TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | OCT. 22 - OCT. 28, 2021
BY KAYLA WONG
For the Queens Public
Library’s (QPL) first-ever
Wellness Tour, their Mobile
Library is hitting the roads of
the Rockaways and southeast
Queens to provide local residents
with free access to information
and resources about
good health and self-care
amid the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic — with a focus on
Queens neighborhoods where
vaccination rates remain low.
QPL’s bookmobile program
takes library service to
the streets, bringing books
and activities to all neighborhoods
across the borough. The
Mobile Library stops at everything
from community events
to senior care homes.
“We know that Queens
Public Library is a trusted
community organization that
provides information, and so
we wanted to really get information
out about vaccinations
to the community,” said Kim
McNeil-Capers, QPL’s director
of community engagement.
The tour, which began
in late September, officially
kicked off on Wednesday, Oct.
13, during an event organized
in partnership with the Rockaway
Initiative for Sustainability
and Equity (RISE), a nonprofit
serving the Rockaway
community. RISE will be distributing
information on the
COVID-19 vaccination as part
of its VAX UP! Campaign. The
event will be at the Beach 60th
St.-Straiton Ave. A train stop
in Arverne from 2 to 5 p.m.
QPL President and CEO
Dennis M. Walcott welcomed
members of the public, and
the QPL Outreach Team and a
QPL medical librarian will be
aboard the bus to answer customers’
questions and guide
them through a special collection
of books and other materials
to help them stay well or
get well.
Customers will be able to
sign up for a library card, return
borrowed items, use the
Mobile Library’s WiFi and
listen to live classical music
performed by violinist Brian
L. Thompson from the activist
orchestra The Dream Unfinished.
The tour is part of QPL’s
work to help Queens residents
cope with various health issues
brought on by the COVID
19 pandemic.
Throughout the fall, each
Wednesday afternoon until
Nov. 17, QPL Mobile Library
will make stops in Queens
neighborhoods where vaccination
rates remain low, including
Far Rockaway, Rockaway
Park, Cambria Heights,
Queens Village, Howard
Beach and Jamaica, among
others.
Stops on the tour include
parks, laundromats, transportation
hubs and other
locations where foot traffic is
high.
“Most importantly, it’s
about being immersed in the
community where people are,
which is why we’re near laundromats,
parks and beaches,
subway hubs and train stations,”
McNeil-Capers said.
“The goal is to reach folks
who don’t normally go to the
library and get them correct
information about vaccines
and wellness.”
While this Wellness Tour
is focused primarily on providing
facts and information
about vaccines, there are other
important initiatives the
library will incorporate and
promote.
Read more on QNS.com.
BY JULIA MORO
New York activists are
traveling to Washington,
D.C., to protest outside the
White House against NRG
Energy’s proposed frackedgas
power plant in Astoria.
Hundreds of activists
have been protesting in D.C.
for the weeklong rally that
started Monday, Oct. 11, and
some have been arrested. Organizers
are coming together
to call on President Joe Biden
to halt all new fossil fuel developments
in America.
The proposal for the Astoria
plant would replace
NRG’s 50-year-old power
generators in the Ditmars-
Steinway area. The project
would convert the current
peaking facility with quickstart
capability in order to
enhance reliable electricity
for New York City, according
to NRG.
The New York State Department
of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) held a
public hearing period over
the summer and is expected
to announce a decision to approve
or deny the proposal
later this month.
Laura Shindell, a New
York organizer with the
environmental activist
group Food & Water Watch,
lives just half a block away
from the proposed Astoria
fracked-gas plant at 31-01
20th Ave.
“We are already in a climate
crisis, and we cannot
afford to build new fossil fuel
infrastructure. We needed
to move to renewable energy
yesterday,” Shindell said.
Shindell mentioned Astoria’s
nickname, “Asthma
Alley,” referring to the disproportionate
health effects
in northwestern Queens
caused by over-concentrated
power-generating plants.
She said that the switch to
renewable energy is necessary
to avoid more health
and climate threats.
“The U.S. needs to move
to renewable energy,” Shindell
said. “Everyone expects
New York to lead the way
on that. We’re a progressive
Photo by Eman Mohammed | Survival Media Agency
state that has a good, strong
economy. If we’re not moving
to renewable energy, how can
we expect anyone else to?”
People and elected officials
who oppose the NRG
power plant have said it violates
the Climate Leadership
and Community Protection
Act (CLCPA), which the state
passed to cut greenhouse gas
emissions to net-zero by 2050.
“Building a new power
plant essentially locks New
York into decades more of
fossil fuels, making those
goals impossible to meet,”
Shindell said.
Shindell and other activists
are hoping Biden will
stop fossil fuel extraction
around the country and use
his executive authority to address
the climate emergency.
Queens leaders and elected
officials organized in Astoria
Park in August to call
on Governor Kathy Hochul
to deny the proposed power
plant. Many activists were
hopeful that the new state
leadership would signal a
shift toward the direction of
progressive climate policies.
Assemblyman Zohran
Mamdani, who represents
Astoria, called on Hochul
over the summer to stand
against fossil fuels.
“With finally putting
Gov. Andrew Cuomo in
our rearview mirror, I think
that there comes an opportunity
to have a real climate
champion or at least not an
obstacle to fighting back
against the climate crisis,
which is what Cuomo was,”
Mamdani said.
NRG’s proposal has received
staunch opposition
from high-profile New York
leaders including Senate
Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer, Congresswomen
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
and Carolyn Maloney as well
as Mayor Bill de Blasio.
NRG has operated 15-acre
gas turbines in northern
Astoria since 1999. Tom Atkins,
vice president of development
at NRG, previously
said that the peaker facility
would reduce greenhouse
gas emissions by nearly 5
million tons. The project
would also create 500 new
union jobs during construction
and generate $156 million
for the state.
Shindell said she is still
hopeful Hochul will “make
the right decision.”
“The culmination of all
of our organizing is coming
to a head and we’re working
hard to make sure that
Hochul makes the right call
and puts public health and
our climate ahead of private
profit,” Shindell said.
“We’re hopeful Hochul will
walk the talk, but she has
not been tested yet. This is
going to be a big first test to
see if she will be the climate
hero that New York needs.”
Queens Public Library’s Mobile Library recently made stops in
Rosedale and Rockaway Beach. Photo courtesy of QPL
QPL launches wellness tour
Queens climate activists protest
outside the White House against
proposed Astoria power plant
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