8 The QUEE NS Courier • SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Woodside church with controversial history seeks to expand By Angela Matua amatua@qns.com/@AngelaMatua A one-story Pentecostal church in Woodside has filed plans to triple in size and add 100 parking spots. The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, located at 68-03 Roosevelt Ave., is seeking a variance to build a new, 79-foot, five-story church with parking. The building is currently 45 feet and if the variance Photo: Wikipedia Commons ONSITE DOCTORS • EYE EXAMS • CONTACTS • 1 HOUR SERVICE • VISION PLANS ACCEPTED • SUNGLASSES • LOWEST PRICES WE ARE A GVS & DAVIS VISION PROVIDER Back to School BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER 211-51 26 AVENUE • BAYSIDE, NY 11360 718.631.3699 *FREE Eye Exam with the purchase of glasses. 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The church first filed applications for expansion in July 2015, according to plans filed with the Department of Buildings. According to Jessica Rubenstein — assistant for Eric Palatnik, the land-use lawyer representing the church — a variance from the Board of Standards and Appeals is needed to allow the congregation to build a larger structure. The new building would occupy about 67,000 square feet. Denise Keehan-Smith, chairperson of Community Board 2 (CB 2), said there will be a public hearing on Sept. 27 to discuss the variance. Keehan-Smith, a Woodside resident, said she is concerned about the proposed size. “It will overshadow the other houses within the backyard area,” she said at a recent CB 2 meeting. “As someone from Woodside who doesn’t live too far from there, I think that we have to question them and I’m a little concerned just about the size. I think it’s going to be really massive.” According to Rubenstein, the “rapidly growing congregation” needs to “create a larger building that will help them meet their programmatic needs.” The new building will allow for offices, classrooms, worship space, rectories, conference rooms and more. The church also wants to accommodate visiting clergy from their other locations. Three parking decks would accommodate 100 cars. “Instead of uprooting from this location, they love the location and they feel that they’ve really become a religious and spiritual anchor in the community,” Rubenstein said. “So instead of moving they’d like to redevelop the building.” About 900 people attend the church’s services, Rubenstein said. A spokesperson for the church was not available to confirm this at press time. The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God has branches all around the world and its headquarters are in São Paulo, Brazil. It has frequently made headlines for participating in illegal activities such as money laundering; in 2010, the church’s New York treasurer – who works for the Woodside and Boerum Hill, Brooklyn locations – was arrested on fraud charges. According to the New York Post, Regina DeSilva was arrested for repeatedly lying to the Attorney Generals’ office and Manhattan judges when she secured 11 mortgage loans worth $22 million. Pastors were also heard telling congregants that in order to be blessed, they had to donate big bucks to the church. “Unless you give, you cannot be blessed,” a pastor told his Woodside congregants in 2000. The church has been criticized for preaching prosperity gospel, which is the belief that donating to the church can increase one’s financial wealth. “Tell yourself this: I’m going to make myself rich,” a WNYC reporter heard a pastor in Woodside say. “I won’t be poor; I reject being poor. Is it a sin for me to say, ‘God, I want to have a lot’?” The Universal Church has more than 6,000 locations worldwide and the founder Edir Macedo, who also owns the second-largest broadcast network in Brazil, is worth $1 billion, according to Forbes. Photo courtesy of Google Maps A church in Woodside is looking to expand. New rent supplements could help solve Queens’ homelessness crisis: lawmaker By Liam Baker editorial@qns.com/@QNS With Queens seeing the opening of one homeless shelter after another, many have suggested the city find another way to address the homelessness crisis. One Forest Hills-based lawmaker has put forth an idea to keep people in their homes. Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi unveiled on Sept. 20 a program called Home Stability Support (HSS), a new statewide rent supplement for people facing eviction or loss of housing due to domestic violence or unsafe conditions. HSS would replace existing supplements, which have done little to curb the rising trend of New York’s homeless population. Last month, NYC counted a record 59,373 people in shelters managed by the Department of Homeless Services, consistent with New York State currently leading the country in homeless people, 130,000 of whom are children. “We currently face the most severe homeless crisis since the Great Depression,” Hevesi said in a press release. The problem is that current rent supplements don’t reflect the rising cost of housing. The current shelter allowance per month ranges between $264 and $447 for a family of three. The average rental cost for a two-bedroom apartment ranges between $658 and $1,608 statewide. HSS would cost $11,224 annually for a family of three in NYC, compared to the current rate of $38,460 to house a family with children in an NYC shelter for a year. Hevesi also forecasts that merely preventing eviction will save taxpayers millions by avoiding emergency room costs, housing court costs and other collateral costs associated with homelessness. A study done by the NYC Bar Association found that stopping evictions in 5,000 households could save taxpayers $251 million in NYC alone. “Having a stable home serves as a platform for people to become better parents, employees and members of the community,” Hevesi said. Hevesi is currently working to gain support for HSS among his colleagues in the state legislature ahead of next year’s session.
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