19 • TIMES, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 MORE CHANGE ON LIB. BOARD Two New Appointees; Union Workers Hired by Robert Pozarycki Continuing their overhaul of the Queens Borough Public Library’s board of trustees, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz filled two more vacant seats on the panel last week. Forest Hills attorney James M. Haddad was de Blasio’s choice. Haddad, an active member of the Association of the Bar of New York City, the Forest Hills Community and Civic Association and the New York chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, helped to found the Kidz Care Junior Civic Association, which engages local youths in various community activities. Katz’s selection was Dr. Lenore R. Gall, a retired college administrator from East Elmhurst, who previously served as dean of students and academic services for the New York City College of Technology. Haddad and Gall represent the fifth and sixth combined appointments that the mayor and borough president made to the board of trustees since August. De Blasio and Katz had removed eight trustees in July through powers granted to them in state legislation enacted a month earlier. The ousted trustees resisted calls earlier in the year to place Queens Library President and CEO Thomas W. Galante on a leave of absence amid several ongoing investigations into his stewardship of the library system. Galante reportedly earns an annual salary of nearly $400,000 and authorized a six-figure renovation of his Jamaica office even as the library cut staff and services amid financial turmoil. They had also approved a resolution to grant City Comptroller Scott Stringer access to financial documents in accordance with a 1997 agreement the library had with then-City Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Stringer sought full financial disclosure from the library for his audit. With four new members in place, the Queens Library board of trustees reversed its previous course in September, sending Galante on administrative leave pending the results of the -SEE LIBRARY ON PG. 56- Say Auto Shop Owner Stiffed State Glendale Biz Allegedly Pocketed Sales Tax Revenue by Robert Pozarycki Law enforcement agents towed a Glendale auto body shop owner to court last week on charges that he allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales tax revenue, it was announced. Alfred D’Andrea, 45, of 88th Street in Howard Beach, who serves as president of Triangle Auto Body located at 57-11 79th Ave. in Glendale, is accused of underreporting more than $1.2 million in taxable income for repairs made over a three-year period. D’Andrea appeared in Queens Criminal Court last Tuesday, Oct. 21, and was arraigned on charges of second- and third-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal tax fraud, first-degree falsifying business records, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and second-degree scheme to defraud. Judge Gia Morris, who presided over the arraignment released D’Andrea without bail and ordered him to return to court on Dec. 8. If convicted, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown stated, D’Andrea faces up to 15 years in prison—and his company may be hit with a fine of up to $10,000 or twice the illegal gain, whichever is greater. “Tax fraud doesn’t just cheat the city and state out of muchneeded revenue,” Brown said in a statement last Wednesday, “it makes every New Yorker a victim by denying funding for essential public services.” “If these charges are true, it means D’Andrea willfully chose to steal taxes paid by customers—a crime that cannot -SEE AUTO SHOP ON PG. 57- Accident Claims Costing City Big Money High Rate Of Sanitation Dept. Incidents In Board 5 Area by Robert Pozarycki New York City paid nearly $90 million in injury claims to individuals involved in accidents with city vehicles, according to a report City Comptroller Scott Stringer released last week. The ClaimStat alert indicated Department. While the majority the city satisfied 1,213 pedestrian of settlements and judgments personal injury claims filed amounted to only a few hundred between fiscal years 2007 and dollars each, several cases cost 2014, 22 of which resulted in the city thousands of dollars. fatalities. According to the Manhattan had the highest Comptroller’s ClaimStat map— overall number of claims (378), which tracks claims filed against while Brooklyn led the city in various city agencies—the most total amount of settlements and expensive Sanitation Department judgments ($29.1 million). claim resulted from a July 25, Locally, Queens Community 2012 accident on 76th Street near Board 5 had the highest number 69th Road in Middle Village. of claims against the Sanitation In that incident, according to information provided by Stringer’s office, a Sanitation Department vehicle smashed into and totaled a parked car. The city approved a claim on Feb. 8, 2013, providing an $8,000 payment to the vehicle owner. Other costly claims in the Board 5 area included an incident on Oct. 20, 2011 at the corner of Fresh Pond Road and Madison Street in Ridgewood, in which the Sanitation Department paid -SEE CLAIMS ON PG. 57- Sunnyside Gardens Marks Ninth Decade City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer and members of the Sunnyside Gardens Preservation Alliance celebrated the 90th Anniversary of the neighborhood by unveiling three newly installed historic district markers on Saturday, Oct. 25. The three signs are located at 46th Street and Skillman Avenue, on 47th Street between 43rd Avenue and Queens Boulevard, and 49th Street and 39th Avenue in Sunnyside. Each sign provides a detailed history of Sunnyside Gardens as well as a map of the landmarked district. Van Bramer is pictured with Herb Reynolds, president of the Sunnyside Gardens Preservation Alliance; Assemblywoman Margaret Markey; Christina Davis, chair of the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation; and State Sen. Michael Gianaris.
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