Community Board 14 January Meeting Recap
By Katie McFadden
On Tuesday, January 14, Community Board 14 convened for the first time in 2025 for its monthly meeting. The meeting was chock full of information, emotional pleas to stop the closure of Neponsit Adult Day Health Center from those who utilize it, and a presentation on 5G tower kiosks.
The meeting began with updates from the local police precincts and the FDNY. Captain George Ng, the new commanding officer for the 101st Precinct, introduced himself and provided some crime updates. Captain Ng said there was a spike in felony assault and robbery in 2024, but these were mainly domestic related incidents, and he’s looking forward to working with the community. Carol Hamilton, recently promoted to Deputy Inspector of the 100th Precinct, said she’s looking forward to what 2025 has in store. Crime Prevention Officer Farrell spoke about a new program coming to the peninsula, Fūsos, a camera sharing program between police, residents and business owners. If anyone with existing security cameras is interested in enrolling in the program to help the NYPD conduct investigations when criminal activity takes place in areas near cameras, they can enroll at NewYorkCityConnect.org
A representative for Transit District 23 says as they prepare for the A train shutdown, they will have more officers at places like Howard Beach and Beach 67th to monitor crowds, and they’ve been making efforts to crack down on subway surfing. A representative of the FDNY’s 47th battalion said there have recently been issues with response times as the peninsula gets more populated, but they’re here to answer the call. Lastly, Community Affairs Officer Victor Boamah let everyone know about a recent scam on Facebook, in which someone shared a fake post about a serial killer in Rockaway. The post was shared nearly 1K times, and then edited to a post about an apartment scam. He advised people not to share these and to contact the precinct if they have questions about alleged crimes.
Next up were updates from representatives of local elected officials. Jose from Rep. Meeks’ office spoke about tax credits available for homeowners and advised people to head to energy.gov/save to find out more. Senator James Sanders is offering free legal services for seniors every first Tuesday of the month in his Jamaica office. For more info, call 718-523-3069. Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson’s office announced that the state funding application process for nonprofits is open through February 10. For more information, call 718-322-4958.
Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato’s rep said she’s back in Albany for the legislative session, but spoke of some of her legislation that was signed into law in 2024, including a law requiring the public service commission to publish information about why they’re approving rate increases for gas and electric companies, an insurance bill for expectant mothers and more. She’ll be hosting a cat adoption event with Noah’s Ark at her Rockaway office from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on February 8. A rep from Queens Borough President Donovan Richards’ office reminded everyone that community board applications are now open.
Margaret Powers of Councilwoman Joann Ariola’s office said Ariola passed two bills that will require the DOT to be more transparent when they take away parking spaces and will allow FDNY to weigh in on street projects like bike lanes. With the A train shutdown looming, Ariola was able to work with NYC Ferry to acquire 350-passenger boats instead of the regular 150-passenger boats to accommodate more riders. In her Ozone Park office, she regularly hosts representatives from CUNY Citizenship Now to help legal immigrants navigate the system. For more info, call 718-738-1083. Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers will be holding a meeting for faith-based leaders at JFK Airport Building 14 on January 28 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. but encourages all community leaders to attend. Dan Brown of DA Melinda Katz’s office spoke about the work they’re doing, including indicting a man for vehicular assault while driving his three children to school while under the influence.
Next, the floor was open to public speaking, where several people took the time to speak about the possible closing of the Neponsit Adult Day Health Center at 230 Beach 102nd Street by March 31. Among them were clients, many on the brink of tears, who spoke of the physical improvements they’ve made with the help of the physical therapist at the center, including being able to lift their arms and even walk now. “It’s been such a blessing,” said a woman recovering from a stroke. “I learned this is the only medical model daycare in all of Rockaway. The others in the five boroughs are all far away. Find a way to keep this open.” Jean, a retired healthcare proxy said she believes the reason they’re closing is, “They don’t have enough contracts with MLTCs (Managed long-term care)” to get the number of patients that they need to stay open. Andrew Falzone, whose late father used to attend the center, urged elected officials to take action and hold hearings at the state and city level about the potential closure, as the last time Neponsit threatened to close, it scared Health and Hospitals into stopping a previous closure proposal.
Ahead of a later committee presentation on the pending closure, District Manager Felicia Johnson advised those in attendance that Community Board 14 is not in charge of closing the Center. David of the CB14 health committee then provided a report on their December 18 meeting on the matter. Daveth Forbes-Thomas of Health and Hospitals told them the Center was closing due to low attendance, as they have capacity for 50 clients a day but only see about 15. She said they need about 150 clients in total, as insurance pays for clients to attend for two to three days, but they only have about 38. She said they attempted to do outreach in local newspapers to boost attendance, but their efforts stopped in July after they were unsuccessful, and on October 16, the Dept. of Health approved the closure of the Center. They have a program to assess the closure that will be reviewed by the Dept. of Health, but ultimately the DOH makes the final decision about the closure. More than 150 people have signed a petition against the closure. The CB14 health committee passed a motion to oppose the closure and request that HHC responds to some of their questions, including why didn’t they do outreach at senior buildings and if they supposedly had a waitlist, why weren’t they letting people enroll. HHC claimed they don’t have a waitlist, as when those who are interested find out if they’re eligible or not, only a quarter of interested clients enroll. Johnson again reiterated that they need more contracts with MLTCs so more people can qualify for care at the Center.
The board followed the committee’s motion of opposing the closure until they can get more information from HHC. The board voted unanimously to keep the Center open. However, again, the ultimate decision is up to the Department of Health.
Others spoke about different concerns during public speaking. Jessica Turner of the NYC Parks Department’s natural resources group said they’re seeking public help to restore damaged wetlands and natural areas. She especially encourages young people who need community service hours to reach out at: jess.turner.parks.nyc.gov
A man named Jose Santana brought up interesting information about the way businesses are classified in the North American Industry Classification System, which is having negative impacts on the community as their data is used to offer tax incentives and allocate resources and funding to certain areas. In an example, for downtown Far Rockaway, their data says there are 68 banks in the area, but Santana pointed out that they’re counting 65 ATMs in the area. They also say there are 90 full-service restaurants in the area, but they’re counting delis and bodegas, instead of about 10 actual restaurants. “Our community deserves better,” Santana said.
A man named David brought up the MTA’s latest final plan for the Queens Bus Redesign Network, saying moving the Q35 to Rockaway Beach Blvd. and getting rid of the Q22 uptown would be detrimental to the community, so he urged the MTA to “go back to the drawing board.” Another man requested the veterans’ flag and plaque be placed back at Seagirt Blvd. and once again urged CB14 to host Zoom meeting options.
After public speaking, Chairwoman Dolores Orr and District Manager Felicia Johnson gave their reports. Orr said she watched Gov. Hochul’s State of the State speech and noted some commitments including adding LED lighting to every subway station by the end of the year. She is concerned about a NY state requirement of no parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk. New York City is currently exempt, but Orr said there are conversations about it coming to NYC and she urged the transportation committee to stay on top of it. The environmental committee will be holding a meeting on 500 flood sensors being added around the city. Rockaway only has 12 currently, in places like Snake Road and Beach 84th Street, which has flooded 126 times in the last 36 months. She advised the board to think of locations that have regular flooding like this so they can receive flood sensors.
Johnson said she sent a request to Queens Borough Hall for two CB14 job positions, a full time and part time, at the community board, and she’s waiting on the OK for them before they seek candidates. She said the city is allowing people who make complaints to 311 about homeless people in public areas, to submit photos along with their complaints, so workers know who to look for when offering them services. She received a notice from NYC Housing Preservation and Development, saying they’ll be rehabilitating 13 buildings this year, but have not yet said which ones. They’ve also approved new security cameras for the oceanside of the Ocean Bay Apartments. NYC Parks has said that construction of Bay Breeze Park at Beach 88th Street is delayed as they need a certain permit for a utility pole. She reminded folks that DSNY is seeking emergency snow shovelers and are paying $18.54 an hour. For more info, see: Nyc.gov/snow
Robert Sokota of LinkNYC was on hand to make a presentation about three LinkNYC 5G towers that could be coming to the peninsula. These 32-foot towers would provide free Wi-Fi in surrounding areas for up to a few hundred feet, would include a tablet for people to access social services, a USB charger for cell phones, and would provide additional 5G service for cell phone providers looking to expand and provide better coverage. They’re planning to install these kiosks at 229 Beach 20th Street, 1827 Cornaga Avenue and 88-07 Rockaway Beach Blvd. Sokota explained that the city has an extensive list of rules for where these kiosks can be placed, so they’re limited to locations. Some asked how this would benefit the community besides the free services, and Sokota said they will offer free ads to local businesses. Others expressed concern over the unknowns of 5G and potential effects it can have on people’s health. No motion was made as this issue will go on to the CB14 economic development committee for a meeting.