FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARCH 9, 2017 • THE COURIER SUN 3 BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport One construction company is giving back to the Ozone Park school they built nearly a decade ago by donating 200 sets of personal protective equipment to help the students maintain a culture of safety as they grow into the city’s next generation of construction workers, engineers, and architects. The Skanska construction company helped build the High School for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture (CTEA) in 2010, and have announced a new partnership with the school by donating safety googles, reflector vests, hardhats, and protective gloves to the students. On Friday, March 3, students in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades at CTEA filed into the school’s auditorium to receive their new safety equipment, and to hear a safety demonstration from Michael Ceglio of Skanska. “It means a lot that you’re partnering with our school to continue to provide engaging, real, authentic learning opportunities for our students that will better prepare them for not only college, but also to possibly enter into the work field and land the jobs that will make them productive citizens,” said Lakeisha Gordon, principal at CTEA. “These are the type of opportunities that engage students and keep them in school.” Skanska is currently a construction partner on the major project to rebuild the LaGuardia Airport Central Terminal, a $4 billion project, and is looking to CTEA to provide future workers on the project, like Andy Ramroop who graduated CTEA in 2014 and is currently a project engineer on the Skanska Walsh team at the LaGuardia project. “Don’t think that nothing can happen for you,” Ramroop said. “I sat in this seat three years ago and I’m here today. So it is possible. Keep your heads on right and you’ll be here one day.” “This is a great school with tons of potential,” he added. “A company like Skanska will open many doors for them.” Joining the Skanska team to talk to the students was state Senator James Sanders, who was excited to see the students who will be building the future of the borough. “My job is to make sure that companies like this one understand that we are going to build it in Queens, with Queens residents, and that I have an incredibly talented group here that can do every single thing up there with enough training,” Sanders told the students. “Now you get your basic training here. Your principal is working hard, and your teachers and faculty are working hard to make sure that you can tackle this.” Skanska has yet another CTEA connection, as Blaise Delise a student at CTEA is the son of Charles Russo, a superintendent for the Skanska Walsh team on the LaGuardia project. “I’m glad to see we’re donating the PPE (personal protective equipment), hopefully we can do it for every incoming class,” Russo said. “I enjoyed the presentation,” Delise added. “Some of the stuff I already learned, but for the kids in audience that didn’t know that stuff, I thought they did really good.” Senators: Give public more say on shelter plans BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport As Mayor Bill de Blasio plans on opening nearly 90 new homeless shelters across the five boroughs to help with New York City’s growing homeless population, two Queens state senators are supporting legislation to give communities more say as to where these shelters should be created. Bronx State Senator Jeff Klein introduced a bill on Wednesday, March 1, that would require greater transparency of the placement of permanent and temporary homeless shelters, since de Blasio’s “Turning the Tide on Homelessness in New York City” plan currently provides communities with no notification of the placement of temporary shelters and a short 30-day notice before permanent shelters are created. State Senators Tony Avella of Bayside and Joe Addabbo of Howard Beach both announced their support of the measure, which would give communities 45 days notice prior to the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services hearings on the opening of a permanent shelter, rather than the 30 days given under de Blasio’s plan. The legislation would also allow local community boards to request public hearings on a shelter site, and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) would have to modify its proposal based on reasonable concerns from such community hearings. When it comes to the placement of temporary shelters, the new proposal would require notification one week from the city’s use of the hotel as a shelter. It would also require the DHS to perform inspections to ensure these sites are safe and free of violations. The Mayor’s Office and DHS must also maintain a publicly available list of these sites. The legislation also requires a quarterly report from DHS on the use and proposed use of these sites to be submitted to local elected officials “Good government demands open communication among community members, elected officials, service providers and other stakeholders in the face of difficult challenges, including our efforts to find effective solutions to housing the homeless,” Addabbo said. “If we are to provide the best possible housing and assistance for people who are in desperate need of shelter and services, notifying and working cooperatively with local communities is not only key, but absolutely necessary.” Since hotels are often used for weather related emergencies, the legislation does allow for 48 hour post placement notification in the event of an emergency situation. Photos by Anthony Giudice/QNS Members of Skanska presented students at the High School for Construction Trade, Engineering and Architecture new safety equipment. Photo: Anthony Giudice/QNS A new proposed bill would give communities a larger role in where homeless shelters are created. BUILDING A FUTURE Construction workers lend Ozone Park school students a hand
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