Rogue parking company reimagines and colonizes the curbs

 

South ozone Park 152nd Ave from 129th street to 124th street all streets affected by this long-term parking lot company parking customers vehicles out side of their lots onto the street. 

 ARB parking lot located 128–20 152nd Avenue. park AC, which has since changed its name to Apex JFK parking. ARB parking lot was exposed by CBS News in June 2023 and February 2024 they are operating these lots without licenses however, even with the news exposing them. it still continues every time there is a holiday and during the summer months.

 And when these lots run out of room inside they flood the streets with customers vehicles they will even park them blocks away. They don’t care. if you look at there reviews on Google, you will see nothing but negativity on these two parking lots who are both affiliated with one another 

 Another problem with these parking lot companies they speed through the streets here recklessly with their company van not even paying attention looking at their phones they blow stop signs and speed through a school zone.

 It seems to be falling on deaf ears, no matter who you complain to. Nothing is being done.

What happened to the DOT's curb enthusiasm and passion against parked vehicles? Or is that only in areas where the urbanism lobbyists and their owners and donors live?

The City of Yes will fix this

 

Day after the City Of Yes got ratified by a criminally indicted mayor, the City Of Crap is still thriving. Here's one of the jewels of South Ozone Park on the corner of 130th ave and the Van Wyck.

There's sure a lot of hoarding going on here, makes you wonder if there's more trash under the fallen leaves, but the potential for a little more housing is pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good thanks to our brilliant leaders in the city planning department and all their real estate lobbyist friends who actually wrote the blueprint for the most invasive and counterproductive housing program in the nation.

 

 

It's unbelievable that this house once looked like this. Even though the owner was operating a chop shop in his backyard and garage according to neighbor's complaints that spanned three decades.

And so it goes...

Man shot to death in front of nite club

  

AMNY

Queens police are investigating an early-morning shooting on Monday outside a nightclub that left a man dead.

Officers from the 106th Precinct responded to the scene of a male shot at approximately 1:04 a.m. on April 29 near the Caribbean Fest Lounge at the intersection of 117th Street and Rockaway Boulevard in South Ozone Park.

When officers arrived, they found a male covered in blood after being shot multiple times throughout his body, including his head, chest, leg and abdomen, law enforcement sources said.  

 EMS were on scene and transported the victim to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. 

Six unknown caliber shell casings were recovered on scene, according to police sources. No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing. 

The name of the victim is being held pending family notification, police said.  

 Actually there were 23 shells found. 

Requiem of a rain garden

Vanishing New York bus service

CBS New York

 In December, the MTA unveiled its proposed final plan for the Queens Bus Network Redesign, part of a citywide effort to expedite bus service.

But some South Ozone Park residents say the elimination of key stops in their neighborhood is a problem, not a solution.

The Q10 bus serves as a link to JFK Airport and the subway. MTA's proposed plan would reroute riders, in some cases adding travel time.

"You're making people go from one bus to either two or three buses, for what reason? It doesn't make sense to me," South Ozone Park resident Nia Rollins said.

MTA's proposed plan would eliminate the 130th Street stop where she begins her daily commute to Midtown Manhattan, requiring her to pay double the fare for multiple bus transfers. She worries a consolidation of the Q9 and Q10 will intensify crowding on buses at rush hour.

Locals shared emotional testimony at the March monthly meeting of Community Board 10, objecting to proposed alternate routes they call unfamiliar, unsafe and unreliable. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for the MTA told CBS New York: "The proposed reroute of the Q10 is designed for a faster and more reliable riding experience by improving speed and reliability on the Lefferts Blvd corridor. We encourage members of the public to continue to provide feedback on the Plan at upcoming outreach events."

"It feels like lip service," district leader Richard David said. 

He says the neighborhood's trust in the MTA was lost last summer when a southbound bus stop at 130th Street and Sutter Avenue suddenly disappeared. Met with community outrage, the MTA vowed to reinstate the stop but has not yet done so.

David says a vague timeline for the potential bus route changes is keeping neighbors vigilant.

"To just keep an eye on the MTA and their process — and the potential that they might pull a fast one — is a full-time job," he said.

 Here's how you can keep an eye of the regulatory captured MTA and let them know how devastating their reroutes and bus stop removals will be for commuters. 

(Notice there are no pop-ups in Middle Village or Maspeth where buses are the only mass transit available. But you think they would do one by the M train on Metropolitan)
 

The Redesign team will be out in communities across Queens on the dates listed below from 4-7 p.m. In the case of extreme weather, events may be rescheduled so customers are advised to check the project webpage before heading out to an event.

 

    Monday, March 25: 165 St Bus Terminal, underneath the canopy of the bus bays
    Tuesday, March 26: Flushing-Main St ​, on the central mezzanine of the subway station
    Wednesday, March 27: Queens Center Mall, the northwest corner of Queens Blvd and Woodhaven Blvd
    Tuesday, April 2:  Jamaica-179 St ​, on the central mezzanine
    Wednesday, April 3: Myrtle-Wyckoff Pedestrian Plaza outside of ​​ subway station (between Gates Av and Palmetto St)
    Wednesday, April 3: Rockaway Park-Beach 116 St ​​(A) subway station main entrance
    Monday, April 8: Diversity Plaza near Jackson Heights 74 St-Roosevelt Av ​​​​​ (7) subway station (between Broadway & 74 St)
    Tuesday, April 9: Woodhaven Blvd southbound bus median outside the Rockaway Blvd ​ subway station (in front of PC Richard & Son)
    Monday, April 15: Queens Village LIRR Station, at the corner of Springfield Blvd and Amboy Ln  
    Tuesday, April 16: Union Tpke and Utopia Pkwy, on the southeast corner
    Wednesday, April 17: Lefferts Blvd AirTrain Station, near the Q3, Q10, and B15 bus stops
    Wednesday, April 17: Queens Plaza South and 28 St, on the southwest corner of the intersection

 

In partnership with the MTA’s Mobile Sales team, the Queens Bus Network Redesign team will be on-site at five Mobile Sales locations this spring to meet with bus customers, talk about the Proposed Final Plan and routes proposed in their neighborhood, and receive feedback.

 

    Monday, April 8 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in Astoria at Ditmars Blvd and 23 Av
    Tuesday, April 16 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Rochdale Village Senior Center
    Thursday, April 18 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. in Jamaica at the Allen Community Senior Citizens Center
    Friday, May 3 from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. at the Rego Park Mall outside Marshall’s
    Monday, May 13 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center (Bell Blvd and 24 Av)

• 
  

 

Resorts World wants to make their world bigger

 

Queens Chronicle

Resorts World NYC last Thursday laid down its markers for the public — and the state — in its efforts to bring full casino gambling, 10,000 construction and permanent jobs and “a world-class entertainment resort” to South Ozone Park.

Resorts World is pursuing one of three downstate casino licenses that have been approved by the state Legislature but have yet to be awarded.

Officials of the international gaming giant were joined in the lobby of their complex next to Aqueduct Race Track by government officials from Queens as well as celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, who has agreed to bring a restaurant to the proposed project. There also was a reception hosted by hip-hop artist and Queens native Nas.

Included in what the company is calling a $5 billion investment in Southeast Queens and the city would be a 7,000-seat arena; a combined 350,000 square feet for entertainment, meeting and conference space; a 1,600-room Crockfords luxury hotel on top of the 400 existing rooms at the Hyatt Regency; and 10 acres of publicly accessible open space.

Robert DeSalvio, president and CEO of Genting Americas East, which operates Resort World NYC, said the site already has pumped billions into the state economy, particularly for education funding. Speaking with the Chronicle after the press conference, he said there would be no need for downtime between receiving a state license and breaking out the shovels and hammers.

“We could begin immediately,” DeSalvio said. “You heard me say we could have full table gaming up in six months. It could take three to four years to build it out fully, but we could start right away.”

State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Woodhaven) is chairman of the Senate’s Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee. He also is about as staunch an advocate for a full Resorts World casino as DeSalvio.

The senator said as of now there is no hint of when decision will be made.

“That’s the frustrating thing — there’s no timeline yet,” Addabbo said. “Some of the proposals need things like zoning issues which the state would like to see cleared up. I’ve told the state they can’t wait forever.”

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, who is seeking his own casino license for what is now the parking lot at Citi Field, did not need to be mentioned by name when Addabbo was asked if Queens could support two casinos.

“Somebody would have to make that case,” he said.

Betty Braton, chairwoman of Community Board 10, said Resorts World has proven to be an outstanding member of the community since opening; something she said the state should take into account.

“Who’d have thunk it in 2010 when we stepped outside for the groundbreaking?” Braton asked. “It was hard to envision what we would see. It was a leap of faith, as I’ve said before, and that faith was well-placed. Resorts World has been a true corporate citizen in the best way. We have a proven entity. Everywhere else where there is a proposal, it is a new thing. Our community knows what we are gonna get. The State of New York State knows what it is gonna get.”

Borough President Donovan Richards went into hard specifics.

“There’s a big difference between jobs and careers,” Richards said. “Resorts World has created careers. Sen. Addabbo and I talk about the days of Hurricane Sandy in the Rockaways when we were devastated and we needed to get food on the table for our residents. Resorts World was providing food every single day.

“Then we needed assistance with Covid-19 for testing and the vaccinations, and this institution opened its doors for the community.”

 

The Light House

 

Who said McMansions were dead? This behemoth carbon footprint is lighting up 149th ave like a thousand suns.

  

It really stands out in the neighborhood. Kinda like the house from the Munsters or the Castle/Spaceship from The Rocky horror picture show. With the amount of electricity being wasted showing off it's worth here, it sort of resembles Deep Space Nine.

   

 

 

 

 

Fiends steals 4-year-old disabled child's wheelchair

 

 QNS

A mother is seeking answers following the theft of her disabled son’s wheelchair by a group of thieves outside of her South Ozone Park home on Monday. 

Marta Escobar, a mother of a 4-year-old disabled child, says she left her home around 5:30 p.m. to run errands when a group of strangers took her son’s wheelchair stroller from the side of her home on Jan. 1. Her son, Anthony, is unable to walk or talk and is in great need of the wheelchair stroller.

Video footage, shared by Escobar on Facebook and Instagram, captures three trespassers entering the alleyway of her home a little after 5:45 p.m., minutes after she left.  

The intruders, with what appears to be a child, are seen on video entering the property and walking away with the wheelchair stroller, two other umbrella strollers, and packs of diapers. 

Escobar says her son’s prescription medicine was also stolen when the wheelchair and strollers were taken. On social media, Escobar claims migrants were responsible for stealing her son’s wheelchair, although this has not been verified. 

“It’s not fair that we are trying our best as a city to help these people and they are coming freely and walking into our private homes and stealing things that are so delicate and necessary for my child to be able to get to school every day,” Escobar wrote.

The Habitat For Humanity Horror Has A Habitat

 

 Impunity City

It's a miracle on 126th St.  Looks like Santa Claus came to Queens early and visited The Habitat For Humanity Horror affordable housing grave and dropped a house on this corner after over a year and a half of utter negligence and indifference by the Mayors Office and district elected officials who appeared here celebrating themselves when this "Your Home NYC" program and Mayor Adams "Get Stuff Done" sloganeering campaign started.

Or maybe it was from my intrepid reporting that compelled the Mayors Office and it's (Luxury Public) Housing, Preservation and (Over)Development Department into quickly expediting the development of this new house on this lot that was negligibly forgotten and abandoned by the city and let it turn into a ungodly apocalyptic dump on a residential street corner. To signify what a disgraceful embarrassment this is, this housing went up a month after I posted this on here and "X" and it came at the beginning of Mayor Adams machete austerity budget cuts in every municipality (except DOT but that's another fucked up story).

It also got built right when Rosalyn Carter died, who co-founded Habitat for Humanity with her husband former President Jimmy Carter, so maybe they got a couple of phone calls to get this stuff done to paraphrase New York City's troubled current mayor. Here's the sign where the Habitat for Humanity logo once was, the brand got peeled off after being hung up for hundreds of days in the elements.

Lets look at the layout and "bones" of this affordable home.

 

 

 

The Habitat For Humanity Horror

Impunity City 

 

Yesterday afternoon, Mayor Eric Adams enthusiastically announced plans for the city to build 100,000 affordable apartments in the next 5 years in his “City Of Yes” program. The City Of Yes program/doctrine will make it easier for the NYC housing and building departments to expedite building permits faster with little regulation and even community input under the rubric for the need to stem the housing affordability and homeless crises in the five boroughs. While noble and necessary, it still needs to be ratified into law by City Council.

But it was only a year and a half ago when Mayor Adams and his “team” went to Southeast Queens to announce an affordable housing program initiative for to give the opportunity for lower income earning residents to own their own houses. Partnering with Jimmy Carter’s Habitat for Humanity, the city’s Housing and Preservation Department took over 16 houses that were neglected and then abandoned by the notorious NYCHA  and had them demolished so they can build new environmentally sound “green” houses in their place. During the presentation which also announced new infrastructure to mitigate constant flash flooding from extreme storms, early SE Queens native Mayor Eric Adams promised that these homes will revive the neighborhoods that were neglected by past administrations.

One of those homes is this corner on 126th and 116th avenue.

  

Promises made, promises slept.

 

YIMBY density housing siting in South Ozone Park

  

 Back in the day a McMansion would be built here but we have a housing crisis so we're going to be seeing a lot more of this. Not sure if this will be affordable though.

 

 This is also a mixed use building so it's anybody's guess what will occupy it the commercial spaces. Hopefully a day care center but maybe also a ebike battery charging bike shop or weed store.

 

 

It just might not be finished by the summer...

 

Mentally disturbed woman got rental aid and wound up stabbing another tenant.

NY Post

A Queens woman who allegedly spent months harassing her neighbor and landlord was arrested Saturday for stabbing her fellow tenant, police and witnesses told The Post.

The alleged attacker and the victim each rented separate units in the multi-family home in South Ozone Park, where the landlord lived downstairs.

The bloody assault unfolded just before 8 a.m. when Najia M. Vaughn allegedly knocked on her neighbor’s door, began arguing with the woman inside, then pulled out a knife and cut the 31-year-old victim on the forehead, chest and leg, residents and authorities said.

Vaughn, 28, fled and was arrested about a block away, police said. She was charged with felony assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

The accused attacker, who receives rental assistance from the city, moved into the 127th Street home in May, and was referred to the property by the city’s Human Resources Administration, said her terrified landlord, who did not want to be named.

East and South Queens redistricting maps leading to wider schisms

Queens Chronicle 

 Update

The Districting Commission voted to send the revised proposal to the City Council Thursday by a vote of 13-1, with one absence. 

ORIGINAL STORY

As the city’s meticulous reapportionment process draws on, the Districting Commission is set to vote on a revised proposal for City Council district lines today, Oct. 6.

Thursday’s meeting comes just two weeks after the commission voted 8-7 against its own proposal. The body spent three hours last Thursday night and four and a half hours last Friday tweaking the map, taking into account 286 items of public testimony that had come in after the rejection two weeks ago.

Among the most significant changes to the Queens lines to come from last week’s discussions is the return of part of Fresh Meadows to District 24. Councilman Jim Gennaro (D-Hillcrest) had taken issue with the previous draft in large part because, in moving that portion of the neighborhood to District 23, members of the area’s Orthodox Jewish community would be separated from the rest of the enclave. Should the commission approve that draft, District 24’s eastern boundary would be 188th Street, as it is now.

Asked for comment on the proposal, Gennaro said, “This community and I, as its representative, made our objections to the first two proposals loud and clear. Last Friday, the Districting Commission did the right thing by completely reuniting the Orthodox Jewish community within the 24th District.”

Later, he added, “We look forward to this plan being passed by both the commission and the City Council.”

THE CITY 

In the hours following the five-alarm Richmond Hill fire in June that ravaged a row of houses, killed three family members, and left more than 40 people homeless, Annetta Seecharran felt abandoned in her efforts to scramble for resources and support for the victims. 

Not one elected official showed up that day, Seecharran told THE CITY.

“I called and I called and I called,” Seecharran, who heads the Indo-Caribbean and South Asian community development organization Chhaya in Queens, told THE CITY. “And there was no response.”

Mayor Eric Adams visited family members the next day and said “the whole city is mourning.” Apart from that, however, Seecharran recalled this week how disheartening it was for her and other community members to have to fight for attention in the aftermath of that tragedy in City Council District 28, represented by Speaker Adrienne Adams. 

Seecharran, along with other locals and activists from Southeast Queens’ majority Indo-Caribbean and South Asian neighborhoods, gathered outside a Sikh temple in Richmond Hill on Tuesday with the fire in mind. 

Their goal: to call attention to the way electorally divided communities like theirs have been historically “underserved by the government” — and how the NYC Districting Commission’s draft map for new City Council districts, released in mid-July, would perpetuate that problem. As THE CITY previously reported, these redistricting efforts are part of a mandatory process to reflect population changes in light of the 2020 census and ahead of off-cycle elections in what will be newly drawn districts next year. Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the maps must not deny or dilute the voting power of racial and language minorities.

“Ultimately this is about power,” Seecharran told the crowd. “Our power has been limited because we have been divided.”  

But elected officials in other nearby neighborhoods have expressed a similar interest in keeping their predominantly Black communities from being divided between different districts. And they’re not alone: Across the city, various groups are pushing for map changes that would enhance their voting power in what can seem like a zero-sum game. All are racing to have their desires registered before the commission votes on a final map on Sept. 22. 

For example, a related battle is playing out in Brooklyn, as the draft map creates a new majority Asian council district in Brooklyn while splitting up what’s been a majority Latino district covering Sunset Park and Red Hook for the past three decades.

If nine of the 15 districiting commissioners agree on a map, it will then be released to the public and voted on by the City Council. If the draft does not get voted through, the commission would continue revising the map until passing one, though commission spokesperson Eddie Borges told THE CITY “that’s not even a prospect.”  

While eight of the 15 commissioners were appointed by the Council, five were selected by Speaker Adams, leader of the 44-member Democratic caucus. Minority Leader Joe Borelli, one of its seven Republicans, picked the other three, who potentially could join with the mayor’s members to pass a map.

In a letter addressed to the commission’s chairman and obtained by THE CITY, several elected officials in majority Black districts in southeast Queens outlined concerns about numerous ways that the draft map would divide and dilute voting power across their districts. Those officials include Majority Whip Selvena Brooks-Powers of District 31, which currently covers the eastern Rockaways, Laurelton, Rosedale, Brookville and parts of Springfield Gardens, and Councilmember Nantasha Williams of District 27, which currently covers Cambria Heights, Hollis, Jamaica, St. Albans, Queens Village, and Springfield Gardens. 

Among their concerns:

• The removal of downtown Jamaica from District 27, and the inclusion of  parts of Springfield Gardens, which cuts across “the middle of different ethnic communities and neighborhoods,” according to the letter writers;
• The removal of Rochdale Village from District 28, which is home to a minority-owned Mitchell-Lama cooperative: a 20-building complex housing 25,000 working-class residents, most of whom are Black;
• The removal of parts of Springfield Gardens that are mostly Black from District 31, which would “misalign the community’s collective voice,” according to the letter-signers. The district would gain parts of the Rockaway peninsula that have a white plurality and of South Ozone Park that have an Asian plurality, according to an analysis by THE CITY.

Some community members shared similar concerns in a virtual town hall convened by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on Wednesday night. Community Board 12 Chairperson Rev. Carlene O. Thorbs, for one, was firm that Rochdale should stay whole and intact.

“It doesn’t even make any sense that anybody even entertains that. The historical value in our area needs to stay the same,” Thorbs said. “We are still the largest voting bloc — we can’t even ignore that.”

 

Very very very fine houses...

 

Brick Underground

 Habitat Net Zero, a project that aims to bring affordable, eco-friendly homeownership to Southeast Queens, broke ground last week. The kick off was announced by Mayor Eric Adams, who grew up in the area.

The project is part of the Department of Housing Preservation’s Open Door Program, which funds construction for affordable housing for low-, moderate-, and middle-income families across New York City. HPD partnered with New York City Housing Authority and Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County for the project. 

A total of 16 houses are planned for the South Jamaica area, including 13 new construction and three rehabilitated properties; 13 vacant and dilapidated properties formerly owned by NYCHA will be demolished to make way for the project, or redeveloped.

This project represents the first new construction of affordable homes where the land will be transferred to the Interboro Community Land Trust to ensure long-term affordability.

Initial sale prices and resale prices will be affordable to low- and moderate-income households. HPD will enter a 40-year regulatory agreement with Interboro CLT, and the CLT will enter into 99-year, renewable ground leases with each homeowner.

All of the houses will meet Passive House standards. Each house will have rooftop solar panels and energy-efficient heat-pump technology for heating and cooling. These features will reduce energy costs and keep the houses at or near net zero energy use, according to the press release.

Adams initiates more affordable "green" housing developments for Southeast Queens

 

QNS

The mayor and New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — both of whom grew up in the area — celebrated the completion of a $50 million project delivering more than six miles of new sewers and water mains to alleviate flooding of homes and streets in Rochdale under budget. They also kicked off the construction of “Habitat Net Zero,” a project that will turn 13 dilapidated homes previously owned by the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) into 16 green homes for affordable homeownership. 

“This community represented the promise of a better life for my family, and I am going to keep that promise for generations of New Yorkers,” Adams said during a press conference outside of a dilapidated house at 126-01 116th Ave. in south Jamaica that will be transformed by Habitat for Humanity. “The government has ignored this community for too long, denying them their fair share of investments and services — that ends in my administration. These projects will make life better for the residents of southeast Queens today and those who will be able to move here in the future, and I’m proud to say that this is just the beginning.”

For far too long, southeast Queens has endured systemic disinvestment and neglect, resulting in widening disparities that persist today, Council Speaker Adams said. 

“With the completion of the $49.3 million water infrastructure project in Rochdale and the start of construction for Habitat Net Zero — a project to deliver new affordable homeownership opportunities — our communities are seeing the investments and improvements that we have always deserved,” the speaker said.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), and New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) completed the $49.3 million project under budget, bringing more than six miles of new sewers and water mains to Rochdale — improving street conditions, alleviating flooding, and upgrading infrastructure, while staying $5.7 million under budget. Work began in March 2018 and took place on 78 individual blocks.

 “Ever since the residential development of southeast Queens more than 50 years ago, neighbors have worried about any threat of rain in the forecast, because there were no catch basins or sewers built to drain the roadways, resulting in chronic flooding and property damage,” said Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for operations. “With a commitment of $2.5 billion for a comprehensive drainage system, we are now correcting that past failure block by block.” 

Affordable huh? We shall see...

Crappy Camper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Been reporting this camper since November when it appeared on 130th place and north conduit ave in south ozone park. And still it sits in the exact same spot it’s been in for 4 months. it does not move nobody lives inside. This has marked for tow written on the window that says 10/26/21 105th pct however it now sits in the confines of the 106th pct and they don’t even bother to write it for being illegally parked on a residential street for the last 4 months. Or what about the parked in the same spot for more then 7 rule. No enforcement in this area by the 106 but yet they have cops sitting on north and south conduits giving tickets for going 40 in the 30. 

 

Racino royale

 

Queens Chronicle

When Resorts World Casino opened 10 years ago, “the naysayers thought the apocalypse was coming,” recalled state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach). “And they find, 10 years later, that was the furthest it could have been from the truth.”

Resorts World New York City, the only casino in the city, celebrated its 10th anniversary on Oct. 28, a celebration preceded by the August grand opening of the new luxury hotel, Hyatt Regency JFK Airport.

On Oct. 29, a celebration was held with about 45 elected officials, community leaders, nonprofits and Resorts World staff.

“It was an opportunity for us to share our gratitude and thanks to them for all of the support that they’ve shown Resorts World New York City over the last ten years,” said Meghan Taylor, vice president of government affairs and public relations at Genting Americas Inc., which operates the casino.

Addabbo recalled residents’ initial concerns over crime, gambling, prostitution and traffic but said they did not come to fruition.

“Yes, there were issues with traffic early on and we addressed them,” he said.

Addressing addiction remains a priority, he added.

“It was a major milestone to have a casino of its type here, the first of its kind in the city. It is certainly a feather in the cap and something to admire for the borough of Queens,” said Addabbo, who was on Community Board 10 when officials were working to save the Aqueduct Race Track.

The South Ozone Park casino and hotel neighbors Aqueduct, which the “racino” is credited for keeping afloat 10 years ago. It was decided at the time that the casino could exist only if Aqueduct remained open.

More real New Yorkers victimized by subway crime

  

 

QNS

An Asian man was pushed toward train tracks at a Long Island City subway station by an unidentified man Monday morning, and the NYPD is investigating it as a possible hate crime.

A 35-year-old Asian man was standing at the 21 Street−Queensbridge F train platform at about 7:43 a.m. on Monday, May 24, when suddenly he was approached by an unknown man, according to police. The unidentified man said something reportedly incomprehensible and then shoved the 35-year-old man onto the southbound tracks, authorities say.

Passengers who were at the station helped the man out of the tracks, police say, but the man sustained a deep cut to his forehead and was transported by EMS to nearby Mount Sinai Queens Hospital in stable condition, according to police.

The unidentified individual then ran out of the station to the street and fled in an unknown direction, police say. He is described as 6 feet tall and in his 20s or 30s and was last seen wearing a black mask, black hoodie, black pants and black shoes.

 CBS New York

 Police say a man was stabbed during a robbery near the A train station in South Ozone Park on Monday night.

The incident happened near Lefferts Boulevard and Liberty Avenue.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the victim was on the train or the platform.

Police said he was stabbed in the chest during a robbery and his wallet was taken.

Woman reported missing found dead in car trunk on Lefferts Blvd.

 

 

QNS

Authorities discovered a woman’s body inside the trunk of a car parked in South Ozone Park Wednesday morning.

The woman, believed to be 26-year-old Destini Smothers, was found inside a black Toyota Camry, parked outside of 149-57 Lefferts Blvd., around 9:51 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10.

A tow truck operator discovered the body after they had come to move the abandoned car, which didn’t have any license plates, according to the NYPD.

Officers from the 106th Precinct cordoned off the residential block as the investigation began.

 Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz arrived at the crime scene around mid-day on Wednesday. (?!)

Smothers, who was from Troy, New York, went missing in November 2020. She was last seen at Bowlero, a bowling alley in Woodside, according to the NYPD.

 

South Queens COVID rates rise again

 

Queens Chronicle

 

As the city’s seven-day Covid positivity jumped from 6.92 percent on Monday to 9.25 by Wednesday, South Queens has remained near the top of the city’s infection rate.

Three neighborhoods in the area have surpassed the rest of the borough in Covid positivity. Richmond Hill/South Ozone Park’s 11419 ZIP code had climbed to the third-highest rate of Covid in the entire city at 15.71 percent. Three surrounding ZIP codes 11420, 11416 and 11417, encompassing Ozone Park and South Ozone Park, had also ascended to be the next-highest rates in all of the borough — all with rates hovering near or above 15 percent.

After that area, Flushing and Murray Hill had the highest rate in Queens at 13.9 percent positive.

The South Queens area has continuously contained some of the highest Covid rates, ever since they started to tick up across the city in the month of October.

City data showed by the end of October that the Ozone Park-Richmond Hill area had exceedingly low rates of testing, contributing to the problem. Five neighboring ZIP codes in South Queens were among the 10 areas with the lowest rates of Covid testing in the whole city. The efforts of Councilwoman Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) to set up more sites in the area had met bureaucratic resistance.

Finally in mid-November, the city opened a testing site at the Lefferts Library at 103-34 Lefferts Blvd. The site is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with molecular and antigen testing available, although the Health + Hospitals website says that rapid testing may be limited.