Vol. 66, No. 86 FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 50¢ ‘Reckless and QUEENS unacceptable’ Once-quiet Kew Gardens TODAY hotel is scene of two recent shootings FebruaryAUGUSTAUGUST 14, 10,6, 202020202020 By David Brand Queens Daily Eagle MORE THAN 100 VOLUNTEERS PAR- Not even a criminal courthouse across the ticipated in Assemblymember Edward Braun- street has deterred a few guests from stirring stein’s 8th Annual Summer Blood Drive at the up major trouble in and around a Kew Gardens Bay Terrace Shopping Center Aug. 6 hotel. In recent weeks, there have been at least FOREST HILLS SISTERS KATE, SARAH two shootings reported at the Umbrella Hotel and Julia Lin started a project to create see- at 124-18 Queens Boulevard — one July 3 and through masks in order to improve communi- another Sunday, according to police. Victims cation for hard-of-hearing neighbors. The ini- survived both shootings, but the latest attack tiative started as a Girl Scout project inspired left bullet holes in the front door. byQUEENS their mother’s struggles and has since dis- The hotel is located along a stretch of tributed 70 masks and 30 message boards to Queens Boulevard typically quiet in the eve- local businesses, Patch reported. nings, when, Queens Borough Hall, the nearby courthouse and a row of law offices are closed. “WRITING DOWN WHAT YOU ARE The latest shootng at the mbrella otel in ew Gardens lef bullet holes in the front But things have changed since COVID-19 saying helps a lot when someone can’t hear door. Assemblymember aniel osenthal has organied local leaders and police to solve surged in New York City. you, but many places don’t do that,” Sarah the problem of recent crime at the hotel. Photo courtesy of osenthal Continued on page 14 told Patch. “This isn’t because businesses don’t want to, but because they aren’t aware of how much it helps.” MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO CALLED Blood and guts outside Jamaica ‘wet markets’ pushing back school reopening the “easy way out” at a press conference on Thursday in response to pushback from unions. “But spur grassroots enforcement effort if people say, look, it’s not perfect therefore how the establishments dispose of their animal ter subway station. we don’t want to participate, that’s not New By David Brand Queens Daily Eagle remains. “This is typical conditions on a public city York,” de Blasio said. “New Yorkers do not In a video filmed Aug. 11, animal rights ac- street with blood, filth, feces everywhere,” need perfection. New Yorkers are pragmatic, Rivulets of blood and rotting poultry parts tivist Edita Birnkrant highlighted the gore along she said as she filmed the feathery side- New Yorkers are tough.” outside two Jamaica slaughterhouses have the sidewalk outside Almedina Live Poultry walk. spurred calls for a ban on so-called “wet mar- and Aziz Slaughterhouse near the Jamaica Cen- ACTING QUEENS BOROUGH PRES- kets,” or, at the very least, stronger oversight of Continued on page 2 ident Sharon Lee announced Free Movie Wednesdays at the Queens Drive In. The se- ries starts next week and pre-registration is required for entry. THE PORT AUTHORITY ANNOUNCED that Queens-owned J&P Runway Café will operate a new cafeteria in Building 14 at JFK International Airport. “[THE] ANNOUNCEMENT IS A WIN for the collective community as we now have the ability to hire workers and engage local businesses to partner right in our community,” said J&P Runway Café co-partner Annette Runcie. BODYARMOR, A QUEENS-BASED energy drink company, is partnering with the QUEENSU. S. National Tennis Association and rising star Noami Osaka to refurbish tennis courts. “MY EXPERIENCE AT THE US OPEN has played such a pivotal role in my career and the tennis courts I grew up playing on have helped shape who I am today,” Osaka said. “I’m excited to join BODYARMOR to give young athletes and aspiring tennis players the Actvists from the organiaton CLA call on the state to ban wet marets live animal slaughterhouses during the CV-1 opportunity to experience tennis on the same pandemic at a rally in idgewood. Conditons outside some marets have spurred the movement for stronger health regulatons. courts that started it all off for me.” Photo courtesy of CLA Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Visit us Online @queenseagle facebook.com/queenseagle queenseagle.com Blood and guts outside Jamaica ‘wet markets’ spur grassroots enforcement effort Continued from page 1 not keep their sidewalks “clean and sanitary, espe- Birnkrant, the executive director of New cially with regards to any bio-hazardous material.” Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, or Goodman encouraged New Yorkers to report dis- NYCLASS, said the unsanitary conditions inside gusting or dangerous sidewalk conditions to 311. and outside slaughterhouses like Almedina and On Thursday, an enforcement official visited Aziz can breed disease and put New Yorkers’ the Jamaica slaughterhouses on Beaver Road health at risk. Scientists and public health ex- and found the outdoor conditions to be clean, ac- perts say COVID-19 likely originated inside a cording to the agency. The sites have been issued wet market in China, where animals are packed citations in the past for blocking sidewalks, but tightly together in filthy conditions. none were related to blood and guts spilled on The same conditions are present at markets in the sidewalk. New York City, according to advocates and some When contacted Thursday, both Almedina local lawmakers. and Aziz markets suggested the blood and ex- “These live animal wet markets represent a posed animal parts came from the other location. perfect storm for zoonotic animal-to-human dis- A bill before the state legislature would take dras- ease transmission,” said author and physician tic steps to prevent such conditions in the future. Dr. Michael Greger in a July report on slaughter- Manhattan Assemblymember Linda Rosen- A dead chicen atracts a swarm of ies in a dumpster outside two Jamaica slaughter- house conditions produced by NowThis. thal introduced legislation that would close the houses, located near the Jamaica Center subway staton. mage via CLA In another video shot by Birnkrant outside roughly 80 state-licensed slaughterhouses in Almedina on May 26, black flies swarm a chick- New York City and create a task force to ex- and butcher animals to comply with Halal stan- en carcass lying on top of a stuffed dumpster. A amine conditions at facilities where animals are dards. chicken head pokes out of a garbage bag while stored, slaughtered and sold. “I’m not supporting that bill because it would South Ozone Park more flies hover above a pool of blood streaming A separate 2008 law, renewed Monday, bans shut down halal business and kosher businesses toward the sewer grate down the block. the creation of new slaughterhouses within 1,500 and make it hard for a lot of my constituents to man sentenced for A July 2019 video posted on Facebook feet of residential zones in New York City. get food,” Weprin said. shows multiple dead chickens lying on top of That measure’s sponsor, Queens Assembly- But Birkrant, the NYCLASS director, said sexual abuse at garbage bags as flies congregate outside Al- member David Weprin, said the moratorium on ensuring safe conditions at slaughterhouses will medina and Aziz. ‘The smell right now is in- new wet markets came in response to constituent actually improve the health of New Yorkers who sane,” said the cameraman, from the organi- concerns more than a dozen years ago. follow halal or kosher regulations. daycare center zation Brooklyn-Queens Animal Save. “The “Residents constantly complained about the “Halal and kosher meat can be purchased at By David Brand smell is making us almost want to throw up.” unbearable odor emanated from these markets,” many other markets that do not put the public Queens Daily Eagle A city Health Department spokesperson said he said. safety and health of all New Yorkers at such high A South Ozone Park man who sexually they do not monitor sidewalk conditions and re- He said he does not support the ban on exist- risk by operating slaughterhouses in densely abused two girls at a daycare center owned by ferred questions to the Department of Sanitation. ing wet markets because of the potential impact populated neighborhoods, often disregarding ba- his daughter will spend the next two years in Sanitation spokesperson Joshua Goodman said on Muslim and Jewish New Yorkers. Aziz and sic health, sanitation and animal welfare regula- prison. the agency issues violations to businesses that do Almedina, the Jamaica slaughterhouses, kill tions,” she said. Ramon Rodriguez, 77, was sentenced to two years behind bars after pleading guilty in Jan- uary to first-degree sexual abuse for molesting at least two girls who attended the daycare. The girls were 5 and 7 years old when the persistent abuse began, prosecutors said. Flushing Town Hall provides “Sadly, this defendant took advantage of his access to his daughter’s childcare business and befriended these vulnerable youngsters for his own depraved desires,” Queens District Attor- ney Melinda Katz said. free art kits to local kids Queens prosecutors said Rodriguez forced By David Brand one victim to touch his genitals and watch him Queens Daily Eagle as he touched himself over the course of rough- Flushing Town Hall has provided ly five years. free art kits to young Queens residents, Justice Karen Gopee also sentenced Rodri- allowing local kids to express their guez to three years’ post-release supervision. emotions in a community exhibition along Northern Boulevard. Artists of all levels have contributed PUBLISHERS: to the venue’s outdoor project, Call and Response: Grief, Resiliency and Hope, Michael Nussbaum J.D.