46 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 22, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Holidays 2016 Teens bring care packages for homeless men living at Maspeth hotel BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport With Maspeth residents still fi ghting to stop the Holiday Inn Express hotel from becoming a full-blown homeless shelter, some teenagers from the neighborhood came together to help out the homeless men currently living there. Together with City Mission — an Elmhurst-based Christian nonprofi t organization that works to meet the basic needs of the city and its people, regardless of religious background — the teens handed out care packages and personal notes to the shelter residents. As previously reported, 78 homeless men live at the Holiday Inn Express hotel on 55th Road, which the city fi rst proposed transforming into a shelter for homeless adults back in August. Th e city backed off on that plan, but began renting a number of rooms there for homeless men in October. “We just want to show the men at the shelter that there are people that care about them despite the politics of why the community is against it,” said 16-year-old Alfred Chan. Th e city is in the midst of the worst homeless crisis since the Great Depression, with more than 60,000 New Yorkers without a place to live. Th ese depressing numbers were not lost on the teens of Maspeth. “Th ese numbers are only growing,” Chan said. “I want to be there to help if it’s in my neighborhood.” Residents of the hotel/shelter were more than grateful that the teens thought of them during the holiday season and came up with this idea. “I am in New York by myself, and this is where I grew up,” said Tyshiem Gordon, a 25-year-old shelter resident. “It sucks that I’m in this situation, but it’s hard working night shift s and getting a place to live. Th ese kids thought about me.” Photos courtesy of City Mission Pictured from left to right: Lester Lin, three men from the shelter, Nick Gulotta of the Mayor’s Offi ce and Alfred Chan.
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