Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz looks at evidence during a news conference on Thursday,
March 3, 2022. Katz highlighted four recent seizures in Queens that illustrate her office’s efforts to
slow the spread of “ghost guns,” or privately manufactured firearms with no identifying markings.
2 TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MARCH 11 - MARCH 17, 2022
Resident hopes to bring statue
of Spider-Man to Forest Hills
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Larry Ng, a longtime resident
of Forest Hills, is organizing
a community-led project to
bring a life-size bronze statue
of Spider-Man to MacDonald
Park. Ng says the statue will
bring great joy and pride to
the community, particularly
for children who have been
impacted by the pandemic.
“I always thought of the
statue as approachable, where
kids can take pictures with
their family, and have it in an
area that’s easily accessible
and not fenced in,” Ng said.
Marvel’s Spider-Man is
the alias of fictional science
whiz-kid Peter Parker, who
was raised by his Aunt May
and Uncle Ben at 20 Ingram
St. in Forest Hills. Bitten by
a radioactive spider, Parker’s
arachnid abilities give him
amazing powers, such as
clinging to surfaces, superhuman
strength and agility,
and detecting danger with his
spider-sense. He also builds
wrist-mounted web-shooter
devices that shoot artificial
spider webs of his own design.
In January, Ng started
looking into the process of
how to bring the statue to
Forest Hills. His inspiration
for the project comes after a
13-foot-tall statue of Captain
America was unveiled in
Brooklyn in 2016, he said.
According to Ng, statues
— such as the iconic Statue of
Liberty, Prometheus in Rockefeller
Center, the Charging
Bull near Wall Street, Alice in
Wonderland in Central Park
and the Unisphere in Flushing
Meadows Corona Park
— bring life to New York City
and its many neighborhoods.
Statues bring people together
and are cherished by
all, and Ng strongly believes
that Spider-Man will do the
same for Forest Hills.
A few weeks ago, Ng created
a website for people to find
out more information about
the project and to leave comments.
He is partnering with
David Cortes, who designed
the Captain America statue.
Cortes will serve as creative
designer for the statue
and will oversee its design,
fabrication and installation.
Ng is also partnering with
Michael Perlman, a historian
and fifth-generation resident
of Forest Hills, who will help
with the site selection and
community engagement for
the statue. Community Board
6 is also supporting Ng’s project.
Ng envisions the bronze
statue erected at MacDonald
Park, located at 87-20 Queens
Blvd., also known as “the
heart of Forest Hills,” and is
easily accessible.
He has identified a small
plaza area on the northwestern
corner of the park, at the
intersection between Queens
Boulevard and Yellowstone,
for the statue to be displayed.
They will need approval from
the Parks Department, which
will be a lengthy process, Ng
said.
The statue would take
around six months to complete
and would cost between
$150,000 to $200,000, Ng said.
BY BILL PARRY
Four northeast Queens
residents were arrested and
charged with possessing arsenals
of illegal ghost guns in
their Bayside and Flushing
homes, Queens District Attorney
Melinda Katz announced
Thursday, March 3.
Multi-agency raids at the
four homes early Tuesday,
March 1, seized dozens of firearms,
including 27 ghost guns,
assault weapons, firearm accessories,
more than 10,000
rounds of ammunition and
high-capacity magazines, and
$50,000 in cash, according to
Katz.
The raids followed a longterm
investigation that utilized
various surveillance
techniques, intelligence gathering
and state-of-the-art
analytics that focused on individuals
who were purchasing
polymer-based firearm components
— parts that do not
include any serial numbers —
that can be easily assembled at
home into operable firearms,
Katz explained during a press
conference with NYPD Chief
of Intelligence Thomas Galanti
and Inspector Courtney Nilan,
commanding officer of the
Field Intelligence Program.
“We must get the guns off
our streets. We must stop the
illegal production of dangerous
firearms that is happening
in homes throughout our
neighborhoods,” Katz said.
“Using myriad investigative
tools and working closely with
our law enforcement partners,
we will continue to pursue
those who bring these illegal,
deadly weapons into our
communities.”
Defendants Andrew Chang,
34, of Bayside; Kai Zhoa, 45, of
Flushing; Michael Frankenfield,
55, of Flushing; and Seowong
Chung, 35, of Flushing,
were arraigned March 2 before
Queens Criminal Court Judge
Anthony Battisti on three
separate complaints charging
them with criminal possession
of a weapon, criminal sale of
a firearm, the unlawful possession
of unfinished frames
or receivers and other related
crimes. Katz said all four defendants
do not have licenses
to own or possess firearms in
New York City.
“This case, and the dozens
of guns, component parts, and
ammunition seized as part of
it, show once again that the
proliferation of illegal ghost
Photo by Paul Frangipane
guns is not a passing fad but
a continuing scourge against
our citizens, our city, our way
of life,” NYPD Commissioner
Keechant Sewell said in a
statement. “These guns, often
ordered online and shipped
to New York City, shoot real
bullets that victimize New
Yorkers. But our joint, intelligence
driven focus on interrupting
the supply chain for
these weapons, and keeping
them from hitting the streets,
is intensifying thanks to the
strong partnership between
the NYPD, our Major Case
Field Intelligence Team, and
the office of Queens District
Attorney Melinda Katz and
her prosecutors who remain
relentless in pursuing these
important investigations and
ensuring safety for all.”
If convicted, defendants
Chang and Chung face up to
15 years in prison and Frankenfeld
and Zhao face up to 25
years in prison. Since August,
Katz said the crackdown on the
“polymer pipeline” have resulted
in five takedowns, in addition
to the March 1 raids, with
two in Richmond Hill, one in
Hollis, one in Rosedale and one
in Fresh Meadows, with a total
of 10 defendants charged.
A stunt man dressed as Spider-Man, poses during a photo call
for the film “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” at the Empire State
Building in New York April 25, 2014.
Photo by Brendan McDermid/REUTERS
‘We must get guns off our streets’
Four arrested, dozens of weapons seized in ghost gun raids
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