WDEI

Hmm, anyone can apply? I would like to do a heavy metal power hour. Wouldn't it be a sight to see real moshes instead of the ones that are transferring from the subway to the 7 above?

El Queens Center Mariachi

1010 WINS 

 Five people were charged on a 625-count indictment in connection to a gun trafficking operation that sold dozens of ghost guns, assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in Queens, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday.

The suspects charged in the operation allegedly transported 3D-printed ghost guns assembled in Nassau County and serialized firearms purchased in Indiana into Queens, where they were stored and sold, according to the Office of the Attorney General.

An investigation by the OAG’s Organized Crime Task Force in cooperation with Homeland Security Investigations and the NYPD recovered 86 firearms – including 55 ghost guns and 25 assault weapons – along with over 90 high-capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Investigators began tracking Satveer Saini, 20, and his associates, Mateo Castro-Agudelo, 21, Hargeny Fernandez-Gonzalez, 20, Adam Youssef Senhaji-Rivas, 20, and Milanjit Sidhu, 20, in late 2023, according to the OAG.

During the investigation, Saini, Fernandez-Gonzalez, and Senhaji-Rivas allegedly paid over $27,000 to purchase firearms from Indiana, which has less restrictive gun laws than New York.

Early in the investigation, Saini and Castro-Agudelo drove from Indianapolis to Queens with weapons purchased in Indiana when they were stopped for speeding by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Medina County, Ohio. During the stop, police recovered nine unloaded serialized handguns from inside Saini’s rental car.

From this point on, Fernandez-Gonzalez allegedly began paying Sidhu to drive weapons from Indianapolis to Queens.

Fernandez-Gonzalez also allegedly bought 3D-printed ghost guns in Nassau County and brought them to Queens.  Saini, Castro-Agudelo, and Senhaji-Rivas all allegedly sold trafficked firearms, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition during the course of the investigation.

Motorcycle mayhem terrorizes residents at the 34th ave open streets in Jackson Heights

Not much has been written about what a disaster these open streets have turned into and it's easy to see why. Council member Shekar Krishnan held a sham town hall about this and it mostly was about preserving the open streets than stopping the "traffic violence" that goes on there every day and night.

The Department of Transportation Alternatives is holding a survey for these dangerous open streets tonight in the hopes they will get 88 million dollars to turn those 25 blocks into an official fake park.

Hey Queens! Take our survey to help inform the future capital project vision of the 34th Ave Open Street: https://t.co/syQg96QBGu (closes Friday 6/21) and join us for a design workshop:

When: Tomorrow June 18, 5-7PM
Where: 34th Ave between 79th St and 80th St pic.twitter.com/QOqlZIV1lH

— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) June 17, 2024

Queens is burning by the open streets

 

Photo by Shebbie

 Eyewitness News

Several people, including a mom and her baby, were rescued by firefighters after a fire broke out at an apartment building in Queens Friday.

FDNY officials say the fire broke out just after 7 p.m. on the second floor of a four-story apartment building located at 34-09 83rd Street in Jackson Heights.

They say the fire originated in the kitchen area. When firefighters arrived, they encountered the fire coming from an open door leading to the public hallway.

As first responders began searching the building, they found several people trying to escape from the flames.

One of the tenants was located on the fire escape, while another tenant, a woman with a baby, was located on the roof of the building.

Firefighters rescued those tenants and brought them to EMS.

Officials say three civilians suffered minor injuries. It's not clear if those are the same three people rescued by first responders.

No firefighters were injured.

The fire was placed under control just after 8 p.m.

FDNY Deputy Chief Joseph Jardin said an e-bike or lithium-ion battery scooter was discovered near the kitchen, but it's not clear if that was what sparked the fire.

 

Toot toot hey beep beep

Senior citizen dies after an ebike rider hits him

 

Queens Post 

 A 75-year-old Elmhurst man died on Saturday, 10 days after he was struck by an e-bike rider while walking in the vicinity of Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway in Jackson Heights.

Kabrinda Nath Sen succumbed to his injuries at Elmhurst Hospital, a block away from his home on Ithaca Street, according to the NYPD.

Sen was struck in broad daylight in front of the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street subway station at around 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 27, authorities said. 

Police from the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights responded to a 911 call of a pedestrian stuck at the intersection and found the senior with injuries to his head. EMS rushed him to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition. He died on Jan. 6, police said.

Further investigation by the NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad determined that Sen was crossing Roosevelt Avenue at Broadway when a cyclist riding an e-bike westbound on Roosevelt Avenue plowed into him. Sen’s head stuck the pavement, ultimately killing him. 

The cyclist remained at the scene and was not arrested, police said Wednesday.

 

Here comes gentrification

 

 NY Post

There’s a new contender for the hottest borough in town. 

A report released this week by listings portal StreetEasy predicts that this year will see Queens beat out ever-trendy Brooklyn in terms of residential interest. 

“Queens will reign supreme in 2024 after a record-breaking year for the borough in 2023, as both renters and would-be buyers looked farther from Manhattan in search of more affordability,” begins StreetEasy’s “10 NYC Neighborhoods to Watch in 2024”  survey, which lists the New York areas that saw the largest increase in searches on the website from buyers and renters between 2022 to 2023. 

In first place is Ridgewood, a Queens neighborhood adjacent to Bushwick that offers comparatively quiet, residential vibes and a median asking rent of $3,000 — 8% less than Bushwick’s median of $3,250. 

Ridgewood is one of five Queens neighborhoods to rank in StreetEasy’s top 10, with others including Jackson Heights — which is famed for its wonderfully diverse food offerings, from Indian to Tibetan — Kew Gardens and Woodside. Ridgewood saw buyer and renter searches rise by 10.7% from 2022 to 2023, showing its surging popularity among locals looking for a home. What helps in that end is the neighborhood’s collection of restaurants and bars, as well as vintage stores and art galleries.

Bad Girls 2023

Bad Principal

 

THE CITY 

Back-to-school anxieties are mounting at P.S. 398 in Queens in an ongoing standoff between its faculty and principal, at a school named after a revered local labor leader.

The school’s United Federation of Teachers chapter filed a grievance complaint in January alleging anti-union actions by the principal of the Héctor Figueroa School, where teachers have complained about what they call a “hostile” and unhealthy environment they say affects students.

Several teachers quit after they were advised by school principal Erica Ureña-Thus to transfer schools, they said. Another teacher was dismissed over the summer. 

In 20 letters sent to schools chancellor David Banks in June, staffers called out what they described as a “downward trend of disorganization and lack of communication that brings along with it disrespectful comments.”

The main complaint: They say Ureña-Thus second-guessed and micromanaged their work while making erratic decisions, making it difficult for them to serve their multicultural students.

In their letters to Banks, two staff described witnessing Ureña-Thus personally calling the state’s child welfare hotline with what they described as a “fabricated” story involving a student. They alleged she did so to prove that a social worker at the school was incompetent after the social worker had called in a report that the state concluded didn’t warrant opening a case.

Another staff member wrote Banks to say that Ureña-Thus had announced through the school’s public address system that “We have a doggie in the hallway” because a young student had innocently used a urinal for his bowel movement. 

A third said Ureña-Thus asked students performing in a concert to not recite remarks they had prepared in Bengali — a language spoken by many in Jackson Heights — leaving some students and their parents feeling ostracized.

Ureña-Thus and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the principal’s union, did not respond to THE CITY’s questions. 

One of those hostile environments was the infamous 34th Ave. Open Streets...

 She also insisted on having kids play on the 34th Avenue Open Street, he added, over his objection that kids were injuring themselves on the rough road surface.

“You give her an inch and she takes a yard,” Thai said, adding: “She put the students at risk — their safety at risk — for her own aims.”

This is why you don't hire lobbyists to plan cities Jim. 

Firefighters have to push planters to get to an emergency on the open streets

Every second counts.
Footage from 34th Avenue Open Street ("Paseo Park").#SafetyLast on #34AveOpenStreets #OpenStreets@infopobn @ImpunityCity @VoicesofJH @berrystalliance pic.twitter.com/XGuRB79Tni

— serpenttoes 🐍 (@serpenttoes) May 3, 2023

 

 

These open streets are not only putting residents in danger, but firefighters are going to injure themselves moving those fucking things.

 

 This post is dedicated to Voices of Jackson Heights who recently had her twitter account suspended. She has been reporting about these hazardous open streets since it started which is now subjected to a current lawsuit to end them. And also dedicated to the Department Of Transportation Alternatives, Shekar Krishnan and the simping agency captured elected officials who continue to support this 85 million dollar boondoggle.

Breaking News@VoicesofJH, the most consistent voice against the notorious 34th ave open streets is now silenced on @Twitter. This comes after she posted a video of @NYC_DOT contractors working OT and wouldn't say who they were

This is happening while they are being sued pic.twitter.com/ctIq0DuVPU

— JQ LLC (@ImpunityCity) May 3, 2023

NYC Housing Department opens up lottery for luxury public housing condos

NY YIMBY

The affordable housing lottery has launched for The Jackson, a five-story mixed-use building at 35-64 85th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens. Designed by Angelo Ng + Anthony Ng Architects Studio and developed by Kelly’s Properties, the structure yields 40 residences. Available on NYC Housing Connect are 12 units for residents at 130 percent of the area median income (AMI), ranging in eligible income from $74,435 to $187,330.

 At 130 percent of the AMI, there are two studios with a monthly rent of $2,171 for incomes ranging from $74,435 to $138,840; five one-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $2,327 for incomes ranging from $79,783 to $156,130; and five two-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $2,791 for incomes ranging from $95,692 to $187,330.

Usually it's proper journalistic procedure to show the header photo from the source article but the photo here I feel sums this up better. Because this aesthetically looks like a basement apartment.

Open street blocks fire engine from fire

Agency captured open streets pusher council member is a car junkie

 

Nice Honda Shekar, guess you still got a jones for getting around the city faster in a 2 ton metal living room death machine. Punk. 

Blazing restaurant shanty delays transit service on the 7 line

Outside Dining Structure Engulfed in Flames @CitizenApp

84-19 Roosevelt Ave 2:20:01 AM EDT

34th Avenue Open street lies dangerously come to life

We are PLEADING for your help! Residents of 34th Ave & First Responders are in danger. A fire truck can’t navigate through the cement bricks & planters! @GovKathyHochul @communityboard3 @votejgr @jessicaramos @voteshekar @NYCMayor @RPachecoJH @DOEChancellor pic.twitter.com/yj1R2nxvc8

— Gloria (@Gloria69NY) September 17, 2022

 

 

Once again from Jim Burke's letter to Donovan Richards about his scurrilous accusatory lies about homophobia directed towards him and his group. This may have been the biggest and most dangerous lie of all. Time to remove that crappy version of stonehenge on the road and abolish these open streets now.

Open Street organizer and creator falsely maligns community group run by a gay man as homophobes

 Jackson Heights Post

 A heated dispute has erupted between opposing sides of the 34^th Avenue Open Street program in Jackson Heights — with the initiative’s co-founder saying he was the victim of homophobic slurs leveled at him by members of an opposition group.

Jim Burke, a well-known LGBT activist (and volunteer capo for Transportation Alternatives-JQ LLC) and co-founder of the 34^th Avenue Open Streets Coalition, says a dispute surrounding the use of 34th Avenue led to him being verbally abused.

The 34th Avenue Open Street Coalition have been staunch advocates for the corridor to be made a permanent open street, while a rival group, the Jackson Heights Coop Alliance, opposes the concept, arguing that is unfair to drivers who need to park their cars and that it makes it tough for emergency vehicles to traverse.

Burke, in an interview with the Queens Post Tuesday, said he was called a “c**k-sucking f****t,” by an SUV driver who he believes is a member of the Jackson Heights Coop Alliance. However, Burke said that he wasn’t 100 percent sure that the driver is a member of the Alliance since he doesn’t know all the people that are part of the group.

Ricardo Pacheco, the leader of the Jackson Heights Coops Alliance, was critical of Burke for making the accusations and is demanding Burke provide further evidence. He said the accusations are slanderous and are just a means to undermine his group.

Pacheco also criticized local leaders, such as Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, who held a press conference Monday accusing the alliance of bigotry. He said Krishnan did not investigate the allegations and his actions were malicious.

Burke also said there have been various instances where passers-by on the street have uttered racist epithets at volunteers. He said that his partner Oscar Escobar, whose first language is Spanish and speaks English with an accent, was asked by two opponents to show his “papers.”

Burke, however, said he doesn’t know for sure if the racist comments were made by members of the Jackson Heights Coop Alliance, although he assumes so.

Burke said he has been targeted because of his role with the 34th Avenue Open Street program. His group advocates for making the 34th Avenue Open Street program – which runs 26 blocks from Junction Boulevard to 69th Street along 34th Avenue – a permanent fixture in the neighborhood.

The strip — which is currently closed off to traffic from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays through Sundays under the program — is being converted into a series of pedestrian plazas and traffic-restricted zones, in accordance with a plan released by the Department of Transportation in October.

Advocates for the open streets plan, known as Paseo Park, argue that the open streets initiative has been a huge success since it creates much-needed public space in the neighborhood.

Opponents of the plan, however, say the plan eliminates much-needed parking and makes it harder for emergency vehicles to access local residents.

Burke wrote that the e-mail led to unnecessary strife in the neighborhood by directing hate toward the volunteers of the 34th Avenue Open Streets Coalition.

“Purported members of this group have used homophobic, xenophobic, and racist slurs against our volunteers and program participants, sometimes in the presence of children and community members,” Burke wrote. The letter did not go into specifics about the alleged hate-filled incidents.

He called on Richards to investigate the Board’s leadership for sending out the email.

On Monday, the LGBT Network, a group advocating for LGBT people in Queens and Long Island, held a press conference along the 34^th Avenue Open Street to bring attention to the alleged incidents against members of the Coalition and called for an end to hate in the neighborhood.

Burke attended the press conference and was joined by Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, former Councilmember Danny Dromm, and David Kilmnick, president and founder of the New York LGBT Network.

Krishnan stood with Burke and the activists to condemn the alleged bigotry.

“I am appalled at the homophobic harassment that 34th Avenue volunteers like Jim Burke and many others have had to experience by members of the so-called Jackson Heights Coops Alliance,” Krishnan said.

“No matter how their members may feel about 34th Avenue, there is no excuse to engage in hate. Jackson Heights Coops Alliance must condemn its members’ actions now.”

  The press conference sparked an almost immediate response from the Jackson Heights Coop Alliance, which released a statement late Monday condemning the media event.

“The malicious accusation directed at us by Councilmember Shekar Krishnan and the 34th Avenue volunteer Jim Burke without concrete evidence is disturbing, if not pure slander,” the statement, written by Pacheco reads.

“We demand any evidence that supports this claim.”

Furthermore, Pacheco, who is an LGBT activist, alleges that his group was not contacted about Burke’s claims before the press conference was held.

On Tuesday, Pacheco wrote an open letter to Krishnan, labeling the councilmember’s actions as “malicious and libelous.”

“Without a shred of evidence, nor even a preliminary investigation, you proceeded to make malicious, baseless, unfounded, unverified and hateful allegations against the Jackson Heights Coops Alliance,” the letter reads.

“This was nothing less than a precalculated attempt to embarrass, discredit and defame our name as a community organization and attempted to portray me as being a homophobic bigot.”

“As the president and a gay man myself who has a long history and proven track record of advocating for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ community, I would never tolerate such bigotry from our alliance or from anyone else.”

Pacheco also called on Krishnan to make a public apology for his actions.

Krishnan responded to Pacheco’s open letter on Wednesday with a brief statement to the Queens Post.

“We take every instance of hate speech brought to us very seriously,” Krishnan said.

“It’s shocking that when a victim comes forward, the response by some is to discredit and vilify rather than condemn the harassment.”

 Wow, Jimmy is the Jussie Smollett of open streets. For someone who claims that his open street brings people together its hysterical how he never bothered to communicate with his neighbors from the co-op alliance. But it's clear that he chose to feud with them instead and weaponized his connections with elected officials to close 25 blocks from residents, delivery people, and city emergency and sanitation services who need to drive on them. And he didn't even bother to find out the alliance leader was a gay man like him and tried to weaponize bigotry to his and his political allies advantage. 

All for a stupid fake park and anti-car agenda. 

Jackson Heights fire damaged apartment building was captured by the Bloods

THE CITY

Members of the Bloods gang took over a Brooklyn-based fire clean-up company, using violence and extortion to profit off damaged buildings and inferno victims, federal prosecutors allege.

Their targets included a Queens apartment building where a 2021 blaze displaced nearly 500 people in Jackson Heights. Dozens of former tenants at that address have asserted their belongings were burglarized, as reported by THE CITY in March. 

In an indictment late last month, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York alleged gang members first gained control of First Response Cleaning Corp. in 2019, and then used the company — which secures and cleans up buildings after blazes — to extort competitors and muscle the industry with violence and threats.

The fire company has worked on buildings across New York City.

Tenants there told THE CITY that residents had been barred from entering the building but later found jewelry, money and other valuables missing from their apartments when they were allowed a virtual tour via video conference. 

The owners of the Jackson Heights building, Kedex Properties, hired First Response with a $24 million contract to clean up the building, the Queens Chronicle reported last year.

Kedex did not respond to calls for comment.

While the feds in their indictment called the alleged racket a “criminal enterprise,” none of the charges include burglary or theft of items from buildings.

Andrew Sokolof Diaz, is a resident of Jackson Heights building and president of the 89th Street Tenants Unidos Association, said that First Response presented themselves as both a security company and a fire restoration company, and prevented tenants from entering their homes.

“It was just a bad vibe,” he said. “It seemed like something was going on — from the behavior with some of the tenants from just the first night. They were very harsh and menacing with us.”

 

AOC's optical illusion open street campaign rally

If you ever feel discouraged or question if organizing is worth it, just take a look outside. Peoples’ movements and successes rarely make the mainstream, but the ground we’re gaining is powerful.

Thank you NY for an incredible day. Let’s get that ballot!
📸IG: christopherhall__ pic.twitter.com/3yGQ42QGKi

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 27, 2022

AOC's perception of a movement...and the reality of one she tried to hide

 

Jackson Heights residents still displaced by massive apartment building fire got disenfranchised of their personal belongings

 

THE CITY 

Dozens of tenants displaced by a massive fire in a Queens building nearly a year ago say their apartments were burglarized, but police refuse to allow them to report their belongings stolen, according to the building’s tenant association.

At least 50 apartments have been burglarized since an electrical fire erupted in the six-floor building on 34th Avenue and 89th Street in Jackson Heights last spring, according to Andrew Sokolof Diaz, the tenant association president.

“The police will not allow us to file stolen property reports,” Sokolof Diaz told THE CITY.

The April 6, 2021 fire torched upper-level apartments, injured 21 people and displaced more than 140 households — about 500 New Yorkers. While top floor apartments were destroyed by fire, others below were ruined by the water used to fight the blaze.

In September, THE CITY reported that dozens of tenants of the 133-unit building sued the owner and various agencies in Housing Court, demanding that repairs be done in a timely manner so that families could retrieve their belongings and return home.

A judge has since issued the owner, Kedex Properties LLC, a series of deadlines to finish repairs, ultimately ruling on Nov. 23: “All work must be completed and ready for occupancy” by January 2023.

By November, many tenants from one wing of the building had yet to gain access to their apartments and were only able to glimpse inside for the first time since the fire through photos that appeared in mold and damage reports in court records. Several dozen residents from the other wing had received permission to enter their units and retrieve personal items months earlier.

Since January, tenants from the still-restricted wing have been able to view their apartments via directed video calls with building contractors inside.

In those calls, tenants noticed certain valuables were not in their spots. That fueled fears of residents who said they had for months alerted police to suspicious behavior in and around the building — specifically by security guards and contractors with access.

“Things have clearly been rummaged and ransacked,” said Sokolof Diaz, noting photos and videos show their apartments left in disarray, with mattresses flipped, closets and drawers opened, momentos strewn about and safes forcibly broken into.

When asked why tenants were unable to file police reports, an NYPD spokesperson did not offer an explanation but noted “complaint reports are recorded based on a preliminary investigation and information provided by the complainant.”

“A complaint report can be made by calling 911, approaching an officer or requesting a police report at a police facility,” said the spokesperson, Lt. Jessica McRorie.

She also said police reports for crimes and incidents can be made online.

THE CITY spoke with 10 tenants who said they believed their belongings were stolen when they finally saw inside their apartments through photos and videos.

“What little we were supposed to recover is gone,” said Neyilia Rodríguez, 56, who lived in a second-floor unit with her husband, daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren.

A photo in court records showed her son-in-law’s electric bike in their apartment. But when Rodríguez had a video call with a contractor, the bike was gone, she said, along with money, a phone, jewelry and her daughter’s permanent makeup equipment.

AOC lets Dr. Chok take over a town hall

 

 Queens Chronicle

A virtual town hall on Wednesday, organized by the office of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx, Queens), was missing the U.S. representative herself.

Ocasio-Cortez brought on city Commissioner of Health Dr. Dave Chokshi to talk about Covid with her constituents, but was unable to make an appearance after what her office called an “unavoidable conflict” came up at the last moment. In her absence, Chokshi held down the floor, reiterating the importance of getting vaccinated and boosted in the face of the Omicron wave, and taking questions from constituents.

“We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to see our constituents at next month’s town hall,” said an Ocasio-Cortez spokesperson. 

Chokshi began his presentation by updating constituents about the progress the city has made fighting back the Omicron variant. As of this week, the seven-day case average per day has dropped below 8,000 — about a fifth of the 43,000-case-per-day peak earlier in January.

“We have climbed down from the worst of the Omicron peak, but we know we have more work to do,” he said.

Similarly the city has seen a decrease in Covid hospitalizations from a total of about 6,500 patients hospitalized citywide on Jan. 11 to under 4,700, according to the most recent state data. 

The guidance for preventing more cases has stayed generally the same in recent months: Get vaccinated and get boosted, wear a mask in public, but particularly a high-quality one like a KN95, KF94 or N95, and continue to get tested and stay home if you’re positive or feeling sick.

Chokshi acknowledged that breakthrough cases for the vaccinated have increased under Omicron, but said that inoculation still has been shown in those cases to be an important form of protection from severe disease and hospitalization.

When he began taking questions from the audience, one constituent asked about the risk of blood clots from the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Chokshi recognized that there is a “small risk” of blood clotting, “most most significant for younger women” but said overall the vaccine’s protection exceeds the risks.

“The most important thing to know is that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any small risks,” he said.

Whatever it was that was so important to abdicate her responsibility as a representative of the people to this gaslighting weasel, she could have easily rescheduled this for another day. Especially since this was on zoom. 

Apparently, Dr. Chok is more powerful than we thought.