for breaking news visit www.timesnewsweekly.com APRIL 23, 2015 • times 3 Ridgewood seniors dance with SPARC BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport Seniors at the Ridgewood Older Adult Center (ROAC) are getting a chance to bust a move thanks to the Seniors Partnering with Artists Citywide (SPARC) program. SPARC is a community arts engagement program that places artists at senior centers across the five boroughs. The program was created as a collaboration of the city Department of Cultural Affairs, the Department for the Aging and five of the city’s local arts councils. The SPARC aims to positively impact seniors’ quality of life through direct engagement in arts and cultural activities; to reinvigorate neighborhood senior centers, such as ROAC, as vital community spaces through arts and cultural programming; and to increase the opportunities for arts residencies and workspaces for artists. ROAC’s executive director Jackie Eradiri applied to be a part of the SPARC program through the Queens Council on the Arts, and in February, the professional dancers and choreographers, Hillary Ramos and Henry Holmes, came to the center to bring the art of dance to the Ridgewood seniors. “It’s something different,” Eradiri said of the program. “It is something that I don’t have at the center.” Seniors can participate in the program, which runs through June and takes place at ROAC three times a week, or they are free to just sit back and watch. “We are passionate about working with SPARC artist Hillary Ramos (center) with Barbara Kovacich and Joe Renz from the Ridgewood Older Adult Center. non-dancers and sharing that joy and empathy you get when you watch people dance and when you, yourself, are dancing,” Ramos said. “There are plenty of hurdles of ‘I’m too old to dance’ or ‘I can’t do that,’” she added. “We are trying to break down the intimidation of dance for the seniors and show the health, psychological and social benefits of dance.” Ramos explained how they use different forms of dance to engage all the seniors in the center. The more active seniors can get up and dance, while those who may not be able to move as well can participate in limited mobility and chair-based movements to get them involved. “There are so many ways to get them to move,” Ramos said. “We are trying to show that dance is the merengue, the chacha and the waltz, but it is also sitting in a chair and moving your body with gestures and arm movements. That is also dance. Those things do matter.” “We are using dance and making it applicable to their realities,” she continued. “We have hybrid classes depending on who we have, who is here and what they can do. We try to show that dance is social and artistic.” TIMES NEWSWEEKLY/Photo by Anthony Giudice Joe Renz, affectionately referred to as “rubber legs” by his dancing partners, is one of ROAC’s most loyal dancers and really enjoys the chance to get up and move around. “I think Ramos is putting everything out there,” he said. “I’ve gotten something out of it. It has helped me fine-tune some things.” Another ROAC dance participant, Barbara Kovacich, said she takes pleasure in the social aspect of the program. “I just like to enjoy the company,” she said. “It brings me closer with the people at the center.” DOT proposes changes to dangerous Myrtle Avenue intersection BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport Representatives from the Department of Transportation (DOT) offered a plan during the Community Board 5 combined Transportation Services and Public Transportation committees meeting on April 28 to fix problems at a dangerous Myrtle Avenue intersection. The Forest Avenue/Myrtle Avenue/ George Street intersection was brought to the DOT’s attention because it is located within the Myrtle Avenue priority corridor. This intersection “is listed among the corridors for which the Department of Transportation will design and implement safety projects as part of the mayor’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims at eliminating all traffic-related fatalities,” said Arban Vigni, project manager with the DOT. The high-traffic area sees an abundance of not only vehicles, but also pedestrians, with high volumes of seniors and students using the crosswalk. Two buses, the Q39 on Forest Avenue and the Q55 on Myrtle Avenue, also pass through the area, adding to congestion. “Judging from the frequency and severity of crashes that occurred here between 2009 and 2013, the intersection has been designated a high pedestrian crash location,” Vigni said. During the five-year period, there were 18 crashes, six of them involving pedestrians. Two of those crashes led to severe injuries. “It’s also worth noting that 50 percent of pedestrians that were involved in crashes were hit while crossing with the signal, whereas the average for Queens is as low as 37 percent,” Vigni said. “This basically shows that turning vehicles do not yield properly at this intersection.” Vigni pointed out the odd geometry of the location as one reason for the high levels of pedestrian crashes at the intersection. The star-shaped intersection has Myrtle Avenue running east to west, Forest Avenue going north to southeast and George Street going southwest. The DOT’s proposed changes include adding a concrete curb extension on the south side of the intersection. “The curb extension would help realign the intersection somewhat and it would shorten the southwest crosswalk by seven feet,” Vigni explained. This would not interfere with parking on George Street because there is a fire hydrant located on that corner, which restricts vehicles from parking there. High-visibility crosswalks were already installed on April 15 to increase visibility of pedestrians. Finally, “peg-a-tracks,” which are yellow dashed lines, will be installed in the center of the intersection to clarify direction of travel for vehicles on Forest Avenue. The DOT plans to implement these changes in June. TIMES NEWSWEEKLY/Photo by Anthony Giudice Community Board 5’s Transportation Services and Public Transit committees discussing the proposed changes for the Myrtle Avenue/Forest Avenue/George Street intersection in Ridgewood.
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