Press epaper 081514

Volume 15 Issue No. 33 Aug. 15-21, 2014

ONLINE AT WWW.QUEENSPRESS.COM

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UNITY IN ROCHDALE

PERSPECTIVE: BRATTON’S COMMENTS

ON GARNER DEATHHARSH, BUT TRUE

Page 6

A garden at the North Eastern Towers has provided an activity to bridge the generation gap. By Jordan Gibbons … Page 5.

PRESS of Southeast Queens Aug. 15-21, 2014

News Briefs

Mail your news brief items to: PRESS of Southeast Queens,

150-50 14th Rd., Whitestone, NY 11357

Albert Baldeo Found Guilty Of Obstruction Of Justice

Attorney Albert Baldeo, a former Queens District Leader, was convict-ed in federal court on seven counts of obstruction of justice.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that the jury found Baldeo, of Richmond Hill, guilty of tampering with witnesses during the investigation of his alleged campaign fraud by the Federal Bu-reau of Investigation. The case reached its conclusion in Manhat-tan federal court after a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty.

In the fall of 2010, Baldeo, then serving as a Queens District Leader, took part in a plot to defraud the City through the fun-neling of multiple illegal campaign contributions to his unsuccessful campaign for City Council. Baldeo and one of his employees supplied money orders or cash to individuals, who would then contribute to the campaign under their own names.

This manipulation affected the New York City Campaign Finance Board’s calculations as to whether Baldeo qualified for matching public campaign funds. Baldeo instructed several of his straw donors to sign affidavits that falsely confirmed that the contributions were made using their own funds.

Once the FBI started investigating the matter, Baldeo told several straw donors to provide false information to, or not cooperate with, the agents looking into his campaign. In one case, where a straw donor was going to refuse to lie, Baldeo’s office faxed a threatening letter to the individual and had a co-conspirator make false allegations that the individual was abusing his grandchild.

“With today’s verdict of guilty, an impartial federal jury has found that Baldeo lied and instructed others to lie to law enforcement agents inves-tigating the source of his campaign contributions, and threatened and in-timidated others in order to conceal the truth,” Bharara said. “These prac-tices have no place in our politics or our justice system.”

Baldeo was convicted of one count of conspiracy to obstruct jus-tice, and six counts of obstruction of justice, each relating to a separate instance of witness tampering. Each count carries a maximum sentence

of 20 years in prison. Judge Crotty will sentence Baldeo on Dec. 16.

Portion Of Springfield Blvd. Temporarily Closing

The western portion of the Spring-field Boulevard and 145th Road in-tersection will be closed to both east and westbound traffic from Wednes-day, Aug. 13 until Monday Aug. 18.

Southbound Springfield bou-levard motorists will be unable to make a right turn onto 145th road and northbound motorists will be

unable to make a left turn at 145th Road. An alternative route for westbound 145th road motorists is to proceed on Spring-field Boulevard/lane to 147th Avenue and then head westward. Eastbound 145th road motorists will be di-rected from the street to south Conduit Ave-nue at both 183th and

184th Streets. 144th road, 145th Av-enue and 145th road (184th street to Arthur Street) and Arthur Street will be accessible to local traffic only.

Queens Library At Hollis Closing Postponed

The scheduled temporary closing of Queens Library at Hollis, located at 202-05 Hillside Avenue., has been postponed from Aug. 15 to a new date. The new closing date to install a new roof will be announced shortly.

Queens Library Central Library New Area

The Queens Library New Central Library Area is ready for customers.

Workers finished the new circula-tion area which opened at the Cen-tral Library in Jamaica on Aug. 12. The new area is the latest phase in a total renovation of the Central Li-brary which will cost $20.2 million in total. The new Cyber Center, adult reading and reference area and the Teen Space have been completed and are now serving customers.

The work being done at the library is done in phases so that the library can remain in public service through-out most of the work. The renova-tions include all public service and administrative areas. It is the first renovation in more than 45 years.

Albert Baldeo

Aug. 15-21, 2014 PRESS of Southeast Queens

Presstime

BY JOE MARVILLI

The six ousted Queens Library trustees have received a setback in their lawsuit.

The Hon. James Orenstein, Unit-ed States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York, recom-mended against granting a prelimi-nary injunction that would reverse the trustees’ removal from their posi-tions at the library. He will send his recommendation to Federal Judge Margo Brodie for consideration.

The six trustees, Joseph Ficalora, Jacqueline Arrington, William Jeffer-son, Grace Lawrence, Terri Mangino and George Stamatiades, were re-moved last month after a bill passed in the State Legislature, allowing the Borough President and Mayor to do so. BP Melinda Katz said she removed the trustees for failing to

properly oversee the finances of the Queens Library. The trustees coun-tered that the move was a power grab by the Borough President.

The trustees’ lawsuit states that the State law violates the Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution and their removal impeded on their first amendment rights.

Orenstein disagreed, saying that the trustees were removed for their job performance, not for the context of their speech. This decision is a new obstacle in the trustees’ attempt to prevent Katz and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who removed two other mem-bers, from appointing replacements.

The suit will now go to Brodie, who took on the case after Brooklyn Federal Judge Roslynn Mauskopf re-cused herself. She said she is a close friend of former federal judge, Barba-ra Jones, who is conducting a whis-

Injunction By Former Library Trustees Rejectedtleblower complaint on the behalf of Stamatiades. He is looking into who leaked the initial information about CEO Thomas Galante’s salary, sec-ond job and taxpayer-funded smok-ing deck. It was this information that set this year’s controversies about the Queens Library into motion.

Doug Grover, counsel for the plaintiffs, stated their dissatisfaction in Orenstein’s recommendation, but said they would continue to support the Queens Library.

“The six trustees are distinguished leaders with long records of service to the community. They could not allow the actions by the Borough President to go unchallenged. They brought this action to assert the independence of the Library and the right of every trustee to act without political interfer-ence,” he said. “They are understand-ably disappointed by today’s outcome

but remain true friends of the library and hope for its continued success.”

The remaining trustees on the Queens Library board also released a statement that spelled out their in-tent to adjust to the new State law’s provisions.

“While we are still reviewing to-day’s action by the court, the Queens Library Board and its committees will be working throughout the months ahead to implement changes to the Li-brary’s by-laws mandated by State law, improve transparency and adopt best practices of not-for-profit corporate governance,” they said. “The Board’s goal is to achieve the same recognition in matters of integrity and oversight as the Library achieved in matters of in-novation and service delivery.”

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

BY JORDAN GIBBONS

Councilman Donovan Richards’ office held its first participatory budgeting neighborhood assembly Tuesday night to begin the process of spending $1 million on capital proj-ect ideas in next year’s budget.

The projects must pertain to capi-tal funding, which is based on infra-structure, and not expense funds, which are programs for people and services. Some examples of appropri-ate projects are repairing potholes, building a basketball court or replac-ing windows at a school.

More than 30 residents were in at-tendance for the meeting in Rosedale and they were asked to sign up for one of the six commit-tees that were broken up into parks, environmen-tal, public safety, educa-tion, senior centers and youth projects.

There is no limit to the amount of people in each committee, there can be up to 3 projects proposed by each com-mittee and residents were informed that they can change their mind during the assembly pro-cess by moving to a dif-ferent committee.

Mitch Noel, a commu-nity liaison for Richards, worked in the Rockaways last year when they held the district’s first participatory

Participatory Budgeting Begins In District 31

budgeting. He told the residents that there is going to be a $150,000 cap for each project so more proj-ects can have an opportunity to win.

Projects must also cost more than $30,000.

Each committee will have a facilitator, who su-pervises each group and contacts the Councilman’s office to report the poten-tial project ideas. Noel said that the members of the committee will select their

own facilitator.“You guys are part of the commit-

tee,” he said. “You are going to pick

who’s best.”The facilitators must be selected

by the end of the assembly process, which will go on until October. Then the participating delegates will hold meetings between Novem-ber and March to develop propos-als. In March, there will be project expos to share the proposals and get community feedback. Sometime be-tween then and the end of April, the community will vote on the projects. Anyone who lives in the district and is 12 years or older are eligible to vote.

“What this really does is bring the community together,” Jacque-line Boyce, a Community Board 12 member, said. “We’ll all work on this together.”

The next meeting will be held in Springfield Gardens before the end of the month to accommodate the residents who were not able to travel to Rosedale this week.

Richards’ staff asked the attend-ees to help spread the word in the community to get as many residents to participate in the process as pos-sible.

“Let’s show New York City that we are not just about the talk,” Franck Joseph, community liaison, said. “Let’s walk the walk, let’s have fun and recruit our neighbors.”

For more information, email [email protected].

Reach Reporter Jordan Gibbons at (718)357-7400 Ext. 123, [email protected] or @jgibbons2

Franck Joseph explained the details of the process to residents (top) before they signed their names to a spe-cific committee (left).


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BY JORDAN GIBBONS

Dr. Conrado Gempesaw is start-ing his first semester in a few weeks as president of St. John’s University and he said that while it is a great university, it can be greater.

Gempesaw was hired in April and stepped into his new role, as the 17th and first lay president in the school’s history, on July 1.

He began his high-er education career as an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware and moved up to being a full-time professor in his eight years in the class-room.

He then moved over to take numer-ous administration jobs at Delaware during a six-year period, including the Dean of the Alfred Lerner Col-lege of Business and Economics. In 2010, he was hired as the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Miami University of Ohio.

At Miami University, he led com-

New St. John’s Prez Looks to Enhance Student Successinput of students, faculty, alumni and community partners before imple-menting any changes or strategies.

“St. John’s doesn’t operate in a silo,” he said. “I really look forward to collaborating with our community leaders on this regard.”

He is also in the process of or-ganizing a presidential retreat with the top 50 leaders at the university, including department chairs, deans and vice presidents. He said he wants to have a visionary exercise to fig-ure out what the school’s aspiration goals are for the 150th anniversary in 2020. He also wants to set short-term goals while the university figures out its long-term goals.

“We need to engage in strategic conversation of where we want St. John’s to move in the near future,” he said.

Three things he wants to focus on in the short term are creativity, in-novation and entrepreneurship, he said.

Gempesaw succeeded the Rev. Joseph Levesque, who took over as interim president last year after the Rev. Donald Harrington stepped down. Harrington served as the school’s 15th president from 1989 to 2013.

The board of trustees is confident

Dr. Conrado Gempesaw

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that they made the right decision, even though they broke the 144-year tradition of having a Catholic priest at the helm of the institution.

Peter D’Angelo, chairman of the board, helped lead the presidential search committee and said that Gem-pesaw will help continue St. John’s transformation into a global educa-tional institution.

“In Dr. Gempesaw, we have found a visionary leader who understands and embraces St. John’s mission as a Catholic and Vincentian university and has the skills necessary to realize our goals for the future,” D’Angelo said in a statement after the hiring.

As far as being the first president who is not a Vincentian priest, Gem-pesaw said that since the board of-fered him the position, it has not en-tered his mind.

“I came from a very big Catholic family and I always impart in my stu-dents, it doesn’t matter where you came from, it matters how hard you work and how you overachieve,” he said. “St. John’s is a university of overachievers. There are so many examples of alumni that current stu-dents can see as role models.”

Reach Reporter Jordan Gibbons at (718) 357-7400 Ext. 123, [email protected] or @jgibbons2.

prehensive strategic planning efforts and the development of new academ-ic initiatives to enhance retention and graduation rates, increase interna-

tional enrollment and global partnerships and establish student learning outcomes as-sessment practices.

Gempesaw earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Penn-sylvania State Universi-ty; a Master of Science in agricultural econom-ics from West Virginia University and a Bach-elor of Arts in eco-nomics from Ateneo de Davao University in the Phillippines.

He said that St. John’s has a very spe-cial role in higher edu-cation and its special

mission is to serve the underprivi-leged.

“Everyday we transform the lives of students,” Gempesaw said. “We have to enhance student success.”

He is undergoing a listening tour to learn more about the best practic-es and traditions at the university. He said he wants to make sure to get the


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Earlier this month, Friedrich, the San Antonio, Texas-based manufac-turer of room air conditioners, an-nounced the donation of 150 air con-ditioners to the Dept. of Youth and Community Development Corner-stone Programs, which are housed at NYCHA community centers.

The company announced that six organizations in Queens received the units, which are meant to benefit centers that lack cooling or needed replacement units.

“For over 60 years, the people of New York have supported Friedrich Air Conditioning. You can see our units keeping New Yorkers cool across the City,” Wink Chapman, vice

president of sales and marketing for Friedrich Air Conditioning, said. “It is a privilege for us to work with the City on its mission to improve the quality of life for thousands of New Yorkers this summer and throughout the year.”

The organizations in Queens that received the donation include: Action Center for Education and Commu-nity Development in Far Rockaway, Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Committee in Astoria, Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement in Astoria, the Police Athletic League in Far Rockaway, the Southern Queens Park Association in Jamaica and the Child Center of NY in Far Rockaway.

NYCHA Gets New Air Conditioning Units

Workers install new Friedrich air conditioners at a City Dept. of Youth and Community Development Corner-stone Program.

“With the doubling of available Summer Enrichment seats and ex-panded evening hours at Cornerstone programs this summer, this generous donation couldn’t have come at a bet-ter time,” DYCD Commissioner Bill Chong said. “Friedrich is a wonderful example of how public-private partner-ships can have a dramatic impact on thousands of New Yorkers, and it’s our hope that other community partners are inspired to step up to the plate.”

BY JORDAN GIBBONS

When Mae Machicote started the Unity Garden at the North Eastern Towers in Rochdale Village in 2009, her goal was to bring seniors and stu-dents together to bridge the genera-tional gap.

Now in its sixth year, the garden has become an activity that has up-lifted the residents of the assisted liv-ing facility.

Two months before Chung Hui Fox moved into the residence, she had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. She said she was still in pain when she moved in, and was de-pressed until she began working in the garden.

“I started playing in the garden and everyday it would grow, grow, grow and it made me happy,” Fox said. “It’s like kids growing from a little baby. Now, I feel much better.”

It’s been more than a year and half since Fox moved in and she said she

feels so energized that she forgets about her walking cane sometimes.

Louis Jones was very anxious to begin working in the garden once he heard about it, but there was no more space in the garden earlier this spring. Machicote made sure they made some room for him by adding pots and planters for him to work with his home attendant, Reshme Kalicharan.

Jones, 56, needs the assistance because he has been blind for the last 25 years. He lost his eyesight because of complications caused by sickle cell anemia. He also had a kid-ney transplant so, he said, he really needed the exercise.

“It gave me a chance to be out-doors and to develop skills when it comes to growing,” he said. “It’s an activity I can do without my eyesight.

It was an opportunity that I wouldn’t nor-mally have had and I knew it was right up my alley.”

Before he lost his eyesight, Jones said he worked in land-scaping, so he was familiar with taking care of plants and shrubbery.

Jones made sure to credit Machicote when all the members of the facility met last week for the work she did to organize and acquire funding for the garden.

“If it wasn’t for Mae, we wouldn’t

have this opportunity,” he said. “We really appreciate her for putting this together and making this possible.”

When Machicote was president of the tenants association she got the support of the Citizens Committee for New York City to provide $1,000 each year to pay for tools, soil and fertilizer. The nonprofit Changing Tomorrow Today also helped to get student volun-teers involved with the garden.

Before they started the garden, the ground was nothing but dirt, cement blocks and broken glass, Machicote said. It started with four plots and has now grown to nine and half where a variety of vegetables are cared for, such as tomatoes, egg-plant, squash peppers, string beans, pumpkins and they just got their first strawberry this year.

Machicote said she originally start-ed the garden because she wanted ev-eryone to look at each other with love and to also help teach the youth in the

community that not all food comes in packages or from a freezer.

“We needed to get our young peo-ple together with our older people,” she said. “We teach the children that a little seed can become a tree.”

Machicote said that this year, they were unable to get students to come down to help for the summer, but next year she is going to try some differ-ent schools and may look into getting younger children than the high school students who have helped in the past.

Former volunteers received a $25 stipend and a community service cer-tificate at the end of the program.

“We try to create an intergenera-tional connection,” Machicote said. “In coming together we’re going to find some issues, but let’s not make them mountains; let’s keep them molehills.”


Unity Garden Helps Heal Residents In Rochdale

Chung Hui Fox said she feels energized and revived thanks to the garden.

Mary Dean said her garden helps keep her going.


OF SOUTHEAST QUEENS150-50 14th Road

Whitestone, NY 11357(voice) (718) 357-7400 fax (718) 357-9417

email [email protected] PRESS of Southeast Queens

Editor-in-Chief:Steven J. Ferrari

Contributing Editor:Marcia Moxam

ComrieProduction Manager: Shiek Mohamed

Reporters: Jordan Gibbons

Joe MarvilliLuis Gronda

Jackie Strawbridge

Art Dept:

Rhonda LeefoonLianne ProcanynKarissa Tirbeni

Barbara Townsend

Maureen CoppolaAdvertising Director

Howard SwenglerMajor Accounts Manager

Shanie PersaudDirector Corporate

Accounts/Events

Advertising Executives Shari Strongin

A Queens Tribune Publication

© Copyright 2014 Tribco, LLC

Michael Nussbaum Publisher

Ria McPhersonComptroller

LettersEditorial

A Personal PerspectiveBy MARCIA MOXAM COMRIE

In all the protests we’ve seen in the wake of the Eric Garner “chokehold death,” there is one thing we had not heard anyone say until Police Commissioner Bratton said it earlier this week: resisting arrest is not a constitutional right.

That Bratton would say something favorable to the interest of the officer whose chokehold led to Garner’s death is no surprise. But when you examine his words, you realize that as much as you hate to admit it, he’s going by what the law says.

“What we’ve seen in the past few months is a num-ber of individuals failing to understand that you must submit to arrest. You cannot resist,” Bratton said to radio host Brian Lehrer in an in-terview. “The place to argue your case is in the court, not in the street.”

Bratton: No Constitutional Right To Resist ArrestIt sounds simple enough,

but no one wants to submit to a process that could impact their freedom, cost a fortune and scar their future – espe-cially for a petty incident they may or may not even know is a crime. However, the com-missioner is right about this point at least: the place to fight this is in court, costly and time-consuming though it may be.

Bratton added that had Mr. Garner not resisted arrest, “he would be alive today.” Well, he would also be alive today if they had given him aid after endangering his life with a chokehold and keeping him in a prone position. He begged for help and instead of giving it, they stood or sat there, indifferent to his plight, and watched the life slip from his body.

Bratton added that com-munity leaders and elected officials could do their con-stituencies a huge favor by educating them to the fact

that resisting arrest can and will result in more serious con-sequences than the potential arrest, as we’ve now seen in the Garner case. And let’s get this straight: what happened to Eric Garner last month is in no way acceptable regardless of his refusal to be handcuffed. Neither his alleged crime nor his lack of cooperation war-ranted a death sentence on the street that day.

It is one thing to put some-one in a chokehold, which is in fact, illegal. It is quite another to sit there and watch them die from lack of oxygen. They preferred to keep Garner held down in a prone position that made it impossible for him to breathe. And he in fact clearly communicated his despera-tion. It went unheeded.

Bratton and the Mayor are not going to throw an officer under the bus, but we, as a city, ought to hold the arrest-ing officer and his partners on the scene accountable for his illegal actions. He was ar-

resting someone for a petty crime and yet he committed a crime in his arrest process, and to date he has not been arrested.

I have already told my son many times over, that if an officer ever approaches him to be respectful (“Yes officer; no officer”) and cooperative while furtively studying the officer’s badge if he or she is being disrespectful then come home and tell us.

It’s better to be innocent and alive than innocent and dead or beaten to a pulp. We are tired of being harassed and tired of feeling singled out, but let’s also try to work within the confines of the system to keep ourselves safe where possible.

It’s not fair, but life isn’t fair. Let’s at least try to stay alive. It has to be a most trau-matizing event, but with the right strategy, tragedy might be avoided. And to our young men I say, please be careful out there.

Relying on public transportation to get around in Queens can be a troubling endeavor. Subway lines in Southern Queens ravaged by a storm that occurred almost two years ago are frequently shut down for extended periods. In Eastern Queens, the subway is as common as it would be somewhere upstate. And bus service can be sketchy at best.

To say that Queens is not a priority for the MTA is not news.

The State Assemblymembers who last week held an oversight hearing for consideration in the MTA’s upcoming Capital Plan are not asking for pie-in-the-sky improvements or magical solutions. The requests are simply for the same kind of consideration for Queens transportation needs as other Boroughs receive.

Providing increased bus service to Eastern Queens and securing safe and reliable rail options to Southern Queens would do wonders to improve the quality of life of residents in these areas. It would also show that the MTA has a commitment to improving transit options for all New Yorkers, not just those within a main commercial hub.

We only wish that last week’s oversight hearing took place in one of the areas discussed as having transportation issues, with MTA officials forced to take public transportation to get to the meeting on time. Perhaps that would have given these officials a better feel for the problems residents face daily.

Public Transportation

Wasteland

No Parades On Northern Boulevard

To The Editor:Northern Boulevard is highway

25A, a main artery connecting the City with Long Island. I do not think it should be closed down to traffic, and rerouting busses etc. because of some foreigners’ parade. It upsets and delays Queens traffic much too much! 35th or 37th Ave can be used for that. Then, all one sees is foreign flags, not even one American flag and let us not even talk of the garbage they leave on the street afterwards, expecting us to clean up after them. We are letting them take over our country and giving them their way. Enough is enough!

Robert R. Miller,Jackson Heights

Not So FastTo The Editor:

All the GOP pundits are criticiz-ing Obama for not acting quickly in regards to Putin. They claim that when the Soviet Union shot down a Korean airliner in 1983 (carrying 53 Americans) Reagan acted swiftly. They claim he im-mediately rushed home from his 25-day vacation in Santa Barbara. The truth however, is that he didn’t

want to leave his ranch. Only after his advisors convinced him, did he leave for Washington. Four days later! Swift and immediate, huh? In fact Reagan’s actual di-ary quotes him “Friday, Sept 2nd. The soviets shot down a Korean airliner carrying 269 passengers. We were due to return to Washing-ton on Labor Day, but realized we couldn’t wait. We left on Friday. It was heartbreaking - I had really looked forward to those last three days.” That’s right, Reagan was in deep mourning for losing the final 12 percent of his vacation.

Robert LaRosa, Whitestone

RIP Robin WilliamsTo The Editor:

The tragic death of Robin Wil-liams is indeed a great loss to the entertainment world. During his long career, he made many films, including “Dead Poet’s Society” and “Mrs. Doubtfire.” He had the ability to make so many of us laugh. He will always be remembered as one of America’s funniest comedi-ans and actors. The thoughts and prayers of all of America are with his family, friends, and colleagues in the entertainment industry. RIP!

John Amato,Fresh Meadows


BY JORDAN GIBBONS

While reality television continues to dominate network broadcasts, its writers and producers continue to work without reasonable labor stan-dards, according to a survey by the Writers Guild of America, East.

The survey that was released in November 2013 prompted a hearing in front of the City Council’s Civil Service & Labor Committee in June. Councilman I. Daneek Miller chaired the hearing and wrote an Op-Ed for The Hollywood Reporter last week to address the industry’s need for a Code of Conduct.

“Writers-producers are nearly al-ways hired as freelancers, creating inherent economic insecurity (espe-cially between projects),” Miller said. “While engaged on a gig, they report regularly being required to work 12, 14, 16 or more hours per day with no overtime. Eight-hour days are rare, as are weekends and other paid time off.”

Out of the 315 nonfiction TV writ-ers and producers who responded to the survey, 84 percent said they work more than 40 hours a week, almost every week. More than 50 percent of respondents said that they have had

to work 80 hours or more in a week, 85 percent said they never receive over-time pay and 60 percent work more than eight hours a day, every day. About half of the writers and producers said their timecards never accu-rately reflected the hours they worked and only 11 percent said their time-cards always showed the hours they worked.

The survey revealed that writers and produc-ers on average are losing $30,000 yearly to stolen overtime and improper classification. Across the industry, it totals $40 million in lost wages every year.

“I’ve known people to work up-wards of 100 hours in a given week while shooting and then had to im-mediately start writing the script upon return, with no down time, in order to have the script ready in time for the editor,” Producer David Van Taylor said. “There’s no compensa-tion for that additional work and it’s especially hard when you have a fam-ily.”

Miller: Reality TV Needs Better Conduct

Many shows have significant pro-duction operations based in New York and they are mix of local, in-dependently owned operations and outposts of foreign media conglom-erates, according to Miller.

Recently, a series of multimillion-dollar acquisitions and mergers have shown how much money is made in the industry. British media giant ITV purchased one New York-based pro-duction company, Leftfield Enter-tainment, for $360 million.

“These findings demystify the perception that everyone involved in reality TV is reaping the benefits of the genre’s popularity,” Lowell Peterson, executive director of the WGAE, said. “While reality TV is no doubt lucrative for networks and production companies, the men and women doing the actual work are finding they can barely cling to the middle class.”

Miller said that the companies need to agree to provide, at a mini-mum, reasonable production bud-gets and schedules, adequate staffing levels, guarantees that employees will not be required to work excessive hours and all wage and hour laws will be honored, paid time off, basic ben-efits with employer-sponsored health care and a commitment to honor the right of employees to form a union.

“Reality TV production is an im-portant, valued and growing industry in New York City and we welcome them,” Miller said. “But with that success comes responsibility. Reality TV jobs must be good jobs ensuring that workers’ dignity and basic rights are respected.”


Councilman I. Daneek Miller


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BY JOE MARVILLI

Two Queens assemblymembers held a public oversight hearing to ad-dress the mass transit needs in their respective districts.

Assemblymembers Nily Rozic (D-Hillcrest) and Phil Goldfeder (D-Ozone Park), along with James Brennan (D-Brooklyn), headed an Assembly Committee on Corpora-tions, Authorities and Commissions oversight hearing on the MTA’s 2015-2019 Capital Program. Rozic and Goldfeder used the hearing to call for improved transit options in their neighborhoods.

Rozic stressed that bus transporta-tion was essential for her district, as it is not served by any subway lines. She asked MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast for an update on the northeast Queens bus restoration study she secured funding for in this year’s State budget. As part of the study, the MTA will look at the ef-fects of the 2010 service cuts, which removed 38 bus routes entirely and shortened 76 others.

The study, which will wrap up in April 2015, will determine transit needs beyond the restoration of the cut lines in northeast Queens.

“We have a lot of important needs in terms of local buses and express bus service. That’s restoring lines, but also creating new ones and add-ing additional service during high-peak hours,” Rozic said. “It’s also important to note that the de Blasio

administration has made a promise to do 20 Select Bus Service lines across the City. I think it’s essential that one of them be in eastern Queens to help not just commuters to the City but also people trav-eling within Queens or to the Brooklyn or the Bronx.”

When it came to new bus service, the Assemblywoman stressed two key parts of her district in need of additional resources. She said the Main Street corridor needed a line to take people from Flushing to Jamaica. She added that Douglaston is a two-fare zone, meaning that residents need to take a bus to a train or two buses to get anywhere in the City.

“So much of the time is usu-ally spent on the 2nd Avenue subway and East Side Access and not taking away from those important projects, it really is our transit-starved neigh-borhoods that need a lot more atten-tion,” Rozic said. “It’s really essential that those communities be serviced first.”

Goldfeder’s focus was on restoring and increasing transit options between south Queens and the Rockaways. He asked Prendergast to extend the resi-dency rebate for the Cross Bay Bridge toll to include neighboring commu-nities like Ozone Park or Howard Beach, or for the toll to be eliminated for Queens residents.

The assemblyman also asked for improved A train service and ferry service. He said that an investment into public transit is an essential part of the Rockaways’ continued recov-ery from Superstorm Sandy.

“In the immediate aftermath of San-dy, we experienced firsthand the detri-mental impact that the lack of public transit has on our families--in order to plan for our future growth, we must in-vest in vital transit infrastructure now,” he said.

Goldfeder also took time to praise the MTA for including the restora-tion of the Rockaway Beach Rail Line as part of its Twenty-Year Capi-

Rozic, Goldfeder Hold Hearing For Better Transit

tal Needs Assessment Report. In response, Prendergast outlined

some key points of the MTA’s Capi-tal Plan, including the replacement of 86 miles of subway track, the in-troduction of contactless fare tech-nology, general maintenance and the addition of new routes for Select Bus Service. While the chairman’s prepared remarks did not specifi-cally mention resources for eastern Queens, a MTA spokesman said the agency is going to provide answers to the legislators in the near future.


Assemblywoman Nily Rozic called for additional local and express buses in her district, including the Main Street corridor from Flushing to Jamaica.

BY JOE MARVILLI

This week was a momentous one for U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flush-ing), as her Protect Cemeteries Act became the first bill she introduced to be signed into law.

President Barack Obama signed into law Meng’s legislation that made the desecration of cemeteries a vio-lation of religious freedom. The act amended the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the vandalism of cemeteries as a breach on the right to freedom of religion, both at home and around the world.

Meng said the law will fight anti-Semitism and religiously motivated vandalism of cemeteries. It will also prevent developers from building over cemeteries. The Congresswom-an said several Jewish constituents in her district spoke to her about the need for such a bill.

The law also empowers the Com-mission for the Preservation of

America’s Heritage Abroad, a panel created in the 1980s that works to identify and preserve cemeteries, memorials and buildings in foreign countries that are asso-ciated with the cultural heritage of Americans. According to Meng, the commission did a lot of work in the former Soviet Union, where Jewish communities were devastated by the Holocaust and their memorials were left un-attended for decades.

The Congresswom-an thanked the Presi-dent for supporting her bill with his signature.

“I applaud President Obama for signing this important bipartisan leg-islation into law,” Meng said. “This new law makes it clear that our soci-

Meng’s Protect Cemeteries Act Signed Into Law

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Mar

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ety will not tolerate the desecration of cemeteries, whether motivated by anti-Semitism, hate or greedy and uncaring developers. It will be a new and critical tool to combat the des-ecration of cemeteries and provide

a much-needed boost towards promoting pres-ervation, tolerance and respect for cemeteries across the globe. I can-not be happier that this critical piece of legisla-tion is now the law of the land.”

She also thanked Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who sponsored the bill in the U.S. Senate.

The Protect Cemeter-ies Act was introduced by Meng this past Feb-ruary. It was approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee in April, passed the House

of Representatives in May and got through the Senate in July. Obama signed it into law on Aug. 8.


U.S. Rep. Grace Meng was honored by The Vaad Harabonim of Queens and CenterLight Health System for her work in protecting sacred cemeteries with her bill that made the desecration of burial grounds a violation of religious freedom. Borough President Me-linda Katz presented the award at the Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica.


Jamaica Hospital’s Free IPF Treatment

On Aug. 21 at 5:30 p.m., Commu-nity Board 9 will hold a public meet-ing to discuss the Ozone Park Pedes-trian Plaza, with the goal of finding common ground between those who are for and against the plaza.

Last year, Community Board 9, the Bangladesh American Commu-nity Development and Youth Ser-vices Corporation applied for the plaza to be put in place. However, conflicts have risen in the past few months over the plaza, leading to CB 9 bringing both sides of the argu-ment together.

“The idea is to let the people sort it out. They will discuss the pros and the cons and then the DOT will be able to assess and satisfy them,” Ralph Gonzalez, chair of CB 9, said.

According to Misba Abdin, Presi-dent of BACDYS, those who op-pose the plaza are local businesses. However, he said that the many people in the community support the plaza. Abdin continued by saying that many locals in the community usually come out and sit in the Plaza after they come home from work in the evening.

“This is very unbelievable because there’s no other community space in this area,” he said.

Abdin is not the only one who feels this way. Iqbal Ali said that he has lived in Ozone Park for over 25 years.

Public Meeting About Ozone Park Pedestrian Plaza“I grew up there for over 25 years

I would know what it is like to have something like that,” Ali said. “It unites the people, gives them a community.”

He added that the local businesses who are complaining are mostly com-plaining about parking, which he feels can be fixed by just reducing the plaza.

Ali said that the plaza has been used to hold events.

“More events are being held over

Jamaica Hospital is now offering a promising free treatment option for those living with Idiopathic Pulmo-nary Fibrosis (IPF), a rare, but serious lung disease that worsens over time.

Individuals with IPF develop scarring in the lungs, which leads to shortness of breath and an irrevers-ible loss of lung function. The rate of deterioration is variable with many patients worsening over months to a few years. Currently, there is no FDA approved therapy for this dis-ease, but recently published trials suggest that new treatments may be on the horizon.

Pirfenidone is an anti-fibrotic medication that is taken orally and

has been shown to slow the loss of lung function and may improve mor-tality in IPF. Pirfenidone has already been approved for treatment of this disease in Japan, Canada, and most European countries.

Although Pirfenidone is not cur-rently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there are indications that it will be in the near future. Recently, the FDA an-nounced that Pirfenidone has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation. This designation is re-served for drugs that are intended to treat serious or life threatening disease where preliminary evidence indicates that the drug demonstrates

substantial improvement over exist-ing treatments.

Jamaica Hospital is one of only a handful of hospitals in the region, and the only one in Queens, offer-ing this free treatment as part of an early expanded access program. Patients are monitored for safety in this program. It is open to most patients with mild to moderate IPF. This program is being coordinated by the Division of Pulmonary Medi-cine and the Department of Clinical Research at Jamaica Hospital.

For more information about the Pirfenidone expanded access pro-gram at Jamaica Hospital, please call 718-206-5844 or 718-206-5800.

there, we have no place else to go. Every school program is filled with extra classes. This is another way for them to get together,” he said.

Although BACDYS is in support of the Plaza, they still understand the complaints that many people have against it. Chief operating officer of BACDYS, Dharma Diaz, said, “It’s a new project. It takes some getting used to and [I] think coming togeth-

er will be constructive. We’ve taken community space, we’ve been cre-ative to the space and I understand everyone’s opinion.”

The meeting for the plaza will take place at Queens Borough Hall, locat-ed at 120-55 Queens Blvd., room 213. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. For more information about the meet-ing, call CB 9 at (718) 286-2686.

— Esther Shittu

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Got info? Call Crimestoppers at1-800-577-tiPS (8477)or text tips to CRiMES (274637)

then enter TIPS577

Police Blotter

Borough Beat

BY JOE MARVILLI

This week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a piece of legislation that dropped the minimum age of ap-pointment to a New York City Com-munity Board from 18 years old to 16 years old.

Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Hillcrest) and State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) sponsored the new, bipartisan measure, which is effective immediately. Although the application process to join one of the City’s 59 community boards will remain the same, 16- and 17-year-olds now have equal footing as those who are 18 or older.

“This new law will empower our youth and give them the chance to offer their perspective on a variety of issues in their communities,” Rozic said. “By lowering the age of eligibili-ty, we are opening up the potential to transform community boards, reach out to our young people in a positive way and involve them in the demo-cratic process as soon as possible.”

Lanza concurred that these younger members of the City popu-

lation would add a new perspective to community boards and the issues they tackle throughout the year.

“Community boards play an im-portant role in improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers and they are intended to represent a diverse range of perspectives on the issues that come before them,” he said. “This new law will permit our youth to apply for community board mem-bership and give them the opportu-nity to add their unique and fresh perspective which would undoubt-edly benefit communities on Staten Island and across the City.”

It has been a long road for the bill, which was first introduced in 2008. It gained traction this year, when the City Council passed Resolution 0115 in support of the legislation.

The bill was more controversial among Queens’ community boards. Some felt that 16- and 17-year-olds should be focused on school and are too young to commit themselves to the work of a community board. Other boards supported the bill for the differ-ent point-of-view it would provide.

“Having served on my local Com-

Age Requirement Lowered For CB Members

Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (center), standing with two young civic leaders, announced the passage of her bill that lowers the community board age limit to 16 years old.

munity Board, I know firsthand that this opportunity will not only ben-efit the futures of those appointed, but it will also begin a new dialogue between all members about how our

communities can be better served,” Rozic added.


105th PrecinctCollision Investigation

At approximately 11:03 p.m. on Aug. 5, police responded to a 911 call of a pedestrian struck on the Belt Park-way in the vicinity of 150th Street.

Upon arrival, officers observed Frank Korowitz, 62, unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to the body. EMS also responded to the location and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

Further investigation by the NYPD’s Highway Patrol Collision Investigation Squad determined that the male pedestrian, attempting to cross the Belt Parkway in the east-bound lane, was struck by a gray 2009 Nissan Maxima vehicle traveling east-bound, operated by Karlmarx Waite, 44. Waite remained at the location and was subsequently struck from behind by a grey 2002 Isuzu Rodeo, operated by a 40-year-old male. Both

operators sustained minor injuries. Pursuant to an ongoing investiga-

tion, Waite was arrested and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of vehicle 3rd degree and a motor ve-hicle license violation: no license.

109th PrecinctAttempted Robbery

The NYPD is seeking the public’s assistance in locating an individual wanted in connection to an attempted robbery.

At approximately 2:10 p.m. on Aug. 6, a 65-year-old female was on the corner of 130th Street and 109th Avenue when she was pushed from behind by the suspect as he was at-tempting to grab her purse, causing her to fall to the ground and hit her head on the sidewalk. The suspect fled before removing any property. The victim sustained swelling and bruising to her head and was removed to an area hospital for treatment.

The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5 feet, 5 inches with brown eyes and short black hair. He was last seen wearing white sneakers and blue jeans.

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

RobberyThe NYPD is seeking the public’s

assistance in locating and identifying three male suspects wanted in con-nection to a robbery.

At approximately 4:10 a.m. on Aug. 3, a 60-year-old male, a livery cab driver, picked up the three suspects at a taxi stand located at 86-29 102nd St., and drove them to the op-posite of 107-70 101st St.

Upon arrival, the suspects held the victim and struck him several times in the head and face with a black firearm while demanding money. The sus-pects then removed the victim’s iPhone 4S, Verizon 4G tablet computer and his wallet, which con-tained $250 in cash and a debit card. The victim suffered lacerations to the left eye and swelling to the right side of his face as a result of the attack.

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

114th PrecinctGrand Larceny

The NYPD is seeking the public’s as-sistance identifying an individual wanted for a grand larceny which took place between June 12 and June 23 inside of the Amalgam-ated Bank, located at 619 Main St. The sus-pect used a fake ID and forged withdrawal slips to remove $2,000 from the victim’s account.

Anyone with in-formation is asked to call the NYPD’s

Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-tips, visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637(CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls are confidential.

This individual is wanted in connection with a grand larceny within the confines of the 114th Precinct.


pix Photos by Walter K

arling

Workers finished unwrapping the fabulous new circulation area which opened at the Central Library in Jamaica today. It is the latest phase in a total renovation of the Central Library which will cost $20.2 million in total. The new Cyber Center, adult reading and reference area and the Teen Space have already been completed and are serving customers. The work is being done in phases so the library can remain in public service throughout most of the work. The renovations include all pub-lic service and administrative areas. It is the first renovation in more than 45 years.

Farmer’s Market Corn Roast

The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation held its annual Corn Roast on 160th Street last weekend. GJDC staff working the event included Miriam Haas, Dagmar Kostkova, Ruel Everaldo Anderson, Franco Gonzalez, Angela Rampersad, Mohamed Keita, Victor Torres, Ali Schuettinger, Jackson Wong, Julia Butterfield, and Pono Wong.

The Williams family – Anthony, Dierdre, daughter Jasmin and son Jason enjoy some corn.

Chris Modeste c o m p l i m e n t s his toasted treat with an excellent choice of bever-age: the Market’s free lemonade.

Block Party

Assemblyman William Scarborough stopped by the 229th Street Block Association (between 130th and 131st Ave) Annual Block Party, which featured pony rides for the kids. (L - R) Members Erma Norris, Peggy Hickman, Heddy Copeland, Scarborough, Judy Rivera, Rose Rivera-McCutchen with 5-year-old daughter Anayah and Firefighter JoAnn Jacobs, of the Fire Safety Education Unit, who gave out fire safety coloring books for the children.

Happy Returns

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A & E

By Jackie StrawBridge

He has an enormous baseball for a head and an even bigger heart for the Mets.

In the new comedy e-book, “The Unauthorized Autobiography of Mr. Met,” Alan Katz imagines a history for the team’s in-trepid icon. According to Katz’s story, Mr. Met is not just an actor in a suit – he is a real person born with a giant head and car-toon hands, who is hired by the Mets and follows them through six rocky decades of baseball.

The e-book was released in July, and is available for Kindle.

Katz, who calls himself “the big-gest Mets fan in the world,” said that the book sprang from his dual passion for humor and his hometown team.

“I just wanted to offer up a way to rally around the team and have some fun with some of the things I lived

through over the years as a Mets fan,” Katz said.

Mr. Met’s trials and mishaps throughout the imagined autobi-

ography include getting knocked out by foul balls from shoddy batters and watching Shea Stadium crumble into disrepair.

One of Katz’s favorite moments is an episode in which Mr. Met tries to give the middle finger, but real-izes that “as a four-fingered mascot, I’m missing the most expressive digit of all.”

“These days, people who love the Mets need to have a good sense of hu-mor, because things since

2007 have not gone so well,” Katz added. “I hope the Mets are going to laugh along and I also hope they’re going to win a lot of games.”

For Katz, writing and Mets fan-ship have been intertwined ever since he was a child.

“I still have all my Mets memorabil-

ia,” Katz said. “I used to collect auto-graphs and I have a signed poem [for-mer third baseman Ed Charles] wrote and sent me. It was truly one of my only exposures to poetry as a child.”

Katz is himself not only an accom-plished humor writer, with several Emmy nominations as part of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and “Raw Toonage” writing teams, but also a children’s author who has penned a handful of illustrated books and po-etry collections.

New e-Book imagines Life and times Of Mr. MetThe target audience for this latest

e-book is high schoolers and up, al-though Katz said he hopes the book will resonate with “anyone who is a Mets fan, anyone who likes to laugh, anyone who likes baseball, anyone who likes to spend $2.99.”

“The Unauthorized Autobiogra-phy of Mr. Met” is available for Kin-dle at www.amazon.com.

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

By JOe MarViLLi

August is the last full month of summer and there is no better way to say goodbye to the season than with Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day.

The United States Tennis Asso-ciation recently announced its talent line-up and scheduled activities for Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day, the official kick-off event for the U.S. Open. Its 19th rendition will take place on Aug. 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to fun tennis challenges for kids and adults, the festival features interactive games and a live music perfor-mance from several up-and-coming stars.

The festival will take place throughout the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, with a live tennis and music show occurring inside Arthur Ashe Stadium from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Exhi-bition matches between tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will offer a preview of the U.S. Open. The musicians will have children and adults alike dancing in their seats.

The most well-known of the mu-sicians is Hunter Hayes, a four-time Grammy nominee with three chart-topping hits and a number one debut album in his short career. Out of these tracks, the one people are like-ly familiar with is the multi-Platinum smash, “Wanted.”

Other performers at the show in-clude pop rap duo MKTO, the R&B trio of sisters McClain, British pop rock band The Vamps, pop singer Madison Beer and DJ Salerno. Health and fitness expert Shaun T

and Nickelodeon host Jeff Sutphen will also be involved with the pro-ceedings.

“The selection of musical acts takes place over the course of the entire year,” USTA spokesman Dom Pisanelli said. “We look for a diverse mix that we anticipate being the hot-

test acts of summer, similar to having booked acts ranging from Rihanna to Jo-nas Brothers to Ari-ana Grande over the years.”

Attendees can also be participants in Ar-thur Ashe Kids’ Day with several differ-ent activities. There will be two youth courts for young kids just starting out. For children who like a

challenge, there is the Hess Express Obstacle Course, Hess Target Time, where kids test their skill hitting targets, the IBM Speedzone, to test the power behind a serve, and Xerox Beat the Pro, a playing points chal-lenge against some of the top tour-ing and teaching tennis pros in the world.

“We hope that kids and parents, especially from the Queens com-munity, come out and learn about Arthur Ashe and his legacy and see how easy it is to play tennis almost anywhere,” Pisanelli said.

There will be many more per-formers and activities for Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day, enough to satisfy any attendee. Tickets cost between $54 and $13. For more information, visit youthtennis.com or www.ar-thurashekidsday.com.


arthur ashe kids’ day kicks Off U.S. Open

Live Jazz will be heard throughout the evening on Sept. 12, as a group of musicians bring their love and con-cern for the elderly to new heights on the rooftop of Flushing House.

“Jazz Up In The Sky” takes place up on the roof at Flushing House, an Independent Living retirement com-munity in Flushing. This live jazz ex-travaganza is a special fundraising event, to benefit the 300 older adults who call Flush-ing House home.

Headlining the evening’s perform-ers is world-famous and Grammy Award winning jazz hero Hernan Romero. The Hernan Romero Group has featured some of the world’s great guitarists, in-cluding Al Di Meola, Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin. This group infuses the exotic tra-ditions of flamenco-gypsy, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean folk music, with sounds of classical, jazz and Latin rhythms. Composer and guitarist Hernan Romero’s mu-sic is famous for its sensuous, pas-sionate, romantic and inescapably infectious sounds.

Live Jazz at Flushing HouseThe festival, which runs from

7-11 p.m., features music by other iconic jazz artists including the Mi-chael Feinberg Quartet and Isamu McGreagor Trio. The $100 cover charge – or $150 for couples – in-cludes a gourmet dinner, wine and beer, all served on the Flushing House rooftop, with a dance floor

that boasts spectacular views of New York’s panoramic skyline.

The jazz festival will also feature a raf-fle and silent auction, with prizes donated by major benefactors of Flushing House, all to benefit the non-profit Flushing House endowment fund.

Attendance is by res-ervation only. Space is limited to the first 200 persons who RSVP. To send in your tax-de-ductible payment, call

Robert Salant at (347) 532-3025 or email [email protected]. Make checks payable to “Flushing House,” write “Jazz Up In The Sky” on the memo line, and mail it to Robert Salant, c/o Flushing House, 38-20 Bowne Street, Flushing, NY 11354.

For more information, visit JazzUpInTheSky.com.

Jazz guitarist Hernan romero

young people will have plenty of fun, athletic activities to do at arthur ashe kids’ day.

alan katz, author of “the Unauthor-ized autobiography of Mr. Met.”


QUEENS TODAY

WEDNESDAY 8/20MONDAY 8/18

FRIDAY 8/15

THURSDAY 8/21

SATURDAY 8/16

TUESDAY 8/19

TUESDAY 8/19SUNDAY 8/17

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEKDRAKE VS. LIL WAYNE

PERFORMING POETRY WORKSHOP3rd Space, a project of Queens Council on the Arts, presents a poetry workshop with perfor-mance poet and musi-cian Ngoma Hill. Running from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the workshop will focus on delivery and stage presence through the use of drama techniques. Admission is $30. Each participating poet should bring one memo-rized piece to the workshop. For more information, call (347) 505-3010.

CHOBAN ELEKTRIKChoban Elektrik is a Brooklyn-based electric dance band whose reper-toire draws from the folk music of Albania, Macedo-nia, Greece, Bulgaria and the Romany people. In this multilingual program at Ridgewood Library, the band incorporates the psychedelic sounds of the 1960s and 70s with its vintage keyboards and creates a high-energy dance party with its power-ful rhythm section. Tradi-tional line dancing will be demonstrated and encour-aged amongst the audience. For more information on Choban Elektrik, call (718) 821-4770.

THE EBONY HILLBILLIESThe Ebony Hillbillies, NYC’s only African-American string band, will play at the Queens Botanical Garden for its Music in the Garden series. This inventive ensemble pays homage to the tradi-tional and includes a mix of tasty originals. Pack a picnic snack to enjoy on the Oak Allee and enjoy this ex-hilarating band. The concert runs from 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. and is free with garden admission. Call (718) 886-3800 for more information. Queens Botanical Garden is located at 43-50 Main St.

GEORGIE PORGIEThe magical Georgie Porgie will appear at the Forest Park Carousel. The magician is scheduled to perform at 2 p.m. The show is free but there is a small fee to ride the carousel. The merry-go-round is located in Forest Park, just off of Woodhaven Boulevard.

GORDON AUThe Louis Armstrong House Museum will present its fi -nal summer concert with Gordon Au & the Grand Street Stompers, starting at 2 p.m. Satchmo’s garden will swell with the sweet sounds of Louis Armstrong favorites, New Orleans classics and the Stompers’ exciting originals, covers of famous classical themes and their own joyous adaptation of pop music. Tickets cost $18 in advance and include red beans and rice, sweet tea and a complimentary museum pass. Tickets can be purchased at LouisArm-strongHouse.org.

BIRD NESTINGExplore the science behind nest making and transform recycled materials into a nest of your own at the New York Hall of Science’s Little Mak-ers program. There is an $8 materials fee per family, in addition to general admis-sion. The workshop runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information, visit nysci.org/little-makers or call (718) 699-0005.

SUNDAYS IN TRAVERS PARKEnjoy traditional Colombi-an rhythms in Travers Park with the Jackson Heights Beautifi cation Group. At 3:30 p.m., Los Colom-bian Roots will bring the music of the north-ern Colombian coast to

Queens. Free admission. For more information, visit www.jhbg.org.

METS GAMEThe Central Queens Y in Forest Hills is organizing a trip to the Mets game. Enjoy a nice summer day and cheer on your beloved Mets. Transportation is available between CQY and Citi Field. The game starts at noon. For information, call the Central Queens Y at (718) 268-5011, ext. 160.

‘MY FAIR LADY’The Kew Gardens Com-munity Center will pres-ent the classic 1964 mu-sical, “My Fair Lady.” The fi lm stars Audrey Hepburn as a poor Cockney fl ower seller who learns “proper” English from an arrogant professor played by Rex Harrison. The free screen-ing will start at 1 p.m. The community center is located at 80-02 Kew Gardens Road, Suite 202.

‘POMPEII’The Douglaston Library will present a free screening of the 2014 fi lm, “Pompeii,” start-ing at 2 p.m. In this PG-13 movie, a slave-turned-glad-

iator fi nds himself in a race against time to save his true love, betrothed to a corrupt Roman senator, as

Mount Vesuvius erupts and the city of Pompeii crum-bles around them. To learn more, call (718) 225-8414.

HONEY HARVEST FESTIVALHead to the Voelker Orth Museum for its honey har-vest festival, running from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. See how the museum’s beekeeper harvests honey. Learn why bees dance. Make some bee-inspired art. Enjoy a honey-tasting table and some house punch made with garden grapes. Ad-mission costs $6 for adults, $5 for members and $3 for children. Toddlers and infants get free entry. For more information, call (718) 359-6227.

ROBERT MWAMBAZambian-born guitar-ist Robert Mwamba and friends illustrate dif-ferent jazz styles, from bebop to cool jazz, hard bop, modern and more, at the Glen Oaks Library from 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. The con-cert is free. For information, call (718) 831-8636.

BOOKSHOP BIRTHDAYNext Thursday marks the Astoria Bookshop’s fi rst birthday, and they want to celebrate with you. Come by your neighborhood

bookstore for baked goods, special discounts and happy hour. For infor-mation, call (718) 278-2665.

MONUMENT QUILT DISPLAYThe Queens Museum will take part in the display of the Monument Quilt, a crowd-sourced collection of thousands of stories of survivors of rape and abuse, alongside messages of love and support from allies in the movement to upset rape culture. The section of the quilt that is coming to Queens includes squares made in a workshop with women from Immigrant Movement International as well as workshops at a sister organization, La Casa Mandarina, an itinerant and independent agency de-voted to building a culture of peace by empowering people. The event runs from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Call (718) 592-9700 for information.

PASSPORT THURSDAYSHead out to Flushing Meadows Corona Park near the Unisphere for this free, weekly presenta-tion of live music, dance and fi lm, hosted by the Queens Museum. For this week, celebrate the sights and sounds of Korea, with a performance by the Song Hee Lee Dance Company and a screening of the fi lm, “Approved for Adoption.” The event runs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Rappers Drake and Lil Wayne will bring their co-headlining tour to the Forest Hills Stadium. Starting at 7 p.m., the concert features the biggest hits from two of the biggest names in hip hop. Listen to Drake rap and sing selections from his smash albums, “Take Care” and “Nothing Was the Same.” Lil Wayne’s set will include songs from hit records like “Tha Carter III,” “I Am Not A Human Being” and “Tha Carter IV.” Fans can also expect the two artists to collaborate throughout the show.

Tickets costs between $69 and $400. To buy tickets, visit www.livenation.com/events/372871-aug-19-2014-drake-vs-lil-wayne.


Profile

PeopleLocal students were named to

the Dean’s List for the spring 2014 semester at the University at Albany. They include:

Addisleigh Park: Maria Bryan. Jamaica: Osa Adewemimo, Janay

Campbell, Tenaya McDaniel, Nikya Medford, Amber Shamburger.

Air Force Airman Ma-lik T. Shaw graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas. The airman completed an in-tensive, eight-week program that in-cluded training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.

Army Pvt. Luis D. Benavides has graduated from basic combat train-ing at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.

Community Education Council 29Q has announced the officers for

the 2014-15 school year. They are: Cheryl Rochelle, president; Feline Lazarus, first vice president; Nicole Hammond, second vice president; and Alicia Hyndman, treasurer.

The recording secretary position is vacant. A vote will take place to fill the position will take place during the Aug. 21 meeting.

Air Force Airman Aryani M. Ve-ras graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas. The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fit-ness, and basic warfare principles and skills.

U.S. Air National Guard Airman 1st Class MD S. Rana graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San An-tonio, Texas.

Devanee Septh of Jamaica was named to the Dean’s List for the

spring 2014 semester at Le Moyne College in Syracuse.

The Richmond Hill-South Ozone Park Lions Club recently inaugurated the club’s incoming executive committee. Heading the Club for the third con-secutive year is President Lion Romeo Hitlall, First Vice President Lion Stanley Raj, Second Vice President Lion Carolina Soto, Secretary Lion Nai-doo Veerapen, Treasurer Lion Indarjeet Paul, Assistant Secretary/Treasurer Lion Mary Diakite, and Assistant Membership Chair & Lion Tamer Lion Diana Allie.

Swearing In

In her new book, “From Gutter to Glory,” Karlene Richardson, Ph. D., describes the situation of her life upon coming to the United States.

Karlene Richardson grew up in Jamaica. When she was 8 years old, her mother came to the United States. Longing to join her, she went to the U.S. embassy in Jamaica to request for a visa to live with her mother, and she was granted one at 15 years old.

In the U.S., she spent time with the daughters of her mom’s friends. She said one of the daughters set her up and she was raped in September 1986. A month later, she found out that she was pregnant and was thrown out of her home by her mother.

“She did not ask me, ‘who, what, when, where, how:’ She just told me I had to get out,” Richardson said.

Her mother later called her back to help care for her little brother. When her daughter was eight months old, her mom asked her once again to leave because it was difficult to juggle school, her daughter and her brother.

After leaving her mother again, Richardson and her daughter lived on the train and were later able to find a cousin who owned a house that was partially abandoned in Brooklyn.

Richardson said she had to resort to begging to feed her daughter.

“I didn’t have any green card to work and I would stand on the cor-ner of Monroe and Nostrand to ask for coins…didn’t know welfare, shel-ters because [I] was new,” Rich-ardson recounted. “That’s how I fed my daughter and managed to buy her diapers.”

To feed herself, Richardson said she went down to the basement of the building to see if the contractors fixing the building had left food for her to eat.

“One day I was so hungry. I knew [the contractors] were in the base-ment. After they left I went into the basement to see if they had left some-thing. They did not leave anything, the only thing that was left was the garbage, and that became my dinner,” Richardson said. “They had curry goat one day…spicy and even though I’m Jamaican, I hate spice and I looked for something to drink and I found a

bottle of Pineapple soda it looked like, but when I drank it was Pine Sol.”

It was at this point that Richardson real-ized what her life had become and knew she had to change. She called her mom and asked her if she could come back home, but her mom said no.

Richardson said that after this, she started waitressing.

As a waitress, she met and married a man who was emotionally abusive and manipulated the process for her to get her green card. In 2000, she went to the U.S. Immigration office and showed them the police reports and was able to get her green card, as well as divorce him.

While married to the man, she said that she met a friend who intro-duced her to a church called All Na-tions Apostolic, where she became a Christian in 1994. She said that becoming a Christian gave her the strength that she needed.

Richardson then decided to pursue higher education. She received her as-sociate degree in 2003 from Nassau

Community College, her bachelor’s degree in 2006 and master’s degree in 2007 from St. Joseph’s College of Maine, and a Ph. D. in 2013 from University of Phoenix online. She became a professor in 2007 and in 2009, became a subject specialist for a health information technology pro-gram, rising to program coordinator in 2011. She remarried in 2005.

Her daughter, Taisha Owens, said, “She shows me that I should still fight for what I want. Her experience was unfortunate, everything hap-pened for a reason. It made her who she is today.”

Richardson’s advice to anyone go-ing through difficulties is to never give up.

“Keep pressing on. It may take more than a day to get back your strength, but never give up,” she said. “Find support, you have to find sup-port… I find support in God. No one knew what I was going through but Him. It’s so important to find sup-port. Join groups.”

For more information about Rich-ardson, visit www.drkalenerichard-son.com. To learn more about her story, purchase her book, “From Gutter to Glory” online at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and more.

— Esther Shittu

‘From Gutter To Glory’ Story Of Karlene Richardson

Karlene Richardson and her son, Jordan.


Faith

NotebookStudent Leaders Program

BY JORDAN GIBBONS

This summer, three high school stu-dents from the Borough were chosen to participate in Bank of America’s national program, Student Leaders.

Edward Li, Cindy Pietrakowski and Yulin Yang were among 200 outstanding juniors and seniors who were recognized for demonstrat-ing a commitment to community engagement and volunteerism. The students were each placed in a paid eight-week internship and traveled to Washington D.C. for a national Student Leadership Summit.

At the Summit, they were able to network with other students from around the country. They also worked with the American Red Cross to pack 2,000 “Totes of Hope” for homeless veterans, which is a program where personal care items, such as socks, toothbrushes and deodorant are do-nated, packaged and distributed to veterans.

“The Summit was one of the most inspiring moments of my life,” Pi-etrakowski said.

Pietrakowski has been interning at the Vanderbilt YMCA in Manhattan and after trying out all the depart-ments, she was allowed to settle into one that she liked the best, which was camp administration.

As a rising senior at Maspeth High

School, she is looking into majoring in communications at Syracuse Uni-versity, University of Connecticut or Binghamton University.

“The YMCA is so unique. It has so many components and they let us explore everything,” she said. “The camp administration has showed me what goes on behind the scenes. It was a really good fit to put me there.”

Yang, a rising senior at Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, is also interning at the Vanderbilt Y, where she is helping to plan its Longevity Luncheon for people who have been members for more than 25 years.

“Some people have been there for 60 years,” Yang said. “It really

brings the community together.”Yang is still debating what she

wants to pursue in college, but she said it is between biomedical engi-neering and investment banking. She is also deciding between Stanford University and Dartmouth College. She said her upcoming AP Physics class will help her decide her major.

“If I really enjoy it, I may go to-wards biomedical engineering,” Yang said.

She has been working on a re-search project for a voice recognition system to differentiate and diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s dis-ease and primary progressive apha-sia, a degenerative brain syndrome that affects speech and language.

Li, a recent graduate of Stuyve-

sant High School and a Little Neck resident, is attending Brown Univer-sity in the fall. His internship is with the Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, where he also got an opportunity to cycle through all the departments.

Li is working on creating a mar-keting campaign to expand the non-profit’s online presence.

“We’re writing a proposal to Google for a grant for Google Ads,” he said.

They are asking for $10,000 a month for advertising.

Li is also looking to take a differ-ent path than the one he was on at Stuyvesant.

“In high school, I was a STEM student, but I don’t want to do re-search,” he said. “I transitioned to social services; entrepreneurship, journalism or politics.”

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Student Leader program. Students are selected through an application process each year and are awarded an internship based on their leadership and a demonstrated commitment to service within their schools and communities.

The application is available online at www.bankofamerica.com late this fall.

Reach Reporter Jordan Gibbons at (718) 357-7400 Ext. 123, [email protected] or @jgibbons2

Internship Program Builds Leadership Skills

Cindy Pietrakowski, Yulin Yang and Edward Li (from left to right) are three of the five Student Leaders chosen from the City for Bank of America’s summer internship program.

Christ Church International is holding its International Day Parade on Aug. 16.

The International Day Parade stems from the Book of Revelations in the Bible. In an email, Pastor Sheila Kelly wrote, “The Bible says in the Book of Revelations that there is a day coming when multitudes of God’s people will stand together with great power and a great voice, made from all nations. As we see that day has begun let’s come togeth-er and demonstrate our power to the mayor, police department, elected of-ficials and our neighbors, conveying it’s time for change.”

According to Pastor Kelly, the church began its International Day 15 years ago, because of the different nationalities in the church. She said that it was first like a picnic and a

family fun day, which expanded year after year as the church grew. But this year, the church decided to do something more.

“We wanted to do something more unconventional,” she said.

This year, Christ Church Interna-tional is inviting different churches not only to come out and march, but also to come out for a purpose. Pas-tor Kelly said that the church added three initiatives to the parade: gun violence, law and policy for immigra-tion, and “Ban the Box.”

“Ban the Box” is an initiative that asks employers to remove the ques-tion concerning past convictions from the job application and to post-pone the background check inquiry until later in the hiring process. This gives applicants with past convic-tions a chance to prove themselves,

before having to explain their past. “Churches from near and far will

be marching to bring awareness to gun violence in our communities, the right for a second chance initiative ‘Ban the Box,’ and for fairness of immigration policies,” Pastor Kelly said.

For the initiatives, Christ Church International invited elected officials to come and speak. The church in-vited officials such as Councilmen Donovan Richards, I. Daneek Miller, former Councilman Leroy Comrie and more. Moreover, during the pa-rade, different activities will occur that relates to the initiatives.

“For gun violence, we would be giving out stats on gun violence; for “Ban the Box,” we would have people sign a petition; for immigration, we would have someone to answer ques-tions,” Pastor Kelly said.

Other than the three initiatives, the parade will include singing, danc-ing, face painting, games and prizes, gifts and a bouncy house. Also, in-ternational food will be served after the parade.

All are invited to wear T-shirts, colors, bring flags and banners to the line-up that will begin at 9 a.m. at Baisley Pond Park (across from Au-gust Martin High School). The Inter-national Day Parade will begin at 10 a.m. followed by the International Day Parade program at 11 a.m. outside of Christ Church International, located at 122-20 Merrill St., Jamaica.

For more information call Pastor Kelly at (347) 878-5290 or Sister Ah-kea Lyles at (917) 440-7064. To RSVP for the event, email [email protected].

— Esther Shittu

Parade Raises Awareness Of Social Issues


What’s Up

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF QUEENS Index No. 22641/2013 SUP-PLEMENTAL SUMMONS Plaintiff designates Queens County as the place of trial. Venue is based upon- the County in which the Mortgage premises is situ-ated. RECEIVED 7/18/2014 COUNTY CLERK QUEENS COUNTY Capital One, N.A. –against- Charis Sachtouris, if living and if any be dead, any and all persons who are spouses, widows, grantees, m0ligagees, lienor, heirs, de-visees, distributes, or succes-sors in interest of such of the above as may be dead, and their spouses, heirs, devisees, distributes and successors in interest, all of whom and whose names and places of residences are unknown to Plaintiff, Fleet National Bank, New York City Environmental Control Board, New York

City Parking Violations Bu-reau New York City Transit Adjudication Bureau United State of America-Internal Revenue Service, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Defendants. TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT(S): YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your Answer or, if the Com-plaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a Notice of Appearance on the attor-neys for the plaintiff within twenty (20) days after service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after service is complete if this Summons if not personally delivered to you within the State of New York). In case of your failure to appear or answer, judge-ment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF AC-TION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is to fore-close a Mortgage to secure $100,000.00 and interest, recorded in the Office of the Clerk of the County of QUEENS on June 30, 1992 in Book 3346, Page 906, which was consolidated with the mortgage recorded on Octo-ber 15, 1996, in Book 4443, at Page 1523 in the amount of $38,750.00 by a Consolida-tion, Extension and Modifica-tion Agreement dated August 20, 1996, recorded October 15, 1996 in Book 4443 at Page 1535, which created a single lien in the amount of $138,750.00, covering premises known as 149-35 12th Avenue, Whitestone, NY 11357. 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. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME If you do not respond to this Summons and Complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the Mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer 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 if pending for further information on how to answer the Summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to your Mortgage company 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. Dated:

WILLIAMSVILLE, New York JUNE 26, 2014 By: Stephen J. Wallace Esq. Frenkel, Lambert, Weiss, Weisman & Gordon, LLP Attorneys for Plaintiff 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, New York 11706 (631) 969-3100 Our File No.: 01-033536-FOO TO: Charis Sachtouris 149-35 12th Avenue, Whitestone, NY 11357 and/or 116 East 83rd Street, New York, NY 10028 United State of America-Internal Revenue Service New York State Department of Taxation and Finance________________________NOTICE OF SALE SU-PREME COURT COUNTY OF QUEENS HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSO-CIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR DEUTSCHE ALT-A SECURI-TIES INC., MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-AR3, Plaintiff, against ANDRE BAKSH, et al., Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and

Sale duly dated 4/24/2014 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Queens County Courthouse in Courthouse #25, 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, New York on 09/12/2014 at 10:00AM, premises known as 197-17 100TH AVENUE, Hollis, NY 11423 All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being at Hollis, in the Borough and County of Queens, City and State of New York, BLOCK: 10844 LOT: 19. Approxi-mate amount of judgment $650,805.60 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 15598/09. Joseph F. Defelice, Esq., Referee Gross Polowy, LLC, Attorney for Plaintiff, P.O. Box 540, Getzville, NY 14068 Dated: August 4, 2014 1106450

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

Aug 15‘Red Tails’

Join Councilman I. Daneek Miller and the Parks Dept. at Wayanda Park to watch a screening of the movie “Red Tails.” Along with the movie, there will be a visit from Tuskegee Airmen. Free ices and popcorn will also be provided. The screening will be at 7 p.m.

All are encouraged to bring their chair and blanket. The park is locat-ed at 217-40 Hollis Ave., Jamaica, be-tween Robard Lane and 217th Street. For more information, call (718) 776-3700.

Living in High ReleaseThe 2014 JCAL Summer dance

Intensive presents a summer dance intensive culmination demonstra-tion. The demonstration will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The demonstration will be at Jamaica Performing Arts Center, located at 153-10 Jamaica Ave., Jamaica.

For more information, call (718) 658-7400.

Aug 16Relaxing Massage

Enjoy a 15-minute chair massage from Neighborhood Care and Tender Touch for All. All caregivers, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and chronic conditions are welcomed. The massage chair will be opened from noon to 3 p.m. The massage will be given at EmblemHealth Neighbor-hood Care Center, located at 206-20 Linden Blvd., Cambria Heights. For

more information or to RSvP, call (866) 539-0999.

Aug 18NAN Meeting

The National Action Network is planning a major demonstration from Brooklyn to Staten Island over the verrazano Bridge. All are invited to the emergency meeting to receive the proper information so that there can be a successful demonstration to send a message to the city that police brutality, excessive force and homicide from those who have sworn to protect and respect the residents whom they have been hired to serve will not be tolerated. Guest speakers and the chapter President will discuss the particulars in regard to the Aug. 23 demonstration. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Greater Springfield Community Church, located at 177-06 129th Ave., Jamaica. For more infor-mation, call (718) 949-9500 or email [email protected].

Pre-K For AllAll are invited to join Pre-K For

All during its office hours. This is a chance for caretakers to meet with an enrollment specialist and learn how to enroll their children into Pre-K as well as learn about the different op-tions that are available for families. The open house is from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 172-17 Linden Blvd., St. Albans. For more information, call Candace E. Prince-Modeste at (718) 776-3700 or email cmodeste2coun-cil.nyc.gov.

Aug 19 Cell Phone Literacy

EmblemHealth Neighborhood Care will have a hands-on demon-stration about cell phones. Learn about cell technology basics, text language, sending messages and photos and other helpful features of your cellphone. The session will be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at EmblemHealth Neighborhood Care Center, located at 206-20 Linden Blvd., Cambria Heights. For more information, call (866) 539-0999.

Jazzmobile at Cambria ParkCouncilman I. Daneek Miller and

the Parks Dept. present Jazzmobile at Cabell/Cambria Heights Park, with musical performances by Wi-nard Harper and Jeli Posse. All are encouraged to bring a chair and blan-ket. The park is located on Francis Lewis Boulevard at 120th Avenue. The performance is from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For more information, call Ms. Denson at (718)776-3700.

Aug 20Employment Discrimination

The Jamaica Branch NAACP is conducting a free employment dis-crimination workshop in recogni-tion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The workshop will cover discriminatory subjects in the workplace such as disparate impact and disparate treatment, promotion and advancement, sexual harass-ment, pregnancy, LGBT, disability, religion and retaliation. Other topics

include compliancy agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New York State Division of Human Right. The work-shop will start at 6 p.m. at the SUNY Queens Education Opportunity Cen-ter, located at 158-29 Archer Ave., Jamaica. For more information, call (718) 723-3653.

Birding by CanoeThe Eastern Queens Alliance, Inc.

invites all to join the U.S. National Park Service for a birding by canoe adventure through the waterways of Idlewild Park Preserve. For more information or to register, call (718) 338-3799. The event will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Idlewild Park is located at 230-11 Rockaway Blvd, Jamaica.

FuTuRE EvENTs:Annual sickle Cell 5K

The Queens Sickle Cell Advocacy Network, Inc. invites all to attend the QSCAN Annual Sickle Cell 5K Run/ Walk-A-Thon on Sunday Sept. 7. Registration starts at 8 AM and the Walk begins at 10 a.m. at 160th Street between Liberty and Archer Avenues (near the last stop of the 'E' train, Ja-maica Center and York College) and ends at Roy Wilkins Park. Registra-tion will be $25 on the day of the event. Early Registration is available for $20 online at www.eventbrite.com/e/qscan-annual-sickle-cell-5k-runwalk-

a-thon-2014-tickets-11386311765. For information and Team Leader Pack-ets, call (718) 712-0873 or email [email protected].


A former Congressman is firing up the grill on the Queens peninsula. Former U.S. Rep, An-thony Weiner has opened a non-profit company, called the Rockaway Restoration Kitchen. According to the idealist.org job listing of the company, it is described as “A social en-trepreneurship that operates a healthy, sustainable restaurant in a hard luck community to provide training, on-the-job apprenticeship and place-ment in the culinary and food service sector for unemployed New Yorkers.” Basically, it aims to serve delicious food and train the unemployed with kitchen skills that they can use for a job in that industry. They will help in job placement for people in that program as well, according to the listing. The new venture is look-ing for an executive director, which has an Aug. 31 deadline to apply for the position. You may remember Weiner for the sexting scandal that forced him to resign from the U.S. Rep. seat he had, which included representing storm-ravaged Rockaway, along with his failed bid for Mayor last year. He appears to be out of the political game and is now pick-ing up the spatula to help open up a new kitchen to satisfy the taste buds of the residents liv-ing on the peninsula.

The DreamstalksMusicians OF QuEEnsQCO

NFID

ENTI

AL

If you go to a concert by The Dreamstalks, you will enjoy their simple, sing-along songs that seem made for children. While the band may sound age-appropriate, the topics certainly are not. This comedy duo puts the audience in an elementary school assembly, but sings about realistic career goals, dating in New York City and walking in on your parents “wrestling.”

The Dreamstalks, made up of Karen Bray and Zach Miko, are an Astoria-based group that fell into musical comedy by accident, when an attempt at starting a band led to one of their first funny songs.

“We have been friends for several years and one day de-cided to start a band. During our first rehearsal, we unin-tentionally wrote a comedic song about the frustrations of dating in New York City,” they said. “Immediately, we knew we had something and decided to make the fast switch to becoming comedic musicians.”

The two of them settled on the adult “children’s songs” bit after their experiences in working day jobs with kids. Miko worked at Field Sta-tion Dinosaur, a children's theme park, and Bray was a nanny.

“We took our e x p e r i -ences with these jobs and developed our characters. We hadn't seen anything like it before, inappropriate children's musicians,” they said.

Often times, the Dream-stalks’ tunes start innocently enough, sounding like a number you may hear on “Sesame Street” or at a chil-dren’s camp. For example, “The Table Manners Song” talks about being a kid and going out to a restaurant with

Visit Weiner's Kitchen

your family. The dinner begins nicely enough, but then things take a dramatic and sidesplit-tingly funny turn.

“For no reason at all, you start screaming while seeing how much ketchup fits into a glass of milk/and kid, you just don’t seem to know/that you’re a terrible patron/and the waitress hates you,” the duo sings with smiles on their faces.

The two said they were influenced stylistically by The Mountain Goats and comically by Tenacious D and Charlie Day’s work on the sitcom, “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” where his character wrote a hilariously bad musical.

The Dreamstalks recently held a fundraiser at Rockwood Music Hall along with a few friends, to help fund their debut album.

The duo said they have 10 songs ready to go, as well as a bonus track. The record will also include their between-song banter.

Once the album is done, the group has some ambi-tious goals for the next few months.

“We are hoping to tour, enter into every major festival we can, hopefully get some TV appearances, stage a full length show, buy a horse, who knows! The world is our oyster!,” they said. “Mean-while we continue doing the act that we love and playing with the people we love, for the audience we love.”

To learn more about The Dreamstalks and for all the latest news from the duo, visit www.thedreamstalks.com and www.facebook.com/thedreamstalks. If you want to help fund their debut, donate to their Kickstarter at www.k i c k s t a r t e r. c o m / p r o j e c t s /thedreamstalks/the-dream-stalks-debut-album.

Last week, Brooklyn Bor-ough President Eric Adams sent out a press release to spread awareness about Brooklyn’s inaugural Inter-national Day of Friendship. The title of the release, in-voked the lyr-ics of Brooklyn rap legend Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G., “BP Adams Spreads Love, The Brooklyn Way.” We here at QConf would

QConf is edited by:

Steven J. FerrariContributors: Bruce

Adler, Jordan Gibbons, Luis Gronda, Walter Karling, Joe Marvilli,

Marcia Moxom Comrie, Michael Nussbaum, Michael Schenkler, Jackie Strawbridge.

Follow us on Twitter: @QueensTrib

@SEQueensPress

Battle Rap Between Beepslove to see our own BP, Me-linda Katz, join the party with her own rap-inspired press

release. Perhaps she could honor Hol-lis native James Todd Smith aka LL Cool J in her next press release about the ousting

of the Queens Library Trust-ees. Here Melinda, we’ll write the headline for you, “BP Katz Says I’m Gonna Knock You Out, Mama Said Knock You Out!”

Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite You thought people hogging the subway pole are bad. Last week, N line strap- hangers had to share their train with some very irritating pas-sengers: bed bugs. The tiny travelers infested a handful of trains that were subsequently fumigated, but riders throughout the City weren’t exactly itching to get back on any N train. According to published reports, bedbugs were also spotted in employee lockers and the home of a conductor. The bed bugs have since spread

to the 5 line. We here at QConf are scratching our heads as to where these bed bugs came from, and where they're headed. Maybe they just found out about all the great bites to be had along the N in Astoria.

Seen earlier this week in Woodside, Sunnyside resident Daniel Marsala was riding down the bike lane on 39th Avenue not on a bike, but a unicycle. Marsala told a QConf photographer that he

frequently attends unicycle gatherings in Manhattan, and hopes to organize one in Queens. Photo by Walter Karling.

Unicycle Lane

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Best of Queens 2014

For Advertising Information On "The Best Of Queens 2014" Edition Call The PRESS At (718) 357-7400

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YOUR NAME:YOUR AddRESS:YOUR EMAIl:

WIN PRIZESOn Aug. 29, the Queens PRESS of Southeast Queens

will publish a special edition showcasing the places, people and things readers love about Queens. The Staff will comb the Borough to find things that make living

in Queens so special. But we need your help!

Fill out our form online at queenspress.com/best-of-queensLucky winners will be chosen from online submissions to win

prizes, including Mets tickets and dinners to area restaurants. Or, fill out the form

Food & diningBagels:Bakery:Breakfast:Burgers:Butcher:Coffee Shop:Deli:Desserts:Diner:Ice Cream:Pizza:Seafood:Steak:

Ethnic Food Asian:French:Indian:Italian:Latin:Other Ethnic:

REtailBook Store:Clothing Store:Florist:Hardware Store:Jewelry Store:Liquor Store:Mall/Shopping Center:Pharmacy:Supermarket:

hEalth & BEautyHair Salon:Doctor:Massage Therapist:Day Spa/Nail Salon:Veterinarian:Gym:

EntERtainmEntBar/Nightspot:Local Band:

Museum:Local Musician:Movie Theater:Theater Group:Park:Athletic Facility:

SERvicESAuto Repair:Cleaning Company:Contractor:Electrician:Handyman:Landscaper:Painter:Plumber:Roofer:

youR PERSonal BEStS:

Press epaper 081514

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