By Bob Harris
The September issue of the Bayside Hills Beacon features a number of community activities which are worthwhile. It reported about plans to conduct a Sept. 11 ceremony and listed a number of groups and officials who participated in the event.
A series of photos inside the newsletter showed a number of volunteers from the Bayside Hills civic and Boy Scout Troop No. 142 on the Bell Boulevard mall. They had arranged for the city Parks Department to deposit topsoil near bare spots on the mall. They then seeded the area.
Another article told how the civic participated in National Estuaries Day and the Little Neck Bay Festival at the Alley Pond Environmental Center Sept. 26. This one-day event celebrated the cultural and natural advantages of the estuary. Groups from Fort Totten and Udalls Cove were invited to participate.
For those who never visited the APEC, it is a nice place to visit. My children and I spent many weekends visiting the estuary and museum. It is on Northern Boulevard east of the Cross Island Parkway.
The August 2009 bulletin of the Jamaica Estates Association contained several stories concerning St. John’s University students. Since students were moving into dorms and private houses, community and neighboring community residents were concerned. While the vast majority of students are fine men and women, putting thousands of students into a residential neighborhood is bound to cause problems, especially from the few who have parties and are disruptive.
St. John’s has a monthly dialogue meeting with surrounding community leaders. Jack Flynn, director of judicial affairs, works to control those students who behave poorly as tenants in Jamaica Estates and surrounding communities. He asked for the names of SJU car tag numbers so he can follow up on problems. His phone number is 718-990-5036.
Also present at the dialogue meeting was Sgt. Jim McCann of the 107th Precinct. He works the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift and can be reached at 718-969-5100. If there is a noise problem from a house, call 311 multiple times. Call when the problem starts and continue calling. Get others to call because these calls are tracked by volume. You have to give the operator your name because unless the police actually witness the incidents themselves, they can do little without a witness. If SJU students are involved, tell the operator. Monitor the police response and call McCann if you are unhappy with it.
If students are renting a house near you and are noisy at all hours, litter, behave inappropriately or are publicly intoxicated, let your civic association know and call Community Board 8 at 718-264-7895.
The September Queens Village civic newsletter had several interesting stories. One told of a ceremony Sept. 27 at noon when a section of Hollis Court Boulevard was co-named in honor of Maj. Jeffrey R. Calero, who died in Afghanistan at 34. The ceremony took place at Hollis Court Boulevard and 90th Avenue.
The Queens County Bar Association is conducting a walk in-clinic for Queens homeowners facing foreclosure. The clinic is in the Queens Civil Court building at 89-17 Sutphin Blvd., Room 160 in Jamaica and is open Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Homeowners should provide all papers relating to their purchase and all communications from the lender.
Every September the Queens County Fair is held at the Queens County Farm Museum at 73-50 Little Neck Pkwy. It is a traditional county fair with blue ribbon competitions in livestock, produce, home crafts and arts and crafts. There is a band and dancers. Those who missed the fair this year can still visit the farm with their children to see produce, farm animals, a green house with food and goods for sale and a corn maze people can walk through. There is an entrance fee, but parking is free.
GOOD AND BAD NEWS OF THE WEEK: Our police officers and firefighters are subject to heavy stress. Regretfully some of our protectors drink too much. One problem to finding a cure is that the departments seem to hold it against those who admit they have a drinking problem and seek a cure.
Whatever the departments do, we still have to get those who drink and drive away from the wheel of a vehicle. The state Assembly must pass a bill which will require anyone involved in a fatal or deadly accident to have their blood taken immediately by any certified health care provider. We must get drunk drivers off our roads.
