4 The Courier sun • JUNE 11, 2015 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com Queens pols look to make Diwali official public school holiday BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected] @AngelaMatua Several Queens elected officials are trying to make Diwali, the South Asian Festival of Lights, an official public school holiday. State Senator Leroy Comrie and Assemblyman Michael Miller held a press conference on June 6 calling for passage of Senate Bill S5304 and Assembly Bill A4331, which would honor a holiday celebrated by many people of Hindu, Jain and Sikh faiths. According to the U.S. Census, approximately 207,414 New York City residents identify themselves as Asian Indian and many of them celebrate the holiday that spans five days. Comrie and Miller are looking to make the third day of the festival, known as Amavasya, a holiday recognized for public schools and city workers. “Just as Diwali symbolizes a renewal of faith and a victory of light over darkness for those of the Indian community, here in Queens and New York State, immigrants come from all over the world to find new beginnings,” Comrie said. “I am proud to carry a bill infused with a spirit of diversity and inclusivity, and to commit myself to integrating the South Asian community’s rich heritage into the greater culture of this state.” Diwali represents the start of the new year on the Hindu calendar. On the third day, millions of people all over the world light lamps to symbolize righteousness and light overcoming and dispelling ignorance and darkness. Diwali is a recognized holiday by the city, and the Sanitation Department suspends alternate-side parking for the day. However, Dr. Mohammad Hack, president of the Inter-Faith Council for Community Development, doesn’t believe the city goes far enough in recognizing the holiday. “Just as all faiths are protected by the law of the land, equally so should all be able to enjoy the holidays that tie our cultures together,” Hack said. “I want to commend Senator Comrie and Assemblyman Miller for their committed effort to ensure a breakthrough for those celebrating Diwali, so they will be able to enjoy that time with their families.” City Councilman Daniel Dromm introduced a City Council resolution in February, urging the Department of Education and Chancellor Carmen Several Queens elected officials are looking to recognize Diwali as an official public school holiday. Farina to approve a proposal to make Diwali a school holiday. Several Queens city and state officials have signed on as co-sponsors of the bills, including Congressman Gregory Meeks, Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Photo courtesy of Office of Leroy Comrie Senator Jose Peralta, Assemblyman David Weprin, Councilman I. Daneek Miller and Councilman Donovan Richards. The bill is currently pending a vote in the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. Railroad officials respond to community concerns BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport It’s been there for more than a century and is being used more frequently than in recent years, yet the Fresh Pond Railyard continues to be a source of friction between its operators and nearby residents. The New York and Atlantic Railway, which leases the Glendale rail yard from the Long Island Rail Road for freight operations, insists only so much can be done to mitigate concerns from local residents while meeting regional transportation needs. “What has happened over the intervening 100 years, as one would expect, the community has undergone expansion and construction where the footprint of the community ends at the footprint of the railroad,” said Paul Victor, New York and Atlantic Railway president. Even with the uptick in railroad activity, Victor said, rail transportation is historically “a fraction of what it was.” “We always try to accommodate as much as we can to local residents, but we can’t really fulfill their wish and not be here because if we’re not here, you have to weigh the historic difference between a railroad moving something and a truck,” Victor said. As it pertains to local concerns over New York and Atlantic Railway’s open Representatives from New York and Atlantic Railway answer some community concerns. top rail cars, Victor said that the waste in those containers is non-organic, non-putrescible waste. It is only construction and demolition waste (C and D), which does not give off offending odors or attract unwanted wildlife. “That has zero impact on the community because it’s no different than a C and D container in the street,” Victor said. “Then, to be fair, you have to cover everything in every street and see what happens to the economy. If that’s what they want, don’t do it to the railroad car only; take every construction site and force it to be covered on every corner.” Residents of Glendale near the Fresh Pond Terminal also raised concerns about hearing trains operating during all hours of the night. “There is no physical way to accommodate the existing traffic in an eighthour window, or a ten-hour window, or even a 12-hour window,” said James Bonner, director of sales and marketing for New York and Atlantic Railway. “The nature of the timing of our interchange for some other agreements we have with other community members is that you’re going to have be operating around the clock, and that’s what we do.” To help alleviate some of the noises made by the trains, New York and Atlantic Railway has recently installed a greaser in the Fresh Pond Photo by Anthony Giudice Terminal, which reduces the squeal of the trains. “We did this specifically because we told CURES Civics United for Railroad Environmental Solutions we were going to do it and we did it,” Victor said. “We talked with them, we said here’s what we can do, we made the investment and put that in.” Mary Parisen, chair of CURES, believes that the C and D waste can cause problems for the neighborhood. “People with respiratory ailments are subject to the dust from the cars when they are being transported and bang together,” Parisen said. “When rain gets in there it can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.”
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