Thank you, everyone, for a great rally!  We had a really good turnout and we got our message across peacefully.  Thanks to all the volunteers who tirelessly distributed flyers, made tons of photocopies, crafted awesome protest signs, contacted the press, helped with petitions, and helped to manage the crowds.  Very well done!  Thanks for your help!  Unfortunately our elected officials did not attend. Keep up the good work!  We won’t stop until we close this shelter!

In the meantime, our next big push is to get all our neighborhood residents who are citizens to register to vote.  The deadline to register to vote in the September 9th state and local primary elections is August 15th.   We are looking for block captains to reach out to neighbors on their block and get them to register to vote.  We have voter registration forms ready for you to pick up.  Please let me know if you want to volunteer. - roedaraio@gmail.com

謝謝大家,謝謝毎一個 來參加抗議活動的鄰居們，這次的活動和平，成功的傳遞了我們的訊息.，謝謝所有的志願工作者，他們不厭其煩的散發傳單，影印成千上萬的資料，絞盡腦汁構想示威牌的文字，有耐心的幫羣眾填寫請願書幫忙羣眾維持秩序.大家都辛苦了.

可是我們不能就此停止下來，你們注意到沒有，這次的示威一個民選舉官員也沒有現身，他們對我們的忽視是因為我們不投票沒有力量, 所以我們要在這選舉日大家都要去投票,唯有這樣透過選票這些民選官員才會聽到我們的聲音，而且好些民選官員今年要競選連任.

我們重要的下一步是要譲有公民身份的街坊鄰居做選民登記，要在九月九日做初選投票的要在八月十五做完選民登記,我們現在在尋求街坊小隊長幫忙街坊鄰居填寫選民登記表.我們目前備有中文，英文，西班牙文以及韓文的選民登記表，歡迎來取，如果你願意當志願意者請讓我知道. -  - roedaraio@gmail.com

Gracias a todos por una protesta buena. Mucha gente de la communidad y la prensa vinieron and dimos el mensaje pacificamente sin malas palabras con los desamparados. Gracias a todos los voluntarios quienes distribuyeron los anuncios, hicieron fotocopias, escribieron los carteles, ayudaron con la peticion, y ayudaron con control de multitudes. Desafortunadamente nuestros funcionarios electos no vinieron. Gracias por toda su ayuda. ¡No paramos hasta que el albergue para los desamparados esté cerrado!

Ahora nuestra tarea será a ayudarles a nuestros vecinos a registrarse para votar. La fecha límite para registrarse para votar es el 15 de agosto para poder votar en las elecciones primarias el 9 de septiembre. Pedimos voluntarios para ser representantes de sus calles y ayudarles a sus vecinos a registrarse para votar. Tenemos formularios de registros de votantes para recoger. Házmelo saber si quieres ayudar. -  roedaraio@gmail.com

From World Journal:

(Elmhurst, Queens) Organized by various community organizations, more than 500 people protested for the 3rd time (July 22) at the Pan Am Hotel near Queens Blvd and 51st Ave. The protesters were protesting against the City for the conversion of the Pan Am hotel into a homeless shelter. Gilbert Taylor, Commissioner of the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), held a press conference beforehand. He expressed a willingness to communicate and hopes the community understands that this was an “emergency decision”. To prevent the confrontations between the protesters and homeless shelter residents, 5 school buses were sent to take the homeless families on a trip to the cinema.

Two hours before the protest, which was scheduled at 6:30pm, five 48-seat school buses stopped at the back of the hotel and departed with the homeless families. One homeless shelter resident indicated that she knew that there was going to be a protest today, and understands everyone has the right to express his or her opinions. However, she hopes the local residents and homeless families have mutual respect for each other. “Nobody wants to be in a homeless shelter forever” she said. Another person from the shelter expressed that this is a “Family Shelter” which should alleviate the residents' security worries.

Commissioner Taylor held his press conference in front of the Pan Am Hotel but departed before the protest began. When questioned on the lack of transparency and the selection of the location of the shelter, the Commissioner responded “The city’s homeless shelters are currently insufficient; DHS has a responsibility to provide care as soon as possible. Most shelter residents are poor people, who got evicted by their land lords or victims of domestic violence. As for the children, they need to avoid being further psychologically damaged, as they have experienced emotional discomfort from the previous two protests.”

Commissioner Taylor stated that a third of the homeless families have jobs and the rest are actively looking as this is only a temporary shelter. DHS has already sent representatives to communicate with the community, who have active dialogues with the local churches and hopes the community does not have prejudice against the homeless. He also hopes the community does not over-react as he says that the homeless are harmless to the community. As for the issue of overcrowding in Universal Pre-K, he is actively negotiating with the Department of Education.

A spokesman from DHS indicated that there is an “obstacle” for DHS to check for criminal records of potential homeless residents, thus DHS is unable to screen for this information. The hotel currently houses 181 families and has 24 hour surveillance with police and security on standby. All residents are required to log-in and out. Other than job related factors, access is only granted until 10PM.

Participating in the protest were mainly Asian residents and organizations, which included Elmhurst Block Association (ELMBA), Hotel Chinese Association of New York (HCANY),  Chinese Cultural Arts Association, Malaysia Association of America, Filipino Association of Elmhurst, and Newtown Civic Association. Democratic candidate for State Senator of the 16th district, SJ Jung, also attended.

Protesters strongly emphasized that they are not against the homeless, and they also recognized the need for homeless shelters in New York City. However, the city officials (from DHS) lied to the community back in May on the future of the Pan Am Hotel as a homeless shelter, and the following month, they announced the conversion only after 30 families had moved in. The protesters felt that 1) the Mayor should be held responsible for this action. 2) Many homeless people in general have mental and substance abuse issues, or criminal backgrounds. 3) Warehousing them in a hotel is not a solution.  4) It will only further strain the already scarce services provided by the Police Departments, the Fire Stations, the Hospitals, the Public Schools, EMS and other equally critical entities.

Hello concerned neighbors of the Pan Am Hotel:  

We thank you for your shared interest in protesting against the conversion of the Pan Am Hotel into a homeless shelter in Elmhurst.  We must be persistent and show the city officials WE WILL NOT GIVE UP! 

Forward to your family, friends and neighbors.   Please post on your social media page (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) this link for updated information. 

City Hall has not heard us yet, so please join our protest:

What: Protest the warehousing of homeless

Date:  Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Time:  6:30 PM

Location:  Pan Am Hotel (Queens Boulevard) 

Protest will be held Rain or Shine 

The Queens Community want to fight for affordable housing, not warehousing the homeless.  Enough is enough – Elmhurst already has more than 3 social service facilities. 

Our protest is not directed at the Homeless Families.  The protest is directed at the Mayor, City Comptroller Stringer, Dept Homeless Services, Samaritan Village and owner of the building. 

Hi All,

DI Leyson, 110th Precinct, just returned from vacation, was going through his reports and saw that a burglary occurred in our area.

Saturday, 7/6, a burglary occurred at 51 #s on Manilla Street in Elmhurst between the hours of 9:00 pm and 1:30 am. The front door was forced open, the room was ransacked but nothing was stolen.

This is very alarming - according to the police report, a neighbor saw a "strange white male" who was bald and in his 40's in the garage. The neighbor did not call 911.

Call 911 immediately if you see something suspicious! You will not get into trouble if you are wrong.

If you are the victim of a crime, please call and report it. The police will not know what's going on in our community if no reports are filed.
_____________________________________________


Here's a response I received to our e-mail blast about this:


Hi Roe,

I wanted to inform you that before the long weekend our roof hatch alarm sensor went off at around 4am.

We called the police and they were at our door within minutes. Officers went on the roof but did not find anyone or evidence of anyone.

I also spoke to the neighbors, since our houses are attached and the officers walked on neighbors' roofs, but aside from hearing the police walking on the roof, no one could confirm that there were other people prior to that. Which does not mean that there were not.

ADT was at my house yesterday and they could not confirm if the sensor malfunctioned.

Also my cameras at the front and the back did not register any movement. I do NOT YET have the camera on the roof, but I am considering one after this ... Incident.

Therefore my point is this. It is worth investing in a security system.

And I wanted to commend the officers especially the plainclothes ones to a quick response.

Feel free to share my story if you see fit.

We live @ 51 #s on 64th street, Woodside NY 11377

Roe Daraio, President
Comet Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com

Hi All,

A resident's mom and grandmother, who live in Maspeth, were almost scammed today. Luckily, the mom contacted her daughter with the following message and her daughter immediately recognized it as a scam.

Please folks, DO NOT believe anyone calling to say a relative is in jail or has been kidnapped or some other outrageous story. Some scammers say you owe taxes and must pay right away. These people are good at convincing people they are the real thing! Always check out the story before you react!! The 104th Precinct was notified about the incident. We're happy no one became a victim.

Roe Daraio, President
Comet Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com


Phone call scam


Grandma received a call from someone identifying himself as her grandson stating that he was in Florida and got into trouble and was in jail.  A Sgt. Thomas Marks got on the phone and stated that he needed money for a court appearance.  When Grandma said that she couldn't do that but that she would call me she was given a contact number.  The number was 1-438-345-0135.  After I couldn't reach anyone to validate his whereabouts, I called the number.  The gentleman (Sgt. Thomas Marks) was very polite and professional and explained that my son was with a friend in Miami and some locals at the Hotel invited them to breakfast.  They were all in a car and got pulled over for speeding and the police found a significant amount of drugs in the car.  Since no one took responsibility for the drugs, they were all locked up.  My son was interrogated and his story checked out but he needs to be released by a judge. The next court appearance would be in 6 weeks and there is a way that he can get out today but he needs $2000.00 for his court appearance and that money would be refunded.  Actually it was $3,000.00 but my son has $1,000.00 of that money.  I was instructed to go to an A&P in East Elmhurst and to get $2,000.00 on "Reload It A Convenient Way To Move Your Money" and I was to call back with the serial numbers from the cards and he would go before a judge and could come home today.  The call-back number was 1-438-937-4574.  

You know the rest of the story.
Mom

Community symposium on the conversion of the Pan Am Hotel into a homeless shelter

 [Epoch Times July 11, 2014 Reuters (Epoch Times New York reporter Wei Zhen)

The Pan American Hotel, located in Elmhurst, Queens, has been converted into a homeless shelter. After the protest on June 17, where more than 1000 people participated, and at the public hearing held on June 30th, where the residents protested again. Tonight (July 10), community activists gathered at Elmhurst’s Starry Bakery & Café to organize a discussion on the current developments and solutions.

The President of the Elmhurst Block Association (ELMBA), and coordinator of the event, Bob Wong, said that after the public hearing on June 30th, there have not been any positive results, rather, the converted Pan American hotel is speeding up the process of moving more homeless into the shelter. More than 20 families move in every day; next week an estimate of 200 households will occupy the shelter and the number of residents will surpass 600.

He strongly stressed that the community has compassion and cares for the homeless; "We do not discriminate nor oppose the arrival of new homeless residents. We hope to live in harmony with them. However, we are against the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the Pan Am hotel owners and Samaritan Village for not giving us prior communication and their improper practices. In May, the city said they would not convert the Pan Am hotel into a homeless shelter. And in June, without notifying the community, they move in the homeless. They completely lied to us!" 

Mr. Wong said that on the 4th of next month (August), he plans to hold another protest at Elmhurst Hospital, and afterward if possible, organize another larger protest at City Hall.

Mr. Fong, manager of Starry bakery, whose store has been open for more than a year, indicated that recently in the last two months a lot of bad things have happened. There are homeless people going into the store asking for bread, using the bathroom, and even harassing his customers, negatively impacting his business. Many guests now have begun to complain; they are not willing to come to the store to buy things, or drink coffee. The store's female employees are also feeling unsafe; when the store closes at 8:30pm they are very nervous and scared walking home.

Mr. Ma Hui Wen, a long time resident of Elmhurst, who lives near the former Pan Am Hotel, is baffled. He said that business was not bad at the Pan American hotel. He had a friend who tried to book a room at the hotel but was unsuccessful. After the conversion, there is no more luxury hotel in the neighborhood. He hopes the hotel can be restored back to its former glory.

Chinese translation of letter: