Money Sought For Beacon Program
With cuts to various services looming, budget concerns dominated Community Board 6′s Feb. 8 meeting at the Kew Gardens Community Center.
In his chairperson’s report, Joseph Hennessy stated that senior centers, firehouses, police manpower, libraries and children’s programs are all in danger of being cut in the mayor’s new budget.
“It’s very important for us to be aware of it and to follow it as best we can,” he told the crowd. “Our libraries are crowded and yet they’re going to turn around and cut them.”
In addition, community boards will receive a six-percent cut, which would leave Board 6 with one fewer part-time staffer.
“We believe we’ve been penalized because of our ZIP code,” said District Manager Frank Gulluscio in his report, noting the city’s failure to adequately fund area libraries or the J.H.S. 190 Beacon program. “We’ve had it.”
Board member Christopher Collett pressed Claudia Filomena of the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit on getting the Forest Hills area its fair share of dollars.
“We’d like some of it to come back to our community,” he said. “We do our bit; we always have. Guess what: we want our fair share.”
Fellow board member Steven Goldberg asked Filomena to examine why libraries are open only during school hours, preventing students from taking advantage of their services.
Filomena told the board she would share their concerns with the Mayor’s Office.
More on Mayor’s CAU
“Just as the community board members are tasked with being the eyes and ears of the community, we’re tasked with being the eyes and ears of the mayor’s office,” said Claudia Filomena of the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit.
Her unit attempts to foster interagency coordination in the hope of solving quality-of-life issues throughout the city, such as unsafe or unsanitary buildings: “We try to get everybody to play nice together in the sandbox.”
She noted that the CAU also works to deal with weather-related situations, such as last year’s arrival of Hurricane Irene.
Budget items
Board 6 voted in its capital and expense budget requests for Fiscal Year 2013.
The top five capital budget items are:
– funding for the expansion of the Rego Park branch of the Queens Library;
– funding for a multi-use center at Russel Sage playground;
– tree planting, stump removal and pruning throughout Board 6;
– funding for all parks in Board 6; and
– reconstruction and greening of the Queens Boulevard medians.
The top five expense budget requests are:
– funding for the J.H.S. 190 Beacon school;
– increased funding for local senior centers;
– recruitment and retaining of area crossing guards;
– increased Buildings Department staff; and
– additional staff for area libraries.
“I just want to thank the board, I want to thank our elected officials, I want to thank our community for being so supportive of our program and the work that we’re doing with our young people,” said Marlena Starace, who works at the Beacon program. “We’re opening, we’re exposing them to what it means to be a community advocate.”
Licenses
Board 6 voted to approve three new liquor license applications: for WAFA’s Restaurant Inc. at 100-05 Metropolitan Ave. in Forest Hills; Pizza Palace Café, at 63-60 108th St. in Forest Hills; and Queens Chikurin, at 95-34 Queens Blvd. in Rego Park.
Board 6 also approved license renewals for Pizzeria Uno at 107-16 70th Rd. and Bangkok Cuisine, at 107-18 70th Rd., both in Forest Hills.
Addabbo rep on center, more
Peter DeLucia, representing State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, told the crowd that the new proposed district maps are “pretty amusing.”
“I don’t think these lines are going to hold up,” he stated.
Turning to the proposed 2.6 million sq. ft., $4 billion convention center, he claimed that it would bring “enormous tax dollars to the city and the state” as well as thousands of permanent jobs.
“It seems like it’s moving forward,” he said, adding that Resorts World (which would develop and run the center) has been responsive to concerns from Addabbo and the community.
In response to concerns from a member of the audience that no one would travel from Manhattan to South Ozone Park, Gulluscio noted that the attendance at Aqueduct Racetrack last year was double the estimates.
Other news
Hennessy announced that the March meeting of Board 6 will take place in the community room of the Rego Center mall, at 61-35 Junction Blvd. on Mar. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
The Department of Transportation will put forth a proposal for traffic calming measures in the area at the meeting.
He also announced that training at Forest Hills High School will begin Mar. 12 for those interested in joining the Forest Hills-Rego Park Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Call Board 6 at 1-718-263- 9250 for more information.
Davina Perez of the Children’s Aid Society announced that the organization is looking for households interested in becoming foster parents for teenagers.
“Teens are actually worth the mess,” said Perez. “New York City is getting out of control as far as our children. You see our children on the train, you see them without any kind of hope.”
Visit www.childrensaidsociety.org for more information.
Board member Joseph Fox announced his resignation due to his duties at the Forest Hills Jewish Center, where he serves as president. He leaves on good terms with Board 6.
