FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com march 5, 2015 • THE COURIER SUN 3 Merrick Academy honors Rev. Floyd Flake with lifetime achievement award BY SALVATORE LICATA [email protected] @Sal_Licata1 The Rev. Floyd Flake, a prominent pastor and former congressman, has been a powerful www.mainstreetradiology.Downtown Flushing Office 136-25 37th Ave. Flushing, NY 11354 THE COURIER/Photo by Salvatore Licata The Rev. Floyd Flake was honored with a lifetime achievement award from a charter school in Jamaica. Neuroradiology Musculoskeletal Mammography/Women's Imaging Cross Sectional/Body Imaging www.mainstreetradiology.com • 718.428.1500 Neuroradiology Musculoskeletal Mammography/Women's Imaging Cross Sectional/Body Imaging Northern Blvd. Office 44-01 Francis Lewis Blvd. Bayside, NY 11361 32nd 32-Bayside,Proud to be the Official of Rendering The courtesy New of Curtis + Ginsberg York Architects LLP Cosmos www. Northern Blvd. Office 44-01 Francis Lewis Blvd. Bayside, NY 11361 mainstreetradiology.com • 718.428.1500 Nuclear Medicine/PET Magnetic Resonance Imaging Interventional Radiology Downtown Flushing Office 136-25 37th Ave. Flushing, NY 11354 32nd Avenue Office 32-25 Francis Lewis Blvd. Bayside, NY 11358 Jackson Heights Office 72-06 Northern Blvd. Jackson Heights, NY 11372 advocate for improving the neighborhoods of southeast Queens, earning him the Juanita E. Watkins Lifetime Achievement Award from Merrick Academy. “The work he has done is tremendous,” said Gerald Karikari, president of the board of trustees at Merrick Academy, a charter school in Jamaica. “Rev. Flake has made many distinguished accomplishments. It is a great day to honor someone who has done so much for this community.” The award was named for former city Councilwoman Juanita E. Watkins. Karikari drew comparisons between Watkins and Flake because of their shared vision that has helped the southeast Queens community continue to get stronger. Flake has served the community as a congressman and is the leading pastor at the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in Jamaica, which under his leadership has grown into one of the largest churches in the city. “The way you carry yourself is the only way that you are able to rise from the position that you are in,” Flake told a crowd of students and teachers at Merrick Academy. “If we put our hearts, minds and souls into whatever we do, there is nothing that we can’t do.” Watkins was the founding member of the board for Merrick Academy, which opened in 2000. Karikari said she would be so happy to see how they have expanded in the past year and how they are continuing to grow as a prominent educational facility in southeast Queens. Flake said that he was honored to accept the award from Merrick Academy but remained humble throughout his speech. He called on the audience to stand up and applaud the children and teachers present for all their hard work and dedication. He gave encouraging words to the students at the academy upon ending his speech. “Color means nothing,” he said. “What does matter is what is on your inside. That will drive you to do what you want to do.” After the speech, students put on a performance that included songs and a dance tribute. Some students sang “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley and a group of others did a James Brown dance tribute that received a standing ovation from the audience. Karikari outlined the importance of having a good arts program in the school as he said it will help students later in life, giving them the skills and confidence to go before large groups or to be more confident in front of future employers. “I truly do believe in education and charter schools,” Flake said. “You children can become anything you want to be. You just have to work for it.” Goldfeder unveils plan to create new flood insurance agency as alternative to FEMA BY SALVATORE LICATA [email protected]/@Sal_Licata1 It’s about giving homeowners affected by floods a choice, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder said in describing legislation he proposed to create a new flood insurance agency for New Yorkers. The New York Flood Insurance Association NYFIA would provide homeowners with an alternative to FEMA’s flood insurance, with premiums that are currently on the rise, by offering economical, fair and non-discriminatory policies, said Goldfeder at a press conference on March 1. It would also “protect families from the unfair flood damage claims practices experienced following Superstorm Sandy.” “Our families were victimized by Sandy and then again by the insurance companies and NFIP who were supposed to help,” said Goldfeder. “Insurers have fought Sandy claims and challenged homeowners’ needs, adding insult to injury for those who went through so much and who still struggle to recover.” The proposed law is aimed at giving homeowners a choice between insurance policies they could pick if another flooding catastrophe happens. Any homeowner or renter who has made a reasonable effort to find coverage on the private market could be eligible to apply to NYFIA for coverage of up to $1.5 million for property and contents. Included in the proposed legislation are provisions to keep costs low for both policyholders and insurance providers, according to Goldfeder. This would be done by capping policies at certain percentages of private market policy rates, based on the property of the homeowner. NYFIA would also have the power to distribute any premium gains and losses in excess of 1 percent evenly among members. Goldfeder said this is in sharp contrast to the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program, which after 1986 was stripped of its ability to save and reinvest premium revenues. State-approved insurers would work for the new association, which would be governed by the superintendent of the State Department of Financial Services and a board of 13 directors. Association members would have to follow a plan of operation requiring them to provide “economical, fair and non-discriminatory” flood coverage to policyholders and follow “reasonable and objective” underwriting standards, said Goldfeder. Goldfeder expressed his anger at the National Flood Insurance Program and said that it had failed his constituents. He believes this new system would give homeowners more peace of mind if they ever had to face another storm such as Sandy. “Our families have been held hostage by the mismanaged National Flood Insurance Program and by unscrupulous insurance companies,” he said. “The New York Flood Insurance Association will be a strong system with shared risk that will give families a new choice for flood coverage and help keep premiums affordable so that they can remain strong and secure in their own homes.”
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