FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com august 14, 2014 • The Queens Courier 35 Longtime community garden volunteer sees role trimmed back BY BENJAMIN FANG editorial@queenscourier.com Alberta Crowley was a star in her community, but now she says the city’s Parks Department is trying to restrict her glowing service. The 71-year-old Queens Village resident has been volunteering at the Bricktown Community Garden on 106th Avenue and 173rd Street in Jamaica for six years. But she claims park officials have restricted her activity to a space next to the garden, called Tree of Life. “The area here is unleveled, unsafe,” Crowley said. “They locked me out of the garden.” She said workers from the City Parks Foundation (CPF), a nonprofit that works with the Parks Department, took over about a year ago. In the past, Crowley worked with disabled children and seniors, helping them grow fig trees, cherry trees, blueberries and grapevines. Now she said she’s not allowed to continue because she’s not certified. “They said I can’t work here with special needs people,” Crowley said. She pointed out that she was previously given permission as a member of GreenThumb, a city community gardening education program funded by the Parks Department. The Parks Department responded in an email that Crowley was allowed to temporarily use a portion of the City Park Foundation’s original garden, called the Learning Garden, for her workshops with adults with disabilities. “In order to accommodate the growing demand for CPF’s educational programs, this section of CPF’s garden has been reintegrated with the rest of their garden,” a Parks Department spokesman said. “Ms. Crowley continues to be welcome to help with these workshops.” Vanessa Smith, who advocates on Crowley’s behalf, said officials from the Parks Department want to close her off. “They said she wasn’t allowed to go in there because she’s a volunteer and they are paid,” Smith said. “She’s doing this out of love, so why would you lock her out?” In addition, Smith said officials from the Parks Department are not providing the support Crowley needs to maintain the smaller area she was relegated to. “They’re not giving her the funding to upgrade it here,” Smith said. “What I think they’re trying to do is eventually take over the whole area.” Park officials say they are providing the equipment necessary for improvements. “GreenThumb is currently purchasing lumber and soil to allow raised planting beds to be constructed,” a Parks Department spokesman said. Thirty pieces of lumber currently rest inside the Tree of Life garden. Despite the dispute over certification and land usage, Crowley said she wants to continue what she’s been doing in the last six years. “I want access to the area and raised beds for seniors,” she said. She hopes to continue working with people with disabilities and seniors who need wheelchair accessibility into the garden. Crowley and Parks Department representatives are slated to meet in August, where they will discuss use of the space and possibly building a direct entrance to Tree of Life. The City Parks Foundation did not respond to a request for comment. Rendering courtesy of the Department of Education Renderings of the new “L-shaped” P.S./I.S. 314 school in Jamaica. Renderings reveal look of new P.S./I.S. 314 school in Jamaica BY LIAM LA GUERRE lguerre@queenscourier.com /@liamlaguerre The School Construction Authority posted renderings of P.S./I.S. 314 in Jamaica, giving residents a glimpse into the future of a new school in the neighborhood. The school, which will be located on the corner of 164th Street and Hillside Avenue, is just one of many coming to the borough in the next few years to target overcrowding. It was approved by the City Council in 2011. It will be four stories and approximately 113,092 square feet, according to city filings, and accommodate more than 830 students, from pre-K through the eighth-grade. It is expected to open in September 2015. Gruzen Samton Architects of IBI Group designed the building, which is shaped like an “L” and organized into two main components: a four-story academic wing with classrooms, offices, a cafeteria and library, and a three-story public assembly wing, which houses the gymnasium and an auditorium. A sign of improvement for Ozone Park plaza BY SALVATORE LICATA slicata@queenscourier.com @Sal_Licata1 A pedestrian plaza in Ozone Park that has become a detriment to local business is getting a makeover, according to the community group charged with maintaining it. Shortly after The Courier published an article on the forlorn plaza at 101st Avenue and Drew Street, the Bangladesh American Community Development and Youth Services (BACDYS) organization placed a sign in the plaza announcing a remake of the plaza. There have already been changes made. BACDYS has scheduled an event for the plaza on Aug. 21 and also added umbrellas and chairs to better accommodate locals. The sign hung up in the plaza reads, “A new plaza is proposed here,” and there is a meeting planned by Community Board 9 to discuss further solutions. “When Community Board 9 voted in favor of the pedestrian plaza, we did so with the understanding that we would monitor the plaza’s local impacts and keep an eye on whether it remained an asset to the community,” CB 9 chairman Ralph Gonzalez said. “With this meeting, we hope to give all sides of this discussion a seat at the table, and we are aiming to arrive at the best resolution possible.” Local business owners complained about the plaza because of the number of parking spaces it took up on 101st Avenue and Drew Street. The meeting will be held on Aug. 21 at Queens Borough Hall at 4:30 p.m. Expected to attend are representatives from Community Board 9; the Department of Transportation’s Queens Borough Commissioner, Dalila Hall; representatives from the BACDYS organization and merchants from the area who have complained about the plaza.
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