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QUEENS WEEKLY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
(From l. to r.) Fresh Meadows Camera Club President Joe
Kramer, Vice President Bernard Lebrun and Treasurer Richard
Taub. Photo by Jo-Anne Raskin
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The Fresh Meadows
Camera Club is celebrating
its 70-plus anniversary this
year with a retrospective
exhibition of photographs
at the Glen Oaks Branch of
the Queens Borough Public
Library.
Guests are welcomed
to view the exhibition of
30 photographs taken by
club members currently
on display until Feb. 29 at
Glen Oaks Library located
at 256-05 Union Tpke.
“We have some members
that travel and there
are photographs from other
countries, cities, and most
of it is also local scenery in
Queens, and from Long Island
and New York state,”
said Joe Kramer, president
of the Fresh Meadows
Camera Club.
The club member’s photographs
have also been
featured at various venues
across the borough,
according to Kramer.
Whether they’re beginners,
advanced amateurs,
or professionals, the members
meet every Tuesday
at 8 p.m. in the club house,
located 69-40 C 186th Lane.
Established in 1949, the
Fresh Meadows Camera
Club with about 35 to 40
members, promotes passion
and knowledge of photography
with fellow shutterbugs,
to compete in the
club, and to have fun. The
club is a member of the
Photographic Federation
of Long Island (PFLI), a
voluntary nonprofit organization
of camera clubs
from Nassau and Suffolk
counties and the five boroughs
of New York City.
“The Fresh Meadows
Camera Club offers its
members the opportunity to
learn all aspects of photography
including photoshop,
matting, framing, field trips
and monthly competitions,”
Kramer said.
It is the only clubhouse
that maintains a full-time
facility, including color and
black-and-white darkrooms,
and full facilities for mounting
and matting images, according
to Kramer. All of
the equipment and facilities
are available to members
24/7. The club’s critiques
and competitions are held
in a gallery-style setting in
the meeting room, in an atmosphere
that encourages
sharing of ideas and techniques
in a non-competitive
environment.
Members can attend
regular scheduled classes
in Photoshop and all aspects
of digital photography,
as well as darkroom
instruction. The Photoshop
class is taught with a
digital projector on a large
screen by various experienced
teachers and photographers
in the club, as well
as outside guest lecturers.
“Our goal is to teach,
learn and share photographic
ideas and techniques,
whether we are
beginners, advanced amateurs
or professionals. All
are welcome. The public
is invited at no charge to
any of the club meetings,”
Kramer said.
For further information
about the Fresh Meadows
Camera Club, visit www.
freshmeadowscameraclub.
org.
Judge dismisses suit seeking to
halt Glendale homeless shelter
Opponents of the 78-16 Cooper Ave. shelter gathered Jan. 31 to keep up the pressure as they waited to hear about their legal
challenges. Photo by Dean Moses
BY MAX PARROTT
A judge on Feb. 7 dismissed
a lawsuit filed by
a group of Queens residents
in November claiming
that the city did not
conduct the proper environmental
review for the
proposed homeless shelter
at 78-16 Cooper Ave. in
Glendale.
The lawsuit sought
an injunction to halt the
city’s plan to develop the
building into a 200-person
homeless shelter.
Manhattan Supreme
Court Justice Carol Edmead
found that the plaintiffs
misinterpreted the
environmental review
process and denied the
lawsuit entirely.
The judge added that
the Department of Homeless
Services had conducted
its own environmental
assessment study, which
found that locating a homeless
shelter in the subject
building will not have a
“significant environmental
impact,” and would
authorize the project to
proceed.
“Pet it ioners/pl a intiffs’
fail to identify any
authority to support the
proposition that a ‘citywide’
review is required
before DHS may initiate
any homeless shelter
development projects,”
wrote Edmead in her
decision.
In response to the
news, DHS spokesperson
Isaac McGinn said the
agency would be proceeding
as soon as possible
with opening the facility.
“Today’s ruling is a
win for New Yorkers experiencing
homelessness
who will now have the
opportunity to get back
on their feet at this highquality
employment shelter,”
said McGinn.
The DHS’ celebration
may have come prematurely,
though, as the Supreme
Court appeal is just
one of two legal avenues
that shelter opponents
have pursued to stop the
project.
The Glendale-Middle
Village Coalition also
filed objections with the
Department of Buildings
that the shelter would
violate its current zoning
requirements. The group
is still waiting on a denial
letter from the DOB
after applying last year,
and followed up by filing
again more recently with
a different attorney.
Councilman Robert
Holden pointed out that
the Cooper Avenue site
has been flagged by the
Department of Buildings
as a result of the objections.
“As of Feb. 3, the building
plans are revoked due
to numerous objections
submitted to the Department
of Buildings and
Board of Standards and
Appeals. These objections
will stand if the applicants
do not figure out how to
resolve them. This fight
is far from over,” Holden
said in a statement.
DHS dismissed
the DOB objections as
a standard part of the
construction process. A
spokesperson said that
they expected them to be
resolved promptly.
Reach reporter Max
Parrott by e-mail at mparrott@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260-2507.
Fresh Meadows Camera Club
celebrates 70th anniversary
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