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RT06082017

8 JUNE 8, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM Owner of Secret Garden fl ower shop off ers free learning tours to preschool kids BY ANTHONY GIUDICE Warehouse & storage sites top June’s CB 5 meeting Public hearings about a proposed NYPD warehouse in Maspeth and self-storage facility locations top the agenda at the Community Board 5 meeting in Middle Village next Wednesday. As announced by District Manager Gary Giordano, the session begins at 7:30 p.m. in the CNL Center of Christ the King Regional High School, located at 68-02 Metropolitan Ave. (enter through Door 10, take elevator or stairway to third fl oor). The first public hearing concerns an application that the NYPD submitted to the City Planning Commission to acquire 55-15 Grand Ave. (Block 2610, Lots 305, 336 and 357) in Maspeth for use as a warehouse facility. The other hearing centers around a Department of City Planning proposal that would require a special permit for all new self-service storage facilities in newly-established designated areas within manufacturing districts. The requirement aims to assure that the creation of new storage facilities will not limit future siting opportunities for more job-intensive industrial uses. Following the hearings, the board will proceed with its regular agenda, which includes the public forum; a review of liquor license applications and demolition notices; reports by Chairperson Vincent Arcuri and District Manager Giordano; and committee reports. The board will also hold elections for seats on its Executive Committee. For more information or to register to speak in advance, call Board 5 at 718-366-1834. AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT The owner of Secret Garden fl ower shop in Glendale is teaching kids the importance of plants and fl owers through walking tours of her little shop on Myrtle Avenue. Dorothy Stepnowska always had the idea of hosting a walking tour of her shop for children, and aft er speaking with one of the teachers at the Happily Ever Aft er Daycare & Preschool who suggested taking the kids for a fi eld trip through the fl ower shop, Stepnowska put her plan in motion. So in May, Stepnowska and her friend Gail Grabowski brought two classes from the preschool for a 45-minute tour of Secret Garden, located at 64-02 Myrtle Ave., to teach the kids how plants are not only nice things to look at, but they also play a big role in their lives, from the smells they smell to the foods they eat. “We had to come up with a theme of some sort,” Grabowski said. “So the theme was, which I asked the kids when they came in, ‘Does everybody agree that fl owers and trees are very pretty?’ And they all screamed, ‘Yes.’ Then my question, which was the theme, was ‘But did you know that fl owers, and plants, and trees are also our friends?’ And it was dead silent.” As the tour continued, the children were instructed to gather around a table where Stepnowska had a wide variety of plants set out such as cocoa beans, vanilla beans, basil, mint and more. There they learned how these plants help create the food they love from ice cream to chocolate, and how aloe plants can help heal. “We got coff ee beans for them, and all diff erent stuff ,” Stepnowska said. “We explained to them how it works, how the plants grow. And they were in love.” Now, Stepnowska and Grabowski are looking to hold two more tours before the end of the school year. And the duo is also interested in off ering their free tour to students of other schools around Glendale with preschools such as St. Pancras and Redeemer Lutheran School. “I want to teach kids to have a love of fl owers, to be respectful when you see a fl ower to not run and step on it,” Stepnowska said. “I want them to learn that plants are living things and you have to respect that as well. I think them having the experience and touching things, and talking about plants and fl owers, will teach them to be respectful.” Stepnowska has always been community oriented and hosted other free events at Secret Garden, like a Christmas-themed event in the back of the shop where kids were invited to take free photos with Santa Claus, and an event on Memorial Day for veterans. Maspeth man cuff ed for allegedly choking girlfriend with baseball bat BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT A Maspeth man has been arrested and charged for allegedly choking out his girlfriend with a baseball bat two times last month, police said. According to the criminal complaint provided by the Queens District Attorney’s offi ce, Vaghn Pitts, 21, and his 19-year-old girlfriend got into a verbal dispute on the evening of May 20, inside an apartment near the intersection of 58th Street and 57th Drive. Things turned physical when Pitts allegedly punched his girlfriend in the face several times, threw her against a wall and put a baseball bat on her neck, causing her diffi culty breathing, cops said. Then, on May 21, another dispute turned violent when Pitts allegedly threw the teen onto the bed, again placed the bat on her neck and applied pressure. In this instance, law enforcement agents added, the victim temporarily lost consciousness and sustained swelling and bruising to her neck. When she regained consciousness, police said, Pitts allegedly repeatedly punched her in her face causing swelling and bruising to her lip. When the victim attempted to leave the residence through a window, she sustained lacerations and bruising to her legs, the criminal complaint continues. Pitts then allegedly followed her out of the house and continued punching her in the face. Officers from the 104th Precinct responded to the incident and EMS units removed the teenager to a local hospital where she was treated for her injuries. As a result of an investigation, Pitts was charged with second-degree strangulation, two counts of third-degree assault, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, and two counts of second-degree harassment. Pitts is being held on $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash. The judge also issued a temporary order of protection against prohibiting him from any contact with the victim. He is due back in Queens Criminal Court on June 12. Preschoolers got the chance to take a tour of Secret Garden fl ower shop and learn the importance of plants.


RT06082017
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