Marshall Appointed

The recent quiet appointment of Queens BP Helen Marshall to the citys new Airport Advisory Board is not hiding the tug-of-war between seven local community boards for most or parts of an estimated $50 million public improvement bounty appropriated by the Port Authority.
The eight-member panel will allocate construction funds at the rate of $10 million per year, during the next five years.
Vying for favorable projects are CB 1 (Astoria), CB3 (Jackson Heights), and CB 7 (College Point) near LaGuardia; and CB10 (Howard Beach), CB12 (Springfield Gardens), CB13 (Rosedale), and CB14 (Rockaways) abutting JFK.
The board will not only recommend safety and congestion relief construction projects in areas adjacent to LaGuardia and JFK Airports, but will also review airport operations, standards and performance.
Local civic and ecology groups serving areas that are adjacent to the two airports also plan to use the advisory board. Their aims are to post their views concerning plane noise, hours of airport operation, environmental problems, as well as providing greater input into the citys Train-To-The Plane route plans. Working with the Port Authority, for example, Queens educational groups have already helped to expand the federal soundproofing program in local schools that are adjacent to the airports, or those that lie in plane pathways.
The two airports provide gainful employment to more than 45,000 airport employees, as well as thousands of additional service workers based in Queens. Their combined efforts annually generate more than $21 billion into the citys economy, as well as pumping needed tax revenue into the citys treasury.
But Babek and approximately 25 others who met with The Queens Courier say the petition is legit. They have brought the petition to the attention of the trustee, but he has done nothing, they say. Despite phoning Kass repeatedly, he did not return calls before press time.Shareholders also say Kass has refused to go to landlord-tenant court to remove Gin from his office.
"He does not want to upset Mr. Gin because he can collect the assessment," said Tamayev. "The assessment keeps the bank in line and keeps the co-op from Chapter 7 [liquidation]."
The co-ops next court date is February 18.