4 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 31, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens rallies to help Harvey victims
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com
Th e category 4 hurricane that has pummeled
the Texas coast has left at least
fi ve people dead and thousands forced to
evacuate their homes due to unprecedented
fl ooding.
Hurricane Harvey has dumped 15 to 25
inches on parts of Texas and though it has
been downgraded to a tropical storm, the
area is set to see additional rainfall until
midweek.
Brock Long, administrator of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) said that Harvey is “probably the
worst disaster the state’s seen” and that
the recovery process will last years.
New York experienced its own natural
disaster with Hurricane Sandy in 2012
and both the mayor and governor are
sending additional support to help Texas
cope with destruction.
Roger Gendron, the president of the
Hamilton Beach Civic Association, said
on Facebook that supplies and aid from
states across the country helped his community
bounce back aft er Hurricane
Sandy. He is encouraging residents to
deliver supplies to the civic association at
the Hamilton Beach Labor Day Weekend
Family Day Parade & BBQ.
“As a community, we know all too
well what the people of Texas are going
through,” he wrote. “In the immediate
aft ermath of Sandy, we received a huge
amount of support from all throughout
the country. Donations of clothes to personal
hygiene products to socks came
pouring in from as far away as South
Organizations are seeking donations to help those aff ected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas.
Carolina! Th ose donations were vital in
our recovery and now here’s an opportunity
to show how much we appreciated
everything that was done for us.”
He is asking Queens residents to donate
small bottles of bath essentials like shampoo,
conditioner and deodorant, dental
hygiene essentials, fi rst-aid items, pads and
tampons, diapers, underwear and socks.
Th e items will be collected at Hamilton
Beach Park on Sept. 3 from 2 to 4 p.m. and
sent to the Groesbeck Fire Department in
Texas.
Th e American Red Cross is also taking
donations to open shelters and provide
supplies to those aff ected. Visit its website
to donate.
Local food banks are also in need of supplies
Photo courtesy of Flickr/Texas National Guard
and you can donate to the Houston
Food Bank, Galveston County Food Bank,
Th e Food Bank of Corpus Christi and the
Southeast Texas Food Bank.
Th e Greater Houston Community
Fund, started by Houston Mayor Sylvester
Turner, has established the Hurricane
Harvey Relief Fund to collect tax-deductible
fl ood relief donations.
Queens residents can also donate to
the Texas Diaper Bank, which was established
in San Antonio in 1997 to “address
the diaper gap and its impact on individuals
in crisis.”
To help pets aff ected by the disaster,
you can donate to the Houston Humane
Society, San Antonio Humane Society
and SPCA of Texas.
Photo via Facebook/NYPD 109th Precinct
Offi cers from the Bronx’s 45th Precinct discovered
the van on Aug. 26.
Tricked out van
the source of north
Queens noise
complaints
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Th e root of Whitestone and College
Point residents’ late-night headaches
was discovered in the Bronx this weekend,
according to authorities.
From late Friday night, Aug. 25, into
early the next morning, the Flushingbased
109th Precinct began receiving
noise complaints from north Queens
residents along the waterfront. Upon
contacting the Bronx’s 45th Precinct,
offi cers learned that the source of the
noise was a van outfi tted with large
speakers playing music parked at Ferry
Point Park.
Offi cers from the 45th Precinct
arrived at the scene and put an end to
the noise. Th ere were no arrests and
the vehicle was not confi scated from its
owner, according to an NYPD spokesperson.
Th e 109th Precinct’s commanding
offi cer, Inspector Judith Harrison, took
to Twitter to thank offi cials at the
Bronx precinct for their eff orts.
Nighttime noise has long been a
problem for residents of north Queens.
At a We Love Whitestone Civic meeting
last September, offi cers attributed
the disruptive noise to party boats
at the World’s Fair Marina and cars
playing loud music parked in the lot.
In May, the precinct, a local lawmaker
and community members met to
form a multi-step plan to combat the
noise, which included noise patrols at
the docks and a sound check.
In June 2016, a 47-year-old man with
a van outfi tted with approximately 80
speakers blaring loud music was arrested
at Willets Point. Th e van in the latest
incident was not the same one involved
in the Willets Point arrest, the 109th
Precinct said on Facebook.
Queens pols: ‘Read our lips, no new tolls!’
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
“No new tolls” was the call in Queens
on Sunday.
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz, Assemblyman David Weprin,
Councilman Barry Grodenchik and
local leaders gathered at the foot of the
Queensboro Bridge on Aug. 27 to voice
their opposition to any funding plan that
includes enacting tolling on the free East
River bridges. Th e bridges have been free
since 1911.
Th e rally followed Governor Andrew
Cuomo’s talk of a congestion pricing
plan in New York to raise revenues for
the city’s ailing mass transit network.
Th e plan was met with opposition from
Mayor Bill de Blasio, according to reports.
Katz said that the proposal, should it
go into eff ect, would “landlock” Queens.
“Just as it’s hard to justify any fare
increase for riders, it’s also hard to justify
a bridge-and-tunnel toll that isn’t coupled
with specifi c increases in service,” the
borough president said. “We are one city,
and it is fundamentally unfair to charge
residents a fee to travel within one city,
from one part of the city to another. It is
certainly unfair to the families who live in
the transit desert of Queens.”
Grodenchik and Weprin, who each represent
areas of eastern Queens, said the
plan would impose a fi nancial burden on
the working and middle-class residents
who already contest with rising costs and
limited transit options.
“Th ese tolls are in fact a regressive tax
on people who have limited public transportation
options and would impose an
unjustifi able fi nancial burden on Queens
residents, especially commuters, who are
already struggling with rising costs of living,”
Grodenchik said. “It is time for the
MTA to get its fi scal house in order before
further burdening area residents.”
“Th e people who rely on these bridges
are a diverse group of New Yorkers
who are trying to make aff ordable choices
in this city and any future transportation
plan for New York must take into the
account the needs of outer borough residents,”
Weprin said.
Kevin Forrestal, president of the
Queens Civic Congress, pointed out that
the bridge is used daily by people with
physical disabilities, blue-collar workers
who need to transport tools and materials,
and individuals seeking health care.
“Most of those who utilize our East
River crossings are lower- or middle-income
residents who have seen their buying
power reduced over the last decade,”
Forrestal said. “Th ey should not be burdened
by imposing tolls.”
Jon Weinstein, a spokesperson for the
governor, said limited impact on residents
of the outer boroughs is “a must”
for any future plan.
”Th ere are a variety of models that
are being reviewed, vetted and analyzed,”
he continued. “It’s perplexing that
Melinda Katz, David Weprin and Barry
Grodenchik could hold a press conference
on a proposal that hasn’t been proposed
yet — they should really know the
facts fi rst.”
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg fi rst
proposed bringing congestion pricing to
Manhattan about a decade ago, but the
plan was derailed in the state legislature.