WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES DECEMBER 30, 2021 25
Queens’ top stories from December 2021
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
QNS is looking back at the top stories
throughout 2021, as we look
forward to 2022.
Here are some of the top Queens
stories of December, which includes
new aff ordable housing, homelesness
woes, another high school school scandal
and three Queens men’s “Ocean’s
Eleven”-like scheme to rob a Long
Island warehouse, among many others.
NEW AFFORDABLE
HOUSING OPTIONS
COME TO LONG ISLAND
CITY WATERFRONT
DEVELOPMENT
City and elected offi cials joined TF
Cornerstone to celebrate the ribboncutting
for the most recent phase of
a new development with aff ordable
housing options at Hunter’s Point in
Long Island City.
The new waterfront buildings at
5241 and 5203 Center Blvd. off er 719
permanently aff ordable apartments,
473 market-rate homes and a new
public park on the Long Island City
waterfront.
The project also includes an offi ce
for Selfh elp Community Services, a
health and human services organization
that will give on-site services for
older adults living in the 100 units set
aside for seniors at the 5203 Center
Blvd. location.
5241 Center Blvd. will host a
7,700-square-foot community center,
where the nonprofi t Sunnyside Community
Services will be available to
provide social services and programming
for older adults.
HPD is working with the School Construction
Authority to build a 572-seat
K-8 school with a large playground just
east of TF Cornerstone’s development.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said
he’s thankful for the 1,200 new apartments,
60% of which will be aff ordable
homes, in District 26.
“I’m thrilled to have worked to secure
additional aff ordable housing to the development
and am particularly excited
about the 100 units of housing for lowincome
seniors that will ensure our aging
population can continue to call this
neighborhood home,” Van Bramer said.
“Hunter’s Point South should serve as a
model for development in the future.”
RIDGEWOOD MAN
DESCRIBES WHAT IT’S
LIKE LIVING IN CITY-RUN
HOMELESS SHELTERS
Victor Lopez, 59, has struggled to
hold a job for most of his life. Since
the pandemic hit, he’s gotten moved
around to diff erent homeless shelters,
The Cooper Rapid Rehousing Center at 78-16 Cooper Ave. was once a factory. QNS fi le photo
where he said he faced terrible violence.
Now, all he wants is to fi nd a safe
haven at the Hungry Monk shelter in
Ridgewood.
Lopez said he’s been to many shelters
throughout the city but never felt more
unsafe than in Harry’s Place in Bed-
Stuy, Brooklyn.
“Why would they put me in a shelter
like that? I didn’t give anyone any
trouble. I’m out here trying to get
better and get help, not to fi ght with
people,” Lopez said.
Close to 50,000 people in New York
City are experiencing homelessness
and Lopez knows his situation isn’t
unique.
Lopez has tried to get a bed at the
Hungry Monk facility, but none are
available. Father Michael Lopez (no
relation), who started the nonprofi t,
said they’ve rarely had a free bed since
they opened in 2019.
Councilman Robert Holden blamed
Department of Homeless Services
Commissioner Steven Banks — who
resigned in November 2021 — for advocating
for large “warehouse” shelters
that pack people in without privacy
and barely any security, resulting in
the dangerous conditions Lopez spoke
of.
Lopez said he’s felt the eff ects of the
city’s neglect as someone in and out of
shelters oft en.
“We’re just numbers in a shelter,”
Lopez said.
Later in December, a homeless man
was arrested for allegedly stabbing another
homeless man multiple times at
the Cooper Avenue shelter in Glendale
— which has been a point of contention
in the community for years.
THREE NORTHEAST
QUEENS MEN WERE
INDICTED IN ‘OCEAN’S
ELEVEN’ SCHEME TO
ROB LONG ISLAND
WAREHOUSE
Three northeast Queens men were
indicted by a grand jury following a
“complex surveillance investigation”
which uncovered a warehouse break-in
scheme in Suff olk County last summer,
according to Queens District Attorney
Melinda Katz.
Christopher Tsang, 44, of College
Point; Joe Lin, 40, of Flushing; and Chung
Wei Wang, 38, of Oakland Gardens, were
arraigned at the end of November before
Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael
Yavinsky on a 10-count indictment charging
them with multiple burglary and
robbery crimes for a scheme Katz said
reminded her of an “Oceans Eleven” plot.
“The alleged ring-leaders arrested
met at illegal gambling parlors, a movie
theater parking lot and other locations in
Queens to plan the logistics of their heist.
As alleged, they used phony NYPD tactical
gear, waved weapons and restrained
warehouse workers before taking more
than a hundred boxes of merchandise
from a Suffolk County warehouse,”
Katz said. “The plot twist here — the
heist fl opped and the accused are facing
prison time if convicted.”
YEAR IN REVIEW
Elected offi cials and TF Cornerstone representatives celebrated the
ribbon-cutting of a new development with aff ordable housing options in
Long Island City. Courtesy of TF Cornerstone
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