6 MARCH 17, 2022 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
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BP hears over 200 testimonies during preliminary budget hearing
BY JULIA MORO
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Over 200 groups signed up to testify during
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards’
budget hearing to solidify the borough’s
priorities in the mayor’s 2023 preliminary
budget, which was released Feb. 16.
The preliminary budget proposed a $98.54 billion
fi nancial plan, a slight decrease from last year. The
mayor’s budget for the city prioritizes public safety
and justice, specifi cally funding the Blueprint to
End Gun Violence program.
Queens Council members, community boards
and other groups all joined to voice their opinions
on where the money should be spent in Queens.
District Manager Florence Koulouris from
Community Board 1 was the fi rst to speak, asking
the borough president to consider the issues her
communities face — one of which is rising sea levels.
“The Astoria Houses has adversely been aff ected
by hurricanes,” Koulouris said. “Eight buildings
were damaged. The boilers need to be replaced and
roof repairs and electrical work is needed. There
have always been high tides rising over existing
sea walls. Saltwater has severely damaged sea walls
and railings which is in dire need of repair.”
Other community boards made similar requests,
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
mainly asking for infrastructure investments to
streets, parks, schools, transit and more.
Community Board 8 District Manager Marie
Adam-Ovide said that homeless services in Queens
need to be much more eff ective.
“There is no air conditioning for homeless
families in shelters with temperatures over 90
degrees,” Adam-Ovide said. “In that same building,
the staff are provided air conditioning. Why are
the homeless sleeping in the subways? Sleeping in
air-conditioned subway cars is more comfortable
than sleeping in the Briarwood Family Shelter in
the heat of summer. Heat kills.”
The meeting lasted a whopping 10 hours, with
Richards listening to each and every group interest
and concern across Queens.
“While I am optimistic that we are on our way,
economic recovery has been uneven with the unpredictable
waves of COVID-19 including the latest
wave of the omicron variant,” Richards said. “Here
in Queens we will get through this together and
work with our partners to secure a responsible
budget that works for all.”
The budget process is in its initial phase, with
Council members analyzing the preliminary budget
through a series of public hearings to identify
concerns from residents, advocates and others.
Then, the Council will make recommendations for
the executive budget, which will be an updated version
of the preliminary budget. Finally, a budget
will be adopted in May or June.
Holden teaches civics lesson to students in Ridgewood
BY JULIA MORO
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Councilman Robert Holden visited
the Notre Dame Catholic
Academy in Ridgewood earlier
this month to teach a civics lesson to a
third-grade class and explain his role
in local government.
Students were learning about
government when their third-grade
teacher, Adriana Livreri, thought,
what better way to learn about government
than bringing in a local
representative?
“There is no better way to learn
about our local government than
from our Councilman Bob Holden,”
Livreri said. “He spoke about his
role in the community and what
the students could do to help. They
could come up with laws that could
potentially get somewhere and make
a diff erence.”
As part of Holden’s lesson, he asked
the students what laws they would
like to see enacted. The class at the
Ridgewood school had plenty of ideas
on what could be done to stop the loud
music in the area.
“He gave us the option of writing
down laws that would be great for
the community and bring it up to the
other council members and maybe
make it into law,” Livreri said.
Previously a professor at New York
City College of Technology (CUNY),
Holden said that he was very happy
to visit the Ridgewood third-graders
and be an educator again.
“It was a pleasure to be in the front
of a classroom again,” Holden said.
“We discussed local government,
including the checks and balances of
City Hall. These young students were
very impressive and asked smart
questions. Some even gave advice
on how to deal with loud music and
noise. Their teachers and parents are
clearly doing a great job.”
Jennifer DiLorenzo, the principal
of the Notre Dame Catholic Academy,
said that it was a pleasure
hosting Holden at a district school in
Ridgewood.
“The students were so engaged and
loved learning from him as well as
speaking to him. This was a great
way to make government real and attainable
in the eyes of third-graders,”
DiLorenzo said.
Councilman Robert Holden teaches third-graders about local
government. Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Brooklyn/Holden’s offi ce
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