Kathy Clown's senior day care donor money laundering circus

 Anti-fraud Club

Governor Kathy Hochul’s campaign received $55,000 from social adult daycare centers in Flushing, the New York City neighborhood where Nick Shirley investigated alleged fraud. This month, the New York Post reviewed donation records, visited the two largest donors, and found both centers empty of patients during business hours. Nick had found the same situation there about a month earlier.

There are nearly 400 of these centers in New York City, but only nine donated more than $5,000 to Hochul’s first campaign for governor in 2022. Those nine centers billed Medicaid about $49 million that year. In July, Nick’s investigation described Flushing as a place where billing no longer matched the population it was meant to serve. The Post’s donor list comes from this same small group of operators.

Nearly half of the donations came from two men. Baoli Zhang, gave $10,000 himself and another $5,000 through his business, Bao Kang Adult Day Care, according to financial records reviewed by the Post. Since 2018, Zhang’s businesses have claimed at least $32 million from Medicaid for tens of thousands of listed patients. He also owns Confucius Social Daycare Center in Manhattan’s Chinatown, which billed $15.7 million during the same time.

The other major donor is Jiemin Shang, who runs Livingwell Day Care. Livingwell gave Hochul $5,000 in 2022 and billed Medicaid $5.8 million that year. Another $5,000 donation came from Finest Adult Day Care, which Shang also manages. Livingwell’s Medicaid billing grew from $114,000 in 2018 to $8.05 million by 2024. Bao Kang’s billing rose from $1.5 million to $7.22 million in the same period. Overall, monthly daycare revenue in Flushing has almost doubled since before the pandemic.

At Bao Kang, a worker told Post reporters the center serves between one hundred and two hundred people each day, but then checked a security monitor and saw the common areas were empty. In July, a staff member at another Flushing center told Nick on camera that the thousands of names on its records were not actually present in the building. None of the centers mentioned in the Post’s report have been charged with a crime.

An industry source told the Post that these centers were struggling during COVID until someone helped them out, describing the situation as “Take care of me, I’ll take care of you.” This is just one anonymous person’s opinion about why the donations began, not a proven fact. There is no public evidence that Hochul or her campaign gave anything in return. Political donations from business owners are legal. The Post’s reporting shows that the centers donating to the governor are the same ones billing Medicaid at levels their facilities cannot explain.

Federal prosecutors have been investigating this type of spending throughout the summer. On August 4, the Justice Department’s Fraud Division charged 19 people in Medicaid home care schemes and expanded its Northeast Health Care Fraud Strike Force. The department links this work to the fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, who visited Flushing with Nick in July, said in the announcement that the agency is creating safeguards to spot criminal activity before any money is paid out.

 

Squatter gets a new home in jail

Squatter restorative justice

Pheonix V. Casino Citifield parkland dispute

 

 Queens Eagle

Climate and community advocates over the weekend unveiled a plan to bring a park to the city-owned land currently being used as Citi Field’s parking lot. The plan was pitched as an alternative to Mets owner Steve Cohen’s proposal to bring a casino and entertainment complex to the lot the city has designated as parkland but has never been used as such.

Despite the difference in resources behind the plan – Cohen’s net worth is estimated to be a little less than $20 billion – the park plan dubbed Phoenix Meadows has caught the eye of State Senator Jessica Ramos, who has the ability to make or break any proposal made for the land.

The park plan was unveiled at a rally and march through Downtown Flushing on Saturday by a coalition of local groups opposed to Cohen’s Metropolitan Park. Phoenix Meadows was designed by a coalition of advocates aligned under the group FED UP – or Flushing for Equitable Development and Urban Planning.

The group opposes the unrelated proposed developments at Citi Field and Willets Point, and want to see the land instead used as public park space.

Under the proposal, which is still in its earliest stages, Phoenix Meadows would bring 65 acres of parkland to the lot, with a large sloped park that allows for a parking structure to remain for Mets fans and other Citi Field-goers.

“The idea is that you build parking garages, two to three stories, with the exact same amount of parking that is right now, no net loss, no net gain of parking, same traffic flow, and you build a huge park on top of that parking, you hide the parking with the park,” said Rebecca Pryor, the executive director of the Guardians of Flushing Bay.

While Pryor and others behind the Phoenix Meadows plan touted its environmental impacts – they claim the slanted nature of the park would allow for the control of rainwater in the area that often floods – they also bashed what they said would be negative environmental impacts brought on by Cohen’s casino plan.

“It doubles the number of parking spaces in an area that has some of the highest levels of air toxicity from traffic in the nation,” said Pryor. “It has no plan for flooding protection in an area that frequently floods.”

Cohen has yet to release many details about the proposal, including potential flood protection.

Advocates on Saturday also argued that while the Metropolitan Park plan would serve wealthy visitors, potentially coming at cost for locals, the Phoenix Meadows plan would prioritize those already living in the surrounding neighborhoods of Flushing, Corona and Elmhurst.

In a statement to the Eagle, a spokesperson for Metropolitan Park defended the casino plan, which they said was created after collecting input from locals during several “visioning sessions” they held in 2023.

“This visionary plan is the result of more than a dozen community workshops and hundreds of conversations with local leaders and neighbors,” said spokesperson John Collins. “We believe Metropolitan Park is exactly the kind of revolutionary proposal that community leaders can support.”

Cohen and his partners, Hard Rock, also believe that their plan – which is privately financed – hits on many of the attractions Phoenix Meadows offers, like investments into climate mitigation infrastructure, park space and food vendors.

“We are proud of the vision for Metropolitan Park, a community-led plan that will invest $8 billion to create 25 acres of new public-park space and athletic fields, deliver 15,000 good-paying jobs and careers, modernize the Mets-Willets Point 7 train station, build a Taste of Queens Food Hall and establish workforce training and community development programs.” said Collins.

Despite the land’s designation as parkland, the Phoenix Meadows plan remains a longshot.

There’s currently no money behind the plan – Pryor said that she believes the project could be funded through the state and federal government using funds dedicated to combating climate change. 

You know what's delish about the Phoenix proposal? Transportation Alternatives Lobbyist and Pathological Liar Jim Burke has been pushing Cohen's Metropolitan Park all over social media and this environmentalist group is not only disrupting the Mets owner's plans for a casino but is showing what a brazen hypocrite Burke and Transalt are for supporting a plan that will involve more parking and traffic to the so-called new "green spaces". But it's kinda expected from a cult who proclaims they are reclaiming streets from cars when they have received millions in donor money from uber and lyft. 

  

 

Next Stop Cohenville

 

THE CITY

Mets owner Steve Cohen on Tuesday released more details about his plan to build a casino on the city-owned parking lot surrounding Citi Field, although he still needs the state legislature to approve so-called park land alienation to start any construction.

New Green Willets LLC, Cohen’s lobbying firm, has officially unveiled “Metropolitan Park,” an $8 billion vision for the 50 acres of parking lots surrounding Citi Field. The designs were influenced by months of community meetings, the group wrote in the release. They are partnering with Hard Rock International, owner of restaurants and casinos around the world, as well as the SHoP Architects and Field Operations for landscape design. 

The developers want to build a hotel with restaurants and bars, add a live music venue, and also note they plan to build a casino – “subject to Gaming Commission license.” 

The site will also still include 20 acres of public park land.

Cohen is set to submit a formal public notice for a scoping hearing, reviewing environmental and economic impact, for the casino plans on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the team owner confirmed to THE CITY. 

The blueprint comes after months of public “visioning sessions” and the statement from Cohen and crew included support from community leaders, who touted economic opportunities. 

“We have the opportunity to turn the 50 acres of asphalt around Citi Field, right across the creek from downtown Flushing, into things we need,” Peter Tu, a senior advisor to the Flushing Chinese Business Association, said in the release. 

State officials could dole out up to three new licenses for casinos in the southern parts of New York, which includes New York City, Long Island and Westchester County.

Other organizations and companies vying for the license include Genting Group’s Resorts World in Ozone Park, Queens, and a proposal from SL Green Realty Corp. to build a casino in Times Square — backed hip-hop luminaries like Jay-Z and Fat Joe. Vornado recently backed out of its plans to build a casino near Penn Station.

Cohen’s casino dreams in Flushing still need state authorization to hand over the land since it’s technically a park. Assemblymember Jeff Aubry (D-Queens) has introduced a related bill, specifically naming Cohen’s New Green Willets lobbying group. 

But that bill requires matching legislation from the area’s representative in the State Senate, Democrat Jessica Ramos — who has said she needs to hear more from the community before introducing anything. 

The stall in Albany hasn’t stopped the Mets from moving forward with development plans.

 

Zara Vile

 

 QNS

During one of the hottest days in New York City on Thursday, July 27, Imran Patel, a Flushing resident at 140-60 Beech Ave. claimed that he and his family are facing eviction by Jamaica-based real estate company Zara Realty for putting an air conditioner in their apartment. 

“We’re in the middle of a heatwave here in NYC and they’re threatening to kick us out of our home because we want to be able to live in this heat,” Patel said. “They claim that we’re violating the lease, but nothing in the lease says that we can’t have an AC in the window. They gave us no warning — the super had even told me two years ago that it was fine, but two weeks ago we were given a notice that Zara wanted to evict us.” 

A spokesman for Zara Realty said Patel’s claims for not being able to have air conditioning in his apartment is false and is a safety concern. According to the company, the building has air conditioner sleeves and the tenant refused to install the air conditioner where it is supposed to be.

“Putting the air conditioner in the window is a significant risk to health and human safety as it could fall out of the window onto someone below causing serious injury or death,” the spokesman said. “The air conditioner sleeve is the appropriate, safest, and approved place for the air conditioner unit, not the window.”

Patel, who has been living at the apartment for 20 years, was joined by rent-stabilized tenants from two other buildings owned by Zara Realty (140-30 Ash Ave. and 140-50 Ash Ave.) at the July 27 press conference in calling out the company for alleged harassment of immigrant tenants, including asking for birth and marriage certifies, excessive fees for keys, and increasing rents by nearly $300 per month. 

“Zara has been continuously harassing us since they bought the building in 2019—there is no peace,” Patel said. “When Zara changed the locks, they only gave us one key for our family of five. We still only have one key. We have leaks and mold in our bathroom; the electrical outlets are loose and often don’t work.” 

“And I’m not the only one,” Patel continued. “They’ve started eviction cases against a few other families in the building for the same reason. I’ll fight back and I know I will win, but I also know that for every tenant like me, there’s another who would move out of fear because an eviction record can destroy your chance at finding a home.”

After two years, Maria Jenny Lopez, a tenant of 140-30 Ash Ave., was able to get a key for her brother who lives with her. Lopez claims she suffered harassment, including Zara employees on the fire escape taking pictures through her window. 

“Other tenants are still waiting for a key and are forced to pay up to $100. It’s outrageous for such a simple yet important thing. They are also asking us for marriage or birth certificates. This isn’t right. That is abuse. That is harassment,” Lopez said. 

Doug Ostling, a tenant organizer and resident of 140-50 Ash Ave., said he’s “sick and tired of Zara’s harassment tactics and attempts” to raise their rents. 

“This is our home. This is our community. We pay our rent just like everyone else, but Zara continues to harass us and treat us like pawns in their money-making schemes,” Ostling said. “They don’t make basic repairs and then try to raise our rent? Enough is enough. We just want to live peacefully and in safe and livable homes!” 

The tenants claim Zara is trying to unlawfully raise rents by filing Major Capital Improvement (MCI) applications with the NYS Department of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR), the state agency that oversees rent-stabilized buildings in New York. 

They’re calling on DHCR to deny Zara’s applications due to building disrepairs and apply the letter of the law which prohibits MCIs while certain violations exist. 

The tenants allege that there is a lack of heat and hot water, roaches and mice infestation in the hallway and basement, leaking roofs, broken garage chutes, and security cameras they can’t access. According to the tenants, Zara’s repairs include “patchwork jobs” that quickly fall back into disrepair.

 

Flushing illegal vendors making streets more unwalkable and less joyful

  

QNS

Councilwoman Sandra Ung on Wednesday, March 8, announced a petition calling on the city to enforce existing street vending regulations, including the no-vending zone that went into effect in 2018, to address the proliferation of unlicensed street vendors in downtown Flushing. 

The councilwoman was joined by Dian Yu, executive director of the Flushing Business Improvement District (BID), and concerned community members for a press conference near the Flushing LIRR Station on Main Street and Kissena Boulevard, where some vendors sell vegetables, fruits and clothing. 

“I am encouraging everyone who is frustrated like us to sign this petition and show the city that people who live, work and visit here, support enforcement of the no vending zone and want our sidewalks to return back to the pedestrians they’re intended for,” Ung said.

The current density of street vendors has created a risk to public safety. The petition drive comes ahead of an interagency meeting Ung will host next week to discuss the issue.

“It’s one of the busiest commercial corridors in the five boroughs and home to the third busiest intersection in the city,” Ung said. “And let me be clear, our goal is not to prevent people from making a living or providing for their families; however, in the absence of enforcement, the current situation in downtown Flushing has become untenable.”

Civics revolt against Steve Cohen's greenwashing casino scheme

 

QNS

 Civic leaders from northeast and central Queens have organized to oppose Mets owner Steve Cohen’s plan to build a casino or other commercial structures on 50 acres of public parkland surrounding Citi Field. Their opposition comes days before Cohen holds a “visioning session,” which is expected to draw hundreds to Citi Field on Jan. 7, just as the state’s Gaming Facilities Location Board announced they would begin accepting applications for three downstate casino licenses.

The civics have been coalescing against Cohen’s future plans since he made no mention of a casino and instead referred to an “entertainment” venue on “50 acres of vacant asphalt,” in a Dec. 19 press release announcing the visioning session.

“We believe that Steve Cohen is trying to create a perception of public support for a vague concept of an ‘entertainment venue’ — but that he may later misrepresent that as support for a casino to be built on the parkland,” Bayside community activist Jena Lanzetta said. “He’s soliciting public opinion, without disclosing that his plans impact public parkland, or that his true ambition is a casino. We will expose such deceptions every step of the way.”

Vision Fifty-Zero

 

Queens Post

 The owner of the New York Mets is looking to develop a 50-acre area around Citi Field and is holding a visioning session next month to get feedback as to how it should be done.

Steve Cohen, the hedge fund manager who purchased the Mets in 2020 for $2.4 billion, aims to “re-imagine the space around Citi Field” that currently consists of 50 acres of vacant asphalt. He says that the desolate space is wasted, and that it divides neighborhoods from one another—and is a barrier to the Flushing Bay waterfront.

Cohen said the visioning session will take place on Jan. 7 at Citi Field and it builds on discussions he has had with community groups and local leaders. To participate in the meeting, register here.

“For months, we have been listening to the local community who keeps telling us there is more they want from the area. Everyone agrees that the status quo isn’t acceptable,” Cohen said in a statement. “We are committed to putting forward a vision for the area that will create a shared space that people not only want to come to and enjoy, but can be proud of.”

Soccer trickle down housing

New York Times

The stadium would be the first significant major-league sports venue to be built in the city since 2012, and is set to be the focal point of a 23-acre project that includes a 250-room hotel and 2,500 units of housing. Officials say the project would be the city’s largest development of entirely affordable housing since the Mitchell-Lama developments of the 1970s.

The deal represents Mayor Eric Adams’s most ambitious economic development initiative and comes as he is about to complete his first year in office. It also spells the end of two sagas: the team’s decade-long search for a dedicated soccer stadium and an even longer conundrum about the future of Willets Point, a once thriving conglomeration of auto body shops.

“Queens, which is the world’s borough, now will become the home of soccer, which is the world’s sport,” Maria Torres-Springer, the deputy mayor for economic and workforce development, said in an interview on Tuesday.

Unlike many stadium deals, including one for the Buffalo Bills negotiated this year by Gov. Kathy Hochul that included nearly $900 million in public funds, city officials said subsidies for this project are largely limited to infrastructure improvements at the site and property tax breaks for the stadium.

The soccer team will pay for the entire construction of the stadium, which is estimated to cost $780 million, city officials said. Neither tax-exempt bond financing nor direct city capital infusions will be used, according to Andrew Kimball, the president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The developers are not getting abatements on mortgage recording or sales taxes, he said. But the stadium owners will not have to pay real estate taxes for the duration of the lease.

Knock and leave a citation three times

 Since when does DOB go back a third time? Glad they did, though.

 

Mayor Adams approves stadium in Flushing for soccer team

 

 NY Post

Mayor Eric Adams is expected to announce that he is onboard with plans for a 25,000-seat soccer stadium to be built near Citi Field that will be home to the New York City Football Club, sources close to the situation said.

“A deal is close, but negotiations are ongoing,” a source said.

Even with the mayor’s blessing the stadium would still need to be approved through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) which is not a given, sources said.

Still, a new stadium for the reigning MLS Cup Champions could be built by 2025, a source said.

The NYCFC has been nomadic playing home games this season at Yankee Stadium, Citi Field and Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. So the prospect of a permanent home would be welcome news to their loyal fan base.

It likely also would be built in time for the 2026 World Cup which is being held in New York City and New Jersey.

Media reports a few months ago said a new stadium would most likely be built in the Bronx, but that is no longer the case, sources said.

 

Busways fade away

Queens Chronicle

After a tumultuous couple of years, it appears that drivers in Downtown Flushing may be in for some relief.

As of last week, the Main Street busway will no longer operate 24/7, and will instead run from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Since it was initially proposed over two years ago, the 0.6-mile stretch between Northern Boulevard and Sanford Avenue has been a source of controversy in Downtown Flushing, especially among business owners, who were concerned about the busway’s potential impact on foot traffic. In November 2020, some filed a lawsuit to halt the project. Ultimately, the group lost the suit, and the busway began as a one-year pilot program in January 2021, and has remained in place ever since.

Asked about the decision to reduce the hours of operation, Vin Barone, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, wrote in an email to the Chronicle, “The Main Street busway has made commutes faster and more reliable for 155,000 daily bus riders and DOT is committed to its continued success. DOT determined the hours could be adjusted to better balance with the requests made by the local business community.”

The change also comes after Councilmember Sandra Ung (D-Flushing) took a walking tour of Downtown Flushing with Ydanis Rodriguez, commissioner of the DOT, at the beginning of April. As the Chronicle previously reported, she had requested at the time that the busway’s hours be scaled back.

Ung also had pushed for the street to have additional, clearer signage marking the busway and its accompanying traffic patterns. Last week’s installation of those signs along Main Street — northbound at Sanford Avenue and southbound at 37th Avenue — and on Kissena Boulevard at Sanford Avenue northbound marked the official change in hours.

“I want to thank the Department of Transportation for listening to our community, who repeatedly raised concerns about the impact the busway would have if implemented, and agreeing to a compromise to reduce the hours of operation to begin to address the issues they raised,” Ung said in a statement. “This will give businesses some respite after 7 p.m. to welcome customers and arrange for deliveries. The new schedule will also provide tangible information on the impact on local businesses when the busway is in operation and when it is not, which can be used in the future to balance the city’s desire for faster and more reliable bus service while also meeting the needs of the local community. I look forward to an ongoing dialogue between the interested stakeholders and DOT to address any other concerns that might arise.”

Queens Chronicle

Momentum seems to be moving toward adjusted rules for the busway along Jamaica Avenue. In the meantime, businesses in the area continue to suffer.

Last week, the Chronicle obtained a letter on the letterhead of Borough President Donovan Richards calling for an end to a Department of Transportation study on the effect of the lanes on business in the area. In the letter, Richards and other city and state officials, who co-signed at the bottom, made it clear that they support improved bus service, but that the rules regarding the busway on Jamaica Avenue were having “a signficant and damaging effect on the businesses along the corridor,” a sentiment he doubled down on this week.

“Adjusting the Jamaica Avenue busway has been a focus of the Downtown Jamaica Improvement Council, and we’ve heard from numerous area small business owners about the impact the busway has had on their businesses,” he said in a statement to the Chronicle.

“Conversations between area elected officials and other stakeholders are ongoing about how the Jamaica Avenue busway should be altered to best serve the community, allowing for efficient public transit through the corridor at peak hours and ensuring that local businesses have the opportunity to thrive,” he added.

As the rules currently stand, passenger vehicles are allowed on the busway corridor, located between Sutphin Boulevard and 168th Street, only for a block at a time. They are required to take the first right-hand turn off Jamaica Avenue.

Passenger vehicle parking is limited, with many curbside areas that had once been used as a bus lane during peak hours now designated truck loading and unloading zones, active from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day but Sunday. Parking is allowed in those zones during all other hours.

“The vast majority of Jamaica Avenue shoppers take transit to the corridor and the majority of bus riders have noticed faster, more reliable service thanks to our busways,” DOT spokesperson Vin Barone told the Chronicle via email.

“We will continue to work with the business community on possible adjustments,” he added.

Several business owners along Jamaica Avenue expressed their concerns about the busway to the Chronicle last week. While some haven’t noticed a change, most were concerned about the long-term effects on business and the city’s neglect for the interests of small businesses in the area.

Kevin Jiang, owner of Jamaica Liquors between 149th and 150th streets, says he is busiest on Fridays and Saturdays. Before the busways, he typically made between $3,500 and $4,500 on weekends. Now, he says that number is closer to $2,500.

“My landlord, he doesn’t want to hear that I can’t make it because of the lanes,” he said. “So it’s hard to pay the rent right now.”

Greedy developer steals investor funding and exploits government exemptions for luxury towers to build his own luxury houses

NY Post

Their money was meant to help create jobs — instead it appears to have gone towards buying one man three mansions.

So claims the Securities and Exchange Commission in a case filed against Queens developer Richard Xia.

According to documents the government agency filed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York earlier this month, Xia allegedly defrauded a group of investors by using their money not for the development of two Queens real estate projects, but the purchase of three Long Island manors, Crain’s reported. 

Xia used assets from his investors — who were part of the federal EB-5 visa program, which provides investors in job-creating US real estate projects with green cards — as collateral to get over $30 million in loans, which went significantly towards the acquisition of two estates in Great Neck and one in Sands Point. Meanwhile, one of the Queens projects the investors believed they were funding — a 498-room luxury hotel, convention center, retail space and performing arts center called Eastern Emerald — remains undeveloped. 

The tony Long Island properties, on the other hand, are very much constructed and Xia, along with his wife, is currently living in one: a 13,000-square-foot Kings Point Road home boasting seven bedrooms, seven fireplaces and 13 bathrooms spread across 3 acres with views of the Manhattan skyline and Long Island Sound.

In a deposition defending his purchase of the property (which is under his wife’s name), Xia claimed it was a business transaction because he uses it as an office, Crain’s reported.

Queens is burning: Merchant building collapses after early morning fire in Flushing

Man killed by dumpster at Flushing house where illegal renovation was going on

NY Daily News 

No city construction permits had been filed at a Queens home where a 32-year-old man was fatally hit in the head by a dumpster door, city Department of Building officials said Tuesday.

The inside of the home on 191st St. near Northern Blvd. in Flushing was undergoing a “full gut renovation” when the door to a massive dumpster in the driveway popped open, striking a 32-year-old neighbor in the head, according to city records.

First responders found the victim pinned between the dumpster door and the house. He died at the scene.

A truck was dropping off the dumpster when the door popped open, police said. Jiangtao, who lived down the street, was talking to a construction worker at the site when the door hit him.

City building inspectors issued a stop work order, halting all construction, after determining no work permits had ever been filed for the construction.

A truck was dropping off the dumpster when the door popped open, police said. Jiangtao, who lived down the street, was talking to a construction worker at the site when the door hit him.

City building inspectors issued a stop work order, halting all construction, after determining no work permits had ever been filed for the construction.

Community board slams shelter apartment building

 

 Queens Chronicle

A proposal to build 90 temporary apartment-style units for homeless families in Flushing was met with universal opposition Monday night during a remote meeting of Community Board 7.

But Asian Americans for Equality, which wants to build the structure at 39-03 College Point Blvd., told the Chronicle that the plan is far different from so-called “day shelters” and it is not really a shelter at all.

City officials in an email also disputed accusations that the project was approved without community notice in general and notification of CB 7 in particular.

AAFE on its website says the units are for families experiencing short-term hardships, such as those who may have just lost their homes and those who may have been living in illegal apartments.

Jennifer Sun, co-executive director of the agency, said they hope to break ground in the spring and begin operating in 2024.

Not if those in Monday’s virtual meeting have anything to say about it. Board Chairman Gene Kelty was particularly critical of the lame-duck city officials and the Department of Homeless Services.

“The problem is the city says they don’t need our approval,” said Board Chairman Gene Kelty. “They’re just coming in. They’re calling it transitional family housing and not a shelter for men or women ... And how do they do it? In December at the end of the year when everyone is leaving office.”

Kenneth Chu said volunteers collected more than 20,000 petition signatures in opposition to the plan last weekend.

They also are being backed by Tom Grech, president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, who spoke briefly.

“We’re opposed to a shelter in this location,” Grech said. “No responsible person would deny the need for safe shelters for families. This location does not make any sense. Flushing is undergoing a renaissance. We all need to work to find a better use for that property.”

Sun told the Chronicle that the agency has been active for more than 50 years, including two decades in Flushing.

“The city is calling this a shelter, but it’s not a shelter, not like day shelters you see,” she said, adding that services on-site are aimed at getting residents into permanent housing quickly.

Mailbox crackers

Queens Chronicle 

There have been a series of mail thefts in Flushing, confirmed by the United States Postal Service, with at least nine green street relay boxes “compromised.”

“Mailboxes were getting absolutely violated,” one resident said.

“We have received reports in the Flushing area, specially in 11358 ZIP code,” Donna Harris from the Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement division of USPS, told the Chronicle Nov. 5.

Harris was unable to confirm how many boxes have been tampered with, but the resident, Frances Scanlon, said it happened 12 times between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, as told to her by a Flushing Post Office manager.

Scanlon said she religiously checks her mail at her Beech Avenue apartment complex mailbox, between Kissena Boulevard and Bowne Street, every day. She subscribes to the USPS’s electronic delivery digest, which she said is extremely accurate in estimating when mail should arrive in her mailbox.

On Nov. 1, Scanlon was notified that she should expect three or four pieces of mail in her box, and she asked her sister to go down and pick them up. When her sister arrived, the box was empty.

Scanlon followed up with the Flushing Post Office, and was told by a manager that the relay box for her building had been compromised and two bags of mail were stolen, she said.

The manager did not respond to multiple calls for comment by the Chronicle.

In an email shared with the Chronicle, Scanlon was told by a postal employee that two others were hit that day, in addition to nine other instances in the weeks earlier.

The green relay boxes that were compromised between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1 in Downtown Flushing are located at:

• Hollywood Avenue and 156th Street;

• 41st Avenue and Parsons Boulevard;

• 134th Street and Booth Memorial Avenue;

• 147th Street and Beech Avenue;

• 144-80 Sanford Ave.;

• 140-65 Beech Ave.;

• Phlox Place and Cherry Avenue;

• Saull Street and Blossom Avenue; and

• 149th Street and Sanford Avenue.

The mirage broker

NY Daily News 

A prominent Queens businessman and political donor is facing accusations that he and his wife lured hundreds of unwitting Chinese nationals into pouring a quarter-billion dollars into two development projects with the promise that their investments would help secure residency in the United States.

According to a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Yi “Richard” Xia and his wife Julia Yue persuaded more than 450 investors to shell out $229 million to fund the construction of two five-star hotels, one in Flushing and the other in Corona.

The Flushing development, which was dubbed the Eastern Mirage Project and supposed to be finished in 2013, remains incomplete, and according to the SEC complaint, is “an unfinished and empty glass tower.” The other development, the Eastern Emerald Project, is “a largely vacant dirt hole surrounded by a concrete wall.”

Xia’s solicitations for investments spanned from 2010 to 2017, the SEC contends.

According to its complaint, Xia, 52, and Yue, 41, pitched the hotel projects as a way for investors from China to obtain American residency through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ EB-5 program, which allows foreign nationals to qualify if they invest $500,000 or more in a project that creates or preserves jobs.

But, the SEC claims, the investors who made loans to project developers were being deceived.

Instead of their cash going where it was promised, money investors sent to the Mirage project was redirected to the Emerald development, and money intended for the Emerald project was sent to the Mirage job, the complaint claims.

“Defendants represented to investors that their $500,000 capital contributions would be used only for the construction and operation of that specific project. Instead, defendants repeatedly misappropriated money from one project and used it for another,” the complaint states. “Xia also misappropriated investor funds for personal and other improper expenses.”

To that end, the complaint claims that “at least $9.7 million in ill-gotten gains” were funneled into Yue’s personal bank accounts “for no legitimate business purpose.”

Xia also promised investors the projects would be financed through government bonds and bank loans, according to the complaint, which contends those assertions were false.

Xia and his wife did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

 Campaign finance records indicate that over the years Xia has donated generously to political causes, including contributions to Assemblyman Ron Kim, Councilman Peter Koo, state Sen. John Liu and a Democratic political action committee that wheeled thousands of dollars to former Rep. Joe Crowley.

Caption Claire Shulman's Statue