16 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 8, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Mystery surrounds deadly shooting in Jamaica Hills
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Th e NYPD released on Feb. 4 security
camera footage of the victim walking with
two people believed to have been involved in
his murder on Friday night in Jamaica Hills.
Offi cers from the 107th Precinct responded
to a 911 call at 6:40 p.m. on Feb. 2 about
a man assaulted in front of a home on 160th
Street near 85th Avenue.
Upon their arrival, the cops found
Oscar Antonio Blanco-Hernandez, 20, of
Elizabeth, NJ, with gunshot wounds to his
head and groin. Paramedics rushed the victim
to Queens Hospital Center, where he was
pronounced dead on arrival.
On Sunday, they Th e New York Daily
News reported that at least four shell casings
had been found at the scene.
Th e dark video footage shown below shows
the murder victim with two other individuals
now wanted for questioning walking
northbound on 160th Street at 6:31 p.m.,
nine minutes before the 911 call came in.
Police said that one of the suspects is on the
victim’s right, while the other is pictured
walking behind him.
Later, the video cuts to the two persons of
interest walking southbound on 160th Street
toward Parsons Boulevard just before police
arrived.
No arrests have been made as of press time
on Feb. 7, and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding
the suspects’ whereabouts can call Crime
Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial
888-57-PISTA), visit nypdcrimestoppers.
com, or send a text message to 274637
(CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls and
messages are kept confi dential.
Applications
available for
pre-K and 3-K
programs in
south Queens
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @
QNS
Th e city Department of
Education is now accepting
applications for free,
full-day 3-K and Pre-K for
All programs in a south
Queens school district.
Families with children
born in 2015 can apply
for the 3-K for All programs
that are now available
in School District 27,
which encompasses much
of Woodhaven, Richmond
Hill, Ozone Park, Howard
Beach, South Ozone Park,
South Jamaica and the
Rockaways. Th ree other
school districts outside of
Queens are accepting 3-K
for All applications.
“I am thrilled to
announce a new round
of 3-K and pre-K applications
for families across
the city,” said Schools
Chancellor Carmen
Fariña. “With these programs,
we have transformed
the educational
opportunities for our
youngest learners – providing
them a strong
foundation for academic
and social development –
and I encourage everyone
to thoroughly review the
options available for their
children.”
New York City families
that submit an application
before March 30 will
receive a results letter by
late May 2018.
Families with children
born in 2014 are eligible
to apply for Pre-K
for All all across the city.
Families that apply before
the March 30 deadline will
receive an off er letter in
the mail in May 2018.
Families can apply for
3-K and pre-K in person at
a Family Welcome Center,
over the phone at 311 or
online at nyc.gov/3k or
nyc.gov/prek. Th e online
application is available
in 10 languages (English,
Spanish, Chinese, Russian,
Arabic, Korean, Haitian
Creole, Bengali, Urdu
and French), and families
can submit an application
over the phone or in person
in over 200 languages.
Queens healthcare workers have some of
the longest & slowest commutes in NYC
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A recent report by the Center for an Urban
Future found that Queens residents that
work in the healthcare sector have among
the worst transit commutes in New York
City.
Th e report released on Feb. 1 shows that
the median commute for all workers citywide
is 47 minutes, with the median commute
for healthcare workers citywide 51
minutes. Queens healthcare workers who
rely on mass transit have a median commute
of 56 minutes, with home health aides who
rely on the subway facing a median commute
of 61 minutes, which the report found
to be the worst of any borough.
Th e study found that roughly 65 percent
of healthcare jobs are located in the boroughs
outside of Manhattan. Queens is the
home to 99,500 healthcare workers, with
more than 11,700 healthcare workers live in
the neighborhoods of Jamaica, Hollis and
St. Albans, and 11,235 healthcare employees
live in Queens Village, Cambria Heights
and Rosedale.
Despite the high number of workers, the
healthcare sector has limited transit options.
Th e study found that 25 major health
facilities throughout the borough are located
at least eight blocks from a subway.
Nearly one in six workers living in Queens
Village, Cambria Heights and Rosedale is
employed in healthcare, but those neighborhoods
do not have a single subway station
near by.
“All New Yorkers have good reason to
be frustrated with the city’s transit system
right now, but the city’s healthcare workers
arguably have it worst,” said Jonathan
Bowles, executive director of the Center for
an Urban Future. “And the problems aren’t
only related to subway delays and overcrowded
trains. Th e reality is that bus and
subway service in the four boroughs outside
Manhattan simply hasn’t kept pace with
massive increases in the number of New
Yorkers working and living there.”
Since 2011, some of the fastest growing bus
routes in the city has taken place in Queens
due to residents commuting to healthcare
jobs. However, despite causing the growth
in ridership, too few of the city’s existing
bus routes connect places where large numbers
of healthcare workers live with hospitals,
nursing homes and other employment
centers —and when they do, the service can’t
meet the demand.
Photos courtesy of NYPD
Cops are looking for two individuals in connection with the Feb. 2 murder of a New Jersey man (in sketch)
in Jamaica Hills.