You are reading

Lawmakers Launch Petition Against Troublesome Kew Gardens Hotel, Call for City Crackdown

Bullet holes in the door of the Umbrella Hotel following Aug. 9 drive-by shooting (Courtesy of Assembly Member Daniel Rosenthal’s Office)

Aug. 18, 2020 By Allie Griffin

Four Queens lawmakers have launched a petition calling for the city to clamp down on a Kew Gardens flophouse that has become a hotspot for illegal activity and shootings.

Assembly Member Daniel Rosenthal, State Sen. Leroy Comrie, Council Member Karen Koslowitz and Rep. Grace Meng are calling for the city to take action against the Umbrella Hotel, located at 124-18 Queens Blvd.

The representatives say the hotel has become “a hotbed of violence and public health hazards.” They want city agencies–such as the FDNY, Health Department and Dept. of Environmental Protection– to inspect the hotel and respond to infractions.

The front door of the hotel was sprayed with bullets Sunday, Aug. 9, as it was the scene of a drive-by shooting. A separate shooting incident took place at the hotel on July 3.

“Thank god no one has been hurt, but how many bullets can we dodge?” Rosenthal said.

There have also been numerous reports of large indoor parties, drug deals, assaults, public indecency and menacing in recent months–despite the pandemic, the lawmakers said.

One Kew Gardens resident who signed the petition said she now worries about her safety.

“My neighbors and I can no longer feel safe in what was once a very beautiful and safe neighborhood,” Michele Roqueta commented. “This hotel has brought nothing but crime and has to go!”

Rosenthal called an emergency meeting to address the problem last week at Queens Borough Hall. He said the hotel management was invited to the meeting, but didn’t show — nor did multiple city agencies.

Now he is asking residents to sign a petition to demand the Mayor’s Office coordinate a multi-agency response to the growing public safety concern the hotel has created.

“Quite frankly, we need City Hall to make sure that their agencies are responsive,” Rosenthal said. “We are confident that if the appropriate agencies are properly monitoring and regulating the laws that are on the books already, this situation would go away quickly.”

The local NYPD 102nd Police Precinct has been proactive and responsive in dealing with the hotel, he added, but a coordinated city effort is needed to protect the community.

Rosenthal said, for example, the Department of Health should be issuing violations for large indoor gatherings during the pandemic; the Department of Environmental Protection to regulate noise complaints; and the FDNY to deal with occupancy issues and large crowding.

He said the agencies have been pointing fingers at one another rather than working together in a coordinated fashion to address community concerns stemming from the hotel.

The lawmakers are now calling on the mayor to do something immediately before someone gets seriously hurt or killed.

“We must act immediately, before more residents fall victim to senseless violence,” they wrote.

The petition was created on change.org last night and had more than 200 signatures at the time of publication.

Neither the Umbrella Hotel manager or owner were available for comment.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Brooklyn man charged with animal cruelty for duct taping pit bull in Gwen Ifill Park in Locust Manor: DA

A Brooklyn man was charged with animal cruelty, menacing, and other related crimes after he allegedly wrapped duct tape around the mouth, eye and legs of a pit bull at Gwen Ifill Park in Locust Manor, as well as keeping that dog and four others in unsanitary conditions in the back of a van.

Kristopher Fyffe, 38, of East 83rd Street in Canarsie, was arraigned on Monday night in Queens Criminal Court on a criminal complaint charging him with overdriving, torturing, and injuring animals/failure to provide sustenance; two counts of menacing in the second degree; five counts of failure to provide proper food and drink to impounded animal; two counts of harassment in the second degree; and registration of motor vehicles/fees/renewals.

Fresh Meadows MS-13 gang associate sentenced to nearly a half-century in prison for murder of Corona teen in Kissena Park: Feds

An MS-13 gang associate from Fresh Meadows was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison on Tuesday, Aug. 26, for the 2018 slaying of a Corona teenager in Flushing’s Kissena Park.

Juan Amaya-Ramirez, 27, and his co-defendant Oscar Flores-Mejia, 25, from Elmhurst, who is also an associate of the transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to the murder of 17-year-old Andy Peralta in Brooklyn federal court last September.

Masked gunman wanted for allegedly robbing a Hillside Avenue convenience store in Hollis: NYPD

Police from the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica are looking for an armed robber who targeted a Hollis convenience store during the early morning of Tuesday, Aug. 5.

The suspect entered the storefront at 187-42 Hillside Ave. just before 5 a.m. and allegedly pulled out a firearm and demanded items from a 26-year-old man behind the counter. The perpetrator removed $100 from the cash register and merchandise from behind the counter before casually walking out of the shop onto Hillside Avenue. The store employee was not injured during the armed robbery.