8 MAY 11, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM Addabbo, Pheff er Amato want to see more crossing guards near high schools BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT A pair of Queens lawmakers are working together to ensure that all students through high school have protect from crossing guards at nearby intersections. In a new piece of legislation (S.5519), state Senator Joseph Addabbo — a longtime member of the Senate Education Committee — is hoping to see numerous new crossing guards at high schools across the city, allowing students to safely access their buildings. The bill is also being introduced in the State Assembly by Assemblywoman Stacey Pheff er Amato. Addabbo is a co-sponsor of a bill (S.359) that aims to increase crossing guard presence around elementary and intermediate schools in the city. “During the academic year, the lives of well over 1 million New York City schoolchildren hang in the balance as students travel back and forth for classes on local streets, and crossing guards are absolutely invaluable to ensuring the safety of these young people,” Addabbo said. “In recent years, a number of innocent children have been struck and killed on their way to school, and adding more crossing guards around education facilities would help to prevent this kind of devastating and unnecessary heartbreak.” Not only will this new bill provide children with safe passage to their schools, it will also create new local jobs, making it a “win-win for our city,” Addabbo said. Earlier in the year, it was announced that over the next four years $25 million in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero funding would be earmarked for hiring an additional 300 crossing guards, including 200 part-time guards, 100 supervisors, and a mobile team that will cover absences at guard posts in the fi ve boroughs. Since 2015, when there were approximately 2,300 crossing guards — with reported vacancies as high as 200 — for all fi ve boroughs, the city and the crossing guard union, Local 372, worked together to raise pay for crossing guards and other reforms that would help drive up interest in applicants. Lawmaker vows to fi ght huge developments BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT One Ridgewood-based lawmaker who has been fi ghting to stop out-of-character development across the neighborhood doubled down on her eff orts during last week’s Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association meeting. In recent months, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan has written letter aft er letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), NYC Department of City Planning and other agencies outlining her opposition to a proposed fi ve-story apartment building and the 17-story Ridgewood Tower. In the case of the fi ve-story building at 455 Onderdonk Ave., plans show the new structure will be a 15-unit apartment building which will include a nine-car on-site parking garage. The Ridgewood Tower, which will be located at 54-27 Myrtle Ave., 336 and 350 St. Nicholas Ave., will bring 129 luxury apartments consisting of 39 studio apartments, 51 one-bedroom apartments, 27 two-bedroom apartments, and 12 three-bedroom apartments, with 350 parking spaces, and commercial/ retail space to the neighborhood. Nolan believes these buildings will be vastly oversized and out of character with the surrounding neighborhood. “Whatever I can do to keep Ridgewood landmarked, downzoned, whatever we can do, we do not want Ridgewood to be a high-rise neighborhood,” Nolan said. Nolan also made mention of the high-rise buildings going up in other areas of her district like Long Island City and Sunnyside, and does not want to see the same thing come to Ridgewood. The assemblywoman believes that really tall buildings can have a negative eff ect on neighborhoods such as limiting the amount of sunlight some places receive and shutting out airfl ow. The need to create more aff ordable housing units was not lost on Nolan, although she believes that there are better ways to bring aff ordable housing into neighborhoods without building monstrously large buildings. “We want to have aff ordable housing,” Nolan said. “But destroying Ridgewood as Ridgewood is not the way to achieve that. So whatever we need to do on that, we are going to do.” In an attempt to prevent these highrise buildings going up in Ridgewood “as of right” according to the zoning, Nolan has asked Community Board 5 (CB 5) and the chair of the NYC Department of City Planning, Maria Lago, to examine the zoning allowances in the area. When it comes down to it, the issue is a City Council issue, Nolan noted, so there is only so much she can do from the Assembly. “But you have my full support,” Nolan told the homeowners. “The more we can get landmarked, the more we can keep so that our community has the benefi ts of light and air and backyards, and things like that, the happier I’ll be. And you have my full commitment.” One Stop center in Richmond Hill honors local leaders The One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center honored a number of local residents for their contributions to the community during its annual comedy night fundraiser on May 6 at the Holy Child Jesus Auditorium. Each of the honorees received plaques and other awards from the center’s president, Simcha Waisman. The award recipients include former Holy Child Jesus School teacher Anthony Montenegro, P.S. 60 Principal Adrienne Ubertini, P.S. 66 Principal Phyllis Weinland, Assemblyman Mike Miller, Paul Michael Kazas of the Knights of Lithuania, Florence D’Souza of the One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center, NYPD Assistant Chief David Barrere, NYPD Inspector Milt Marmara and Queens Courier/Courier Sun Co-Publisher Joshua Schneps. City Councilman Eric Ulrich presented proclamations to each of the honorees. Photo by Robert Pozarycki
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