22 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 15, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Ozone Park woman fi nds purpose and joy
through training a future assistance dog
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
For Ozone Park’s Barbara Bocklage, taking
Photos courtesy of Barbara Bocklage and John Bentzinger
Queens reps: ‘Freedom Ticket’ changes doom plan to failure
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Th e “Freedom Ticket” plan, eyed
as an aff ordable solution for southeast
Queens’ public transportation
problems, may prove to be more
trouble than it’s worth if the MTA
approves an alternate proposal.
A contingent of southeast Queens
representatives and Borough
President Melinda Katz wrote to
MTA Chairman Joe Lhota on March 6
expressing their disapproval of a proposed
change to the Freedom Ticket Plan put
forth back in 2015. Th e contingent included
Congressman Gregory Meeks, state
Senators Leroy Comrie and James Sanders,
Assembly members Alicia Hyndman
and Clyde Vanel and Council members
Adrienne Adams and I. Daneek Miller.
The MTA board had previously
approved a six-month trial run for the
Freedom Ticket based on an idea from the
New York City Transit Riders Council.
Th is would allow southeast Queens commuters
to ride the Long Island Rail Road
from six diff erent stations to Manhattan
or Brooklyn for $6.75; the fare would
include free transfers between subways
and buses. Riders currently pay for each
LIRR and MTA subway or bus ride separately.
Th e Freedom Ticket would be available
from the Rosedale, Laurelton, Locust
Manor, St. Albans, Hollis and Queens
Village stations and good for rides to
Penn Station or Atlantic Terminal.
However, the MTA is now considering
an alternative Freedom Ticket plan that
would only allow holders a discounted
ride to and from Atlantic Terminal.
Th e alternate, the elected offi cials told
Lhota, defeats the Freedom Ticket plan’s
original purpose and sets the pilot program
up for failure. Transferring at
Atlantic Terminal only, they said, “would
substantially increase” riders commute
times rather than being able to travel
directly to Penn Station.
Limiting the Freedom Ticket to Atlantic
Terminal would also dissuade southeast
Queens residents from participating
in the pilot program at all, the elected
offi cials added, as riders would still be
forced into making a two-train ride to
Manhattan.
“Th e pilot is therefore being set up for
failure, an outcome that is unacceptable
given the huge amount of promise that
the original Freedom Ticket plan held,”
they told Lhota. “Th erefore, the proposed
six-month pilot to Atlantic Terminal is
unacceptable, as it will not properly serve
southeast Queens residents, allow for suffi
cient outreach in the community, nor
gauge their use of a long-term program.”
When contacted by Th e Courier on
March 7, an MTA spokesperson said the
authority would review the letter.
Th e MTA board is slated to discuss the
Freedom Ticket plan further at its next
scheduled meeting on March 21.
on a puppy from Canine Companions
for Independence was a no-brainer.
Bockage worked with handicapped
children before retirement. Searching for
a sense of purpose, she stumbled upon
Canine Companions for Independence,
a national nonprofi t that trains assistance
dogs to children, adults and veterans with
disabilities at no cost to the recipient, aft er
a conversation with her sister.
“My sister is a volunteer at the Ronald
McDonald House. Th ere’s a dog there
that came from Canine Companions
named Rico,” said Bocklage. “I’ve been
wanting a dog, and aft er my sister spoke
with Rico’s owner, she helped me get in
contact with her to learn more about the
program.”
Canine Companions for Independence
places 8-week-old puppies into the homes
of puppy raisers where they learn basic
commands and socialization skills. Once
the dogs are about 1 1/2 years old, they
are returned to the Canine Companions
for Independence regional headquarters
in Medford, NY, where they begin
six months of professional training with
the organization’s nationally renowned
instructors.
Aft er they undergo training, the pups
are then matched with a child, adult or veteran
with disabilities, and are dropped off
at their new home by their puppy raiser.
“You can give money to any charity,
but do you really know where it goes?”
Bocklage said. “Th at’s the best part of
Canine Companions. We carry the load
and then we get to give the dog to the person
who was matched with the dog.”
Bocklage started the application process
to receive her puppy, a golden retriever
named Kimber, back in September
2017. Once she brought Kimber home,
Bocklage was ecstatic and knew that this
was meant for her.
“Ever since I retired I was looking for
a sense of purpose,” Bocklage said. “I’ve
always had dogs and aft er not having one
for 10 years, it was time. Aft er fi nding
Canine Companions, I knew it was right
for me.”
Kimber is settling in to her new home
amazingly and is really taking to her training.
So far Kimber has been with Bocklage
at a doctor’s offi ce and at Costco and
has behaved wonderfully. Many people in
Bocklage’s family are growing attached to
the pup.
“My husband didn’t
want a dog, but he’s the
one who gives her treats
for her potty training,”
Bocklage said, laughing.
“My 23-year-old niece is
ecstatic about Kimber.
Even my sister, who is
highly asthmatic, wants to
come over all the time to
see the dog.”
Kimber has become
quite popular in the
neighborhood as well.
“She’s the star of the
block,” Bocklage said.
“She’s also a man-magnet.
I was walking her through
the neighborhood once
with her little yellow vest
on and a man who was working on
cement came running over and said, ‘I
have to pet this dog!’ She’s the best little
girl.”
In the next year or so, Kimber will
return to the Canine Companions for
Independence headquarters for additional
training. Bocklage knows that
returning Kimber will be hard, but
acknowledges that she will light up the
lives of the people she comes in contact
with.
“She was the happiest hello and will
be the hardest goodbye,” Bocklage said.
“Everyone falls in love with her, and I
think that has something to do with what
her purpose is. It makes everyone light
up.”
For more information about becoming
a puppy raiser, visit cci.org.
Fed charges For
three in Ozone
Park man’s murder
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Federal prosecutors have charged
three men in connection with the
October 2017 murder of an Ozone
Park business owner who was shot
in front of his son in retaliation over
unpaid debts.
Brooklyn resident Dwayne Ling, 55,
who was arrested in January on local
murder charges in the case, was indicted
along with Ppassim Elder (a.k.a.
Sam or Big Sam), 38, of Staten Island
and Frederick McCoy, 52, of Brooklyn
on federal murder and extortion
charges for their alleged roles in the
Oct. 23, 2017 killing of Hani Kasem,
64, inside his Ozone Park business.
According to U.S. Attorney Richard
Donoghue, Kassem was allegedly
shot to death aft er Ling, McCoy
and an unidentifi ed perpetrator came
to Garden Valley Distributors on
99th Street near 101st Avenue seeking
repayment of a debt that the victim’s
son and business partner owed
to Elder.
Federal prosecutors said that
Kasem’s son previously went to Elder
seeking a loan in order to support
Garden Valley’s operations, which
Elder subsequently provided. In
March 2017, Elder allegedly demanded
that Kasem’s son fully repay the
loan, but he was unable to comply with
the request.
Th ereaft er, authorities said, Elder
engaged in “a campaign of intimidation
against the son and his family” in
order to have the loan repaid. In one
episode, Elder hired Mahdi Abdel-
Rahim, 24, of Brooklyn to throw a rock
through the home where Kasem and
his son resided. Abdel-Rahim faces
up to 20 years in prison aft er being
indicted for participating in the extortion
plot.
Prosecutors said that Elder then
ordered Ling, McCoy and the other
unidentifi ed suspect to make the Oct.
23 visit to Garden Valley Distributors
and get Kasem’s son to pay him back.
When the trio arrived, they brandished
fi rearms and pistol-whipped
Kasem’s son, then shot Kasem in the
face before fl eeing the location.
Offi cers from the 102nd Precinct
and EMS units responded to a 911 call
about the shooting. Kasem went into
cardiac arrest and died four days later
at Jamaica Hospital; his son suff ered
minor injuries.
Federal agents tracked Elder down
in Cleveland, Ohio on March 2 and
took him into custody; he is being
extradited back to Brooklyn. McCoy
was arrested on March 7.
Ling, Elder and McCoy face a maximum
term of life imprisonment if convicted
on charges of extortionate collection
of credit conspiracy, extortionate
collection of credit, brandishing a
fi rearm and murder.
Photo via Shutterstock
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