Overdosing Ridgewood

 

Queens Chronicle

Three men died of apparent drug overdoses Thursday morning in Ridgewood, police said.

The victims were discovered unconscious and unresponsive at about 6:50 a.m. inside an apartment building at or near the corner of Seneca and Putnam avenues, according to an email from Det. Michael Berish of Community Affairs in the 104th Precinct. 

Police had been called by the brother of one of the victims, who met the officers when they arrived, according to the email, which was sent to Jon Kablack, president of the 104th Precinct Community Council.

All three men were pronounced dead at the scene, the email said, adding that “this incident is under preliminary investigation and details are subject to change.”

The victims were not immediately identified.

In response to follow-up questions, the NYPD press office said one victim was 38, one was 39 and one was unidentified; their cause of death will be determined by the Medical Examiner's Office; and the location was the basement of 1724 Putnam Ave.

Berish could not immediately be reached for more information.

Drug overdose deaths remain on the rise in the city.

 

Getting high while building high

 CityLand

On October 30, 2023, the Department of Buildings announced a new initiative to help combat overdoses among construction workers. A recent Department of Health survey Health revealed that construction workers led occupational groups in overdose deaths. In response to the Department of Health’s survey, both the Health and Building Departments are taking action to address the dangers of substance abuse and highlight the tools provided by the City to construction workers. Staff from both agencies will visit construction sites and discuss substance abuse issues, fentanyl, Naloxone use and its role in preventing a fatal overdose, work site safety, and how to keep themselves safe on and off construction sites.

The Department of Health survey found that in 2020, 269 construction workers died of an overdose. National data held similarly, with a finding that the construction industry saw the most fatal overdoses out of all other occupations according to the US Centers for Disease Control analysis. The data in the Department of Health’s survey showed that between people 18 to 64 of all races and ethnic groups, those with jobs fitting the ‘Construction and Extraction’ field, which covers multiple specific occupations in the construction industry.

Overall citywide, there has been a steep increase in fatal overdoses, with Fentanyl involved in more than 80 percent of drug overdoses in New York City. Fentanyl is mostly found along with heroin but has also been traced to other substances including illicitly manufactured pills.

To combat this, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene provides free programs to New Yorkers in an effort to increase awareness around overdoses. This effort includes, free naloxone and fentanyl test strips, city-run medication for opioid use disorder programs, and harm reduction resources. More information about how to obtain a free naloxone kit is available here and New Yorkers can call 988 for free confidential crisis counseling, mental health and substance use support, information and referrals.

The Department of Buildings will require all construction workers working on larger and more complex sites to take 40 Site Safety Training which includes a two-hour drug and alcohol awareness class. This class will focus on the harms of substance abuse and the consequences of chemical dependence. The Department of Buildings will also be requesting that contractors and site safety professionals in drug and alcohol safety information be included in their “tool box talks” or pre shift daily meetings.

Mayor Eric Adams said, “The opioid crisis has hurt people in every community and at every phase of life, so we must be comprehensive in our efforts to tackle it and keep New Yorkers safe. New York City is facing a deadly and devastating opioid crisis, and that’s why last month, our administration convened elected leaders, public health officials, and law enforcement from across the nation to develop strategies around reducing and preventing drug use. By educating construction workers on substance use disorders and providing them with the support they need, we are addressing this dire issue and helping the New Yorkers who build and maintain our city.”

 

Glendale warehouse homeless shelter continues to be a pit of despair and violence

 

CBS New York 

 The rough conditions inside a Queens congregate men's shelter with about 180 residents have sparked a city investigation.

It comes after a 27-year-old man experiencing homelessness became a whistleblower, sharing photos, videos and his personal ordeal exclusively with CBS2's Dave Carlin.

"I never saw myself in a position like this, ever a day in my life, no," said the man, who wished to remain anonymous.

He moved to New York from Texas a year ago, landed a job in hospitality working fancy events, but the very opposite of that is where he's been sleeping.

"I make about $27 an hour with that company alone," the man said.

"And it's still too hard to find a place?" Carlin asked

"Yep," the man said.

So, he is experiencing homelessness, surrounded by apparent squalor, drug use and violence inside Glendale's Cooper Rapid Rehousing Center with a population of more than 180 men.

He started taking videos and photos of what goes on inside after being harassed and attacked.

"I do identify as queer," the man said. "I was assaulted multiple times. The police came out, they said it wasn't really their issue, it's something that has to be dealt with internally." 

He says he can confirm what many neighbors are claiming about crime spilling out of the shelter and into the community. 

"A lot of drug dealing happening around the area, people doing sexual activity over by the school right behind the shelter, and I've seen this all first hand," the man said. "I did my due diligence in finding my local city councilman and I reached out to him."

On Wednesday, Councilman Robert Holden made sure the young man was reassigned elsewhere to a hotel room.

"He's talented. We want to help him. He did a service to everyone in New York City, showing the conditions of the shelters," Holden said. "Get him an apartment, that's my goal, to get him an apartment."

"I know that something good will end up coming out of this," the man said.

Something good, according to Holden, is the city shutting down the Cooper Center.

"The mayor is looking at it. So is [New York City Department of Homeless Services] Commissioner [Gary] Jenkins," Holden said.

"This is supposed to be a working men's shelter, but time and time again, we have people that have severe mental illness ... that really don't fit with what the shelter was for," Glendale resident Dawn Scala said.

Holden favors facilities with smaller groups of residents so their needs can be handled more effectively.

"It's a de Blasio leftover. We need to change it ... I don't believe that we should put 200 men in one location," Holden said.

Kew Gardens hotel is a den of crime and iniquity

Queens Eagle

 The bullet holes in the front door were the last straw. 

Five Central Queens elected officials have urged Mayor Bill de Blasio to convene various city agencies and address a spike in gun violence and drug sales at the Umbrella Hotel, located across from Queens Borough Hall and the Queens Criminal Courthouse. 

“The events we have witnessed over the last several months at this location have crossed the line from quality of life issues into safety concerns for the people we have the privilege of representing,” the elected officials wrote in a letter to City Hall. “Simply put, we need your administration to coordinate a multi-agency response to the problems at this location.”

The hotel has been the scene of two shootings over the past six weeks, prompting U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, State Sen. Leroy Comrie, Assemblymembers Daniel Rosenthal and Andrew Hevesi and Councilmember Karen Koslowitz to send the letter to de Blasio. 

The shootings, first reported by the Eagle, took place July 3 and Aug. 9. The victims survived both attacks, but gunfire from the most recent incident punctured the revolving door of the once-quiet hotel. 

“The situation is extremely dangerous,” Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal told the Eagle after a meeting at Queens Borough Hall Aug. 13. Representatives from the NYPD’s 102nd Precinct and Queens Community 9 showed up, but several other agencies blew off the meeting, Rosenthal said. 

“There have already been two shootings and the fact that we had a meeting and that most city agencies decided not to show is reckless and unacceptable,” Rosenthal said.

Coming soon to Queens?

From PIX11:

It's a crisis that's left thousands of New Yorkers on the brink of death in the past couple of years, and now it's happened again.

Mass overdoses of the synthetic marijuana called K2 continue in New York City, and one intersection, on the border of Bed-Stuy and Bushwick, has been hit particularly hard.

The corner of Broadway and Myrtle Avenue has been the scene of mass overdoses at least twice in the last two years. Over the past weekend, five more people overdosed near the intersection. It is clearly a problem. However, the local council member said, five overdoses is an improvement.

Is this the way to stop rampant K2 use?

From CBS 2:

Neighborhoods demanding a crackdown on the dangerous synthetic drug K2 rallied today describing the way the narcotic poisons their communities.

The neighborhoods might be different but the effects are the same, reports CBS2’s Marc Liverman.

CBS2 exclusive video taken back in 2016 show people on K2 passed out on chairs in the middle of the sidewalk, seen again in 2018 all around New York City.

Others are seen leaning against buildings and nodding out as mothers pushed their strollers close by. That was in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, and now it’s happening in Williamsbridge.

Just ask pastor Janet Hodge.

“Every morning that we arrive, we find that people have used the bathroom on our property,” she said. “Every day I come outside and I find that there are men and women loitering on our stoops and they are in a stupor.”

“We have people walking around zombie-like, in catatonic states, up and down White Plains Road,” said State Senator Jamaal Bailey.

At a rally Monday, local politicians and residents said enough is enough. King introducing new legislation that would hold landlords and area businesses accountable.

“The store will be shut down and you will not be able to reopen the same business or rent it out to the same business,” he said.

The new legislation would also slap on a $100,000 fine on any business caught selling the synthetic cannabinoid.

No one ran a background check?

From the Daily News:

The site functions as an off-the-radar version of what the city hopes will be one of the first government-monitored supervised injection sites in the United States: Safe spaces where addicts can shoot up without interference from the police.

Mayor de Blasio has endorsed a plan to locate four sites citywide, including one at the Washington Heights location.

But no supervised injection site has been officially approved in the city — and there are doubts it will ever happen, given that the Department of Justice opposes the idea.

And as of this week, city and state health officials said they were not aware of Washington Heights Corner Project’s bathroom arrangement.

City officials were also unaware that the couple who now runs the Corner Project — Liz Evans and Mark Townsend — had to resign in 2014 from a supervised injection site in Canada after government auditors uncovered lavish spending on fancy restaurants, limo rides and four-star hotels in Europe.

Since then, Evans and Townsend relocated to New York and began running the Washington Heights Corner Project — and promoting the idea of opening more sites in the city.

This year Evans was appointed to an advisory panel on the subject by the city Health Department and was quoted by Mayor de Blasio in his May 4 press release announcing the push for the sites.

Maspeth bar shut down for prostitution, drugs, gambling & counterfeit cigarettes

From NBC:

A Queens bar had its liquor license suspended after authorities allegedly uncovered prostitution, narcotics, illicit gambling and untaxed cigarettes.

The New York State Liquor Authority issued the emergency suspension of Huang Jia Inc in Maspeth Wednesday effective immediately, which prohibits alcohol to be sold or consumed on the premises.

According to the State Liquor Authority, SLA investigators and officers with the New York City Police Department’s Citywide Vice-Enforcement Division executed a search warrant of the bar on April 12. During the search warrant, investigators allegedly discovered 97 packs of counterfeit or untaxed cigarettes, jars and bags filled with the narcotic ketamine, records related to the sale of prostitution and illegal gambling devices.

The NYPD made nine arrests, including the bar’s owner, for criminal possession of a controlled substance. Additionally, a number of hazardous conditions were observed, including overcrowding, blocked exits and non-working emergency lighting, the State Liquor Authority says.

On April 14, the NYPD and SLA conducted a follow up inspection, making six arrests after allegedly discovering patrons with ketamine in three separate karaoke rooms inside the bar and finding patrons consuming alcohol after closing hours.

On April 16, the SLA charged the establishment with 22 violations of the ABC Law, including disorderly premises for permitting prostitution, gambling, trafficking of controlled substances, failure to supervise and for becoming a focal point for police attention.

Between March 15th and April 12th, the NYPD conducted three undercover operations where detectives posing as customers allegedly purchased narcotics, prostitution and gambling — all which formed the basis for the April 12 raid, officials say.

According to the NYPD, there was an alleged a pattern of criminal activity in and around the premises months prior to these incidents.

LIC luxury high rise drug mill busted

From NBC:

A Queens man and a New Jersey woman have been arrested for allegedly conspiring to distribute dangerous designer drugs, including a synthetic opioid several times more potent than morphine that has been blamed for at least one overdose death, authorities said Tuesday. Lori Bordonaro reports.

Construction workers seek drug testing

From NY1:

Dozens of construction workers want the city council to enforce drug and alcohol testing for employees.

The Associated Builders and Contractors Empire State Chapter rallied Monday at the steps of City Hall, calling on the city to enforce the testing.

"Construction is hazardous enough already, without having to worry about if the person next to you is under the influence of something," said an advocate at the rally. "So I think testing that's done by a third party would be beneficial to help give workers the confidence to know that their job site is as safely run as possible."

A performance report that the group released says drug and alcohol use account for nearly one-third of construction accidents nationwide.

Latin Kings busted in Woodhaven

From the Queens Chronicle:

Seven members and associates of a Latin Kings sect known as the "Woodhaven Mayans" were arrested and now face narcotics and weapons charges, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced Friday.

The gang operated primarily within the confines of the 102nd and 106th precincts, according to Brown.

“A morning wake-up call by the police armed with a court-authorized search warrant earlier this week resulted in the arrest of seven individuals – six men and one woman – and the seizure of a large quantity of illicit drugs and a defaced firearm," Brown said in a statement. "These arrests should serve as a warning to other drug dealers and gang members that the law enforcement community will continue to aggressively track down those who traffic in drugs and illegal firearms and seek to put them in prison.”

The defendants were identified as David Golden, Jesus Merced, Janet Rodriguez, Alberto Santiago, Malik Santiago, Edgardo Torres and Travis Gonzales. Torres, Gonazalez and Golden are listed as Queens residents with no specific neighborhood and Merced in from Hempstead, LI. Rodriguez and both Santiagos are from Ozone Park.

Schumer asks for more funding for opioid enforcement

From PIX11:

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for federal help in the fight against opioid addiction in New York.

Schumer is asking the Drug Enforcement Agency to provide the state with one of four special heroin enforcement teams being formed to combat the problem. The four teams are specifically dedicated to counteracting heroin trafficking and are sent to states that report heroin as the highest drug threat.

The Democrat says New York's heroin overdose death rate increased by 30 percent in 2015. New data show there was an average of four overdose deaths a day in New York City alone last year. That was double the rate two years earlier. New York City also is a major distribution hub.

Overall, 24 New York counties are considered High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.

Ex-assembly member charged for pill mill participation

From CBS 2:

More than a dozen people have been arrested and charged in a prescription drug ring in Brooklyn, and a doctor is the alleged ringleader.

As CBS2’s Dave Carlin reported, nurses and even a former New York state assemblyman were also caught up in the bust, dubbed “Operation Avalanche.”

Allegedly, the multimillion-dollar scheme involved thousands of medically unnecessary prescriptions, and shady patient tests and treatments to defrauded Medicare and Medicaid.

Also charged is former Coney Island, Brooklyn Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, 59. He is in Israel and has not surrendered.

Investigators said he allegedly directed a lab he is now affiliated with to alter drug test results.

Homeless number explosion means dumping on a lot of neighborhoods

The ridiculous numbers of hotels being used as homeless shelters and the total mishandling of the homeless situation by both the de Blasio administration and the providers that get paid millions to not provide services has now become a citywide concern. Check these articles out:

Pols discuss homeless, immmigration at Bayside Hills Civic meeting

Electeds debunk rumors that new buildings in Astoria complex would house homeless

Easy Access to Heroin On Manhattan Ave. Tempts Shelter Residents: Director

Luxe hotel near celebrity homes sued for housing homeless

Coney Island A “Dumping Ground For Homeless Shelters” Locals Complain In Protest to Proposed Shelter

And finally, 2 editorials:

Can DHS be trusted?

De Blasio’s homeless ‘strategy’ isn’t a strategy at all

More needles on the streets

From the Daily News:

There's been a sharp increase in used syringes littering New York’s streets — at a time when the rate of fatal heroin overdoses is skyrocketing.

The number of complaints about loose needles lying around this year has jumped to 213 — about a 25% increase compared to the same period last year, city Department of Health records show.

You can get a different kind of charge at Wifi kiosks

From DNA Info:

The city installed at least 40 new Link NYC kiosks on the Upper East Side beginning in March, and residents say they've created a nuisance in the neighborhood due to the size and density of the machines.

While the kiosks, which stand 9-feet 6-inches tall, have so far only been installed in spots where public pay phones used to be, more are coming, with the city's goal to bring 4,550 of the machines to the city by July 2019, according to CityBridge, which operates LinkNYC.

The kiosks — which offer free access to Wi-Fi, phones, phone chargers and internet browsers — have also become spots for drug deals, according to some residents.

The NYPD did not respond to requests for more information.

Flushing police scandal gets bigger

From DNA Info:

Nearly two dozen NYPD officers are under investigation as a result of the recent arrest of a lieutenant and a detective involved in a protection racket for karaoke clubs and bar owners in Flushing, DNAinfo New York has learned.

Two captains, three lieutenants, three sergeants, three detectives and 12 police officers are now under a cloud in the aftermath of a two-year investigation that ended in December with the arrest of Lt. Robert Sung and Detective Yatyu Yam of the 109th Precinct, according to confidential NYPD documents obtained by DNAinfo's “On the Inside.”

The internal records include the names, photos and possible violations of department or criminal regulations each of 23 officers may have committed, but provide few specifics.

Sources say some allegations come from Yam, 35, who was arrested by Internal Affairs Bureau investigators and prosecutors from the Queens District Attorney’s Office, and taken to a secret location in a hotel where he was debriefed over two days.

The strongest evidence, however, was captured on recordings and surveillance tapes that shows Sung and Yam convincing fellow officers not to raid the clubs they were protecting or to free customers being handcuffed for using drugs there.

Sources say that instead of listening to Sung and Yam, the officers should have notified IAB or their supervisors about possible corruption, as is required by NYPD policies.

How brainwashed is the Queens press?

So remember a couple of years ago when reporters announced with glee that crime decreased after the Pan Am opened, relying on bogus stats from the NYPD and the DHS to make it look like there was hysteria over nothing?

Then came the problems that couldn't be hidden. One by one the reports piled up.

DHS' response? That a racial incident was perpetrated against an unnamed Pan Am shelter kid by unnamed assailants of a local school. No arrests were ever made, and the NYPD and DOE were never notified of the incident, yet it was reported as fact, because local journalists don't think DHS has a reason to lie.

Now the shit is really hitting the fan, as real journalists, like citywide reporters Courtney Gross of NY1 (5-part series) and Greg Smith of the Daily News (5-part series), absolutely rip the de Blasio administration apart over their mishandling of shelter problem.

When a community reports major problems with a shelter, maybe it's best that the local reporters take them seriously.

Please do your jobs and stop being shills for the mayor.

Strip club shut down

From the Daily News:

The Show Palace, an “all nude” strip club in Long Island City, Queens, was shuttered by court order Friday after investigators learned that servers were selling both marijuana and cocaine along with non-alcoholic drinks and lap dances, officials said.

The NYPD Narcotics Bureau conducted a number of investigations at the Show Palace, according to officials. A week before it was closed, a shooting took place outside the club, a police source said.

“Waitresses were selling drugs to customers,” the source said.

Oxy suppliers shut down

From NBC:

A pharmacist, her husband and another man have been accused of hawking oxycodone out of a pair of New York City storefronts in a multi-million dollar drug scheme, authorities say.

The scheme was run out of two pharmacies, both named "Chopin Chemists" in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and Ridgewood, Queens, both owned by the pharmacist, sources said. The pharmacist, Lilian Wieckowski, and her husband, Marcin Jakacki, allegedly conspired to sell the drugs out of the two pharmacies "any way they could," according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

"We've shut down one of the largest pill mills in the city," Bharara said.

Authorities say they began investigating Wieckowski's pharmacies after a civil audit revealed that the Brooklyn pharmacy was requesting more oxycodone from drug makers than anywhere else in the zip code -- which included several large, nationwide pharmacy chains. One year, Bharara said, Chopin Chemists in Greenpoint requested more than 250,000 more pills than the next pharmacy.