C R Y D E R P O I N T 18SEPTEMBER BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ Members of the Bayside community urged Borough President Melinda Katz to uphold Community Board 11’s decision to remove a Star Toyota and Scion dealership from the area during a hearing on the morning of Sept. 18. “For 40 years, this business has been a bad neighbor,” a Community Board 11 member said. “There’s excess noise in the night and in the day. Unlicensed cars constantly speed through the neighborhood, blowing every stop sign.” Katz didn’t make a decision during the meeting, but she remained skeptical that the dealership was sincere about responding to the community’s complaints about trash, broken sidewalks and a fence in need of repair. The dealership’s manager, Michael Koufakis, didn’t attend the meeting but his lawyer, Todd Dale, said that all of the issues that the community raised were addressed. “When presented with these problems, we took care of it,” he said, referring to the broken sidewalks and fence and all of the trash in the area. “I find that, as borough president, people clean up right before these meetings and then they go back to their bad habits afterwards,” Katz said. According to Katz’s spokesman, the borough president will make a decision to either allow the variance to be renewed or will echo Community Board 11’s decision. She plans on making her decision before the case goes to the Board of First Miss Queens Pageant to be held in Long Island City Appeals (BSA), the last stop before a final decision is made. The variance allows the business to operate in a residential zone as long as it cooperates with the community board. Neighbors of the dealership hope that the BSA and Katz will reject the variance application. Rennie Xosa lives behind the dealership’s parking lot. He, as well as community board members, said that the lot is used by the dealership to showcase cars to customers, an act 18 CRYDER POINT COURIER | SEPTEMBER 2014 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM that would be illegal under the business’ zoning rules. “I have this beautiful backyard but I often can’t use it because there are people over there checking the car alarm system, honking the horn, testing how loud the radio goes and all of these other things that shouldn’t be going on there,” Xosa said. “I won’t let these people kick me out of my own neighborhood. I’m staying here and fighting them.” BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO Next year Miss America might be from Queens. For the first time, the borough will have an official Miss America preliminary competition, called the Miss Queens Pageant, held on Oct. 12 at RESOBOX located at 41-26 27th St. in Long Island City. The inaugural event, presented by the Miss Queens Scholarship Organization, is open to women, between 17 and 24 years old, who live, work or go to college in Queens and Long Island. The winner of the pageant will go on to compete for the title of Miss New York in spring 2015. The pageant is divided into talent, interview, onstage and swimsuit/fitness portions. Potential contestants still have until Sept. 30 to sign up for the pageant. “It’s something that the community really wanted,” said Shekinah Monee, executive director of the Miss Queens Scholarship Organization. “To have a borough that never had their own pageant, it was important to bring that to them, to let them have that sense of pride as well.” Through the pageant, the newly formed Miss Queens Scholarship Organization will award scholarships to the women for undergraduate and graduate school, a tradition first started by the Miss America Organization, according to Monee. As part of qualifying as a contestant, each young woman must raise at least $100 for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, which are dedicated to raising funds and awareness to help enhance medical facilities and health care for sick and injured children. Tickets for the Miss Queens Pageant are $15 prior to the show and $18 at the door. For more information visit www. missqueensorg.wix.com/missqueensorg. The inaugural Miss Queens pageant will take place at RESOBOX in Long Island City. THE COURIER/Photo by Angy Altamirano BP Katz holds hearing on Bayside car dealership Borough President Melinda Katz held a hearing to consider community complaints of a Bayside dealer. THE COURIER/Photos by Eric Jankiewicz
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