FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 8, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Meng to USPS: Install
secure mailboxes
Money-hungry mail thieves continue to hit
Queens hard — and now, one local Congresswoman
wants the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to take substantial
action.
Congresswoman Grace Meng called on the USPS
to install new anti-theft collection boxes across the
“World’s Borough.” Th e boxes have smaller slots
which make it more diffi cult for thieves to commit
“mail fi shing” — dropping a line or a stick into a
mailbox in order to retrieve envelopes that may contain
checks and/or fi nancial information.
In her Feb. 1 letter to Elvin Mercado, the USPS
Triboro District manager, Meng said that mail fi shing
“has become so prevalent that local police precincts
have suggested that residents bring their mail
directly to the post offi ce and not leave it in” local
collection boxes.
Meng wants the USPS to replace the traditional
blue mailbox featuring a wide, movable door with
mailboxes equipped with a narrow slot by which
residents can deposit thin envelopes. Th is would
make it more diffi cult for mail thieves to drop in
their makeshift fi shing lines and pull out the mailbox’s
contents.
Robert Pozarycki
Burglar hits same
Flushing home
twice in a day
Cops are searching for a man who broke into a
Flushing residence twice in the same aft ernoon last
month.
On Jan. 22 at around noon, police said, an unidentifi
ed individual forced his way through the front
door of a home in the vicinity of College Point
Boulevard and Pople Avenue. Th e suspect then
removed $200 and fl ed in an unknown direction.
One hour later, law enforcement sources noted,
the suspect entered the same residence through the
front door. He then removed jewelry worth approximately
$2,000 and fl ed the location in an unknown
direction.
Police described the suspect as a black man with a
medium build. He was last seen wearing dark clothing,
white sneakers and a black backpack.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers
at 800-577-TIPS; all calls are kept confi dential.
Suzanne Monteverdi
Avella seeks new student
driving regulations
Scratched cars, broken mirrors and other vehicular
damage across Douglaston, Flushing, Little
Neck and Whitestone have local residents — and a
local lawmaker — fed up.
State Senator Tony Avella announced on Feb.
5 that he’s seeking passage of new legislation that
would reform the driving school industry.
“Th e time has come to regulate this industry
to prevent the disturbances and hazardous conditions
that these driving schools create,” Avella
said.
If the legislation passes and becomes law, the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) would be
mandated to give information regarding to where
the driving school locations will be. In addition,
the DMV Commissioner will “prescribe such reasonable
rules and regulations as he or she deems
necessary to prevent the over saturation of such
instruction within residential neighborhoods.”
William Harris
Photo via Google Maps
Board 11 approves plan to bring Lowe’s
Home Improvement to Douglaston
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Queens Community Board 11 has
given a big-box chain the green light
to alter and move into a massive
Douglaston storefront.
On Feb. 5, property owners presented
a variance proposal at the
Community Board 11 meeting
which would allow them to enlarge
the existing main building within the
Douglaston Plaza Shopping Center,
located at 242-02 61st Ave., allowing
for Lowe’s Home Improvement to
open up a new location at the space.
Th e main building would also be
enlarged just over 15,000 square feet.
Th e chain looks to assume the
storefront on the upper level that
previously housed Macy’s, as well
as the lower-level storefront that
houses neighborhood movie theater,
MovieWorld. Lowe’s arrival is contingent
upon the approval of the
variance, according to Jon Popin,
the legal representative for property
owner Ashkenazy Acquisition
Corporation (AAC).
“In marketing the site, it began
apparent immediately that there
would be no one-for-one change. In
other words, we were not gonna be
able to get another department store
to come in to the shopping center,”
he said. “Department stores are not
coming; they’re going.”
In a close vote of 18 in favor, 12
opposed, the motion to approve the
request passed. Th e variance must
still go before the Board of Standards
and Appeals (BSA) for fi nal approval.
Aft er a presentation about the proposed
alterations and subsequent
business operations from Popin,
members of the public took to the
microphone to show their support
for MovieWorld. Th e business would
be displaced in the new deal, thus
presenting a loss to the community,
residents argued. Th ey also launched
a petition to stop the movie theater
from closing its doors and have collected
more than 1,000 signatures.
“It’s a family-owned theater,
unlike the mega-venues in Queens
and Nassau County, where we feel
lost in the crowds,” resident Rosie
Kurland said. “Th e aff ordable prices
also help.”
Another resident who spoke pointed
out that the theater also hosts dozens
of birthday parties and school
fi eld trips every year. Th e closure
would present a loss of local kids,
he said.
Rosemary Guidice, who represents
local homeowners as president
of the Douglaston Townhouse
Condominiums Association, spoke
in favor of Lowe’s arrival.
“Without Lowe’s, we don’t have
an anchor tenant there,” she said.
“What’s going to happen to those
homes that are existing? What’s
gonna happen to our quality of life,
our property value?”
Douglaston Civic Association
President Sean Walsh said the group
is withholding its support of the proposal
until plans are put in place to
install “No Truck Traffi c” signage on
the neighborhood’s side streets.
Popin said owners are working to
revitalize “a faceless shopping center.”
“What the owners of the shopping
center are trying to do is re-vitalize
and re-position the shopping enter,
but really keep it from closing,”
Popin said. “If the shopping center
closes, it’s likely, because this is a
residential district, it probably won’t
be redeveloped as another shopping
center; it may be residential housing,
aff ordable housing.”
Th e statement brought an immediate
response from board chairperson
Christine Haider.
“We do not know what might go
in,” Haider said. “We appreciate
what you’re trying to do, but stop
speculating.”
During discussion prior to the vote,
board member Janet McEneaney
suggested the board table the vote
so members could better understand
the proposal. Another board member
expressed concerns with voting
on a plan that would displace a fellow
business owner.
Alexander Levine, who works
for AAC, pointed out that though
MovieWorld has six years left on
their lease, the property owner does
have the option to buy out the lease.
“Th at’s an important point of clarity,”
he said.
Levine also said the shopping
center’s Toys R Us — a chain that
recently closed around 180 stores
nationwide aft er declaring bankruptcy
— and Modell’s Sporting Goods
are “on their last legs” due to both
economic issues and shopping center
conditions.
Aft er the issue of the lease was
brought up, MovieWorld owner
Russel Levinson decided to address
the crowd.
“Th ere is a buyout clause in our
lease, which AAC has told us they
want to exercise,” Levinson said.
“Th at being said, we are doing fi ne
and we would like to stay for the
remainder of our lease, which is six
years.”
Th e variance will go before the
Board of Standards and Appeals for
fi nal approval.
The former Macy’s storefront in Douglaston Plaza