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Volume 15 Issue No. 18 May 2-8, 2014

ONLINE AT WWW.QUEENSPRESS.COM

DANGER ZONE Community leaders call for traffi c safety measures near the Jamaica Muslim Center, where a child was struck by a car last month. By Natalia Kozikoska … Page 3.

PRESS of Southeast Queens May 2-8, 2014

News BriefsAccountant To Challenge Meeks

According to reports, Joseph Marthone, a Southeast Queens resi-dent and accountant, has thrown his hat in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), who is seeking re-election this year.

This is not the first time that Mar-thone, a Democrat, is running for Meeks’ seat. In 2012, he earned slightly more than eight percent of votes in the 5th Congressional, losing to incumbent Meeks, who took an overwhelming ma-jority with more than 9,000 votes.

According to the City Board of Elections, Marthone submitted 800 pages of petitions verses Meeks’ 257 – although it is important to note that the number of pages does not directly represent the number of signatures.

A community liaison for Meeks has filed challenges to Marthone’s petitions.

Vanel To Address ClergyOn May 6, attorney Clyde Vanel,

who is running for embattled State Sen. Malcolm Smith’s (D-Jamaica) seat, will address a group headed by Bishop Charles Norris, Clergy Unit-ed for Community Empowerment.

Vanel’s announcement comes just days after former Councilman Leroy Comrie announced that he has also thrown his hat in the race to replace Smith.

Comrie and Vanel join attorney Munir Avery, as well as Navy veteran Bernadette Semple in the challenge to unseat Smith, who is presently awaiting trial on corruption charges.

“Many in the district, in all age groups, are unemployed and underem-ployed. The younger generation cannot afford to purchase or maintain the home that they grew up in. We are in a state of emergency,” Vanel said in a statement. “The community most needs a Senator with experience with jobs, small busi-ness and entrepreneurship. I am the candidate that understands that we have many important issues to focus on, but it is imperative that we improve our eco-nomic condition.”

In the same statement, Vanel also took a not-so-subtle jab at Comrie.

“The community is not excited by a professional politician, with a lack-luster record, entering the race. We cannot af-ford more of the same,” he wrote.

The address is scheduled at 8:30 a.m. at the Robert Ross Family Life Center, located at 172-17 Linden Blvd., St. Albans.

Affordable Housing Comes To SEQ

Neighborhood Housing Services Development Corporation, a sub-

sidiary of Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica, held their first networking event to bring together local politicians, developers, realtors, contractors, bankers and attorneys to collaboratively work together to address the dire need for affordable housing in Queens.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), Assemblymembers Viv-ian Cook (D-Jamaica) and William Scarborough (D-Jamaica) and Leroy Comrie attended because the lack of affordable housing is creating hard-ships for the people of Queens.

Helen Maxwell, director of NHS Development Corp., said she was excited about Mayor de Blasio’s plan for building 200,000 affordable hous-ing unit and thinks that the solutions to the affordable housing crises will come from non-profits like theirs, working in close partnership with lo-cal politicians, developers, realtors, contractors, bankers and other inter-ested parties.

“We feel that we are in a unique position to help fill the void of afford-able housing especially in Queens, if we are able to gain access to the necessary resources,” she said in a statement.

NHS is already in the process of rehabbing their first property, a two-family house located at 145-62 South Road in Jamaica, earmarked for resale to a low to moderate income family.

The property was purchased from another nonprofit, Star of the Sea, and will be an energy efficient home which will keep it affordable for the new owner, who is expected to go into contract when the renovations are completed in approximately two months.

They are also pursuing develop-ing an 89-unit apartment building to be located on Archer Avenue and 165th Street with a for-profit devel-oper, Silverstone Reality. The new building will have a gym among oth-er amenities and is expected to break ground in 18 months.

Joseph Marthone

May 2-8, 2014 PRESS of Southeast Queens

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Last week, more than 100 Jamaica residents came out to protest the lack of traffic safety de-vices on 168th Street in Jamaica.

BY NATALIA KOZIKOWSKA

On April 25, more than 100 lo-cals gathered in front of the Jamaica Muslim Center to demand the City enhance traffic safety measures near 168th Street in Jamaica, where a 16-year-old boy was struck by a car earlier that week.

According to protestors, the acci-dent, which has left the teen in the intensive care unit at Long Island Jewish Hos-pital with brain trauma, speaks to the danger-ous road conditions near the mosque, where thousands of residents, worshippers and high school students walk ev-ery day.

Organized by the Jamaica Muslim Center, the largest Islamic congrega-tion in New York City, the rally fea-tured a number of elected officials and local leaders who offered prayers to the grieving family and vowed to throw their support behind the traf-fic safety initiative.

“We’ve written a letter of support for stronger traffic measures in the area to the DOT,” said U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing). “Our hearts go out to

Group Calls For Better Traffic Safety In Jamaica

the Sakar family. We are making sure that he is getting the best care and

treatment possible at the hospital.”Munir Avery, an attorney challeng-

ing embattled State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Jamaica) in the Democratic Primary, was also on board to show his support as a lifelong Jamaica resident.

“I was born and raised in this neighborhood and I’m here today because it is taking our community too long to be recognized and for our community to be heard,” he said. “We need to make sure that we cre-

ate the right at-mosphere so that the administra-tion does the things that they are supposed to do.”

Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Mead-ows) noted that his offices have been aware of the dangerous road conditions at 168th Street and have written a letter to the

Dept. of Transportation that was sent out in December of last year.

“This street has been a danger to pedestrians for years. This is a nar-row, two-way street through which a great number of cars speed in both directions,” he said. “On this road, where the Jamaica Muslim Center is, thousands come to pray every Friday, thousands of students and faculty also come from the nearby

high school. This combination of speeding drivers and thousands of pedestrians is a tragedy waiting to happen – and unfortunately that is what happened.”

Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hill-crest) similarly noted that he reached out to the DOT back in January, also to shed light on the traffic safety issues in this section of Jamaica.

“In the City, we are having a con-versation about how to make our streets safer, Vision Zero, and when we talk about it in the abstract and as a matter of policy, it’s got a cer-tain sanitized emptiness to it,” he said. “Here, we are putting a face to the cause. We know that its natural – kids are going to be kids. Eventually, a tragedy was going to happen, and that’s what happened here.”

The victim’s father also took to the microphone and in his native tongue, tearfully asked those in attendance to keep his son in their prayers.

Reach Reporter Natalia Kozikows-ka at (718)357-7400 Ext. 123 or [email protected] or @nkozikowska.


Following months of speculation, former New York City Councilman Leroy Comrie announced that he has officially thrown his hat in the race to replace embattled State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Jamaica).

Comrie joins attorneys Mu-nir Avery and Clyde Vanel, as well as Navy veteran Berna-dette Semple, in the race to unseat Smith, who is presently awaiting trial on corruption charges.

“I’ve had an overwhelm-ing amount of requests from people to step forward and come back into public service as an elected official,” Comrie said.

In order to run for the Senate seat, Comrie stepped down from his role as Deputy Borough President last week, although he said that he will still be working closely with Borough Hall.

“I stepped down from the Deputy Borough President, but am still work-

ing at Borough Hall as a special as-sistant,” he said. “I stepped down from the policy position because it’s required for someone running for public office not to be in a policy making position.”

According to a spokesperson for Borough President Melinda Katz, no

replacement for Comrie has been named as of yet.

Comrie noted that his de-cision to run was not moti-vated by Smith’s legal woes, but rather, his passion for the Southeast Queens community. “This is not about that. This is about ensuring that we have a State Senator that can

be effective – someone people have confidence and faith in,” he said. “I just have a passion for public service and I have a love for people.”

A spokesperson for Smith de-clined to comment.


Comrie Officially Announces Candidacy

Leroy Comrie

BY JOE MARVILLI

It may soon be easier than ever to connect to the Internet in the five boroughs.

The City’s Dept. of Information Technology and Telecommunications issued a Request for Proposals on May 1. The agency is looking to create a citywide network of Internet hotspots that would come together to create one of the most comprehensive, free Wi-Fi networks in the country.

This attempt to increase broad-band connectivity would see the City’s long-lasting public pay phones replaced with state-of-the-art public connection points.

“By using a historic part of New York’s street fabric, we can signifi-cantly enhance public availability of increasingly-vital broadband access, invite new and innovative digital ser-vices, and increase revenue to the City—all at absolutely no cost to tax-payers,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The RFP came out of a public outreach project that began in 2012, when the DoITT issued a Request for Information about the future of the payphone. Through the 2013 Re-invent Payphones Design Challenge,

City Aims To Build Free Wi-Fi Network

the City looked to urban designers, planners and technologists for physi-cal and virtual schematics that looked to a digitally-connected future.

With the RFP, the City is look-ing for installations that will offer free Wi-Fi and phone services that include free calls to 911 and 311. Cell phone charging stations, information touch screens, a method to give out emergency information and a solar energy source are all strongly recom-mended for the proposals as well.

The winning option will provide for the installation, operation and maintenance of up to 10,000 pub-lic communication points across the City, replacing or enhancing the 7,300 public payphone stations. The new structures will be funded through digital advertising in commercial corridors and have to be installed within four years. The City said that the project will have a “guaranteed annual revenue” of $17.5 million.

Responses to the RFP are due by June 30. The administration plans to have a contract signed by the end of the year.

Reach Reporter Joe Marvilli at (718) 357-7400, Ext. 125, [email protected], or @Joey788.

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Last week, Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) delivered his 2014 mainland State of the District Address, in which he highlighted some of his biggest accomplishments and outlined his vision for the future for the neigh-borhoods of Laurelton, Springfield Gardens and Rosedale.

One of the first ac-complishments Rich-ards touted was his work in the battle against a proposed liquor store, which would have been placed across the street from Springfield Gar-dens High School. Just weeks after his first protest, the Councilman cel-ebrated the State Liquor Authority’s decision to block the license.

“When I was elected, I promised my constituents that I would do all I could to protect our quality of life. And for the past 100 days and beyond, my office has done just that,” he said. “This is why, when my office got wind of this proposal, we immediately or-ganized the community and let the applicants of this establishment know

that their [liquor] store was not wel-come in our community.”

Last year, after the SLA blocked the license, the three businessmen be-hind the proposal were nabbed after unsuccessfully trying to bribe Rich-

ards with money so that he would throw his sup-port behind the liquor license application.

In a refreshing change of pace for the South-east Queens community, which has seen the arrest of two elected officials and several others under investigation in a one-year span, the Council-man turned down the wad of cash and turned them into authorities.

“May this be a lesson to anyone who thinks my office will sell our children or our community out for silver and gold,” Richards said.

Richards also highlighted his ef-forts in curbing the trash problem along Merrick Boulevard by success-fully expanding the DOE Fund to Laurelton.

“A few months ago, my office launched an offensive to combat the deplorable conditions on Merrick Boulevard in Laurelton,” he said.

“There’s no excuse why our business-es shouldn’t reflect our tree-lined beautiful neighborhood.”

Although the initiative is still fairly new to Laurelton, Richards also revealed his plans to bring the DOE Fund to Rosedale and parts of Springfield Gardens – areas that he believes are also plagued by trash.

As a means of giving the commu-nity’s youth more to do, Richards also announced that he has allocated $250,000 for a new skate park in Laurelton. There are presently 17 skate parks in New York City, six of which are in Queens. None of the six skate parks in the Borough fall within the confines of Community Boards 12 and 13. The nearest skate park, London Planetree in Ozone Park, is more than six miles away.

Similarly, Richards announced that he has allocated funds to upgrade Brookville Park’s football field and ten-nis courts, as well as funds to expand Rosedale and Laurelton Libraries.

“If we want our youth to stay off the streets, we need to build them a place they can call their own,” he said.

Though he said he has completed a lot in the first 100 days of his first full term, the Councilman said there is al-ways room for improvement. One of his

biggest long-term goals for the future of District 31, he said, is to alleviate flooding – something he hopes to help accomplish as the new chair of the com-mittee on environmental protection.

“[Residents] shouldn’t have to purchase boats to get around when it rains,” he said.

“As the new chair, you can rest assured that the voice of Southeast Queens will be heard in City Hall,” he added. “One hundred million dol-lars have already been allocated in infrastructure improvements, and although this is a great start, we still have a lot of work to do.”

As his address came to a close, Rich-ards noted the importance of working together with his constituents.

“The more we all work together to improve our community, the stron-ger the community will be. There is this motion out there that elected of-ficials can move mountains all alone. The truth is, we need you just as much as you need us,” he said. “The marriage between us and the com-munity must not lead to divorce. We may have disagreements sometimes, but at the end of the day, we all share the same goal.”

Reach Reporter Natalia Kozikowska at (718)357-7400 Ext. 123 or [email protected] or @nkozikowska.

Richards Talks Accomplishments, Goals For D31

Donovan Richards

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BY JOE MARVILLI

A tour of Howard Beach homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy re-vealed that there is much more work that needs to be done.

State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) led Build It Back’s Housing Recovery Office Director, Amy Peterson, and senior adviser for Recovery, Resiliency and Infra-structure, Bill Goldstein, on a tour of some of the neighborhood’s “tough-est cases.”

One of those cases is Andrea Mer-catante’s home. Located just blocks from Old Mill Creek, the lower por-tion of her house was inundated with water. Mercatante had to deal with a confusing, contradictory Build It Back program that threw roadblock after roadblock on her path to be reimbursed for the repair work she did.

Mercatante said that she was told that elevation would not be required during her initial assessments. How-ever, when she brought all of her pa-perwork into her most recent meet-ing, the Build It Back representative told her otherwise.

“On those papers, the gentleman I spoke to told me my house had to be elevated. I said, ‘But on your

Howard Beach Tour Reveals Build It Back Difficultiesown paperwork there, it says, house elevation: no.’ So who’s right?” she asked.

Mercatante was also frustrated about a loan she denied showing up on her assessment as a deduction from what she would receive. Peterson explained that a process Build It Back

has to work through with the federal government led to the deduction ap-pearing. Once Mercatante talks to a representative in person about why she denied the loan, Peterson added, the deduction will be removed.

While she was appreciative for the help, Mercatante added that the pro-


On Monday, City officials from the Dept. of Design and Construc-tion told the City Council that it has frozen payments that allowed Queens Library to use portions of its $20 million capital budget on its own projects with little City oversight.

According to reports, City offi-cials will not release any funding un-til the Library provides the City with proof that all of their expenses are legitimate.

The news comes just days after the office of City Comptroller Scott Stringer went on record to claim that Queens Library has not provided them with “complete access to finan-cial records that would shine a light on how [it] spends its money” – most of which comes from City taxpayers.

“To justify its refusal to provide its records, the Library has relied on a stipulation from the 1990s, forc-ing the Comptroller to seek a Court order to gain the disclosures needed to do a complete audit,” spokesper-son Eric Sumberg said in a state-ment. “Misinformation campaigns are not a replacement for opening the books.”

Queens Library has since de-nounced the accusations, arguing that its staff has been cooperative.

“The Library is providing ac-cess to the Comptroller to the workers compensation fund and the book sales fund,” said Joanne King, communications director at the Library, in a statement. “Un-fortunately, the Comptroller’s Of-fice rushed into court when the Library would have welcomed a

City Freezes Queens Library Moneymeeting for the opportunity of an amicable solution.”

King also blasted the City Dept. of Design and Construction for freez-ing its much-needed funds.

“Every City dollar that is spent on capital projects is fully-documented and approved by the NYC Dept. of Design and Construction, then ap-proved and disbursed by the City Comptroller’s office,” she said. “That is standard procedure and has always been the case. Libraries are built and upgraded for the benefit of the community who uses them. We look forward to seeing these impor-tant projects completed in a timely manner.”


cess has been extremely draining.“Every step of the way it’s been a

fight. My friends say ‘I don’t know why you don’t just stop.’ I can’t af-ford to stop,” she said.



OF SOUTHEAST QUEENS150-50 14th Road

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A Queens Tribune Publication

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LettersEditorial

Letters

WRITE ON:

The PRESS of Southeast Queens, 150-40 14th Rd., Whitestone, NY 11357

email [email protected]

Officials at all levels of government should be ashamed of themselves for the way that homeowners and business owners have been treated in the year-and-a-half since Superstorm Sandy hit our shores.

As was evidenced by a tour last week of Howard Beach homes ravaged by the storm, too many people waiting on assistance from City, State and Federal agencies have been flummoxed by red tape and impossible-to-meet confusing standards. Some individuals have even indicated that they have been close to giving up on the Build It Back program, because it seems as though there is no chance for it to come through with its promised assistance.

The people who own the homes and businesses damaged in the fall of 2012 deserve better than the back-and-forth they have been put through, and it is time for these agencies to make amends. Hopefully with the new City administration making its mark, the people relying on the program will finally start to get what they have been waiting for.

Hopefully, Build It Back will meet its promises before the next big storm hits the Borough.

Promises To Keep

Smart School Move

To the Editor: I was pleased to learn that

the new state budget includes the Smart Schools Act—a bond program that totals $2 billion in new funding and specifically targets the replacement of trail-ers with the creation of new educational space. Richmond Hill High School deserves to be the highest priority for this new funding.

The school has long been af-fected by severe overcrowding, and has relied on twenty-two temporary outdoor trailers to accommodate the student population. Trailers have been utilized at this school for nearly two decades—an unreasonable length of time and far from temporary.

The trailers have affected the quality of the educational experience of its students. The trailers are in gross disrepair; they need new walls, ceilings and plumbing. There have been previous incidents of mold and mold treatment in these trailers. The trailers have overtaken all of the outdoor physical education and recre-ational space. It is completely unacceptable that our children are forced to learn under these conditions.

The number of trailers at Richmond Hill High School is outrageous—the twenty-two trailers at the school represent

6 percent of the total number of trailers used citywide.

Parents, students and teach-ers are overwhelmed by the decades of neglect of Rich-mond Hill High School by our government. Mayor Bill de Blasio needs to ensure that capital funding for new educational space is brought to Richmond Hill and delivered expeditiously. The Smart Schools Act was meant to al-leviate the exact crisis that this community is facing.

Ali Najmi,Kew Gardens

Another Side To The World’s Fair

To The Editor: Granted I may well be in

a minority, but I have much difficulty understanding the media hoopla about a 50th-anniversary commemorating the 1964-1965 New York City World’s Fair. (Garden Outlines World’s Fair Festivi-ties - Queens Tribune, April 17-23). I am old enough to recall attending both the 1939 and 1964 Fairs and while there were some interesting exhibits in the 64 Fair, the Unisphere and several others, on bal-ance it was not spectacular. Indeed even the use of the words “World’s Fair” could be questioned since many western European countries declined to participate. It was a financial disaster as was the 1939 Fair.

The ‘39 Fair returned bond holders 40 cents on the dollar, whereas worse yet, the 64 Fair returned bond holders 19.2 cents on the dollar.

At the conclusion of the 64 Fair, ignoring the fact its venue had been Flushing Meadows Corona Park, a part of the New York City municipal park system. It was left with a plethora of structures that did not belong in an urban park and would not have been allowed in Central, Prospect or Bronx Parks, and rightfully so. As a result of so leaving these alien structures, myopic politicians have for the past 50 years used that as an excuse to dump more structures and permit misuse of the park. Notwithstanding FMCP is the second most used park in the City, it is also the moist abused, underfunded and treated as real estate and not a park, the life blood of an urban society.

Lost in the euphoria for this misguided celebration is the fact that to construct the Fair, and its use, FMCP was shut down for about five years, depriving the people of Queens the use of a much-needed park. A proper remembrance of the 64 Fair would be to start remov-ing those alien structures, insist the City allocate the necessary funds to make FMCP the first-rate park Robert Moses prom-ised when he took the park for the Fair, but never delivered. Indeed, if while walking around Meadow Lake, one wanted to sit down on a bench to admire the lake, he or she could not because there are no benches, nor have there been any for 50 years, a disgrace, not a cause for celebration.

Benjamin M. Haber,Flushing

Hypocrites On All Sides

To The Editor:Allow me to rebut the state-

ments by Joe Brooks, whose letters claiming some on the political right are hypocrites. He cited two examples of them taking welfare.

Joe, I have news for you. There are hypocrites on the left also. Liberal columnist Carl Rowan favored gun control and made some choice state-ments about gun owners and the NRA. Then an intruder entered his property, Rowan

took out his gun and shot the perpetrator.

Bill and Hillary Clinton claimed to be for civil rights, and there were no two bigger race baiters. But they buy a home in Chappaqua, 99 per-cent white, and made some pretty nasty racial comments when Barack Obama overtook Hillary’s lead in the 2008 cam-paign. Those were comments which both of them would have loudly condemned had a Republican uttered them.

And don’t forget 1970, when residents of Forest Hills protested against a low income development. The same people who claimed to be liberal, are left-leaning in their politics, and went all over this country fighting to end segregation, were screaming when they had an opportunity to prove their beliefs. They didn’t want the development, created massive traffic jams and for a while stopped construction. Evidently they were only liberal when what they were advocating was in someone else’s back yard.

As far as your quote that a society is judged by how it cares for its poor, be advised that there is a difference be-tween alms and welfare as a way of life. Nearly 47 percent of Americans are dependent upon government to some degree. I don’t think that’s quite what the charitable nor the founding fathers have or had in mind.

The only thing this has done is create a huge segment of voters dependent upon government, social programs and the gimme-gimme-gimme mentality. People who will vote strictly for the party who gives them something free. It not only works, but it keeps the Democratic Party in busi-ness.

So you see, Joe, it works both ways.

Edward Riecks, Howard Beach



When weighing in its close proxim-ity to the train, the Jamaica Performing Arts Center and the business strip along Jamaica Avenue, Downtown Jamaica is the ideal place to live. And since the Greater Jamaica Development Corpo-ration was founded in 1967, it has been striving to show developers what it sees – the massive potential of the area.

“People need to live in good solid neighborhoods, where they shop and where they don’t have to own a car,” said Carlisle Towery, president at GJDC. “Downtowns have multiple destinations and choices, so when you come Downtown, you can do multiple things on any given trip. Downtowns are efficient and Downtown Jamaica is rich with opportunities.”

Less than two decades ago, hous-ing options in Downtown Jamaica were lacking. But now, within walking distance of the Station area, hundreds of units have been recently completed and more than 500 units are well into development.

Though GJDC is not a developer, it has long been their goal to help facilitate developments like housing, either by as-sembling properties, finding space for projects or simply highlighting what Ja-maica has to offer to potential investors.

GJDC Helps Facilitate Housing Developments“A lot of the time, Greater Jamaica

has to assemble the properties, and in some cases we sell the properties to developers,” Towery explained. “Of-ten, we sell properties well below mar-ket values. We didn’t make money off of these land sales, and in some cases, we don’t even recover our cost.”

Last year, in conjunction with the Bluestone Organization, GJDC an-nounced the start of construction on the 161st Street mixed-income hous-ing apartments, Norman Towers. The buildings, which will also include retail space, are expected to generate more than $30 million in local economic activity and construct 100 affordable homes for families and individuals.

“The new mixed-use, mixed-in-come development is an investment in the future and another fine ex-ample of how private and public sec-tors can work together,” said former Borough President Helen Marshall at the groundbreaking ceremony last year. “They are going to bring forth an attractive, affordable housing and commercial space. This is not only ex-citing for the spirits who will occupy these apartments but also renews the entire community.”

The property, located at 90-14 161st St. in Downtown Jamaica, was purchased from the GJDC in 2008

primarily to serve as the new head-quarters for the Bluestone Organiza-tion and additional office space. Over the course of five years, however, the plans transformed.

The apartments will consist of 100 units in two nine-story elevator serviced towers built over a connecting cellar. There will be a total of seven studios, 72 one-bedroom apartments and 21 two-bedroom apartments. Other ame-nities will include a bicycle room and parking. Norman Towers will include 5,311-square-feet of commercial space and 4,525-square-feet of retail and is scheduled for completion later this year.

Right across from the street from the Norman Towers is yet another housing development that GJDC helped lay the groundwork for – the already com-pleted Yorkside Towers. Completed in 2005 by the Ciampa Organization, Yorkside Towers were the first market-rate rental housing structures built in Downtown Jamaica in 30 years.

The two fully-occupied buildings, which contain 180 units total, dem-onstrated the high demand and desir-ability of living in Downtown Jamai-ca. The project added vibrancy to the neighborhood and spurred a wave of new housing developments across the area.

GJDC assembled the land in the

mid-1970s and took responsibility for rezoning the land for higher density housing. The project was financed through the New York City Housing Development Corporation’s New Housing Opportunities Program.

Perhaps the most structurally-impressive housing development that GJDC helped spearhead are the Moda apartments, which debuted in 2010 and are located on Parsons Boulevard be-tween 89th Avenue and 90th Avenue.

The 346-unit development, which features low and middle rate hous-ing, is a certified green building and also includes a 24-hour concierge, gym, lounge, children’s playroom and indoor parking. The project also has 20,000-square-feet of community space and 50,000-square-feet of retail, which includes an Associated Super-market and the City Rib restaurant.

According to Towery, GJDC was in-strumental in ensuring that the City’s “excess” property went to good use.

“We helped on Moda when the City decided to build family courts and had this property left over,” he said. “We worked hard to make sure that the City access went to EDC [Economic Development Corporation], who then went out and found developers to redo it, as opposed to just auctioning it to the highest bidder.”


BY JOE MARVILLI

As the City and Borough move further away from the Great Reces-sion, Queens’ real estate market is showing signs of steady growth.

The residential real estate market has improved in nearly every category when compared to the statistics from the first quarter of 2013. Sales are up across the board, with houses stay-ing on the market for shorter periods of time before being purchased. As Manhattan and Brooklyn continue to get pricier and pricier, the eyes of homebuyers and investors are turn-ing towards Queens.

According to a new report by Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel, the number of home sales in the Bor-ough has gone up, rising 32.8 percent to 3,156 for the first quarter of 2014, compared to 2,377 sales in the first quarter of 2013. This is the highest first quarter total in six years.

Properties are also spending less time on the market, showing that buyers have been hungrier for real es-tate this year so far. Rather than the 121 days a house was on the market in early 2013, a typical house now av-erages 103 days on the market. The listing discount, which is the percent-age difference between the list price at the time of contract and the sales price, also dropped from 5.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013 to 5 per-cent for the first quarter of 2014.

“We’re finding there’s definitely a strong demand for homes in the lo-cal area, which is Queens and Brook-lyn,” Tom Rudzewick, Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer at Maspeth Federal Savings, said. “There has been a slowdown for the last couple of years of new resi-dential construction. That’s caused a little bit of an uptick in demand.”

Of course, the boost in sales means that there are fewer options on the market. Listing inventory has gone down to 5,617, a 13.5 percent

drop from the 6,496 pieces of prop-erty available in the first quarter of 2013. Inventory has fallen to its sec-ond lowest level in nine years, setting a record low the previous quarter, with 5,248 units available.

Unfortunately, the strength of the real estate market has also boosted prices. The average cost of a home in Queens has increased by more than 10 percent in the first quarter of 2014, when compared to 2013. The average price of a Queens home for the first quarter was $429,544, up from $389,420, the highest first quarter metric since 2008.

Struggles Among GrowthAccording to Rudzewick, many

homebuyers in Queens are aiming for longer, 30-year mortgages, rath-er than 15-year mortgages. This is partially due to the continued slow recovery from the Great Recession, making residents more cautious with their purchasing power. While Rudzewick said those long-term mortgages are good, they require “stellar credit.”

He added that the recent financial regulations put in place have added pressure to banks like Maspeth, lim-iting their ability to lend to and assist homeowners.

“The rules and regulations that have been enforced in the last few years have placed a lot of pressure on homeowners,” he said. “The regu-latory rules are so tight. We’d like to see some relief from that, especially as a community bank. We are here to help people who are just starting out.”

David Ostrowsky, the Senior Loan Officer at Investors Bank, added that a problem he is noticing in Astoria and Long Island City is that there are many self-employed residents. There-fore, they have a harder time borrow-ing and putting together a mortgage.

Despite this, Ostrowsky said that there has been an increase in first-

time homebuyers as well as invest-ment buyers. However, the increas-ing prices can knock some of those first-timers out of the running.

“The values coming up as they have can certainly squeeze out some first time homebuyers. I would say it does cover the full spectrum,” he said.

He added that there has been a decent amount of buy-and-hold or rent-and-hold properties, contribut-ing to the slow and steady increase in the residential real estate market, rather than the boom-and-bust that dominated from 2004 to 2007.

Rudzewick agreed that a slower real estate market appears to be the norm for the near future.

“I think those peaks were an ab-erration from regulations that were changing and a lack of regulation,” he said. “They moved the real estate market in a peak that we will not see for a very long time.”

Both Investors Bank and Maspeth Bank have a variety of services avail-able to help homebuyers. Investors hosts homebuyer seminars and certi-fied real estate advisor programs as well as offering lending programs, reduced interest rates and other ser-vices for low-to-moderate incomes. Maspeth Bank has an assortment of different mortgage plans meant to help everyone from first time home-buyers to those looking to refinance a loan.

Neighborhood DifferencesWhile there are trends that cover

all of Queens, many homebuyers look to invest in a neighborhood, rather than the Borough as a whole.

One of the most surprising statis-tics from Elliman and Samuel is that central Queens had the largest mar-ket share growth in the Borough over the last six years. Between 2008 and 2014, the area that includes Forest Hills, Fresh Meadows, Jamaica Es-tates, Kew Gardens, Queens Village and Rego Park has had a 4.7 percent

increase in sales share to 25.3 per-cent. In the past year, sales in that region jumped from 597 to 799.

“I think the central Queens mar-ket is increasing because of the over-flow from areas that are out-priced at this point,” Rudzewick said. “That, plus the fact that we are such an ethnically diverse center in Queens. There’s an assimilation that people feel. These neighborhoods are abso-lutely exploding.”

On the other end of the spec-trum, northwest Queens only makes up around 14 percent of the market sales for the Borough. Despite the popularity of Long Island City, As-toria, Sunnyside and Woodside, the region has a lower market share than any other neighborhood, with the ex-ception of Rockaway.

Rudzewick said that the cost of purchasing a house in those neigh-borhoods has gone up too much for many homebuyers to deal with. The average sales price for the first quar-ter of 2014 was $514,077, the only Queens neighborhood average to go above half a million dollars.

“I think the pricing in the north-west sections of Queens have reached the tipping point and have become overpriced,” he said.

Ostrowsky said that he thought those neighborhoods were still hot, but the numbers were affected by a lack of available properties on the market.

In terms of where to buy in Queens, Rudzewick said that the cen-tral Queens market is vibrant and a good investment, along with nearby communities like Flushing, Bayside and Auburndale.

“Those areas are going to contin-ue to rise. The construction aspect of it is going to take a long time to catch up to the demand,” he said. “Those areas that are centrally located will be very important.”


The Ups And Downs Of Queens’ Housing Market

More than one million square feet under development, including 650,000 square feet of new residential space and more than 400,000 square feet of hotel, and commercial space including:

t A $225 million building with more than 400 units of mixed-income housing and 80,000 square feet of retailt A four-star Hilton Garden Inn hotel directly across from AirTrain t A mixed-income housing and commercial project with 101 units of affordable and 10,000 square feet of commercial spacet A retail development with 180,000 square feet of retail and a 550-car garage.

t 670,000 residents in a 3-mile radiust 30,000 college studentst 158,000 workforce population t 3.7 billion in unmet retail demand

Jamaica Makes It Happen!Look what’s going on — and up — in Jamaica!

Take a closer look at Jamaica




Since the foreclosure crisis struck the nation in 2008, Southeast Queens has continued to be the hardest hit area in all of New York City.

According to Matthew Hassett, di-rector of policy and communications for the Center For New York City Neighborhoods, a nonprofit that of-fers free foreclosure prevention ser-vices, the Queens neighborhoods of Far Rockaway, Ozone Park, Jamaica, St. Albans and Springfield Gardens account for the majority of foreclo-sures in the Borough.

“In the ZIP codes that make up those neighborhoods, there were more than 750 foreclosure filings [from February 2011 to March 2014] in each ZIP code. It’s a very high rate of foreclosures,” he said. “Southeast Queens has consistently one of the hardest hit areas in the City.”

One of the biggest reasons why Southeast Queens continues to get the brunt of the foreclosure crisis, Hassett said, is because it has a much higher rate of home ownership verses rental properties than most of the City.

“There are a lot of more homes there,” he said. “And unfortunately, there was a huge amount of sub-prime and predatory lending there. That has

had a devastating effect on the neigh-borhoods of Southeast Queens.”

Hassett noted that Queens has had the greatest number of foreclosures of all five boroughs, with approxi-mately 6,000 of the City’s 13,700 an-nual filings.

A recent report released by Real-tyTrac suggests that in March, the number of properties that received a foreclosure filing in Queens County was six percent lower than the pre-vious month and 26 percent lower than the same time last year.

The study also suggests that home sales for February 2014 were down 13 percent compared with the pre-

Foreclosures Continue To Hit SEQ Hardest

Southeast Queens continues to have the highest foreclosure rate in the City.

vious month, and up three percent with a year ago.

Although Hassett highlighted this recently documented improve-ment, he does not think Queens, or the City, has bounced back from the recession just quite yet and believes that any analysis of these figures would be premature.

“We saw that in one month, there was significant decline. However, the trend over the last year has shown the rates are steady or rising,” he said. “The economic recovery is still lackluster. People are still having a hard time pay-ing their mortgages and I don’t know that we’re out of the woods yet.”

He also added that CNYCN is concerned with new Federal govern-ment policies regarding flood insur-ance following Superstorm Sandy and what the new policies could po-tentially mean for New Yorkers.

“We’re also concerned about the impact of the new changes around flood insurance. People in the 100-yard flood plain will see a significant increase in the rates they pay for flood insurance unless they elevate their homes, which is extremely ex-pensive,” he said. “We’re concerned that it might lead to a whole new wave of foreclosures.”

According to Hassett, the north shore of Staten Island and neighbor-hoods in Central Brooklyn have also historically had higher foreclosure rates than other parts of the City. By contrast, Manhattan, the bor-ough with the least number of family homes, has had the lowest foreclo-sure rate in all of New York.

To learn more about the free pro-grams CNYCN offers, dial 311 and ask for the Center for NYC Neighbor-hoods or contact the nonprofit direct-ly at (646) 786-0888. You may also visit their website at www.cnycn.org.

Reach Reporter Natalia Kozikows-ka at (718)357-7400 Ext. 123 or [email protected].


pix

Photo by Walter K

arling

Jamaica Market Manager Angela Mohan with the Kunal Singh Jazz Experience after the group’s concert at the Jamaica Market.

Girl Scout Visit

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz spoke with a group of Girl Scouts in her office in Queens Borough Hall on April 22. The Scouts are based out of the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in Jamaica, led by the Rev. Floyd Flake, and met with Borough President Katz to hear firsthand how impor-tant civic pride and volunteerism is to the Borough and to the City.

Former Bronx Bor-ough President Fer-nando Ferrer and former Councilman Archie Spigner at the Greater Jamaica De-velopment Corpora-tion Regional Plan Association’s 24th annual assembly at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith last week an-nounced that Efuru Udon, a second grad-er at New Hope Res-toration Gifted Acad-emy, was the winner of the 2014 Earth Day Poster Contest within his district.

Poster Winner Resorts World Casino New York City celebrated Earth Day on April 22 in Queens. Employees planted trees around the casino, honoring the environment and greening the property with plants and flowers.

Celebrating Earth Day

Greater Jamaica At The Waldorf-Astoria

Jazz Concert

Photo by Walter K

arling


Police Blotter

Borough Beat

102nd PrecinctCollision Investigation

At 9:05 p.m. on April 26, police responded to a 911 call of a motor ve-hicle accident involving a pedestrian struck near the intersection of Atlan-tic Avenue and 107th Street.

Upon arrival, officers observed a male, identified as Oscar Pauzhi, 54, of Woodhaven, lying in the roadway with severe head trauma. EMS trans-ported Pauzhi to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Further investigation revealed a 2006 Hyundai Elantra was traveling west on Atlantic Avenue in the right lane, approaching the intersection of 107th Street, when the pedestrian en-tered the roadway heading north on Atlantic Avenue, and was struck by the vehicle. The vehicle’s operator remained on the scene. There have been no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.

106th PrecinctCity Employee Arrested

At 3:12 a.m. on April 27, police arrested Vincent D’Amato, 31, an

off-duty Dept. of Sanitation employ-ee, and charged him with assault.

109th PrecinctAttempted Kidnapping

The NYPD is asking the public’s assistance locating the following suspect wanted for an attempted kidnapping that occurred within the confines of the 109th Precinct.

At 12:15 a.m. on April 27, the suspect, while driving a four-door sedan, approached an 18-year-old victim who was walking westbound on the northbound side of 25th Avenue approaching 126th Street. The suspect asked the victim if she wanted a ride. The victim said no and continued walking westbound. The suspect then parked his vehicle at the northwest corner of 25th Av-enue and 124th Street and grabbed the victim around the waist and put his hand over her mouth. The victim resisted and the suspect ran to the vehicle and then drove northbound on 124th Street.

The male suspect is described as Hispanic, approximately 30-35 years old with a light beard and mustache,

short dark spiked hair, approximate-ly 5-foot-6 with a slim build. He was last seen wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt. The four-door sedan he was driving had damage to the passenger side area.

Anyone with information should call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at (800) 577-TIPS, visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls are confidential.

RobberyThe NYPD is asking the public’s

assistance locating the following suspect wanted in connection with a robbery within the confines of the 109th Precinct.

At approximately 8 a.m. on April 18, while making pharmaceutical de-liveries in the vicinity of 150th Street and 14th Avenue, the 49-year-old de-liveryman was approached by the sus-pect, who brandished a firearm and forced the victim into the passenger seat of his blue 2000 Dodge Caravan. Once inside, the suspect drove the vic-tim’s vehicle into Yonkers, where the victim was told to exit.

The suspect fled the victim’s ve-

hicle which contained approximately $25,000 in assorted prescription medicine.

The suspect is described as a white male, 25-30 years old, with a pock-marked face, bald head and speaks Spanish.

113th PrecinctAssault

The NYPD is seeking the public’s assistance locating Supreme Moye, who is wanted for an assault.

At 2:46 p.m. on April 21, in the vicinity of 169th Street and 111th Av-enue, Moye stabbed a 15-year-old fe-male in the face, neck, back and hands before fleeing. The victim was taken to North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital, where she received more than 100 stitches for her wounds.

Moye is described as a 20-year-old male, 5-foot-10 and weighing 165 lbs.

Anyone with information should call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at (800) 577-TIPS, visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls are confidential.

By JACKIE StRAwBRIdgE

The fire that engulfed a build-ing in Jackson Heights last Monday has devastated not only the physical landscape of the area, but the cultur-al landscape as well. Four programs of the Queens Community House op-erated in that building, and are now searching for a new home.

The fire began at approximately 6 p.m. in the Brunson Building, lo-cated at 37th Avenue and 75th Street in Jackson Heights. The FDNY has determined that the fire was acciden-tal, and due to a malfunctioning boil-er. Gusty wind made the firefighting efforts especially difficult.

Fortunately, the Queens Commu-nity House was on break at the time of the fire, and Plaza College, which also occupied the building, did not have classes in session. Nevertheless, nine people sustained injuries as a result of the fire, and the nearly 50 small businesses who were housed in the building are now without a space.

The Jackson Heights location of-fered adult education and intensive English and citizenship classes, and offered Immigrant Services, the Col-

Boro Community House Faces Setbacks After Fire

lege Access and Success program and the Queens Center for Gay Se-niors. Approximately 300 residents attended the Jackson Heights Com-munity House services each day.

According to KC Williams, Direc-tor of Adult Education at the Commu-nity House, the Jackson Heights area is populated by graduates of the Queens Community House English Speakers of Other Languages program.

“The whole world comes to learn English here, and they have for a gen-eration,” she said.

John Nagel is director of the Queens Center for Gay Seniors, formerly known as SAGE Queens,

which is the Borough’s only senior center pri-marily serving the older adult LGBT population. He was working in his of-fice when the fire broke out. Hearing the alarm, he directed people in the building to the fire exits.

“Naturally, members and staff feel a great loss at this time. We are grate-ful for the outpouring of support from our neigh-bors, partnerships and

community,” he added.The Queens Center for Gay Se-

niors has been a part of the Jackson Heights community since 2003. Since its start, it has become an award-win-ning program and marched as Grand Marshals in the 2012 Queens Pride Parade.

“The clubhouse environment [of the Center] has been a second home for LGBT older adults in Queens,” Nagel said.

Williams heralded the efforts of her colleagues in the aftermath of the fire. She said that recovery efforts include routing the office phones to staff members’ cell phones, taking

stock of paperwork that was lost and looking for new space to hold class-es. Due to these and other efforts, Williams remains optimistic about the future of the Community House Jackson Heights site in the face of this crisis.

“We have the most amazing staff in the world,” she said.

Finding new space will be a dif-ficult process due to the limited op-tions in the area. For the moment, other branches of the Queens Com-munity House are holding the Jack-son Heights site’s programming. The Center for Gay Seniors, according to Nagel, has a temporary home at the Kew Gardens location, with which many members are already familiar.

Williams suggested that residents keep an eye on the Queens Com-munity House Facebook page for updates. The page can be accessed at www.facebook.com/QueensCom-munityHouse.

“With this fire, we come together as a resilient community that will continue to grow, prosper and start anew,” Nagel said.

Reach Reporter Jackie Strawbridge at (718) 357-7400, Ext. 128, [email protected] or @JNStrawbridge.

the Brunsun Building, days after an accidental fire.

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A & EForest Hills Stadium Announces Second Show

By JAckie StrAwBridge

Leather skirts, an Indian Kurta, a hijab and pink short-shorts all hit the runway Monday night at Queens College.

“Fashioning Our Identities” was the third annual inter-cultural fash-ion show put on by the Queens Col-lege Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding (CERRU). Seventeen models worked with six stylists and designers under the direction of Batya Sep-timus, the fellowship coordinator at CERRU, who conceived the idea of an inter-cultural fash-ion show as a senior at Queens College.

Among CERRU’s mis-sions are fighting intoler-ance, overcoming stereo-types and encouraging dialogue between and among diverse groups. The organization accom-plishes these goals in a variety of ways, from con-flict negotiation to com-munity service volunteer work to artistic and cul-tural events.

“Fashioning Our Iden-tities” fits into the CER-RU mission by highlight-ing the complexity of identity and how individuals negotiate their iden-tities, according to Septimus.

“Usually at a fashion show, the model is a human hanger,” Septi-mus said. In this show, however, “the models were the focal point.”

Each model wore two outfits, or “looks.” The first looks illustrated as-sumptions made by others about the models in their daily lives. Debbie Okeke modeled a sundress and carried

discovering identity through Fashion At Queens college

shopping bags to imitate the prima donna that others often assume her to be; Meera Desai wore a sari to reflect the Indian heritage that she is some-times judged by.

The second looks, or “actual looks,” illustrated how the models define their own identities. This time, Desai wore a modern Indian print as well as a flower in her hair, to sym-bolize her environmentalism.

In putting on this fashion show, students were required to address

the fundmanental ques-tion of who they are. For many, it was a com-plicated but liberating experience.

Michelle Jackson said that she grappled with “embracing [her] African roots without being stereotypical.”

Desai said, for a long time people having been “calling me cute, or little, and I’ve never got-ten a chance to explore how that made me feel” until this fashion show.

Wendy Moscow, a Flushing resident who works on campus at Queens College, said she could relate to the message of the show.

“Sometimes people make assump-tions about me that are not necessar-ily true,” she said. “There’s so much more to everyone than you might first assume… I really loved how we got to see outwardly the inward iden-tities [of the models.]”

“Plus,” Moscow added, “they looked great. They all looked fabulous.”

Reach Reporter Jackie Strawbridge at (718) 357-7400, Ext. 128, [email protected] or @JNStrawbridge.

By LuiS grondA

An upcoming concert announced on Tuesday will bring a different fla-vor to the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium than previously announced shows.

Two popular rock bands, Modest Mouse and Brand New, will co-head-line a show at the Tennis Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 9.

The show is the second of six scheduled for the former site of the U.S. Open this summer. Zac Brown Band was the first show announced earlier this year. They will play the venue on June 21.

Both bands have had a storied and successful career and they will bring their huge fan bases to the historic tennis stadium.

Although they have not released a new album since 2007, Modest Mouse has maintained its level of popularity in the indie rock scene, constantly being one of the main acts at music festivals such as Sasquatch Festival in their native Washington.

They are most known for their 2004 album “Good News For People Who Love Bad News,” which featured two of their most well-known songs, “Float On” and “Ocean Breathes Salty.” That

album went certified Platinum, selling more than 1.5 million copies and was nominated for a Grammy in 2005 for Best Alternative Album. Their subse-quent album, “We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank,” came out in 2007 and reached number one on the Billboard charts.

The Long Island-based Brand New have been one of the most suc-cessful Alternative rock bands in the past decade.

The group is most known for songs like “The Quiet Things No One Ever Knows,” but has gone on to create a more mature sound in their later years while still keeping the sound that made them popular. This is apparent in their 2006 album, “The Devil and God Are Raging In-side Me.” Although it is probably the least popular album amongst Brand New fans, their 2009 album “Daisy,” was their highest charting album

ever, reaching number six on the Bill-board top 200.

Tickets for the show are now on sale. Doors for the show will open at 5 p.m. and it is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

There are four more shows at the Tennis Stadium that will be an-nounced at a later date.

Reach Reporter Luis Gronda at (718) 357-7400, Ext. 127, [email protected], or @luisgronda.

By Joe MArViLLi

This Sunday, an array of talented artists will come together in Bayside for a celebration of music.

The Queens Symphonic Band is go-ing to host the inaugural Queens Music Festival on May 4 at the Queensbor-ough Performing Arts Center. Featur-ing musicians from several genres, the showcase offers a full afternoon of en-tertainment for Queensborough Com-munity College students and attendees throughout the Borough.

Big band, Latin and jazz musicians are scheduled to perform between the hours of noon and 4 p.m., with a grand finale by the Queens Symphon-ic Band itself. Dr. Bernard Rose, the band’s director, will host the festival.

The band’s secretary, Phil Schwartz, said that the festival’s purpose was to give the audience a chance to see a va-riety of acts play music from all genres and eras in one location.

“The Queens Symphonic Band has been performing all these cat-egories of music for over 40 years, and decided it would be a wonderful outlet for the residents of Queens and the New York metropolitan area to enjoy a multi-cultural music event such as this,” he said.

The Jackson Heights Orchestra, directed by Patricia Glunt, will per-form numbers including “Reverie” by Claude Debussy, “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg and “March” from “The Love for Three

Music Festival comes to Queensborough

Oranges” by Sergei Prokofiev. They will take the stage at 12:30 p.m.

The In Performance Music Work-shop by the jazz ensemble will start at 1:15 p.m. Directed by Sean King, their showcase will feature modern pieces from pop culture, such as “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns ‘n’ Roses, “I Can’t Help It” by Michael Jackson and “The Dance of Denial” by hard bop jazz trumpeter Michael Philip Mossman.

At 2 p.m., Latin big band group Sonido Clasico, directed by Carlos Castillo, is going to perform the mu-sic of jazz composer Tito Puente. Founded in 1999 by Castillo, the band preserves the sounds of the Latin big band era of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

To close the show, the Queens Sym-phonic Band will hit the stage at 2:45 and perform a mixture of scores from great composers of the 21st century. Some songs the 40-member ensemble will tackle are “An American In Paris” by George Gershwin and compila-tions from the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber and John Williams.

Admission, which includes all four concerts, costs $10 at the door and $8 for students and seniors.

The Queensborough Perform-ing Arts Center is on the campus of Queensborough Community Col-lege, located at 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside. For more information, call Steven Dahlke at (718) 281-5531.


Modest Mouse will play at the Forest Hills tennis Stadium on Aug. 9.

Meera desai models her second look.

QUEENS TODAY

WEDNESDAY 5/7

FRIDAY 5/2

GOT EVENTS?Send all information to

[email protected] or mail to: 150-50 14th Rd.,

Whitestone, NY 11357

SATURDAY 5/3

MARIO CANTONESATURDAY 5/3SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

CHAMBER MUSICThe Aaron Copeland School of Music will present a concert highlighting the chamber music of Edward Smaldone. Taking place at 7:30 p.m. in LeFrak Concert Hall at Queens College, the free show will feature “A Certain Slant of Light,” “Duke/Monk” and other selections from Smaldone’s 40 years at the school. There will be a reception in the atrium after the concert.

CINCO DE MAYO FESTIVALFlushing Town Hall will celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a festival starting at

12:30 p.m. There will be a piñata-making workshop with Aurelia Fernandez, a Mexican

music and dance workshop with Ramon Ponce Jr. and Mariachi Real, and much more. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for children and $10 for mem-ber children. Flushing Town Hall is located at 137-35 Northern Blvd.

COMPOSTING IN THE CITYJoin the Queens Botani-cal Garden to learn the essentials of outdoor composting in city yards. Leaves, kitchen scraps, garden trimmings and weeds can all become garden gold through composting. Registration is required. Email [email protected] or call (718) 539-5296. The workshop fee is $5 per person. It runs from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

GUITAR TANGOThe beauty, passion and sensuality of tango will take center stage at Flush-ing Library with Argentine dancers El Polaco and Malena and the me-lodic guitar and vocals of Horacio Laguna. The event runs from 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. The library is located at 41-17 Main St.

LABOR OF LOVEThe performance “Labor of Love,” created specifi cally for the Noguchi Museum by performance artist Ernesto Pujol and sculptor Lesley Dill, is a celebration of all creation in the spirit of Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Pujol and Dill, facing each other on identi-cal tables in the Museum gallery, will draw on long Japanese paper scrolls, switching places every half hour. The performance will be ongoing throughout the day, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. No registration required. For more informa-tion, call (718) 204-7088.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAYLocal comic book shops throughout Queens will host events for Free Comic Book Day, with comic book publishers produc-ing more than 50 free books to hand out to kids of all ages. To fi nd a participating location, visit www.freecomicbookday.com/storelocator.

CELEBRATE QUEENS FARMEnjoy the springtime season with a cel-ebration of the Queens County Farm Museum, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Watch sheep shearing and spinning demos, take a hayride, go on a farmer-led tour, check out the commu-nity compost program and pick up vegetable and fl ower seedlings at the spring plant sale. Enjoy live music by Savannah Sky. Admission is $5 per person.

ELENA MOON PARKKorean-American man-dolinist, violinist and

ace trumpeter Elena Moon Park will perform a free concert at Flushing Town Hall at 1 p.m. Park mixes Asian languages with

English in Japa-nese sea shanties, Tibetan jump-rope rhymes, Korean harvest

sing-alongs and Taiwanese train songs. For more infor-mation, call (718) 463-7700.

MOTHER’S DAY LUNCHEONQueen of Angels will hold a Mother’s Day luncheon in the audito-rium, 44-04 Skillman Ave., Sunnyside. The event will include a hot buffet lunch, along with raffl es and door prizes. Tickets for adults cost $15 and tickets for chil-dren under 12 years old cost $5. Tickets are available at the rectory offi ce. No tickets will be available the day of the event.

THE NAZI OFFICER’S WIFEThe Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center at Queens-borough Community Col-lege is screening “The Nazi Offi cer’s Wife: How One Jew-

ish Women Survived the Ho-locaust” at 1 p.m. Based on the memoir by Edith Hahn-Beer, it tells the story of

a Viennese law student, a “Christmas–tree Jew,” with a gentile boyfriend. In 1942, to avoid deportation

to a concentration camp, she was living under a friend’s Christian name in Munich and later met and married Werner Vetter, a Nazi party member drafted into the Wehrmacht. The center is located at 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside.

PHOTOGRAPHY 101 Central Queens Y will present a workshop on fundamental photog-raphy techniques to get you started with manual settings on a digital cam-era. The course runs from 1:30-2:30 p.m. and is free for CQY members, $3 for non-members. To register, call (718) 268-5011, Ext. 160 or visit www.cqy.org/regis-tration.

ART TO FIGHT SEXISMStarting May 2 at Radiator Arts in Long Island City, the all-female artist group Eyesplice Collec-tive will be exhibiting “Practical Feminism,” a collection of performance art that demonstrates how individuals deal with femi-nism, cope with sexism, or inverts sexist tropes. For more information, call (347) 677-3418.

POLAROID STORIESFIT Theatre Ensemble will present Naomi Iizuka’s “Polaroid Stories” at the Secret Theater this weekend. The 1997 play blends classical mythology with interviews of real life street kids, creating a dynamic, multi-dimensional illustration of urban life on the edge. Tickets are $10. For more information, call (718) 392-0722.

MAKING A STAGE FROM THE STREETS OF LICStarting May 1, fi ve danc-ers from the French group les gens d’Uterpan will perform “Topolo-gie,” dancing in the streets and public space of Long Island City. Anonymous and without costume, they will interact with their surroundings repeatedly for 10 straight days. Free and open to the public. For more informa-tion, call the Chocolate Factory, (718) 482-7069.

THE WORLD COMES TO QUEENSThis summer, the Museum of the Moving Image will re-member the Queens World’s Fairs of 1939 and 1964 – their optimism, patriotism and commercialism. “The World Comes to Queens: Films from the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs” is screening from April 30 to August 31. Tickets are $12 for general admission, $9 for senior citizens and students and $6 for kids. For more information, call (718) 784-0077.

American stand-up comedian, writer and actor Mario Cantone brings his celebrity impersonations and hilarious musical impressions to the Queensborough Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m.

Best known as Anthony Marantino in the HBO series, “Sex and the City,” Cantone’s fast-paced and energetic style will have the audience in stitches.

Tickets are $40. For more information, call the box offi ce at (718) 631-6311.

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEKSPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEKAmerican stand-up comedian, writer and actor Mario

Cantone brings his celebrity impersonations and hilarious musical impressions to the Queensborough Performing

Best known as Anthony Marantino in the HBO series, “Sex and the City,” Cantone’s fast-paced and energetic

TUESDAY 5/6

SUNDAY 5/4 ONGOING



People

Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Ronald A. Ramcharran gradu-ated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas. The airman com-pleted an intensive, eight-week pro-gram that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic war-fare principles and skills.

Ramcharran is the son of Vanessa

and Harry Boodram of South Ozone Park.

Marvin Awoshie of Jamaica has been named to the Dean’s List for the winter 2014 term at Central Penn College in Summerdale, Pa.

Christopher Davius of Cambria Heights, a student at SUNY Oswego, is interning for the Spring 2014 semester at Little Luke’s Child Care in Oswego.

Buchi Okafor of Jamaica was initi-ated into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi at SUNY Oswego.

The Community Singers of Queens will host its “Serenade to Spring” cho-ral concert, 8 p.m. May 3 at Church on the Hill, 167-07 35th Ave., Flush-ing. Admission is $10. For informa-tion, call (718) 658-1021.

The U.S. Open will host an open casting call online for kids ages 12 and under for an opportunity to sing at the U.S. Open. All submissions must be received by 5 p.m. May 16 and open

auditions will be held at Queens The-atre from 1-3 p.m. July 8.

For information and official rules, visit www.usopen.org/castingcall.

QCCJ will present “Adventure With Queens Board of Education & Other Stories,” by Dotty Wilner, 2 p.m. May 3 at UUCQ building, cor-ner of Ash Avenue and 149th Street. First timers are free, all others $5. For information, call (718) 380-5362.

Annibel Tejada of Ozone Park, a student at SUNY Oswego, is intern-ing through the college’s Experience Based Education program at Integra-tive Counseling Services in Oswego.

Dorian Weekes of Rego Park was one of 40 students from the Pomfret School in Connecticut to have artwork featured in RED, a show at P.S. ART, a school-run exhibition space at the Sil-ver Circle Gallery in Putnam, Conn.

Christina Rukki of Forest Hills has been selected for membership in Gamma Sigma Alpha, the national

Ronald A. Ramcharran


Since it was established in 1976, the Southern Queens Park Associa-tion has made it its mission to im-prove the quality of life for Southeast Queens residents by offering a num-ber of social services in addition to the work it does at Roy Wilkins Park in Jamaica.

According to Jacqueline Boyce, chair and interim president at the nonprofit, the City went into its first public-private partnership with SQPA, remaining stewards of the park in conjunction with the City Parks Department.

“We made an agreement to share certain responsibilities that relate to the upkeep of the 54 acres here,” she said. “But that’s just the parks piece.”

Though SQPA has been offering social services since it was founded, Boyce admits that many residents in the area are not aware of the programs made available to them through the nonprofit.

“What I’m finding is, when I am handing out flyers, people know about Roy Wilkins Park but often, when I talk about the Southern Queens Park Association and what we do, they

have no idea,” she said. “A lot of people are not aware of the services we do and we do everything on these grounds.”

“Our social services are unique because there is no other park that has a social service agency occupying Parks Depart-ment land and we have 12 social service programs at Roy Wilkins,” she add-ed. “There is absolutely a need for something like this in the area.”

In addition to the up-keep of the park, SQPA has a num-ber of after school educational pro-grams, including a TASC Program at PS 118 in Hollis, The Beacon Program at MS 8 in Jamaica, the Cornerstone Program at the Jamaica Houses and tutoring at Roy Wilkins Family Center.

“We’re up to our utilization in every area,” Boyce said. “Our tutoring pro-grams, our family needs program – all of them. There is an absolute need for these programs because we are burst-ing out the seams. We are not lacking in people in need of services.”

Other valuable programs at SQPA include a parenting support group, a domestic violence support group, a batterers support group, a therapeu-tic art group and an adolescent sup-port group.

SQPA similarly offers individual family and group counseling servic-es, parenting journey groups, mental health screenings, substance abuse screenings and chemical dependency screening.

The nonprofit also organizes a summer youth employment program, a summer camp for children and acts

SQPA Improves Quality Of Life In SEQ

In addition to the up-keep of the park and organizing events at Roy Wilkins Park, the Southern Queens Park Association offers a num-ber of social services programs for Southeast Queens residents.

as a facilitator for events at Roy Wilkins Park.

“We have relation-ships with operators and promoters and produc-ers that have produced events locally for many years,” said Trevor Scot-land, director of market-ing and special events at SQPA. “We do reach out on occasion to promot-ers that we are aware of that we are interested in working with if we have a specific need we want to cultivate.”

Scotland highlighted SQPA’s re-lationship with Universoul Circus, which returned to Roy Wilkins Park this week. The circus will be at the park from May 1 through 18. Tickets vary in price.

For tickets and times, visit www.ticketmaster.com/UniverSoul-Cir-

cus-tickets/artist/804490. For more program information at

SQPA, call (718) 276-4630.Reach Reporter Natalia Kozikows-

ka at (718)357-7400 Ext. 123 or [email protected] or @nkozikowska.

academic Greek Honor Society at St. Lawrence University in Canton.

Alexander Peyton Ribner of Rock-away Beach received a degree in busi-ness management during spring 2014 commencement ceremonies at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

Trina Quandt of Forest Hills re-ceived the Graduate Honors in MS in Art Education Award during the Honors Convocation at the College of St. Rose in Albany.

Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder has announced his annual Summer Read-ing Challenge, to help keep student minds active and encourage learning outside of the classroom. Children who participate will be awarded an Excellence in Reading Certificate, hand-delivered by Goldfeder when students return to school in the fall.

For information about the 2014 Summer Reading Challenge, email [email protected] or call Goldfeder’s office at (718) 945-9550.

Profile


Faith

NotebookSuccess Academy


In light of their work for the Ca-ribbean and American communities, Rev. Phil Craig of the Greater Spring-field Community Church, along with his wife Jennifer, will be honored by the Ambassador for Christ Interna-tional Outreach Ministry at the or-ganization’s annual Women of Dis-tinction and appreciation day awards gala on May 4.

In addition to Craig and his wife, the Ambassador for Christ Inter-national Outreach Ministry will be honoring pastors, ministers, law en-forcement personnel and veterans. Several elected officials are also expected to come out to show their support.

Although in the past, honorees at the awards ceremony have typically always been women, Craig said the organization made an exception for him. He said the ministry made the exception, in large part, because of the great work he does for the wom-

Rev. Phil Craig And Wife To Be Honored

en in Southeast Queens.“There has been an overwhelming

support in the community,” he said. “As president of the National Action Network Queens chapter, I’ve helped the women’s committee with a lot of their efforts and programs.”

Craig highlighted his effort in spearheading a scholarship program for low-income children in South-

east Queens with the women’s com-mittee.

“We gear these scholarships toward underprivileged chil-dren that are going to college,” he said. “We are handing out $500 scholar-ship awards and this year, we gave out six. Our women’s com-mittee is very active. Although we are only really about a year old, we accom-

plished a whole lot.”Craig said that he and his wife

were very surprised to hear that the Ambassador for Christ International Outreach Ministry had selected them to be recognized for their community service, but said they were very ex-cited about the news.

“We were both very astounded. We felt that it came out of nowhere,”

On May 4, the Rev. Phil Craig and his wife Jennifer will be honored for their contributions in the community.

he said. “But we said of course. We’re both very ecstatic.”

Jennifer, who sits on the Queens’ NAN women’s committee, echoed her husband’s sentiments.

“I got very excited and am very thankful,” she said. “[I think my big-gest accomplishment] in the com-munity is getting the chance to em-power women. I just feel happy to help women and enjoy getting them involved so that they too, can feel empowered.”

The event will be hosted by Rev. Emmanuel Asse, assistant pastor of Gateway World Christian Center. It is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at the Floral Terrace, located at 250 Jericho Tpke., Floral Park.

For ticket prices and additional information, call the Floral Terrace catering general manager at (516) 488-2626.



After being turned down for co-location at August Martin High School, Success Academy has found a new home in Southeast Queens, just three miles away in Rosedale.

The charter school was originally slated to open at August Martin un-der the Bloomberg Administration. But protest from parents and elected officials, who were concerned about placing elementary school children in the same building as high school students, put pressure on Mayor Bill de Blasio to reverse the decision.

As an alternative, the Dept. of Education and de Blasio offered Suc-cess Academy Jamaica an alternative at St. Pius X School, a Roman Cath-olic-affiliated school located 148-10 249th St.

“We are deeply grateful to the Mayor for his support, which will en-able us to serve these students. I’m heartened we’ve been able to put politics behind us and establish a positive working relationship,” Eva Moskowitz, CEO of Success Acad-emy Charter Schools, said in a state-

ment. “With valuable guidance and support by Governor Cuomo, we have advanced our shared goal of improving educational opportunities for the City’s many public school stu-dents in both charter and district schools.”

The new Rosedale school will ultimately serve grades K-8, be-ginning with about 150 kindergarteners and first graders in August of this year. According to Kerri Lyon, a spokesperson for Success Academy, the charter school re-ceived 14,400 unique applications for 2,900 seats.

Similarly, Success Jamaica had nine applications for each seat and more than 14,000 chil-dren in Southeast Queens applied. She also noted that preference is giv-en to students in the school district.

“Applicants to this school were zoned for schools that performed on

Success Academy Coming To Rosedaleaverage 61 percentage points worse in math and 41 percentage points worse in English Language Arts at Success Academy schools,” Lyon said.

According to a statement released by Success Academy, the charter school wel-comes a diverse popu-lation of students with a variety of academic and developmental needs. Last year, 15 percent of its schol-ars had IEPs and 11 percent were English Language Learners or had graduated from that status while en-rolled at our schools.

“Southeast Queens has an enormous racial and ethnic achieve-

ment gap, which Success Academy has a strong record in reversing,” the statement read. “Our African American and Hispanic students sig-nificantly outperform white students across the City and State.”

In 2013, 16 percent of African

American students and 23 percent of Hispanic students in District 27 met reading standards, compared to 43 percent of white students. Similarly, only 16 percent of Black students and 26 percentof Hispanic students met math standards, compared to 47 percent of white students.

According to Lyon, the Success Academy team is excited about com-ing to Southeast Queens and is con-fident that the move to Rosedale will be beneficial for the community.

“Success Academy is the highest performing charter school in the City and our track record is excep-tional,” she said. “In many cases, our students outperform the City’s best public schools, including gifted and talented schools and what’s wonder-ful about their program is just how well-rounded it is.”

For more information about Suc-cess Academy Charter Schools, or to learn how you can apply, go to www.successacademies.org.


After being turned down for co-location at August Mar-tin High School, Success Academy will be co-located with St. Pius X School, a Roman Catholic-affiliated school located in Rosedale.


What’s Up

LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE

INDEX NO.: 1314/2013. Filed Date: 4/17/2014. SUP-PLEMENTAL SUMMONS AND NOTICE. MORT-GAGED PREMISES: 109-66 153RD STREET, JAMAICA, NY 11433. (BL #: 12142 – 20). Plaintiff designates Queens County as the place of trial; venue is based upon the county in which the mort-gaged premises is situate. STATE OF NEW YORK SU-PREME COURT: COUNTY OF QUEENS U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE, SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL AS-SOCIATION AS TRUSTEE, SUCCESSOR BY MERGER TO LASALLE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR WASHINGTON MU-TUAL ASSET-BACKED CER-TIFICATES WMABS SERIES 2007-HE2 TRUST, Plaintiff, -against- JOSE MEDRANO, if living, and if dead, the respective heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, execu-tors, administrators, trustees, devisees, legatees, assignors, lienors, creditors and succes-sors in interest, and generally all persons having or claim-ing under, by or through said defendant who may be deceased, by purchase, inheritance, lien or otherwise

of any right, title or interest in and to the premises described in the complaint herein, and their respective husbands, wives or widows, if any, and each and every person not specifically named who may be entitled to or claim to have any right, title or interest in the property described in the verified complaint; all of whom and whose names and places of residence unknown, and cannot after diligent in-quiry be ascertained by the Plaintiff, CHRIS VRETTOS, NEW YORK CITY ENVI-RONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD, NEW YORK CITY PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU, NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU, NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXA-TION AND FINANCE, CACH OF COLORADO, LLC, THE UNITED STATES OF AMER-ICA, THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, KEN-NETH JAMISON, SHALIEK JAMISON, JOANNE JAMI-SON, CHARLES JAMISON, Defendants. TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUM-MONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Sum-

mons, to serve a notice of appearance on the attorneys for the Plaintiff within 20 days after the service of this Sum-mons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after service is complete if this Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York). In case of your failure to appear or an-swer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Com-plaint. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS SUM-MONS AND COMPLAINT BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE AT-TORNEY FOR THE MORT-GAGE COMPANY WHO FILED THIS FORECLOSURE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU AND FILING THE AN-SWER WITH THE COURT, A DEFAULT JUDGMENT MAY BE ENTERED AND YOU CAN LOSE YOUR HOME. SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY OR GO TO THE COURT WHERE YOUR CASE IS PENDING FOR FURTHER INFORMA-TION ON HOW TO AN-SWER THE SUMMONS AND PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY. SENDING PAYMENT TO YOUR MORTGAGE COM-PANY WILL NOT STOP THIS

FORECLOSURE ACTION. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTOR-NEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above cap-tioned action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure $ 380,000.00 (modified to $ 390,180.94 by a Loan Modi-fication Agreement dated January 15, 2009) and inter-est, recorded in the Office of the Clerk of Queens on October 3, 2006, at C.R.F.N. 2006000554311, covering premises known as 109-66 153rd Street, Jamaica, NY 11433 – BL #: 12142 – 20. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. The Plaintiff also seeks a deficiency judgment against the Defendant and for any debt secured by said Mortgage which is not satis-fied by the proceeds of the sale of said premises. TO the Defendant JOSE MEDRANO, the foregoing Summons is served upon you by publica-

tion pursuant to an Order of the Hon. Rudolph E. Greco, Jr. of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, and dated February 4, 2014. Dated: New Rochelle, N.Y. April 15, 2014. McCABE, WEIS-BERG & CONWAY, P.C. By: /s/________________ Leroy J. Pelicci, Jr., Esq. Attorneys for Plaintiff 145 Huguenot St., Ste. 210 New Rochelle, NY 10801 p. 914-636-8900 f. 914-636-8901 HELP FOR HOMEOWNERS IN FORE-CLOSURE NEW YORK STATE LAW REQUIRES THAT WE SEND YOU THIS NOTICE ABOUT THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY. SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME. IF YOU FAIL TO RESPOND TO THE SUM-MONS AND COMPLAINT IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION, YOU MAY LOSE YOUR HOME. PLEASE READ THE SUMMONS AND COM-PLAINT CAREFULLY. YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CONTACT AN ATTORNEY OR YOUR LOCAL LEGAL AID OFFICE TO OBTAIN ADVICE ON HOW TO PRO-TECT YOURSELF. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE. The State encourages you to become

informed about your options in foreclosure. In addition to seeking assistance from an attorney or legal aid office, there are government agen-cies and non-profit organiza-tions that you may contact for information about possible options, including trying to work with your lender dur-ing this process. To locate an entity near you, you may call the toll-free helpline maintained by the New York State Banking Department at 1-877-226-5697 or visit the Department's website at www.dfs.ny.gov. FORE-CLOSURE RESCUE SCAMS Be careful of people who approach you with offers to "save" your home. There are individuals who watch for notices of foreclosure actions in order to unfairly profit from a homeowner's distress. You should be extremely careful about any such promises and any suggestions that you pay them a fee or sign over your deed. State law requires any-one offering such services for profit to enter into a contract which fully describes the services they will perform and fees they will charge, and which prohibits them from taking any money from you until they have completed all such promised services.

ONGOINGClergy United Programs

Clergy United for Community Em-powerment offers group sessions at 172-17 Linden Blvd., second floor, Saint Al-bans. Topics covered include domestic violence, substance abuse intervention, decision-making and self-esteem aware-ness. Group sessions are open to the public, but it is important to call ahead for the next group session.

Other programs offered by Clergy United include:

Early Intervention Services, a sim-ple and accurate way to find out if you have HIV. No needles, no blood test. On-site testing walk-ins welcome Mon-day through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Free summer vacation for your child, through enrollment with the Fresh Air Fund, for kids ages 6-12. Contact Ms. Richardson at Clergy United for more information.

For information on programs of-fered through Clergy United, call (718) 297-0720. Youth Organizations

LP FAM’s Youth Organization is holding youth baseball registra-tion for boys and girls ages 5 to 14 every Saturday, 12 p.m. until 3 p.m.

at Dunton Presbyterian Church, lo-cated 109-29 135th St., South Ozone Park. Call Derick Braswell at (917) 692-4775 or Paul Cox at (718) 835-8416 for more information.

The organization is also holding registration for its basketball pro-gram. Boys and girls between 8 and 16 years old can register every Satur-day from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Queens Transition Center, located at 142-10 Linden Blvd., South Ozone Park. For more information, call Mike Glasgow at (917) 442-0479, Paul Cox (718) 835-8416, or David Reid at (646) 241-4211.

LP FAM is also looking for vol-unteer youth baseball and football coaches. Call Paul Cox at (917) 607-2421 or Derick Braswell at (917) 692-4775 for more information.

Overcoming Barriers To Employment

Every Friday, the Queens Central Library in Jamaica helps residents ex-periencing barriers to employment. A Job Information Center case manager is available on Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to discuss potential prob-lems you may have regarding child care, housing, immigration, healthcare

and goal and career planning, educa-tion and training and more. To sched-ule an appointment, call (718) 480-4222 or stop by the Job Information Center. No registration is required and the service is free.

Forestdale STYA Youth MentorForestdale, Inc., an organization

with a great history of supporting fami-lies in need and committed to empow-ering children in foster care and in the local community, launched a mentoring program in January 2014. This new pro-gram, called “Future Prep: Successfully Transitioning Youth to Adolescence,” or STYA, is designed to attract com-munity-minded people who may not be able to commit to foster parenting, but nevertheless want to make a signifi-cant investment in the lives of children and their better future. We are looking for mentors (18 or older) to work with children ages 9-12 for one year. Starting in January, there will be four 10-week sessions throughout the year, each run-ning for three hours on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The program will take place at the Hollis Community Center at 203-09 Hollis Ave.

This is an excellent opportunity to truly make a difference is someone’s

life, build meaningful relationships and be part of an enthusiastic, compas-sionate and supportive environment, in addition to a great learning expe-rience with the opportunity to learn about a multitude of issues facing un-derprivileged youth in New York City today. For additional information, contact Mirzya Syed, Youth Volunteer Coordinator, at [email protected] or (718) 263.0740, ext. 365.

Queens Satellite High School, College Mentoring Program

Queens Satellite High School is seeking volunteers to provide stu-dents with the skills and experienc-es that will support their personal growth. Key to the institute is the active participation its volunteers in the private sector and community members who wish to provide real world connections for their students through weekly seminars.

Mentors can participate in one-day sessions or teach a seven-week seminar on a topic of their choice. Technical assistance for lesson plan-ning will be provided throughout your experience. For additional in-formation, contact Kristy Nguyen at (718) 657-3920 ext. 4031.

Dominic San JuanPop quiz, hot shot: You're a well-liked public servant whose last run for office didn't end well. You still feel like you can contribute to Queens. What do you do?

That's a question a lot of people are asking about former City Comptroller John Liu. And with the Borough gearing up for an-other Primary season, the what ifs are out in full force.

Last week, one source close to the Democratic party told QConf that Liu would challenge State Senator Toby Stavisky.

Musicians OF QuEEnsQCONF

IDEN

TIAL

Dominic San Juan’s pow-er and performance comes from his expressive singing. With a soulful vocal delivery and an impressive baritone, he uses his gifted voice to belt out songs about love, heartbreak and his own experiences.

San Juan, who is from Woodside, began singing at the age of 12 and never looked back. As he tried to discover his own voice throughout his life, he found that the answer came from giving his songs a personal touch. By meaning every word that he writes and sings, San Juan always comes off as genuine, no mat-ter if the material is positive or negative.

“I always write from per-sonal experience, and from as honest a point of view as possible. It's hard to deliver a line if I don't believe in it,” San Juan said. “I like writing about anything I'm going through, especially if I'm emphatic enough about it in ‘real life.’”

The singer had tried to break into music for years, but struggled with being told “no” at every corner growing up. In 2005, his passion outweighed his doubts and he started to pursue his dream.

“I reached quite a few low points that wound up galva-nizing me into just doing it, come what may,” he said.

While San Juan’s songs are always personal and come from the heart, his songwrit-ing process varies. He said he uses the Evernote journal application on his phone to jot down potential lyrics or ideas. In other scenarios, he will start with a pre-produced track and chip away at it until

A Sign of Quick Thinking

he finds the right feel and words for a song.

These writing methods helped him put together his first EP, “Double Negative.” Although many of the songs he chose for the project focused on darker topics, he said that they ultimately wound up as statements of who he is, what he wants and where he wants to be.

“I wanted it to be honest and intrinsically me,” he said. “'Hypocrite,’ for example, is kind of ironic because I'm negating the idea of personal hypocrisy by owning up to it and concluding with a per-sonal affirmation.”

Growing up in Queens, San Juan lived every day with diversity, which led to a bit of a culture shock when he realized that the rest of the country was not as accept-ing of the melting pot that is prevalent in the Borough. That realization was part of his struggle to find his own musical identity.

“We assign genres accord-ing to ethnotype, and there's hardly any precedent for someone that looks like me to sound like me. It took me a long time to own my voice,” he said. “I've reached my boiling point and regardless of what anybody thinks or says, I'm committed to making music and writing songs.”

San Juan has started per-forming at songwriter open mics and plans to focus on his performance, working to assemble full sets. To keep up with the latest from the Woodside singer, visit www.dominicsanjuan.com, https://soundcloud.com/dominic-sanjuan and www.facebook.com/dominicsanjuan.

A recently-published inter-active fan map, put together by Facebook and the New York Times, has us here at QConf wondering one thing – where the Mets fans at? According to the Times study, the Yankees dom-inated in fandom against their New York c ou nte r-parts, the Mets. The map, which used data from Facebook profiles all over the nation, showed that the Yankees are the favored MLB team in more than 98 percent of America’s ZIP codes. As for the New York Mets, there are a lot less fans to be found… even in Queens. Most notably, in the area surrounding Citi Field, the Bronx Bombers fans outnum-ber those of the Amazin's by a margin of 53 percent to 25 percent. That’s gotta sting…

Got Talent? We want to feature

you! E-mail [email protected]

for inclusion in a future edition.

QConf is edited by:

Steven J. Ferrari

Contributors: Bruce Adler, Luis Gronda, Natalia Kozikowska, Joe Marvilli, Marcia

Moxom Comrie, Michael Nussbaum, Michael Schenkler, Jackie

Strawbridge.

Follow us on Twitter: @QueensTrib

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QueensTrib

Joe Addabbo seemed to have a great time riding a hover craft last week. The State Senator was testing out a student creation at a science fair in Maspeth High School last Friday. Although he wobbled a few times while riding the hover craft around in the school’s cafeteria, he was able to maintain his balance and avoid an embarrassing fall. He even gave the student’s work a thumbs up as shown in the picture.

No Mets Love In Queens

What Will Liu Do?

Murphy’s Law struck Coun-cilwoman Julissa Ferreras this Friday during a street co-naming ceremony for veteran Anthony “Tony” Caminiti, a Corona native and lifelong community advocate. After a program of warm remarks from members of the Corona community re-membering the man and his service to the community, Fer-reras gathered with Caminiti’s friends and family to unveil the new street sign bearing his name. They may have unveiled it a little too forcefully. Their string snapped, leaving the street sign partially covered. Luckily for Ferreras, she has a quick and nimble District Office Director who stepped up – literally – to save the event. Ivan Acosta shimmied onto the sign pole and unveiled the

The next day, another promi-nent Queens Democrat said yes, Liu's running for the State Senate,

but he'll be challenging new IDC member Tony Avella.

Right now, it seems like all anyone can agree on is that, yes, Liu is running.

Now that Leroy Com-rie has finally confirmed that he is running for

Malcolm Smith's State Senate seat, we're sure that all eyes will be on the former Flushing Councilman.

So John, what will you do?

street sign himself in the time it took Ferreras and company to rearrange for a photo-op on the ground. We here at QConf are de-lighted by this evidence of a no-nonsense, fast-acting gov-ernment body.

Ride of the Future


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516.374.5467CALL FOR APPOINTMENT

H. ZALCMAN-ATTORNEY AT LAW

Call and inquire aboutIMMIGRATION REFORM UPDATES718.851.4521

HHA’s & PCA’sEnglish or Spanish SpeakingCall Mon-Fri 10am-4pm

Alternate Staffing718-972-2500

Ext. 10 or 38

718-658-3200

Attorney Attorney

• Real Estate• Immigration• Family Law• Divorce• Wills/Estate

145-11 Jamaica AvenueJamaica, N.Y. 11435

Email: [email protected]: 718-658-7772

• Criminal (Dwi, Domestic)• Bankruptcy (Chap 7 & 13)

Foreclosure (Stop Sale) • Landlord & Tenant (Evictions) • Adoptions

Licensed for NY/NJ

]ÉtÇ YÉÜÜxáàxÜAttorney at Law

RAY INC.

917-340-9623718-756-8023

IFTHE PRICE

IS NOT RIGHTWE MAKE IT

RIGHT

Specialist In Home ImprovementWe Do Roofing Hot & Cold

Gutters & LeadersChimneys Repair & Replace

Any Drain CleaningKitchen & Bath Tiles,

Bonded. Lic & Insured

DRIVERS WANTEDImmediate Hire with CDL class C$500 Bonus for Pre-Certified 19ACDL TRAINING PROVIDED

Monthly Bonus-Attendance & Safety • Medical PlanVacation/Personal/Holiday Pay

Point reduction class given/acceptedAll shifts available • Sedans and buses available

Apply in person 91-01 150th StreetJamaica, Qns M-F 10-2

1 blk to J/E & 7 Trains/Queens Buses/LIRR

Monthly Bonus-Attendance & Safety • Medical PlanVacation/Personal/Holiday Pay

Point reduction class given/acceptedAll shifts available • Sedans and buses available

Apply in person 94-01 150th StreetJamaica, Qns M-F 10-2

1 blk to J/E & 7 Trains/Queens Buses/LIRR

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREMECOURT COUNTY OFQUEENS DEUTSCHE BANKNATIONAL TRUST COMPANY,AS TRUSTEE FOR MORGANSTANLEY CAPITAL I INC.TRUST 2006-HE2, Plaintiff,against LIZ BUITRAGO, et al.,Defendant(s). Pursuant to aJudgment of Foreclosure andSale duly dated 3/3/2014 I, theundersigned Referee will sell atpublic auction at the QueensCounty Courthouse in Court-room #25, 88-11 SutphinBoulevard, Jamaica, New Yorkon 05/30/2014 at 10:00AM,premises known as 179-39144TH ROAD, Springfield Gar-

dens, NY 11434 All that certainplot piece or parcel of land, withthe buildings and improve-ments erected, situate, lyingand being in the Borough andCounty of Queens, City andState of New York, BLOCK13089 LOT 91, FORMERLYPART OF, LOT 38. Approxi-mate amount of judgment$737,657.71 plus interest andcosts. Premises will be soldsubject to provisions of filedJudgment Index# 22987/12.Gregory M. Laspina, Esq., Ref-eree Gross, Polowy & Orlans,Attorney for Plaintiff, P.O. Box540, Getzville, NY 14068Dated: April 23, 2014 1091561

Legals Legals

VISIT US ONLINE @ QUEENSPRESS.COM

DRIVERS WANTED - EXP’DImmediate for busy Courier Svc.

Must have Own Vehicle (comm’l plates pref’d) Cell phones

w/email, knowledge of NYC & Excel Customer Svc Skills.

Call Deryck 212-691-3674


Full event calendar at ehnc.com1-866-539-0999 to RSVP

Visit us at the Neighborhood Room206-20 Linden Blvd.Cambria Heights

Group Health Incorporated (GHI), HIP Health Plan of New York (HIP), HIP Insurance Company of New York and EmblemHealth Services Company, LLC are EmblemHealth companies EmblemHealth Services Company, LLC provides administrative services to the EmblemHealth companies. Neighborhood Care is a division of EmblemHealth. ©EmblemHealth Inc. 2014, All Rights Reserved.

FEATURED EVENTS

At EmblemHealth Neighborhood Care you’ll find new programs every month to help you stay healthy, get well and live better. All classes are FREE and open to the public.

MAY

Dining Diversities for Diabetics 10:30–11:30 am

EHNC Community Partnership9:30–11:00 amLow Impact Zumba 11:30 am –12:30 pmWorkout Asthma - Zumba Style 1:00–2:00 pm

Sarcoidosis Support Group3:00–4:00 pmSpring Fitness5:00–6:00 pm

Low Impact Zumba 10:30–11:30 amSitting Exercise 12:00 Noon –1:00 pmThe National Alliance on Mental Health For Caregivers 4:30–7:00 pm

Intro to Tai Chi/Qigong11:30 am –12:30 pm Healthy Living With Diabetes1:00–3:30 pm

Rhythm & Flow Yoga 12:30–1:30 pm Meditation Made Easy 2:00–3:00 pm

Low Impact Zumba 11:30 am –12:30 pmWorkout Asthma - Zumba Style 1:00–2:00 pm

Spring Fitness5:00–6:00 pm

Low Impact Zumba 10:30–11:30 amSitting Exercise 12:00 Noon –1:00 pmThe National Alliance on Mental Health For Caregivers 4:30–7:00 pm

Cell Phone Literacy For Older Adults11:30 am –12:30 pm Healthy Living With Diabetes1:00–3:30 pm

Come Talk With Greg— One on One FREE Caregiving Session10:00 am –3:00 pm(Call for appointment)

10 | SATWomen Health & Wellness DayCome enjoy relaxing massages, get fit in our yoga and insanity exercise classes, bring out your inner beauty with a cosmetic makeover, and sample our delicious, nutritious smoothies! 5:30–6:30 pm

PUT CARE ON YOUR CALENDAR

06, 08, 13 & 15 | TUEStork Nest Prenatal Program 5:30–7:00 pm

HAPPYMOTHER’S DAY

MAY 11

THU01

FRI02

SAT03

MON05

TUE06

THU08

FRI09

SAT10

MON12

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