FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 22, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
Congress members meet with Postal Service
BY RYAN KELLEY
rkelley@ridgewoodtimes.com
Twitter @R_Kelley6
Congress members representing
Queens and Brooklyn fi nally met with
the United States Postal Service (USPS)
aft er weeks of complaints, a previously
canceled meeting and letters demanding
Sunnyside condo board member must resign
and remove ‘hate symbols’ in lobby: city
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Th e city’s Commission on Human
Rights announced on Friday that
Sunnyside condo board member resigned
as part of an investigation into his treatment
of tenants at the property.
Neal Milano made headlines last
August aft er a news report found that
he oft en bullied tenants at the Sunnyside
condo at 47-55 39th Pl. and made people
feel uncomfortable by plastering Nazi
imagery in the lobby.
In August 2017, Councilman Jimmy
Van Bramer and other community leaders
rallied in front of the building to
call for an immediate investigation into
Milano.
Th e lobby was covered in posters that
pay tribute to dictators such as Hitler
and Mussolini, as well as the National
Rifl e Association and President Donald
Trump. It also includes quotes from Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr., President George
Washington and William B. Travis.
At the press conference, Van Bramer
said tenants have alleged threats of outrageous
fi nes, eviction and even physical
violence for fi ling harassment reports
with police or for minor off enses, including
recycling errors.
Th e city’s Commission on Human
Rights (CCHR) opened an investigation
into Milano in August 2017 and recently
reached a settlement. Milano and two
other board members were required to
step down from the board and remove
“all off ensive posters, symbols and materials
from the lobby.”
Changes must
also be made to
the condominium’s
“House Rules”
to comply with the
NYC Human Rights
Law, including the
removal of a provision
requiring tenants
to prove their
immigration status,
which is illegal, and
amending the condo’s
no pets policy
to include language
about accommodating
tenants with disabilities.
The new board
of managers must
also create and distribute
new policies
detailing its housing obligations under
the NYC Human Rights Law to all tenants,
post “Fair Housing” and “Notice
of Rights” posters in the lobby and train
newly elected board members on the law.
According to CCHR, a tenant told the
agency that as she was walking into her
apartment with her Puerto Rican boyfriend,
Milano demanded to see his passport
and said he “could be anyone illegal.”
Another tenant told the agency that
Milano left her a voicemail claiming to be
Adolf Hitler and said “the grandmaster
of the KKK is coming to the lobby.” He
also told the same unit owner, who wanted
to rent her unit to a Latina woman,
that “she’s Spanish. Th ey are low lives and
don’t pay the rent.”
“We hope this settlement sends a strong
message to housing providers citywide
that New York City does not tolerate
discrimination or harassment and that
we will not hesitate to take immediate
action when we learn of violations,” said
Assistant Commissioner for the Law
Enforcement Bureau at CCHR, Sapna
V. Raj. “Housing providers, including
condo boards, supers, landlords and brokers,
have a legal obligation to follow the
NYC Human Rights Law, which prohibits
discrimination and harassment based
on national origin, immigration status,
race or any other protected category. We
encourage anyone who is experiencing
discrimination or harassment to report
it to the Commission by calling 718-722-
3131.”
Aggrieved tenants and condo owners
can still fi le their own complaints with
CCHR.
answers.
On Feb. 12, Congressman Gregory
Meeks and Congresswoman Grace Meng
were joined by staff of Congress members
Carolyn Maloney, Nydia Velazquez and
Hakeem Jeff ries at a meeting with USPS
offi cials to address the ongoing concerns.
Meeks, who in January sent an angry letter
to the USPS about a meeting it had
canceled on him, said in a statement that
he continued to apply pressure to the federal
service.
“Th is meeting was a productive fi rst
step, though it falls far short of a full
and adequate resolution,” Meeks said.
“In our meeting, I was very candid about
the shortcomings of USPS’ service in my
district. I retold my constituents’ stories
about delayed and non-delivered mail,
lost packages and mailbox manipulation.”
Meeks added that the Postal Service
said it will hire additional staff — including
letter carriers — to resolve mail delivery
delays and discrepancies. It will also
station USPS staff on phone lines to
respond to comments and concerns from
the public, as well as retrofi t 3,000 P.O.
Boxes in Queens and Brooklyn to prevent
“mail fi shing,” Meeks said.
Meng, who fi rst sent a letter to the
USPS in January when her constituents
complained about a lack of mail delivery
aft er a major snowstorm, also sent a letter
in February asking the Postal Service to
do something to combat mail fi shing. In
her statement about the Feb. 12 meeting,
Meng said that the number of complaints
she receives is still growing.
“Complaints about the Postal Service
in my district have reached an all-time
high,” Meng said. “It is imperative that
the agency now follow through on its
commitment to resolve these issues, and
we will keep the pressure on until they
do.”
Th e two Congress members fi rst joined
forces on this issue in late January, when
they wrote a letter to the postmaster
general, along with Congressman Joe
Crowley, explaining the depth of the
problem.
In her response to the meeting, Maloney
off ered a possible explanation for the
source of some of the Postal Service’s
struggles.
“Changes in the way people use the
post offi ce has had a major impact, with
many more packages and fewer letters,”
Maloney said in a statement. “What’s
more, over the last decade, western
Queens and north Brooklyn have grown
enormously, and the increased density has
negatively impacted mail delivery service.”
While Congressman Jeff ries said in a
statement that he looks forward to working
with his fellow delegates and the
Postal Service, he was frank about the
importance of the service.
“Mail service in America is a right,”
Jeff ries said. “Every single one of my constituents
deserves to receive mail regularly
at their home, without delay.”
In a statement emailed to QNS on
Th ursday, a spokesman for the USPS
emphasized that the service is committed
to making the necessary changes.
“We share concerns of reliable, eff ective
and secure mail delivery service that these
elected offi cials and their staff s discussed
with postal management,” the spokesperson
said. “Our goals are to provide postal
customers, their constituents, the excellent
postal services that they deserve and
to ensure that improvements are made
where we aren’t living up to expectations.
Postal offi cials look forward to maintaining
and expanding robust lines of communication
to address any concerns as
they relate to the Post Offi ce.”
Photo via Pixabay
File photo
The property manager at this Sunnyside condo will not seek re-election.