16 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 15, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Photo courtesy of NYPD
Bodega robbers
hit three
shops in south
Queens
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Police are looking for three
men who are connected to a
series of bodega robberies that
took place throughout Queens
last month.
Th e fi rst incident took place
on Jan. 2. At 8:38 p.m., three
unknown men entered El
Riconsito Catracho Grocery,
located at 90-45 148th St. Once
inside, the suspects displayed a
fi rearm and took money from
the register.
Th e suspects then fl ed the
scene on 148th Street with
approximately $1,200.
Th e second incident took place
at 8:35 p.m. on Jan. 8. Th e three
crooks entered the Richmond
Hill Delicatessen, located at 123-
07 Jamaica Ave. Once inside,
they pulled out fi rearms and
took an unknown amount of
money from the register.
Th e bandits then fl ed the scene
in a silver four-door SUV with
New York license plates.
Th e third incident took place
on Jan. 12 at 7:35 p.m. Th at evening,
the perpetrators went to a
deli located at 126-09 Jamaica
Ave. in Richmond Hill, pulled
out fi rearms and took money
from the register. Th e suspects
then fl ed the scene with an
unknown amount of cash.
Police described the bandits
as Hispanic males and released
video of them, as well as the getaway
car, from the second incident.
Anyone with information
regarding the robberies or the
suspects’ whereabouts is urged
to call Crime Stoppers at 800-
577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-
57-PISTA), visit nypdcrimestoppers.
com or send a text message
to 274637 (CRIMES), then
enter TIP577. All calls and messages
are kept confi dential.
Bus lane changes give Cross
Bay businesses parking relief
BY RYAN KELLEY
rkelley@ridgewoodtimes.com
Twitter @R_Kelley6
Businesses along Cross Bay Boulevard in
Ozone Park are getting some relief from
parking issues caused by the Select Bus
Service (SBS) through the eff orts of local
politicians.
At a press conference in front of C-Town
Supermarket on Cross Bay Boulevard on
Feb. 8, state Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr.
announced that Saturday rush-hour parking
restrictions along the boulevard have been
eliminated. Aft er hearing the frustrations of
local business owners who were aff ected by
the parking restrictions, Addabbo worked
with the Department of Transportation
(DOT) to make the changes.
“One thing that really drives me with
helping constituents is trying to reaffi rm
their faith in government,” Addabbo said.
“To make them know that when they speak
out and work with us, and we work with the
governmental agencies, things do happen.
Today really is a perfect snapshot of how
government should work.”
Until now, curbside SBS lanes were active
during both the morning and aft ernoon
rush hours, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and
from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., on Monday through
Saturday.
One of the concerned business owners is
Rose Chimienti, who manages the C-Town
Supermarket that is owned by her husband,
and she joined Addabbo at the press
conference. She estimated that the parking
restrictions on Saturdays caused a 10 to 15
percent decrease in business on the weekends,
and said that the 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
parking restriction during the week hurts
the business as well.
“People were telling me that they’re not
able to stop and they wouldn’t come if they
From left to right: Community Board 6 district manager Frank Gulluscio, C-Town Supermarket manager
Rose Chimienti, State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. and Assemblywoman Stacey Pheff er Amato at a
press conference outside the C-Town Supermarket on Cross Bay Boulevard on Feb. 8.
were running errands,” Chimienti said.
“Th ey would go elsewhere because they
couldn’t park here.”
Also at the press conference were
Assemblywoman Stacey Pheff er Amato,
Community Board 6 Chairperson Frank
Gulluscio and Community Board 10
Chairperson Betty Braton. Pheff er Amato
said she was pleased to see the city responding
to concerns about the SBS lanes given
the amount of push-back the plan has
received.
“In a small community like this, our local
stores are the heart and soul of our community,”
Pheff er Amato said. “It’s important
that they can drive up and do their errands
on Saturday and not change their routines
at the cost of moving forward.”
All of the representatives expressed their
gratitude for the DOT’s willingness to
Photo by Ryan Kelley/QNS
respond to concerns about the controversial
SBS route than spans 14.7 miles along
Cross Bay and Woodhaven Boulevards
and serves more than 30,000 riders each
day. Earlier in the week, the DOT also
made changes to a poorly placed camera in
Middle Village that was causing dozens of
residents to receive warnings for driving in
the bus lane.
Addabbo also said that some of the SBS
kiosks for ticket purchasing have been
moved closer to buildings rather than in
the middle of the sidewalk, but acknowledged
that there is still more work to do.
One of his next priorities will be to reevaluate
the 24-hour restrictions that are in
place along certain stretches of the route,
which he said the DOT agreed to discuss
in May, six months aft er the route was
launched.
Katz approves plans for new 116th Precinct
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Borough President Melinda Katz gave
the green light last week to a zoning change
that clears the way for the new 116th
Precinct to be built in southeast Queens.
On Feb. 6, Katz recommended approval
of the proposed rezoning and site selection
for the new two-story command that
will rise out of the parking lot of the 105th
Precinct‘s satellite offi ce at 242-20 North
Conduit Ave. in Rosedale.
It’s the latest milestone in a decadeslong
eff ort among southeast Queens residents
for a new police precinct covering
Laurelton, Rosedale, Brookville and
Springfi eld Gardens. Th ese neighborhoods
are presently within the confi nes of
the Queens Village-based 105th Precinct,
which is one of the geographically largest
commands within the NYPD.
“Th e need for this new 116th Precinct
was fi rst identifi ed generations ago,” Katz
said in a Feb. 6 statement. “Th e plans
are moving forward expeditiously toward
fruition. Once built, the creation of the
new NYPD 116th Precinct stationhouse
will help fulfi ll that need by improving
response times and having a more proactive
presence closer to the neighborhoods
it protects and serves.”
More than a decade ago, the NYPD
established the 105th Precinct’s Rosedale
satellite in part to better serve communities
in the southern end of the large precinct.
At the start, however, the satellite
was only staff ed on a part-time basis; the
NYPD established 24-hour staffi ng at the
satellite in March 2016.
Two months later, Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced full funding for the creation of
the 116th Precinct, including $70 million in
capital funds for a stationhouse. Last July,
de Blasio announced that the command
would be based out of the Rosedale satellite.
According to the plans submitted to
Katz’s offi ce, the new, two-story 116th
Precinct stationhouse will be 45,000
square feet in area, accommodating 400
staff members working in three, eighthour
shift s. Aft er the new precinct opens,
the satellite will remain in place for NYPD
borough command units. Th e building
itself will be built according to LEED silver
standings for eco-friendliness and energy
effi ciency.
Additionally, the NYPD will provide 90
off -street parking spots at the new precinct,
and use 73 additional parking spaces
at nearby lots owned by the Department
of Transportation, including part of the
Rosedale Municipal Parking Field.
Th e 116th Precinct plan now moves to
the City Planning Commission and City
Council for further review.