By Sadef Ali Kully
The city Department of Homeless Services determined the Skyway Men’s Shelter, which currently houses sex-offenders among its residents in South Ozone Park, is too close to a school and in violation of shelter residency restrictions, City Councilman Ruben Wills (D-South Ozone Park) said Tuesday.
The facility, a former motel at 132-30 South Conduit Ave. on the outer edge of Kennedy Airport, is home to more than 100 residents. It has been a controversial issue in the area since it changed from a family shelter to a men’s shelter in 2011.
“Several years ago, Skyway was a family shelter that was embraced by our community,” Wills said during a new conference Tuesday. “Its children went to PS 124. In a matter of days, they and their families had been uprooted in favor of Level 2 and 3 sex-offenders. Since then an untold number of sex-offenders have passed through Skyway’s doors, but those doors will soon be closed to them.
Wills stood near PS 124, just shy of 1,000 feet from the Skyway shelter.
Wills was joined by Eileen Lamanna, the PTA president for PS 124, South Ozone Park Civic Association West members and residents.
Wills’ office conducted a recent survey and he hired a contractor using personal funds. In June, the contractor measured the actual distance twice between the school and the shelter, finding it measured 922 feet, which falls short of the state-mandated 1,000 foot boundary.
After the revelation Wills went to present the new found measurements to DHS, which concurred with Wills and decided to make changes based on state laws, he said.
State law prohibits certain sex offenders from knowingly entering into or upon any school grounds. State penal law defines school grounds as “any area accessible to the public located within 1,000 feet of the real property boundary line comprising any such school,” and also specifies that the definition includes sidewalks and streets.
“It’s a sigh of relief,” Lamanna said about the transfer of the sex offenders from the men’s shelter, which she has opposed since 2011.
The Skyway Men’s Shelter currently houses 52 registered Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services’ Sex Offender Registry.
“It’s saturated, that’s the right word for it – it is saturated. Communities like ours typically feel they are held underwater,” said Wills, who is also fighting the development of juvenile delinquent group homes in the same area.
“I am hoping the mayor will say maybe this is wrong. Community Board 10 doesn’t have a senior center. Why not turn it into a senior center or bring in universal pre-K?” the councilman said.
Wills said he asked DHS to expedite the removal of all sex offenders who currently live at Skyway Men’s Shelter and to reassess the viability of the process by which it converts similar facilities to permanent shelters.
Reach Reporter Sadef Ali Kully by e-mail at skull
