Queens Chronicle South Edition 10-13-22

SOUTH QUEENS EDITION

SENIOR LIVING GUIDE

REMEMBER THE FALLEN

NOT THE

VISION ZEST

Gunfight over state’s concealed carry law

U.S.

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Wednesday ordered a stay on a temporary restraining order that would have at least temporarily stopped New York State from enforcing many of the concealed firearm permit laws passed in July.

U.S. District Court Judge Glenn Suddaby on Oct. 6 issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of many provisions of the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, while letting others stand. He granted three business days before it took effect to allow time for an appeal.

State Attorney General Letitia James took less than two, filing a motion on Monday’s Columbus Day holiday asking that the CCIA remain in effect until the appellate process plays out; and on Tuesday Mayor Adams signed a bill designating Times Square as a sensitive location, making it eligible for a ban on even otherwise-legal concealed firearms.

“I am pleased that the full Concealed Carry Improvement Act will stay in effect and continue to protect communities as the appeals process moves forward,” James said in a press release on Wednesday. “My office will continue our efforts to protect the safety of everyday New Yorkers and defend our common-sense gun laws.”

CCIA

until

The full CCIA remains in effect until a three-judge panel on the Second Circuit decides on James’ appeal of the TRO.

On June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a New York State concealed carry law that was more than a century old. Among its findings was that requiring carry permit applicants to prove a need for one flew in the face of established Second Amendment rulings and its intent.

Just over a week later, following a special session of the Legislature, Gov. Hochul signed the CCIA into law.

An earlier challenge to the law filed in Syracuse in the Northern District of New York was dismissed by Suddaby on procedural grounds. But his Oct. 6 ruling found many components of the CCIA had the effect of making the new carry permit process even more restrictive than the one it replaced, the one the Supreme Court rejected.

“[The] Court interprets the Supreme Court’s decision ... as endorsing a standard that effectively compels (or at least expressly permits) state to issue a carry license unless the licensing officer finds that the applicant is likely to use the gun in a manner that endangers oneself or others (other than in self-defense),” Suddaby wrote on page 20 of his opinion.

He wrote that the CCIA, on the other

of social media; and other burdens.

“In essence, New York has replaced its requirement that an applicant show a special need for self-protection with the requirement that the applicant rebut the presumption that he or she is a danger to himself or herself ...

“Simply put, instead of moving toward becoming a shall-issue jurisdiction, New York State has further entrenched itself as a shall-not-issue jurisdiction” eroding rights such as self-defense.

Suddaby also said CCIA provisions such as requiring three years’ worth of social media accounts, banning guns in places such as subways and other locations do “not appear permissible ...”

The court did uphold some provisions, such as prohibitions from houses of worship with the exception of those tasked with providing security for said buildings and gatherings; schools, government and legislative buildings; polling places; and other “restricted locations.”

In the state’s appeal to the United States Second Circuit, James’ office asked that if the TRO is kept in force during the appellate process, that it at least be narrowly applied and restricted to the upstate jurisdictions where the plaintiffs live and work.

The 29-page brief argued that the Supreme

on page 34

Mayor Adams signed a law that established Times Square as a sensitive location and banned the possession of all firearms there. A federal court may say otherwise.

NYC SCREENSHOT / YOUTUBE

Italiano

Advocates call for trains over parks

QueensLink rally centers ‘transit equity’ as divide over plans remain

by Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

Despite a recent $35 million dollar investment announced by Mayor Adams into the first phase of the QueensWay linear park plan, many throughout South Queens are continuing to oppose the proposal, pushing instead for one that would bring more transportation.

Dozens gathered on Sunday at Beach 92nd Street to reiterate their commitment to the QueensLink plan, which would create a 3.5-mile-long transit and park corridor connecting northern and southern Queens by reactivating the old Rockaway Beach Branch.

QueensWay would turn the route into a 47-acre linear park like the High Line in Manhattan.

“We have to fight,” said Mike Scala, attorney and legal counsel for QueensLink. “This is a fight and for those who think it’s over, it’s not,” he said, adding that the group still needs public support.

“The mayor and the City Council and the powers that be have to see that the people demand a train. We’re not against parks. We like parks ... we like puppies, too. But we’ve got to do what’s best for the most people, which is transportation.”

Elected officials and community leaders, many of whom signed a letter in August to the mayor and Gov. Hochul requesting an environmental impact study on the plan, spoke of the need for transit and funding for the study.

“It’s time for them to take us seriously,” said Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park).

“Every day when I go to the City Council, I hear about less cars, more bikes, less cars, more alternative transportation, alternatives to transportation. This is an alternative to taking your car,” she said.

It would not benefit just the Rockaways, she said, but other areas in her district like Howard Beach, Ozone Park and Richmond Hill.

“I’m happy to be in a position to fight for you and have discussions with the mayor, who I know is going to listen to understand that, yes, we need green space, but we here in southwest

and southeast Queens need better transportation,” said Ariola.

Some feel that the mayor was misled in his QueensWay decision.

“I think, unfortunately, that our mayor was misinformed,” said Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Park). “I don’t think he was given the information of what the people want,” she said.

Community Board 14 Chair Dolores Orr said she was “shocked” when “the mayor made this decision without the input of the communities that it will impact the most.”

In five to 10 years, she said, the Rockaways could see 10,000 new housing units.

“How are those families, without additional mass transit, going to move around the city? How are they going to get to the jobs that we don’t have here in Rockaway?” Orr said.

The idea of transit equity was reinforced.

“What it really means in a nutshell is, what can you do if you had another half hour of your day ... another hour of your day that you weren’t

CB 9 on lounge, library, lights

Community Board 9 voted unanimously in favor of revoking the liquor license of Showtime Bar and Lounge at its monthly meeting on Tuesday night. The vote came as a result of several recent incidents, said Chair Sherry Algredo.

In September, a woman was killed after being hit by a driver who may have been fleeing a knife fight in the bar, according to reports, and in March a man kicked out of the bar allegedly shot two likely unintended victims. The board will be sending a letter to the State Liquor Authority requesting the establishment’s license be revoked.

During the Zoom meeting, frustrations continued about the ongoing fight for renovations of the Richmond Hill Library, which have been repeatedly pushed back. The latest update is that construction should start in 2023, a year later than expected.

Board member Esta-Joy Sydell announced a GoFundMe to raise $21,000 for holiday lights on Lefferts Boulevard, as it is too late for discretionary funding.

stuck in traffic, looking for parking or on a long train or a long bus ride?” said Andrew Lynch, chief design officer for QueensLink.

“You can get to better jobs faster. You can get to better education faster. That’s what equity means,” he said, which QueensLink outreach coordinator Jonathan Lazo, an organizer still in high school who commutes an hour and a half to get to school, attested to.

Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Laurelton), chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said equity has been a focus of hers and that she has been working closely with Ariola but also with Councilmember Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills), who championed QueensWay.

“My understanding is that with the recent announcement, with the investment in a park in Councilmember Shulman’s district, that this will not impact the feasibility, should the EIS show feasibility,” said BrooksPowers. “We’re going to hold everyone accountable to that commitment.”

The EIS is needed to “understand the feasibility of this effort that we are trying to push,” she said, adding that, if it is, then she will work “to make sure that we are able to get what we deserve, and that is access to affordable, reliable transportation.”

Other supporters on Sunday included state Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-South Ozone Park), Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson (D-Far Rockaway) and Paul King, president of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association and congressional candidate.

as well as connect to the transit desert in Queens,” said Deputy Public Advocate for Infrastructure and Environmental Justice Kashif Hussain.

Reactivating the rail would bring economic growth to areas like Jamaica and Ozone Park, he added.

The issue, Hussain said, was that if one project was developed before the other, “Then we have to go back ... to destroy part of the infrastructure for construction.”

Hussain continued, “All we are saying to the mayor, the governor and the MTA is to spend the couple of millions of dollars to perform what was mentioned, the environmental impact study.”

Opposition to having either a park or a train in one’s backyard remains.

“Talk to the people whose backyard would be a park, because I can tell you ... it’s really tough to have a park in your backyard, to have people that you might not want at 10 o’clock at night,” said Pheffer Amato, referring to Rockaway Beach.

Scala acknowledged people being against a train running through their town.

Susan Kasten, a 57-year resident of the Forest View Crescent Cooperative Apartments in Glendale, wants neither, she expressed in calls to the Chronicle.

Kasten, 82, worries what will happen to the 200 parking spots that her building fought for over the decades and does not want parkgoers peering into their windows.

Q

The board plans to meet at Borough Hall next month and will announce an alternative date so to not conflict with Election Day.

— Deirdre Bardolf

Some still floated the possibility of having both the park and the rail space.

“We can have both a space to develop parks as well as create transit lines, which can add capacity to the existing transit infrastructures,

“What bothers me is that the money really should go to fixing the sewers where the houses get flooded when there’s a rainstorm ... We don’t need another park here. What we need is fixing up Queens, not spending money on barbecues.”

Elected officials and community leaders gathered in the Rockaways last Sunday for a rally in support of the QueensLink transit and park proposal, which would reactivate the Rockaway Beach Branch. Advocates are calling for an environmental impact study of the plan.

PHOTO BY DEIRDRE BARDOLF

“We don’t need another park here.”

— Susan Kasten

Det. Brian Simonsen Way unveiled

by Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

Det. Brian Simonsen, known to many as “Smiles,” was certainly smiling down on the crowd that gathered in the warm afternoon sunshine last Saturday for the unveiling of a street sign in memory of him.

The corner of Jamaica Avenue and 118th Street, which leads to the 102nd Precinct, was co-named in honor of the fallen officer, who was killed by friendly fire while responding to an attempted robbery in Richmond Hill in 2019.

Some of that sunshine and plenty more smiles came from Simonsen’s wife, Leanne, who exuberantly joined her mother-in-law, Linda, to reveal the new sign.

“Today is so special to me and the family and friends of Brian ... the 102,” the widow said.

At first, she said, she did not understand the significance of a precinct but now she does.

“They are family. Old and new, I love them all. So, today is for us.”

It was a long time coming, she said, thanking Councilmember Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills) for getting it done.

Simonsen thanked and expressed her love for all of the NYPD members who have shown support in the years since her husband’s passing and marveled at the showing of executive staff in attendance.

Hundreds gathered including NYPD Comissioner Keechant Sewell, District Attorney Melinda Katz, City Councilmembers Schul-

man and Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park), officers from the 102nd Precinct, including Capt. Jeremy Kivlin, the commanding officer, and members of the FDNY.

“Co-naming this street is a small gesture for a great man that offered his life for New York City,” said Sewell.

“We owe a debt we can never repay. Still, this ensures that future generations will forever know the legacy of a man who dutifully served his city. They will see the name of a courageous officer and learn the story of how he lived the life of his service and know the will of a protector of this city.”

Top brass included Commanding Officer of Patrol Borough Queens South Assistant Chief Kevin Williams, Chief of Internal Affairs David Barrere, Chief of Detectives James Essig, Chief of Department Kenneth Corey, Assistant Chief Chaplain Monsignor Robert Romano and Detectives Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo.

“Some in this crowd don’t know that Det. Brian Simonson was assigned to the [Detectives’ Endowment Association] that day for a delegates’ meeting,” DiGiacomo shared, referencing the officer’s union role.

“Because of his dedication, because of his knowledge, because of his experience, he went back to work that day and he didn’t have to. He went back to work to serve the people of this city, and that cost him his life.”

Pn Feb. 12, 2019, Simonsen

returned to the office, investigated a robbery with his partner, Sgt. Matthew Gorman, and at around 6 p.m., they answered a call for a different robbery at a cell phone store at Atlantic Avenue and 120th Street.

One of the perpetrators, Christopher Ransom of Brooklyn, appeared with what turned out to be a fake gun and responding officers started firing. A bullet struck and killed Simonsen, who was not wearing a bulletproof vest that day, in the chest, according to The Gold Shield, an official DEA publication. Gorman was also shot but survived.

DiGiacomo continued, “He will always be a legacy in the New York City Police Department and in the DEA. He was a true hero, a true mentor to many, and he is dearly, dearly missed by the DEA.”

Ransom was sentenced to 33

years in prison in 2021 and this summer his accomplice, Jagger Freeman of Jamaica, was sentenced to 30 to life. Both were charged with murder under a law that allows so if a felony leads to a death, even though Freeman was not engaged in the gunfire and claimed to be a lookout.

Simonsen thanked Katz and Assistant District Attorney Shawn Clark for bringing the pair to justice.

“I couldn’t ask for a better DA. You and Shawn Clarke — amazing, brilliant. You brought justice for Brian and I can’t be more in debt to you for doing that.”

Katz acknowledged Simonsen’s work with the Detective Brian

“Smiles” Simonsen Memorial Foundation, which provides scholarships to students and financial assistance to families and businesses in need and helps to vest police dogs.

K9 Simo, named for the fallen officer, was present on Saturday.

“From the work that you have done in the communities for your foundation, for the pride that you bring to the NYPD and the way that this was handled afterwards, I was truly amazed by your strength, by your leadership, and by your friendship,” Katz said.

Simonsen thanked the NYPD assistance units, her fellow line-ofduty families and the NYPD Ceremonial Unit, as well.

“If any police officer could get a blue family like the 102, God bless, because ... Brian left me with the best.”

She ended with a quote from the film “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

“No man is a failure who has friends,” she said. “Brian was definitely not a failure.” Q

“Today is so special to me and the family and friends of Brian ... the 102.”

— Leanne Simonsen

Fallen NYPD Det. Brian Simonsen was honored with a co-naming on 118th Street in Richmond Hill last weekend. His mother Linda, left, and wife, Leanne, unveiled the new sign.

PHOTOS BY DEIRDRE BARDOLF; FILE PHOTO, INSET

Leanne Simonsen, wife of fallen NYPD Det. Brian Simonsen, embraces Commissioner Keechant Sewell at a street co-naming in honor of the officer. Counterterrorism K9 Officer Simo, named for Simonsen, center, was escorted by his partner, Officer Daniel Cea of the NYPD’s Critical Response Command. At right, a standing ovation is given for Simonsen’s mother, Linda, seated.

Ounce of prevention tops a pound of cure

Boro prez and BetterHelp

by Peter Kropf Chronicle Contributor

“We have a plague that has mutilated our society.” That’s how Queens Deputy Borough President Ebony Young opened a press conference hosted by Borough President Donovan Richards on Tuesday at Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities, Inc., a nonprofit in Corona.

She was not referring to the coronavirus. For her, the “plague” is the mental health crisis affecting Queens and the rest of the city.

That’s why, on the day after World Mental Health Day, the borough president announced a partnership with BetterHelp, America’s leading virtual therapy platform. The collaboration will provide Queens residents access to $2 million worth of free mental health services, to be divided among 10 community-based organizations throughout the borough. Each is to receive $175,000 worth of services, with the remaining $250,000 allocated at the discretion of the Borough President’s Office.

The 10 CBOs to receive the services are Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities in Corona; Forest Hills Jewish Center; Glow Community Center in Flushing; Jackson Heights Bangladeshi Business Association; LIFE Camp, Inc. in Jamaica; Rockaway Development and Revitalization Corp. in Far Rockaway; Sunnyside Community Services; United Federation of Teachers; Urban Resource Institute; and Urban

mental health

Help to bring its expertise and badly needed therapy services to Queens and the CBOs who uplift so many families every day.”

Richards noted that Queens has lost over 12,000 people to Covid-19 — the secondhighest total in the city (Brooklyn is first with just over 13,000 deaths) — and that this has made surviving loved ones particularly susceptible to mental wellness issues. Rockaway Development and Revitalization Corp. President and CEO Kevin Alexander explained that some frontline workers in Queens were “under serious pressure” during the height of the pandemic and never had a chance to “mentally reset” due to job responsibilities and financial concerns.

Among those joining Borough President Donovan Richards to celebrate his announcement Tuesday of new funding for mental health services were his wife, Tameeka, an advocate, in green, Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities Executive Director Saeeda Dunston, center, and Sunnyside Community Services Executive Director Judy Zangwill, in black jacket.

Upbound in Long Island City.

According to the Borough President’s Office, those CBOs were chosen to target a variety of geographic and demographic areas in Queens, especially those deemed “historically overlooked” in terms of mental health funding.

“The past few years have been extremely difficult for all of us in Queens as we work to

recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and the crises around housing, an economic downturn, food insecurity, racial injustice and more,” Richards observed. “To all those struggling, you don’t have to struggle alone. It’s OK to not be OK. Now, more than ever, we need to support one another.

“I couldn’t be prouder to partner with Better-

Anti-bullying with WWE

Five WWE superstars visited the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Queens for a bullying prevention event on Monday. About 50 kids spent their day off from school at the Richmond Hill club meeting wrestlers Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio, Queen Zelina, who is originally from Queens, Nikki A.S.H. and Titus O’Neil, who is also a global ambassador for the organization.

The event was part of the WWE’s Be a STAR bullying prevention program, which stands for Show Tolerance and Respect.

Since 2011, WWE has held more than 100 anti-bullying rallies and Be a STAR’s resources and programs have reached hundreds of thousands of kids.

“We all have things in common and can really learn from each other,” WWE host Catherine Kelley told the group. “It’s our differences that make us unique, but it’s also what makes us special.”

The wrestlers led activities with the kids including where they shared fun facts about themselves and passed around a ball of

The borough president also described a connection between mental illness and crime by referencing Peter Zisopoulos, the man who allegedly fatally stabbed FDNY EMS Capt. Alison Russo-Elling in an unprovoked attack in Astoria on Sept. 29.

Richards insisted that the murder could have been prevented if Zisopoulos, someone with a history of psychiatric problems, had received proper mental health services.

The borough president additionally alluded to subway crime stemming from mental illness by saying, in an exasperated tone, “Everybody sees what’s happening on the trains.”

yarn, weaving a web to show their commonalities.

“Being different is good, otherwise the world would be a pretty boring place,” Priest told the kids.

The event, which was also in partnership with Cricket Wireless, took place before the stars appeared at the season premiere of Monday Night Raw at Barclays Center. During the event, Cricket Wireless surprised a family with a check for $5,000 and tickets to Monday Night Raw.

— Deirdre Bardolf

PHOTOS BY DEIRDRE BARDOLF

PHOTO BY PETER KROPF

With

EDITORIAL AGEP

For the 2022 Mets, promise was left unrealized

Leaving Citi Field on Sunday night, following a halfhour of excitement (pregame and the first inning) and two and a half hours of the slog toward the death of the 2022 Mets (everything that followed), an aura of disbelief and disappointment filled the air. How that manifested itself in the moment may have varied.

Some fans may have turned their attention to the past. The team failed to meaningfully address its hole in the heart of the order at the trade deadline, instead opting to acquire platoon players, hoping they could turn the lineup into a plugand-play machine — varying based on the handedness of the pitcher. After all, it is so often the case on championship teams that even the smaller pieces find ways to contribute at the moments you’d least expect. The Mets’ problem was any contribution from these role players, namely Darin Ruf and Daniel Vogelbach, would not just have been a welcome surprise; it was counted on. In an act of desperation, they called upon 20-year-old Francisco Alvarez to save the designated hitter’s spot before the biggest regular season series of the year, against Atlanta in late September; he — never having played in the majors and being asked to rescue a fledgling offense — was overmatched.

Others may have already moved on to what lay ahead. Much of the core that led the team to 101 regular season victories is set to hit free agency this November, including ace and franchise icon Jacob deGrom, lineup stalwart Brandon Nimmo and world-conquering closer Edwin Diaz. Should the price tag for any of the team’s key free-agents-to-be prove too costly, a certain superstar slugger with the newly minted title of “American League Home Run King” is set to make it to the open market following the postseason run for that other team across town, and the richest owner in sports is still in charge of the “little brother” hitting a growth spurt in orange and blue. What shortcomings the team might have, in the mind of this type of fan, could be fixed with money, and it was only a matter of time before the bell rang on free agency.

For some, perhaps the more sentimental, it was just too soon to say goodbye. After six months of thrills and the best brand of baseball played in Queens in more than half a decade, it all went down the drain in a matter of two weekends; first in Atlanta, as the Mets’ division hopes were swept away, and then at Citi Field, as the team looked lifeless against a squad with 12 fewer regular season wins.

This type of fan felt cheated. Every year, each team strives

to be the one of 30; the last team standing. Twenty-nine will fail. This Mets team felt like the franchise’s best shot since the turn of the millennium; within three days, it was over.

As fans turned back to look at Citi Field one last time, they were taunted with the joy the 2022 Mets brought to thei r lives. To look forward and know that six months would pass before they could feel anything like that, and 12 months would pass before they’d have another shot to feel the jubilation of winning the ultimate prize, felt bleak.

In due time, a new season will come. They will again wear “Mets” across the front of their jerseys, even if the names on the back are different. What they will not be, though, is the never-say-die group of the past six months: cut down before its prime.

With that in mind, we salute the 2022 Mets: a lesson in never taking the good times for granted and, we hope, a harbinger of good things to come at the big ballpark in Queens. For now, we have but one request for owner Steve Cohen: Keep the “2022 Wild Card Appearance” far away from the Citi Field rafters. Save the space for something that matters, preferably a championship in 2023.

And, maybe make a run at the slugger in pinstripes?

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR

Learn to compromise

Published every week by

MARK I PUBLICATIONS, INC.

MARK WEIDLER

President & Publisher

SUSAN & STANLEY MERZON Founders

Raymond G. Sito General Manager

Peter C. Mastrosimone Editor-in-Chief

Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

Sean Okula Associate Editor

Stela Barbu Office Manager

Jan Schulman Art Director

Moeen Din Associate Art Director

Gregg Cohen Editorial Production Manager

Joseph Berni Art Department Associate

Richard Weyhausen Proofreader

Senior Account Executives:

Jim Berkoff, Beverly Espinoza Account Executives:

Ree Brinn, Patricia Gatt, Debrah Gordon

Contributors:

Lloyd Carroll, Mark Lord, Ronald Marzlock Photographers:

Walter Karling, Michael Shain

Office: The Shops at Atlas Park 71-19 80th St., Suite 8-201 Glendale, NY 11385

Phone: (718) 205-8000

Fax: (718) 205-1957

E-mail: Mailbox@qchron.com

Website: www.qchron.com

Dear Editor:

When reading some of the reactions to the newly announced high school admissions policy in last week’s article “School Admissions Policy is Reformed,” the unwillingness to compromise from former Bayside High School Principal Mike Athy and city Comptroller Brad Lander jumped out at me. Their sentiments represent voices of those who have for years pushed to remove merit from our education system, many of whom do not have children or whose children have already graduated from academically screened schools themselves.

Prior to the pandemic, there was no lottery for highly rigorous schools — grades, state test scores and attendance were the admissions criteria. During the pandemic, these metrics were set aside and instead, placement into schools that exist to meet the accelerated academic needs of students was based on a lottery. This method of admissions proved to be a disaster, leaving thousands of students not placed in schools that met their academic needs and forcing many to leave the public school system and even move out of the city.

After engaging with the real stakeholders who actually have children enrolled in public schools, the Department of Education came up with a compromise solution — leave the lottery for rigorous high schools but narrow it down from 60 percent to 20 percent based on grades

and let each school district set its own admissions policy for middle schools. This is the epitome of a compromise, take some of what each side wants and meet them halfway. Neither side will be 100 percent satisfied, but that’s how compromises work.

If anything, the likes of Athy and Lander got more than the parents did. We wanted to revert back to prepandemic admissions standards and instead got a narrowed lottery with two out of three admissions criteria struck down, yet we are thanking the chancellor for this compromise solution. Where is their thank-you?

Irene Raevsky Forest Hills

Scoot away, scooters

Dear Editor:

Once again on Cross Bay Boulevard, two scooters driven by people who probably did not

have a license and looked like they had little experience handling a bike were weaving on the sidewalk. Fortunately I was walking toward them and could step aside but a man whom they were passing was cursing them out as he said they make walking almost impossible when they came from behind.

When does the city stop this blatant an d dangerous activity?

If ever an accident was looking for a place to happen, these scooters create such a situation daily.

Ray Hackinson Ozone Park

License all motor vehicles

Dear Editor:

(An open letter to state Assemblymembers Andrew Hevesi, Jenifer Rajkumar and Catherine Nolan, and Sens. Mike Gianaris an d

Publications, Inc., 71-19 80th St., Suite 8-201, Glendale, NY 11385.

LETTERS

Joe Addabbo Jr.)

The Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association is seeking your assistance in sponsoring and voting for state legislation requiring all two-wheeled and over vehicles that are motorized in any way to be licensed (with a metal license on the rear) and insured, and that all operators of such vehicles be required to pass a written and driving test to be licensed.

We believe that this issue is self-explanatory in its ability to reduce traffic accidents and pedestrian injuries. Anything we can do to assist you in getting this legislation passed, please let us know.

Charles Ober President, for the Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association Ridgewood

Cabán’s crazy comment

Dear Editor:

City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán needs to wake up and smell the coffee with her stupid comment “Subway violence is a one-in-a-million event.” She must be living in a bunker with no news or communication with the public. If or when she wakes up to the real world, she needs to apologize to the many who were attacked and hurt just for taking mass transit and obeying the law.

Kevin O’Leary Kew Gardens

Cabán calls the cops

Dear Editor:

Re David Soukup’s Oct. 6 letter, “Cabán’s new anti-cop ideas”:

If the Olympics held a competition for hypocrisy, Tiffany Cabán would win a gold medal. The Queens city councilwoman’s office advised shopkeepers to call 311, not 911, when confronted by mentally disturbed people. But her staff alerted the NYPD after receiving threatening phone calls, noted the New York Post (Oct. 7), which called this double standard a case of “policing for me, but not for thee.” Cabán’s cluelessness didn’t end there. After a woman was brutally beaten at the Howard Beach-JFK subway station, Cabán said, “Subway violence is a one-in-a-million event.” What planet does she live on?

She and two other felon-friendly City Council members sponsored a bill to abolish the NYPD’s Criminal Group Database, which cops use to track street gang members (“CMs call for end to NYPD gang database, Queens Chronicle, Oct. 6). What should police use

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER!

The winner of the Queens Chronicle’s 14th annual Summer in the Borough Photo Contest is Mike McGevna of South Richmond Hill. McGevna won with a stunning shot of a fisherman at Riis Landing, the setting sun perfectly silhouetting the scene. McGevna will receive free passes to a family-friendly entertainment event in or around the city. His photo, and many other top-notch entries, will be published in next week’s paper.

EDITOR

instead, a list of suspects approved by The Legal Aid Society or the American Civil Liberties Union? This database led to the arrest and conviction of two Trinitarios gang members for fatally stabbing 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz in a Bronx bodega. They were sentenced to terms of 25 years to life. Six other defendants await trial for that crime (nbcnewyork.com, Sept. 16). Does Cabán regard violent street gang attacks in New York as a “one-in-a-million event”?

Richard Reif Kew Gardens Hills

Celebrate school lunch

Dear Editor:

National School Lunch Week runs Oct. 10-14, and all of us at No Kid Hungry New York want to thank the dedicated staff across Queens schools who provide the consistent nutrition kids need to learn, grow and achieve their dreams.

We know eating school lunch has a powerful impact on kids: Research shows that for many kids, the meals they eat at school are the most nutritionally balanced of the day. When students get regular, healthy meals they are less likely to be tired, are more attentive in class, and retain information better. They do better on tests, and can focus on their learning and on just being kids.

With this year’s record inflation still leaving many of us surprised by the much higher cost of our kids’ favorite foods, families are finding it harder to stretch their grocery budget to prepare meals to send to school each day. School lunch is a free or affordable option.

So this National School Lunch Week, I hope you’ll join us in recognizing the important role the School Lunch Program plays in the health and well-being of children, and celebrate the school nutrition professionals who work all year long to provide healthy school meals for our children.

Rachel Sabella Director, No Kid Hungry New York Manhattan

Hochul in hiding

Dear Editor:

Welcome to the Banana Republic!

Locally, we have the present governor, Kathy Hochul (not elected), agreeing to debate (Oct. 25) on Spectrum and NY1, while her opponent, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) requested five debates.

He has already accepted two debates, one from WCBS and PIX channel 11, which she declined.

Gov. Hochul is already blessed with a war chest and the added gift of more than a threeto-one ratio of Democrats to Republicans.

She has an obligation to make her case and the challenger should have the opportunity to make his case. This is called a “democracy” and the Board of Elections should, in the future, enforce a rule that at least three debates be required, so that all the voters are truly informed before they vote.

Thomas and Constance Dowd Oakland Gardens

Fighting for Your American Dream

Retire the

Project to ramp up support in schools

Project Pivot to address well-being and safety for ‘most challenged’

by Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

The city has launched a new initiative to provide students with additional social-emotional well-being support with the intention of guiding them to academic success.

Project Pivot, which took an investment of around $9 million, will operate in 138 schools that were selected based on a combination of safety factors and academics including number of suspensions, incidents and chronic absenteeism among students, according to a press release from the Department of Education.

Thirteen Queens schools will be included.

“Project Pivot will utilize our anti-violence community-based organizations to provide safety and violence prevention, student counseling and mentoring, and more at our public schools,” said Mayor Adams at a press conference at the DOE headquarters in the Tweed Courthouse last Thursday.

“Every young person deserves a chance to

succeed inside and outside of school, and it is our responsibility to provide the resources and wraparound supports to make that happen,” said Schools Chancellor David Banks.

“This initiative will open doors and present new opportunities to our next generation of leaders and change makers of New York City,” he said.

Community-based organizations will provide leadership and career readiness, enrichment and more and their strategies will include social-emotional support, violence-interruption techniques, safe corridors to assist in keeping students safe to and from school and offering extended-learning opportunities.

“With Project Pivot, our young people will not only be connected with the critical resources provided by our stellar community-based organizations — they will be able to walk down pathways to prosperity that were previously thought to be off limits,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards in a statement. Q

Italian pride in Howard Beach

Columbus Day celebrations returned to Howard Beach over the weekend with the Festival Italiano, which brought family fun, entertainment and, of course, food.

The Howard Beach Columbus Day Foundation teamed up with Councilwoman Joann Ariola, above right with Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, to bring back an event for the holiday after the annual parade went on a hia-

tus due to the pandemic.

The festival closed a portion of the southbound side of Cross Bay Boulevard between 158th and 159th avenues where businesses came out to support and partake.

“We really need to hold on to our values and our culture,” Ariola told the Chronicle.

“There is a lot to celebrate this year.”

— Deirdre Bardolf

CB 10 back in person; OKs Ozone Pk. mosque

by Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

Community Board 10 met in person for the first time since the pandemic last Thursday at the Old Mill Yacht Club in Howard Beach. Chair Betty Braton said she had not used her briefcase since March of 2020 and the documents in it were dated from then.

The public hearing included an application for an extension of term at the Lindenwood Chuck E. Cheese and one to build a three-story mosque at 105-31 76 St. in Ozone Park.

Elyse Foladare of the law firm Eric Palat-

nik PC spoke on behalf of the mosque applicant and explained that the site would not need any parking spaces because 96 percent of the worshippers live within three-quarters of a mile. The mosque, she said, has been in the making for over a decade.

She said they currently pray in an existing 1,068-square-foot space, which is actually just a private residence, with 865 members not including children. It is without handicap accessibility or spaces for women, and worshippers are forced to pray in the street.

“This application means a lot to them because finally they’ll be able to actually

have their community, who all live within walking distance, actually be able to pray in a mosque together,” Foladare said.

In regard to some concerns about noise, Braton said, “This congregation has never posed any problems in the community,” and said the applicant has been amenable.

Braton said the office received 44 letters in support of the project and, except for six duplicates, confirmed they were all from property owners who lived in the area. That is rare for a zoning application, she noted. The motion to approve passed unanimously.

Capt. Jerome Bacchi, commanding officer

of the 106th Precinct, said crime has been down over the past six months.

“We’re slightly up for the year at 26 percent but for the past month and a half we’re actually down 12 percent in crime so that’s the good news,” he said.

Grand larceny is driving the crime, he added. Someone had $24,000 in cash stolen from his car. Police are seeing thieves follow delivery trucks to snatch packages.

October is domestic violence awareness month, Bacchi added. The 106th Precinct’s domestic violence office can be reached at (718) 845-2227.

PHOTOS

COURTESY NYC COUNCIL, EXCEPT BOTTOM RIGHT, NYS ASSEMBLY

Mayor Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks announced the new Project Pivot last week at the Department of Education headquarters.

PHOTO BY ED REED / MAYOR’S OFFICE

Commission votes to approve revised maps

City Council has three weeks to consider and vote on latest districts

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

The new City Council district lines are out of their holding pattern.

After rejecting its own revised set of maps in September, the city Districting Commission voted 13-1 to approve further revised maps last Thursday.

The vote followed two days of public mapping sessions, broadcast on YouTube. The commission spent three hours on Sept. 29 and nearly five hours on Sept. 30 making changes to the district lines based on 286 items of public testimony received following the initial rejection on Sept. 22.

The proposed lines now go to the City Council, which has three weeks to consider and vote to approve or reject the maps.

Should they be approved, or the City Council fail to act within the three-week window, the maps would be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office as the final plan. Should they be rejected, the ball would bounce back into the court of the Districting Commission, which would have to release another revised version of the maps and hold public hearings before finalizing another version.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) was noncommittal as to whether the Council will move forward with the existing proposal.

“The public engaged in the redistricting process at record levels over the last several months at public hearings across the city, which is an encouraging indication of New York City’s healthy civic engagement,” she said in a statement. “This public outpouring of input and testimony about safeguarding protections for historically marginalized communities of color and communities of interest, as mandated by the Voting Rights Act and New

York City Charter, appear to have been taken seriously by the Commission in its revisions.

“The Council will review and discuss these new district maps, along with our next steps.”

Councilman Jim Gennaro (D-Hillcrest) told the Chronicle last week that he was satisfied with the changes made during the Sept. 30 mapping session to his District 24, during which the commission reunited a heavily Orthodox Jewish portion of Fresh Meadows

that had been moved to District 23 in the revised proposal back into his district. He said he and his office “look forward to this plan being passed by both the commission and the City Council.”

Councilwoman Nantasha Williams (D-St. Albans), who had previously expressed a desire to unite more of the Downtown Jamaica business district in her District 27, is content with the current state of the maps.

“The lines presented by the redistricting commission provide a fair balance for our communities,” she said in a statement. “I look forward to supporting this proposal after meaningful deliberation amongst my colleagues has concluded.”

Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park), whose District 32 would expand to include portions of Glendale but lose portions of Ozone Park and South Ozone Park under the latest proposal, expressed no qualms with the new lines.

“I testified and fought to keep the areas that are no longer in District 32,” she said in a statement. “Thankfully, the relationships that were made over the last year will remain strong. The new areas to the north of my district have their own unique sets of concerns and issues, and I plan to work hard to make sure that all of those issues are addressed.”

City shelters nearing capacity as busing of asylum seekers continues Adams declares state of emergency

by Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

Mayor Adams declared a state of emergency last Friday in response to the city’s influx of asylum seekers bused from the Mexican border, and called on assistance from the state and federal governments.

“Our shelter system is now operating near 100 percent capacity. And if these trends continue, we’ll be over 100,000 in the year to come. That’s far more than the system was ever designed to handle. This is unsustainable. The city is going to run out of funding for other priorities,” Adams said at a press conference last Friday. “New York City is doing all we can, but we are reaching the outer limit of our ability to help.”

The emergency executive order calls for city agencies to direct their efforts toward the migrant crisis. It also suspends certain land use requirements in the interest of fast-tracking the establishment of new housing facilities.

Among those new facilities is a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center on Randall’s Island, where asylum seekers will be for 24 to 96 hours while they are looking for shelter. Adams said more will open in the coming weeks.

On Wednesday afternoon, he announced that a second one will open at the Row hotel in

Midtown Manhattan; he added that the Randall’s Island relief center would open “soon.”

In the meantime, the administration is continuing to look for additional locations for relief centers, including spaces under state control, Adams said Friday.

Several lawmakers, including Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas (D-East Elmhurst), state Sens. Jessica Ramos (D-East Elmhurst) and Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) and City Councilmember Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn), are calling on the mayor to use the Javits Center as a relief center instead of Randall’s Island, noting the former’s proximity to the Port Authority bus terminal.

Meanwhile, the city has continued to explore using hotels as temporary shelters.

At the end of August, the Hotel De Point in College Point had been slated to be used as such; however, as the Chronicle previously reported, that plan did not come to fruition due to a contract issue. Councilmember Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone) had been vehemently against the idea.

At last week’s press conference, Adams took issue with councilmembers’ objections to housing migrants in hotels within their districts.

“The real challenges that we are having, which is very fascinating, is that as we try to find hotels, I cannot tell you how many Coun-

cil people, local electeds, that are yelling, ‘House people,’ but saying, ‘Not in my district,’” he said. “We can’t have it both ways.”

Still, some are skeptical that using hotels and other temporary spaces is the answer.

“We need to address the root of the problem which is the lack of supportive housing and continued bureaucracy of getting people

who are already in our shelter system into permanent housing,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) said in a statement. “We cannot afford to keep expanding our temporary shelter system without focusing on expanding opportunities for people to transition out of shelter into permanent, stabilizing housing opportunities.”

The city Districting Commission voted to approval its most recently revised set of maps in a vote held last Thursday. The proposal now goes to the City Council. YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT

Mayor Adams declared a state of emergency last Friday as the city’s migrant crisis threatens to put its shelter system over capacity.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL APPLETON / NYC MAYOR’S OFFICE

More doctors than ever for Medicare members

Starting October 1, our network of providers is getting bigger and better with the addition of Catholic Health.

More choices. Now our Medicare members will have access to even more quality healthcare options in the New York area.

More expertise. Catholic Health’s St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® is a national leader in cardiology and was ranked #6 among hospitals in New York State by U.S. News & World Report.

Learn more about Healthfirst Medicare Advantage plans

7 days a week

is provided by Healthfirst Health Plan, Inc. or Healthfirst Insurance Company, Inc. (“Healthfirst”). Healthfirst Medicare Plan has HMO and PPO plans with a Medicare contract. Our SNPs also have contracts with the NY State Medicaid program. Enrollment in Healthfirst Medicare Plan depends on contract renewal. Plans contain exclusions and limitations. Benefits vary by plan. Healthfirst complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

HF Management, LLC. All rights reserved.

King stands against division in House run

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

Paul King, the Republican challenger to five-term 5th District incumbent Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens, Nassau), is a selfproclaimed problem-solver by trade. The problem in the country right now, as he sees it, is division.

“I’ve been concerned, I’d say, increasingly over the last 20 years about the divisions in our country that have just become a lot more toxic than when I was younger,” he told the Chronicle in an exclusive interview last week. “First it was Republican-Democrat, but whether it’s race or income bracket or geography, it’s almost an intentional division; it keeps the people divided, but it also makes it impossible to solve problems in Washington.”

King — who serves as president of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association in addition to his role as president and founder of Orion Development Group, a management consulting and training service — says he is not interested in a second career as a politician. Instead, he is interested in going to Washington for a few terms, fixing what he can and passing the baton to what he hopes will be a free-thinking candidate.

Queens

preference, laundromats. In speaking with residents of the area, he says he has noticed that their values and issues of concern align with his, even if their circumstances differ.

“The things that my parents cared about and the values they passed on to me, they’re the same values I see when I’m in St. Albans, or when I’m in Rochdale Village, or when I’m in South Jamaica,” he said. “The problem that they have now, as compared to Belle Harbor, is no one’s shooting at our kids.”

King says safety is one of those shared priorities. His assessment of the crime situation in the city is two-pronged: too few cops, and too many guns.

If elected, he says he will support the allocation of federal funding for the hiring and training of police. In his estimation, even the more moderate Democrats in Congress support investment in law enforcement with further-left factions holding up progress in that capacity.

As for guns, King says his focus is stopping the distribution at the source.

“How many members of Congress just vote the way they’re told?” he said. “I think Gregory Meeks maybe three times out of the last 600 votes voted differently than whatever the Democratic majority wanted.

“You might as well just have two people in Congress then, if you’re not going to speak up with different opinions and different perspectives.”

Meeks has voted five times against the majority of House Democrats during the 117th Congress, according to ProPublica. That’s 0.5 percent of the time, compared to an average of 1.7 percent for his colleagues in the party.

A resident of Rockaway for 50 of his 58 years, King says he has made ground in connecting with the Southeast Queens community by visiting public spaces, including his

“I agree with people complaining about the Iron Pipeline,” he said. “I think, being a Republican, it’s kind of an ‘only Nixon could go to China’ kind of deal. I could go down to the South, hopefully, with the colleagues there and convince them, ‘It might be an inconvenience for you to change some of these laws and you might have to wait a little longer to get a gun, but I got people dying.’

“If you’re going to have a pipeline, it’s not good enough just to get the end of the pipeline.”

King says that while covering the exception to every rule would be inefficient, he does support closing the “gun show loophole,” which allows private sellers to offer their product to buyers without a background check.

Pertaining to the environment, King scoffs at the idea of construction of a seawall around the city starting by 2030, as per a plan announced by the Army Corps of Engineers last month.

“Just getting, we call them ‘rock jetties,’ but rock groins has taken us decades and

decades,” he said. “They keep saying, ‘We need to study that.’ We’re like, ‘This is pretty common sense.’”

“If we’re going to get really big storms, and we’re not just talking about Rockaway, we’re talking about the whole perimeter of Jamaica Bay, not to mention anywhere else there’s a shoreline in New York City, I do think additional protection is needed,” he added.

A hallmark of King’s campaign is that his contribution to the community would not stop at the securing of funds. He says a good congressperson is on the front lines with those in the area, fighting for issues that matter to them, an attribute that, in his estimation, Meeks has lacked in his time in Congress.

“I begrudge no man’s success,” King said. “I think he’s living his dream. He’s head of the Foreign Affairs [Committee], he’s traveling the world quite a bit. In Queens, he’s head of the Democratic Party, so he’s a power player.”

“The problem I have with the whole picture is: It’s the House of Representatives. You’re supposed to be representing. He doesn’t represent people in Queens, at least not most of us anymore,” he added.

King says the last time he saw Meeks in his area of the district was in 2013.

“Even if you have to be out front screaming ‘this needs to get fixed’ to put the pressure on the local politicians, you got to advocate, you have to represent,” he said. “You got to be there for the people and say, ‘listen, this is horrible.’ Go there, at least once, and say, ‘I know this is horrible. I wish I could do more. How can I do more?’

“[Meeks] does nothing, [Sen. Charles] Schumer does nothing like that, unless it would be a good Sunday morning news program thing. Like so many career politicians, they’re detached from the people and the problems.”

What King does acknowledge is that he is at a disadvantage resource-wise. He said he has raised about $100,000 for his campaign, compared to more than $2 million raised by Meeks as of Aug. 3, according to Open Secrets.

“We were never going to go dollar-for-dollar with Mr. Meeks,” he said. “Like any other professional politician, he never stops raising money.”

King says he has received no financial assistance from the state and federal levels of the Republican Party.

“It’s not personal and I don’t take it personally,” he said. “It’s a shame; I wouldn’t do it. But I understand that the national party in particular looks at 435 seats: Where can we win and, frankly, where can’t we win.”

Despite his seemingly longshot odds, King says he couldn’t have stomached not at least giving it a go.

“Unfortunately, I can’t talk to 750,000 people,” he said. “But if I can talk to enough people, I know that, especially in an environment where people are angry at the Democrats because their policies are hurting people everywhere, that it’s possible to win, just like it was possible for that guy to win the Kentucky Derby this year as an 80-to-one shot. My odds might be longer.”

“This allows me to get out and talk to people all across southern Queens and see if that unity can exist,” he added.

Republican

he rarely sees Meeks in the

Paul King, the Republican challenger to Rep. Gregory Meeks in Congressional District 5, told the Chronicle he would seek to fight partisan divisions in Congress.

PHOTO BY PETER C. MASTROSIMONE

“I

’ve been concerned, I’d say, increasingly in the last 20 years about the divisions in our country.”

— Paul King, Republican nominee for Congressional District 5

PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS FROM MONKEYPOX

Monkeypox is a disease that can cause painful rashes and sores on your body. It is a virus that can easily spread through direct contact with a rash or sores of someone who has monkeypox. It can also spread through shared clothing, bedding, and other items, and prolonged face-to-face contact.

Do not have sex or other intimate contact if you or your partners have a new rash or sores, feel sick, or were recently exposed to monkeypox.

Talk to a health care provider about testing, pain management or treatment if you have monkeypox symptoms.

Frequently wash your hands, bedding, towels and other shared items.

Get vaccinated if you may have been recently exposed to monkeypox.

For more information, including about vaccine eligibility, visit nyc.gov/monkeypox or scan the QR code. Text “MONKEYPOX” to 692-692 for the most up-to-date information.

Meeks touts funds he’s secured in

Wants

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens, Nassau) says the choice for voters in Congressional District 5 is simple: Pick between what you know, and what you don’t.

“There is no one better fitted to sit in Congress for the Rockaways or Hollis, because I’ve lived in both places,” he told the Chronicle in an exclusive interview last week. “I know the people in both places. I’m no stranger to them.

“You could talk to people in the Rockaways, and they would tell you they know who I am. You could talk to Southeastern Queens and they would tell you they know who I am. You could go to Jamaica Estates and they would tell you they know who I am, and the work that I’ve done.”

Meeks says he sees his job as two in one. A significant portion of his time is spent in Washington, DC, crafting policy to best serve not only the city and the state, but the country as a whole.

He specifically cited legislation related to recovery from the pandemic and building out of the country’s infrastructure.

“I played significant roles in helping those bills pass in the House so we can get the state and the city some of the dollars that they needed to overcome a number of the issues that were facing us as a result of the pandemic, as well as the infrastructure dollars that came into the state and the city that are important for our building of roads and repairing our airports and our ports,” he said.

Once money is secured, Meeks says he oftens defers to the local branches of government to determine how it’s best spent.

“We bring those dollars, and oftentimes they come through the state or the city, so that the state and the city can then appropriate where they need to do the kind of building, because those are the folks that are locally on the ground.”

The second component of his job is securing what the community needs. Meeks pointed to the revitalization of JFK Airport, efforts at York College and money allocated to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center as examples of his involvement in the district.

He also touted his efforts in supporting violence reduction groups in the area. One such group is LIFECamp, a crime prevention organization founded in Southeast Queens.

“My goal has been not to just get involved after a crime is committed; let’s see if we can do something to prevent crime,” he said.

Meeks’ other efforts to combat crime lev-

els include the passage of gun control legislation. He cited the summer’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act as an example of progress in that capacity.

“Did that bill go as far as I would have liked it to, as most of the members of the New York delegation would have liked it to? No,” he said. “Why? Because we want a complete ban on assault weapons.”

“The choice that we had to make was: Do you get something, or nothing?” he added.

That spirit of compromise prevails in the decisions Meeks has to make in where he spends his time. He says voting in Washington takes up a significant portion of his schedule, but even if it has to be remote, his commitment to his home area does not waver.

“I am always in touch with my district,” he said. “You do it sometimes, as we had to do, via Zoom and other methods because of the pandemic.”

“If you’re going to do your job, it means you have to be in DC to advocate, to moderate, to negotiate these bills that we’re talking about. If you’re not there, you’re not part of that process, which would have a direct effect on your constituency. If you don’t know that in advance, then I’d say you don’t know what the job is, and you are not someone who should be running for office,” he added.

Part of the reason Meeks’ schedule stays so full is because of his obligations as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He stands behind the Biden administration’s handling of both the situation in Taiwan and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“One of the things I’m a strong supporter of as chairman of this committee is multilateralism,” he said. “It’s not just America alone, America only, as the former president [Donald Trump] believed.”

The war in Ukraine affects Queens residents, according to Meeks, in ways similar to how it affects anyone who values freedom: Letting Russian President Vladimir Putin get away with a hostile takeover of the country would be a slap in the face to liberty.

Meeks also blamed the war for some domestic economic issues, including inflation.

As it relates to the overall state of the economy, Meeks would not commit to saying the country is in a recession. He did say, however, that any way out of a period of economic decline has to be a global effort.

“It’s not just a recession in the United States,” he said. “We can’t get out of it by ourselves. When you talk about inflation, it’s all over the world.”

“We better work hard to make sure we have a more reliable supply chain happening in different countries, but also, of course, manufacturing more right here in the United States,” he added.

Back home in District 5, Meeks sees himself as the right candidate because he connects with every corner of the community, including both sides of the Rockaway Peninsula. Having represented the beachfront area for, as he describes it, his “entire political career,” he says he is more than qualified to continue with its representation, and questions the devotion of his challenger, Republican and president of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association Paul King.

“When Superstorm Sandy came in, and the damage it did to the entire peninsula, I was very involved in trying to make sure the entire peninsula was taken care of,” he said. “I still hold the Army Corps of Engineers accountable for the entire peninsula, both the ocean side and the bay side, in trying to

bring the community together and trying to economically develop the entire peninsula — not just the western part of Rockaway, but the eastern part of Rockaway; not just the ocean side of Rockaway, but the bay side of Rockaway.

“I have been one that not just advocated for a small part of Rockaway, as Mr. King has, but I have advocated for, and worked for, the entire pensinsula of Rockaway. I’m trying to bring them together, not further divide them.”

Despite the rhetoric against his opponent, he says he does his best to keep things civil in Congress.

“I’m known, according to my reputation in Congress, as one of the Democrats that’s willing to work with Republicans,” he said. “You will hear from the mainstream Republicans, like the ranking Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee [Rep. Michael McCaul], who is my close friend now, we work so closely together.”

Election Day is Nov. 8. Q

Trick or treat Howard Beach

Come out for a real ghoul time on Cross Bay Boulevard this Sunday, Oct. 16, for the Howard Beach Lindenwood’s annual Haunt ’n’ Treat.

Trick-or-treaters will stroll Cross Bay to visit each themed table and collect treats.

The event costs $5 per child and will run from 10 a.m. to noon. It will begin at 156th Avenue and Cross Bay Boulevard at the Queens County Savings Bank.

Tickets are limited so to sign up, call HBL Civic Co-president Phyllis Inserillo at (917) 488-5067 or email hblcivic2014@

gmail.com.

Tickets can be paid for through Venmo to @HBL-Civic. Include the reservation name, phone number and email in the memo when paying.

Table spaces are available for businesses and families that would like to participate, according to a flier from the civic.

Tables must be decorated and participants will be responsible for providing nut-free, wrapped treats or novelties.

The rain date is Oct. 30. Visit the civic’s Facebook page for more information on upcoming events.

Rep. Gregory Meeks is running for a sixth term as the representative for New York’s Fifth Congressional District, and his 13th term as a congressman overall.

Rockaways

PARTICIPATING ADVERTISERS

Things to know for Medicare enrollment

by Mark Lord Chronicle Contributor

By now you’ve surely seen those ubiquitous television commercials that feature everyone from Jimmie “JJ” Walker to Jets football hero Joe Namath to Captain Kirk, himself, William Shatner, hawking various Medicare coverage plans.

It can all be a little overwhelming if not downright confusing and, according to some experts, even misleading.

For newcomers to Medicare, the prime questions most likely involve when, how and, most dauntingly, where to begin what could be a rather intimidating process.

But, according to Jack Lippmann, president of Elder Care Services, Inc., a Rego Park-based business, in actuality, “Medicare is one of the friendliest programs the government has.” He advises anyone in need of information to call Medicare, “and they will be happy to assist you.”

And now with the fall open enrollment period (the time for signing up, reviewing benefits, making changes or switching plans) once again upon us — it runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7 — there is some good news in the form of reduced costs for some beneficiaries.

But first, a little background. Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people 65 or older and for certain younger people with disabilities. Most people are first eligible to sign up three months before turning 65.

MedicareResources.org cautions that if you don’t sign up for Medicare when first eligible, you may be subject to a late enrollment penalty.

There are two main ways to get covered: the original Medicare (also known as Parts A and B) or a Medicare Advantage Plan (referred to as Part C).

According to Medicare.gov, Part A is hospital insurance, which helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care and home healthcare. The site indicates that most people don’t pay a monthly premium. If you don’t qualify for premiumfree coverage, you might be able to buy it with monthly payments. There is also a deductible for each benefit period as well as co-insurance that increases depending on the length of the hospital stay.

Part B is medical insurance, which helps cover services from doctors and other healthcare providers, outpatient care, home healthcare, durable medical equipment and many preventive services. Most individuals pay a monthly premium; the amount can vary depending on income. There is an annual deductible and co-insurance.

Medicare.gov points out that if you join original Medicare, you may use any doctor or hospital that takes Medicare — anywhere in the United States.

Some people who select original Medicare opt for additional coverage such as Medicare Supplemental Insurance, or Medigap, extra insurance you may buy from a private company to fill in the gaps in Parts A and B. Costs vary based on which policy you buy and other factors.

You may also choose to purchase Part D by joining a Medicare drug plan in addition to original Medicare, which helps cover the cost of prescription drugs. Premiums vary based on the plan you join. Most plans charge a deductible before the coverage kicks in. Costs also vary depending on the medicines you take and whether they are included in the plan’s covered drugs, as well on the pharmacy you choose.

Part C, known as a Medicare Advantage Plan, is a Medicare-approved plan from a private company that provides equal coverage to original Medicare Parts A and B and may provide some additional benefits. In most cases, your doctors must be in the plan’s network. This option may mean lower out-of-pocket costs than original Medicare; costs vary by plan, as do deductibles, coinsurance and copayments.

Lippmann suggests that “Medicare is superior insurance. The downfall is the need for supplemental insurance,” adding to the cost of coverage.

If a person can afford Medicare, Lippmann asks, “Why have Medicare Advantage?” But, he adds, “If they don’t have a large income and can’t afford supplemental insurance, Medicare Advantage is a blessing.”

Now, about those new, lower rates.

According to CMS.gov, “On Sept. 27, the

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the 2023 premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs.”

The site indicates that for 2022, the standard monthly premium for Part B coverage was $170.10. That cost will be lowered in 2023 to $164.90 per month, a monthly savings of $5.20. Similarly, the annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries was $233. That amount will be reduced to $226 in 2023, or a savings of $7.

In a recent speech, President Biden alluded to the Department of Health & Human Services’ announcement that the premium for Part B will decrease.

“For the first time in more than a decade, it’s going to go down,” Biden said.

There is more good news.

The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act caps monthly insulin costs for Medicare beneficiaries. It limits insulin co-pays to $35 per month for Medicare Part D beneficiaries starting in 2023. Seniors covered by Medicare also have a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap on Part D prescription drugs starting in 2025. Medicare will also be able to negotiate the costs of certain prescription drugs.

CNBC quotes Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief scientific and medical officer at the American Diabetes Association, as saying that for patients aged 65 and up who rely on insulin, the Inflation Reduction Act is a “game changer.”

Stewart M. Small, an independent insurance broker who specializes in life and health insurance, recommends the use of the fall open enrollment period “to review your current plans and options.” He points out that “there are special enrollment periods that may allow you to change off-cycle.” He strongly suggests that you “contact a Medicare specialist who is referred

to you for advice.”

During open enrollment, people who are eligible for Medicare should review their 2023 coverage options, comparing original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, as well as options for prescription drug plans.

According to Medicareresources.org, “If you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan and you’re not happy with it, you can switch plans during Medicare’s Open Enrollment.” The site offers four primary reasons you may want to change Medicare Advantage plans: Your preferred providers are no longer in the network; your prescription drugs have been moved to a more expensive tier; there are cheaper coverage alternatives; and richer benefits may be available elsewhere.

Which brings us back to those television commercials, which have been the source of much confusion and a barrage of complaints.

First, it should be noted, as made clear by Small, that the commercials are neither public service announcements nor endorsed by the government.

Rather, according to the very small print at the bottom of your television screen, they are paid endorsements, meaning that the celebrity spokespersons are compensated for their participation.

And, according to John Demko on the site twincityunderwriters.com, “Ads tend to purposefully use vague, misleading, or incomplete information. The ads often use strategies such as promising huge savings or discounts. Most of us don’t qualify for those discounts at

Denko advises to “focus on the information you receive from your insurance company.”

A life insurance company site further addresses the commercials’ urging for viewers to call the telephone number on the screen. “It’s done over the phone,” the site says. “There is no guarantee that you will get this insurance. You may be talking to a pro or talking to a brand-new person. There’s no continuity or quality of service.”

And a site known as Medicare university says, “The commercials are true, sort of. They only tell you part of the story. The specific benefits of each plan are different.” It adds that while the commercials suggest there are no premiums for some Medicare Advantage plans, that does not mean they are free, as implied. If you feel overwhelmed by all the hype, the site advises, “Don’t be afraid to reach out for help.”

Small agrees. “Makes sense to reach out to an independent broker to guide you because this is confusing,” he said. “Why wouldn’t everybody talk to someone?”

If you need to speak with someone, visit Medicare.gov or call 1 (800) MEDICARE (6334227). You may also schedule a consultation with Small by emailing mygroupbenefits@ gmail.com or with Lippmann by going online to eldercareservicesny.com.

BY SEHRISH ZAIN / WIKIPEDIA

Insurance

Stewart M. Small, left,

THE TRUTH ABOUT MEDICAID

Community Medicaid eligibility is changing!

In October 2020 a new look-back period was passed forcing applicants to surrender two and one-half (2.5) years of financial statements. However, due to the pandemic Medicaid was unable to enforce this new regulation and kept extending the starting date.

The last extension was from October 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023; however, the earliest date that the state will seek implementation is March 31, 2024.

What does it mean to new applicants once the new regulation goes into effect? If there were

any transfers during the two and one-half (2.5) years prior to fi lling, applicants will be disqualified for a period of time depending on the amount transferred. Disqualifi cations cannot be more than two and one-half years.

Presently, applicants can transfer any amount of money one month and become fi nancially eligible for Community Medicaid the following month. This window of opportunity is slowly closing in. Potential applicants should keep in mind that the only way to avoid this issue is to apply before the rule is enforced.

Skip the waiting room with telehealth

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

Until the latest edition of the iPad or MacBook contains some kind of portal technology connecting a doctor on one end of a call to a patient on the other, telehealth service cannot be the end-all to in-person doctor appointments. It can, however, come close.

“If you need to have hands-on care, you can’t do that through telehealth,” Vice President of Telehealth Services for Northwell Health Iris Berman said. “But you know what telehealth is really good for? Having conversations, follow-up care, review of imaging, review of a wound is great, as long as a person can get a camera so the doctor could see that or a rash, so dermatology. All of the behavioral health support has been hugely successful. Neurology has done really well.”

“It is fairly widespread now and fairly easy to get a telehealth appointment within the Northwell Health system, if that’s what someone desires,” she added.

Telehealth appointments, according to Berman, can save those working from having to take time off for an appointment, and can save those incapacitated in any way from having to go through the hassle of traveling to the doctor’s office, with most of the time there spent waiting anyway.

With telehealth, or virtual consultation sessions, what can be done from the comfort of one’s home is done there.

“It’s about convenience,” she said. “But it’s not just convenience in, ‘I don’t want to go.’ It’s more convenience because people don’t want to lose time away from other activities or necessities in life.

“They’re not having to prioritize healthcare above or below another activity. There are times when you can have it all,

which wasn’t always true.”

Northwell is aiming to take advantage of the technology to make aggregating patient information easier than ever. Berman said the healthcare system is working toward putting all of a patient’s relevant care providers on one virtual call, allowing them to coordinate the best care routine in real time.

“I can have my dietician, my endocrinologist and my primary care physician coordinate, and we’re working on a scheduling system to make that happen,” she said. “That way, everyone can be on with the patient at one time, and they’re all talking to each other and coming up with a simple plan of care that’s very well-coordinated.”

Some companies have been founded on the predicated notion of the convenience of telehealth. DrHouse is a monthly subscription service offering 24/7 virtual clinical care through an app. For $19 per month, or $79 for a one-off visit, users are connected to a clinician within 15 minutes, per the company’s website.

“In-person visits are always better for treating the patient, but at the same time, there are some cons,” Co-founder and CEO Ergo Sooru said in a statement. “For example, it takes time to get to the doctor’s office, wait times in the waiting room, and exposure to germs. Telehealth visits are missing the physical touch but are much more convenient for something you know you have or prescription refills.”

Sooru says seniors have started to take advantage of the convenience.

“Seniors usually use it for prescription refills as it is easier to get them through our service,” he said. “We have also noticed that some primary care providers have started referring their patients to us for medication refills. It takes less than 30 minutes from starting a new visit to receive a prescription that our providers will send to the patient’s preferred pharmacy.”

In terms of advice for seniors interested in pursuing telehealth options, Sooru says some companies front as a provider but don’t offer, as he describes it, “healthcare.”

“These companies let you fill out the intake form and usually decide in 24 hours if they prescribe you a medication or not,” he said. “They call themselves telehealth providers, but I believe it is very far from practicing medicine. There is no effective doctor-patient communication.

“If you decide to use any telehealth provider, please check that the provider offers a video visit.”

Seniors can save time and healthcare providers can make information coordination easier with telehealth services.

PHOTO

Senior volunteers wanted and needed

by Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

As volunteer programs continue to be built back up post-pandemic, senior candidates are not only wanted but needed.

They offer unique skillsets and life experiences, organizers agree, and volunteering provides the opportunity not only to give back but to get a lot in return, helping to stay mentally and physically well.

“They are a wealth of knowledge,” said Merav deGuzman, director of patient and customer experience education at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, where she oversees the volunteers at the hospital.

“They can strike up a conversation about just about anything ... And those are the types of things that we are missing in the hospital,” she said.

The hospital is busier than ever, she added, as people catch up on healthcare they neglected during the pandemic, so help from volunteers, especially seniors, is needed more than ever as she tries to grow engagement to prepandemic numbers.

Seniors, deGuzman said, have the ability to make people feel warm, welcome and cared for. At LIJ Forest Hills, they might help by greeting or escorting patients, bringing them water, hospitality or magazines, or navigating the TV or connecting to the Wi-Fi.

“Patient-centered care is the norm now. It’s not about what we do or don’t do, it’s about how we make you feel ... it’s very small acts of kindness that go such a long way in patient experience.”

DeGuzman interviews candidates to match them with a role that will leave them feeling fulfilled and also comfortable and safe, especially considering Covid and health concerns.

Keeping busy, she said, helps seniors be fulfilled and avoid depression, anxiety and deterioration of independence.

And it’s a commitment, too, she said, as volunteers go through an orientation process, get medically cleared and are asked to commit six hours a week and 100 hours in total to volunteering. For more information, they can call her at (718) 830-5400.

“I would love to find seniors who sing, who play an instrument ... volunteers who speak other languages,” DeGuzman said.

She continued, “Having someone that you can sit with and speak with in your native language makes you feel better or less anxious about being in a country that you may not be a 100 percent comfortable in.”

The Community Service Society of New York, a nonprofit established in 1843, also is working build back its cohort of volunteers.

Prior to the pandemic, there were around 2,300 older adults volunteering throughout the five boroughs with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, which falls under the umbrella of AmeriCorps and has since been replicated nationally. The program partnered with a network of 250 organizations, but during the pandemic the number of volunteers fell to under 700, said Alina Molina, vice president of program services at CSS and a resident of Jackson Heights.

In Queens, there were 175 active volunteers last year, ranging in age from 55 to 99, working both remotely and in person.

“This is our major focus now, to get back to that, for two reasons: because of the invaluable services that volunteers are providing to organizations and also because it’s really great for older adults to be engaged and to not only feel that they’re making a contribution, but actually making a contribution,” said Molina.

Opportunities through RSVP are both internal and external.

In-house, volunteers 55 years and older can be thoroughly trained in and work with Advocacy, Counseling and Entitlement Services, which provides information and advocacy assistance to seniors and low-income New Yorkers on benefit programs including Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, Medicare, cash assistance and more; Financial Coaching Corps, where volunteers serve as financial coaches to support low-income families and individuals; MentorUP, which offers mentoring with a focus on academic supports and vocational training to youth in the juvenile justice system and young people not in school and out of work; and MentorChip, which mentors kids ages 6 to 16 whose parents are incarcerated.

Or, RSVP will pair seniors with external organizations. Programs may be located at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, John F. Kennedy Airport and more.

“The volunteer opportunities are as diverse as the city,” said Deirdre Ryan, program direc-

tor for RSVP.

“We want folks to consider, ‘do you want to use the skills that you have existing from your lifetime of experience or do you want to try something new?” she said.

The ACES program, for example, requires 40 hours of benefits training.

It’s a personal choice, too, she added, and not a one-size-fits all approach.

“When I began volunteering, it was just something to fill my days, but over time, it became something that fills my heart — there is no price to be placed on that level of fulfillment,” Judith Purcell, a Queens Village resident and RSVP volunteer at Ronald McDonald House of Long Island, shared with RSVP in a testimonial.

A virtual AmeriCorps

Seniors RSVP volunteer fair will take place on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 10 to 11 a.m.

Register in advance at bit.ly/3rM3WYE.

AARP New York also provides seniors the opportunity to utilize their existing talents or learn new skills.

“The membership is what brings you in, but the camaraderie and the learning together as a group, working alongside volunteers is what makes you stay,” said Kemba Tamar, associate state director for volunteer resources and engagement.

“For people who are looking for something meaningful, something genuine that they can connect with, that has a real tangible, fun atmosphere, AARP volunteer opportunities give you just that. While it’s not like going

back to work, it’s definitely about whatever you’re passionate about, whatever you feel most compelling.”

Seniors can become advocacy volunteers, as AARP is a nonpartisan advocate for social change on issues that matter to people 50 and older.

“Not only do we train people how to advocate to their legislators, but then they also see the fruits of their labor,” said Erin Mitchell, director of engagement.

Voter engagement is a current focus and there are also speaker opportunities such as where volunteers can visit senior centers and educate people about not falling victim to fraud.

As for Queens, volunteer opportunities could come through everything from paper shredding events to big community happenings like the annual Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing where AARP will have a table.

AARP is also hosting a virtual event to learn about volunteering with the organization on Monday, Nov. 21, from 11 am to noon. For more information, email aarpnyvolunteer@ aarp.org to visit AARP.org/iwant2volunteer.

The city Department of the Aging launched a new volunteer portal over the summer, agingvolunteers.cityofnewyork.us, to help streamline the process for residents looking to give back. Those interested can also call (212) 244-6469.

Older adult volunteers can partake in the agency’s health promotion program, where they can help organize presentations and fitness programs at senior centers; the Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance Program; or the Foster Grandparent Program, which places them in community settings like schools, community based-organizations and hospitals where they can provide tutoring and emotional support.

The latter requires 15 hours per week, a background check, and participants receive a small stipend for their efforts.

“The Department for the Aging has many volunteer opportunities for older adults that put their skills and knowledge to good use, which helps them to be personally fulfilled, being active and engaged, in their communities,” said Meka Nurse, senior director of Aging Connect at DFTA, in a statement sent to the Chronicle.

“There are a variety of volunteer opportunities from visiting a homebound older New Yorker, to tutoring young children, and helping residents navigate and understand Medicare. We encourage New Yorkers young and old to visit our volunteer portal and sign up to make a difference in the life of an older adult.”

Queens Community House also provides opportunities for older adults.

“We have several older adult program participants who are a part of the Action Group, where they get to engage with participants and other neighbors, learn more about the community and explore ways to better organize and make positive change,” said Thomas Cruz, director of communications for the nonprofit.

Volunteers can participate in cleanups and rallies and help encourage Queens residents to vote leading up to elections, and more.

Older volunteers are valued for their knowledge and life experience but giving back provides them benefits as well. A range of opportunities exist across the borough for those interested.

“When I began volunteering, it was just something to fill my days, but over time, it became something that fills my heart.”

— Judith Purcell, RSVP volunteer

Do you qualify for Social Security spouse’s benefits?

by Nilsa Henriquez

Social Security benefits are a crucial part of millions of Americans’ retirement income. If you don’t have enough Social Security credits to qualify for benefits on your own record, you may be able to receive benefits on your spouse’s record.

To qualify for spouse’s benefits, you must be one of the following:

• 62 years of age or older; or

• any age and have in your care a child younger than age 16, or who has a disability and is entitled to receive benefits on your spouse’s record.

Your full spouse’s benefit could be up to one-half the amount your spouse is entitled to receive at full retirement age. If you choose to receive your spouse’s benefits before you reach full retirement age, you will get a permanently reduced benefit.

If you wait until you reach full retirement age to receive benefits, you’ll receive your full spouse’s benefit amount, which is up to one-half the amount your spouse can receive. You’ll also get your full spouse’s benefit if you are under full retirement age, but care for a child and one of the following applies:

• the child is younger than age 16; or

• the child has a disability and is entitled to receive benefits on your spouse’s record.

If you’re eligible to receive retirement benefits on your own record, we will pay that amount first. If your benefits as a spouse are higher than your own retirement benefits, you will get a combination of benefits that equal the higher spouse benefit.

For example, Sandy qualifies for a retirement benefit of $1,000 and a spouse’s benefit of $1,250. At her full retirement age, she will receive her own $1,000 retirement benefit. We will add $250 from her spouse’s benefit, for a total of $1,250.

Want to apply for either your or your spouse’s benefits? Are you at least 61 years and nine months old? If you answered yes to both, visit ssa.gov/benefits/retirement to get started today.

Are you divorced from a marriage that lasted at least 10 years? You may be able to get benefits on your former spouse’s record. You can find out more by visiting ssa.gov/planners/retire/divspouse.html for more information.

P

Nilsa Henriquez is a Social Security Public Affairs Specialist located in Queens.

2022 ELDER LAW UPDATES

By Donna Furey, Esq.

Delayed Implementation of New Penalty Period for Community Medicaid

On October 1, 2020, a 30-month “look back” penalty period was implemented for people applying for Community Medicaid which provides health care aides in the home. This means that Medicaid will “look back” at fi nancial transactions made during the 30-month period prior to the date of application and impose a penalty for any gifts or unexplained transfers made during that period.

To qualify for Community Medicaid in 2022, an individual may only have $16,800.00 in total assets and income up to $934.00 per month. In addition, the individual will also be entitled to a $20.00 monthly personal needs allowance for a total of $954.00. The home equity limit is $955,000.00. When calculating your resources, Medicaid does not include the value of your IRAs and 401Ks. However, Medicaid will be entitled to the Required Minimum Distribution from your IRA (which will count towards your income). If the person’s income is above the Medicaid limit, they may still be able to qualify for Medicaid with proper planning.

Due to the pandemic, THE 30-MONTH “LOOK BACK” PENALTY PERIOD HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK SEVERAL TIMES AND WILL NOT BE IMPLEMENTED UNTIL MARCH 31, 2024.

NYS 2023 Budget Increases in Medicaid Income and Asset Limits for Age 65+/Disabled/Blind

The 2023 NYS budget increases the limits for income and assets for individuals age 65+, disabled and blind to qualify for Medicaid. Effective January 1, 2023, an individual 65+, disabled or blind may have monthly income of approximately $1,563.00 and total assets in sum of approximately $28,134.00. This means that more people will be able to qualify for Medicaid without having to spend down their income or assets.

To create a plan tailored to your needs, consult with an elder law attorney.

– ADVERTORIAL –

Club in Forest Park

with Nechama

Programs

Debbie

More

Denis

Moshe

Understanding Medicaid: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Medicaid medical assistance?

Medicaid is a joint federal and state funded program, run by the state and local counties, providing medical insurance, home-care services (assisting with all activities of daily living) and nursing home medical assistance to the poor, elderly or disabled.

However, individuals requiring home-care services or nursing home medical assistance, in addition

also will need to have a medical need for these services.

Who can apply for Medicaid?

Medicaid is for anyone who meets the income and resources restrictions.

What services does Medicaid provide?

• Doctors • Hospitals • Prescriptions • Nursing Homes (room & board)

• Home-care Services, such as home attendants, home health aides and nurses

What is an MLTC?

MLTC stands for Managed Long-Term Care. One example: When an applicant has been approved for Medicaid home-care services, the applicant has to choose one MLTC from several approved Medicaid plans. Upon joining an MLTC a coordinator will be assigned and this coordinator will be the point person between the applicant/recipient and the MLTC.

Changes with Community Medicaid eligibility!

Due to Covid-19 once again the new rule regarding transfer of assets for Community Medicaid has been extended from October 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023; however, the earliest date that the state will seek implementation is March 31, 2024.

What does the new regulation mean to the applicant?

Once the new regulation is in place, applicants wishing to apply for community Medicaid and receive homecare services paid for by Medicaid will need to submit two and one-half years of bank statements. If there were any transfers during that period, other than spouse to spouse, the applicant will be disqualified for a period of time. Presently, applicants can transfer any amount of money one month and become financially eligible for Community Medicaid the following month. This window of opportunity is closing in fast. There is no time to procrastinate. The only way to avoid this issue is to apply before the new rule is enforced.

Elder Care Services, Inc., offers Free consultations.

Elder Care Services, Inc.

97-37 63rd Road,

Park, NY

For more information please contact Jack

at 718-575-5700

Exercise with Darryl

with Pat Yoga with Nechama

with Moshe

with Rivky

with Debbie

and More with Darryl

with Denis

Moshe

Report illegal parking to score some money?

by Peter C. Mastrosimone Editor-in-Chief

No one wants to get hit with a parking fine, but what about getting a bit of a parking fine?

That could be possible under legislation authored by City Councilman Lincoln Restler (D-Brooklyn) and co-sponsored by 22 other lawmakers, including five from Queens.

The bill would allow individuals to report people blocking bus lanes, bike lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks and fire hydrants, as long as they are within a quarter-mile of a school. The violation, hazardous obstruction, and civil penalty, $175, would be new, and handled by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. The reporting mechanism would be established by the city Department of Transportation.

Those whose evidence is used to get a fine levied would receive 25 percent of whatever proceeds were collected. For a fine of $175, that’s $43.75.

The bill, Int. 501, is modeled after an existing program that lets residents report illegally idling trucks in return for a share of the fine.

The point of the bill is to fight abuse of parking placards used by public employees. Restler announced it along with another measure, Int. 500, that would revoke placards for personal vehicles that lack government plates, with exceptions for those granted through union contracts and for people with disabilities.

“Placard abuse is petty corruption,” Restler said in a prepared statement. “City employees serve the public, not the other way around. Our legislation moves us towards a placard free city, which is more than reasonable in the most transit rich City in the country.”

The legislation is supported by activist groups including StreetsPAC, Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, the New York League of Conservation Voters and Bike New York.

“Government employees parking wherever they want, whenever they want creates a great deal of public mistrust, and this entitlement must end immediately,” said Ken Podziba, president and CEO of Bike New York. “Placard abuse puts the convenience of a select few in power above

the safety of cyclists and pedestrians, and we can’t thank Council Member Restler enough for taking on this important issue that has plagued the city for years.”

One group of government employees that opposes Int. 501 at least is the New York Police Department. In response to it, the NYPD touted its record on ticket-writing and raised concerns about public safety in a statement from its press office (it declined to take a stand on Int. 500 when asked by the Chronicle).

“The NYPD has issued, year to date, 52,837 summonses for parking in bike lanes, 2,008 moving violations in bike lanes, 25,244 summonses for parking in a bus lane, 33,638 summonses for parking a sidewalk, 513,435 summonses for parking at hydrants, and 69,389 summonses for parking in a crosswalk,” the statement said. “The department robustly enforces these provisions of law and will continue to do so.

“The proposed law will pit neighbor against neighbor and will likely lead to violence. Our hard working Traffic Enforcement Agents, who wear an NYPD uniform and have

extra legal protection enshrined in state law, are assaulted dozens of times per year after issuing summonses. This law would outsource that risk to everyday New Yorkers. The legislation, while well intentioned, leads to more problems than it solves.”

Asked to respond, Restler said in an email sent by his chief of staff, “This legislation is inspired by the successful idling program with citizen enforcement, which has not been a source of conflict in our neighborhoods. I am confident this bill would improve safety by reducing dangerous and illegal parking.”

The bill has been written about in

several media outlets over the last two weeks, though it is unclear why. It was laid on the table June 2 and immediately referred to committee, and Restler’s office confirmed there has been no recent change in its status.

“We don’t have any news on when there might be a hearing on it, but we’re pushing!” Chief of Staff Mariana Alexander said via email.

The bill’s Queens co-sponsors are Councilmembers Julie Won (D-Sunnyside), Bob Holden (D-Maspeth), Shekar Krishnan (D-Jackson Heights), Jim Gennaro (D-Hillcrest) and Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills). Q

The boosters are stronger now.

See something, say something and get paid something, when it comes to blocked crosswalks, above, and more, if a bill by Councilman Lincoln Restler becomes law.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL GANNON / FILE, LEFT; NYC COUNCIL PHOTO

Newspaper boxes for Jewish press defaced

Incident occurred outside kosher grocer in KGH on Yom Kippur

by Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

Several newspaper boxes containing Jewish publications were defaced with swastikas outside Kew Gardens Hills’ Aron’s Kissena Farms last Wednesday, when the Jewish community was observing Yom Kippur.

According to Deputy Inspector Kevin Chan, commanding officer of the 107th Precinct, the vandalism was discovered by distributors who were about to stock the boxes with papers around 2 a.m. Thursday morning.

Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal (D-Flushing), who was first made aware of the vandalism when he received a phone call in the middle of the night, said the incident caused residents significant distress.

“No one was physically harmed, but people are really emotionally upset. It kind of broke a sense of security,” he told the Chronicle. Later, he added, “At this point, they’re fed up and they want to see just more action and more responsiveness.”

He strongly condemned the incident.

“People need to know that if you commit a crime — especially because of someone’s race, ethnicity, religion, you’re targeting someone because of who they are — that is a crime that goes against everything this country was founded on and needs to be taken more seriously,” Rosenthal said. “This partic-

ular incident happened in the middle of a large, vibrant Jewish community on the holiest day of the year.”

Chan said it is not known at this point what time the incident actually occurred. Rosenthal pointed out, however, that Aron’s, which is located on Kissena Boulevard near 72nd Road — and which he said is Queens’ largest kosher grocery store — was closed due to the holiday.

“On an average Wednesday, it would be a very crowded area,” he said. The responsibility party, he theorized, “knew that people would be in synagogue that day, and the Jewish businesses wouldn’t be open.”

Rosenthal added that the NYPD is in the process of reviewing surveillance footage from nearby businesses.

This comes as anti-Semitic hate crimes —

Anti-mandate package introduced

Paladino’s first legislation takes aim at Covid policies

by Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

After more than nine months on the City Council, Councilmember Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone) became the last of the Council’s 51 members to introduce her first pieces of legislation Wednesday, when she unveiled a four-piece package focused on mask and vaccine mandates.

Paladino has consistently opposed mask and Covid-19 vaccine mandates, and has previously called for employees fired due to their lack of vaccination to be reinstated.

Back in January, Paladino was denied entry to the Council chambers when she refused to show proof of vaccination. Less than two weeks later, she was granted a religious exemption; Paladino is a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

Nicole Kiprilov, Paladino’s chief of staff, told the Chronicle that the package “isn’t anti-mask in an absolutist sense.

“We just want to be sure we have taken mental health repercussions into consideration,” she added.

Int. 772, the only local law of the four, would require the Department of Education to report monthly on and make public the criteria used to determine whether a school mask mandate need be implemented and whether mental health was taken into

account. Each criterion would need a justification, and, should mental health not be a factor, that, too, would need justification.

A list of experts consulted by the DOE would be required, as would an explanation of its decision-making process.

The criteria for a school mask mandate has not been established, at least not publicly; Res. 342 calls on the city to do so.

Res. 341 proposes that the state pass legislation that would prevent terms of employment from being changed during a state of emergency. The resolution notes that both public and private employees lost their jobs due to their vaccination status.

Local states of emergency are controlled by chief executives — in this case, the mayor — who also have the power to extend those orders. Res. 343 calls on the state to

pass S7545/A9342, which seek to grant local legislative bodies the power to approve or disapprove an extension.

Though the city has struck the vast majority of its mask and vaccine mandates at this point, Paladino is still moving forward. “We need to get all our workers reinstated, and to ensure that this never, ever, happens again,” she said at a press conference Wednesday.

long the most numerous type of bias-driven incidents by far — have been on the rise in New York State. According to a report from the Anti-Defamation League released this spring, the number of reported anti-Semitic incidents increased by 24 percent from 2020 to 2021. Of the 416 reported incidents last year, 260 of them — or 63 percent — were in New York City. About 7.7 percent of the state’s anti-Semitic incidents occurred in Queens.

With that trend in mind, synagogues and area police have taken extra security precautions around the High Holy Days, as the Chronicle recently reported. Among the steps taken, including in the 107th Precinct, was to post units — known as House of Worship Orders — outside area synagogues and to increase patrols in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Asked about that, Rosenthal said, “Nothing is foolproof.

“This one, because of the timing — and even the location, it’s still a busy intersection — was blatantly troublesome.”

Rosenthal said he is calling on the NYPD to increase patrols in Jewish communities throughout the city as the Jewish holiday season continues.

“People should have a right to have that sense of security, which they don’t have right now,” he said.

Register to vote by Fri., Oct. 14

Friday, Oct. 14, is the last day one may register to vote in this year’s elections for state positions. The governership, other offices and legislative seats are all on the line.

Those who wish to sign up may do so through a link at nycvotes.org. NYC

Votes is a project of the city Campaign Finance Board. Anyone with questions may reach out to the CFB online via various social media sites or by phone at (212) 409-1800.

The board on its website also lists the rest of this season’s suffrage schedule.

Oct. 19 is the last day someone already registered to vote may change addresses.

Oct. 24 is the last day to request an absentee ballot online.

Oct. 29 is the first day of early voting, which runs through Nov. 6.

Nov. 7 is the last day to request an absentee ballot in person.

Nov. 8 is Election Day. It is also the last day to return an absentee ballot, either in person or via the mail. If sent through the mail, it must be postmarked by Nov. 8.

The city Board of Elections also has information for voters at vote.nyc. Q

— Peter C. Mastrosimone

Newspaper boxes for several Jewish publications outside Aron’s Kissena Farms in Kew Gardens Hills were defaced with swastikas last Wednesday, Yom Kippur.

ASSEMBLY PHOTO / TWITTER

Councilmember Vickie Paladino introduced Wednesday a package of anti-mask and vaccine mandate legislation.

PHOTO BY SOPHIE KRICHEVSKY

Maple Grove Trunk or Treat

Trunk or Treat, a safe Halloween trick or treating event hosted by Friends of Maple Grove in Kew Gardens, will return on Saturday, Oct. 30 after a three-year absence.

It will run from 2 to 4:30 p.m., and will once again include the Decorated Vehicle Contest.

Admission is free with a donation of canned or packaged food that will be donated to River Fund, the Richmond Hill organization that runs a large food bank.

Volunteers are needed to help give out candy.

The rain date is Sunday, Oct. 30. Those wishing to register their vehicle for the contest or in volunteering are asked to call Friends of Maple Grove at (347) 878-6613 or to send an email to info@friendsofmaplegrove.com.

Pedestrians are asked to enter the Maple Grove Cemetery grounds at the gate at Lefferts Boulevard and Kew Gardens Road. Those arriving in vehicles can use the 129th Street and Kew Gardens Road or the Queens Boulevard entrance.

Vehicle and trunk setup begins at 1 p.m. Q

Gunfight over concealed carry

continued

Court erred in finding that “showing special need for self defense” infringed on the rights of law-abiding, responsible citizens to carry arms in public for selfdefense “since it was not ‘consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.’”

Suddaby wrote that while the Supreme Court has not forbidden an expansion of traditional “sensitive places” protected from concealed carry, “it has indicated a skepticism of such an expansion based on the historical record.”

The AG’s Office argues “that modern regulations prohibiting the carry of firearms in new and analogous sensitive places are constitutionally permissible.”

The state also argues that the TRO “poses an imminent risk to public safety and wellbeing.

“Even the district court previously conceded the presence of an ‘associational relationship between some lenient right-to-carry laws and violent crime,’” the brief states.

Suddaby, on page 42 of his opinion, devoted an entire subsection to Times Square, ruling that “it does not appear permissible” for the state to restrict concealed carry there.

Adams was in Times Square Tuesday morning when he signed a new law designating it as a sensitive location, and anoth-

er bill expanding the city’s efforts to stop interstate gun trafficking.

“Today we establish that Times Square is a gun-free zone,” Adams said in a YouTube video furnished by his office and available at bit.ly/3SV9Ouw.

Steven Lewis of the city Law Department directly addressed questions about the designation given Suddaby’s sledgehammer-subtle remarks on the matter.

“The judge himself stayed that decision,” Lewis said. “It is not in effect, the law is the law, the law remains in effect and will continue to be enforced both in the city and throughout the state. We’re waiting on an appeal. Well, the attorney general has begun the appeal process to the Second Circuit and until they make some further determination, we will continue to enforce the law.”

He said they could have a decision on the TRO as early as Wednesday.

Adams said Times Square could have 475,000 people in its established boundaries at any one time, and that he would not want 1,000 people carrying there turning the area into the Wild West in an emergency.

“I own three guns,” he said. “I believe in the right to be a responsible gun owner. This is not an assault on gun owners. This is an assault on making bad decisions that can make an impact on the lives of innocent people.”

Mental health

continued from page 8

Staying on the theme of crime, he further mentioned that Rikers Island has its own overlooked mental health crisis that needs to be addressed. “Some former inmates are coming back into our community without having received the help they need,” Richards added.

According to the borough president, the partnership with BetterHelp is a step in the right direction. He emphasized, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Moreover, Richards wants to combat the negative perception of seeking mental health assistance, especially “in communities of color and among Black men.”

Alexander agreed: “Some of our communities have traditionally shied away from health and wellness needs due to the misperception that you are weak for doing so.”

Both Richards and Alexander walk the walk. Richards has recently begun attending therapy, and Alexander often meditates. The borough president admitted, “I have the same imperfections and fears that everyone else has.”

Richards also told the Chronicle that he’d like to “explore solution-oriented options” for the largely underutilized Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village, which he toured four months ago. Q

Tips to organize your home for autumn

From the walk-in closet to the kitchen pantry, catch-all spots make all the difference in daily routines — but only if they’re kept neat and tidy.

Family organizing expert Jessica Litman, also known as “The Organized Mama,” is on a mission to help families declutter and stay organized. She’s sharing her pro tips for getting your home in shape for this busy time of year.

Clear away cabinet clutter

’Tis the season for autumn chili, stew and other comfort foods. That means it’s also time to put your essential slow cookers and pans where you can reach them, so food prep will be hassle-free.

“When the weather starts to cool, I swap out summer cookware for winter bakeware,” says Litman. “I put the grilling items in the back of the cabinet and pull the turkey roaster and baking dishes to the front.”

For added storage, Litman recommends using a shelf rack or vertical organizer to keep cutting boards and pie pans neatly upright and easily accessible.

Prep the pantry

Create a system that gives graband-go snacks and cooking necessities a home. This will help keep the kitchen tidy in the midst of busy work and school schedules.

“Do a pantry cleanout,” Litman says. “Remove everything from the area and wipe down the shelves. Take the canned goods you didn’t eat and donate them to a local food bank.”

Use a combination of Duck

put spices and seasonings in a slim organizer.

“Set up items similarly to grocery store shelves by placing like items together,” Litman suggests. “When you do this, it’s like you are shopping in your pantry instead of hunting for things.”

Out with the old

Before pulling out your fall wardrobe, declutter the piles of “stuff” from the closet. This will make your space seem bigger and more organized.

“Remove clothes from this past season,” Litman recommends. “Look through each garment. If you didn’t wear it, donate, toss or sell it.”

brand’s Clear Classic EasyLiner shelf liner and new containers to restore order to the space. Measure the shelves, cut the liner to length and then lay it flat. The shelf liner is durable, waterproof and designed to keep surfaces dry while making them easy to wipe clean. Use the measurements to get an idea of what size bins will best fit the area. Store crackers, cereal, oats and pasta in clear containers with labels, and

Now that there is more room, hang an over-the-door shoe rack for rain boots and work shoes and use a closet organizer to store accessories, such as belts, purses and scarves. Litman also recommends dry-cleaning winter jackets now so they’re ready to wear when cold weather comes.

Find balance in the bathroom

Whether it’s the primary bath or the kids’ washroom, make the most of your space by organizing

A good pantry cleanout

everything into different categories, like towels and haircare. Once everything is grouped, you can decide what will be kept where based on the available areas. Use a tray on the counter and bins in pullout drawers.

Litman says to wipe and line surfaces, especially under the sink, with Solid Grip EasyLiner with Clorox before putting essentials away. Antimicrobial agents inhibit mold and mildew

growth to protect the liner, an d will catch makeup smudges an d water spills to give the area an extra clean feeling. She also recommends waiting until after the organizing process to buy bins and caddies, so you know exactly what you need.

Once these organizing projects are complete, your home will be ready for all the fun fall festivities and family gatherings. Q

— StatePoint Media

Window weatherization 101

Prepping windows for cold, gusty weather is

no matter your home’s age, but what exactly needs to be done? Read on for the ultimate breakdown of how to seal windows and protect your home from the winter chill.

Step 1 — Test for air leaks. Any style of window could have small air leaks that allow drafts and moisture to enter without your knowledge. Check your windows’ seals by lighting a match or candle and seeing if the smoke is affected by a breeze. The smoke trail can help pinpoint any small cracks you should address while weatherizing.

Step 2 — Fill the seals. Reinforcing the seal around the entire window frame will ensure it’s ready for cold weather. Using a product such as Duck brand Foam Weatherstrip Seals will help form a solid barrier around window edges, thanks to selfadhesive foam strips that block drafts. This can help lower utility costs by stopping leaks. Updating these seals every few years helps keep the window frame in the best possible shape and maintains protection from the winter winds.

Taking precautionary steps to seal in warm air will help the comfort of your home.

Step 3 — Restore with paint. Updating your window with a fresh coat of primer an d either paint or stain helps keep it in great condition for a change in season. Not only will it provide a new look, but paint or stain also creates a tight seal around the wood framewor k and acts as an additional barrier for pinhole cracks or air leaks.

Step 4 — Insulate the frame. Winte r weather can be brutal in certain regions. Rolle d Window Insulation Kits are crystal clear an d create an additional cold-air barrier for when you need extra protection on top of foam seals. The window kit film comes in an easy-to-use roll of shrink film, which means no measuring is needed, an d excess film can be cut once applied. Once secured to indoor window frames, the film provides an airtight seal that can be removed once warmer weather arrives.

Step 5 — Add thermal protection. After preparing your window for the approaching winter winds, swap out your everyday curtains for thicker, thermal fabric window treatments. These insulating curtains typically have two o r three layers of thick fabric, combined with a layer of acrylic foam, to prevent air infiltration and cold.

Precautionary steps to seal in warm air an d keep out potential drafts will help reduce energy costs this winter – and help protect the longevity (and comfort) of your home. Q

— StatePoint Media

ARTS, CULTURE & LIVING

by Kristen Guglielmo

Art lovers in Queens likely think that the best place to find art is a long train ride into Manhattan away. Fortunately, they are mistaken.

Hidden on an unassuming street in Maspeth lies a gem of a contemporary art gallery called Mrs., founded by married couple Sara Maria Salamone and Tyler Lafreniere. “We opened in 2016 with the intention of bringing people out to Maspeth — a location that doesn’t have any contemporary art and is far away from the epicenter of where art is usually found in New York City,” said Salamone, who also serves as the gallery’s director. “Queens is a special neighborhood, and it’s incredibly diverse. It offers so many things that other boroughs just do not have.”

Though Salamone has a master’s degree in fine arts from Parsons School of Design, she no longer practices art. Instead, her focus is on the gallery, which shows about 10 different exhibitions per year.

“We plan to expand in the coming years, but we’re going to stay in the neighborhood. We like it

that much,” said Salamone. “We love the idea of discovery, so when you come to Mrs., you’re here for a reason. And you’re here to discover something.”

Currently showing at Mrs. is an exhibition by Robert Zehnder titled “Ageless Machine,” consisting of various paintings and sculptures. Zehnder has a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has had exhibitions throughout New York, Chicago and Kansas City, among other locations.

This exhibit is the result of ample work and research, perhaps most notably the artist’s traveling to Paris and Milan, and the profound emotional effect of the experience. Zehnder was inspired by Renaissance paintings and architecture.

“I did more figurative work, not landscapes,” he said. “But after viewing a lot of Renaissance paintings, I was inspired by how much expanse they offered.” In “Ageless Machine,” Zehnder takes advantage of that same expanse.

Upon entering Mrs., visitors are greeted with the sights of dark green walls, in juxtaposition with three

VISION ZEST

Landscapes

dreamscapes

King Crossword Puzzle

I HAVE OFTEN WALKED

Rolf Armstrong made an art out of calendar girls

by Ron Marzlock

Chronicle Contributor

pinup illustrator Rolf Armstrong was born John Scott Armstrong on April 21, 1889 in Michigan. He had two brothers and one sister, all of whom were at least 20 years older than he. After his father passed away in 1903, he moved in with William, his eldest brother, and became close with William’s son, Robert Armstrong, who later became famous starring in “King Kong” and “Son of Kong.” Around 1911, while studying at Henri School of Art, John Scott legally changed his first name to “Rolf.”

He married Claire Louise Frisbie in 1919. In the 1920s he found success doing magazine covers, working in brilliant color pastels. In 1929, they moved into the Harway Estate House at 27th Avenue and 216th Street in Bayside. The home was such a famous landmark his mail was simply addressed to the Harway House. He joined the Bayside Yacht Club and raced in competition. The land became so valuable by 1938 that Harway House was sold and demolished.

The home of pinup illustrator Rolf Armstrong at 27th Avenue and 216th Street in Bayside, as it appeared in the 1930s when he lived there. INSET SCREENSHOT VIA WIKIPEDIA/SCREENLAND

In 1939, Armstrong divorced Claire. She quickly married Robert Armstrong and stayed with him until his death.

Rolf moved into a hotel on W. 67th Street in Manhattan and advertised for new models. He found Jewel Flowers, 33 years his junior. He started his most successful period creating pinup model art. She modeled for him until his death on Feb. 22, 1960, at age 70. He was recognized at the time as “The Father of Pin Up Glamour Art.” Q

St. John’s Film Fest to showcase World’s Fairs

by Sophie Krichevsky associate editor

The 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs have long been celebrated as staples of Queens history, and have been thoroughly documented.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to delve into some of that material on Oct. 16 from 7 to 9:30 p.m., when the St. John’s University History Department is set to host its World’s Fair Film Fest. The free event is open to all. The festival is the product of Associate Professor of History Kristin Szylvian’s firstyear course, “Discover New York: The

Global City.” The class is one of 36 sections in the school’s required “Discover New York” course, in which students become familiar with a particular aspect of the city through their discipline of choice. Szylvian reasoned that the World’s Fairs would be an apt introduction not only to Queens, but to Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

“It should be the crown jewel — along with Forest Park — of our Queens parks. But to me, as much as I admire it, it’s something of a no man-woman’s land,” she told the Chronicle. “It’s in the middle of all these roads, and it’s not integrated with any one neighborhood or even a set of neighborhoods. So I’ve always tried to advocate for the park.”

Having quickly amassed a wide array of footage from the fairs while preparing for the class, Szylvian saw an opportunity to share it with the public. Thus, the idea for the film festival was born.

The festival will highlight footage from a variety of sources and perspectives, ranging from home videos to documentary clips to promotional videos. Given the technological advancements made in the time between them, Szylvian noted that there is more film available — and in decent shape — from the 1964-65 fair than the 1939-40 one.

Though Szylvian has a grasp of the kinds

Clips from the 1964 World’s Fair, shown above, as well as its 1939 predecessor will be highlighted at this weekend’s film festival.

of footage that will be featured during this weekend’s festival, the specific clips have yet to be finalized. That’s because her students are responsible for curating the films ahead of the event. They will also facilitate discussion of the pieces among attendees.

Fostering that discourse, Szylvian said, is what she is most anticipating.

“The ideal thing, of course, would be that people who had an interest — or heard

family stories, or of course, went there themselves — would come and then they could say, ‘Oh, I remember the Futurama,’” she said. “The main thing is to get the students involved ... We’re trying to open their eyes to lots of different types of New York experiences.”

The event will take place in D’Angelo Hall’s Room 206. The public can enter campus using Gate 5 on Union Turnpike. Q

Mrs. opens a window to surrealistic dreamscapes

cartographic brown and yellow arch-shaped paintings that closely resemble cathedral stained-glass windows. In contrast to the monochromatic triptych, the exhibition also contains colorful landscapes with unique stylistic choices, including reductive visuals consisting of trees and open sky. Every brushstroke was intentional.

“I painted the edges and then used rags to buff them out, so it’s a slow buildup of

color, counterbalanced with a lot of areas that are more pale. It’s an expressive mode of making,” Zehnder explained of his process.

Toward the back of Mrs. is a painting entitled “Ageless Machine.” Though it’s the exhibit’s titular work, it is easily missed if you’re not looking for it. It is a cartographicstyle painting with brown and yellow tones, depicting an unstructured heart with a tree growing from it. It is juxtaposed with a green frame, similar to the walls of the gallery it inhabits. The heart from this painting can be found as a motif in “Arch II: Branched Hearts,” the second painting of the exhibition’s triptych.

The exhibit takes inspiration from Odilon Redon, a mid-19th century French symbolist painter. “Redon had a triptych in the d’Orsay in Paris,” Zehnder explained. “It had yellow atmospheric paintings against dark green walls, and was created as a commission in the 19th century. The paintings were intentionally created for a space, much like these were.”

In an accompanying information pamphlet written by Misael José Oquendo, it states, “Ageless Machine is a reference to

The works in “Ageless Machine” at the Mrs. gallery include surrealistic landscapes and sculptures. On the cover: The walls at Mrs. have been painted dark green for the exhibit, by artist Robert Zehnder.

the concept of ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ (‘total artwork’) made specifically in relation to the space of a church and its capacity to produce a multimedia experience.” Oquendo writes, “The viewer is challenged to decipher for themselves what the cartographic has to do

with the natural and vice versa.”

Mrs. is located at 60-40 56 Drive. Operating hours are Tuesday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 12 to 5 p.m. Zehnder’s “Ageless Machine” runs through Nov. 5. For more information, visit mrsgallery.com.

Attendees can get a taste of the World’s Fair at this weekend’s film festival — just like these young ladies.

Up to $21.09 NYC, $20.22 L.I., $15.20 Upstate NY! If you need care from your relative, friend/ neighbor and you have Medicaid, they may be eligible to start taking care of you as your personal assistant under NYS Medicaid CDPA Program. No Certificates needed. 347-713-3553

BEST SATELLITE TV with 2 year Price Guarantee! $59.99/mo with 190 channels and 3 months free premium movie channels! Free next day installation! Call 888-508-5313

DIRECTV for $79.99/mo for 12 months with CHOICE Package. Watch your favorite live sports, news & entertainment anywhere. First 3 months of HBO Max, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz and Epix Included! Directv is #1 in Customer satisfaction (JD Power & Assoc.) Some restrictions apply. Call 1-888-534-6918

DISH TV $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/21/23. 1-866-595-6967

Concerned a spot may be skin cancer?

Are you someone who burns easily in the sun?

Do you or someone you know have a spot that may be a skin cancer?

Drive Out Breast Cancer: Donate a car today! The benefits of donating your car or boat: Fast Free Pickup—24hr Response Tax Deduction- Easy To Do! Call 24/7: 855-905-4755

Wheels For Wishes benefiting Make-A-Wish Northeast New York. Your Car Donations Matter NOW More Than Ever! Free Vehicle Pick Up ANYWHERE. We Accept Most Vehicles Running or Not. 100% Tax Deductible. Minimal To No Human Contact. Call: (877) 798-9474. Car Donation Foundation d/b/a Wheels For Wishes. www.wheelsforwishes.org

Eliminate gutter cleaning forever! LeafFilter, the most advanced debris-blocking gutter protection. Schedule a FREE LeafFilter estimate today. 15% off and 0% financing for those who qualify. PLUS Senior & Military discounts. Call 1-877-763-2379

The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, in collaboration with Perlmutter Cancer Center, is conducting a clinical research study to improve our ability to detect skin cancer at its earliest, most curable stage.

You can have up to three spots of concern evaluated with a new technology and by a dermatologist free of charge. To learn more, call 212-263-5244 or scan the QR code.

LOOKING TO BUY Estates, gold, high-end & brand name jewelry— top price paid, costume jewelry, furn, records, silver, coins, art, stamps, comics, oriental items. Call George, 718-386-1104 or 917-775-3048

COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM! Train ONLINE to get the skills to become a Computer & Help Desk Professional now! Grants and Scholarships available for certain programs for qualified applicants. Call CTI for details! (844) 947-0192 (M-F 8am-6pm ET). Computer with internet is required.

TRAIN ONLINE TO DO MEDICAL BILLING! Become a Medical Office Professional online at CTI! Get Trained, Certified & ready to work in months! Call 855-543-6440. (M-F 8am-6pm ET). Computer with internet is required.

PLEASE CALL LORI, 1-929-361-0643 (Cell Phone). I PAY THE BEST, MOST HONEST PRICES FOR ESTATES, FURNITURE, CHANDELIERS, LAMPS, COSTUME JEWELRY, WATCHES (WORKING OR NOT WORKING), FURS, COINS, POCKETBOOKS, CHINA, VASES, GLASSWARE, STERLING SILVERWARE, FIGURINES, CANDLESTICKS, PAINTINGS, PRINTS, RUGS, PIANOS, GUITARS, VIOLINS, FLUTES, TAG SALES, CLEANOUTS, CARS

Howard Beach, Sat 10/15, 10am-3pm, 160-14 85 St betw 160 & 161 Aves. Ladies’ & men’s clothes, housewares, costume jewelry, books $1 & $2 & much more!

Howard Beach, Sat 10/15, 9am-4pm, 160-27 97 St. Baby stroller, quality items. Don’t miss!

Howard Beach, Sat 10/15, 11am-3pm, 96 St & 163 Ave. Lots of housewares, decorative items.

Howard Beach, Sat 10/15, 8am-2pm, 163-55 89 St. Housewares, fishing accessories, kids items & more!

MOVING SALE & MULTI-HOUSE

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices — No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty and professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call 866-393-3636

Don’t Pay For Covered Home Repairs Again! American Residential Warranty covers ALL MAJOR SYSTEMS AND APPLIANCES. 30 DAY RISK FREE/ $100 OFF POPULAR PLANS. 833-398-0526

Howard Beach, Sat 10/15, 9am-2pm, 156-49 91 St. Kids clothes, jackets, toys, computer keyboards, variety.

Howard Beach, Sat 10/15, 10am-4pm, 156-38 86 St. Holiday decor, jewelry, household items & more!

YARD SALE! Broad Channel, Sat 10/15, 12:30pm, 412 Cross Bay Blvd. Furn, household items, clothing & more!

Ozone Park, Sat 10/15, 8am-4pm, 96-31 Pitkin Ave. Rain date Sun 10/16. MULTI-FAMILY SALE! Something for everyone!

Classified Ad Deadline is 12 Noon on Tuesday for Thursday’s paper.

The Generac PWRcell, a solar plus battery storage system. SAVE money, reduce your reliance on the grid, prepare for power outages and power your home. Full installation services services available. $0 Down Financing Option. Request a FREE, no obligation, quote today. Call 1-888-871-0194

VIAGRA USERS:

for power outages today

ARE YOU BEHIND $10K OR MORE ON YOUR TAXES? Stop wage & bank levies, leins & audits, unfiled tax returns, payroll issues, & resolve tax debt FAST. Call 888-869-5361 (Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm PST) Having a garage sale? Let everyone know about it by advertising in the Queens Classifieds Call 718-205-8000 and place the ad!

Notice of Qualification of 60 SOUTH MACQUESTEN PARKWAY INDUSTRIAL LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/30/22. Office location: Queens County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/28/22. Princ. office of LLC: 28-18 Steinway St., Astoria, NY 11103. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of BodyCare Physical Therapy PLLC

Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 03/27/2017.

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: 84-10 Main Street, Apt 249, JAMAICA, NY 11435. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of BRAVO CHARLIE COMPANY LLC

Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 07/03/2022. 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 LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, 10814 72ND AVE., 2ND FLOOR, FOREST HILLS, NY 11375. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of CHANNEL BEACH, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/27/22. Office location: Queens County. Princ. office of LLC: 847 Shepherd Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11208. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

OLIMAZI, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 09/13/2022. Office loc: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 13-22 141st Street, Whitestone, NY 11357. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of PAHO NY LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State: 8/5/22. Office location: Queens County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Maho Yamatani, 101-01 67th Dr., Apt. 2K, Forest Hills, NY 11375, principal business address. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of R&A IMPERIAL RENTALS LLC Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/25/2022. 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: R&A IMPERIAL RENTALS LLC, 1200 51ST STREET, #503, BROOKLYN, NY 11219. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Real Estate

EQUAL HOUSING. Federal, New

State and local laws

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.

Apts.For Rent

Cypress Hills, 216 Ridgewood Ave, #3. 3 BR semi-railroad, $2,800/mo. Newly renov kit, HW fls, windows in every room, 3rd fl walk-up. Heat & hot water incl. Avail NOW. Call Tiana Williams, 917-982-8507. Capri Jet Realty

Hillcrest, 80-03 165 St, #2. 3 BR, 1.5 bath apt. $2,800/mo. Newly renov apt w/SS appli. Whole floor unit. Avail NOW. Francesco Belviso, 718-570-4564. Capri Jet Realty

Maspeth, 59-28 72 St. 2BR, 1 bath box apt. $2,300/mo. Avail NOW. Heat & hot water incl. 800 sq ft apt w/2 balconies, new appli incl dishwasher. Call Michael Bifalco, 917-704-5147. Capri Jet Realty

OPEN HOUSE

Oct., 16th,

Baths.

Property.

Modern Kitchen/Granite,

Notice of Qualification of 1066 ZEREGA AVENUE INDUSTRIAL LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/30/22. Office location: Queens County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/28/22. Princ. office of LLC: 20-18 Steinway St., Astoria, NY 11103. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

4451 Island LLC, Arts of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 9/6/2022. Cty: Queens. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to 177 Beach 137th St., Rockaway Park, NY 11694. General Purposea

Notice of Formation of 65-03 MYRTLE AVE GLENDALE

LLC Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 08/25/2022.

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 LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, 105-55 62 DR, APT 6J, FOREST HILLS, NY 11375. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of ADVENTURE IN CREATIVITY LLC

Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 09/09/2022. 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: SAKURAKO SHIMIZU, 6212 FLUSHING AVE., MASPETH, NY 11378 Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

CITIVIEW GARAGE, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 09/09/2022. Office loc: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 112-15 Northern Blvd #2, Corona, NY 11368. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Melody & Son LLC, Arts of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 4/23/2021. Cty: Queens. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to 34-21 21st St., apt. 5E, Long Island City, NY 11106. General Purpose

Rils Beach 149, LLC, Arts of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 5/4/2022. Cty: Queens. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to Flynn & Flynn PLLC, 444 Beach 129th St., Belle Harbor, NY 11694. General Purpose.

Notice of Formation of SAETIA LLC Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 08/01/2022. 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: COLIN BARTOLDUS, 34-43 82ND ST., APT 21, JACKSON HEIGHTS, NY 11372. Purpose: For any lawful purpose

Old Howard Beach, 3 BR, pvt entrance, freshly painted, HW fls, DR. $2,400/mo + cooking gas & electric. Pam @ Connexion RE, 917-755-9800

Apt.Wanted

Responsible single female, quiet, neat, non-smoker, no pets looking for 1 BR apt or room in ONLY Old Howard Beach or Hamilton Beach. No texting. 718-641-1472

Co-ops For Sale

Howard Beach/Lindenwood, 3 BR Co-op in Hi-Rise (Fairfield Arms) converted from 2BR to 3 BR, w/2full baths. Asking $269K. Call for appt. Connexion Real Estate 718-845-1136

Open House

Howard Beach, Sat 10/15, 1pm-3pm, 96-34 155 St. Beautiful 2 fam, 6 over 6, fin bsmnt + C/O for extension, 27x20, 1st fl has French doors leading to patio, basement has private patio. Unique home- A must see! Call to make an appt. Reduced $1,329,000. Connexion Real Estate, 718-845-1136

Howard Beach/Lindenwood, Sat 10/15, 12:30pm-2pm, 153-25 88 St. #3G. Beautiful move-in cond. 1 BR Co-op w/terr. Just move-in! Asking $219K. Connexion Real Estate, 718-845-1136

Howard Beach/Rockwood Park, Sat 10/15, 3:30pm-5pm, 161-39 84 St. Lg Brookfield Style Hi-Ranch, 4 BR, 3 full baths, vaulted ceilings, master BR w/full bath, finished walk-in, back decks upstairs & downstairs. Wood fls. Buyers must be preapproved! Price range $999,000 to $1,050,000. Connexion Real Estate, 718-845-1146

For Rent

Richmond Hill, STORE FOR RENT. Approx 1,700 sq ft w/basement, CAC & electric gates. Liberty Ave, high traffic area, NNN lease. Call 718-738-2626

Prof.Space For Rent

Park, FOR RENT REMODELED PROF OFFICE/STORE.

725 sq ft, electric gates w/new CAC & new heat. Call

Home Services Home Services

Notice of Formation of SEA MOSS MOM, LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 09/02/2022. Offi ce 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: USHA DEODAT-KANHAI, 120-04 135TH STREET, JAMAICA, NY 11420. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SENTINEL BIOTECH LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 09/05/2022. Offi ce 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: SHERIN KANNOLY, 6530 KISSENA BLVD., D343 BIOLOGY DPT, QUEENS, NY 11367. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SOUCIANT LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 09/07/2022. Offi ce 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: SOUCIANT LLC, 119-42 179TH STREET, SAINT ALBANS, NY 11434. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

VALISA REALTY LLC. Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 08/11/22. Offi ce: 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, c/o Frances Joseph, 41-40 47th Street, Astoria, NY 11105. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of VM Collectibles LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 06/28/2022. Offi ce 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: VINCE MERCADO, 37-09 62ND ST, 2ND FL, WOODSIDE, NY 11377. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

To Advertise Call 718-205-8000

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF QUEENS SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

INDEX NO. 707870/2015

Premises: 172-77A HIGHLAND AVENUE, UNIT 3J, JAMAICA ESTATES, NY 11432 District: Section: Block: 9884 Lot: 1027 Plaintiff designates QUEENS as the place of trial situs of the real property NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC, Plaintiff, v. JEAN DELECROIX BAKONIARIVO, if living, and if she/he be dead, any and all persons unknown to Plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or general or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective wives, widows, husbands, widowers, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to Plaintiff; ANTOINETTE BAKONIARIVO, if living, and if she/he be dead, any and all persons unknown to Plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or general or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective wives, widows, husbands, widowers, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to Plaintiff; JAMAICA ESTATES CONDOMINIUM; THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK BY VIRTUE OF POSSIBLE UNPAID TAXES OR LIENS; THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY VIRTUE OF POSSIBLE UNPAID TAXES OR LIENS; “JOHN DOE #1” through “JOHN DOE #12,” the last twelve names being fictitious and unknown to Plaintiff, the persons or parties intended being the tenants, occupants, persons or corporations, if any, having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the premises, described in the Complaint, Defendants. To the above named Defendants YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in the above entitled action and to serve a copy of your Answer on the plaintiff’s attorney within twenty (20) days of the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service, or within thirty (30) days after service of the same is complete where service is made in any manner other than by personal delivery within the State. The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may answer or appear within sixty (60) days of service. Your failure to appear or to answer will result in a judgment against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. In the event that a deficiency balance remains from the sale proceeds, a judgment may be entered against you. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above caption action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure the sum of $188,300.00 and interest, recorded on February 05, 2004, in Instrument Number 2004000071768, of the Public Records of QUEENS County, New York. covering premises known as 172-77A HIGHLAND AVENUE, UNIT 3J, JAMAICA, NY 11432. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. QUEENS County is designated as the place of trial because the real property affected by this action is located in said county. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME

If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to the mortgage company will not stop the foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. Dated: September 22, 2022 ROBERTSON, ANSCHUTZ, SCHNEID, CRANE & PARTNERS, PLLC. By: Ankit Mehta, Esq., Attorneys for Plaintiff, 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, NY 11590. Tel: (516) 280-7675 Fax: (516) 280-7674

Saunders St.,

Renovated

Liberty Avenue, Ozone Park

Mixed Use

Family

Oct. 13th 5:30-6:30pm

Richardson St., Unit 10, Williamsburg

2 Bedroom HDFC Co-op in the heart of Williamsburg!

by Lloyd Carroll Chronicle Contributor

On Sunday night Mets manager Buck Showalter and stars Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor spoke about the great season the team had, and how their loss in the Wild Card Series to the San Diego Padres would not alter that. Centerfielder Brandon Nimmo accurately captured the mood of the fan base “Nobody cares about our 101 wins. We didn’t get it done in the postseason.”

Mets fans were angry not because the San Diego Padres, who won 89 games during the year, beat their favorite team in the rubber game of the Wild Card Series. Teams with better records have frequently lost in the postseason. Rather, Mets fans saw trouble brewing for well over a month, and their worst fears about their beloved team were realized Sunday night.

Things went downhill for the Mets after they won two out of three from the Dodgers at Citi Field in late August. They proceeded to go 2-6 against the Cubs, Nationals and Marlins — teams playing out the string — before getting swept by the Braves in Atlanta two weekends ago, costing them the National League East title, and with that, the opportunity to avoid the Wild Card Series that doomed them.

Many Mets players tried to downplay the significance of the Braves debacle, but again, the usually optimistic Nimmo refused to sugarcoat things. “We threw our best pitchers at them, and

they stuffed us,” he said dejectedly following the Mets’ third straight loss in Atlanta.

The Mets’ hitting was awful the last five weeks of the season, but the team historically has lived and died with its pitching, and its top three pitchers, Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, and Chris Bassitt, were disappointing, to put it mildly. The only redeeming aspect of the Wild Card Series was deGrom’s performance in Saturday’s 7-3 win.

Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks must be more upset with the Mets’ flop than even their most ardent fans. Had the Mets won, they would have had a best-of-five series with the Dodgers. That would have been ratings gold for Fox. The Dodgers-Padres series will only excite folks from Santa Barbara to San Ysidro.

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie discussed how millennials who grew up with participation trophies are unprepared for life with Bill Maher on his HBO show, “Real Time,” last Friday night. “I made sure my kids were Mets fans so they could understand adversity!”

The Mets’ fate may have been sealed with their bizarre playoff slogan, “These Mets,” which adorned apparel at Citi Field concession stands. That phrase begged for a bad outcome and ridicule. Expect “these items” to be on the clearance rack immediately.

See the extended version of Sports Beat every week at qchron.com

• Ozone Park

This lovely 2 family corner property features 3 BRs on each

oor. Private dvwy,

car garage w/remote gates, outdoor bar & sitting area w/Jacuzzi tub. Home has full security

• Lindenwood •

Professional offi ce space currently set up for a dentist offi ce. Can be used for any other professional offi ce use. 3 rooms that can be used for pvt offi ce space.

• Rockaway Beach •

Six months common charges free!!

throughout. Hardwood

oors, bathroom have been

block away from Liberty Ave.

Located

train to Manhattan,

• Lindenwood

2 Storage rooms. 1 room for reception; 1 waiting room area; 1 bath & good additional closet space. Located on the Lobby level in Co-op building; it has its own outside entrance. Monthly rent includes all - no additional fees for tenants.

Luxury new condos- located in Rockaway, 1/2 block from the Atlantic Ocean. Can be purchased or can be rented: rental fee paid by seller! Stylish exterior to contemporary interior. Three, 2 BR & 2 baths available. Floor to ceiling windows, hardwood floors, too much to list!! Parking spots available for sale

• Lindenwood • 1 BR unit w/terrace needs TLC, Great space! Plenty of closets, eff kitchen, Maint. incls all! Electric, heat, hot water, building taxes & gas. Laundry on premises. Base Maint $ 733.00, A/C: $45.00, Fridge:$15.00, Security: $17.25 Assessment (s) $167.55 = $977.82 Don’t forget about your STAR REBATE- will lower maintenance. Convenient to QM15, Q21, Q41, Q53. 320. shares, $50/share fl ip tax. No pets.

• Manhattan • Move right in to this charming prewar, beautifully maintained true 2 BR, 1 bath Co-op apt in a prime Lenox Hill location. Corner unit is approx 1000 SF. & features ample windows & high ceilings. Master BR is fully soundproofed, guaranteeing peaceful sleep. The 2nd BR can comfortably fi t a queen size bed & can be used as a BR, or a large home offi ce. All closets & cabinets throughout were custom made & tailored to the room. Open kitchen is a modern design w/white quartz countertops.

OPEN