4 The Courier sun • december 25, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com THE COURIER/Photo by Salvatore Licata Jamaican singer Mavado surprises kids at South Ozone Park school By Salvatore Licata [email protected]/@sal_Licata1 Children at a public school in South Ozone Park got a special gift this holiday season. Mavado, a famous Jamaican singer, visited the school on Dec. 17 not only to perform for the students, but to also spread some knowledge of his own. “You are the men and women of tomorrow,” he said to the crowd of kids as they were screaming and clapping in awe. “School is important. Make sure you stay in school.” The event took place at the J.H.S 226 Virgil I. Grissom school, located at 120-10 Rockaway Blvd. Children at the school who were on good behavior and had perfect attendance up to this point in the year got to see him. He performed his hit song, “So Special,” for the children and had them sing along, expressing how special each and everyone of them are. Mavado hails from Jamaica. He has performed songs with singers and groups such as G-Unit, Nicki Minaj and Drake, among others. One of his latest hits was titled “Give It All to Me,” featuring Nick Minaj. He said it is important for celebrities to give back to children who look up to them because they will soon be the leaders of the world. “Children are the future,” he said. “They listen to our music and look up to us and will be the men and women leaders in the future, so it is very important to give back.” THE COURIER/Photos by Salvatore Licata Upgrades are in the works for Frank Principe Park in Maspeth. City councilwoman steers $5.7M in city funding to upgrade Frank Principe Park in Maspeth By Salvatore Licata [email protected] @sal_Licata1 The baseball fields are plagued with drainage issues and the track is nothing more than a slab of asphalt. But that will soon change due to funding allocated to Frank Principe Park by Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley. She has designated $5.7 million for the upgrade of these two portions of the park, according to the Parks Department. The department said they are currently putting together a Request for Proposal for a design consultant for this project as it is only in the preliminary stage. But sources familiar with the plan said they are hoping to upgrade the drainage system of two of the baseball fields, replace the other two fields with a soccer field and add an actual track to the park. The four baseball fields overlap each other, making it hard for more than two separate games to go on at once, eliminating the use of all four at any given time. Furthermore, when it rains, the fields quickly flood due to poor drainage and are unusable until the massive puddles dry out. Upgrading this system by putting drainage tanks under the fields is one way they are looking to combat the problem, according to a source. With regards to the track, they are looking to build one that would be similar to the polyurethane surfaced track in Juniper Valley Park, which goes around the soccer/football field. “I am thrilled to have been able to allocate nearly $6 million dollars for renovations at Frank Principe Park,” Crowley said. “For the first time in over 25 years, these muchneeded upgrades will breathe new life into the lower fields and track area. I look forward to engaging the community in the upcoming months on the redesign of the fields.” Earlier this year, Crowley allocated $2.5 million for upgrades to the track and field in Juniper Valley Park. They have similar issues with Frank Principe Park with regards to drainage problems.
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