The Pan Am Hotel, which was secretly converted into a homeless shelter last year by Samaritan Village, the same service organization that plans to open the shelter on Cooper Avenue, has had a rodent and roach problem since it opened. It wasn't until a Daily News expose on April 28th that this became widely known publicly. Mounds of trash bags pile up behind the building and seem to be ever present. The rats are feet from the yard where children play. With regard to the roaches, one young mother told the Daily News, “I’ve seen them all over the room. I’ve seen them in my kids' beds. I’ve seen roaches on the soap and on their toothbrushes.” The elected official representing the area, Council Member Danny Dromm, a vocal shelter proponent, has done nothing about the vermin problem at the shelter, even though he has been notified by his constituents about the issue multiple times dating back to June 2014.
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SERVING MIDDLE VILLAGE AND MASPETH SINCE 1938.