8 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 13, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Ozone Park self-storage building with ‘truckport’ gets board nod
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Developer Triangle Equities is is advancing
its project for a 465,730-square-foot
self-storage facility in South Ozone Park
through the city planning process as
Community Board 10 gave a thumbs-up
to the proposal on Th ursday night.
Th e facility will also act as a Terminal
Logistics Center that will operate between
the site on South Conduit Avenue adjacent
to Kennedy Airport, according to
Josh Weingarten from Triangle Equities.
“What were developing is – on the
ground fl oor and second fl oor – a primarily
warehouse and storage for freight
and air cargo tenants that benefi t from
the location adjacent to JFK Airport,”
Weingarten said.
According to Weingarten, the company
is taking advantage of the city Economic
Development Corporation’s Freight NYC
program, which helps foster commerce in
and around the airports.
On the ground fl oor there will be
about 60,000 square feet of warehouse
and 30,000 of “truckport,” according to
Weingarten, and the tenant here will be
able to access this part of the building
from both 131st Street and South Conduit
Avenue.
A ramp will connect the ground fl oor
to the second fl oor to allow trucks unload
within the facility.
“Th is is important because both the city,
state and the Port Authority have recognized
the need for more air cargo space
adjacent to JFK Airport,” Weingarten said.
“Th e state and the city want to increase the
fl ow of air cargo goods coming through
JFK because it has a catalytic impact on job
creation and the local economy. Th ere’s lots
of jobs in a lot of related businesses that are
supported by commodities through JFK.”
Freight NYC’s goal is to create 5,000 jobs.
While rail and maritime logistics are
the the main emphasis of Freight NYC,
the program aims to invest in distribution
infrastructure.
Th ere were concerns from the public
regarding air quality being impacted
by trucks moving in and out of the facility,
to which Weingarten pointed out that
the majority of vehicles moving would be
coming from 150th Street, closer to the
airport.
He also said that the facility meets – and
in some cases exceeds – city Department
of Buildings standards for emissions to
both protect workers within the facility
and the community.
Queens chief takes life, remembered as a good cop
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Services were held
Tuesday at The Reform
Temple of Forest Hills to
honor NYPD Deputy Chief
Steven Silks, the 62-year-old
deputy chief of Patrol Borough
Queens North, who was
found dead of an apparent
self-infl icted gunshot
wound in Forest
Hills on June 5, one
month before his
mandatory retirement.
“He lived for the
NYPD, he had
such enthusiasm
for the job and
for life itself, which makes this diffi cult
to understand,” said NYPD Detectives
Endowment President Michael Paladino,
his friend of 35 years. “He was one of the
nicest human beings I have ever met.”
Heidi Harrison Chain, the longtime
president of the 112th Precinct
Community Council, agreed.
“When he came to Queens North
which is headquartered at the precinct he
immediately adopted the council and we
were lucky to have him,” Chain recalled
following Silks’ well-attended funeral
which she called moving and touching.
“He was a very caring man. A charming
and very intelligent man who loved
the NYPD.”
Silks began his illustrious
39-year career in
September 1980 and
rose steadily through
the ranks until he was promoted
to Deputy Chief in
December 2006. Silks was
also second in command at
the Police Academy where he
was responsible for heavy
weapons training
in the wake of
the Sept. 11
attacks.
He was an
avid biker
who once
rode coast
to coast,
he climbed
M o u n t
Everest and
worked on a NASCAR pit crew. Silks was
a gun collector, hunter, rower, a member
of the Rockaway Polar Bear Club and an
afi cionado of fi ne cuisine. He was awarded
the Ellis Island Medal of Freedom and
the NYPD Holy Name Society Man of
the Year Awards.
“He was a dedicated lifelong public servant,
an avid outdoorsman, a marathoner,
a mountain climber and most importantly,
he was a friend,” Police Commissioner
James O’Neill said at an unrelated press
conference. “Steve truly was one of the
most capable and most dependable cops
this job has ever seen, his entire career,
much of his adult life in fact, was devoted
to New York City, to its police offi cers
and to fi ghting crime and to protecting all
the people we serve. He wanted to make
our great city a better place for all. And he
certainly did that every day.”
Several commanding offi cers declined
to comment, but Deputy Inspector
Ron Leyson, the former commander of
the 110th Precinct, in Corona took to
Twitter.
“I consider Chief Silks not just my boss
but a mentor and a friend,” Leyson wrote.
“I cherish the many conversations, stories
and laughs we shared over the years.
He embodied what a leader is, always
looking out for his troops and the best
interests of the NYPD and the city he
proudly served.”
Silks grew up in the Bronx as an avid
Yankee fan, but he became a supporter
of the Mets during his tenure working in
Queens, which included security operations
with Leyson during home games
at Citi Field.
Leyson called it “one of the Chief ’s
favorite places”; the Mets held a pregame
dedication and moment of silence at Citi
Field the day aft er Silks’ death.
“A total class act,” Leyson tweeted.
Silks was not married and did not have
children, and he was survived by his sister
Cindy, his brother John and many
nieces and nephews.
Following his funeral service, NYPD
offi cers were invited to meet his family
during a celebration of Silks’ life at
the West Side Tennis Club, not far from
where his body was discovered in his
unmarked car in the shadow of Forest
Hills Stadium.
Photo courtesy of NYPD
Photo courtesy of Triangle Equities
A rendering of the proposed self-strorage facility in South Ozone Park.
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