20 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Two stores at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center to close this fall
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Two stores in a Bayside mall will be
closing their doors for good this fall.
A representative of the Cord Meyer
development company told QNS on
Friday that Th e Children’s Place will
be closing down its location at the Bay
Terrace Shopping Center.
Th e Children’s Place, which specializes
in children’s apparel and accessories, will
stay open through the end of September.
Th e store is hosting a store-wide sale
before the store shuts down.
Th e Children’s Place storefront will be
fi lled by a Spectrum cable store. At this
time, it is unclear when the Spectrum
store will open for business, according to
the Cord Meyer representative.
Ruby & Jenna, a clothing store that specializes
in unique, high-end looks for an
aff ordable price, will also be closing down
their Bay Terrace location. Th ey are also
hosting a sale on their products until the
store closes down. At this time there is no
store that is slated to fi ll Ruby & Jenna’s
storefront. Photo by Jenna Bagcal
Queens man busted for
smuggling & selling big guns
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
A Queens man faces federal gun traffi
cking charges for allegedly selling fi rearms
smuggled in from Virginia to buyers
from Long Island.
Federal agents cuff ed Derrick Hughes,
47, on Sept. 5 at his South Ozone Park
home and brought him to U.S. District
Court in Central Islip, Long Island for
arraignment. He and Virginia resident
Ronald Robinson, 43, allegedly worked
together to illegally import fi rearms to
Long Island, where they were sold on the
black market. Robinson was also arrested
on Sept. 5 in Hampton, Virginia.
Among the weapons sold, prosecutors
said, was an AR-15 multi-caliber
rifl e, the type of weapon used in numerous
recent mass shootings across the
country.
“As alleged in the indictment, the
defendants’ illegal traffi cking of fi rearms
brought deadly weapons to the streets of
Long Island,” said U.S. Attorney Richard
Donoghue. “Th ese arrests demonstrate
the commitment by this offi ce and our
law enforcement partners to save lives
by stopping the fl ow of illegal fi rearms
into New York.”
Federal prosecutors said the gun traffi
cking operation took place between
January and April of this year. At
least seven illegal gun sales occurred
in Rosedale and Valley Stream on the
Queens/Nassau border line.
According to the charges, Robinson
allegedly purchased two to three weapons
at a time in Virginia, then transported
them to New York. Hughes allegedly
acted as the broker in each illegal transaction,
arranging to meet customers to
illegally sell them various fi rearms.
Th e smuggling operation was busted
through a collaborative eff ort between
federal authorities and the Nassau
County and Suff olk County Police
Departments, as well as the New York
State Police and the Hempstead Police
Department.
Donoghue said the case is part of
“Project Safe Neighborhoods,” a Justice
Department program
aimed at “targeting violent
criminals, directing
all U.S. Attorney’s
offi ces to work in partnership
with federal,
state, local and tribal
law enforcement, and
the local community to
develop eff ective, locally
based strategies to
reduce violent crime.”
Hughes and Robinson
each face up to fi ve years
in federal prison if con-
Photo via Shutterstock victed.
Probation offi cers union sues city
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A Forest Hills-based union that represents
probation offi cers has fi led pay
discrimination charges against the city.
The United Probation Officers
Association (UPOA), which represents
700 probation offi cers across
New York City, is demanding
that City Hall turn
over records detailing salary
information on city
employees hired in certain
titles since January 2009. Th e
group fi led the Article 78
petition on Sept. 7.
The UPOA represents
Probation Offi cer Trainees,
Probation Officers and
Supervising Probation
Offi cers throughout the city and its
membership is largely non-white and
female. Offi cials noted that their employees
Photo: Shutterstock
are paid signifi cantly less than those
in similar posts in other city agencies
as well as Probation Offi cers in nearby
counties, such as Westchester, Rockland,
Nassau, and Suff olk, who are also predominately
non-white yet have the same
educational requirements and experiences
and who follow the same mandates set
by the state.
“Th ese women and men are true public
servants who build a safer New York,
who give people opportunities to turn
around their lives and stay out of the justice
system,” said Dalvanie Powell, president
of UPOA. “But sadly, the city of
New York is clearly showing that it is not
committed to supporting our ranks and
is ignoring the transparency one would
expect from our government leaders. We
have followed the proper channels to
shine a light on a longstanding pay disparity
that treats our members like second
class public servants, and unfortunately
the city’s actions once again illustrate
its cold-hearted approach to those
seeking accountability.”
According to court notes, the city’s
Department of Probation is the most
diverse branch of law enforcement with
more women and people of color in this
department than any other
law enforcement workforce
in the city. However, “the
pay for these members is signifi
cantly lower than other
similarly situated employees
of the city of New York
in majority white and male
titles.”
Th e action looks to confi
rm the disparities and further
substantiate claims of
discrimination based on
race, sex and/or gender. Th e Department
of Citywide Administrative Services
(DCAS), which is responsible for maintaining
this information, has denied the
union’s requests, citing privacy concerns.
However, the action states that one of the
denials by the DCAS was not submitted
in the mandatory time frame.
“Th is information is critical not only
for these hard-working union members
who deserve to be treated equally, but for
the city, which is legally required to properly
maintain this information to avoid
the pitfall of discrimination which results
in women and people of color of being
undervalued and underpaid,” said Yetta
Kurland, from Th e Kurland Group, attorneys
for UPOA. “Th e city’s reasons for
denying this data are unsupported by law
and fl y in the face of the city’s claims of
being an equal opportunity employer. It’s
clear that the city is once again going out
of its way to avoid production of this data
and is shirking the law. So we must ask:
what is the city hiding, and why?”
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