Hi All,

Captain Manson, 104th Precinct, called to let us know about the following incidents that occurred in Maspeth and Woodside not far from the Elmhurst border. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere!!

• Behind 53 #s on 72nd Place, Maspeth - petty larceny of a car. Crime occurred sometime between 10:00 pm on Thursday, July 10th and 7:30 pm on July 11th. $9.00 + loose change was stolen from the vehicle. (Resident probably parked vehicle behind house - perpetrator entered yard and stole money from vehicle. Don't leave anything in your vehicle no matter where it's parked and make sure doors are locked!!)
• Yesterday, 7/11, an unknown male perpetrator opened the gate to a residence at 51 #s on 72nd Place, Woodside. He opened the garage door and stole several bottles of alcohol. (The homeowner has this on video and it shows crime occurred at 4:09 am.

Please report all crime to 911. The NYPD doesn't know crime is happening unless it's reported!!!  Stay alert for suspicious activity!!

Roe Daraio, President

Comet Civic Association

www.cometcivic.com

Abrupt conversion of Pan Am Hotel, causes stress to surrounding Asian businesses - World Journal, 7/10/2014

With the arrival of more homeless families into the Pan Am Homeless Shelter, local Asian businesses are beginning to have to deal with the headaches of petty theft. Restaurants are trying to avoid being victims of “free meals” by the homeless.

Community Board members, elected officials and police urge business owners and residents to report all crimes immediately. The manager of Fortune Supermarket (located on Queens Blvd and one block away from the Pan Am homeless shelter), Mr. Xia, indicated that there has not been theft in big money items, only petty theft.  

“Last week, two men came into the supermarket with backpacks, took a bag of chocolate and ran,” said Mr. Yang, an employee of the market. He observed that these thieves were from the Pan Am Homeless Shelter. Another employee revealed that some children of homeless families, who come to the supermarket, have pilfering habits. “They often wait for their parents to finish paying at the cash register then pickup yogurts, candies and other snacks and leave.” 

Petty theft and pilfering usually occur in the evening, when the supermarket is understaffed and especially at the front entrance where there is only one cashier. The cashier is not allowed to leave the register and thus unable to recover the stolen items. “It's pointless to call the police on such a small matter! And even if they come, what can the police do?” said an employee. The supermarket staff believes that stealing a little today and a little tomorrow might just be a nuisance now, but it will eventually lead to bigger problems in the future.

Ping's Restaurant, located a few blocks away from the Pan Am Homeless Shelter, is vigilant about not becoming a victim of “Theft of Service” (again).

“On Sunday, a homeless person came in, had a meal and discovered he wasn’t able to pay,” said the restaurant manager, Mr. Chen. The waitstaff are instructed not to do business with potential rogue customers who do not intend to pay. As for takeout customers, they must pay first before receiving their food.

Mr. Chen, another employee from Fortune Supermarket, indicated that after the homeless moved in, there have been an increase in police patrols from the 110 precinct. The police go door-to-door to teach the residents how to prevent theft and when to call the police. “For example, don’t get into a verbal confrontation with the homeless, avoid it as much as you can.”

Community Board 4 member, Minwen Yang, said, “Even though these petty thefts are minor disturbances, we must report them. If we don’t, then the police will not have accurate data to prove the problems caused by the homeless shelter.” She also revealed that the next protest will likely be at City Hall.

The Commanding Officer of the 110 Precinct, Deputy Inspector Leyson, indicated that there had previously been a downward trend in crimes within a 2000 feet radius of the Pan Am Homeless Shelter. He hopes that residents and businesses actively report suspicious activities so that the police can be deployed in a meaningful manner. He also asked everyone to pay close attention.

State Senator Stavisky expressed that during the public hearing she proposed increased police patrols, and as Inspector Leyson communicated, encourages everyone to actively report any suspicious events.

Hi All,

This notice about commuter van renewal was passed on to us by Community Board 5. According to Taxi & Limousine Commission, the local community board and elected officials were notified six weeks prior to this notice going into the City Register. I followed up with Councilman Dromm's office and Community Board 4 and both said they never received any notification.

Comments to NYC DOT MUST be submitted no later than July 17th. If the commuter vans have been an issue for you, please submit comments. You will note that they want authorization to add more commuter vans. One of my comments will be that if they didn't make pickups outside their authorized zone they wouldn't need more vans! On our side of Queens Boulevard they're only authorized to operate in a portion of Elmhurst - which doesn't include Calamus Avenue!! As most of you know, they're all over northern and central Maspeth, Winfield and more recently Middle Village - communities outside of their authorized zone.

Roe

FLASH: City Council District 30,
On Wednesday July 09 and Thursday July 10, 2014 a Television for "Person of Interest Season 4" is scheduled to film scenes at the following locations:

E-I DRUG HOUSE
57-38 BROWN PLACE, Queens (Interior Exterior) 
Description: 2P-10P Various INTERIOR dialogue scenes in house, Actors walk and talk in house with weapons, Actor held hostage, tied and gagged, Actor as undercover detective, STUNT- Actor punches other actor, Actor draws weapon, Actor hit other actor with weapon, Gun Fight in house, SFX - Squib hits, Body Squibs, Blank rounds, Atmosphere Smoke, PROP GUNS ON SET, SHOTS FIRED, 5 Actors, 11 Stuntmen, 15 BG -- 9P-4A EXTERIOR dialogue scenes, Actors walk and talk, Picture car drives with flow of traffic. Picture cars pull up to and away from curb, Camera in car, Actor checks package in moving car, Actor sits in picture car with weapon, Actor watches from a distance in unmarked police vehicle, Actor on rooftop window with prop gun, STUNT-DRIVING SHOT- SUV pulls away from curb and heads South on Brown Place from 55th Drive to 58th Rd, Turns LEFT onto 58th Road and is TBONED at intersection by Garbage Truck traveling Northbound on Brown Place from Caldwell Avenue to 58th Road, SUV rolls on Brown Place
VTU Request: No 
Request: REQUEST: TCD Assistance for ITC at TCD Discretion, All Requests as per TCD Supervisor Discretion, Permission to stage, operate picture cars and circle back to 1 at TCD Discretion, REQUEST: TED Assistance for Prolonged ITC at TCD Discretion, All Requests per TCD Supervisor Discretion, 1 Supervisor 5 Agents meet at 8:00PM. REQUEST: Permission to shoot exterior b-roll and surveillance footage, hand held or on sticks, within a 5 block radius of location with the use of an 8 foot ladder, All Stunts supervised by Jeff Gibson 732-939-8131, Stunt Coordinator, All SFX supervised by Steve Kirshoff 914.403.0483, SFX Supervisor, FDNY permit obtained, All requests per FDNY Explosives Unit, Chief Deputy Inspector James Lauer. REQUEST: Permission for curb lane plus one on Brown Place between 55th Drive and Caldwell Avenue, Permission for curb lane plus one on 58th Rd between Brown Place and 69th Street. REQUEST: Permission to stage two dumpsters in curb lane on Brown Place btw 58th Ave and 58th Road for catch.


NO PARKING IS IN EFFECT FROM 10PM Tuesday through 6am Thursday!


PARKING REQUEST

·  GRAND AVENUE between REMSEN PLACE and 55 DRIVE

• Street Side: North and South
• Street Control: Full Street

·  HAMILTON PLACE between 55 DRIVE and GRAND AVENUE

• Street Side: East and West
• Street Control: Full Street

·  PERRY AVENUE between HAMILTON PLACE and 55 DRIVE

• Street Side: North and South
• Street Control: Full Street

·  66 STREET between 58 AVENUE and GRAND AVENUE

• Street Side: East and West
• Street Control: Full Street

·  66 STREET between PERRY AVENUE and HAMILTON PLACE

• Street Side: East and West
• Street Control: Full Street

·  58 ROAD between BROWN PLACE and 69 STREET

• Street Side: North and South
• Street Control: Full Street

·  BROWN PLACE between 55 DRIVE and CALDWELL AVENUE

• Street Side: East and West
• Street Control: Full Street

·  58TH AVENUE between GRAND AVENUE and BROWN PLACE

• Street Side: North and South
• Street Control: Full Street

·  69 STREET between 58 ROAD and CALDWELL AVENUE

• Street Side: East and West
• Street Control: Full Street

Permit# 169797
If you have further questions you can contact their Locations Department at (718) 906-3300
Please feel free to contact David Moy at 212-489-6710 Ext. 210
Resident FAQ's

David Moy
Supervisor of Field Operations
Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting
212-489-6710 ext. 210
[email protected]

Good Morning,

This week’s operations will be at the locations as follows:

Various locations in and around Grand Ave. and 64th St.
(Community Board # 5)

35th Avenue between 83rd Street and 84th Street
(Community Board # 3)

NOTE: Please see the attached for more details.  If you have any questions please call.

Wayan Brown
Community Construction Liaison
Safe Routes To Schools, PhaseIII
NYC DDC Project# HWCSCH3B-3
888 Wyckoff Avenue  Ridgewood, NY 11237
Office: 718 418-0538
Fax:      718 418-0539
www.nyc.gov/buildnyc
www.nyc.gov/webuild

Chinese translation of letter:

Here are some articles about our protest on 6/30:

NBC
The Forum
The Times Ledger

And here's a rough translation from the World Journal:

Elmhurst residents accuse elected officials of dereliction of duty

Once again more than 1,000 Elmhurst residents protested against the conversion of the Pan American Hotel into a homeless Shelter.  A public hearing was held at the Elks Lodge, which is not far from the Pan Am hotel. Dept. of Homeless Services and Samaritan Village representatives were present along with Democratic State Senate contender SJ Jung, City Councilman Danny Dromm,  State Senator Toby Stavisky and New York State Assemblyman for the 39th district in Queens, Francisco Moya. SJ Jung blamed elected officials for not fulfilling their duties.

 “These homeless people have begun to wander, even into our backyards, garages, and even pressing our doorbells asking for money."  This was expressed by not more than one protester. Since the last protest, the authorities have not stopped the homeless from moving in. As of Monday, the Pan American Hotel houses more than 90 homeless families.

 "I spent almost 600,000 thousand dollars to buy my house, and I do not want to live together with these people" as Miss Tang said. She also participated in the previous protest.

 A small group of homeless families, who already moved into the homeless shelter stood across the street from the protest and began a shouting match with the protesters.  "go back to China” said one homeless individual. “Go make us some chicken wings” said another, drawing the ire of the protesters as police officers intervened.

One after another the residents expressed their concerns. A representative from New York City School District 24 indicated the district has no extra room for any more students. Members of the Community Board surmised that the previous owners, who did not attend, were not able to pay their mortgage and sold the hotel to the government. Many Asian residents believed that DHS chose this site because they wanted to “Take advantage (bully) of people of color, who are and often reserved people”.

At the hearing, a resident call into question one of the reason for homelessness as given by The Dept. of Homeless Services and Samaritan Village, and identified that the latest increase in homeless people was not caused by Hurricane Sandy, but from other factors.

Many community residents observed that these homeless people mostly wore expensive athletic shoes (sneakers), or had manicured nails, and some of them even have a car. The protesters were very angry and think the homeless shelter should be removed from the community.

The protesters were most critical of the “Non-transparent” action by DHS in its decision to open a homeless shelter. And the biggest casualty of this criticism was Councilman Daniel Dromm. At one moment of the hearing, a resident even said loudly 
"Next year, we won’t vote for you!”

Dromm said he really did not get any advance notice and did not intentionally withhold any information.  Stavisky, also said that she was not notified in advance, and expressed that the number of homeless people should be reduced to zero as soon as possible. Once all the current homeless people are moved out none should be allowed to move in.

Vice Secretary of Samaritan Village, Doug Apple explained that they have personnel to address homeless residents with “medical” problems, and they encourage the homeless to go out to find work or job training. DHS representative Lisa Black explained that this is just a temporary homeless shelter. By the end of this year, a majority of them will be moved out. She also stated that under New York law everyone is entitled to shelter."