14 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Moya’s bill combatting fear around
food assistance programs passes
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e City Council voted on Th ursday
to pass Councilman Francisco Moya’s
bill that is aimed to ensure anyone
leaving the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) will
receive information on the city’s emergency
food assistance programs.
“Needing a little help to feed yourself
or your family is not an indictment
of character,” said Moya. “But
refusing to help in the wealthiest
country the world has ever known —
for no reason other than pure xenophobia
— that’s absolutely an indictment
of our national character. And
that’s exactly what the Trump administration
is doing with its bigoted public
charge policy.”
Moya introduced the bill, Int. 1708,
was introduced aft er hearing reports
that immigrants have been disenrolling
from SNAP, commonly known as
food stamps, and other public programs
fearing that it may put their
immigration status in jeopardy.
According to the most recent list of
active programs, 544 food pantries and
soup kitchens rely on the Emergency
Food Assistance Program citywide. Of
those, 124 reside in Queens.
The law requires the Human
Resources Administration (HRA)
to provide information on all those
emergency feeding programs to individuals
who disenroll from SNAP
benefi ts and whose benefi ts are set to
lapse on or aft er Jan. 1, 2016.
Th e department will also distribute
that information to anyone who
receives a SNAP recertifi cation notice.
Individuals will be contacted by mail
or email. Th e department will make
the information available online and
on any related mobile applications
as well.
Th e Council adopted the bill by a
vote of 50-0.
Richmond Hill’s Mazi
Nightclub loses liquor license
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A Richmond Hill nightspot had its liquor license
suspended by the State Liquor Authority (SLA)
following a fatal shooting on Sept. 5. Gunfi re
erupted outside the Mazi Nightclub, at 130-35 91st
St., during the early morning hours of Sept. 2 killing
a 35-year-old man and wounding two others.
EMT’s rushed the man, who was wounded in
the chest, to Jamaica Hospital, where he died,
police said. A second victim was left in critical
condition at Jamaica Hospital and a third, shot in
both legs, was in stable condition at New York-
Presbyterian Hospital.
NYPD investigators reviewed video surveillance
from the night of the shooting and discovered that
earlier in the evening, in an unrelated incident,
a patron inside the Mazi Nightclub was beaten
inside the premises and struck in the head with
a bottle. Th e victim, who received medical treatment
at Jamaica Hospital, reported bouncers from
the club simply ushered him out the door following
the assault.
Th e NYPD reported no one from the club called
911 following either of these serious incidents. On
Sept. 5, the NYPD and the SLA conducted a follow
up investigation, with the SLA citing the bar
with 30 violations, including operating a disorderly
premises, employing unlicensed security, possession
of untaxed cigarettes, failure to maintain
books and records, numerous code violations and
for becoming a focal point for police attention.
Th e September shooting is just the latest in
a series of disorders emanating from the Mazi
Nightclub, according to the SLA. Th e agency
has a revocation proceeding pending against the
club for charges including operating a disorderly
premises and failure to supervise.
Th e nightclub was fi ned $15,000 on Oct. 15,
2018 for charges involving a, assault and operating
a disorderly premises.
“Th e SLA has zero tolerance for bars where violence
is a routine occurrence, threatening the safety
of their neighborhoods and straining police
resources,” SLA Chairman Vincent Bradley said.
“Th is emergency suspension should serve as a
message that this agency will not hesitate to take
immediate action when a bar poses a threat to
public health and safety.”
Th e SLA’s decision to summarily suspend a
license is not a fi nal determination on the merits
of the case. Th e licensee is entitled to an
expedited administrative law hearing before an
Administrative Law Judge.
An order of summary suspension remains in
eff ect until such time as it is modifi ed by the SLA
or a reviewing court.
Th e Queens Courier reached out to the nightclub
and is awaiting a response.
Southeast Queens and Rockaways
gets $260K of sanitation funding
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Councilman Donovan Richards
announced funding on Friday, Sept. 13
that will provide local employment and
sanitation eff orts in his district over the
next year.
Th e $260,000 worth of capital will be
spread to workforce development organizations
that do street and park cleaning.
Richards split duties between four
organizations so that each one covers
a diff erent geographical portion of the
district.
“I think the increase in funding is very
important because it’s going to ensure
that every corner of the district that did
not receive funding to keep the corridor
clean now has it. So we literally are getting
every day business corridor,” said
Richards.
Richards sees the sanitation work as an
important battle in the fi ght against illegal
dumping in the district. By providing
an additional $40,000 from last year, he
said he hopes to support local businesses
through quality-of-life improvements
that will encourage residents to patronize
local businesses.
Th e biggest chunk of the funding
will go to the Center for Employment
Opportunities, which is received a
$100,000. Th ey will focus their sanitation
eff orts on Laurelton Rosedale, Laurelton
Parkway, Merrick Boulevard and Francis
Lewis.
A $55,000 allotment will go to Wildcat,
which will going to locate their eff orts in
Springfi eld Gardens.
Association of Community
Employment (ACE) program received
about $40,000 and will focus on Far
Rockaway.
In addition, a $35K portion will go to
the Department of Sanitation, who will
be tasked with trash removal seven days
a week in the Rosedale and Springfi eld
Gardens area.
“Th is doesn’t mean for you to bring
your personal trash to the trashcan on
our boulevards,” said Richards. “It’s still a
fi ne, and I want you to know that.”
ACE employee Datavis Burns, 22, said
that he’s in charge of maintaining the garbage
cans and sidewalks of the Beach 20
area in Rockaway. He’s also been taking
full advantage of the fi nance classes that
the program off ers to its participants.
“When I came in here I didn’t have
nothing. But in two months I have a
checking account, savings account and
I’m working on getting a money marketing
account,” Burns said. “I’m established,
you know. Doing very well.”
Photo via Google Maps
Photo by Michael Shain
Councilman Francisco Moya
Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
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