Community members and local residents gathered at Trinity Lutheran Church Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 10, for Community Board 5’s first meeting of the fall, during which a longtime board member was honored for his nearly 50-year tenure with the board.
The meeting included a public hearing regarding the Fiscal Year 2027 Capital and Expense Budget of the City of New York and how it would affect the neighborhoods within Community Board 5 (CB 5) — Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale. Additionally, Queens DA Melinda Katz delivered updates on quality-of-life issues affecting the neighborhoods.
During the meeting, Glendale resident and CB 5 member Vincent Arcuri was presented with multiple citations, including from DA Katz, Rep. Grace Meng and Assembly Member Jennifer Rajkumar, for his 49-year tenure on CB 5 and his continued commitment to his community. Arcuri previously served two terms as chairman of CB 5, volunteered with Glendale Civilian Observation Patrol and was a member of the Queens Library Foundation.
“For a quarter of a century, Vincent Arcuri honorably and selflessly served his community as chair of Community Board 5. A native of Glendale dating back to the 1940s, Vincent Arcuri has steadfastly championed the interests of the neighborhood he loves,” Rajkumar said.
Katz highlighted a variety of personal safety measures that homeowners should abide by during her brief speech during the meeting. She urged seniors to be aware of phone call scams, which often include AI voices that mimic family members asking for money, as well as romance scams.
“Don’t give anybody your money, you don’t know if they’re a voice on the other side of the phone,” she said.
Following Katz, NYPD Community Affairs officer Dilsia Bonilla of the 104th Precinct alerted residents to community-related issues officers have observed within the precinct. Catalytic converter thefts specifically targeting late model Priuses and Hondas are on the rise as thieves are targeting their precious metals. There is also an increasing amount of mail theft and grand larceny, prompting Bonilla to urge residents to use anti-mail theft pens so that criminals cannot wash the ink off the checks.
She also emphasized a jewelry scam, particularly targeting elderly individuals. Bonilla said her precinct has responded to reports of the scam in Glendale and Middle Village, where scammers will go up to elderly individuals asking for hugs and switch out the jewelry of the victim for faux jewelry.
“If you see a strange car lurking around the neighborhood, driving around aimlessly, please call 911. We have had, I believe, four separate occasions in which this has happened already here; we dont want any more,” Bonilla said. “We must protect our elderly. These valuables could be family heirlooms of high value, and we don’t want to just lose them.”
Following Bonilla’s remarks, speakers presented capital projects that they advocated for the community board to maintain as a capital budget priority.
Laura Seidel, executive director of the Myrtle Avenue BID, advocated for multiple infrastructure improvements on the sidewalk of Myrtle Avenue from Wyckoff Avenue to Freshpond Road, including the replacement of deteriorating brick pavers on sidewalks with more durable materials, adding more curbs, and a full street reconstruction.
“The last time that Myrtle Avenue from Wyckoff to Fresh Pond was included in a major capital project was 1984,” Seidel said. “Myrtle Avenue, as you know, is a major commercial corridor serving the greater Ridgewood area…the corridor is home to approximately 345 retail and service businesses; each of these businesses calls Myrtle Avenue home and deserves safe, accessible, and beautiful access to their front doors,” she said.
