Rep Joe Crowley Applauds Delta, US Airways Agreement that Will Create New Jobs in Queens

Airline Slot Exchange Paves Way for Delta’s $117 Million Investment in LaGuardia Airport

Congressman Joe Crowley (D-Queens, the Bronx), a chief deputy whip in the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives, applauded the revised agreement reached today between Delta Airlines and US Airways to transfer takeoff and landing slots between LaGuardia and Washington Reagan National Airports. This agreement paves the way for Delta to move forward with its $117 million planned investment to build a new terminal at LaGuardia Airport, generating thousands of new jobs in Queens and increasing economic activity in and around the airport.

“This deal is a win-win for New York’s 7^th Congressional District. Not only will this deal improve air service and reduce noise pollution, it will also create thousands of new jobs for Queens,” said Congressman Crowley. “In today’s economic climate, we should do all we can to encourage private sector employers, such as Delta, to create jobs.”

Under the agreement, Delta airlines would operate an additional 110 slots at LaGuardia Airport, and would give up some of its slots at Washington Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, the airline would begin a multi-million dollar construction program at LaGuardia to connect the existing Delta and US Airways terminals. An estimated 6,000 new jobs would be created as a result of this agreement, including construction, airport operational and tourism-related jobs. Additionally, Delta would phase out use of older, loud turbo-prop planes for quieter jets – resulting in less air noise polluting the communities around the airport.

Since 2009, Crowley has led efforts in support of a deal, including spearheading a bipartisan letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that encouraged the department to quickly approve the transfer of slots.

MoveOn.org Tax Day 2011 Demonstration Outside Citigroup Headquarters, Queens, NYC by VinsonV - YouTube

As part of Moveon.org's nationwide campaign to draw attention to the huge number of Corporate tax avoiders, Consilience Productions joined forces with local activists on April 18, 2011, to make our voices heard.


We will no longer tolerate laws that let the Citigroups and General Electrics of America pay NO TAXES on billions and billions of annual income!


Join the Queens Council, click here and enter your zip code...

At Budget Hearings, Marshall Believes Queens ‘Shortchanged’ by Thomas Cogan - www.qgazette.com | Queens Gazette

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Borough President Helen Marshall said she understands that during these difficult fiscal times cutbacks are necessary, in her borough as well as elsewhere. But, she said at the annual public hearing concerning capital and expense budgets held at Borough Hall February 23, she also believes Queens is being shortchanged.

Some 60 speakers, representing 14 community boards and nearly every college and community college, arts group, hospital and health group, social services agency and museum that the borough contains, along with Queens Borough Public Library officials, also testified at the hearings.

The borough president’s understanding of cutbacks encompasses a realization that thousands of teachers will be dismissed; several firehouses will close; the library will take a significant cut this fiscal year and a larger one next, and in the meantime has stopped buying books; programs for the aid of both children and the aged will be shrunk, and parks improvements will be lamented for their lack. Out of that partial list of funds reduction and from lists unmentioned she would like to take back some small amounts that she believes

Queens deserves.

It is the duty of their district managers to speak for community boards at budget meetings. At the February meeting, they came to the rostrum in numerical order, so the first was Lucille Hartmann of Community Board 1. She said that chief among the concerns of her board is the seawall along the East River, and anyone who has seen it slowly fall into the water beneath the Queensboro Bridge for years and years knows what she means. A parking lot at Astoria Boulevard and 35th Street is needed for everyone from commuters to 114th Precinct police officers, she said, and local curb reconstruction has been stalled as long as has seawall repair. Debbie Markell-Kleinert of Community Board 2 began by giving thanks that the Queens West Library is to be built on Parcel 8 in Hunters Point, but went on to say that repair of catch basins and sewers in her district has been delayed repeatedly. Construction of a new 108th Precinct headquarters building is certain to occur only in her dreams, but the problem of 44-02 Vernon Blvd. is of great urgency. This huge excavation next to the Con Edison Learning Center was abandoned when the developer went bankrupt, and now stands, filling with water. Markell-Kleinert said the Department of Housing Preservation and Development should seize it, with an eye to building affordable apartments there.

Giovanna Reid of Community Board 3 observed that her district (Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst), with a population of 200,000, has a large number of recent immigrants. As far as schools are concerned, “our chief objective is additional seats”, she said, adding her gratitude for the addition of I.S. 230 on Northern Boulevard, between 110th and 111th Streets. She said the local libraries are “totally overused”, and funds for the Jackson Heights branch must be restored. Richard Italiano of Community Board 4 said the problem of flooding and sewers inadequate to handle it is of grave importance in his district, as it is for Board 5’s Gary Giordano, who said they are collapsing in Maspeth, Glendale and Ridgewood. Giordano said he has toned down his fiscal requests lately but still insists that the 104th Precinct’s current strength of 152 officers should be more like 170. He added that closing a firehouse in a district full of wood frame houses is a dangerous way to save money. He described the Glendale Library as an underfunded “stepchild” lacking accessibility for the handicapped. Frank Gulliscio of Board 6, covering Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Rego Park, said that the special study of Woodhaven Boulevard, a thoroughfare affecting five districts (Boards 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10) has been proceeding too long and should be completed. He said the new Bob’s Discount Furniture at 72-25 Woodhaven Blvd., where Woodhaven Lanes bowling used to be, is welcome as an enterprise but the consequent traffic increase needs better management.

Fear of fires and floods bothered several of the remaining district managers, especially when they considered their dilapidated sewers and shuttered firehouses. Libraries, they said, should be built or refurbished, not closed for half the week. Sea walls besides that in Board 1 are deteriorating; and in Board 14 on Beach Channel Drive, the bulkheads are gone and water from Jamaica Bay is getting under the roadway, while in Bayswater it is said to reach residential lawns when the moon is full. Susan Seinfeld of Board 11 mentioned a shore road in Douglaston that she said is “falling into the bay”. Work goes uncompleted on island malls in the middle of 111th Street, while island malls on Union Turnpike have rebars sticking out of them.

Who can pay to have these things completed or repaired? Regarding run down medians and a carousel in Forest Park, Board 9’s Mary Ann Carey said she has thought of turning to Donald Trump for help. She even suggested she might ask him to subsidize restoration of Frederick Macmonnies’s “Civic Virtue,” the marble statue beside Borough Hall in bad shape after 90 years outdoors. Councilmember Karen Koslowitz interrupted to say that restorations would cost $20 million. (Congressmember Anthony Weiner, not an admirer of the statue, on the following day suggested that it be sold on Craigslist and removed.)

Representatives of the many institutions that followed specified the amounts they needed and the related projects. Queensborough Community College needs $1.7 million toward repair of its Humanities Theater. CUNY Law School will move into a new home next year at 2 Court Square in Long Island City, but needs $864,000 to furnish all its classrooms with audio/visual equipment. Queens Theatre in the Park needs $400,000 to refurbish its lobby and other parts of the building. Queens Botanical Garden needs $1 million to repave its cobblestones and an unstated amount to replace its parking lot blacktop with permeable pavement. Mount Sinai Queens needs $177,206 to equip a state-of-the-art ultrasound suite. Peninsula Hospital needs $132,000 for a digital mammography system to supplement its older analog system. Make the Road New York needs $3 million toward moving into a Center for Immigrant Opportunity in an old church in Jackson Heights, near where immigrant laborers constantly gather in search of day work. Services Now for Adult Persons (SNAP) spokesperson Marian Lewek said that while SNAP provides “the best food in any senior center”, more than $130,000 is needed for three new vans to replace vehicles that date from another century. Tom Finkelpearl of the Queens Museum, like others, moderated requests his institution might otherwise have made in acknowledgment of the economic recession.

Rep Weiner Study Highlights Impact of Republican Budget Plan on Queens

$167 Million in Aid to the Borough on the Chopping Block, Including $57 Million in Pell Grants for Queens Students and $20 Million in MTA Funding

Plan Goes to House Floor This Week

Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D – Queens and Brooklyn) released a study highlighting the impact on Queens of the new Republican budget proposal that will be voted on this week, which would slash over $167 million in aid to the borough, including $57 million in Pell Grants for area students and over $20 million in vital funding to the MTA.

Under the Republican budget plan, Queens would lose millions of dollars in funding for cops, education, transportation, infrastructure, and health and human services. Pell Grants for low income Queens students, for instance, would be cut by $57 million, eliminating a vital lifeline for the over 168,000 college students in the borough.

The proposal also calls for eliminating $20 million in funding for essential rail and bus infrastructure and security MTA projects in Queens. With the MTA already facing a widespread deficit and reducing service to residents, including shutting down the Q74 bus line, the only direct mode of transportation for Queens College students to Kew Gardens Hills, these cuts would come to services already cut to the bone.

In addition, if the Republican plan passes, Queens’ senior nutrition programs, which help seniors stay healthy by providing meals and supplying vital funding to the many senior centers in Queens, would see a decrease in funding of $200,000. The plan would also cut funding to upgrading air traffic control systems and safety at JFK and LaGuardia airport, during a time when the national threat level has never been higher.

The Public Housing and Capital Operating Fund would similarly be cut by $47 million, placing further burden on the Pomonok Houses, one of the largest complexes in Queens, which is already struggling to obtain the capital funding it needs to stay safe and comfortable.

"The deficit needs to be reduced, but cutting Pell Grants for low income college students and reducing other vital services is not the way to do it," Weiner said.

A study by Rep. Weiner's office found the following cuts would impact Queens if the Republican budget proposal passes:

Education

• Pell Grants, which provide grants for lower income college students, would be cut by $57 million for area students. The maximum Pell Grant award would be cut by $845 per student. There are over 168,000 college students in Queens. (NYC Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and U.S. Census

Law Enforcement

• Federal grants to fund the Queens precincts of the New York Police Department would be cut by $12 million, a 40% cut from fiscal year 2010 levels. This could mean that more than 42 cops are taken off the streets of Queens. (NYC IBO)

Transportation

• MTA would lose over $20 million for funding vital rail and bus infrastructure and security projects throughout Queens. (Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA))

• JFK and LaGuardia would see a cut of $16 million that would be used to improve our air traffic control system. (United States Department of Transportation((DOT))

Housing

• The Public Housing Capital and Operating Funds which provide funding for the development and modernization of public housing and public housing agencies, would be cut by $47 million. (NYC IBO)

Health & Human Services

• The Child Care and Development Fund which provides subsidies for child care for low-income families so that Queens parents can work would be cut by $2.5 million. (NYC IBO)

• Senior Nutrition Programs, which helps Queens seniors stay healthy by providing meals at senior centers and in the home, would be cut by over $200,000.(NYC IBO)

Infrastructure

• The Drinking Water Revolving Fund which works to ensure that local Queens residents receive clean and safe drinking water would be cut by $12.5 million for Queens. (NYC OMB)

Throgs Neck Bridge Celebrates Five Decades as Bronx-Queens Span by Mike Jaccarino - NY Daily News

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Throgs Neck Bridge fans had nothing but praise for the scenic 50-year-old span.

The Throgs Neck Bridge, the graceful span that connects the Bronx with Queens and Long Island, turns 50 this Tuesday.

For five decades, folks have motored across it to visit family, girlfriends and old pals, separated by the Long Island Sound and East River.

"I want to wish it the happiest of birthdays - this venerable public servant, the Throgs Neck Bridge," said Ken Kearns, district manager for Community Board 10 in the Bronx. "The ride across it is scenic and beautiful."

Workers broke ground on the bridge on Oct. 22, 1957. Three years, two months and 20 days later, city officials, including Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Chairman Robert Moses, cut the ribbon on the span.

The bridge consists of an 1,800-foot long center span and two 555-feet side spans.

The Bronx tower of the bridge is also home to a Peregrine falcon family that returns each spring to nest and hatch its new chicks.

"Compared to the Whitestone, the Triborough and the Verrazano bridges this one doesn't really have the looks, although it serves its purpose solidly," said Jeffrey Kroessler, a Queens author and archivist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

"Two cheers for Robert Moses for getting it built," he said. "Can you imagine the amount of traffic on the Whitestone [Bridge] without it?"

The Bayside Historical Society will devote an exhibit on the Throgs Neck's history starting May 1. The display will chronicle the history of its construction, including photos of the 400 Queens homes that were either relocated or destroyed to make way for Moses' project.

"It's such an important structure," said Alison McKay, a historical society archivist. "We overlook the bridge all the time."

Bronxite and borough business owner John Bonizio said the bridge will always remind him of his youth.

"I remember my first car, a '69 Mustang, and when I got the car it was a tradition in the Bronx that friends and family would throw a pocket full of change into the car for good luck," he said.

"The toll was only 75 cents and when I would go over the Throgs Neck bridge, I would just reach down and pick up all those loose quarters and dimes that people had thrown into my car."

Jim McQuade, 64, owner of Schuyler Hill Funeral Home in Throgs Neck, lives in the shadow of the bridge in Locust Point.

"The bridge has always been a source of tranquility and peace in my life through the years," he said. "Just sitting on the back porch, having the beautiful view of the bridge, looking at Fort Schuyler - there's not a more peaceful view in the city."

Moses had pushed to have the bridge open before the 1964 World's Fair, of which he was also the president.

About 20 minutes after the ribbon cutting, the dignitaries sped across the brand new Throgs Neck Bridge for the second ceremony of the day - the dedication of the first World's Fair structure at Flushing Meadow-Corona Park.

Three summers ago, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. took his sons jet-skiing on City Island.

"We worked our way south, and together we went underneath the Throgs Neck Bridge," said Diaz. "I remember looking up, thinking about how great of a scene it was and being happy that I was able to enjoy it with my family."

Diaz added that, now, when he looks upon the bridge, he can't help but think about that afternoon and his pride over being a New Yorker.With Leigh Remizowski

mjaccarino@nydailynews.com

Louis Armstrong's Queens House of Jazz Aims to Boost Visits, Become Most Visited Spot in U.S. by Nicholas Hirshon - NY Daily News

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Among the thousands of photos at the museum are shot of trumpeter in his living room admiring a 1930s portrait. Below, bus that carried Louis Armstrong Orchestra on tour.

The Queens house of jazz great Louis Armstrong is vying to someday rank alongside three of the most visited historic homes in the U.S. - which draw about 40 times its tourist total.

"One day we will be on a par with Monticello and Mount Vernon and Graceland," said Michael Cogswell, the museum director at Satchmo's Corona home. "It takes time to get there. You have to do it step by step."

Cogswell said he hopes two initiatives - cataloging the museum's entire collection online by the end of 2011 and opening a visitor center in 2013 - will raise the home's profile.

Still, Armstrong's tiny 107thSt. residence has far to go before it can match the crowds that flock to the sprawling estates of two founding fathers - George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - and rock legend Elvis Presley.

About 12,000 tourists come to the Louis Armstrong House Museum each year.

By comparison, Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia lures 450,000 visitors annually, Presley's Graceland in Memphis grabs 600,000 and Washington's Mount Vernon in Virginia attracts more than 1 million.

But Armstrong fans contend the African-American trumpeter and singer - famous for hits like "What a Wonderful World" and "Hello Dolly!" - deserves respect for helping to create and popularize jazz.

Though Armstrong died in 1971, the Armstrong museum's website brags his influence remains "universal, unmatched and very much alive today."

To make his work more accessible, the museum recently finished cataloging its three largest collections online, offering the ability to browse the archive's mix of sound recordings, photos, letters and more.

The catalog is available at www.louisarmstronghouse.org.

Cogswell dismissed concerns that posting the archives online may make tourists less likely to visit the physical museum, which is run by Queens College.

"This is our mission - to share Louis Armstrong's legacy with the world," he said, adding online access typically "generates more interest than ever" in historic figures, especially musicians.

"The same thing happened with the birth of recordings back in the early 20th century," he said.

Cogswell and project archivist Ricky Riccardi also noted that researchers must still travel to the Corona home to view or listen to the materials.

"If you actually want to read it and quote from it, then you actually have to come here," said Riccardi, who is working on cataloging the museum's remaining memorabilia.

The museum also recently completed a two-year process to design its long-awaited visitor center opposite the frame house, where Armstrong and his wife, Lucille, moved in 1943 and spent the rest of their lives.

Plans call for a nightclub-like "jazz room" with cafe tables, chairs and theatrical lighting that can host small concerts, lectures and film screenings.

Cogswell said the new setup will allow the museum to host concerts year-round for the first time. Performances are now held outdoors in the house's garden.

"We have to schedule them in the summertime and then pray that it doesn't rain," he said with a laugh.

Queens High Schools Still Crowded by Beth Fertig - WNYC

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Queens is always growing and it seems its schools are, too. The United Federation of Teachers says several high schools in the city's second most populous borough seem more crowded than usual this fall.

James Vasquez, the UFT's representative for Queens high schools, says principals are working hard to keep classes from getting too large by reprogramming schedules and adding more teachers. But he says Bayside, Benjamin Cardozo and the new Metropolitan High School are all still crammed with students.

"You have situations in which not only the hallways are crowded but the days are extended," he says. "Because kids are staying later or coming in earlier than they may have before."

The Department of Education confirms that Metropolitan High School, which opened in September, currently has 411 students -- 61 more than the target. Benjamin Cardozo in Flushing has about 40 more kids than expected.

Vasquez attributes the problem to poor planning and says the city should send more students to under-utilized schools. But a Department of Education spokesman says it's too early to make any determinations on class size or enrollment because they're still fluctuating daily. The state gathers final enrollment data on October 31.

Crowded schools don't always correspond with overcrowded classrooms, and vice-versa. Many schools in Queens and throughout the city still have class sizes that are above the contractual limit of 34 in high school subjects and 50 for gym. Vasquez says the Queens High School of Teaching was especially hard hit with dozens of classes above the limit. In early September, the union estimated that 1900 high school classes in Queens were above contractual limits. But that number has since been cut down by more than half. As in previous years, the city resolves many of the disputes just before or during arbitration hearings.

Meanwhile, the union says the situation at Francis Lewis High School - which has more than 4000 students - seems under control. The city and the union went to arbitration hearings over the past few years because of overcrowding. Though it's still packed, the union says no classes are beyond their contractual limits.

Comment by Arthur Goldsten

If the union says Francis Lewis is "under control" that's only because they haven't bothered to consult with anyone who actually works there. Lewis is open 14 periods a day, six sessions, and has classes in trailers with chronically failing heat and AC and half-classrooms that are absolutely unfit for teaching and learning. Our students run around outside in the cold and the dark, and eat lunch at 9 AM.

During peak times, you can barely make it down the hall. 61 more than the target? At Lewis we've been thousands above the target, and for years.

Hardly a "Mission Accomplished" moment by me.

Arthur Goldstein, UFT Chapter Leader
Francis Lewis High School

You're Invited to Congressman Weiner's Town Hall on Post-Tornado Clean-Up in Queens - Tuesday, September 21st at 6:30pm...

What: Town Hall Meeting on Post-Tornado Clean-Up in Queens with

New York City Office of Emergency Management

When: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 6:30pm

Where: Forest Hills Jewish Center

106-06 Queens Boulevard - Forest Hills, New York

Enter on 69th Road

Sponsored By:

Congressman Anthony Weiner

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall
State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky
Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi

Questions? Call Congressman Weiner’s community office at 718-520-9001.

National Weather Service Confirms Tornadoes, Microburst Hit New York City » WireUpdate Local | Local Breaking News | Local Breaking Wire -

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The National Weather Service on late Friday confirmed that two tornadoes touched down in New York City during a powerful storm that caused widespread damage on Thursday, killing one person and injuring others.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said one of the tornadoes touched down near Park Slope in Brooklyn with maximum wind speeds around 80 miles (129 kilometers) per hour. "The tornado touched down in Park Slope and lifted 2 miles [northeast] of Park Slope," the agency said.

The second tornado touched down about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) south of Flushing in Queens and lifted about one mile (1.6 kilometer) northeast of Bayside. This tornado was slightly stronger with maximum wind speeds of around 100 miles (161 kilometers) per hour.

A woman, identified as Iline Leuakis, was killed when a tree crashed into her car on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens as the tornado hit. "The severity of the storm may have caught us by surprise, but New Yorkers are a resilient people and we will get through this ordeal together," said New York Governor David Paterson.

In addition to the two tornadoes, a microburst hit near Middle Village in Queens. "The path of the microburst was from Middle Village to Forest Hills," the NWS said.

"A microburst is a convective downdraft with an affected outflow area of less than 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) wide and peak winds lasting less than 5 minutes," the agency explained. "Microbursts may induce dangerous horizontal/vertical wind shears which can adversely affect aircraft performance and cause property damage."

The powerful storm left more than 30,000 people - most of them in Queens and Staten island - without power. "This is one of those things that while it may be an act of God it doesn't make it any easier for us," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he surveyed storm damage on Thursday. "People are concerned, they have every right to be concerned. The good news is that most people were safe, just annoyed – traffic being bad or a tree coming down in their yard."

Paterson said he requested the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide teams of federal inspectors to determine the extent of damage in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. "As part of the federal disaster process, both the individual boroughs and the State must reach a threshold of damage before any federal assistance can be requested," he added.

Tornadoes are extremely rare in New York City, and Thursday's tornadoes were the first time one record that a tornado caused a fatality in the city. The last time a tornado hit New York City was in July, when a weak tornado swirled through the Bronx.

Prior to that, two tornadoes touched down in Staten Island and Brooklyn on August 8, 2007. Other tornadoes touched down in 2003, 1995, 1990, 1985 and 1974. No other tornadoes were recorded since records began in 1950.