18 The QUEE NS Courier • JUNE 5, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Sen. Avella allocates $200K to renovate school auditorium BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected]/@ lia mlaguerre Members of a local painters union feel that St. John’s University has brushed them off of summer jobs. Union workers and representatives of District Council 9 (DC 9) rallied in front of the university’s Gate 1 on May 29 to ask that the school negotiate a contract to paint and prepare vacant dormitories during the summer for when students return in the fall semester. The university uses dozens of nonunion workers to paint and prepare the dorms. “We want everybody to have a fair chance,” said Jose Torrent, a representative from DC 9. “We have a lot of members that live in the area — some whose kids go here.” State Senator Tony Avella will allocate $200,000 for repairs and electrical upgrades to P.S. 26’s auditorium. Torrent said that last year the school said they would give the union a contract, but they never got to negotiate. Union workers have been used in previous university projects, such as the renovation of Carnesecca Arena and the transformation of St. Louise de Marillac Hall cafeteria years ago, Torrent said. According to a statement from St. John’s University, it accepted bids from union and nonunion painting companies for the summer jobs to prepare the dorms and chose a “competitive” nonunion offer. “The university prides itself in giving fair consideration to outside companies (union and nonunion) who contract with St. John’s for work-related projects at our New York campus locations,” the statement said. “In this instance, the university decided to accept competitive bids from nonunion firms.” BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected]/@ liamlaguerre State Sen. Tony Avella allocated $200,000 for repairs and electrical upgrades to the auditorium of P.S. 26 in Fresh Meadows. P.S. 26 submitted a request for the money to Avella’s office earlier this year for the necessary upgrades since the school stays open year-round and shares the space with P.S. 224 during the summer months. Avella made the announcement of the allocation during a PTA meeting on May 29. “I have long advocated for increased school funding and I am very glad to be able to bring resources back to the schools in my district,” Avella said. “Our students deserve the best educational environment with proper accommodations. And since our teachers already do such a great job teaching our students, it gives me great pleasure to allocate this much-needed funding for repairs.” THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre FREE SUMMER MEALS FOR KIDS AT QUEENS LIBRARIES By PAULINA TAM Twenty-two Queens Library locations, in partnership with the Department of Education, will be serving free summer meals to children and teens 18 years and under starting from June 27 to August 29. Bagged lunches will be served every Monday through Friday between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. and each will generally include a fresh sandwich, fruit, milk and sometimes a salad, said library spokeswoman Joanna King. “The library is an open public space and we want to attract people to come to the library,” King said. “While they’re here they can have free access to other programs. The Queens Library also has a very robust summer reading program and we want to encourage people to get involved with that so they can be better prepared for the academic program in the fall.” There is no application, qualification or ID necessary to receive a free meal. Children and teens are recommended to arrive early to get lunches while supplies last. The Queens Library is just one of many agencies collaborating with the DOE, and interested parties can call 311 to get a full list of participating locations. Listed below are the participating Queens Library locations: 312 Beach 54 Street, Arverne 14-01 Astoria Boulevard, Astoria 117-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Baisley Park 218-13 Linden Boulevard, Cambria Heights 1637 Central Avenue, Far Rockaway 41-17 Main Street, Flushing 202-05 Hillside Avenue, Hollis 89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica 134-26 225th Street, Laurelton 98-30 57th Avenue, Lefrak City 37-44 21st Street, Long Island City 40-20 Broadway, Long Island City 92-24 Rockaway Boulevard, Ozone Park 158-21 Jewel Avenue, Pomonok (Flushing) 103-34 Lefferts Boulevard, Richmond Hill 169-09 137th Avenue, Rochdale Village 116-15 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Rockaway Park 204-01 Hollis Avenue, South Hollis 108-41 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, South Jamaica 43-06 Greenpoint Avenue, Sunnyside 85-41 Forest Parkway, Woodhaven 54-22 Skillman Avenue, Woodside Painters union fights St. John’s for summer jobs THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Members of the painters union, District Council 9, rallied outside St. John’s University for summer jobs.
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