28 The Queens Courier • FEBRUARY 6, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Four-letter words You aren’t supposed to use four-letter words in a family newspaper, but you can’t go without saying, “snow.” Plow envy is a risk when the city must tend to every main drag and we tend to burn when we can’t park. Mayor de Blasio will take heat no matter what. Hizzoner has pushed the late Ed Koch from the record book (1974) as the most snow-hard City Hall freshman and there are people who wish he had dropped the groundhog from an even greater height. Sorry folks, winter will last until March 20 no matter who’s in Gracie Mansion, or that tiny cave on Staten Island. “Cash” is another word you can’t miss. Hizzoner wants to cut it for charter school construction, grab it for rent and boot them from many a site. Such hard ball will kill off all but the priciest charters and leave “school choice” for residents of that other city we keep hearing about. • Councilman Dan Garodnick made the call for a bill to show who’s paying for anonymous political ads. Some city candidates have been able to mask their name from harsh spots scot-free. Dan’s bill would make the Campaign Finance Board levy a fine, unless they fess up to their work. • The council is also hard at work reviewing the status of non-profit groups that apply for city cash, and making sure that members show any link to those who apply. Member items draw heat every year , but without them a regular budget line will be the only well for funds. “Fine” some would say, except that the first deadline to apply for 2015 capital budget funding is February 27. Your local ball team isn’t up against that wall, but the idea of the “evil” fund is to leave money on the table until the last minute for local groups with volunteer staff. The council also went over the list of subcommittee assignments, hopefully to calm fear that hold-out supporters of the Speaker will be out in the cold. Once they ha ve made nice, more work will get done. “Date” is yet another word to make a wave up in Albany – as in Primary POLITICS FROMHERE by VICTOR G. MIMONI vmimoni@queenscourier.com Election. We now have some primaries in June and others in September. Some pols insist that this is what leads to poor turnouts for what is, many a time, the real election and leaves the Board of Elections no time to figure out what color paper to order for the buff forms. One can only hope that soon a primary will draw as much as the “rock ‘em sock ‘em” 24 percent of voters who make up the “overwhelming mandate” city pols love to cite. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one tickled by the fame of Seattle Seahawks MVP Malcolm Smith during the big romp on Sunday night. According to a reporter, the beleaguered Queens Senator of the same name got at least one “good game last nite!” on Monday, while taking a walk in the hall of the State Capitol. Not being a fan of either team, the name game did perk up what otherwise reminded me of watching last November’s election results, only this time I was hoping none of the injuries were career-ending. The other difference being that the Denver Broncos graciously conceded defeat before the lights went off and the last worker was home in bed – unlike a certain perennially-losing candidate for City Council, best known in southern Queens. Our Malcolm’s attempt to stop the clock on his bribery trial last Friday was ruled out of bounds by the judge, leaving him the task of raising cash to defend both his office and his freedom – since pols can use campaign money on legal defense – while the trial grinds to a projected April kickoff. SPEED TIX UP AFTER VISION ZERO BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com Not so fast, speedy drivers. In just the first two weeks of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) new speed camera program, 900 tickets city-wide were handed out to drivers that raced 10 mph over posted speed limits. Individual borough statistics are not available as of yet. With each ticket costing $50, the city has made roughly $45,000. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on January 15 that the city will begin using the cameras to enforce the speed limits as part of his plan to prevent all pedestrian fatalities— also known as the Vision Zero initiative. “Just two weeks in, DOT’s speed camera program is putting motorists on notice that we will not tolerate dangerous driving on New York City streets,” said Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “Speed cameras will help save lives and make our streets safer for pedestrians, especially children and seniors.” There have been at least 22 reported traffic fatalities across the city in 2014 alone, according to Vision Zero advocacy group Right of Way. Advertorial Legally Speaking By: Scott Baron, Attorney at Law CONCRETE IN THE GARBAGE CAN Q: I was a park maintenance worker. In the course of my employment, I attempted to move a garbage barrel. When I attempted to pull the trash can from its location in the park, in order to move it to the front entrance for pick up by the sanitation department, I was unable to do so and felt a tear in my shoulder. My co-worker says that when she looked in the garbage barrel that day, she saw chunks of concrete that could only have come from the construction workers who were fixing the park. A: The subcontractor’s attorney is likely to argue that the hazard of a very heavy trash can filled with concrete was ordinary and obvious, and therefore you are not entitled to recovery. The idea is that – when a worker confronts the ordinary and obvious hazards of her employment, and has at her disposal the time and other resources to enable her to proceed safely – she may not hold others responsible if she elects to perform her job so incautiously as to injure herself. Nevertheless, the courts tend to hold that only a jury can decide whether a hazard is ordinary and obvious. It is my impression that it would have been unusual and abnormal for there to be concrete in the garbage can. Even if your co-worker says that the garbage barrel was very full of the concrete chunks, perhaps they were at the bottom, and the garbage barrels were very wide. Perhaps there was garbage on top of the concrete and you couldn’t see the chunks. The subcontractor’s attorney is likely to argue that the hazard, even if not visible, was otherwise obvious because you could have hefted the can in order to test its weight before attempting to pull it. Still, it appears that only a jury can decide whether you should have known that the can was very heavy due to the presence of concrete, or that attempting to move it on your own would cause injury. The law responds to changed conditions; exceptions and variations abound. Here, the information is general; always seek out competent counsel. This article shall not be construed as legal advice Copyright © 2014 Scott Baron & Associates, P.C. All rights reserved. 159-49 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach, New York 11414 1750 Central Park Ave, Yonkers, NY 10710 718-738-9800, 914-337-9800, 1-866-927-4878 Martin A. Funeral Home L.L.C. – Call for a FREE Planning Guide – • Our Services are available in all areas • Large Parking Facilities at all Locations • Personal Service, 24 Hours a Day • Burial and Cremation Services Available • Family Owned and Operated • FDIC Insured Pre-Plan Accounts • Pre-Arrangements Available • Out of Town Service, Call Us First • Shipping Specialists John A. Golden: Member of K. of C. and C*KHS; Thomas A. Golden III: Member AOH, KHS (Owner, Operators) 149-20 Northern Boulevard • Flushing • 718-359-6300 10-25 150th Street • Whitestone • 718-359-1122 36-46 Bell Boulevard • Bayside • 718-428-2210 Please Visit Our Website @ www.gleasonsfuneral.com Martin A. Gleason Funeral Home L.L.C.: The Preferred Choice
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