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Aug. 14-20, 2020
Roof replaced at historic College Point
building for seniors and Little Leaguers
SLOW RECOVERY
Trees remained on the streets and thousands of Queens residents went nearly a week without
power after Tropical Storim Isaias. See story on Page 2. Photo by Dean Moses
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
A leaky roof that was in dire
condition at the historic College
Point Little League building
is no longer a problem after a
Queens contracting company
stepped in to lend a helping
hand, offering a reduced cost for
repairs.
For more than two decades,
A Real Advantage Inc., a familyowned
and operated business,
has been New York’s premier
exterior home improvement
solution offering all types of repairs,
renovations, roofing, siding,
cement work and more.
After reading a QNS article
about the College Point
League’s calls on the community
to help cover the costs of the
roof replacement, Michael Wesley,
president of the company,
reached out to the organization.
“I was raised in College Point
and I did play Little League
when I was young, and I have
an aunt that goes to the senior
center over there,” Wesley said.
“I said, ‘You know what, let me
do something that’s going to
help the situation and the community.’”
The old leaky cedar roof has
been replaced with a new golden
pledge roof that came with a
warranty from the manufactur-
er, Wesley said.
Rafael Rivera, president
of the College Point League
League, which serves the youth
of College Point, Flushing and
Whitestone, had initiated a
fundraiser last year to cover the
costs of removing and replacing
the shingle roof and the wood
underneath, and leak-proofing
the Yankee gutters around the
building.
The lowest estimate the organization
had received to fix the
roof was $23,100 — an amount
that they could not afford.
According to Wesley, the
College Point Little League organization
ran into some difficulties
with another contracting
company that charged an
additional $20,000 to replace the
wood deck.
“Sometimes these contractors
do a bait-and-switch and
next thing you know they’re
switching things around you,”
Michael said. “I asked CPLL
what their budget was and I told
them I’ll do it. We went in there
and stripped the roof down, and
there’s still some exterior work
— such as changing the windows
and capping — that needs
to be done to bring the building
up to date.”
Rivera said he’s grateful for
the help they received from A
Real Advantage Inc.
“We had discussed what
would be manageable and I was
very happy,” Rivera said. “It
was almost $16,000 less than the
lowest number we found while
we were looking.”
The league owns the historic
building that was constructed
in 1906 for the Fireman’s Benevolent
Association as a meeting
place for local volunteer firemen
and other community groups. It
is also a registered New York
state historical national landmark
and continues to be a
meeting place for the community.
The Angelo Petromelis Senior
Center meets in the building,
where seniors partake in
activities and become involved
in their communities.
Rivera said there’s still a lot
of work that needs to be done
on the building, and they hope
to receive funding for the additional
repairs.
Vol. 29 No. 33 32 total pages
2021
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