3 Jail in Kew Gardens? Not so fast
Central Queens residents tell de Blasio representative to shelve detention center plan
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 10, 2019
BY MARK HALLUM
Last week’s Queens
Advisory Council (QAC)
meeting on the proposal
to install a jail in Kew
Gardens, part of a 10-year
plan to make incarceration
on Rikers Island history,
was not for the fainthearted
— as aggravated
residents made their demands
clear to exasperated
city representatives.
Not only did QAC warn
the representatives at
the Feb. 28 meeting that
a tower jail is unsafe,
among other concerns,
but the advisory council
was adamant that criminal
justice reforms should
be made before any new
jails are built in order to
accurately gauge the demand
for new facilities in
the years to come.
“We have heard it often
said that we are not
listening. Tonight we’re
spending this first part
meeting to say, ‘we listened,
did we hear correctly,’”
Arnold Bloch,
a senior project manager
with the planning
firm Fitzgerald and
Halliday, said.
The representatives
went through pages of
bullet guidelines and
principles making revisions
for all decision-makers,
such as city council
members voting on the
ULURP application to be
informed of the council’s
demands before making
a decision.
A representative from
the Deputy Mayor of Operations’
office attempted
to pacify residents in
the room by reminding
them they would put the
recommendations on the
desks of “people who can
kill this project after
reading your words.”
The council was opposed
to building a jail
facility in any other part
of Queens, but some suggested
Jamaica or Long
Island City, particularly
Anable Basin, as
better suit because of
the proximity to courthouses.
College Point
was also offered up as
a suggestion.
But criminal justice
reform is still not far from
the minds of the council,
many of whom expressed
the need to legislate away
from mass incarceration.
“We’ve brought this
up at every single one of
these meetings; criminal
justice reform has to
be worked out. We don’t
know what the legislature
is going to devise…
If they do pass reforms,
maybe you don’t need
some of these jails,” one
member of the council
said. “Why in the world
are we even talking about
a jail without having first
gotten the criminal justice
reform in place and
see how it works?”
Representatives of the
de Blasio administration
reminded the advisory
council that the plan to
close Rikers is still eight
years out and just because
the city obtains a ULURP
does not mean they will
build in Kew Gardens.
The was also opposition
to the jail rising up
to 29 floors, claiming
that a modern jail facility
would be low-rise which
protects staff who may
be required to move prisoners
through elevators
and which they believed
would only lead to trouble
if there was an emergency
in which the jail needed
to be evacuated.
The current proposal,
which is in the early stages
calls for 1.9 million
square feet, which would
mean the building would
rise 310 feet, but the city
claimed it is working to
reduce height.
The land city is looking
to redevelop the existing
Queens Detention Complex
at 126-02 82nd Ave.,
next to the Queens Criminal
Courthouse, as well
as a parking lot to house
1,500 inmates in 29-story
building that would be one
of four across the city.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–
4564.
A Queens Advisory Committee meeting regarding the proposed Kew Gardens jail was a heated
exchange between residents who feel unheard and representatives from the city, with Arnold
Bloch, an advisor to the administration. Photo by Mark Hallum
Popular LGBT bar closes its doors in Woodside
BY BILL PARRY
After more than two
decades, the gay-owned
and operated Bum Bum
Bar in Woodside has
closed, according to the
NYC LGBT Historic Sites
Project.
Since its opening in
the early 1990s, the Bum
Bum Bar, located at 63-14
Roosevelt Ave., attracted
a mixed, but mostly working
class, Latina lesbian
crowd and along with several
other gay and lesbian
bars in Jackson Heights,
it provided support for
the inaugural Queens
Pride Parade in 1993.
The Bum Bum Bar was
also known for hosting
numerous events that attracted
customers from
across the five boroughs
and was one of only four
lesbian bars still in operation
in New York City.
The NYC LGBT Historic
Sites Project says
Bum Bum was pronounced
Boom Boom after
a Brazilian beauty
contest. The nonprofit
organization was not
sure why it closed.
“These are the kinds
of historic places, dating
back to the city’s founding
in the 17th century
to the year 2000, that we
are continuously documenting,”
NYC LGBT
Historic Sites Manager
Amanda Davis said. “So
that our project reflects
the diversity of the LGBT
community throughout
the five boroughs.”
While their significance
is often underestimates
of dismissed by
heterosexual society,
bars and other establishments
play a pivotal role
in LGBT culture as centers
for LGBT acceptance,
community and activism.
Through history, these
spaces have given LGBT
people the freedom to be
themselves in a way they
often cannot be in their personal
or professional lives.
Other significant
LGBT bars and nightlife
venues in Queens
included the now-closed
Love Boat in Elmhurst
which has a popular
dance venue for gay men
from Latin America, and
Friends Tavern, in Jackson
Heights, known as
the oldest active gay bar
in Queens. Both have
been documented by the
Project as historic sites.
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
The Bum Bum Bar in Woodside closes after more than 20
years, leaving the city with only three lesbian bars.
Courtesy of Christopher Brazee
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