Vallone secures $19 million for NE Queens
Capital funding will go toward improvements in District 19 schools, libraries and parks
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Northeast Queens will
soon see major community
improvements in its schools,
libraries and parks.
Councilman Paul Vallone
secured nearly $19 million
for northeast Queens
improvements following the
$92.8 billion budget agreement
between Mayor de Blasio and
the City Council on June 14.
“For a sixth straight year,
I am proud to report recordsetting
funding for Northeast
Queens,” said Vallone. “These
budget victories would not
have been possible without
close work and collaboration
with our City Council Speaker
Cory Johnson and Queens
Borough President Melinda
Katz, and I thank them for their
ongoing partnership. This
year, our Northeast Queens
communities can continue
standing tall knowing that
their needs and priorities are
finally being met by the City.”
In his six years in the City
Council, Vallone secured
over $100 million in funding,
Councilman Vallone secures nearly $19 million for major improvements in his district
eclipsing two prior decades of
city budgets in District 19.
$6 million of the budget
will go toward District 19
schools, with each school
receiving at least $35,000 to
fund important technology
upgrades.
A portion of the education
funding will allow for more
schools to receive Cultural
After-School Adventure
(CASA) programming, which
provides students cultural
experiences by partnering with
local nonprofits. 17 schools will
collaborate with organizations
like Inside Broadway, Marquis
Studios and the Queens
Museum of Art.
Credit: New York City Council
Vallone also secured $5
million for district parks,
$3 million of which will be
for lighting installations at
College Point Park. In addition,
Vallone and the Mayor’s office
also previously allocated over
$7 million to construct new
athletic fields at the park.
The councilman will
provide over $1 million
to support nonprofit
organizations in District
19 including Alley Park
Environmental Center,
HANAC, Selfhelp Community
Services and the New York
Junior Tennis League.
A portion of the funding
will also allow for the
continuation of the Senior
Transportation Program and
Anual Independence Day
Fireworks Show and allow for
the purchase of tree guards for
the district.
Funding for the district
also came from this year’s
participatory budgeting
process in District 19, which
boasted the most votes of any
district in the city. In addition
to the top three winning
projects — NYPD security
cameras, a gymnasium
renovation for P.S. 129 and a
green biome for Bayside High
School — Vallone announced
he will also fund several of
the other top projects the
community selected.
Read more at QNS.com
Mets to honor Tom Seaver with street renaming
BY BILL PARRY
The New York Mets will
honor Tom Seaver, their
greatest player of any era, with
an official street renaming
outside Citi Field in Flushing
today, Thursday.
Members of the 1969
“Miracle Mets,” including
Jerry Koosman, Cleon Jones
and Ron Swoboda, will
join Seaver’s children and
grandchildren and team
executives at 11 a.m. on June
27 as 126th Street between
Roosevelt Avenue and
Northern Boulevard will be
changed to Seaver Way.
Currently, the mailing
address for Citi Field is 120-
01 Roosevelt Ave., but after
the event the new address for
the stadium will be 41 Seaver
Way. The three-time Cy Young
award winner’s jersey number
was 41, a number the team
retired in 1988.
Seaver’s family announced
in March that the first ballot
Hall of Famer is suffering
from dementia and has retired
from public life, choosing to
spend the time he has left with
his family at his Napa Valley
estate in California. In addition
to the street renaming, the
Mets are expected to unveil
plans for a statue honoring the
former ace as well.
“We’ve been working on
exploring a potential statue
option for a couple of years
in coordination with the
family,” Mets Chief Revenue
Officer Lou DePaoli said.“We
won’t be unveiling a statue
this season.”
Seaver was the star
of the 1969 World Series
Championship team that
stunned the sports world
after being a laughingstock
for much of their first decade
in baseball. Nicknamed “Tom
Terrific,” Seaver was just 24
years old when he pitched
the Mets to a 100-62 regular
season finishing with 25 wins
and just seven losses with an
ERA of 2.21.
In the World Series, Seaver
Tom Seaver (center) cheered the crowd at Citi Field during a 40th
anniversary celebration of the 1969 Mets back in 2009. He’s
flanked by fellow Miracle Mets Jerry Grote and Jerry Koosman.
dropped game one to the
powerful Baltimore Orioles
but the Mets stormed back to
sweep the next four, turning
old Shea Stadium into a scene
of pure bedlam on Oct. 16.
Seaver played in 20 major
File photo/AP
league seasons including the
1973 National League pennant
winning Mets squad. He also
pitched for the Cincinnati
Reds, the Chicago White Sox
and the Boston Red Sox.
Following his playing
career, Seaver worked as a
broadcaster, calling Yankees
telecasts alongside Phil
Rizzuto during the 1990s and
then Mets games from 1999 to
2005 on WPIX.
The Mets will honor
members of the 1969 team
during a three-game series
against the Atlanta Braves
this weekend. Seaver, 74, will
remain in California.
“Although he’s unable to
attend the ’69 Anniversary,
we are planning to honor
him in special ways and
have included his family in
our plans,” Mets COO Jeff
Wilpon said.
The street renaming
is open to the public. Free
parking will be available in
Lot A with gates opening at 10
a.m. Enter via Shea Road as
126th Street will be closed for
the ceremony.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
FLUSHING TIMES (USPS#03925) is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 41-02 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
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