for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com april 11, 2013 • The CourieR SUN 3 ‘DREAM COME TRUE’ NYFAC opens center after Sandy setback BY LIAM LA GUERE Richard Henry moved to New York City two months ago in search of a new autism facility for his daughter. Fortunately, he won’t have to look any further. After a six-month delay following Sandy, about 200 parents, children, staff members and politicians attended the grand opening of the $5.9 million New York Families for Autistic Children (NYFAC) center in Howard Beach on April 7. Henry, an Ozone Park resident, is only 10 minutes away from the center by car. “My daughter will be really happy coming to a place like this, because she doesn’t have to travel a long distance,” Henry, 62, said. Last October, Sandy flooded the first floor of the facility, destroying walls, furniture and electrical equipment. The center was forced to close its doors about two weeks before it was even set to open. The post-storm renovation cost a little more than $200,000, mostly to repair damages, but also to replace appliances, according to NYFAC president Andrew Baumann. Baumann was able to pay for the damages by borrowing money from New York Community Bank. The building now has flood insurance, he said, which it did not before Sandy. “It’s definitely a dream come true,” Baumann said. “It’s been a long, hard road.” Assemblymember Phillip Goldfeder secured $100,000 in the state budget to help cover the cost of rebuilding the center. He believes the facility represents the community’s rebuilding as a whole. “We’re not done here, there is a lot of work to do,” Goldfeder said. “But it’s just a tremendous symbol for the community of strength, unity, stability and that we’re going to come back.” The entire building is self-sufficient and environmentally friendly, running only on energy from giant solar panels on the roof. On the first floor, there are meeting rooms, video and board games, showers, an instrument-filled music room, a fully-loaded kitchen and more. The second floor houses administrative offices, a 16-seat conference room, a training room, an evaluation room and a television studio, so the center can create its own programs. “This is going to be a wonderful resource for the families affected by autism,” said Councilmember Eric Ulrich. “It’s going to be a one-stop shop for people to get support, to get the services they need … and to get help.” The next step for the center is to build a gym above the parking lot. The $2 million project will include fitness machines, a basketball court and a volleyball court on the roof, Baumann said. But for now, the center is focused on providing services to people with autism. “It was important they opened their doors to those children and families in need of assistance,” said Senator Joseph Addabbo. “It was never a question of if it was going to open, it was when.” Queens Courier takes top honors at NY Press BY TONIA N. CIMINO The Queens Courier is breaking news – and breaking barriers. Not only are we the first-place winners of the New York Press Association’s (NYPA) Past Presidents’ Award for General Excellence two years in a row, but our staff of talented writers and artists walked away with numerous other accolades. Last year, Melissa Chan set the bar by winning third place Rookie Reporter of the Year. This year, her peers Maggie Hayes and Terence Cullen were also given the distinctive honor, beating out slews of writers state-wide. Maggie, who covers all of southeast and southwest Queens, and is the editor of our North Shore Towers Courier, was awarded third place for her “excellent portfolio of stories.” Of her work, the judges said, “Maggie covered each subject with skill and professionalism, using sources to tell the story . . . with a writing style that really works.” Terence, who covers south Queens and is editor of our Queensborough magazine, blew away the NYPA staff by not only winning first place Rookie of the Year, but also first place Sports Writer of the Year. NYPA Executive Director Michelle Rea said in her time with the organization, she had never seen such a feat. “We are impressed by this reporter’s coverage of several challenging stories,” the judges said of Terence. “His reporting style and skills were excellent. This is a writer who seems to tackle any subject with ease and produces readable, well-sourced stories.” Alexa Altman, our former LIC editor, won second place for Writer of the Year for her “wide variety of stories with strong imagery and a good grasp of language.” For our coverage of Sandy and other news events throughout the year, we won first place Best In-Depth Reporting and second place Best Spot News Coverage. “This newspaper does a lot for its community,” the judges said. “This paper saw its job as not just the storyteller of the storm, but the informer as well, and subsequently, by year’s end, the upstanding citizen.” Our talented staff also took home awards for Best Special Section Advertising and a first-place win for Best Special Section Cover. And our website, www.queenscourier.com – your source for breaking news – was classified by judges as “well organized and relevant,” in its second place win for Best Newspaper Website, thanks to the efforts of all, especially web editor Cristabelle Tumola. “I am so proud of our team,” said Courier copublisher Joshua Schneps. “They truly deserve to be recognized for their excellence, hard work and dedication. The awards represented both team and individual accomplishments in every part of the business.” As we forge ahead, The Queens Courier will remain true to our motto, “We’re all about you.” We will, as the NYPA judges remarked, continue to do our community proud. THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Among the new center’s amenities is an instrument-filled music room. THE COURIER/Photo by Tonia N. Cimino Our award-winning team: Terence M. Cullen, Cristabelle Tumola, Maggie Hayes and Melissa Chan.
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