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Nameoke Housing Project Draws Fire

CB14 members grill contractors at Health & Services committee meeting


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A $53 million housing project to construct a 117-unit apartment building at 20-50 Nameoke Avenue in Far Rockaway – which will contain 46 units of affordable housing and 71 units for formerly homeless individuals and people recovering from mental illness – received pushback from Community Board members at a zoom meeting of CB14’s Health and Social Services Committee on Wednesday night.

The project, which is already approved and plans to begin construction this July, is being contracted by a social services company called the Federation of Organizations and will provide housing and services for all residents, including life skills training, crisis intervention, and community integration.

“Rehabilitation services that are really designed to help people with disabilities and individuals with low income improve their quality of life,” said Deputy Chief Operations Officer of the FOO, Tracy Falkner. “That is really what we are trying to do here.”

Currently, the FOO provides housing for over 700 residents across Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau county. “We are excited to bring the Nameoke apartments to the Rockaway community and we are looking forward to partnering with you and the community to make this program successful,” Falkner said.

The plan received immediate dismissal from members of the community board, with issues on several fronts. Mainly, members were worried about the population that would fill the 71 units for formerly homeless and mentally ill individuals, fearing that they could possibly bring harm to the surrounding community.

In the contractor’s own language, those 71 units would be populated by “severely” mentally ill individuals, but they backtracked on that later in the meeting clarifying that it probably wasn’t the most appropriate term.

“When we talk, it’s a wide spectrum, there are various degrees of mental illness,” Falkner said, adding that there will be a screening process for individuals coming into the building that will include criminal records and sex offender registry. “The people that will be living here are people who can maintain that housing with the right support.”

Those supports became another point of contention when Falkner mentioned that services were only optional to residents and none were mandated.

“That sounds a little disingenuous to me that you say you are putting up supportive housing to help those that are mentally but the services that you provide are not mandated to them,” said Felicia Johnson, co-chair of the board’s health and social services committee. “It sounds like a glorified adult home.”

Falkner, however, clarified that there was a “thorough screening,” of the individuals who would be taking the apartments.

“They are there because they want to participate in a program,” she said, adding that the FOO hopes to take recommendations from local organizations and facilities for residents.

CB members were unconvinced by FOO’s insistence that residents would be thoroughly screened. “That’s what they said for all of them, I’m very jaded right now,” said member Betty Leon, who said she was absolutely against the plan. “Everybody says the same thing.”

Members also hoped that the residents of the Nameoke Apartments would be drawn from the Rockaway community. The contractors said that although the goal would be to fill the apartments with 100% Rockaway residents, that there were no guarantees, leading CB chair Dolores Orr to question the wisdom of bringing non-Rockaway residents to a community that is already underserved in relation to hospital beds and psychiatric care, a question that went unanswered by FOO members.

Over the course of the two-hour meeting, CB members drilled the contractors on many of these issues, leaving one Rockaway resident present to remark that the contractors had “Taken a beating,” adding that it was “Well deserved.” Regardless, the Federation of Organizations meeting with the community board was solely for community outreach, since the plan has already received a letter of approval from then-City Councilman now Borough President Donovan Richards. “We want to work with the community, that is why we are doing this,” said Juanita Scarlett from Bolton-St. Johns, a public affairs consulting firm working with the FOO. “We plan to stay in touch as it rolls out.”

Immediately following the meeting, members of the CB committee voted unanimously to oppose the project, due to the contractors lack of experience in this sort of housing structure, and issues regarding the program itself and its place in Rockaway.

“There were just too many unanswered concerns,” Dolores Orr told the Wave, “Do we want to be the guinea pigs?”

4 responses to “Nameoke Housing Project Draws Fire”

  1. Christina Russell says:

    I knew this from the beginning and have always stated why are they making housing , even in general, there when the area is already over populated. Richards must have made some deal. He hasn’t done anything positive for the people of Rockaway. They should have opened a BOCES or something for the neighborhood kids to give them a safe place to have sports, do homework , learn a trade etc. They could have made a shopping center so those already living there wouldn’t have to travel to get what they need, rather than just the 5 and 10cent stores that charge more than the bigger stores.

  2. Tom Elges says:

    The immense growth in the 11691 Far Rockaway community is insane. The amount of added affordable housing projected for Far Rockaway (over 3500 units) and the existing NYCHA Projects (over 3000 units) plus private section 8 house rentals (?) can house more than the current 11691 population in it’s entirety! Where’s the infrastructure supporting this growth? Affordable housing is making the developers richer and securing our elected officials future votes.

  3. E. Thomas Markitant says:

    There is one overburdened safety-net 911 receiving hospital; the only one on the Peninsula, on the verge of closure. The closest Adult Trauma Center, Jamaica Hospital, is miles away, off the Peninsula. The closest Pediatric Trauma Center, Northwell Schneider’s Children’s, is in Nassau County. Adding additional vulnerable populations, at risk for crisis, leaves them vulnerable and at-risk. This is separate from the social and community isolation of Far Rockaway.

  4. Dc says:

    This is not acceptable. Why does Rockaway keep getting saddled with hospitals and homeless shelters. The crime out here has gotten worse since COVID and it’s not going to help the community if they keep getting this stuff built. There’s a shortage of decent available non government housing already. This just really makes me angry.

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