26 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 25, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Ten Queens Boy Scout leaders in organization’s ‘perversion fi les’
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e names of nearly a dozen Queens
men were listed in the Boy Scouts of
America’s “perversion fi les,” according to
attorneys from two law fi rms representing
victims of sexual abuse.
The victim’s rights attorney, Jeff
Anderson of Jeff Anderson Associates,
claimed the Boy Scouts have kept fi les on
child abusers in their ranks dating back
to the 1940s.
“For many, many years there’s been an
excavation of what are called the ‘perversion
Farmers markets returning to Flushing and Jamaica
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e best of New York’s small farms is
returning to Queens this spring with fresh
fruits and vegetables for local shoppers
in the communities of Fresh Meadows,
Jamaica and Flushing.
Since 1991, Down to Earth Markets has
been on a mission to sustain and strengthen
New York’s regional food system in
order to expand economic opportunities
for local farmers and food makers and to
provide communities with access to fresh,
healthy and fl avorful food.
Down to Earth Markets will be held at
Cunningham Park, Jamaica, and Queens
Botanical Garden.
The Down to Earth Cunningham
Park Farmers Market
Created with the support of the
Jamaica Estates Association and Friends
of Cunningham Park, the Cunningham
Park Farmers Market opens on Sunday,
May 12, for its third season in the tennis
courts parking lot off Union Turnpike
on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through
Nov. 24.
Th ere will be a showcase of fruits, vegetables,
plants, meats, eggs and honey
raised on small farms within a few hours’
drive of New York City. Th e addition of
packaged and ready-to-eat and take-andplate
foods from artisan kitchens makes
it a weekly must-go for locals, who have
embraced the growing farmers market.
Cunningham Park can expect to see
its favorite farmers and food purveyors
return to the farmers market this season,
including Alex’s Tomato Farm with their
wide variety of locally grown fruits and
vegetables, and Abundance Acres Farm
with pasture-raised meats and eggs and
maple syrup from trees on their property.
Wave Hill Bread will bring European-style
loaves and pastries from their Connecticut
micro-bakery, and Meredith’s Country
Bakery will off er their sweet and savory,
traditional and gluten-free baked goods.
Black Creek Farm will return to vegetables
grown on their few acres of rich black
dirt in Highland, New York.
Th e shortest commute to the market is
enjoyed by Queens food makers Horman’s
Pickles, Kouklet (Brazilian baked goods)
and Gianni’s Chicken Burgers. Garden of
Eve, a certifi ed organic vegetable farm out
of Riverhead Long Island, will be a new
vendor at the market this year.
Th e full vendor list is available upon
request and will be posted for shoppers at
downtoearthmarkets.com.
Many of the farmers market’s vendors
accept credit cards. SNAP EBT users are
welcome, and can use their cards to get
tokens at the manager’s tent, where Health
Bucks are distributed throughout the season.
WIC/Farmers Market Nutrition Program
checks may be used at the farm stands.
The Down to Earth Jamaica
Farmers Market
Th e long-running Jamaica Farmers
Market is operated in partnership with
the Greater Jamaica Development
Corporation. It is open on Fridays from
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Parsons Boulevard
between Jamaica and Archer Avenues,
and on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
on 160th Street off of Jamaica Avenue
through Nov. 23.
Serving neighborhoods residents and
commuters, the Friday farmers market
off ers fresh, local fruits and vegetables,
traditional and gluten-free baked goods,
and pickles. On Saturdays shoppers can
stock up on fruits and vegetables grown
on small scale Long Island, upstate New
York, and New Jersey Farms. Th e market
is accepting SNAP EBT and WIC/FMNP
and Health Bucks is available.
The Down to Earth Queens
Botanical Garden
Just outside the gates of the Queens
Botanical Garden in Flushing, at the corner
of Main Street and Dahlia Avenue, the
QBG Farmers Market off ers farm-standfresh
fruits and vegetables every Friday
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Nov.
22. On a trip to the farmers market shoppers
can also learn about the garden’s programming
at the manager’s tent and drop
off food waste for recycling through the
Garden’s brown bin composting program.
Th e market is accepting SNAP EBT and
WIC/FMNP checks, and Health Bucks is
available.
To get the latest news and schedules,
shoppers are encouraged to visit downtoearthmarkets.
com or sign up for email
alerts from their farmers market at http://
eepurl.com/dl6l71.
fi les,’ those are fi led and hoarded at
the Boy Scouts of America headquarters,”
Anderson said during a Manhattan press
conference on April 23, adding that a professional
retained by the BSA to review
the case fi les found that there were 7,819
suspected perpetrators nationwide, while
the number of victims total 12,254.
Th e Boy Scouts of America, based in
Irving, Texas, said in a statement that they
“care deeply about all victims of child sex
abuse and sincerely apologize to anyone
who was harmed during their time in
Scouting.”
“We are outraged that there have been
times when individuals took advantage
of our programs to abuse innocent children,”
the BSA statement added. “At no
time have we ever knowingly allowed a
sexual predator to work with youth, and
we mandate that all leaders, volunteers
and staff members nationwide immediately
report any abuse allegations to law
enforcement.”
A study of a database compiled by the
Los Angeles Times that was created in
2012 appears to back up the BSA’s statement.
Th e trove includes information on
5,000 men who were expelled from the
BSA between 1947 and 2005 on suspicion
of sexual abuse including several
from Queens.
Samuel Fried was a customer relations
professional from Flushing who was
removed as Vice Chairman of District
8644 and as Assistant Scout Master of
Troop 0216 in Bellerose aft er he was
“arrested and charged with sexual abuse
with a minor,” according to BSA documents.
Cal Diva, a bookkeeper from Jackson
Heights was arrested in 1960 “on moral
charges with minor boys brought about by
parents of Troop 135,” documents showed.
Hans Pederson of Averne resigned in
1965 from Troop 389 in Rockaway Beach
aft er he was confronted with allegations
of child sexual abuse, as did John
Montgomery, a fi lm technician from
Long Island City who was Scout Master
of Troop 63 at Th e Steinway Reformed
Church in Astoria in 1963.
In 1988, Th omas Porembeski, a janitor
from Maspeth, was found guilty
on charges sexual child abuse of scouts
in upstate Schoharie County. A letter
from the BSA Greater New York Council
described the trouble it had uncovering
court documents from the rural area
and told Porembeski “we are compelled
to request that you sever any relations
you may have with the Boy Scouts of
America.”
Other scout leaders from Queens, as
identifi ed by Jeff Anderson Associates,
include Michael Boresch of Troop 29,
Robert Methvin of Explorer 48, John
Montgomery of Troop 53, Daniel Aviles
of Pack 196 and Robert D’Amore of Troop
284. Files of each of them are not part
of the L.A. Times database but they are
pending.
Anderson is seeking full disclosure
from the BSA.
“Th e bad news is that this is far from
full disclosure,” he said. “We had to sound
the alarm.”
Anderson added that New York’s new
Child Victims Act that was signed into law
by Governor Andrew Cuomo that allows
victims to press civil charges against their
accuse before they reach 55 takes eff ect
in August.
“We could not wait until August to get
this information out,” he said.
Photo via Getty Images
Photo courtesy of Down to Earth Market
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