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QC01012015

22 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 1, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com s year in photos THE COURIER/Photo by Cristabelle Tumola City to fund NYS Pavilion restoration A total of $5.806 million was included in the city’s capital budget to begin the restoration of the New York State Pavilion, which is a relic of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. The funds will be used to upgrade its electrical system, rebuild the staircases inside the Pavilion’s three towers and repair the concrete platforms supporting the observation decks at the top of each of the towers. Eight Queens Library board members cut Borough President Melinda Katz and Mayor Bill de Blasio removed eight trustees of the Queens Library on July 23. The fi rings came after a protracted battle over the tenure of library director Tom Galante, who drew fi re after a smoking deck was built outside his offi ce in the Central Library in Jamaica as well as revelations that he augmented his $400,000 salary with more than $200,000 in part-time pay from the Elmont, Long Island, school district. FORMER COUNCILMAN DAN HALLORAN FOUND GUILTY Former Queens Councilman Dan Halloran was found guilty on July 29 for his role in a bribery scheme to get Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith on the GOP ticket in last year’s mayoral race. It took just over one hour for the jury to reach its verdict following the eight-week trial, and Halloran was convicted of all fi ve counts against him. Halloran faces up to 55 years in prison and will be sentenced early next year. LIRR STRIKE AVOIDED MTA offi cials and LIRR unions came to a tentative agreement July 17, avoiding a workers’ strike that would have stranded 300,000 commuters daily. LIRR workers will see a 17 percent wage increase over six and a half years with the new agreement. The MTA wanted a 17 percent wage increase over seven years, while the union desired it over six years. The deal settled the impasse between both sides and will allow the MTA to pay for the salary bump while not increasing fares for riders. THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre THE COURIER/File photo juLY THE COURIER/File photo


QC01012015
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