22 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 28, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Renovated Astoria playground set to reopen
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
An Astoria volunteer neighborhood
group is hosting a celebration for a local
park this weekend.
This Saturday, the Friends of Astoria
Heights Park (FAHP) will host a celebration
for the reopening of Astoria Heights
Playground, located at 45th Street and
30th Road.
The family-friendly event will feature
a plethora of activities that are sure to
appeal to children of all ages, including
the CityParks PuppetMobile show of
“The Big Good Wolf,” live music performances,
a Calm City mobile meditation
bus and a Parks Department Play Mobile
recreational van.
In addition, the FAHP is also working
to bring workshops to the park for the day
and on Saturdays through July. The organizations
hosting the workshops include
The Connected Chef, BUILD NYC by The
Uni Project, Big Reuse, Bike NYC, Wild
Heart Performing Arts Studio, Shastye
Art Gallery and Play Space, Family Yoga
and Meditation with Lisa Barelli and
Connection Church NYC.
“Cultivating community is at the heart
of The Connected Chef mission. It’s the
driving force behind our work and will
always be something that is personally
fulfilling to me. Being able to see so
many different people come together in
one space is beautiful and is exactly what
allows us all to continue to have compassion
for one another,” said Kim Calichio,
a local Astoria resident and author at The
Connected Chef about her participation
in summer programming.
In September 2013, local parents
brought their concerns about the poor
conditions of the park to Community
Board 1, bringing with them containers
of broken glass that presented a danger
to the children who played there. With
help from an active community and local
elected officials, the FAHP were able to
bring about change to the Astoria park
by hosting cleanups, park beautification
events and other programming.
“The park has and will always be a
critical component of the neighborhood,
creating a sense of community
and much-needed vitality. Without
the involvement of concerned parents
and other community members first, we
wouldn’t be standing here now in a newly
Photo via the NYC Parks Department website
renovated park space to celebrate,” said
Lynn Kennedy, one of the FAHP founders.
The New York City Parks Department
started construction on the park in
November 2016 and ended in May 2018.
The $5.8 million project was funded
by several officials and entities, including
$2.2 million from Mayor de Blasio
through the Community Parks Initiative
and Parks Without Borders programs;
$1.5 million from the Department of
Environmental Protection; $1.1 million
from Councilman Costa Constantinides;
and $1 million from Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz.
The celebration will take place on
Saturday, June 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Email Lynn Kennedy at lynnakennedy@
outlook.com for more information.
So. Queens auto
stripping ring busted
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Cops have slammed the brakes on an
auto theft and stripping ring targeting
vans parked across Queens.
Three people face conspiracy, grand
larceny and additional charges for working
together to steal Ford Econoline
vans parked in East Elmhurst, Flushing,
Jackson Heights, Kew Gardens, Little
Neck and areas in Nassau County
between July 2017 and February of this
year. They then stripped the vehicles
of various parts, including headlights,
bumpers, tires, seats, radios and rooftops
and sold them for cash.
On June 20, detectives arrested the
ring leader, identified as Chukuweike
Emeni (aka Emzie Snipes), 35, of Far
Rockaway. He was ordered held on
$210,000 bail at his arraignment, and
faces up to seven years behind bars if
convicted.
Emeni’s arrest came two weeks after
a pair of alleged co-conspirators —
Teyana Paul, 22, of Rosedale, and Mark
Thomas, 24, of Amsterdam, New York
— were arraigned in Queens Criminal
Court on June 6 for their alleged roles
in the scam. Thomas was ordered held
on $50,000 bail, while Paul was released
under supervision.
“The defendants in this case turned
an illegal venture into a dedicated job,”
Queens District Attorney Richard A.
Brown said. “They lurked in the middle
of the night or early hours of the morning,
allegedly stealing vans, arranging
meets to sell parts and even quoted prices
— $100 for seats, $120 for radios.”
Included among the vans stolen by the
ring, prosecutors said, was Ford minibus
that had been parked in the Samuel
Field YMCA lot on Little Neck Parkway
on Aug. 1, 2017. Police obtained security
camera footage that showed Emeni
allegedly stealing the van, which was
found three weeks later parked on
Horace Harding Expressway, with its
front bumper and headlights missing.
Members of the NYPD Criminal
Enterprise Division and the Auto Crime
Unit of the Major Case Squad cracked
the case through the use of court-authorized
eavesdropping. Brown said that
the members heard numerous conversations
in which Emeni allegedly offered
to sell to prospective buyers seats at $100
a piece, a car battery for $70 and four
tires for $350.
Detectives also linked the three suspects
to the ring through cellphone
records that placed the defendants in the
areas where the vehicles had been stolen,
and security camera footage from
crime scenes.
A wild idea to boost bus ridership in Queens: Adding bus service
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Increasing bus service in Queens to
attract riders: What a concept!
Hoping to convince local residents to
take the bus rather than hail a cab or a
ride-sharing service, the MTA announced
on Thursday that it would increase service
on two bus lines serving Long Island City
and Jamaica.
This September, the MTA will add
buses to the Q6 line between Jamaica
and John F. Kennedy Airport during
midday and evening hours on weekdays,
and during all hours on Sundays. It will
increase Saturday service along the route
beginning in July.
Additionally, the MTA will boost service
in September on the Q69 bus route
between Long Island City and Jackson
Heights during midday hours on weekdays,
and throughout the weekends.
The changes are part of the MTA’s Fast
Forward plan, which includes improving
bus service citywide after years of declining
ridership, according to MTA Bus
Company President Darryl Irick.
“We’re trying numerous approaches
in the Fast Forward Plan to win back
bus customers by making service better
for everyone,” Irick said. “Adding service
outside traditional commute times
and on weekends will benefit customers
The Q6 bus line in Jamaica will be getting a much-needed increase in service this September
who take these routes as well as attract
new customers who might be using other
modes of transportation right now.”
Running primarily along Sutphin
Boulevard, the Q6 connects riders
between downtown Jamaica and JFK’s
cargo terminals. It also stops near the
Jamaica Long Island Rail Road station
and the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer
Avenue station on the E, J and Z subway
lines.
More than 10,000 estimated customers
stand to benefit from the increased
bus service, according to the MTA, as
the extra buses should alleviate overcrowding
Screenshot via YouTube/ Allen1628famm
especially in the ever-growing
Jamaica area.
Meanwhile, the Q69 runs an L-shaped
path through northwest Queens along
Ditmars Boulevard and 21st Street, connecting
riders between LaGuardia Airport
and Queens Plaza. Along the way, it connects
to several subway stations on the 7,
E, F, G, M, N, R and W lines. The MTA
estimates that 9,500 riders will benefit
from the increased service.
The MTA noted that it would conduct
“extensive marketing” to inform Queens
residents of the improved bus service and
encourage riders to take advantage of it.
/
link
link
