Nolan Rallies Community To Protest Prostitution In LIC

By Seth Wharton

Photo Seth Warton Assemblymember Catherine Nolan, flanked by Community Board 2 Chairperson Joseph Conley (l.) and City Councilmember Eric Gioia, led a rally calling for closing the Q-Plaza Motel on Sunday.

State, city and community officials converged on the Q-Plaza Motel in Long Island City on Sunday, January 27 to protest the pimps and prostitutes that frequent the hotel and often do business on surrounding streets. The hotel, located at 42-11 Vernon Blvd., has created an increase in quality of life crimes, according to state Assemblymember Catherine Nolan, who organized the protest/press conference on behalf of her constituents in the Ravenswood and Queensbridge communities. "We are fed up with the growing problem of prostitutes in Long Island City," Nolan said.

Nolan was joined by City Councilmember Eric Gioia, Community Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley and a throng of residents and community members, who decried the conditions of the area around the hotel.

"When I walk my dogs in the morning I find used condoms," said Gabriela Granados, who with her husband is opening a dance studio on 9th Street, behind the hotel. "I have the right in the morning to walk my dogs without being stalked by men who are looking for (prostitution) services."

The protest came on the heels of a visit last week to Queens Plaza by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and other city officials. "I don't think they would have come here a week ago if they didn't know Long Island City has some problems," Nolan said, adding that the protest was an effort to put a point on the growing interest in cleaning up the area. Gioia added that the area is ready for a rebirth.

Prior to the rally, Conley explained that the hotel, which had been closed down in 1998 after repeated efforts by police and the community, was able to reopen under a flaw in zoning. The hotel is situated directly south of the Queensboro Bridge; to the immediate north of the bridge are the Queensbridge and Ravenswood developments and much of the remaining area is industrial.

"It's an example of poor planning," Conley said, explaining that the hotel is allowed to exist in that spot because it's zoned residential when everything around it is industrial. The hotel is an anomaly in the area. "You don't see a national chain coming here," Conley said of the site. "You don't see a brand name here." The hotel was most recently a cinder block parking garage before being reopened as a hotel.

The problem with the zoning issue is that it's an as of right situation, Conley explained, meaning that because the lot is zoned residential, and can accommodate a hotel, there is nothing to be done short of changing the zoning. There are also issues of ownership to contend with, according to Gioia. "They have reopened this hotel under some sort of corporate shell," he said. Identifying the true owner has been difficult. The worst problems for residents of the surrounding communities are brought about by the hotel, it was noted. "We have a park approximately a half a block away and children use that park," said Clifton Broady, president of the Ravenswood Residents Association, referring to Queensbridge Park, just north of the bridge. The quality of clientele the hotel attracts was perhaps best summed up by Eddy Cadiz, a community resident, "If you start charging a hourly rate, what does that tell you?" he asked rhetorically, pointing out that the hotel by its short-term use has no other function than as a center of prostitution activities.