26 THE QUEENS COURIER • YEAR IN REVIEW • DECEMBER 30, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
year in review
Queens’ top stories from December 2021
New aff ordable housing
options come to Long Island
City waterfront development
City and elected offi cials joined TF
Cornerstone to celebrate the ribboncutting
for the most recent phase of a
new development with aff ordable housing
options at Hunter’s Point in Long
Island City.
Th e new waterfront buildings at 5241
and 5203 Center Blvd. off er 719 permanently
aff ordable apartments, 473 market
rate homes and a new public park on
the Long Island City waterfront.
Th e project also includes an offi ce for
Selfh elp Community Services, a health
and human services organization that
will give on-site services for older adults
living in the 100 units set aside for
seniors at the 5203 Center Blvd. location.
5241 Center Blvd. will host a
7,700-square-foot community center,
where the nonprofi t Sunnyside
Community Services will be available
to provide social services and programming
for older adults.
HPD is working with the School
Construction Authority to build a 572-
seat K-8 school with a large playground
just east of TF Cornerstone’s development.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said
he’s thankful for the 1,200 new apartments,
60% of which will be aff ordable
homes, in District 26.
“I’m thrilled to have worked to secure
additional aff ordable housing to the
development and am particularly excited
about the 100 units of housing for
low-income seniors that will ensure our
aging population can continue to call
this neighborhood home,” Van Bramer
said. “Hunter’s Point South should
serve as a model for development in the
future.”
A Ridgewood man describes
what it’s like living in cityrun
homeless shelters
Victor Lopez, 59, has struggled to hold
a job for most of his life. Since the pandemic
hit, he’s gotten moved around to
diff erent homeless shelters, where he
said he faced terrible violence. Now, all
he wants is to fi nd a safe haven at the
Hungry Monk shelter in Ridgewood.
Lopez said he’s been to many shelters
throughout the city but never felt more
unsafe than in Harry’s Place in Bed-Stuy,
Brooklyn.
“Why would they put me in a shelter
like that? I didn’t give anyone any
trouble. I’m out here trying to get better
and get help, not to fi ght with people,”
Lopez said.
Close to 50,000 people in New York
City are experiencing homelessness and
Lopez knows his situation isn’t unique.
Lopez has tried to get a bed at the Hungry
Monk facility, but none are available. Father
Michael Lopez (no relation), who started
the nonprofi t, said they’ve rarely had a free
bed since they opened in 2019.
Councilman Robert Holden blamed
Department of Homeless Services
Commissioner Steven Banks — who
resigned in November 2021 — for advocating
for large “warehouse” shelters
that pack people in without privacy and
barely any security, resulting in the dangerous
conditions Lopez spoke of.
Lopez said he’s felt the eff ects of the
city’s neglect as someone in and out of
shelters oft en.
“We’re just numbers in a shelter,”
Lopez said.
Later in December, a homeless man
was arrested for allegedly stabbing
another homeless man multiple times at
the Cooper Avenue shelter in Glendale
— which has been a point of contention
in the community for years.
Photo courtesy of TF Cornerstone
Elected offi cials and TF Cornerstone representatives celebrated the ribbon-cutting of a new
development with aff ordable housing options in Long Island City.
QNS fi le photo
The Cooper Rapid Rehousing Center at 78-16 Cooper Ave. was once a factory.
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
QNS is looking back at the top stories throughout 2021, as we
look forward to 2022.
While December isn’t quite over yet, here are some of the
top stories of the month in Queens, which includes new
affordable housing, homelesness woes and another high school
scandal, among many others.
Flushing Townsend Harris High School teacher
removed following sexual misconduct accusations
Joseph Canzoneri, a former English teacher at Townsend Harris
High School in Flushing, was first removed in 2018 for sexual
misconduct allegation. But due to state law, he was reinstated to
the school in the fall by the DOE.
A report from the school’s newspaper revealed that although
Canzoneri was removed from the classroom following an SCI
report that recommended he be fired in 2019 for “inappropriate
behavior,” he still came into contact with students for extended
periods of time in an office area in the building.
The DOE said that based on state law and labor agreements,
they had to reinstate Canzoneri in his former position and
couldn’t fire a tenured teacher. The school principal, though, kept
him outside of classrooms.
Following backlash from students and a local councilman,
Canzoneri was later reassigned outside of the school building by
the DOE.
Screenshot via Google Maps
Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, where a teacher was removed following sexual misconduct allegations.
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