By Sherica Daley | news@queensledger.com

“Give yourself the advantage,” explained Daryl Newkirk, Mortgage Expert and Community Home Lending Advisor with Chase Bank. Potential homebuyers in Jamaica, Queens attend The Lunch & Learn Homebuyer Event to educate on the walk-through of the homebuyer journey, and successful closing of the deal. The information event held at the Chase Community Bank on 161-10 Jamaica Avenue, with RB The Realtor, served as a homebuyer masterclass to teach home seekers the financial options, and the responsibilities of being a successful homeowner.

“Knowing what the responsibilities of the realtor, the loan officer, and yourself, are important in getting the deal,” explained Newkirk. He started the seminar with the step-by-step home-searching process. The first step is the responsibility of the homebuyer, and get their documentation, and learn what assistance they are eligible for. “I like to use the 222 rule when meeting with potential homebuyers the first time,” explained Newkirk. 

The 222 rule reflects the time frame of what you have been doing in the last two years: two years of employment history, two years of credit history, and two years of savings. Once a customer has these necessary documents, the next step is checking for additional financial assistance. Chase offers many grants to customers like the Chase Homebuyer Grant, and the Chase Enhanced Grant. These grants assist eligible customers making a monthly income over $1,000 with a $2,500- $5,000 grant towards the home purchase, especially in predominantly Black and Hispanic communities. 

Once these criteria are met, the next step is to get in contact with a realtor and start looking at properties. “Nobody likes a window shopper,” pointed out Veteran NYS Licensed Realtor Rasheedah “RB” Brown.        

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, shopping for a home has changed.” explained Brown. “Now homes need a pre-approval just for viewing. “You can’t be looking at a million-dollar property when you only qualify for $250,000,” said Brown. Being in real estate since 2003, she led the discussion on what it is like to be a real estate agent, and gave insightful advice, and what she has learned in getting to the final closing. “The job of a real estate agent is to provide guidance and their resources,” said Brown. “It’s about investment! Investment in yourself, and your future”

Next, Brown led the discussion on finding properties, and different types of properties that a potential buyer is interested in. Search engines like Zillow and Trulia, are popular in looking into properties and estimating the price range of a single or multi-family home. An important piece of advice Brown provides is to start the search now in winter. “December is the perfect time to start the home search, because there is less traffic, and you get a home at the best price point.” pointed out Brown. 

The discussion next went into the legal parts of looking for a home, with Lasheca Lewis, Esq. She is a real estate attorney specializing in commercial properties and works for a virtual law firm Lawsheca, PLLC. Lewis educates participants on the legal terms, and documents needed to close a home purchase. “My favorite part is closing on a home” explained Lewis. 

“But, before purchasing a home certain precautions should be taken, so the client buying a property has no problems in the long run.”

Lewis describes the need for a certificate of occupancy of the home that permits the occupancy of the house. This guarantees that no previous owners can claim rights to the house. To protect buyers’, need for title insurance. Title insurance, similar to car insurance, is protection for the homeowner against any financial losses and damages.  

“The main point of today’s event is affordability.” closing the discussion with Amarilis Blackwood, Chase Bank Development Manager. “We want potential clients to afford to look, purchase, and close a home within 90 days, and manage reasonable mortgage rates,” explained Blackwood. 

The seminar ended with lunch and refreshments, and access to a QR code to contact information to future events, and to Brown’s reality, RB Realtor’s listings to properties in New York. Brown took satisfaction out of her 20 years in the real estate field, “The best part of her job is getting invited to the cookout!” 

By Athena Dawson | news@queensledger.com

On Saturday, December 16th, members of Chhaya Community Development Corporation (CDC) held a Winter Festival event at Lt. Frank McConnell Park, in Richmond Hill. The event aimed to open a dialogue between the organization and residents about how the park could be turned into a more active community space. 

Chhaya CDC serves low to moderate income New Yorkers and provides services around homeownership and economic well being. The organization primarily services the Jackson Heights, Richmond Hill, and Ozone Park communities with an emphasis on South Asian and Indo-Caribbean residents. 

Members of Chhaya CDC and their urban design partner organizations, Hive Public Space and Studio Fōr, gave out samosas and warm chai, and manned an arts and craft table for families that stopped by. 

Jessica Balgovin, special initiatives manager for Chhaya CDC, said the event is a part of an ongoing community project. “We want to bring more community to the space and bring more programming and make it more accessible. We’ve observed that there is a real lack of accessible public space in Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park,” Balgovin said.

Chhaya CDC members host their Winter Festival outreach event

Balgovin feels the park has the potential to be an even bigger community space in Richmond Hill. One of the goals for the event was to poll residents on how they felt the park could be utilized to bring the community together. 

“One of the biggest things we are doing today is to get people to fill out our community experience survey. We’re asking folks specific questions about Frank Mcconnell park. We have a storytelling station where people are sharing their ideas about the park and their experiences,” she said. 

Alexandra Gonzalez, co-founder of Hive Public Space, explained how important it is to make public spaces racially and culturally inclusive. “We want to make sure that the spaces reflect the type of communities they are in, and the programming feels like a reflection of the people and the types of things they want to do. We’re getting really good feedback and we are seeing that kids want to do a lot of programming,” she said.

Hive Public Space Co-Founder Alexandra Gonzalez mans a vision board station

Gonzalez noted that so far, their data shows that residents are interested in a community garden and arts and craft events for kids in the park. “We’re definitely seeing that a community garden and art programming is what people are leaning towards,” she said. “We definitely want to have something like a class that will be a continuous thing.”

The polling and community outreach is a part of an ongoing effort to eventually transform the park into an active community space in the future.

Fauzia Khanani, founder of architecture firm Studio Fōr, feels that the park is a central location that can be utilized by the Richmond Hill community, “We think that the community could really benefit from an evolution of programming and what’s offered in the space” she said. “We’re spending a lot of time trying to build relationships in the neighborhood and really understand what people need,” she said.

The Winter Festival is one of many events that Chhaya CDC and their urban design partners plan to host at Lt. Frank McConnell Park in the future.

By Athena Dawson | news@queensledger.com

The Woodhaven Business Improvement District (BID) kicked off the holiday season on December 8th with their annual tree lighting ceremony. Dozens of families gathered to celebrate on Jamaica Avenue and Forest Parkway, and NYPD officers were present to barricade the street to allow for foot traffic. 

While they waited for the main event, residents lined up for free hot chocolate, snacks, and toys provided by the Howard Beach Woodhaven Lions Club and the Kiwanis Club of Ozone Park-Woodhaven. Walter Chaluisant, president of the latter organization, felt the event was a success. “The turnout was great, this was a huge success, everyone here, all the smiling faces and children,” he said.

Santa makes an appearance.

State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar made an appearance at the ceremony and thanked the Woodhaven BID, Woodhaven Block Association, and Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society for putting on the event.

Students from P.S.97 and the All Nations Baptist Church choir revved up the crowd into the holiday spirit as they performed Christmas carols in Spanish and English. 

Residents gather around to celebrate the lighting of the Christmas Tree

John Perricone, executive director of the Woodhaven BID, said the event was a way to bring the community together.

“As the BID we try to support all of the storefront businesses on Jamaica Avenue, and we feel like this is a way for us to be more active as a community organization. We’re a very close-knit, family-oriented neighborhood, so it allows people to enjoy the festivities here but also to patronize and walk through the corridor,” he said.

All Nations Baptist Church Choir performs at tree lighting ceremony

A countdown for the tree lighting commenced around 7pm, and families gathered around the block to marvel at the brightly lit Christmas tree. Santa Claus also made a highly anticipated appearance at the event, riding in a festively decorated car and a line wrapped around the block for family photos with him.

A banner commemorating 90 years of O’Neill’s. Credit: Charlie Finnerty

by Charlie Finnerty

O’Neill’s of Maspeth opened their doors the day prohibition ended in December 1933. They have been a staple of the community ever since, serving up drinks and pub fare to uncountable birthday parties, anniversaries, retirement parties, happy hours, funeral receptions and famously the New York Mets after their 1986 World Series win. The restaurant has been a family-owned establishment the whole way through with Tara O’Neill, granddaughter of the restaurant’s founder George O’Neill Sr. and daughter of long-time owner George Jr., as the current owner alongside her husband Danny Pyle. O’Neill’s celebrated 90 years in business Friday evening with a packed house of long-time patrons, live music, food and warm atmosphere offering refuge from the cold rainy December night outside.

Glenn Gallignano, one of the many Maspeth locals who have been regulars at O’Neill’s for decades, said O’Neill’s is a crucial part of the community.

“O’Neill’s is Maspeth, it’s a staple of the neighborhood. I’m 64 years old. This is the first place I drank — illegally and legally — back in the ‘70s,” Gallignano said. “90 years is a lot of years. It’s always a good time here and they treat you like home. It’s a neighborhood staple, they keep us all together.”

Gallignano with his wife and other patrons. Credit: Charlie Finnerty

Pyle said the night saw a great turnout with long-time patrons of O’Neill’s across its generations of ownership coming out to celebrate the Maspeth institution.

“We had a lot of neighborhood people come in. Even people who have moved out of Maspeth came back,” Pyle said. “Being family owned and operated for three generations, people’s parents have come here, their grandparents, so we had just a nice good mix of people.”

Reflecting on the establishment’s long line of family owners, Gallignano said the O’Neill family’s role in Maspeth goes far beyond the walls of the restaurant.

“The late George [Jr.], he was the mayor of Maspeth,” Gallignano said.

In May 2011, the legendary bar burned to the ground after an uncontrollable grease fire in the kitchen.

“I remember it was the night they got Bin Laden,” Pyle said.

For over two years, the Maspeth community mainstay was lost until being reopened in September 2013.

Patrons in the back room of O’Neill’s. Credit: Charlie Finnerty

“When this place burnt down, we were so sad,” Gallignano said. “We had no place to go because the whole neighborhood would gather in here.”

After a weekend of celebration, Pyle said the O’Neill’s team is looking forward to serving Maspeth for a long time to come.

“We’re looking forward to 90 more years of good times at O’Neill’s,” Pyle said.

Patrons make their way into O’Neill’s. Credit: Charlie Finnerty

By Athena Dawson | news@queensledger.com

Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) hosted an immersive hip-hop pop-up exhibit at King Manor museum. The exhibit, dubbed “Paths of Rhythm,” features vintage collectibles from Queens-born curators and artists including Geechie Dan, Shenna Vaughn, Luc Stephen, Danny Simmons, Eric Black, Dj Diamond the Artist, and Carolyn “Candy” Johnson. The exhibit opened on November 27th, and welcomed visitors until December 6th.

“Paths of Rhythm” emphasizes the history of hip-hop in Queens. It includes vintage cassette tapes, boom-boxes, magazines and Lee jeans provided by Dan, as well as a graffiti wall and other collectibles that complete the 80’s hip pop aesthetic of the museum.

The Liberty Rock sits between hand painted murals and miniature busts of 80’s Hip Hop artists.

JCAL’s director of program operations and co-curator of the pop up, Wendy Berot, believes  the essence of the museum is 80’s hip-hop nostalgia from Queens. 

“Our plan was to recreate a party in the park like they did in the 80’s. Those of us who lived through the 80’s were actually there when hip-hop took another step from the Bronx and spilled out into the other boroughs. That’s why we have the fences here to show things for sale,” she said.

Co-Curator Geechie Dan shows off his vintage Lee collection. Courtesy of Athena Dawson

Berot explained how conversations last year about honoring 50 years of hip-hop lead to Councilwoman Nantasha Williams’ proposal of a pop-up museum. 

“The idea of the pop-up museum came from her [Williams] because she had visited one in Atlanta. Our next thing was we could do it, but where? And do we have a budget?” Berot said. 

The budget for the museum came from Nantasha Williams’ office which allowed JCAL to do “really big things like get all the little artifacts and recreate the scenes,” Berot said.

Geechie Dan’s collectible items were a main focus on bringing all of the moving parts of the exhibit together. He showed off his colorful Lee collection that hung on the fencing, as well as his giant wooden cassette tape, vintage hip-hop magazines and authentic boom boxes. Those were just a few of the items he brought to the exhibit at King Manor. 

The largest wooden cassette tape in the world is showcased with vintage magazines. Geechie Dan loaned the items pictured to the pop up. Courtesy of Athena Dawson

Dan emphasized how important it is to host the museum in Queens.

“I always felt that Queens heavily contributed to hip-hop on the business aspect of it and we don’t get the accolades in return that we put out from our borough. When we talk about Queens, we are talking about elevating hip-hop to where it is today,” he said.

Throughout his life, Dan’s passion for hip-hop led him to amass a collection of over 1,000 cassette tapes that he feels shaped his lived experiences. 

“When I was coming up, Run DMC had just come up on the scene and I was collecting tapes. Majority of these artists were from the Bronx… They were my hip-hop heroes. We emulated what we heard and we gravitated towards that,” he said.

Dan’s passion for hip-hop led him to become the co-chairman for the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame, and create his own hip-hop program playing his tapes on Sirius XM. “Go hard for your passion, go hard for your dreams. It’s not going to be easy, you have to work for it and believe in yourself,” he said.

Dan is hopeful that there will be more hip-hop related museums and exhibits in the future. 

“This is nice that we did the first one here, but I’m hoping we can do four or five more [pop-ups], with York College, Laguardia, Queens College and more with JCAL. Let’s see if we can take this to a network.. When I do something I want to take it to another level,” he said.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Lee jeans as Levi’s, and as DJ Diamond the Artist as DJ Diamond. 

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com

A resource fair and educational panel on deed theft and foreclosure prevention drew hundreds to St. Albans Church in Jamaica, Queens.

The event, held last Thursday evening, was hosted by Attorney General Letitia James’s office. James was unable to attend in person, but a cohort of local reps sponsoring the event were there: Congress Member Gregory Meeks, State Senator Leroy Comrie, Assembly Members Alicia Hyndman and Clyde Vanel, and Council Members Nantasha Williams and Selvena Brooks-Powers. Borough President Donovan Richards was also listed as a cosponsor but did not attend the event. 

Nonprofits and community based organizations lined the perimeter of the room. Center for NYC Neighborhoods, The Legal Aid Society and the Chhaya Community Development Corporation were some of those present. Attendees had time at the beginning of the event to visit the organization’s information tables before the program began—then, elected officials in attendance gave brief remarks, and experts from different nonprofit and legal aid groups participated in a panel discussion. 

Monica Abend, a representative for the attorney general, told the crowd that their elected officials had requested the event take place. 

“This is why we were called to Southeast Queens,” Abend said. “The elected officials here in this community are amazing and fabulous. And they had said, ‘please come to Southeast Queens. Please come talk about deed theft, talk about foreclosure, talk about keeping generational wealth in our communities.’”

Deed theft is difficult to prosecute and comes in a variety of different methods. Leveraging family disputes and unclear wills to manipulate families into partition actions, engaging in fraud, or using forgery—or any combination of the above—are all ways speculators, scammers, and bad real estate actors force homeowner’s hands to relinquish their property or sell it for below market rate. 

Deed theft is particularly common in Black and Brown neighborhoods undergoing gentrification, according to analysis from The City. Foreclosure rates, too, are higher among Black and Brown families than white ones—the National Bureau of Economic Research links this to disparities in income stability and cash on hand. 

Southeast Queens, and particularly Jamaica, suffers high rates of foreclosure compared to the rest of the borough. Zip Codes encompassing parts of Jamaica, St. Albans, and Springfield had the highest rates of foreclosure in the borough both before the pandemic, in Q3 2019, and after the foreclosure moratorium was lifted, in Q3 2022, according to PropertyShark. In Q1 2023, Jamaica saw the highest rate of first-time foreclosures in the entire city. 

“We know that Southeast Queens represent Black homeownership in this nation, and we have to do all that we can to make sure that we are preserving that,” Council Member Brooks-Powers said, addressing the crowd. 

“Back in 2008, remember, we got hit hard by the foreclosure crisis at that time. And then coming out of COVID-19, you know, a lot of families have been struggling to make ends meet.”

Assembly Member Clyde Vanel also reflected on the significance of Southeast Queens as a locus for Black homeownership. 

“It’s good to see so many people out here, but also it’s kind of sad,” he said. “The cornerstone of our neighborhood is our homes, is homeownership. We worked so hard for these homes. If we lose one house on the block, or two hours on the block, that’s over a million dollars of Black wealth. So this is really important, not about not just about keeping our homes but about our legacies and about building our wealth.”

Abend told the crowd that a frequent refrain from residents facing foreclosure and deed theft is that they don’t know where to go for help. 

“That’s why we’re here today. This is where you need to go,” Abend said. “Every single organization that’s surrounding us, like hugging us, these are your people to go to. They are the experts, over and beyond.”

Throughout the speeches and panel, speakers frequently came back to methods to prevent foreclosure or deed theft from taking place or progressing beyond one’s control. Planning a comprehensive will, talking to trusted family members if mortgage difficulties or scams arise and reaching out to homeowner-supporting organizations to learn about one’s options were practices highlighted repeatedly. 

Speakers also frequently reminded the crowd that there was an election coming up, and implored them to vote. At one point in the remarks, a lone man with a megaphone interrupted the speakers to shout at the crowd to vote Republican before being escorted out by event staff. 

State Senator Leroy Comrie was one of those who emphasized the importance of the vote, as well as consistent activist pressure on Albany. He mentioned that State Democrats were pushing two bills aimed at helping those at risk of foreclosure, and that courts throughout the state needed consistent pressure to “follow the law.” 

“The courts are allowing the banks to lie about not having documentation when they’ve had it,”  the Senator said, to murmurs of agreement from the crowd. “They’ve allowed the banks to change personnel so that when they get to the foreclosure meetings, they’re claiming that they don’t have the documents. They’re doing all kinds of tricky things to try to take people out of the house, even if you have an agreement. They’re trying to have someone call you and act like they hadn’t heard any agreement and they’re forcing you to pay money. There’s a lot going on,”

Despite the high turnout, not all attendees found the event to be completely helpful. 61-year-old Sonia Cole, who currently resides in Coney Island but used to live in Southeast Queens, said she’s been fighting a complicated deed theft battle for two decades. She said that the resources for preventing foreclosure or deed theft from occurring in the first place often don’t transfer over to situations where one is already caught in the middle of it. 

“You’re telling [us], the neighborhood, all these things—‘You want help? You want help?’—but we’re still going around in a circle,” Cole said. “Because I’m wondering how many people this happened to. It can’t just be me.”