By Phil Corso
Ongoing security concerns inside and beneath a Bayside housing complex have not yet been addressed due to the management’s unwillingness to cooperate, according to one northeast Queens lawmaker.
According to David Fischer, chief of staff for state Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside), management at the 43rd Avenue Bayside Manor apartment complex has been unwilling to sign onto a trespassing affidavit, which would allow the 111th Precinct inside the private establishment.
“That just gives us the impression that management doesn’t care about the safety of its residents,” Fischer said. “They don’t respond.”
Management at the Bayside Manor apartment complex did not return calls for comment.
At the October meeting of Community Board 11 in Bayside, Bayside Manor resident Jack Oshier brought the ongoing security issues to the board. He said there were trespassers going into the basements of the complex, at 42-10 212th St. and 42-40 212th St., into its laundry rooms to sleep, drink and loiter.
The results, Oshier said, have included broken lights and gangs of teenagers scaring residents away from their own stomping grounds.
“This is affecting the entire surrounding community,” Oshier said. “It has been going on for a little while, but it has gotten to be the worst I have seen it. It’s almost like a crime area.”
Oshier said teenagers would enter the complex’s two basements without restriction to conduct illegal and inappropriate activity, making it nearly impossible for Bayside Manor residents to use the laundry rooms — especially at night. He said Braunstein’s office was working with management and the 111th Precinct to come to a solution.
“The owners refuse to lock the doors,” Oshier said. “Something has to be done about it.”
But after Fischer reached out to management at WPH Apartments Inc. at the beginning of the year, Braunstein’s chief of staff said there have been few results.
“My office has reached out to city and state agencies, as well as the District Attorney’s office regarding this matter, and I will continue fighting to ensure the safety of the residents at Bayside Manor Apartments,” Braunstein said.
Since they have not seen any changes, Fischer said he also contacted the city Department of Buildings, which confirmed it would send an inspector to the apartment complex. But unless management agrees to allow the 111th Precinct into its facility to inspect and attempt to keep trespassers from lurking, Fischer said residents in the complex would not see tangible results right away.
“WPH promised in writing that the laundry room would be locked each night at 8 p.m,” Braunstein said. “WPH has not lived up to its promises, and furthermore, is endangering its residents by not signing a trespass affidavit which would allow the 111th Precinct to gain access to the building when illegal activity is taking place.”
Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at pcorso@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
