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Sliwa on homeless crisis: “Defunding police to blame”
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa met with this paper’s editorial board last week to discuss a handful of city issues and how he would navigate them if elected.
One of the most pressing issues he touched on is the treatment of homeless people and emotionally disturbed persons in the city.
Sliwa can be seen on social media interacting with homeless people who are living on the streets and in the subways, and often calls out officials like Mayor Bill de Blasio and his democratic opponent, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, for not doing the same.
Sliwa believes that homeless outreach efforts have taken a turn for the worse as a result of the police being defunded by $1 billion, which he says severely impacted the Homeless Outreach Unit.
“Cops would go into the shelters, they would go into the hotels,” he said. “They would deal with EDPs and homeless people, more so than at the precinct level.”
Sliwa would close the 28 MICA shelters, which deal with mentally-ill and substance-abusing people, in the city.
“Those have to be closed,” he said. “You can’t have emotionally disturbed persons in shelters, they need care. They need to be in a mental healthcare hospital getting their meds.”
He supports reopening Camp LaGuardia upstate, a facility for the mentally ill and substance abusers that was closed during the Bloomberg administration.
Sliwa argues the camp would allow these individuals to overcome their substance abuse problems, as well as offer job training that may assist them with employment opportunities in the future.
Last month, Sliwa led a rally to celebrate local efforts that prevented the city from housing homeless people at the Holiday Inn Express in Maspeth, but said the issue of using hotels to house the homeless is an issue for many neighborhoods.
Sliwa said Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks “shoved these shelters down people’s throats” with no transparency or discussion. The argument is that the hotels allow homeless people who need shelter to remain in their community where they have a support system
But Sliwa says he has had conversations with homeless individuals living in hotel shelters far from where they are originally from.
The mayoral hopeful says he requested a meeting with Governor Kathy Hochul to discuss his opposition to legislation that would allow the state to buy hotels currently housing the homeless to make them permanent shelters. Sliwa says he has not heard back.
“A man or a woman, single, able-bodied should be able to have their own apartment, not have to live in a shelter in a dormitory-style way in which it’s not healthy for them,” he said. “They’re constantly being preyed on, it’s Darwinian.
“I’ve been in enough of them in which the shelter guards, whether they’re private security or Department of Homeless Services, have a no-touch policy,” Sliwa added “How are you going to control some people who are going to use force to try to shake down and extort other homeless people?”
Forest Hills Green Team works for a more sustainable neighborhood
From August 21 to August 29, the Forest Hills Green Team (FHGT) hosted multiple free events to engage community members on environmental initiatives.
The events included How to Take Care of Neighborhood Trees, Progressive Potluck Picnic, Composting 101, Tree Care and Flower Planting, Urban Farmer Primer, and Voter Registration Climate Protection.
Formed in 2018, the FHGT is an organization of volunteers dedicated to the environmental health of Forest Hills and the surrounding areas. The FHGT worked with the Parks Department and Democracy NYC to host the events, which included voter registration drives.
“Our goal is to encourage grassroots support in mitigating the challenges we face in dealing with climate change,” said Mark Laster, co-chair of the FHGT.
Past FHGT projects have include partnering with MELS High School to develop a school garden, partnering with Forest Hills High School to create a community garden, creating a compost scrap drop-off site, and beautifying and maintaining Yellowstone Boulevard.
Former advocacy projects include testifying in support for safe NYC shoreline protection and hosting presentations and meetings with politicians about supporting the OFF Fossil Fuels Act.
Laster said that the advocacy projects really come into play more than the on-the-ground work when trying to make a difference in the fight against climate change.
“I think there is a growing awareness of these issues in our area, but there still needs to be a continued push,” said Laster, “There are plans afoot for groups like 350 NYC to work together to try to promote climate legislation and organize rallies, and I think that’s how we’re beginning to see how we can really have an impact.”
More recently, the FHGT beautified Yellowstone Boulevard with funding from a grant they received in 2019.
“We had a big project in 2019 where we got a grant and we brought basically 30 volunteers and cleaned up that whole area,” said Laster. “We planted some trees and flowers, and we’ve been going back on a regular basis to maintain it and plant more.”
The FHGT also recently introduced a food drop-off site in MacDonald Park. The farmers market in the park used to have a composting site before the pandemic.
Once things started to open up again, there wasn’t enough funding for composting, so the FHGT jumped in to fill the gap with help from the Queens Botanical Garden. They started with one bin and now regularly fill four.
The FHGT used to have monthly meetings in the library, but when COVID hit they stopped and switched to virtual meetings. This was just one of the many adjustments they’ve had to make during the pandemic.
“Most of our activities were outdoors so we couldn’t do anything, because at the height of the pandemi] nobody could be outdoors,” said Laster, “When things began to open up again we began to do more outdoor events.”
The FHGT’s weekend voter registration event took place during the drop-off site hours.
“We just want people to realize how important it is to vote,” said Anisia Ayon, a FHGT volunteer who was present at the event, “We make people more aware about climate change, which is very important because it’s affecting a lot of things in our life. Our goal is to educate our community.”
Surrounding the compost bins and voter registration table were other volunteers from Friends of MacDonald Park. They were picking up litter, sweeping, and weeding.
“I want more funding for this park,” said Stephen Melnik, volunteer organizer and nine-year veteran of FHGT. “We need a new watering system, better and more garbage receptacles, and trees to be maintained. We’re just trying to get the park in order.”
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Heritage Day returns to West Side Tennis Club
The West Side Tennis Club (WSTC) continues to celebrate and honor its legacy. The club was founded in Manhattan in 1892 and moved to its current home in Forest Hills in 1913.
Last year’s events were largely off-limits due to the pandemic, but on August 27 the fourth Heritage Day event took place. The first was held in 2017 to mark the club’s 125th anniversary.
“Each Heritage Day allows us to relive tennis history with the wonderful tennis legends who join us,” said club president Monika Jain. “As we move forward, we are delighted to welcome current tennis superstars to the club.”
Banners honoring Stan Smith, who won the U.S. Open Singles championship in 1971 and U.S. Open Doubles championships in 1968 and 1974, and Bud Collins, a journalist, commentator, and tennis historian joined banners honoring Maureen Connolly, Jack Kramer, Arthur Ashe, Virginia Wade, Rod Laver, Rene Lacoste, and the first U.S. Open.
“Today the club is honoring two men who have not only made tennis history, but have created legendary status in the tennis world,” said Jason Weir-Smith, WSTC’s director of Racquet Sports, who served as emcee for the event.
Collins’ widow, Anita Ruthling Klaussen, donated much of her late husband’s tennis memorabilia to the club, which will be housed in the library, which was renamed “The Bud Collins Tennis Library.”
“One of the incredible surprises is the people wearing some of Bud’s clothes,” said Klaussen, herself a well-respected photographer. “When they all came to gather the books, all 90 boxes, they brought a crew. At the end of the day I asked, ‘Would you all like to look at Bud’s walk-in closet?’ I said to pick whatever you want.
“I believe Bud would be very, very pleased to know that his cherished tennis books are now housed here,” she added. “He loved the West Side Tennis Club.”
Collins was one of the first writers to make the jump to television.
“I just want you to know, I love hearing you talk,” Klaussen recalls an electrician telling her late husband. “I don’t care about tennis one bit, but I never miss your broadcast, since you’re so interesting.”
Collins also loved to play tennis and carried a racket on all of his travels. One of his favorite partners was opera star Luciano Pavarotti.
Ramsey Smith, head coach of the Duke University men’s tennis team, was making his first visit to WSTC and handled the introduction of his father.
“First and foremost, he’s my father, but he’s also my mentor, coach, and role model,” he said. “Someone I always looked up to and admired.”
“Tennis has been a great sport,” the elder Smith told the crowd. “All four of our kids played in college, it has always been an important part of our lives.”
Smith is the namesake of the popular style of Adidas tennis shoes, and even wrote a book titled “Stan smith: Some People Think I’m a Shoe.”
“People always ask about the shoe,” he said. “Back in 1965, the shoe was created as the first leather tennis shoe ever made. Before that, we wore canvas shoes.”
“Seeing him impressed me to see the personal side of the man,” said attendee David Gale of Smith. “Fit, articulate, and appreciative of not only what he accomplished, but also appreciative of the fact that he didn’t do it himself. It is always inspiring to see people who achieved success relatively early in their lives and be very happy and at peace with where they are now.”
“Stan Smith, Anita Ruthling Klaussen, and Bud Collins inspire me through their impact on those around them,” said Michael Perkins. “The ambiance of Heritage Day is characterized by the excitement created by the coming together of loving friends and family to honor their historical and cultural impact.”