FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 23, 2017 • THE COURIER SUN 3 ‘DON’T DROP-IN HERE’ Ozone Park pols blast city’s homeless service center plan BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@qns.com @robbpoz The city approved last week the creation of a “drop-in center” for homeless people in Ozone Park, but two area lawmakers have threatened to take the city to court to stop it. According to Assemblyman Mike Miller and Councilman Ruben Wills, the city’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) signed a lease to rent out 100-32 Atlantic Ave., a former coffee factory, for the facility that will be operated by the nonprofit organization Breaking Ground. The site will operate as a drop-in center administering various social services for single homeless adults living on the street. Drop-in centers are known to provide hot meals, showers, laundry facilities, clothing, medical care, recreational space and employment referrals. Miller and Wills led the fight against the plan since it became public last year, holding a press conference and a town hall meeting that drew scores of local residents. They claimed the site was inappropriate because of its proximity to a nearby public school and a shopping center, as well as the lack of available public transportation in the community. An irate Miller charged that the city failed to engage in a proper dialogue with himself, Wills and the community about the plan. “I cannot count how many times I have told the mayor’s administration that this is not the right location,” Miller said in a statement released on Friday, Feb. 17. “No matter how many times I asked for updated information, both organizations (the city and Breaking Ground) were not forthcoming. This is the process? Where is the community involvement?” “To me, it seems like this facility is whatever they want it to be, and will tell us later,” he added. Wills implied that the lack of interaction with the city instilled a sense of distrust about the manner in which the drop-in center would be used. “The current deficiencies within the Department of Homeless Services and its providers have led to both unintentional and blatant violations of state statutes that govern the movement of certain sex offenders,” he said, referencing the Skyway motel-turned-homeless shelter in South Ozone Park. “The same is likely to happen here.” Registered sex offenders were moved into the Skyway even though it is less than a thousand feet from a nearby school, in violation of state law; the sex offenders were later moved out only after reports of sex offenders at the shelter surfaced. Wills indicated that he and Miller were prepared to take the city to court in order to stop the Ozone Park drop-in center from opening. “We should not be forced to choose between an inappropriate siting or placement in an already over-saturated community,” Wills said. “No longer will we accept an open pass for the de Blasio administration to continue these failed policies.” SONIC BOOM Drive-in chain opens a little closer to Queens BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com @smont76 Queens residents no longer have to travel very far to fulfill their burger and milkshake cravings drive-in style. A new Sonic Drive-In location officially opened for business within the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream — which is in Nassau County close to the border of Queens — on Monday, Feb. 20. Sonic Drive-In serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers a selection of burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and sides, as well as an assortment of milkshakes, frozen drinks and sodas. The fastfood chain is known for its 1950s drive-in style, which allows customers to order their meals from their cars and have it delivered by servers on roller skates. The new Sonic is located within the shopping center at 2034 Sunrise Highway and will be open Sundays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to midnight, and Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. The fast food joint has one other location further east on Long Island in North Babylon, which opened up in 2011. Green Acres Mall is an enclosed shopping center that features over 150 stores and restaurants, including Macy’s, Best Buy and Target. For more information about the location, call 516-561-1157. Photo: Anthony Giudice/THE COURIER The city plans to open a drop-in services center for homeless adults at this site on Atlantic Avenue in Ozone Park.
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