FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 20, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
Queens Congress members say they’re
working to reduce airplane noise
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Two of Queens’ representatives on
Capitol Hill say things are looking up
when it comes to their ongoing eff orts to
reduce helicopter and airplane noise in
the skies above northeast Queens.
Congressman Tom Suozzi, who represents
sections of Whitestone, Bayside,
Douglaston, Little Neck and Long
Island, met with the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) on July 11. As
the co-chair of the bipartisan Quiet
Skies Caucus, Suozzi and other members
representing Washington, D.C., and
Massachusetts relayed the quality-of-life
concerns expressed by constituents to the
federal agency.
According to Suozzi, the FAA confi
rmed that it would take a series of steps
to study and work to alleviate constituents’
distress. Th e agency will study aircraft
fl ight patterns to try to alleviate
noise levels and conduct several noise
initiatives and health surveys to understand
the eff ects of the noise levels on residents
below.
Th e FAA will also create a central internet
based data center where all resident
complaints will be stored and organized
and provide enhanced community
outreach, the congressman
said.
Suozzi heard from frustrated
Whitestone constituents at
a town hall meeting in
April. Attendees
expressed irritation
with the seemingly
constant airplane and helicopter
noise over the neighborhood,
which they said increases in the summer
months.
Th e legislator also met with the
FAA shortly aft er taking offi ce in
January and testifi ed in front of the
House Appropriations Transportation
Subcommittee about the unacceptable
levels of noise.
“I’m happy to report that communicating
at a high level with the FAA resulted
in them outlining concrete actions to
address this issue,” Suozzi said. “Folks
living in northeast Queens and Nassau
County have been suff ering for far too
long. I’m hopeful these actions will move
us in the right direction toward giving
our residents the relief they desperately
need.”
Congresswoman Grace Meng, who
represents areas of Bayside, Flushing
and Middle Village, announced in
February that Suozzi would take
over her role as co-chair of
the Congressional
Quiet Skies Caucus,
which consists of
lawmakers from across the country
working to fi nd solutions to
similar aircraft noise problems.
On July 14, Meng announced that the
House of Representatives passed legislation
to authorize a Jet Noise Reduction
Program within the U.S. Navy’s Offi ce of
Naval Research. Passed as an amendment
to the National Defense Authorization
Act (NDAA), the program will study and
decrease noise produced by high-performance
military aircraft s. Th e Secretary of
the Navy will also be directed to share relevant
noise reduction discoveries with the
civilian aviation community.
Th e bill would take eff ect on Oct. 1.
Fourth man
sought for sex
assault In Jamaica
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
As Th e Courier went to press on
Wednesday aft ernoon, police were still
looking for the fourth man wanted in
connection with the robbery and sexual
assault of a 50-year-old woman in
Jamaica last week.
Law enforcement sources said Isaiah
Shorter, 20, allegedly worked with
three previously arrested suspects —
Brandon Walker, 20; Justin Williams,
17; and Julisses Ginel, 19, all residents
of South Road in Jamaica — to attack
the victim on the night of July 11.
According to police, the victim was
walking home from the nearby Celestial
Church of God, located on Liberty
Avenue, at about 11:10 p.m. on July 11
when she was approached by two of the
four suspects in the vicinity of 150th
Street and Beaver Avenue. Aft er they
displayed fi rearms, authorities said,
they led her into a nearby lot, where
the other two perpetrators joined them.
Police said the suspects ordered the
woman to remove her clothes. One of
the attackers grabbed her purse and
removed its contents. Prosecutors said
Walker and Williams allegedly forced
the woman to perform sex acts on them;
Ginel allegedly threatened to shoot her
if she didn’t comply with their request.
Queens District Attorney Richard
A. Brown said that Walker, Williams
and Ginel allegedly robbed three men
at gunpoint the following evening, at
about 10 p.m. on July 12, in front of
a location on 105th Avenue between
Sutphin Boulevard and 148th Street.
Walker, Williams and Ginel were each
arrested on July 13 as a result of an investigation
that the NYPD Queens Special
Victims Squad conducted. Th ey were each
ordered held on $500,000 bond or $250,000
cash bail and are scheduled to return to
court on July 28; if convicted, they could
each spend up to 25 years behind bars.
Shorter, meanwhile, remains at large for
the July 11 incident. Police described him as
a black male with brown eyes and black hair.
Anyone with information regarding
Shorter’s whereabouts is urged to call
Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS; all
calls are kept confi dential.
What a wonderful ground-breaking in Corona
BY ELIZABETH COSTIGAN
Th is 14,000 square foot learning center
editorial@qns.com / @QNS
will broaden the public’s understanding
of Armstrong’s signifi cant life and legacy.
Th e Louis Armstrong House Museum
Th e new education center will complement
in Corona broke ground on Monday on its
the visitors’ experience with a stateof
new $23 million education center.
the-art exhibition gallery, a 68- seat
Th e ceremony took place on July 17 across
jazz club, and museum store.
the street from landmarked Queens home,
Th e campus will compromise the home
located at 34-56 107th St., where the famous
of the late Selma Heraldo, a beloved neighbor
jazz trumpeter once lived. Queens Borough
of the Armstrong Museum. She lived
President Melinda Katz, Queens College
next to the Armstrong House for her whole
President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, CUNY
life of 87 years and remained a very close
Chancellor James B. Miliken, and various
friend to the Armstrong family. Aft er her
city and state elected offi cials participated in
death in 2011, she bequeathed her home to
the ground-breaking ceremony.
the museum. Her property will be renovated
for offi ces, meetings, and storage, using
a $1.027 million grant from the city of New
York. Th e space will be named and always
be called “Selma’s House” in her memory.
Th e center will also house Louis
Armstrong Archives, which are currently
in the library at Queens College. Th ese
documents will be relocated to a cutting
edge archival center on the second
fl oor of the new facility.
Th e Museum is open Tuesdays through
Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5
p.m. Th e educational center is expected to
be completed in 2019.
Photo courtesy of NYPD
Isaiah Shorter is wanted in connection with
a violent July 11 sexual assault and robbery
in Jamaica.
Photo courtesy of Queens College
Queens offi cials broke ground on July 17 on the new Louis Armstrong Educational Center in Corona.