6 TIMES • SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com Maspeth shelter war Furious Maspeth residents turn their backs on city of cial at hearing over homeless shelter BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport They’re mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore. Over one thousand angry residents fi lled the Knockdown Center in Maspeth on Wednesday night to once again show Mayor Bill de Blasio, his administration and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) that they will not stand for the planned homeless shelter that the Holiday Inn Express. As Vincent Arcuri, chair of Community Board 5 (CB 5), which organized the public meeting, introduced Steven Banks, commissioner of the Human Resources Administration (HRA), the entire audience rose as one out of their seats and turned their backs on him, refusing to hear what he had to say about the city’s homelessness crisis and the plan for the Holiday Inn. “So it’s an Irish protest,” Arcuri said, to the ire of some of those in attendance who found the remark off-color. When community members had their chance on the microphone, they held nothing back, calling the mayor’s administration and Banks himself failures for their handling of the city’s homelessness crisis. “This is nothing more than a glorifi ed jail cell, this Holiday Inn Express,” said Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association (JPCA). “Mark my words, if it comes, we will do everything possible to shut that area down on a nightly basis and we will not tolerate something that’s being Mark my words, if it comes, we will do everything possible to shut that area down on a nightly basis and we will not tolerate something that’s being shoved down our throats.” shoved down our throats.” Holden continued by telling Banks that the community isn’t opposed to taking in a few homeless families that fi t into the neighborhood’s housing stock, but to house 220 people in inadequate hotel rooms, “that makes you a failure.” Lawmakers tell the city to back o The Aug. 31 meeting was just the latest chapter in the ongoing battle against the homeless shelter, as residents have previously marched across Maspeth and held nightly Angry Maspeth residents turn their backs on DHS Commissioner Steven Banks at the Community Board 5 public hearing on the homeless shelter. protests outside of the Holiday Inn. Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley announced during the meeting that she, state Senator Joseph Addabbo and Assemblywoman Margaret Markey have joined together to fi le a lawsuit against the Mayor’s Offi ce. “This lawsuit declares that the Mayor’s Offi ce is in clear violation of the city’s administrative code,” Crowley said to cheers from the audience. “The law states that adult, homeless families must be housed in units with kitchen facilities — which we know do not exist inside hotel rooms.” The lawmaker also mentioned the fact that the de Blasio administration has been letting contracts with legal cluster shelters across the city end. “Now, while the administration may try to hide behind an emergency declaration for this Maspeth shelter, the truth remains clear — the mayor is allowing these other contracts to be phased out, and is giving up these legal cluster sites,” Crowley added. “The goal of this lawsuit is to stop the administration from letting go of their existing contracts, to help improve the conditions within the clusters, and ensure the city is doing what is right, fair and just.” When Addabbo took the mic, he seemed to confi rm a suspicion among Maspeth residents that the city is dumping burdens on them, and Queens in general. “Nobody knows this, two or so years ago all the Queens elected offi - cials were called into City Hall and we were told … that Queens was not taking its fair share, and therefore we are getting shelters,” Addabbo said. “And we got seven days’ notice at that time to fi ght it. There’s no way we’re going to fi ght it. There’s no wait. Queens is taking its fair share. My concern has always been we are being targeted. And that’s why we have the Pan Am shelter, that’s why we are fi ghting Glendale, and Maspeth and the Metro hotel (in Elmhurst). We are being targeted and that is Photo: Anthony Giudice/RIDGEWOOD TIMES my concern, because the Mayor’s Offi ce said so.” -- Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association (JPCA) City delays Oct. shelter opening Maspeth residents can celebrate this victory, but the war still wages. The planned opening date of Oct. 1 for the proposed homeless shelter at the Holiday Inn Express on 55th Road has been postponed, Assemblywoman Margaret Markey announced on Wednesday afternoon. After holding phone conversations with both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Steve Banks, Human Resources Administration commissioner, on Sept. 6 and 7, Markey reported that the city has agreed to not move forward with the original opening date of Oct. 1 for the proposed shelter, and will continue to evaluate the plan and the program for location. “This postponement gives us the opportunity to continue to bring pressure on the city to change its plan for Maspeth,” Markey said. “With Community Board 5 (CB 5) review still underway, we still have not seen answers to our continuing concerns about the location of the facility, the track record of the proposed provider and details about the fi nancial arrangement between the city, Acacia Network and the hotel owner.” Anthony Giudice
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