Possible Bus Route Change, Knockdown Center Security Top JPCA Meet At left, JPCA President Robert Holden (foreground) addresses residents at the civic group’s Apr. 24 meeting. Pictured in the background are (from left to right) JPCA First Vice President Lorraine Sciulli; Capt. Timothy Brown, 104th Precinct executive officer; and Det. Thomas Bell of the 104th Precinct Community Affairs Unit. In the right photo, local resident Dmytro Fedkowskyj speaks about his Democratic primary challenge of Assemblywoman Margaret Markey for her 30th Assembly District seat. (photos: Robert Pozarycki) Glendale Shelter Public Hearing Set For May 22 Samaritan Village and DHS representatives are scheduled to participate in the May 22 hearing, explain the proposal and field questions and concerns from board members and other attendees. The hearing follows through on a request made to Board 5 last month by five elected officials opposing the project—Rep. Grace Meng, State Sen. JosephAddabbo,Assemblymen Andrew Hevesi and Mike Miller and City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley. A large gathering is expected at the May 22 hearing, and Giordano warned that parking spaces at Christ the King are limited. Those planning on attending are advised to use public transportation; the school is located close to the Metropolitan Avenue M train station and bus stops on the Q38, Q54 and Q67 routes. Samaritan Village, in answering an open-ended DHS request for proposals for new homeless shelters in the city, submitted its Glendale plan lastAugust. Reportedly, the $27 million project would house up to 125 families, most of whom would be single mothers with children. Civic leaders and elected officials in and around Glendale charged the proposal is inappropriate. Opponents claim the factory is dilapidated and requires extensive and costly renovation, at the city’s expense, to make it suitable for housing. There are also concerns the site itself, given its extensive industrial history, may be contaminated. As previously reported, the DHS launched an environmental study for 78-16 CooperAve., which is ongoing. Other opponents of the project cited concerns about the shelter aggravating the existing strain on the local infrastructure and a lack of nearby public transportation options. For additional information on the May 22 hearing, call Board 5’s Glendale office at 1-718-366-1834 during normal business hours. TIMES, THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014 • 26 -CONTINUED FROM PG. 1- bus line is too close for the safety of children and may impact the area’s air quality. Speed bumps on Juniper Boulevard South would also serve as an obstacle for buses passing through, it was noted. Robert Holden, JPCA president, stated the proposed switch could help speed up service on the Q38, considered by many as a historically slow line. One resident, however, cautioned that the zigzag route forces bus drivers to travel slowly; moving it to a straighter, wider roadway, the resident claimed, may encourage operators to break the speed limit, thereby putting motorists and pedestrians in danger. Maureau stated he would seek further feedback from Middle Village residents and hoped to have further details about the plan by the JPCA’s June meeting. Prepared for ‘Knockdown’ Representatives of the 104th Precinct were quizzed about how the command would respond to events at the Knockdown Center, a Maspeth arts and entertainment venue seeking to hold attractions that could draw thousands of spectators at a time. Capt. Timothy Brown, the precinct’s executive officer, and Lt. George Hellmer, the precinct’s special operations coordinator, reported that they met with Knockdown Center management about coordinating proper security and other services for its upcoming events, including two concerts next week featuring rap artist M.I.A. Hellmer stated the Knockdown Center and other entertainment venues are obligated to provide their own security for large events, generally one agent for every 75 patrons. Last Tuesday, Apr. 22, however, the center lost its temporary liquor license permits for the M.I.A. concerts after it failed to provide the State Liquor Authority (SLA) with detailed security plans. In meeting with Knockdown Center representatives prior to last Thursday’s meeting, Hellmer noted, the precinct was presented with a security plan deemed “competent.” He stated the command would dispatch a host of officers to the area of the Knockdown Center before, during and after each event to provide crowd and traffic control and stop any illegal activity. “We don’t want them here, but we have to be prepared,” he added. The SLA is expected to render a decision at its May 6 board meeting on a standard liquor license application for the Knockdown Center. Talking crime Brown also provided a general crime report, noting that grand larcenies and auto thefts have spiked thus far in 2014 while other major crime categories have dropped. Many of the auto thefts, he noted, involved the removal of older-model vehicles between eight and 10 years of age. The suspects involved in the thefts tend to perpetrate a scam in which they claim to be a vehicle owner and have the automobile towed off the street to a junkyard, where they are sold for scrap. The executive officer noted the crooks are taking advantage of a loophole in which individuals need only to present valid identification to have a vehicle eight years of age or older towed and scrapped. The individuals are not obligated to show title of the vehicle, which would list its rightful owner. Hoping to combat these thefts, Brown noted, the 104th Precinct recently conducted an operation in which every tow truck observed hauling a vehicle through the precinct’s confines was stopped. The drivers were questioned by officers, informed of the scam and advised on how to report suspect individuals. As for grand larcenies, Brown advised residents to be mindful of unattended property and to avoid storing valuables in parked vehicles in the view of passersby. He also warned about phone scams in which individuals claiming to represent a government agency or utility company demand immediate payment of an outstanding bill or fine under threat of arrest or termination of services. The callers, Brown stated, generally ask the victims to purchase “Green Dot” prepaid debit cards for several thousand dollars, then call back and provide the scammer with the card’s serial number to process the payment. “No legitimate government agency or utility company is going to call you and request that you pay your bill,” Brown warned. He advised residents who get such calls to report them to 911 immediately. The war on graffiti is ongoing, and the 104th Precinct has arrested eight individuals for 56 graffiti incidents so far this year, Hellmer noted. P.O. Raymond York, the precinct’s graffiti coordinator, urged homeowners to report vandalism in progress to 911 and graffiti left on property to 311. The precinct will come down and photograph the vandalism as part of its databank to catch serial vandals. Residents were advised to have the vandalism removed as quickly as possible after it is reported and documented to police. Other news Long-time education advocate and Middle Village resident Dmytro Fedkowskyj announced his candidacy for the 30th Assembly District’s Democratic nomination, challenging long-time incumbent Margaret Markey. Fedkowskyj most recently served as the Queens representative on the Panel for Educational Policy and, prior to that, was a member of School District 24’s Community Education Council. He charged the district has not “been represented very well for the last 15 years,” and he hoped to make a change. “My campaign will be about what we need as a community to survive,” he said. “I want to get to know you and your values and what you want to see changed.” Fedkowskyj is facing Markey— who has been repeatedly criticized by the JPCA since taking office in 1999, in part, for failing to appear regularly at its meetings—in the Sept. 9 Democratic primary. Holden said the United States Postal Service (USPS) is working with the JPCA to resolve mailing problems experienced in the recent distribution of the Juniper Berry, the civic group’s quarterly magazine. The December 2013 and March -CONTINUED FROM PG. 3- 2014 issues arrived in many JPCA mailboxes as many as nine days after they were sent out, he stated. A number of residents reported they only received the magazine’s outside cover, and the remaining contents never arrived. While the USPS “still doesn’t know what happened” to the magazines in transit, the civic president noted, the quasigovernment agency agreed to provide the group a free mailing on its last issue. The USPS also assured Holden they would give special attention to the June issue of the Juniper Berry after it is mailed out. Holden commended long-time JPCA member Joseph Chiofolo, a 92- year-old World War II veteran, who is slated to receive the French Chevalier Legion of Honor award at a May 9 ceremony at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point. The award recognizes Chiofolo’s efforts while serving in the Army medical unit during the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944. The next Juniper Park Civic Association meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 12, at 7:45 p.m. at Our Lady of Hope School, located at Eliot Avenue and 71st Street in Middle Village. For more information, call 1-718-651- 5865 or visit www.junipercivic.com. Pat Buchanan News & Opinion grievous than a phone call to his girlfriend to stop making a fool of him with Magic Johnson? Former NBA great Elgin Baylor, his former general manager, charged Sterling in a lawsuit with running a “Southern plantation-type structure” as boss of the Clippers. And Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post reports on far nastier remarks, as she writes that Sterling said of blacks in 2002 that they “smell and aren’t clean.” “That quote,” says Jenkins, “comes from sworn testimony in a 2002 slumlording case against Sterling for discriminating against tenants, not just blacks but also Hispanics, whom he called lazy drunks, and Koreans, whom he deemed too powerless to complain, according to statements compiled by Deadspin.com.” “Sterling’s wormy mind,” writes Jenkins, has been “common knowledge among NBA owners and executives for years, as far back as 1983 when he allegedly called his own players the N-word during a job interview with Rollie Massimino conducted while drinking champagne.” “There is no room for Donald Sterling in our league,” says LeBron James. But that was this weekend. Which brings us to the unanswered questions. How did Donald Sterling get away with behavior, in a professional sports league dominated by black players, which would get a college kid kicked out of school and scarred for life? Have they no morals clause in the NBA? How was Donald Sterling voted that lifetime achievement award by the NAACP? The answer to all likely lies in the adage: Follow the money. Nevertheless, when nonsense like stupid racial remarks by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and Clippers boss Donald Sterling can consume the nation’s conversation for a full week, it does raise a far more disturbing question: Is America still a serious country? Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of “Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?” -CONTINUED FROM PG. 4- WE’RE ON TWITTER @timesnewsweekly Follow Us For News Updates And Info!
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