By Mark Hallum
Woodhaven Residents Block Association held a candidates forum for hopefuls on the ballot for state Senate and Assembly where the community asked the candidates last week about how they would be addressing affordable housing, homeless shelters, illegal conversions and Select Bus Service.
Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven), his Republican opponent Joseph Maldonado, state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) and his GOP rival, Michael Conigliaro, all attended.
Miller told the audience he was in favor of Select Bus Service in Woodhaven, but there were aspects of the city’s plan he would like to avoid. He advocated for the community to make the best of SBS at the Oct. 13 event at American Legion Post at 89-02 91st St.
“I don’t agree with taking a lane of traffic away from the main road, I don’t agree with people waiting on a median to get a bus. I just don’t think it’s safe,” Miller said. “And as I’ve said month after month, what are you going to do in the snow? [Department of Sanitation] doesn’t come out to plow the streets.”
Maldonado’s top priority is to address the issue of homeless shelters in Queens by circulating people out of shelters and helping those issued with Section 8 vouchers find housing. He said the reason why people stay in shelters is because there are no programs to get people out, while shelter owners are benefitting financially from city taxpayer money.
“When you start warehousing people, and you don’t have anything for them to do to get out of that building, then you’re doing nothing,” he said.
According to Addabbo, the most promising way to curb the illegal conversions is to hire more inspectors at the city Department of Buildings.
“By increasing the amount of inspectors, we increase jobs,” he said. “Our borough of Queens is inundated with illegal conversions and it’s not safe for the legal premises next door and it’s unsafe for those inside.”
Addabbo spoke out against the conditions of homeless shelters in Queens comparing them to prisons with inadequate amenities and poor access to public transportation. He said the best course of action for the mayor would be to include communities in discussions to find the best solutions to these issues.
Conigliaro said he would like to stem the stream of homeless into shelters by requiring residency from those checking in. His plan is similar to that of Florida, which requires a drug test for those receiving welfare. Contending that it would not put more people on the streets, he said it would discourage homeless from coming to New York in the first place to benefit from the system.
“The bottom line is if we can show them here the store’s closed, the streets aren’t going to be available, don’t come here. Not because we don’t care about homeless,” he said, arguing that shelter resources should be preserved for homeless veteran New Yorkers.
Election Day is Nov. 8.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
