16 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 9, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Hunger strike and lawsuit fi led against Ozone Park shelter
BY RYAN KELLEY
rkelley@ridgewoodtimes.com
Twitter @R_Kelley6
Construction is well underway at the
former Christ Evangelical Lutheran
Church on 101st Avenue in Ozone Park
where a homeless shelter for 113 mentally
ill men will open this coming winter,
but aside from the green walls surrounding
Sam Esposito (right) speaks at press conference on Aug. 7 alongside E. Christopher Murray (center), Slawomir Platta (left) and other elected offi cials to
announce his hunger strike and the lawsuit fi led against the city pertaining to the proposed homeless shelter in Ozone Park.
Jackson Heights cop saves life of
a baby that was having a seizure
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A rookie cop is being hailed as a hero
for saving a toddler’s life outside of the
115th Precinct in Jackson Heights.
ABC7 reported that, on the evening
of July 30, Rebeca Alarcon saw that her
20-month-old daughter Leah was suddenly
suff ering from a seizure. Panicked,
Alarcon tried to perform CPR on Leah
herself, but was too hysterical to continue.
Alarcon rushed to the 115th Precinct,
where she saw Offi cer Osvaldo Nunez
posted at the front door. She called out
to him saying that she needed CPR for
Leah.
Offi cer Nunez, who is a recent graduate
of the police academy, jumped into
action and began to perform chest compressions
on Leah. When she didn’t
respond to the fi rst round of CPR, Offi cer
Nunez kept his cool and kept going. Leah
opened her eyes and started to move
during the second round of CPR.
EMS responded to the precinct and
took the child to Elmhurst Hospital,
where she was treated and released.
“I wanted to become a police offi cer
to assist, help the community, help people,”
Offi cer Nunez told ABC7. “I’m just
Photos via Twitter/@NYPDNews
really glad that Leah’s now with her family.
I’ll do the same for anyone else in the
community.”
“It just happened in a second, I thank
him a lot,” Alarcon said.
the site, something out of the ordinary
showed up there this week.
A green and gray camping tent has been
pitched on the sidewalk, tied down to a
pair of cars parked along the curb that
are covered in signs that read “Say No To
Shelter” and “Hunger Strike.” Standing
outside the tent with an explanation, Sam
Esposito said he will be living in the tent
and refraining from eating until Mayor
Bill de Blasio agrees to meet with elected
offi cials in the community to discuss
an alternative to the current shelter plan.
“I don’t think the mayor is hearing us,”
said Esposito, who also organized a widely
attended town hall meeting about the shelter
in July. “I believe if this is the only way
I’m going to get the mayor’s attention, then
I’m going to do whatever I have to do.”
Esposito announced his hunger strike
at a press conference that he arranged on
Aug. 7 at the site, where he was also joined
by E. Christopher Murray, an attorney at
Ruskin, Moscou, Faltischek, P.C. Murray
announced that he had offi cially fi led a
lawsuit in the New York State Supreme
Court of Queens County that morning on
behalf of the residents of Ozone Park to
prevent the homeless shelter project from
being completed.
Murray, who also fought against the
proposed shelter in Glendale that recently
resurfaced, said the current administration
does not consider the people who
live in the neighborhoods where it plans
to place shelters, and it does not comply
with legal requirements. Th e lawsuit
claims that there has been no review done
under the State Environmental Quality
Review Act (SEQR) to assess the eff ect
this shelter would have on the surrounding
neighborhood, and a state statute limits
the number of beds in a facility housing
individuals with mental health needs
to 48, Murray explained.
“It’s just been a reckless, inconsiderate,
negligent way of approaching a problem
that exists,” Murray said. “If they just followed
the law and engaged the communities
they could come up with appropriate
solutions, but they have failed to do so.”
Also present at the press conference
were Assemblyman Mike Miller, Senator
Joseph Addabbo, attorney and state
Senate candidate Slawomir Platta and
about two dozen other local residents.
Platta off ered his support by handing
a check on behalf of his law fi rm for
Esposito to put toward the legal costs of
the suit.
“Th is should be an example for any offi -
cials and anyone who can support this,”
Photo: Ryan Kelley/QNS
Platta said. “Let’s make no mistake: this
is a retaliation of the city against the communities
that did not support elected offi -
cials, and especially the mayor.”
Miller again criticized the Department
of Homeless Services’ practice of reviewing
and approving proposals for shelters
from nonprofi t providers before starting a
community dialogue, and he said that the
mentally ill men to be sheltered on 101st
Avenue need “professional help in a professional
facility before they go anywhere
for shelter.”
Addabbo echoed Miller’s distaste for
the way the city is handling the homelessness
crisis and said that this is only the
beginning of the community’s eff orts to
fi ght back.
“It just gets worse. We have a whole
summer ahead of rallies and speaking out
and lawsuits and everything else we have
to do within our means to protect our
communities, protect our children and
also serve the homeless,” Addabbo said.
Esposito last ate a meal on Sunday, Aug.
5, and he said that he spoke to the commanding
offi cer of the 102nd Precinct,
Captain Courtney Nilan, who told him he
can stay in his tent as long as he doesn’t
engage with the construction workers at
the site.
“Th e cops have been wonderful actually.
Th ey checked on me all night. Th ey
stopped by and made sure that I was safe,”
said Esposito, who is a former NYPD
offi cer. “Th e community has been overwhelmingly
supportive and we all came
together. For us, that’s an amazing feat.”
DHS spokesperson Arianna Fishman
issued a statement to QNS on Aug. 8 in
response to the lawsuit:
“Every community has a role to play
in addressing this citywide challenge and
we’re committed to open engagement
with all communities across the fi ve boroughs
as we transform a shelter system
decades in the making,” Fishman said.
“We’re moving forward with opening this
facility as soon as possible to give homeless
New Yorkers the opportunity to be
sheltered closer to the communities they
called home before winter approaches.
We will review the lawsuit if and when
we receive it.”
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