Photo: South Ozone Park community members this week filed a class-action complaint against the would-be operator of this future juvenile detention facility; the latest in many steps toward attempting to prevent the 127th Street center from ever opening its doors. Forum Photo by Michael V. Cusenza.
A south Queens community came together several months ago, united in its cause to fend off what it has characterized as an intruder.
On Tuesday, that community took its fight to court.
The South Ozone Park Civic Association West and three neighborhood residents on Tuesday filed a class action complaint against both the owner and the prospective operator of a proposed Administration for Children’s Services juvenile justice facility associated with its Close to Home program.
According to the complaint, KAD of Queens, LLC, the owner of the property located at 133-23 127th St., “continues to flout city, state, and federal regulations” as it works to convert the facility into what is referred to as a limited secure placement center for adjudicated youths. The suit also contends the greater South Ozone Park community would, “…suffer irreparable harm,” if the project is allowed to proceed, and will seek an immediate injunction to halt both its physical and programmatic development.
Close to Home is an ACS administered juvenile justice program in which youth offenders not sentenced to secure facilities upstate are instead housed in either limited secure or non-secure placement sites located near their home communities to receive a range of social rehabilitative services and supports. Limited secure youths are barred from leaving the premises, whose security apparatus consists of a perimeter fence, locked doors, and surveillance cameras. The proposed South Ozone Park LSP would be operated by Sheltering Arms Children and Family Services.
The suit, filed at the Supreme Court on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica, alleges multiple infractions have occurred since the site was sold last June to KAD, including breaches of the city’s building codes and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also asserts that the safety and economic vitality of the residents living in the surrounding community where the property is located will be in serious jeopardy; and cites how the proposed LSP is less than one block from an existing Close to Home NSP, as well as in proximity to a city homeless shelter for adult men that currently houses several dozen registered sex offenders.
The complaint is awaiting a response from KAD and Sheltering Arms.
“We are disappointed to learn of the lawsuit,” said ACS spokesman Christopher McKniff. “In collaboration with Sheltering Arms, our goal is to provide a safe and stable environment for young people to receive residential rehabilitation services while in our care, while also ensuring the safety of residents and the surrounding community. We are committed to continuing conversations with community leaders and elected officials in Queens and South Ozone Park to ensure that they are fully briefed on our plans and that we address their concerns.”
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
