24 The Courier sun • march 20, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com Fundraiser Resorts World Casino New York City proudly hosted its largest fundraiser “Mid-Winter Taste for City Harvest,” on February 26. This special tasting event featured food, wine and cocktails from some of the most popular chefs, restaurants and beverage vendors. All proceeds directly benefit City Harvest, the world’s first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding New York City’s hungry men, women and children. National celebrities and athletes, local elected officials and community leaders gathered together to support the event, which featured appearances by renowned chefs, restaurateurs and television personalities Todd English, Ming Tsai, Chris Santos, Chris Nirschel and Miss USA, Erin Brady. Delicious food tasting samplings were offered from some of Queens’ finest restaurants and food establishments such as: Benchmark Restaurant Cascon Baking Company Christos Steakhouse De Mole Francis Lewis Pastry Shoppe Genting Palace Hilton New York JFK Little Bird Chocolates London Lennie’s O Lavrador Restaurant QEDC Entrepreneur space: Chee’ Bonnet, e-Desserts, Inc., Little Bird Chocolates and Mitchmallows Rudy’s Bakery and Café RW Prime The Old Time Vincent’s Clam Bar & Italian Restaurant White Castle A $100,000 contribution for City Harvest came through Resorts World’s charitable giving program – Resorts World Gives –an organization committed to improving communities and helping those in need throughout the city. Today, there are approximately 1.7 million New Yorkers living in poverty and struggling to afford basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter. With all of the donations from the food, beverage participants and help from sponsors the event was a success all for a great cause. Commanding Officer of 103 has new job BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com/@CristabelleT After nearly five years of service to the 103rd Precinct, its commanding officer, Inspector Charles McEvoy, has a new job with the NYPD’s School Safety Division. McEvoy was named executive officer of the citywide division, which has more than 5,000 school safety agents and 200 uniformed police officers covering more than 1.1 million of the city’s public school students. As part of his new position he will help oversee and coordinate the agents and officers. Before serving as the 103rd’s commanding officer, McEvoy held the same job at the 102nd Precinct and was the executive officer of Brooklyn’s 79th Precinct. “Interacting with the community” will be one of the things McEvoy said he is going to miss the most about working at the 103. “It was just very gratifying to deal with such good, hardworking people who wanted so much good for their community,” he said. Reducing crime and violence, and improving the quality of life within the precinct, were also highlights McEvoy said he was proud of during his tenure. “We are going to miss him,” said Donna Clopton, president of the 103rd Precinct Community Council, noting McEvoy’s open-door policy. “It’s always been great to have a commanding Photo courtesy of NYPD Charles McEvoy officer that I can reach out to and he’s been one of those,” she said. “We embraced him as much as he embraced us.” “Hopefully whoever is going to replace him is going to be just as workable,” Clopton added. It was unclear as of press time who would assume leadership of the 103. Addabbo sends list of bus problems to MTA BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com/@liamlaguerre A local legislator is hoping to put the brakes on bus problems in the region he represents. State Senator Joseph Addabbo recently sent a list of complaints from constituents to the MTA about bus service on nearly 10 lines, including some that travel through the subway scarce neighborhoods of Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village, hoping the agency can resolve the issues. The note includes problems such as buses frequently arriving 20 or more minutes behind schedule, multiple buses bunching together and buses passing by commuters with “not in service” signs. The lines include the Q18, Q11/Q21, Q54, Q55, Q67, Q38 and Q29. “As we negotiate our state budget funding and administrative decisions, we must realize that these resources must be allocated rationally and efficiently,” Addabbo said. “Acknowledging that the MTA provides a critical service and that state resources are not infinite, we must impress upon the MTA to improve service for my constituents given the resources it has.” Last month, The Courier revealed exclusively that the MTA planned to reduce overall service in April of the Q54, which riders in Middle Village and Glendale depend on to connect to subway lines in Jamaica and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. During weekday “PM peak” hours—from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.—the Q54 will run every six minutes and 30 seconds, instead of every five minutes, according to the MTA’s January Transit & Bus Committee Meeting. During the evening schedule, which follows “PM peak” hours, the Q54 will run every 20 minutes instead of every 15. A colorful welcome to spring The streets of Richmond Hill were colored red, green and purple as the West Indian community celebrated Holi, a significant Hindu holiday that welcomes spring. Also known as Phagwah, the 26th annual parade took place on Sunday, March 16. Residents lined up along Liberty Avenue to see the variety of floats and the colored powder filling the air. The parade made its way toward Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto Park, where many gathered for a cultural show that included singing and dancing. The celebrations welcomed everyone from different races, religions and ages to have fun and become one in the colors. THE COURIER/Photo by Nirmal Singh
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