QueensCourier.com – By Yaldaz Sadakova
As soon as you open the door, a smell of stagnant air hits you in the face. Located over a shop on Steinway Street, near 31st Avenue, the whole apartment resembles a forlorn closet: unshapely waist-high mountains of clutter and clothes rise against the white walls in every room. The white peeling doors do not close, not even the bathroom door, because they have no handles.
This place may be far from inviting, but for the nine gay and transgender young people living in it, many of them kicked out by their parents, it is a refuge. Soon, however, this shelter, called Carmen’s Place, will be more spacious and inviting because it is moving to a new undisclosed location, close to the Astoria Houses.