4 THE COURIER SUN • MARCH 23, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Trump budget could be a big disaster for NYC BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@qns.com @robbpoz Queens-born President Donald Trump’s executive budget could devastate his home city if is passed without revisions, Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials warned on March 16. The president’s financial plan would result in tremendous cutbacks to numerous federal agencies that could cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars in funds for a host of programs from low-income housing assistance to the NYPD’s counter-terrorism initiative. “It’s extraordinary how many negative things have been packed into one budget,” de Blasio said during a March 15 press conference at City Hall. The NYPD could lose up to $110 million in federal aid, effectively eradicating its counter-terrorism program, Police Commissioner James O’Neill warned. The funds pay for officer training, bomb-defusing equipment and other items essential to combating potential terrorist attacks. “This money is critical to keeping everyone safe,” O’Neill said. Trump’s budget would eliminate community development block grants that, de Blasio said, would endanger the operation of senior citizens centers to housing inspections and repairs. Further proposed cuts would eliminate the HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program), which provides 700,000 low-income and senior families across the city with funds to help pay their heating and energy bills. Cuts at the federal Department of Education would also impact the city’s public schools system, Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said. City schools could lose up to $100 million used for professional development for teachers and administrators, as well as after-school programs. Regarding public housing, Trump’s desired cuts at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) may cost the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) up to $150 million in operating funds and another $220 million in capital funds. Further proposed cuts at the federal Department of Transportation could lead to up to $2 billion in lost funds for local projects such as the ongoing Second Avenue Subway expansion and the city’s Vision Zero street safety initiative, de Blasio added. The executive budget that Trump proposed must be approved by Congress, and de Blasio is confident the city’s federal representatives — along with others from across the country — would fight to stop the proposed cuts. He publicly asked Trump to speak directly with those New Yorkers who would be most affected by the budget reductions and consider its impact on the entire city. “He should remember where he comes from,” de Blasio said. “New York City stands to lose so much.” BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@qns.com @robbpoz A 30-year-old woman is now under arrest for allegedly murdering her aunt with a cleaver inside the south Queens home they shared last week. Elizabeth Sanchez (aka Digna Sanchez-Ortiz) is charged with killing Maria Palaguachi, 50, at their home on 174th Street between 137th and 140th avenues in Rochdale on the morning of March 16. According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Sanchez attacked Palaguachi with a meat cleaver, striking her multiple times in the head, neck and shoulder. The motive for the attack is unknown and remains under investigation, police said. The New York Daily News reported that police had been called to the location multiple times in the past year for reported domestic disturbances. Officers from the 113th Precinct were called to the scene and found Palaguachi’s bloodied body just after 11 a.m. on March 16. Responding EMS units pronounced hear dead at the scene. The cleaver was recovered. Following an investigation by the 113th Precinct Detective Squad, Sanchez was taken into custody on charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. She is presently awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court. Sanchez faces up to 25 years to life behind bars if convicted, Brown said. JFK assault of airline worker was hate crime BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@qns.com @robbpoz The Massachusetts man who allegedly assaulted and harassed a Muslim woman who works inside a lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport in January has been indicted on hate crimes charges, prosecutors announced. Robin A. Rhodes, 57, of Worcester, MA, was indicted last week on four counts including third-degree assault, second-degree unlawful imprisonment and third-degree menacing — each charge as a hate crime — and a count of second-degree aggravated harassment, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. Hurling slurs at the victim and, at one point claiming that President Donald Trump would “get rid of all of you,” Rhodes allegedly attacked the Delta Airlines employee as she worked in the Delta Sky Lounge in Terminal 2 between 7:10 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Law enforcement sources said Rhodes had departed a flight from Aruba and was on a layover awaiting a connecting flight to Massachusetts when he spotted the employee, Rabeeya Khan, who wore a hijab while sitting in her office in the Delta Sky Lounge. Prosecutors said Rhodes allegedly approached the office door and said, “Are you expletive sleeping? Are you praying? What are you doing?” He then punched the door, which then struck the back of the chair on which Khan was sitting. When Khan asked Rhodes what he was doing, prosecutors said, he then threatened to assault her, then kicked her in the right leg. Khan then moved toward another corner of the office, but Rhodes allegedly kicked the door, stepped inside the office and blocked her path. Prosecutors said another individual who witnessed the incident approached Rhodes and tried to calm him down. He moved away from the door, and Khan managed to run out of the office to the front desk of the lounge. Rhodes, however, allegedly wasn’t finished with his attack. Authorities said he then followed Rhodes to the front desk, then went to his knees and mocked a Muslim praying. He then shouted, “Expletive Islam, expletive ISIS, Trump is here now. He will get rid of all of you.” Members of the Port Authority Police Department responded to the incident and took Rhodes into custody. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted of the charges against him. Rochdale woman hacked her aunt to death with a cleaver: DA Maria Palaguachi (Photo via Facebook) Photo via Twitter/@NYPDONeill The NYPD could lose more than $100 million in counter-terrorism funding in President Trump’s executive budget, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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