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CP042013

18 APRIL C R Y D E R P O I N T 18 cryder point courier | APRIL 2013 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM SPEED CAMERAS HIT A RED LIGHT! BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA Albany has put the brakes on the city’s speed cameras. Despite a push from the Department of Transportation, the City Council, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, the State Legislature failed to include funding for the program in the 2013-2014 budget passed last week. “I think the wrong decision was made by the Republican leadership of the State Senate,” said Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer. “It’s unfortunate because speed cameras would and can save lives. I hope that somehow the State Legislature will be able to pick this up again before the end of the session and pass the bill.” Although it was initially supported by the Assembly, it faced opposition in the Senate, including local representatives Dean Skelos, Martin Golden and Simcha Felder. Bloomberg publicly lambasted the three state senators during a press conference on Wednesday, March 27. “Why don’t you pick up the phone and call your state senator and ask why they allowed that child to be killed?” Bloomberg said according to reports. Recently-released data from the Department of Transportation showed that speeding was “the greatest single factor in traffic deaths.” If the pilot program, which requires the state’s approval, does eventually move forward, it would install 20 to 40 speed cameras at high-risk locations throughout the city. Drivers would face a fine of $25 to $50 for speeding between 10 and 30 miles above the limit and $100 for going 30 miles above it. BY MELISSA CHAN A women’s resource center has been given the green light to come back to Bayside. The Center for the Women of New York (CWNY) received approval and funding from the state’s Dormitory Authority to go through with a project to renovate the exterior of a historic Fort Totten building and refurbish its first floor. The 207 Totten Avenue site will be CWNY’s new home by next year, officials said. The walkin resource center for women will have a cultural and conference center and offer career, legal and financial support services. “I’m thrilled,” said CWNY president Ann Jawin. “We’ve been waiting a long time. It’s good to know we’re finally on the main track.” The Center for the Women of New York, founded in 1987, is a volunteer-based nonprofit. Its Fort Totten operations were suspended in 2002 when CWNY was pushed out by a city Fire Department facility. CWNY has been operating in Kew Gardens in a donated classroom space at Queens Borough Hall since then, but Jawin said the space is too small to be completely efficient. The organization went from a 12,000-square-foot location to a tiny office, she said. “Here I’m extremely limited in what I can do,” Jawin said. “I had a wonderful operation going there. It was very successful. I should not have been forced to leave.” The state approval comes after a decade of legal battles and ongoing talks to return to Fort Totten. Officials are completing designs of the new 10,000-squarefoot space and expect to bid out the first phase of the project later this year. They hope to secure more funding. The project received a unanimous approval by Community Board 7 last February. Despite support from city ;eaqders amd the Department of Transportation, funding for a speed camera pilot was not included in the state budget. HOMECOMING Women’s Center Returns to Totten


CP042013
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