for breaking news visit www.timesnewsweekly.com JUNE 25, 2015 • times 13 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com JUNE 25, 2015 • THE COURIER SUN 23 oped It seems like only yesterday that legions of bowling fans, from league members to little children, flocked to Woodhaven Lanes to knock down pins and have a good time. For decades, Woodhaven Lanes provided enjoyment to bowlers of all ages; at 60 lanes, it was one of the largest bowling alleys in Queens. Declining business and increased maintenance costs, however, forced the bowling alley out of business in May 2008. This picture, taken the following month, shows the interior of the alley being demolished to make way for a Bob’s Discount Furniture store. A plaque outside the store’s entrance on Woodhaven Boulevard just south of Metropolitan Avenue in Glendale reminds shoppers of its bowling history. Have any historic photos of Queens that you’d like to share with us? Feel free to email them to editorial@queenscourier. com, and they may be featured in this spot! letters Majority of Queens CBs want smoke-free apartments On June 9, Queens Community Board 9 overwhelmingly passed a smoke-free multiple housing and a smoking disclosure resolution. CB 9 becomes the eighth Queens community board to pass a similar resolution (with the exception of CB 7, which did not contain the smoking policy disclosure wording) and therefore signifying a majority of Queens CBs to have passed this public health initiative. Queens Community Board 1 has since passed a smoke-free multiple housing resolution of its own. I, along with a dedicated Queens smoke-free team, have presented a smoke-free resolution to all 14 Queens CBs. Of the five remaining CBs yet to vote on the resolution, most of them have referred the resolution for committee review. It is our intention to continue to follow up with the remaining boards throughout the next couple of months with the expectation that their board members will support the public health aspects inscribed in the resolution if they are given the opportunity to vote on the measure as nine Queens CBs and Staten Island Community Board 3 have already done. We have remained unwavering in our efforts in spite of facing some unexpected delays due to stormy days and nights and due to certain board administrative procedures, but we are determined to keep showing up to all remaining Queens community boards that have yet to take a position on the proposed smoke-free multiple housing and smoking policy disclosure resolution. Phil Konigsberg, Bay Terrace Be careful of de Blasio’s affordable housing plan Mayor de Blasio, via the Department of City Planning, announced in March of this year his new proposal to increase the number of affordable and senior housing units in our city. It has stirred much controversy throughout the city in civic and preservation quarters. Although the goal to increase affordable and senior housing units is admirable, the mayor’s 160-page proposal would decimate many of the accomplishments that community and civic people have achieved over the years through our contextual rezonings. It seems that as the proposal is examined more closely, more disturbing components are uncovered. What would be more logical and less damaging would be to require builders to set aside a larger percentage of units in new developments for senior and affordable housing. Although this type of unit is not as profitable as market rate and luxury housing, the impact on our communities would not be as severe as what the mayor is currently proposing. If you are concerned about the mayor’s proposal and the effects it will have on our city for generations to come, please let your council member and other elected officials know. Come to the community board meetings when this topic is on the agenda. We can not allow the mayor to push through this proposal without challenging many of its provisions and looking for workable alternatives. Henry Euler, Bayside VISIT QueensCourier.com FOR MORE STORIES Find the best A LOOK BACK teacher — look in the mirror By BRIDGET QUINN-CAREy Helping children become good readers is a gift that lasts a lifetime. It gives them the tools to do well in school and will remain a critical skill throughout their personal and working lives. Experts agree: parents are their children’s first and best teachers. Children who are read to at the earliest age are the most likely to become good readers themselves. Read to your children. It does not make a difference what you read. Read the newspaper, read a magazine, read a picture book. It does not matter what language you read in, or if you think the child is too young to understand. Simply read to them, regularly. Queens Library is your partner in developing good readers. We have many, many fun, high-quality books to lend in English and in many other languages. Children love them. Through picture books, children learn letters, numbers, colors and a lot of information about how the world works. Don’t be shy — borrow as many as you like! Play time offers more opportunities for learning. Rhymes and finger games help little ones learn basic reading and math concepts. Queens Library has a variety of programs, parenting tools and materials that will help make reading and play even more fun, as well as educational. Queens Library is NYC’s first library to introduce a Family Place. We are currently offering this program in five libraries and will be expanding the program in the autumn. Through this interactive program, parents and caregivers experience the learning opportunities of the library together with their children. Family Place provides a wide array of developmentally appropriate children’s books, parenting books and hands-on toys in a welcoming area designed exclusively for them. It has been so popular, we can’t wait to bring it to more Queens neighborhoods. Kickoff-to-Kindergarten is a structured eight-week school-readiness program for children ages 3 and 4, currently offered at eight Queens Library locations. The goal is to encourage parents and caregivers to be the “first teachers” of our youngest patrons and help ensure that children are ready to learn at school. You are never too young — or too old — to enjoy a great library story time. Many of us have wonderful memories of listening to stories, whether it was on a grandparent’s lap or in the library. Every culture, the world over, tells stories, and for good reason — stories teach while they entertain. Queens Library’s early childhood programs are for children as young as 12 months and up to prekindergarten. The little ones have a great time, learning and developing a love of reading and books. Registration for summer reading is going on in every Queens Library location right now. Even children who do not read by themselves yet are welcome to sign up. Schoolaged children and teens keep their reading skills sharp and retain what they learned in school. Plus, it’s fun, it’s free and it’s right in the neighborhood. It’s an all-around win. Queens Library invites you to partner with us to make great readers of every child in Queens. Bridget Quinn-Carey is the interim president and CEO of the Queens Borough Public Library. We would like to hear your opinions on anything you read in this newspaper. Send it to editorial@ ridgewoodtimes.com
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