Queens Chronicle South Edition 11-24-22

NYC deficits heading higher

Adams administration to eliminate half of unfilled vacancies

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

Projected city budget deficits for the next three fiscal years have ballooned by $5.5 billion since Feb. 16 — from $7.9 billion to $13.4 billion — according to the annual November Financial Plan Update issued by the Adams administration on Nov. 15.

The total increase is up $1.6 billion from projections contained in the present budget approved by Mayor Adams and the City Council in June.

The projected deficit for fiscal year 2024, which begins July 1, 2023, right now sits at “a manageable $2.9 billion,” according to the mayor in his press release. That is less than the $4.2 billion seen back in June, but still is $200 million higher than the forecast made in Adams’ preliminary budget last February.

The Mayor’s Office took a big crack at lowering next year’s deficit Monday by ordering most departments to cut 50 percent of the jobs listed as vacant as of Oct. 31.

A letter from Office of Management and Budget Director Jacques Jiha said uniformed and public safety positions are among the exceptions.

Adams, in his statement issued last week with the November update, was direct.

“The city faces significant economic

headwinds that pose real threats to our fiscal stability, including growing pension contributions, expiring labor contracts, and rising health care expenses — and we are taking decisive actions in the administration’s first November Financial Plan to meet those challenges,” Adams said.

“Thanks to a successful Program to Eliminate the Gap, we have achieved significant savings without service reductions or layoffs,” he added. “We are also investing in new needs that will address our housing crisis, make our streets cleaner, combat climate change, and much more.”

Among other headwinds the mayor talked about was an underperforming stock market, which among other things requires the city to make good on its retiree pension fund losses.

In a statement released later that same day, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) continued her recent stance against budget cuts.

“Protecting New York City’s fiscal health is a priority that must go hand-in-hand with ensuring New Yorkers’ health and safety is secured through investments in essential education, health, and social service programs,” Speaker Adams said. “Early childhood education programs, such as Universal 3-K, are pivotal to the economic success of our city and must be a priority in which to invest. In

the midst of housing and mental health crises, our financial plans should reflect the scale needed to solve our challenges, and it is not clear this one meets the moment.”

“Imbalanced cuts are exacted on agencies New Yorkers rely upon, this plan entirely ignores approximately $1 billion in additional tax revenue received by the City and identified by the Council. That makes it perplexing to see the plan at the same time include $1 billion in federal funding that has not yet been secured.”

The “imbalanced cuts” refer to savings from departmental reductions mandated by Mayor Adams in September as the Program to Eliminate the Gap, or PEG. Speaker Adams has repeatedly called the cuts premature in the weeks since they were ordered.

The mayor, however, says out-year deficits would have been be higher without the PEGs, through which he ordered city agencies to cut existing budgets by 3 percent without layoffs or service cuts; and 4.75 percent through FY 2025-26.

He said that has led to a $705 million surplus for the present fiscal year, which is being applied to next year’s deficit; and will more than cover new agency spending of $211 million next year and $138 million in FY 2024

Speaker Adams’ office did not respond to

Feb. 16, 2022

Mayor’s preliminary budget

FY 2024 - $2.7 billion

FY 2025 - $2.2 billion

FY 2026 - $3.0 billion

Three-year total - $7.9 billion

April 2022

Mayor’s executive budget

FY 2024 - $3.9 billion

FY 2025 - $3.3 billion

FY 2026 - $3.7 billion

Three-year total - $10.9 billion

June 13, 2022

Budget agreement

FY 2024 - $4.2 billion

FY 2025 - $3.7 billion

FY 2026 - $3.9 billion

Three-year total - $11.8 billion

Nov. 15, 2022

November Financial Plan Update

FY 2024 - $2.9 billion

FY 2025 - $4.6 billion

FY 2026 - $5.9 billion

Three-year total - $13.4 billion

The city’s budget picture for next year has improved somewhat in five months, but outyear figures keep climbing. NYC OMB DATA continued on page 6

Seven-vote margin in Assembly race

Pheffer Amato and Sullivan in court this week ahead of BOE’s recount

by Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

Just seven votes separated the Assembly District 23 candidates as of Tuesday — and a winner may still not be known until December.

That was the latest update Tom Sullivan, who is challenging incumbent Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Park), got from a city Board of Elections representative and the attorney he hired following his opponent’s lawsuit for a recount naming him and the BOE.

Following Election Day, Sullivan was in the lead with 246 more votes than Pheffer Amato, which unofficial Board of Elections results still reflect with 94 percent of the votes reported. But following the counting of absentee ballots, that margin has shrunk.

Left now are the overseas military ballots, a “curing” period to rectify signature issues on absentee ballots and the impending suit.

The two candidates were expected in court via Zoom on Tuesday afternoon, this week’s print deadline.

“I’m expecting that the court will uphold the law that’s currently in place and we go to the manual count,” Sullivan said ahead of the hearing. He said he heard all mail-ins were received except the military ballots.

The city Board of Elections said it is “reluctant to give a number” on the race at this time “because it literally changes all the time due to Military and UOCAVA ballots and cures being received,” said Vincent

Ignizio, deputy executive director for the agency.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act allows for members of the uniformed services and merchant marines serving abroad and their families to vote as well as U.S. citizens residing outside the country.

Ignizio added that the plan is to hold a manual hand count to commence on Wednesday, Nov. 30, after the cure period ends. The BOE needs two days to prepare and sort ballots, he said, which will be done on Monday, Nov. 28, and Tuesday, Nov. 29.

“We anticipate it will take several days to complete once it begins on 11/30,” he added via email.

The election qualified for a recount when it was within less than a half a percent difference, Sullivan said, and then the lawsuit calls for one as well.

It asks for a manual recount as well as for all voting machine hard drives to be tallied again. Voter fraud is alleged in that “votes were cast by persons who signed the polling place registration book but were not, in fact, the duly enrolled voter whose name they signed” and “votes were cast by absentee ballots by persons who signed the absentee ballot but were not, in fact, the duly enrolled voter whose name they signed.”

Early last week, Pheffer Amato released a statement that did not mention the Nov. 15 suit but said, “As we continue to count mail-in ballots and in-person ballots from Election Day, we are committed to making

Sandy exhibit at Jamaica Bay

sure every valid vote is counted.”

She continued, “My opponent would like to stop counting votes before all votes are tallied. That’s shameful. Our brave men and women serving our nation overseas, older New Yorkers, homebound individuals, and anyone who could not get to the polls on Election Day still deserve to have their vote counted and their voice heard.”

Sullivan said that was false.

“I am absolutely insulted,” he told the Chronicle. “She used the military members first ... I’m the one that spent four and a half years away from my family and educated people overseas about sending in their overseas ballots, whether it was from Iraq or Afghanistan, because I know how those things work and told them how important it is and make sure you turn it in.”

Sullivan served as an Army Reserves colonel in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait from 2006 through 2016.

courts,” he said.

Pheffer Amato could not be reached for comment. The three-term incumbent holds the seat that was once held by her mother, former Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer who is now the Queens County Clerk.

Voter data shows Breezy Point having the highest voter turnout by percentage in the city, which could be explained by the area turning increasingly Republican and coming out for gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin (R-Suffolk) and congressional candidate Paul King, who lost to incumbent Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens, Nassau) of Congressional District 5.

Yet Pheffer Amato’s lawsuit calls into question a “disproportionate number of ballots” cast in the election compared to past general elections.

A photo exhibit illustrating the damage inflicted by Superstorm Sandy on the Gateway National Recreation Area will be on view at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center through Dec. 31.

The “Hurricane Sandy at 10: Resilience” exhibit marks the 10-year anniversary of Sandy and showcases the repair and rehabilitation of the refuge. Among its 20 images are photos from right after the storm as well as

photos of the West Pond Breach repair and the living shoreline project, which was completed in 2021. The visitor center is free and open to the public Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Gateway celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. The 27,000-acre park spans New York and New Jersey and includes green spaces, beaches, wildlife and more. Q

— Deirdre Bardolf

He said he does not believe the recount will change much nor will there be many overseas ballots as there are not as many servicemen and women deployed as there were in previous times, perhaps some remaining in Europe.

“I’m very confident and I’ve been told to be very confident that the recount is not going to change. And with this amount of votes that at most it will change by two votes because the machines are completely accurate,” Sullivan said last week.

“We’re just looking at it as going on the 11th day after the election and we still hold the lead. We’ll see what comes out of the

“I don’t think this race was truly about me and my work,” Pheffer Amato told the Chronicle on Election Night. “People think about me and think it was about party and some of the issues ... crime and really an anti-Democratic vote.”

Pheffer Amato, who has called herself a conservative Democrat, having voted against recreational marijuana legalization and calling for more NYPD officers in her district, is also the Queens County Democratic Party district leader for Assembly District 23.

Her co-leader, Frank Gulluscio, said the race is a sign of the times and that he is most concerned “that the community wins.”

“What she has brought to the table historically, I don’t want to lose with a minority member in Albany,” Gulluscio told the Chronicle.

Tom Sullivan is ahead of Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato in the race for District 23 by just a handful of votes. PHOTOS BY DAVID RUSSELL, LEFT, AND PETER C. MASTROSIMONE / FILE

“We’ll see what comes out of the courts.”

— Tom Sullivan

Jamaica Bay living shoreline.

PHOTO COURTESY NYC DEP

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Decking the halls in Hamilton Beach

Events and more coming as part of one man’s annual holiday display

by Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

It is starting to look a lot like Christmas — especially in Hamilton Beach.

For the 13th year in a row, Christmas enthusiast Mike Giglio has adorned his home here with an array of vintage and handmade decorations, which will be on view for all to come visit from Nov. 26 to Dec. 31 at 102-24 Rau Court. This year’s theme is “Candy Cane Land.”

“I decorate for my community,” Giglio said. To him, Christmas joy means sharing the love and having peope come to enjoy all his hard work.

He begins on Oct. 1 and as of last week was still making finishing touches.

This year, the Giglio home will be lit up with 1.5 million lights, he said, which will likely come with an electric bill of upwards of $400 for the month.

That is why there is a donation box out front and, for the first time, there will be a Christmas shop set up selling goodies like hats, stockings and antlers to wear.

Seventy percent of the proceeds will go to a selected charity, likely St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Giglio said.

This year, the Home Depot on Rockaway Boulevard donated a tree to add to the display.

There will also be a cupcake giveaway on Dec. 10 from 7 to 10 p.m. with a rain date of Dec. 11 and a visit from Santa Claus on Dec. 17 from 7 to 10 p.m.

The light display will be on every Monday through Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 7 to 11 p.m, weather permitting. Free candy will be given out.

As a child, Giglio said he would pester his

father to string the house with lights and the traditional cross celebrating the birth of Jesus. Now, his display includes a nativity scene, which he said is the “real meaning of Christmas.”

Then, while renting a house in Richmond Hill starting at the age of 19, Giglio began his own decorating tradition.

“I have went from small to very, very big,” he explained.

He went from 400 lights to a thousand and more.

He began collecting vintage decorations from flea markets, like one piece that was given to him when he was 23 years old.

Giglio has made and painted many of the pieces by hand in what can only be imagined as his own North Pole workshop, like a Minnie and Mickey Mouse and Grinch and Cindy Lou Who set.

When his daughters were young, he would tell them, “When Santa Claus flies over our house, no way in hell is he going to miss us.”

Now, passengers on low-flying planes in and out of John F. Kennedy Airport may be able to spot him.

Building a wonderland in southern Queens also comes with other practicalities. Giglio elevates decorations on boards to protect them from flooding, a regular occurrence in Hamilton Beach.

But at 62, he says he does not know how many more Christmases he can participate in. With retirement on the horizon, those interested should get down to see the fun while they can.

Until then, Giglio is once again entering the annual Howard Beach Dads Light Fight, for which more details will be announced soon.

Turkeys fly in Richmond Hill

One hundred frozen turkeys were gobbled up in less than an hour last Thursday outside the Richmond Hill Library, making their way into homes ahead of Thanksgiving.

They were provided by the Queens Center mall and the giveaway was put on by Councilmember Lynn Schulman, Community Board 9 and the 102nd Precinct.

Board Chair Sherry Algredo, above left, and Kevin McAleer, legislative coordinator and constituent liaison for Schulman’s office,

handed out the 10- to 12-pound birds.

Turkeys are in high demand this year as inflation has raised their cost 17 to 20 percent, according to reports, preventing some pantries from being able to provide them.

On Tuesday, Schulman’s office distributed 150 kosher turkeys donated by the Met Council. “On the cusp of such a rough couple of years for many families, this will provide some relief directly into the community,” she said in a statement. — Deirdre Bardolf

CIty budget battle continues

continued from page 2

a direct question in an email from the Chronicle last Friday as to whether she still believes the PEG cuts were made prematurely, instead sending her Nov. 15 comments.

City Comptroller Brad Lander on Monday expressed his wariness with the vacancy reductions in a brief statement.

“When the Administration announced the Program to Eliminate the Gap in September, my office raised concerns regarding the impact on the ability of agencies to serve New Yorkers,” Lander said.

“While we agree that savings are critical as New York City faces economic headwinds, confronting those risks cannot come at the expense of diminishing the City’s capacity to get stuff done,” the comptroller added. “Today’s directive to agencies furthers our concerns about recruiting and retaining the staff needed to implement critical programs from traffic safety improvements to processing housing applications.”

Lander’s statement did not contain alternatives for reducing costs or increasing revenue.

PHOTOS BY DEIRDRE BARDOLF

Can you spot Mike Giglio, Hamilton Beach Christmas lights extraordinaire, among his display of vintage and hand-painted decorations? It is on view starting Nov. 26. PHOTO BY DEIRDRE BARDOLF

EDITORIAL AGEP

No casinos in north Queens

W

Au contraire. It turns out that Cohen and at least some of the Albany decision makers who wield power over the area’s future think a soccer stadium boosts the chances of building a casino. Anything that will draw more people to the area makes the location more appealing for gambling, according to reporting in the New York Post.

No, no, no. This is not how it should be. Only three

e understand if Mets owner Steve Cohen wants to have it all — he’s a billionaire. They tend to want a lot. But a line has to be drawn somewhere. And that line has to be drawn here in Queens. Last week we got the news that a soccer stadium will be built in Willets Point, the Iron Triangle, that slice of land that’s been godforsaken for so long it was immortalized in 1925’s “The Great Gatsby” as the Valley of Ashes (which then included Flushing Meadows too). Great! Goooaaal, we all said. A 25,000-seat arena, paid for by the team that will play there and not the taxpayers, will be a great anchor for a whole new neighborhood. And, this page contended, it will be one more reason not to build a casino in the area, something that’s also been talked about, to the worry of area civic leaders.downstate casino licenses will be granted. Two should go to proven winners: the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway and our own Resorts World New York City at Aqueduct Race Track in South Ozone Park. The third can go to someone somewhere in Manhattan.

Nobody needs to build a second casino in Queens. Resorts World has all the “racino” play you could want, and giving it a full casino license so it can have regular table games would complete the picture. Go pretend that you’re James Bond there, and try not to develop a serious gambling problem. We need that tax revenue Resorts World generates, but we don’t need more degenerates.

We especially don’t need a Willets Point casino if it might go on the scandalously named “Willets West” parcel, aka the Citi Field parking lot, aka part of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. We’ve been over this, all the way up to the state’s highest court: You cannot build on parkland. At least you can’t do so without the state Legislature alienating said parkland. And that’s just bad karma.

It’s also a bad bet. Cohen shouldn’t gamble on getting a casino license for Willets Point or FMCP. Instead he should focus on getting more from the Mets postseason.

NYS’s false vape claim

W

hen the Queens Chronicle asked the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (yes, we have that now, along with a Cannabis Control Board) for a list of those who had won the new licenses to legally sell marijuana, we were really only interested in those from this borough.But the summary of a license winner from Staten Island caught our eye. As with all the others, it noted that the applicant (in this case one of two partners) was “justice-involved,” meaning he had a criminal record. Only those with convictions related to marijuana were granted licenses. They also have to have run a business, and in this person’s case it was a vape shop, which, the OCM said, sold “safe, legally compliant smoke vape products to promote health and leisure.”

Kids, listen up. Vaping is not “safe.” It does not “promote health.” Smoking e-cigarettes is less horrific than smoking regular cigarettes, and can be a step on the road to quitting, but that’s it. It is never good for you. A smoker moving to vaping is a good thing. A nonsmoker taking up vaping is not.

We don’t expect much from an office dedicated to managing legalized pot. But for the state to say something as false as vaping is “safe” and “promotes health” is just frightening.

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR

Losing local trains

Published

I

President & Publisher SUSAN & STANLEY MERZON Founders

Dear Editor:

The MTA has published drafts of its proposed schedule changes to Long Island Rail Road service in the City Zone at bit. ly/3GuhMY6.

If these changes go through, there will be no local service between Kew Gardens and Forest Hills. Trains from those stations will go directly to either Penn Station or Grand Central Station.

Eliminating the connection between Kew Gardens and Forest Hills will be a hardship for anyone who has difficulty climbing stairs. Right now people can easily travel from Kew Gardens to Forest Hills and back because the Kew Gardens station is at ground level and there are ramps at the Forest Hills station. This affects older people, people in wheelchairs, people with young children in strollers, etc., who would have to either take the subway or a bus, or a taxi, which is very expensive. Many people from Kew Gardens travel to Forest Hills for doctors, dentists, shopping, urgent care centers, the library and restaurants.

I don’t think people in our community are aware of these proposed changes. It would be good to get to discuss them before they go into effect.

I hope people will go to the following site — bit.ly/3hTuxBj — and click the link where they can offer their comments to the MTA

about the proposed schedule changes to our LIRR train service. People should also contact their local representatives to be sure they are aware of the situation.

Isabel Stein Kew Gardens Editor’s note: See our article on these plans in most print editions this week or at qchron.com.

Stop barking on parking

Dear Editor:

Re “Citi bikes coming to mid-Queens streets,” Nov. 17, multiple editions: With the approval by the Department of Transportation of the plan for locating 50 Citi Bike docks in Community District 5, Glendale will finally have greater access to this citywide amenity, years after the program started.

As of now, the closest dock for many Glendalians is at Forest Avenue and Summerfield Street. This dock happens to be on a wide sidewalk, not taking up parking spaces — a primary concern of Citi Bike opponents in the district.

It’s unfortunate that DOT could not be more amenable to Councilman Bob Holden’s proposal that would have a greater number of the planned docks be on the sidewalk. But prioritizing street parking already costs this district plenty, potentially sidelining not just Citi Bikes but making bus routes along Myrtle and Metropolitan avenues and 80th Street excruciatingly slow and unreliable. It’s time to set aside anachronistic parking obsessions and make way for other transportation choices in District 5.

Edwin Eppich Glendale

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

MEMBER

at Flushing, N.Y.

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR

At-risk kids, at-risk area

Dear Editor:

Re Sophie Krichevsky’s Nov. 17 report “Safety an issue before NQCHS death”: As a Kew Gardens Hills resident for 78 years, I’m shocked by the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old boy outside a high school close to my home. The midafternoon murder occurred near a busy shopping area and just two blocks away from a daycare center at Vleigh Place and 78th Avenue. Nothing like this has happened in my neighborhood during the eight decades I’ve lived here.

Cops arrested an 18-year-old for criminal possession of a loaded 9mm pistol. He was held on $30,000 bail. The NYPD said Michel is an “alleged member” of the Crips. His alleged victim, Mark Greene, had no criminal record but was affiliated with a gang and trying to break away from it, sources told the New York Daily News.

The shooting raises questions for KGH residents about the danger of more gang violence linked to North Queens Community High School, located on the property of the Queen of Peace Catholic Church on Main Street, but operated by the city Department of Education. It has 124 students enrolled, with a student-teacher ratio of 6-to-1. Sixtyfive percent of NQCHS students are economically disadvantaged, notes U.S. News & World Report in its national high school rankings. This demographic, plus NQCHS’s small enrollment and large student-teacher ratio, suggests that it serves “at risk” students who fail in other schools.

But its presence in KGH puts our neighborhood at risk. Ms. Krichevsky reported that the school’s neighbors complained about students’ unruly behavior before the shooting and are worried about future incidents.

What are DOE officials and the 107th Precinct doing to ensure safety at this school and in its neighborhood? Will KGH’s elected officials, including City Councilman Jim Gennaro, Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal and state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, get involved? Disadvantaged students deserve a good education, but not at the risk of violence and disorder in the areas where they attend school.

Richard Reif Kew Gardens Hills

Thanks for theater coverage

Dear Editor:

The Gingerbread Players are once again deeply grateful for the wonderful coverage you’ve given us in the Chronicle (“Long before ‘real wives,’ the ‘Merry Wives’ schemed,” qboro, Nov. 17. Mark Lord’s writing is always generous and insightful, and our cast members get a big kick out of seeing their names and pictures in the paper.

The Chronicle does community theater in general, and our company in particular, a huge

favor by treating it as a vital part of the local entertainment scene. Thanks for everything!

Dems’ split personalities

Dear Editor:

Your analysis of election results of the New York governor’s, Senate and Assembly races was interesting (“Hochul hammered in competitive Queens races,” Nov. 17). Many voters supported their Democratic legislators while also voting for Republican Lee Zeldin.

Their voting is a bit inconsistent because the progressive-dominated Legislature is more at fault for the increase in crime and other problems than is the governor. The more radical legislators need to be voted out so that there will no longer be a veto-proof majority that enacts the radical laws that are ruining the state.

Michelle Canion Forest Hills

GOP made key gains

Dear Editor:

How ironic that in the same issue where Anthony G. Pilla claims that the Biden ship sank the Trump sailboat (“You sank my babble-ship, Letters, Nov. 17), the Queens Chronicle published a two-page article “Hochul hammered in competitive Queens races.”

It is true that the red wave didn’t turn out as forecast, but it was hardly a rout for Republicans. In New York they flipped four seats, more than any other state. Gov. Hochul’s disastrous results in Queens shows that the Republican Party did connect with voters and has a future. The percentage of the vote that Lee Zeldin got was the highest of any GOP gubernatorial candidate since George Pataki in 1994.

Among many demographics and ZIP codes throughout New York City, including ultraliberal Manhattan, Hochul’s numbers were much lower than usual for a Democrat. The one demographic that made a difference was women ages 18 to 32, with the abortion issue supreme among them.

They fell for the scare tactics of the Democrats, who virtually ignored the crime issue, repeating and repeating the Jan. 6 incident and falsely claiming that Republicans would prohibit abortion. They never once stated that in New York abortion is legal. As I ride the subways, walk the streets or shop in stores, crime is utmost on my mind. I hardly board a train worrying that abortion may be banned.

It wasn’t a red wave, more of a pink ripple. The GOP did win control of the House of Representatives. A Republican majority, however slim, essentially makes all of President Biden’s proposals dead on arrival. But if any real good comes from it, Anthony, it is that the era of “Rules made for thee, but not for me,” may finally be over. The policy of censure, reprimand, defamation and impeachment of Republicans while entirely ignoring the same behavior or transgressions by Democrats may finally, thankfully, have come to an end.

Edward Riecks Howard Beach

Specialty Cigars

Louise Guinther Co-chair,

The Gingerbread Players of St. Luke’s Church Forest Hills

CB 9 calls for QPL audit, investigation

Library project not yet turned over to DDC; expected to begin in 2024

by Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

Community Board 9 has requested that the cit y Comptroller’s Office conduct an investigation into the delays surrounding renovations of the Richmond Hill Queens Public Library branch and an audit to see how much will actually be needed to complete the project.

“There appears to be a very serious problem with the implementation of this project,” the board wrote in a letter that was sent earlier this week.

The letter states that the renovations were first proposed in 2016 and were fully funded by the QPL as a “pass-through” project.

“We never even asked for a renovation,” said Seth Wellins, chair of the board’s Education Committee. “They came with plans and told us that they wanted to renovate the library, and the plans were beautiful.”

“In between that initial meeting where they introduced this whole renovation plan and now, it’s just been chaotic. We can’t get any real information.”

At one point, he said, all the books were removed to start renovations that never happened, and then were replaced with books from a different library.

Additionally, several parties including the board and the city Comptroller’s Office were under the impression that the project was

being handed off to the city Department of Design and Construction.

It is set to be, said Lisi de Bourbon, director of communications for the library, because the QPL realized it could not be funded with its operating budget and instead needs capital funding, calling for DDC involvement.

“The reason they’re not managing it yet is that we haven’t turned over the design yet,” de Bourbon told the Chronicle. “It’s going to be a DDC project.”

The project is currently in the design phase, she explained, which is expected to be completed in summer 2023, with construction anticipated to begin in spring 2024 and end in spring 2027.

The pandemic presented numerous challenges to the process, she added, contributing to the delay.

“We look forward to providing the community with a modernized branch that will meet the public’s learning and information needs,” de Bourbon said via email.

The board and Councilmember Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills) said they were last told work would begin in 2023.

“I toured the library a month or two ago and it’s in great need of work,” said Schulman.

HB not entertained by ‘Law & Order’ mention

by Deirdre Bardolf Associate Editor

Some Howard Beach residents are demanding an apology from “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” producers and NBC for what they are calling an insult to the community.

On an episode of the show, “A Better Person,” which aired last Thursday, the character Sgt. Fin Tutuola, played by actor and rapper Ice-T, said Howard Beach is “racist, sexist and phobic of just about everything.”

The premise of the episode was that a killer went after transgender women, leading a grieving father to realize too late that he should have accepted his daughter for who she was, according to the television news site TV Fanatic.

A post on the Howard Beach Dads Facebook page following the episode’s airing garnered nearly 500 comments as of publication.

“What a horrible thing to say about any neighborhood,” commented one user.

Many called for a response from local elected officials.

Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) penned a letter to the network, SVU

producers and actress Mariska Hargitay, who plays Captain Olivia Benson.

“We as a community are by no means anything like the words spoken, and to continue to label us as such is unfair and, in fact, defamatory,” Ariola wrote.

“This community deserves an apology and we eagerly await your response,” she said.

Her office has not yet received a response but got over 55 retweets of the letter.

“It has been decades since the specter of hatred unfairly labeled our community,” she said, referencing past racial bias attacks.

Others in the community had different perspectives on the episode.

“Respectfully, at the beginning of every show there is an entire disclaimer that the story is fictional,” said one Twitter user.

“While there are threads of truth borrowed from reality and inspiration taken from ‘real world’ events, it’s still a fictional television show.”

Another commented on the Facebook post, “Unfortunately exactly what he said is exactly how people act around here.”

NBC did not respond to a request for comment.

“I need to push now to make sure they don’t push it back yet again,” she said, continuing, “My office is working with the community board anyway and particularly with the chair and, and we’re trying to work with the library itself.” Also a priority for her is renovating the Rego Park branch.

The community board’s letter criticized the DDC transfer as causing further delays and increasing the cost, which the members said

went from $7 million to $16.3 million.

They also slammed what they consider “unsatisfactory communications” with library staff, stating that there were supposed to be periodic meetings and updates but that those have “pretty much vanished.”

“There’s just been lack of communication, lack of transparency, which leads to a complete disrespect and a complete disregard for the community board,” Chair Sherry Algredo told the Chronicle. “The community deserves better.”

The library says there is “an open line of communications with the community board” and that it has “been in contact as recently as May 2022 and September 2022.”

“What we’re left with now is a lot of unanswered questions,” said Wellins. “One of them has to do with providing library services during this proposed renovation.”

The board does not want temporary trailers or library vans, which they were told at one point would be the case.

“Other libraries undergoing renovatons were able to lease swing sites that provided limited but effective services,” the letter states.

Turkeys run wild for holiday

Over 180 turkeys were distributed in Woodhaven last Friday thanks to Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, above right, and the Zara Charitable Foundation, Zara Reality’s philanthropic arm. The Cityline Ozone Park Civilian Patrol and the Richmond Hill-South Ozone Park Lions Club also volunteered for the event.

“Since I was a child, my family proudly celebrated the great American tradition of Thanksgiving,” Rajkumar said in a prepared

statement. “Prices of turkeys are higher than ever this year with record inflation, so my office has stepped in to provide the turkeys for free,” she continued. Her efforts continued through the week including giveaways in South Ozone Park and at PS 254.

“Zara practices what we believe through acts of compassion to help our community strengthen the bonds that make them family,” said founder Jay Sobhraj.

PHOTO COURTESY NYS ASSEMBLY

The Richmond Hill Library

PHOTO BY DEIRDRE BARDOLF

Turkeys and more in giveaway

The River Fund distributed food and supplies — including turkey, chicken, shrimp, other groceries and winter coats — to 2,500 families in Richmond Hill on Saturday.

“It was freezing cold outside, and yet there was such a long line of families being blessed with so much from River Fund who is always at the front line of fighting food insecurity for families here in Queens,”

Community Board 9 Chair Sherry Algredo, above at left, said in a statement.

She is joined here by Anthony Lemma from the office of Assemblymember David Weprin, state Sen. Leroy Comrie, River Fund Director of Empowerment Services Karina Izquierdo and River Fund founder Swami Durga-Das.

— Sean Okula

PHOTOS BY SHERRY ALGREDO

Chronicle Toy Drive spreads holiday cheer

Donations of toys, gifts go to residents of homeless shelters in the borough

by Michael Gannon Senor News Editor

At the North Pole, like just about everywhere else these days, St. Nick’s workshop is dealing with many of the same routine matters as lots of small businesses from arranging holiday work schedules to supply chain and shipping issues.

And once again, the Queens Chronicle is reaching out to those who would like to be Santa’s helpers this year with its 26th annual Toy Drive to brighten the holiday season for children, teens and families who are living in Queens homeless shelters.

The Chronicle is requesting donations of new, unused, unwrapped toys, games, puzzles, art supplies and other items for boys and girls of all ages from babies up to teenagers.

shelters across the borough

The deadline for donations is Monday, Dec. 19.

All gift items can be brought to the Queens Chronicle office at 71-19 80 St., Suite 8-201, at The Shops at Atlas Park mall in Glendale during business hours: Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The office is above Home Goods, and one enters the building where the sign says The Offices at Market Plaza.

QueensChronicle’s

26th Annual

Age-appropriate donations for older teens, who can sometimes get overlooked in the holiday giving scramble, can also include things like clothes, hats, gloves and scarves for the coming winter, cosmetics, personal care items and gift cards.

The Chronicle is collecting the gifts now and will distribute them to a number of

Donations also can be dropped off at the district offices of the following elected officials during their regular office hours:

• State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr., 159-53 102 St. in Howard Beach;

• Assemblyman Ed Braunstein at 213-33 39 Ave., Suite 238, in Bayside;

• Councilman Bob Holden at 58-38 69 St. in Maspeth;

• Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar at 83-91 Woodhaven Blvd. in Woodhaven: and

• Councilwoman Joann Ariola at 93-06 101 Ave. in Ozone Park.

Anyone seeking more information on the toy drive is asked to call the Chronicle’s Stela Barbu at (718) 205-8000. Q

Queens Chronicle Associate Editors Sean Okula, left, Deirdre Bardolf and Sophie Krichevsky show off some of the early donations to the newspaper’s 26th annual Holiday Toy Drive, which collects toys and gifts for children and teens in homeless shelters. Gifts should be new and unwrapped, and can be brought to the Chronicle’s office in Glendale or left at the district offices of a number of elected officials in Queens.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL GANNON

Rinse of tides: Flood-prone area has hope in sea gates

Samantha Maldonado THE CITY

This article was originally published on Nov. 18 at 5:00 a.m. EDT by THE CITY

Ever since Superstorm Sandy ravaged his neighborhood of Hamilton Beach, Roger Gendron has been pushing for a comprehensive project to protect against flooding.

Not only was the southern Queens enclave wracked by the hurricane 10 years ago, but it also experiences up to a foot of tidal flooding on a near monthly basis — made worse by full or new moons.

So Gendron, president of the New Hamilton Beach Civic Association, was shocked and delighted in September to learn the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed constructing storm surge gates on either side of Old Howard Beach — at the mouths of Hawtree Basin and Shellbank Basin — as part of a potential $52 billion regional coastal resilience plan.

“You can only imagine how happy I was,” said Gendron, when he read a news report about the plan. “I asked my wife to read it, and she goes, ‘Oh! It’s your flood gates!’”

These gates, along with a series of berms, or mounds of earth, could help reduce flood risk in the adjoining neighborhoods in the event of another storm like Sandy — or worse, thanks to rising sea levels.

And, as Gendron hopes, the project could also mitigate the kind of flooding the area experiences on a regular basis from high tides.

“Not only should we not have to live like that ... the people who come to our communities should not have to live like that,” he said.

Gendron has been leading the charge in his neighborhood, helping people adapt their lives around the nuisance flooding, and organizing them to call on the government to take preventive measures.

Now he’s scheduled community meetings to ensure he and his neighbors can be a “squeaky wheel” to ensure the Army Corps project comes to fruition.

Hamilton Beach, a tiny strip of blocks a stone’s throw from Kennedy Airport, is easy to overlook. Yet

locals’ experience there serves as an example of the type of flooding other waterfront communities around the city are dealing with — or soon will face — even without storms or intense rainfall.

Tidal waves

Fewer than 8,000 people live in the census tract that encompasses Hamilton Beach and Old Howard Beach, which are dotted with mostly singlefamily homes. Some houses directly face the water, and many of those that don’t still have boats parked in their driveways or nearby streets.

There are two high and two low tides a day, with roughly five feet of height difference between them. But during new or full moons, when the pull on the tides is strongest due to aligned lunar and solar gravitational fields, the water level during high tide can rise a foot or more over other times of month.

Gendron and many of his neighbors have already noticed the increased flooding frequency over his 60 years in Hamilton Beach. He said that streets in the area see flooding during about six months of the year, but he remembers that decades ago, it used to happen in only about two or three months.

Water pours into streets, lapping at porch steps and sometimes seeping into ground-level doors.

Gendron’s observation aligns with national trends: On an annual basis, occurrences of tidal flooding have increased more than twofold around the U.S. since the 2000s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has a tool showing areas that experience such rising water.

“Anybody who lives in this area understands we’re gonna get flooding,” Gendron said. “There are times you live your life by the tides.”

Over the last century, however, the sea level off New York City’s coasts has risen faster than other averages. It rose nearly a foot — about twice the global average — and because of climate change, experts predict tidal flooding to become more frequent and severe.

By the 2050s, climate scientists pre-

dict, the sea level will rise between about two-thirds of a foot to 2.5 feet over the norm in the early aughts.

By 2080, much of Hamilton Beach, Old Howard Beach and eastern New Howard Beach will be flooded during high tide, according to estimates from the Department of City Planning Flood Hazard Mapper.

The upside-down U-shape of the upper Jamaica Bay shoreline amplifies the effect, said Mark Wysocki, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University.

“You’d be concentrating the waves of water into a certain location and unfortunately, that actually adds to extra rising motion. You get higher tidal waves,” Wysocki said. “As we start getting these storms, the winds are working on a higher sea level. They can push that water higher up as they come on shore, and therefore that’s what we’re adding to the tide.”

‘Ultimately they will have to leave’ Gendron has long beat the drum on the idea of flood gates and berms to shield Hamilton Beach from the worst of flooding. He sat in meetings with the Army Corps after Sandy to talk about project development.

In 2018, the Army Corps signaled it would not install flood gates or other protections for the area. Shortly after, Gendron started an online peti-

tion asking the Army Corps to build a resiliency project along northern Jamaica Bay. He traveled to Stamford in 2019 with a group of elected officials to learn more about the Connecticut city’s flood protection system. And he’s been organizing gatherings and rallies through a group he founded called Protect Our Community — including a meeting last weekend on the Army Corps’ most recent plan.

The Corps did not return requests for comment.

The projects require federal, state and local approval, and would not be complete until 2044. Key details also still need to be ironed out, including establishing a threshold for closing the gates. Gendron hopes that will be when there’s an exceptionally high tide predicted, not just for storms.

Closing the gates for every high tide, though, may lead to “a gate system that’s maybe operating more often than it was designed to do,” said Eric Sanderson, a senior conservation scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society. He argued some neighborhoods should perhaps cede to nature.

“I worry about those [technological] things because I think they just encourage people to stay in places I think ultimately they will have to leave,” Sanderson said.

A citywide concern

In the meantime, Gendron posts high-tide times, height estimates and flood warnings on neighborhood Facebook groups — where neighbors upload photos of each flood — and in a monthly paper newsletter. He knows to expect flooding when the tide will reach about 7.5 feet. Sometimes the tidal flooding takes the neighbors by surprise. Any garbage they put out may float away.

But residents plan for the high tides as much as possible, parking their cars on higher ground, leaving for work or school slightly earlier and

scheduling block parties only during specific weekends. The timing of the tidal flooding tends to change with the seasons — at night in the summer and in the mornings in the winter. But even with planning, the tidal flooding can be disruptive.

“If I get flooding from a high tide, it could be five hours,” Gendron said. “If you have a doctor’s appointment down Cross Bay Boulevard and it’s a high tide, you’re not getting through… Our biggest concern, too, is any event we do get, any type of storm or tide issue where somebody down the block is having a heart attack.”

The only way out of the neighborhood by car is 102nd Street, which runs north to south, parallel to the Howard Beach/JFK A train stop, and takes on water during high tides.

“You just have to wait, or you ruin your car, one way or the other,” said Annett Sverdlik, a risk analyst and Hamilton Beach resident of over 15 years. “I’ll just drive through and wash the car. You don’t have a choice if you’ve gotta be somewhere.”

Other neighborhoods around the city experience tidal flooding too, like City Island in the Bronx and parts of the Rockaways, like the bay side of Beach 84th Street. Two sensors are located in Hamilton Beach to measure floodwaters. They’re part of FloodNet, a project between City Hall and university partners that will eventually consist of 500 sensors that track the frequency and depth of floods using ultrasonic technology.

In a related project known as Community Flood Watch, New Yorkers across the city submit photos of flooding and information about local conditions, which can reveal where tidal flooding occurs.

And the data and details collected from the flooding will be instructive for many other coastal neighborhoods that stand to see similar tidal flooding on a regular basis in the near future too, like Coney Island.

“The challenge is translating that to the future,” said Katie Graziano, a coastal resilience specialist for New York Sea Grant — a NOAA-funded research and education program of SUNY and Cornell — who runs the Flood Watch project in partnership with the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, run by Brooklyn College.

“There’s so much concern that this is really happening,” Graziano said. “This is affecting communities, and I’m always trying to figure out ways to effectively communicate that it’s gonna get worse, and we have to prepare for that.” Q

“THE CITY (www.thecity.nyc) is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.”

A house sits off Hawtree Basin near Jamaica Bay, left; New Hamilton Beach Civic Association President Roger Gendron sits at an outdoor bar at his house on July 14, 2022.

PHOTOS BY SAMANTHA MALDONADO / THE CITY

An NYC Planning map shows projected high-tide flooding by the year 2080 around Hamilton Beach, just west of Kennedy Airport.

SCREENSHOT / NYC FLOOD HAZARD MAPPER / THE CITY

Students learning to save cardiac victims

Dominic Murray died at 17; his mother vowed to help others in his memory

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

Forty seventh- and eighth-graders at Resurrection Ascension Catholic Academy in Rego Park have learned how to save lives.

Instructors with the Dominic A. Murray 21 Memorial Foundation visited the school last Friday to teach the children how to perform CPR, use an automatic external defibrillator to help an irregularly beating heart and to recognize someone who might show warning signs

of sudden cardiac arrest.

Dominic’s mother, Melinda Murray-Nyack, was one of the instructors.

Dominic Murray, 17, was a freshman at SUNY-Farmingdale in 2009 when he went up for a routine layup in a pickup basketball game in the gym, something he had done countless times playing for Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in East Elmhurst.

“He collapsed on the court,” Murray-Nyack said. “No one knew what to do right away. No one started CPR right away. No one got the life-saving [automatic external defibrillator] that was right outside the gym as precious minutes passed.”

An autopsy revealed Dominic had an underlying heart condition that had never been detected in childhood physicals or medical exams that had been required for him to play sports.

“But an EKG was never performed,” Murray-Nyack said. Dominic died three years after his father died of a heart attack.

“I couldn’t just sit around and not do something.”

She started the foundation, which has provided CPR training to 26,000 people.

“It’s 26,040 now,” she told the Chronicle in an interview on Friday. The students aren’t officially certified — “That’s a three hour course,” she said — but Principal Joann Heppt

said the day was a great success.

“One of the parents of my seventh-graders is friends with Melinda,” Heppt said. “She came to me and asked if we could do this.”

Heppt didn’t have to be asked twice.

“I thought it was a great idea,” she said.

She said the students all received a kit from the American Heart Association that included the mannequin each used to train on CPR and can keep.

“And they can bring back everything they learned and show their parents,” Heppt said.

The foundation also donated an AED to the school — one that talks someone through the procedure to help a patient in distress.

Murray-Nyack said the foundation’s trainees have saved four lives.

But she also said 23,000 people under 18 die of sudden cardiac arrest every year, a number she believes to be underreported.

Her foundation’s screenings have diagnosed 6,000 children and young adults with underlying heart conditions. The state recently passed Dominic’s Law, which requires every school to

teach staff, parents and students about sudden cardiac arrest, particularly athletics coaches.

“Kids are dying and they don’t have to die,” Murray-Nyack said. “It’s unacceptable ... You can’t find it with a stethoscope. That’s 200-plus-year-old technology that doesn’t really do what we need to do in this case.”

She said once various cases are diagnosed, treatment can range from lifestyle change to medical intervention.

“But first it has to be recognized.” Q

High School Highlights

Jon Rosen instructs Resurrection Ascension Catholic Academy students on use of an automatic external defibrillator that talks users through the process. PHOTOS COURTESY RACA

Fara Grzybek shows the mannequin students received to continue practicing their training.

First responders and the death of a child

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

It wasn’t supposed to end this way.

The Office of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz on Monday charged Shaquan Butler with murder in the Nov. 13 death of his 3-year-old son, also named Shaquan, at a family homeless shelter in Elmhurst, the same charge filed by police from the 110th Precinct after their investigation led to his arrest.

Deputy Inspector John Portalatin, commanding officer of the precinct, said cases involving the death of a child can be harder to take in a profession that requires a certain amount of toughness.

“When we first get there, officers are responding with the assumption the baby is choking,” Portalatin said. “It happens enough — a child anywhere from 2 years old to younger chokes on things. You get there. EMS is right behind you. You administer CPR or you go after whatever is in the throat. We get it out of there so the baby is breathing again.

“In this particular case, when you get there and the baby isn’t breathing, you take him to the hospital. We escorted the [ambulance]. They worked on him for a long time. When you find out the baby can’t be resuscitated, it’s devastating,

regardless of the cause.”

Reports say first responders to the 911 call were initially told little Shaqaun choked on a chicken nugget, fell and hit his head.

But he was covered in bruises on his head, torso, arms and legs. Katz, in a press release from her office, said the medical examiner found that Shaquan suffered from significant internal bleeding and died as a result of blunt force trauma to his torso.

Portalatin said the outcome can’t help but impact the entire response team.

“The reason we become police officers is to save all lives — if we don’t do it, who will?” he said. “Any loss of life is terrible. But when it is a small child, it can magnify it that much more. Luckily, my officers are veterans. Unfortunately, they’ve seen this before. We’ve seen this a lot more than we’d like to admit.”

He said there are protocols in place both formal and otherwise for those who might be affected by a case more than usual.

“We have services. We have the brotherhood,” Portalatin said. “We take the time to make sure they’re OK. My job as CO, I

Relative arrested in Friday triple killing

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

Police have apprehended a 22-year-old suspect in relation to a triple killing taking place in Springfield Gardens on Friday.

The man is alleged to have killed his 65-year-old grandmother, Hyacinth Brown-Johnson, his 47-year-old aunt, Latoya Gordon, and his 26-year-old stepaunt, Patrice Johnson. The youngest of the victims suffered from cerebral palsy, according to a police spokesperson. The New York Post reports she was bedridden.

Police say the 22-year-old suspect was arrested in Virginia. He is awaiting extradition and charges against him are pending.

The Post reports the Brown-Johnson’s son showed up to the 146-39 182 St. residence, where the bodies were found around 8 a.m. He didn’t have a key and knocked on the door but received no answer, so he waited until a home health aide that cared for Johnson arrived with a key later that morning.

When the son and the aide made it

inside, they found the bodies of the victims.

Police say they received a call around 10:40 a.m., and upon arrival at the scene discovered the three victims, unconscious and unresponsive with signs of trauma to their bodies. Emergency medical services pronounced them dead at the scene.

Police say the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is to determine the cause of death for each victim. The Post reports they died as a result of stab wounds. Q

spend time with the officers. They’re all OK, though they’re upset and disappointed because they couldn’t save a life.”

The officers’ supervisor, a sergeant, also checks to see that they are OK.

“And I check with him to make sure he’s OK,” Portalatin said. “No detective wants to investigate this type of job. You can vent. You can scream. And we see a lot of good on the job too. Thankfully, this type of thing doesn’t happen too often.”

Katz’s office said Butler has been charged with two counts of seconddegree murder, two counts of firstdegree manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.

“A defenseless young child’s life was brutally snatched from him before it even began in most ways; a case that is equal parts heartbreaking and disturbing,” Katz said. “As alleged, the defendant is responsible for this brutal death and my office will be sure to secure justice in this innocent child’s memory.”

Butler faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the most serious charges.

The boy had two younger siblings, ages 2

years and 11 months, according to the Daily News. They were living in the Boulevard Family Residence, the old Pan American Hotel, on Queens Boulevard.

The Daily News also reported last week that the city’s Administration for Children’s Services had removed Shaquan and his siblings in September, but returned them to their parents last month. An ACS spokesperson contacted by the Chronicle Thursday declined to comment on that report.

“Our top priority is protecting the safety and wellbeing of all children in New York City. We are investigating this case with NYPD,” she said in an email.

The boy’s mother has not been charged in the case. Sources told the Chronicle that Little Shaquan’s father had 24 arrests on file, and his mother five.

The city’s Department of Social Services did not respond to an email with seven questions regarding policies and requirements for monitoring the safety of children in the shelter system; monitoring of children who have previously been separated from their parents by ACS; and requirements it has or does not have for shelter operators to monitor children’s safety.

Messages left with Samaritan Daytop Village, which runs the shelter, were not returned.

Alleged bus hijacker indicted on 11 counts

by Sean Okula Associate Editor

A joyride of more than 30 blocks could cost a Southeast Queens man a quarter-century in prison.

Last month’s Cambria Heights bus hijacking suspect, 44-year-old Dwayne Gaddy of St. Albans, was indicted on 11 counts last Wednesday, including kidnapping and robbery.

If convicted, he faces up to 25 years behind bars.

“If not for the quick-thinking bus driver remaining calm and collected under pressure, the outcome would have been far worse,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “We cannot allow confidence in our public transit system to be undermined and will not let this brazen lawlessness go unanswered in Queens County.”

Gaddy took control of the bus on the morning of Oct. 27 around 197th Street after alleging he was being chased and brandishing a firearm at the vehicle, according to prosecutors. The bus driver let the 30 passengers off before obeying Gaddy’s commands and driving the bus down

PHOTO BY ARTHUR TRAVERSO / FILE

Linden Boulevard, they said.

After attempting to reason with the hijacker, the driver jumped out of the driver’s side window around 231st Street. Gaddy allegedly assumed control of the vehicle for a few blocks, before crashing into a utility pole between 233rd and 234th streets.

Power was knocked out to the surrounding residents for much of the morning and afternoon, before being restored around dinner time, per Con Ed’s outage map.

The driver was treated for bruising to the elbow and hip and lacerations to his arm and finger, plus substantial pain.

Gaddy is due back in court on Dec. 15.

The 182nd Street house in Springfield Gardens at which three women were found dead on Friday.

GOOGLE MAPS IMAGE

Dwayne Gaddy, the alleged hijacker of a bus in Cambria Heights, was indicted last week.

Precinct CO says loss of a young life can magnify a tragedy on the job

“It’s devastating, regardless of the cause.”

— Deputy Inspector John Portalatin on investigating the death of a child

$67M Flushing pool still closed months after repairs

by Haidee Chu

THE CITY

This article was originally published on Nov. 21 at 4:41 a.m. EDT by THE CITY

Nearly three years after the Flushing Meadows Corona Aquatic Center’s Olympic-caliber pool closed for what was supposed to be “at least six weeks” for an emergency roof repair, it remains off limits to the public as the Department of Parks and Recreation struggles to repair its unique movable floor.

Parks said in a City Council oversight hearing last December that the pool at the 14-year-old, $67 million facility — built as part of New York City’s unsuccessful bid to host the 2012 Olympics — would reopen by January or February 2022. But while the emergency roof repair was completed in July 2021, the pool remains closed with the department’s site now reporting that the closure is “due to needed repairs to the movable floor” that’s designed to move up and down to accommodate diving as well as swimming.

Whirling machine sounds reverberated from the direction of the pool when THE CITY visited the center on Tuesday as a father rushed in looking for a swim meet

for his two children waiting in the car — only to be told he was at the wrong location.

“This part of the building is closed, that’s why we have this thing here,” Ashley Bernal, the facility’s deputy director, told THE CITY as she pointed to a black belt cordoning off a section of the chlorine-scented lobby.

Construction work on the floor began this September. Yet the Parks Department capital project tracker shows the $500,000 fix

marked as “0% complete.”

Parks spokesperson Dan Kastanis told THE CITY the department plans to reopen the pool around January 2023, before closing it again for 12 to 18 months starting in the summer of 2024 for a complete reconstruction of its roof along with its HVAC and dehumidification systems. In the meantime, safety netting installed onto the ceiling in early 2020 would remain in place to catch concrete shedding from the roof.

Progress on repairing the movable floor has been slow, one source familiar with the project said, because it’s a custom item that does not exist in any other Parksrun aquatic facility and requires specialized materials that are not widely available. The parts are expected to arrive in December and be installed shortly after, the source said.

In the meantime, Queens swimmers who depend on Parks pools have been left high and dry, with outdoor pools closed for the winter season and the only other indoor pool in the borough — a much smaller one located at the Roy Wilkins Recreation Center in St. Albans — also closed for maintenance since late September.

“We are committed to reopening this beloved facility to the community,” Kastanis told THE CITY about the Aquatic Center. “We never close facilities unless absolutely necessary, and these repairs are essential — they must be done to ensure everyone’s safety for future use.”

High and dry Pool users locked out for nearly three years are running out of patience.

“It’s sad that this pool is still closed waiting for [the] wheels of bureaucracy to turn. Our kids, seniors and rest of us need a place to swim and exercise,” reads a onestar Google review of the Aquatic Center from user Line Push.

“This is our pool and we want it reopened because as it sits unopened it’ll decay and then it will never reopen,” another one-star review from user The Marclan reads.

While Parks presently has no indoor pools the public can use in Queens, Manhattan has five, all south of 61st Street, while a sixth, at the Hansborough Recreation Center on West 134th Street, has been closed for repairs since May 2019.

“I think that precisely reflects the scale of the inequity here and the problems that we’re talking about,” said Councilmember Shekar Krishnan (D-Jackson Heights), who chairs the City Council Committee on Parks and Recreation and represents Jackson Heights and Elmhurst.

He added that pool access is “fundamentally a racial justice issue” and that the Flushing pool is widely used and loved by Queens’ immigrant communities.

“The fact that we don’t have our continued on page 20

Most people only have until December 7 th to enroll in a plan

not discriminate on the basis of ra ce, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. ATTENTION: If you speak a non-English language or require assistance in ASL, language assistance services, free of charge, are available to you. Call 1-800-353-3765 (TTY: 711). Elderplan/HomeFirst cumple con las leyes federales de derechos civiles aplicables y no discrimina por motivos de raza, color, nacionalidad, edad, discapacidad o s exo. ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-800-353-3765 [TTY: 711]. Elderplan/HomeFirst 1-800-353-3765 [TTY: 711] H3347_EP17357_M

Flushing Meadows Corona Aquatic Center’s Olympic-caliber pool.

PHOTO COURTESY NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION / THE CITY

Op-ed authors wrong on school $ facts and focus

by Michael Athy

An opinion piece published in the Queens Chronicle Nov. 17, entitled “Asian students under attack, again by DOE” and authored by two self-described “public school parents and co-founders of the Asian Wave Alliance, who reside in Whitestone and Forest Hills, respectively,” requires more correction than space permits, but allow me to address its most egregious misstatements.

The writers claim that more than 300 Department of Education high schools receive additional monies under what’s known as “portfolio funding,” including 25 specialized audition schools. In reality, there are 116 portfolio schools: 46 career and technical education; 13 specialized academic; six specialized audition; and 51 transfer schools.

Ironically, five of the 13 “specialized academic” schools receiving this funding are not specialized as they do not use the SHSAT for admissions; 10 of them are not considered specialized under the New York State Hecht Calandra Act.

The argument that the 13 schools receiving specialized academic portfolio funding serve primarily low-income students falls flat when we consider that only 0.7 percent of them qualify for Title I funding compared with 91 percent of all other high schools. The average Economics Need Indices of these schools is 42.3 percent vs. the citywide high school average of 77.25 percent. The unquantifiable amounts spent on prep academies and tutors to gain admissions into these schools is another indicator of family income levels.

The argument that the 13 schools receiving specialized academic portfolio funding are lower funded is also a canard as they receive an average of 102 percent of their Fair Student Funding allocations per pupil for the exact same students for which every other high school finally, after 14 years, gets 100 percent. The fact that these schools purposefully exclude students with disabilities (6.9 percent average vs citywide 20.9 percent); English language learners (0.18 percent average vs. citywide 14.39 percent) and students in temporary housing (2.2 percent average vs. citywide 12.35 percent) who bring them with additional weighted funds is by these 13 schools’ own design and their exclusionary admissions policies.

Students identifying as “Asian” account for an average of 44.18 percent of each of these 13 schools’ enrollments compared to the citywide average of 10.23 percent. Only seven of these 13 schools appear among the 19 DOE schools with highest percentages of Asian students enrolled.

Beyond the factual misrepresentations, the Nov.17 piece goes on to accuse the members of the Chancellor’s Budget Working Group of wanting “to defund advanced aca-

demics”; of being “activists who have been very vocal and aggressive in their attempts to eliminate the Specialized High School Admissions Test, remove screened admissions to middle and high schools, and eliminate the Gifted and Talented programs” now using “this latest tactic to defund advanced academic programs.” It also accuses the group of racism and criticizes the way its members were selected.

As a member of the budget group, albeit a dissenting one, I can confirm there was no discussion of the SHSAT, screened programs for middle or high schools or Gifted and Talented programs. The group’s focus was restricted to FSF. Nor, with its membership list posted on the DOE website, was the group dominated by “activists” unless one considers members of community education councils, citywide councils, the Panel for Educational Policy, the City Council, the Comptroller’s Office, the UFT and the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators to all be “activists.” Rather, several of us found the group’s final report to be a ringing endorsement of the status quo.

There was nothing opaque about the group’s formation unless the Nov. 17 authors consider any group they cannot dominate to be opaque. Their allegations of anti-Asian racism must be particularly hurtful to the members who are of Asian origin or descent and I will take this opportunity to apologize to them on behalf of the Nov. 17 article’s authors. Calls of “racism” is an old dog, but sadly some hope that it still hunts.

In all candor, several members of the group disagreed vehemently with the group’s approach, limitations and resulting report. Some of us were not able to sign off on the Group Report, including its recommendation concerning the 13 specialized academic high schools. Our Minority Report is posted on the DOE’s website and, among other recommendations, it details a plan to spread accelerated learning throughout the system — including incentives for high-achieving middle and high schools.

While we, the dissenting members of the budget group, disagree with the “Official Report,” the slanderous attacks on the group’s members contained in the opinion piece published in the Queens Chronicle cannot be allowed to stand uncorrected. Q

Michael Athy is an educator who retired in February 2022 after 13 years as principal of a large DOE high school, served on the Chancellor’s Budget Working Group, remains active on educational and civic concerns and lives in Queens.

RENDERING COURTESY INNOVATION

Deal! Council passes Innovation QNS plan

$2B project to bring apartments, affordable housing, more to Astoria

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

The City Council on Tuesday voted to approve Innovation QNS, a $2 billion, fiveblock development project that will bring 3,200 apartments, including more than 1,400 set aside as affordable, along 35th Avenue.

The consortium of Kaufman Astoria Studios, Silverstein Properties and Bed Rock Real Estate Partners also is promising to deliver business and retail, community space and more than two acres of connected green space including a public park.

The project was the source of contention in recent months.

Councilwoman Julie Won (D-Sunnyside) was holding out for more than the 1,100 affordable units being offered by developers, calling for up to 55 percent of the project to get the permanent designation.

A deal that gave the developers nearly 400 more apartments than was planned included an increase of about 300 more affordable units.

A total of 500 will be permanently set aside as deeply affordable under city housing definitions.

“From Day 1, I have stood with my community in demanding deeper affordability from this development — and because we held the line, the Innovation QNS project has doubled the number of affordable units than initially offered, from 711 to 1,436 affordable units,” Won said in a press release. “In our negotiations, I never once compromised on the level of affordability ... as these homes have to be accessible to the current residents of the neighborhood: immigrants, working class families, and our growing number of unhoused neighbors.”

Queens Borough President Donovon Richards, who traded barbs with Won for weeks during negotiations, was in a celebratory mood Tuesday

“This day is not about votes, percentages or politics — it’s about Astoria families teetering on the brink of eviction,” Richards said in his own statement.

“It’s about children doing their homework tonight in a homeless shelter and seniors being priced out of the only community they’ve ever lived in,” he said. “That is who this day and this transformational project belongs to.”

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) applauded passage, along with that of a Brooklyn development that will raise the number of new apartments to more than 5,000.

“With today’s approval of Innovation QNS and Innovative Urban Village, we are delivering affordable housing and unprecedented public benefits for the residents of Brooklyn, Queens, and the entire city,” Adams said.

“These projects affirm the Council’s deep commitment to confronting the city’s housing shortage by securing safe, stable, and affordable homes for New Yorkers.”

The project is slated to bring 12 buildings of various heights and functions to sites between 37th and 43rd streets on properties that now are used largely for parking lots and industrial purposes.

A movie theater in the area will be rebuilt. Approximately six apartments exist in the development area, with developers saying residents will have the choice of taking up residence in new apartments. It will be built blocks at a time, and could take up to a decade to complete.

The Innovation QNS development now is a done deal, with the City Council signing off on the $2 billion project on Tuesday.

City needs snow laborers

Looking to make a few extra bucks this winter? The city Department of Transportation has you covered: The agency is hiring snow laborers to help remove ice and snow from bus stops, fire hydrants, crosswalks and more as the city prepares for winter weather.

Laborers will be paid $17 per hour, and, after working for 40 hours in a week, will see their wages go up to $25.50 per hour.

Applicants must be 18 or older, be eligible to work in the United States and be capable of heavy physical work. Registration appointments, which may be booked at nyc.gov/ html/dot/html/about/snow-removallaborers, are available at various DOT locations throughout the borough. Those include 139-09 Brookville Blvd. in Rosedale, 32-11 Harper St. in Willets Point, 78-88 Park Drive East in Flushing and 5-40 44th Drive and 42-00 Vernon Blvd. in Long Island City.

Applicants should bring two 1-by1/2 inch photos of themselves, two forms of ID with copies, a Social Security card and proof of having gotten at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Q

Taxi, ride share drivers hail TLC fare increase

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

New York City taxi drivers will see their first meter increases in a decade following approval by the Taxi and Limousine Commission on Nov. 15. Officials expect the increases to be put in place before the end of the year.

The TLC voted to raise the base fare — the cost to get in a yellow or green cab and sit down — from $2.50 to $3. The unit fare, charged for each 1/5 of a mile or time stopped in traffic, will increase from 50 cents to 75.

Rates for Uber, Lyft and other ride shares will increase 7 percent per trip and 24 percent per mile, numbers in line with those supported by the driver unions.

“Raising taxi fare rates and minimum pay for high-volume drivers is the right thing to do for our city,” said TLC Chairman David Do in a press release. “This is the first taxi fare increase in ten years, and these raises will help offset increased operating expenses and the cost of living for TLC-licensed drivers. We are confident that today’s unanimous Commission vote will keep our taxi and FHV fleets

sustainable and ready to serve New Yorkers.”

Unions representing drivers are completely on board.

“Gas prices and expenses have soared the last two years, and rideshare drivers are struggling to make ends meet,” said Brendan Sexton, president of the Independent Drivers Guild, in a statement on the group’s website. Sexton also thanked the Adams administration for its support.

On her group’s Twitter page, Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, also lauded the vote along with some of her members.

“The work remains to get to $25/hour after expenses,” Desai wrote. “We’re going to take the momentum of this raise which comes despite company opposition and use it to power our fight for a job with dignified incomes, job security and retirement.”

In that same thread, NYTWA ownerdriver Richard Chow made the economic argument.

“I am driving for 17 years. This is only my 2nd raise,” he wrote. “It will help us manage our life and health.” Q

Flushing pool

aquatic centers open here in Queens while the ones in Manhattan are, highlights exactly the fundamental disparity in access that needs to be addressed by our city,” he said.

Shawn Slevin, the founder of water safety and education nonprofit Swim Strong, called the city an “aquatic desert,” adding that maintenance work was intermittent even when their organization was offering swim lessons at the aquatic center before it closed its doors.

The need for pool access is only growing, she said, as climate change renders swimming and water safety skills increasingly vital. Climate disasters and the city’s rising shorelines, she added, have already brought about many waterrelated tragedies and will only continue to do so— often along immigrant communities and communities of color.

“I’m frustrated. I’m angry because New York City is a city of water, and yet we do not have the infrastructure,” Slevin said. “How can you expect that we, as a city of water, can prepare our citizens for what exists today — never mind what’s coming tomorrow?” Q

“THE CITY (www.thecity.nyc) is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.”

ARTS, CULTURE & LIVING

It’s a storylong ... MoMI director’sshowing cuts of select flicks

by Michael Gannon

I HAVE OFTEN WALKED

Mary Murphy heard all the news in Woodside first

by Ron Marzlock Chronicle Contributor

James Thomas Murphy was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1925. In September 1948, at age 23, he came to America on the SS Marine Falcon. He settled in Woodside, which was a welcoming haven for Irish immigrants. While partying at a dance in the Rockaways he met a young lass named Mary, who had immigrated from Galway in 1951. They married and set up their home in a three-family house at 32-25 58 St.

Their first child, Mary, was born on June 14, 1959. Three more children were to follow. Dad James was a city bus driver and mom worked as a waitress. By 1965 they had outgrown the apartment. They put their money together and moved out to Queens Village that year. Mary attended Catholic elementary school.

While watching Channel 7 anchorwoman Rose Ann Scamardella, her mother turned to her and said, “You could so this.” After graduation from Queens College in 1981, Mary quit her job as receptionist at a nursing home when her brother helped her get an entry-level job at WPIX Channel 11.

The childhood home of reporter Mary Murphy at 32-25 58 St. in Woodside as it looked as a child around 1960. INSET TWITTER / MURPHYPIX

She never looked back. As an investigative reporter she was there for all the frontpage stories of the 1980s and ’90s. After many Emmys and other awards she settled down and married NYPD Officer Thomas Santino in 1992. She has remained active, still covering the news for us. Q

All-American leftovers can go Italian or Mexican

by Peter C. Mastrosimone editor-in-chief

It’s Thanksgiving, and if you tend toward tradition, at least two things are true: You’re having turkey, and there’ll be a lot of it left over. Fear not! The options for new meals out of it are endless, and here are just two you might try out.

One is Ree Drummond’s turkey tetrazzini, which she calls “comfort food to the max!” over at thepioneerwoman.com.

And the other is by Becky Hardin, who says in her post at thecookierookie.com that if you serve your turkey leftovers quesadilla-style, “everybody will sit up and notice!”

Turkey Tetrazzini

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more for the pasta water

• 12 oz. bow-tie pasta

• 6 tbsp. salted butter

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 lb. white mushrooms, quartered

• 1 cup dry white wine

• Black pepper, to taste

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 4 cups turkey or chicken broth, plus more if needed

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, cubed and softened

• 3 cups shredded or diced leftover roast turkey

• 1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

• 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 350˚. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions for al dente. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Throw in the mushrooms, then add the wine and ½ teaspoon salt; season with pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces by half, 10 to 12 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, then stir to combine. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick, 10 to 12 minutes.

Stir in the cream cheese until incorporated. (Don’t worry if it seems a little lumpy at first. That will go away!)

Add the turkey, spinach, cheese blend and parmesan. Stir until combined; add the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the pasta. If the mixture is too thick, splash in ½ cup more broth.

Pour the whole shebang into a large casserole dish and smooth the surface. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the microwave. Mix with the breadcrumbs, then sprinkle on the casserole. Bake until bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes.

Three-Cheese Turkey, Cranberry and Sage Quesadilla

Ingredients

• 4 whole-wheat tortillas or wraps

• 2 cups turkey meat, shredded or chopped into small pieces

• 1/2 cup cranberry sauce

• 2 cups shredded cheese (such as cheddar, asiago or pepper jack)

• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves

• vegetable oil spray

Spray a large skillet with vegetable oil and heat. Place a whole-wheat tortilla wrap in the skillet and top with cheese, turkey, cranberry sauce, sage, more cheese and the second tortilla. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side, until melty.

Remove from the heat, cut into quarters and enjoy! Q

‘See It Big’ series returns to the screen at MoMI

“Fanny and Alexander” (1983) by Ingmar Bergman portrays a year in the life of a Swedish family. It runs for 312 minutes and will be presented with one intermission. It screens Dec. 11 at 3 p.m., Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. and Dec. 26 at 112:30 p.m.

Director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “A Short Film About Killing” (1987) tells the story of a teenager who commits murder. It runs at 6 p.m. on Dec. 16 and 3

p.m. om Dec. 23.

It is followed both days by Kieslowski’s “A Short Film About Love” (1988), about a man’s ill-advised obsession with a woman. It shows at 8 p.m. and 5 p.m.

And “Lord of the Rings” fans will have their own marathons with extended editions of all three parts of Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning treatment of the JRR Tolkien epic.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2002) runs 228 minutes on Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 at 2 p.m.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2003) runs 235 minutes at 2 p.m. on Dec. 28 and 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 31.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” wraps up the trilogy and the festival with a 251-minute showing at 2 p.m. on Dec. 29 and 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 1.

Tickets and more information on the festival and individual films is available online at movingimage.us.

The Museum of the Moving Image is located at 36-01 35 Ave. in Astoria near 37th Street.

It can be reached by public transportation including the N/W subway line at

36th Avenue or Broadway; and the M or R line to Steinway Street.

Visitors also are asked to check the

museum’s website for any applicable Covid, masking or health restrictions that may be in place on a given day.

Turkey with farfalle, above, and quesadillas are two creative ways to use your Thanksgiving leftovers. PHOTOS BY

FIONA HENDERSON / FLICKR, ABOVE, AND JON SULLIVAN / PIXNIO.COM

Sam and Frodo need to be wary of Gollum in the 2003 epic “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.” On the cover: The “LOTR” stars, Bertil Guve in “Fanny and Alexander” (1983) along with Colin Farrell with Q’orianka Kilcher in “The New World” (2005).

PHOTO COURTESY WARNER BROS. / PARK CIRCUS. ON THE COVER: IMAGES COURTESY JANUS FILMS AND WARNER BROS. / PARK CIRCUS

Maintenance nyc.gov/parks

Build your career with NYC Parks! Taking care of our green spaces as a City Park Worker is just the beginning to a career at Parks. In about five years of employment with a good work ethic, you can qualify for Parks supervisory positions after obtaining a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and taking civil service tests—earning potentially $100K with overtime per year. While gaining experience working at Parks, you will have access to the training, experience, and resources to support you in getting your CDL and passing civil service tests. Public service is a rewarding job—caring and maintaining parks, playgrounds and recreation centers for all New Yorkers, young and old, to enjoy. NYC Parks offers exceptional health benefits and pension, generous vacation/sick days, job security and a work-life balance. NYC Parks is the steward of over 30,000 acres of land – 14% of New York City. We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds, 1,800 basketball courts, 550 tennis courts, 65 public pools, and 51 recreational facilities. We are hiring City Park Workers throughout the 5 boroughs. Assist in general maintenance work, including lawn mowing, edging, seeding, snow removal, cultivating, fertilizing, sod laying and hedge trimming, sweeping, and raking of litter and emptying of receptacles. Clean and maintain facilities. Perform minor repair work including, plumbing, masonry, electrical, painting, carpentry, metal work and vehicle and equipment repair. Drive vehicles and operate other motorized equipment. Perform safety checks on facilities and equipment. May move furniture, climb, and perform other physical activities as required in the performance of assigned duties. Driver license required. Ability to drive to locations in all five boroughs and ability to work flexible hours, nights and weekends as needed preferred. Review the City Park Worker listings on our website: www.nyc.gov/parks go to Job Opportunities. Apply by 12/06/22. The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual’s sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.

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

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.

Classified Ad Special. Pay for 3 weeks and the 4th week is FREE! Call 718-205-8000

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

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Health Services

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Pet Services

Animal lover, experienced dog walker/pet sitter. Responsible, references upon request. Female. Reasonable rates. 718-641-1472 or 347-494-5972 NO TEXTS

Legal Notices

Notice is hereby given that an On-Premises Restaurant Wine license, Serial #TBA has been applied for by Almost Ezra Corporation d/b/a Fuzi Pasta Co to sell beer, wine and cider at retail in a Restaurant. For on-premises consumption under the ABC Law at 68-26 Fresh Meadow Lane, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365.

Notice is hereby given that an on-premises Tavern wine license, Serial #TBA has been applied for by Birdies and Bogeys LLC d/b/a Birdies & Bogeys to sell beer, wine and cider at retail in a Tavern. For on-premises consumption under the ABC Law at 128-16 14th Avenue College Point NY 11356.

101 11 MARTENSE LLC, Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 10/27/2022. Offi ce loc: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Surinderpal Singh, 101-11 Martense Ave, Corona, NY 11368. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

For Legal Notice Rates & Information, Call 718-205-8000

Notice of Formation of 13419 NORTHERN BLVD LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 06/09/2022. 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: 13419 NORTHERN BLVD LLC, 134-19 NORTHERN BLVD, QUEENS, NY 11354. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

2528 LUCC LLC, Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 09/30/2020. Offi ce 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, 18-33 41st Street, Astoria, NY 11105. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

310312 STOCKHOLM STREET LLC fi led Arts. of Org. with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/25/2022. Offi ce: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: The LLC, c/o Rosa Paneduro, 6262 Dry Harbor Rd., Middle Village, NY, 11379. Purpose: any lawful act.

4705 LLC. Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 10/20/22. 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, 4705 28th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11103. Registered agent address c/o NHP Business Management Services Inc., 229 Jericho Turnpike, New Hyde Park, NY 11040. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

149-05 NORTHERN CHICKEN LLC, Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 11/21/2022. Offi ce 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, 149-05 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11354. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

LEGAL NOTICE To: ROOPRAM BALOOP, a/k/a ROOPRAM BALROOP, and/or THE ESTATE OF ROOPRAM BALOOP or THE ESTATE OF ROOPRAM BALROOP, Deceased YOU HAVE BEEN SUED IN COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA at Docket No. GD 22-13028. If you wish to defend against the claims set forth in the Amended Complaint, you must take action within twenty (20) days of the date of this Notice by entering a written appearance personally or by attorney and fi ling in writing with the Court your defenses or objections to the claims set forth against you. If you fail to do so the case may proceed without you and a judgment may be entered against you by the Court without further notice for any money claimed in the Amended Complaint or for any other claim requested by the plaintiff. You may lose money or property or other rights important to you. YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER AT ONCE. IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO HIRE A LAWYER, THE FOLLOWING OFFICE MAY BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH INFORMATION ABOUT AGENCIES THAT MAY OFFER LEGAL SERVICES TO ELIBLE PERSONS AT A REDUCED FEE OR NO FEE. Lawyer Referral Service Allegheny County Bar Assoc. Koppers Bldg., Suite 400 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Tel: (412) 261-5555 To obtain a copy of the Amended Complaint against you, contact Robert Goldman, Esq., 300 Mt. Lebanon Blvd., Suite 212, Pittsburgh, PA 15234. Tel: (412) 531-6879

2396 LORILLARD NY LLC. Arts. of Org. fi led with the SSNY on 01/24/22. 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, 144-20 69th Ave, Flushing, NY 11367. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Andre Vilarinho LMFT LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 08/21/2022. 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: ANDRE VILARINHO, 56-20 CLOVERDALE BLVD, #2, BAYSIDE, NY 11364. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF QUEENS 1900 CAPITAL TRUST III, BY U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS CERTIFICATE TRUSTEE, Plaintiff AGAINST KAZIM MOHAMMED, et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to an Order Confi rming Referee report and Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered August 29, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction on the Courthouse steps of the Queens Supreme Court located at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, New York. on December 23, 2022 at 11:30AM, premises known as 138-01 107th Avenue, Jamaica, N.Y. 11435 All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Queens, City and State of New York, Block 10039, Lot 20. Approximate amount of judgment $749,480.92 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of fi led Judgment Index #702791/2014. The aforementioned auction will be conducted in accordance with the QUEENS County COVID-19 mitigation protocols and as such all persons must comply with social distancing, wearing masks and screening practices in effect at the time of this foreclosure sale. Foreclosure Auctions will be held “Rain or Shine”. Linda Mule, Esq., Referee Ross Eisenberg Law PLLC 445 Central Ave., Suite 112, Cedarhurst, N.Y. 11516 0005

NOTICE OF FORMATION of limited liability company (LLC). Name: AVEENA HOME CARE LLC. Articles of Organization fi led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 09/29/2022. Offi ce Location: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: The LLC, 214-19 Jamaica Ave, Queens Village, NY 11428, USA. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of BETTER BEATS LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 10/15/2022. 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: BETTER BEATS LLC, 2945 215TH PL BAYSIDE, NY 11360. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Real Estate

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

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

Apts.For Rent

Greenpoint, 203 Engert Ave, #2. 1 BR/1 bath w/office. $2,700/mo. Avail NOW. Heat & hot water inc. Office space, updated kit countertops, new flrs, queen-sized BR. Call Francesco Belviso, 718-570-4564. Capri Jet Realty.

Howard Beach, 1 BR, all new, pvt entrance, kitchen w/dishwasher, LR, DR, full bath. Credit ck a must. $1,500/mo plus Gas & electric. AVAIL NOW. Call Tony 917-833-7555

Williamsburg, 216 Devoe St, #1. 1 BR/1 bath, $2,600/mo. Charming Apt, open spacious kitchen. Lg LR, HWF, heat & hot water incl. avail Dec 1. Michael Bifalco, 917-704-5147. Capri Jet Realty Williamsburg, 971 Metropolitan Ave, #1. 2 BR loft, $4,650/mo. 1 MO FREE on 14 MO lease. Newly renov, new kitchen w/SS & dishwasher, double door grand entrance, virtual CAC, 1,000 SF, W/D, new flrs, backyard, 13’ ceilings. Heat & hot water inc. Avail NOW. Call Stellina Napolitano, 646-372-7145, Capri Jet Realty

Classified Ad Special. Pay for 3 weeks and the 4th week is FREE! Call 718-205-8000

Co-ops For Sale

CO-OPS FOR SALE

• Dorchester – Hi-Rise, Mint 1 BR/1 bath. .... $199,500

• Fairfield Arms – 2 BR/ 2 bath. ........................ $245K

• Fairfield Arms – 1 BR/ 1 bath Co-op –Needs TLC. ................. $169K

• Carlton – 1 BR/1 bath –Needs TLC. ................. $168K

• Princeton Garden Co-opMint AAA 2 BR, FDR, Open fl oor plan.........Asking $298K

Howard Beach/Lindenwood, Fairfield Arms, Hi-Rise. Lg 2 BR, 2 baths, all new carpeting. Reduced $228K. Connexion Real Estate, 718-245-1136

Houses For Sale

Flushing, Lg det 1 fam on 50x100 lot. Lots of potential. Zone R1-2A Duplex, 7 BRs, 3 full baths,1 half bath, full bsmnt, attic, lg wraparound porch, fenced-in yard. Quiet block. Call for appt! Reduced to $1.2M. Connexion Real Estate, 718-845-1136

Glendale, Beautiful section of Liberty Park. 1 fam, 3 BR, 1 full bath. Updated kit, SS appli. 1 car gar. Pvt dvwy, high ceilings, laminate fls, beaut front bay window. Full fin bsmnt, storage attic. Back door to yard, crank out awning. Many windows w/triple glaze, new roof. Reduced to $770,000. Connexion Real Estate, 718-845-1136

Howard Beach/Lindenwood, Brick attached 2 fam, great investment property. Walk-in fin bsmnt w/door to yard. 1st fl has 2 BR, 1 bath apt w/terr. 2nd fl has 1 BR, 1 bath apt w/terr. A must see! Call for appt. Connexion Real Estate, 718-845-1136

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

To

Legal Notices Legal Notices

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF QUEENS - Index No. 712957/2022

– filed June 21, 2022 SUMMONS

WITH NOTICE

PONCE BANK, Plaintiff, against ELMHURST TOWER LLC, XIU QIN SHI, XIU LING CHEN, ZHONG JIE ZHENG, FEI LIN, NAI LUI LI, SHENG AN CHEN, XUE FENG HUANG, WU LIN, NEW DA HUA INC, SUNBELT RENTALS – REGION 11, CITY OF NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD, JOHN DOE “1” through JOHN DOE “10” both inclusive; Defendants JOHN DOE “1” through JOHN DOE “10” regardless of number being each a separate Defendant and being fictitious and unknown to the 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

NAI HUI LI, WU LIN, SHENG AN CHEN AND XUE FENG HUANG, BEING

SERVED PURSUANT TO AN ORDER IN THE ABOVE ENTITLED ACTION

BY HON. ROBERT J. MCDONALD, J.S.C., DATED OCTOBER 31, 2022, FILED NOVEMBER 2, 2022 You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon plaintiff’s attorneys an answer to the complaint in this action within twenty (20) days after the service of the summons, exclusive of the day of service or within thirty (30) days after service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York. In case of your failure to answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. Plaintiff designates Queens County as place of trial. The basis of venue is the real property affected by this action, which is located in Queens County. The nature of the action is a foreclosure of a first mortgage originated on October 22, 2019 in the original principal sum of $3,250,000.00 made by Elmhurst Tower LLC, as Mortgagor in favor of Ponce Bank, as Mortgagee encumbering the following Real Property: 84-75 57 Road, Queens, NY 11373; 84-77 57 Road, Queens, NY 11373: 85-08 57 Avenue, Queens, NY 11373; 85-10 57 Avenue, Queens, NY 11373; 85-12 57 Avenue, Queens, NY 11373; 85-14 57 Avenue, Queens, NY 11373; 85-16 57 Avenue, Queens, NY 11373; and 85-20 57 Avenue, Queens, NY 11373 and designated on the New York City Tax Map, Queens County as Block: 2882; Lots: 1, 20, 21, 22 and 101 whereby any and all rights, title and interest of all defendants, including but not limited to defendants “Nai Lui Li” and “Wu Lin” and “Sheng An Chen” and “Xue Feng Huang” shall be forever foreclosed of any and all rights, title and interest they have or may have in the foregoing Real Property, including but not limited to all liens, encumbrances and Notices of Pendency that have been filed against the Real Property by said defendants.

Dated: New York, New York. November 7, 2022

FELDMAN & ASSOCIATES, PLLC

Attorneys for Plaintiff

Notice of Formation of ELDERT BK LLC. Arts. of Org. fi led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/4/22. Offi ce location: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o The LLC, 27-28 Thomson Ave, Unit 326, Long Island City, NY 11101. Purpose: any lawful activity.

GRG Hoyt Ave Realty LLC, Arts of Org. fi led with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 1/4/2019. Cty: Queens. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to 28-21 Astoria Blvd., Astoria, NY 11102.

General Purpose

Notice of Formation of GW LIKEMINDED LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 10/21/2022. 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: GW LIKEMINDED LLC, 115-18 166TH STREET, JAMAICA, NY 11434. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of DDSL LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 07/16/2022. 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: DAVID MLINARICH, 87-40 259TH STREET, FLORAL PARK, NY 11001. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of HANLEY SUNGLASSES LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 10/19/2022. 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: Nate Strand, 18 W 18th St, New York, NY 10075. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of JELLY LAB, LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 11/01/2022. 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: BORAM PARK, 207-11 58TH AVE, OAKLAND GARDENS, NY 11364. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of LovePup Training and Care LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 07/18/2022. 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: LOVEPUP TRAINING AND CARE LLC, 62-54 97TH PLACE, 12A, REGO PARK, NY 11374. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

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SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS Supreme Court of New York, Queens County. U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR THE NRZ PASS-THROUGH TRUST XVIII, Plaintiff- against- THE HEIRS AT LARGE OF HILBERT LAYNE, DECEASED, AND ALL PERSONS WHO ARE HUSBANDS, WIDOWS, GRANTEES, MORTGAGEES, LIENORS, HEIRS, DEVISEES, DISTRIBUTEES, SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF SUCH OF THEM AS MAY BE DEAD, AND THEIR HUSBANDS AND WIVES, HEIRS, DEVISEES, DISTRIBUTEES AND SUCCESSORS OF INTEREST OF ALL OF WHOM AND WHOSE NAMES AND PLACES ARE UNKNOWN TO PLAINTIFF; DEBORAH A. CHASTEN; SANDRA LAYNE COLE; KEVIN ANTHONY LANE; BRYAN M. LAYNE; SEAN MCDONALD LAYNE; CHENELLE GBAJUMO; CITY OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU PAYMENT AND ADJUDICATION CENTER OF QUEENS; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; DANIEL RODRIGUEZ; SELINA RODRIGUEZ; MANUEL LACARA; JESSICA RODRIGUES; MELANIA LACARA; JUAN RODRIGUEZ, Defendants. Index No. 700098/2017. Mortgaged Premises: 122-17 Nellis Street Springfield Gardens, New York 11413 Block: 12702 Lot: 30. To The Above Named Defendant(s): 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. If you fail to appear or to answer within the aforementioned time frame, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECTIVE of the above captioned action is to foreclose on a CEMA Mortgage to secure $271,000.00 and interest, recorded in the Queens County Clerk’s Office on November 21, 2005 in CRFN 2005000647670, covering the premises known as 122-17 Nellis Street, Springfield Gardens, New York 11413. The relief sought herein is a final judgment directing sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the mortgage described above. Plaintiff designates Queens County as the place of trial. Venue is based upon the County in which the mortgaged premises is located. 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 your mortgage company will not stop this 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. FRIEDMAN VARTOLO, LLP 85 Broad Street, Suite 501, New York, New York 10004, (212) 471-5100, Attorneys for Plaintiff.

RC ENVIRONMENTAL, LLC Arts. of Org. fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 9/20/2022. Offi ce loc: Queens County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: The LLC, c/o CellMark, Inc., 80 Washington Street, Norwalk, CT 06854. The limited liability company designates the following as its registered agent upon whom process against it may be served within the State of New York is: C T Corporation System, 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005. Purpose: any lawful business activity.

Notice of Formation of Root Down Psychotherapy LCSW PLLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 09/21/2022. 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: THE PLLC, 24-37 24TH ST, ASTORIA, NY 11102. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

To Advertise Call 718-205-8000

Legal Notices Legal Notices

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF QUEENS CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff -against- MITCHELL EDWARDS, KARLENE EDWARDS, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated September 24, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction on the courthouse steps of the Queens Supreme Court, located at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, NY on December 2, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Queens, City and State of New York, bounded and described as follows: BEGINNING at a point on the Easterly side of Mexico Street, distant 40 feet Southerly from the corner formed by the intersection of the Easterly side of Mexico Street with the Southerly side of Turn Drive; being a plot 100 feet by 40 feet by 100 feet by 40 feet. Block: 10383 Lot: 41 All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and social distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mandate will be removed from the auction. Said premises known as 116-33 MEXICO STREET, SAINT ALBANS, NY Approximate amount of lien $581,767.59 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of fi led Judgment and Terms of Sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney. Index Number 16841/2014 Converted Index Number 727623/2021 JOSEPH MISK, ESQ., Referee, David A. Gallo & Associates LLP, Attorney(s) for Plaintiff, 47 Hillside Avenue, 2nd Floor, Manhasset, NY 11030 File# 4722.1305 {* JAMAICA TI, QUEENS CHR*}

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS IN TAX LIEN FORECLOSURE–SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF QUEENS – NYCTL 1998-2 TRUST AND THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON AS COLLATERAL AGENT AND CUSTODIAN FOR THE NYCTL 1998-2 TRUST, Plaintiffs, against BETTINA CONTRACTING CORP., et. al., Defendants. Index No. 707298/18. To the above-named Defendants –YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action within twenty days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service or within thirty days after service is completed if the summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York. In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint. Plaintiffs designate Queens County as the place of trial. Venue is based upon the county in which the property a lien upon which is being foreclosed is situated. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to the Order of the Hon. Robert J. McDonald, J.S.C., entered October 26, 2022. The object of this action is to foreclose a New York City Tax Lien covering the premises located at Block 13067 Lot 263 on the Tax Map of Queens County and is also known as (No#) 223rd Street, Queens, New York. Dated: October 31, 2022. BRONSTER LLP, Attorney for Plaintiffs, NYCTL 1998-2 TRUST AND THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON AS COLLATERAL AGENT AND CUSTODIAN FOR THE NYCTL 1998-2 TRUST, By: Josef F. Abt, Esq. 156 West 56th Street, Suite 902, New York, NY 10019 (347) 246-4776

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that Defendant Joseph Justin is a defendant in a commercial foreclosure lawsuit that seeks to foreclose on real property with an address of 119-44 155th Street, Jamaica, New York 11434. A description of the real property follows. ALL that certain plot piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Queens, City and State of New York, being more particularly bounded and described as follows: BEGINNING at the corner formed by the intersection of the northerly side of 120th Avenue (Cooper Street), 60 feet wide plus 5 foot courtyards on both sides for a total of 70 feet wide and the westerly side of 155th Street (Lakeview Boulevard), 70 feet wide; RUNNING THENCE westerly along the northerly side of 120th Avenue, 84 feet; THENCE northerly parallel with the westerly side of 155th Street, 30.04 feet; THENCE easterly parallel with the northerly side of 120th Avenue, 84 feet to the westerly side of 155th Street; and THENCE southerly along the westerly side of 155th Street, 30.04 feet to the corner, at the point or place of BEGINNING. FOR INFORMATION ONLY: Said premises being more commonly known and designated by the street address 119-44 155th Street, Jamaica, New York; tax map designation Block 12214; Lot 31.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF QUEENS AMENDED SUMMONS Index No. 700118/2021 Date Index No. Purchased: January 4, 2021 BANTAM FUNDING II, LLC, Plaintiff, -against- 119-44 155 ST. INC.; RAVEENA S. RAMOTAR; JOSEPH JUSTIN; THE CITY OF NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK; THE CITY OF NEW YORK; and JOHN DOE NO. I THROUGH JOHN DOE NO. XXX, inclusive, the last thirty names being fi ctitious 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 Defendant(s) (See Attached Service List) You are hereby summoned to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff’s attorney within 20 days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York); and in case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint. The basis of venue is location of subject property, which is Queens County, New York. Date: Kansas City, Missouri June 30, 2022 Polsinelli PC By: /s/ Amy E. Hatch Attorneys for Plaintiff. 600 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10016 (816) 753-1000 Service List 119-44 155 St. Inc. – 104-32 94th Avenue, Ozone Park, New York 11416, Raveena S. Ramotar – 104-32 94th Avenue, Ozone Park, New York 11416, Joseph Justin – 119-44 155th Street, Jamaica, New York 11434, The City of New York Environmental Control Board – c/o Corporation Counsel, 100 Church Street, New York, New York 10007, People of the State of New York – c/o Offi ce of the Attorney General, 28 Liberty Street, 16th Floor, New York, New York 10005, The City of New York – c/o Corporation Counsel, 100 Church Street, New York, New York 10007

Notice of Formation of STEPHEN INDUSTRIES LLC Articles of Organization were fi led with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 08/13/2021. 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: STEPHEN INDUSTRIES LLC, 147-16 110TH AVE, APT#2F, JAMAICA, NY 11435. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

Three Sons Express LLC, Arts of Org. fi led with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 10/25/2022. Cty: Queens. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to 89-47 204th St., Hollis, NY 11423. General Purpose

PUBLIC NOTICE

Application of Queensboro Development, LLC for a Certifi cate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need to Construct, Operate and Maintain Approximately 18.5 miles of Transmission Lines from the Boundary of New York State Waters to Points of Interconnection in Queens, New York and Associated Equipment.

Pursuant to Article VII of the New York Public Service Law, Queensboro Development, LLC (the “Applicant”) is providing public notice of its intent to fi le an application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (“Certifi cate”) for the proposed construction, operation and maintenance of the portions of the Queensboro Renewable Express offshore transmission system (the “Queensboro Renewable Express”) that are located in New York State.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT on or about December 2, 2022, the Applicant will file an application (the “Application”) in the above-entitled matter with the New York State Public Service Commission (the “Commission”) for a Certificate pursuant to Article VII of the Public Service Law for the portion of the Queensboro Renewable Express that is located in New York State, which includes approximately 18.5 miles of submarine transmission lines from the boundary of New York State Waters to points of interconnection in Queens, New York and as sociated onshore equipment (the “Project”). The Project is necessary to as sist New York State in achieving its clean energy goals and mandates under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in that it will transmit wind energy from offshore wind facilities in feder al waters into New York Independent System Operator (“NYISO”) Load Zone J in New York City and will facilitate the ultimate retirement of existing fossil fuel generating facilities.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT: The Project will consist of two discrete high voltage direct current (“HVDC”) symmetric monopole circuits, each capable of delivering approximately 1,150 megawatts to 1,310 megawatts (“MW”) into NYISO Zone J at the site of t he existing Ravenswood generating facility (the “Ravenswood Site”). Each of the two Project circuits, defined as “Queensboro Circuit A” and “Queensboro Circuit B,” will consist of: (i) a submarine HVDC conductor cable assembly with a fi ber optic communications cable, buried in its own discrete trench within a single submarine cable corridor approxim ately 18.5 miles (16.1 nautical miles) long from the boundary of New York state waters to a cable landfall location at the Ravenswood Site in Queens, New York and (ii) an HVDC converter station, a new substation and underground cables to be located on the Ravenswood Site and that will interconnect to the NYISO bulk electric system at the adjacent Rainey and Vernon substations owned and operated by Con Edison.

The portions of the Queensboro Renewable Express located outside of New York, and which are not subject to Public Service Law Article VII, include offshore infrastructure comprised of: (i) platform(s) to be located in a host BOEM lease area located in the federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”), consisting of either a combined or separate HVDC converter and alternating current (“AC”) collector mesh-ready platform, and (ii) an HVDC conductor cable assembly bundled with a fi ber optic communications cable, installed in a discrete trench within an HVDC submarine cable corridor and traversing from the offshore platform(s) through the federal waters of the OCS, then into New Jersey State Waters for approximately 6.1 miles (5.3 nautical miles), to the boundary of New York State Waters, with an additional 3.6mile (3.2 nautical mile) segment within New Jersey State waters in the Upper New York Bay.

DATES AND COPIES OF THE ARTICLE VII FILING: The Applicant expects to file the Application with the Commission on or about December 2, 2022. A copy of the Application will be filed with the Commission and will be available on the Department of Public Service website (www.dps.ny.gov) once the Commission assigns a case number to the Project. Additional information can be found on the Project website at https://www.queensbororenewableexpress.com. A copy of the Application will also be served upon the Mayor of the City of New York, the Queens Borough President, the Brooklyn Borough President, the Manhattan Borough President, the Staten Island Borough President, and other statutorily-required parties, and will be available for pu blic inspection in the local public libraries set forth below, including branches of the New York Public Library (“NYPL”):

Queens Public Library at Long Island City 37-44 21st Street Long Island City, NY 11101

Brooklyn Public Library at Williamsburg 240 Division Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211

ADDITIONAL

NYPL, Tompkins Square Library 331 East 10th Street New York, NY 10009

Brooklyn Public Library at Coney Island 1901 Mermaid Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11224

NYPL, New Amsterdam Library 9 Murray Street New York, NY 10007

NYPL, St. George Library Center 5 Central Avenue Staten Island, NY 10301

ASSISTANCE: For further information concerning the Project, interested persons may contact the following:

Michelle L. Phillips

Secretary to the Commission

New York Public Service Commission

Empire State Plaza, Agency Building 3 Albany, New York 12223-1350

Phone: (518) 474-6530, Fax: (518) 474-9842 Email: secretary@dps.ny.gov

Wil Fisher

Queensboro Development, LLC

Phone: (718) 706-2002

Email: Queensboro@riselight.com

Manager

by Lloyd Carroll Chronicle Contributor

Mets skipper Buck Showalter was named the National League Manager of the Year last week by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Showalter had won the award three times previously in his long baseball career, but this marked the first time a Mets manager had ever taken it. I am certain Gil Hodges would have been named Manager of the Year (and of all time) had the award been in existence in 1969 when the “Miracle Mets” won the World Series.

The BBWAA only examined the regular season, otherwise Philadelphia Phillies Manager Rob Thomson — who replaced Joe Girardi in June when the team had a dismal 22-29 record but led them to the World Series where they lost to the Houston Astros in six games — would have been the unanimous selection.

This should not detract from the fact Showalter is a worthy recipient. Yes, the Mets ran out of gas in Atlanta at the end of the season. Nonetheless, winning 101 games (a 24-game improvement over 2021) with a team that was far from invincible is a remarkable achievement. The Mets were without ace pitchers Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer for long stretches. Their offense had little power outside of Pete Alonso, Starling Marte (who missed the last month of the season with a hand injury) and Francisco Lindor. Jeff McNeil was the only Met to hit over .300.

What surprised me most about Showalter in his first year as Mets manager were his entertaining press conferences. He enjoys working pop culture references into his patter with reporters.

Buck also did not believe in the media caste system. He enjoyed conversing with journalists from smaller outlets. Based on my observations, some in the Mets organization would prefer he only interact with those deemed to be from important outlets. It is to Showalter’s immense credit that he treated everyone with respect.

The Mets cut ties with Dominic Smith as they did not make him a qualifying contract offer. He is one of the nicest athletes you will ever meet. Hopefully, he finds a team where he can get more playing time and regain his batting stroke.

News of a 25,000-seat stadium to be built across the street from Citi Field for the New York City Football Club had to thrill Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, as he grew up a few miles away in Bayside.

It will be seen whether the team’s having its home in soccer-crazy Queens will make New York media outlets pay more attention to NYCFC. Its scores are rarely reported on WFAN or by local television sports anchors. Philadelphia’s MLS team, the Union, gets plenty of airtime on local TV news sports segments. Q

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

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Plenty of room for hosting in the backyard; det 1 car garage & long driveway.

Six months common charges free!! 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.

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