4 The QUEE NS Courier • OCTOBER 27, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Photo courtesy of the NYC Parks Department City officials breaking ground on a new construction project in Bowne Park. Bowne Park playground getting a fun makeover BY SUZANE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com/@smont76 A Flushing park will soon feature $1.5 million in playground improvements. Bowne Park — an 11-acre space bounded by 29th and 32nd avenues and 155th and 159th streets — is undergoing construction of a new play area, which will feature climbing equipment for children aged 2-5 and 6-12, a spray shower with a turtle theme, painted games, new swings and a full renovation of the park’s basketball courts. Plans also include installation of new benches throughout the park. The park already features a bocce court, park house and pond which is home to a family of turtles. City officials officially broke ground at the construction site last Thursday, Oct. 20. “Bowne Park is an 11-acre oasis in Flushing, where people come to enjoy nature, spend time with their families, and connect with their neighbors,” Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver said. “We’re proud to bring new play equipment here that will enhance the park’s natural wonders, and challenge the imaginations of our neighborhood kids.” The comfort station within the park is also currently being reconstructed under a separate project and a new filtration system for the pond is currently in the design phase. The project was funded with $1 million from Borough President Melinda Katz and $500,000 from City Councilman Paul Vallone. Construction is expected to be complete in fall 2017. Bayside hospital workers reach labor deal BY SUZANE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com/@smont76 After registered nurses, clerical workers and therapists took to the picket line outside of St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside last month, the union representing them and the medical center have a struck a deal for better salaries and benefits. United Healthcare Workers East (SEIU 1199), which is the largest health care workers union in the nation, and hospital management announced on Oct. 19 an agreement that will affect a total of 378 workers. The contract includes an increase in wages as well as a significant increase in benefits, according to a release by both involved parties. “We greatly value each of our employees who work hard every day to provide the best care for New York’s most critically ill and injured children,” said Eddie Simpser, CEO of St. Mary’s Hospital for Children. “We are proud to have come to an agreement with SEIU 1199 that allows us to offer this generous salary increase and excellent benefits.” Alex Marisol, a registered nurse at St. Mary’s with 12 years experience, was on the negotiating committee which discussed the wage agreement. “I’m pleased with this agreement and the decent salary increase, which reflects the importance of the work we do,” Marisol said. “Now we will continue what we do best, caring for New York’s sickest children. I’m looking forward to working with management in the future.” The new contract was officially ratified on Oct. 19 and “We greatly value each of our employees who work hard every day to provide the best care for New York’s most critically ill and injured children.” Eddie Simpser has a term of four years. St. Mary’s Hospital for Children is a not-for-profit healthcare facility that provides children with special needs and life-limiting conditions with intensive rehabilitation, specialized care and education. City’s first lady comes to Corona to launch a new citywide mental health program By Angela Matua amatua@qns.com/@AngelaMatua New York City’s First Lady Chirlane McCray announced in Corona on Monday a new initiative to get mental health counseling to every New Yorker. NYC Well will provide mental health and substance misuse services to every New Yorker through phone, text and online chat 365 days a year. As part of ThriveNYC, the city’s program to address mental illness and substance abuse, the service will be available in more than 200 languages. Services include crisis counseling and suicide prevention, referral to behavioral health services, mobile crisis teams that will be dispatched to the homes of those with mental illness who need help and follow-up services like reminders for appointments. “All of us have been touched by this crisis either directly or through someone that we love and care about,” McCray said at the press conference. “With NYC Well, confidential and high-quality support is just one click or one call away.” NYC Well will also provide shortterm counseling via phone, text or chat until an appointment with a mental health professional can be scheduled. It differs from Lifenet, another city initiative that focuses more on suicide and crisis prevention. Anyone can use the service regardless of their income, insurance or citizenship status. New Yorkers can reach a counselor by calling 888-NYC-WELL, texting WELL to 65173 or chatting at nyc. gov/nycwell. According to city studies, the average wait time to connect someone through the NYC Well service is 13 seconds. The service can handle 200,000 calls, texts and chats per year. About 83 full-time professionals are available to help and additional counselors and peer specialists will be available based on volume. NYC Well will cost $4.5 million a year. The city estimates that it loses $14 billion a year in productivity because of mental health and substance misuse and there are 70,000 emergency room visit in New York City every year because of alcohol misuse. For more info about NYC Well, visit https://nycwell.cityofnewyork. us/en/. Photo by Angela Matua/THE COURIER NYC Well will provide 24/7 access to mental health and substance abuse services through phone, text and online chat.
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