16 JANUARY 31, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Glendale students move on to city fi nals in FIRST Lego League competition
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
A group of Glendale students
will go on to compete in the city
fi nals of the FIRST Lego League
(FLL) on March 16-17.
The team, called “FLLASH” (FIRST
Lego League at Sacred Heart), is
comprised of 12 students at Sacred
Heart Catholic Academy. On Saturday,
Jan. 26, the team competed
at the Linden Renaissance Middle
School (I.S. 192) in St. Albans for the
FLL qualifier.
This year’s FFL theme, “Into
Orbit,” sought to explore physical
or social problems that astronauts
would encounter on long expeditions
in space. FFLASH identified
that isolation and loneliness as a
problem that astronauts would face,
and built a Lego 3D chess board for
the astronaut to bring to space.
Each team also had to give a Core
Values presentation and compete in
the “Robot Performance” part of the
competition.
FFLASH and 32 other teams had
two and a half minutes to complete
as many missions as possible. Their
robot, called THE FLASH-EN-ATOR,
ended the competition with 124 total
points, earning them first place in
the “Robot Performance” category
and a “golden ticket” to move on the
city finals in March.
“We have competed for six years,
received several awards, and
advanced to the New York City
finals every year!” said Richard
Photo courtesy of Sal Laurenzano
Mezic, team coach and founder of
the school’s robotics club. “We are
proud of our team. They are eager to
learn and work hard and well together.”
City approves local pol’s senior tax relief bill
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
Senior citizens across Queens
living on a fi xed income stand
to receive some relief from their
property taxes and other outstanding
debts through legislation that the City
Council passed last week.
The legislation — introduced by
City Councilman Daniel Dromm, who
chairs on the Council’s Finance Committee
— establishes three new types
of payment agreement plans to homeowners
who earn less than $58,400 so
they can aff ord the property taxes and
avoid being included in a lien sale. The
proposal will be available to owners
of one- to three-family homes and
condominiums, where such a home is
their primary residence.
Nearly 17,000 Queens residents currently
enrolled in the Senior Citizen
Homeowner Exemption, which cuts
property taxes by up to 50 percent,
could benefi t from the new bill.
“Thousands of low-income homeowners
struggling to make ends meet will
be able to keep their homes thanks to
my legislation,” Dromm said. “This effort
recognizes that many New Yorkers
fall on hard times and need a helping
hand; that includes our homeowners.
When enacted, this legislation will
provide homeowners who are unable
to pay their property taxes with aff ordable
payment plans, including for the
fi rst time the option to defer payment
in several cases, most notably seniors.”
In Fiscal Year 2018, almost one in
every two homeowners who entered
into payment plans couldn’t aff ord to
keep up with them, putting them at
greater risk for inclusion in the lien
sale. These new fl exible and aff ordable
payment plans were needed to address
that issue. This is the fi rst property tax
deferral and/or income-based payment
plan program created by the city.
Existing plans do not account for
ability to pay. One of the payment
agreement plans would give low-income
seniors the option to defer some
or all of their property tax payments
until the property is sold or otherwise
transferred, at which point the city
would be paid the taxes is is owed from
the proceeds of the sale.
“As property taxes and the cost of living
continue to increase in New York,
many senior and low-income homeowners
struggle to make ends meet,
and at times have to choose between
paying property taxes, putting food
on the table or buying medicine and
healthcare,” City Council Speaker Corey
Johnson said. “These New Yorkers
face diffi culties to pay their property
taxes and it makes it harder for them
to remain in their homes and in their
communities. Aff ordability is one of
the biggest issues we are facing as a city,
and this bill will help New Yorkers stay
in their homes and stay in their communities.
This creative program will
assist homeowners to come out with a
payment plan to ensure they don’t lose
the home they worked so hard for.”
Photo via Getty Images
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