22 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 19, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Following lawsuit, LIC real estate company
seeks restraining order against competitor
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
A well-known Long Island City real
estate fi rm is fi ling a temporary restraining
order against a competing New
York-based company.
In June, Modern Spaces called on the
Supreme Court to take action against stock
brokerage fi rm Compass from stealing their
business “through the unlawful misappropriation
of the Plaintiff ’s trade secrets,”
which QNS reported on in February. As a
result, the company asked for compensation
for damages that were incurred, as well
as a restraining order against Compass.
Modern Spaces was founded in 2008
by its CEO Eric Benaim; Compass was
founded in 2012 by Ori Allon and Robert
Reffk in.
According to the complaint, Jessica Meis
had worked for Modern Spaces for many
years before she “terminated her relationship
with Modern Spaces” in January
2018. Th ereaft er, the company claimed,
Meis emailed their proprietary information
to her personal email, including lists
of real estate buyers and sellers.
Th e lawsuit detailed that Compass had
allegedly encourage Meis to “misappropriate”
the propriety information and
trade secrets that she stole for the purposes
of “its own fi nancial gain.”
Modern Spaces said that they “seek
to recover damages” for several things,
including business that was improperly
diverted to Compass using these tactics,
misappropriation of trade secrets under
state and federal law, “unlawful interference
with Modern Spaces exclusive listing
agreements” and damage to public reputation
and goodwill.
In addition, the real estate fi rm asked
for a temporary restraining order, preliminary
injunction and fi nal injunction
Photo via Facebook/ModernSpaces
to prevent Compass from poaching and
exploiting Modern Spaces’ information
and put “an immediate halt to the substantial
and irreparable harm and damages
the defendants have caused and continue
to cause.”
Compensatory damages to Modern
Spaces are to be determined at trial.
Queens lawmaker presses for school speed camera legislation
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
State Senator Jose Peralta called on his
Albany colleagues to pass his bill that
would renew and expand a school zone
speed camera program before it expires
on July 25.
Peralta held a press conference on July
12 in East Elmhurst, and was joined
by advocates and families who requested
that the state Senate pass Peralta’s
bill (S.6046-C). Currently, there are 140
cameras that were installed following a
Legislature-approved pilot program in
2013. Peralta’s bill would add 150 speed
monitoring devices to the existing 140.
If the bill is not approved, the speed
cameras will be shut down and removed
when the existing law sunsets on July 25.
Th e proposal would ensure that the
290 speed cameras operate within a quarter
mile of a designated school. Th e cameras
would be on one hour before and one
hour aft er each school day. In addition,
the devices will also run while children
are participating in aft er-school activities
and up to 30 minutes before and 30 minutes
aft er the activities.
Peralta’s bill currently has 34 cosponsors,
including the entire Democratic
Conference, which is more than enough
to pass the bill. At the press conference,
he called on Republicans to not let the initiative
expire on the 25th.
“Are Republicans against protecting
children? Th e school zone speed camera
program saved countless of lives, so
there is no logical reason to let it expire,”
Peralta said. “We cannot play politics
with schoolchildren and New Yorker’s
lives, and this is why we must ensure we
renew and expand the program. If the
Republicans let this initiative expire, kids
in summer school will travel to and from
school on more dangerous streets. Th e
same will occur when more than 1 million
schoolchildren return to school aft er
the summer vacation.”
Lizi Rahman, the mother of Asif
Rahman, a 22-year-old cyclist who was
fatally struck by a driver in 2008, shared
Peralta’s sentiments to pass the bill.
“There is no excuse for allowing politics
to get in the way of saving lives.
My son, Asif, would still be alive today
were it not for a reckless driver. I have
prayed and fought to save other families
from this loss. No one has a right
to speed and put our lives at risk!
Speed safety cameras save lives and I
call upon the New York State Senate to
reconvene and pass this bill now,” said
Photo courtesy of the offi ce of Senator Jose Peralta
Rahman, founding member of Families
for Safe Streets.
Since the program’s inception in 2013,
there has been a 63 percent decline in
speeding violations where devices are
installed, according to a report from the
mayor’s offi ce. More than 80 percent of
drivers who had been ticketed in these
areas did not receive a second violation
due to the cameras. Pedestrian injuries
also decreased by 23 percent over the past
fi ve years.
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