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QC09112014

FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com september 11, 2014 • The Queens Courier 5 MALBA DEFENDS ITS SMELL BY CRIS TABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com @CristabelleT Malba residents say something stinks about a recent website ranking that named their affluent neighborhood as the smelliest in Queens. New York City real estate website BrickUnderground and apartment data site AddressReport compiled a list of the 10 smelliest and 10 least smelly neighborhoods in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan, using data from the frequency of 311 complaints for odor-related issues that was then weighted for population. Among the complaints were sewer backups and odors, vehicle and restaurant fumes, and missed trash collection. Malba was rated as Queens’ smelliest neighborhood and the third smelliest in the three boroughs after Brooklyn’s Greenwood Heights and Navy Hill. Koreatown was the smelliest area in Manhattan. A section of northeast Queens with multi-million-dollar houses and expansive water views, Malba locals had issues with the analysis, saying the area was clean, well-maintained and virtually odor-free. On a hot Friday afternoon last week, Steven Vitale, 24, who has lived in the neighborhood his whole life, made an observation about the smell in the neighborhood. “The smelliest thing here is me,” the jogger said, shirt soaked in sweat. “Otherwise, this area smells fine to me.” Eliza Kalas, who has lived in Malba for the last five years, agreed. “It’s not that bad here and it’s certainly not worth complaining about,” she said, referring to the 311 complaints. The only area she noticed with a slight smell was by the water on Boulevard Street. Other Queens neighborhoods with offensive smells included Lindenwood, which came in at number two, followed by Neponsit, St. Albans, College Point, Howard Beach, Bayswater, Cambria Heights, Broad Channel and Beechurst/Whitestone. Overall, western Queens smelled better than the rest of the borough. North Corona was ranked as number one of the least smelly neighborhoods in Queens, followed by Corona, Woodside and Elmhurst. The remaining top 10 included Rego Park, Sunnyside, Jackson Heights, Bellerose, East Flushing and Ridgewood. Nicholas Kaizer, vice president of the Malba Association, found issue with how the data was analyzed since, according to him, there are only around 400 homes in the area. “Though not a statistician, it’s pretty obvious that the tiny size of the sample population seriously calls into question the value of the per capita method of analyzing odor complaints to the city,” he said, calling the data skewed. “The sounds and smells coming off of our waterfront — and throughout our small neighborhood — are among our greatest assets and we jealously guard our native habitat, policing and tending to the grounds regularly, as our community has done for over 100 years,” Kaizer said. With additional reporting by Eric Jankiewicz Malba was rated as Queens’ smelliest neighborhood. THE COURIER/Photo by Eric Jankiewicz Secret Theatre to stay open after surpassing fundraising goal BY ANGY ALTAMIR ANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @aaltamirano28 The show will go on at one Long Island City theatre thanks to a successful online fundraising campaign. Last month Richard Mazda, founder of the Secret Theatre, located at 44-02 23rd St., started an Indiegogo campaign looking to raise enough money to help keep the doors of the theatre open. He turned to the fundraising site came after the theatre had to deal with financial difficulties starting in late 2012 after the Department of Buildings (DOB) found the landlord’s certificate of occupancy was out of date, according to Mazda. The goal of the Indiegogo campaign, which ended Sept. 4, was set at $10,000, but the theatre was able to raise $10,915. “I feel really good about it,” Mazda said about seeing the overwhelming amount of support. “Coming out and saying we’re in trouble was not easy. I feel very luck that so many people did rush to help.” The Secret Theatre opened in 2007 and has since produced weekly children’s theatre shows, held classes for students, provided coaching services, produced in-house shows and co-produced productions. Along with raising the money to pay for expenses, Mazda also said the funds will go toward renovations such as putting a restroom inside the Little Theatre, which had to be moved to an alternative spot in the 23rd Street building after violations were found by the DOB. He also hopes to turn the theatre into a nonprofit organization. Mazda said he plans to start the Queens Theatre Fund, a small organization that brings together the Queens theatre community to create funding for “exceptional and emergency circumstances,” such as the one in which the Secret Theatre found itself. “I tried to be very transparent and sincere and a lot of people have said to me that what I was saying to them hit home. They understood from the way that I communicated the message,” Mazda said about the overall fundraising experience. “I think they realized the Secret Theatre is a resource for the community.” Photo by Orestes Gonzalez Richard Mazda feels grateful that supporters helped the Secret Theatre raise over $10,000 in funds to keep the doors of the theatre open. 1-800-382-HOME(4663) for Housing www.sonyma.org


QC09112014
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