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Shelter opponents to mayor: Get out!
Demonstrators in College Point call for de Blasio’s resignation over homeless crisis
Members of the College Point Residents Coalition at the June 1 protest. Photo courtesy of A Better College Point
Vol. 28 No. 23 64 total pages
BY JENNA BAGCAL
College Point residents
have a message for Mayor
Bill de Blasio: “Step down.”
The months-long fight
against the shelter at 127-03
20th Ave. showed no signs
of stopping as hundreds
of locals marched along
College Point Boulevard on
June 1.
Many donned blue shirts
boasting the College Point
Residents Coalition logo
(CPRC) and the words
“Solutions, Not Shelters.”
Others held signs bearing
the phrase “Worst Mayor
Ever.”
“This mayor is
destroying our city,
destroying it with each day
he is in office,” said CPRC
member Jennifer Shannon.
“Mayor de Blasio, step
down. His solution is to put
them in a warehouse — is
that how we treat people?”
The College Point shelter
is one of 90 being built
around the city as part of
de Blasio’s “Turning the
Tide on Homelessness”
plan. According to the
Department of Homeless
Services, the city shelled
out $9 million to house 200
homeless men transitioning
from prison.
But Michael Deng of the
CPRC highlighted that the
protest was not a matter of
partisanship.
“This is not about being
politically right or left.
This is very simple: this is
about justice. This is about
what’s right and what’s
wrong,” Deng said. “When
you put 3,000 kids’ safety at
risk just for 200 single men,
it’s not right.”
State Senator John
Liu and representatives
for Assemblyman Dan
Rosenthal and Councilman
Paul Vallone were also
present at last Saturday’s
protest.
“What this mayor has
done to the city, he’s trying
to do to College Point as
well,” said Liu. “So when
the city has problems
to deal with, they have
to understand why the
problems are here in the
first place; they created
many of the problems. And
now they’re trying to shift
the problems over onto
the families right here in
College Point. We’re not
going to stand for that.”
Meanwhile, locals have
filed a lawsuit against the
city and are attempting to
raise $100,000 for a legal
fund. So far, 61 residents
have raised nearly $4200
on the group’s GoFundMe
page.
QNS reached out to the
mayor’s office for comment
and is awaiting a response.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by email at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
224-5863 ext. 214.
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