LIC YMCA Healthy Kids Day On Saturday, April 18, the Long Island City YMCA invites the western Queens community to participate in YMCA Healthy Kids® Day, the nation’s largest health day for children and families.
YMCA Healthy Kids Day includes fun, engaging and creative activities for children and families and promotes yearlong wellness and healthy living. YMCA Healthy Kids Day events are free and open to all.
An opportunity for kids and families to “Put Play in Their Day,” YMCA Healthy Kids Day uses free, fun, engaging and creative activities to encourage children and families to adopt behaviors that support a healthy lifestyle. YMCA Healthy Kids Day will be celebrated across the country at more than 1,700 YMCAs, with more than 800,000 attendees expected.
The YMCA Healthy Kids® Day will take place on Saturday, April 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Long Island City YMCA located at 32-23 Queens Boulevard.
Local blood drives Long Island Blood Services will host a number of blood drives in western Queens during the month of April. You can call 1-800-933-2566 or visit www.nybloodcenter.org to verify the date and time of the blood drive.
• April 19 at Our Lady of the Angelus located at 98-095 63rd Drive, Rego Park from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• April 19 at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal located at 62-45 61st Street, Ridgewood from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• April 25 at The Reform Temple of Forest Hills located at 71-11 112th Street, Forest Hills from noon to 4 p.m.
More red light cameras coming Local governments throughout the city and state can now install 50 more red light cameras, thanks to new state legislation.
Queens State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky has been a longtime advocate for this legislation because the cameras are a potentially life-saving measure.
Seventy-one-year-old Virginia Montalvo of Queens was struck and killed recently crossing Jamaica Avenue by a hit-and-run driver who was trying to beat a yellow light. A red light camera at the intersection could have captured an image of the driver’s license plate, but no such camera is installed there, and police are still searching for the motorist.
“Red light cameras are a deterrent to drivers who might otherwise try to speed through an intersection to beat the light. In addition to saving lives, this legislation allows municipalities to collect revenue by fining the vehicle’s owner whose information is captured on film as they run lights,” Stavisky said. “It is deeply saddening that footage from a red light camera could have provided the police with leads in Montalvo’s case – and many other similar cases – but no such camera existed at the intersection.”
Guest speaker at FH temple Joel J. Levy, the NY Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, will be a guest speaker at The Reform Temple of Forest Hills on Sunday, April 19 at 10 a.m.
He will talk about the challenges facing the Jewish community at home and abroad. The Temple’s Life Long Learning Committee is sponsoring this event.
A $7 charge will include a light breakfast. For further information, call the temple at 718-261-2900 or send an e-mail to mail@rtfh.org.
The Reform Temple of Forest Hills is located at 71-11 112th Street.
Onorato praises tax credit
State Senator George Onorato, who consistently stressed the significant economic importance of New York State’s film and television production tax credit throughout budget negotiations, applauded the agreement to include $350 million for the plan.
“During such dire fiscal times as these, I am particularly pleased that we were able to reinvest in this important program,” said Senator Onorato, whose Queens Senate district is home to both Silvercup Studios and Kaufman-Astoria Studios. “By providing new funding for the film and television production credit, we will help to maintain and create jobs in the industry, as well as support other local businesses that benefit from the productions.”
Onorato wrote to Governor David Paterson and other government leaders early in budget negotiations to urge that new funding be provided for the program, which ran out of money in February.
“While I wish that we were able to provide even more funding for the program, I am glad that the Legislature and Governor – even in the face of a $17.7 billion state budget deficit – recognized the value of these tax credits in helping to get our economy back on track,” said Senator Onorato.
