WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 17
Green energy
alternative to
Rikers prison
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
With an eye on enhanced
resiliency and sustainability,
Councilman
Costa Constantinides, the chair
of the Environmental Protection
Committee, put forth his bold vision
for the future of Rikers Island.
During his “State of the District”
address at P.S. 2 in East Elmhurst
last week, Constantinides shared
his plan for a greener Queens —
and it had nothing to do with
developers or an extra runway
for LaGuardia Airport.
“With the prison on Rikers Island
closing in the next fi ve to 10
years, the city will soon have 400
acres of space open for redevelopment,”
Constantinides said. “We
will have a unique opportunity
to solve several diff erent environmental
problems that have
bedeviled us for decades.”
Namely, the section of western
Queens known as “Asthma Alley”
which is home to almost half of
the city’s power plants. Constantinides
said his offi ce had begun a
collaboration with the CUNY Law
School Center for Urban Environmental
Reform to “determine the
best use of space” from an environmental
perspective.
“Astoria resident and professor
Rebecca Bratspies demonstrated
that, based off projections from
the Lippman Commission’s report
on Rikers Island, renewables installed
on the island could be used
to replace most, if not all, of the
plants that have been built in this
city in the last two decades,” Constantinides
said. “What’s more,
this should also eave us plenty of
space to build a new, state-of-theart
wastewater treatment facility
that would allow us to potentially
retire several older sewage treatment
plants in north Queens and
the Bronx.”
Constantinides said his plan
would establish solar or wind
fi elds tied to large-scale batteries
large enough to store enough
energy to potentially power more
than 2 million homes.
“This is not some far-flung
dream of a distant future,” he said.
“This is within our grasp now, and
we need to begin the transition
away from these plants now. Too
much is at stake to wait around
any longer.”
Kew Gardens press pols on local jail plan
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
2@QNS
A packed Queens Community
House in Kew Gardens questioned
on Jan. 31 why the de
Blasio administration does not simply
rebuild Rikers Island instead of borough
based jails — and voiced harsh
criticisms toward City Councilwoman
Karen Koslowitz for not opposing the
plan which they believe will hurt their
community in many ways.
Opponents of the plan, however,
said they are not opposed to other
criminal justice reforms such as
ending cash bail; they simply believe
that creating a 1,500 inmate jail at
the former Queens Detention Center
complex in Kew Gardens will only
transplant the problems that already
exist on Rikers Island.
“Let’s think about putting 2,500 additional
workers – people of Queens
drive – that’s probably 50 percent cars,
24/7, into the neighborhood,”Andrea
Crawford said. “We want civil reform,
we want criminal reform, we want bail
reform. We want to the things that’ll
make the criminal justice system work
better. What we don’t want is for our
neighborhoods to be crushed. That’s
exactly what will happen and nobody
is listening.”
Multiple speakers repeatedly
argued that, instead of building
large borough-based jails and taking
inmates out of Rikers, the facilities
on the island could be rebuilt and
modernized to meet the justice reform
demands of today.
One attendee pointed out that most
the facilities on Rikers had been built
in the 1970s and were not “19th century
dungeons.”
A representative from Koslowitz’s
offi ce bore the brunt of scorn from
the crowd as he argued that his boss
was simply taking a tactical approach
to the situation by not taking a hard
stance against the jail so she can have
a seat at the negotiating table.
“The reason why she hasn’t come out
against it – and I won’t say she is for a
jail in Kew Gardens – but the reason
why she hasn’t come out against it is
because she’s dealing with the political
reality that it’s likely to pass,” Alex
Anderson, the Koslowitz’ rep, said. “I
know it’s a tough pill to swallow, but
she’s looking out for the people of
Kew Gardens.” His remarks were
punctuated by a frustrated wave of
murmurs and laughs from the audience.
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi
stood up for Koslowitz’s strategy, arguing
that the de Blasio administration
would shut her out completely if she
made her opposition clear.
“This tactic, while you may not like it,
is smart,” Hevesi said. “If she becomes
the enemy and the yeller and screamer,
and if they bulldoze over her, which is
a distinct possibility … she will have
zero say as to how this goes down.”
The proposed jail will be 29 stories,
if it passes through the City Planning
Commission and the ULURP process,
and will be located where the parking
lot behind Queens Borough Hall is on
Union Turnpike.
Heavenly hats and scarves for local veterans
Assemblyman Mike Miller
thanks the Blessed Mother
Solidarity, The Crochet Club,
St. Mary Gate of Heaven Senior
Center, and St. Mary Gate of Heaven
School for crocheting blankets, hats
and scarves, as well as collecting
candy, toiletries and clothing for
his annual Valentines for Veterans
drive.
“Every year I am amazed on how
these groups take time out of their
busy schedules to help the veterans
at St. Albans’ Veterans Home; Teresa
Wasenius crocheted 61 blankets
alone,” said Miller.
Miller and members of Vietnam
Veterans Chapter 32 will be bringing
donations to St. Albans Veterans
Home on Friday, Feb. 8.
Photo courtesy of Assemblyman Mike Miller
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