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Maspeth homeless removed

Maspeth homeless removed
By Jeremy Walsh

It was hardly a dramatic uprooting, but police and city Department of Transportation staff cleaned out a pair of homeless encampments alongside the Long Island Expressway in Maspeth Tuesday morning, easing the worries of some neighbors.

The removal was delayed by some weeks because the steep, overgrown slope overlooking the expressway is state land, requiring law enforcement officials to obtain permission to deal with the encampment, civic leaders said.

DOT workers piled a dump truck high with the debris from the makeshift shelters Tuesday morning, but the NYPD’s Homeless Outreach Unit was unable to locate the occupants.

A neighbor who asked not to be named said the four or five men have been living under the tarp behind the LIE retaining wall near Hamilton Avenue for about three months, ever since they were kicked out of the playground on the south side of the expressway.

“They stare you down like you’re doing something wrong when they’re usually somewhere they don’t belong,” she said, noting the group can become belligerent when drinking. “We’re just afraid the next thing they’re going to do is take over a house that’s for sale, and the next thing you know, they’ll have squatter’s rights.”

Locals said the group of men who scour the neighborhood for bottles and cans to recycle at the facility behind the Pioneer Supermarket probably lived in the encampment, but the four men at the site Tuesday morning denied it.

“I’m drinking, it’s OK, but I’m not over here,” said one man who declined to give his name.

Another, who identified himself as Ridgewood resident Paul Wisnski, said his friends have been hassled by police for eating in the park.

“These guys, they try to lock you up for what? For eating?” he said. “That’s not right.”

Rosemarie Daraio, president of Citizens Of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together, said she was not surprised the occupants of the camp disappeared before authorities arrived. But she called the shelters safety hazards and said she was relieved they had been removed.

“It’s unfortunate that they’re not willing to take help,” she said. “They choose not to take advantage of that and that’s their right to do so.”

Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.