FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARCH 2, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3 Bayside Village BID seeks new director Th e Bayside Village Business Improvement District (BID) is looking for a new executive director to lead the area’s bustling business community. Th e BID — which covers properties on Bell Boulevard from Northern Boulevard to 35th Avenue, as well as 41st Avenue from 213th Street to 214th Place — works to promote and provide services to the businesses along the busy venue. Lyle Sclair previously served as the BID executive director, but moved on to another opportunity earlier this year. Th e paid position entails a combination of administrative, marketing and management tasks. Among these are overseeing BID fi nances, representing the BID to outside stakeholders and planning and executing all special events, including the BID’s annual Sunday Stroll and Children’s Holiday Parade and Lighting. Interested applicants should email their resume, along with a cover letter and salary requirements, to recruitment@ baysidevillagebid.com. Suzanne Monteverdi No 7 line in LIC during March Th e MTA has slowly been working to improve the congested and oft en unreliable 7 train with new technology, and to continue that work, the agency will stop service to Manhattan for four consecutive weekends in March. Work includes the replacement of underground and elevated tracks and replacement of the decades-old fi xedblock signal system. Th e new signal system will permit the MTA to use Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC), which allows for the agency to operate more trains closer together. With the implementation of CBTC, the MTA hopes to accommodate the growing population along the line. To test previously installed CBTC equipment there will be no service from Queensboro Plaza in Long Island City to 34th St-Hudson Yards on March 3 through March 6; March 10 through March 13; March 17 through March 20; and March 24 through March 27. Th is schedule is subject to change due to inclement weather. As an alternative, the MTA will be operating free shuttle bus service in Queens making stops at the Queensboro Plaza, Queens Plaza, Court Square, Hunters Point Av and Vernon Blvd-Jackson Av stations. Th ose heading to and from Manhattan can take the N or W train at Queensboro Plaza; the W train, which normally runs on weekdays, will operate on weekends when the 7 line is shut down. Angela Matua Bill aims to protect undocumented crime victims At a time when the federal government is cracking down on undocumented immigrants, those who are victims of crimes may not come forward for fear of deportation. Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas hopes to help change that — she wants to make it illegal for suspects to use someone’s immigration status as a threat. Simotas wants to add an amendment to the penal code that would punish those who report the immigration status of a victim or someone who is seeking protective order in family court as an intimidation tactic. “Th e president’s recent executive orders and Homeland Security directives have caused so much fear and confusion, that the Federal government has handed abusers and other criminals a weapon to harass, intimidate and silence fearful victims,” Simotas said. “If predatory criminals can turn in their victims to immigration authorities, our communities become less safe because undocumented victims and witnesses will simply not report crimes.” Angela Matua TIME FOR A CHANGE Townsend Harris students rally at City Hall for new principal BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com @smont76 Frustrated with a lack of progress and communication, students, teachers and alumni of Townsend Harris High School (THHS) in Flushing took their message to the steps of City Hall on the morning of Feb. 24. Amid months of ongoing tension between interim principal Rosemarie Jahoda and the school community at the high school — which resulted in a student protest, outcry at a Parent Teacher Association meeting and a rally outside of the school — the THHS community gathered in Lower Manhattan on Feb. 24 and called for Jahoda’s immediate removal while the Department of Education DOT continues its C-30 principal selection process. Th e demonstration was led by Student Union President Alex Chen. “Teachers began to speak of harassment,” Chen said, discussing Jahoda’s arrival to the school. “Students talked of neglect. Assistant principals reported foul language. And this all stemmed from Ms. Jahoda. Th ere is no perspective which you can view Ms. Jahoda’s actions as justifi able.” Th e school community’s most recent attempt to oust Jahoda came in the form of an online petition calling to immediately name assistant principal Ellen Fee as interim school leader. “You students are the grassroots whose voice, for too long, has gone unheard,” said Franco Scardino, teacher and UFT chapter leader at the school. “Today you stand here and say to the mayor, and to the chancellor, that you will no longer be silenced, and that your voices have the same merit … as those who occupy the seats of power in the very buildings behind us today.” Scardino also spoke of allegations brought against Jahoda by the community that have been covered at length by the school’s newspaper, Th e Classic. Th ose charges include denying services to a visually impaired student at Bronx High School of Science, where she previously served as assistant principal. More recently, Jahoda is also alleged to have ignored Muslim student leaders when they reported discrimination at THHS following the presidential election. During the same week as the protest, four local elected offi cials — Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, Congresswoman Grace Meng, state Senator Toby Ann Stavisky and Councilman Rory Lancman — sent a letter to Fariña outlining the allegations against Jahoda brought to their attention by concerned constituents. “It is our belief that the Interim Acting Principal Rosemarie Jahoda (‘Ms. Jahoda’) lacks leadership and the ability to take action,” the letter reads. “She should not be considered in the C-30 process and ultimately is undeserving of serving as a principal.” Rozic, a Townsend Harris alumna, was present for the rally. “Enough is enough,” Rozic said. “We’ve seen our school’s environment and tone change for the worse. Photos by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS And it’s time to turn over a new leaf; to have new representation and a new principal at the helm.” Borough President Melinda Katz, who previously called upon the DOE chancellor to restart the C-30 hiring process, wrote to Fariña before, calling for increased “transparency” from the DOE during the hiring process. Fariña told Katz that there were 38 applications as of Feb. 21 for the superintendent to review, and the school’s superintendent selects fi ve to be interviewed by the selection committee. Jahoda remains in the pool of candidates. “A principal is supposed to be an instructional leader,” said Susan Karlic, PTA co-president. “Mayor de Blasio, Chancellor Fariña: you claim — I see all over — you listen to the community; you listen to parents. Th e parents are speaking; the teachers are speaking; the students have spoken. Why is this a one-sided conversation?” “We reposted the Townsend Harris principal position as of Feb. 1, and are hiring a principal in accordance with the C-30 regulation,” a DOE spokesperson said. “Th e C-30 process takes up to 90 days. We continue to listen to feedback from this school community, and Rosemarie Jahoda remains interim acting principal.” Th e spokesperson also provided the following statement from Jahoda: “While I am frustrated by many of these inaccurate allegations, I remain 100 percent focused on serving students and families at Townsend Harris and working to move the school community forward.” Student Union president Alex Chen speaks at the Feb. 24 rally.
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