FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 23, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3 Get city ID card in Flushing through March 2 Flushing residents have the opportunity to enroll for a city ID card without ever leaving the neighborhood. Th e Selfh elp Benjamin Rosenthal Prince Street Innovative Senior Center will be home to an IDNYC enrollment pop-up site until March 2. Launched in 2015, IDNYC is a free, government-issued photo identifi cation card available to all city residents aged 14 and older, regardless of immigration status. A number of benefi ts are available to IDNYC cardholders, including the opportunity to sign up for free one-year memberships at some of the city’s museums, zoos, concert halls and botanical gardens, as well as discounts at some supermarkets and fi tness centers. Th e card can also be used at any public library across the fi ve boroughs and serves as a valid photo ID to open up accounts at certain banks and credit unions. Th ose interested in applying for an IDNYC card are advised to reserve an appointment online or by calling 311. Services are off ered Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m., and translation services are available. Suzanne Monteverdi Over 150K travelers stayed at Airbnb homes in Queens Airbnb announced that over the course of 2016, 150,000 tourists visited the World’s Borough, allowing 3,000 Queens residents to earn a combined $27 million by acting as hosts to these tourists. Founded in 2008, Airbnb is a San Francisco-based company that enables homeowners to rent their rooms to travelers. According to their data, Queens saw an 85 percent increase in year-over-year growth in guest arrivals to the borough and a 50 percent increase in host earnings. Th e average Queens Airbnb host earns around $4,900 per year by sharing their home for three nights or fewer a month. Th e extra income has allowed hosts across New York to save money for retirement, pay off loans and even start their own small businesses. Emily Davenport Bill aims to change aff ordable housing formula Two elected offi cials from Queens are trying to make aff ordable housing truly aff ordable for the borough’s residents. State Senator Michael Gianaris and Assemblyman Brian Barnwell introduced legislation that would require New York state to calculate a person’s eligibility for aff ordable housing projects that benefi t from tax breaks like 421A to use numbers that refl ect the median income of the zip code that the project is in. To determine who is eligible for aff ordable housing, the state and city calculate the area median income, but Gianaris and Barnwell argue that the current formula does not accurately refl ect what local residents make. Currently, the AMI model takes into consideration the median income of those who live in all fi ve boroughs, Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties. According to Barnwell, he and Gianaris have asked HUD to calculate the AMI if the specifi cs of the bill were to be implemented. Barnwell, who previously worked for Councilman Costa Constantinides, said constituents have expressed concerns to both elected offi cials about the way AMI is calculated. Angela Matua 500 new seats coming to Francis Lewis HS in Fresh Meadows BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com @smont76 Th e city’s most overcrowded high school is fi nally getting a major upgrade. Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows is getting 500 new seats and a number of state-ofthe art amenities, the city’s School Construction Authority (SCA) announced on Feb. 21 Th e new fully accessible and air-conditioned building, which has yet to be designed, will create 500 more seats and include at least 18 new instructional spaces. Th e state-of-the-art annex will also include new amenities, including a culinary arts room, a science lab, a greenhouse, locker rooms and a multi-purpose room. Th e project is funded by the SCA’s Fiscal Year 2015-2019 Capital Plan. Instruction will not be interrupted during the annex construction process, the SCA said, and an estimated project timeline could not be provided at this time. “When you have strong partnerships you fi nd that creative solutions to tackling long standing challenges are easier to come by, and this project is a testament to that,” said SCA President & CEO Lorraine Grillo. “Th is new annex will provide much needed relief for the students and staff at Francis Lewis High School and while our search for new capacity to relieve overcrowding in Queens High Schools continues, we are taking a signifi - cant step.” Th e school is currently operating at 199 percent utilization, making it the most overcrowded high school in New York City, according to a recent NYC Department of Education report. For the 2014- 2015 school year, the school had a target capacity of 2,099 students and an enrollment of 4,172. “Francis Lewis High School has always maintained a high level of academic excellence despite the overcrowding conditions,” said David Marmor, principal of the school. “Th is new annex will allow our school to have more programming fl exibility along with providing our students with a 21st-century learning environment. I would like to thank the School Construction Authority for providing these new seats for our community.” Councilman Peter Koo, who contributed funding toward the upgrades, spoke out about the impact of the new annex. “Our community is delighted that Francis Lewis High School is fi nally getting desperately needed overcrowding relief,” Koo said. “Five hundred new seats to replace the aging trailers, a new space for extra-curricular activities and Queens’ fi rst and only rooft op greenhouse will go a long way to helping the students and staff succeed.” For the upcoming 2017-2018 school year, the SCA plans to open 13 new capacity sites, including additions to existing buildings and leases, as well as over 1,300 new universal pre-kindergarten seats.
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