Volume 65, No. 174 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2019 50¢ QUEENS Deep disparities TODAY December 20, 2019 A MAN WAS SHOT AND KILLED outside a Rockaway Beach Key Food supermarket on Wednesday, Patch.com reports. The incident took place shortly after 6 p.m. at 87-15 Rockaway Beach Blvd., police said. The 45-year-old victim was shot multiple times in the arms and chest. Borough President Melinda Katz presided over the swearing-in ceremony of 345 Queens community board appointees earlier this FIFTEEN OF QUEENS’ 16 COUNCIL- year. Photo via the Borough President’s Office members voted in favor of a measure that By David Brand board, and men outnumber women by a wide would force affordable housing developers Significant racial, Queens Daily Eagle margin on several boards. In contrast, Latinx who receive city funding to set aside 15 Queens has earned a reputation as the residents are underrepresented — sometimes percent of the units for homeless New most diverse county in the United States, but by a huge margin — on all but one commu- Yorkers. Councilmember I. Daneek Miller age and gender the borough’s 14 local community boards — nity board, while Asian people are underrep- abstained from voting and cited concerns key conduits between communities and city resented on all but four boards. Meanwhile, about a saturation of affordable housing disparities affect government — rarely reflect the demograph- women make up less than 40 percent of developments in his district. ics of the districts they represent, according members on half of the boards and only six every community to an analysis by the Eagle and Measure of community board members — of 663 total — America. identified as LGBTQ on their applications. A RIDGEWOOD MAN HAS DIED FROM White people are overrepresented on every Continued on page 14 injuries he sustained after he was hit by an board in Queens Amazon delivery van on Dec. 9, police said Thursday. The 2019 Ram 3500 Promaster struck 66-year-old Bohdan Spiegowski on Stanhope St. near Fairview Ave. at 5 p.m. Five more Queens subway stations Spiegowski suffered severe head trauma and was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died three days later. The Amazon driver, will become ADA accessible whose name has not been released, has not By Jonathan Sperling been charged, according to the New York Queens Daily Eagle Daily News. The MTA has added five Queens subway stations to the list of transit sites set to receive A GROUP OF QUEENS PARENTS accessibility upgrades in the proposed 2020- 2024 Capital Plan. The station improvements whose children attend middle school in are part of the MTA’s plan to ensure that rid- District 28 is pushing back against a lack ers are no more than two stops from an ac- of public information about a 20-member cessible station. working group tasked by the city with Court Square on the E/M line, Northern increasing school diversity. The group of Boulevard on the M/R line, 33rd Street on the parents calls itself Queens Parents United No. 7 line, 46th Street on the No. 7 line and and it is petitioning the city to release more Parsons Boulevard on the F line are the latest information, Patch.com reports. Queens stations to be targeted for accessibil- ity improvements. The stations join six other Queens subway “WE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHO stations slated for accessibility improve- has been chosen to represent us,” the petition ments under the 2020-2024 Capital Plan. says. “These are voluntary positions and by Those stations are Beach 67th Street on the A not revealing them, or the methodology of line, Briarwood on the E/F line, Broadway on their selection, suggests this is a ‘kangaroo the N/W line, Woodhaven Boulevard on the court’ of cronies and known ‘friendlies.’” A M/R line, Steinway Street on the M/R line diversity plan website lists working group and Rockaway Boulevard on the A line. members’ affiliations, but not the members’ NYC Transit’s Senior Advisor for System- names. wide Accessibility Alex Elegudin said in a statement that the MTA is “going beyond our commitment to put customers no more than A PIPE FAILURE — NOT COOKING two stations away from an accessible sta- grease — caused a Thanksgiving weekend Customers make use of an elevator at the ADA-accessible Forest Hills-71st Av. station tion within five years, filling coverage gaps Continued on page 2 elevators. The station connects riders to the E, F, M and R trains. Photo via MTA/Flickr Continued on page 16 Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Visit us Online @queenseagle facebook.com/queenseagle queenseagle.com Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day honors the New Yorkers who died in 2019 QUEENS By David Brand Queens Daily Eagle Local leaders, advocates and dozens of people experiencing homelessness held glowing candles inside Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue Presbyterian TODAY Church Wednesday evening as they listened to the names and remembrances of 153 homeless New Yorkers who have died in the past year. December 20, 2019 The annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day honors the individuals who die without stable housing amid New York City’s historic home- sewer backup that poured filth into more than lessness crisis. Some died anonymously, remem- 100 homes in Queens, The New York Times bered only by a first name or nickname. Others reported Thursday. were killed in high-profile incidents, including a Elected officials, including Queens Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi (second from stabbing attack that resulted in the deaths of four left), observed Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day in Manhattan. men sleeping on a sidewalk in Chinatown. Photos courtesy of Care for the Homeless A NEW YORK JUDGE DENIED THE U.S. Cities across the country host the event each government’s request Thursday to toss out year on or near the Winter Solstice, the longest a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality night of the year. of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Local leaders, including Assemblymember arrests in New York courthouses. Andrew Hevesi and City Council Speaker Co- rey Johnson used the occasion to call for more affordable housing for homeless New Yorkers. U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE JED RAKOFF “The answer to homelessness is more perma- said he was rejecting the government’s nent, supportive and affordable housing,” John- arguments that suggested the arrests were son said. “none of this Court’s business and second, that On Thursday, the City Council voted in favor even if it is, the common law privilege against of a measure that would force affordable housing courthouse arrests doesn’t apply to ICE.” developers who receive city funding to reserve 15 percent of the units for people in homeless shelters. Dozens of people attended Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. THE BAYSIDE ANIMAL GROUP Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue has won a legal battle to recover a rescue dog from a Connecticut woman who did not properly State Bar Association will host a panel on give the dog proper care, the New York Post reports. Stamford Superior Court Judge David white nationalism and domestic terrorism Tobin made the ruling. By Rob Abruzzese incidents becoming more and more frequent, former FBI assistant director for counterintel- Queens Daily Eagle law enforcement, our elected officials and the ligence; Nan Whatley, major of Dayton, Ohio; The New York State Bar Association (NYS- general public must work together to eradicate and Leonard Zeskind, author of the book, BA) will hold its weeklong 143rd annual meet- hate groups from our society,” said NYSBA “Blood and Politics: The History of the White ing in Manhattan next month, and when it does President Hank Greenberg. “On behalf of the Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the it will host a special summit to examine the State Bar Association, it is a great honor as Mainstream.” rise of white nationalism and domestic terror- well as an important duty to present such an The discussion will focus on the increased ism in the United States in recent years. esteemed panel to lead this timely and vital attention that law enforcement is paying to The weeklong event will take place at the discussion.” home-grown extremists and radicalized white Get 'The Best of the Nest' New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan from The event will be moderated by Craig Boise, nationalists who have been responsible for Monday, Jan. 27 through Friday, Jan. 31. The the dean of the Syracuse University College of multiple recent mass shootings. delivered to your panel, “White Nationalism and Domestic Ter- Law. They will also discuss how the public can inbox every week: rorism in America” will take place from 2 to 4 It will feature panelists Jeh Johnson, former balance safety with personal civil liberties, p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; David especially when it comes to law enforcement QueensEagle.com/Subscribe “With the number of white nationalist Cole, national legal director of the American agencies conducting surveillance of groups groups surging in recent years and violent Civil Liberties Union; Frank Figliuzzi, Jr., a and individuals based on their political beliefs. FORMER PROSECUTORS FIGHTING FOR YOU! Dominic Addabbo, Esq. | Todd Greenberg, Esq What's on the docket ADDABBO & for the Queens legal GREENBERG community LAW To submit op-eds and letters, Experience Equals Results. ‧ Criminal Cases ‧ Personal Injury ‧ Real Estate Matters Contact Managing Courts are closed on Addabbo & Greenberg Editor David Brand at Dec. 25 in observance of Christmas 118-21 Queens Blvd. Suite 306, Forest Hills, N.Y. 11375 [email protected] Call or Click: