■COMMUNITY New district manager takes the helm at Community Board 1 There’s been a changing of the guard at Community Board 1. Florence Koulouris is the new Community Board 1 (CB 1) district manager, taking over for the recently retired Lucille Hartmann. Koulouris served as Hartmann’s assistant for the last eight years, and she told The Courier she is most excited to attend the monthly community board meetings and interact with community members and different city agencies. “I’m a people person, and I think that’s a big part of the district manager,” Koulouris said. The CB 1 area, which includes Astoria, Long Island City and Woodside, is the most ethnically mixed community in New York City, according to nyc.gov, and more than 118 nationalities call these neighborhoods home. A development boom has recently transformed the landscape and Koulouris said affordable housing is the most pressing issue facing Community Board 1. Astoria Cove, the 2.2-million-square-foot project on the Astoria waterfront, is one example of a development that will drastically alter the neighborhood, and Koulouris said she is proud of the work the board did to ensure affordable housing there. More than 460 units of the 1,723 apartments will be designated for affordable housing. “We are the trendsetters with the Astoria Cove project. I think the work that the board did is going to set a very high bar for the rest of the city,” Koulouris said. “Our board worked diligently to negotiate affordable housing.” Long Island City will also soon be home to the tallest building in the borough when a 70-story apartment building near Queens Plaza begins construction. The mixed-use structure will surpass the Citi Bank tower and contain 930 apartments and nearly 15,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. The newly anointed district manager also praised the new traffic calming measures in Astoria. As part of a Neighborhood Slow Zone, more than 55 blocks in Astoria, from Astoria Boulevard to 30th Avenue and Steinway Street to 21st Street are receiving 14 speed bumps, 20 gateway intersection treatments and 20 mph pavement markings from the Department of Transportation throughout September. Koulouris also said she, along with the community board, are looking forward to the expansion of Citi Bike in their area. Long Island City already has 12 docking stations and Citi Bike recently announced that they will double the number of bikes in Queens by 2017 to include parts of Astoria. “We have a lot of wonderful things coming to our community,” Koulouris said. “I look forward to working with the people of the community and the board members. We have a very diverse group of people. It’s going to be exciting.” BY ANGELA MATUA Photo by Angela Matua Florence Koulouris is the new district manager for Community Board 1. QUEENS LIBRARY TO OFFER SIX-DAY LIBRARY SERVICE Bookworms and those looking to take advantage of computers and other materials provided by their libraries will have an extra day to do so starting Nov. 15. The Queens Library announced on Wednesday that expanded library services will begin next month and every library in the borough will be open on at least one day on the weekend —mostly Saturdays. These services are possible because the City Council budget included an extra $12 million in operating expenses. The Central Library in Jamaica and the Flushing Library will continue to remain open seven days a week and will open at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays. The funding will also allow the library to hire approximately 100 new employees and acquire 30 percent more funding to purchase books, e-books, videos and other materials. Literacy programs for young library customers and after school programs will also benefit from the additional funding, according to the library. “Six-day library service is back in Queens.” said Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer. “If budgets are a reflection of our values, then truly this budget shows that we, as a city, value the life-changing services of our city’s libraries.” Currently, 23 branches of the 62 total are open on at least one weekend day. The remaining branches will add Saturday hours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Court Square branch in Long Island City will remain closed on weekends, but a mobile branch at Gantry Plaza in Hunters Point will open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Kew Gardens Hills Branch will open on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. “The expansion of Queens Library hours into the weekend has long been awaited by families of every neighborhood throughout the borough,” said Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. “Thanks to the funding from the City Council, our borough will benefit greatly as every one of our library branches will add weekend hours. This latest enhancement of service will directly impact millions by dramatically improving access and the reliability of the library, which serves as an anchor for so many of our communities.”
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