By Sarina Trangle
Community leaders and nonprofits filed into Borough Hall to seek funding for projects rooted in a large swath of Queens from $60,000 to pay a grad student to research expanding Ridgewood’s historic district to creating a four-block pedestrian plaza in downtown Far Rockaway.
Borough President Melinda Katz solicited testimony to help her compile a list of budget priorities for the borough.
Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano submitted testimony emphasizing the board’s wish to acquire the remaining $1.5 million needed to finance remodeling work in the Glendale Library, some of which is necessary to make the branch handicap-accessible.
The Ridgewood Development Corp. sought $25,000 to support manufacturing firms in the recently established Industrial Business Zone, south of Myrtle Avenue.
CB 6 placed replacing the Rego Park library at the top of its capital projects funding list. The board’s testimony noted that the branch has one of the 10 largest circulations in the city and is plagued by overcrowding, with patrons sometimes waiting in line to enter the library.
In Richmond Hill, the Rajkumari Cultural Center requested support and listed a myriad of programs it offers to preserve Indo-Caribbean artistic traditions, from after-school workshops designed to teach endangered seasonal music and dance customs to a bamboo sculpture installation for Diwali.
Requests related to recovery from Superstorm Sandy, which struck in October 2012, echoed among many Howard Beach and Rockaway groups.
CB 10 and CB 14 leaders called for the city to fund initiatives designed to assist homeowners and businesses reeling from the storm as well as investments in bulkheads and other protective measures.
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
