Forum Photo by Michael V. Cusenza
Longtime civic member and Lindenwood resident Ellen Buonpastore was honored on Tuesday by the organization and elected officials, including City Councilman Eric Ulrich (r.) and Josh Hyman, a representative of Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, for her service. Buonpastore is moving down to Kentucky this week to be with her family.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Panhandling continues to be a major issue in south Queens, and residents braved the inclement elements on Tuesday evening to attend the Howard Beach-Lindenwood Civic meeting to make sure the 106th Precinct brass are well aware of the problem.
According to civic President Joann Ariola, some area panhandling hotspots include in front of Matteo’s Restaurant on 155th Avenue and Cross Bay Boulevard, the “Welcome to Howard Beach” sign nearby, and the Stop and Shop parking lot off Cross Bay and 156th Avenue.
“The owners of Matteo’s are constantly outside, moving [beggars] along,” she said. “You see it at Stop and Shop—we’re constantly harassed.”
Captain Mike Edmonds, the executive officer of the 106th Precinct, said that as long as the panhandlers don’t cross the line and get physical, his officers’ hands are tied, as far as the laws are concerned.
“If they’re not aggressively panhandling, there’s not much we can do,” Edmonds noted, adding that the beggars usually refuse aid from cops. “Going forward, we’re going to get social services out there to see if they can reason with {the panhandlers], because they don’t seem to want our help.”
Edmonds also pointed out that beginning this summer, when it is expected that the 106 will formally become a Neighborhood Policing command, things will be different.
“There will be more cops on the street,” he said. “But right now, I just can’t have my people hanging out at the Conduit and Cross Bay.”
Ariola called out Stop and Shop management for “being bad community partners.”
“We tell [Stop and Shop] all the time [about the aggressive panhandling], and they just say, ‘Oh, we leave them alone,” Ariola reported.
This isn’t the first time that the new supermarket has been cited for not listening to the community. As Ariola noted on Tuesday, large groups of young people hang out in the Stop and Shop parking lot over night, and management hasn’t done anything about it.
“We have to start banding together and only support businesses that support us,” Ariola said. “We don’t want to see businesses hurt, but when they hurt the community, we have no choice but to call them out.”
