FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 31, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Alleged
Instagram creep
from Bayside
busted
Detectives picked up a Bayside man
last week on charges that he allegedly
used the social media platform
Instagram to lure an underage girl
into sex acts.
Prosecutors said Juan Cabrera, 21,
of Bell Boulevard faces charges of
attempted use of a child in a sexual
performance, patronizing a prostitute,
disseminating indecent material
to minors and endangering the
welfare of a child. He faces up to
seven years behind bars if convicted,
according to Queens District
Attorney Richard A. Brown.
Law enforcement sources said that
Cabrera, whose Instagram username
is DAILYANTIX, connected with a
12-year-old girl through the social
media network on or about Sept.
28, 2018. During a chat, he allegedly
off ered the girl $200 if she would
watch him masturbate. He later
increased the off er and said he would
provide her $1,000 if she would agree
to have sex with him.
Later in the chat, prosecutors noted,
Cabrera asked the 12-year-old victim
if she wanted to watch him masturbate
alone, or with her friend, who
was 13 at the time of the incident.
Robert Pozarycki
Queens Village
man assaulted
Lyft driver: cops
A Queens Village man was arrested
10 days aft er he allegedly attacked a
Lyft driver that was stopped in traffi c
in Manhattan, authorities say.
Emilio Carpenay, 25, turned himself
in to police custody on Jan. 28. He
was charged with assault and criminal
mischief.
According to police, at 1:20 p.m.
on Jan. 18, Carpenay used a bicycle
lock to smash the front windshield
and rear window of the 23-year-old
male victim’s car, which was stopped
in traffi c in the vicinity of East 40th
Street and Fift h Avenue.
When the victim stepped out of
his car to avoid the shattered glass
from the windshield, authorities said,
Carpenay allegedly proceeded to hit
the victim in the head and back with
the bike lock.
Aft er the victim managed to get
away, police noted, Carpenay climbed
onto the Lyft driver’s car, screamed
aloud and stomped over the vehicle’s
roof and hood. He then jumped
off the car and fl ed the scene westbound
on 40th Street on a black and
green bicycle.
Th e victim was taken to a local
hospital, where he was treated and
released.
Emily Davenport
Photo: Jenna Bagcal/THE COURIER
Bayside residents protest proposed tennis club sale
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Th e Bayside community rallied together
last weekend in a continuing eff ort to
save a historic tennis club.
On Saturday, Jan. 26, the Bayside
Historical Society (BHS) spearheaded a
protest against the controversial sale and
demolition of the North Shore Tennis
and Racquets Club at 34-28 214th Pl.
“Th ere’s a constant push in our area —
in our suburban area — to make it urban,
to overdevelop it. We’re here to say ‘no,’”
said BHS President Paul DiBenedetto.
“BHS would ideally prefer the tennis club
site stays fully intact, including the historic
clubhouse and its 14 tennis courts.”
Members of the society fi rst heard about
the potential sale at a monthly board
meeting and made a unanimous decision
to take action. Back in December,
details about the tennis club’s sale surfaced
as multiple sources confi rmed that
the club’s president and board intended
to sell the property to Cushman and
Wakefi eld. Th e developers would then
raze the property in order to build houses
for residents.
Th ose at the rally shouted “Save our
club!” and “Investigate the deal!” in reference
to the deal that NSTRC President
George Pauliny struck, unbeknownst to
many of the 855 club members.
Th e club’s history extends back to 1909
when a group of neighbors built a tennis
court in a resident’s backyard. Th e
offi cial club, then known as the Bayside
Tennis Club formed in 1914 and in 1925
the club moved to its current location at
214th Place.
“We all work together to continue to
push back on some of the challenges
that we have with overdevelopment, specifi
cally in this part of Queens,” said
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein. “I’m joining
with everybody today to urge the
members of the North Shore Tennis and
Racquets Club to reconsider their decision
to sell this piece of property given
the long history that it has here.”
DiBenedetto shared that BHS is “unilaterally
opposed” to plans that would
raze the property, but if that were no
longer an option and “no other option
exists” the society would accept a plan
that allows part of the property to be sold
while retaining the historic clubhouse
and a portion of the courts.
“Th is property should have been
landmarked. Queens has got the fewest
number of landmarks in the entire
city,” remarked one rally attendee, who
declined to be identifi ed. “Th e landmark
committee is a sham and they have a
complete anti-Queens bias. Th is clubhouse
is a beautiful asset, it’s been here
since 1925. Th ey can’t do something?”
DiBenedetto said that BHS would submit
a “last-minute” request for proposal
(RFP) to the Landmarks Preservation
Commission in an attempt to landmark
the nearly 100-year-old tennis clubhouse.
According to him, the property could not
be demolished if it were an offi cial landmark.
In the past, the BHS has successfully
been able to landmark fi ve other places in
Bayside and Fort Totten Historic District
which was designated in June 1999.
A protester holds up a sign in front of the North Shore Tennis and Racquets Club in Bayside on Jan. 26.
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