The nursing home with the most deaths from COVID-19 is in Glen Oaks

 

Patch

When Mary Ann Sudlow showed up at Long Island Jewish Medical Center one day in late April, she was dehydrated and her kidneys were failing. She had tested positive for the new coronavirus earlier that day at the rehabilitation center next door, where she was recovering from a hip replacement.

Six weeks before she ended up in a hospital ICU, the 85-year-old was seemingly healthy and living on her own. Then it became painful to walk. She landed in the operating room for surgery to replace her hip, then, on March 30, she moved to the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation to recover.

What Sudlow's family didn't know was that, four days prior, Parker had reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Sudlow tested positive for the virus just under a month after arriving at Parker.

She was immediately transferred to Long Island Jewish, which is next to Parker but run independently. There, ICU doctors told her family it was only a matter of time. She died three days later.

Interviews with the families of four current or recent Parker residents, including Sudlow, paint a picture of a facility under siege amid the coronavirus pandemic, with too few protective measures, not enough health care workers and little-to-no communication about what's going on inside — claims the facility disputes.

To Sudlow's son, Michael, what happened can be summed up by a text message he got one day from his brother: "The nursing home is who killed mom."

Creedmoor of concern to local citizens

From CBS 2:

A Queens community says it has grown impatient with some patients at a famed mental health facility near their neighborhood.

They say incident involving patients range from scary to downright gross.

Matt Kruger told CBS2’s Jessica Borg the scenes he captured in a cellphone video are the reason he’s moving out of Glen Oaks.

“No one wants to see someone’s pants down to their ankles, in broad daylight, then going to the bathroom in the middle of the street,” he said.

He showed Borg the video – too graphic for TV – that showed a man doing just that right around the corner from his home.

“It’s inappropriate,” he said. “There’s kids, there’s families.”

Aggressive panhandling is also a growing concern for neighbors of a shopping plaza on Union Turnpike.

Abandoned corner house becomes a problem

Even the "nice" areas have problems with abandoned/vacant houses - this is on the corner of Union Turnpike and Commonwealth Blvd.

If you drive past it now, the front door is bent down and the front door is wide open. Since it's right next to both Creedmoor and the school complex on former Creedmoor land, I wonder if any kids hang out inside; or if squatters are living there. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

BTW, found a complaint made about it on 7/15/2015.

07/15/2015 - I AM CALLING BECAUSE THERE IS A VACANT BUILDING THAT HAS BROKEN WINDOWS AND IS NOT GUARDED.
07/16/2015 - I2 - NO VIOLATION WARRANTED FOR COMPLAINT AT TIME OF INSPECTION
Comments: 2- STORY FRAME BUILDING. SECURED. 5-0 CHAIN LINK FENCE INSTALLED.

One woman may be cause for Glen Oaks burglary spike

From CBS 2:

Police have connected 16 burglaries, all following the same pattern in the 105 Precinct, since January. With the help of surveillance photos they have an idea of who they are looking for.

Police say the woman targets homes, typically enters through a window, or unlocked back door, and grabs cash and small valuable items like jewelry.

Neighbors believe there may be a common tie.

“As per Indian culture people keep a lot of gold in their house in case of an emergency,” Eldo Varkey said, “The crooks know that they have money and gold in their house.”

Cops can’t confirm that the thefts were racially motivated, but they do know that the suspect has been driving around in a van.

Hoarding can be deadly

From the Queens Courier:

Firefighters found a 58-year-old man dead in the basement of a Glen Oaks home following a two-alarm fire Thursday morning, according to police.

More than 100 firefighters and the 105th Precinct responded to the blaze that broke out at 6:29 a.m. at the home on 265th Street near 79th Avenue.

According to the FDNY, efforts to extinguish the flames were complicated after firefighters encountered “Collyers’ mansion” conditions — piles of debris throughout the home.

West Nile spraying this week

From NBC:

To reduce mosquito populations and the risk of West Nile virus, the New York City Health Department plans to spray pesticide from trucks on Tuesday and Wednesday in parts of Queens.

The spraying is scheduled between 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday, weather permitting. In case of bad weather, application will begin Wednesday.

No human cases of West Nile virus have been reported this season.

The neighborhoods to be sprayed include parts of Auburndale, Corona, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Kew Gardens Hills, Murray Hill, Pomonok, Queensboro Hill, Utopia, Bellaire, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Floral Park Center, Glen Oaks, Hollis Hill, Little Neck, and Oakland Gardens.

Today's sprayings

Rash of wheel thefts in Glen Oaks

From NBC:

It's a sight residents in a Queens community are waking up to frequently: cars on cinder blocks and crates, with all four wheels missing.

"It's insulting. You know, they come, they damage your property and then they drop the car on the pavement so there was more damage beside the wheels," said Allon Theilen, who paid $3,800 to replace his wheels when his were stolen a few weeks ago in Glen Oaks.

Glen Oaks Village President Bob Friedrich said, "They literally can get all four tires off in less than five minutes, and then they're gone,"

Friedrich met with police Wednesday and says there is a plan to stop the thieves.

"I've been working closely with the 105th Precinct. They have beefed up patrols here, a lot of unmarked patrols, and they're taking some other measures that I'm not at liberty to disclose right now to try to combat this," he said.

Residents in the Glen Oaks Village coop development pointed to nearly a dozen incidents they know about, and they suspect there have been more in the surrounding area in the last few months.

Glen Oaks Village replaces windows during Polar Vortex

"It's freezing cold out there today and Dun-Rite workers are installing windows on 76th Avenue and 246th Street in Bellerose, starting at 8am when the temp was 7 degrees. Most residents were in their pajamas or night dress when installers came knocking on their doors. Some could not even have a breakfast. The workers today are different from yesterday. Asked one worker and he clearly stated anyone who wants a job can come to work despite the weather. These are recruited by a temporary employment agency in Brooklyn and no handyman experience is required. Also asked the workers if they are cold and their reply is, "yes but we need the bread." No one from the usual crew showed up for work including Wallace and George who oversee everyone." - Glen Oaks Family on Facebook

Brand new library in Glen Oaks

From the Daily News:

The gleaming, airy, $17.1 million Glen Oaks branch officially opened Tuesday, wowing local residents with a design so modern that it even features the word “Search” etched into the front glass — a subtle reference to the internet generation.

“This is not your grandfather’s library,” said David Burney, commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction.

Kids get their own floor in the three-level library, which also offers space for adults and teens. Plush pillows provide seating among rows of books and computers.

And light fills every floor of the building, thanks to large windows and skylights (who needs Google Glass?).

The 18,000-square-foot building replaces an often-overcrowded, traditional branch built more than 50 years ago — when libraries were mainly concerned with printed books.

Queens Library CEO Tom Galante said the configuration of the library, which includes an adult section on the lower level, children’s section on the top level and teens on the main floor, was meticulously planned.

Were co-ops left out in the cold by FEMA?

From the Times Ledger:

Co-op owners in northeast Queens said they felt discriminated against when it came to seeking federal aid in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

In Glen Oaks Village, more than half of the 134 buildings suffered roof damage to rack up a bill of about $25,000, according to co-op President Bob Friedrich. But after approaching the Federal Emergency Management Agency for grant money, Friedrich said a misinterpretation of fine print left his neighborhood ineligible for aid.

He said FEMA classified Glen Oaks Village as a business association, which qualifies for loans but not federal grant money, and in turn discriminates against the 3,000 families who inhabit the neighborhood.

“This is really an issue of fairness and equity,” Friedrich said. “Our residents are paying for FEMA like everybody else. Yet we are not eligible for the aid.”

Elected officials who represent the region stood beside northeast Queens co-op and condo owners at a Tuesday press conference at Glen Oaks Village to demand revisions on how FEMA classifies homeowners.

According to FEMA spokesman Ed Conley, the agency doles out grant money to individual residents living in co-ops depending mostly on agreements between homeowners and the community associations that oversee them.

“In any county with a major disaster declaration, individual homeowners or renters with damages to their individual units from Superstorm Sandy are eligible to apply for FEMA assistance, and we urge them to do so,” he said. “This includes residents living in co-ops. However, FEMA’s Individual Assistance program is authorized to grant assistance funds only to individuals or households, not business associations such as co-op boards.”

In addition, Conley said grant money only goes toward emergency repairs to make homes livable, which does not include roof shingle damage similar to that reported in Glen Oaks.

“We are looking at what we need to do to get you in a livable housing situation,” Conley said. “Getting people into a livable space would mean repairs to the kitchen, a bathroom or a bedroom — not to replace everything that was lost or destroyed.”

Meanwhile, any property owned by the co-op association, such as a roof classified as common property, must go through to the United States Small Business Association to receive repair loans, according to SBA Public Affairs Specialist Michael Peacock.

Queens Library must have found money

From The Real Deal:

Sometime in the spring, a glamorous new branch library will open in the unlikeliest of places, at 255-01 Union Turnpike in Glen Oaks, Queens. Designed by Scott Marble and Karen Fairbanks, who founded Marble Fairbanks in 1990, this blast of neo-mod zazz will rise in the midst of what is akin to a strip mall. Replacing an older brick-faced structure on the same site, the new library will be an 18,000-square-foot, LEED certified space on three levels — one of them below grade — that will contain a circulating library, a cyber center and communal meeting spaces.

Weren't we threatening to close Queens Library branches recently due to lack of funding? Why is a glamorous new hoidy-toidy branch being built in Glen Oaks?

MTA bringing back Q79

From the Daily News:

Days after the MTA announced plans to expand service in Brooklyn and the Bronx, eastern Queens got some good news of its own on Thursday.

Agency officials said it will partially restore service along the former Q79 bus route by re-routing every other Q36 bus to run along the old Q79 route from Little Neck to Floral Park.

City Councilman Mark Weprin said the restoration is a partial but vital victory in a long-fought battle since the Q79 got the axe in 2010.

But western Queens leaders charge the MTA has once again snubbed their neck of the woods.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris sent a letter to MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota this week requesting that two major transit options in his district be reinstated.

Gianaris called for the restoration of the W train and the QM22 bus, also cut in 2010 because of budget shortfalls.

Squirrels gone wild in Glen Oaks

From Fox 5:

Aggressive squirrels seem to be taking over Glen Oaks Village in Queens, even taking up residence under the hood of Natasha Conklin's car.

This neighborhood does not have any alternate side of the street parking regulations, so residents can leave their cars parked in the same spot for days at a time. That makes it a perfect nesting spot for the creative critters.

One pesky squirrel even slipped through someone's window and ate a cookie.

Maintenance crews in Glen Oaks Village have been using humane squirrel traps to capture the squirrels, but they say they've only caught 30 and they need help from the Department of Health.

The Department of Health said it does not have a squirrel removal policy and the Glen Oaks Village development will have to contact a wildlife trapper for assistance.

No more gerrymandering during redistricting

Redistricting 1-12-12 Rally Flyer
From the Queens Chronicle:

Thirteen civic organizations in northeastern Queens believe there’s strength in numbers and have come together to ensure they stay as one during upcoming state legislative and federal congressional redistricting.

Organized by Bob Friedrich, president of the Glen Oaks Village co-op, Eastern Queens United is composed of groups from Glen Oaks, Floral Park, New Hyde Park, Bellerose and Queens Village.

“We need district lines that will unite us, not divide us,” Friedrich said. “We represent communities that have a common interest and we want the lines to be drawn that are in the best interest of the community, not the politicians.”

EQU is planning rallies and discussions to prevent the state Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR) from continuing to gerrymander the area. That term refers to dividing an area into voting districts to give unfair advantage to one party or group.

One of the EQU demands is that Assembly Districts 24, 26 and 33 be reconfigured and joined into one AD. Members also want the 5th and 6th Congressional Districts to be merged. In all cases, Friedrich noted, district lines would also have to be changed so that they wouldn’t be too big.

Assembly District 24 is represented by Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside), while District 26 is by David Weprin (D-Little Neck) and District 33 is by Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village). “We are not endorsing anyone,” Friedrich said. “We just don’t want to be divided.”

MTA rejects bus request

From the Daily News:

Eastern Queens community leaders say Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials "didn't do their homework" before rejecting a plan that would restore service along a defunct bus route.

Civic leaders and elected officials met with the MTA last week to review a grass-roots proposal to fill the void left when the Q79 bus line was axed last year.

But agency officials quickly dismissed the proposal to extend the Q36 route that terminates on Jamaica Ave. near the Queens-Nassau County border. The Q36N would run north along Little Neck Parkway and eventually connect with the Q30 line.

"They showed absolutely no interest in it," said Bob Friedrich, president of Glen Oaks Village.

The agency pegged the additional cost at $400,000 per year, but failed to calculate how much additional revenue the route could bring in, Friedrich said.

"They didn't do their homework. They didn't do a proper analysis," he said.

MTA officials said yesterday that the revenue would not cover the additional expense.

"Reinstating service would have to be cost-neutral, and the proposal made by the coalition for an extension to the Q36 does not meet that criterion," said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz.

Push to bring back Q79 bus

From the Daily News:

A group of eastern Queens community leaders are hoping a little creative rerouting can restore some bus service along a defunct MTA route.

The Queens Civic Congress is pitching a proposal to alter bus routes adjacent to the former Q79 line to revive at least some public transit options to the area.

Since the Q79 bus line was axed last summer, attempted alternatives in the area have flopped. The Taxi and Limousine Commission launched a pilot program that used commuter vans along Little Neck Parkway but the operator quickly pulled out, citing low ridership.

At a city Department of Transportation meeting last month, City Councilman Jimmy Vacca (D-East Bronx) promised the frustrated civic group that he would review a proposal to alter other routes in the area to fill in service gaps. If the plan is feasible, Vacca said he'd press the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to implement it.

Walking in Northeastern Queens

More community board defections

From the Times Ledger:

Glen Oaks Village is contemplating leaving Community Board 13 and joining CB 11, claiming the co-op has more in common with CB 11 than CB 13, according to Glen Oaks Village President Bob Friedrich.

“We’re considering whether to do that this year or not because we have a lot more in common with CB 11,” Friedrich said, referring to the co-ops that are a part of the northeast Queens community board.

Bryan Block, chairman of CB 13, declined to comment.

Friedrich said Glen Oaks Village has not yet decided to pursue the action, but said if it did it would ask for the community board boundary to be changed to along Union Turnpike instead of the Grand Central Parkway.

CB 13 covers one of the largest territories in Queens, starting from Glen Oaks in the north down along the Queens-Nassau border to Rosedale in southeast Queens.

CB 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece said he had no formal discussions with Friedrich about the move.

Iannece noted that North Shore Towers in Floral Park may also decide to switch from CB 13 to CB 11 and that Bay Terrace has already renounced its membership with CB 7.

If at first you don't succeed...

From the Daily News:

For the pilot program that replaced axed MTA buses with commuter vans the logic is: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission's deadline is today for applications to place a new operator on the former Q79 bus line.

The notice, posted on the TLC website, is a second attempt at the Group Ride Vehicle Program that puts commuter vans on defunct bus line routes in Queens.

A new van company was needed along the Q79 after the van owner, Vivian Barnes of Alpha Van Lines, terminated service nine months early.

Barnes made the final trip from the Little Neck LIRR station on Dec. 17, citing dismal ridership and daily revenue loses.

The other pilot route, the Q74, was not tapped for a second try.

"We leave it up to the marketplace to see what works and what doesn't," said TLC Commissioner David Yassky.

Yassky said that he heard from "community folks" in the Q79 service area, giving hope that a second attempt might yield different results.

"We had some reason to think there might be interest," he said.

Civic group officials in the area said despite its shortcomings, the pilot program is vital due to limited public transportation options.