20 The Queens Courier • AUGUST 15, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Woman claims condo discrimination BY MELISA CHAN [email protected] A paralyzed Queens woman is suing a national real estate development company, claiming a newly built College Point condominium discriminated against her disability, a lawsuit said. The suit filed August 8 claims AVR Realty violated fair housing and human rights laws when it rejected Suzanne Vilchez’s request to make her newly purchased condo unit more handicapped accessible. Vilchez is restricted to a wheelchair and has limited movement in her hands, fingers and arms, the lawsuit said. She and her mother, Maria Coello, put a deposit down in August 2009 for a twobedroom unit at Powell Cove Estates, a new 220-unit waterfront condo community, according to legal documents. They said they were granted requests then by a sales representative for a levered door, an accessible patio, a lowered bathroom light switch and a roll-in shower, among other accommodations. But the pair, who had sold their family home, was told a year later the doors could not be changed and the patio could not be modified to be made more accessible, the lawsuit said. The federal Fair Housing Amendments Act mandates new multi-family residential buildings, with at least four units, be designed and built to have minimum accessibility features for the disabled. It also requires building owners to make “reasonable exceptions” to policies and operations in accommodating people with disabilities and to allow tenants to pay for and make modifications. AVR Realty declined to comment. A discrimination complaint Vilchez filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is still “under active investigation,” the department said. Jamaica Bay ecosystem to be studied BY MAGIE HAYES [email protected] A top-tier research center promoting resilience in urban ecosystems is coming to Jamaica Bay. On Monday, August 12, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced CUNY will house the new Science and Resilience Institute. The leaders also laid out progress on the cooperative management of Jamaica Bay parkland and waters. “The new consortium is an allstar team of research institution and nonprofits who will do important work to protect and preserve urban ecosystems from development and from the effects of climate change,” Bloomberg said. “Jamaica Bay is one of the greatest natural treasures any city has within its borders.” The Science and Resilience Institute will integrate research efforts from across the natural and social sciences, host visiting scientists and provide lab facilities for students and researchers. The site will be formally Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the establishment of a Science and Resilience Institute to study the urban ecosystem of Jamaica Bay. established by fall of this year, with a temporary space on Brooklyn College’s campus. “Working together, we will develop and coordinate approaches to coastal resiliency for Jamaica Bay that can serve as a model for communities around the world,” Jewell said. “In CUNY and their academic partners, we have a consortium of world-class PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR institutions to advance our understanding of climate change and its impact on our natural systems.” Bloomberg and Jewell also announced progress on several other park initiatives. Those include the formation of a Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, chaired by longtime National Park Service philanthropist Tom Secunda. Turn this week’s issue into next week’s. Recycle everything. Call 311 or visit nyc.gov to learn more B:8.75” B:5.65”
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