By Anna Gustafson
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D−Forest Hills) called on the city Housing Authority Tuesday to use part of the $600 million it received in federal stimulus funding to fix the elevators at Pomonok Housing in Flushing.
Weiner wrote a letter this week to Douglas Apple, the Housing Authority’s general manager, saying additional resources need to be allocated to Pomonok to repair elevators in the third largest of the 2,636 developments run by the city agency.
The congressman also said stimulus monies should be used for the Sheepshead−Nostrand Housing in Brooklyn.
Pomonok Housing is home to more than 4,300 people, including many senior citizens. The development has 35 buildings and 54 residential elevators.
Weiner said the elevators broke down approximately 263 times last year, and residents had to wait an average of 10 hours before the elevators were fixed — the longest wait time out of all Queens Housing Authority Developments.
“I have been contacted by several concerned constituents and community leaders regarding Pomonok and Sheepshead−Nostrand Housing,” Weiner said in his letter to Apple. “Members of these two communities have longstanding concerns about the lack of resources made available to their buildings by the Housing Authority.”
Housing Authority representatives did not return a phone call for comment Tuesday, but a spokesman said in December that the city had spent nearly $6 million in 2001 to modernize Pomonok’s elevators.
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e−mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 174.
