16 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 13, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Chain thief
hits 7 line in
Qns. & Man.
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
Cops are looking for a serial chain
snatcher who has been targeting commuters
on the 7 train in Queens and
Manhattan for nearly two months.
According to police, at 3:35 p.m.
on May 23, a 42-year-old woman was
riding a northbound 7 train when an
unknown man grabbed her chain from
around her neck. He then fl ed the train
at the 46th Street stop.
Days later on May 31, the suspect
snatched the chain of a 21-year-old
woman at 6:20 that evening on the
northbound 7 train. He fl ed the train
at the 61 Street-Woodside station in an
unknown direction.
Minutes later, the snatcher struck
again, grabbing the chain of a woman
on a southbound 7 train at the 40th
Street subway station. Th e suspect then
fl ed the scene in an unknown direction.
Prior to these incidents, the suspect
struck three times while riding the 7
train at the 42nd and Fift h Avenue stop
in Manhattan; on April 24, May 6 and
May 11.
Th e suspect is described as a black
man between the ages of 40 and 50
years old and was last seen wearing a
long-sleeved white shirt, black pants
and black shoes.
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Anyone with information in regard
to this incident is asked to call the
NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at
800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish,
888-57-PISTA (74782). All calls are
kept confi dential.
Ocean Bay redevelopment fi nally complete
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
It was all smiles in Far Rockaway at a
ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the
completion $560 million redevelopment
of the Ocean Bay Apartments complex
Monday.
Home to nearly 4,000 residents, the
massive 24-building, 1,395-unit public
housing development located at Beach
Channel Drive between Beach 54th and
Beach 58th streets went through a phased
restoration process in which residents
were able to remain in their homes during
the two-year process.
First built in the 1960s, Ocean Bay suffered
Commission study: Local jails won’t be bad infl uence
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A new study from the Lippman
Commission, independent consulting
advisers hired by the city, claims that
new jails have no impact on property values
or crime in the communities they are
placed in.
Also known as the Independent
Commission on New York City Criminal
Justice and Incarceration Reform, the
consulting group has worked on a plan to
implement the closure of Rikers in favor
of borough-based jails which has been
met with opposition across the city.
Many local residents who oppose the
jail slated for Kew Gardens have called
on Mayor Bill de Blasio to stand down,
claiming it would eff ect property values
and bring crime into the surrounding
neighborhoods.
“New York City has made real progress
towards the ambitious goal of shutting
the notorious jails on Rikers Island
with signifi cantly fewer people in jail, low
crime rates and newly passed state pretrial
reforms,” former Chief Judge Jonathan
Lippman said. “Yet, to make closing Rikers
a reality, establishing a smaller, better-designed
and more accessible detention system
in the boroughs is a critical next step.
While some have understandably voiced
concerns around the potential impact
detention facilities will have on the surrounding
community, this analysis confi
rms that there is no observable impact
on two critical areas of concern: property
values and crime rates.”
Th e commission examined transactions
that saw one- to three-family homes,
co-ops, condos and rental units changed
hands sourced from the Census and
American Community Surveys in 2000,
2009 and 2010. Th e Queens Detention
Complex, which sits on the grounds where
the city plans to build a new 1.2-millionsquare
foot facility, was closed in 2002
and only serves minimal purposes.
Since the Queens Detention Complex
closed prior to the availability of Open
Data records, the commission used information
from the Historical New York City
Crime Data archives. Th is would have
been data gathered by 112th Precinct and
would only include felonies.
Crime rates in the 112th were on the
decline prior to 2001 and continued on a
downward slope throughout to 2018, the
study claimed.
Aida Vernon, a community activist
from Briarwood as a member of Queens
Residents United, was not convinced by
the study.
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful to the
Lippman Commission, but personally I
don’t give it much credence,” Vernon told
QNS. “We’re continuing to oppose this
plan as conceived. Th ere’s no guarantee
criminal justice reform can be achieved
from it and it’s going to impact neighborhoods.”
Mara Einstein, another activist from the
community, cast doubts on the report’s
methodology.
“As a scholar and former marketing
executive, I see this for what it is: obfuscation,”
Einstein said. “Th is is comparing
apples to oranges. Th e study looked at the
correlation between property values and
crime rates, not property values and proximity
to a 29-story, 1.2-million-squarefoot
jail. Th e research is irrelevant.”
Read more on QNS.com.
from signifi cant federal divestment,
followed by extensive damages incurred
when Hurricane Sandy slammed into the
Rockaways in 2012.
Th e redevelopment was NYCHA’s fi rst
and the country’s largest single-site conversion
under HUD’s Rental Assistance
Demonstration program which moved
the complex to a Section 8 platform with a
long-term contract ensuring that the units
remain permanently aff ordable to low-income
households.
“For too long, New Yorkers in public
housing have been treated as second-class
citizens,” Councilman Donovan Richards
said. “Aft er extensive research and community
engagement, it became clear that
the fastest way to improve Ocean Bay
Houses and provide residents with the safe,
decent homes they deserve was through
the Rental Assistance Demonstration program.
Tenants who have suff ered for years
living in dilapidated conditions, now have
completely remodeled apartments that
they are proud to invite friends and family
over to visit.”
In addition to in-unit renovations, the
project included roof replacements, the
complete upgrade of elevator machinery
and equipment, improved public hallways,
and the installation of new boilers
and heating systems.
“In the decades since my family and
I lived in public housing, the quality
and conditions of these buildings have
signifi cantly deteriorated,” Congressman
Gregory Meeks said. “Families deserve
the dignity of not living in squalor, no
matter what their income. Th ankfully
HUD’s RAD program gives us the tools to
renovate these dilapidated buildings, and
as a result the Ocean Bay Apartments are
now restored and better than ever.”
To ensure protection against future
weather catastrophes, a secure fl ood wall
was built around the entire 33-acre site
with stand-alone electric service buildings
built above the fl ood zone, and the
one central boiler steam system was converted
into 24 individual hydronic boilers
on the roof of each building.
“Th e renovation of Ocean Bay has
resulted in a resilient and environmentally
friendly development of permanently
aff ordable housing that will enrich the
quality of life to Ocean Bay residents for
many decades to come,” Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz said. “Th e public
private partnership that successfully
completed this innovative and energy-effi
cient project deserves to be commended
for its commitment to creating a welcoming
home for Ocean Bay’s nearly 4,000
residents.”
Photos courtesy of the NYPD
Courtesy of the mayor’s offi ce
Courtesy of Group Gordon
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