20 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 15, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Mayor: We’re building a new Rego Park library BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com @smont76 At long last, Rego Park residents will be getting a new and improved library branch. Mayor Bill de Blasio made the announcement during a June 8 town hall at the neighborhood’s Lost Battalion Hall Recreation Center. Th e new building will be erected in the same location as the current library at the corner of Austin Street and 63rd Drive. Th e current building, which was built in 1975, is 7,500 square feet, lacks ADA accessibility and has out-of-date technology — no longer serving its growing population, according to the mayor’s offi ce. Last year, the branch had 189,000 visitors and a circulation of nearly 194,000. In its place will rise an 18,000 square foot, two-story accessible building with modern amenities, according to de Blasio. “Libraries are at the heart of neighborhoods across the city, and I am thrilled to announce that Rego Park will have a new facility to meet its needs,” de Blasio said. “As the neighborhood continues to grow, this library will be a treasured cornerstone of the community. I’d like to recognize Council member Karen Koslowitz, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Queens Library President Dennis M. Walcott, whose tireless work helped make this possible.” Th e project is fully funded with a total of $32 million allocated by the mayor’s offi ce, the borough president’s offi ce and the City Council. Katz, Koslowitz and Queens Library President Dennis M. Walcott were also present for Th ursday’s announcement. “Th ese substantial investments are not only for the long-awaited expansion of the Rego Park library, but for the children, seniors and families of Rego Park,” Katz said. “Th ese capital funds will allow for a brand-new, state-of-the-art community hub of learning, literacy and culture. We are both the borough of growth and the borough of families, and I am delighted to collaborate with Mayor de Blasio and Council member Koslowitz to deliver this for the growing families of Rego Park.” Additional details will be announced as the project moves forward. ‘Taxi King’ arrested for failing to pay $5 million in MTA taxes BY ANGELA MATUA amatua@qns.com @AngelaMatua A duo in charge of running a taxi cab service with locations in Woodside and Long Island City were arrested and charged for not paying $5 million worth of 50-cent Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) surcharges for each ride. Chief Executive Officer Evgeny Freidman, 47, and Chief Financial Offi cer Andreea Dumitru, 41, of Sunnyside operate Taxiclub Management Inc., a company with a fl eet of more than 800 medallion taxi cabs with locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Woodside and Long Island City. Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and Acting Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Nonie Manion announced on June 7 that the duo were charged on a fi ve-count indictment for theft and failure to remit millions to the New York State Tax Department from 2012 through 2015. According to Schneiderman, Freidman is also the managing owner of more than 120 companies, which operate several medallion taxi cabs. Two of his four managing agencies are located in Queens: Tunnel Taxi Management LLC at 44-07 Vernon Blvd. in Long Island City and Woodside Management Inc. at 49-13 Roosevelt Ave. in Woodside. He used the managing agencies to lease hundreds of additional medallion cabs from other owners, which earned him the name “Taxi King.” State offi cials found that during that three-year period, Freidman and Dumitru did not pay the MTA tax but instead improperly fi led returns, failed to fi le returns and fi led falsifi ed returns which under-reported the actual number of taxable rides. “Th e ‘Taxi King’ built his empire by stealing from New Yorkers – pocketing money that should have instead been invested in our transportation system,” Schneiderman said. “No one is above the law, and my offi ce will use every tool available to hold accountable those who cheat the system.” Th e Taxi King has been in hot water before when the Attorney General’s Labor Bureau found that he failed to properly pay his drivers. In 2013, he was ordered to pay $1.2 million to his drivers and then had to pay another $250,000 in 2016 for not fully complying with the 2013 order. “Th is indictment exposes a blatant scheme to short-change the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the transportation infrastructure relied on by millions of New Yorkers,” Manion said. “Hundreds of honest taxi drivers did their part in collecting the proper fare, however Mr. Freidman and his business partner are accused of manipulating tax fi lings to put this money right into their own pockets.” Freidman and Dumitru are both charged with four counts of fi rst-degree criminal tax fraud and one count of fi rst-degree grand larceny. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of eight to 25 years in jail. Photos courtesy of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s Offi ce Andreea Dumitru and Evgeny Freidman failed to pay $5 million in MTA taxes Photo via Google Maps The one-story Rego Park library will be replaced, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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