FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 26, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Mystery continues
into body found in
Kissena Park
A young man was found dead inside a wooded
area of Kissena Park in Flushing on the aft ernoon
of Tuesday, April 24, police announced.
Law enforcement sources said the gruesome
discovery was made at 12:03 p.m. on April
24 inside the park off the corner of Booth
Memorial Avenue and 164th Street.
Sources familiar with the investigation said
that a hiker walking through the park came
across the man, who was unconscious and
unresponsive.
Police were called, and offi cers from the
109th Precinct and EMS units rushed to the
location. First responders determined that the
unconscious man, believed to be in his 20s, sustained
trauma to his head.
Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the
scene; police withheld his identity, pending
family notifi cation.
Th e victim’s body was taken to the Medical
Examiner’s offi ce for an autopsy to determine
the cause of death — the results of which were
not known as Th e Courier went to press.
Sources said that it’s not yet clear of how long
the body had been in the park, or if there were
any particular signs of foul play.
Th e investigation is ongoing.
Th e site is close to where a dead body was
found more than a year ago; medical examiners
ruled the case a suicide.
Robert Pozarycki
Flushing pol’s
gender pay bill
passes Assembly
A series of bills aimed at closing the pay
gap that recently passed the Assembly have a
Flushing-based lawmaker’s support.
Assemblywoman Nily Rozic announced the
Assembly approved an act to amend certain
aspects of the New York State Fair Pay Act. Th e
legislation broadens existing parameters for
equal pay protections, Rozic said.
Also included in the package of legislation
is a bill prohibiting employers from requesting,
requiring or seeking a current or prospective
employee’s salary or wage history as a condition
of employment or promotion. Th ere are
currently only four other states that have laws
forbidding wage history questions.
Th e legislative package also includes a measure
to ensure that the state complies with
the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 by providing “fair,
non-biased compensation.” It also gives public
employees a private right of action to sue
for compensation and enforce equal pay disparities.
Th ese measures must still come before the
state Senate and Governor Andrew Cuomo for
approval.
In the United States, female workers earned
80.5 cents for every dollar earned by a man
in 2016, according to Census Bureau data.
Race and ethnicity can also widen the gap: the
National Women’s Law Center concluded in
2017 black and Latina women on average earn
63 and 54 cents to the dollar, respectively, while
Asian woman make slightly more than the
average at 85 cents to the dollar.
Suzanne Monteverdi
Bayside homeowners call on city to
address six-year fl ooding problem
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Longtime Bayside resident James
Bitetto claims that fl ooding conditions
around his home on 33rd Road
began about six years ago, aft er the
city Department of Transportation
(DOT) repaved 211th Street between
35th and 34th avenues, a few blocks
away.
Th e project left the street sloped,
Bitetto said, causing rainwater to run
directly into the homeowner’s backyard
and away from established storm
drains.
During substantial rain events, the
homeowner is accustomed to getting
up to 5 inches of rainwater in his basement,
where “everything is on stilts”
to keep his belongings from getting
ruined.
“You can see my garage is now leaning.
I don’t know how much other
internal damage I have to my house,”
he said on site.
Bitetto — who noted that about 14
other households in the immediate
area are also aff ected by similar fl ooding
conditions — has fi led numerous
complaints with 311 and been
in contact with both DOT and the
city Department of Environmental
Protection over the years. He’s also
approached Community Board 11,
who agreed to help him seek capital
funding.
Still, he said, nothing has been done
to solve the problem.
“You had the funds to create this
problem, now fi nd the funds to correct
this problem,” he said.
Bitetto shows members of the press photos of fl ooding in his home
State Senator Tony Avella, who
organized a press conference with
Photos by Suzanne Monteverdi/the Courier
homeowners on April 19, said he, too,
has reached out to each agency on
Bitetto’s behalf.
“Th is is outrageous,” the lawmaker
said. “Th e city has to do the right
thing here and either re-slope the road
or put in some drainage … Fix it and
fi x it now.”
Bitetto said he and other homeowners
are considering pursuing legal
action against the city.
A spokesperson for DOT said the
agency is working with DEP “to develop
a long-term strategy to address
these concerns.”
Th e city agency received the initial
complaint about “ponding” in the
area in spring 2013, the spokesperson
continued, but determined the repaving
project “did not impact the contours
of 211th Street at the rear of
Bitetto’s property. ”
“In an eff ort to remedy the ponding
conditions here, DOT worked
with the property owner to install
an asphalt berm across the end of
211th Street to defl ect water from the
property in November of 2013,” the
spokesperson said. “Last fall, DOT
conducted a follow-up survey/investigation
of this location and recently
informed Mr. Bitteo DOT now aims
to increase the height of the berm to
address the fl ooding condition.”
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