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8 The Courier sun • JULY 24, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com 125-year-old East Elmhurst flower shop blossoms even with controversial homeless shelter next door BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com/@aaltamirano28 For more than a century, one East Elmhurst family has been helping their neighborhood bloom. Donhauser Florist, located at 71-01 Astoria Blvd., was established in 1889 by Hans Donhauser, a German florist Stringer criticizes DHS for handling of homeless shelter placement process BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @aaltamirano28 Amid ongoing controversy over several Queens homeless shelters, the city comptroller has said the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) is “failing” in the way it deals with homelessness throughout the five boroughs. In a letter to DHS Commissioner Gilbert Taylor, City Comptroller Scott Stringer addressed the ongoing “homelessness crisis, particularly among families” in New York City. He noted that there are different causes that contribute to the rise, but the “current playbook” in dealing with the issue needs to be changed. “Especially concerning to my office is the emergency contracting approach that the Department of Homeless Services has employed to site new facilities in neighborhoods with minimal community consultation,” Stringer wrote in the letter last week. In one case, Glendale residents have been fighting for more than two years to stop an abandoned manufacturing plant from becoming a homeless shelter. The community complained that they were given little to no notice about the shelter. “DHS must begin to immediately repair its relationships with local communities by creating a robust consultative process with community stakeholders for all of its currently planned sites and for those proposed in the future,” Stringer wrote in the July 17 letter. “This process should allow for meaningful input from local stakeholders, advocacy groups and elected officials.” In the past month, two western Queens neighborhoods have also had to deal with unannounced homeless shelters being moved into two hotels. Hundreds of protestors spoke against the city’s initiative to house homeless families at the Pan American Hotel on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst without asking for any input from the community. Two week ago, the DHS approved the conversion of the Westway Motor Inn on Astoria Boulevard into a shelter housing over 100 families. Residents and elected officials are outraged the agency let them know about the shelter just a day before the families began moving into it. “If DHS continues to neglect communities until after emergency contracting decisions have been made it will neither benefit from local knowledge of the area nor engender harmonious integration with the surrounding communities,” Stringer wrote. who immigrated to the United States. While working at a Brooklyn cemetery he heard that St. Michael’s Cemetery in Queens was in need of a florist. He then moved to East Elmhurst and built a greenhouse on 71st Street and Astoria Boulevard. After a few years, 12 more greenhouses were added and a flower shop was built on 49th Street and Astoria Boulevard. Donhauser’s family worked at the shop, including his sons, daughters and even his great granddaughter Gladys. “When your parents are in the business, you’re in the business,” said Gladys about working at the shop since she was 12 years old. “It’s all I’ve known.” Donhauser Florist moved to 71-01 Astoria Blvd. and replaced one existing greenhouse, while the other 12 were later sold to become the Westway Motor Inn. Gladys, who grew up at the house currently still standing next to the shop, has owned the store since 1977 together with her husband William Gray, who initially started working at the 49th Street shop. Since then the Grays have been providing flower arrangements for their neighbors, some of whom they have shared first communions with and years later, weddings. William even arranged all the flowers for his own wedding. The shop provides flowers for visitors to St. Michael’s Cemetery, located across the Grand Central Parkway, first communions, weddings and other special occasions. However, the Grays, who have been married for 60 years, say business has been up and down ever since the city’s Department of Homeless Services decided to first use the Westway Motor Inn, located right next door, as a temporary homeless shelter. “It was once an exquisite hotel with beautiful rooms and a pool,” Gladys said. “Since about a decade ago we started to have problems with it. People were afraid to come around the shop.” Two weeks ago, the city approved converting the motel into a permanent homeless shelter housing more than 120 families. Although they are nervous on how the permanent shelter will affect the community and their business, the couple continues to welcome customers with smiles on their faces. “I hope it stays for 125 more years,” Gladys said. THE COURIER/Photos by Angy Altamirano


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