College Point residents rally once again
Community members, elected offi cials join forces and rail against proposed homeless shelter
State Sen. John Liu speaks at the pop-up rally, which was held outside of the shelter site at 127-03
20th Ave. Photos by Bruce Adler
BY JENNA BAGCAL
As the opening of the
proposed men’s homeless
shelter in College Point
draws closer, neighborhood
residents made it known
once again that they oppose
the facility.
A Better College Point
and the CP Residents’
Coalition (CPRC) gathered
with community members
and local elected officials
at a rally outside of the
proposed shelter site at 127-
03 20th Ave.
This latest rally comes
fresh off the heels of the College
Point Civic and Taxpayers
Association rally on Feb. 16
and, two days prior to that
affair, a press conference
organized by longtime shelter
opposers state Sen. John
Liu, state Assemblyman
Daniel Rosenthal and City
Councilman Paul Vallone.
“We need to stay organized,
don’t listen to the people who
keep telling you, ‘Oh, it’s a done
deal.’ Ignore them, educate
them,” CPRC spokesperson
Jennifer Shannon said at the
Feb. 24 rally.
“Under the dark of
night, the city, the de Blasio
administration have put this
institution … without letting
anybody in the community
know about it, and making
us believe that it’s a done
deal. Jennifer is absolutely
right; nothing is a done deal,”
added Liu.
Shannon encouraged the
crowd to continue writing
letters to Gov. Andrew Cuomo
despite a lack of support from
the state official.
“This is going up to our
governor, who is ignoring us.
Many of you have written the
governor and you get back
a nice little letter that says,
‘Sorry, can’t help you, talk to
the city.’ Last time I checked,
I lived in New York and he
represents me,” Shannon said.
At the beginning of
February, concerned residents
from all across New York City
formed the “5 Boro Coalition”
to fight the 90 homeless
shelters the city plans to create
over the next five years.
According to Shannon, who
serves as the Queens coalition
chair, board members are
College Point residents continued their relentless fight against the
city’s planned 200-bed men’s shelter.
trying to get legislation passed
that will help keep people in
need in their homes.
“You cannot fight this in
College Point. We can’t fight
it in Ozone Park. We can’t
fight it in Queens. No one’s
listening,” said Ozone Park
resident and 5 Boro Coalition
President Sam Esposito. “But
if we fight it collectively as the
five boroughs … they’re gonna
hear us loud and clear and
they’re gonna come to us and
they’re gonna work with us on
solutions to the problem.”
Also at Sunday’s rally was
public advocate candidate
Manny Alicandro, who just
recently became vocal about
his opposition to the shelter.
“It’s very, very important
that we keep up the pressure.
We can’t stop the pressure,”
said Alicandro. “We have to be
concerned about the safety of
our communities. We have to
be concerned about the safety
of our children.”
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
224-5863 ext. 214.
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