FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 30, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
College Point man
killed in Brooklyn
Th e gunman behind a Memorial Day shooting that
left a College Point man dead and two others injured
remains at large.
Authorities say that at 6:53 p.m. on May 27,
police responded to a 911 call regarding three men
shot at Stanley Avenue and Hemlock Street. Upon
their arrival, offi cers from the 75th Precinct found
42-year-old Basheem Graham, unconscious and
unresponsive, with gunshot wounds to his head and
neck.
EMS rushed Graham to Brookdale Hospital
Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
A preliminary investigation revealed that a large
crowd was at the location when an unknown man
approached and fi red off multiple shots into the
crowd. Th e suspect fl ed the scene on Autumn Avenue.
A 46-year-old man in the crowd suff ered a gunshot
wound to his arm and tried to drive himself to
the hospital. He was found at Eldert Lane and Linden
Boulevard where he was then transported by EMS to
Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in stable condition.
A 34-year-old man was also taken to Brookdale
Hospital Medical Center by private means with a
gunshot wound to the chest and is in stable condition
Police released video of the suspect that was taken
prior to the shooting.
Anyone with information in regard to the identity
of this male is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime
Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or for
Spanish, 888-57-PISTA (74782). Th e public can also
submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers
website or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
Emily Davenport
Students collaborate
on new playgrounds
Imagine a school playground designed by kids, for
kids. One Little Neck public school and a nonprofi t
organization have made that dream a reality for hundreds
of students.
On May 28, the P.S. 221 Th e North Hills School
community broke ground on the community playground
at 57-40 Marathon Pkwy. Th e students and
community began thinking of playground designs
to transform the school’s asphalt yards over a year
ago and voted on the designs that would eventually
become their shared space.
Plans for the playground will include a synthetic
turf fi eld surrounded by a three-lane running track,
areas to play volleyball and basketball, a junior tennis
court, benches, trees, play equipment and an outdoor
classroom.
Councilman Barry Grodenchik had visited the
original playground and discovered that it was just
“a lot of asphalt.”
Soon aft er, students including fi ft h-grade student
Izabella Kohan got to work on designing a state-ofthe
art playground for the current and future P.S.
221 community. Kohan and other student designers
helped to plan the project as part of Trust for
Public Land’s NYC Playgrounds Program. Since the
program’s inception in 1996, the nonprofi t has both
designed and built 202 school and community playgrounds
in the fi ve boroughs.
Th e Trust for Public Land collaborated with the
Department of Education (DOE), Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) and the New York
City School Construction Authority (SCA) on the
student-designed project, which is set to open in
fall 2019.
Councilman Grodenchik, Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz and DEP provided public
project funding.
Jenna Bagcal
Photo courtesy of Senator Liu's offi ce
From left: Councilman Barry Grodenchik, Senator John Liu, Assemblyman David Weprin rally with civic leaders and northeast Queens
residents
‘LIFT THE COSTLY YOKE’
NE Queens pols press utility companies to pay for damage
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Several lawmakers are pushing
for legislation that would protect
northeast Queens homeowners
from utility company negligence.
On May 23, state Senator John Liu
and Assemblyman David Weprin
rallied with civic leaders and community
members demanding that
the state Legislature passes the
Utility Responsibility Bill.
Under the bill, utility companies,
not homeowners, would
shoulder the bill for damages the
company has caused. If a utility
company has caused damage
to a homeowner’s lateral sewer
and water pipes, the company will
be responsible for the repair and
replacement costs.
“It’s simply unfair for homeowners
to shoulder the heavy financial
burden of water and sewer repairs,
sometimes repeatedly, because
utility companies fail to properly
maintain their infrastructure,” Liu
said. “This legislation will lift the
costly yoke off homeowners, and
as importantly, incentivize utility
companies to maintain proper
repair in the first place.”
According to the lawmakers,
northeast Queens residents have
been fi ghting for a fair outcome to
the damages due to utility company
negligence. Since 2017, dozens
of water service lines have failed
in areas like Fresh Meadows and
Jamaica Estates, resulting in homeowners
having to pay for repairs out
of pocket.
“Across Queens, negligent utility
companies have caused tens
of thousands of dollars in damages
to residential water services
lines. No homeowner should be liable
for third party damage, which
is why I introduced the Utility
Responsibility Bill in the Assembly
to hold these companies accountable
for their actions,” said Weprin,
who is sponsoring the bill in the
Assembly. “I applaud Senator John
C. Liu for introducing this bill in the
Senate on behalf of Queens homeowners
and I urge the full Assembly
and Senate to take up this bill before
the end of session.”
In January, QNS reported on the
pernicious water leaks on 188th
Street in Fresh Meadows. Although
the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) identifi ed Verizon
as the responsible party, homeowners
in the area were made to pay tens
of thousands of dollars in damages.
“Th ey are off ering reimbursement
of their repair expenses in exchange
for not fi xing the underlying problem:
fi nding and removing the wires
that are causing stray current that is
destroying the underground pipes
all over New York. To add insult to
injury, they are requiring homeowners
to sign away their rights to future
claims. Th is off er not only ties the
hands of homeowners, it puts future
New York homeowners at risk since
Verizon is not planning on correcting
the problem they caused. We
need a law that prioritizes the homeowner,”
Gordon said.
“Th e West Cunningham Park
Association looks forward to the
passage of this bill so that all aff ected
homeowners will be made fi nancially
whole again,” added Elaine Young,
president of West Cunningham
Civic. “We want to see Verizon fi x
this problem permanently so that it
doesn’t happen again. DEP must also
have the responsibility of safeguarding
their infrastructure.”
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