8 The Queens Courier • AUGUST 13, 2015 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com City Council candidates face off at Courier debate BY ALINA SURIEL [email protected] @alinangelica Potential voters were in the North Shore Towers Cinema on Aug. 5 to watch contenders for the vacant 23rd City Council seat tackle the issues in a debate sponsored by the North Shore Towers and The Queens Courier. Democrats Barry Grodenchik, Bob Friedrich and Rebecca Lynch will be competing in a Sept. 10 primary along with Ali Najmi, Celia Dosamantes and Satnam Singh Parhar, who were absent from the debate. Former NYPD Captain Joe Concannon, the sole Republican candidate in the race, also participated in the forum. Questions ranged in topics such as the possible tax reclassification for coops and condos, the regulation of Uber drivers in NYC, increased services for the elderly and the creation of group homes for developmentally disabled persons across Queens. Concannon made it clear that he aimed to make public safety a priority as his major platform. He took a stand against a bill passed by the City Council in 2013 to increase oversight of the NYPD and expressed support for the continuation of the “stop-and-frisk” initiative openly criticized by Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio. He also spoke out against what he dubbed as the “hug-athug” program to eliminate bail for lowlevel offenders in the city. “The council has handcuffed and blindfolded our Police Department here across the City of New York, and we only need to look at recent newspapers to have an account of what’s going on,” Concannon said. On how to better improve senior services, Lynch said that she would have three courses of action. Her top priority in this respect would be to improve affordable housing options. From left to right: Robert Pozarycki, editor-in-chief of The Queens Courier; candidate Barry Grodenchik; North Shore Towers Board President Mort Gitter; candidates Joe Concannon and Rebecca Lynch; North Shore Towers Political Action Committee Chair Felice Hannah; candidate Bob Friedrich; and Stephen Vrattos, editor-in-chief of the North Shore Towers Courier. Pozarycki and Vrattos served as moderators; Hannah was the timekeeper. “If we don’t have people being able to stay in their homes, it doesn’t matter if the services are here,” Lynch said. Lynch added that accessible transportation is a must for seniors to be able to utilize important services, calling for more reliable bus services and a weekend bus along the Little Neck Parkway route. Seniors also need more funding for existing programs, such as those of the Samuel Field Y and local senior centers, she noted. As the president of the Glen Oaks Village co-op, Friedrich was eager to speak on the issue of tax reclassification for co-ops and condos as singlefamily homes. He highlighted his time organizing city hall rallies to fight for lower taxes for co-op owners, and said that the valuation of co-ops should be capped to prevent further tax increases. “I could tell you what I’m going to do, but I’d rather tell you what I’ve been doing,” Friedrich said. “I’ve been the number one advocate in the City of New York fighting to protect our co-ops.” Grodenchik was supportive of the creation of group homes in Queens for developmentally disabled people. He made a distinction between these facilities and those used to relocate convicted youth offenders, saying that the former population was among the most vulnerable in the community. He also said that in his 10 years of working in the office of former Borough President Claire Shulman, he has found that community complaints submitted Photo courtesy of Julie Weissman after the installation of these group homes are very rare. “This is about the most vulnerable people in our society,” Grodenchik said. “How a society is judged is how it takes care of its people who are least fit to take care of themselves.” The candidates are looking to fill the seat that Mark Weprin vacated in June to become Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s deputy secretary of legislative affairs. The district contains all or parts of Bayside Hills, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Fresh Meadows, Glen Oaks, Hollis, Little Neck, New Hyde Park, Oakland Gardens and Queens Village. The winner of the Democratic primary will face Concannon in the Nov. 3 general election. Curbside pickup app coming to College Point Target BY ALINA SURIEL [email protected]/@alinangelica A mobile phone application enabling shoppers to pre-order from nearby stores and pick up items is soon to be available at the Target in College Point. Curbside, an iPhone and Android application that launched in San Francisco in 2014, allows consumers to create a shopping list of products available in partnering stores and pay for them electronically before arriving. The goods will be available for either in-store or curbside pickup depending on the location. The free app will be available on Aug. 11 and does not charge any additional fees for the service or mark up prices for products sold. Curbside currently has a promotional deal in place that allows users to share a code with friends so both parties can save $10 off a $20 purchase. Curbside founder Jaron Waldman is a former Apple executive who has previous experience with Making pickup orders at a Target in College Point is now possible thanks to an app called Curbside. startup ventures. He sold his last company, an online mapping service dubbed Placebase, to the tech mega-giant in 2009. While Curbside will so far only expand to the one Queens location at 135-05 20th Ave., the service will also be available at other Target stores THE COURIER/Photo by Stephen Vrattos in the city at Gateway Center Shopping Mall in Brooklyn’s East New York and in the Throggs Neck area of the Bronx. The startup is looking to expand its reach in the New York and New Jersey area and announced $25 million in new funding in June to fuel its growth.
QC08132015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above