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Congresswoman Meng Presents Solutions to Thwart Mail Theft 

Iryna Shkurhan on August 23, 2023

Two mail thieves were arrested less than a mile away from Maspeth’s post office. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com 

To combat a surge in mail theft, Congresswoman Grace Meng was joined by NYPD’s 104th Precinct and the United States Postal Inspection Service in Maspeth to spread tips on how residents can safeguard their mail. 

In June, two mail thieves were arrested on 60th Road and Mount Olivet Crescent for allegedly stealing mail, which was captured on video by a local resident and shared on social media. 

“This issue of mail theft is something that our office, and the NYPD and Postal Inspector, have been constantly hearing about,” said Meng outside of Maspeth’s Post Office on 69th St. last Wednesday. “There have been over 600 cases reported this year just in my congressional district alone. And those are just the cases that we have heard about.”

While Meng’s district, which encompasses much of central Queens, has seen growing mail and identity theft, the issue has been prevalent across the nation. 

Congresswoman Meng is working with the USPIS and the NYPD to combat the issue. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

In February, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network under the U.S Department of Treasury reported that check fraud reports filed by banks nearly doubled to 680,000 from 350,000 in 2021. Some scammers also resort to check washing – erasing the name of the recipient and replacing it with their own name or entity – which allows them to deposit the cash directly into their own bank account. 

Mail theft increased by 161 percent from March 2020 to February 2021, according to complaints received by the United States Postal Inspection Service. And over 1,000 arrests have been made since 2017. 

John Del Giudice, Assistant Inspector in Charge for the New York Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, announced that over $1.2 million has been allocated in New York to purchase and install high security collection boxes. Nationwide, 12,000 of these new boxes will be installed. 

This is not the first time the USPS is having to alter the design of postal boxes to combat mail theft. In 2018, the agency replaced the pull down handle on blue postal boxes with a slender slot with metal teeth after a rise in mail fishing. Meng says that the USPS moved promptly that year to update all the boxes in her congressional district. 

“We’re grateful for the Postal Service for making those necessary changes. However, these thieves are getting smarter, and they are getting more creative,” said Meng. 

The new target is green relay boxes, which postal workers use to store bags of mail during their route. They are more commonly used in urban areas where carriers walk instead of drive. Letter carriers have been targeted for the key that opens these boxes, which can be copied and used to unlock any green box.  

Letter carriers have been targeted for the key which can open any green relay mailbox. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

The Joint Project Safe Delivery initiative will replace 49,000 antiquated aero locks on relay boxes with electronic locks across the country. Meng says that she has requested that Queens be prioritized in the replacement project due to the high rate of cases in the borough.  

In April, Meng also introduced the USPS Subpoena Authority Act with fellow Congresswoman Nicole Maliotakis, who represents Staten Island and a sliver of South Brooklyn. The bipartisan bill seeks to give the USPS more authority to subpoena information about mail theft, including bank records, surveillance videos to build cases against criminal organizations. Currently, the USPS has limited authority to crack down on mail theft syndicates. 

Meng relayed that she has received many complaints from constituents who fell victim to mail theft and had important documents, checks and credit card information stolen. Consequently she said that individuals in her district have been scammed out of thousands of dollars and been impacted by other types of financial fraud. 

“In 2017, postal inspectors started to see an increase in mail theft and we increased our investigative resources and focused on strengthening partnerships with the NYPD, state and federal prosecutors,” said Giudice. “Our next step is working with the postal service engineers to develop a high security collection box to prevent that.”

The USPIS is asking residents to follow their tips to reduce their risk of mail theft. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

The USPIS has also been working to increase public awareness and speed safety tips through social media and neighborhood presentations at community board meetings. 

Deputy Inspector Kevin Coleman, the Commanding Officer of the NYPD’s 104th Precinct, briefly shared some tips to safeguard mail. He encouraged residents to avoid leaving mail sitting in their mailboxes as it can significantly reduce chances of being victimized. 

Directly depositing mail in blue postal boxes should also be avoided. Instead, he encouraged residents to hand any mail directly to a letter carrier or deliver it inside the post office. If mail must be deposited inside a postal box, it should be dropped as close to the pickup time as possible, which is written on the box. Officials encourage utilizing a permanent ink pen if mailing a check to prevent washing. 

Deputy Inspector Giudice also encouraged signing up for informed delivery, a free service which sends a daily digest email that shows what mail and packages are scheduled to arrive so residents can be aware if mail is missed.

Astoria Bookshop Turns Page on 10 Years 

Iryna Shkurhan on August 23, 2023

Guests filled up the shop to celebrate 10 years since the bookshop opened in Astoria. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com

Astoria Bookshop celebrated their 10 Year Anniversary on Monday, as well as a grand reopening in a new location, with an all day celebration featuring special guests and activities. 

For close to a decade, Astoria’s only bookstore was stationed on 31-29 31st Street. The queer and woman-owned shop opened for business on August 21, 2013 and has generated many bookworm regulars who could browse a wide selection in an intimate space. But earlier this spring, the books moved less than a mile away to their new home at 36-19 30th Street.

“For the past two years we’ve just been bursting at the seams,” said the store’s founder and owner Lexi Beach. “We just didn’t have room to carry everything.”

The new location is 40 percent bigger and has a garden with seating for guests to enjoy their newly purchased reads. Beach says that the bigger location has given her, and the seven other booksellers, the chance to play around with fun new subsections and stock more books in each category. The reaction to the new location has been split down the middle. Some of her regulars complain that she’s further away now, while others are glad that their trip to the shop got shorter. But everyone is happy about the new garden, especially the dog owners. 

The garden has several seats and is dog friendly. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

The party started with a storytime for the kids in the morning, and a station to create their own bookmark afterwards using cut out shapes from advance copy picture books. Meg Jones-Wall, of 3am Tarot and the author of Finding the Fool: A Tarot Journey to Radical Transformation, was also available for tarot readings in the garden in the evening. 

Casey McQuiston, author of the bestselling novel Red, White & Royal Blue, was another popular guest. Their book, which was adapted into a film this year, centers around the son of America’s first female president falling in love with a prince of England, and having to keep it under wraps. Fans of the queer novel had the chance to ask McQuiston their questions about the book, or for new recommendations. 

Even City Councilmember Tiffany Caban, who represents Astoria and other western Queens neighborhoods, briefly stopped by the celebration. 

Since day one, customers have been able to order their books online to be shipped directly to their home, or picked up in store. But since the initial opening, more and more people have ordered their books online, even if they live nearby in Astoria. The shop has even shipped books to all six continents. 

“Still, most of our business comes from here and most of our business is in person. It has not changed. And I don’t think that’s really going to change,” said Beach, who believes that the physical space of a bookstore, especially one that offers community events, cannot be replaced. 

Lexi Beach previously worked in the book publishing industry before taking the leap and starting her own business. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

The shop frequently hosts authors for various readings and meet and greets, as well as storytelling for kids. She says that giving people another reason to visit the bookstore, since most people are not buying a new book every week or even every month, is central to her mission. 

“The first steps that I took trying to open a bookstore were so much easier than I thought they would be. And so much easier than trying to find my next publishing job,” said Beach, who worked a range of roles in the book publishing industry for close to a decade before taking the leap of starting her own business. “I was like, oh, maybe this is the direction that I’m supposed to go in.”

That knowledge of the book world easily transferred over to her current duties of meeting with book representatives, and selecting what titles will fill up the shelves and tables. 

Her liberal arts degree in Spanish literature has also come in handy. She’s able to chat with Spanish speaking visitors and guide them through the growing Spanish speaking section, with books for both adults and kids. 

Visitors browse the shelves. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

“Even on the toughest day, it’s still better than any other job I’ve had,” said Beach, who lives on the Upper East Side with her wife and dog. 

Meng Awards 1 Million for Small Business Legal Desk 

Iryna Shkurhan on August 23, 2023

Congresswoman Grace Meng allocated one million dollars for the Queens Chamber of Commerce to start a Small Business Legal Desk. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com 

Small businesses in Queens will soon have access to free legal advice in five different languages through a new pilot program spearheaded by the Queens Chamber of Commerce. 

Congresswoman Grace Meng, who represents much of the borough, awarded the Chamber with a check for $1 million outside the Small Business Development Center at Queens College in Flushing. 

“This will consist of pro-bono, professional support to help small businesses avoid costly issues and mistakes that could impact the force and the strength of our workforce,” said Meng at the event on Thursday. “It will especially help small immigrant owned small businesses and link the small business community that I’m proud to represent.” 

She also pointed out that when business owners run into legal hurdles, they may not know exactly where to turn. Without resources to have a lawyer on retainer, or prior experience dealing with legal issues, they can fall victim to scams and end up in a worse situation than before. 

With the funding, the chamber will bring aboard lawyers, accountants and human resources professionals who can advise business owners in times of need, and in multiple languages – Mandarin, Korean, Bengali, Russian, and Spanish. 

Tom Gretch, President and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, recounted that during the pandemic, many business owners lost out on available government assistance, such as the Paycheck Protection Program loan, due to language barriers and a lack of expert advice. 

“We see the importance, especially in places like downtown Flushing, and other areas of Congresswoman Meng’s district, the importance of outreach, which is why we have people that speak different languages on staff,” said Gretch, who noted that Asian-American communities are growing in size and influence, both locally and across the nation as indicated by the 2020 Census count. 

Queens Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Gretch applauded the initiative. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

The Queens Chamber of Commerce represents over 1,400 businesses that employ over 150,000 Queens based employees in a range of industries. 

As the daughter of small business owners, who went from working in one of Flushing’s first Chinese restaurants to owning their own, Congresswoman Meng says the cause is personal. 

“They are helping to create jobs, they are helping to provide much needed services and goods that otherwise we would lack in our local neighborhoods,” said Meng. “And they provide a source of comfort.”

The Chamber is not the only group helping business owners take off, and stay afloat, in the borough. Several speakers at the event pointed out that the Small Business Development Center has been a key supporter of entrepreneurs and small businesses owners for over two decades.

Since 2001, advisors at SBDC have worked with close to 8,000 businesses, and helped invest over $100 million in the local economy, according to their website. They help business owners navigate a range of actionable steps, including setting up a business plan, marketing, securing funding, exports goods and adhering to regulations. 

“This is news that’s important not only for the Chamber of Commerce, but for everyone who lives and works in the world’s borough,” said Frank H. Wu, President of Queens College, at the gathering. “Small businesses are the lifeblood of this community.”

Spiritual Center Regrounds in LIC

Iryna Shkurhan on August 16, 2023

The owner of Earth Angel Crystal, Daisy Tamberino, is a certified reiki master, psychic medium and certified crystal practitioner. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com 

On 50th Avenue in Long Island City, just off Vernon Boulevard, the smell of incense spills onto the sidewalk. At first you might think that a church is close by, but you’ll actually find the area’s first metaphysical healing center at the top of a towering flight of stairs.

The owner, Daisy Tamberino, envisioned the space as not just a spot to buy authentic crystals, but as a community center where anyone can walk in to recenter themselves away from the city’s chaos. Tucked away on the third floor of a century old brick building is Earth Angel Crystal.

Tamberino has been around crystals, and highly attuned to the spiritual world since she was a child. She is a fifth generation medium and energy healer whose connection to the mystical stems from her mother’s lineage. Throughout her childhood, her mother worked in a botanica, a ritual goods store stocked with oils, incense and herbs, that she describes as an old-school Spanish version of her current shop. She recounts hours just flying by as she basked in the energy of the space.

Born and raised in Manhattan, Tamberino is first generation immigrant and the first in her family to own a business. Her mother, who is retired, now works out of the shop one day a week giving tarot and psychic readings. Tamberino focuses more on mediumship, which she describes as the connection to loved ones on the other side through a higher realm.

“But it wasn’t until my reawakening that the crystals just helped transform my life and then working with my angels and my guides, the combination of them have led me here,” said Tamberino in an interview with the Queens Ledger out of her light filled shop. “This is really a journey with how they’ve guided me here.”

The shop has dozens of crystals on display that are ethically sourced from around the country and range from under ten dollars to a few hundred. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

In 2010, Tamberino met her husband while salsa dancing and the couple ended up moving to Long Island to settle down in the suburbs. For 18 years, she also worked as an architect for a  government agency that sent her traveling around the country, even to Puerto Rico, where her family is from. During projects where she would be designing courthouses and other government buildings she recalls bringing peace to male-only construction sites with rampant cursing.

During the pandemic, she experienced “the darkest night of my soul” where a feeling of lack lingered amid a growing death toll across the world. Despite the secure career and a house in the suburbs with kids she felt misaligned from a destiny that she glimpsed as a child –  helping others in an energetic and spiritual way.

“My angel told me that I was going to sell my house, that I was going to move to Long Island City, that I would open my own business, and that I was going to have a healing center to help people,” recalls Tamberino. “And I sold my house two months later in two days.”

But before she moved into the current space, she spent a year renting out two rooms just down the street. And while space was tight, and it wasn’t necessarily what she envisioned, it was all she could afford at the time. But less than a year later, she had a nudge to inquire about a for rent sign posted across the street. Several nudges from her angels later, she secured a bigger and better space to expand her practice. She has been in her new center since May.

The new location is just down the block from where Tamberino has been practicing out of for the past year. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

Tamberino continues to further settle into the LIC community by facilitating a space that locals can visit whether for an event, or just a solo meditation in the gold room. Last month she hosted a book reading by another medium, and later this month she will be hosting an Angel 101 workshop.

“I’m creating a space where people feel like they don’t even have to buy anything, just come to receive the peace that they need,” said Tamberino. “This isn’t private, only to select people, this is for everyone. I’m dedicating it to whoever needs it, it’s open. The doors are wide open.”

Boys and Girls Club Celebrates Hip-Hop’s 50th 

Iryna Shkurhan on August 16, 2023

The rain didn’t stop the celebration at Knockdown Center Maspeth. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com 

In honor of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, hundreds of kids from the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Queens celebrated with an afternoon of double dutching, breakdancing and graffiti in Maspeth’s Knockdown Center. 

The “For the Love” event, hosted by SiriusXM and Pandora, allowed the youth to learn about the history of hip-hop in an interactive and fun way. The free event also served as a culmination of their summer youth employment program that ended last week. 

Later in the evening, the legendary Wu-Tang Clan headlined the venue to an older crowd. 

On August 11, 1973, hip-hop was born at a small back to school party in a Bronx apartment. Clive Campbell, also known as DJ Kool Herc, got the idea to improvise with two turntables that played snippets in a continuous loop. In his honor, a range of free celebratory events were held across all five boroughs. While Wu-Tang hails from Staten Island, Queens takes credit for Nas, LL Cool J, 50 Cent and Nicki Minaj. 

“The vision really was for this to be a community event, because hip-hop started as a basis of the community,” said Nicole Hughey, Head of Diversity, Equity and  Inclusion at SiriusXM. “We want to help inspire them to think about the historical nature of hip-hop, and to think about what they can do to take it even further. We see them as the next generation of talent that will really take us to a new level in this genre.”

Nicole Hughey, Head of DEI and Social Impact at SiriusXM, was a key organizer of the event. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

Over 250 kids who attended the event are members of the BGCMQ, which serves underprivileged youth with year-round programming that focuses on academic success, a healthy lifestyle and developing good character. 

In the summer, the organization places high school students who are eligible for SYEP in various jobs and internships across the city. Some even work at the center on Atlantic Ave. in Richmond Hill that serves as a recreational space where students can foster a sense of community while receiving resources.  

“They have been looking forward to this,” said Kimberly Paramhance, Director of Workforce Development at the Boys and Girls Club. “It’s so exciting to have the kids here today for them to be able to broaden their horizons and see what’s out there. The timing of it couldn’t have been better.” 

SiriusXM  presented a check to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Queens. Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM 

SiriusXM and Pandora, partnered with Cricket Wireless, presented the Boys & Girls Club with a check for $20,000 at the event.

“I just watched one of my kids break dance and so I didn’t even know he could break dance. That was fun,” said Paramhance, who grew up in South Ozone Park and has worked at the club for the past six years. 

Each attendee had the chance to decorate their own backpack. Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

For those who wanted to pick up some breakdancing moves, local dance professionals were on site to demonstrate and guide the newbies on how to nail floor rocks and flares. With strong determination, a handful of kids kept trying until they finally landed it to a round of applause from their peers.

Each attendee also received a white backpack filled with school supplies, which also served as a blank canvas to decorate with provided stencils and spray paint. In a tucked away corner, the kids focused on designing their new backpacks with words and drawings. In honor of the art of graffiti, a blank wall was designated for spray painting. By the end of the event, it had no white space left. 

Richard Whittingham, a 15 year-old from East New York, said that he was excited to attend the celebration because he had never been to a concert before. Like many others his age at the event, he hasn’t heard of Wu-Tang, the notable group that shaped east coast hip-hop.

“Is that a dance move,” replied Whittington, who says some of his favorite hip-hop artists are Lil Tjay and Lil Tecca, all of whom were born in this century. He chose to design his backpack with the words “Be Kind” in green paint. 

New Law Targets Landlords of Unlicensed Smoke Shops

Iryna Shkurhan on August 16, 2023

Councilmember Lynn Schulman alongside Assistant Chief James Mccarthy of Manhattan South, Senior Advisor to Union Square Travel Agency, Robert Cornegy, and Councilmember Carlina Rivera. Photo courtesy of Councilmember Schulman’s office.

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com

New legislation passed by the city council last month is seeking to hold landlords, not business owners, accountable for the unlicensed sale of cannabis under their roof. 

The city estimates that there are 8,000 smoke shops, 2,000 of which sell cannabis products, operating illegally across all five boroughs. So far there are only a handful of licensed cannabis dispensaries approved by the state – the majority are located in lower Manhattan. Good Grades in Jamaica is the only cannabis shop operating legally in Queens. 

Intro 1001-B, first introduced by Councilmember Lynn Schulman in April, prohibits knowingly leasing a commercial space to a tenant who will utilize it for the distribution or sale of illicit cannabis or tobacco products without a license. Landlords can face a $5,000 civil penalty at first, and a $10,000 penalty for each subsequent violation, if they do not cease the operation. 

“This legislation is a game changer and adds another tool to the enforcement toolbox against these harmful businesses,” said Councilmember Schulman at the press conference outside the Union Square Travel Agency Cannabis Dispensary in the East Village. It served as a formal announcement of the legislation which was adopted on July 23.  

“We stand here today because we have an obligation to protect a healthy legal cannabis market and ensure that the industry meets its equity goals,” said Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, who also pointed out that those who were disproportionately affected by the war on drugs have priority to receive Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses. In legal shops, there is also a 13 percent sales tax that goes towards community reinvestments. 

Councilmember Carina Rivera has several legal cannabis dispensaries in her district. Photo courtesy of Councilmember Schulman’s office.

Officials believe that the illicit market of unregulated products undermines those who took the rigorous legal route of securing a license through the state, as well as the social justice element of cannabis legalization. There is also a health risk to the public when consuming substances that are not officially tested and regulated. 

“As you can imagine having in close proximity to here so many illegal shops, it flies in the face of consumer safety, because we don’t know what’s in those products,” said Robert Cornegy, Senior Advisor to the Union Square Travel Agency, and former Councilman. “Our products here are tested by the state and have been proven to be safe for consumption.”

“If a space is being utilized illegally, and an owner is aware, it is appropriate for that owner to be penalized along with others who are knowingly involved in the arrangement,” said Steve Soutendijk, Co-Chair of the Real Estate Board of New York’s Retail Committee. 

Schulman also mentioned that in Forest Hills, which falls in her district, there are several cannabis shops operating illegally. 

“Illegal smoke and cannabis shops have been an ongoing challenge in our communities,” said Heather Beers-Dimitriadis, Chair of Queens Community Board 6 which encompasses Forest Hills and Rego Park. “It is important to protect our community from businesses selling adulterated cannabis, to protect our city from the theft of tax dollars, and to protect future regulated cannabis shops that continue to open throughout our borough.”

Pols Rally Against Corona Vendor Crackdown

Iryna Shkurhan on August 9, 2023

Close to a hundred street vendors rallied at Corona Plaza after a city raid put them out of work. Photo: Iryna Shkurhan

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com

The vendors who normally fill up Corona Plaza by selling some of the city’s top ranked food were forced to trade their stands for slogans and signs after a raid left them out of work. 

Two weeks ago, armed sanitation police arrived in the middle of the night and forced vendors operating without a permit to hand over their property and shut down. Days later, only a few vendors remained in the formerly bustling public plaza underneath the 7 train. 

For these small business owners, there was no room to resist when the officers approached them. The fear of a fine starting at $1,000 hung over their head.

At a rally on August 2, elected officials joined the vendors and the local nonprofit groups  advocating for a good faith solution. According to the Street Vendor Project, 84 vendors were affected by the crackdown and are now without income. 

“The Plaza we’re standing in today is more than just a slab of concrete underneath a noisy subway line,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. “It’s one of the 50 best places to eat in New York City according to the New York Times.”

The article calling the plaza “the closest thing New York has to a market square in a small Mexican town” in its annual top 100 in NYC list was referred to more than once by elected officials at the rally. One vendor proudly held out a print copy of the newspaper while standing near the podium. 

Corona Plaza earned a spot on the New York Times 100 Best Restaurants in NYC list. Photo: Iryna Shkurhan

“The street vendors who work in this very place, embody all that we are as the world’s borough,” said Richards. “And it’s one of the reasons that we acknowledge those challenges that we had at this plaza.”

No one denied that the density of vendors kept growing following the pandemic leading observers and city officials to deem it unhygienic and unsafe. But many blame the city for failing to create a system that allows the vendors to operate safely with a fair chance at securing a license. 

The Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center has been running a campaign to lift the cap on street vendor licenses for over a decade. Currently there are only 853 merchandise vendor licenses in the city, what many say is an arbitrary number that hasn’t been updated since 1983. The backlogged waitlist list closed in 2016 after reaching capacity, restricting anyone else from a waiting spot. 

“It is very easy to say follow the rules. But when the rules are built against you…If these folks could get a license, you don’t think they would choose to get a license,” said Assemblymember Catalina Cruz as she alternated between Spanish and English. 

They argue that lifting the cap on permits and licenses would decriminalize the practice, increase space for vendors, bring more revenue to the city and make health and safety regulation more accessible. Some unlicensed vendors even resort to buying one on the black market for upwards of $20,000 when they initially cost $200, according to the project.

Congresswoman Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez criticized the city putting the vendors out of work. Photo: Iryna Shkurhan

“We have to increase the number of licenses for street vendors, rather than punish people who are just trying to provide for themselves and their family,” said Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Corona resident, at the rally. “We have to support the way of life that people have made for themselves so that we do not increase the number of homelessness and the number of people out on the streets because the city has prevented their ability to support themselves. It makes no sense.”

The electeds and community leaders unanimously agreed that the inhumane nature of the raid was what brought them out that day. Especially given that the Corona Plaza Street Vendor Association, formed this past March, was in the process of talks with city agencies including the Department of Transportation, the Department of Sanitation and the Queens Economic Development Corporation. The association is made up of 81 members that represent 100 families. 

“It’s important for me that I’m a street vendor. And the reason I choose to do this is because I can be the owner of my own small business alongside my daughter in my community,” said Rosario Trancoso, a member of the association. She says that the majority of her fellow members are also women from Latin America. 

“We’re not saying that things weren’t getting a little bit tough out in the street. I think we all recognize that the economy had driven a lot of people to an informal street market,” Cruz pointed out. “What we’re saying is the way things were done in the middle of actual conversation with agencies, with state officials, with community members.”

“That’s what makes the city’s raid of Corona Plaza so disturbing, and infuriating,” added Richards. 

“While one hand of the city is working together to work with vendors to come together to create an agreement with the department of transportation. The other hand of the city is cutting all of that community trust out,” said Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, Deputy Director of the Street Vendor Project. 

Organizers with the Vendor Project gained 3,398 petition signatures in support of street vendors returning to the plaza, 1,997 of which live in the zip code, according to Kaufman-Gutierrez.  

The ones who were permitted to stay were forced to remove their canopies for shade, which the department of sanitation said were prohibited if bolted to the ground, according to reporting from Hellgate. Some switched to umbrellas to bear the heat lingering in the 90s that week. 

The simultaneous migrant crisis in the city, in which the city has been struggling to provide basic resources for the 90,000 new arrivals since last spring, 50,000 of which remained in the city, was not lost on the speakers. They pointed out the hypocrisy of Mayor Adams asking the federal government to expedite work visas for migrants, while removing New Yorkers ability to make a living without any notice or backup plan.

“They are part of our community because they understand the ecosystem of how we as neighbors, whether you have a storefront, or whether you’re the smallest of small businesses with a vendor,” said Councilmember Julie Won. “They are the hallmark of our city.”

Seth Borenstein, Director of the Queens Economic Development Corporation, confirmed that the street vendors were working with the agency to come up with fair solutions. 

“But one thing we know is there’s always going to be issues and problems. We solve them in a way by communication, not eradication,” said Borenstein. “And that’s what your city agency did last week.”

 

LIJ Forest Hills Celebrates 70 Years With Special Guests 

Iryna Shkurhan on August 9, 2023

City Councilmember Lynn Schulman joined hospital staff to celebrate the anniversary. Photo: Iryna Shkurhan

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com 

In honor of 70 years of treating the Forest Hills community, staff at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills hospital celebrated with recollections and a shared vision for the upcoming decades. 

“I realized that we actually just hit 70 years, and that this is a point of pride, it’s not hard to find somebody here who’s worked here for 40 years,” said Executive Director Lorraine Chambers, who stepped into the role two years ago. “I really wanted them to be very proud of what they accomplished and all the transitions over the years.”

Over the decades, the hospital has changed both owners and names numerous times while it remained stationed on 66th Road and 102nd Street. 

Chambers took the initiative to plan the celebration and invite special guests, including several former employees who she refers to as “LIJ Forest Hills Alumni.” The dozens who couldn’t make it recorded heartfelt video messages which were compiled and played at the party held in the hospital’s cafe. 

“The people here are so tight knit, and they have such an amazing work family culture,” said Chambers on how the hospital manages to retain many of its employees for decades. “So many of the workers here are from the community, so it’s an extremely diverse workforce that can meet the challenges of serving healthcare for an extremely diverse community.” 

The hospital debuted as privately owned Forest Hills General with 150 beds and seven stories in 1953. After an insurance scandal shuttered the site a decade later, it reopened as Laguardia Hospital under new management. Its expansion in the 1970s added three new floors and doubled its bed count. 

Over the decades, the hospital has changed both names and owners numerous times. Photo: Iryna Shkurhan

But financial difficulties in 1996 led to another name change, North Shore Hospital at Forest Hills, after the North Shore Health System, now known as Northwell Health, based on Long Island took over. In 2006 the moniker was shortened to Forest Hills Hospital, and in 2016 it acquired its current name.

At the celebration, City Councilwoman Lynn Schulman presented LIJ with a proclamation from the city council which recognized its impact on the community. Local elected officials, including Borough President Donovan Richards and State Senator Leroy Comrie, also delivered remarks at the celebration. 

“I’ve known this hospital since it was LaGuardia hospital. So that’s how many years I’ve been around. And it didn’t always have a great reputation,” recalled Councilwoman Schulman, a Forest Hills native. “I have been a patient here, and the care has been amazing. The facility, not so great.”

To help the hospital upgrade, Shulman announced that she will allocate four million dollars from city funds, which Northwell agreed to match. She also called on Senator Comrie, who gained representation of the hospital in last year’s redistricting, to contribute state funds during her speech. 

Attendee Lee Solomon, 96, spent over 30 years volunteering inside the hospital. After she moved to the Forest Hills area, her search for new connections and a purpose led her to dedicate some of her free time to clerical work. She said the decades-long commitment brought many friends who she considers family into her life. Soloman still lives two blocks from the hospital. 

“I don’t think it’s changed that much,” she said. “To me, it’s the people. I’ve found some good friends.”

Gogarty performed at the celebration as a thank you to the hospital for saving his life. Photo: Iryna Shkurhan

Another special guest, Alan Gogarty, was miraculously revived after he spent 23 minutes without a pulse detected inside the hospital. Following strange symptoms, Gogarty checked himself into LIJ and subsequent bloodwork detected he was having a cardiac episode. The staff’s unwavering efforts to revive him led to a full recovery.

“I was a little bit shocked, but then I found it slightly amusing as well,” said Gogarty, recalling waking up from the near death experience. “I wouldn’t be here if not for them.”

Gogarty, an Irish singer who has played professionally for over 33 years, returned to the hospital for a solo guitar performance at the celebration. 

He arrived in Queens from Ireland in 2002 and has lived in Sunnyside, Maspeth and Glendale for the past seven years. You can find him playing alone, and with various bands, at Irish bars in Sunnyside. 

A two-tier cake featuring an aerial image of 150 employees forming the number “70” was unveiled at the end of the speeches. Old and new employees connected over a slice while trading stories. And while the hospital may continue to change, it has a way of making people stay. 

Expecting Queens Mothers Can Now Apply For Unconditional Cash

Iryna Shkurhan on August 3, 2023

A family shelter in Brooklyn on Mother’s Day. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com 

A philanthropic program that gives unconditional cash to expectant mothers for the first 1,000 days of their child’s life is expanding into Queens. 

The Bridge Project, birthed in June 2021 through the Monarch Foundation, is the first to launch a direct cash allowance program in New York. After an impactful first phase in the Bronx, the program will pivot from pilot status and continue to serve new mothers in all five boroughs, while remaining a research study. 

“It’s the first time that we’re actually opening applications in a borough and then leaving them open,” Megha Agarwal, the Executive Director of The Bridge Project, told the Queens Ledger. “The goal behind this is so that every mother who’s currently pregnant, and potentially could be eligible over the course of their pregnancy to join the Bridge Project, has the opportunity to do so.”

The initiative seeks to eliminate child poverty with a focus on the first three years of a baby’s life, which research shows is the most consequential period for a successful childhood and adulthood. Mothers can spend the cash how they see fit, unlike welfare programs with complicated requirements and restrictions. 

Following the birth, participants will receive $1,000 in cash a month for the first 15 months. And for the last 21 months, they will receive $500 a month, all in biweekly installments. The drawdown creates a recognition that the program will eventually end, and tries to help mothers adjust to that loss of a safety net slowly. 

To qualify, expecting mothers must live in Astoria, Corona, Elmhurst, Flushing, Jackson Heights or Jamaica and have an annual household income of under $52,000. In this third phase, women will also need to be pregnant for the first time, at 23 weeks or less.

The rollout into Queens on July 10 brought specific changes to the payments from past phases. An upfront prenatal allowance of $1,500 was introduced to cover the costs of preparing for the baby such as purchasing a crib, and stocking up on diapers and formula. 

“We just find that cash is the most effective tool to help support children and babies in their earliest years,” said Agarwal, who pointed out that oftentimes, mothers will spend the initial payments catching up on rent or paying off debt. “It’s not until a little bit later into the program, do folks actually feel that they can use the money towards their child. So the prenatal allowance really allows them to do that.”

Aggregate data collected from the first six months of the program showed that 46 percent of spending was taken out as cash, likely for rent and other living expenses. Mothers also spent 18 percent on food and 19 percent went to merchandise. 

The rate of respondents reporting that they have more than $500 in savings went up by 242 percent, and 13 percent more said that they can now pay for a $400 emergency. 

The organization says they focus on “upstream solutions” to address the root issues of inequality instead of attempting to solve its aftereffects. They also want to “eliminate the deeply paternalistic approach the U.S. takes to poverty” with their focus on mothers, regardless of relationship status.

Nearly one in five children in New York experienced poverty in 2021, with them more likely to experience poverty than in 32 other states. In the city, nearly close to one in four children under three live in poverty, disproportionately affecting Black and Latinx youth.

The already high cost associated with having a child is also continuing to climb. According to a report released by Annie. E. Casey Foundation, child care costs have increased by 220% since 1990 with infant care being the most expensive.  

With reliable research remaining a core purpose of the project, a control group is selected to not receive the funds. The initial application acts like a baseline survey. And every six to nine months, participants respond to quantitative surveys and can also be asked to participate in interviews and focus groups, all of which participants are additionally compensated for. 

The concept of universal basic income is not new, and goes back to the 18th century. But widespread unemployment and financial hardships during the pandemic brought new attention to the idea of providing unconditional and periodic cash, especially as a poverty reduction tool. While some see UBI as a radical concept, recent studies indicate that it is successful at lifting people out of poverty and facilitating a better quality of life. 

An MIT research study conducted in Kenya found that UBI decreased food insecurity and improved physical and mental health. But when conditions outlined that the money could only be spent on food, subjective well being was reduced. 

And city officials are taking note. At the State of the City address on March 8, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams expressed support for no strings attached income for communities in need, especially women. 

“Women are the cornerstone of society and the backbones of our families. When women are healthy and have access to opportunity, our children, families and communities thrive,” said Adams in her speech. “We will work with organizations like the Bridge Project, Children’s Defense Fund, and Chapin Hall to support programs that provide monthly financial assistance payments to vulnerable young people and low-income mothers with infants. These efforts have shown great promise in helping people out of poverty and into stability.”

On June 23, the city council enacted a bill that will establish and fund pilot programs to provide unconditional cash for low-income individuals. Research would remain a core aspect, and the funds received would be exempt from being considered income for existing public aid programs. 

“The power of our intervention is that it’s unconditional, and then it’s additionally flexible,” said Agarwal. “That’s completely different than the benefit system that we have in place today in our safety net. And it makes it really challenging and difficult, because it provides a lot of assumptions in terms of what people need at a certain point in time.” 

The federal Child Tax Credit, which brought financial relief to families during the pandemic, expired at the end of 2021. According to the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, child poverty rose by 41 percent the following month. The initiative was able to help families meet their basic needs and no negative effects on parental employment were found. 

Agarwal says that the success of the federal program reinforced their own findings about the power of direct cash assistance for those with children. Its disappearance also reinforced their commitment to change policy nationwide.

With SNAP benefits, the monthly payment which averages $121 cannot be used for hot food at the point of sale, hygiene products, medicine and cleaning supplies. The income eligibility for WIC in NYC is also significantly less than the requirement for the Bridge Project, which excludes many low-income mothers. 

“Both the flexibility and the conditionality of the funds is really meant to allow people to take the autonomy and have self determination over what it is that they need, what their family needs and what their baby needs,” said Agarwal. “You know, your life much better than I do, so you should be able to make your own decisions the same way that I’m able to, in order to best serve yourself. It ends up being counterproductive if you place restrictions on top of people’s ability to make their own decisions.”

As of now, all their funding comes from private philanthropy which is made up of high net-worth individuals and private foundations. But with the possible infusion of government funding from NYC, the program can be sustained with both to reach even more mothers. 

“What we’re trying to do here is provide some sort of model for child allowance across the United States,” said Agarwal. “We think this is an effective policy and could be a solution for our nation moving forward.”

Organizers Push Ardila to Resign With Sit-In

Iryna Shkurhan on July 26, 2023

The organizers held a sit-in at Ardila’s office on Skillman Ave. in Sunnyside. Photo Credit: @hailieforqueens on Twitter

By Iryna Shkurhan | ishkurhan@queensledger.com 

Three community members held a sit-in for over ten hours in Assemblyman Juan Ardila’s Sunnyside office last week, in an effort to push him to resign. 

The individuals, including Hailie Kim, former city council candidate in district 26, and Thomas Muccioli, a campaign staffer for Congresswoman Alexdra Ocasio-Cortez, confronted Ardila with a sign that read “Resign Now!” in the office’s lobby. Adam Friedman, a former staffer for Ardila, also showed up and documented the interaction. 

“It was not a comfortable situation for anybody involved, I can say that,” said Kim, a Sunnyside resident, in an interview with the Queens Ledger. “We were there for over 10 hours, or at least 10 hours.” 

The assemblyman, who represents Maspeth, Ridgewood, Sunnyside and Long Island City, was first accused of sexually assaulting two women earlier this March, and since then, countless electeds across the city and state have called for his resignation. Despite the large push for him to step down, Ardila has maintained his innocence and says he will carry on serving his constituents. 

But other elected officials whose districts overlap with his say that a working relationship with him, both in the district and in Albany, has been difficult due to his outcast status. Kim also pointed out that the lack of collaboration has hurt nonprofits and constituents in the district. 

“There is an issue of leadership in our district where there was no coordinated effort to distribute discretionary funds to nonprofits in our community and so there were nonprofits who do great work and were zeroed out,” wrote Kim on Twitter alongside images from the sit-in. “This is unacceptable.”

At one point during the day, Ardila says he spoke to the protestors for two hours. Photo credit: @hailieforqueens on Twitter

In May, the New York Post reported that Jeffrion Aubry handled $250,000 worth of discretionary funds from the state budget to support community based organization within Ardila’s district.

Kim also pointed out that during her lengthy stay in the office, only a handful of constituents stopped by the office on Skillman Ave for services.

“This office is not fully functional,” said Kim, who previously worked in the nonprofit sector. “All day, there were not many constituents at all. And especially in a district like ours, it is highly unusual that there are not constantly people there.”

“Three individuals came to my office, and I spoke with them for over two hours, explaining that the allegations were false and that I have never been under any type of criminal investigation,” Ardila said in a statement to the Queens Ledger. “They repeatedly stated that they did not care if I was guilty or innocent, but that I needed to resign regardless.” 

Ardila denied that there were few constituents who came by the office on July 19 when the sit-in was held. 

“No, we were serving many constituents. We had a couple of walk-ins, and a lot of phone calls,” said Ardila in a follow up interview. “I even had to get involved because we were getting a few folks that needed some support. So we were pretty busy throughout the day.”

Ardila confirmed that he spoke to them for “over two hours” while they remained in his office and when it came time to close the office, “they refused to leave.” Kim also said that the conversation “felt like forever” and upon closing, “Juan and his staff stepped over us to leave and we were told if the landlord called the police on us, it would not be their fault.”

In a video of the interaction shared by Ardila, Kim and Muccioli are seen planted in front of the office’s main door as Ardila and his staffer stepped around them to leave for the day. The landlord remained in the office for an unknown period of time after their exit. 

Both Kim and Muccioli also shared their personal experiences with sexual assault with the Assemblyman during the confrontation in an effort to encourage him to take a restorative justice approach to the accusations against him. This approach aims to have offenders take responsibility, admit harm caused and take the opportunity to redeem themselves. 

“We weren’t trying to center the allegations, specifically, we were trying to center the fact that there were things that Assemblymember ought to be able to do that were not being done as a result of these allegations,” clarified Kim. 

Kim previously ran for city council twice in district 26, which includes Sunnyside, against current Councilwoman Julie Won. But she says that this act of protest should not be viewed in an electoral light.

“I want a district where if someone holds an action like this to hold an elected official accountable, I don’t want it to be seen as an electoral choice,” said Kim. “We have the right to express discontent and just want better for our district. And not necessarily just with the intention of running for office.”

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