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Registered Sex Offenders Still Living in Queens Shelter, Councilman Says

By Ben Fractenberg | August 3, 2015 7:25pm
 City Councilman Ruben Wills is calling for the removal of registered sex offenders from the Skyway Men's Shelter, which the councilman says is less than 1,000 feet from a public school playground.
City Councilman Ruben Wills is calling for the removal of registered sex offenders from the Skyway Men's Shelter, which the councilman says is less than 1,000 feet from a public school playground.
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Ruben Wills' Office

QUEENS — Registered sex offenders have yet to be removed from a South Ozone Park men’s shelter near a public school, according to City Councilman Ruben Wills.

The 52 registered offenders were supposed to be removed from the Skyway Men's Shelter after the councilman reached an agreement with the Department of Homeless Services in July, a spokesman for Wills said.

The councilman conducted a survey and found the shelter on South Conduit Avenue was less than the required 1,000 feet from a P.S./M.S. 124 playground.

Wills' office has since been monitoring the state’s sex offender database and found that registered sex offenders were still being rotated in and out of the shelter, the spokesman added.

There were still several dozen sex offenders in the shelter, including people who had been newly placed there since early July, according to Wills’ office.

All registered sex offenders would be removed from the shelter by the end of August, according to a spokeswoman for DHS. 

There is 24-hour security at each residence, with seven guards on each shift, the spokeswoman added.

The guards also do perimeter checks every 30 minutes to make sure no one is loitering around the school and check in with school security every hour.