Cops Awarded At 83rd Council Meet For Stopping Teenage Bandits with a 1997 agreement with then-City Comptroller Alan Hevesi, which purportedly remains valid with all comptrollers following Hevesi. Stringer is seeking court intervention to invalidate the agreement and compel Queens Library to release all of its financial information. Stringer’s audit is just one ongoing probe of Queens Library’s finances; the letter pointed out there are also two “active criminal investigations” focused on Galante and the library’s capital program. As a result of these probes, Katz and the City Council lawmakers noted in their letter, the city’s Department of Design and Construction froze $20 million in funds for Queens Library capital improvement projects, which include renovations to the Richmond Hill branch. Claiming that “the trust and confidence in the library has been undermined” and “the board of trustees has shown little leadership thus far in dealing effectively with all of these issues,” Katz and the Queens City Council delegation called for Albany intervention. The Queens delegation is composed of Costa Constantinides (22nd District, based in Astoria), Elizabeth Crowley (30th District, Glendale), Daniel Dromm (25th District, Jackson Heights), Julissa Ferreras (21st District, East Elmhurst), Peter Koo (20th District, Flushing), Karen Koslowitz (29th District, Forest Hills), Rory Lancman (24th District, Fresh Meadows), I. Daneek Miller (27th District, St. Albans), Antonio Reynoso (34th District, based in Brooklyn but includes part of Ridgewood), Donovan Richards (31st District, Rockaway), Eric Ulrich (32nd District, Ozone Park), Paul Vallone (19th District, Bayside), RubenWills (28th District, Jamaica) and City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer (26th District, Sunnyside). “Good governance and a well administered board of trustees is crucial to an efficient and transparent library system,” the letter stated. “The Queens Library doesn’t belong to any one trustee, to any one executive director or to any one elected official. It has been entrusted to all of these individuals as caretakers for the generations of library users to come—and that’s why we need to make the library more accountable to the needs and demands of everyday New Yorkers.” donated by the Times Newsweekly for their efforts. 83rd Precinct crime update Tasso told the meeting crime is down 15 percent in the 28-day period, but up six percent for the entire calendar year, compared to 2013. “As the weather is getting warmer, we’re going in the right direction,” he said. “A month ago we were up 13 percent, so we’re chipping away. But we do have crime.” Though violent crime is down, burglaries and auto break-ins remain prevalent in the precinct, Tasso said. Similar to the incident on Gates Avenue, perpetrators have begun targeting small businesses in the neighborhood. “Our biggest burglary problem has been of the commercial nature,” Tasso said. The precinct is seeing reports of stores being robbed, late at night, with crooks targeting ATM machines. That’s been our biggest problem when it comes to burglaries,” Tasso said. They tend to rob places late at night and during very early morning hours while no one is around, he told the meeting last Tuesday. And catching the crooks has been complicated by the gates being pulled shut. “They’re cutting locks, and putting the gates down and when we drive by, there’s no way to know what’s going on in there,” Tasso said. He also advised the group, “we are seeing a lot of auto break-ins,” in the precinct, particularly near Woodhull Hospital and local gyms. Tasso said suspects are striking around these types of locations because perpetrators know cars will be parked there awhile, Tasso said. “Don’t leave anything in your car and they will have nothing to steal. Crooks try handles and look through windows for valuables,” he added. With summer approaching, Tasso cautioned residents to not leave their windows open or unlocked at night while sleeping. He said thieves may try to enter your apartment if an air conditioner is not properly installed, as well. “Try to not leave those windows open at night,” Tasso said. “Criminals usually try during the day when they know people are at work or at night when they are sleeping.” Transportation forum A pedestrian and traffic-safety public forum was held at the Audrey Johnson Learning Center in Bushwick the night before, Monday, May 19, to “raise the profile of what’s called Vision Zero,” according to Drew Levitt of Transportation Alternatives. The larger goals of these forums and the organization is “we are trying to make the strets of NYC safe for everyone that uses them,” Levitt said. Last year more than 250 people were killed as a result of traffic accidents, according to Levitt. “More than one quarter of pedestrian deaths are from failure to yield,” he said. The Vision Zero roll-out process has been in three phases: Education, enforcement and engineering. Education is letting people know the seriousness of the issue, and clearly defining what is illegal, enforcement is changing behaviors and engineering is making physical changes to the street to make everyone safer, Levitt said. The organization is working with CouncilMemberAntonio Reynoso to organize another forum for late June or early July. “We will be here next month to let everyone know the date,” Levitt said. Council elections All current ranking members of the 83rd Precinct Community Council were re-nominated and re- -CONTINUED FROM PG. 11- Civic Group Calls For Lids On Open Freight Train Cars hurting people or damaging property, at even moderate speeds dust can be released into the air where resident’s breathe it in, Parisen said. When it rains heavily, leakage and run-off is also a problem, she added. Two types of garbage are transported through the area: what the freight industry calls C+D debris, classified as uncontaminated solid waste, including furniture, tires, carpets and municipal waste, and household garbage from homes, motels and hotels. The former “doesn’t have to be containerized, but it should be,” Parisen said. The organization was begun in 2009 to “address freight rail issues in our community” Parisen said. It was formed to advocate on behalf of the health of residents in communities affected by freight traffic traveling through their neighborhoods. Since its formation, by members of civic associations in Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Forest Hills and Ridgewood, CURES has advocated stricter standards for freight rail through the borough be adopted to protect residents health and quality-of-life. Among its campaigns, the group has forced rail companies to employ modern, lower emission locomotives, and to retrofit others. And in general, CURES works to elevate awareness of the possible hazardous health effects freight traveling through central Queens can have on residents, as well. She has observed unsafe freight cars at the intersection of 69th Street and Otto Road in Glendale, with “containers overflowing like muffin tops,” she said. Through her work with CURES, Parisen is “trying to work with the federal government to get stricter standards,” though NYAR “claims what they are using is sufficient.” With nets covering freight cars, Parisen notices foul odors emanating from the tracks, but has been told these are isolated incidents, and that if she does observe something, she should inform officials, which she claims to have done, but the problem never completely goes away. But Parisen believes, “the burden should not lie with the residents,” and that “at this point we know problems exist.” “(It’s) odor problems coming through these neighborhoods,” she said. “In the summer months is when the complaints start. It could be anything from asbestos waste to tires to carpeting.” In addition to containerization, Parisen also wants to see rail “infrastructure improvements and better inspections of trains and wheels,” to both make it environmentally safer, and to reduce the noise levels. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 6- TIMES, THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014 • 34 Pols Want State Bill To Reform Queens Library -CONTINUED FROM PG. 8- News From The WRBA These incidents were avoidable. In two previous Times Newsweekly columns, I wrote about the serious threat posed by abandoned houses. I described how our local police officers said they have difficulty prosecuting trespassers on foreclosed properties such as these, because the banks that own these properties are unwilling to sign the necessary affidavits. I pointed out the unfairness of financial institutions neglecting their properties to an extent that would get any other homeowner in serious trouble. And I called on the city to do something about this problem, which seriously damages the quality of life of those who reside near vacant houses. Tackling abandoned homes is low-hanging fruit for the de Blasio administration. Each multi-family home that is reoccupied will create multiple units of housing. Admittedly, this will bring the mayor only a small part of the way to the ambitious 200,000 units of affordable housing he aims to create or preserve. But, importantly, it will do so in a way that tangibly improves the neighborhoods surrounding those houses, making them safer and more pleasant places to live. It will send a clear message to residents that the mayor wants to promote affordable housing, but in a manner that enhances, not compromises, our communities. The mayor’s plan describes how the “foreclosure crisis” played a central role in New York City’s housing shortage, and it also discusses the need to prevent future foreclosures. It is encouraging that the mayor’s office evidently recognizes how foreclosures are an important piece of the puzzle. But the fact is that foreclosures have already occurred, leading to the economically inefficient—indeed, destructive— outcome of homes sitting idle in the middle of our neighborhoods. The mayor’s plan makes passing mention of the Real Estate Owned Program, “in which a third party acquires and rehabilitates bankforeclosed homes for moderate income households.” Bolstering this program should be a top priority. Unfortunately, however, this program has not yet come close to fixing the problem, and there is no reason to believe it will get the job done in the near future. So City Hall should also be looking for alternative solutions to this issue—ones that will address the situation more quickly and completely. Mayor de Blasio: take action now to settle residents in homes that are currently vacant. Look for creative legal solutions to put these houses back into use. Call to account absentee bank landlords that don’t care what happens to our communities. This will help you achieve your goal for creating affordable housing, while improving the lives of those who are already fortunate enough to call Woodhaven—or any number of other neighborhoods in New York City— their home. * * * Editor’s note: The next Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association meeting is on Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. at the American Legion Hall (89-02 91st Street). Blenkinsopp is member of Community Board 9 and director of communications for the WRBA. For additional information on the WRBA, visit www.woodhaven-nyc.org. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 4- ADVERTISE With The Times Newsweekly! Call 1-718-821-7500 Police Officers Lanayia Soto and Jeffiery Chin of the 83rd Precinct were each awarded with plaques donated by the Times Newsweekly for a burglary arrest last month at the 83 Precinct Community Council meeting Tuesday, May 20. Soto, at left is pictured with Deputy Inspector Anthony Tasso and partner Chin. (photo: Noah Zuss) elected at Tuesday’s meeting. They include President Barbara Smith, Vice President Ismael Feliciano, Treasurer Elvena Davis, Secretary Victoria Fernandez and Sergeant-atarms Bishop Michael Clarke. Smith said there will be no meetings in July and August; June is the last monthly meeting until September. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 17, at 6:30 p.m. at the Bushwick stationhouse located on Knickerbocker Avenue and Bleecker Street.
RT05292014
To see the actual publication please follow the link above