WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: A FOCUS ON WOMEN’S HEALTH — SEE INSIDE
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THE NEWSPAPER OF JAMAICA, HOLLIS & ST. ALBANS
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March 11 - March 17, 2022
Effort to reactivate public space in Sunnyside
slowed by homeless encampment on Bliss Plaza
BY BILL PARRY
For generations, Sunnyside
was split into two distinctive
neighborhoods by Queens
Boulevard but the city sought
to unite the two enclaves in
2014 by creating two public
“plazas” beneath the 7 train
that runs overhead: one at
40th Street and the main location
at 46th Street known as
Bliss Plaza.
As part of the project, the
Department of Transportation
leveled out the street to create
a one-level pedestrian area
and added tables and chairs
and decorative planters. Sunnyside
Shines, the business
improvement district, took
over maintenance at the plazas
and provided cultural programming
that brought the
community together.
Now, as the weather is
warming up, new Sunnyside
Shines Executive Director
Dirk McCall’s plan to “reactivate”
Bliss Plaza, in particular,
has been slowed by around
a half dozen unhoused individuals
who have occupied the
public space for nearly a year
with large piles of their possessions
taking up much of the
area.
“I’m not sure how we will
start up all the programming
again at Bliss, our main site,
with a homeless encampment
there,” McCall told QNS. “We
are hoping a solution is found
and the people living there
are connected to housing and
services.”
The city’s Department of
Social Services and Department
of Homeless Services
has been doing just that with
outreach teams canvassing
the area multiple times every
day to engage and offer services
to the people who are experiencing
Lele Yau poses for a portrait next to her belongings where she has created a makeshift home under the 46th Street 7 train station, on
Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. Photo by Paul Frangipane
homelessness not
just at Bliss Plaza but at other
locations in Sunnyside and
Woodside such as Corporal
Lou Lodati Playground and
the Sunnyside Library branch
across Greenpoint Avenue.
“Our dedicated outreach
teams remain focused on
building trust as they encourage
New Yorkers experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
to transition off the streets
and subways to help them get
back on their feet,” a DSSDHS
spokesperson said. “We
know it can take hundreds of
engagements to make those
important breakthroughs. To
that end, our outreach teams
canvass this neighborhood
multiple times every day and
have made four recent placements
from this area to transitional
or permanent housing
opportunities, and will keep
revisiting again to reassess
and continue building on this
progress.”
On a recent visit to Bliss
Plaza, QNS found three people
at the location including
69-year-old Lele Yau who has
been living in the public space
for about a year. She says she
lived with her mother on Skillman
Avenue but lost the apartment
several years ago after
her mother died. Born in Hong
Kong, Yau now sleeps on an air
mattress under a makeshift
roof that she takes down and
puts away each morning.
“I am homeless and I need a
place to stay,” Yau said. “I need
to have a little bit of a normal
people’s life.”
She said she is prepared to
leave or move if she has to but
has resisted efforts to move
her to a nearby shelter. Yau
has storage space on Northern
Boulevard for her winter
items once the weather gets
warmer but she currently
keeps many of her possessions
with her in several shopping
carts and keeps her area clear
with frequent sweepings while
spending her days sitting on a
folding chair reading and listening
to the news and weather
on a radio.
“I feel safe here,” Yau said.
“I think the people here, they
don’t like the homeless. I am
not mentally ill and I try to
live a normal life. I read a
book, I even knit clothing. I
never bother anybody.”
She said she stays on the
pedestrian plaza because
there is a lot of space and provides
some shelter from the
elements.
“Wherever I stay, I want to
have a normal life, not like I’m
garbage,” Yau said. “I want to
feel good about myself.”
She has family in the neighborhood
but they’ve been estranged
for years. Yau added
that she understood she may
have to vacate the plaza soon.
“We have human rights.
We are not animals. We are
human,” Yau said. “I never
bother anybody. I am not a
selfish person, but what can I
do?”
Additional reporting by
Paul Frangipane.
Vol. 10, No. 10 40 total pages