FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com JULY 7, 2016 • THE COURIER SUN 3 $5.8M bank loan will upgrade co-ops in Howard Beach, Bayside and Flushing By Briana Ellis bellis@qns.com/@briinformed Queens residents who live in housing cooperatives (co-ops) in Howard Beach, Bayside and Flushing will be happy to know that major upgrades are coming their way. National Cooperative Bank (NCB), a prominent lender to co-op housing throughout the tri-state area, will supply the three Queens neighborhoods with $5.8 million. The funding was confirmed in May 2016 to sponsor housing improvement projects to 14 New York area properties. Mindy Goldstein, a senior vice president at NCB, arranged $3.850 million out of $5.8 million for Bayside co-ops: • $2 million will be dedicated to a second mortgage and a $500,000 line of credit for the 277-united co-op, Jeffrey Gardens Apartment Corp., located at 46-43 215th St. in Bayside. • Capital improvements at the co-op will include concrete, façade and parapet work. The projects will focus on the parapet walls, roof replacements and driveway replacements. $1.4 million in funding will go toward the first mortgage of a 148-unit co-op in Howard Beach: Lindenwood Village, 89-35 155th Ave., and Section E Cooperative Corp., 89-40 151st St. $1.9 million will support the first mortgage of Ridge Apartments Owners Corp., a 64-unit co-op at 41-34 Frame Pl. in Flushing. • The anticipated capital improvements will include repairing the back parking lot, upgrading the elevator, and fixing the roof and back alley floors and walls. • The project will also prepare the co-op for its next local law inspection, convert to dual oil/gas, and install a new intercom system plus mailboxes. • In the last five years, the building underwent hallway repairs, repainting the hallway, lobby and staircase, as well as new security cameras and a DVR security system. Google Maps Jeffrey Gardens Apartments in Bayside. Other housing cooperatives in Howard Beach and Flushing will also receive upgrades. Officials and community members talk guns in Jamaica By Charlie Per y cperry@qns.com/@QNS Jamaica residents joined Congressman Gregory W. Meeks on June 29 near the site of a recent shooting in the neighborhood for a discussion on preventing gun violence. Elected officials and communities members met on what was declared a “National Day of Action” designed to stop the stem of gun violence across the country. “It is time for us — members of the clergy, community leaders, activists, survivors and elected officials — to come together to eradicate gun violence in America,” Meeks said in a press release issued Wednesday. “We are stronger when we are unified. Though Republican leadership has failed to act in Congress, I will not stop until this problem is resolved.” After last month’s #NoBillNoBreak sit-in by Democratic members of the House of Representatives, Meeks traveled to south Queens to rally both local and federal officials to his cause. A number of elected officials answered the call. Councilmen Rory I. Lancman and Ruben Wills offered their thoughts alongside state Senator Leroy Comrie and Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman. “We’ve passed some of the strongest gun laws in the nation in New York, but our streets are still plagued with gun violence because of an ‘iron pipeline’ that brings guns from southern states with lax laws into NYC,” Lancman said. “We must enact federal gun control laws to shut this trade down and keep us safe.” Comrie commended Meeks for his recent sit-in and pledged to stand in solitary with local community leaders to end gun violence in the community. Hyndman called gun violence “a disease” and highlighted her increased financial support for the Operation SNUG program (guns spelled backwards) to aid in the prevention of community gun violence. Wills talked about the issue of gun violence being a national issue, citing places like Chicago as communities struggling with gun violence. He also maintained his support for LIFE camp and the neighborhoods it oversees. Wills also said he will lobby Congress to study the relationship between gun violence and public health. Photo courtesy of Jordan Morris Congressman Gregory Meeks (pictured center) speaks to the local Jamaica community on Sutphin Boulevard. Meeks and other elected officials offered ways to reduce community gun violence.
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