8 MAY 17, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Council
members pen
bill to help
former inmates
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Four of Queens’ City Council
representatives have
introduced a bill that could
be crucial to helping former inmates
rejoin society when they’re
released from prison.
Introduced at a Council meeting
on May 9, the bill sponsored
by City Council members Robert
Holden, Donovan Richards, Adrienne
Adams and I. Daneek Miller
would require the Department
of Corrections (DOC) to inform
inmates of the amount of money
remaining in their commissary
accounts within 72 hours prior
to their release and give them
clear instructions on how to get
reimbursed.
The DOC would then be
required to return any funds
remaining in an inmate’s account
within 60 days of the inmate’s
release.
According to Richards’ offi ce,
the bill came in response to a Daily
News article that revealed that
former inmates have left roughly
$3.5 million in their commissary
accounts, and nothing is done to
actively help them reclaim it. If
the funds are not claimed within
120 days aft er release, they are
transferred to an NYPD fund that
can only be accessed by returning
to a DOC facility that has a cashier
window.
“Frankly, I don’t believe that
money is DOC’s to take,” said Holden,
a member of the Committee on
Criminal Justice. “I’d like to think
putting that money in the pockets
of released inmates may, in some
small way, help set them up for
success instead of failure when
they leave the jails.”
In many cases, inmates don’t
know how much money they have
on their accounts or if they’re
allowed to be reimbursed at all,
and increasing awareness about
that could prove to be the most
important part of this bill.
“As a city, we should make every
eff ort to return commissary
funds just like the return of any
unclaimed funds,” Adams said.
“This money rightfully belongs
to them, and we want to ensure
their chance to claim it.”
Queens homes increased in value
since the Great Recession: report
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER R_KELLEY6
Buying a home during the market
crash in 2008 might have
seemed like a scary proposition
back then, but those who did are now
cashing in, according to a recent study
by Property Shark.
The study analyzed data on all the
condos and co-ops that were purchased
in New York City in 2008 and then sold
a decade later in 2017, and the results
showed a $177,000 increase in median
prices overall. In Queens, prices rose
roughly 32 percent during that time
and the median price is now $285,000.
With infl ation factored in, the median
price would have been $258,000
in 2008, meaning the current price
increase would be a more modest 10.5
percent.
The neighborhoods in Queens that
saw the highest increases in real estate
pricing are easy to guess. Long Island
City saw the most expensive transactions
and a median price increase of
$285,000. The most expensive sale in
the borough was a unit at 509 48th Ave.
that sold for nearly $2 million in 2017,
which was a 70 percent jump from
what it sold for in 2008.
Astoria showed the largest increase
in median price at $310,000.
Ridgewood and Glendale also saw a
significant increase of $170,300 in
median price, likely a byproduct of
neighboring Bushwick showing one
of Brooklyn’s largest price increases.
As for the most active area of Queens
related to this study, Forest Hills had
31 properties that were purchased in
2008 and sold in 2017, but its median
price rose just $57,000.
Still, there were many areas in the
borough that fell on the opposite end
of the spectrum. Queens had the most
neighborhoods with no sales that qualifi
ed for the study, and seven ZIP codes
actually saw a decrease in sale price.
Photo via Google Maps
One property in Broad Channel
sold for $31,000 less than it was purchased
for in 2008, while another
sale in the Laurelton area went for
$17,000 less.
In Howard Beach, an area that was
hit hard by Superstorm Sandy in 2012,
eight qualifying sales were made at a
median loss of $11,250.
The study also notes that Queens
and Brooklyn had the same number
of properties that were purchased
in 2008 and sold in 2017, but Queens
remained much more aff ordable.
Homes in Ridgewood
Cops stop USPS mailbox theft in Forest Hills
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Did they really think they could
get away with it?
Offi cers from the 112th Precinct
stopped three men whom they
caught red-handed stealing a blue
U.S. Postal Service mailbox from a
Forest Hills street corner early on
May 11.
According to police, the theft
occurred at about 3:10 a.m. at the
corner of Yellowstone Boulevard
and 67th Road.
Members of the precinct spotted a
30-year-old man working in concert
with two unidentifi ed males to move
a USPS mailbox into the rear of a gray
2004 Honda Odyssey. The offi cers
approached, and two of the suspects
fl ed the scene on foot.
The offi cers took the 30-year-old
man into custody; law enforcement
sources did not have immediate
information on his role in the attempted
theft .
The NYPD Patrol Borough Queens
North shared the news on Twitter on
May 11, posting an astonishing picture
of the mailbox — still in the back
of the culprits’ minivan in the 112th
Precinct’s Forest Hills parking lot.
Cops across Queens have been
battling mail theft for many months —
although most bandits have taken to
using makeshift devices to fi sh mail
out of the boxes rather than stealing
entire mailboxes.
Earlier this month, the 112th
Precinct arrested two individuals
who allegedly stole mail out of a U.S.
Postal Service box in the area of 63rd
Drive and Booth Street in Rego Park.
The USPS, at the request of local
lawmakers, has begun installing
security devices on the mailboxes
to prevent further theft s.
Following Friday’s bust, 112th
Precinct Community Council Heidi
Harrison Chain took to Facebook and
publicly thanked Deputy Inspector
Robert Ramos, the precinct’s commanding
offi cer, “for assigning the
extra offi cers” during the midnight
tours to help combat mail theft .
Photo via Twitter/@NYPD112Pct
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