TACKLING QNS. RITE BLIGHT
Pol calls cops, mayor
A top Queens official ripped the unruly scene outside a former Rite-Aid in Astoria that’s been overrun by drunks and junkies as “completely unacceptable” — as neighbors continued to lament the chaos that’s engulfed the area.
State Sen. Michael Gianaris, the Democratic deputy majority leader who represents the district, said he’d already contacted the NYPD and the mayor’s office about the 25,000-square-foot abandoned building, which now resembles a backdrop from the TV show “Fallout.”
“I’m waiting to hear from both,” Gianaris told The Post Sunday. “Completely unacceptable. The landlord should be held to account, and police should enforce all applicable laws to ensure the area is safe.”
The building between Newtown Road and 47th Street and its trashstrewn parking lot — which was first occupied by the mostly middle-aged derelicts, some apparently migrants, about seven months ago — has drawn the ire of neighbors and officials due to the apocalyptic environment.
Mexican, American and Puerto Rican flags have been planted on the roof alongside a bizarre menagerie of toys, chairs, clothes, lights and bikes (pictured).
Sofas, tables, chairs and mattresses sit on the pavement outside, and at least eight apparent boozehounds loitered about this week, drinking and laughing.
At least two were sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.
A City Hall spokesperson said Sunday that Mayor Adams’ administration takes a “multiagency approach” to clearing such encampments. “We are aware of these concerns here and have already revisited the site and cleaned it up,” the statement said.
Some of the mess did seem to be cleaned up by Sunday, the same day photos of the scene were published on The Post’s front page.
There were also half as many drunks — only four men were spotted, with just one sleeping it off on the pavement. One of the men dug through the passed-out man’s pockets and took some change as the others shared drinks they’d poured from aluminum cans into plastic cups. A stack of empty wine bottles lay nearby.
The men staggered about, visibly drunk and nearly incoherent as they hostilely rebuffed any attempts by a reporter to speak to them. They wobbled toward the Rite-Aid to urinate or defecate in a corner of the former loading area — which frightened pedestrians into walking on the road instead of the sidewalk.
In Spanish, a sign said, “S--tter and pisser. Please carefully clean your butts well. And penis.”
“It’s a disgrace, horrible,” said local Tristan Defalco, 40, who stopped by after seeing The Post’s story online. “I saw it on the Internet and I couldn’t believe it . . . you don’t take over someone’s property.”
Defalco said he grew up down the block and visited the old RiteAid several times a day before it was closed due to sluggish sales.
The building’s new owners have filed permits to expand the onestory, corner-lot building into a five-story, mixed-use structure. But the city’s Department of Buildings objected to the plans in March.