28 The Courier sun • april 17, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com Photo courtesy Flushing House Flushing House founding member Pauline Alexander died at the age of 99. SCHOOLS, SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS WIN WEPRIN PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com @liamlaguerre Schools and security improvement community projects in District 23 are winners of more than $1.1 million in city funding after participatory budgeting voting. Councilman Mark Weprin announced results on April 9 of the initiative, which allows residents to vote for which community projects their elected officials should allocate money toward. The top voted project — at 1,166 votes — was smart boards for five schools throughout the district at a cost of $450,000. P.S. 33 will get 40 smart boards, I.S. 109 will get 20, P.S./I.S. 266 will get 15, Benjamin Cardozo High School will receive five and Queens High School of Teaching will get 20. “We’re ecstatic,” said Jae Cho, principal of Queens High School of Teaching. “Our kids are going to benefit tremendously from it.” Technology upgrades at two schools, P.S. 135 and P.S. 18, for a cost of $85,785 got fourth place with 699 votes. Besides schools projects, security initiatives were also popular. NYPD security cameras within the district, for a cost of $105,000, received 718 votes for third place. The locations for the cameras have yet to be determined. Security upgrades for the Fresh Meadows, Hollis and Windsor Park Queens Library branches, at $265,000, came in fifth place with 671 votes, making it the final project that would receive funding. A fitness walk and exercise loop at Cunningham Park for $200,000 came in second with 875 votes. Originally, the initiative allowed for just $1 million, but the voted projects sum went over the limit, so Weprin added an additional $105,785. This year, 1,888 people from the district voted, an increase of about 60 percent from last year. “I think it’s great,” Weprin said. “When people get involved in their government they have more respect for their government.” THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Councilman Mark Weprin announced the results of the 2014 Participatory Budgeting voting in his district. Legally Speaking By: Scott Baron, Attorney at Law IN HOT PURSUIT Q: In the early evening, a police officer was sitting in his patrol car. He observed a van that fish-tailed and squealed its tires while making a turn. The officer decided to follow it. In response, the driver speeded through a stop sign. The officer activated his red lights. The van pulled away. The officer turned on his siren. The van drove into a lane for oncoming traffic and ran a red light. Then it collided with my car. A: Under the Vehicle and Traffic Law, the police officer is permitted to proceed past red traffic lights and stops signs, exceed the speed limit and disregard regulations regarding the direction of traffic – as long as she is not reckless. As long as she has not acted in reckless disregard for the safety of others, then her conduct in pursuing a suspected lawbreaker may not form the basis of civil liability to an injured third party, like you. The duties of police officers and other emergency personnel often bring them into conflict with the rules and laws that are intended to regulate citizens’ daily conduct. Consequently, where necessary to carry out their important responsibilities, police officers and the like are afforded a partial privilege to disregard those laws. Emergency personnel must routinely make conscious choices that will necessarily escalate the over-all risk to the public at large. So long as she is not reckless, the operator of an emergency vehicle is free to perform her duties unhampered by the precisely normal rules of the road. Split-second decisions must be made in the field under highly pressured conditions. In order to save life or property or to apprehend miscreants, emergency personnel are permitted to act decisively and to take calculated risks. Having observed erratic and dangerous driving on the part of the van driver, the officer was duty-bound to investigate, using all reasonable means, including pursuit, to stop the lawless vehicle’s forward progress. The conduct the officer observed was far more serious than whatever minor traffic infractions she may have committed. Under these circumstances, the officer had the right to use whatever means are necessary – short of recklessness – to overtake and stop the offending driver Advertorial The law responds to changed conditions; exceptions and variations abound. Here, the information is general; always seek out competent counsel This article shall not be construed as legal advice. Copyright © 2014 Scott Baron & Associates, P.C. All rights reserved. 159-49 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach, New York 11414 1750 Central Park Ave, Yonkers, NY 10710 718-738-9800, 914-337-9800, 1-866-927-4878 Obituary Founding member of Flushing House dies BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com Pauline “Paule” Alexander, a Bayside woman who was an influential resident in the senior living community and was a founding member of the independent retirement home Flushing House, died recently. She was 99. Alexander, who was born on September 15, 2015, was a member of the board of directors of the United Adult Ministries (UAM)— the parent company of Flushing House — from 1974 until she retired in 2010, when she was named “director emeritus.” She passed away on March 28. Alexander served on the boards of other senior housing communities, such as Alberta Alston House in Corona and Fort Schuyler House in the Bronx. She also served on the boards of various religious groups, including the Council of Churches of the City of New York, the Queens Federation of Churches and the Whitestone Counseling Center. She is survived by her brother; five children, Phyllis Oakes, Jonathan Alexander, Terry Alexander, Lyn Meza, Ross Alexander; two grandchildren, Suzanne Grady and Dawn Lewis; and a greatgrandson. Those wishing to donate in Alexander’s honor may contribute to the The George Nussbaum Fund, which was set up to assist residents who have fallen on hard financial times.
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