FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Carranza apologizes
to District 26 parents
Screenshot via YouTube video
BY JENNA BAGCAL
those parents that wanted to express
Th e next PEP meeting is
jbagcal@qns.com
a concern. I will personally meet with
scheduled for Wednesday,
@jenna_bagcal
them. What we will not do is have a
Feb. 26, at M.S. 131 in
public spectacle. But I will meet with
Manhattan. All meetings
Schools Chancellor Richard
you and I want to assure you that I’m
are live
Carranza issued an apology to District
getting almost daily updates about
streamed
26 parents at a Panel for Education
what is happening in that school and
and
Policy (PEP) meeting last week.
if there are any concerns that are yet
recorded.
His mea culpa came nearly two
to be resolved, from the chancellor’s
weeks aft er the notorious Jan. 16
offi ce, we will make sure that they
meeting and pushback from elected
are resolved,” the chancellor said at
offi cials and parents. At the Jan. 29
Wednesday’s meeting.
PEP meeting in Manhattan, Carranza
Th e apology comes on the heels
promised to personally meet with
of comments he made at the mayor’s
the M.S. 158 parents in Bayside who
NYC Community Schools event,
had come forward with allegations of
where the chancellor called the CEC
sexual assault and physical violence
meeting a “setup” and blamed “outside
against their children.
agitators,” in part, for the meeting’s
“I, in no way, shape or form want
early end.
to show any disrespect to any parent
Northeast Queens elected offi cials
that wants to be heard and I apologize
requested that the chancellor and
because as a parent myself, I can only
Department of Education work to
imagine the pain parents are feeling
reschedule a school safety meeting
when their children have been hurt,”
for District 26 parents but it
Carranza said.
is unclear whether that will happen
He reiterated points he made during
in light of Carranza’s recent
a recent press conference, saying that
comments.
high ranking school leaders are actively
A DOE spokesperson said
working with M.S. 158 to ensure
that they were “exploring
the environment is “safe and secure.”
options” for potential
“I would be happy to meet with
meetings.
Chancellor Richard
Carranza at a Jan. 28
Rockaway Park men's homeless shelter
remains shuttered following court ruling
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
A controversial shelter for single adult
men, which was scheduled to open next
month in Rockaway Park, will remain
shuttered aft er a state Supreme Court
justice extended a temporary restraining
order against further construction at
the facility.
Attorney Mike Scala, representing the
community, was opposed by city lawyers
representing the Department of Homeless
Services and counsel for the service
provider at Queens Supreme Court in
Jamaica.
“We had the second hearing in the
case and the court is now considering
whether s preliminary injunction should
be issues, which would keep operations
ceased through the duration of the case,”
Scala said. “Hopefully we will have a fi nal
decision in the next two weeks.”
In the meantime the facility, located at
226 Beach 101st St., should remain locked
up and construction workers should not
be entering it.
“We presented evidence of multiple violations
of the temporary restraining order
that was issued on Jan. 17,” Scala said.
Th e attorney has raised multiple legal
issues during the proceedings including
that DHS’ environmental review was
improper, that the
108 bed shelter would
constitute a residence for
the mentally disabled in violation of state
law which has a cap of 48 individuals and
he argued there was evidence of fi nancial
impropriety with the not-for-profi t service
provider.
QNS reached out to DHS and is awaiting
a response. Meanwhile, Torey Schnupp,
the lead petitioner in the case and activist
behind the group Rockaway Solutions
Not Shelters, has stated Rockaway is not
the place for such a shelter as many
in the community are still
recovering from Sandy.
“When you see a
neighborhood trying
to recover, and
still recover, the
last thing you
want to do is put
an at-risk population
in such
a narrow piece
of land,” she
told NY1. “Th e
Rockaway community,
we united
to stop this from
happening. We don’t
have to take what the city
wants to dish on everybody.”
Photos courtesy of Torey Schnupp
The proposed homeless shelter in Rockaway Park remains closed to
workers following a court ruling against the city.
idence com
recoverin
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ing
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press conference.
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