Top Queens official rips unruly scene at former site of Astoria Rite-Aid as ‘completely unacceptable’ — as neighbors lament chaos
A top Queens official ripped the unruly scene outside a former Rite-Aid in Astoria that’s been overrun by drunks, junkies and migrants 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 on 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 and its trash-strewn parking lot — which was first occupied by the mostly middle-aged derelicts about seven months ago — has drawn the ire of neighbors and officials alike due to the stunningly apocalyptic environment its new inhabitants have created.
Mexican, American and Puerto Rican flags have been planted on the roof alongside a bizarre menagerie of toys, chairs, clothes, lights and bikes that now decorate the ramparts.
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 in a Sunday statement that Mayor Eric Adams’ administration takes a “multi-agency approach” to clearing such encampments — and has already taken action at the Astoria site.
“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 horrific scene were published on The Post’s front page.
New paint covered some old graffiti, and less furniture and trash festooned the area.
There were also half as many drunks — only four men were spotted, with just one sleeping it off on the pavement.
But problems remained at the lot between Newtown Road and 47th Street, right near William Cullen Bryant High School.
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.
Whenever nature called, 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 “Sh–ter and pisser. Please carefully clean your butts well. And penis.”
Disgusted neighbors voiced their anger that a once-pleasant spot had degraded in such a way.
“It’s a disgrace, horrible,” said Tristan Defalco, a 40-year-old who stopped by on his way to the gym after seeing The Post’s story online. “I saw it on the internet and I couldn’t believe it — I said, ‘I got to see this for myself.’”
“You don’t take over someone’s property,” Defalco continued, adding that he grew up down the block and visited the old Rite-Aid several times a day. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Mer Perez, another former resident, also came to check things out Sunday.
“I used to live here years ago,” Perez, 37, said. “So yeah, it’s different, it’s going down and declining a lot. It used to be a nice Rite-Aid over here, and it’s just horrible.”
Rite-Aid has been embroiled in bankruptcy proceedings since the fall, and shuttered the Astoria location due to sluggish sales.
The previous owners of the building had it for more than a half-century.
The new owners have filed permits to expand the one-story, corner-lot building into a five-story, mixed-structure comprising both homes and retail space.
But the city’s Department of Buildings objected to the plans in March, citing compliance issues among other problems.
The project’s status remains unclear. But in the meantime, things have continued to go south.
There have been 163 complaints to 311 about the parking lot and the building since Jan. 1, city records show.
Of those, 69 people reported the active encampment, while 36 complained about drinking and 11 griped about public urination.
One gawker, Andrew M. from Jackson Heights, said he noticed someone painted the building since he and his father last walked by two weeks ago.
Still, he was disgusted by the scene, which he called a “disgrace.”
“When it comes to migrants — look, I’m half Spanish. I love Spanish people. But we got to do things the right way,” he said.
“But you know, it’s a shame. It shouldn’t be like this,” he continued. “My dad’s done everything right in his life. And you know, he bought his apartment, he does everything right.”
“And now the value of the apartment goes down — because of this stuff.”
