8 JANUARY 24, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Glendale man
indicted for 5
bank heists
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
Photo courtesy of NYPD
The suspect behind four
Queens bank heists late
last year was booked on a
federal indictment last week.
Glendale’s Justin Gass, 39, faces
fi ve bank robbery counts; authorities
arrested him last December,
according to the U.S. Attorney’s
Offi ce for the Eastern District of
New York.
According to the charges, Gass
allegedly robbed four bank
branches in Queens, and another
in Brooklyn, between mid-August
and late September 2018. In each
of the capers, police said, he presented
a demand note to the teller,
then received undisclosed sum of
money.
Federal authorities said the
pattern began on Aug. 17, 2018,
when Gass allegedly visited and
robbed cash from the Valley National
Bank located at 64-01 Grand
Ave. in Maspeth.
About three weeks later, law
enforcement sources noted, the
suspect swiped currency from
the Alma Bank located at 41-02
Broadway in Astoria on the
morning of Sept. 8. Six days later,
on Sept. 14, he robbed the Chase
bank located at 47-11 Queens Blvd.
in Sunnyside.
During the Sunnyside caper,
cops said, Gass allegedly passed
a demand note to the teller, then
made a motion to his waistband
indicating that he had a gun.
Federal agents said Gass struck
a fourth time on Sept. 24, robbing
a Chase bank at 37-15 82nd St. in
Jackson Heights. Four days later,
he allegedly held up an Apple
Bank branch on Lee Avenue in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The New York Daily News reported
that Gass had been paroled
last June aft er serving 13 months
of a state prison sentence for
grand larceny and forgery.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s
offi ce, Gass is scheduled to
be arraigned Jan. 24 on the bank
robbery indictment.
Glendale Gymboree store to close
as chain enters bankruptcy
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
The Glendale Gymboree clothing
store will soon shut down aft er
the company announced that it’s
fi ling for bankruptcy.
Gymboree Group Inc., which runs
the Gymboree, Crazy 8 and Janie and
Jack stores, voluntarily fi led for Chapter
11 bankruptcy protection and will
close 800 Gymboree and Crazy 8 stores
in the United States and Canada.
According to the announcement, the
Gymboree group will shift ing their
focus to the sales of their Janie and
Jack clothing line and the intellectual
property and online platforms of Gymboree.
Gymboree’s online platforms
and stores will still remain active as
they undergo the bankruptcy process.
The company indicated that the
bankruptcy fi ling intends to “facilitate
an orderly wind-down of all of its
Gymboree and Crazy 8 store locations
and operations, while continuing to
pursue a going-concern sale of its
Janie and Jack business and a sale of
the intellectual property and online
platform for Gymboree.”
At this time, it is not known when the
stores, including a Gymboree clothing
store location at Glendale’s Shops at
Atlas Park, will close. The children’s
clothing retailer was one of the original
businesses when Atlas Park celebrated
its grand opening in April 2006.
Stores will still be accepting gift
cards for their locations for the next
30 days.
The Gymboree Play & Music locations
in Forest Hills and Bayside,
which provide classes play, music and
art classes for parents and children
up to 5-years-old, are not aff ected
by the closures. Gymboree Play &
Music was sold by Gymboree Group
Inc. in 2016.
“We have tremendous appreciation
for the hard work of our dedicated
employees and their commitment to
Gymboree Group and our customers,”
said Shaz Kahng, Gymboree Group CEO.
“We are also incredibly grateful for the
many years of support by our vendors.
And, fi nally, we thank the customers of
the Gymboree, Janie and Jack and Crazy
8 brands for their loyalty – our teams
have been proud to serve you since
Gymboree was fi rst started as a provider
of mom-and-baby classes in 1976.”
This is the second time in recent
history that the Gymboree Group has
fi led for bankruptcy. In the summer
of 2017, the Gymboree Group fi led for
bankruptcy, leading to the closure of
350 of their stores.
The Ridgewood Times reached out
to the Glendale Gymboree store for
comment, but received only an automated
message that employees were
too busy to pick up the phone.
Building on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border rising above the rest
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
Craig Montalbano is turning
property that has been in his
family for decades into something
he hopes can transform the community
he grew up in for the better.
A new 10-story building soaring
above Bushwick will not only be the
highest structure in the area, apart
from Wyckoff Hospital, it would also
off er additional space to the medical
center and providing housing for
newcomers to Bushwick.
“I grew up right here on this block,”
Montalbano said. “I’m probably one
of the fi rst of my friends who grew
up around here who came back.
When I came back everybody said,
‘Oh, I don’t know’; now everybody is
saying, ‘How can I get back?’”
The property at 371 Stockholm St.
has been in the Montalbano family
since 1972 and once had a church
rectory, before becoming a parking
lot. Aft er retiring from the city’s Department
of Housing Preservation
and Development, Montalbano has
returned to the neighborhood from
Middle Village to complete his fi rst
building project from the ground up.
Comprised of mainly two-bedroom
units, Montalbano is aiming
to accommodate the millennial
crowd new to the area who are more
“nomadic” than earlier generations
in the neighborhood and constantly
moving depending on which buildings
have the best amenities.
“It’s constantly, constantly trying to
keep up with the latest stuff ,” Montalbano
said. “It’s very, very challenging.”
The building features a four-story
underground garage, a gym, lounge
and a roof terrace.
There is a total of 27 units, 22
two-bedroom and five three-bedrooms,
and has space for a medical
facility on the fi rst fl oor.
Montalbano said the medical
space will either be used for
support services or a training
facility for the hospital.
Photo: Mark Hallum/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
Two penthouses will have rooftop
gardens, Montalbano said,
which goes along with views of
Wyckoff Avenue which he said is
slated for aesthetic improvements
to the lighting and sidewalks from
Councilman Rafael Espinal.
Montalbano said the announcement
that the L train would not
be shut down for 15 months came
as a relief with the “Now Leasing”
sign having just gone up and many
people having already fled communities
along the Canarsie line.
371 Stockholm St.
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