Community to protest ‘flophouse’ Kew Gardens hotel this weekend
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This Sunday at noon, residents and community leaders will gather in front of Queens Borough Hall (120-55 Queens Blvd.) to protest against the Umbrella Hotel Kew Gardens. They say the hotel has become a “flophouse,” jeopardizes the safety and tranquility of the community.
“There have been two recent shootings, numerous assaults and other illegal activity taking place that threatens our neighborhood,” says Ethan Felder, Elected Democratic Leader for the 28th Assembly District and an organizer of this weekend’s rally. “We must demand City Hall shut this hotel down once and for all.”
The Forest Hills Times this week published a story giving more details on what’s been going at the Umbrella Hotel over the last few months, and local efforts to get elected officials and city agencies involved.
Frustrated residents and community leaders in Kew Gardens are calling on the city to intervene in criminal activities and flagrant disregard for social distancing occurring at what they describe as a “flophouse” in the neighborhood.
On Sunday, a rally hosted by the Queens Coalition for Solidarity will demand the city shut down the Umbrella Hotel at 124-18 Queens Boulevard, which has been the site of two non-fatal shootings in the last six weeks.
The latest incident took place early in the morning on August 10, and left the hotel’s glass front doors shattered and riddled with bullets.
Read more: Forest Hills Times – Residents fed up with flophouse hotel
