You are reading

Holden Wants Glendale Shelter Shuttered After Resident Arrested for Alleged Robbery

78-16 Cooper Ave. (Photo: Council Member Robert Holden)

July 20, 2020 By Allie Griffin

Council Member Robert Holden wants the homeless shelter in Glendale shuttered after one if its residents assaulted and robbed a man down the road from the facility.

The resident, Shandell Johnson, was arrested Sunday after he allegedly whacked a 32-year-old man with a metal rod outside the victim’s home earlier that same day, according to the NYPD.

Police said Johnson, 27, struck the victim eight times around 9 a.m. near Central Avenue and 71st Place — several blocks away from the 78-16 Cooper Ave. shelter.

The victim was sitting outside his home when he was first attacked, police said. During the attack, the victim fell to the ground and his phone left his pocket. Johnson grabbed the phone and fled, but was subsequently arrested, according to the NYPD.

The victim sustained lacerations to his shin, knee and both hands as well as bruising. He was treated at the scene, police said.

A police spokesperson confirmed that Johnson lives at the Cooper Rapid Rehousing Center, a single men’s shelter located on Cooper Ave. The victim is not a resident of the shelter, she said.

Holden, a longtime critic of the shelter, condemned the incident on Twitter Sunday.

Holden, who has been an outspoken opponent of the 200-bed shelter even before it opened in February, said he was “sick and tired” of it.

“This shelter has been a disaster since it opened,” he Tweeted. “It must be closed now and never be allowed to reopen.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com

2 Comments

Click for Comments 
Anthony J Russo

This shelter will never close . Why you ask cause The Mayor, DHS, Westhab refuse to deal with Holden .
Him and his former group the JPCA blasted ever politician and group . What you reap is what you sow . Talking all that Jazz.

Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Hate Crimes Task Force investigating bomb threats against Mamdani: NYPD

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force launched a probe into multiple death threats made against Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani after his district office at 24-08 32nd St. in Astoria received four expletive-filled phone voicemails, on various dates, making threatening anti-Muslim statements by an unknown individual, including a threat to blow up his car.

The calls were made from an untraceable number and labeled the mayoral candidate a “terrorist who is not welcome in New York or America” in a message phoned in on Wednesday morning.

Seven teens indicted for attempted murder in brutal Kissena Park gang attack on two girls: DA

A Queens grand jury indicted seven teenagers for attempted murder, gang assault, robbery, and other crimes for an attack on two girls inside Kissena Park in Flushing in early May.

The defendants, who are all 17 years old, were variously arraigned in Queens Supreme Court between June 4 and Wednesday in two separate 25-count indictments with two counts of attempted murder in the second degree. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison.

Queens Defenders founder charged with stealing nonprofit funds as second scandal unfolds

The founder of the Queens Defenders and her husband have lawyered up after they were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the non-profit organization.

Former Queens Defenders executive director Lori Zeno, 64, surrendered Wednesday at the Brooklyn federal courthouse. Zeno was arraigned on an indictment charging her and Rashad Ruhani, 55, with wire fraud conspiracy, theft, money laundering conspiracy and other crimes.

Krishnan leads push to end city contracts with convicted landscaping company owner

Jun. 18, 2025 By Czarinna Andres

A coalition of elected officials and labor leaders is calling on the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to immediately terminate all contracts with Griffin’s Landscaping, a city contractor whose owner, Glenn Griffin, was recently sentenced to two years in federal prison for bribery and illegal dumping as part of a $2.4 million environmental crime scheme.