FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com may 29, 2014 • The Courier SUN 3 Glendale residents fume over proposed homeless shelter in the neighborhood BY ERI C JANKIE WICZ [email protected]/@ericjankiewicz Residents and politicians in Glendale banded together for one last hoorah against a proposed homeless shelter in the neighborhood. For over a year now, the community has wrestled with the nonprofit Samaritan Village’s proposal to convert an abandoned factory on 78-16 Cooper Ave. in Glendale into a homeless shelter for 125 families, with a proposed $27 million contract with the city’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS). For the residents who attended the meeting at the Christ the King High School, the shelter posed a threat to the community’s welfare. The meeting was hosted by Community Board 5, and members of the Samaritan Village and the DHS were invited to hear out residents’ thoughts on the proposed homeless shelter. “These facilities have drunks, drug addicts, the mentally ill and pedophiles,” one Glendale resident said. “It would be inappropriate for them to be around our women and children.” All 33 residents who signed up to speak were against putting a homeless shelter in their area. Residents’ concerns ranged from the lack of public transportation in the area and the strain that an additional 125 families with children under 18 would put on the area’s infrastructure. “I don’t think they should be placed in our schools,” a local schoolteacher said, and she then went on to say that homeless children are more troublesome. “One hundred and twenty-five children, if that’s to be expected, with behavioral problems are going to destroy our children and our neighborhood.” Politicians representing the area also attended the meeting. Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, state Sen. Joseph Addabbo and Assemblyman Mike Miller all echoed residents’ desire to not have a homeless shelter in the neighborhood. After a formal proposal was submitted by Samaritan Village in May 2011, the DHS began investigating the site. They have analyzed 70 locations, 16 in Queens, and 54 in other boroughs since then. Chris Miller, a spokesman for the department, said that they are still in the selection process and that they haven’t settled on any particular location. “This is nowhere near a done deal,” he said. Liu begins Senate campaign trail in Bayside BY PAULINA TAM The people of northeast Queens deserve “effective, result-oriented representation,” said former city comptroller John Liu, as he kicked off his campaign for the state Senate on May 23. The Democrat called the community the “bedrock” of New York City and promised to be a collaborator with his fellow senators as well as a leader who will not shy away from proposing legislation and “cuttingedge programs.” “In the state Senate, I will fight tirelessly for a real minimum wage, the rights of working people, for true women’s equality and for public schools, transportation and healthcare,” said Liu in a kickoff rally at the Bayside LIRR Station. Liu will be running against incumbent state Senator Tony Avella, who represents the 11th District. In response to a question on being a minority candidate in a mostly white district and one of a handful of minority senators, Liu said he’s been a minority his entire life. “I have built bridges my whole life from when I was a little kid in public school where there were little to no Asians besides my brother and I, to entering the private sector in the corporate world, again with very few Asians,” he said. “That is something I strive to do, to build bridges so there will be greater understanding — and at the end of the day, that is what being elected to office is about.” Liu was joined with elected officials like City Councilman Paul Vallone and representatives from the Hotel Trade Council and the International Union of Operative Engineers Locals 891. THE COURIER/Photo by Paulina Tam High school brings colorful posters to Queens businesses BY ERI C JANKIE WICZ [email protected] @ericjankiewicz A local high school is designing posters and fliers for independent Glendale and Ridgewood businesses. Andrew Drozd teaches three art and design classes at the Academy of Urban Planning in Bushwick, where students work with local businesses in Brooklyn and Queens to apply design techniques to real-world applications like advertisement. “This is something that’s still in its infancy, but we’re learning,” Drozd said. “Students appreciate what they’re learning if there’s a real value attached to it.” He first started the class this semester in April. The design exercise was meant to only last a couple of weeks. “And now here we are, nearing the end of the school year and my students are still passionate about it,” Drozd said. “There’s been such an outpouring of support from the local business communities.” Jesse Ibrahim owns Roma Deli in Glendale. He displays a huge poster at the entrance of his store. The poster has pastel colors that frame a picture of the deli-front in the center. The bottom right corner says the poster was created by student Jocelyn Perez. “I love it,” said Ibrahim, who has owned the deli for almost 15 years. “Now my entrance is brightened. It’s very presentable.” Ibrahim was first approached by Drozd two weeks ago and was then given an option of about 15 different poster designs all made by separate students. “There’s a level of competition,” Drozd said. In Ridgewood, Armand Baklajan was expecting to receive his poster any day now. “This is fantastic work,” he said, holding a sketch of his yet-to-be completed poster. “I wish I had such a motivated and passionate teacher when I was in high school.” Drozd said that about 40 other businesses are lined up for future posters. He first came up with the idea when he noticed that so many delis have handwritten signs. “So there’s an element of social justice in this. We’re providing a service to people who could really benefit from it,” he said. Each class produces about three posters a week using design programs and pictures. Drozd expects the work to continue through the summer, and next school year, the design exercise will be introduced to another batch of students. “We’re going to ride this until it crashes,” he said. THE COURIER/Photo by Eric Jankiewicz
SC05292014
To see the actual publication please follow the link above