By Matthew Monks
A month after a community official and local businessman flew a homeless Astoria immigrant back to Greece, the man has returned to his favorite block in Ditmars to the frustration of his benefactors, shopkeepers and even fellow vagrants. They say Dimitri Keskinidis, 47, has been a bane on 31st Street near Ditmars Boulevard for years, describing him as a walking misdemeanor. Even other homeless say he is an embarrassment. “When he gets drunk, he's the loudest one out here,” said a haggard 55-year-old who refers to himself only as the Cadillac Man. “He's the only one of us who gives us a bad name.”For at least six years, Keskinidis and his girlfriend, Irene “Book Lady” Stratekes, were a permanent fixture outside the ice cream shop at 22-11 31st St. Stratekes got her nickname hawking books on a table near the alley. Police said the couple was arrested numerous times, but each time they would return to the streets in a day or two. Keskinidis was arrested twice last year and convicted of two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct and criminal trespass in a Housing Authority building, according to the office of Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. The second offense occurred Feb. 18 and he was sentenced to 15 days in jail. The couple has been so intolerable for so long that City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) and more than a dozen merchants wrote the DA over the summer asking for stiffer penalties to force them from the block. “Irene and Demitri are continuously either drunk or on illegal substances. They argue and fight on a daily basis with each other and urinate and defecate in the alley way,” one merchant alleged in his letter. “This situation is a cancer that businesses and residents of Astoria have dealt with for far too long.”One fed-up businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, put up nearly $2,000 to fly the two back to Greece late last year. Community Board 1 District Manager George Delis said he convinced Stratekes to leave in October. Keskinidis followed about a month later but resurfaced in Queens two weeks ago. It is unclear why. Vagrants who know him said he came back voluntarily. Others said his family banished him after an outburst. “He got thrown out of Greece. He went to his mom's house. He busted a window. He was drunk,” said Tony Martinez, 47, a homeless man who considers himself Keskinidis' friend. “The mom paid for everything.”Vallone said his return fits a pattern Keskinidis and Stratekes have followed for years. The two have some kind of income, Vallone said, that permitted them to travel back and forth to their native country for years. “They're not just homeless people who people should be feeling sorry for.” he said. “It's been my experience that these two constantly go back and forth to Greece, especially for the winter time.”He suspects that their latest exodus was spurred by fears that Brown and the 114th Precinct could ratchet up legal pressure on the couple to stay in line.As of Tuesday, Stratekes was apparently still overseas. Repeated attempts to track down Keskinidis were unsuccessful. Whatever happened, his return has depressed Delis, who said when he dropped Keskinidis off at the airport he hoped he was not merely “relocating” a problem. “My intentions to help him out were sincere. I'm sure the Book Lady has found help and support,” Delis said. “I thought maybe if he found some support, maybe it would help him somewhat.”Reach reporter Matthew Monks by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
