18 SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Glendale church
collecting again
for its pantry
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
With the new school
year now underway,
one local elected
official is partnering with a
Glendale parish to help not
only students in need of school
supplies, but the community
food bank as well.
State Senator Joseph Addabbo
has once again teamed up with
Sacred Heart Church for a school
supply and food drive to help
those in need. Both Addabbo and
Sacred Heart will be collecting
school supplies for students and
nonperishable food items for the
Sacred Heart Food Pantry.
“No student should have to
go without adequate school
supplies. That is why we are
asking you to help make ‘Back to
School’ season better for those
less fortunate,” Addabbo said.
“Anytime is the right time of year
to help a fellow New Yorker, but
we hope this food and school
supply drive will make the start
of the new school year special.
As always, I am proud to once
again collaborate with Sacred
Heart for this wonderful cause
and look forward to continuing
our eff orts in the future.”
Requested donations include
school supplies such as
spiral notebooks, pencils, pens,
crayons, loose-leaf paper, construction
paper, and all sizes of
plastic sandwich and snack-size
storage bags.
For the food pantry, the items
requested include canned goods
and dry foods such as soup, pasta,
beef stew, cereal, oatmeal, tea,
coff ee, powdered creamer, sugar,
condiments, juice and ice tea
mix. Donations of toiletries such
as toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar
soap, feminine products, toilet
paper, paper towels, baby wipes,
disposable diapers, tissues and
shampoo will all be welcomed.
For those who wish to make a
donation, they can drop off the
items at the Sacred Heart Food
Pantry, located at 77-05 84th St.,
or at Addabbo’s Middle Village
office, located at 66-85 73rd
Pl. The senator’s offi ce is open
every Monday through Friday
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information about
the school supply and food
drive, contact Addabbo’s offi ce
at 718-497-1630.
See what changes the city has
planned for Rosemary’s Playground
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
Big changes are on the horizon for
Rosemary’s Playground, as the NYC
Parks Department released on Tuesday
night its plans for the $3.2 million
renovation of the Ridgewood park.
Aft er months of planning, which included
a community visioning session
at Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley’s
offi ce, the Parks Department showed
their plans for the new Rosemary’s
Playground to Community Board 5’s
(CB 5) Parks Committee on Sept. 12.
The main features of the renovations
will be brand-new swing sets and play
equipment for two age groups, kids 2-5
and kids 5-12; a new spray shower area
that can be used all year; seating and
picnic areas; and new plantings, as well
as removing the two large elevated
fl ower beds, six small fl owering trees
and two small street trees.
“We don’t know the designs of the water
features yet, but we’re going to have
a spray shower that for 2- to 5- year-olds,
a spray shower for 5- to 12- year-olds,”
CB 5 Parks Committee Chair Steven
Fiedler announced during CB 5’s monthly
meeting in Middle Village on Sept. 13.
“All hand-activated and then shuts off
aft er a couple of minutes so we’re not
wasting water all the way through.”
Even though there will be many
new editions to the playground, two
features will remain: the comfort
station and the mosaic wall.
One major change that has some on
the board concerned is the proposed
The Parks Department unveiled plans for renovations at Rosemary's
Playground.
reduction of the playground’s perimeter
fence. The fence is currently 7 feet tall,
and the proposal is to drop the height to
4 feet. The purpose of lowering the fences,
the city contends, is so that parents
and patrolling police offi cers can have
a clear line of sight across the park.
The issue brought up against lowering
the perimeter fence was that it
would just invite the homeless to enter
the park aft er hours to sleep, which
has already been an ongoing problem
at the playground.
The Parks Committee, along with
members of the Friends of Rosemary’s
Playground group, also suggested extending
the fencing around the new
spray shower area so children could
not just run through the sprinklers
and right out of the park.
Aside from the new play features,
Rosemary’s Playground will receive an
Renderings courtesy of NYC Parks Department
abundant amount of new benches for
parents to relax as their children enjoy
the park, or for people to just sit and take
in some sun or read a book in the shade
provided by the park’s many trees.
There will also be a new water fountain,
garbage cans, picnic tables, bike
racks and six LED lamp posts.
“We are excited about the new plans
for Rosemary’s Playground,” Ellen
Knechel said on behalf of the Friends
of Rosemary’s Playground. “We look
forward to continuing to work with
the Parks Department to ensure that
the playground equipment adequately
accommodates the number of children
who use the playground.”
The Parks Committee will send their
requests — specifi cally the fencing
issue — back to Parks Department for
consideration before any renovations
are started.
Ridgewood student collects hundreds
of eyeglasses for the needy
Over the last five years,
Colin Byrne, currently an
eighth-grader at St. Matthias
Catholic Academy has been organizing
and running collection drives for
new and use eyeglasses.
Reusable donated eyeglasses are
sent to international charitable organizations
and medical missions for
distribution in developing nations in
South and Central America, Asia, Africa,
the Mid-East and Europe, while
new eyeglasses are provided to people
in need here in the United States.
Thanks to the help and support
from his family and St. Matthias,
the last eyeglass drive was able to
collect 421 eyeglasses, all of which
he personally delivered to New Eyes
for the Needy, located in Short Hills,
N.J. As of September, 2017 Byrne has
been able to collect and donate 5,424
eyeglasses. He will continue to collect
and recycle eyeglasses as long as the
need for providing help and creating
hope exists.
Photo courtesy of the Byrne family
