FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com JANUARY 21, 2016 • THE COURIER SUN 3 Grodenchik talks affordable housing plans at CB 8 meeting BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI editorial@queenscourier.com @queenscourier New City Councilman Barry Grodenchik visited Community Board 8 members at the advisory body’s Wednesday meeting in Hillcrest and spoke about two citywide affordable housing proposals that will soon come before the City Council for a vote. Grodenchik acknowledged the overwhelming dissent expressed throughout the borough toward Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed citywide affordable housing amendments, Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH), which are part of his Housing New York affordable housing plan. The proposals have received negative criticism from the majority of community boards throughout Queens; CB 8 was among the 10 community boards that recommended denying the amendments. The Queens Borough Board took an official vote in mid-November, which resulted in a 12-2 vote in disapproval of adopting the two amendments. The City Council will vote early this year and have the final say as to whether the proposals are accepted. “Community board votes will certainly influence how I vote on City Council,” Grodenchik said. Susie Tanenbaum, a representative of Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, was also in attendance Wednesday. Tanenbaum read a statement from Katz regarding the city Parks Department’s denial of all recent permit applications submitted by for-profit companies to hold large-scale, paid admission summer music festivals in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Before deciding to rent out public parks, Katz stressed the need to agree upon “policies crafted on a selection criteria and a process for community input.” Tanenbaum also informed the community of the Queens Borough Board’s upcoming hearing for the 2017 Fiscal Year, which will take place on Mon., Jan. 25, at 10:30 a.m. “This is when community-based organizations come to the BP’s office to testify on the proposed city budget and also to request budget for their organization,” Tanenbaum said. Interested parties should visit queensbp.org to register. Rendering courtesy of NYC Department of City Planning Photo courtesy of state Senator James Sanders Jr. Volunteers cleaned up Idlewild Park in Springfield Gardens on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 18. Springfield Gardens honors MLK Day with park cleanup BY ERICA SIUDZINSKI editorial@queenscourier.com/@QueensCourier Led by a local lawmaker, volunteers in Springfield Gardens spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day in service to the community by sprucing up an area park. In Dr. King’s spirit of community coalitionbuilding, state Senator James Sanders Jr. joined 74 volunteers and the Parks Department to clean up the Idlewild Park Preserve in Springfield Gardens. The three-hour cleanup began at the northwestern edge of the park at 230th Street and 149th Avenue, extending throughout the 340- acre salt marsh. Volunteers removed more than 60 cubic yards of debris and garbage left in the park, as well as uprooting Phragmites, an invasive plant species commonly found around salt marshes. Work gloves, shovels, wheelbarrows, garbage bags and metal grabbers were provided by the Parks Department. Though it was cold, volunteers persevered, taking occasional breaks in the Idlewild Park Preserve Environmental Science Learning Center to warm up with coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cookies provided by Barbara Brown, chairperson of the Eastern Queens Alliance. Brown explained how illegal dumping had persisted throughout her years as chairperson. “Idlewild is an important ecological resource for everyone, not just those in Southeast Queens,” she said. “To have all these people here helping is wonderful, because it’s not something just one person or one organization can do.” Sanders noted the importance of this day of service, as established by Congress in 1994. “This is not a day off, but a day on,” he said, emphasizing Dr. King’s mantra of bettering communities by giving back to others. “As Dr. King famously said: ‘Life’s most persistent question is: What are you doing for others?’ and that’s something we should all be asking ourselves today.”
SC01212016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above