TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 • 26 WRBA Fumes After Learning Ambulance Corps Will Shut Down -CONTINUED FROM PG. 1- Cultural and Historical Society. “At this point, water is still coming into their building. Their insurance company won’t even come into the building to look because they said there’s no point in looking until it’s secure.” The ambulance corps has been non-operational since the initial collapse of the neighboring building back in 2013. The organization suffered another blow when the senior center was forced to vacate, leaving the corps with an added loss of roughly $2,500 in monthly rental income. In addition, the ambulance corps has continued to pay out of pocket for insurance on the property in peril for the past two years, leaving them deeply in debt. The community hosted a variety of fundraising events over the past two years, including last September’s pasta dinner, in an effort to help the ailing organization. WRBA President Martin Colberg announced that he had just received word from the Department of Buildings giving the landlord of the collapsed building at 78-19 Jamaica Ave. additional extensions to begin making the necessary repairs. According to Colberg, the new deadlines are the latest in a twoyear long series of delays. Under the newest extension, the landlord has until Jan. 23 to submit revised plans for the repairs. A deadline to fix the collapsed roof and adjoining wall was also extended to Feb. 22. Board 6 Rejects CB Term Limits Proposal They also mentioned that they are evaluated every two years and if they are not doing a well enough job they can be removed from the board by the borough president. Hennessy and the board believe that 12 years on a board may not be enough time for new members to gain experience to properly serve the communities. The more seasoned members of the board can better help the communities. Hennessy also pointed out that if a new member joins the board at a certain time in their life, they might not have sufficient time to serve as best they could, and once they reach an age where they have more time to contribute, their 12 years may be up and they can no longer serve on the board Some community boards have let Dromm know that they oppose the bill, so Hennessy asked his board, “what would you like Community Board 6 to do?” In the letter Hennessy wrote, “it is an insult to remove them from their position when they are reaching the age when they have more time to contribute.” Consumer affairs The consumer affairs committee report announced that there were two new applicants for liquor licenses. The first being, A & A Pizza & Restaurant at 71-37 Austin St. and the second, La Coya at 98-35 Metropolitan Ave. Both were approved after a roll call vote by the board. All seven license renewals were approved by the board as well. Freight program Hennessy informed the board and those in attendance of the meetings that will be held for public input regarding the Cross Harbor Freight Program. He explained the current problem with shipping freight through the city by truck, and the need to make changes to that system. “This is very important, I believe,” Hennessy said. “It’s interesting. If you have the time you should go to the meeting.” The meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 29, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Queens Borough Hall, located at 120-55 Queens Blvd., Room 213. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 1- Colberg had harsh words for the property’s landlord, as well as for the DOB and the judge appointed to the case. “The judge would rather side with a slumlord than with a community,” Colberg stated. “It’s disgusting what he’s done to this community and I’m really getting disgusted with our legal system. We need real answers from the Buildings Department and from this judge.” WRBA Treasurer Steve Forte echoed Colberg’s frustration and questioned as to whether the judge could be dismissed from the case. “The stumbling block of this whole thing is the judge,” he explained. “Maybe a better plan of action would be to pursue getting the judge replaced. There has to be some mechanism for replacing a judge who is obviously prejudicial.” Colberg suspects the landlord of having other unsavory intentions with regard to the property at 78-19 Jamaica Ave. “They have a bigger plan, and it has nothing to do with what’s right for the community,” he said. “It’s about what’s right for his pocket,” he stated. Many in the community expressed concerns over what could possibly end up in the large, expansive space in the ambulance corps’ absence. “We want to make sure that it’s something that’s right for the community, and I believe that the ambulance corps was right for this community,” Colberg added. In addition to the impending loss of the ambulance corps, Woodhaven residents have also been forced to live amid the graffiti-covered scaffolding surrounding the building. Colberg announced that he has already written a formal request to the landlord asking him to clean up the graffiti. “They’re making that corner look disgusting,” Colberg stated, “We usually take care of graffiti in our neighborhood, but is it fair for us to foot that bill? We don’t own that building, but yet we have to live with and see that mess.” Colberg attributed the lack of action and enforcement on the part of city agencies to the fact that Woodhaven is a small, often overlooked blue-collar working class community. “If that building was attached to Gracie Mansion, or to that judge’s home, would we be talking about this two years later?” Colberg questioned. “Something that’s very important to our community just keeps getting pushed to the side. Enough is enough. We need some real action.” While it appears that time has run out to save the ambulance corps, Colberg and his fellow WRBA members vowed to keep fighting. “We’re going to lose a piece of Woodhaven to a slumlord,” he stated. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to give up on making sure the right thing is done with that property.” New legislation Assemblyman Mike Miller Fiorella Trimble, the Parks Department’s senior forester for Queens, is shown addressing Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association members last Saturday. Pictured at the dais are (from left to right) WRBA President Martin Colberg and Vice President Giedra Kregzdys. (photo: Kelly Marie Mancuso) was on hand to talk about three pieces of legislation he helped introduce on behalf of the community. Miller introduced a bill to create a Civilian Summons Review Board aimed at evaluating and dealing with lesser summonses issued by the Sanitation Department. “A lot of people have been getting summonses from the Sanitation Department,” Miller explained. “I felt that if we create a civilian board ... we have a way that regular people can hear cases and figure out what to do instead of going before a judge.” Miller is also pushing for passage of an overnight parking bill introduced last year that would prevent cars with out-ofstate Shoopp Loocaallyy! Support Your Neighborhood Merchants! plates from taking up local parking spaces. “I think the bill will help our quality of life in a lot of areas,” he explained. Finally, at the request of the 102nd Precinct, Miller introduced legislation requiring identification numbers on car tires and rims to protect and recover property in the event of theft. The bill was created as a result of the recent rash of tire and car part thefts within the 102nd Precinct. A greener Woodhaven Andrew Newman and Fiorella Trimble from the city Parks Department’s Forestry Division were on hand to discuss the city’s “Million Trees NYC” initiative while answering residents’ questions. According to Newman, the program has already planted 938,000 trees citywide and is on schedule to plant its millionth tree this fall. Many residents spoke out in favor of tree planting along the Woodhaven Boulevard medians. According to Trimble, the existing medians were too narrow and could not accommodate trees. Parks Department law requires medians to be at least 8’- wide for tree planting. Trimble explained that trees planted in smaller median spaces have higher mortality rates and risk being struck by passing cars. Trimble and Newman suggested that residents contact the DOT or Councilman Ulrich about planting shrubbery along the medians instead of trees. Shrub planting on streets falls under the perview of the DOT and the Horticultural Division of the Parks Department. The next Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association meeting is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 21, at noon at American Legion Post 118, located at 89-02 91st St. For more information, call 1-718- 296-3735 or visit www.woodhaven-nyc.org. If Yoou See Brreaakingg Newwss On Yoourr Bloocck... CCoontaacct TThee Times Newsweekly CCaallll 11--771188--882211--77550000 •• EEmmaaiill iinnffoo@@ttiimmeessnneewwsswweeeekkllyy..ccoomm
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