12 APRIL 25, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Everyone needs a roof above them
For years, Queens residents
have had a rather adamant
message to the city whenever a
homeless shelter has been proposed
in a community: No.
But a poll released this week
suggested that most people in
New York City don’t mind having
a homeless shelter opening in
their community.
The poll included a survey of
more than 100 Queens residents,
and most of them indicated that
they would support a homeless
shelter opening in their own
neighborhood (46 percent, to 40
percent who would oppose it).
Sma l l sampl e siz e
notwithstanding, the opposition
goes on. Earlier this month, a group
of Glendale and Middle Village
residents marched outside the
home and synagogue of a property
owner rumored to be developing
a shelter on the neighborhoods’
border; they would rather see a
public school built there instead.
College Point residents have also
rallied numerous times against
plans for a homeless shelter of up
to 200 men in their community, and
EDITORIAL
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ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ROBERT POZARYCKI
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
EMILY DAVENPORT
MARK HALLUM
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
MAX PARROTT
BILL PARRY
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STORY:
Ridgewood stands in for 1960s New
Jersey in ‘Sopranos’ prequel ‘The
Many Saints of Newark’
SUMMARY:
Filming for The Sopranos prequel
detailing the early life of fi ctional
crime boss Tony Soprano took place
in Ridgewood on Thursday and
Friday, using the southwest Queens
neighborhood as a stand-in for
Newark.
REACH:
26,941 people reached (as of 4/23/19)
Photo via Getty Images
are planning to do so once again
this coming weekend.
We’ve covered so many antishelter
protests in communities
across the borough over the years.
The one commonality in all of these
rallies, we can safely say, has been
fear of the unknown, and what
might be.
Much of that fear is rooted
in valid concern, of which the
city — to its discredit — has done
little to allay because of its “do it
first, tell people later” philosophy
of governing.
We’ve written countless times
about homeless shelters being
planned, or even opening up,
at locations with zero advance
notice to anyone, including
elected officials.
We don’t fully accept the poll’s
results, given the small number
of Queens residents surveyed.
However, we know that the vast
majority of Queens residents —
regardless of whether they’re for
or against shelters — want to do
more to help the most vulnerable
people in our borough.
If the city’s also serious about
that, then they must do more to
address homelessness while also
keeping the community involved.
Local elec ted of f icia l s ,
community board managers and
the media must be kept in the loop
on shelter proposals.
Public hearings should be held
to gather input from community
residents (and not just rabblerousers),
and the press should be
allowed to cover them.
The city must also be willing
to adopt other measures beyond
opening more shelters — such
as the Home Security Support
program championed by Queens
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi —
to provide financial incentives for
families who are homeless or are
in danger of being priced out of
their homes.
In the end, everyone should have
a roof over their heads — and the
city and its people must be united
in achieving that goal.
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