WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES APRIL 19, 2018 11
Crime still declining thanks to ‘Cops of the Month’
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Crime is still on the decline in
the 104th Precinct thanks to the
kind of police work that was recognized
by Captain John Mastronardi
on April 18 at the 104th Precinct Community
Council’s monthly meeting at
St. Margaret’s School in Middle Village.
The commanding officer shared
two unique stories of arrests in the
precinct that led him to name Offi cer
James Fleming and Officer Larry
Valdemar as “Cops of the Month,” a
fun tradition the precinct shares with
the community. Offi cers Fleming and
Valdemar were part of the same police
academy class and have been with the
NYPD for more than 12 years.
“These two guys work in a high-profi
le position in the command, and with
that they do a fantastic job,” Mastronardi
said. “They put their lives on the
line every day in plain clothes, so these
are diff erent kinds of police offi cers.”
Fleming’s award stemmed from
an investigative tip about a location
where underage females were being
prostituted in a sex traffi cking case.
With a sense of urgency, Fleming
obtained a search warrant from the
Queens County District Attorney’s
offi ce for the Ridgewood address in
question, Mastronardi said.
When officers from the 104th
Precinct went through the door, they
arrested and charged seven suspects
and also recovered a large quantity of
heroin, cocaine, marijuana and cash,
Mastronardi said. While other offi cers
made the arrest, it was Fleming’s “investigative
aptitude that allowed us to
get the information,” Mastronardi said.
Valdemar’s story, on the other hand,
drew a few chuckles from the crowd.
He and the crime prevention team
responded to a 911 call on March 2
about a man trying to break into
the back door of a house in Glendale.
They conducted an investigation and
obtained surveillance video from the
area that showed the same man trying
to break into a car. The team later observed
broken glass on a door window
at a residence on Myrtle Avenue and
tactfully entered the building.
Once inside, the bad guy was found
standing naked in the kitchen of the
apartment washing the victim’s dishes
while the victim was asleep, and Offi -
cer Valdemar arrested him.
Valdemar has been with the 104th
Precinct for about eight years, and
he said he became a cop because he
likes to help people and help out his
community.
Offi cer Fleming explained that he is
one of the precinct’s fi eld intelligence
offi cers, meaning he gets information
out of criminals that have been arrested
so that further investigations can
be conducted. Mastronardi called him
his “eyes and ears out on the street.”
The commanding offi cer then went
on to address the state of the precinct,
in which crime is down 12.5 percent
over the past 28-day period.
The wave of “mailbox fi shing” that
had been aff ecting the area is subsiding
thanks to a newly installed mailbox
on 69th Street and Grand Avenue and
others in the precinct, Mastronardi
said. There has also been proactive
enforcement of such crimes leading to
several arrests, and Postal Inspector
Dyllan O’Neill attending the meeting
to update the public about the issue
as well.
The captain also touched on the
issue of roofi ng scammers that have
targeted elderly homeowners in
Maspeth and Middle Village for several
years and warned residents not to
trust door-to-door solicitors that claim
to know your roof needs repairs.
Another problem that the precinct
oft en faces in the summer months is
illegal dirt bikes and ATVs, especially
in Highland park. Even though the
precinct recently confi scated a dirt
bike, Mastronardi explained that he
does not allow his offi cers to engage in
pursuits with them because of the danger
it presents to the riders. Therefore,
their operations to catch illegal riders
are very carefully planned.
Photo by Ryan Kelley/Ridgewood Times
Community voices support for O’Neill’s expansion
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
The support for a Maspeth
restaurant that has been a
long-standing staple in the community
was nearly unanimous at the
Community Board 5 meeting on April
11 at Christ the King High School.
The board held a public hearing
about a proposed re-zoning of O’Neill’s
that would allow the 84-year-old
restaurant to add a partial second fl oor
to be used as a banquet hall that would
seat up to 140 people. The hearing was
required as part of the city’s land use
review procedure, and Board 5 will
now have until June 4 to submit a
recommendation the Department of
City Planning.
The hearing began with a presentation
of the project by Nora Martins
and Steve Sinacori, attorneys for
Akerman LLP representing O’Neill’s,
who showed diagrams of the zoning
changes and second-story addition.
Martins explained that the full list of
proposed zoning changes also applies
to other commercial properties
adjacent to O’Neill’s. Several of those
buildings are currently not zoned
properly but were grandfathered
into the code, so the zoning changes
are intended to legally bring those
establishments up to code.
Martins also explained that of
the properties that will be re-zoned,
O’Neill’s will be the only one that is
permitted to build more.
“All of this was thought out very
carefully to ensure that there could
be no change or additional development
in the area,” Martins said.
That proved to be the main point of
questioning when Board 5 member
and president of the Ridgewood Property
Owners and Civic Association,
Paul Kerzner, pointed out that the
new zoning code for O’Neill’s would
technically allow it to build higher
than two stories. Kerzner suggested
that the project declaration should
specifi cally note that O’Neill’s does
not intend to add more than the second
story addition in the future.
A speaker in the public hearing
later elaborated on a similar point,
suggesting that the proposed zoning
changes are typically only used in
higher density areas of the city and
would put the neighborhood at risk
for future development.
The rest of the commentary, however,
was overwhelmingly positive.
People who live across from the
restaurant, own a business next to it
or have memories of dining there for
decades took to the microphone to support
the proposed expansion. Many
residents pointed out that O’Neill’s
has hosted numerous benefi ts and
functions for the community over the
years, including those for the children
and widows of fallen FDNY and NYPD
members and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital,
and this expansion would allow
the restaurant to do even more.
“I cannot say enough good things
about this place and this family. It’s
been a part of my whole life,” said
Lance Lovejoy, a lifelong Maspeth
resident. “I’ve watched the Mets win
the World Series there, the Rangers
win the Stanley Cup there, I’ve had
my daughter’s christening there, my
wedding rehearsal, I can go on and on.”
Photo by Ryan Kelley/Ridgewood Times
Nora Martins and Steve Sinacori
of Akerman LLP present diagrams
of the proposed re-zoning of
Oneill's during the Board 5 meeting
at Christ the King High School
on April 11.
Deirdre O’Neill, one of restaurant
owner George O’Neill’s daughters, also
added her unique perspective to the
conversation. She refl ected on the devastating
fi re in 2011 that shut the business
down, and said that the family’s
passion for the community drove them
to rebuild and continue giving back.
“It is all about community for my
dad,” O’Neill said. “Even when O’Neill’s
burnt down he was outside every day,
and the reason for that, he said to me,
‘is because I love this community.'”
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