Lawsuit filed over rowdy group home

From PIX11:

Recording from their living room window, the Wlodys say they’re fed up with their neighbors. Right next door, sharing a wall with the Wlody’s in Howard Beach, is a group home for developmentally disabled adults, run by Birch Family Services.

Since 2013, the Wlodys say their home, once a sanctuary, turned to hell. They say thousands of photos and videos they’ve recorded themselves illustrate what occurs almost daily.

“It’s upsetting. It’s also traumatizing. The thuds, the crashes and the screaming that carries on for the longest time,” said Corinne Wlody.

The Wlodys say they have witnessed staff at the group home use abusive language and exhibit near violent behavior.

They say they’re concerned for the vulnerable residents and want the public and the families of the residents to know what is really happening behind closed doors.

Charity demolishing old Woodhaven house for group home

Photo from Project Woodhaven

Was headed south on Woodhaven Blvd this past Sunday when I noticed a nice big old house (that I believe recently contained doctors' offices) with a strange box-shaped hole on all sides of the roof - you could see right through it. I made a mental note to check the DOB online system when I got home.


88-38 Woodhaven Blvd has a full demo permit on file for both the house and garage. And not just a regular demo permit. No, this baby is going to be taken down with heavy equipment since they applied for a mechanical demo permit. What joy! And who is bringing this to us? Heartshare Human Services, a charity that services people with special needs.

There are no new building permits yet, but this article from the Queens Chronicle says that the home will house 10 adults and be slightly larger than the current house. Luckily, the zoning is R3-1 which limits the level of replacement crappiness, but they could always pull the "community facility" card out of the deck.

Judging from the way the house was being kept by this charity before the demo began and that Heartshare conveniently left out the fact that they were planning to demolish the existing structure when they went before CB9 last year for approval of their group home, the community needs to keep on top of them to make sure they stick to their publicly-made promises. It's not like they can expect elected officials to do it.

Group homes for delinquents are pretty ineffective

From the Daily News:

A promising Bloomberg administration program designed to help troubled juveniles needs immediate reform.

Queens Family Court Judge John Hunt revealed last week that teens deemed delinquents were walking away from city group homes pretty much as they pleased.

The courts had issued more than 400 warrants for kids who’d absconded. One runaway had bolted 10 times. The case of one Arnold P., who went AWOL from a Far Rockaway group home where he was supposed to spend 18 months, was the most frightening. He was subsequently charged in five robberies while on the loose.

Until recently, New York State housed delinquent city teens in upstate facilities where conditions were horrendous. The state forced the city to pay exorbitant costs for the privilege.

Then the Bloomberg administration, arguing that the kids would fare better near home, lobbied Albany to turn custody of the delinquents over to the Administration for Children’s Services.

They were placed in 11 facilities operated by private organizations — and they have been taking off far too frequently. Almost half return voluntarily within 24 hours and two-thirds within 48 hours. That’s all well and good, but they shouldn’t be taking off in such numbers in the first place.

Cuomo's regs may backfire on mentally ill

From the NY Post:

The city’s population of mentally deranged street people may explode because of new regulations signed by Gov. Cuomo last week that forbid privately run adult homes from accepting new residents, advocates warned.

“Hospitals can’t discharge to us,” said Jeffrey Edelman, who runs adult homes in Queens and The Bronx. “Within a week, the hospitals will be starting to get backed up, and they are going to have big problems.”

The change is part of the state’s efforts to comply with a federal court ruling that found institutionalizing the mentally ill in adult homes wrongly segregates them.

An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 mentally ill people, the majority in New York City, could be affected.

“My residents need reminders several times a day to take their medications and see their doctors,” Edelman said. “My residents used to be in homeless shelters and went from hospital to hospital.”

More mentally ill to roam the streets

From the NY Post:

Here’s some scary news: The Cuomo administration is preparing to shove thousands of mentally ill New Yorkers out of supervised settings — where they can be forced to take their medication — into far less restrictive, far more dangerous “community housing.”

This, despite two recent cases of people being fatally shoved from subway platforms — both allegedly by crazy people.

Albany, under pressure from the Obama administration, recently ordered psychiatric facilities not to place any discharged patients in adult homes, where staff can ensure they take their meds.

Instead, they’ll be placed in “community housing,” without full-time supervision.

This is part of the state’s plan to essentially empty adult homes into community-based “supportive” apartments, leaving up to 6,000 people — including those with schizophrenia — to live on their own, with minimal supervision.

Granted, the move isn’t entirely voluntary: The Obama administration has made clear in numerous states — including New York — that it wants to shut adult homes entirely, saying they illegally segregate the mentally ill. It’s prepared to sue to make that happen.

And if Albany doesn’t move, it could find itself back in front of none other than the imperious federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who in 2011 effectively ordered the immediate dismantling of the adult-home system — summarily rejecting every effort by Albany to reach a compromise.

Group home in Zone A intends to expand

From the New York World:

Like its neighbors along the Coney Island boardwalk, Oceanview Manor Home for Adults was seriously damaged after superstorm Sandy rushed in on Oct. 29. Staff reported that the home off Surf Avenue suffered major flooding and broken windows; the storm destroyed office equipment and cut power. Residents, most of whom have severe mental illness, weren’t allowed to return for a month.

And after all that, the home is looking to not just rebuild, but expand.

Oceanview has submitted a proposal to the city to add 24 beds to its current 176-bed residence and enlarge the building by more than 12,000 square feet, which would increase the square footage by over 33 percent.

Though Oceanview’s expansion plans were submitted to the city well before Sandy hit, they could face a new kind of scrutiny, given the widespread damage to buildings along the boardwalk.

Chuck Reichenthal, district manager of Community Board 13 in Coney Island, called the timing of the proposal “amazing.”

Reichenthal said he didn’t yet have a strong opinion about the proposal, and would withhold judgment until Oceanview had presented its case to the community board.

“One of the questions will probably be, is this the time to build more buildings while we’re still in the fog of getting rid of this? I don’t know,” Reichenthal said.

It appears unlikely that Oceanview administrators have any intention of modifying the expansion plans. It submitted a required environmental statement to the Department of City Planning on Nov. 9, less than two weeks after Sandy hit.

Though the plans acknowledged that the home is located within a federally designated flood hazard area, they misidentified its designation. The documents state that the home is in Hurricane Evacuation Zone B, which means residents have a moderate threat of being evacuated during a hurricane. In reality, the city’s Office of Emergency Management designates all of Coney Island as Zone A, where residents are at the highest risk of being evacuated in the event of a hurricane, and were under evacuation orders in advance of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 as well as Sandy this year.

More problems dumped on Rockaway

"Just received this email from local friends which was dispersed by a local police officer. I would appreciate your not using names nor my name. But this is just terrible if it’s true. We are a dumping ground here in the Rockaways. There seems to be no way out for us to improve." - Anonymous

My source telling me of 270 troubled youths who will soon be using the Stella Maris School in Rockaway Park is TRUE. My source also states coming in from other boroughs is TRUE. Yes... the Martin De Porres School will be opening when school starts and their staff will be there the day before. I drove by the school this afternoon and just happened to talk to some worker there who gave me the information, but then in the front of the school I ran into the Assistant Principal (Frank) of this new school and he gave me the same information. If you don't know, as a non profit they do not have to go thru the Community Board. Also I contacted our local officials, papers etc. to make them aware of what is going on in our Community.

Now for the next bit of lovely news my source gave me today, the St. John's Boys Home will soon be housing (this Sept) 12 Criminals. I don't have the information on the ages or what their status is but the program will be called "NON SECURE PLACEMENT." Someone else sent me the information below on this program that runs in Richmond Hill, Queens.

St. John's operates one "Non Secure Detention" group home facility, which is funded by the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice. This 10 bed facility, located in Richmond Hill, Queens, serves as a short term residence for adolescent males as they await Family Court outcomes.

Crap to become housing for seniors and disabled

From the Times Newsweekly:

[CB5] District Manager Gary Giordano told the board at last Wednesday’s meeting that the PSCH organization, which began construction of a group home located on Cypress Avenue between Cooper Avenue and Vermont Place, has informed the board of their intention to demolish the existing, incomplete structure.

Giordano stated that construction of the cinder-block building—which aims to house 19 individuals with psychiatric disabilities—stalled in recent years; the incomplete building has since been smeared with graffiti and invaded by both trespassers and vermin.

PSCH reportedly told Giordano and Board 5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri that it will demolish the incomplete structure due to an architectural problem and replace it with a new structure that could offer both senior housing space and the designated space for developmentally disabled youths.

The district manager noted that the organization has not provided further updates about their plans in recent weeks.

Previously featured here.

Royal Ranch group home is a royal pain

From the Times Ledger:

Residents of the Royal Ranch section of Glen Oaks said a group home for autistic teenagers has been a nightmare for the community ever since it opened in February.

One of the teens stabbed a worker at the home with a pen, while another snuck into a neighbor’s backyard and masturbated, residents said. Other problems include vandalized cars and increased traffic near the home at 70-25 267th St., they said.

“It was a quiet neighborhood,” said Cindy Markopoulous, who lives near the group home, where houses are valued close to $1 million. “Tough luck for us, I wish I knew. There’s a lot of problems.”

The group home is run by the city chapter of the Association for Help of Retarded Children, which could not be reached for comment.

Markopoulous accused AHRC of “bad management” for hiring workers who she said were not equipped to handle the six teenagers with autism who live at the home.

Since a community meeting was called three weeks ago to address issues at the group home, she said AHRC has not let the teens outside.

“Now they have them caged like Alcatraz,” Markopoulous said. “Not only are they caged in, we’re caged in. I won’t let my daughter go out and play by herself.”

She said she doubted the improved conditions in the neighborhood will last.

“They just want us to shut up,” she said.