FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com FEBRUARY 20, 2014 • The Queens Courier 3 BILL TO MAKE INSURANCES PAY FOR TRACKING BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @a altamirano28 Staten Island Assemblymember Matthew Titone introduced a bill in the State Assembly that would require insurance companies to offer GPS device tracking coverage for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The bill comes after autistic teen Avonte Oquendo was laid to rest. Avonte was last seen at the Center Boulevard School in Long Island City on October 4, when he ran out of the school, located just across from the East River. His body was found on January 16, washed up in College Point. “The tracking devices are crucial in finding lost children quickly and safely,” said Titone. “Unfortunately, such devices can be expensive and difficult to maintain.” Titone also added that insurance companies would be responsible for covering the costs of the equipment and monitoring services. In January, Senator Charles Schumer introduced a bill called “Avonte’s Law” which will create and fund a program to provide voluntary tracking devices and increase support services for families of children with ASD or any other developmental conditions in which bolting is common. Later that same month, the Department of Justice agreed to take existing funding which already helps track seniors with Alzheimer’s and expand it to children with ASD. The funding will become available to police departments or other local law enforcement groups that would be able to provide tracking devices to parents, schools and legal guardians interested in the program. CALLING ALL ARTISTS The Bayside Village Business Improvement District (BID) will be hosting its Annual Arts and Crafts Festival on Saturday, April 26 from noon to 5 p.m. near the Bayside LIRR station. The Bayside Village BID Arts and Crafts festival is the premier outdoor art show in northeast Queens. Entering its third year, this event has features artists selling a wide range of mediums including paints, clothing, jewelry, photography and sculptures to name a few. If you have any questions or if you would like receive the signup form, contact the Bayside Village BID at 718-423-2434. More information can be found on the Bayside Village BID’s websitewww. baysidevillagebid.com/artsandcraftsvendors. Precinct helps with safety outside school BY MELIS A CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com / @MelissaCourier Police have stepped in to ease a daily parking problem outside a Fresh Meadows school that has frustrated parents and put students Mayor unveils Vision Zero Action Plan BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @aaltamirano28 The success of Vision Zero is in the hands of the city’s pedestrians and drivers, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero Action Plan. De Blasio announced last month the launch of an interagency task force, together with the NYPD, Department of Transportation, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Taxi & Limousine Commission, and Department of Citywide Administrative Services, to implement a Vision Zero plan to prevent traffic related deaths and reduce traffic fatalities to zero within the next 10 years. “We don’t accept a status quo in this town that leads to so many people losing their lives that we could have saved,” said de Blasio. “As a parent I know that particularly in this crowded, dense city, the danger is lurking at all times for our children. That’s why we have to act, we have to act aggressively. We won’t wait to act because we have to protect our children; we have to protect all New Yorkers now.” After the interagency group spent the past month developing new strategies to make city streets safer, de Blasio released his administration’s Vision Zero Action Plan on Tuesday, February 18 at P.S. 75 in Manhattan. A student from the school was struck by a car two years ago. Since the beginning of the year, more than 20 lives have been lost on city streets and last year there were 286 traffic fatalities compared to 333 homicides in the city, according to de Blasio. The Vision Zero Action Plan includes increasing speed enforcement, reducing the citywide “default” speed limit from 30 to 25 mph, and expanding the use of speed and red light cameras. The plan will continue with developing boroughspecific street safety plans, redesigning 50 locations each year, expanding neighborhood “slow zones,” and enforcing stiffer penalties on taxi and livery drivers who drive dangerously. The interagency group is also expected to continue in order to oversee and coordinate all the changes. “A life lost is a life lost – and it is our job to protect New Yorkers, whether it is from violent crime or from a fatal collision on our streets,” said Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. “We are going to use every tool we have – and push to get the additional tools we need – to prevent the needless loss of life.” Bratton also said the NYPD would focus efforts on speeding and failure to yield violations, which make up 70 percent of pedestrian fatalities in the city. “But it’s about much more than speed bumps and issuing violations, it’s about all of us taking more responsibilities,” de Blasio said. “Our lives are literally in each other’s hands, our children’s lives are in each other’s hands. Today we begin the work to living up to that responsibility.” at risk for at least a year. Parents dropping off their kids at P.S. 173 have been double parking and blocking the school bus stop during the morning rush about 8 a.m., residents said. “Sometimes they’ll let the kids out in the middle of the street and have the kids run across to get into school,” said Jim Gallagher Jr., president of the Fresh Meadows Homeowners Civic Association. At times, students are also left stranded in the middle of the road until traffic clears, said former PTA President Alan Ong. The “No Standing” street on 67th Avenue gets backed up with at least 15 cars at a time, according to Gallagher. Short-tempered parents have cursed and threatened volunteer parents who try to move traffic along, residents said. “It’s a dangerous situation,” said John Callari, a nearby resident. “I almost got run over one morning when my wife and I were taking our grandchildren to school.” Two traffic safety cops at the 107th Precinct have been easing congestion at the school for about half an hour every day, for the last two weeks. They will continue “as long as resources are there,” a community affairs officer at the precinct said. Summonses have been issued to illegally parked drivers in the past, but the precinct wants their main goal to be making sure parents understand the danger. “We’re trying to work with everybody to educate motorists,” the officer said. “Keeping the kids safe is always the priority.” The school has more than 900 students, from kindergarten through fifth grade, said Ong, who is now a member of Community District Education Council 26. The Department of Education did not comment. “Many other schools in the city are experiencing the same problem,” Ong said. “We need to somehow, someway bring awareness to parents. The last thing we want is an accident.” THE COURIER/Photo by Melissa Chan
QC02202014
To see the actual publication please follow the link above