Emergency food delivery dispute pits Queens lawmaker against her co-op board
/
Queens state Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato called the lack of action by the Dayton Beach Park co-op board to distribute emergency food to seniors “unthinkable.” Photo courtesy of Pheffer Amato’s Office
By Victoria Merlino
A simmering dispute between a Queens lawmaker and the board president of her Rockaway Beach co-op erupted Thursday, when the lawmaker, Queens state Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato, publicly accused the co-op of hoarding an emergency food delivery intended to feed seniors.
Pheffer Amato said the incident is the latest misstep by a troubled board at the five-building Dayton Beach Park co-op, but the board president, Jennifer Grady, said the situation is more complicated than a neglected delivery. Grady said the city dropped off boxes of produce without any guidance for how to distribute it, while the co-op’s staff struggles to handle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Dayton Beach Park Co-Op received 600 boxes of fresh produce, including apples, loose potatoes and celery, from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development on April 22, which was then distributed. The co-op is a Mitchell-Lama site, which provides subsidized, middle-income housing overseen by HPD.
The co-op board did not want to distribute further food deliveries to senior residents, however, prompting sharp criticism from Pheffer Amato. She called the lack of action “unthinkable and appalling” in a statement to local reporters.
“Right now, there is fresh food waiting to be delivered while many New Yorkers are unable to leave their homes to go to a grocery store, and the board has declined and denied the delivery,” she said.
After learning about the statement, Grady struck back at Pheffer Amato, accusing the two-term assemblymember of “grandstanding” during the crisis and using her office as a “bully pulpit” to vent a long-standing grievance with the co-op board. Pheffer Amato has lived in Dayton Beach Park for 29 years and last year rallied with other Dayton Beach Park shareholders to remove the board of directors.
The city did not instruct the co-op board about what residents should get the food and about how to best deliver it amid social distancing orders, Grady said. The lack of direction caused infighting among residents and has consumed staff’s limited time, she added.
In an April 23 letter to HPD shared with the Eagle, Grady asked the city to stop delivering food to the complex the agency was not going to provide “adequate coordination and staffing.”
“We do not have the manpower to deliver the [food] and service the buildings,” Grady told the Eagle. “It has just been overwhelming, the amount of grief and sadness.”
She said a few staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed to the coronavirus, and that the complex’s resources are stretched thin as residents continue to suffer through the pandemic.
A box of the food that was supposed to be delivered to seniors, according to co-op board President Jennifer Grady. Photo courtesy of Grady
“I wish it was as simple as giving out a box,” she said.
When reached by the Eagle on Friday, Pheffer Amato bashed Grady’s assessment of the situation. She said that a nearby Mitchell-Lama building had no trouble delivering its food to seniors while facing similar challenges.
“It’s the only building in the entire HPD portfolio that has refused a delivery,” Pheffer Amato said.
She blamed the delivery delays, in part, on staff furloughs. Grady later confirmed to the Eagle that some workers had been furloughed, while some staff were allowed to take sick and vacation time, or switch to weekend hours, to protect themselves better from the virus.
Pheffer Amato also called Grady a “tyrant” and said that this particular board of directors has caused numerous issues and “battles” during their tenure. She cited a Department of Investigation probe that accused the board of operating with little oversight.
Pheffer Amato and HPD partnered in late April to set up food delivery throughout the building, with the help of volunteers and HPD staff on April 28 and May 1.
“Everyone let me know that the seniors that came to the door were so happy and grateful,” Pheffer Amato said.
HPD confirmed the food delivery timeline with the Eagle, and said that Grady had refused future deliveries. The refusal concerned the agency that seniors in the complex were not going to be included in the program, so HPD then made the alternative arrangements with Pheffer Amato.
An HPD spokesperson said he did not know whether or not the complex had received a list of residents to deliver food to.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it so many at-risk New Yorkers now depend on these food deliveries to survive and they can’t afford for this assistance to be needlessly withheld,” the HPD spokesperson said in a statement to the Eagle. “In times of crisis, we must band together to help New York’s most vulnerable communities, which is why we’re partnering with the Assembly Member and the broader community to do the right thing and deliver fresh food to nearly 600 seniors in desperate need.”
EDIT 5/4 @ 2:12 p.m.: Story updated to reflect that Daytona Beach Park staff distributed food on April 22, and only began to refuse food deliveries on April 23, after the initial delivery caused confusion among staff and residents. A previous version of this story stated that staff had not distributed this first order.
The Dayton Beach Park co-op. Photo via Google Maps
