16 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 30, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Con artists
target Qns.
Catholics
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
In this day and age, not even Queens
church ladies are safe from telephone
scams.
Rockaway’s Annette Clark, a catechist
and maker of rosary beads at St.
Rose of Lima, recently received a text
message.
“It says, ‘Hi Annette, I need you to
do me a favor,’ which is not unusual,”
Clark recalled.
Th e number had a 929 area code and
said it was from Father James Kuroly,
the Pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church.
“Th at was from a number that she
did not recognize but it had my name
on it asking for gift cards for cancer
patients,” Kuroly said.
Th e text message instructed Clark to
purchase $300 worth of gift cards.
“And I need you to scratch the back
of the cards to reveal the PIN code
then take a snapshot of the codes and
have the picture sent to me,” the message
read. “Let me know as soon as it’s
done so we can discuss. Don’t forget to
say some prayers for him.”
“I found something strange and I’m
looking and I said, ‘Why is Father
responding as Father James A. Kuroly,”
she recalled. “He would never text me
like that.”
Clark saved her money but others
have not been so lucky. Th e Diocese
of Brooklyn has warned that other
Queens parishes have been targeted
including St. Helen in Howard Beach,
Incarnation in Queens Village, Our
Lady of Perpetual Help in South Ozone
Park, and St. Clare in Rosedale.
An offi cial diocesan email was sent
to church pastors and administrators
making them aware of the scam and
the NYPD has been notifi ed and police
reports have been fi led.
HOOK, LINE & SINKER?
Major Rego Park restaurant hits the market for millions
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
Th e latest catch of the day for real estate
developers in Queens could be the site of
London Lennie’s Restaurant in Rego Park.
An advertisement on the real estate website
‘Summer All-Out’ will bring more cops to 113th Precinct
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e NYPD is preparing to go on the
off ensive. Beginning Th ursday, May 23,
the NYPD is deploying hundreds of police
offi cers to high-crime neighborhoods to
continue the historic crime reduction in
New York City.
During Summer All-Out in 2018, the
city experienced signifi cant reductions
in shootings and murders in commands
where additional police offi cers were
assigned. In 2018 Summer All-Out commands,
there was a reduction of eight
murders, or 36 percent, and 11 fewer
shootings, or 16 percent.
Th is is the fi ft h year the NYPD has
redeployed police offi cers to commands
with historically elevated levels of violence.
One Queens command, the 113th
Precinct in Jamaica, will receive additional
offi cers beginning today, Wednesday,
May 22. Last year, the extra offi cers went
to the 103rd Precinct, also in Jamaica.
All offi cers assigned to Summer All-
Out attended a one day refresher training
course designed to reemphasize the
neighborhood policing and de-escalation
techniques.
“Working hand-in-hand with community
members and their fellow cops, these
additional offi cers will focus on further
reducing crime and violence,” Monahan
said. “Also new this year, the Transit Bureau
will receive an allotment of offi cers. Th anks
to the hard work of the men and women
in blue, New York City experienced reductions
in both crime and violence during
prior Summer All-Outs, and we look forward
to a similar outcome this year.”
Zillow that surfaced on May 23 listed
the beloved eatery at 63-88 Woodhaven
Blvd. as being “for sale or lease” with a $6.5
million price tag. Salvatore Crifasi of Crifasi
Real Estate is handling the transaction.
Even with the site being on the market,
London Lennie’s remains open for business,
serving luxurious seafood lunches
and dinners to hundreds of guests each
week.
Th e Zillow description notes that the
one-story property is “a rare development
site.” Th e restaurant itself occupies 6,000
sq. ft . of the 10,700 sq. ft . lot, but the existing
residential zoning and commercial
overlay could allow a developer to erect a
more than 22,000 sq. ft . building — nearly
four times the size of the existing eatery.
“Th is redevelopment opportunity provides
developers the ability to capitalize on
tremendous demand in an area with a scarcity
of developable sic land,” according to
listing, which indicated that it could be perfect
for a “mixed-use project with the potential
to include … medical, retail, residential,
community facility, hotel and/or offi ce.”
Th e restaurant’s owner also owns the
property through a holding company listed
on city records as RP Seafood LLC.
Crifasi told QNS the owner is keeping his
options open about whether to sell the
restaurant and its property, or lease the
building to a tenant for uses other than a
restaurant.
Th e Barnes family opened London
Lennie’s in 1959, and over the last 60
years, the eatery has become one of
Queens’ prime seafood spots. On its website,
the restaurant boasts of “serving only
the best hand-selected, local fi sh and seafood
… artfully prepared and presented to
you with pride and consistency.”
Th e restaurant is one of the more popular
dinner spots in the Rego Park and
Middle Village areas. It’s not uncommon
to see a packed house walking into
London Lennie’s on a given night or
weekend. London Lennie’s also has a 3
1/2-star rating on Yelp.
QNS reached out to London Lennie’s
restaurant for further comment and is
awaiting a response.
Photo via Google Maps
St. Rose of Lima Church in Rockaway Beach
Photo: Christopher Bride/Property Shark
London Lennie's Restaurant in Rego Park
File photo via Shutterstock
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