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QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 30, 2019
Queens students earn auto tech scholarships
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Four students enrolled
at a Queens post-secondary
technical institute have
been awarded over $20,000
in scholarships this week
to pursue careers as
automotive technicians.
The scholarships were
awarded by the Greater New
York Automobile Dealers
Association (GNYADA),
which represents over
400 franchise new car
dealerships in New York,
at its annual charity
golf outing at Fresh
Meadow Country Club in
Lake Success.
The recipients from
Lincoln Technical Institute
Center for Automotive
Education — located
in Whitestone at 15-30
Petracca Place — include
Destanie Greczkowski of
Jamaica; German Gonzalez
of East Elmhurst; Oliver
Zhou of Howard Beach;
and Elias Soto of Yonkers.
The four students received
$5,000 each to further
their education and enter
the industry, likely at
franchise dealerships in the
New York area.
“They are the future
of our industry and it is
looking very bright indeed,”
said Mark Schienberg,
president of GNYADA.
“These students have
worked so hard to achieve
the level of skills that are
critical to be in the auto
industry. GYNADA and its
member dealers are proud
to support the education
of so many talented young
people at Lincoln Tech.”
The members of
GNYADA support nearly
70,000 jobs and generate
nearly $50 billion in
economic activity. The
association works to help
and inform consumers
about the purchasing and
servicing options available
to them. It also promotes
education and training and
creates job opportunities
for young people interested
in pursuing careers in the
automotive business.
Since creating the
scholarship program in
2005, GNYADA has raised
more than $1 million
on behalf of automotive
education. Funds are raised
at the tournament through
the generosity of franchise
new car dealers, sponsors
and others.
Herman Dawkins,
president of Lincoln Tech,
said the scholarship for
students is life-changing
and the opportunities
are limitless.
“When I started, anyone
with a screwdriver and
a pair of pliers could
work on a car,” said
Dawkins. “It’s not like
that anymore. Technology
is so advanced that you
need to have specialized
technical training.”
All of the students
plan to pursue careers as
auto technicians at new
car dealerships in the
metro New York area. It is
estimated that some 46,000
jobs are opening up in the
industry, according to
GNYADA.
“I’m so excited to begin
my career in an area
that I’m truly passionate
about,” said Soto. “My
particular focus has been
in electronics, the high-tech
components that are such
an integral part of today’s
cars. I hope to use that
knowledge to build a longterm
career at a dealership
fixing cars today and into
the future.”
Since he was a kid,
Gonzalez’s love for cars
never dwindled.
“I had cars under my
bed, everywhere,” said
Gonzalez. “I’m so glad
I found this school. My
parents are proud of me
because I’m really doing
what I like.”
Rego Park’s Shalimar Diner to get new life on Long Island
BY BILL PARRY
Former New York Mets
bad boy Lenny “Nails”
Dykstra has joined a new
team hoping to grant the
shuttered Shalimar Diner
in Rego Park a new lease
on life on Long Island.
The beloved eatery
permanently closed its
doors last year after 45
years when the property
and an adjoining lot
were sold in a $6.5
million all-cash deal
with developers.
In April, Rego-Forest
Preservation Council
founder and chairman
Michael Perlman launched
an effort to find a taker for
the classic structure for
zero dollars and move it to
a new location before the
wrecking ball arrives.
Enter Dykstra, the
star outfielder on the 1986
World Champion Mets
squad and three-time allstar
with the Philadelphia
Phillies. He joined
forces with Manhattan
attorney Ronald Hariri
and Perlman to relocate
the Shalimar Diner to
Riverhead, Long Island
where it would likely
reopen as a brewery
and diner.
“Similar to Nails, the
Shalimar Diner is a piece
of Queens and New York
City history,” Hariri said.
“We are working with
an architect.”
Hariri said he was
raised on egg creams at the
Shalimar when he lived in
Forest Hills near Perlman
the preservationist
and historian.
“These places are
cultural cornerstones
of the neighborhood
but they’ve become an
endangered species,”
Perlman said. “It’s really
sad and disheartening
now how much land costs
around here.The structure
is prefabricated and
manufactured to be easy
to move.”
Hariri and Dykstra will
funds the moving costs
and it will be transported
by a professional diner
rigger. Perlman became
known as “The Diner
Man” after he achieved
success by sparing other
classic diners such as
SoHo’s Moondance Diner
and Midtown Manhattan’s
Cheyenne Diner by
brokering deals to have
them transported to
new locations.
It is not clear when the
Shalimar Diner will be
removed from its 63-68
Austin St. location.
“I became a
preservationist in 2005
when a demolition crew
took a jackhammer to the
art deco ticket booth at the
Trylon Theater on Queens
Boulevard,” Perlman
recalled. “The Shalimar
was another ultimate
public institution now
facing oblivion.”
Dykstra, meanwhile,
is looking to preserve his
reputation after several
brushes with the law
over the years including
charges of indecent
exposure, DUI, grand
theft auto, bankruptcy
fraud, sexual assault
and writing bad checks.
Dykstra made headlines
recently for searching for
his lost dentures in a New
Jersey dumpster for nine
hours with his friend, tagteam
wrestler nicknamed
Sprinkles the Clown,
that he chronicled on his
Twitter feed.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
Students from Lincoln Technical Institute for Automotive Education received scholarships
from the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association. (From l. to r.) Elias Soto, German
Gonzalez, Destanie Greczowski, Oliver Zhou and GNYADA Board Chair Jane Millman at the
annual golf outing and fundraiser at Fresh Meadow Country Club in Lake Success, NY.
Courtesy of GNYADA
Former Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra joins the team that
is trying to rescue the Shalimar Diner in Rego Park from a
wrecking crew. Courtesy of Michael Perlman
/schnepsmedia.com