NYPD officers stand outside the troubled Umbrella Hotel in Kew Gardens, Queens.
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | JAN. 15-JAN. 21, 2021
BY MARK HALLUM
A Queens Supreme Court
judge has rejected a bid by
business owners to waylay
the city Department of Transportation’s
(DOT) busway on
Main Street in Flushing.
At first glance, it would
seem the monthslong litigation
was not more successful
than any other attempts by
mass transit naysayers to halt
the city in their tracks when it
comes to dedicating space to
buses for improved commute
times.
On Tuesday, court papers
showed that the Article 78 petition,
which put a temporary
restraining order on the project,
was summarily denied
by Judge Kevin Kerrigan
and DOT’s busway between
Sanford Avenue and Northern
Boulevard will remain in
place under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
Better Buses Action Plan.
“Today’s decision is a huge
victory for 150,000 bus riders
across Queens and the Bronx.
Citywide, judges have now
ruled decisively that when riders
win well-deserved priority
on busy streets, opponents
can’t sue and get their way,”
Riders Alliance Senior Organizer
Jolyse Race said on
Jan. 5. “Just as Trump and his
supporters can’t overturn the
vote, neither can courts ‘invade
the province’ of transportation
policymakers on behalf
of a few rich NIMBYs.”
The Flushing Chinese
Business Association and attorney
Randall Eng launched
the suit over the summer
claiming there had been little
input from the community
and charging that the majority
of foot traffic along the
commercial corridor got the
via private auto.
“It’s not a final disposition,
he has simply vacated the temporary
restraining order and
denied a preliminary injunction,”
Eng explained. “Our
Article 78 proceeding has not
been dismissed, he must decide
that. So it is still open, but
he has denied to provisional
relief that we sought. He denied
a preliminary injunction
that would have been in place
until the matter was decided.”
Eng, however, said this is
not over depending on how
far his client planned to go, in
which case it would head to an
appeals court.
“This ruling is more than
just good news for the 150,000
New Yorkers who will use the
Flushing Main Street busway
every day,” Mayor Bill de Blasio
said. “It’s a victory for everyone
who believes that mass
transit is the future of this city
and the engine of our economic
recovery. New York City
is proud to offer safe, reliable
and fast transit options for riders
in Queens and across the
five boroughs, and we look
forward to building on this
success with even more Better
Buses initiatives this coming
year.”
Judge Kerrigan was not
completely convinced that the
busway should proceed based
on the traffic maps provided to
him by the city, as his concluding
remarks indicate.
BY JACOB KAYE
The front desk supervisor
of a troublesome Kew Gardens
hotel home to a slew of shootings
and sex trafficking charges
in the past year, was arrested
on Monday, Jan. 11, after an
investigation by the Queens
District Attorney’s Office.
Gulshan Gandhi, the front
desk supervisor at the Umbrella
Hotel, located at 124-18
Queens Blvd., faces two counts
of criminal nuisance in the
second degree, Katz said. In
his role as front desk supervisor
Gandhi, 68, created “conditions
that endangered the safety
and health of hotel guests
and the community at large,”
Queens District Attorney Melinda
Katz said.
The infamous hotel has
been the scorn of residents
and local elected officials for
the past year.
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently
explored shutting down
the hotel using his mayoral
powers, after a New Year’s
Day triple shooting in front of
the hotel left one dead. The hotel’s
management voluntarily
closed its doors on Friday, Jan.
8, according to signs posted in
the hotel’s lobby.
Over the weekend, around
20 Kew Gardens residents,
including City Council candidate
Douglas Shapiro, rallied
in front of the hotel calling for
its permanent closure.
“This was a decision taken
unilaterally by the owners under
public pressure. Perhaps
the owners are afraid of serious
legal liability or of a tarnished
reputation,” Shapiro
said. “But we must understand
their decision to voluntarily
close is reversible. They have
carried out some furnishings
last night to prove their seriousness,
but they can carry the
furnishings back tomorrow, if
they change their mind.”
The New Year’s Day shooting,
which killed 20-year-old
Robert Williams and accounted
for New York City’s first
homicide of 2021, was the last
straw for many in the neighborhood.
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards and Assemblyman
Daniel Rosenthal and
Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz
joined the call for the hotel’s
closure following the New
Year’s slaying.
“This hotel is a public nuisance
that has no place in Kew
Gardens or anywhere in our
borough or city,” Richards
said. “The hotel’s guests and
residents of the surrounding
community should not be subjected
to its dangerous conditions.”
Koslowitz and Rosenthal,
in demanding a shutdown, lamented
that the hotel’s closure
hadn’t come sooner.
“For months, we joined
the community, colleagues
and law enforcement in drawing
attention to the untenable
situation at the Umbrella Hotel,
which included a litany
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
of crimes including various
shootings, underage prostitution
and illicit drug sales,” the
lawmakers said in a joint statement.
“While the mayor has
taken the first steps towards
a solution, we must continue
to stay vigilant and hold him
accountable until the hotel is
shut down.”
In November, the Umbrella
Hotel was hit with more than a
dozen violations from the city,
after residents complained of
illegal activity and loud parties
taking place on the hotel’s
property.
Over the summer in 2020,
the hotel was also the scene of
a drive-by shooting, according
to officials.
Gandhi was working at the
hotel during several fatal incidents.
“The defendant, who regularly
worked as a supervisor
for the 9 p.m. through 9 a.m.
shift, was in charge during at
least three nights of violence
at the hotel, including shootings
on July 3, Aug. 9 and, most
recently, a triple shooting on
New Year’s Eve that took the
life of a 20-year-old man,” Katz
said. “The defendant allegedly
– and repeatedly – allowed unsafe
gatherings on the premises
of the hotel, even after a
shooting left bullet holes in its
front door. This hotel has been
a danger to the community.”
Gandi was issued a desk appearance
ticket by police and
will appear in court at a future
date, the DA said.
File photo
Judge denies bid to
delay Main Street
busway in Flushing
DA investigation leads to arrest
of Umbrella Hotel desk supervisor
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