Queens Chronicle South Edition 06-18-20

C M SQ page 1 Y K SOUTH QUEENS EDITION Serving Howard Beach, Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, City Line and JFK Airport

YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER VOL. XLIII

NO. 25

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2020

QCHRON.COM

PHOTO BY MICHAEL GANNON

DEFUNDING THREAT

Cuomo orders city to reform NYPD or lose state aid PAGE 10; FULL POLICE AND PROTEST COVERAGE PAGES 14-16 AND 20 Gov. Cuomo last Friday ordered every police agency in the state to be reformed under new plans crafted by area governments with public input, under threat of losing any state funding they receive. As protests against police brutality and racial injustice continued, he also signed a slew of bills related to law enforcement, discrimination and the coronavirus crisis.

CHAPTER ONE

HEALTH

NO ONE ALONE

First page of library reopening set for July

FITNESS

Library’s Mail-A-Book program now an online destination for everyone

PAGE 2

&

Section PAGES 27-30

SEE qboro, PAGE 31

QUEENS’ L ARGEST WEEKLY COMMUNIT Y NEWSPAPER GROUP

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 2

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Queens Library to reopen in mid-July Process will see six to eight branches at start with returns and pickups

by David Russell Associate Editor

A

fter closing because of the coronavirus crisis in mid-March, the Queens Public Library plans to start reopening physical locations in mid-July, according to QPL President and CEO Dennis Walcott.

The library will reopen its locations for public service in stages, starting with six to eight branches where customers can make returns and pick up requested materials in a designated area of each building.

The move is welcome after many residents have spent the last several months at home in quarantine.

“Public libraries are such a cornerstone of local communities so the slow reopening kind of signals, positively, that things will return to a new normal and we can return in steps to places that we enjoy and places that we meet as a community,” Meghan Cirrito, president of the Friends of the Court Square Library, told the Chronicle last Friday. “Just psychologically it’s a nice signal.”

She continued, “As a parent, just having a chance to go to the library and return library books and get new ones when my kids have been in front of devices doing remote learning for the past several months, that’s going to be a nice change of pace.”

But the former librarian also wants to know

After closing amid coronavirus concerns in mid-March, the Queens Public Library will open six to eight branches in mid-July, according to QPL President and CEO Dennis Walcott. Visitors and PHOTO BY DAVID RUSSELL staff will be required to wear face masks. that workers and visitors will be safe.

“Patrons return books and DVDs and other materials,” Cirrito said. “How are they going to disinfect that?”

Before reopening, the buildings will undergo extensive cleaning and the spaces will be configured for social distancing.

All returned materials will be set aside, or

“quarantined,” for a period of time based on national standards before being put back into circulation, Walcott said in a letter on the Queens Library’s website.

Visitors and staff will be required to wear face masks. Masks will be provided to visitors who do not have them and hand sanitizer will be available.

There will be no public programs, browsing, meeting room availability, chairs or tables for public use, public computers or in-person reference service. Book donations will not be accepted.

The library could not say which branches will reopen first.

Cirrito said she’s glad the reopening will be gradually rolled out and that children can go back to flipping through books and magazines after months online.

“There are other ways to consume content and interact,” she said.

Maria Concolino, president of the Friends of Woodhaven Library, praised the library’s online content, “which is wonderful because at this point parents are probably pulling their hair out, especially if you have a young one.”

She admitted she would have concerns about bringing children to libraries soon.

“I don’t know how quickly I would want to send my child into an area where there’s a lot of children,” Concolino said. “Until we really know that this virus is behind us I don’t think I would personally send my kids to the library when it reopens.”

She also said it depends on what the coronavirus situation is during the next month and concerns about a potential second wave.

“Children, they’re not ones to especially continued on page 14

Physicians: Dr. Marc E. Sher, Dr. T. Cristina Sardinha, Dr. Jonathan D.S. Klein, Dr. Alex Lee J. Claire Zimmeck, PA

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C M SQ page 3 Y K STORE HOURS:

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Page 3 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

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QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 4

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Two arrests in $280G Aqueduct robbery Feds allege racetrack guard posed as victim in South Ozone Park heist

by Michael Gannon Editor

Federal prosecutors are charging that a security guard at Aqueduct Race Track was the inside man posing as a victim when a friend of his and a third unidentified person allegedly stole $280,000 during a cash transfer on March 7.

Lafayette Morrison, 37, of Jamaica, employed as a guard at the racetrack, and Lamel Miller, also 37, of Queens, were charged Monday in federal court in Brooklyn according to a statement and criminal complaints released by the office of Richard Donoghue, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

“The defendants allegedly gambled that they could pull off a high-stakes robbery with the benefit of inside information, but thanks to the outstanding efforts of [U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] special agents and NYPD detectives, they ended up on the losing end of the bet,” Donoghue said.

And according to the complaint against Miller, so-called “burner” cell phones that he allegedly purchased to help cover the group’s tracks just may be exactly what prosecutors need to convict them for the robbery.

The robbery took place at about 9:45 p.m. following the track’s Gotham Day races. The complaints allege Morrison was escorting two clerks to the track’s vault with the cash.

Miller and a person referred to only as “Co-Conspirator-1” allegedly were wearing surgical masks and were armed with handguns when they confronted the group on a catwalk between the first and second floors of the office area.

The victims said the gunmen took their cell phones and the money before forcing them, along with Morri-

Federal prosecutors allege that Lamel Miller, above and right, is the man recorded on an Aqueduct security video on the day robbers stole $280,000 from the track. PHOTO COURTESY US DOJ son, into a closet.

The complaint against Miller states that he and the unidentified man were recorded on track surveillance cameras in the area of the Aqueduct offices without their masks at approximately 9:15 p.m.

In both complaints, an ATF special agent states that cell phone purchases and cell tower data information link Miller with Morrison, and place phones allegedly belonging to Miller at the racetrack during and around the times of the robbery.

The complaints allege that a man bought two phones from a MetroPCS store on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard on March 6, the day before the robbery. The buyer paid for the phones in cash and gave an address that proved to be for a Chinese restaurant.

One of those phones, identified as the “516 burner phone,” and three others were recovered in a trash bin near the track parking lot after the robbery. Authorities allege that records prove the 516 phone was at Aqueduct the night of March 6, the night before the robbery, when Morrison was on duty.

Morrison’s own phone and the burner phone hit the same tower near Morrison’s home earlier on the day on March 7; and the 516 burner phone allegedly hit on a cell tower near Aqueduct that day at about 4 p.m., “around the same time Morrison’s security guard shift ... started.”

The second phone, the “347 burner phone,” allegedly hit at the same cell tower as Miller’s own phone on the afternoon of the robbery.

A records check also allegedly determined that the 347 burner phone was used to make calls on March 6 to three women, one identified as a woman Miller previously identified as his wife; another with whom he has had a previous relationship; and a woman identified as his mother.

Referring to NYPD records and cell phone data, authorities allege that Morrison and Miller knew each other at least as far back as 2000, when they were arrested for a robbery in Queens.

They also allege that Miller and Morrison spoke approximately 38 times on their regular cell phones on March 6 and 7; and that Miller’s regular phone called the 516 burner phone Q in Morrison’s possession the day before the robbery.

Unanimous OK not enough for a bill Jamaica Bay measure could be vetoed

by Peter C. Mastrosimone

For the latest news visit qchron.com

Editor-in-Chief

You might think a bill that passed unanimously in both houses of the state Legislature has a veto-proof majority in its favor. But then you don’t know the ways of Albany.

Case in point is a bill designed to ensure that only clean soil is used to fill holes dug into the bottom of Jamaica Bay. Carried by state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) and Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Park), it recently passed both houses with no dissent.

But last year Gov. Cuomo vetoed a similar bill. And just because the votes this year were unanimous, that doesn’t mean they stay that way if Cuomo did it again and the Legislature tried to override him, according to Addabbo.

That’s because the Republicans may not go along with an override. And while there are 40 Democrats in the 63-seat Senate, they would need 42 votes to reach the two-thirds majority needed for an override.

In fact, given the likelihood an override effort would fail, and the fact that Cuomo would not forget who supported it, it probably would not even be attempted with the Jamaica

Bay protection bill, Addabbo said.

“You’d have to be so certain the issue is strong enough for a veto override ...” he said. “I don’t know if this is the one for an override.”

But Addabbo and Pheffer Amato did at least get the measure passed unanimously. It would permanently extend an existing law, put in place in 2014, that corrected the longstanding problem of using sub-quality dredging material to fill in the “borrow pits” of Jamaica Bay — underwater ditches where soil has been removed to be used elsewhere. The law is set to expire on June 30, 2022. The bill also seeks to improve the standards for evaluating the condition of the bay.

“I know the current and future conditions of Jamaica Bay are important issues for many of my constituents,” Addabbo said in a statement announcing the bill’s passage. “The bay has seen a resurgence in marine life since laws were enacted to protect the waters from unfit dredging materials and other contaminants, and is healthier than it has been in decades.

The delicate and unique ecology of the Bay demands that we implement permanent protections to safeguard against any actions that may result in a loss of wildlife, compromised water

A bill in Albany is designed to improve the quality of Jamaica Bay. quality, or other negative consequences.”

“Jamaica Bay has been a successful result of what happens when government and community come together to protect our environment,” Pheffer Amato said. “We have made so much progress bringing wildlife and an ecological system to this Bay that hasn’t been seen in generations, and we have to ensure that we keep this progress going. Senator Addabbo and I are ready to keep working with the Governor’s office to get it done, and the passage of this bill is a great first step.”

It’s the desired increase in standards for the

FILE PHOTO

soil that could go into the borrow pits that makes the bill unpalatable to Cuomo’s administration, said Addabbo, who credited bay activist Dan Mundy Jr. with pressing the issue and getting the initial law passed in 2014.

Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was the precipating event that drove the effort to improve the quality of the fill, the senator said.

Addabbo added that he was to meet with the state Department of Environmental Conservation about which standard is appropriate for the soil that should be allowed, but the coronaQ virus crisis put that off.

C M SQ page 5 Y K Page 5 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

CONGRATULATIONS Graduating Class of 0 2 0 2 e h t to C a e t c h a olic Academ r G f o y d a L r y!

Ou

While you may be graduating from the Academy, always know Our Lady of Grace is your home. We are proud of each of you!

God Bless You! – Fr. Marc Swartvagher

©2020 M1P • OURL-077861

Wishing everyone a happy and safe summer!

Our Lady of Grace Church 100-05 159th Avenue Howard Beach, NY 11414 718.843.6218 • www.olghb.org

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Join us for Mass every Sunday at 10:00 am and Holy Hour every Wednesday at 7:30 pm Live Streaming at the Our Lady of Grace Parish FaceBook page and at www.olghb.org.

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 6

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‘Pin Man’ Giampietro and kin hit by virus Celebrated Mets fan and his father recover, but his mother is lost

by Max Parrott Chronicle Contributor

With Citi Field out of bounds for baseball fans this summer, Howard Beach resident Nick “Pin Man” Giampietro, who has garnered the status of local celebrity for his Mets flair, will lose his hobby for a season.

But that’s the least of his worries right now.

Giampietro has been taking care of his 89-year-old father, Anthony Giampietro, ever since he got out of the hospital during a rocky bout with COVID-19 on June 9.

The Pin Man himself was diagnosed with the coronavirus in April, and his mother lost her life to the pathogen earlier that month.

With his father on the right track and Giampietro himself in good health at this point, he said he feels relieved even though Anthony’s recovery is gradual.

“He’s a miracle,” he said.

While his father didn’t ever end up on a ventilator, he did need an oxygen machine and a blood transfusion, while he fought off a bladder infection, prostate infection and pneumonia. He powered through all that while coping with the loss of his wife of 64 years.

Margaret Giampietro, 87, was admitted to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center on April 2. She tested positive soon after and died

Nick “Pin Man” Giampietro, right, and his father, Anthony, are recovering from COVID-19, but Nick’s mother, Margaret, Anthony’s wife of 64 years, succumbed to the disease. COURTESY PHOTOS days later.

“She touched everybody that knew her,” Nick Giampietro said.

Since taking his father home from the hospital, Giampietro had been helping him adjust to life without his partner. Their anniversary would have been on May 29. Luckily, Giampietro lives in an apartment directly above his father’s home, making it easy for

him to check up on him.

Giampietro initially took a leave of absence from his job at Andy’s Delicatessen in Middle Village when the cases of coronavirus first started spiking out of concern for his family, and himself as well.

“I’m not a young kid anymore. I might act it, but I’m 62 years old,” he said.

But even with Giampietro taking all the

precautions, the doctors could not trace where or when his mother was exposed to the virus.

“Now we want my dad to make 90. That would be in September. Well, I want him to make 100, obviously,” he said.

Giampietro said the experience has made him reminisce over his father’s life. Anthony fought in the Korean War from 1951 to ’53. Though Anthony and Margaret lived in Ridgewood and Ozone Park after they got married, they had been living in Howard Beach since 1966.

Giampietro has always been close with his father, who instilled a love of baseball in him. Anthony took Giampietro to his first game in 1968. From 1980 to ’87, the father and son worked together at the famous Ray Bari’s Pizza in Manhattan.

“I was with my dad and my mom in ’86 when the ball got through [Bill] Buckner,” Giampietro said, referring to the famous Game 6 of the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, when the Mets overcame a deficit of two runs with two outs and no one on base in the bottom of the 10th inning to come back. They won the series.

As a result of that memory with his parents, Giampietro said that the pin from that series is the most prized possession in his Q collection.

Food providers feel the strain of COVID Visitors grow in number as soup kitchens, pantries try to keep pace

by Michael Gannon

For the latest news visit qchron.com

Editor

Last Friday more than 1,200 people attended a pop-up food pantry sponsored by Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens at Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church in Cambria Heights.

All received three bags of groceries, including fresh chicken, tuna, pasta and produce including apples, potatoes, carrots and celery, plus things like dried beans, tomato sauce, apple sauce and fruit cups.

The organization estimates it has provided more than 300,000 meals for the needy since the last week of March.

And in a report issued last week, the Food Bank for New York City said the need for such outreach is only growing as the city continues to deal with the fallout of the COVID19 crisis.

“As we continue to monitor the detrimental impact of COVID-19 on our city — and particularly on our low-income communities — the preliminary data are alarming,” the agency said in the introduction to its 30-page report. “More than 500,000 New Yorkers are facing unemployment, and are forced to make impossible choices between rent, utilities, medications, and food – while others face medical risks that require them to stay home and prevent them from acquiring groceries.”

The report said the pandemic only added exponentially to the demands on an emergency food network that already had been operating under strain. “[N]early half (46 percent) of food pantries and soup kitchens reported an increase in visitors within three weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak,” the reports states.

In Queens, 38 percent of the emergency food providers — 65 out of an original total of 170 — such as pantries and soup kitchens had closed by mid-April, even as demand increased. The number citywide was also at 38 percent. “[In Queens] of the 38 percent of closed EFPs, more than half (54 percent) are in the top largest meal gap communities,” the report states on page 15.

Three of Food Bank for New York City’s top 10 communities of focus are in Queens.

They include Community District 11, covering Bayside, Douglaston and Little Neck, where the only emergency food provider has closed; District 5 with Ridgewood, Glendale and Middle Village, which has lost four of its six providers; and District 14 in the Rockaways, which has lost eight of 14.

Citywide, the group said that since the start of the COVID shutdown, first-time visitors to emergency food providers are up 91 percent; families with children by 79 per-

Mobile food pantries like one by Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens in Cambria Heights last PHOTO COURTESY CATHOLIC CHARITIES BROOKLYN AND QUEENS week are in growing demand in the borough. cent; laid-off or furloughed workers by 71 percent; senior citizens by 56 percent; working individuals by 48 percent; and pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers by 22 percent.

Food Ban k for New York Cit y on Wednesday did announce the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation will donate 1 million meals for people in Queens. The donation will benefit food pantries and soup kitchens

in Corona, Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Rego Park and Woodside.

“During this critical moment, we wanted to find a way to help our fellow New Yorkers and could find no better cause than providing food and resources to people in need,” LeFrak said in a statement from the agency. “We are proud to partner with Food Bank to ensure families in Queens, the epicenter of the epidemic, do not go hungry.” Q

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Now, in Howard Beach, NY, one doctor is helping local residents with knee pain live more active, pain-free lives.

Living with knee pain can feel like a crippling experience.

Let’s face it, your knees aren’t as young as you used to be, and playing with the kids or grandkids isn’t any easier either. Maybe your knee pain keeps you from walking short distances or playing golf like you used to.

Nothing’s worse than feeling great mentally, but physically feeling held back from life because your knees hurt and the pain just won’t go away!

My name is Dr. Robert F. Gucciardo, D.C., owner of Gucciardo Specific Chiropractic and Natural Health Center.

Since we opened seventeen years ago, I’ve seen hundreds of people with knee problems leave the office pain free.

If you’re suffering from these conditions, a new breakthrough in medical technology may completely eliminate your pain and help restore normal function to your knees.

Do You Have Any of the Following Conditions?

• Arthritis • Knee pain • Cartilage damage • ‘Bone-on-bone’ • Tendonitis • Bursitis • Crunching and popping sounds Finally, You Have an Option Other Than Drugs or Surgery

Before the FDA would clear the Class IV laser for human use, they wanted to see proof that it worked.

This lead to two landmark studies.

The first study showed that patients who had laser therapy had 53 percent better improvement than those who had a placebo. The second study showed patients who used the laser therapy had less pain and more range of motion days after treatment. If the Class IV Laser can help these patients, it can help you too.

Could This Noninvasive, Natural Treatment Be the Answer to Your Knee Pain?

For 10 days only, I’m running a very special offer where you can find out if you are a candidate for cold laser therapy.

What does this offer include? Everything I normally do in my “Knee Pain Evaluation.” Just call before June 28, 2020 and here’s what you’ll get…

• An in-depth consultation about your problem where I will listen … really listen … to the details of your case.

• A complete neuromuscular examination.

• A full set of specialized X-rays to determine if arthritis is contributing to your pain (if necessary).

(If you have films please bring them for evaluation).

• A thorough analysis of your exam and X-ray findings so we can start mapping out your plan to being pain free.

• You’ll see everything firsthand and find out if this amazing treatment will be your pain solution, as it has been for so many other patients.

Until June 28th, you can get everything I’ve listed here for only $37. The normal price for this type of evaluation including X-rays is $250, so you’re saving a considerable amount by taking me up on this offer.

Remember what it was like before you had knee problems – when you were pain free and could enjoy everything life had to offer. It can be that way again.

Don’t neglect your problem any longer – don’t wait until it’s too late.

A new treatment is helping patients with knee pain live a happier, more active lifestyle.

Here’s what to do now: Due to the expected demand for this special offer, I urge you to call our office at once. The phone number is 718-845-2323.

Call today and we can get started with your consultation, exam and X-rays (if necessary) as soon as there’s an opening in the schedule. Our office is called Gucciardo Specific Chiropractic and Natural Health Center and you can find us at 162-07 91st Street in Howard Beach. Tell the receptionist you’d like to come in for the Knee Evaluation before June 28th.

Sincerely, Dr. Robert F. Gucciardo, D.C. P.S. Now you might be wondering…

“Is this safe? Are there any side effects or dangers to this?”

The FDA cleared the first Class IV Laser in 2002.

This was after their study found 76 percent improvement in patients with severe pain. Their only warning – don’t shine it in your eyes.

Of course at our office, the laser is never anywhere near your eyes and we’ll give you a comfortable pair of goggles for safety.

Don’t wait and let your knee problems get worse, disabling you for life. Take me up on my offer and call today (718) 845-2323. For more information go to www.drgucciardo.com and click on the laser therapy tab.

Federal and Medicare restrictions apply. Dr. Robert F. Gucciardo Upper, Cervical Chiropractor, Master Clinician in Nutrition Response Testing 162-07 91st Street, Howard Beach, NY 11414 • (718) 845-2323

ROBG-077863

For the latest news visit qchron.com

New research in a treatment called Class IV Laser Therapy is having a profound effect on patients suffering with knee pain. Unlike the cutting type of laser seen in movies and used in medical procedures, the Class IV therapeutic laser penetrates the surface of the skin with no heating effect or damage.

Laser Therapy has been tested for 40 years, had over 2000 papers published on it, and has been shown to aid in damaged tissue regeneration, decrease inflammation, relieve pain and boost the immune system. This means that there is a good chance cold laser therapy could be your knee pain solution, allowing you to live a more active lifestyle.

Professional athletes like The New York Yankees and team members of the New England Patriots rely upon cold laser therapy to treat their sports-related injuries. These guys use the cold laser for one reason only…

It Promotes Rapid Healing of the Injured Tissues.

Page 7 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

How To Get Rid of Knee Pain Once and For All...

Without Drugs, Shots or Surgery

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 8

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P Reopening our beloved libraries EDITORIAL

O

f all the institutions whose reopening we look forward to as the city emerges from the coronavirus crisis — and there are many — one that’s certainly at the top of the list is the Queens Library.

As everyone knows, today’s Queens Library is far more than a repository of books and other intellectual resources. Each of its more than 60 locations is also a vital community center, offering opportunities for everything from learning new skills to watching movies and socializing over old-fashioned board games.

So we’re thrilled to hear that the library is planning to begin reopening in July. It will be a slow process, with only a handful of locations opening at first, and only for borrowing and returning items, but we hope the situation will be such that things can then be sped up quickly. Yet we agree wholeheartedly with Meghan Cirrito, president of the Friends of the Court Square Library, who told the Chronicle: “Public libraries are such a cornerstone of local communities so the slow reopening kind of signals, positively, that things will return to a new normal and we can return in steps to places that we enjoy and places that we meet as a com-

AGE

munity. Just psychologically it’s a nice signal.”

It’s also no surprise that during the pandemic, the library has been there for us. Its online programming is extensive, as it’s been for years. Take just its Mail-ABook program. Before the virus came, it had been serving about 900 homebound customers. Only a few dozen would participate in its online offerings. Today, although actual mailing of actual books has been suspended, MAB’s virtual programs have greatly increased and are now open to everyone. They’ve drawn 1,181 attendees to 136 virtual events so far, while the library’s Community Health program, which overlaps and shares programming with MAB, has drawn 1,127 attendees to 64 sessions. We suspect many will want to keep attending online events even as the library opens up, and it will be ready to handle that.

Now the library is even offering mental health programs designed to help people cope with aspects of the coronavirus, including the death of a loved one.

Talk about an institution that’s there for you when you need it. We salute the Queens Library, and look forward to being able to do so in person again soon.

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We need centrists Dear Editor: What Queens needs is an independent political movement of the center. As seen in your primary coverage, candidates from the Democratic Party range from left to far left. There are no Democrats of the Ed Koch-Pat Moynihan model anymore. Many of the candidates you covered should not be considered Democrats but Socialists. They only run as Democrats because they could not get elected on any other party line. As the Republican Party is a pathetic joke, the average Queens voter has nowhere to turn. That is why a new movement must spring up to give non-radicals an option on Election Day. John Attanas Forest Hills

McCray as bad as de Blasio Dear Editor: Your June 11 editorial “De Blasio annoys both sides of the discussion, again,” in which you (shockingly) admit that Mayor de Blasio annoys both sides of every issue was basically correct, except for the fact that at the very end of your editorial you write, “No wonder he’s shifted his hopes for the future to his wife.

Would she be a better [politician]? We’ll see.”

His wife has no business running for office.

She is as incompetent as her husband. He’s already acknowledged that he doesn’t make any © Copyright 2020 by MARK I PUBLICATIONS, INC. All rights reserved.

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Be sure to vote June 23

A

re you a social justice warrior looking to bring radical change to a system you believe has imposed injustice on too many for too long? Or are you a more reserved type who believes that more incremental improvements are a less disruptive way to advance society, and that there’s enough going on already as it is? Either way, you better get out and vote June 23. Or make that by June 23, since early voting is now an option.

Wait a minute, aren’t the elections in November? Yes, that’s when the nation will decide between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. These are the primaries, mostly for Congress and the state Legislature, but also for borough president. And this being Queens, many races will essentially be decided now because Democrats are so dominant and Republicans so weak. In fact, the primaries are really only for Democrats. Republicans have no one to vote for until November.

You can read stories on several of the races in some editions of this week’s Chronicle, but many were published over the last few weeks, and you can find them at qchron.com. There are an unusually high number of primaries this year, and you don’t want to miss out. Whomever you support, be sure to vote, because you know the other side will. Have your voice heard!

E DITOR

policy decisions without consulting her. When she was questioned by the City Council about the $700 million she misappropriated for her Thrive mental health initiative all she could say was “Haters gonna hate.” Is this who you think could do a better job than de Blasio?

Sebastian Mannuzza Astoria

Let the children play Dear Editor: As New York City parents and children enter the summer months under pandemic precautions, a seemingly arbitrary set of standards has begun to emerge. As city parks and beaches reopen, we have seen hundreds of residents take advantage of public space. However, schoolyards remain closed to our children.

After months of Zoom classes and social isolation, our students deserve the opportunity to

safely enjoy recreational space. For many neighborhoods, particularly in eastern Queens, school playgrounds offer the only public Parks space accessible to thousands of families. This unbalanced approach to openings deprives children of a healthy and safe opportunity for exercise. I call on the mayor and the Parks Department to reopen the city’s playgrounds immediately.

Daniel Rosenthal NYS Assemblyman from the 27th District Flushing

Reform? Yes. Riot? No. Dear Editor: Re “Cuomo orders police reform, saying, ‘There is no tr ust’ (updated)” June 15, qchron.com: I believe that there are more good police officers than bad ones. Reforming the Police

C M SQ page 9 Y K

Department is all well and good, but more needs to be done to bring to justice the looters and those who attacked the police with rocks and bottles, and especially the ones who burned down businesses in their own communities.

What was the purpose of burning down the Wendy’s in Atlanta? Did the owner have anything to do with the shooting of the man there?

Now, a member of that community has lost his business for no good reason at all and by committing this cowardly act, someone has done the cause more harm than good.

Linda Sperling Forest Hills

They just want fairness

Rename ‘rebel’ bases Dear Editor: Pentagon leaders are asking why do we name nearly 12 Army bases for Civil War rebel generals. These officers let their soldiers into battle, killing thousands of American troops. Here are three bases named for rebels: Fort John Bell Hood, Fort Braxton Bragg and Fort A.P. Hill. Several officers consider these rebels as “traitors.” Let’s rename these rebel bases after proud U.S. generals: 1) Fort Hood to Fort John Pershing. 2) Fort Bragg to Fort George Patton. 3) Fort A.P. Hill to Ft. George C. Marshall.

As expected, Donald Trump is opposed!

Candidate Trump needs rebel votes this fall.

The goal is more important than honoring the thousands of Civil War Americans killed by “Johnny” Rebs!

Anthony G. Pilla Forest Hills

Trump and black people Dear Editor: President Trump was interviewed by Fox News’ Harris Faulkner. She happens to be African-American. Trump: ”So, I think I’ve done more for the black community than any other president, and let’s take a pass on Abraham Lincoln, cause he did good, although it’s always questionable.”

Faulkner interrupted Trump to say, “Well, we are free, Mr. President. He did pretty well.”

Trump replied: “But we are free. You understand what I mean. So I’m gonna take a pass on Abe, Honest Abe, as we call him.”

So Trump (the man who called white supremacists in Charlottesville “good people”) claims he’s been better for blacks than Lincoln.

Where is his straitjacket? He actually had tear gas and rubber bullets fired at peaceful protesters so he could hold a Bible (upside down, the way Satan would) in front of a church to call for peace. How presidential, what a calming influence for protesters. What leadership. He attends a space launch while the nation burns. What, no time for a few rounds of golf while businesses are destroyed and police cars are torched?

Eight minutes of video showing a cop with his knee on George Floyd’s neck while he says “I can’t breathe” over and over and calls for his mama yet their conviction is not guaranteed?

But maybe I’m wrong — after all, the official autopsy shows no signs of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation and attributes death to “being restrained, his underlying health conditions, and any potential intoxicants in his system.” I bet one of those “intoxicants” was oxycopkneeonthroat.

Robert LaRosa Whitestone

Write a Letter!

We want to hear from new voices! Letters should be no longer than 300 words and may be edited for length, clarity and other reasons. They may be emailed to letters@ qchron.com. Please include your phone number, which will not be published. Those received anonymously are discarded.

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Dear Editor: I just read the June 11 letters from Edward Riecks and John Bluemke (“Protesters unmasked” and “For a colorblind country”). I hope they read your editorial and my letter. I wonder when their families emigrated and how long ago, and if they ever felt the sting of hatred and brutality other minorities have. Had not my grandparents fled Poland and Hungary some 130 years ago, I would not ONLINE exist and they could not survive Miss an article or a there in the letter cited by a writer?

1940s.

Want breaking news A new book from all over Queens?

by Robin DiAnFind the latest news, gelo, “White Frapast reports from all gility,” may help over the borough and them understand more at qchron.com. their feelings. I was especially dismayed by Riecks’ claim that “hundreds of thousands have hit the streets in violence.”

Where did you get this falsehood? Bleumke’s plea for “A colorblind country” just doesn’t get it. Perhaps if he knew history better, he would see that American black folks just want fairness and equality, as our congressman, Hakeem Jeffries, put it so plainly: “Equality, not better, not worse.”

Police chiefs in many large cities are realizing that their departments must change, as the Houston chief explained: “We train our force to be warriors, not humanitarians.” Have you men noticed that some cops marched with peaceful protesters?

I happened to ret u r n f rom my t r ip through Manhattan on Broadway Uptown when a parade came by celebrating Puerto Rico. We sat while the group went by. Police had given them the right of way and the next eastbound street was closed to cars. Fortunately, traffic was much lighter than usual. It was such a beautiful day that several restaurants and eateries set up outdoor tables. So many families and friends finally got a break from the lockdown.

With all its problems, our city has unique qualities. Queens is very special with its great diversity. Where else can we travel the world and never leave home? Go to a restaurant in Flushing, Astoria, Baisley Park or any of our other ethnic neighborhoods and get acquainted.

You will have a nice day.

BK Brumberg Howard Beach

E DITOR

Page 9 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

LETTERS TO THE

For the latest news visit qchron.com

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 10

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‘There is no trust’ of police, Cuomo says Gov. ties funding to required reform, signs bills on law enforcement, race

by Peter C. Mastrosimone Editor-in-Chief

Declaring that “there is no trust between the community and the police,” Gov. Cuomo on Friday signed three law enforcement oversight bills and one banning false 911 reports based on race, and ordered police agencies statewide to reform themselves or lose state funding.

On Sunday he signed two more bills, one related to policing and another to the impact the coronavirus has had on minorities.

Friday’s new laws will allow police personnel records to be made public, ban the use of chokeholds, name the state attorney general as special prosecutor to investigate killings by officers and make it a crime to file false racebased reports with 911.

Police personnel records have until now been kept secret under a section of law known as 50-a. The NYPD already bars the use of chokeholds, though using one has not been a crime until now, and one was used against Eric Garner when he resisted arrest on Staten Island in 2014, leading to his death. The state attorney general was already charged with investigating police killings of unarmed civilians but now will have jurisdiction over any such incidents, regardless of weapons.

Filing a false report is already a crime, either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances. That bill was prompted by the case of a woman who called 911 and falsely claimed a black man she was having a dispute with in Central Park had threatened her.

On Sunday, Cuomo signed one bill affirming the right of people to record law enforcement activity and another requiring the state Department of Health to study the health impacts of COVID-19 on minorities in the state. Black and Latino people in particular have suffered a disproportionate share of coronavirus cases and deaths, especially in the city.

Cuomo signed all four of Friday’s bills at the end of his daily briefing on the pandemic and other issues. He was joined by the Rev. Al Sharpton, state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and Senate Majority Lead-

Gov. Cuomo outlines his order for local governments and police forces and the public they serve NBC NEWS SCREENSHOT to enact reform plans by next spring. er Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), Valerie Bell, whose son Sean was shot by officers in Jamaica on what would have been his wedding day after the car he was driving lunged at them, and Gwen Carr, Garner’s mother. He signed Sunday’s bills at that day’s briefing.

The police reform and racially focused bills come as the nation continues to confront allegations of systemic racism across society but especially in regards to policing, prompted by the May 25 killing on the street of George Floyd, a black man arrested in Minneapolis for allegedly trying to use a counterfeit bill.

Cuomo on Friday ordered all 500 or so police departments statewide to come up with detailed plans for reform in consultation with the public and enact them by next April 1 — or lose the funding they get from Albany. Problems with policing go back decades, he said.

“This is systemic reform of police departments,” he said. “This is sitting down and taking a look at exactly what they do and have been doing and looking at it through a new lens of reform and reinvention. Because this has been 40, 50 years in the making.”

He continued, “The way we really solve this is we say to every police agency in this state — I believe [it] should happen in the nation — sit down at the table with the local community, address these issues, get to the

root of these issues, get a plan, pass that plan by your local government, and if you don’t, you’re not going to get any additional state funds, period.

“We’re not going to fund police agencies in this state that do not look at what has been happening, come to terms with it and reform themselves. We’re not going to be, as a state government, subsidizing improper police tactics. We’re not doing that. And this is how we’re going to do it.”

He said the departments must reinvent and modernize their strategies and programs.

“Look, it’s simple,” Cuomo said. “This is something that has to be done anyway, because what we know is certainly true is there is no trust between the community and the police. That’s what the protests have said.

There’s no trust. And if there is no trust, the relationship doesn’t work. If there’s no trust, the police can’t effectively police. If there’s no trust, the community is not going to allow the police to police.”

Sharpton, a civil rights leader considered highly controversial for, among other things, his role in pushing the 1987 claim that a black woman had been raped upstate by four white men, including police officers, applauded Cuomo’s order.

“I am beyond happy to be here when I heard the executive order,” Sharpton said.

“Because now, not only have we made an announcement. Andrew Cuomo has raised the bar, and I hope every governor in this country will be asked today whether or not they’re going to do what he just did.”

Cuomo praised Sharpton and credited him with pressing the issues that were addressed.

“Today is because of you and your activism and all those years, and finally the people of this nation heard you, so God bless you,” he told the reverend.

The Mayor’s Office did not answer when asked via email if it had a response to the governor’s order and threat to pull funding.

But Mayor de Blasio on Sunday said the city will work to change the Police Department, during remarks he made at the Exodus Transitional Community’s Pray and Protest event in East Harlem.

“And we will take what the State Legislature began, and we will pass the laws in the city, and we will give the orders so that when an officer does something wrong you will see consequences that you will see them quickly so you can believe there is justice,” de Blasio said, according to a transcript. “We have many officers who do the right thing. We aspire to have more and more every day. We aspire to have a police force of, and by, and for our communities.

“We have shown it can change. We showed it with stop and frisk. We showed it with fewer arrests. We showed it with neighborhood policing, but we have only begun. The day when every young man of color walks down the street and feels respected, not rejected. That is the day we aspire to in this city.”

The office of City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan) provided a statement when asked by the Chronicle. “This Council is on its way to banning chokeholds, making it illegal for officers to hide their badge number, and requiring an NYPD disciplinary matrix,” spokesperson Jennifer Fermino said in an email. “In addition, the Speaker is fighting for a billion dollar reduction to NYPD spending in the upcoming budget. But we are not satisfied and will continue to push for changes to reimagine Q policing in New York City.”

Richards, Williams issue a ‘reality’ check

by Michael Gannon Editor

Mayor de Blasio got a double dose of reality from Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams last week as he navigated the waters of NYPD policy.

In a press conference last Friday, the mayor was asked about criticism from usual allies.

Richards and Williams were cited by name.

“I value and respect people’s views, but I think anyone who questions the ability of this city government to do what we’re here to do

and my ability as mayor to use all the tools of city government, even in a time of crisis, doesn’t really understand the reality of New York City,” he said in a transcript.

After defending the administration he said, “And folks who misunderstand the power of the mayoralty and the strength of the City government in New York City really need to get a little more informed.” He said New York has “the strongest mayoralty in the country ...”

Richard and Williams went nuclear in a joint statement.

“We were frustrated and insulted by the

implication that we, and other people pushing for transformational change on behalf of New Yorkers, ‘don’t understand the reality of New York City.’ The reality is plain for those who can look past their privilege and acknowledge it,” they said. “The reality is that over-policing as a response to almost everything in our city is criminalizing communities, and refusal to enact systemic change is deepening injustice, mistrust, and righteous anger.”

They said healthcare inequities, “laid bare by the COVID-19 crisis but existing long before,” have put minorities at risk, and hous-

ing and homelessness were exacerbated by failed policies “and the refusal to acknowledge that failure.

“We understand the reality of New York City, and so do people ... living with our city government’s failures. What we don’t understand is how a Mayor who came into office six years ago on a platform of progressive change can look at this reality and not accept his administration’s role in creating it, or responsibility for correcting it.”

De Blasio’s office referred the Chronicle to Q his original statement.

C M SQ page 11 Y K

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St. John’s 17th prez plans to retire

“ON THE CITY COUNCIL, I FOUGHT CITY HALL FOR QUEENS AND WON! With your help, I’ll use my proven leadership in times of crisis to fight to reduce class sizes, grow jobs, improve transit and build housing.”

- Democrat Elizabeth Crowley

2020-21 year is Gempesaw’s last

As 1 of 15 kids, Elizabeth learned early on how to fight for a fair share. That’s why as Borough President she’ll fight for Queens’ fair share and:

by Katherine Donlevy Associate Editor

Prioritize public education by reducing class sizes and ta takin king g on the he Dep parttment men nt of of Educat cation ion when they y shor hortch tcha ange Queens. ns. El Eliza izabet beth bet h deli deliver vered ed 6,0 6,000 00 new pu publi blic c-sscho chool h ol seatss in the mo most st crowded d school o dis distri trict ctt in New Yo York rk Cit City, y, and nd sh she e will w l fi f ght gh ht to in incr cr ase Qu cre Queen eens’ s fair f i share of school sha ool fu fundi nding ng, in inclu cludin ding g reso reso esourc urces urc rces for f arts, s, music music, spor p ts, and d tech techno nology pr progr ograms ams.

Stand with our first respon ponder ders s and and fro frontl ntline ine workers and fight g fo forr Que Queens’ fa air sha share re off res eso ources ourc our ces to he help lp us get g th hrough gh the he CO COVI VID-19 9 pa pande ndemic mic by secur uring ing th the e funding f to reduce emerge emerge gency re espo sponse ti times mes, increas easing ing th the number of hos hosp pital beds, and supporting hazard pay ay fo forr our o loc l al her heroes oes.

Continue to fight for women’s rights. After being the first woman elected to her City Council seatt, Elizabeth sea b launched 21 in ’21, an organization dedicated to electing more women citywide. She will fight for reproductive health rights, equal pay for equal work, and to empower girls and women borough-wide.

Fight to create jobs and improve mass transitt by expanding rail and protecting our bus lines.

Elizabeth is endorsed by the Transit Workers Union Local 100 because she has the strongest and most innovative plans to end transportation deserts and get Queens better connected.

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The first lay president of St. John’s University, Conrado Gempesaw, announced June 10 that the 2020-21 academic year will be his last before retirement.

Known to the community as “Bobby,” Gempesaw boasts a 36-year-long career in academia, the last six of which included his tenure as the university’s 17th president.

“It has been the privilege of my life to serve as president of St. John’s University, and this decision was a diff icult one, reached after much reflection and prayer,” Gempesaw said in a statement. “I am very grateful to have spent the past six years working with the St. John’s family — including our dedicated faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, Board of Trustees and Board of Governors — in advancing the University’s mission of providing a quality and affordable education for our students and serving those most in need.”

Gempesaw began his presidential tenure by developing four strategic priorities to ensure student success: improving recruitment, retention, graduation and career placement rates; hiring outstanding faculty, administrators and staff; enhancing the teaching and learning environment; and expanding domestic and global partnerships.

As a result of his leadership, the university saw five years of steady growth in the size of the incoming first-year class until a record total enrollment was achieved in 2019, as well as increased first-year retention rates. The six-year graduation rates for the May 2019 and May 2020 graduating classes marked the highest in the last fifteen years and the fouryear graduation rates for those two classes mark the highest in the last thirty years.

Additionally, St. John’s said that the career placement rate of graduates has averaged 94 percent during the past four years, according to data based on responses to student surveys. During the 2019-20 year, the university provided nearly $275 million in

Conrado Gempesaw announced that his sixyear tenure as St. John’s University’s 17th president will end following the 2020-2021 ST JOHN’S UNIVERSITY PHOTO academic year. direct financial aid to students, which is among the largest amounts of institutional aid provided by any private college or university in the country.

Gempesaw’s penulti mate year was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to St. John’s shutting down its campus on March 10, becoming the first Queens educational institution to do so, and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations In response to the protests, Gempesaw, an immigrant from the Philippines, along with other university figures, released a June 6 statement promising anti-racist reform on the university campus, including partnering with the Office of Equity and Inclusion to review academic and administrative policies and procedures across all departments, especially enrollment strategies, hiring, safety and mentoring practices. They also promised to support mental health counseling and restorative healing circles designed for black students and employees processing racial trauma.

St. John’s will announce information about its national search for Gempesaw’s Q successor in the coming weeks.

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Action would be detrimental: mayor, Queens Chamber of Commerce Associate Editor

“Don’t make me come down there ... ” Gov. Cuomo tweeted Saturday in response to a video of hundreds of Manhattanites flooding the streets of St. Marks Place. The next day he warned he would reverse the city’s reopening plan if enforcement on large gatherings didn’t ramp up, a threat the Mayor’s Office equated to “imprisoning” the people.

“That is what is going to happen here. I am warning today, in a nice way, consequences of your actions,” Cuomo said at his daily press briefing June 14. The governor said that unlike Utah and Oregon, he wouldn’t issue a statewide reopening reversal, despite receiving 25,000 social distancing violation complaints statewide. Instead, only areas in poor compliance, most notably Manhattan and the Hamptons, would be punished. “I’m not going to turn a blind eye to that. New Yorkers deserve better.”

The state only reported 1.1 percent positive tests June 13, which Cuomo said is thanks to the people’s efforts to stay inside and control the pandemic. Recent violations, such as gathering in large crowds and forgoing a face covering, are not only illegal, but disrespectful to those who can become infected, he noted.

“They are rampant and there’s not enough enforcement. I am not going to allow situations to exist that we know have a high likelihood of

causing an increase in the spread ple to disperse after making their of the virus,” Cuomo said, calling purchases. These businesses are on local government to be the allowed to be open per the Goverenforcers, as well as bars and resnor’s guidelines and we don’t taurants, which could get slapped believe imprisoning people or with a State Liquor Authority viotaking away their livelihood is the lation or even lose their license for answer.” failure to limit crowding.

The spokesperson noted that “If we increase the spread of the the city has been doing aggressive virus in Manhattan because of outreach to restaurants and bars bars and restaurants, well then in the East Village to ensure they everybody in Manhattan is going are aware of the relevant PAUSE to suffer,” he said. “Individuals guidance, which includes distribwho are violating the law, you can uting “Take Out, Don’t Hang be held liable also. We got here Out” posters for the businesses to because people did the right thing display in their windows. and if we stop doing the right thing Additionally, social distancing we’l l s e e a ve r y d i f fe r e nt ambassadors from multiple city trajectory.” agencies, such as the Sheriff’s “We’re not going to go back to Department, Parks Department, that dark place because local govDepartment of Environmental Proer nment didn’t do its job or Gov. Cuomo, here with top aide Melissa DeRosa, threatened to reverse tection and NYPD, were deployed because some individuals exploit- New York City’s reopening if residents continue to disregard social dis- in the East Village over the past ed the situation besides the legal tancing guidelines.

NYS PHOTO / MIKE GROLL / FLICKR weekend. They distributed face violation,” he added. coverings and educated the public The city began phase one of its reopening tions to maintain safety. on distancing measures. Ambassadors also just last week, and Cuomo announced June 17 “We must balance safety with people’s helped bar and restaurant owners maintain that it was on track to begin phase two on need to reopen their businesses,” a spokesper- crowd management, which included chalking Monday. The Mayor’s Office said the city, has son told the Chronicle in an email. “We had sidewalks with 6-foot distance markings. been cooperating with Cuomo’s guidelines social distancing ambassadors out all weekWhile the overcrowding violations were continued on page 14 thus far and has been taking the proper precau- end distributing masks and encouraging peo-

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Page 13 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

Cuomo threatens NYC reopening reversal

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 14

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Protest erupts into fierce infighting BLM backers slam attacks on Weprin cop funding made by his rival’s allies

by Max Parrott Chronicle Contributor

A Black Lives Matter solidarity rally on Saturday organized by a group of South Asian residents and black activists from Southeast Queens ended in a political fight over several organizers’ affiliation with Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows).

At the outset of the rally, which aimed to gather first-generation immigrants and nonnative residents to show support for police brutality protests in Major Mark Park in Jamaica, a group of around 20 protesters ar rived with signs calling out Weprin for accepting campaign donations from police unions.

The organizers of the original event took offense at the anti-Weprin protesters’ presence, and accused them of co-opting the rally for political purposes. Infighting erupted, which lasted an hour and a half.

Demonstrators, left, who organized a Black Lives Matter rally Saturday in Jamaica face off against The action targeting Weprin was coordi- a group of protesters who brandished signs calling out Assemblyman David Weprin for accepting nated by Moumita Ahmed, a Bangladeshi contributions from police unions. The second group included several candidates for office, includactivist running for Democratic district ing one running against Weprin in the June 23 Democratic primary.

PHOTO BY MAX PARROTT leader in Jamaica. The activists chose to When they first arrived, the anti-Weprin bring their signs to the event in particular Lives Matter, James Johnson, a sponsor of because Jamie Kazi, Weprin’s legislative the event, condemned the anti-Weprin group protesters began by standing behind the for pushing their own political agenda. original event’s organizers. But after Kazi advisor, was one of its central organizers.

“People are here to co-opt our issues,” and Johnson told the other organizers to For his part, Kazi said that he was not there in a political capacity. But Ahmed said Johnson, a black Southeast Queens resi- pack up their signs and shut the event down, insisted that given his role on Weprin’s staff, dent who works with Comptroller Scott the anti-Weprin group began to lead its own it’s impossible to disentangle the personal Stringer’s office in addition to running a call-and-response chants. community nonprofit. “This was a protest Eventually Johnson got on his megaphone from the political.

“We are holding our own South Asian for black lives and y’all turned it into to speak out against the group, which he politics.” accused of making a Black Lives Matter men accou nt able,” A l i N a j m i , a n rally about electoral politics. said Ahmed. attorney and candi“We’re here to come together as one for The friction e are holding our own date for judicial dele- one issue: Black people are sick and tired of b e t w e e n t h e t wo South Asian men gate who came with getting killed on television by officers,” g roups ca me at a t h e a n t i - We p r i n said Johnson. moment when proaccountable.” group, disagreed.

The anti-Weprin protesters listened as t e st e r s a c ros s t he “To me it’s all one Johnson took the podium, but as soon as country have begun — Moumita Ahmed big event,” he told the Kazi began to address the crowd they began to call out politicians who accept campaign donations from politi- Chronicle. “We are here to support Black chanting again.

Among the protesters was Mahfuzul cal action committees of police unions, Lives Matter. What we’re saying is that our which have a history of fighting police assemblyman should return police union Islam, a Bangladeshi candidate challenging refor m effor ts and defending off icers money. That’s a real commitment to BLM. Weprin for his Assembly seat in the upcomWe cannot have a BLM protest in the dis- ing primary, but Ahmed insisted that he accused of malfeasance.

While many of the anti-Weprin protesters trict in a vacuum. You can’t just have a was not there in a campaigning capacity and never took the megaphone to announce insisted that they arrived to support Black march without real action.”

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“W

Open libraries continued from page 2 keep their hands clean,” she said laughing.

Walcott said the library will continue to increase its collection of ebooks and other digital resources, and to offer virtual programs, services, activities and events on social media channels and other platforms.

“As we learn from the initial branch reopenings, we will gradually open other locations and expand services,” he wrote.

“Again, I want to reinforce that the health and safety of our customers and our staff are our top priorities, and we are undertaking this process slowly and with the

utmost caution.”

Friends of Maspeth Library President Crystal Wolfe is happy about the reopening.

“It’s good for people to get out and get back into the community ... It’s also important for mental health to get out and it’s important to feed your mind,” she said.

Wolfe said the libraries are “critical to the community” in terms of education and culture.

She said people concerned about visiting can also wear gloves as a precaution.

Wolfe is happy for the children who can go back. “They didn’t have school and the way they’ve been taught wasn’t ideal so I think it’s good for them to be able to go back Q to the library and get books,” she said.

Reversing NYC continued from page 13 mainly recorded in Manhattan, Queens Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Thomas Grech noted that a consequential reopening reversal would be “devastating” to the small businesses of Queens.

“They cannot take anymore punches to the gut,” he told the Chronicle by phone Monday. “I wouldn’t want a spat between the governor and the mayor to cause problems for businesses who are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Grech had participated in multiple walk-arounds to the small businesses of

his presence.

The residents who came for the original protest had mixed reactions to the back-andforth arguments they witnessed.

Hez Hossain, a friend of Kazi’s who came to support BLM, said that he saw the point of the anti-Weprin protesters.

“They’re not making it political, actually.

They’re trying to make it about the changes you need to do. You could scream black lives matter all day, but if you don’t take a political action how are you going to make those changes,” he said.

On the other hand, Steve Behar, a white Bayside resident who previously served as campaign manager for Councilman Barry Grodenchik (D-Oakland Gardens), came with his young niece and nephew, who are black, for the original protest.

Behar got so aggravated he began yelling obscenities at the anti-Weprin protesters. He told the Chronicle that he didn’t see what Weprin had to do with the protest, and he was upset on behalf of his young family, who were confused and upset by the events.

The group protesting Weprin’s policeunion support organized another event on Monday outside of his office in Fresh Meadows.

Asked about the $6,800 that his campaign has reportedly taken from law-enforcement groups across the state, Weprin denied that it had influenced his voting record.

“I’ve supported criminal justice reform throughout my career in the Assembly and the Council and I am offended by the suggestion that I have or would ever factor any of my policy decisions on campaign donations,” Weprin wrote in a statement.

He did not comment on New York police unions’ resistance to police reform or make any differentiation between them and other labor organizations. Instead, he suggested that giving back police union money amounted to union busting.

“I’m proud to support their rights to collectively bargain for their salaries, benefits, and work safety and will continue to do so. I believe we can continue to reform policing in New York without engaging in union Q busting,” Weprin said. the borough, including one tour of Jackson Heights on June 15, and said business owners are in f ull cooperation with PAUSE regulations.

He said he heard that Cuomo personally called some of the bars in Manhattan and reminded them they are under SLA authority, which he believes should be enough of a wake-up call for all businesses to keep their crowds under control, otherwise they’d lose their licenses.

“I think we have to be very, very careful before we generalize the situation that occurred outside of Queens,” he said. “For the most part, both businesses and consumers are following good social distancing Q guidelines.”

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Rally demands social service funds

by Katherine Donlevy Associate Editor

Community members gathered June 15 in front of Assemblymember David Weprin’s (D-Fresh Meadows) 185th Street and Union Turnpike district office to demand he return the $6,300 in donations made by police organizations and unions to his re-election campaign as a symbol of solidarity against lawenforcement brutality.

“This money is blood money. He knows it, the nations knows it,” said Fred Simmons, who is running for male district leader of District 32 Part A in the upcoming June 23 primary.

“At this point, we’re not asking him to not be friends with the police. We all are friends with the police. There’s a bad seed that we are all fighting to eliminate ... Some elected officials refuse to stand up because when you stand up you stand out. If you can’t stand out for righteousness, we don’t need you to be a part of the machine.

Those days are over.”

Simmons shared the megahorn with his wife, who shouted to the empty office, “David, listen to this!

You may have the money, but we have

the power ... If you keep that money, we’re going to pull the lever, simple as that, against you.”

One Fresh Meadows couple attended the rally with their two young children because they believe the NYPD is overly financed. They noted they’d like to see the funding be distributed to other social services, such as education, mental health and addiction treatment.

“They have too many jobs,” said a protester named David. “They respond to bank robberies and people who need medical interventions in the same way.”

“And they do them violently,” added Miranda. “They create dangerous situations that might not have been otherwise because they respond with this one approach.”

Anu, another of Weprin’s constituents, agreed that social services are shorthanded while law enforcement is overfunded.

“Weakening the economic disparities between all those social brackets is important,” she said, adding that affordable housing is one of the faucets to close the class gap. “Especially with the pandemic, it just goes to

show how much is needed with society. Homeless people can’t social distance. Poor people a lot of times can’t social distance.”

The rally was the first Anu has attended due to COVID concerns, but she was encouraged to show her solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by asking her representative to return the contributions.

“There’s so many different ways for people to get involved — donating, signing petitions,” said Anu. “I’m not black, and sitting at home comfortably didn’t sit right with me, just knowing that there’s something that I could do to get involved. Silence right now is violence.”

The district office was locked during the demonstration, which protesters claimed was because he was trying to avoid the confrontation, but Weprin told the Chronicle in an email that it’s been closed since March because of the pandemic.

Weprin also agreed when asked whether the event was strategically planned to cast him in a bad light just a week ahead of the primaries. The rally was organized by Ali Najmi, who is running against Weprin for

Demonstrators gathered outside Assemblymember David Weprin’s Fresh Meadows office demanding he return campaign funds donated by law enforcePHOTO BY KATHERINE DONLEVY ment organizations. delegate to judicial convention for the 24th Assembly District, and Moumita Ahmed, running for female district leader of District 24 Part A. “This impromptu rally outside of my district office yesterday demonstrates a clear pattern of behavior that I would consider disqualifying from anyone seeking public office,” said Weprin.

Despite the call to action, the sitting assemblymember said he does not plan on returning the police donations because he does not agree with the sentiment that the contributions support police brutality and undermine police accountability.

“I’ve supported criminal justice

reform throughout my career in the Assembly and the Council and I am offended by the suggestion that I have or would ever factor any of my policy decisions on campaign donations,” he said. “I have supported Labor Unions throughout my career and am proud to be endorsed by over 25 unions that represent hard working New Yorkers, from our essential grocery store workers, to teachers, to firefighters, EMTs and police. I’m proud to support their rights to collectively bargain for their salaries, benefits, and work safety and will continue to do so. I believe we can continue to reform policing in New York without engaging in union bustQ ing tactics.”

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RUSO-077799

Page 15 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

Calls for Weprin to give back his ‘blood money’

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QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 16

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Marchers demand laws, police reforms Jamaica honors victims of police brutality, seeks institutional change

by Michael Gannon

and interim Borough President Sharon Lee. The procession stopped briefly on a few More than 2,000 people gathered in Jamai- occasions.

Prior to Floyd’s death, the act of kneeling ca Sunday for a two-mile march to protest police brutality against African-American most associated with the civil rights movement was by Colin Kaepernick, a National Football civilians.

The walk was organized by area churches League quarterback who once led the San and led by the Rev. Roderick Caesar III, pas- Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. During the tor of Bethel Gospel Tabernacle on Guy R. 2016 season he would kneel or sit during the national anthem to protest incidents of police Brewer Boulevard.

The crowd gathered at York College and brutality against the African-American comwalked south down Guy R. Brewer before munity. He has been an unsigned free agent taking a left turn onto Baisley Boulevard and since the end of the 2016 season and recently reached a confidential financial settlement concluding with a prayer service.

“I was horrified when I saw the video of with the NFL to drop a labor grievance.

One of the stops along the route was at the George Floyd,” Caesar said before the march commenced. “I was horrified when I saw the Baisley Park Houses, where Kevin Livingsvideo of Ahmaud Aubrey. I was horrified ton, the founder of 100 Suits for 100 Men, when I heard about Breonna Taylor ... It took a praised Kaepernick for his stand. He also said the quarterback has been the largpandemic to highlight another est benefactor of his group, which pandemic.” prepares young men and women “It’s going to take more than from the Jamaica region to enter protests — faith without works is the job market. dead,” Caesar said, quoting the “Let’s give him a shout-out,” Bible. “Our duty is to face this.

Livingston said.

This march is about telling the The procession then took time truth to power.” at the Baisley Park Houses to He and others called for sweephonor the memory of Aamir Grifing reforms, including but not limfin, a 14-year-old resident who ited to those Gov. Cuomo signed was killed last October while into law this past weekend.

Rev. Roderick playing on the complex’s basketFloyd was killed May 25 in Caesar III ball court.

Minneapolis as a police officer Police believe Aamir was the innocent vicknelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, ignoring cries that Floyd couldn’t breathe. tim of a stray bullet in a gang-related shooting.

One officer has been charged with murder and The organizers paid tribute to him with a moment of silence. three others have been arrested and charged.

“Yes, we want the police to do better,” said Ahmaud Aubrey of Georgia was shot to death by civilians on Feb. 23 while out jogging speaker William West. “But we have to do better ourselves.” after allegedly being tracked and pursued.

Raiford Hicks of South Jamaica lives down Breonna Taylor was shot in her sleep in Louisville, Ky. , by police who were executing the street from the 113th Precinct. While he a no-knock arrest warrant at what turned out did not join the group at York College, he also made it a point to be outside the station house to be the wrong house.

Their names and those of other slain Afri- when they arrived.

“I heard about this in church,” he said. “I cans Americans would be chanted throughout the march. Hymns played over a traveling made it a point to be here because I’m fed up.

I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. public address system.

The Rev. Phil Craig, pastor of the Greater [Police brutality] is a disgrace to this country.

Springfield Community Church in Springfield We’re sitting on a powder keg.”

The prayer service concluded with a Gardens, also offered a prayer before the moment of silence for George Floyd that lastmarch for the participants and their cause.

“I hope this makes a difference,” Craig ed 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the time a video depicts former Minneapolis police officer said. “Don’t let their deaths be in vain.”

Hundreds of people lined the route, and Derek Chauvin with his knee pressed to many of them joined in as the procession Floyd’s neck, just to show how long it was.

Many knelt, raised their arms or both the entered South Jamaica.

The final group stretched for more than entire time.

“Did your arms get tired?” Caesar asked. three blocks. The marchers included state Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-South Ozone Park), “How many of you had to switch to the other Q Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) knee?”

Editor

At top, marchers protesting police brutality head down Guy R. Brewer Boulevard on Sunday during a rally organized by churches in the Jamaica region. At center, a protester with a sign prepares to step off at York College, where the marchers assembled. Above, marchers at the end of the route, kneeling outside the NYPD’s 113th Precinct for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time that a Minnesota police officer knelt on the neck of George Floyd prior to his PHOTOS BY MICHAEL GANNON death in May.

C M SQ page 17 Y K Page 17 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

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QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 18

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Homophobia in the office illegal: SCOTUS Landmark ruling protects LGBTQ+ under Civil Rights Act Title VII

by Katherine Donlevy Associate Editor

At precisely the halfway point of Pride Month, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling protecting LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace — the mostly conservative court ruled June 15 that gay, lesbian and transgender workers are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and cannot be discriminated against in the workplace.

“There is simply no escaping the role intent plays here: Just as sex is necessarily a but-for cause when an employer discriminates against homosexual or transgender employees, an employer who discriminates on these grounds inescapably intends to rely on sex in its decisionmaking,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch in the opinion. Gorsuch, President Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, and fellow conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s liberal justices for a 6-3 affirmative vote.

“Monday’s r uling — 6-3 in favor that LGBT people are protected under Title VII — is a landmark victory nationwide,” said LBGT Network CEO and President David Kilmnick, adding that the decision brings the country up to speed with New York, which previously had amended the state Human Rights Law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. “We should all be very proud of the U.S. It gives us hope that the true values of America — liberty and justice for all — [are] still possible even in these dark times.”

The ruling came as a huge blow to the Trump administration, which argued that LGBT employees are not protected under the federal law, especially because it was delivered by one of Trump’s own appointees.

The administration also announced

There were no physical Pride parades this year, but the LGBTQ+ community celebrated the Supreme Court’s landmark June 15 ruling that sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the workplace is unlawful under FILE PHOTO Title VII. June 13 that it would eliminate an Obama-era regulation that prohibits discrimination in healthcare against transgender patients. Kilmnick said the rights withdrawal was “nothing more than mean-spir ited and discriminatory.”

“It was a roller coaster weekend,” said Kilmnick. “He did it on the four-year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting.”

The Orlando massacre, carried out by Omar Mateen, claimed 49 lives and injured 53 others on June 12, 2016. LGBTQ+ community members recognize the anniversary as a memorial to the victims and a symbol of the living prejudice that remains today.

In the face of hardship, the The LGBT Network recognized the accomplishments of the community on Saturday with a virtual Pride celebration, and was elated to hear the news of the Supreme Court ruling two days later.

“It just shows that our hard work, our organizing and having our voices heard will ultimately ring out,” said Kilmnick. “It rings true to what Martin Luther King Jr. said, that the arc of the universe will always bend toward justice ... We need people to bend that arc, even with a president who is as mean-spirited and vile as any we have seen in our lifetimes.”

Pauline Park, president of the board of directors of Queens Pride House in Jackson Heights, noted that the landmark ruling was not only a giant win for the gay community, but an enormous victory for transgender recognition and rights.

“Monday’s ruling was the US Supreme Court’s first pronouncement on transgender identity as well as its most important affirmation of LGBT rights,” Park told the Chronicle in an email.

The Supreme Court ruling comes four years after the court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, which

Park noted was another landmark ruling for equal rights, but didn’t apply to all LGBTQ+ community members — “Not all LGBTQ people want to get married; but almost all queer people have to work.”

“I was surprised that the court r u led 6 -3 i n favor of LGBT employment non-discrimination and even more surprised that Donald Trump’s appointee Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion,” continued Park, adding that proves how unpredictable appointees can be, and that they do not always strictly vote on partisan or ideological lines. “I think this ruling is a clear sign that the religious right has lost the ‘culture war’ over LGBT rights; with even conservative Republicans on the cour t deciding to t ur n the page on homophobia and transphobia, we can look forward to the day when legally permissible discrimination against LGBTQ people is a relic of

the past just like so-called anti‘miscegenation’ laws against interracial marriage.”

Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito both wrote their own dissents to the ruling, but both included the idea that an employer who discriminates based on homosexuality or transgender status doesn’t intentionally discriminate based on sex, as Gorsuch had argued. The two also shared an argument that homosexuality and transgender status are conceptually distinct from sex because the two characteristics are not already listed as protected under Title VII, which includes race, color, religion, sex and national origin — if Congress had wanted to address those matters in Title VII it would have referenced them specifically, they said.

“Under the Constitution’s separation of powers, however, I believe that it was Congress’s role, not this Court’s, to amend Title VII. I therefore must respectfully dissent from the Court’s judgment,” Kavanaugh wrote.

Although the ruling marked a progressive step in the fight for equality, Park notes that it is not the end for LGBTQ+ rights. She looked toward the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation and for other purposes beyond employment, such as in housing, public accommodations, education and credit. The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), passed the House of Representatives on May 17 with a 236-173 vote. The Senate version sits in the Judiciary Committee.

“What cannot be doubted is that June 15 was the best day at the Supreme Court the LGBT community has ever had and marks a historic turning point in the history of Q LGBT rights,” said Park.

No one for tennis: Open won’t have fans

by David Russell Associate Editor

The US Open will start in late August but will be played without fans, Gov. Cuomo announced Tuesday.

Cuomo said he was “excited” about the tournament.

“It will be held without fans, but you can watch it on TV — and I’ll take that,” he said. “The tennis authorities are going to be taking extraordinary precautions, but that’s going to take place.”

The tournament will be held from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center within Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

United States Tennis Association CEO and Executive

Director Mike Dowse released a statement touting the event.

“We recognize the tremendous responsibility of hosting one of the first global sporting events in these challenging times, and we will do so in the safest manner possible, mitigating all potential risks,” he said Tuesday.

Dowse said tennis can be showcased as the ideal social distancing sport.

“Being able to hold these events in 2020 is a boost for the City of New York and the entire tennis landscape,” he said.

Professional tennis tours have been suspended since March. The status of the US Open was questioned since then.

The French Open was postponed in May and is scheduled to start a week after the US Open ends. Wimbledon was can-

celed for the first time since World War II caused the tournament to be missed for several years.

While fans might be happy to have tennis return, some players have voiced concerns about moving ahead.

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios tweeted Monday, “people that live in the US of course are pushing for the Open to go ahead ‘Selfish’ I’ll get my hazmat suit ready for when I travel from Australia and then have to quarantine for 2 weeks on my return.”

Rafael Nadal, speaking to reporters on a conference call in early June, said tennis shouldn’t resume until it’s completely safe. The 19-time grand slam champion, who won last year’s US Open, said on June 4, “If you told me to play the Q US Open today, I would say ‘no.’”

C M SQ page 19 Y K

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Myrtle businesses battle the pandemic Stores reopening as city tries to get back on track but challenges remain

by David Russell Associate Editor

About 70 percent of Myrtle Avenue was shut down because of the pandemic, Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District Executive Director Ted Renz told Community Board 5 during its virtual meeting last Wednesday.

“I don’t know yet what our commercial strip, Myrtle Avenue, let alone the rest of the area, will look like,” he said.

Area merchants spoken to Monday were doing their best to make it look like something vibrant and busy.

New York Digital Copier Solutions was closed for a month and a half at the start of the pandemic but the business that offers copying, faxing, printing and internet reopened at the start of May. Now two people are allowed in at a time.

Hossam Elshendidi, a technician and graphics designer there, said there have been people coming in to do email printing since the city reopened on June 8.

He said there has been an increase in people faxing unemployment documents.

The store gets about 15 customers each day and at least one or two are working on unemployment documents.

“Definitely a lot more unemployment stuff than usual but there’s also a lot of

people filing for unemployment,” Elshendidi told the Chronicle Monday.

He added that the business does what it can to help.

“We try to give those people a discount too because we understand that they’re going through something ... when they get more money they can come back here and know that we stand by them,” Elshendidi said.

With libraries closed since March, residents who do not have a home computer go to the Glendale business.

“We try to be a resource, not just a rental and you’re on your own,” Elshendidi said.

Daniel Solo, the owner of Teachers Choice Plus, said Myrtle Avenue is “not bustling right now.”

His store has supplies for teachers and parents of students through high school, though most sales are for elementary school.

“We cater mostly to teachers and teachers don’t know what’s going on” with school in the fall yet, Solo told the Chronicle Monday.

He opened 18 years ago but the teachers who would come in retired, replaced by younger ones who shop online.

“It’s not even cheaper. It’s the lazy factor,” he said, adding that he understands there are no parking concerns and it’s easi-

Cop saves baby from fire Police Officer Nickson Gomez of the 104th Precinct carried an 8-month-old baby down an emergency escape ladder during a residential fire.

Officers responded to a fire at 75-01 60 Lane on May 30, discovered a blaze on the first floor and assisted residents in leaving

TWITTER PHOTO / 104TH PRECINCT

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QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 22

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the building.

Gomez saw a man holding a baby and dog in a third floor window. He climbed up the fire escape ladder and took the baby from the arms of her father, left, and brought the baby down the fire escape to safety. The father brought the dog down.

Daniel Solo, owner of Teachers Choice Plus on Myrtle Avenue in Glendale, said there has been a slight uptick in business since the city began reopening last week. Seamstress Jina Pinos is selling masks, below, as customers haven’t been getting alterations for clothes. PHOTOS BY DAVID RUSSELL er to stay cool in the house.

“There’s a reason that we still exist but this does not help things at all,” Solo said,” adding, “The benefit of this is you can come in and see the product but not when there’s a pandemic.”

Usually teachers make up the majority of his customers, followed by parents and the occasional random passerby.

Supplemental workbooks are the most popular item and education games are also popular with shoppers.

He said since Phase 1 of the city’s reopening, it’s been mostly parents coming to the store, buying Lite Brites, clay and other things children can play with.

Solo said it’s “to keep the kids busy” because the parents are trying to fill the time in each day now that children are at home almost all the time.

Kamal, a pharmacist at Myrtle Express Pharmacy, said business has been slow.

“People are still scared,” he said, adding, “Hopefully it picks up.”

Jina’s Design Studio was closed for three months, only opening last weekend.

The clothing business offers alterations but owner Jina Pinos said she took a hit because she often does well in June with all the prom dresses that come in.

“Alterations work is not coming because people don’t have money now for alterat i o n s ,” s h e t ol d t h e Chronicle.

Now Pinos is making and selling masks. She said 200 can be made in a day, working with her seamstress.

Masks are modeled in the front window with American f lag, gay pr ide f lag and Army camouflage designs.

Pinos said she believes her

business will improve when the summer arrives and the reopening continues in its later phases.

Renz noted a difference between the smaller and larger stores.

“The smaller mom-and-pop stores were calling and saying, ‘I can’t pay rent, I can only pay half, I can do this’ and they wanted to work something out whereas the big guys, the major chains, haven’t paid them rent,” he said.

Renz said some chains have filed for bankruptcy around the country and that a lot of mom-and-pop stores might be lost.

“They are the backbone of our neighborhoods and the economic climate that we have,” he said during the CB 5 meeting.

Will the city be able to get out of this financial crisis?

“We did it in 1975, we’ll do it again,” said CB 5 Chair man Vincent Arcuri, remembering an era when the city was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Renz added, “We’re not going to hear, ‘Drop dead to New York,’” referencing the Daily News headline after President Gerald Ford said he would veto any bill calling for Q a federal bailout of the city.

C M SQ page 23 Y K

As city reopens, foot traffic on the commercial strip has still been quiet

by David Russell Associate Editor

Forest Hills small business owners are fighting through the coronavirus crisis and sales have yet to pick up.

One owner is Vic Kun, who has run Continental Photo and Video since 1988.

“There’s really no business but we can’t sit home so we might as well be here,” he told the Chronicle Tuesday.

Co-owner Sofia Monge added, “It’s never going to be the same. It’s really tough.”

The store has been at 70-50 Austin St., since 2012 after moving from the Forest Hills mini mall at 5 Continental Ave. Continental Photo, which sells picture frames, prints photos and transfers VHS tapes among other services, is doing 20 percent of its usual business even as the city began reopening on June 8.

One positive is they have been taking a lot of passport photos, specifically Canadian ones. Monge said there hasn’t been such high demand for Canadian passport photos since the weeks after President Trump was elected in November 2016.

“People are not traveling yet,” she said.

“They’re getting ready.”

With digital photography becoming increasingly popular in the last two decades, fewer people are printing photos and phones leave fewer

Thank Heaven children’s boutique on Austin Street reopened last week. Store owner Ariena Thomsen said she can’t complain about business so far but did note a lack of foot traffic on the PHOTO BY DAVID RUSSELL street, while other merchants said business has been very slow. people needing to buy cameras.

But it’s younger customers who were actually buying film before the pandemic.

“They love the look of film,” Monge said.

“We’re processing more film. We sell more film.

It’s like everything old is new again.”

She said the customers like the process of making an image and Kun loves explaining the

process to them.

The business also does several event shoots each year, including one in July for a customer celebrating a birthday at the Brooklyn Bridge.

“People still get married, still have kids, still have birthdays,” Monge said.

Farther down Austin Street at 72-18, Thank Heaven, a children’s boutique, reopened after

three months.

Will business come back?

Ariena Thomsen, who has run the store since 2004, wishes she could say.

“We don’t know if it’s going to come back.

We just don’t know. Are people going to be nervous to come into stores? I think some people are definitely nervous to come into stores.”

She said it’s possible her little store will see more business if people are wary of large crowds at malls. Thomsen said Austin Street hasn’t had much foot traffic but people have been visiting her store, adding that she “cannot complain” as business has been good so far.

She said one customer came in after hearing from a friend that the store reopened.

“This is their neighborhood,” Thomsen said.

“They want it to be nice. They want to have nice stores.”

She said toys have been selling well as parents want to reward their children.

“You’ve been home for three months, you’ve been so good, come on I’m going to buy you something,” Thomsen said.

She is happy to be back in business.

“I’m grateful that I’m able to open,” Thomsen said. “It’s going to take everybody a long time to catch up. Three months is a long time not to bring in any money.”

While she was closed, a website, shop continued on page 24

Page 23 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

Austin St. biz owners hope shoppers return

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Homeless headed to College Pt. Vallone, Rosenthal, Liu slam DHS process

by Michael Gannon Editor

The city’s Department of Homeless Services announced on Friday that it will transfer 96 men from a Bronx homeless shelter to the Fairfield Hotel at 28-66 College Point Blvd. in College Point, according to a joint statement sent to the Chronicle by City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside), state Sen. John Liu (D-Bayside) and Assembly man Daniel Rosenthal (D-Flushing).

The statement said the city is representing the move as part of the de Blasio administration’s “temporary COVID-19 policy” to relocate “non-symptomatic and non-asymptomatic” homeless individuals from congregate shelters to low-density settings.

The elected off icials were livid. A spokeswoman for Vallone said their office was notified by DHS mid-afternoon on Friday.

“Once again, this agency’s continued lack of communication and transparency serves only to create frustration and distrust within our communities,” they wrote.

“In a pattern of rushed decision making, DHS just weeks ago relocated homeless women from the College Point shelter on 20th Avenue to a hotel in a different neigh-

“At [the Department of Social Servies], borhood. Uprooting the neighborhood’s current residents and transferring homeless we’re confident that our strategies for comindividuals across boroughs during a pan- batting COVID-19 and protecting the demic is an irresponsible policy. This lack 60,000-plus New Yorkers we serve on any of foresight and planning compromises the given night have effectively flattened our health of not only our vulnerable popula- curve, which has closely tracked citywide tions, but also of st aff and ser vice trends,” the email said.

The agency said it is working with the providers.

“We will hold DHS accountable to their Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and New York promise that City Health + this is a tempoHospitals to r a r y a r r a nge provide anyone m e n t ,” t h e y e will hold DHS accountable who ne e d s it wrote. to their promise that this is with ca re or In an email to isolation. t he Ch ron icle a temporary arrangement.”

The DHS has o n M o n d a y, reported about officials at the — Councilman Paul Vallone, state Sen. John Liu 1, 2 0 0 c a s e s .

Department of and Assembyman Daniel Rosenthal Approximately Homeless Ser13,000 individv ices d id not confirm or deny the location or most of the uals, “well over two-thirds of all the single other details in Friday’s press release, nor adults experiencing homelessness who we would they comment as to whether any of serve,” are at the moment in hotels.

Rosenthal, Liu and Vallone’s offices said the men involved had histories of psychiatric problems or sex offenses, citing confi- they will remain in regular contact with the dentiality requirements in New York State NYPD’s 109th Precinct, which is aware of the plan. social services laws.

“We as elected officials stand united in But the statement did pretty much confirm that the move is intended to deal with opposition to the City’s short-sighted Q approach,” they concluded. concerns over COVID-19.

“W

Austin Street continued from page 23 thankheaven.com, was built and will launch soon. While Thomsen was satisfied with business since returning, it was a different story a few doors down at North Shore Vacuum Cleaner Co. “This week has been, so far, a disaster,” said Steven, the owner since 1985.

The business was closed for a month and business was decent the first week it reopened in April.

But things are slow. There are about 10 customers a day. Some Saturdays there are 30 people but last weekend was dead. And Monday wasn’t better.

“The street was so deserted [Monday] it felt like when it was closed down,” Steven said. “That’s how bad it was.”

He began working at the store in 1977 when it was at 71-09 Austin St. before buying it eight years later. The store moved to 73-03 Austin St. in 1996 before moving to 72-24 a little over a year ago.

“It’s sad to see all the people you’re friendly with, their stores are closed,” said Steven’s son David, adding, “Once people start getting more comfortable going out again hopefully the traffic of these stores will increase.”

For now, the business is hanging in.

“It’s going to be a rough couple of years,” Steven said. “If we make it through this, we’ll make it. That’s the Q way I look at it.”

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C M SQ page 26 Y K

NYPD to disband its anti-crime units Shea says department can combat crime in a ‘smarter, better’ fashion

by Michael Gannon Editor

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea raised more than a few eyebrows Monday when he announced that the department is disbanding its plainclothes anti-crime units.

But he said the decision to reassign the officers — considered among the elite within the NYPD’s 77 precincts and housing units — was a long time coming.

“Make no mistake, this a is seismic shift in the culture of how the NYPD polices this great city,” Shea said in a text of comments from a press conference at 1 Police Plaza.

He said the move will be felt immediately not only in communities throughout the five boroughs but in places like the five district attorneys’ offices.

“It’s a big move when you look at culturally how we police the city,” he said. “We struggle with not keeping crime down, it’s keeping crime down and keeping the community working with us. I think those two things at times have been at odds. I would consider this in the realm of closing one of the last chapters of stop, question and frisk.

This is no reflection whatsoever on men and women doing the work. This is a policy shift coming from me. The men and women were doing what I and others before me asked.

They have done an exceptional job. But I

think it’s time to move forward and change how we police in this city. We can do it with brains, we can do it with guile, move away from brute force. ... We can do it better, we can do it smarter and we will.”

He also said that the units were involved in a disproportionate number of shootings and complaints.

Shea said some 600 officers will be transferred to other duties. The department still will use plainclothes officers in the subways as well as for narcotics investigations, intelligence gathering and other operations.

“The protests really did not factor in,” the commissioner said. “Prior to me having this job [last December] we scrutinized every police involved shooting very carefully.”

Chief David Barrere was commanding officer of Patrol Borough Queens South for six years before assuming command of the NYPD’s Housing Bureau this past winter. He told the Chronicle that the move is not one that was made quickly or lightly.

“I came to Housing on Jan. 22, and the topic of the anti-crime teams was being discussed by executive staff before then,” Barrere told the Chronicle in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon.

The chief said the men and women in his anti-crime teams are some of the hardest workers on the force. He also said this is in no

way a retreat that some people may fear or that department critics might consider it to be.

“We can fight crime better, smarter,” he said. “We can use intelligence. We can use ShotSpotter to solve gun crimes. We can use shell casings, video, DNA.” Barrere said the emphasis will remain on the small number of people responsible for most of the crime. He said for example, that the numerous cameras within NYCHA buildings and grounds have proven invaluable in shooting cases.

“The video can tell us who is doing the shootings, who is shooting in the air, who is shooting at other people,” he said. “Very often Housing [neighborhood coordination officers] know the few people who are committing crimes and they can identify them on video.”

Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, sharply criticized the move in a statement on the union’s website.

“Anti-Crime’s mission was to protect New Yorkers by proactively preventing crime, especially gun violence,” Lynch said. “Shooting and murders are both climbing steadily upward, but our city leaders have clearly decided that proactive policing isn’t a priority anymore. They chose this strategy. They will have to reckon with the consequences.”

Shea, concluding his remarks, also said the department has no intention of retreating.

“Crime this week, this month, what we are seeing, when you look at index crime for the city, it is down for the week,” he said. “But that can mask some storm clouds. Going back to January, I was very vocal about what we were seeing, in terms of bail reform law.

We’ve had a very interesting six months. Bail reform, COVID for three months and now fallout from Minneapolis.”

Shea said in the last month or so, “we are trending in a very difficult direction in terms of gun violence specifically and that has had an impact on the homicides. It is spread out all over New York City. It is not about one neighborhood or one gang. We need the criminal justice system to start operating at regular capacity. We need some changes to some laws that put people in jail when they are carrying guns in New York City. All of that went into this decision today. It is a decision I stand behind. I said a month or two ago, there is a storm on the horizon.”

Shea said that leaves him particularly concerned about planned budget cuts and head count reductions that Mayor de Blasio and the City Council have embraced.

“New York City residents deserve to be protected,” he said. “They want more cops, not less cops. It’s going to take all New Yorkers driving it, and I believe we can get Q it done.

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Improving your overall health at any age They say you’re only as young as you feel, and if you’re an older American, the ability to feel young a little while longer is always appealing. Having a youthful state of mind goes a long way toward accomplishing this goal, but you can’t ignore the importance of solid physical health.

To improve your physical and mental health and prove age is just a number, apply these five tips from The Mayo Clinic today.

• Find the perfect interval. If you’ve never participated in high-intensity interval training before, here’s a compelling reason to start. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic found high-intensity aerobic exercise actually reversed some cellular aspects of aging. The research also found that the exercise improved muscle proteins, enlarged muscles and increased energy levels.

• The benefit of brain games. A sharp mind is every bit as important as a healthy body, and exercising your brain can be a lot of fun. Spend time learning new things on the internet, enroll in a class for that craft you’ve always wanted to master, go out with friends or sit down and play a board game.

All of these activities can greatly improve your mental health. For example, a Mayo Clinic study found playing games decreased a person’s risk of mild cognitive impairment by 22 percent making this enjoyable activity healthy as well.

• Supplementing your health. Health supplements should never completely replace whole-food offerings, but they may offer you real health value as well. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, supplements may be ideal for vegans and vegetarians or those who consume fewer than 1,600 calories per day. People with a condition affecting

the way their body absorbs nutrients and those who have had surgery on their digestive tract should also speak with their doctor about supplements that may improve their overall health.

• The importance of sleep. A good night’s sleep offers health benefits at any age, but getting enough rest can be more difficult as you get older. To get a better night’s sleep, review your medications with your doctor to see if anything is impacting your rest. You should also try to limit your daytime napping (just 10 to 20 minutes per day is best) and avoid alcohol, caffeine or even water within a couple hours before bedtime.

• Focus on your sexual health. This topic may not be as widely discussed as your physical or mental health, but it is no less important. Men should talk to their doctors about their lessening testosterone levels, which drop about 1 percent per year after age 30. Women may experience a similar drop in estrogen levels as well and should consult their doctor for treatment options. Don’t be shy about discussing sexual health issues with your doctor.

From STDs to annual checkups, having a thorough understanding of your current sexual health — and what you need to do to protect or improve it — will benefit every other part of your life.

With aging comes new challenges and the need to be more vigilant in maintaining your overall well-being. By incorporating some of the tips above from the experts at The Mayo Clinic, you’ll make sure the best years of your life are still to come. You can learn more about improving your health at any age through the advice offered in Mayo Clinic on Healthy Aging, or visit mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle Q for more healthy lifestyle ideas.

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C M SQ page 29 Y K

Many men do not feel the need to visit a doctor unless something is causing problems that can no longer be ignored. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says men are 33 percent less likely than women to have visited a doctor within the past year. By the time men see a physician, the window of opportunity to screen for early health problems may already have passed, and then it becomes essential to t reat complications of a disease.

Men are at a higher risk for certain health conditions than women. Among the 15 top causes of death, men lead women in all of them, except for Alzheimer’s disease, according to WebMD. 1. Cardiovascular disease: The American Heart Association says more than one in three adult men have a form of cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure is a major concern and stroke affects more than three million men. Changing one’s diet, exercising and getting routine health examinations can go a long way toward preventing the onset of heart disease.

2. Liver disease: High levels of alcohol and tobacco use among men can put them at a risk for diseases of the liver, such as cirrhosis and alcoholic liver disease. Globally, cirrhosis caused more than 1.3 million deaths in 2017, two-thirds of which

Men, especially those at higher risk, need to assess their likelihood for various medical conditions and take charge of their personal well-being. were men. And experts at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine say hepatitis B and excessive use of alco-

hol are notoriously high in men, contributing to liver issues. In addition, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which is especially prevalent among obese individuals, can

contribute to cirrhosis.

3. Respiratory diseases: COPD and other respiratory conditions can lead to lifethreatening conditions. The American Lung Association says more men are now being diagnosed with lung cancer than in years past. Smoking remains the leading cause of lung cancer.

4. Depression: Men can experience depression and suicidal thoughts. Researchers at The National Institute of Mental Health estimate that at least six million men in the United States suffer from depressive disorders, including suicidal thoughts, each year. Men may exhibit different symptoms of depression, such as fatigue and ir ritability, than women.

Although more women are likely to attempt suicide, men are more likely to die by suicide. Anyone who needs help is urged to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255.

5. Unintentional injuries: Risky behaviors, such as driving recklessly, can lead to injuries and accidents. In 2016, unintentional injuries were the third most common cause of death in men above the age of 20, according to the CDC. Men need to assess their risks for various medical conditions and take charge of Q their personal well-being.

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Five big health threats for men

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Potential symptoms of prostate cancer Prostate cancer is a formidable foe that kills tens of thousands of men every year. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer and colorectal cancer.

The World Cancer Research Fund International notes that age-adjusted incidence rates of prostate cancer have increased dramatically, citing the increased availability of screening for prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, for helping to find prostate cancer in men who otherwise might never know they were sick. In fact, the Prostate Cancer Foundation notes that there usually aren’t any early warning signs for prostate cancer, which only highlights the importance of routine screenings.

Tumors resulting from prostate cancer may not push against anything to cause pain, even as they are growing. So men who do not receive routine prostate cancer screenings may live for years with the disease without knowing it. Such screenings can be a great ally in the fight against prostate cancer, but men also can remain on the lookout for potential signs of the disease. The PCF notes that, in rare cases, prostate cancer can produce the following symptoms, which men should immediately bring to the attention of their physicians.

Issues with urination Urinary issues do not necessarily mean a man has cancer. But such issues should never be

According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the third-leading cause of death among American men. If you present any of the potential symptoms, see your physician promptly. ignored and any that arise should be brought to the attention of a physician immediately.

Men might mistake a growing need to urinate frequently as a simple side effect of aging and accept it without telling their doctors. But a need to urinate frequently, especially at night, might be a symptom of prostate cancer.

Some men may experience difficulty start-

ing or holding back urination, but those who are experiencing difficulty should contact their physicians upon the appearance of these difficulties.

Men with prostate cancer may experience weak, dribbling or interrupted flow of urination. Such issues may be symptomatic of other conditions, so men should not immediately

assume they have cancer.

Erection and ejaculation difficulties Men might be embarrassed to report certain symptoms to their physicians. But in such situations, it’s important to remember that reporting any difficulties can be the first step toward healing, while avoiding such discussions can have long-lasting and potentially fatal consequences.

Some men experience difficulty in having an erection, and that difficulty may or may not be a byproduct of prostate cancer.

Men may also notice a decrease in ejaculate or begin experiencing painful ejaculations.

While these symptoms are not always a result of prostate cancer, they should be reported to a physician who can then take measures to confirm or rule out the presence of cancer.

Additional symptoms The PCF notes that conditions such as prostatitis and benign prostatic hypertrophy, or BPH, are common, benign diseases that can cause symptoms similar to prostate cancer. But men should still report symptoms such as blood in their urine or semen, pressure or pain in their rectum and/or pain or stiffness in their lower back, hips, pelvis or thighs to their physicians the moment they begin to feel such symptoms.

Men concerned about prostate cancer or interested in learning more about screenings Q can visit pcf.org for more information.

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June 18, 2020

Page 31 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

ARTS, CULTURE C & LIVING

by Katherine Donlevy In an era when most everyone across the borough is homebound, Queens Library’s Mail-A-Book program has become a viable resource for the general public, reaching audiences beyond its original senior and disabled customer base.

“We already have the infrastructure set up, so Mail-A-Book was able to jump on board immediately and offer these programs, which have now grown exponentially,” said Older Adult/Mail-A-Book Coordinator Madlyn Schneider. “We don’t leave anyone out. Everyone is invited to watch the programs.”

Before the pandemic hit, the program was limited to homebound state residents and offered the opportunity to have library materials, such as

books, audio devices and more, delivered to their door free of charge as well as virtual programming that allows its customers to interact with instructors and other homebound residents. The latter has since expanded during the pandemic, while the mailing aspect was suspended March 13 — employees were no longer allowed to visit their Queens Village office to gather and send out materials.

“We have some customers joining us from other states,” said Schneider, noting that while mailing services were limited to Empire State residents who could not physically access a library, virtual programming is open to anyone. “Queens Library has always been a leader in our services to expand beyond our borders.”

The virtual programming ranges from art to medicine to history and more — on June 18 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., historian Jennifer Katanic will lead a discussion titled “Cafe des Artistes: A Focus on Modern Art,” and registered nurse Kathy Moran will inform a “Senior Health Chat” the following day from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The subsequent seven days include an installment of the “Art History Series,” a discussion on “The Evolution of Women’s Roles in Television / Just the Voices” and “The Intrepid Museum,” and even a game of bingo. The program so far includes events until Aug. 14, but Schneider says she expects it to continue to grow. continued on page 33

For the latest news visit qchron.com

Library’s Mail-A-Book program now an online destination for everyone

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 32

C M SQ page 32 Y K

I HAVE OFTEN WALKED

King Crossword Puzzle A spy who loved film: Broccoli. Albert Broccoli.

ACROSS

1 St. Louis landmark 5 Hostel 8 Grime 12 Silver salmon 13 Kan. neighbor 14 Sandwich cookie 15 Destruction 16 Thrilling 18 Passage 20 Idles 21 Still 22 “You’ve got mail” co.

23 Really fun time 26 Leave out 30 Thither 31 Beer cousin 32 Queue 33 Shout out 36 Co-star with Ball, Arnaz and Frawley 38 Branch 39 Dine 40 Larynx output 43 Surpasses 47 “My bad” 49 By word of mouth 50 Night light?

51 Atmosphere 52 Loosen 53 Paquin or Quindlen 54 Final (Abbr.)

55 Exam

DOWN 1 Land measure 2 Sauce thickener

by Ron Marzlock Chronicle Contributor

3 Stylish 4 Sweethearts 5 Klutzy 6 Adjoining 7 Leno’s network 8 “Is that so?”

9 Eye part 10 Landlord’s due 11 Garb 17 Sporty Camaro 19 Emeritus (Abbr.)

22 Chopper

23 “See ya” 24 Bagel topping 25 Anti-apartheid org.

26 Shade source 27 Samovar 28 “What’s up, --?”

29 Ram’s mate 31 Intent 34 Gap 35 War god 36 Carpet cleaner, for short

37 Went to a restaurant 39 Put forth, as energy 40 -- cava 41 The yoke’s on them 42 PC picture 43 Painter Nolde 44 Sea eagle 45 June honorees 46 Coin aperture 48 Water (Fr.)

Italian immigrant Giovanni Broccoli, known as John, married Cristina Vence, who was 22 years his junior, on Sept. 7, 1902. They welcomed their first son, John, two years later, followed by future movie producer Albert Romolo Broccoli on April 9, 1909.

The family lived in a humble house on John Street, their property known today as 21-16 27 Road, in Long Island City. Around 1920, the family decided on a career change and bought a farm on Moriches Road in Brookhaven, LI, and became farmers.

Young Albert took off for the West Coast and married radio star Gloria Blondell, the younger sister of movie star Joan Blondell. Albert became very interested in the James Bond novels and wanted to turn them into movies.

He discovered former Canadian circus performer Harry Salzman, who had been trying to break in as a film producer. They formed a partnership and made their first movie together in 1962, “Dr. No,” the first of the James Bond saga.

The childhood home of James Bond film producer Albert Broccoli at 21-16 27 Road, formerly called John Street, in Long Island City as it appeared in the 1930s.

INSET PHOTO VIA WIKIPEDIA

The partnership dissolved by 1978 following a series of financial missteps by Salzman. Albert lived until age 87 and passed in June of 1996.

Albert’s family still controls the James Bond franchise, and every Bond movie begins by displaying his name in the openQ ing credits.

Answers on next page

For the latest news visit qchron.com

Parker At Your Door resumes medical house calls Each day, Bonita Waites, the clinical operations manager of Parker At Your Door, a medical housecall program through Parker Jewish Institute, calls patients’ families asking a series of questions.

With each call, she asks: Who is living in the home right now with the patient? Does anyone there have signs of COVID-19 (fever, muscle pain, nausea and other symptoms)? Has anyone traveled internationally?

This is all part of the protocol for Parker At Your Door amid the COVID-19 pandemic when finalizing details for visits from one of the program’s nurse practitioners throughout Nassau, Suffolk and Queens counties.

Ms. Waites then explains that the nurse practitioner will be dressed in head-to-toe personal protective equipment gear – including masks, gowns and shoe coverings – to keep families and employees safe. And each nurse practitioner is tested for COVID-19 twice a week.

This is especially important to older, homebound adults who would otherwise find it a hardship to get to a doctor’s office. Parker At Your Door’s clinicians perform monthly wellness checks and also provide prescriptions for any needed medications.

For families, Parker At Your Door eases the burden of caring for their loved ones. The program enables older adults to maintain their health so that they can continue to live in their homes, where they are most comfortable. This high level of patient care also helps keep

older adults out of the hospital.

Parker At Your Door is providing a much-needed service for older adults in the region, making it easy for families to sign up. Unlike other services, no referral is needed.

“Parker At Your Door is addressing an important need in Nassau and Queens, where the population is aging,” said Michael N. Rosenblut, Parker’s President and CEO. “These regular wellness visits make a difference for older adults so that they can maintain their health, and prevent a medical crisis, helping them avoid the need for a hospital visit.”

For more information visit parkerinstitute.org

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C M SQ page 33 Y K

Tribute to jazz giant Jimmy Heath set for June 19 Flushing Town Hall will celebrate the life and legacy of NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Heath, the Music Director of the Queens Jazz Orchestra, in a virtual tribute — “I’m Back Swinging Again! — on Friday, June 19 at 7 p.m. Heath, who passed away in January at the age of 93, had been due to return to Flushing Town Hall’s stage with his orchestra that evening.

The special event will feature appearances by many celebrated musical artists who have crossed paths — and taken the stage — with Jimmy Heath throughout his storied career.

Among those who are participating are Heath’s wife, Mona, and jazz legends Albert “Tootie” Heath, Barry Harris, Jimmy Owens, and Dorthaan Kirk; and members of The Queens Jazz Orchestra, including Antonio Hart, David Wang, Jeb Patton and Douglas Purviance. There also will be testimonials about Jimmy Heath from special guests such as City Councilman Francisco Moya.

The event will be livestreamed at facebook.com/flushingtownhall and feature excerpts from a previous concert by the Queens Jazz Orchestra, testimonials from family and friends, snapshots of Heath throughout his career, and several performances by his former colleagues.

The tribute also will raise funds to support the Jimmy Heath Scholarship Fund at

Queens College. Donations can be made at: qccommunity.qc.cuny.edu/pages/funds/ jimmy-heath-scholarship-endowment-fund.

Donations to the fund also can be made by writing a check to the QC Foundation (and putting “Jimmy Heath Scholarship” in the memo), and mailed to: Queens College Foundation, Kiely Hall, Queens College, Queens, NY, 11367, or by calling Joann Acquista, the director of donor relations, at (718) 997-5864.

Heath had a longstanding relationship with Flushing Town Hall, and a dozen years ago they together launched the 17-piece big band Queens Jazz Orchestra, which since had performed for thousands of jazz lovers under his direction. “We are carrying on the American tradition of jazz by playing contemporary and historic compositions,” he said last year about the Queens Jazz Orchestra.

“Jimmy always felt at home at Flushing Town Hall,” Mona Heath said. “The audience always gave him a warm, friendly reception and he treasured that. The best gift of my life was meeting him, and it means a great deal to me to know that his life story and his music will be shared on this evening. Thank you for keeping his memory alive.”

Born on Oct. 25, 1926 in Philadelphia,

Jimmy Heath’s life and work in jazz will be PHOTO COURTESY FTH celebrated June 19.

Heath was the second of the illustrious Heath Brothers to receive an NEA Jazz Master Fellowship and was the first to choose music as a career path. He started on alto saxophone and briefly led his own big band with a saxophone section that included John Coltrane and Benny Golson. Gigs followed with Howard McGhee in 1948 and with

Dizzy Gillespie’s big band from 1949 to ’50.

As Gillespie once quipped, “All I can say is, if you know Jimmy Heath, you know Bop.” During his storied career, Heath (who lived in Queens for many years) performed on more than 100 record albums, wrote more than 125 compositions, composed extended works — seven suites and two string quartets — and he premiered his first symphonic work, “Three Ears,” in 1988.

He jammed with then-President Bill Clinton at a White House jazz concert and in 2003, the National Endowment for the Arts named him a Jazz Master.

As an educator, Heath taught at Jazzmobile, Housatonic Community College, City College of New York and Queens College.

“Jimmy Heath was an iconic presence at Flushing Town Hall. Whenever we would announce that our Queens Jazz Orchestra would return, performances would sell out – because people wanted to come together to experience the music and the man,” Flushing Town Hall Executive and Artistic Director, Ellen Kodadek said. “Even though we now must stay apart, this event will bring people together online; it will be an evening to celebrate his life and his legacy, but also to support future generations of jazz artists, something Jimmy Heath cared so deeply about.

Q His spirit will shine this evening.”

Page 33 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

boro

Virtual programming enjoyed by everyone

Crossword Answers

In the meantime, the virtual programming will only ramp up. “[The classes allow us] to transform what they do into the virtual world,” she said. “Older adults can continue to learn and grow and socialize. There’s a huge learning component. For art history, drawing, watercolor, collage — a lot of those professional teachers have been able to modify what they can do onto the screen, but most are in the format of discussion.”

Other than providing an opportunity to learn and build new skills, the Mail-A-Book virtual programming equips customers with the chance to build new relationships to other program members and staff. “[My staff] make a lot of phone calls to our homebound group to tell them what is coming up, but also to ask, ‘How are you doing?’” Schneider said. “We are not social workers, but if we catch wind that someone is in trouble we will refer them to another organization ... Sometimes my staff will call on their own time. [The customers also] call each other — they made friends over the phone. They found a way to befriend each other.”

Schneider, who has worked at Queens

Queens Library’s Mail-A-Book program has focused on its virtual programming during the pandemic, expanding its educational and social services to the general public.

Library since 1984, says that the Mail-ABook program is the most rewarding to be a part of.

“I speak to them quite frequently and it’s very fulfilling to know they care about me as well. It works both ways. It makes us

successful,” she said. “There’s a lot of heart in what we offer.”

For more information on the Mail-ABook program and upcoming classes, visit queenslibrary.org or email Schneider at Q mailabook@queenslibrary.org.

For the latest news visit qchron.com

continued from page 31 “I anticipate that we are going to grow,” she said, though she can’t say for sure what the future will look like. “Maybe people can temporarily join for six months if their library is closed,” she said as a possibility.

Schneider noted that the Queens Library is looking at a slow and staggered reopening — somewhere between six to eight libraries in the borough will reopen sometime in July, but only for pickup and returns.

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Legal Notices

Legal Notices

ENGINE HOUSE MARKETING LLC. App. for Auth. filed with the SSNY on 05/22/20.

Originally filed with Secretary of State of Utah 11/06/2008.

Office: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 138-44 Queens Boulevard, Second Floor, Briarwood, NY 11435. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of formation of FYEH Kitchen LLC. Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 03/12/2020.

Office located in Queens County. SSNY is designated for service of process. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process served against the LLC to Ross Pineda, 2808 35th St., #1L Astoria, NY 11103. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

For the latest news visit qchron.com

is seeking a F/T purchasing agent w/experience. We offer full medical and dental 100% paid, 401K, 2 weeks paid vacation, holiday pay. Must have computer skills, ability to multi-task, work in a fast-paced environment & be extremely organized. Some duties include receiving & placing daily material orders, negotiating prices, overseeing deliveries, quote request, & checking inventory.

Please apply in person Monday- Friday bet: 9am & 7pm at 304 Crossbay Blvd.

Broad Channel, Queens 11693

Services

Page 37 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

To Advertise Call 718-205-8000

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 38

C M SQ page 38 Y K To Advertise Call 718-205-8000

Legal Services

Legal Services Attorney Advertising

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Legal Notices

Legal Notices

NOTICE is hereby given that an Order entered by the Civil Court, Queens County on 03-0920, bearing Index Number NC-000150-20/ QU, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 89-17 Sutphin Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11435, grants me (us) the right to: Assume the name of (First) MUTHALAKUZHIYIL (Last) GEORGE. My present name is (First) GEORGE (Last) MUTHALAKUZHIYIL AKA M GEORGE. The city and state of my present address are Floral Park, NY. My place of birth is INDIA. The month and year of my birth are February 1947.

JOSEPH TURCIC PHYSICAL THERAPY PLLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 4/29/2020. Office in Queens Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC whom process may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to 4750 59th St., Apt #8A, Woodside, NY 11377, which is also the principal business location. Purpose: To practice Physical Therapy as well as any activities necessary and incidental thereto.

Legal Notices LEGAL NOTICE BY PUBLICATION is hereby given to Ahmad Bostani a/k/a Arman Rezayar Bostani a/k/a Ahmad Reza Bostani a/k/a Ahmadreza Bostani (collectively referred to as “Bostani”), of an action commenced in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Queens, entitled Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company v. Islam, et al., Index No. 702988/2015, the object of which is, among other things, to recover damages against defendant Bostani in an amount of no less than $430,000.00 and expenses in an amount of no less than $7,288.01, plus interest from the date of April 14, 2014, costs, disbursements and expenses, for his role in the improper transfer of a certain piece of real property and for failure to repay a loan in a principal amount of $472,000.00 borrowed by Bostani in connection with said transfer of real property. Pursuant to its obligations under a policy of title insurance, plaintiff Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company (“Commonwealth”) paid the above sum and incurred the above expenses to quiet title to the property.

Legal Notice by Publication is further given that the Court has denied Commonwealth’s request for damages, by Order dated April 23, 2020 and entered by the Clerk of the Court on April 27, 2020.

Legal Notice by Publication is further given that Commonwealth has filed a Notice of Appeal dated May 21, 2020 and appeals from the above referenced Order to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Department.

Copies of all papers are available by contacting the attorneys for Commonwealth: Fidelity National Law Group, 105 Eisenhower Parkway, Suite 103, Roseland, New Jersey 07068, (973) 863-7017.

NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, PITT COUNTY IN THE DISTRICT COURT Substituted Title: In Re: Doe and Doe Pitt County Clerk of Court docket number: 18 JT 179 and 18 JT 180 To: Putative Father Benjamin Harris and Any Unknown Father of the female juveniles born on or about December 21, 2018 in Pitt County, Greenville, North Carolina, Respondent; TAKE NOTICE that the Pitt County Department of Social Services has filed a petition in the District Court of Pitt County seeking to terminate the parental rights of Putative Father Benjamin Harris and the Unknown Father of the minor children. You are required to file a written response to the pleadings with the clerk of court within thirty (30) days after July 3, 2020, and upon failure to answer the petition within the time prescribed, the Pitt County Department of Social Services will apply to the Court to terminate the parental rights of Putative Father Benjamin Harris and the Unknown Father. Any counsel appointed previously and still representing the parent in an abuse, neglect, or dependency proceeding shall continue to represent the parent unless otherwise ordered by the court.

If the parent is indigent and is not already represented by appointed counsel, the parent is entitled to appointed counsel.

Provisional counsel has been appointed and the appointment of provisional counsel shall be reviewed by the court at the first hearing after service; The date, time, and place of any pretrial hearing pursuant to G.S. 7B-1108.1 and the hearing on the petition will be mailed by the petitioner upon filing of the answer or 30 days from the date of service if no answer is filed. The parent may attend the termination hearing. This the 19 day of June, 2020. R Matthew Gibson Attorney for Pitt County DSS 1717 West Fifth Street Greenville, NC 27834 Notice of formation KIMBERLY ROSE LLC. Articles of Organization (Dom. LLC) filed with Secy. of State of N.Y. (SSNY) on 03/10/2020. Office location: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC for service of process. SSNY shall mail process to: Kimberly Rose Stabile, 4-75 48th Avenue, PH 3708, Long Island City, NY 11109 which is also principal business location.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

To Advertise Call 718-205-8000

Real Estate EQUAL HOUSING. Federal, New York State and local laws prohibit discrimination because of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, marital status, familial status or disability in connection with the sale or rental of residential real estate. Queens Chronicle does not knowingly accept advertising in violation of these laws. When you suspect housing discrimination call the Open Housing Center (the Fair Housing Agency for the five boroughs of New York) at 212-941-6101, or the New York City Commission of Human Rights Hotline at 718722-3131.

The Queens Chronicle reserves the right to alter wording in ads to conform with Federal Fair Housing regulations.

Condos For Sale Middle Village, 66-83 70th St., Apt 2B. Renovated 2 BR Condo, 3D Vittual Tour is available. $529,000.

Capri Jet Realty, 718-388-2188 Middle Village, 66-83 70th St., Apt 2B. Renovated 2 BR Condo, 3D Virtual Tour is available. $529,000.

Capri Jet Realty, 718-388-2188

Houses For Sale Middle Village, 66-64 71st St. 2 family w/backyard & garage. 3D Virtual tour is avail. $988,000.

Capri Jet Realty, 347-450-3577

Real Estate Misc.

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND. Best selection of full/partial week rentals. Call for FREE color Brochure. Holiday Real Estate, Inc: 1-800-638-2101 Online reservations: www.holidayoc.com. $50 Howard Beach/Lindenwood, 2 BR, discount—new rentals. Code: (Expires 1st fl, newly renov. Heat & hot water “WelcomeBack” incl. No pets/smoking. 1 mo sec + 2020-09-01 1st month’s rent. Credit ck req. $1,700/mo. Owner, 917-854-6477

Apts. For Rent

Legal Notices

Legal Notices Notice of formation of Naturally Becoming LLC. Filed with SSNY on 05/27/2020. Office: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail copy to: Naturally Becoming LLC, 118-55 224th Street, Cambria Heights, NY 11411.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose Notice of Formation of Shakti Devi, LLC Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 03/26/2020.

Office location: Queens County.

SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: Annie Sukhnandan, 8565 114 Street, Richmond Hill, NY 11418. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of The Ninja Base LLC Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 04/21/2020. Office location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: THE NINJA BASE LLC, 33-07 91ST ST., APT 1B, JACKSON HEIGHTS, NY 11372.

Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DUPLIN COUNTY NOTICE OF SERVICE BY PUBLICATION TRACY NICOLE MOTT VS. JEFFREY MOTT FILE NO. 19 CVD 143 TAKE NOTICE that a pleading seeking relief against you has been filed in the aboveentitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is as follows: Complaint For Absolute Divorce. You are required to make defense no later than July 28, 2020 said date being 40 days from the first publication of this notice, and upon your failure to do so the party seeking service against you will apply to the Court for the relief sought.

Dated: June 18, 2020 Run in The Queens Chronicle, June 18, 25 & July 2, 2020, Fredric C. Hall, Attorney for Plaintiff, Burrows & Hall, PA 317 N. Norwood Street P.O. Box 816 Wallace, North Carolina 28466

Public Notice A local Queens based School is looking for bids on the following project: Provide licensed security guards (armed and unarmed) at school entrance during school hours.

Please send your bids to: bids.queensji@gmail.com between 06/01/2020 07/01/2020

C M SQ page 39 Y K

BEAT

LOW LOW Interest Rates

NASCAR’s not whistling Dixie

by Lloyd Carroll Chronicle Contributor

NASCAR officials took dramatic action last Wednesday in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder when they announced Confederate flags would no longer be allowed to be flown at any of their sanctioned races. In addition, spectators will not be admitted if they wear apparel bearing the Confederate flag.

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, the only AfricanAmerican driver on the NASCAR circuit, has long called for the flag to be banned and was thrilled when his goal became a reality. He has become one of NASCAR’s most popular stars.

While most people across the country cheered NASCAR’s decision as common-sense business it couldn’t have been an easy one to make. Its headquarters are located in Charlotte, NC, and stock car fans have tended to be politically conservative. Many of those prototypical fans vented their anger on Twitter.

A perennial also-ran on the NASCAR truck & RV circuit, Ray Ciccarelli, announced his retirement the next day and cited the flag ban as the reason he was hanging up his helmet. At age 50, Ciccarelli never won anything and had few commercial endorsements. His idiotic statement last Thursday gave him more publicity than he ever achieved from his work behind the wheel and appeared to be a contrived bizarre PR stunt to make him a darling of bigots.

Comedian Steve Hofstetter, who grew up in Briarwood and has long championed Queens in his national tours, got off a great joke that generated a lot of social media buzz: “Ray Ciccarelli was never good at anything race-related.”

Mets first-round draft choice Pete Crow-Armstrong is an 18-year-old outfielder who attended Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles, Calif., the alma mater of former Mets infielder Josh Satin and perennial All-Star Christian Yelich. At 6 feet and 175 pounds, Crow-Armstrong is seen by Mets scouts as a player who will hit for average as opposed to power.

The Yankees selected University of Arizona sophomore catcher Austin Wells with their first pick. Wells was chosen in the 35th round of the 2018 MLB Draft but wisely decided to attend college in Tucson instead. He is one of the few catchers who is comfortable wearing glasses.

Francis Lewis High School senior Lauren Hidalgo was named a recipient of a $10,000 college scholarship from the Yankees-Stonewall Fund, which began last year in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots in the West Village, which many cite as the birth of the gay rights movement.

I was saddened to learn of the passing of former Mets and Yankees outfielder Claudell Washington who, while never a superstar, had a very respectable 17-year career in the majors. He Q was always a pleasant interview.

Connexion REAL ESTATE 161-14A Crossbay Blvd.,

Get Your House SOLD!

Howard Beach (Brother’s Shopping Ctr.)

ARLENE PACCHIANO Broker/Owner

718-845-1136 CONNEXIONREALESTATE.COM

God Bless

America!

Together We Can Come Back Stronger Than Ever!

This has been a most trying time for all.

Hoping all our family, friends, clients and neighbors in this great community stay safe.

Our deepest condolences for those who have not.

Page 39 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020

SPORTS

Heartfelt thanks to our brave first responders, nurses, doctors, religious leaders and thanks to all in our community who have come together as one.

Phone us at 718-845-1136 or check our website connexionrealestate.com We are here to answer all your Real Estate questions.

Thank You and Stay Safe!

Located in WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn’s hottest neighborhood.

We have Qualified International Buyers The new normal - Let’s keep it safe. Call today to schedule a Zoom (video conference) meeting to discuss the sale of your home!

58-02 84th St., Middle Village Brand New Corner 2 Fam. 3D Virtual Tour is available. $1,099,000

60-81 67th Ave., Ridgewood Gorgeous Brick 2 Family (3 Levels).

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59-41 Menahan St., Ridgewood Semi-det Brick 3 Fam. w/ Garage & Backyard. 3D Virtual Tour. $1,499,000

13 Stuyvesant Ave., Bed-Stuy Brick 2 Family. Delivered Vacant.

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O: 347-450-3577 533 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

info@CapriJetRealty.com www.CapriJetRealty.com

For the latest news visit qchron.com

264 Withers St., Williamsburg 184 Conselyea St., Apt 2, Williamsburg 66-83 70th St., Apt 2B, Middle Village Renovated 2BR Condo. 3D Virtual Tour is available. Renovated 3 Fam. 3D Virtual Tour is available. 2BR Co-op. 3D Virtual Tour is available $2,475,000 $599,000 $529,000

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QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 18, 2020 Page 40

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718-849-8200 STORE HOURS: Mon.-Sun. 8 am to 9 pm

“It’s not our intention to please a customer or to satisfy them, our intention is to amaze them”

WE WILL BE OPENING FOR SENIOR CITIZENS, ESSENTIAL WORKERS & FIRST RESPONDERS ONLY BETWEEN 7AM AND 8AM

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANTICIPATED UNDERSTANDING & COOPERATION!

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