TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | APRIL 22-28, 2022
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Shred your documents for free with Schneps Media and AARP
BY MAC SORENSEN
Identity thieves are known to
mine through receptacles looking
for receipts and personal
documents to help commit their
fraudulent crimes, which makes
shredding anything containing
your sensitive information so
important.
Schneps Media and AARP
New York want to help you protect
yourselves from identity
thieves by partnering together
to sponsor seven free shredding
events across the five boroughs
and Long Island in the weeks
ahead.
We’re bringing shredder
trucks to seven locations in
April and May so you can have
your unwanted personal documents
torn to bits. All you need
to do is register at shred4free.
com for any one of the seven
scheduled events.
“We do these events starting
in April because it’s the end
of the tax-filing season; many
taxpayers like to do a spring
cleaning of their old financial
statements and other records,”
said Wilson Guzman, associate
state director of community engagement
for AARP New York.
“Shredding old documents
is one of the best defenses to
protect yourself from identity
theft. Thieves will go through
any length, including rifling
through dumpsters and other
trash receptacles. It is one of the
main tricks of the scammer’s
trade. Shredding community
events will allow consumers to
discard sensitive documents
safely and securely. On the other
hand, shredding documents
yourself is time-consuming,
and if you don’t do it properly,
papers can still be pieced together.”
Each registered person for
the shredding events are limited
to three bags or small boxes
of confidential documents for
destruction. If you haven’t removed
staples or paper clips,
that’s OK; they can be shredded
along with the documents with
the powerful shredders on site.
Shredding equipment will be
available for three hours at each
location, or until full capacity is
reached.
Among the items you can
shred at these free events include
tax information; investment
records; bank statements;
cancelled checks; pay stubs;
ATM and credit card receipts;
credit card statements; insurance
information; utility bills;
and more.
Here are the seven locations
and dates of the Free Shred
Events coming up:
Bronx: Tuesday, April 26, 11
a.m.-2 p.m., AMC Bay Plaza Cinema
13 parking lot, 2210 Bartow
Ave.Queens: Wednesday, May 4,
11 a.m.-2 p.m., Plaxall parking
lot, 5-25 46th Ave., corner of 46th
Avenue and Fifth Street, Long
Island City.
Brooklyn: Wednesday, May
11, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., in front of
Erasmus High School, 914 Flatbush
Ave., between Church and
Snyder Avenues.
Staten Island: Thursday,
May 12, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Hilton
Garden Inn Staten Island, rear
parking lot, 1110 South Ave.
Nassau County: Wednesday,
May 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Sunrise
Mall, parking lot adjacent to
Chase Bank, off Sunrise Highway,
Massapequa.
Suffolk County: Thursday,
May 19, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Walt
Whitman Shops, 60 Walt Whitman
Rd., Huntington Station,
near the Route 110 entrance behind
Citibank.
Manhattan: Friday, May 20,
11 a.m.-2 p.m., Adam Clayton
Powell Jr. State Office Plaza, 163
West 125th St., Harlem.
Register to attend at shred-
4free.com.
Note: All participants are expected
to comply with COVID-19
safety precautions consistent
with CDC, federal, state and local
orders/regulations, and at a
minimum, to wear masks if unvaccinated
and maintain social
distance of 6 feet or more.
/QNS.COM
/4free.com
