Letter to John Liu - Re: Gang Violence

Dear Councilmember John liu,

Please look into this and keep me informed of whatever action you can take to help us resolve this dangerous situation. Your intervention will be greatly appreciated.

Joe Amoroso

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14323 Poplar Avenue. – Major problem since home is under new ownership.

Poplar Avenue, Flushing has always been known as a quiet and peaceful neighborhood composed primarily of people that care about their neighborhood and are willing to get involved to keep it a good family oriented area. The Kissena Park Civic Association worked hard to have the area rezoned from R3-2 to R2 on May 11, 2005 to help discourage excessive building and to preserve its quite single-family residential character. The home at 14323 Poplar Avenue was recently sold and the new owner has made extensive changes to the interior and also added a separate external rear entrance to the basement. See DOB permit # Work Permit Data .

On Friday, May 30, 2008 a group of unlawful young adults residents living in the recently renovated basement, which is possibly being used as an SRO, gathered outside the house and were confronted by another group of hoodlums evolving into a fight where both groups had knives in hand. Some threw a neighbor’s flower pot into the street while others damaged a nearby car belonging to a long time resident on the other side of the street. This incident started about 5 A.M. One of the neighbors called the Police but the gang members scattered as the Police arrived.

On Saturday, May 31, 2008 I called 311 to file the following complaints:

1.) New owner is illegally renting basement to possible gang members and yesterday’s incident of street fighting with knives in hand posed a threat to the safety of lives and property of local residents. Police report has been sent to local precinct via 311 with the following complaint number:

C1-1-402104348

2.) New owner has illegally converted basement to living quarters which is presently

being occupied by a large group of young adults. I was given the following DOB

complaint number for illegal conversion:

4355631

I hope that swift action is taken to help insure the safety and quality of life of all the residents of Poplar Avenue and our entire Kissena Park community. This type of activity will not be tolerated in this community!

Joe Amoroso, KPCA Zoning Chair

QCC Zoning and Code Enforcement Co-Chair

Man Arrested Throwing Cocktails in Queens, This isn't Grand Theft Auto IV Buddy...

Police: Man Arrested for Queens Firebomb Barrage

NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS) -- New York City police have arrested a man accused of hurling homemade firebombs from a Queens rooftop after slashing someone with a machete on a nearby street.

Police say Felipe Velasquez is being held at a hospital where he was taken for a psychiatric evaluation after the incident Tuesday evening. The 21-year-old has been arrested on charges including attempted murder, reckless endangerment and assault.

No telephone number could be found at the Queens address Velasquez gave police. They aren't certain whether he has a lawyer.

Police say Velasquez tossed five flaming, liquid-filled containers into the street from a building roof, setting a car on fire.

Police say Velasquez ran to the roof after using the machete to attack a 45-year-old man on the street below. The victim is hospitalized in stable condition.

What the hell is going on? The chaos is slowly picking up momentum or so it seems... but just maybe the news is that slow that they are reporting things like this. I like how 1010wins also omits where in Queens this happened. There was no injuries or property damage (besides one car) reported so once again Queens residents get lucky. Could it be due to foreclosure rate in Queens? Could it be the Recession? No its called F_ _king crazy. That is all.