20 The Courier sun • juLY 18, 2013 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com THE COURIER/Photo by Rosa Kim Community Board 5 voted almost unanimously to turn an area in Ridgewood into an Industrial Business Zone. Board votes for Ridgewood industrial zone BY LIAM LA GUERE AND ROSA KIM lguerre@queenscourier.com Heavy-duty businesses could be coming to part of Ridgewood. Community Board (CB) 5 voted almost unanimously to turn one area in the neighborhood MORE SECURITY CAMERAS COMING TO QUEENS BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com Police will install new sets of eyes in parts of Briarwood, Jamaica and Pomonok, according to a Queens lawmaker. Seventeen NYPD security cameras are coming to the area’s high-traffic locations thanks to $600,000 in funding secured by Councilmember James Gennaro. They can be found around Rufus King Park in Jamaica, near Archbishop Molloy High School and along Hillside Avenue, Jamaica Avenue and Parsons Boulevard, officials said. “I am proud to have been a strong supporter of the use of these cameras,” Gennaro said. Installation is slated to be completed by the city’s police department within two years. The legislator said the cameras “are an essential part of the NYPD’s crimefighting and counterterrorism efforts.” Another 57 security cameras are coming to Queens, Borough President Helen Marshall announced last month. into an Industrial Business Zone (IBZ) at the organization’s monthly meeting on July 10. The board voted 29-1 after its Zoning and Land Use Committee suggested it will foster job creation. “It’s essentially an attempt to preserve and attract manufacturing into that section in Ridgewood,” said Gary Giordano, district manager of CB 5. “Many of us believe New York City in so many cases has not promoted manufacturing enough. And this is an opportunity to do that locally.” The new IBZ is in an area south of Myrtle Avenue known as SOMA. Its borders are Irving Avenue, Hancock Street and Cypress Avenue. If the area joins the city’s 16 other IBZs, including five in Queens, it could gain a number of benefits. The city provides a $1,000 tax credit per employee and other benefits to companies in the zones, helping attract new businesses from other areas. “Manufacturers in Hunters Point and Maspeth are helped for example,” said Walter Sanchez, chair of the board’s Zoning and Land Use Committee. “They would be more likely to get contracts to build light bulbs” compared to Ridgewood. Opponents of the proposal say Ridgewood is not right for an IBZ. Andrew Poma, whose family has owned businesses in the neighborhood for three generations, is afraid the IBZ would make the area more expensive and force him to sell his businesses to make way for manufacturing firms. “We want to stay in the area,” he said. “We’re not interested in selling our properties to the highest bidder. We want to make use of our properties and keep them in the family.” Stephanie Eisenberg shared her experience as a building owner in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn IBZ. “It is in a residential neighborhood,” she said. “It’s hard for people to get trucks in the neighborhood. And there are groups that don’t like the trucks.” Eisenberg suggested that the area instead be used as a mixed zone to allow property owners to keep manufacturing space on bottom floors and build up extra stories for residential usage. CB 5 Chair Vincent Arcuri said more apartments will create a need for more police officers, schools and fire and sanitation personnel, which in turn will expand the need for jobs. The proposal heads to the Industrial Business Zone Boundary Commission next. Vets get valuable info at forum BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com Army veteran Henry Dumas knows the importance of military benefits. The Queens native served in Korea, Germany and Panama. When he returned and needed a job, Helmets to Hardhats, which finds constructions jobs for veterans, helped him. Now he wants a house and hopes the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) can help with that. “I have been thinking about it for a while and it would be good if the VA could assist me in doing that,” Dumas, 36, said. Dozens of veterans attended a forum at Maspeth High School on July 15, which Congressmember Grace Meng and Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley organized, to learn about available services and benefits. “When you are physically separated from family, from jobs, it’s hard to come back,” Meng said. “And to have to get readjusted to society it’s something that’s very difficult for them. We want to make sure that our veterans are taken care of.” The forum featured a lecture by Edward Perry from the VA’s New York office. Perry explained how former military personnel can apply for compensation. He also described stipulations for the VA pension and touched on veterans’ life insurance, home loans and the eligibility details of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Various veterans’ groups also gave out information about their programs, ranging from assisting with unemployment to equal rights, education and legal services. The Allied Veterans Memorial Day Parade Committee of Ridgewood and Glendale took time at the event to honor Crowley with a plaque. She was able to get funding to save the group’s parade several months ago. Crowley said she hopes the forum can become an annual event, something Dumas agreed with. “These things should happen more often,” he said. “There are benefits that are available to us and veterans should know about them.” THE COURIER/Photos by Liam La Guerre Congressmember Grace Meng and Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley organized a veterans forum at Maspeth High School.
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