4 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 9, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
War over NE Queens chopper noise rages on
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Several northeast Queens representatives
recently met to come up with a plan
to tackle the ongoing noise pollution
from helicopters fl ying over the area.
On July 30, Congressman Tom Suozzi,
Councilman Paul Vallone and state
Senator Tony Avella met with local offi -
cials to discuss the mitigation of helicopter
noise in northeast Queens. Among
those present at the meeting were representatives
of Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz, TRACON, the New
York City Economic Development
Corporation, the Eastern Helicopter
Regional Council, and the We Love
Whitestone civic association.
“I became co-chair of the Quiet Skies
Caucus because my constituents in northeast
Queens have been forced to endure
constant and intrusive noise due to
low-fl ying helicopters at all hours of the
night,” Suozzi said. “On Monday I met
with offi cials from the FAA, as well as
representatives from groups of concerned
citizens, with the singular goal of coming
up with realistic solutions to a problem
that has been aff ecting the quality of life
for these constituents.”
Aircraft noise has been a long-standing
issue for northeast Queens. A number
of complaints about the noise over Long
Island prompted a route change for helicopters,
which were now directed to fl y
along the north shore of the land. However,
the change did not protect northeast
Queens from its own noise issues.
“I am hopeful that all of the strategies
discussed, including the development of
alternate fl ight paths, minimum altitude
standards, and safety procedures, will
be devised and implemented quickly in
order to fi nally provide our residents with
relief from the relentless onslaught of
helicopter noise in our neighborhoods,”
Avella said.
Th e Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) was directed to take an updated
look at how aircraft noise is measured
throughout the area. Under the current
Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL)
method, aircraft noise is measured on a
scale that averages all community noise
during a 24-hour period. A tenfold penalty
is instilled on noise that occurs during
nighttime and early morning hours.
In March, a deadly helicopter crash in
the East River took the lives of fi ve passengers.
Th is prompted Councilman Vallone
to call on the city to change how helicopter
noise and safety is monitored. Vallone,
who sits as Chair of the Committee on
Economic Development, also called in the
FAA to make changes to the North Shore
Helicopter Route back in February.
“As a result of this meeting, an understanding
is in place for all parties to develop
plans and strategies to develop alternate
fl ight paths and routes, minimum
altitude standards and maximum speed
requirements, overall safety procedures
and the collection of necessary data,”
Vallone said.
“Getting all concerned parties together
was a good fi rst step,” Suozzi said. “Now
that we have the FAA’s attention we will
continue to push forward to get some
results, and much needed relief, for the
residents of northeast Queens.”
Photo courtesy of Queensborough Community College
Dr. Timothy Lynch
Interim prez
tapped for
Q’borough
BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Bayside’s Queensborough
Community College has a brand new
leader.
Dr. Timothy Lynch, Ph.D., the
school’s provost and senior vice president
for academic aff airs, was named
on Aug. 6 as the community college’s
interim president. He takes over for
Dr. Diane Call, who formally retires
this month aft er spending a 47-year
career in service to Queensborough,
including the last eight as its president.
CUNY Interim Chancellor Vita C.
Rabinowitz appointed Lynch to the
post, who will begin his new job on
Sept. 1.
Dr. Lynch joined Queensborough
Community College in 2017. He has
spent his career serving public universities
in California and New York
as faculty member, department chairperson
and chief academic offi cer.
Prior to joining Queensborough, he
was the provost and vice president of
academic aff airs at SUNY Maritime
College; he also previously educated
students at the California Maritime
Academy, a specialized campus of the
California State University System.
“My focus as interim president of
Queensborough Community College
will center on providing our students
with access to transformational educational
opportunities through competitive
and rigorous academic programs.”
Dr. Lynch said. “Queensborough is
positioned to continue its trajectory of
excellence and lead the way as a fl agship
institution of higher education in
the 21st century.”
A native New Yorker and fi rst-generation
college student, Dr. Lynch
earned history degrees from Brooklyn
College and the CUNY Graduate
School and University Center. His
professional associations include
American Irish Historical Society,
National Maritime Historical Society
and North American Society for
Oceanic History.
Photo courtesy of the offi ce of Congressman Tom Suozzi
Rabbi: Little Neck temple to stay open despite sale
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Rabbi Eli Shifrin and his wife Rivky want
to set the record straight: Temple Torah in
Little Neck is here to stay.
Since its inception, the Jewish temple
located at 54-27 Little Neck Pkwy. in
Little Neck has been a community staple.
In addition to being a house of worship,
Temple Torah also functions as a school
and events space, with many gatherings
held in their entertainment hall.
Th e rabbi and his wife said that the
many of the founders and those who worshiped
at Temple Torah were Holocaust
survivors who opened the temple aft er
fl eeing from their countries.
“Many of the Jews that came from
Europe were very broken and downhearted,
many had lost their families. Instead of
being depressed and devastated, the fi rst
thing they did is they built,” said Rivky.
But in 2015, the temple was hit with
massive taxes from the city which the
Shifrins said have proven to be a fi nancial
drain.
“Th e temple is currently facing a fi nancial
crisis, and one of the biggest reasons
is due to a New York City property real
estate tax bill,” said Rabbi Shifrin, who
has been the landlord and head of Temple
Torah for nearly seven years.
According to the rabbi, the city taxed the
temple over $400,000 due to a caterer who
had a contract with the temple because
the city felt that the temple was running
a for-profi t business out of a nonprofi t
establishment.
Th e Shifrins explained that they had an
agreement with the caterer through his
contract regarding the back rent on the
temple as well as the tax bill, which they
said is his obligation to pay.
Th ey went to court in an attempt to fi ght
the property tax and had it reduced by 70
percent. Th e rabbi said that they made a
deal with the city to pay $11,000 a month
over the next 10 years.
Currently, the temple is in partnership
with Cushman and Wakefi eld, as reported
by QNS. Th e Shifrins said though the
property is up for sale, the temple is going
through a “restructuring” and will be part
of the community in some capacity.
Some of the options they discussed
included developers building around the
structure or redoing the synagogue to fi t
the needs of the developer.
What they made clear is that whatever
the fi nal decision is, the temple will not
close down and will always be there to
serve the needs of the community. Th ey
added that despite what happens, they
plan to keep the sanctuary and many of the
other structures intact.
“We have a vibrant community going
on here,” Rivky said. “I always like to say
it’s like a smorgasbord. You like services?
You want to connect and pray? Come on
Saturday. You want good shabbos food?
Come for Friday night dinner. You want
to do something hands on? We have challah
baking once a month for women.”
Th e Shifrins highlighted that Temple
Torah is a place where both affi liated
and unaffi liated Jews can come and celebrate
their Judaism in their own way. Th ey
added that everything that is done in the
temple circles back to its original founders.
“Every time we do events and welcome
people, we feel like every good deed that’s
done here, every prayer that’s done here is
in the memory of the survivors that built
this sanctuary,” said Rivky.
“And that’s why we’re not looking to go
anywhere,” said the rabbi.
Photo courtesy of the Shifrins
Rabbi Eli and Rivky Shifrin of Temple Torah.
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