WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES APRIL 11, 2019 17
Forest Hills woman busted for forging city documents
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
A Forest Hills woman was
arrested and charged with
multiple counts of forgery
and a slew of other charges
including perjury by allegedly
helping construction companies to
bypass safety measures at dozens
of Queens locations.
Evelyn Dellutri, 55, allegedly
filed a variety of forged documents
with the city’s Department of
Buildings that made it appear
that they had been prepared by a
professional engineer.
The city’s Department of
Investigation, acting on a tip,
discovered Dellutri allegedly
submitted nearly 70 forged
documents between November
2015 and August 2015 to the DOB
which fraudulently bore the
stamp of a professional engineer.
The investigation resulted in
the recovery of the professional
engineer’s stamp which was found
in Dellutri’s home.
“In allegedly forging the
credentials of a professional
engineer, this defendant potentially
compromised the integrity of
commercial construction projects
and attempted to circumvent
a process meant to keep city
construction safe, according to
the charges,” DOI Commissioner
Margaret Gannett said. “These
actions led to plans being submitted
with missing drawings and other
problems that could have posed
risks to the reliability of the
construction work.”
Work at dozens of Queens
construction was put on hold and
remain pending, according to the
DOI. The Queens District Attorney’s
office is prosecuting the case.
“The defendant in this case is
accused of using a professional
stamp in a fraudulent manner,
sidestepping procedures and a key
safety feature,” Chief Assistant
District Attorney John M. Ryan said.
“These professional stamps are a
key component in verifying that a
competent, licensed professional
has certified that construction plans
are in compliance with applicable
city codes and rules. This kind of
malfeasance will not be tolerated.”
If convicted on all charges,
Dellutri faces a maximum of
up to three to seven years in
prison, according to the Queens
DA’s office.
Most smoking violations in Queens issued in parks: study
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@QNS.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
New York City’s smoking
violations have blown through
the roof over the past two years,
according to a report by RealtyHop.
The data shows that the number
of smoking violations across the
city has gone up 65 percent from
2016 to 2018, suggesting that New
Yorkers have become more vigilant
about reporting the rising tide
of e-cigarette use in prohibited
places like workplaces and other
public areas.
While the total number of smoking
violations in Queens remains
significantly lower than every
borough besides Staten Island, the
data shows Queens to have a different
problem. According to an interactive
map that RealtyHop released, all
10 of the highest concentration of
smoking violations were in areas
surrounding parks or cemeteries.
The high concentration of park
violations arise from an expansion
of the Smoke Free Air Act that the
City Council passed in 2011 to ban
smoking in parks, beaches, pools
and other areas controlled by the
New York City Parks Department.
The original 2002 law enacted a ban
smoking limited to most workplaces,
including bars, restaurants, clubs,
offices and other public areas.
The study also found that the
higher levels of homeownership
corresponded to lower levels
of smoking violations. In other
words, if more units are owned,
fewer smoking violations are likely
to be filed.
Borough-wide, this correlation
holds true to the data. Queens
homeownership is 47.4 percent,
second only to Staten Island, and
significantly higher than the other
three boroughs, according to
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
More homeownership limits the
potential for violations in shared
common space in rental apartment
buildings, and pushes violations out
into public space like parks.
All park and cemetery violations
aside, Queens fared well in the
Photo via Flickr / Anne Worner
healthiest neighborhood category.
Cambria Heights, St. Albans and
Rosedale all ranked in the top five
lowest rates of smoking complaints
in all five boroughs.
That’s not to say that there aren’t
some exceptions – Astoria ranked
as one of the city’s top five highest
offending neighborhoods.
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
