LETTER TO THE EDITOR - from: Robert Valdes Clausell, Newtown Civic Association - July 1, 2014

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It was a pleasure to see all the outpouring of media coverage for last night's protest outside the Elk's Lodge in Elmhurst, Queens and the public hearing held inside by CB 4 on the subject of the conversion of the Pan Am Hotel literally overnight into a homeless shelter without community input or direction, not to mention unlawful lack of notice.
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Tom McKenzie, our NCA President, had asked me to speak on behalf of the NCA ( Newtown Civic Association ) at the public hearing as its spokesperson on this important community issue. I also sit on the ULURP committee of CB4. The ULURP committee was never consulted in any aspect of the sale, closing, the "so-called" renovation of the Pan Am Hotel.
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We had called to register with CB 4 to speak for the mere two minutes they were allotting speakers. You noticed that elected officials and Samaritan Village were afforded a lot more time to speak !!!
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As NCA had said at the last protest.which blocked several lanes of Queens Blvd in front of the Pan Am itself . . . .Let the City house the homeless in all of its vast foreclosed City properties that have been made available since 2001 through HPD. . .not on Queens Blvd at an enormous taxpayer expense. There is no way that the new owners of the Pan Am would close the hotel to the regular public if the City were not paying daily even more than the regular rate for a hotel room for all of the rooms at the hotel, whether or not the rooms are actually housing anyone!!!
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The fact that neither the current owner of the Pan Am, 79-00 Development LLC ( just formed in 2013 to acquire the property ) and its principal, Mr. Steven Berger, nor the former owner who is also the current holder of the private mortgage of over $16,000,000, did not attend nor send representatives to explain their deal with the City through Samaritan Village is a clear demonstration of the disdain that they have for the community in which their property is located.
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The Watergate question looms. . . .what did they know and when did they know it?
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As we pointed out last night, the the commercial heart of Queens on Queens Boulevard is not the right location to operate or maintain any sort of homeless shelter when far more economical locations already exist to house the homeless in the City's foreclosed multi-family building properties. NCA respects and acknowledges the "right to shelter" mandate that exists to protect the rights of our NYC residents who have fallen on hard times and need help in getting back on their feet. . . . but that does not mean that the area's largest hotel serving Elmhurst (especially during the US Open ) should be closed at the general public's expense so that our resident's guests can't stay in Elmhurst to visit them from elsewhere just to house the homeless!
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In fact, as mentioned last night, the current demand mandates that what should happen is that the Pan Am is torn down and the property sold to a national chain of luxury hotels such as the Marriott, Sheraton or Hilton Hotels to meet the current demand
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The City and its Mayor and elected officials such as the Borough President must be held accountable. NCA is filing a FOIL request shortly with the NYC Department of the Homeless to get to the bottom of all the true players behind the scene that most likely had been plotting to profit at taxpayer expense from the conversion of a private hotel to a homeless shelter.
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If the evidence that turns up eventually warrants it, the matter will then be referred to the City DOI. NCA's recent investigation and refarral of many documents to the DOI on another matter . . . the so-called Mattone municipal parking lot in Elmhurst next to the Queens Center Mall that was not pursuant to the City Charter referred back to the ULURP process when the Mattones failed to comply with their obligations as to the property since they acquired it with deed restrictions in 2001 from the City's EDC. That matter is currently pending before the DOI. . . . again the community was ignored and the Charter was ignored.
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Best regards,
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Robert Valdes Clausell
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Newtown Civic Association - July 1, 2014