Queens Chronicle South Edition 01-12-23

PHOTOS BY SOPHIE KRICHEVSKY

New law to patch up foreclosure loophole

Appeals Court decision had allowed lenders to manipulate six-year statute

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

Anew law will help level the playing field for New York homeowners.

At the end of December, Gov. Hochul signed the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act into law. The legislation will restore to its status quo the six-year statute of limitations on foreclosure processes, after a decision in a 2021 New York Court of Appeals case made it such that mortgage lenders were finding ways to manipulate the statute of limitations to bring forward foreclosure actions that otherwise would not have been permissible.

“In our society, there’s only one law that has no statute of limitations. That is murder,” state Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-South Ozone Park), who introduced the bill in the state Senate, said. “If one commits a murder, 100 years from now we can arrest you and try you. Are we saying that foreclosure is equal to murder? I would argue that that takes away from the gravity of murder.”

According to Jacob Inwald, director of foreclosure prevention at Legal Services NYC, the decision passed down in the 2021 Freedom Mortgage Corp. v. Engel case made it such that “scores and scores” of previously dismissed and what would have otherwise been frivolous foreclosure cases could be brought forward.

As part of the foreclosure process, lenders

call due the entire value of a mortgage, following a series of missed monthly payments, in a process called “acceleration.” Per Engel, a unilateral discontinuance of a foreclosure case on the part of a lender qualified as a revocation of that acceleration, resetting the six-year statute of limitations, even as lenders continued to behave as if a residence was in foreclosure, continuing to demand the full amount of the mortgage as opposed to only the missed

monthly payments, according to Inwald.

“What the Engel decision was all about was how [lenders] could revoke acceleration,” Inwald said. “Prior to Engel, every intermediate appellate court in the state had held that if they just voluntarily discontinue a case fully intending to start a new case days later or months later, that is not a revocation of acceleration.”

“The Court of Appeals decision in Engel

decided, like, ‘We don’t really care whether the lender’s conduct was consistent with having revoked acceleration, we just want a bright line rule.’ So the bright line rule is i f you voluntarily discontinue a case, then they have de-accelerated the loan, or revoke d acceleration, and therefore if they did that within the six years, they’re free to bring a new case,” he added.

What the new legislation does is restore the law such that the circumvention of the statute of limitations through a unilateral discontinuance of a foreclosure action is no longer allowed.

The issue is of particular relevance to Queens, which accounted for more than hal f of the city’s foreclosures in the third quarte r of 2022, according to a report released by PropertyShark in October. The three ZIP codes with the most foreclosures in the city — 11412 in St. Albans, 11434 in Jamaica and 11413 in Springfield Gardens — were in Southeast Queens, according to the report.

“This is really a racial justice issue that is tremendously important for communities like Queens,” Inwald said.

“Go into any foreclosure court in New York City and look around and see who the defendants are. You don’t need to do statistical analysis to know who is impacted by this,” he added. Q

Gov. Hochul signed the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act last month, which will restore the six-year statute of limitations on foreclosure cases to its status quo. PHOTO RESPRES / WIKIPEDIA

Viruses, floods, pot shops are talk of CB 10

by Deirdre Bardolf Editor

The areas of South Ozone Park and Howard and Hamilton Beach are among the highest for Covid positivity in the city, an NYC Test & Treat Corps rep informed Community Board 10 last Thursday, when members met virtually out of what the chairperson called “prudence” following a rise in cases after the holiday season.

Jason Reischel shared data with the board that showed the ZIP code encompassing the Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park neighborhoods ranking 11th in the city for highest percent positivity rates in the seven-day period at 24 percent positive with 85 cases, according to city data. The numbers were based on reported rates, Reischel noted, as many cases go undetected and unreported.

“One of the reasons I wanted to speak to Community Board 10 is because some of your neighborhoods are some of the highest positivity rates in the city,” he said.

Howard Beach and Lindenwood had a rate of just under 23 percent positivity as of last week with 39 new reported cases.

As for other parts of South Queens, Woodhaven was fifth for highest positivity rates in the entire city, with 76 as of last week, behind Broad Channel, Astoria and Cambria Heights, which ranked second, third and fourth, respectively.

Reischel noted the rate citywide, saying “It’s much lower than a year ago now but we are starting to see increased positivity rates and we’re expecting to see even more next week when all the data starts coming in from everyone who traveled over the

around now and is rampant throughout

represents this season’s cases so far.

holidays.”

He also spoke of concerns about the flu, which typically spikes around this time of year. There were roughly 8,000 cases reported in February a year ago. By just December last year, however, the city was at over 16,000 cases.

“The flu right now is ripping through our neighborhoods at a much higher rate than it historically has done,” Reischel said.

Formerly NYC Health + Hospitals Test & Trace Corps, his agency is now known as the Test and Treat Corps as mobile testing units now offer the Covid treatment Paxlovid and some of the vans also test for

the flu and RSV and provide Tamiflu prescriptions.

Also on the minds of CB 10 members at the monthly meeting was the recent damage from Winter Storm Elliot.

An emergency town hall meeting also took place on Thursday night, hosted by state Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-South Ozone Park) in Arverne.

“Despite the fact that the senator’s office does know when Community Board 10 meets, he scheduled that meeting for tonight, which meant that none of the people from Community Board 10 who were impacted by the winter storm on Dec. 23, with the serious flooding that we had in

Community Board 10, could attend this meeting,” said CB 10 Chair Betty Braton.

She excused member Roger Gendron, the area’s resident flood control advocate, to attend the town hall.

“We would hope that in the future, Senator Sanders would not schedule a meeting on the same night as our board meeting,” Braton added.

As for correspondence, she said the Department of Transportation had found speed reducers were warranted along Shore Parkway. Four will be installed: one between 84th and 86th streets and three between 86th and 89th streets.

The community board received the first correspondence regarding the siting of cannabis retail dispensaries, although none will be in Community District 10 yet.

Braton said the board has been getting a lot of questions about the coming recreational dispensaries and acknowledged reports of shops selling marijuana without licenses, despite some being granted throughout the state.

“As of today, we have not received, at Community Board 10, any reach-out from any party interested in opening a dispensary or a retail establishment in our board district,” she said.

“I’m sure we’ll probably get one at some point but as of now there are none in Community Board 10 that have received a license from the state or that we are aware have applied for one.”

State regulations require that licenseholders notify the community board in whose jurisidiction the premises would be located.

Parents still need vax proof in schools

rules ease

by Deirdre Bardolf Editor

Parents and guardians who refuse to get vaccinated still cannot attend school functions inside city Department of Education buildings, and some are calling for the policy to end as other Covid restrictions have been dropped and the third anniversary of the pandemic nears.

Nearly 1,500 have signed on to a petition started by one Queens mom calling on Mayor Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks to allow unvaccinated people access into schools.

Eight City Council members wrote a letter to Adams and Banks as well as city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Ashwin Vasan calling for the mandate to be lifted as well. The order comes from the DOHMH.

“For three long years, unvaccinated parents have been prevented from attending functions

at facilities operated by the NYC Department of Education,” stated the letter, which was written at the end of December.

Signatories included Councilmembers Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park), Bob Holden (D-Maspeth) and Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone).

“These people have been forced to miss plays, proms, graduations, and sporting events, adding to the stresses felt by students and families who were already enduring the difficulties of receiving an education during a global pandemic,” it continued.

The letter cited the recent closing of the DOE Covid command center, known as the Situation Room, and the end of families being notified about cases in schools.

Principals received an email at the end of December stating, “You will no longer be

required to inform members of your school community of individual COVID-19 cases by letter,” according to Chalkbeat.

The Council members’ letter called the closing of the Situation Room a “bold step forward into the post-COVID-19 world” and said, in order to move toward postpandemic normalcy, “we must continue to lift the barriers put in place during the height of the outbreak.”

It ends by saying that unvaccinated people no longer pose an extraordinary risk and that the stigma against that population must end.

A change.org petition started by Douglaston mother Adriana Aviles states, “Thankfully NYC DOE children were not forced to be Covid Vaccinated in order to continue their NYC DOE education. But parents/family members who are not Covid Vaccinated are

still denied entry into their NYC DOE children’s schools” and cites research showing that parent involvement in schools leads to better outcomes.

Ariola posted the letter from her and her colleagues to Twitter and one user, a mom from Queens, wrote, “I can’t even set foot in my daughter’s school.” She said it was a “shame,” and that “a lot of issues my daughter is facing would have been resolved if I was allowed in her classroom.”

Jean Hahn, head of Queens Parents United, said, “It harms kids to not have parental support, which includes parents attending read alouds, performances, volunteering and sporting events.”

According to the DOE website, vaccination is still required for all visitors entering school buildings, for all DOE employees and others who work in the buildings, but is no longer required for high-risk extracurricular activities including sports.

Community Board 10 last week discussed not only Covid but the flu, which typically spikes

Queens this winter. The nearly vertical red line at left

ZOOM SCREENSHOT

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Recent crime trends encouraging in 102nd

CO says major crimes have been heading downward in last two months

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

Like the city as a whole, the 102nd Precinct experienced uncomfortably high spikes in crime in 2022.

But, like Commissioner Keechant Sewell last week [see separate story in some editions or at qchron.com], Capt. Jeremy Kivin, commander of the 102nd, is seeing encouraging trends in the last few months.

“We were up 30 percent last year, and we’re not happy about that,” Kivin said Tuesday night at the monthly meeting of Community Board 9 in Borough Hall. “But there are indications that we are headed in the right direction. For the last two months, crime has been going down.”

Sewell, along with a number of her departmental chiefs, said last week that several index crimes have been trending downward steadily in the last 28-day and 56-day periods. Kivin said the same has been taking place in the 102nd.

He also said quality-of-life enforcement in the 102nd has been a major success, with an increase of summonses and related actions up more than 400 percent in 2022.

“Our job is to make things safer, and more bearable,” he said.

Taking questions afterward, Kivin said enforcement of marijuana offenses and rules

for interacting with the homeless in the area have been seeing more clarification for officers.

While marijuana is now legal, Kivin said there are still places where it cannot be smoked, this subject to enforcement. As to driving under the influence, he said the rules are the same as drunk or alcoholimpaired driving — albeit without a breathalyzer that can give an officer instant feedback.

“It’s based more on an officer’s observations,” he said, explaining that marijuana detection can take a blood or urine sample, which are more complicated to obtain than a breathalyzer sample.

Enforcing sales from places like bodegas and other unlicensed vendors, he said, can be an easier undertaking, particularly when teaming with agencies such as the city’s Sheriff’s Office.

Specifically addressing the homeless gathered in Forest Park, Kivin said tackling the issue is a combined effort that includes multiple city agencies. He brought up the example of the Arctic cold snap that took over the city in the days around Christmas.

“We were going out checking people every hour,” he said. When officers encounter someone they believe to be in need of assistance, they make offers of shelter and

medical care. When a person appears to have a mental health condition, experts are called in.

“But when someone appears to be in their right mind and refuses to go, we can’t make them [accept help],” he said.

One item taken off Tuesday’s agenda was a planned presentation by the School Construction Authority on the city’s intention to

build a school at 128-08 Jamaica Ave. in Richmond Hill, the site of the former Rubie’s Costume Co. store. District Manager James McClelland said the SCA was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting, but that the talk will be rescheduled.

Also rescheduled was Board 9’s February meeting, from Tuesday, Feb. 14, to Monday, Feb. 13, so as not to conflict with Valentine’s Day, according to Board Chairwoman Sherry Algredo.

In other business, Rainoldo Graziano, chief of staff for state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Woodhaven), new district office, now at 84-16 Jamaica Ave. in Woodhaven. Addabbo was forced to relocate due to redistricting in the wake of the 2020 U.S. Census.

“We’re moving in tomorrow,” Graziano told the crowd. The office phone number, he said, remains the same at (718) 318-0702.

During the public session, Sam Esposito of the Ozone Park Howard Beach Woodhaven Lions Club said the organization was beginning an outreach effort to seniors who live alone and might not have close family members to check in on them. Esposito made reference to the recent discovery of a New York City resident who is believed to have been dead for months before being discovered as the impetus for the Lions’ outreach effort.

Hochul says public safety ‘top priority’

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

Following an uncomfortably close reelection in which her Republican opponent hammered her on crime, Gov. Hochul devoted a good portion of Tuesday’s State of the State address to public safety.

“Public safety is my top priority,” Hochul said in a comment on her website. “I am committed to using every tool at my disposal to protect the people of this state, crack down on gun violence and violent crime, and invest in proven solutions that keep New Yorkers safe.”

“least restrictive” means necessary to assure defendants return to court. The document says Hochul favors eliminating “least restrictive” requirements for serious crimes that still are eligible for bail.

“What it will do [emphasis in the original] is make it crystal clear that judges do, in fact, have the discretion necessary to protect the safety of New Yorkers.”

Other initiatives include, but are not limited to:

• doubling the state investment in alternatives to incarceration, such as mental health and substance abuse treatment;

Fresh off a photo-finish re-election that went to a recount and legal wrangling, South Queens state Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Park) was sworn in for her fourth term this week.

“I am honored to return to the Assembly and fight for the people of the 23rd Assembly District,” Pheffer Amato said in a statement. “I love my community and am committed to ensuring that their voices will be heard! My sleeves are rolled up and I look forward to continuing to solve problems, bring resources to the people, and pass

legislation that helps New Yorkers.”

In a press release, she touted her service to women, public employees, senior citizens and veterans especially.

Pheffer Amato defeated Republican challenger Tom Sullivan by just 15 votes, a margin determined nearly two months after Election Day. On Nov. 8, before absentee ballots were counted and the race went to court, Sullivan had been up by 246 votes.

The Assembly voted unanimously to seat Pheffer Amato and gave her a standing ovation. — Peter C. Mastrosimone

In the 275-page booklet that lays out Hochul’s priorities, pages 67 to 85 are devoted to the crime aspects of public safety. “Make Improvements to the State’s Bail Laws” is discussed on pages 81 and 82. Hochul is said to want to work with the Legislature to make “thoughtful changes” to existing laws.

The paper says Hochul agrees with the original intent of the 2019 changes that prevented people from being locked up over being unable to afford bail for minor crimes, requiring judges to impose the

• tripling the state’s investment in reentry services for people leaving state prisons;

• expanding gun violence elimination programs;

• funding four State Police Academy classes after having none in almost two years; and

• hiring hundreds of prosecutors around the state.

Transcripts of Hochul’s speech, press releases and videos can be found online at governor.ny.gov.

That was close! That was close!

Capt. Jeremy Kivin of the 102nd Precinct talked crime statistics, marijuana and helping the homeless. PHOTO BY MICHAEL GANNON

EDITORIAL AGEP

A vicious crime shows the need for state action

It took GuiYing Ma a few months to die after Elisaul Perez pounded her head in with a rock. The North Corona grandmother was in an induced coma for 10 weeks and was kept alive with a ventilator and a feeding tube. A couple weeks after she woke up she started moving a little, giving her family hope, but the next day she died, aged 61.

If only Perez hadn’t come along and pounded her with that rock the day after Thanksgiving 2021, she’d be alive today. She’s one of the few immigrants you actually could say would have been better off had she stayed in China.

This week Perez was sentenced to 20 years in prison, after pleading guilty to manslaughter. He’ll get out when he’s 54 — if he serves his full sentence. He should have been charged with murder and given no plea deal. He had nothing to offer prosecutors. There was no bigger fish to catch. Perez is just a deranged killer who deserved to get 25 years to life.

Yet prosecutors love to cut deals, and those in the Queens District Attorney’s Office are no exception. It takes a lot of work to go to trial. And these days especially, as prosecutors labor under the new discovery laws Albany imposed on them three years ago, forcing them to turn over evidence much earlier than before, among other measures tilting the

scales of justice more toward defendants, there just may not be enough people to get the job done.

So among the most promising of the criminal-justice improvements Gov. Hochul offered in her State of the State address Tuesday was her proposal to hire “hundreds” of prosecutors around the state, by “more than tripling” the $12 million the state’s Aid to Prosecution program provides. The move, she said, will reduce case backlogs back to where they were before the Covid pandemic — which, one might note, hit around the same time as the new laws, early 2020.

Also vital is revisiting the insane bail “reform” laws that went into effect at the same time, and Hochul said she will do that, at least to a degree. Judges need clarification on Albany’s order to impose the “least restrictive” means necessary to get defendants to return to court, she said. They probably need more than that — specifically the return of more crimes to the list that are eligible for bail and the ability to order people held based on the danger they pose — but we’ll soon see exactly what Hochul proposes.

She also vowed more money for mental health services and substance abuse treatment and more state police, all worthy ideas. She also would fund 1,000 new in-patient psy-

chiatric beds in hospitals around the state, with at least 100 slated for New York City, though 850 of them would just make up for ones that were lost during the pandemic. Still, they could help in the fight against crime, and can’t hurt.

And that fight against crime must go on. Although we’re finally seeing reductions in murder and shootings, other major offenses are still way up, leaving the total number of the seven so-called index crimes 22 percent higher in 2022 than it was the year before. And even that marks an improvement — early last year the city was on track to see a 45 percent increase in those seven crimes from 2021.

Much of the credit for the reduction in shootings, and therefore murder, doubtlessly can go to the NYPD’ neighborhood safety teams, the sort-of-plainclothes units Mayor Adams deployed to replace the anticrime units his predecessor had disbanded. These men and women are the front lines of gun control. Overall, city cops seized 7,135 guns last year.

If Hochul is as serious as Adams about crime, and can get enough lawmakers to see things her way — no easy task we might make progress toward getting crime where it was a few short years ago. Otherwise, we can expect even more cases like that of tragic GuiYing Ma, who suffered so much.

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR

Con man in Congress

Dear Editor:

Will someone please explain the difference between Congressman George Santos and a regular street confidence man who tricks people to get their money or other valuable assets when there are already laws on the books to charge a street con man with a crime?

Santos not only defrauded his constituents, but the American taxpayers, as well, who will now, at least for the next two years, be on tab to pay his salary of $174,000, plus benefits; and that prospect is particularly nauseating.

A person’s vote is an asset that has come at a very great cost, such as, the lives of many good Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for us to have that right, and that vote should never be taken lightly or be falsely obtained.

If Santos is allowed to serve, for whatever expedient reason, then this nation’s democracy has also been conned for the world to see.

Glenn Hayes Kew Gardens

Santos isn’t fit for office

Dear Editor:

Office: The Shops at Atlas Park 71-19 80th St., Suite 8-201 Glendale, NY 11385

Phone: (718) 205-8000 Fax: (718) 205-1957

E-mail: Mailbox@qchron.com Website: www.qchron.com

As a young person, a minority and a resident of New York’s 3rd Congressional District, I see George Santos’ conduct as being exactly the opposite of how I was raised to conduct myself. His fabrication of his entire life story, and subsequent refusal to address the concerns of vot-

© Copyright 2023 by

ers, stands out as perhaps the greatest fraud ever perpetrated during a U.S. election.

We are conditioned to accept elected officials being less than forthcoming, but Mr. Santos has manipulated peoples’ good nature to tell fantastical tales about achievements he had no part in. Now, as a member of Congress, he has refused to speak candidly with the press, has not opened a district office to serve constituents and has been seen fraternizing with the most extreme, far-right members of Congress such as Marjorie “Jewish Space Lasers” Taylor Greene and accused child sex trafficker Matt Gaetz.

Some areas of the United States might be irreparably partisan, but the people of New York’s 3rd Congressional District are moderate, hardworking people from Queens and Long Island who are disgusted by the words and actions of Mr. Santos. His lies about affiliations with the Holocaust, 9/11 and the anti-LGBTQ+ Pulse nightclub shooting to curry political favor are abhorrent and must be condemned in the

strongest possible terms. However, they aren’t illegal. What does run afoul of the law is campaign finance and voter registration fraud, as well as Brazilian check fraud — all issues that are being looked at by local, state, federal and international authorities.

We deserve better than this irreparably damaged fraud of a man.

Vishal Balani Floral Par k

Santos fits right in

Dear Editor:

Re “Swift justice for Santos,” Editorial, Jan. 5: Incoming Congressman George Santos lied about his heritage, going to Baruch College, working at Goldman Sachs, etc. None of which speaks at all well of him, but were these at all central issues that got him elected to represent Congressional District 3?

That election, like others across New York

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR

State that basically flipped the House, centered mostly on abortion and crime. As the Democrat, Robert Zimmerman ran on the right to abortion. His litany of reasons for voters to reject Santos, as reported in this newspaper, were “supporting a national abortion ban and comparing reproductive freedom to slavery, to wanting to privatize Social Security, to paying legal fees for Jan. 6 insurrectionists” (“Zimmerman, Santos squaring off for NY-3,” Nov. 3, 2022). Then Santos won — on those issues at least, fairly and squarely.

While universal condemnations of Santos continue, the Big Lies ignored — like promising to codify Roe v. Wade, promising a public health insurance option and $2,000 checks, i.e. things people actually vote on — are shrugged off. Santos can without compunction take his place among his moral peers.

Edwin Eppich Glendale

To cut down on smoking

Dear Editor:

Nicotine, a highly addictive substance from tobacco, causes health problems such as delayed reproductive hormones, infertility, lung, breast and other cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders and cardiovascular diseases before, during and after pregnancy. The New York State Department of Health records 550,000 deaths yearly as a result of smoking.

Avoiding tobacco use will help to reduce secondhand smoking effects in the unborn such as immature lungs, brain damage, premature birth and sudden infant death syndrome, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The legislators providing aids such as aggressive public health education; funding for quit-smoking programs; stringent enforcement of anti-smoking laws; banning of the sale and transportation of tobacco products after 4 p.m.; and banning of the tobacco-manufacturing industries would help reduce the harmful effects.

Benedicta Dimoriaku Bronx

The writer is a nurse.

Preventing cervical cancer

Dear Editor:

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and the Cancer Services Program of Queens wants to share some important and alarming information. In New York State, Black women are more likely than white women to be diagnosed with cervical cancer and to die from the disease. Recent findings from a U.S. study show that Black women are diagnosed with late-stage cervical cancer at a higher rate than white women. Late-stage cancer is cancer that has spread to other places in the body. Cervical cancer is much harder to treat in late stages with less than two out of 100 women surviving past five years.

This is especially alarming because it can be prevented. What everyone should know:

to 65 should be screened every three years with a Pap test. For some, using an HPV test may lengthen the time between screenings.

• You can get screened even if you do not have health insurance. The CSPQ provides free screening to women ages 40 and older who qualify. For women with insurance, most health insurers cover screening at no cost.

The good news is that, in a recent survey, nearly 70 percent of women 21 and older said they’d be more likely to schedule their screening after learning why it’s important to find cancer early. The CSPQ hopes this information motivates women due for cervical cancer screening to call their healthcare provider or call us at (718) 670-1561 for free cervical cancer screening, if they are eligible.

Roseline Ogbonna Cancer Services Program of Queens Fresh Meadows

Utilities kept the heat on

Dear Editor:

Utility customers were understandably frustrated when asked to conserve energy during December’s extreme cold snap. However, the letter “Don’t believe National Grid,” published Jan. 5, contains many inaccuracies.

Over the holidays, the region’s major utilities issued requests for customers to safely turn down their thermostats to ensure sufficient supplies to serve all customers. This impacted all energy consumers, including those relying on electric heat pumps, which the writer advocates for, as electric generators switched from natural gas to burning oil.

Before calling on residential customers to conserve, utilities asked commercial and dual fuel customers to come off the gas system and switch to alternate fuels. That meant burning more oil. Mischaracterizing National Grid’s customer outreach as “misleading” is dismissive of how devastating a gas outage during the coldest days of the year would have been. It would be irresponsible for utilities not to communicate with their customers and take steps to provide uninterrupted heat for everybody.

Utilities work with local and state governments to prepare for weather incidents like these. The Greenpoint Energy Center has provided safe, reliable energy for over 50 years, and is a crucial part of National Grid’s plan to maintain the region’s energy supply during extreme weather events — as it did during the December storm emergency.

Continued investment in existing infrastructure, including the new more efficient liquified natural gas vaporizers proposed for the Greenpoint Energy Center, is essential to maintaining a safe and reliable energy network as we transition to fossil-free energy sources. While utilities strive to make this transition as quickly as possible, the existing gas system must be upgraded and maintained. Ignorance of this fact is no license to attempt to undermine confidence in these systems and the hardworking men and women who maintain them.

• Cervical cancer screening may save lives. Getting screened regularly can find the cells that lead to cancer so they can be removed before cancer grows. Screening also helps find cancer early when it may be easier to treat.

• Screening begins at age 21. Women ages 21

The safety and well-being of customers is a utility’s top priority. We should be grateful our energy system worked in the extreme cold.

Thomas J. Grech President and CEO Queens Chamber of Commerce East Elmhurst

Adams talks year one in press roundtable

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

Mayor Adams was dressed relatively casually last Friday afternoon — he entered a City Hall press conference without his suit jacket and exchanged greetings with a few members of the press from ethnic and community news outlets.

The main topic was his first year in office, though Adams started by going back a bit further; for longer, he said, than before most of his opponents in 2021 had even decided to campaign for the office.

He spoke of his days as a police officer and before, and of a young man he once knew who could catch no breaks in a city that had targeted him for the correction system before he was even out of school.

Adams expressed no surprise that the voters chose him over his opponents.

“A lot of them probably decided a few months before their campaigns,” Adams said. “I’ve been on a 28-year mission. ... People want safe streets and good jobs and good schools. They don’t want to be victims of hate crimes. I came here with a clear agenda.”

Adams took dozens of questions during a nearly 90-minute sit-down. He said ethnic and community media outlets have been essential in getting his administration’s mes-

sage out. While he did not invoke Mayor Dinkins’ “gorgeous mosaic,” he boasted that the roster of officials in his administration do reflect the composition of the city’s populace.

Some of his answers to questions about immigration and the homeless problem tended to overlap. He said, as he had before and since, that the social service safety net is being stretched, and that it will take everyone’s cooperation.

“Some of the people who make the most noise about building shelters also say ‘Not on my block. Not in my district.’ I don’t have that luxury when somebody shows up ... Buses are still coming into the Port Authority.” He still would like to see more help from Washington in terms of funding and coordination.

This past June, Adams and the City Council agreed on a record-high $101 billion budget, which went into place July 1.

In mid-September, not a full quarter in to the new fiscal year, Adams already was compelled to order the first of two Program to Eliminate the Gap initiatives.

“We were doing a lot of things we shouldn’t be doing,” Adams said. “We were spending on a lot of things we shouldn’t be spending money on. Like data plans for [city-issue] phones. Who still does that?”

He was asked about resistance to budget

cuts from the City Council, after having earlier mentioned a projected $10 billion deficit for fiscal years through 2026.

“I think some members of the Council understand the deficit problem,” Adams said.

Since last Friday, all but two hospital sys-

tems have reached contacts with their nurses’ unions, while nurses went on strike Monday in the Bronx. Adams said he was in contact with both union and hospital officials in an attempt to help get a settlement.

“Nurses were on the front lines during Covid,” he said. “Nurses are heroes.” Q

Murders, shootings, gunshot vics down last year but overall hike 22% Mayor touts gains vs. violent crime in ’22

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

Mayor Adams and NYPD brass last week appeared to be seeking a measured approach when discussing crime statistics for 2022.

Adams, who took office Jan. 1, 2022, praised NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and her assembled chiefs for major reductions in murders and shootings along with gun arrests and seizures not seen in more than a quarter-century.

Adams and Sewell, in a transcript of the Jan. 5 press conference, also said the next step is to bring down massive increases in other major crime categories beyond the trickle in the last weeks of 2022. Total major crimes were up 22 percent despite the gains against murders and shootings.

“Shootings in 2021 were at a 15-year high and had been climbing since 2018,” Sewell said. “In the beginning of 2022, our yearover-year crime spike was at about 45 percent and at times 48 percent. We have steadily and diligently cut into that increase and we are now sitting at about 22 percent. We knew we would not turn this city around on a dime. We did not stumble into these decreases. They were not happenstance. We strategized, planned, deployed, recalibrated when necessary, conducted investigations and relentlessly followed up.”

Examples given by the commissioner included Adams’ Blueprint to End Gun Violence, released in January, February’s Supplemental Deployment Strategy, the Subway Safety Plan of March and the reintroduction of the NYPD’s plainclothes Neighborhood Safety Teams.

The results included 4,627 gun arrests in 2022, a 27-year high, along with 7,135 illegal guns seized.

There were 418 murders in the city in 2022, down from 481 the year before. Chief Michael Lipetri of the Crime Control Strategies unit said there were 268 fewer shooting

incidents resulting in 310 fewer shooting victims.

On the other hand, rape was up 7 percent as of statistics through Dec. 25. Other increases included robbery (26 percent), felony assault (12.6), burglary (26 percent) and auto theft (31 percent). Police brass did point out that those numbers had been inching down in the final few weeks of 2022, an assertion confirmed by CompStat records obtained by the Chronicle in the last three weeks of December.

Chief of Patrol John Chell said the revived street units made 501 arrests and recovered 432 firearms, with one in four of their encounters resulting in gun seizures. What used to be called anti-crime units were disbanded under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s watch, with him citing concerns over the number of civilian complaints against the officers.

Many critics of bringing the units back have asked in recent days if the number of gun seizures justifies their reincarnation.

The mayor was making no apologies on Jan. 5.

“Yes, and I hear that often, and I believe people believe that policing is one aspect,” Adams said. “The Neighborhood Safety Teams not only made gun arrests, but they made arrests of bad people. And if you only

Mayor Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell, third and second from right, respectively, last week said the city and the department have made great strides vs. crime since Adams took office a year ago.

PHOTO BY BENNY POLATSECK / MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE

Mayor says administration’s policies are the result of ‘a 28-year mission’

Mayor Adams on Jan. 6 discussed his first year in office and some plans for the city’s future in a roundtable press conference with ethnic and smaller news outlets.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL GANNON

Cohen fields ideas for Mets’ parking lot

Residents mixed on casino, mostly emphasize need

by Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

Roughly 550 community members attended Saturday’s visioning sessions at Citi Field, during which Mets owner Steve Cohen offered residents the opportunity to weigh in on what should become of the stadium’s parking lot.

Saturday’s event comes just days after numerous Queens civic groups voiced their opposition to a casino being built on the site — which is an option lobbying records indicate Cohen is exploring — since it is parkland.

Attendees entertained the prospect of bringing something new to the area as they walked through the rotunda of the Piazza 31 Club, answering questions on sticky notes and discussing possibilities over hot dogs and sliders.

Many residents were interested in seeing some kind of green space, particularly one that would provide more waterfront access.

“They keep showing the map with the ‘50 acres [of asphalt],’ but it doesn’t cover the waterfront, which we actually have,” Forest Hills resident Roman Kosinov told the Chronicle, referring to the map of the Citi Field area posted on monitors all over the room. “We would like to see more integration with the waterfront in this space.” An avid cyclist, Kosinov said he’d like to see some bike paths along the water.

Cohen’s team has previously said connecting the community to the waterfront is part of its vision.

Others were interested in seeing a plaza where vendors could sell food and other goods, as opposed to Corona Plaza or Main Street in Downtown Flushing, where many are not licensed to do so. “The city and the state have been struggling with where to put the street vendors,” East Elmhurst resident Tony Alarcon said. “I think it could be a

good attraction.”

The word “casino” was not used by the Cohen team, though two questions offered “gaming” as a possible answer. Residents had mixed feelings about the possibility of a casino.

“I don’t gamble,” Auburndale resident Michelle Pinzon said. “It could be good if it brings jobs, but it could also change the neighborhood. So who knows if it’s a great idea.”

For Thomas Wright, who lives in Long Island City, good jobs are not enough. “I understand they’re talking about potentially good-paying jobs, they’re saying that it will be a union project to build it, but a casino?” he said.

“The last time I heard of somebody going to Atlantic City to visit the community there — I actually have never heard that.”

Jamaica Hills resident Cindy Eustdio was not necessarily opposed. “If you’re telling me this is gonna be like part of a community and there’s gonna be other things — restaurants, gaming, a district for everyone to just come to for entertainment — and you have shopping and things like that for everyone, then I don’t have a problem with it,” she said. “If it’s just a casino, we’re gonna have a problem.”

Across the board, however, those interviewed said transportation and making the area more accessible to surrounding communities was the first priority.

“They have to really, wholeheartedly commit to giving transportation to this neighborhood — because it’s a problem,” Eustdio said. “I was a season ticket holder, and I drove all the time. Now, I’m just starting to feel anxiety when I do it, because it’s that much more traffic.”

Hollis native DJ Shug agreed. “Maybe we’ll get an easier way to get here via train,” he said. “I came via train a couple times and

Schools forbid top robot writer

The city Department of Education has banned ChatGPT, an online artificial intelligence program that produces high-quality writing based on prompts from the user.

“Due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content, access to ChatGPT is restricted on New York City Public Schools’ networks and devices,” DOE spokeswoman Jenna Lyle said via email. “While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for

academic and lifelong success.”

The DOE did say that despite the overall ban, individual schools may request access to ChatGPT so that students can access the latest tools related to AI and a technologyrelated education.

Opinions differ on the chatbot’s impact. The publication Chalkbeat said, “One high school English teacher argued in The Atlantic that the chatbot spells the ‘end of high school English,’” but also quoted a city teacher who said the fears about it are like those sparked by Google years ago. Q

— Peter C. Mastrosimone

for transportation

it’s just sometimes the LIRR ... it’s a pain. It’s a long and arduous walk.”

Later he added, “We definitely need some access to get here from other places and not just the 7 train.” He also said the trains should be closer to the stadium.

State Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-East Elmhurst) said transportation is “the No. 1” question here. “We already know that the 7 train is overwhelmed. Now we’re gonna build this whole new neighborhood across Seaver Way, never mind whatever gets built here,” she said, referring to the soccer stadium and 2,500 units of affordable housing slated for Willets Point. “They can’t just add it to the 7 train.”

But the problem still remains: The 50-acre parking lot is legally parkland. The state Court of Appeals ruled in 2017 that a shopping mall could not be built on the land for precisely that reason, though it noted the state Legislature could alienate parkland as it sees fit. Traditionally, when that occurs, new parkland has been designated in close proximity.

Former state Sen. Tony Avella was a plaintiff in the 2017 case. He told the Chronicle he intends to sit down with Cohen to discuss the issue. “Parkland always has to be sacred,” he said. “It always has to be a sacred trust for future generations.”

“I am of the opinion that it is unfortunate that there is no state public review process, but that luckily, there’s a city one,” Ramos said. With a knowing twinkle in her eye, she continued, “Someone should write a bill that would trigger it, so community feedback would be more binding than it is right now.

“The meetings and visioning sessions are great, but they’re much more suggestive than they are binding.”

To Wright, whatever becomes of the Citi Field parking lot needs to benefit residents.

“There are plans for a casino and hotel and convention center — that’s going to bring an influx of people from outside of the community into the community,” he said. “But what’s the investment that’s going to be made in the community to balance that?” Q

Murder, shootings down in 2022

continued from page 10

look at, well, how many guns did you take off the street, you’re going to miss how many other crimes they stopped. They’re not out there saying, ‘Hey, I see a burglary. I’m going to walk past it because it’s not a gun.’ No, that’s not how it’s done.”

Adams said another advantage the units bring is to make criminals feel less secure.

“[We] removed the unpredictable aspect of policing,” he said. “When we stated that we were going to dismantle plainclothes officers, dismantle those

other aspects of the surprise element, we told the bad guys, ‘If you don’t see a blue and white car, you can carry out your deeds.’ We’ve taken that away. That Neighborhood Safety Team brings back the unpredictable aspects of the good guys. This is a huge win for us. It was the best thing that we could do and I really commend the commissioner for doing the proper training, getting the best officers for it, and those 500 guns mean 500 people are less likely to be shot. Great job on the behalf of those men and women who decided to pursue those guns.”

Queens residents shared their thoughts with Steve Cohen’s team using sticky notes and dot stickers at Saturday’s visioning sessions.

PHOTO BY SOPHIE KRICHEVSKY

“The last time I heard of somebody going to Atlantic City to visit the community there — I’ve actually never heard of that.”

— Thomas Wright, Long Island City

City turns to offices for housing solution

Study calls for expanded regs for conversion of all post-1990 buildings

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

The city is turning to vacant workplaces for part of its solution to the housing crisis.

Mayor Adams on Monday announced a series of recommendations from the Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force related to the redevelopment of underused office space into housing.

Among the suggestions published in the Office Adaptive Reuse Study are the expansion of the most flexible regulations for conversion to residential use for office buildings constructed before the end of 1990, the allowance of conversion of office buildings to types of housing beyond dwelling units and the application of conversion regulations to all high-intensity commercial districts, with the study citing Downtown Flushing as a possible example.

Under the current laws and regulations, most office buildings built after 1961 are limited in their adaptive use. Expanding the regulations to allow for the repurposing of office buildings constructed before Dec. 31, 1990 would make approximately 120 million additional square feet of space eligible for conversion, according to the study.

“The need for housing is desperate, and the opportunity offered by underused office space is clear — we know what we need to do,” Adams said in a statement. “These concrete

reforms would clear red tape and create the incentives to create the housing we need for New Yorkers at all income levels.”

The study cites statistics showing the declining use of city office space since the start of the pandemic. When asked if the recommendations represent a shift in the mayor’s stance on bringing workers back to in-person workplaces, a spokesperson from his office acknowledged that Adams has been a supporter of the return to in-person work, but that his position is “more nuanced.” The spokesperson specifically cited Adams’ remarks at the release of the “Make New York Work for Everyone” action plan last month.

“We’re going to continue to redefine what our office spaces should look like, like we did during 9/11 and made 24-hour work communities,” Adams said at the release. “And we’re going to lean into the difficult conversation about what work should look like. That’s what this ‘New’ New York panel was about. Yes, we’re going to have a combination of remote work, we’re going to have to have a real conversation on how that impacts those mom and pop stores that depend on the foot traffic.”

Queens Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Grech, himself a supporter of the return to in-person work, also said that the choice between adapting office space into housing and getting people back into the in-

person workplace does not have to be just one or the other.

“I think there’s a tipping point between the ongoing need for the quantity of office space pre-pandemic, but we certainly know today,

right now, there’s a housing crisis,” he said. “I think whatever we can do to help accentuate housing starts along with some help from Albany, when it comes to a replacement for [the 421a tax exemption].”

Grech says the city should target Class B and C office space, generally more outdated than its Class A counterpart, for any potential conversion initiative.

If the task force’s recommendations are realized, and with the cooperation of property owners of the office space in question, the city would make an additional 136 million square feet of space eligible for conversion, per a release.

“After every crisis, New York City reinvents itself, which is why it is so important for our codes and regulations to stay flexible,” city Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz said in a statement. “The Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force recommendations will help us meet the moment and rise to each new challenge with a built environment that is as dynamic and diverse as New Yorkers themselves. To solve our housing shortage, we need every tool possible.”

“Our recovery from the pandemic requires employing concrete tools, flexibility, and thoughtful strategies to create homes for New Yorkers and strengthen our central commercial districts,” City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) said in a statement. Q

Honoring

Should the recommendations of the city Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force be realized, they would make an additional 136 million square feet of office space eligible for conversion into housing.

PHOTO COURTESY NYC MAYOR’S OFFICE

Renovations coming to NYCHA elevators

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

Gov. Hochul, Mayor Adams and interim New York City Housing Authority CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt last Friday announced the start of planning on the replacement of 335 elevators at 20 NYCHA developments, including three in Queens.

Two elevators apiece will be installed at the Leavitt Street-34th Avenue development, located at 34-35 Linden Place in Flushing, and the Conlon Lihfe Tower and the Shelton House, both located at 116-45 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. in Jamaica.

“With this important milestone, NYCHA is set to begin major building improvements, leveraging $300 million in state investment to improve the homes and lives of thousands of New Yorkers,” Hochul said in a statement.

“Every day, NYCHA residents experience the consequences of decades of underinvestment and tens of billions of dollars in capital needs,” Adams said in his own statement. “Providing them the quality of life that every New Yorker deserves requires creativity and partner-

ship — and this agreement represents both.”

All the elevators identified as part of the renovation plan are at or beyond the typical useful life of 15 to 20 years for a multifamily residential property. Planning work is scheduled to begin in April, and all construction is scheduled to be completed by early December 2028.

The funding comes as part of a $300 million agreement with the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.

“With the DASNY agreement, it will provide essential assistance for elevator upgrades which many developments need renovated for an extended period,” Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman (D-Springfield Gardens) said in a statement. “I have been in the elevators at Conlon Lihfe and they are dark and operate slowly. So, I look forward to seeing the upgrades for my seniors, which have been long overdue.”

“Soon, 34,000 New Yorkers will have the relief that everyone should enjoy with reliable and safe elevators,” city Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz said in a statement.

Jamaica teen earns full-ride scholarship

AMS IV student headed to BC

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

A Southeast Queens teen will be shipping up to Boston next fall at little financial burden on her family.

Seventeen-year-old Leigh-Denae Atkins will be spending the next four years of her educational career at Boston College on a full-ride scholarship. The hours of effort she has put in both in the classroom at New Vision Charter High School for Advanced Math and Science IV in Springfield Gardens and out of it have put her in a position to thrive.

Her mother shared her laundry list of extracurriculars: membership with the gender empowerment initiative My Sister’s Keeper, time spent running DoorDash orders, operation of her own hair oil business and nonschool-sanctioned learning of Spanish and Mandarin — she was recently selected a semifinalist for a National Security Language Initiative for Youth program that would have her studying the latter dialect in China or Taiwan this summer.

Atkins’ dedication has paid off with the Questbridge Scholarship to Boston College, an award valued at $300,000 over four years. She plans to study nursing, with hopes of becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist, inspired by a procedure performed when she was a child.

“Something was on my eye, and I had to go in and get surgery for it,” she said. “I fell in love with the anesthesiologist, because she was so nice and she was so warm. I was also really amazed that she knew just how much anesthetics I would need in order to not only stay asleep, but have a great sleep, and then just wake up.”

Her multilingual interest relates directly to her chosen line of work. Atkins says she wants to be able to understand her patients to the best of her ability, and thus has taken up the task of learning multiple languages.

“My outlook on life is to treat everyone as I would treat myself,” she said. “I just thought

in fall

there’s no better way to treat someone that I couldn’t understand than to learn their language.”

Atkins came to America from Jamaica, the country, when she was a preteen, making a brief stop in Florida before settling in Jamaica, the community in Southeast Queens. She is not shy to admit, as she winds down her high school career, that schoolwork and volunteer hours are at the top of her priority list at the moment. When she does get free time, though, she likes to spend it cheerleading and whipping up delicacies.

“I bake every Monday, and I bring the treats in for my friends,” she said.

She admits her workload can wear her down, but what keeps her motivated is her family in the Caribbean nation and the chance to make a difference in the field of medicine.

“I am a teenager, so I do get tired,” she said. “I just want to, I guess, chill. It’s the thought that I can chill later that keeps me going.”

“This young lady is going places,” her mother, Tracy-Lee Massey, said in an email.

“She is focused and driven. She deserves to be highlighted.” Q

Seventeen-year-old Leigh-Denae Atkins earned a full-ride scholarship to Boston College’s nursing program.

PHOTO BY TRACEY-LEE MASSEY

Revel planning major Maspeth charge hub

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

Revel, the Brooklyn-based ride share company that introduced its light-blue electric scooters to Queens in early 2021, is planning a 60-station electric vehicle-charging hub for Maspeth, one of five it hopes to open in the city by the end of this year.

The site is at 54-12 48 St., just south of Exit 35E on the eastbound Long Island Expressway, according to a press release issued Monday. The company also has 76 additional charging stations with two sites in Brooklyn and one each in Manhattan and the Bronx.

The company said with 60 stalls, the Maspeth “Superhub” will be the largest public, universally accessible EV fast-charging station in the Western Hemisphere. Its proximity to the LIE, according to the company, places it on a high-traffic corridor for lightand heavy-duty vehicles, especially those servicing the transportation, delivery and freight sectors. The site will be equipped with ultrafast charging capable of charging an EV in 10 to 20 minutes.

Revel said at present there are only 20 public fast charging stalls available in Queens, all of which are located at low-volume sites.

“The only way mass EV adoption will ever happen in New York City is if the charging infrastructure is there to support it,” said Revel CEO and co-founder Frank Reig. “We need high-volume, public sites in the neighborhoods where people actually live and work, and that’s exactly what Revel is deliv-

ering with our growing Superhub network. This is the biggest fast charging expansion our city has ever seen, and it’s a huge step toward making our EV transition a reality.”

Borough President Donovan Richards expressed cautious optimism on a few fronts in an email on Wednesday.

“In a city as dense and as vulnerable to climate change as ours, we welcome any effort from any entity — public or private — to heavily promote the use of electric vehicles,” Richards said. “Publicly accessible charging stations, like the one proposed by Revel, are critical in our push to protect our environment for generations to come. However, important community-centered conversations and a thorough public engagement process must be had to ensure proper siting for this facility, and I look forward to having those discussions with Revel and our neighbors in Maspeth.”

Asked where the Maspeth project is in the process, including securing any required permits and approvals, a Revel spokesman, in an email on Wednesday, said the five sites “are proceeding to development. The Maspeth Superhub will be finished by the end of this year.”

“Making fast, reliable electric vehicle charging accessible across New York City’s five boroughs is at the foundation of reducing emissions in our city,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi in the Revel release. “We applaud Revel’s infrastructure investment in New York City, which will make it easier for drivers to go electric.”

NYC Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams and Council Members Selvena N. Brooks-Powers and Nantasha Williams invite you to

Become a Citizen Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, 10:00 am-2:00 pm

Appointment required, call 646-664-9400, or text 929-334-3784. Proof of vaccination is required by all attendees.

York College, Academic Core Building, Atrium 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. Queens, NY 11451

For directions, call the MTA: 718-330-1234

ALL SERVICES ARE FREE

Minimum requirements to apply:

1. You are 18 years of age or older

2. You have lived in the United States as a green-card holder to, and living with, the same U.S. citizen)

What to bring: (or three years if married to a U.S. citizen)

3. Children’s information (date of birth, A#, addresses)

4. Marital history (information about your previous spouses)

5. If you have ever been arrested, cited or given a ticket, you incident

a fee waiver. Please do not bring cash or money orders to the event.

For a detailed list of what to bring, call 646-664-9400. More information at cuny.edu/citizenshipnow

Revel, which has helped lead the charge in expanding electric ride share vehicles in New York CIty, is looking to put what it calls the largest public EV recharging in the Western Hemisphere in Maspeth near the Long Island Expressway.

PHOTO COURTESY REVEL

Santos target of FEC and DOJ complaints

by Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit watchdog group based in Washington, DC, filed a complaint against Rep. George Santos (R-Nassau, Queens) with the Federal Election Commission Monday morning for his allegedly falsifying campaign finance records, using campaign funds for personal matters and potentially serving as a straw donor.

Tuesday morning, CLC formally referred the same complaint to the Department of Justice, urging that it launch criminal investigations into Santos.

CLC’s complaint — filed under the name of Roger Wieand, a senior researcher and investigator at the organization — represents a formal call for the agencies to investigate the congressman’s campaign finances.

“Voters deserve the truth. They have a right to know who is spending to influence their vote and their government and they have a right to know how the candidates competing for their vote are spending those funds,” Adav Noti, CLC’s senior vice president and legal director, said in a statement. “George Santos has lied to voters about a lot of things, but while lying about your background might not be illegal, deceiving voters about your campaign’s funding and spending is a serious violation of federal law.”

The complaint comes on the heels of The New York Times’ Dec. 19 exposé of Santos, documenting his falsified resume and questionable financial background. In the weeks since, additional questions have been raised about Santos’ campaign finances, particularly regarding the $705,000 he loaned his campaign, despite having only reported $55,000 in income in the previous election cycle.

That point is the basis for the complaint’s first of three counts, which alleges that the congressman acted as a straw donor — someone who illegally donates money from another person in their own name — for unknown persons to contribute to his own campaign. Simply put, the complaint sug-

gests that the $705,000 loan was not from Santos’ own money, but from others’.

“The volume and timing of Santos’s dramatic increase in income and assets, the lack of a clear explanation of how he generated that income, his well-documented penchant for dishonesty, and the fact that he then used $705,000 from his sudden windfall to fund his subsequent congressional campaign strongly suggests that the rapid shift in Santos’ finances was not a mere coincidence, but a direct result of unknown persons directly, and illegally, giving him money to run for federal office,” the complaint reads.

Wieand finds Santos’ explanations for his sudden influx of wealth from his work at the Devolder Organization insufficient, noting that the congressman has not provided the details of his business dealings, and that there is “no other corroborating evidence that Devolder LLC was a bona fide business

that earned millions of dollars.”

“In light of Santos’s pattern of flagrantly lying to the public about his personal and professional history, his claims about Devolder LLC cannot be accepted at face value,” he writes.

The complaint also alleges that Santos’ campaign deliberately violated FEC disclosure requirements and that it falsified its disbursements. One of the main points made in that second count is that the campaign reported 40 disbursements between $199 and $200, 37 of which were exactly $199.99. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, receipts must be filed when a disbursement is $200 or more. The complaint says many of the expenses the campaign put at $199.99 either cost far more or could not feasibly be exactly that much, such as a stay at the W Hotel South Beach, which is more than $700 per night, and seven different outings at Little Neck’s Il

Bacco Ristorante, all of which were documented as costing $199.99.

The count also makes note that, as the Chronicle previously reported, the FEC flagged reporting problems throughout Santos’ second bid for the U.S. House, often for excessive contributions to the campaign, which do not seem to have been cured through refunds or reattribution.

As questions were raised about Santos’ actual address, The Times reported that the congressman was living at a house in Huntington, LI. In the third and final count of the complaint, CLC notes that, as reported by The Times, several disbursements marked as rent for campaign staff were paid to an LLC with a Huntington address, the same one as the house in question.

“Particularly when viewed in light of the Santos campaign’s numerous fraudulent disclosures to the FEC and the public, it is not only plausible but likely that the campaign falsely reported paying rent ‘for staff’ — which itself might constitute the personal use of campaign funds for an expense that would exist irrespective of the campaign — on a property that was actually the candidate’s personal residence,” the complaint says.

Other investigations into Santos have been opened in recent weeks, including by Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. While Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and state Attorney General Tish James are considering their own probes, calls for the House Ethics Committee to investigate Santos have persisted. On Tuesday morning, Reps. Daniel Goldman (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn) and Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) filed a complaint with the committee to that effect.

While the FEC declined to comment on the complaint, as it does not comment on pending enforcement matters, Santos’ office said it does not comment on campaign affairs and referred the Chronicle to the congressman’s lawyers, Joseph Murray and Charles Spies. Neither of them responded to the Chronicle’s queries. Q

Nassau GOP calls on Santos to resign

by Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

The Nassau County Republican Committee formally called on Rep. George Santos (R-Nassau, Queens) to resign Wednesday, a dramatic departure from the party’s position on the congressman and the scandal

The New York Times exposed Dec. 19.

In calling for Santos’ resignation, Nassau GOP Chair Joe Cairo said the congressman’s campaign was one of “deceit, lies, fabrication.” “He’s disgraced the House of Representatives,” he said. Previously, Cairo had denounced Santos, saying he would

have “a lot of work to do” to regain voters’ trust, but did not say he should be investigated or step down.

The move comes just two days after nonprofit watchdog Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, in which it suggests Santos served as a straw donor, among other concerns. On Tuesday, CLC filed the same complaint with the Department of Justice as two congressman filed one with the House Ethics Committee [see separate story].

Meanwhile, Queens County GOP Chairman Tony Nunziato thought Santos’ lies

were wrong, but did not think he should resign. “I believe in due process, I’m an American — show me something that he did illegally,” he told the Chronicle. Later, he added, “Show me something illegal — then I could say, ‘Step down.’”

Still, Cairo was far from alone Wednesday, as roughly a dozen Long Island Republicans called for Santos’ resignation at a press conference Wednesday. Neighboring Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Suffolk) also said Santos should step down, adding he would “not associate with him in Congress.” GOP Nassau County Executive

Bruce Blakeman said he would refer Santos’ constituents to D’Esposito instead. Throughout Wednesday, more New York Republicans called for Santos to step down, most notably, state GOP Chair Nick Langworthy.

Asked about the Nassau GOP’s vetting of Santos, Cairo said, “At that time, we trusted him. Shame on me for trusting people.” He added that the Nassau GOP will reform its process, and that it had returned the $126,000 Santos previously donated.

Thus far, Santos has not budged. “I will NOT resign,” he tweeted Wednesday.

Campaign Legal Center suggests congressman was a straw donor

Rep. George Santos was sworn into office early Saturday morning. He is now the subject of Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice complaints. CSPAN SCREENSHOT

“His claims about Devolder LLC cannot be accepted at face value.”

— Campaign Legal Center’s FEC complaint

Protesters take to Santos’ district office

for resignation continue

by Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

Holding a small sign lined with green, sparkly washi tape that read “Follow the money!” Douglaston resident Kathleen Connell was one of approximately 100 Northeast Queens and Long Island residents standing on the corner of Northern Boulevard and Douglaston Parkway Saturday morning — just outside the district office of newly sworn-in Rep. George Santos (R-Nassau, Queens) — calling for the congressman’s resignation.

“I have never seen so many [lawn] signs for anybody, and you have to wonder: Who paid for those signs?” she told the Chronicle. “All along the side of the road — they were everywhere. Where is the money coming from?”

Indeed, concerns about Santos’ campaign finances are the latest in the slew of questions raised about the congressman in the weeks since The New York Times published a scathing exposé, documenting Santos’ largely falsified resume and dubious finances. Since then, voters and politicians on both sides of the aisle have called for him to be investigated by the House Ethics Committee and for him to resign. Both the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly have opened investigations into the congressman; meanwhile, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and state Attorney General Tish James are looking into doing the same.

Even before speakers began addressing protesters, a palpable sense of anger could be felt among the crowd. Waving signs that read “NY District 3 deserves a special election” and “Have you no shame

Santos” — the latter an homage to Tulsi Gabbard’s recent interview with the then-congressman-elect — protesters joined in chants of “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” and “We deserve better.” Glen Cove resident Casey Sabella, the protest’s chief organizer, handed out pins with the rest of her team with the lyrics, “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me,” from Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” over Santos’ photo, among several others.

That energy continued into the program itself as Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside) riled up the crowd as he called for Santos’ resignation.

“When George Santos was elected, early on, I had every intention of trying to work with him,” Braunstein said. “But that was before we found out that he was a pathological liar. That was before he became a national laughing stock.

“Right now, there’s no way I can work with this guy,” he continued. “I can’t — in good conscience — refer constituents to his office for services. I can’t ask him to sign onto a letter or join us for a press conference on a local matter. And I certainly can’t suggest to local community groups and nonprofits that they reach out to him for federal funding.

“He’s basically useless to us right now. And not only is he not effective locally, he’s not going to be effective in Congress, either.”

Braunstein’s words stood in direct opposition to Santos’ post-swearingin statement, released early Saturday morning. “Now is the time to put political differences aside, stop the finger pointing, and start delivering results,” the statement reads. “The work of Congress is not about my personal life, this is about delivering results for my constituents, finding bipartisan solutions and reversing

abysmal policies that have caused some of the worst inflation and crime in our nation’s history.” Santos’ office did not immediately respond to the Chronicle’s request for comment on the protest.

Among Saturday’s speakers was Democrat Robert Zimmerman, who ran against Santos in the general election.

“We’re not here today [to talk] about Democratic and Republican politics. We’re here today to come together as one,” Zimmerman said. “Are you angry and frustrated?”

When his question was met with shouts from the audience, Zimmerman replied, “Well, so am I — believe me.”

But the source of that anger varied among demonstrators; as one

protester from Manhasset told the Chronicle when asked what Santos allegation frustrated him most, “Where do we start?”

For some, like Roslyn Heights resident Nancy Solomon, it was the fact that Santos lied about his Jewish ancestry, which he has defended by saying he is “Jew-ish.”

“I’m just totally outraged that this man could be elected and seated based on total fabrications of everything that we care about,” she told the Chronicle. “I’m Jewish — my family actually did come from Russia — and for him to say that he’s a grandson of Holocaust survivors, when his own parents and their parents were born in Brazil, to me, it’s just unbelievable.” She also raised questions about his campaign finances.

For others, it was a combination of those things. Great Neck’s Howard Herman suggested as much as he held a sign that read: “Fake Jew, Real Gonif.”

Little Neck resident Pearl Chang brought her school-aged son, Elliot, to Saturday’s protest. “When this whole Santos thing broke, I was talking to my 10-year-old and she was listening to it, and she said to me — she’s 10 years old — she’s like, ‘Well, Mom, I’m 45 years old and I graduated from Harvard Law,’” Chang said with a chuckle.

Asked about her choice to bring her son, she added, “I just thought, ‘You know what? This is a lesson.’ We tell our children to tell the truth

— don’t lie, lying is bad.”

Elliot added with a smile that the protest “was good.”

Douglaston resident Paul Porcello had been on a walk with his wife, Johanna, and their 4-month-old daughter when they discovered the protest, and decided to stick around.

“If you lie like that in your resume for a job anywhere, you’re not going to get the job,” he said, referring to Santos’ false claims that he worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

“You would think if the guy had a shred of decency, he would have resigned after people found out.”

He seemed optimistic about the prospect of a House Ethics Committee investigation. “If you lie about everything that he’s just lied about — you know, everything with his family and finances ... I’m sure [the Ethics Committee is] going to accomplish something.

“The wheels of justice turn slowly ... you just have to trust the system and have patience.”

Nor are constituents ready to ease the pressure on Santos. Sabella encouraged those in attendance to sign her petition calling for a House Ethics Committee investigation. She also told the Chronicle that organizers are working to make more inroads in Northern Queens, as a large contingent of the crowd was from Long Island.

“I always say that organizing builds in that we build for scale, so the more you do, the better it gets,” Sabella said. Noting that she has been in contact with several Queens Democratic groups, she added, “I feel like [today’s protest] is a good first spot for outreach, but there’s more to be done.”

Calls

as congressman is sworn in

“H

e’s basically useless to us right now.”

— Assemblyman Ed Braunstein

Roughly 100 people gathered outside Rep. George Santos’ district office in Douglaston on Saturday in protest of his largely falsified resume, family history and questionable finances. Demonstrators called for a House Ethics Committee investigation and for the congressman to resign.

PHOTOS BY SOPHIE KRICHEVSKY

There was no shortage of signs among the crowd of people protesting at Rep. George Santos’ district office Saturday. At left, some signs called for Santos to be investigated while at right, others called on him to resign.

January 28th & February 11th (10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.) January 31st & February 28th (5:30 - 7:00 p.m.)

Botanical Garden gets $8M donation

Funds will be used to develop new programs at new education center

by Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

The Queens Botanical Garden received an $8 million donation from the Joan N. and Norman Bluestone Foundation on Tuesday, the largest private one in its history.

The funds will be put toward developing and continuing a number of the garden’s environmental education programs, which will be held at its upcoming new, $32 million education center. The garden will break ground on the building, which will be named for the Bluestones, this summer.

“Those of us who know the Garden understand that it is a critical resource for the community,” Evie Hantzopoulos, the botanical garden’s executive director, said in a statement.

“A gift of this magnitude not only recognizes all that the Garden offers; it also validates the direction it is taking to expand its capacity, programming, and role as a leading cultural institution in New York City. We are deeply grateful to the Foundation for

their generosity.”

The Bluestone Foundation aims to provide disadvantaged students in the Metropolitan area with the support they need to succeed in their educational pursuits. Joan Bluestone was a longtime member of the garden’s board of directors before her passing in 2020; she and her husband, Norman, lived in Flushing.

“We are so pleased to make this significant donation and having the Education Building bear Joan and Norman’s names,” Sara B. Herbstman, the foundation’s president, said in a statement. “We couldn’t think of a better way to honor their memory.”

Borough President Donovan Richards said in a statement that he was “thrilled” by the news, noting that the garden is one of Queens’ “crown jewels.”

“With this donation, and our collective investment in the Garden, we give them the tools to continue to cultivate the minds and spirits of the hundreds of thousands of visitors it welcomes every year,” he said. Q

Blood donors badly needed

The New York Blood Center has posted an urgent call for blood donations. Information and registration are available at nybc.org.

Upcoming blood drives include:

• St. Margaret’s Parish from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 66-05 79 Place in Middle Village;

• St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 39-60 57 St. in Woodside;

• Commonpoint Central-Queens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 16 at 67-09 108 St. in Forest Hills;

• Queens Borough Hall from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 17 in the atrium at 120-55 Queens Blvd. in Kew Gardens;

• LaGuardia Community College from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 31-10 Thomson Ave. in Long Island City

• KTM Lions Group from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 75-32 Broadway in Elmhurst; and

• NYC Dept. of Design and Construction from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on both Wednesday, Jan. 25 and Thursday, Jan. 26 at 30-30 Thomson Ave. in Long Island City.

The garden’s Board of Trustees Chair Raymond Jasen, left, Executive Director Evie Hantzopoulos, Bluestone Foundation trustee Charles Herbstman, Bluestone Foundation President Sara B. Herbstman, trustees Joyce Bluestone and Ira Lichtiger, Dr. Roberta Levitt Bluestone and Eli Bluestone were present for Tuesday’s announcement.

PHOTO COURTESY QUEENS BOTANICAL GARDEN

Building blocks

by Kristen Guglielmo

The holiday season has come to a close, and students are back in study mode for the spring semester. While older ones may go to the library to brush up for exams, younger children and their parents can brush up on their skill sets as well, thanks to the Queens Public Library. This year, the library is offering a variety of early-learning programs and activities for caregivers and children alike.

“Pre-literacy starts on a prenatal level,” said Gillian Miller, the QPL’s coordinator of early-learning services. “There are five activities that contribute to early literary success: talking, singing, reading, writing and

playing. Families can begin practicing these as early as conception.” The library’s early-learning programs focus on those activities while fostering a healthy learning environment for both parent and child.

In February, the QPL will have virtual Baby Basics workshops, which provide education and support to expectant mothers and new parents of children up to 3 months. The current program is set to begin in February on Thursdays at 12 p.m., presented alongside Public Health Solutions’ Queens Global Families program. Baby Basics provides a variety of information proven useful to new parents, including mother and birthing rights and what families can expect in the hospital. Group members will learn how to maintain a healthy pregnancy, prepare for the arrival

of their baby and care for their newborn. “After the program is over, group members are given a choice to sign up for a distribution list.” Miller explained, “If they sign up, they’ll receive information on next steps and other services the library offers to parents.”

Among the other services offered is the virtual New Mamas Support Group, focused on women’s health and child care and designed for mothers who are pregnant, have recently given birth or have taken in a child. They are set to meet on Fridays at 12:30 p.m., starting this month. Group members can share support, resources and information amongst other mothers with infants under one year of age. The group is led and facilitated by a doula, and the library

I HAVE OFTEN WALKED

Henry Willson: Made the boys next door H’wood stars

by Ron Marzlock Chronicle Contributor

Henry Leroy Willson was born July 31, 1911 in Pennsylvania, the second and youngest son of Horace and Margaret Willson. Horace was an executive in the Columbia Phonograph Co., the forerunner of todays CBS Records. When he became the company president in 1922, the family moved to the Forest Hills Gardens Inn. Soon they settled in 10 Holder Place, a 6-story 44-unit building in Forest Hills.

Young Henry was exposed to Broadway theater and entertainment friends of his father. Eventually they moved into a 3,000-square-foot home at 97 Groton St. The family had a live-in African-American maid and cook named Sarah Horsey.

Henry started to write articles for Variety and Photoplay magazines. His wealthy father bought him a house in Beverly Hills to strike out on his own. He worked as a agent with a knack for discovering fresh new talent. He was a major player in creating the pretty boy beefcake craze of the 1940s and 50s. He would take everyday, handsome men with ordinary names and turn them

into stars with powerful names like Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Troy Donahue, Rory Calhoun and Clint Walker, to name a few.

His lifestyle of alcohol and drugs caused his health to decline and he passed away at age 67 of cirrhosis of the liver. His tombstone reads: Star — Star Maker.

The Groton Street home is now valued at $2.2 million. Q

The childhood home of Hollywood movie agent Henry Willson at 97 Groton St. in Forest Hills Gardens, as it looked in the 1930s.

INSET YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT

FTH exhibits everyday life this Lunar New Year

by Sophie Krichevsky associate editor

With Lunar New Year just around the corner, Flushing Town Hall is, once again, paying tribute to Downtown’s biggest attraction of the year: Lunar New Year.

And while that is something Flushing Town Hall does every year, this year, it’s taking a new approach with its upcoming exhibit, “This Is Home.”

“I thought that this year, we could do something a little bit different, where it’s not the exhibition of the traditional Lunar New Year iconography, like red envelopes and zodiac symbols,” said Daniel Bamba, Flushing Town Hall’s director of art services and the show’s curator.

Instead, the exhibition aims to celebrate everyday life in Downtown Flushing and Manhattan’s Chinatown through the eyes of New York-based photographers Janice Chung, Cindy Trinh and An Rong Xu.

“This was our way of saying that, as a time that is so important to the AAPI community — not just in Flushing, but in all of New York City — maybe we get to do an exhibition that still focuses on the AAPI communities, but something that isn’t really always the focus of Lunar New Year,” Bamba said.

As such, it was a logical choice to tap

Chung, whom Flushing Town Hall has worked with before, as well as Trinh and Xu: All three artists highlight their own communities.

“[The images] are not necessarily staged, curated photos, but really, honestly, of the people that live and work there. [The artists] just kind of go about it in different ways,” Bamba said. “The commitment to storytelling of the community is

really what ties them all together.”

For Chung, that primarily means street scenes from Flushing’s Korean-American community, many of which feature photos of various workers, like food vendors and hairdressers. Those will come from her series, “Han in Town,” which Flushing Town Hall showed last spring. Much of Xu’s work similarly focuses on ordinary moments, primarily in Chinese-American

lives, in this case.

While some of Trinh’s pieces also hone in on those ideas, the exhibition will also include her images of anti-Asian violence protests in Flushing, many of which were held in 2020, when the beginning of the pandemic sparked a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes both in New York and across the country.

In juxtaposing images of the most difficult moments in Flushing and Manhattan’s Chinatown with others that show residents’ everyday lives, the exhibit not only captures a complete picture of the community, it suggests a sense of hope and resilience.

“This is a time of the year where everything will focus so much on Lunar New Year, which is great. We also just want to take the opportunity to celebrate the other 11 and a half months of the year,” Bamba told the Chronicle. “This is also what happens in the community and what’s going on with the people that make up the community.”

“This Is Home” will kick off at Flushing Town Hall with an opening reception on Jan. 21 from 12 to 2 p.m. From then until Feb. 26, the exhibition will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 12 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Q

Never too young for library learning, literally

provides a list of resources they have vetted for members that need it. The New Mamas Support Group also focuses on mental health, physical health, breastfeeding, baby care, general anxieties, travel, taking the baby outside, what to do during a child’s rest/wake periods and re-entering the workforce after childbirth.

The Kick Off to Kindergarten program begins in February, starting with two virtu-

al classes. K2K is led by a teacher or librarian and is curriculum-based, with home activities like games and interactive pieces given for parents to do with their child after class. The program enables children ages 3 to 5 to develop their early literacy skills through guided activities and storytimes. Caregivers are guided to become confident in their ability to support their child’s development through early-learning literacy skills like dialogic reading, which is modeled by the instructor. “Dialogic reading helps children internalize the books and makes literacy a rich learning experience,” Miller explained.

The program also offers personalized guidance and feedback. Teachers meet with each child and caregiver pair for individual 30-minute one-on-one sessions on how to grow literacy skills. “We’re really proud of K2K,” Miller said. “It was developed with a consultant in 2014, and has grown over the years. We’ve introduced new curriculum aspects and developed different variations depending on age. We’ve found a 65 percent increase in early learning skills in children that stay with the full program.”

The QPL has begun a bilingual storytime

initiative in-person at some branches, designed to reinforce and model early-literacy practices. It will host two different language series each month, starting with Spanish at the Steinway branch and Mandarin at Queensboro Hill. The storytimes will run through May at different branches with

different languages as well. “The best way to find these would be by calling or walking into your local branch,” Miller said.

For more information or to register for the early-learning programs, visit queenslibrary. org or simply call or walk into your branch and speak with a youth service librarian.

Cindy Trinh’s “Sausage and fishball vendor” is one of many scenes from the streets of Flushing included in “This Is Home.”

PHOTO BY CINDY TRINH / COURTESY FLUSHING TOWN HALL

Children engage in various activities in Queens Library programs. On the cover: Some involve both the kids and their parents or caregivers.

PHOTOS COURTESY QUEENS LIBRARY

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Legal Notices

Notice is hereby given that an on-premises Tavern wine license, Serial #TBA has been applied for by Inner Visions NYC LLC d/b/a Honey Moon Coffee Shop to sell beer, wine and cider at retail in a Cafe. For on premises consumption under the ABC Law at 517 Onderdonk Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385.

2371 BAYVIEW LLC. Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 09/30/19. Offi ce: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon swhom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 46-05 Northern Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

4 LALLS, LLC. Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 07/27/18. Offi ce: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 122-15 150th Avenue, South Ozone Park, NY 11420.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

411 EAST 163RD STREET, LLC, Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 12/21/2022. Offi ce loc: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 14-20 136th Street, College Point, NY 11356.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

61-76 56th Street LLC, Arts of Org. fi led with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 11/14/2022. Cty: Queens. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to Janusz Grabinski, 58-23 61st St., Maspeth, NY 11378.

General Purpose

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF QUEENS, RIDGEWOOD SAVINGS BANK, Plaintiff, vs. RENOTTI M. HILL ALEXANDER, ET AL., Defendant (s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered on October 31, 2019 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Queens Supreme Court, courthouse steps, 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, New York on January 27, 2023 at 10:15 a.m., premises known as 17623 127TH AVENUE, JAMAICA, NY 114343300 A/K/A 17623 127TH AVENUE, ADDISLEIGH PARK, NY 11434-3300 A/K/A 17623 127TH AVENUE, ROCHDALE VILLAGE, NY 11434-3300. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Queens, City and State of New York, Block: 12526, Lot: 24, approximate amount of judgment is $196,953.21 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of fi led Judgment Index # 701087/2018. All parties shall comply with the Eleventh Judicial District’s COVID-19 Policies concerning Public Auctions of foreclosed properties. These policies, along with the Queens County Foreclosure Auction Rules, can be found on the Queens Supreme Court - Civil Term Website (https:// www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/COURTS/11jd/supreme/ civilterm/partrules/Foreclosure_Auction_Rules.pdf) If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Mortgagee’s attorney, or the Referee. LAMONT R. BAILEY, Esq., Referee Roach & Lin, P.C., 6851 Jericho Turnpike, Suite 185, Syosset, New York 11791, Attorneys for Plaintiff

917 Clintonville LLC, Arts of Org. fi led with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 12/9/2022. Cty: Queens. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to Debra B. Dunham, 151-16 9th Ave., Whitestone, NY 11357. General Purpose

Legal Notices

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK - COUNTY OF QUEENS, HSBC BANK USA, N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR THE REGISTERED HOLDERS OF RENAISSANCE HOME EQUITY LOAN TRUST 2006-1, V. HEIRS AND DISTRIBUTEES OF THE ESTATE OF LETA WEBB, ET AL. NOTICE OF SALE. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure dated June 29, 2022, and entered in the Offi ce of the Clerk of the County of Queens, wherein HSBC BANK USA, N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR THE REGISTERED HOLDERS OF RENAISSANCE HOME EQUITY LOAN TRUST 2006-1 is the Plaintiff and HEIRS AND DISTRIBUTEES OF THE ESTATE OF LETA WEBB, ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction RAIN OR SHINE on the COURTHOUSE STEPS OF THE QUEENS COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 88-11 SUTPHIN BLVD., JAMAICA, NY 11435, on January 20, 2023 at 11:30AM, premises known as 152-22 119TH AVENUE, JAMAICA, NY 11434: Block 12210, Lot 51: ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND, WITH THE BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS THEREON ERECTED, SITUATE, LYING AND BEING IN THE BOROUGH AND COUNTY OF QUEENS, CITY AND STATE OF NEW YORK. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of fi led Judgment Index # 711176/2015. Joseph F. DeFelice, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. All foreclosure sales will be conducted in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing. *LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAY OF IN ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES.

Notice of Formation of AERIAL ARMOR APPAREL LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 12/12/2022. Offi ce location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: AERIAL ARMOR APPAREL, 21-22 21ST ROAD APT 2F, ASTORIA, NY 11105. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

REFEREE’S NOTICE OF SALE IN FORECLOSURE SUPREME

COURT - COUNTY OF QUEENS JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff - against - HUGO VELASTEGUI, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on December 27, 2019. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction on the Courthouse steps of the Queens Supreme Court, located at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, New York on the 3rd day of February, 2023 at 11:00 AM. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Queens, City and State of New York. Premises known as 103-12 104th Street, Ozone Park, New York 11417. (Block: 9507, Lot: 12) Approximate amount of lien $722,088.99 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of fi led judgment and terms of sale. Index No. 704393/2014. Charlane O. Brown, Esq., Referee. McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 840, New York, NY 10170 Tel. 347/286-7409 For sale information, please visit Auction. com at www.Auction.com or call (800) 280-2832 Dated: August 29, 2022 During the COVID-19 health emergency, bidders are required to comply with all governmental health requirements in effect at the time of sale including but not limited to, wearing face coverings and maintaining social distancing (at least 6-feet apart) during the auction, while tendering deposit and at any subsequent closing. Bidders are also required to comply with the Foreclosure Auction Rules and COVID-19 Health Emergency Rules issued by the Supreme Court of this County in addition to the conditions set forth in the Terms of Sale.

Notice of Formation of DEEN SWEET TREATS, LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 10/30/2021. Offi ce location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: DEEN SWEET TREATS, LLC, 226-46 77TH AVE, BAYSIDE, NY, 11364. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Real Estate

EQUAL HOUSING. Federal, New York State and local laws prohibit discrimination because of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, marital status, familial status or disability in connection with the sale or rental of residential real estate. Queens Chronicle does not knowingly accept advertising in violation of these laws. When you suspect housing discrimination call the Open Housing Center (the Fair Housing Agency for the five boroughs of New York) at 212941-6101, or the New York City Commission of Human Rights Hotline at 718-722-3131.

The Queens Chronicle reserves the right to alter wording in ads to conform with Federal Fair Housing regulations.

Apts.For Rent

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SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF QUEENS The Bank of New York Mellon FKA The Bank of New York, as Trustee (CWALT 2007-23CB) Plaintiff, -against- Tonya Howard if living and if any be dead, any and all persons who are spouses, widows, grantees, mortgagees, lienor, heirs, devisees, distributees, or successors in interest of such of the above as may be dead, and their spouses, heirs, devisees, distributees and successors in interest, all of whom and whose names and places of residences are unknown to Plaintiff, New York City Environmental Control Board, New York City Parking Violations Bureau, New York City Transit Adjudication Bureau, United States of America-Internal Revenue Service, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Defendants. Index No. 701182/2020 SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS Plaintiff designates Queens County as the place of trial. Venue is based upon the County in which the Mortgage premises is situated. TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT(S): YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your Answer or, if the Complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a Notice of Appearance on the attorneys for the plaintiff within twenty (20) days after service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after service is complete if this Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York). In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure $300,000.00 and interest, recorded in the Office of the Clerk of the County of QUEENS on July 12, 2007, in Book CRFN 2007000356878, covering premises known as 316 Beach 15th St., Far Rockaway, NY 11691. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME If you do not respond to this Summons and Complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the Mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the Summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to your Mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. Dated: Bayshore, New York December 14, 2022 /s/By: Linda P. Manfredi, Esq. Frenkel, Lambert, Weiss, Weisman & Gordon, LLP Attorneys for Plaintiff 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, New York 11706 (631) 969-3100 Our File No.:01-087432-F01

Notice of Formation of JABEDA

LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 12/22/2022.

Offi ce location: Queens County.

SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: JABEDA LLC, 109-12 175TH ST, JAMAICA, NY 11433. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of JUPITER SOCIETY BOOKS, LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 09/18/2022. Offi ce location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: AQUILAH JOURDAIN, 144-24 VILLAGE RD, 67C, JAMAICA, NY 11435. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

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KSR Real Estate LLC, Arts of Org. fi led with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 11/19/2022. Cty: Queens. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to 260 Beach 116th St., Rockaway Park, NY 11694.

General Purpose

Notice of Formation of MAMA LUNA LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 09/10/2022. Offi ce location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: JACKLYN ZOPPI, 71-38 66TH PLACE, 2ND FLOOR, FLUSHING, NY 11385. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of NEW DA ZHONG SERVICE LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/04/2023. Offi ce location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: NEW DA ZHONG SERVICE LLC, 5422 102ND STREET, CORONA, NY 11368. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

RENECELL USA LLC. Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 08/24/22. Latest date to dissolve: 12/31/2122. Offi ce: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Myungok Do, 3516 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of RG CLOTHING & ESSENTIALS LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 09/15/2022. Offi ce location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: THE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, 137-24 161ST STREET, QUEENS, NY 11434. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

THE ROCKAWAY RETREAT, LLC. Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 11/22/22. Offi ce: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 500 Mamaroneck Avenue, Suite 301, Harrison, NY 10528. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS–SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF QUEENS– FINANCE OF AMERICA REVERSE LLC., Plaintiff, -against- ANY AND ALL KNOWN OR UNKNOWN HEIRS, DEVISEES, GRANTEES, ASSIGNEES, LIENORS, CREDITORS, TRUSTEES, AND ALL OTHER PARTIES CLAIMING AN INTEREST BY, THROUGH, UNDER OR AGAINST THE ESTATE OF FOSTER WHITTINGTON, DECEASED; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT; NICOLE MOORE; NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; MATTHEW WHITTINGTON, AS HEIR, DEVISEE, DISTRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE OF FOSTER WHITTINGTON, DECEASED; JOSEPH WHITTINGTON, AS HEIR, DEVISEE, DISTRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE OF FOSTER WHITTINGTON, DECEASED; MARY WHITTINGTON, AS HEIR, DEVISEE, DISTRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE OF FOSTER WHITTINGTON,DECEASED; SHAQUANA “DOE” (REFUSED LAST NAME) AS “JOHN DOE #1; “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME) AS JOHN DOE #2; “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME) AS JOHN DOE #3; “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME) AS JOHN DOE #4; “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME) AS JOHN DOE #5; “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME) AS JOHN DOE #6; DefendantsIndex No. 700926/2022 Plaintiff Designates Queens County as the Place of Trial. The Basis of Venue is that the subject action is situated in Queens County. To the above named Defendants–YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff’s Attorney(s) within 20 days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York); and in case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. That this Supplemental Summons is being filed pursuant to an order of the court dated December 5, 2022. NOTICE-YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME – If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to the mortgage company will not stop the foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (FINANCE OF AMREICA REVERSE LLC) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an order of the Honorable Phillip Hom J.S.C. Dated: December 5, 2022 Filed: December 8, 2022. The object of this action is to foreclose a mortgage and covering the premises known as 17030 Liverpool Street, Jamaica, NY 11435. Dated: June 3, 2022 Greenspoon Marder LLP., Attorney for Plaintiff, By: Meir Weiss, Esq., 590 Madison Avenue, Suite 1800, New York, NY 10022 P: (212) 524-5000 F: (212) 524-5050 (No Service by fax) Please respond to Cypress Creek Office: Trade Centre South, 100 W. Cypress Creek Road, Suite 700, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 P: (888) 491-1120 F: (954) 343-6982

Notice of formation of US HOPEFLUENT LLC. Arts of Org fi led with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/13/22. Offi ce location: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to: 140-86 34th Ave., Flushing, NY 11354. Purpose: any lawful act.

UTOPIA TOWERS LLC fi led Arts. of Org. with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 6/1/2022. Offi ce: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o Ochs & Goldberg, LLP, 1270 Ave. of the Americas, Ste. 747, New York, NY, 10020. Purpose: any lawful act.

Home Services Home Services

Omar crosses the RFK

by Lloyd Carroll Chronicle Contributor

Last Thursday the New York Yankees announced they had hired former Mets General Manager Omar Minaya to be an adviser to General Manager Brian Cashman. Minaya, who grew up in Corona and graduated from Newtown High School, had been a goodwill ambassador for the Mets the last three years.

Minaya is renowned for his scouting talents. He is old-school in that he trusts his eyes and instincts, as opposed to soulless analytics. Trying to project young players’ futures from statistics has its place, but it’s certainly not the be all and end all.

Minaya’s history with the team begs the question “Why didn’t the Mets make better use of his scouting talents and experience?” Minaya has told me several times over the years he has no interest in being a general manager again. Cashman does not see him as a threat. Mets GM Billy Eppler should not have either.

Last month I wrote how the Mets were trying to make pitcher Seth Lugo, who came up through the organization and pitched well over the years, feel as if he were the late legendary comic and Kew Gardens native Rodney Dangerfield. They showed him no respect when it came to retaining his services after he became a free agent at the end of the 2022 season.

Lugo signed a two-year contract with the San

Diego Padres on the day the Mets held their introductory press conference for Justin Verlander at Citi Field. I asked Eppler why there appeared to be minimal effort to bring him back.

“I think we had a conversation and he wanted to be a starting pitcher,” Eppler replied. The Mets wanted him to remain in the bullpen.

A source close to Lugo told me the Mets never met with him or his agent. In addition, while he would have loved to have been a starting pitcher, he was amenable to remaining a reliever if that is what the Mets preferred.

The Jets finished up the 2022 season with six consecutive defeats to exasperate their fans yet again. This past Sunday, in Miami Gardens as both the Jets and Dolphins played horribly. Miami prevailed, 11-6.

The good news for the Jets is their futility helped finish off the chances of old nemesis Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots to make the playoffs, as they needed the Jets to beat Miami. Also, by finishing 7-10 instead of 8-9, they get a better slot in the 2023 NFL Draft.

I have no idea why Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh played washed-up Joe Flacco at quarterback instead of Zach Wilson in what was a lowstakes game since the Jets were eliminated from postseason contention. Wilson could have benefitted from the experience. Q

See the extended version of Sports Beat every week at qchron.com

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