FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 1, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 21
Queens leaders call for an end to gun violence following fatal shootings
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Amid the recent surge of shootings
in Queens, Borough President Donovan
Richards joined community members
outside of Woodside Houses on Th ursday,
March 25, to call for an end to gun violence.
Elected offi cials, community leaders
and the family of Gudelia Vallinas, an
innocent victim of the recent shootings,
gathered for the rally denouncing the
plague of gun violence aft er Vallinas, a
37-year-old mother of two, was fatally
shot near her home in Woodside Houses.
She had been returning home aft er running
Kaufman Astoria Studios listening to West Coast bids: Report
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Kaufman Astoria Studios is entertaining
off ers from potential buyers, according to
recent reports.
Built in 1920, the original home of
Paramount Pictures, Kaufman Astoria
Studios is one of the largest and most
sophisticated production facilities on the
East Coast.
Since it began reopening following the
COVID-19 pandemic its multiple sound
stages have been fully booked by production
companies fi lling demand from
streaming services such as Netfl ix. In
recent years, top Hollywood fi lm, television
and digital on-demand series were
made at Kaufman Astoria Studios including
“Orange is the New Black,” Showtime’s
“Escape at Dannemora,” CBS’s “Murphy
Brown” and “Sesame Street.”
Last fall, Silvercup Studios in Long
Island City was sold to a Los Angelesbased
group of investors for more than
$600 million dollars. Now, the same
group which includes Hackman Capital
Partners and Square Mile Capital, and
another Los Angeles-based production
studio company Hudson Pacifi c
Properties, are among the investors that
have submitted bids that value the 5-acre
studio campus at around $600 million,
according to Th e Real Deal.
QNS has reached out to Kaufman
Astoria Studios and is awaiting a response.
Last July, a consortium including
Kaufman Astoria Studios, Silverstein
Properties and BedRock Real Estate
Partners announced its proposal to develop
a $2 billion mixed-use district focused
on arts and creative industries in a dormant
section of Astoria.
“I am proud that Kaufman Astoria
Studios has acted as an economic driver,
rejuvenating our immediate neighborhood
through smart, thought-out development,
and look forward to continuing
what we started,” Kaufman Astoria Studios
President and CEO Hal Rosenbluth said
at the time.
Th e project, known as “Innovation
QNS,” would be centered on fi ve blocks
at the intersection of Steinway Street and
35th Avenue and include 2,700 units of
mixed-income housing as well as 200,000
square feet of “neighborhood-serving
retail,” and 250,000 square feet of space
for the city’s creative industries and other
small businesses.
“Th e studio has long been an anchor
for the community, having generated
economic opportunity for decades –
which it will continue to do well into the
future through its ongoing operation and
through its development of Innovation
QNS,” Innovation QNS spokesman Tom
Corsillo said. “Th e keys to Innovation
QNS are the participation of Astoria’s
small businesses, nonprofi ts, cultural
institutions, civic leaders and residents
that shaped the plan, and all it off ers to
the community.”
In January, Apple closed a deal to
take up 90,000 square feet of Kaufman
Astoria Studios’ new “OnStage” production
facility and weeks later the LGBT
Network announced it would relocate to
the Astoria complex.
an errand when she was caught in
the crossfi re between two men on March
12. Police believe she wasn’t the intended
target, but have not made any arrests.
On Th ursday, Alfredo Vallinas, Gudelia’s
husband of 15 years, said the pain of losing
his wife “will never go away.”
“And I do not wish this on anybody. Today
it was my family, it was the Vallinas family,
it was Gudelia, but tomorrow it could be
yours,” Alfredo said, according to NY1.
Th e family, who is calling for justice for
Gudelia, set up a GoFundMe in order to
pay for funeral expenses and their children’s
education.
Th ere have been two other shootings at
Woodside Houses public housing complex
this month. Elliot Claiborne, 29, was
fatally shot on March 23, for what police
suspect was the same gang rivalry that led
to Vallinas’ untimely death, according to
the New York Daily News.
On March 24, a 32-year-old man
was shot in the back in what police say
may have been an attempted robbery at
Woodside Houses. He is expected to survive
aft er being transported to Elmhurst
Hospital, according to the Queens Post.
Given the shootings that have taken
place in the last two weeks, Richards
emphasized that the city must “act bold
and smart” to end gun violence and make
streets safer by expanding crisis management
systems and funding the Cure
Violence model.
“We know neighborhood-based solutions
lead to a decrease in gun and gang
violence,” Richards said in a statement.
“However, the system is underfunded,
which leaves our communities vulnerable.”
Th e Cure Violence initiative is an evidence
based violence prevention program
that employs “violence interrupters” and
other outreach workers who can help deescalate
confl icts, provide resources and
positive outlets for at-risk youth. While
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently expanded
the program to several police precincts in
the city, the expansion didn’t include precincts
in western Queens.
Earlier this month, the mayor
announced another pilot program,
Advance Peace Model, a new gun violence
prevention program that pairs youth
who are at risk for gun violence with individual
mentors, that will launch this summer
at fi ve precincts in the city — including
the 114th Precinct in Astoria. He
was joined by Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams and K.Bain, founder and executive
director at 696 Build Queensbridge,
when making the announcement.
“We need to empower our communities
leaders — like K.Bain and 696
Queensbridge — and invest in the communities
who need it most. Th at means
more job opportunities, more aff ordable
housing and real investment in our neighborhoods,”
Richards said. “Our futures
depend on it.”
Courtesy of KAS
Kaufman Astoria Studios is reportedly reviewing bids from West Coast investment groups.
Photo courtesy of the Queens Borough President’s offi ce
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards joined community members and leaders in calling for an end to recent gun violence outside of Woodside
Houses on March 25.
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