FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARCH 9, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3 $20M for neighborhood cops in Queens Over $20 million in funding will be distributed across Queens’ 16 police precincts to more fully implement the NYPD’s Neighborhood Policing model throughout the entire borough, offi cials announced on March 6. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown presented Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill with a $20,391,864 check at the NYC Police Academy in College Point. Th e funds will be used in part to purchase 264 new vehicles for use by uniformed police, 19,000 upgraded gun holsters with an automatic locking system, electronic tablets for police recruits and fl ashlights. Th e upgrades will support an enhanced implementation of the NYPD’s Neighborhood Policing initiative — a highly localized take on law enforcement — which includes assigning permanent two-offi cer teams to specifi c neighborhood sectors in each precinct and on each shift . Th e allocated funding is part of the $1.256 billion in forfeiture funds paid by HSBC Bank in the 2012 case where the company admitted to money laundering and sanctions violations. Suzanne Monteverdi Pair arrested for sex sales in Flushing A Brooklyn woman and a Pennsylvania man have been indicted on charges that they allegedly forced a 21-year-old woman from Massachusetts to prostitute herself out of a Flushing hotel for their profi t, prosecutors announced. Elizabeth O’Sullivan, 29, of Brooklyn and Lee Vargas, 32, of Stroudsburg, PA were arraigned on March 3 on a 22-count indictment that included charges of kidnapping, sex traffi cking and promoting prostitution, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. According to the indictment, O’Sullivan and Vargas allegedly traveled to Massachusetts in October 2016 to pick up the 21-year-old victim; they brought her to Queens initially to work for them as a dancer/stripper. Shortly aft er arriving in the borough, however, the plan changed, prosecutors said. Th e pair allegedly forced the victim to have sex with numerous men on a daily basis in exchange for money. Most of the encounters took place at a hotel on Main Street in Flushing. At one point the victim managed to reach out to her family, who notifi ed police, the charges continued. She was rescued in a Jan. 7 undercover operation that police conducted. Anthony Giudice Delta scraps some noisy jets at LGA Th e skies around LaGuardia Airport are a little less noisy aft er Delta Airlines stopped fl ying one particularly loud plane in its fl eet into and out of northern Queens. Delta announced on March 2 that it has ceased using MD-88 (McDonnell Douglas) jets on a scheduled basis at LaGuardia Airport, as Reuters reported. Th e carrier is instead using a combination of Airbus A320, Boeing 737 and MD-90 planes, all of which are considered less noisy than the MD-88. Th e removal of the MD-88 aff ects about 30 fl ights out of LaGuardia daily, according to a statement from Delta. Congresswoman Grace Meng and Congressman Joe Crowley, among other lawmakers, applauded Delta’s decision. Robert Pozarycki Major Bayside street set for a big redesign Photos courtesy of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Oceania Street, in the vicinity of M.S. 74. Mom sends son to Whitestone school with box of heroin BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport In a massive mix-up, a woman from Broad Channel sent her six-year-old son to his Whitestone school with her heroin stash, police said on Monday, March 6. As fi rst reported by the New York Daily News, Leah Pagano, 36, sent her son off to P.S. 9 — a special education school co-located in the same building as P.S. 209 — at 16-10 Utopia Pkwy. in Whitestone on the morning of Friday, March 3, where the boy found a white box inside of his book bag. According to the criminal complaint provided by the Queens District Attorney’s Offi ce, the young boy showed the box to a teacher’s aide at the school, who opened it and found eight glassine envelopes containing heroin, three pills, and two straws. Offi cers from the 109th Precinct were called to the school. Pagano was then contacted, and she was arrested aft er arriving at the school. “I am the only one who prepares my son’s school bag and lunch. I use heroin, I do not shoot it but I snort it,” Pagano allegedly told detectives in remarks noted in the criminal complaint. “I could not fi nd my box with heroin Photo via Shutterstock A woman sent her six-year-old son to school in Whitestone with her box of heroin. inside. I was not sure if it was in his school bag and went to sleep. I cannot believe I did this.” Pagano has been charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and endangering the welfare of a child, the criminal complaint said. BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI [email protected]/@smont76 One of Bayside‘s most important thoroughfares will soon undergo a complete makeover. Community Board 11 (CB 11) unanimously voted on March 6 in favor of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) proposal to make major safety improvements to Oceania Street and 210th Street — which merge at 67th Avenue — between the Horace Harding Expressway and 73rd Avenue. Th e active venue runs along the perimeter of Cunningham Park and is used heavily by parents and students trying to access M.S. 74 and cyclists trying to approach nearby parks and bike networks. According to data collected by DOT, there have been three fatalities at the intersection of Oceania Street and 210th Street in the last seven years. In an eff ort to improve safety at the merge of Oceania Street and 210 Street, the DOT will convert 210th Street to a one-way northbound to eliminate the merge at Oceania Street. Th e DOT will also shorten the pedestrian crossing distance and more clearly defi ne each moving lane. Th e proposal also includes plans to implement “Leading Pedestrian Intervals,” where signals that show a walk sign for pedestrians before showing a green light to car traffi c are installed. Th is gives pedestrians the chance to establish their right of way and begin crossing before cars make turns across the crosswalk at certain points along the venue. To combat the existing issues of illegal U-turn activity, double parking and speeding in front of the school, and to accommodate cyclists, the DOT will also narrow the travel and parking lanes and install a two-way protected bike path on the west side, adjacent to Cunningham Park. “Th ere will be a lot less moving traffi c and a lot more control,” said Bernard Haber, who is part of the community board’s Transportation Committee. Th e proposal will also convert an additional 18 spots to “No Standing School Days, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m” along Oceania Street by M.S. 74, which will increase space for drop-off and pick-up along the active venue, and will remove 19 full-time spots to increase visibility and accommodate turning vehicles. CB1 1 District Manager Susan Seinfeld said the DOT will proceed with the plans and hopes to install the proposal by this August. To view the DOT’s full proposal, visit http://www.nyc. gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/oceania-st-210-st-feb2017. pdf.
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