Mayor de Blasio responded to repeated criticism at his town hall on Feb. 19 Max Parrott/QNS
CROWD DRILLS INTO MAYOR DE BLASIO OVER PUBLIC
SAFETY, EDUCATION AT FOREST HILLS TOWN HALL
BY MAX PARROTT
When Mayor Bill de Blasio
made his way down into Forest
Hills for a town hall on Feb.
19, he waded into a section of
Queens that has been an epicenter
of simmering discontentment
for the last several
months.
The signs of protest were
evident outside the where angry
constituent rallied over
the opening of the Glendale
homeless shelter and the policies
of Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza. As de Blasio
made his way into the JHS
190 Russell Sage gymnasium
to join Councilwoman Karen
Koslwotiz, boos drowned out
applause from the audience.
During the forum, which
lasted more than two hours,
constituents made repeat complaints
over borough-based
jail plan, bail reform legislation,
the southeast Queens
school diversity plan and the
Glendale shelter.
Beyond Forest Hills residents
— who continue to be upset
about the Borough-based
jail that is coming to their
neighborhood — de Blasio was
confronted with neighboring
Glendale residents over
the homeless shelter that welcomed
its first tenants last Friday
on Cooper Avenue.
“It is just disgusting that
you have shoved a homeless
shelter in my neighborhood,”
said one angry constituent,
who accused the mayor of
making backroom deals in approving
the project.
The moment gave the
mayor a rare opportunity to
address community members
who had been regularly rallying
against the proposal, up
until its very recent opening.
He started by calling the allegation
against him “false.”
“You hate us, de Blasio,”
interrupted another audience
member.
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.4 COM | FEB. 27-MARCH 5, 2020
“The bottom line here is
that we have people who are
just like everyone in this who
are working people who lost
their homes,” said hizzoner.
Department of Homeless
Services Commissioner Steven
Banks then stepped in to
emphasize that the new shelter
would serve only people
from Queens and that goal of
the facility is to help stabilize
residents who have a job — “a
place where people are going
to be warehoused.”
That was just the not end of
neighborhood safety concerns
at the meeting. Confronted
twice about the fear that bail
reform was leading to an uptick
in crime, de Blasio called
the talking point a form of
“right-wing propaganda.”
When it came to integration
plan for School District
28 — which spans from Forest
Hills and Rego Park to Jamaica
and Richmond Hill —
residents argued both for and
against the proposal.
After the city announced
that it would be extending the
process for the diversity plan
earlier that day, Community
Education Council 28 President
Vijah Ramjattan entreated
the mayor to scrap the plan
completely and start over. He
was unhappy with the makeup
of the working group selected
to consult
“Let’s vote as a community
for who we want to represent
us,” said Ramjattan.
De Blasio recommended
that they add more community
representation to the working
group. “I would suggest a
hybrid,” he said.
The topic of education
sparked an outburst when
Queens parent David Rem
asked the mayor to fire Carranza,
whom he called “racist”
toward the city’s Asian
population.
De Blasio called the comment
a mischaracterization.
“There are people who disagree
with his policies,” he
said, referring to Carranza’s
attempt to ban specialized
high school admissions tests,
which sparked accusations of
racial discrimination.
As Rem continued to speak
over the mayor, he was ejected
from the town hall by security
.A
fter the speaker, Edwin
Wong repeated the sentiment
that the Asian community had
lost trust in the chancellor as
a result of his specialized high
school proposal, the mayor
took a more conciliatory approach.
“I want to have a dialogue.
How do we fix it together?”
said de Blasio. “I’m saying in
front of you, I’m sorry for any
misstep we made.”
Reach reporter Max Parrott
by e-mail at mparrott@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at
(718) 260-2507.
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