Queens lawmaker’s office windows shattered

Windows at the office of Queens City Councilmember Phil WOng were shattered this week. Photo via Councilmember Phil Wong’s office/X

By Ryan Schwach

Queens Councilmember Phil Wong’s office windows were shattered this week after the lawmaker said his landlord received “threatening phone calls.”

Staff found the broken second-floor windows at the Maspeth district office when they came to work on Monday. The incident came just a few days after one of Wong’s staffers got into a confrontation with construction workers at a controversial battery storage facility the lawmaker opposes.

Wong claimed that “grainy” surveillance video captured an individual throwing something or using a pellet gun to break the windows.

However the windows were broken, Wong said he’s convinced it was deliberate. The building's superintendent received several anonymous phone calls the morning of the incident. In one, the caller allegedly told the super to “take control of your tenants, that Council office, or more windows will be broken.”

Two days before the incident, a Wong staffer was allegedly assaulted by construction workers at the site of the NineDot battery energy storage facility, a project Wong and members of the community are vehemently opposed to because of its proximity to local schools.

The staff member, former Republican Council candidate Bernard Chow, was attempting to film the construction of the facility and was allegedly tackled to the ground by a contractor. He sustained a head injury and was admitted to the hospital.

Wong said that Chow has a “lump on his head” and is undergoing further treatment.

Wong said that he believed the incidents were “connected,” though he did not provide any further evidence of the claim.

"What is beyond dispute is that, within the span of a few days, my office has experienced two alleged assaults on a staff member performing official duties, followed by anonymous threats referencing our Council office and shattered windows at our district office building," he said in a previous statement. "That is deeply concerning, and it deserves a thorough investigation by law enforcement."

"Threats, intimidation, and violence have absolutely no place in our communities or in the democratic process," added the lawmaker. "No contractor, no company, and no individual has the right to intimidate public servants for responding to constituent complaints and carrying out the jobs they were elected and hired to do.”

The investigation into the shattered windows and anonymous threats remains ongoing. The NYPD did not respond to follow up questions regarding the incident.

Several councilmembers, including Speaker Julie Menin, leapt to Wong’s defense.

“The intimidation of elected officials or their staff is absolutely unacceptable — full stop,” said Menin. “The [City Council] stands with our colleague after this incident apparently targeting his district office. I hope that those responsible are promptly held accountable for their threatening behavior.”