FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 17, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
College Point takes homeless shelter fi ght to City Hall
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Scores of College Point residents made
the trip to City Hall on Jan. 13 to call attention
to a homeless shelter that they claim
is not suitable for their neighborhood, as
many other communities across Queens
have challenged.
Th e rest of the borough has resisted placement
of shelters similar to the one slated at
127-03 20th Ave. to no avail.
But opposition leader Jennifer Shannon
said that College Point’s lack of public
transportation options and scarcity of medical
services set the neighborhood’s complaints
apart, especially as it is already
home to about 80,000 people and multiple
schools.
“College Point really is on the most
northern tip of Queens, and there really is
nothing there. To get to any service, it’s 45
minutes,” Shannon said, referring to the
three to fi ve unreliable bus routes available.
“I’m not saying that any other community
shouldn’t have protested, be we really have
nothing there.”
One concern Shannon voiced was that the
residents at the facility will not be allowed to
stay in the building during the day and that
medical assistance is sparse.
Th e city Department of Homeless
Services (DHS) spokesman Isaac McGinn,
however, denied this claim, explaining this
is a misconception that arose from the fact
that residents are sent into common areas
of the facility to engage in job development
and other programs while sleeping quarters
are cleaned by staff .
Shannon admitted that DHS had not said
this is their policy, but that they had been
in contact with other communities who
claimed homeless residents were turned out
during the day.
“If we get sick in College Point, we have to
go to Bayside, we have to go to Whitestone;
we’ve got no services,” Shannon said. “No
train, no precinct, no hospital, so how are
they helping these men?”
But like many other homeless shelter
facilities established by the city, McGinn
confi rmed that the College Point shelter
will have medical services as well as mental
health assistance provided on site.
“Our only thing is this is just a really horrible
location,” Shannon said. “Th is is not a
NIMBY thing; it’s just not safe. It’s just not
safe to put 200 men transitioning – many of
them, probably most of them from prison –
in the middle of a community surrounded
by our schools.”
Michael Deng, who also helps organize
the opposition to the shelter, echoed
Shannon in the claim that those opposing
the College Point shelter had been villainized
by those in favor, which they viewed as
an unfair assessment.
“We’re talking about a very small number
of people who go through homelessness
versus a community of 80,000 people,
28,000 households, more than 5,000 school
kids,” Deng said. “It couldn’t be a worse
site. Five schools in the middle of the commercial
center of College Point. We’re not
against homeless; we have our own homeless
we are taking care of.”
Th ere are currently an estimated 63,000
to 70,000 homeless individuals in the city, a
situation which has been treated as a crisis
by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Th e College Point
location is slated to be another addition in
his Turning of the Tide on Homelessness
initiative.
“Th e city and not-for-profi t social service
provider partner Westhab are opening this
facility as soon as possible to give individuals
experiencing homelessness from Queens
the opportunity to be closer to the communities
they called home as they get back
on their feet,” DHS spokeswoman Arianna
Fishman said. “We are ensuring the building
is ready for occupancy, fi nalizing all
required reviews, and expect to open this
facility this fall aft er all has been completed.”
Th is program aims to establish shelters
in communities where the individual
can receive services near the communities
where they originated from and called
home, Fishman said.
CP Residents’ Coalition Inc. and A Better
College Point, meanwhile, have launched a
GoFundMe campaign to fund a legal battle
against the city and has raised $2,000 of
its $100,000 goal since it was launched on
Dec. 30, 2018.
Husband charged for murdering wife
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
A Fresh Meadows man who allegedly
stabbed his wife and daughter during
a dispute has been charged with murder
and other counts, according to Queens
District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
Jawad Hussain, 57, was arrested on
Jan. 15 for the assault that resulted in
the death of his 44-year-old wife Fatima
Jawad and injuries to their 18-year-old
daughter.
Hussain was booked on Wednesday
for second-degree murder, felony
assault and fourth-degree criminal possession
of a weapon. If convicted, he
could face up to 25 years to life in prison.
On the aft ernoon of Jan. 15, police
responded to reports that a woman
had been stabbed in her home on 69th
Avenue. Once authorities arrived,
they found Jawad with “stab and slash
wounds to her torso” and their 18-yearold
daughter with slash wounds on her
hands and wrists.
According to Brown, Hussain had
used two knives to attack his wife and
daughter. Hussain had allegedly attacked
Jawad and stabbed her multiple times.
Th e couple’s daughter tried to stop her
father and was slashed in the process.
Th e two women were transported to
NewYork-Presbyterian Queens hospital
where Jawad later died. Th e daughter
was treated for her wounds and remains
hospitalized.
Photo via Google Maps
Rego Park woman killed, three
people injured in blaze: cops
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
fi ft h-fl oor apartment apparently suff ering
rpozarycki@qns.com
from smoke inhalation. Th ey pulled
@robbpoz
her from the home and transferred her to
paramedics, who rushed her to Elmhurst
Fire marshals are still investigating the
Hospital, where she died.
cause of a fi re in Rego Park on Saturday
Th ree other residents of the apartment
night that claimed a woman’s life.
house were also rushed to NewYork-
Police said the blaze ignited at about
Presbyterian Queens Hospital in stable
11:40 p.m. on Jan. 12 on the fi ft h fl oor
condition aft er suff ering smoke inhalation,
of the Austin Towers located at 87-30
police said.
62nd Ave.
Firefi ghters quickly brought the blaze
Firefi ghters who responded to the
under control. FDNY Marshals are now
scene found Anna Latek, 51, inside a
looking into the cause of the blaze.
The Austin Towers at 87-30 62nd Ave. in Rego Park
Photo via Google Maps
Photo: Mark Hallum/THE COURIER
With signs and rallying cries at City Hall on Jan. 13, College Point residents let the city know they’re
against a homeless shelter in their neighborhood.
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