A long-simmering debate over a planned homeless shelter in Richmond Hill is moving to the street, as Community Board 9 leaders urge residents to attend a rally calling for their voices to be heard.
District Manager James McClelland during Tuesday night’s meeting at Queens Borough Hall said the community had pushed for a public hearing with Department of Homeless Services and Department of Social Services officials — only to see it canceled, with the agencies postponing engagements with the board.
“As you know, DHS and Department of Social Services canceled the public forum that they were supposed to have in the beginning of June,” McClelland said. “Since they were unwilling to sit down with us, we thought that it would be appropriate, and we got requests from the community, to hold this rally.”
The rally is set for June 18 at 118th Street and Jamaica Avenue at 6:30 p.m.
The shelter debate dovetailed with broader concerns about public safety as Capt. Evan Galane, the executive officer of the NYPD’s 102nd Precinct, and Community Affairs Officer Rohitbir Singh briefed the board on crime patterns affecting seniors and car owners.
Singh warned of an ongoing jewelry scam victimizing older residents.
“They are targeting the elderly,” he said. “They’ll come talk to you; they’ll get really close to you. You guys will not expect it.”
Singh added that victims often discover the theft “maybe an hour, two hours later.”
The precinct is also seeing a resurgence of catalytic converter thefts.
While there is “no way to prevent it,” he noted mechanics “like to put a little cage around it,” which “does deter them from trying to take it, because they’ll see it. It takes them much longer to remove these catalytic converters.”
Galane, asked about losing officers to the beach, said the 102 has lost three cops to the Rockaways this summer, and the officers will return after Labor Day.
Posed with a question regarding the woman found dead last month on Forest Park Drive, Galane said that there were no signs of abuse, but added that he has no further information and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.
The officers also encouraged attendance at their “Cops and Kids” event on June 28 at 4 p.m. at the precinct, at 87-34 118 St. in Richmond Hill, where there will be plenty of fun and games for neighborhood children. The precinct also is accepting donations of food and games for the kids ahead of the event.
Later in the meeting, the board heard a presentation on the planned Queens Holocaust Memorial Garden beside Borough Hall.
Project President Michael Nussbaum outlined a conceptual design for the memorial, featuring a garden of remembrance and a reflective pool fountain. He said the public can find details and donate to the memorial online at nyholocaustmemorialgarden.org.
Destiny Burns and Kristen Wolfe from Empire State Development, the state agency taking the lead on the Aqueduct Redevelopment Project, also were in attendance. They encouraged the public to attend workshops to help develop the community-driven plan for the 100 acres of land in South Ozone Park.
More information can be found online at esd.ny.gov/aq.
The next in-person Aqueduct workshop is on June 15 at 6:30 p.m., at John Adams High School in Ozone Park.