8 The Courier sun • november 19, 2015 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Photo by Robert Stridiron Police charged a Brooklyn mother with DWI after the SUV she was driving crashed into a garbage truck, leaving her four children injured. MOM CUFFED FOR DWI IN WOODHAVEN BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@queenscourier.com/@robbpoz The mother of four children injured after her SUV collided with a garbage truck in Woodhaven early in the morning of Nov. 12 has been charged with drunk driving, according to police. The NYPD said Rishma Sookdial, 36, of Brooklyn was booked after exhibiting signs of intoxication after the collision, which occurred at 12:30 a.m. at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and 76th Street. Authorities said Sookdial was behind the wheel of a 2005 Honda Pilot with four children — ages 1 1/2, 5, 9 and 11— riding along when it rear-ended a garbage truck belonging to a private hauler. Officers from the 102nd Precinct and EMS units responded to the scene. Firefighters worked for 10 minutes to free the child in the passenger seat, who was injured and trapped in the damaged vehicle. Sookdial and her children were taken to Jamaica Hospital for treatment of injuries not considered lifethreatening. Prosecutors said a Breathalyzer test later conducted on Sookdial revealed that she had a blood alcohol level of 0.253, well above the 0.08 legal limit. Following questioning, police charged Sookdial with four counts of aggravated DWI and acting in a manner injurious to a child. She faces up to four years behind bars if convicted, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “My office has zero tolerance when it comes to individuals who get behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol,” Brown said in a statement Thursday night. “In this case the defendant didn’t just risk her life while allegedly driving drunk, she also exposed her children to grave danger. Although her four youngsters were injured in the crash, it could have been much worse.” Photo courtesy of City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley Members of the Polish Legion of American Veterans are among those pictured with City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley on Veterans Day at a street renaming ceremony honoring Frank Kowalinski, a Maspeth man who died while serving the U.S. in World War I. Maspeth street renamed for beloved local World War I hero BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@queenscourier.com @robbpoz Polish-Americans in Maspeth had even more reason to be proud of their heritage on Veterans Day, as the city officially renamed a neighborhood for a local man whose legacy lives on at one area veterans post. Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley held a ceremony on Nov. 11 at the corner of Maspeth Avenue and 64th Street renaming the location “Frank Kowalinski Way,” honoring a World War I veteran from the community and namesake of the area’s Polish Legion of American Veterans chapter. The Kowalinski Post, as it is called, stands just a few steps from the intersection. Numerous post members, including its commander Fred Gundel, were on hand for the ceremony along with Mateusz Stasiek, deputy consul general of the Polish Consulate in New York; Mary Ann Foules, president of the statewide Polish Legion of American Veterans chapter; Maspeth Federal Savings President Ken Rudzewick; Ron Wencer, a Kowalinski cousin; representatives of Assemblywoman Margaret Markey’s office; and other community leaders. Born in 1894 at a home on nearby Clinton Avenue, Kowalinski fought for the United States after it entered World War I in Europe. He died in combat in 1918 after suffering an injury. “Veterans Day is about honoring the men and women who bravely fought for our country, for our freedom,” said Crowley, who sponsored legislation in the City Council to have the intersection renamed. “I’m proud to honor Frank Kowalinski and the many members of the Frank Kowalinski post whose dedication and selflessness have kept Maspeth, Queens and New York City thriving for centuries.” Queens residents overburdened by high rents: report BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@queenscourier.com/@robbpoz Saying “the rent is too damn high” isn’t a laughing matter for many Queens families, according to a report from the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC). One in four tenant households in the “World’s Borough” are classified as “low-income severely burdened” renters, meaning that they’re paying more than 50 percent of their already paltry income toward housing, as noted in 2014 data gathered and analyzed by the CBC. It was the highest rate of low-income severely burdened renters in the entire city. Nowhere is this more evident in the report than in Council District 7, which includes much of Flushing and surrounding neighborhoods. More than 18,300 households were classified as low-income severely rent burdened, accounting for 38 percent of the total rental units in the district. Community Districts 8 (Jamaica) and 9 (Woodhaven/ Richmond Hill/Ozone Park) were tied with the next highest percentage of low-income severely rent burdened apartments at 30 percent each. More than 11,900 households were low-income severely rent burdened in Council District 1 (Astoria), but that number accounted for 19 percent of the total units, making it the second-lowest percentage in Queens behind Council District 14 (the Rockaways). Another 23 percent of rental households in Queens were classified in the CBC report as burdened tenants, paying 30 percent or more of their income toward their rent. Citywide, the report determined that the high rent burdens faced by low-income tenants was “in large part an income problem.” Single residents, single parents, multi-adult households and seniors make up a large number of the severely burdened, as noted in the report. A City Data report found that the median income for Queens residents in 2013 was $56,599, but the same report noted that some 409,000 Queens residents made below $60,000 annually. The commission advised that the city pay particular attention “to single seniors and single parents in targeting programs to address affordability.” Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed affordable housing program, announced this past summer, would require developers to allocate up to 30 percent of residential units created for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. But the plan, which includes “inclusionary zoning” measures to increase housing density in some areas, is opposed by 12 of Queens’ 14 community boards.
SC11192015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above