FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 27, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Little Neck resident
wins $5,000
scholarship grant
A Little Neck resident recently won the
Municipal Credit Union’s (MCU) 2019
Willie James Memorial scholarship.
Stuyvesant High School senior Ryan Kim
was one of nine recipients of the $5,000
prize. Kim shared that the money will go
toward earning a degree in journalism and
political science at the Medill School of
Journalism at Northwestern University.
Thirteen college-bound seniors also
received $2,000 grants as part of the annual
MCU Scholarship Program. MCU selected
all of this year’s winners from a competitive
pool of more than 350 applicants who exemplifi
ed strong academic performance, extracurricular
activities and community service
and involvement.
Applicants also had to obtain letters of recommendation
and write an essay expressing
their personal goals.
Kim said that his father is a member of the
MCU and alerted him about the scholarship.
Th e student shared that he was able to learn
about credit unions and banking during the
application process.
According to MCU, the scholarship program
was born out of the credit union’s commitment
to youth education and fi nancial
literacy. MCU members, a child or a grandchild
of a member in good standing is eligible
to apply. Over the past 24 years, MCU
has awarded high school seniors nearly $1
million for higher education.
Meng calls on FAA
to review how it
handles aircraft noise
A Queens lawmaker is seeking relief for
her constituents plagued by incessant airplane
noise.
Congresswoman Grace Meng is calling on
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
to review how it handles aircraft noise as
it implements the Next Generation Air
Transportation System (NextGen).
In a letter to Comptroller General of the
United States Gene Dodaro, Meng and 28
other Congress members called on the head
of the Government Accountability Offi ce
(GAO) to review the impact of NextGen on
Queens and other New York areas.
“Th e impact of airplane noise on my constituents
is unacceptable and continues to
impact their quality of life,” said Meng, a
founding member and former co-chair of
the Quiet Skies Caucus. “I’m pleased to be
part of this letter calling on GAO to review
how the FAA measures aircraft noise, how
it evaluates and mitigates noise impacts and
the extent to which the FAA has worked
with and responded to communities impacted
by airplane noise.”
In 2007, FAA introduced NextGen as
the solution to modernize the nation’s air
transportation system in order to increase
safety, effi ciency, capacity, predictability
and resiliency in American aviation. Part
of these eff orts included the creation of
new fl ight routes like LaGuardia Airport’s
Tennis Climb route, which have resulted in
increased aircraft noise.
BRINGING JUSTICE TO QUEENS
Pop-up court lets Flushing residents fi ght summonses
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@qns.com
@QNS
Rory McAllister walked into the basement
of the Flushing Library last week
and was greeted by two people who
asked him to take a seat. Patrons of the
library checked out books on the fl oor
above but McAllister wasn’t there for literature.
He was there for court.
McAllister was one of the fi rst respondents
to defend a summons in front of
the Offi ce of Trials and Administrative
Hearings’ pop-up court in the Flushing
Branch of the Queens Library on June
20. Th e one-day court was created to
make responding to low-level summonses
— like putting trash out on the
wrong day or obstructing the sidewalk
— easier, more convenient and, in some
ways, more enjoyable.
Inside the makeshift courtroom, the
judge asked McAllister if he would swear
to tell the truth while defending a summons
he received from the sanitation
department a few weeks earlier. With a
serious look, he swore he would.
Th e judge looked up and smiled.
“I don’t do it formally,” the judge said.
“It’s a medieval practice.”
Th is is no ordinary judge and this is no
ordinary court room.
“We love the idea of bringing court to
people,” said John Castelli, deputy commissioner
at OATH. “It’s been a tremendous
success.”
Th e Flushing pop-up court heard 14
cases and resolved 16 summonses by the
end of its seven-hour run.
Responding to a summons in popup
court isn’t very diff erent procedurally
than responding to one at an OATH
offi ce. Respondents check in, wait, meet
with a hearing offi cer, defend their case,
leave and receive a decision by mail
within 30 days.
What is diff erent, however, is everything
else. Respondents get more oneon
one attention, a more relaxed environment
and less time taken away from
their day and their work, Castelli said.
Th ey also get a free tote bag, decorated
with OATH’s logo.
McAllister lives in Flushing and said
that it didn’t take him very long to get to
the library. Aft er arriving, he only waited
several minutes before seeing the hearing
offi cer, Bradley Lamel. He sat down
with Lamel at 9:26 a.m.
McAllister explained to Lamel that the
only reason he put out his trash an hour
before the law allows was because he
was on his way to see a dying friend. He
wasn’t sure how late he’d get back home
and wanted to make sure the trash was
picked up the next day. McAllister was
a retired sanitation worker himself. He
wasn’t trying to cause anyone any problems.
Lamel listened, asked a few follow up
questions, off ered his condolences and
thanked McAllister for telling his story
and for coming in.
McAllister was out the door and done
with his hearing at 9:31, a whole fi ve
minutes later.
“Th at was speedy,” McAllister said,
free tote bag in hand.
Statistically, it’s likely that McAllister’s
summons gets dismissed. According to
OATH, around 50 percent of respondents
end up not having to pay the fi ne
originally imposed on them. But if a
respondent doesn’t show up to argue
their summons, fi nes will increase and
will have to be paid.
By bringing the court to the respondents
and putting them in less intimidating
spaces, OATH is helping to ensure
that people show up, they say.
Castelli and Marisa Senigo, also a deputy
commissioner at OATH, created the
pop-up courts for one purpose.
“We have one goal: to ensure due process,”
Castelli said
Th e fi rst neighborhood pop-up court
was held in the Bronx in April 2018.
Since then, 15 have been held across the
city, three of which were held in Queens.
Last week’s court was the fi rst to appear
in the Flushing area.
“Please continue them,” said Sol
Concepcion, a respondent from
Elmhurst. “It was super easy.”
Concepcion had received a summons
because there was loose debris in front of
the building she and her husband manage,
the Sanitation Department charged.
Had the pop-up court not come to
Flushing, Concepcion said, the summons
would have caused her a much
bigger headache.
“Originally, my hearing was supposed
to be on July 5, but we were going to be
on vacation,” Concepcion said. “When I
went online to see if I could change the
date, I saw the posting and it was perfect.”
Based on the successes of the pop-up
court, it’s likely they continue. Th ey cost
very little for OATH to host one – the
only cost being the price of the postage
stamps they use to send out announcements
to respondents, they say.
Respondents said they hope there are
more pop-ups in Queens, even if they
also hope they don’t get any more summonses.
“People tend to show up in better
moods,” said Lamel, who was making
his third appearance as a hearing offi cer
in pop-up court. “It’s great because people
appreciate it.”
Photo: Jacob Kaye/QNS
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