the year.

Where'd the PTA dough go?

From the Queens Courier:

Nearly 170 graduating students of P.S. 117 in Briarwood may not receive their caps and gowns and may miss out on senior events at the end of their elementary school experience because $30,000 is missing from the accounts of the school’s PTA, The Courier has learned.

The Department of Education (DOE) has launched a probe into the missing money, and the current PTA is barred from fundraising and any other financial dealings, officials said.

Parents learned earlier this year there may not be a senior dance, a school yearbook or graduation regalia because those items were all funded by the now-penniless parent teacher organization.

The school’s principal, Paula Cunningham, refused to comment on the situation and directed calls to the DOE. The DOE confirmed the audit, but wouldn’t answer further questions.

“This matter is currently under review internally, we are unable to provide additional information at this time due to the pendency of the ongoing investigation,” a DOE spokesman wrote in an email.

During a recent meeting at the school led by the new PTA leadership, Cunningham told parents that her hands are tied in the situation, even as parents suggested increasing senior dues to cover the nearly $6,000 needed to make the graduation special.

The dance is estimated to cost about $2,000, the yearbook could be about $1,650 and caps and gowns would be $13.50 per student, or more than $2,200 total, according to parents’ estimates.

“We as a building, as a school, are allowed to have one fundraiser for the entire year. That fundraiser was supposed to be for the entire school,” Cunningham said. “We don’t have funds that we can spend on caps and gowns. We don’t have funds that we can spend on a prom. We sent out letters explaining that the PTA paid for things that cost a lot of money.”

Just "Briarwood"

From PIX 11:

Officially, the name of the stations comes from a specific geographic location or street. Neighbors in Briarwood, Queens don’t think “Van Wyck” needs to be attached to their station along the E & F Queens Boulevard Line.

Most subway station names correspond to a street directly located at the entrance. Neighbors in Briarwood say the Van Wyck runs through many communities and it doesn’t describe the location.

Assemblymember David Weprin has introduced a bill to change the name of the Briarwood-Van Wyck Station. The measure still needs to have a hearing and co-sponsor.

Work delayed on interchange

From the Queens Tribune:

Briarwood residents will have to wait a little longer for their streets and subway to return to normal.

The reconstruction of the Briarwood-Van Wyck F train station entrance has been pushed back from the end of 2013 to March 2014, due to the discovery of lead paint. The renovation of the subway entrance, along with the installation of an elevator, is happening alongside a major project to improve traffic conditions on the Van Wyck Expressway.

The original completion date for the subway entrance was listed as Sept. 2013. It was then pushed back to Dec. 2013 due to design changes. However, lead paint in the pedestrian tunnel has to be removed before the area is safe to open, moving the timetable to next March.

The subway work was bid on and won by Ecco, for $9.9 million. This price tag included all of the work associated with moving the passageway, rebuilding the entrances, excavation, the new elevator and more. The cost has increased by about $1.7 million due to changes in field conditions and materials used. The lead paint removal added another $300,000 to the total.

The subway entrance is part of the State DOT’s Kew Gardens Interchange Reconstruction, which is made of two separate contracts and is due to be completed in 2016.

Briarwood is apparently full of grease

From NY1:

The city Department of Environmental Protection has launched a campaign to educate the public about the nasty and costly problems that cooking grease could cause. NY1's Erin Clarke filed the following report.

Nothing says the holidays like fried turkey and latkes, but if you pour your leftover cooking grease down the drain or toilet, you may get a gift you're not thankful for.

"The grease problems will cause backages, backups in the sewers that will cause blockages. That can impact the way the sewer works," said Jim Roberts, deputy commissioner of the city Department of Environmental Protection. "In worst case conditions, it can sometimes lead to backups in homes."

That could mean that just when everyone's over to celebrate, you might end up with a stinky situation that will ultimately cost you and the city a pretty penny.

"We've spent several million dollars a year on what we call degreasing," Roberts said. "To give you some frame of reference, it costs about $20 a gallon for the degreasing agent that we use, and we use sometimes as much as 20 or 30 gallons."

In an effort to educate New Yorkers about the problem, the DEP launched an outreach pilot program. They are handing out information and tools for getting rid of grease properly.

"We have a little cap in here that they can attach to their coffee can or soda can and put the grease in and let it go out with the regular garbage," Roberts said.

The program is starting in Queens because the borough has the highest percentage of reported sewage backups caused by grease. The Briarwood neighborhood was particularly problematic.

Homeless cause havoc in Briarwood

From the Queens Chronicle:

A Briarwood church has grown frustrated with an ongoing problem facing the property.

For seven years, the Victoria Congregational Church at 144-64 87 Ave. has been having issues with inebriated individuals at all times of day and night sleeping and consuming alcohol on a ramp that acts as one of the main entrances to the church and in front of the parsonage’s primary entrance door located next to the church.

The Rev. Mark Marsh, pastor of the Victoria Congregational Church, has reached out to Capt. Frederick Grover, the commanding officer of the 107th Precinct in Flushing, in an effort to solve the issue, but little to no action has been taken.

“We need patrols but not only that, we need the officers to get out of the car and walk onto the property,” Marsh said. “Normally they just drive through.”

The times when Marsh had called 911, police officers did not show up at all or almost 45 minutes after the initial call was made.

One time, Marsh had to wait over an hour to go home because the exit was blocked. He called 911 but the police did not respond even though the operator knew an inebriated individual had a brick in his hand and threatened to throw it at Marsh.

Though the individuals have become a nuisance, Marsh said he is not looking to harm anyone.

“What we noticed is that the same people that were here in 2006 are still using the ramp today,” he said. “We’ve talked to the precinct about maybe having some program that the police could put them through to help them.”

According to Marsh, the church is not allowed to contact a social agency to remove the drunken individuals.

“The police are the only ones allowed to contact them and request their help,” he said. “The only way we would be able to get a social agency involved is if we go up to the individuals and ask if they would like us to take them to a facility but if they say no, there is nothing we can do to force them.”

Marsh said that the church has had to call three ambulances in the past month and has found old carpets, trash and even feces at the top of the ramp.

I wonder what Samaritan Village is planning to do about this since it is most likely their drunken residents who are peeing and shitting all over the place when they miss curfew and get locked out. If they want approval to open a homeless shelter in Glendale, they probably should clean up their act in Briarwood first.

Security cameras coming...eventually

From the Queens Courier:

Police will install new sets of eyes in parts of Briarwood, Jamaica and Pomonok, according to a Queens lawmaker.

Seventeen NYPD security cameras are coming to the area’s high-traffic locations thanks to $600,000 in funding secured by Councilmember James Gennaro.

They can be found around Rufus King Park in Jamaica, near Archbishop Molloy High School and along Hillside Avenue, Jamaica Avenue and Parsons Boulevard, officials said.

Installation is slated to be completed by the city’s police department within two years.

It takes 2 years to install cameras?