City Settlement Funds Parks in LIC and Maspeth by Rebecca Henely - YourNabe.com

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David Rivel, executive director of the City Parks Foundation, discusses how settlement funds for the delays in construction of Greenpoint's Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant will be distributed in Queens and Brooklyn. Photo by Rebecca Henely

Residents of Queens and Brooklyn applauded a list of seven potential environmental and recreational projects last week aimed at improving their communities as mitigation for missed deadlines in updating the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.

These included wetlands rehabilitation, tree planting and two new parks for Queens.

“It is a first step in an important plan to bring needed recreational activities,” said Dorothy Morehead, of Community Board 2 in Queens.

The nonprofit City Parks Foundation and the state Department of Environmental Conservation presented the list to the communities, including Dutch Kills, Maspeth and Long Island City, during a meeting at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant on Greenpoint Avenue and Provost Street in Brooklyn April 20. This was the culmination of a year-long process to determine what should be done with $7 million given to City Parks Foundation for environmental projects as part of a $10 million settlement between the city and state. The city had been late in updating the wastewater plant and paid the settlement in lieu of fees.

Earlier this year residents in southern Queens and northern Brooklyn voted on which projects the $7 million should fund. The list of 22 projects was narrowed down to seven based on resident voting and a number of other factors, such as proximity to the plant, feasibility and community benefit, said Michelle Moore of the DEC.

“I just want to thank the state for the great job they did with listening to the people,” said David Rivel, executive director of City Parks Foundation.

The primary projects chosen for Queens include $2 million toward acquiring land in Dutch Kills on 47th Avenue from 27th to 29th streets for a park, $500,000 for wetland improvements along the creek in both boroughs and $500,000 for tree-planting projects within Maspeth and Long Island City.

“These are the projects we think fit the criteria best,” Moore said.

The secondary projects chosen for Queens, which will be implemented if additional monies can be found or if any of the primary projects fall through, include a $1 million study to create a pedestrian/bike area on the Pulaski Bridge, which connects the boroughs on 11th Street in Long Island City; and $1.2 million to buy the land at 57-40 58th St. in Maspeth, which once housed St. Saviour’s Church and turn it into a park.

“It’s not a question of wanting a park — it’s needing a park,” state Sen. Joe Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) said in support of the St. Saviour’s Plan.

The top priority project will be a Boathouse and Environmental Education Center in Greenpoint similar to the one in Long Island City, for which the settlement could provide $3 million.

While some of these projects have other sources of funding, such as the St. Saviour’s site, the settlement money plans to supplement them. Whatever is chosen, the projects must be implemented within two to three years, Moore said.

The foundation and state are still taking comments up until April 29, when the projects will be finalized. Comments can be sent to david.rivel@parks.nyc.gov or mmmoore@gw.dec.state.ny.us.

Ridgewood Reservoir Due for Makeover Joe Anuta - YourNabe.com

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One of many holes in the dilapidated chain link fence that surrounds Ridgewood Reservoir allows access to the patch of wilderness. Photo by Joe Anuta

Construction could begin soon on new fencing surrounding the Ridgewood Reservoir despite objections from members of the community and borough lawmakers.

The contract has been awarded to a Maspeth construction company for $6.4 million, according to the city comptroller’s database, and the work is set to be complete by the end of the year.

But several members of Community Board 5 criticized the city’s plan for the renovation, citing unnecessary spending and inadequate protection of wildlife.

“I’m trying to fight them, but the contract is already awarded and registered in the comptroller’s office,” said Steve Fiedler, chairman of CB 5’s Parks Committee. “Nobody wants to listen.”

One of Fiedler’s objections shared by the rest of the board is that the proposed fence, at 4 feet tall, is too short and would invite trespassers into the natural enclave.

“Right now there is an 8-foot fence and they can’t keep [people] out of there,” Fiedler said.

There are innumerable holes cut into the current chain link fence that surrounds the three basins of the reservoirs. Some have been patched, but many still allow unencumbered access to the basins.

Fiedler said people also dump garbage and have been known to play paint ball in the wooded areas of the reservoir.

A representative from the city Parks Department said the new fencing will allow visitors to see the basins.

“New steel bar fencing around the perimeter and fencing of historical reference near seating areas between basins will allow visitors visual access to the natural environments in the basins,” said the representative, who asked not to be identified.


Currently, the 8-foot tall fence allows park-goers to see the park only through the wires and is overgrown with vines in many places.

The city will also combat invasive species like phragmites, a reed that takes over in watery soil, which have plagued the park over the years.

Fiedler and the board also took issue with the type of fencing.

The park currently has more than 4,000 feet of historic, wrought-iron fencing in and around the basins, Fiedler said. In fact, the fencing was so elaborately crafted that the city made a model of it to use in Central Park in Manhattan.

“You cannot get fencing like that anymore,” Fiedler said, lamenting the fact that the vintage metal will likely be thrown away or melted down.
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State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) also had objections to the department’s plan to install new lighting.

The city plans on installing lights along the path at 15-foot intervals. There are currently dilapidated lampposts located on the outside of the path, but the city’s plan would move them to the inside and install a shade that would shield the animal and plant life from the lights at night.

“We could save money by building on the existing side,” Addabbo said. “I’m not an engineer, but ... I’d like to respectively disagree with the Parks Department.”

The contract is currently under review by city Comptroller John Liu.

In 2008, former city Comptroller William Thompson rejected a plan to turn the reservoir into sports fields.

Tax Protesters from MoveOn.org Take Aim at Bell Blvd. Citibank by Rich Bockmann - YourNabe.com

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Joe Aslaender of Richmond Hill holds a sign he created for a protest in Bayside. Photo by Christina Santucci

With federal budget talks on their minds, protesters gathered outside the Citibank branch at the corner of Bell Boulevard and 39th Avenue in Bayside Monday to draw attention to what they claimed are unfair corporate tax practices.

About 20 protesters chose to participate on Tax Day in moveon.org’s “Make Them Pay” campaign, which claims millionaires and corporations avoid paying their fair share of taxes by taking advantage of tax loopholes.Moveon.org is a progressive, political action advocacy group.

“We bailed them out and then they turn around and use loopholes,” said the event’s organizer, David Yale. Yale said the specific loophole he refers to is one that allows a foreign subsidiary of a U.S. company to exempt foreign-generated earnings from U.S. corporate income tax as long as it does not bring the cash back to the U.S.

The United States imposes one of the highest corporate tax rates at 35 percent. U.S. companies do pay local corporate taxes to the country where the income is generated, and if the cash is repatriated to the United States, the company pays the difference between the foreign tax and the U.S tax. Yale, a Bayside resident, said he had not personally written his legislators about the corporate tax loophole.

Citigroup Monday reported its first-quarter earnings plummeted 32 percent from a year earlier to $2.99 billion from $4.43 billion in the January-March quarter of 2010, while revenue was down 22 percent to $19.7 billion. The banking giant announced late last month that it would resume paying a dividend after the crushing financial problems it faced before the federal bailout.

Moveon.org contends that Citigroup — along with GE, Bank of America, Google, BP, Amazon, Wells Fargo, Boeing, ExxonMobil, FedEx, Goldman Sachs and Chase — are some of the wealthiest corporations in the country doing everything in their power to avoid paying U.S. taxes. The organization’s web site frames the issue in the context of tax breaks for the wealthy at a time when the federal government is slashing public services.

“During these difficult economic times, when all Americans are being asked to sacrifice, it is simply wrong that Citigroup is shirking their American duty to pay their taxes,” said Yale. “We are protesting on Tax Day because corporate tax dodgers have a responsibility to our community and our nation to pay their fair share. We pay our taxes. Citibank should, too.”

Yale said Citigroup has 427 offshore tax havens and, if it paid its fare share of taxes, it would owe $1.5 trillion. Officials at Citibank would not comment on the group’s claim.

For about an hour protesters held up signs — with one reading, “It’s tax day! We bailed Citibank out now they must pay their share of taxes” — and handed out literature to Citibank customers and passersby.

Michael McGrath said he has been laid off from his union plumbing job for 15 months and owes New York state $2,900 in taxes since he did not have anything deducted from his unemployment check.

“How come I have to pay my taxes and they don’t? These are people who don’t need tax breaks. Their incomes are through the stratosphere,” he said.

He acknowledged that while the corporations on moveon.org’s list are taking advantage of legal tax loopholes, their participation makes them complicit in an unfair system.

McGrath also said he did not think the protest was aimed at employees of this particular branch.

“I don’t think this branch thinks it’s against them. I think they know it’s against the corporation,” he said.

Nissan of Queens is Not a Good Neighbor - Ozone Park Wall Angers Homeowner - YourNabe.com

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The following article fails to mention that the use of razor wire in New York City is Illegal and that an Environmental Control Board summons was Issued on August 12, 2010. Queens Nissan has yet to answered the summons or remedied /corrected the condition. (see slide show below for the details and particulars of summons)...

Mary Jane Maggio stands in her driveway in front of an illegal wall built by a neighboring car dealership. Photo by Joe Anuta

An Ozone Park woman is furious after a neighboring car dealership erected a cinder block wall topped with coils of barbed wire next to her backyard without permission from the city.

“It looks terrible and it makes the neighborhood look terrible,” said Mary Jane Maggio, whose garage and yard share a border with Nissan of Queens, at 93-19 Rockaway Blvd. “I don’t want to have to look at that all the time.”

But the approximately 10-foot tall wall and 4 feet of barbed wire are hard to miss.

“It looks like a prison,” she said.

Click here to view these pictures larger

The dealership did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

According to Maggio, the wall went up last summer, and aside from its looks, she said the barbed wire endangers wildlife.

“The birds are flying through and getting cut, and a cat went through, got caught and then died,” she said just as a cat leapt through one of the coils and latched itself onto a nearby telephone pole before scaling down and scampering away.

According to the city, the construction of the wall was not legal since the dealership never had it inspected.

Any brick wall more than 8 feet must be inspected by the city to ensure it meets safety requirements, according to the city Department of Buildings, and the dealership did not get it inspected.

As of press time, the department had not issued a violation for the wall.

Once the wall is inspected, it would be legal, since the stack of cinder blocks is allowed by zoning laws.

So the wall that abuts Maggio’s yard may be illegal now, the dealership must simply get it inspected by the city and pay a fine to bring the structure into compliance, a prospect that does not please Maggio.

“I’ve been here most of my life. We never had any other companies like this,” she said. “I’m sure if they lived here, they wouldn’t like looking at that either.”

Going Green in Queens Educates Earth's Caretakers by Howard Koplowitz > YourNabe.com

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Yilmael Diaz (r.) shows the art of correct planting during the Going Green in Queens conference. Photo by Steven Malecki

From making their own compost to Tree Pruning 101, Queens residents learned what they can do to help the environment during Going Green in Queens at the Al Oerter Recreational Center in Flushing.

Fred Kress, the main organizer of the event, said more than 500 people attended the Saturday event.

“Last year the turnout was lower,”he said. “This year was better.”

Mark and Elizabeth Kurtz of Middle Village said they came to the event to learn more about helping the environment.

The couple said they went to the event, where TimesLedger Newspapers was the media sponsor, to learn more about composting and conserving energy.

They said they had tried making their own compost before, but the worms “got so hot [they] ended up dying. We need some tips on how to keep them alive.”

Gina Baldwin, project manager of the New York City Compost Project in Queens, which works with the Queens Botanical Garden, led a workshop on making compost, or decomposed organic matter.

The compost is rich in nutrients that is used to complement soil.

Besides helping plants grow, Baldwin said compost also helps reduce food waste — such as egg shells, food scraps and fruit peels — from going into the garbage stream.

“Compost is like nature’s recycling,” she said.


Baldwin said more than a dozen items can be used to create compost, including hedge clippings, leaves, feathers, corn cobs, hair and nails.

She said the best compost strikes a balance between green materials, such as hedge clippings, and brown materials like coffee grinds and tea bags.

Worms are added to the compost supplies so they can eat the scraps and make the waste that creates compost.

“Fortunately, the worm poop is what we want,” she said, because the waste is high in nutrients.

The event also featured more than 50 informational tables, including companies promoting wind and solar energy and a group of St. Francis Prep students who conducted a project on the ecosystem around the Fresh Meadows school.

“We kind of wanted to take the idea of answering the question, ‘What’s in your backyard?’” said senior Kevin Tong. “What many people don’t know is within the soil are little organisms like bacteria that make the soil have more nutrients.”

“We found a lot of bugs,” said senior Kara Hammond. “You never think about how much is actually around.”

Hammond said the project “was interesting because there’s a lot more than you think is there, but it’s hidden.”

Harlem resident and Oregon native Melody Ross said she went to Going Green in Queens because she is running green volunteer projects for TimeBanks NYC and wanted to network with more green partners.

Ross said she used to do composting in her backyard in Oregon and wants to find other ways to help the environment in the city.

“We’re pretty much green hippies in the northwest so I’ve tried to find green things to do in the city,” she said.

Schumer, Gillibrand Scure $13K for Kennedy Taxiways by Phillip Newman - YourNabe.com

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The federal government has awarded nearly $13 million for construction and rehabilitation of taxiways at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) jointly announced the federal grant, which they said would cut flight delays and improve travel for millions of people passing through JFK, one of the nation’s busiest airports.

The Federal Aviation Administration has made available to JFK two grants totaling $12,912,749 toward taxiway repair and improvement. A $10.9 million grant will help build a new taxiway and another worth $2,012,749 will rehabilitate an existing taxiway.

“By expanding and improving our existing infrastructure at JFK, we can reduce flight delays and improve travel for the millions of passengers who travel through JFK each year,” Schumer said. “As one of America’s busiest airports, JFK needs infrastructure projects like this one in order to ease gridlock and air traffic.”

More commodious taxiways will reduce waiting among arriving jetliners heading for passenger gate areas as well as departing flights.

JFK handled more than 45 million passengers and 1.1 million tons of freight in 2009 alone.

By building an extra taxiway and refurbishing an existing runway, the U.S. Department of Transportation funds will enable JFK to increase its capacity and prepare for an even larger number of passengers in the future. JFK has long been, along with LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International airports among the bottom of the nation’s airports in flight delays.

JFK contributes about $30 billion in economic activity to the New York City area, generates around $9.8 billion in wages and salaries and employees about 35,000 people.

The Bay runway at JFK was widened and rehabilitated last year in a $376 million project carried out while the strip was shut down. The runway, designated 13R/31L, is known as Bay runway because it runs along Jamaica Bay. At 14,575 feet, it is among the world’s longest runways.

DEP Declogs Sewers, Helps Jamaica Bay by Ivan Pereira - YourNabe.com

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The city Department of Environmental Protection started its spring cleaning a little early and said it will not only result in less flooding in Springfield Gardens but also improve the Jamaica Bay ecosystem.

The agency announced Monday that it completed its work on the 12.2 miles of sewers under Linden and Springfield boulevards, where there have been several reports of flooding due to clogged storm drains.

For its initiative, DEP crews used Vactor trucks that suck the debris and garbage out of the sewers and transport the rubbish to a waste treatment plant in Manhattan before being shipped to a landfill. DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway said southeast Queens was chosen as the first location for the removal not only because of the complaints from homeowners who had to deal with the flooded streets, but also because of the area’s proximity to Jamaica Bay, where wastewater is discharged.

“We started this effort in Jamaica because we know that localized flooding is a problem for some residents and to protect Jamaica Bay — one of the ecological gems of New York City,” he said in a statement.

The trucks removed more than 1,500 tons of debris from the sewers that were clogging 20 percent of its pipe volume, according to the city agency. Some of the trash included tires, construction materials, large rocks and a 15-foot ladder, the agency said.

In 2001, the DEP installed an 8-foot-by-17-foot storm sewer in Springfield Gardens to deal with heavy floods in the area, but on several occasions, most recently in August, the neighborhood still experienced flooding during severe rain storms due to clogged drains.

Special sonar technology and closed-circuit cameras were used to pinpoint the exact locations of the debris in southeast Queens, the agency said.

The two $450,000 trucks contain a 30-foot hose that is inserted into the sewer through a manhole cover and sucks in the debris after the pipes are flushed by a separate water jet, according to the DEP.

The agency estimates that the cleanup reduced combined sewer overflow, which contains both wastewater and storm water, that goes into Jamaica Bay by 25 percent and will help improve the water quality in the ecosystem.

The bay has lost huge portions of its saltwater marshland due to a high concentration of nitrogen in the water. Four DEP wastewater facilities have been discharging the nitrogen into the bay and the agency has been working to fix the problem through several multimillion-dollar initiatives.


The DEP commissioner said the truck would be cleaning sewers in other parts of the city in the near future.

“Optimizing our existing sewer network is a key part of the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan, which will save New Yorkers more than $2 billion when fully implemented, and will dramatically reduce CSOs,” Holloway said.

Queens Center Mall Owner Buys Atlas Park by Joe Anuta -YourNabe.com

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Macerich, the company that owns Queen Center Mall, will take over The Shops at Atlas Park Feb. 28

Macerich, the company that owns Queen Center Mall, will take over The Shops at Atlas Park Feb. 28, emerging as the winning bidder after a Chicago-based developer representing the shopping center giant offered $53.75 million at a foreclosure auction.

“Once they fully close on the purchase, we can finally move forward with developing Glendale’s own shopping center,” City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) said in a statement.

She will meet with the California-based Macerich this week to discuss the troubled Cooper Street mall’s future.

Crowley said she was hopeful the mall would be a boon to the community.

“The community welcomes the new leadership with open arms and is eager to help Atlas become an engine for economic growth,” she said.

Macerich did not show up at the Jan. 28 foreclosure auction, and the company’s involvement in the purchase was shrouded by a series of affiliations with other companies.

David Joseph was the representative who placed the bid at the auction, but his company was listed as “WMAP LLC.” Even so, according to Paul Millus, a lawyer who has run the mall since the bank foreclosed the $127 million loan in February 2009, Joseph is actually a principal at a Chicago company, Walton Street Capital, which made the purchase.

And now, according to Crowley, Macerich is the company behind the purchase and will run the mall by the end of the month.

The relationship between Macerich and Walton Street Capital was not known.

The Shops at Atlas Park started as Damon Hemmerdinger’s vision of high-end retail in Glendale about five years ago. He was the owner of the shops until 2009, but that vision did not pan out.


In February 2009, Hemmerdinger’s creditor, France-based Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, foreclosed the loan and turned over the shops to Millus, the court-appointed receiver who ran the mall during its bankruptcy proceedings.

Letter to the Editor: Prevent GOP from Repealing Healthcare Reform Legislation by David M. Quintana - YourNabe.com

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Save Heathcare from Reform - LeaderObserver...

Dear Editor:

The GOP is gearing up for this week’s U.S. House of Representatives vote on repealing the health-care bill — and the time for us to take a stand is now. We need to be clear about what Republicans are trying to do: take away health care from 32 million uninsured Americans who have no other lifeline. These folks — our family, friends, neighbors, loved ones — need us to advocate for them, to speak out strongly and compassionately.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the Republicans have grievously misled the public about health-care reform from day one, and it is time to get real about the consequences of a repeal: families going into debt from medical costs they cannot afford, women losing coverage for life-saving mammograms and critical maternity care, seniors having to choose between their medication and buying food and $230 billion added to the deficit over 10 years.

This is why I am saying we simply cannot turn our backs on our fellow Americans and the future of this country by allowing a repeal of health care.

What would this repeal mean? It would be a gigantic step backward — a disastrous move for our fellow citizens and the direction of our nation. We must talk about the devastating results of losing health-care reform:

1. Women would be unable to get preventative services that save lives because their gender is a pre-existing condition.

2. With over 9 percent unemployment, young people who cannot afford skyrocketing premiums would be kicked off their parents’ plans.

3. Seniors, some of our most vulnerable citizens, could lose essential prescription coverage that their lives depend on.

We cannot sit idly by while Boehner and the GOP try to roll back reforms that dramatically improve the lives and well-being of millions of Americans. This touches all of us. Adequate, affordable health care cannot be the luxury for a precious few in this country — every single one of us needs and deserves it.

I would urge everyone reading this to call their congressional representative and demand that they vote against the GOP bill. This is not the time to backslide on health care for our family, friends, loved ones and neighbors.

David M. Quintana
Ozone Park, NY

Jamaica's Hostess Factory Workers Face Unsure Future by Christina Santucci - YourNabe.com

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After the closing of the Hostess Co.’s Wonder Bread factory in Jamaica last week, many of the plant’s 175 former workers were left wondering what they would do next.

Woodhaven resident David Drysdale, 46, spent half of his life in the engineering department after taking the job at age 23. Now he hopes to find a position in the same field.

“Nobody is happy losing their jobs,” Drysdale said outside the main entrance at 168-23 Douglas Ave. on his last day. “I will miss this place. Everybody became like family.”

Hostess officially shut the doors to the Jamaica factory last Thursday. Built in 1870, the building was first the Shults Bread Co. Hostess, Wonder Bread’s parent company, announced the closing late last year, saying the 100,000-square-foot facility was in need of modernization and that the company did not have the money to pay for the update.

“We appreciate the years of dedicated service by many of our employees and regret the impact the plant closing will have on them and their families,” a spokesman for Hostess said in a statement.

The company said that at least 15, and possibly more, workers would be reassigned within Hostess.

To help some of the 175 laid-off workers find employment, City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) — in conjunction with the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. and the city’s Workforce 1 job counseling program — organized a job fair at the plant last week.

“There’s no doubt that those companies want these guys. There still is hope for them,” Comrie said of the Wonder workers.

In addition, Councilman Ruben Wills (D-South Ozone Park) said his office was also working to find new jobs for the bakery’s employees.

“There was a lot of frustration, but now a lot are using that frustration and channeling it into finding a new job,” Wills said.


Several factory employees seemed cautiously optimistic about last week’s event, while others noted the low pay offered by prospective employers.

“It was fair,” Drysdale said. “We will see what the results are, if they can help us find something.”

Robert Harvell, 56, opted to retire after more than three decades working in the shipping and transportation department. Harvell said he mentally weighed his pension package against future wages at another job, and retirement seemed like the better plan.

“I was making $21 an hour, and now I’m going to work for $8?” he asked.

Now that he is retired, Harvell plans to spend time with his two grandchildren and maybe travel. Once the winter is over, he said he might try to work as a limo driver.

“As far as physical, manual labor, I’m done with that,” he said.

Still, he said, he had no regrets about his time with Hostess.

“The bakery, it was good to me. I worked there 32 years. I put three kids through college and I got one more to go,” Harvell said.

Several workers bemoaned the loss of friendships formed at Wonder Bread.

Earl Millington and Ukeini Bartlett both started in the engineering department 4 1/2 years ago.

“It’s very said, it became a home,” said Millington, while wearing his 2010 top engineering performer jacket. Millington pointed out that Bartlett had earned the honor the year before.

Robert Sookraj, 58, of Ozone Park worked for 14 years in the factory — first in sanitation, then production and finally in shipping, where he was responsible for securing the bread within the trucks before the vehicles left the Jamaica facility. Since the factory closed, he has visited shops on Liberty Avenue seeking employment and even traveled to Brooklyn to see about openings.

“I have a little education, I have my license for driving, so I prefer driving,” he said Monday, “But if anything comes along, I have no choice.”

Sookraj, who has three grown children, guessed that he would be all right financially for a few months, but when asked if he was hopeful about landing another job, he said, “No, not really.”

Reporter Ivan Pereira contributed to this story.

Diesel Trains May Go Green by Joe Anuta - YourNabe.com

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EPA grant could cut pollution from two Glendale-bound locomotives

Glendale residents Abignew Marczak and his wife Barbara have complained about the pollution from trains in the neighborhood.

Two antiquated diesel trains that belch out clouds of pollution as they haul waste through Queens may get an environmentally friendly makeover if a federal grant is approved in the spring.

Several organizations partnered with the city and applied for a grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to outfit the two locomotives with more fuel-efficient engines that will reduce the emissions and pollution that are inhaled by Queens residents.

“We are just so thrilled, and it’s very gratifying that people have latched on to this idea of having a cleaner and greener neighborhood,” said Mary Parisen, co-chair of Civics United for Railroad Environmental Solutions, a collection of civic associations around the borough.

“This is a small step, but it’s in the right direction,” she said.

But the grants must still be approved by the EPA for its 2011 budget, and if actually selected in March, the outlays are scheduled to begin in May and be completed in October 2012.

“We’re really hoping that this grant does come through in March,” Parisen said.

The first grant would be used to refurbish a 1980s locomotive owned by CSX Transportation. The train now transports garbage from a station in the Bronx through Astoria, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Elmhurst, Maspeth, Middle Village and Ridgewood before terminating in Glendale.

The new engine will actually be comprised of three smaller engines, which will allow the locomotive to use them in stages and thus conserve fuel and curb emissions..

Nitrogen oxide, a pollutant released into the atmosphere by the locomotive, will be reduced by 20 tons annually, which is 76 percent. And particulate matter will be reduced by 0.21 tons.

The total grant will cost about $1.8 million, with $1 million coming from the EPA and the rest from CSX Transportation.

The second grant will be used to rebuild a 1973 New York & Atlantic Railway locomotive using a similar technique. That train carries waste from its Fresh Pond base in Glendale through Middle Village, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Blissville and Long Island City and also goes into Brooklyn.

The refurbished locomotive will cut fuel usage by 50 percent, and cut 1.1 tons of nitrogen oxide annually, but 20 tons over the project’s 18-year lifetime. It will reduce particulate matter by 0.44 tons.

The project will cost about $2.5 million, with $1 million coming from the EPA and a majority of the remaining funds from Waste Management Inc., the company employed by the city to move garbage into landfills.

The grant from the EPA is part of the agency’s National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program, which aims to make rail travel more green.

The project is especially pertinent for Queens, according to the grant, which said the borough has child asthma rates well above the national average.

That is exactly why CURES had been advocating for reform on how railroads operate in urban neighborhoods in the borough, according to Parisen, and they still have a long way to go. People in the Glendale neighborhood complain that the smell of diesel fuel and the pollution are so strong that they have trouble staying outside for extended periods of time.

But Parisen also recognizes it as a positive development.

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Parisen said. “We’re grateful that it’s a start.”

And it is a start for the city as well.

“Repowering the entire NY&A locomotive fleet is the ultimate goal of the city of New York,” the grant said.

But the one NY&A locomotive that is included in the grant is only one of 10 total trains. The other nine are owned by the Long Island Rail Road and were not given permission for this particular upgrade.

The grants enjoyed the support of a gaggle of politicians, nonprofits and even Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It was written by the city Economic Development Corp.

Audubon Society Lands $50K for Youth to Clean Up Jamaica Bay by Ivan Pereira - YourNabe.com

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Daisy Martinez (l.) measures a horseshoe crab. Photo courtesy New York City Audubon

A city group has received a major grant to clean up Jamaica Bay and it will be using it to recruit youth from the borough to help do the job.

The New York City Audubon Society received $50,000 last Thursday from the TogetherGreen Innovation Grants, which is a partnership between the National Audubon Society and Toyota to provide funding for scientific research. The city group will be using the money for a summer program with teens to improve the conditions at Jamaica Bay and monitor wildlife, according to Glenn Phillips, executive director of the city Audubon Society.

“This is a neat opportunity for us to work in Jamaica Bay,” he said.

Over the last three years, the Audubon Society has been doing volunteer work at the bay with different groups and this year it will be working with members of faith-based organizations in Queens and Brooklyn. Phillips said he is looking to hire 300 volunteers for the massive project and he and his team are currently talking with many churches.

The initiative will begin in May and start with the removal of 6,000 pounds of trash from 9 miles of shoreline at the bay. The ecosystem has lost thousands of acres of its saltwater marshland due to pollution over the decades, and it has affected the fauna and flora that thrive there.

“There are so many problems there, but this is the easiest to solve,” Phillips said of the trash removal.

The cleanup is not the only work the volunteers will be involved in.

The Audubon Society will also monitor the habits of horseshoe crabs and birds that migrate to the area. Phillips pointed out that the marine life and birds work symbiotically.

“We will work with horseshoe crabs and clean beaches so they have a good place to lay their eggs. We will then watch the shore birds that feed on those eggs,” he said.

For more information on the effort, call 212-691-7483.

Vornado Wants to Expand Rego Center by Joe Anuto - YourNabe.com

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The developers who built the Rego Park Center are proposing to build another shopping center across the street that would include housing and a school. Photo by Christina Santucci

The developer of a large Rego Park shopping center is planning to expand its footprint in the neighborhood.

Vornado Realty Trust has proposed to build a multiuse facility across the street from its previous addition to the area, Rego Center, on the corner of Horace Harding and Junction boulevards, according to members of Community Board 6.

But Frank Gulluscio, the CB 6 district manager, said the discussions with the developer did not get specific.

“Their discussion with us was preliminary,” said Gulluscio. “They didn’t present plans.”

The site is currently a vacant lot, which many large trucks use for parking. But those days — or rather years — are numbered.

The company is not planning on breaking ground for at least four to five years, Gulluscio added. In the meantime, it will work with the board and local officials to assess potential problems like traffic and parking.

“The bottom line is how is this going to affect the quality of life of people who work and travel around there,” Gulluscio said.

The new facility will include three floors of retail stores, residential housing and even a public school.

“The borough president wanted them to put in a school,” he added.

But before the school could be built, the city Department of Education would have to work with the developers to ensure the facility fits within certain parameters set by the city School Construction Authority.


The school would also need to be included in the department’s five-year capital plan, a document that outlines where education funds will be distributed.

The proposed school is not included in the current plan, which expires in 2014.

The plan also calls for residential areas, but Vornado never built the apartment complexes that were planned for its other shopping mecca, Rego Center.

Gulluscio said that the lack of housing was due to the recession.

“The footprint is still there. If the economy turns around tomorrow, then they’re going to build that complex,” he said.

Vornado already owns the vacant lot where the structure is proposed and does not need the board’s blessing to begin breaking ground.

When the Rego Center was completed earlier this year, members of the community took two disparate positions: Many were happy to have more jobs in the area, but others criticized the center for bringing traffic as well.

Gulluscio said that both consequences were important to consider.

“I’m always excited about jobs and expanding,” Gulluscio said. “But traffic patterns and bus routes between Queens Center Mall and Rego Park have to be done correctly.”

Woodhaven Residents Want Carousel Repaired by Joe Anuta - YourNabe.com

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Some Woodhaven residents would like the Forest Park Carousel to be restored to its former glory (inset). Photo by Christina Santucci

Woodhaven residents are calling on the city to use a monetary gift from a film company to restore a historic carousel in Forest Park, but the city has other plans.

During the week of Nov. 6, film crews working with Twentieth Century Fox Productions shot a scene for “The Sitter” on the 120-year-old carousel located in the park. After the shoot, the company made a donation to the city Parks Department, but citizens want to know where the money will go and if it will be used to restore the relic.

“My preference would be to see that the money be put aside for the carousel,” said Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Block Association. “If it’s not going to the carousel, I would like to know what [the city] sees as more important.”

The carousel in question was used for a scene in the movie, but was first purchased by the city around 1910, according to Wendell. The ride features intricate, hand-carved horses, deer and other animals that spin around on a vintage frame. In recent years, it has been run by private individuals or concessionaires, who try to turn a profit. But for the last two years, the carousel has been without an operator and has fallen into disuse.

“The last couple of vendors haven’t made any money,” Wendell said.

He and other members of the community would like to see the city open the carousel in some capacity. For example, volunteers could operate it once a month.

“Ideally, if they can’t get a vendor to open it up, I don’t see any problem with opening it periodically,” Wendell said.

But one barrier to reopening the ride is the restoration and maintenance of the century-old device, replete with antique gears and parts, according to other community officials.

“[The city] is still looking for a concessionaire,” said Mary Ann Carey, district manager for Community Board 9. “The problem is that they aren’t familiar with the mechanism.”

Carey said that reopening the carousel is a priority for the board, but the division of the Parks Department that received the money, the Forest Park Trust, is not to blame for not allocating restoration funds.

“The funds were given to the trust,” she said. “That’s a city of New York agency. Not a Queens agency.”

In addition, Carey added that prior to shooting, film crews restored all the exterior lighting to the carousel and cleaned out piles of garbage from its interior.

Twentieth Century Fox could not be reached for comment, but a representative for the Parks Department said that the department typically receives gifts from film production companies ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars — although out of respect for Fox, declined to specify the amount in this case.

The representative also said that the money will be used to fund supplies, programming and minor repairs throughout Forest Park, adding that the carousel’s fence will be replaced by decorative steel through a $200,000 grant from the mayor. But improvements to the carousel itself will be the responsibility of the next concessionaire.

Queens-Midtown Tunnel Turns 70 After Opening in Depression Years By Philip Newman - YourNabe.com

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Sandhogs tighten a bolt in a tunnel-lining ring. Six cylindrical jacks on the back of a shield are visible behind the men. Courtesy by Michael Bobco/Courtesy MTA Bridges and Tunnels

The Queens-Midtown Tunnel, built during the Great Depression during the administrations of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, turned 70 Monday.

The tunnel took 20 years of lobbying and planning and four years of construction.

“From its inception, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel was a key link in the metropolitan region’s transportation network, providing a vital conduit for businesses, daily commuters and families exploring the cultural riches that exist from Manhattan to Queens and Long Island,” MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Jim Ferrara said.

The city Board of Estimate approved $2 million to design and build an East River tunnel, but it was put on hold when the stock market crashed in 1929.

LaGuardia in 1935 created the Queens-Midtown Tunnel Authority with the promise of $58 million in loans available under Roosevelt’s New Deal.

But LaGuardia told the new agency’s three members that “you are starting from scratch with no appropriation and nothing but an idea and a law.”

The groundbreaking for the tunnel took place Oct. 2, 1936, with the push of a button by Roosevelt. Over three years, the tunnel’s two tubes were dug using dynamite, drills and four circular cutting shields — each 31 feet in diameter.

After each forward shove of the cutting shields, sandhogs who were paid $11.50 a day assembled cast iron rings lining the tunnel. Work went ahead at 18 feet per week.

On Nov. 8, 1939, LaGuardia pulled a switch to blast the final 6 feet of rock in the tunnel.

A year and a week later, Roosevelt was the first person to drive through the new tunnel.

The new tunnel cost motorists 25 cents and in its first full year of operation 4.4 million vehicles used it, while in 2009 it served 27.7 million motorists.

New Queens Historian Unveils His Agenda for Boro by Anna Gustafson - YourNabe.com

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Jack Eichenbaum, of Flushing, speaks during a Queens Preservation Council meeting celebrating his new post as borough historian. Photo by Anna Gustafson

Flushing resident Jack Eichenbaum, plans to focus on environmental preservation, changes in Queens’ demographics and using technology to document history in his new role as borough historian, he said during a ceremony celebrating his new post last week.

“This is the garden borough and we’re paving it,” Eichenbaum warned last Thursday at Queens Borough Hall.

Eichenbaum, who was appointed historian by Borough President Helen Marshall in June, was joined by a large group of history and preservation buffs as well as civic leaders, at the Queens Preservation Council reception.

“A lot of people don’t know a lot of our historical places, and Jack is the person to introduce these people to them,” Marshall said. “He’s a natural when it comes to these places. He’ll get people to visit these sites and think about how Queens was set up.”

The new historian, who lives in Flushing, has degrees in chemical engineering and physical chemistry and is a former assessor for the city Finance Department. He also taught about urban growth and geography at the City University of New York. He hosts a wide variety of tours of Queens and the city, including Flushing’s Koreatown, Long Island City’s Hunter’s Point, South Richmond Hill, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside, Jamaica and Flushing’s Main Street, among many others.

Just as important as maintaining the borough’s unique architecture is what Eichenbaum called “environmental preservation.”

“Queens has always successfully competed with Manhattan by offering more land, less crowding and a healthier environment,” Eichenbaum said. “Queens had the first nurseries in North America. Queens had the Garden City movement, which encouraged planned communities with setbacks and street trees proximate to railroad stations, such as Kew Gardens, Forest Hills Gardens.”

Queens has an opportunity to revitalize its plentiful amount of waterfront property, Eichenbaum said.

“We have miles and miles of forlorn waterfront that we have to build up into something better,” he said. “The jewel in the crown that could be something splendid is Newtown Creek. There’s Flushing Bay, Little Neck Bay, Jamaica Bay has good waterfront.”

The borough has experienced extensive demographic changes, particularly following the 1965 change in federal immigration laws, and Eichenbaum said he hopes to document the influx of immigrants from throughout the world to Queens.



“Our borough’s ethnic neighborhoods and food have drawn outside visitors,” Eichenbaum said.

The new historian said he plans to work with area colleges to document the changing demographics, including archiving interviews with community leaders from different ethnic groups.

He also stressed the need to attract Queens’ newer residents to the preservation movement in the borough.

“We’ve got to get the second-generation immigrants interested in preservation and history in Queens,” Eichenbaum said.

New technology could be a big boost when it comes to documenting changes in Queens, including using aerial photographs to show shifts in population and buildings trends, Eichenbaum said. Additionally, he said he would like to create walking tours in the borough that individuals could access from their cell phones.

“You could hook into a recorded walking tour for wherever you are in Queens,” he said. “It would be free and maybe funded in part by merchants along the tour.”

Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.

Wills Outraises Paultre-Bell by Ivan Pereira - YourNabe.com

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Ex-Huntley staffer nets near $51K in race for White council seat

Ruben Wills has a major financial lead over Sean Bell’s fiancee, his chief rival for late City Councilman Thomas White’s vacated seat, who has raised roughly $6,000 for her bid, campaign finance records show.

Although major groups and other elected officials, such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, City Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) and U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), have been throwing their support behind Nicole Paultre-Bell, only 15 individuals have given her money for her campaign, according to the city Campaign Fiance Board.

Wills — who has the backing of his former boss, state Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica); Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans); and state Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Jamaica) — has the financial backing of 157 contributors and is the only candidate in the race to receive matching public finds, campaign finance records show.

So far, he has collected a total of $50,921, with the largest donation of $1,375 from Local 1182, the union that represents traffic enforcement agents, according to campaign finance records. Wills has spent more than $7,000 on his campaign, with the largest outlays going to former state Sen. Martin Connor, who has been paid $1,500 to act as his attorney, according to the records.

Paultre-Bell, was given the green light to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot by a city Board of Elections judge last week, following a challenge to her petitions by Wills.

So far, she has received more than $6,000 in contributions, with the largest donation coming from New Jersey physician Christopher Kyriakides, who gave her campaign $1,350, Campaign Finance Board records show. All of her other donations are from single individuals and her attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, so far, according to the records. Paultre-Bell has spent $3,185 for her bid as of this week, including $3,000 to Oakland Gardens resident Jesus Ocasio to help with her signature petitioning, according to the Campaign Finance Board.

Albert Baldeo, who ran unsuccessfully for White’s seat in 2005, has more than $46,000 in his campaign coffers, with $27,000 coming from loans and nearly $4,000 coming out of his own pocket, according to the board. So far he has spent more than $19,000 on his current bid for office, including $3,350 to a political voter file vendor known as Prime New York for voter data, campaign finance records show.

Alan Jennings, who held the seat until he was censured by the City Council and forced out in the 2005 Democratic primary, has raised more than $7,000, with the largest contribution coming from a retired Jamaica resident named Norma Taylor, who gave him $1,375, campaign finance records show. He has spent more than $4,276 on his bid, including $590 that was given to Omar McClain for help in gathering petition signatures.

Harpreet Toor has raised more than $9,000 for his campaign, including a $1,001 donation from South Richmond Hill resident Prem Singh, based on the records. He has spent more than $6,000 on his campaign, including a $2,000 expenditure for voter data from the New York Public Affairs Group.

Charles Bilal has raised a total of $370 from $10 donations from 37 individuals, according to campaign finance records. He has not listed any expenditures for the race, campaign finance records show.

Although the city Board of Elections lists Martha Butler as a candidate for the race, there are no campaign finance listings for her as of press time Tuesday.

South Ozone Park Man Crushed by Car by Howard Koplowitz - YourNabe.com

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A deacon at a South Ozone Park church was killed after he was crushed while working on his prized possession — a 1995 red Toyota Celica — the minister of the church said Tuesday.

Glenmore Miller, a 42-year-old electrician and deacon at the South Ozone Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church, was discovered dead under the car Monday morning, according to the church’s minister, the Rev. Richard Bryant.

“He was always into that car. He was always working on it,” Bryant said in a phone interview Tuesday. “For whatever reason, he wanted that particular car and he kept it.”

Members of Miller’s family, who gathered at his South Ozone Park home on Sutter Avenue, declined to comment.

Miller, who Bryant said became an ordained deacon about three years ago, was known for serving the church, even pitching in during renovations.

“He was loved by everybody,” Bryant said. “You never heard an unkind word of him. He really touched a lot of lives”

Miller was last seen alive Sunday and was found dead Monday.

Bryant said a jack holding up the 1995 red Toyota Celica Miller was working on gave way, crushing him.

He said it was not known whether Miller was killed instantly.

Ridgewood Mothers Want Park Renovations By Rebecca Henely - YourNabe.com

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Ridgewood residents and mothers Cristina Shonk and Dorota Czyzewska stand in front of one of two open gates at Rosemary's Playground in Ridgewood. The mothers say the open gates pose a hazard to the children who play in the park. Photo by Rebecca Henely

For the last two months, Ridgewood residents and mothers Cristina Shonk and Dorota Czyzewska have been trying to get conditions improved at Rosemary’s Playground, a public park between Woodward and Fairview avenues and Woodbine and Madison streets, but they said the city Parks Department has not helped them in their efforts.

“You don’t even know what’s going on here,” Czyzewska said.

Czyzewska, who has lived in the area for five years and has two children — 3-year-old Bruno and 3-month-old Adela — said there are numerous problems at the park, which has a playground for younger children. She said the park has had problems with people who come in and sleep on the benches, smoke pot on the basketball courts or publicly urinate in the park. She said she also found condoms in the raised patch of grass.

“It’s not in the worst condition possible,” Shonk said, “but there’s a lot of infringement of rules and regulations.”

But Shonk, who has also lived in the area for five years and has three children — Francis, 3; Bernardo, 1; and Cecilia, 4 months — said the biggest problem in the park is that the two large gates, which are on Madison and Woodbine streets, are usually not closed, which leaves mothers in fear their children will run out of the park and into the streets. The gates are also old and difficult for parents to close on their own, Shonk said.

“I’m scared for life of him [Bruno] going into the street,” said Czyzewska, who often lets her older son play while she feeds or watches baby Adela.

Czyzewska said the maintenance staff of the park has been inconsistent. While some will keep the gates closed, others will not and have refused to clean up broken glass and dog feces in the playground when asked, she said.

Shonk and Czyzewska have tried to get things changed. Czyzewska has written to the Parks Department and has been planning to get a petition from mothers at the park to get the gates closed, but they are not sure where to send it to. She has also written to the office of City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village).

Trish Bertuccio, press officer for the Parks Department, said the staffers have kept the gates closed. To keep the gates locked at night, Community Board 5 needs to approve the measure and volunteers are needed to keep the park closed.

Crowley wrote a letter to Dorothy Lewandowski, borough commissioner for the Parks Department, on June 18, asking the Parks Department to clean the park and keep the gates closed.

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Meredith Burak, spokeswoman for Crowley, said the Parks Department told them they had cleaned the park but could not keep the gates locked at night.

“If it’s still a problem, it’s definitely something we can address again,” Burak said.

Czyzewska said she continues to go to the park because she knows most of the mothers who go there and they are able to help her watch Bruno when she is caring for her baby and also because there are few places for children in her son’s age group to play.

“Young kids, they have nothing to do here,” she said.

Teen Arrested in J Train Slay by Howard Koplowitz - YourNabe.com Queens

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Woodhaven man defended brother before being killed at subway station...

Dario Paiva's mother, Norma, and girlfriend Elizabeth Firpo, who said she is five weeks pregnant, comfort one another at the Paiva home in Woodhaven hours after Dario was stabbed to death. Photo by Christina Santucci

Police arrested an Elmhurst teen Tuesday in connection with the murder of a family-oriented Woodhaven man who was killed trying to fend off a group of attackers who accosted his brother Friday night on the platform of the Forest Park J train station, police and his relatives said.

Benjamin Moreira, 19, of 40-45 Elbertson St. in Corona, was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the death of 27-year-old Dario Paiva, police said.

“These four guys were making noise and started a scene for no reason,” said Khrystian Paiva, 19, whose brother rushed to his aid and was fatally slashed.

He said one of the men told him his girlfriend broke up with him and a family member died and said he was “going to do something.”

Khrystian said the man pulled out a blade on the J train station at Jamaica Avenue and 85th Street when Dario went to help him.

Khrystian said his brother stumbled after being stabbed while the men rushed out of the station through the emergency exit.

He said one of the men flashed Latin King beads and said he recognized them from the neighborhood, but never spoke to them before.

He said police were late in getting to the scene because dispatchers sent authorities to the wrong address, but the 102nd Precinct could not be reached to confirm Khrystian’s account.

“The one night it actually counts, they didn’t do anything,” he said. “If the police would’ve done their job [Friday] night, you wouldn’t be here right now. You’d be interviewing the suspects, not me.”

The family held a vigil at the scene of the murder Saturday night.

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Khrystian said when the family visited the memorial again Tuesday, it was gone.

City Sanitation Department spokesman Keith Mellis said he could not confirm if Sanitation removed the memorial.

Khrystian described his brother, whose girlfriend is five weeks pregnant, as family-oriented.

“He helped everyone out, even if it was 4 in the morning,” he said. “If somebody came and knocked on his door, he was always there to help. He always helped his family.”

Dario attended Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn and was going to transfer to Queens College, where Khrystian went to school, so he could be closer to his brother.

“He’d want everybody to be happy right now,” Khrystian said. “He’d want everybody to be happy and safe.”

Norma Paiva, Dario’s mother, said the family was “devastated.”

“I can’t even express. This is so painful because we lost two brothers,” she said, referring to her son Dante, who died in a car accident four years ago. “There’s so much pain and so much emptiness. It’s a pain that I can’t describe. I just hope they catch these guys. What they did to my son is something they’ll have to pay [for].”