22 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 21, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Photo: Mark Hallum/THE COURIER
Councilman Eric Ulrich (center) leads a shelter protest at DHS Commissioner Steve Banks’ house in
Brooklyn
111th Precinct reports rise in vehicle Bayside car break-ins
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Police from a Bayside-based precinct are
warning residents about the recent uptick
in theft s from cars.
According to a recent Tweet from the
111th Precinct, there has been an increase
in this particular crime on the northern
end of the precinct. Th eft s from cars
along with mailbox fi shing are classifi ed as
“grand larcenies,” which have risen when
compared to last year.
“We have had an increase in theft s
from cars on the northern end of the precinct.
If you see anyone pulling on door
handles, pls give us a call,” the precinct
tweeted.
According to a map from the precinct,
thieves have recently targeted the following
areas in Bayside:
• Francis Lewis Boulevard and 33rd
Avenue
• 200th Street between 33rd and 34th avenues
• 203rd Street between 32nd and 33rd avenues
• 215th Street between 38th and 39th avenues
• 219th Street and 38th Avenue
• 219th Street between 36th and 38th avenues
• 219th Street and 43rd Avenue
At the March 4 Community Board 11
meeting, Crime Prevention Offi cer Stine
reminded residents to lock their car
doors, even if they were leaving for a short
amount of time.
“A lot of our issues still is people leaving
their cars opened. We have plenty of cameras
out there where kids are really just
walking up and down the block just pulling
on your car handles. Make sure your
car is locked,” Stine said. “A lot of the kids,
they just want some quick cash and they’re
gonna keep trying to fi nd the one that’s
opened.”
He also said that thieves were stealing
tires and rims off of Hondas and Nissans
and shared preventative measures for
car owners, including turning the wheels
toward the curb to make them harder to
remove.
“If you have wheel locks, do not keep
the lock inside the car — keep the lock
inside the home or on you,” Stine said. “If
you can, park in your driveway or inside
a garage.”
According to 111th Precinct crime stats,
grand larcenies as a whole have gone up
since last year. CompStat data showed that
from March 4 to 10, the precinct recorded
68 grand larcenies in 2019 compared to
53 in 2018.
Lace ‘em up for
Daff odil Dash at
Qns. Botanical
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Run, walk, or push a stroller
while enjoying spring fl owers
at the Queens Botanical Garden
(QBG) fi rst-ever Daff odil Dash
4K Run in May.
In partnership with Queens
Distance Runners and elitefeats,
the QBG Daff odil Dash 4K Run
will take place Saturday, May 4,
at 8 a.m. at the QBG pathway. All
proceeds will benefi t QBG’s educational
programs.
“Daff odil Dash will be a fun
opportunity to experience the
Garden in a unique way — in running
shoes!” says QBG Executive
Director Susan Lacerte. “Come
with friends, family, coworkers
and neighbors. Like all things at
the Garden, we welcome anyone
and everyone. You don’t need
to be a seasoned runner to participate
either; you can walk and
even push a stroller if you’d like.
However you fi nish the route,
you’ll be sure to take in the view
of our beautiful spring fl owers.”
Registration is required to participate
in the event. Adults (age
13 and up) $40; seniors (age 62+)
$30; garden members $30; children
(ages 12 and under) $10;
FREE for children ages 3 and
under, and must be accompanied
by a participating adult.
Day-of registration: additional
$10. Day-of registration and
check-in begins at 6:30 a.m.
Th e above pricing applies to
individuals only. Discounts are
available for groups of 10 or more.
Groups and corporate teams can
contact a race coordinator for
special packages and more information:
funrun@queensbotanical.
org or 718-886-3800 ext. 250.
Special packages include an
event T-shirt (register by April
13 to guarantee); Make & Take
Daff odil Dash Medal; post-race
light breakfast; and fi nish line
photos.
Strollers, wheelchairs or walkers
are welcome. Friends and family
can cheer at the start/fi nish line
(QBG has set aside a designated
cheering area and space is limited.)
Spectators can enter for free
as garden admission is suspended
until 10 a.m. and entry is only
available through the Parking
Garden at 42-80 Crommelin St.
Sponsorship and volunteer
opportunities are also available.
For more information visit:
www.queensbotanical.org/funrun
or contact funrun@queensbotanical.
org or 718-886-3800
ext. 250.
Queens takes anti-shelter rage to commish’s doorstep
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Councilman Eric Ulrich and a coalition
of 40 residents from across Queens
took their protest against homeless shelters
in their neighborhoods to the front
door of city Department of Homeless
Services Commissioner Steve Banks’ house
in Windsor Terrace on Monday.
Th e crowd echoed Ulrich’s sentiment
that the de Blasio administration needs to
support Section 8 and other housing subsidies
to bring meaningful and long-term
relief for the city’s poorest, but said shelters
in neighborhoods like Ozone Park,
the Rockaways and College Point are not
doing the homeless any favors apart from
taking them off the streets.
But some views expressed veered farther
off course, and they demanded Banks’ resignation
as a result.
“We have a record-high homeless population
in the city and the mayor is jet-setting
all over the country because he wants
to run for president,” Ulrich said. “De
Blasio picked Steve Banks to run the agency
that’s supposed to help homeless people
and Steve Banks has not put forward
a coherent homeless preventative strategy.
He has not done a good job of transitioning
people out of the shelter system and
into permanent and stable housing. He’s
doing a terrible job.”
Others carried signs that read “Protect
our families before they get hurt” and
“Women have the right to feel safe,” with
the children of protestors joining the rally
on Sherman Street in Brooklyn.
But DHS has denied claims that residents
in shelters are unsupervised during
the day and said those in the system check
in and out of facilities during the day to
go to work, attend programs in community
rooms in the facility while rooms are
cleaned by staff and are able to access all
medical care including mental health services
on-site with nonprofi t providers.
Th e crowd called for more aff ordable
housing instead of shelters for the estimated
63,000 to 70,000 homeless people across
the city. De Blasio previously deemed the
rising homeless population to be a crisis,
and he launched the Turning of the Tide
on Homelessness initiative to establish
shelters in communities where the individual
can receive services near the communities
where they originated from.
“Th e problem under Steve Banks is getting
worse it’s not getting better, so Banks
has to go,” Ulrich continued. “If the city’s
serious about helping homeless people and
preventing more people from going into the
shelter system then we’ve got to fund a real
rental subsidies program, we’ve got to bring
back Section 8 or the Advantage Program.
We know that these programs work.”
Lew Simon, a Democratic district leader
from Rockaway, echoed the sentiments of
many when he pointed out that the proximity
of shelters to schools puts children at
risk and opposed the lack of communication
the administration makes with communities
when deciding on placing a facility
in a neighborhood. A shelter on Beach
101st Street is going to be located near
seven schools, Simon said.
“I believe in going to the source. I’m
known for going to the homes of these
people. We needed to do this to send him
a message. He’s been lying to us about
what he was going to do. He hasn’t done
a thing outside of destroy neighborhoods.
He wants to put the bottom level of people
into Rockaway, we don’t want that,” Simon
said. “I’m willing to sit here all night and
wait to meet with him.”
File photo via Shutterstock
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