A massive fire ripped through Queens Saturday afternoon, injuring 14
people — including 11 firefighters — and damaging multiple buildings,
leaving dozens of residents displaced, officials said.
The blaze began just after 4 p.m., at a two-story residence at 88-21
Francis Lewis Boulevard in Queens Village, before quickly soaring to
five alarms and spreading to seven buildings, according to FDNY
officials.
Over 200 firefighters, EMTs and paramedics responded to the fire,
which was brought under control in about two hours, officials said.
This was a very fierce fire, and it spread to seven buildings and into
the rear and garage area,” FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer
said.
The majority suffered heat-related injuries and were taken to local area hospitals to be treated.
Dozens of people were estimated to have been displaced, said Frederic
Klein, a spokesman with the Red Cross, which was on the scene aiding
victims.
The organization said it had registered seven households — consisting
of 22 adults and 10 children — for emergency assistance, including
temporary lodging and financial assistance.
In an alley behind Francis Lewis Boulevard where residents parked their
cars, at least three vehicles had been charred to a crisp.
Lovely site along the Cross Island service road here in Queens Village for all the people to see while going to the UBS arena. Junked cars, excessive litter, illegal dumping, and people camping out in an RV. Really makes Queens Village look like a welcoming community.
For decades there have been dead trees and an overgrowth of grass and
weeds that has caused cracks in the medians that stretch from
Springfield Boulevard on Hillside Avenue to 231st Street and Hillside
Avenue next to Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village, according
to Kirby Lindell of Bell Park Manor Terrace, a housing cooperative for
veterans within the neighborhood.
“It looks like a jungle now,”
said Lindell. “Nothing gets done. The trees have been there for years,
and they put up a couple of live ones and left the dead ones there. It
looks like ‘The Addams Family.’ It is right in front of the high school
and is not a good optic.”
Lindell fears that the dead trees and
the cracks in the curb from the weeds are not only a possible safety
hazard, but they could affect the property values of the area and might
dissuade parents from sending their kids to Martin Van Buren High
School, which has started to turn things around after facing possible
closure in 2012.
“This
is an ongoing thing year after year and they never clean up the weeds,”
said Lindell. “If you are ever around that area, some of the weeds are 4
feet or taller — all over the median it looks like a rainforest. It
makes the whole neighborhood look rundown and the city just ignores us.
Other parts of the city, like Brooklyn, Manhattan and Western Queens,
are taken care of, but it feels like we are forgotten over here.”
If nothing gets done now, Lindell fears it will take even more years to get rid of the unsightly weeds and dead trees.
“It
took 10 years to get Braddock Avenue repaved,” said Lindell. “This is a
very good middle class neighborhood, with a strong school system, but
the city has left us ... maybe because it is Southeast Queens, I don’t
know why they don’t help us.”
Lindell has reached out to 311 and
Councilman Barry Grodenchik’s (D-Oakland Gardens) office, but fears that
the elected official, who will not be running for re-election after a
sexual harassment scandal in 2019, will spend the remainder of his four
months in office as a lame duck.
Bishop Lawrence Provenzano of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island has a track record of closing Black churches while favoring the restoration of non-Black churches. Parishioners of historic and architecturally significant St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church (built 1894) located at 99-10 217th Lane Queens Village have sounded the alarm on his latest attempt to close their church. Enough is enough!
At a press conference in front of the church on June 7th, I was joined by concerned members of the community and preservationists, including Bishop Melvin Artis, pastor of 4 local churches, urban planner and historian Paul Graziano, Richard Hellenbrecht, Vice President of Queens Civic Congress and First Vice Chair of Community Board 13 and Maureen Grey, church historian and former member of the St. Joseph's congregation.
The Episcopal Diocese is trying to close St. Joseph’s using inconsistent arguments, saying that DOB violations are making it cheaper to demolish and build a new ‘financially viable’ building. However, violations have been cleared up and outstanding penalties amount to $1,000.
The complex, dating back to 1894, is in relatively good repair and has many historic details. The architectural pedigree of the church complex is incomparable, having been designed by some of the premier architects of the late 19th and early 20th centuries:
Parfitt Brothers – Considered the top architectural firm in Brooklyn in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hundreds of Parfitt designed buildings in Brooklyn Heights, Crown Heights North and Park Slope have been landmarked. Their firm designed the church. It is the only confirmed commission in Queens County by this firm and must be preserved. Tuthill and Higgins – A renowned architectural firm from Jamaica. Designers of the St. Joseph’s Parsonage. Also designed the original Jamaica Hospital, Richmond Hill Branch of the Queens Public Library (one of the Carnegie Libraries) and an addition to the Reformed Church of Jamaica. Hobart Upjohn – The grandson of Richard Upjohn (who designed Trinity Church in Manhattan). He was one of the most well-known architects for religious buildings, particularly for the Episcopal Church. He designed the parish hall.
Bishop Melvin Artis, who oversees 4 local churches, said, “I am appealing to every clergy member in the southeast Queens area: Let’s get behind the people of this church and make sure that this history remains intact.”
Urban planner and historian Paul Graziano pointed out that the Episcopal Diocese does not do this to churches in wealthier, majority white neighborhoods. “Would you see this happen in Garden City at the seat of power of the Episcopal Diocese? No. Do you see this happening in wealthy congregations in white neighborhoods? Definitely not. So, there is definitely something through the prism of ethnicity and race which is very disturbing to me because looking at how the Episcopal Church has described themselves that doesn’t really match.”
As a result of this deeply concerning situation, I have taken the step of submitting a Request for Evaluation (RFE) to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Designation of the complex as an official NYC landmark would permanently protect the house of worship from demolition.
Please see photos of church, video of press conference and RFE application here. I'll keep the community up to date on my progress.
A massive fire tore through a row of Queens storefronts early Saturday,
trapping two firefighters under a collapsed roof and decimating several
shops in a matter of minutes.
One of the two FDNY firefighters was rushed to the hospital with severe
burns after the 2:15 a.m. blaze in Queens Village that left shop owners
stunned hours later.
“We lost everything in a matter of a ... minute. We were in bed and
someone from the community called and told me what’s going on,” Ralph
Torres, co-owner of Beatriz Dominican Salon, said as he looked over the
gutted remains of his family shop on Springfield Blvd.
“This is something me and my wife built,” Torres, 56, said. “We
devastated. We devastated man. You build something and you lose it
overnight, it’s gone.”
Two other businesses near 112th Ave. were scorched along with the hair
salon, including the Springfield Cutz Barbershop and Spring Pharmacy.
FDNY fire marshals were still trying to determine Saturday where and
how the fire started. 911 calls directed firefighters to the barbershop,
but officials noted that the fire was heaviest in the salon, whose roof
also partially collapsed.
Firefighters were in the back of the barbershop when its burning
ceiling gave way, trapping two smoke eaters inside, said FDNY Assistant
Chief of Department Joseph Jardin.
“A portion of the roof collapsed trapping two of our members
initially,” Jardin said at the scene. “They discovered the member under a
20 foot by 20 foot section of wood joisted roof, a heavy section of
roof with fire in proximity where the member was trapped.”
A fundraiser launched last month with the goal to raise $3 million to
purchase the childhood home of President Donald Trump appears at this
point to be a flop.
The GoFundMe
— launched by the real estate company representing the anonymous seller
—urges Trump supporters to donate to the fund so the Jamaica Estates
house where the president grew up can be gifted to him when he leaves
office.
“Love Trump? Thank President Trump by contributing to this campaign
to buy his childhood home in his honor!” Paramount Realty USA wrote on
the fundraiser page. The $3 million raised would go to the seller.
However, it seems that not even Trump fans want to buy the house.
Only $1,217 — by the time of publication — has been raised by 75
donors in the nearly three weeks since the GoFundMe was launched on Nov.
23.
Paramount Realty USA launched the GoFundMe after struggling to find a buyer.
The five-bedroom Tudor home, located at 85-15 Wareham Pl., was put up
for auction in fall 2019, but failed to meet the undisclosed reserve
price, the New York Times reported.
A man’s scorched body was found with his hands tied behind his back
after firefighters put out a blaze that erupted inside an
under-construction Queens home early Monday, police and law enforcement
sources said. Smoke-eaters made the gruesome discovery on the first floor of the
two-story colonial home on 217th Street near 104th Avenue in Queens
Village once the fire was extinguished around 3:15 a.m., police said. The victim, whose identity was not immediately released, was found
bound and lying face down on the ground with severe burns on his body,
sources said. Emergency responders pronounced the man dead at the scene. The city medical examiner will determine his cause of death. Neighbors said the home, which used to house a deli on the ground floor, has been under construction for about a year. “It’s very creepy,” neighbor Robin Bishop, 55, said of the disturbing
incident. “It’s very shocking because I know things happen but not this
close to home.” Bishop noted that the area is a “quiet neighborhood.”
Season's Greetings from crappy South Queens Village where disrespectful auto body shops do as they please, illegal dumping and litter runs rampant, junk cars and boats parked all over residential streets...Oh, dont get me started on the illegal truck/trailer parking up and down Springfield Blvd. Well, now we have this latest ghetto disaster to feast our eyes upon @ 214-15 Hollis Ave. Yup, a gutted foreclosed home with all it's crap left out in the driveway and front yard for 3 weeks now, and as usual, nothing is getting done about it (despite multiple complaints filed by yours truly).
Well, as I was taking these pictures, 2 thugs driving a Mercedes with dark tinted windows pulled up and with attitude started asking why I'm taking pictures. I didn't take their crap and we verbally started going back and forth until his friend (the passenger) told him to calm down. The driver then gave me this BS story about how he cleans up properties and he's going to the city and to clean up this one. They took off. BS! They are drug dealers who set businesses in these foreclosed homes and got nervous seeing someone taking photos (another quality of life issue to add to the list). Fellow, Queens Crappers, I'm open to suggestions on how to handle this situation, because my local politicians are useless.
Not only are the streets of South Queens Village a junk yard for the disrespectful auto body shops along Hempstead ave, now are streets are being turned into a boneyard for boats! Maybe they'll start sticking "Cash 4 Junk Boats" stickers all over the neighborhood now. I've seen about a dozen boats dumped across the area, including on Springfield Blvd. Absolutely disgraceful!
I doubt this would fly up in Bayside! (sent via Facebook)
Gremlins with teeny-tiny drills are burrowing their way underneath Winchester Boulevard in Queens Village and creating pinholes in copper pipes leading from water mains to the houses between Braddock and Hillside avenues.
It’s as good an answer as the ones homeowners on Winchester are getting for why connector pipes are failing at an alarming rate; so often — on multiple occasions for individual homes in some cases — the company that used to insure the pipes has stopped doing so along that part of the street.
Tom Garrett, who has owned his home for 40 years, said pipes began failing in about spring 2015.
“My neighbor had to get his pipes replaced,” he said. “Then a woman down the street. We didn’t think anything of it.”
By the time his pipe had to be replaced for the first time, people were becoming suspicious.
He now estimates that more than 20 replacements have had to take place, including one neighbor who has required it six or seven times.
“Plumbers who’ve been doing the replacements say it’s being caused by electrolysis. Electricity leaking from somewhere causing pinhole leaks in the pipes,” he said.
The MTA will temporarily offer discounted rates with a pilot program for commuters traveling between Brooklyn and Queens from Atlantic Terminal on the Long Island Rail Road to experiment how offering lower fares will affect ridership.
The study, called Atlantic Ticket, will offer lower rates to LIRR riders who commute through the Brooklyn hub in an attempt to fill seats on these trains, which have greater capacity than those traveling to and from Penn Station.
The stations in Queens where commuters can take advantage of $5 rates at all hours are in Hollis, Jamaica, Laurelton, Locust Manor, Queens Village, Rosedale and St. Albans.
The $5 fare will represent a 51 percent reduction in price from the peak hour charge of $10.25 and a 33 percent decrease from the off-peak $7.50, the MTA said.
The MTA said this would make up for the $2.75 a customer would have to pay for a transfer to the subway.
"I took these photo's on the south corner of Hempstead ave and 221 st. It seems that every lamp post, street sign, telephone pole along Hempstead ave, Springfield Blvd, Jamaica Ave, Francis Lewis Blvd, and Hillside ave has these damn stickers on them! Even on the residential streets, they are stuck to the back of stop signs and glued onto telephone poles! THEY ARE EVERYWHERE IN QUEENS VILLAGE, AND THEY ARE MULTIPLYING FAST!!! HHHHEEEELLLPPP!!!" - anonymous
"These ghetto punks ride their dirt bikes and quads down Hollis Ave doing wheelies on a daily basis. Sometimes, they speed down the sidewalk all the way down to Springfield Blvd, putting pedestrians at risk. The streets of South Queens Village has been taken over by these thugs. Now, they are destroying the beautiful lawn at Wayanda Park on Hollis Ave. As you can see, the douche bag on the quad covered his face while I snapped a picture of him on 217st. I'm going to contact my Community Affairs officer to see if they can step up patrols in the area. The ghetto nonsense never ends in Southeast Qns." - anonymous
I recently attended the Community Council meeting at the 105th precinct. I expressed my concerns about an illegal businesses being run out of a residential home on 107-16 Springfield Blvd in Queens Village. These individuals are fixing cars at all hours of the day right on Springfield blvd. In the process, they are dumping oil all over the street and sidewalks, and discarding oil down the sewer drains which eventually drains into Jamaica Bay. They have a tractor trailer parked in the driveway, and a full blown junkyard in the backyard! A couple residents at the meeting expressed concerns about this place as well, since it's bringing down the quality of life in our neighborhood and devaluing our homes. The community affairs officer told me that they'll be paying them a visit, and she'll contact the DEP. I also contacted the NYS DEC Police twice and they were very helpful. I also filed 311 complaints with the DSNY and DOB, for the messy conditions, illegal parking of the tractor trailer, and of course the junkyard in the back. I just want to show your readers some of the ghetto nonsense that we deal with in SE Qns on a daily basis. Thanks.
Residents on a Queens Village street are increasingly concerned about a streetlight they claim has not worked for months after repeated inquiries to city departments and Con Edison.
“It’s very dark, it’s pitch black at night,” Miriam Schiffman, 88, said while sitting in the living room of her home on 221st Street between 89th and 90th avenues in Queens Village. “It’s become a quality-of-life issue.”
Directly across the street was the street light in question, who Miriam and her husband Norman, 93, said had been out of service since March 4. Miriam said they immediately called 311, and learned two weeks later that the issue had been referred to Con Ed. Afterwards, there were several months of back-and-forths between 311, the NYC DOT and Con Ed. Miriam Schiffman said the couple reached out to the offices of state Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-Hollis) and Councilman Barry Grodenchik (D-Oakland Gardens) for assistance.
A spokesman for Con Ed said it had contacted the DOT in April to tell the agency that the concrete foundation of the lamppost needed to be repaired before the utility could restore power. Norman Schiffman disputed the assertion, saying he believed there was no issue with the concrete.
As of Tuesday the light was still dark, but on Wednesday a DOT source said the organization was aware of the problem and the light would be inspected that evening.
State Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village), who represented parts of southeast Queens, died at the age of 76 Monday night, a representative from her district office said. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Clark had been serving the 33rd Assembly District since 1986. The district includes Cambria Heights, St. Albans, Queens Village, Hollis and Bellerose.
She played a key role in converting Andrew Jackson HS into four small magnet high schools and served as a primary sponsor of the 1996 New York City Governance Law, which mandated parental involvement in school policy decision-making.
Clark also supported the plaintiff in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity vs. State of New York lawsuit, which resulted in a $5.5 billion increase in funding for city public schools and authored a bill to establish the age of 6 as the statutory age for full-time attendance in school.
My family lives in Queens Village, and we truly love it here—but, perhaps, I can draw your attention to an offensive and unsettling problem in our neighborhood. There is a strong odor of putrefaction (rotting flesh) present at all times on Springfield Boulevard, near 110th Avenue. It has been there for at least a couple of YEARS. The smell is ever-present, unmistakable, and has only gotten worse with the recent high temperatures.
When we finally called 311 several weeks ago, we were instead forwarded to 911. Apparently, the aroma of death is considered a Police Emergency. The dispatcher seemed to take the matter very seriously, assuring us that NYPD would investigate forthwith.
Since then, we have worked up the courage to drive past with the car windows down. The stomach-turning funk unfortunately remains unabated.
We don’t get this at our house, but I can’t help but feel sorry for the folks living near the intersection. It seems to emanate from the side of the street where a few shops are located. Is there an illegal slaughterhouse? Voodoo sacrifice? Animal cruelty? Undead zombies?
Mighty Crapper, please help us get to the bottom of this stinking situation.
Hours after police officers from the 105th Precinct celebrated National Night Out against Crime in Cabbell Park in Cambria Heights Playground with nearby residents, a Queens Village resident was found shot dead in a basement near 212nd Street, police said.
After 1 a.m. Wednesday, police discovered 25-year-old Jermain Gladimer shot dead in his basement apartment under a beauty salon on Jamaica Avenue in Queens Village, police said.
Italicized passages and many of the photos come from other websites. The links to these websites are provided within the posts.
Why your neighborhood is full of Queens Crap
"The difference between dishonest and honest graft: for dishonest graft one worked solely for one's own interests, while for honest graft one pursued the interests of one's party, one's state, and one's personal interests all together." - George Washington Plunkitt
The above organizations are recognized by Queens Crap as being beneficial to the city as a whole, by fighting to preserve the history and character of our neighborhoods. They are not connected to this website and the opinions presented here do not necessarily represent the positions of these organizations.
The comments left by posters to this site do not necessarily represent the views of the blogger or webmaster.
