FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 15, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 4
Jamaica Bay restoration eff orts boosted with nearly $19 million in federal funding
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
In the ongoing eff orts to protect Jamaica
Bay and the low-lying communities that surround
it, U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and
Kirsten Gillibrand announced they had secured
$18.61 million for the Stony Creek Marsh Island
restoration.
With the allocation, the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers can begin the fi nal design and
construction of the marsh island in Jamaica Bay
which will help clean waterways and protect
neighborhoods from extreme weather.
“Projects like Jamaica Bay’s Stony Creek
March are designed to protect our communities
from fl ooding, preserve our shorelines and help
restore New York’s precious water ecosystems,”
Schumer said. “I am proud we secured funding
for this vital project that will help restore
Jamaica Bay’s marshland, spur important habitats,
help clean waterways and better protect the
communities of southern Brooklyn and Queens
from future extreme weather.”
Th e marsh islands of Jamaica Bay have been
disappearing and a loss of more than 2,000
acres have been documented since 1924 and
will continue to be lost at an alarming rate, according
to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Left alone, the marshes could vanish by the year
2025, destroying wildlife habitats and threatening
the bay’s shorelines.
“Environmental justice and sustainable development
are critically important to the future
of our communities,” Gillibrand said. “Th e
restoration of Jamaica Bay Stony Creek Marsh
Island is important for the future of New York
City, it will not only help protect our shorelines
from extreme weather but it will also help keep
our waterways clean.”
Th e Stony Creek Marsh Island is the largest of
several salt marshes along Jamaica Bay.
“Th is is a huge victory for all of us in the
Jamaica Bay community,” Assemblywoman
Stacey Pheff er Amato said. “Th is investment
restores and sets up protections for the bay, not
just for now, but for the future generations by
ensuring that the bay and our environment
continue to fl ourish.”
A key environmental organization said the announcement
was great news to kick off Earth Month.
“Th anks to the leadership of Senators Charles
Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Jamaica Bay’s
Creek Marsh will soon be restored, providing
critical habitat, while protecting shoreline communities
around Jamaica Bay from extreme
weather,” said Tom Secunda, chair of the Jamaica
Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy. “Th is
historic investment in our environment shows
how advocates, public-private partnerships and
elected offi cials can work together to continue
restoring Jamaica Bay’s marshes and enhance
parkland for visitors and wildlife.”
Photo by Daniel Avila/NYC Parks
Th e decades-long eff ort to restore Jamaica
Bay to pristine condition has resulted in the
return of marine life including seals, dolphins
and even humpback whales that have been
spotted regularly in the waters in recent years.
“Jamaica Bay is an amazing natural resource
and perhaps the most important urban national
park in the country,” Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers
President Dan Mundy Jr. said. “We have made
great strides in recent years in restoring the
health of the bay and this funding will allow
that great work to continue and will ensure that
this amazing natural resource will be here for
future generations to enjoy.”
Flushing library to reopen to the public with full service on April 25
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Queens Public Library’s (QPL) Flushing
branch will welcome back patrons beginning
Monday, April 25, off ering full service for the fi rst
time since it temporarily closed in March 2020
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Th e Flushing library, located at 41-17 Main St.,
reopened in July 2020 for staff to process requests
for books and other materials. It off ered to-go
service from November 2020 until March 2021,
when the city began using it for its free COVID-19
vaccination site.
Although Flushing became one of the city’s
most visited vaccination locations, the city had to
stop administering shots inside the branch in mid-
June because the building’s heating, ventilation
and air conditioning (HVAC) system had failed.
However, the city continued to use the site
for storage to support the vaccination eff ort for
several months.
The HVAC system breakdown came at
roughly the same time as a previously planned
closure of the library for the construction of
a second elevator and the renovation of the
existing elevator. Work on this project started
in December 2021.
Th e bulk of the work on the elevators will take
place at night so the building can be open during
the day to provide library service. For now, the
existing HVAC system has been able to provide
heat while a temporary chiller is set up in a trailer
outside the building. A brand-new system will be
installed within the next two years.
Flushing Library is a vital community resource
and the fi rst stop for many immigrants.
In fi scal year 2019, it drew 1.7 million visitors,
circulated 1 million items and brought in 184,000
program attendees, who participated in its English
classes, GED prep courses, technology workshops,
job readiness classes and a number of other programs.
Many of its classes and cultural programming
continued virtually throughout the pandemic.
Councilwoman Sandra Ung toured the library
last month with Congresswoman Grace Meng,
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards
and QPL President and CEO Dennis Walcott,
who assured Ung the library would open in
April. Ung thanked Walcott and his team
for keeping their promise and reopening the
library before the end of the month.
“I’m so pleased that we fi nally have a defi nite
date for the reopening of the Flushing Library,”
Ung said. “Th e library is truly the heart of this
community, especially for our large immigrant
population. More than just a place to check out
books, it is essential to our seniors and families,
as well as a place for students to gather aft er
school. Not having this facility in our community
for over three years was a real hardship.”
Flushing Library’s hours will be Monday
through Th ursday from 10 am. to 8 p.m., Friday
from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. QPL hopes to restore Sunday
service as soon as possible.
A roster of virtual and in-person programs
will be off ered starting on April 25. Flushing’s
Adult Learning Center will also reopen the
same day with classes for the public. Th e ALC
hours will be Monday, Tuesday and Friday from
10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday and Th ursday
from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m.
For a complete schedule of QPL off erings,
visit queenslibrary.org.
Photo by Carlotta Mohamed/QNS
Queens Public Flushing Library, located at 41-17 Main St., has been closed since March 2020. The library is
slated to reopen in late April, according to QPL.
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