Murder on Manila St., census 2020 discussed at Queens Community Board 4 meeting
Sept. 19, 2019
NEW YORK, NY — Late Tuesday night, Corona and Elmhurst residents shuffled into the second floor of the Italian Charities of America building in Queens for the September Community Board 4 meeting. On the agenda was everything from a murder that’s shaken a neighborhood to the 2020 Census.
Phil Wong has lived on Manila St. in Elmhurst, Queens since 1976. That’s why when he got a call on Aug. 25 that a gunman had fatally shot a young man in the head on his block, he was shocked.
“I was away, I got the message from my brother who lives a couple of houses down. We were horrified because we never, ever expected this to happen. It’s a quiet street, we do not expect this to happen in our community,” said Wong.
This was a big concern for Phil when he arrived at the Community Board 4 Meeting. And he wasn’t the only one worried about safety in the area. Sally Wong, who is not related to Phil Wong, expressed other concerns during the public forum portion of the meeting. She said the unlit steps leading up to The Shops at Grand Avenue make her uncomfortable, especially because of a recent burglary that happened only a couple of blocks away.
Sally said, “So one of the asks that I have is to see if there is a way to put a no loitering sign there, get more lighting. I don’t know if it’s too much to ask for a security camera to be put up there.”
Hoping to address these anxieties, Joseph Leone, the Special Operations Officer of NYPD’s 110th Precinct, shared the latest crime statistics. He claimed that overall crime had gone down by about 16% but there was an 18% uptick in burglaries compared to September of last year. Leone didn’t, however, give any clarification about the murder on Manila St.
“Unfortunately there are no updates I’m allowed to give you at this time and it’s still one of our high-profile cases that the detective squad and other various units are currently working on.”
Phil told me about a week later that he still hasn’t heard any updates from the NYPD. He said, “We all know whoever committed the activity, they disappeared. So it will take awhile for the NYPD to make any announcements.”
The Community Board 4’s priority item on the agenda finally began about an hour into the meeting, after ticking through countless local government updates and upcoming neighborhood events.
Jamal Baksh, Regional Partnership Specialist of the U.S. Census, led the presentation. Baksh worked hard to dispel confusion surrounding it by assuring community members that all information would remain confidential and protected. “Your personal information is never shared. Not with the president, not with the states, not with the city,” Baksh explained.
This is particularly important because of President Donald J. Trump’s recent efforts to add a citizenship question to the census. While this was eventually struck down by the Supreme Court, anxieties may be heightened for many undocumented immigrants.
Baksh said confidently that, “regardless of immigration status, we’re looking to count everyone, period.”
The next Queens Community Board 4 meeting is scheduled for Oct. 8, 2019 at 7:00 PM but is subject to change.