4 MAY 3, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Council members want de Blasio to ‘give us a break!’
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
With the announcement of
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s fi scal
year 2019 executive budget
proposal on April 26, many City
Council members from Queens were
left wondering if their constituents
would ever catch a break.
A tax break, that is.
The $89 billion city budget —
which is $3.82 billion higher than
the budget adopted last year — does
not include the City Council’s plan
to give a property tax rebate to middle
class homeowners. Proposed by
Speaker Corey Johnson in response
to the mayor’s preliminary budget
plan on April 11, the rebate would
give $400 back to homeowners who
earn less than $150,000.
In a statement released the day
after de Blasio’s announcement,
Councilman Robert Holden said
that the budget is not what he had
hoped for.
“Considering that this is the largest
budget we’ve ever seen, it would
have been nice to consider offering
a small refund to those that own
homes across the city,” Holden said.
“I would have liked to see property
tax reform addressed in this budget,
because there continues to be undue
strain on the middle class.”
Holden’s District 30 covers Maspeth,
Middle Village, Glendale and parts of
Ridgewood and Woodhaven, where
44 percent of housing units are owner
occupied and the combined average
household income is approximately
$78,000, according to the Department
of City Planning.
During his April 26 announcement,
de Blasio responded to a question
about the property tax rebate proposal
by saying that nothing is fi nal yet.
“Look, we look to the Council’s
budget response,” de Blasio said. “We
thought there were some things we
could address but a number of things
were very substantial and we’d have to
see what was possible going forward.”
While negotiations between the
Council and the Mayor’s Offi ce will
determine the budget’s fi nal contents
by the July 1 deadline, Johnson and other
Council members like Holden have
already made their positions clear.
In a joint statement between Johnson
and Councilman Daniel Dromm, who
represents District 25 in Queens and
is the Council’s fi nance chair, the pair
expressed disappointment that some of
their initiatives were left out, but hope
that extra revenue expected in fi scal
year 2018 will work to their benefi t.
“The Council will continue to advocate
for our priorities throughout
budget negotiations and we plan to do
so in a collaborative and transparent
budget process,” the statement said.
“We urge the administration to fund
the Council’s priorities for the good of
our neighbors and our city.”
Much of the Council’s frustration
over property taxes stems from an
ongoing lawsuit fi led against the city
by Tax Equity Now New York, a coalition
of real estate stakeholders and
civil rights activists. The research
performed by the coalition alleges that
the city’s property tax system is discriminatory
against neighborhoods
that have a high number of minority
residents, and more valuable properties
are taxed at a lower rate than less
valuable properties.
In a joint statement from Councilmembers
Justin Brannan, Steven
Matteo, Joseph Borelli, Paul Vallone,
Barry Grodenchik and Mark Gjonaj on
April 30, they made reference to the
inequalities of the system and made a
much more pointed demand for their
constituents.
“I know we speak for just about every
property owner in the fi ve boroughs
when we say, ‘C’mon man, give us a
break!’” the statement said.
Photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Offi ce.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announces his Fiscal Year 2019 Executive
Budget in the Blue Room at City Hall on Thursday, April 26, 2018.
Glendale Library moving to Atlas Park during renovations
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
The Glendale Library is undergoing
a renovation project
that will keep it closed for 18
months, but local residents won’t
have to worry about losing its important
resources for all of that time.
On April 27, the Queens Library announced
that a storefront space in the
Shops at Atlas Park has been secured
for the Glendale branch to operate in
six days a week. The library will move
into a ground-fl oor, 1,409-square-foot
storefront in between Gymboree and
Claire’s, according to Queens Library
Director of Communications Elisabeth
de Bourbon.
The move comes aft er residents,
members of Community Board 5 and
Councilman Robert Holden spoke
up about the mobile library service
that was only going to be available
one day per week during the closure.
State Senator Joseph Addabbo then
stepped in as well, and he was able
to connect the library with Peter
DeLucia, the property manager at Atlas
Park, to see if a deal could be made.
“We are grateful to the community
and our customers for making clear
how important this branch is to them,
and we thank Senator Joseph P. Addabbo
Jr. for helping fi nd a suitable
and aff ordable location,” said Queens
Library President and CEO Dennis M.
Walcott in the press release.
On a call with the Ridgewood Times
on April 30, Addabbo explained that
to make up for the library’s limited
budget, DeLucia and Atlas Park had to
be willing to “knock down the price
for the benefi t of the community.”
The deal took only one month to
come together with both sides working
diligently on it, Addabbo said.
“I am happy to have been a part of the
partnership between Queens Library
and Atlas Park, and I want to express
my thanks to Atlas Park for opening
their space to allow the Glendale Library
a temporary space during their
reconstruction, and to Queens Library
for making sure Glendale residents
did not lose their library,” Addabbo
said in the press release.
The library will soon begin moving
supplies into the new location
and plans to begin its one-year lease
by the end of May. The space will
feature 5,500 items (such as books,
periodicals and DVDs), a self checkout
machine, six computers and WiFi,
outdoor children’s programming and
free parking for up to one hour. The
current staff of the Glendale Library
will be working at the new location,
according to de Bourbon.
DeLucia added in the press release that
he was excited for the library to come to
the shopping center and believes “the
library is a strong community partner
and will be a great addition to our center.”
Addabbo said the library would fi t
in well at Atlas Park because the shopping
center has become much more
than just about retail, as it recently
hosted an autism awareness event on
April 28. He oft en holds mobile offi ce
hours in Queens Library branches
and said that many people need the
free WiFi to apply for jobs and take
care of other important tasks.
Until the temporary library opens
up, there will still be mobile library
hours every Friday from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. outside of the Glendale Library.
When the storefront is ready, it will
be open during the following hours:
Monday from noon to 8 p.m.
Tuesday from 1 to 6 p.m.
Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thursday from noon to 8 p.m.
Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Guests of the library will be able to
request any item from the library’s
collection and have it delivered to the
new location, and they can return
items borrowed from other locations.
Photo courtesy of Queens Library
The Glendale Library will temporarily
relocate to this storefront (with the
green awning) during the 18-month
renovation to its home building.
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