22 JANUARY 26, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM Queens takes part in the Women’s March in Manhattan BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected]/@ANGELAMATUA The Women’s March on NYC took place on Jan. 21 in Manhattan, and Queens was well represented among the more than 400,000 people who marched through the streets, joining similar rallies across the globe. The march, organized to prompt “civil rights for every human regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, religion or creed,” according to its website, was a sister march to the main event in Washington, D.C. Thousands of women and men held signs and marched from Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 48th Street and Third Avenue to Trump Tower at 57th Street and Fift h Avenue. Among the thousands of marchers were people from Queens, including Councilman Daniel Dromm, who organized a trip for a group of Jackson Heights residents to attend, and Center for the Women of New York, which is based in Kew Gardens. “I was proud to march alongside hundreds of my Jackson Heights neighbors at the Women’s March on NYC,” Dromm said. “Our contingent was truly diverse and included children and seniors, immigrants, Muslims and members of the LGBTQ community. Together we sent a loud and clear message to the Trump administration that we will never stop fi ghting against their hateful agenda.” Riding the 7 train into the city, straphangers could see hundreds of people waiting to board on the Manhattan bound platform at the Court Square-23rd Street station and other stops along the route. Photos by Angela Matua and Dean Moses Middle Villagers hold holiday party Daniel C. Austin Sr. of All Faiths Cemetery recently held his annual holiday party at Vetro’s Restaurant in Howard Beach. Austin (second from left ) is pictured along with attendees (left to right) former state Senator Serphin Maltese, community activist Ed Shusterich and Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association. Duane Reade to shut Maspeth warehouse; 200 lose jobs BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GIUDICEREPORT Over 200 jobs will be lost in Maspeth by the end of May when the Duane Reade distribution center is shut down, as parent company Walgreens — which acquired the pharmacy chain in 2010 — has decided not to renew the building’s lease. According to published reports, the layoff of the 214 employees at the warehouse located at 50-02 55th Ave. will begin in April and fi nish by the end of May when the facility is closed for good. More than 200 Duane Reade and Walgreens locations across the city are serviced by the Maspeth facility. A spokesperson for Walgreens said the Maspeth center had not been operating at full capacity in recent years, and opportunities to improve the company’s productivity and operational effi ciencies by opening a new cross-dock facility in New Jersey, led to the decision to close the Maspeth distribution center. The closure of the distribution facility comes aft er Walgreens cut nearly 220 jobs at the location in 2013. “Over the years, as our business has grown, we have worked to streamline our distribution operations and in recent years this facility has not operated at its full capacity,” said Phil Caruso, spokesman for Walgreens. “With a new cross-docking facility, we have excess capacity and we will wind down our Maspeth operation in phases over the course of the coming months, with closing scheduled for late May.” The 214 employees facing layoff s are members of International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Local 210. The Ridgewood Times has reached out to the union for comment on the layoff s and is awaiting a reply. Walgreens, however, will not leave the workers to fend for themselves. “Employees be will be provided or offered severance packages,” Caruso added. “Throughout this process we will work with local resources to organize job fairs and invite nearby distribution facilities to those events in an effort to make the transition for our employees as smooth as possible.” The Ridgewood Times has also reached out to the Maspeth Industrial Business Association (MIBA) for comment and is awaiting a reply. Photo via Google Maps The Duane Reade distribution center in Maspeth is closing down in May, laying off 214 workers.
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