Southeast Queens Press Epaper

Volume 12 Issue No. 19 May 13-19, 2011

Online at www.QueensPress.com

The City Council approved the rezoning for South Jamaica this week, setting the stage for economic development tempered by a slow-down in residential sprawl. By Sasha Austrie…Page 3

PAGE 18

www.queenspress.com

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Council OKs South Jamaica Rezoning

BY DOMENICK RAFTER

In a borough populated with new im-

migrant families and young recent college

grads looking for an affordable place to

live, illegal conversions are a problem that

everyone knows exists, but few are willing

to take it on.

But illegally converted apartments can

be more than a nuisance, they can be fa-

tal. Often firefighters have trouble navi-

gating illegally converted apartments dur-

ing fires, putting their lives and the lives

of anyone trapped inside at risk. Last

week, a 12-year-old boy in the Bronx died

in a fire in an illegally converted apart-

ment.

Some neighborhoods in Queens have

become notorious for illegal conversions.

Semi-attached houses in Ridgewood,

Public Advocate Eyes Illegal Conversion Fix

Woodside, Middle Village and Jamaica

are often divided into four or five differ-

ent apartments. In Flushing and Astoria,

newly constructed apartment buildings

house 2-3 families per apartment. In Kew

Gardens and Richmond Hill, large Victo-

rian homes often house a large family of

15-20 people. The problem is what trig-

gered the Dept. of City Planning to pro-

pose rezoning a significant portion of

Richmond Hill.

Though the city receives thousands

of complaints about illegal conversions

each year, only a handful ever end in fines.

DOB officers sent to investigate the com-

plaints are often denied entry and the

complaints are often closed after two tries;

homeowners, expecting visits from the

DOB, have become smart on how to

avoid encountering an inspector. The

BY SASHA AUSTRIE

The City Council approved the rezon-

ing of 538 blocks in South Jamaica, bring

the total number of blocks rezoned in

Queens in the last three years to more than

5,000.

“I want to thank Speaker Quinn and my

colleagues for unanimously approving the

re-zoning of South Jamaica,

which represents an important step for the

Southeast Queens community to preserve,

protect, and enhance how these commu-

nities grow for the next decade,” said

Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans).

The area to be rezoned is located in the

southern and western portions of Com-

munity Board 12. It is bounded by Liberty

Avenue, 108th Avenue and South Road to

the north; Merrick and Springfield Boule-

vards to the east; North Conduit Avenue

to the south; and the Van Wyck Express-

way to the west.

The rezoning has three goals: neighbor-

hood preservation, strengthening major

corridors and expanding the Food Retail

Expansion to Support Health program, ac-

cording to the City Planning Commission.

“By providing incentives for new and

expanded ful l - l ine grocery stores,

FRESH promotes healthy lifestyles and

provides more access to fresh produce

for residents, which will combat the twin

epidemics of obesity and diabetes,” said

City Planning Commissioner Amanda

Burden.

The rezoning is intended to preserve

the architectural character of South Ja-

maica, provide aid to new grocers, and

expanded full-line grocery stores that par-

ticipate in the FRESH programs, which

offer zoning and financial incentives for

grocery stores to locate in some of the

most underserved neighborhoods in the

City.

“The extension of the important

FRESH program, which would allow for

tax incentives for supermarkets to come

into the community, is integral for families

to have access to healthy, nutritious food,”

Comrie said. “In addition, the implemen-

tation of contextual zoning to protect

lower density communities will prevent

out of character and out of place develop-

ment.”

Along wider corridors, the proposal

would establish moderate-density districts

to encourage appropriately-scaled new

housing and businesses.

“The rezoning would establish contex-

tual building height limits (between 30 and

40 feet) and also reduce the depths of the

commercial overlays on these streets to

prevent commercial uses from encroach-

ing on residential blocks,” according to

City Planning.

The rezoning was spearheaded by a

bevy of local community groups and the

late-Councilman Tom White.

“Our largest rezoning also serves as a

legacy for the late Council Member Tho-

mas White Jr., who worked closely with us

on this plan and was truly dedicated to and

passionate about improving southeast

Queens,” Burden said.

White’s successor Councilman Ruben

Wills (D-Jamaica), adding business own-

ers as well as the local block associations

participated in the effort.

Current zoning laws in South Jamaica

have remained stagnant since they were

established in 1961. Zoning changes would

limit future residential development to hous-

ing types that match existing contexts.

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The City Council approved the rezoning of

South Jamaica which would enhance com-

mercial strips like Sutphin Boulevard.

Wills said the character of the neigh-

borhood, which generations of families

have come to expect, will be maintained.

With the caveat of the FRESH program,

Wills believes the rezoning will aid in the

building of infrastructure and expansion

of small businesses.

Reach Reporter Sasha Austrie at

[email protected] or (718) 357-

7400, Ext. 123.

BY DOMENICK RAFTER

Members of Community Board 10 got

to express their frustrations and fears to

NYPD Queens South Commander James

Secreto about the potential negative ef-

fect the Resorts World Casino will have on

the neighborhoods surrounding Aqueduct

Racetrack - and whether or not the NYPD

is prepared to handle it.

CB 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton said

she was "satisfied" with the response

Genting New York gave on security inside

the property, but feared what would hap-

pen beyond the gates of the site, where

residential communities exist right in the

future casino's backyard.

Braton said she felt the 106th Precinct,

which covers Howard Beach, Ozone Park,

CB10 Addresses Aqueduct Crime Fears

problem has led Public Advocate Bill de

Blasio to call for reforming the way the

DOB responds to complaints.

"We see illegally divided housing

across Queens, both in neighborhoods

dominated by big apartment buildings and

those made up single-family homes," de

Blasio said. "Wherever it happens, it is

dangerous and the Dept. of Buildings

needs to respond rapidly to reports they

receive."

Among the things de Blasio would like

to see the DOB change is the hours of

inspection visits, so that owners are at

home when inspectors come. Currently,

most visits occur during the day when

homeowners may be at work. He added

that the DOB should have a quicker re-

sponse time to complaints, which can

sometimes be more than a month, and

they should prioritize illegal conversions.

Borough President Helen Marshall in-

cluded a page on her Web site dedicated

to illegal conversions. Her "Fighting Ille-

gal Conversions: A Comprehensive Guide

for Communities" outlines ways to spot

illegal conversions and how to report and

fix existing violations and get permits to

legalize conversions.

According to 311, most of the com-

plaints about illegal conversions in

Queens, nearly a third, have been in Com-

munity Board 7, especially in Flushing,

College Point and Whitestone.

A number of those complaints have

been "closed" because the DOB could not

gain entry to the building.

Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at


7400, Ext. 125.

South Richmond Hill and South Ozone

Park, has been neglected by the city; the

community board has not pressed for more

cops- until now.

"We have not pushed for equal re-

sources as much as we could have," she

said.

Secreto did not have many concrete an-

swers for the board, much to their dissatis-

faction, but said he had requested new offic-

ers in the 106th in preparation for the

casino's late-summer opening. Secreto could

not disclose exactly how many he requested,

though he expects an increase.

The conversation also turned to the

plague of loud music in South Richmond

Hill and Ozone Park and the rising prosti-

tution problem along South Conduit Av-

enue, not far from Aqueduct. Some mem-

bers, like Margaret Finnerty, president of

the Richmond Hill South Civic Associa-

tion, feared these problems would grow

after the casino opens.

Donna Gilmartin, chair of CB 10's Aq-

ueduct committee, said the NYPD needed

to give more details on its plans to combat

potential issues as soon as possible to

alleviate the concern in the community

that the city will not allocate resources

until it is too late.

"There are a lot of worried people right

now," she said. "I don't want this commu-

nity to get out of control and then try to put

it back together."

Secerto noted that in the previous situ-

ations much like this one, like when the

Gateway Mall opened in East New York,

the fear of rising crime was unfounded, and

the same could happen in this situation.

Braton countered that the casino is a unique

circumstance, with Genting forecasting

more than 8 million visitors a year.

Frank Dardani, chair of CB 10's Public

Safety Committee, noted that the possibil-

ity of rising crime in the communities

around Aqueduct is not just a problem for

local residents, but the state as a whole, as

the casino's business will suffer if the sur-

rounding neighborhoods see a rise in crime.

"This casino is going to bring a ton of

money to the state and all agencies will ben-

efit from it," he said. "But if this gets out of

control and people fear going to the race-

track, they won't go and the casino will fail."

Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at


7400, Ext. 125.

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TCI Plans Locations In SEQ Schools

BY BRIAN M. RAFFERTY

Hundreds of hungry people filled the

Caesar's Club at Citi Field Tuesday night

to get their fill of all the great food the

borough has to offer at the Queens Eco-

nomic Development Corp.'s annual

Queens: A Taste of the World event.

The night served as a great launching

pad for QEDC's Entrepreneur Space, a

Long Island City commercial kitchen and

office space that serves as a one-stop loca-

tion for burgeoning food-related businesses.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson, the winner

of Bravo's "Top Chef," and a Food Net-

work regular, was a guest judge for the

evening, and had nothing but praise for

QEDC’s Taste A Huge Success

Vendors from QEDC’s Entrepreneur Space

line the wall at Queens: A Taste of the World.

See more pictures on Page 41.

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the cuisine of Queens.

"It's just like Queens; it's diverse, and

it's my favorite boro because that shows

BY SASHA AUSTRIE

For more than a century, Technical Ca-

reer Institutes College has been entrenched

in Midtown Manhattan, but the storied insti-

tution is now branching out to Queens.

While TCI is in the process of procuring

space for a Queens site, the college is col-

laborating with Jamaica and Thomas A.

Edison Career/Technical high schools. Both

schools will provide the college with instruc-

tional space from Monday to Thursday dur-

ing the evening hours beginning June 1.

“As we get larger, we plan to open up a

permanent facility in the center of Ja-

maica,” said John McGrath, TCI’s CEO

and president. “A lot of our students are

from Jamaica.”

TCI will host open houses at both high

schools. Anyone interested should visit

Jamaica High School at 7 p.m. on Wednes-

day, May 18 and 25. There will be open

houses at Edison at 7 p.m., on Thursday,

May 19, and Tuesday May 24.

TCI was established by Nobel Prize

winner Guglielmo Marconi in 1909. The

school claims the distinction of being the

largest two-year private college in the New

York metropolitan area, and awards Asso-

ciate degrees in 18 academic programs.

The college is accredited by the New York

State Board of Regents and by the Middle

States Commission on Higher Education.

McGrath said very few two-year institu-

tions hold that distinction.

McGrath said the sites in Queens will

ease the burden on a bevy of students who

hail from the borough.

“We are providing access to students

who otherwise would not be able to come

to Manhattan,” he said.

TCI is not only for the high school

graduate, but it is also for those who did

not acquire secondary school credentials.

McGrath said about 40 percent of TCI

students have yet to receive a diploma or

GED. He said TCI accepts those students,

and will help them obtain high school

credentials after they have acquired 24

college credits.

“Think of all the people in the past 15

or 20 years that didn’t graduate from high

school,” he said. “Many of them are un-

aware that they could go to college, and

they would love to go to college.”

Walter Acham, Jamaica High School

principal, said he was approached about

the partnership a month ago.

“To move higher education into South

Queens […] would benefit folks out here,”

he said.

Not only will the surrounding commu-

nity benefit from the partnership, but

Acham said students at Jamaica also stand

to gain. TCI will provide chances for

mentorship, instructional, and technologi-

cal advantages for students at Jamaica.

McGrath said the school is not just for

recent high school graduates; he encour-

ages the community at large, even those

without high school diplomas, to attend

an open house.

“Despite the challenges you are facing,

talk to us and we’ll help you find solutions,”

McGrath said. “Courage is half the battle.”



7400, Ext. 123.

in its cuisine," he said. Asked if he would

open his next restaurant here, he was em-

phatic: "No, I'm going to come here and

eat. When I write about food or talk about

it, I always tell people to go to Queens."

QEDC Executive Director Seth

Bornstein was thrilled by the turnout, and

was delighted to see the response to the

vendors from the Entrepreneur Space.

"We've grown from 40 clients to 100

clients in six months, and this is a great

showcase for them," he said. "It indicates

that people want to start businesses in

Queens, and we're very proud of that."

Reach Editor Brian Rafferty at


7400, Ext, 122.

www.thecollegeforbusiness.com

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By SASHA AUSTRIE

Under brilliant blue skies and a slight

spring breeze, Parks Commissioner Adrian

Benepe bowled the first official pitch on

the new Baisley Pond Park cricket field

on Monday.

“It is a spectacular day to be here cel-

ebrating the opening of the cricket

Cricket’s New Home At Baisley Parkground,” Benepe said.

Borough President Helen Marshall al-

located $650,000 for construction of

the new field, which includes a league-

sized cricket pitch and a sustainable

drainage system of planted bioswales,

which are designed to remove silt and

pollution from the surface of runoff wa-

ter.

Marshall said it was both “a privi-

lege and a pleasure” to provide the

funds for the park. In the past five

years, Marshall has donated more than

$1 million to Baisley Pond Park and has

allocated $140 million to the borough’s

parks.

“Our parks, thanks to the investments

of many elected officials, are home to 30

cricket grounds,” Benepe said.

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy

Lewandowski gave late-Councilman Tom

White credit for embracing and support-

ing Baisley Pond Park to the tune of $10

million.

“This would have been a golden day

for him,” she said.

White’s Successor, Councilman

Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica), hopes to build

on White’s legacy, by promising he would

try to secure a cricket stadium so inter-

national games can be played in the bor-

ough.

Cricket is the fastest growing sport in

New York City and has a long history in

the borough. It is one of 19 sports played

in the Public School Athletic League, with

Cricket players and local officials cutting the ribbon to Baisley Pond Park’s new field.

26 high schools and 50 colleges partici-

pating.

Community Board 12 Parks Commit-

tee Chairwoman Marguerite Barrett re-

members the first cricket field in South-

east Queens on 110th Avenue and 173rd

Street.

“We use to come out every Sunday and

we use to watch cricket all day long,” she

said. “I wish the cricket team the best of

luck.”

Phillip Franklin, a member of the home

team the Melbourne/NY Alliance Cricket

Club, has played cricket in the park for

more than 30 years. He said the park was

rife with pebbles and broken bottles ini-

tially. In the mid 1970s, the cricket field

received a makeover, but Franklin said it

is nothing compared to the pitch’s latest

facelift.

“This is most definitely the most beau-

tiful cricket field in New York City,” said

Joe Siewharack of the Melbourne/NY

Alliance Cricket Club. “We hope to make

it better than this.”


[email protected] or (718) 357-7400,

Ext. 123.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe bowling

the first official delivery.

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www.gomersdecorators.com

www.chapinhome.org

In Our Opinion:In Our Opinion:

OF SOUTHEAST QUEENS

150-50 14th Road

Whitestone, NY 11357

(voice) (718) 357-7400 fax (718) 357-9417

email [email protected]

The PRESS of Southeast Queens

Associate Publisher

Brenda Jones

Executive Editor:

Brian Rafferty

Deputy Editor:

Joseph Orovic

Contributing Editor:

Marcia Moxam Comrie

Production Manager:

Shiek Mohamed

Queens Today Editor

Regina Vogel

Photo Editor: Ira Cohen

Reporters:

Harley Benson

Sasha Austrie

Domenick Rafter

Jason Banrey

Stefan Singh

Art Dept:

Sara Gold

Rhonda Leefoon

Candice Lolier

Barbara Townsend

Advertising Director

James Mammarella

Sr. Account Executive

Shelly Cookson

Advertising Executives

Merlene Carnegie

A Queens Tribune Publication.

© Copyright 2011 Tribco, LLC

Michael Schenkler,

President & Publisher

Michael Nussbaum,

Vice President,

Associate Publisher

Editorial Letters

Deleting Women Out Of A Historic Moment

Letters

A Personal Perspective

By MARCIA MOXAM COMRIE

A funny thing happened in

journalism last week in the wake

of Osama bin Laden’s killing.

A Brooklyn-based Hasidic

Newspaper ran the instantly-fa-

mous photo of President Barack

Obama, Vice President Joe Biden,

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,

CIA Director Leon Panetta,

Counterterrorism Director Audrey

Tomason, and others in the White

House Situation Room, watching

the raid on bin Laden’s compound

in Pakistan unfold.

Jaws locked, eyes glued to the

screen, tension is written all over

the president’s face and Clinton

sits with a hand over her mouth in

tense amazement as they all

watched the drama unfold.

It is a photo that will be part of

American presidential and mili-

tary history forever. The image is

testament to the enormity of the

task ordered by the president with

the support of those in the room

as they watched Navy SEALs

carry out the justice for 9/11.

How then, does the newspa-

per justify doctoring the photo to

eliminate Hillary Clinton and

QEDC Hits Home Run

The Queens Economic Development Corporation showed this week

that it is truly an engine for change and growth in Queens.

At its annual Queens: A Taste of the World dining event at Citi Field,

the QEDC drew hundreds of visitors to sample some of the best - and

least - known restaurants in the borough, who all provided a great time

for patrons.

But equally as visible, and in some cases more talked about among

attendees, were the small, independent businesses that are making a

name for themselves using the QEDC's Entrepreneur Space in Long

Island City. This one-stop shop for budding caterers, bakers and ven-

dors was showcased throughout the Caesar's Club with great dips, baked

goods, fine catering and more.

Not only did the QEDC give everybody who attended a night of top

cuisine, but it truly fulfilled its mission of providing a resource network

for budding businesses by showcasing the talent and creativity coming

from our borough's smallest businesses.

Congratulations on a job well done, and we look forward to seeking

continued growth thanks to the hard work of the QEDC.

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Real Issues

During the past few months, I

have chosen to remain silent in

an effort to assess the real issues

of concern to the communities

throughout America. The list

of real issues that many Ameri-

cans are facing are many. These

real issues include, but are not

limited to, the following: pov-

erty; homelessness; mis-educa-

tion of our youth; lack of parental

involvement in our children’s

lives; unemployment; taxes;

health insurance; illegal drug ac-

tivity; gang violence; and gun vio-

lence. Last, but not least of our

concerns, is the corrupt politi-

cians that we (unknowingly or

know) elect to serve, and repre-

sent us - the people. Where is the

outrage? The above concerns

(and those not listed) affect our

very existence, and yet daily we

endure this nonsense, because

“we the people” are too busy, or

turning a blind eye. Where is the

quality of life that we are entitled?

What a shame.

America is better than this!

We donate our resources world-

wide, and yet we can’t resolve our

own problems. That leaves a lot

to ponder. Our government needs

to take a real look at this country’s

needs first and foremost, before

contributing to the desires of oth-

ers. What country on this earth

cares about our suffering? Babies,

children and adults are suffering

every day, right here in America.

Who comes to our defense

against poverty, hunger, mis-edu-

cation, taxes, unemployment,

health insurance, corrupt

politicians, illegal drug activity,

gang violence and gun violence?

The billions or trillions of dollars

sent abroad to assist others should

be utilized in America to prevent

these escalating ills that are de-

stroying our very existence.

Sadly, our government sends

the military (our loved ones) to

engage in combat against others

seeking resolution from the very

ills that we endure right here in

America. Let’s put our resources

to work for America.

Enough is enough.

Liz Bishop-Goldsmith

President,

Mothers Against Guns, Inc.

Solar Energy

To The Editor:

I am a sophomore at the High

School for Environmental Stud-

ies, and my generation has be-

Audrey Tomason’s images from

the historic event?

Hillary’s body language tells

the story of being in that room in

that moment brilliantly. But the

editors clearly thought their read-

ers would be offended that there

were women in the room.

The fact is that no matter how

any group may feel about women

being in a room with a group of

men – or whether or not women

should serve outside the dining

room – you just can’t change the

facts of the moment. The instant

the image was snapped, it be-

came an icon of the event. To

paraphrase Edwin Stanton,

Lincoln’s Secretary of War, it now

“belongs to the ages.”

Tampering with the photo is

akin to tampering with evidence

in a crime.

With a couple of clicks on a

computer mouse, two vital mem-

bers of the president’s team were

Photoshopped out of the visual

record of a historic moment.

As African Americans, we are

still excavating our own history in

this country, as our contributions

were deliberately left out of the

history books and textbooks. We

have had to fight for our very right

to breathe, never mind contribute

and get credit for it.

Women have also not had an

easy time getting opportunities

and recognition. They have ben-

efited from the Civil Rights Move-

ment in addition to our own

Women’s Movement. Both

women and blacks had to fight

for the right to vote and the right

to be equal to men in general.

The women in the Situation

Room that Sunday night earned

the right to be there. These are

not women whose religion barred

them from being in the same room

with the righteous men. They are

professionals with equal intellec-

tual capacity, and they’ve got the

resumes to prove it.

We don’t know much about

Tomason’s history, but we do

know that Hillary Clinton has

worked hard for the rights and

protection of women, children

and people from minority com-

munities all her life; her efforts

and example have opened doors

for countless people.

She just made a historic run for

president two years ago, and be-

fore that served as the junior sena-

tor from our state. Now she follows

two other women as Secretary of

State. For a newspaper editor to

decide to chop her out of the pic-

ture depicting an important mo-

ment in the war on terror is an insult

not just to Hillary and Tomason,

but to women everywhere.

Supposedly the White House,

upon releasing the photo, ordered

that it not be altered in any way.

Again, it belongs to history. It

would have been more understand-

able if someone wanted to show

just the president’s tension-filled

face by pulling him forward in the

photo. But cropping out the Sec-

retary of State and the director of

Counter-Terrorism? That’s just

appalling and plain ridiculous.

The newspaper did issue an

apology and explanation saying, in

part, “In accord with our religious

beliefs, we do not publish photos of

women, which in no way relegates

them to a lower status. Because of

laws of modesty, we are not al-

lowed to publish pictures of

women, and we regret if this gives

an impression of disparaging to

women, which is certainly never

our intention. We apologize if this

was seen as offensive.”

“If?!”

They would’ve been better off

not running the photo at all.

come increasingly concerned

about and aware of the impor-

tance of reducing the amount of

greenhouse gases that are emit-

ted into the Earth's atmosphere.

I believe clean energy must play a

key role in our future.

New York has fallen behind

other states in producing clean

energy, especially solar, which

accounts for just 0.02 percent of

the state's overall energy produc-

tion. Even New Jersey is ahead of

us - the Garden State actually

produces six times as much solar

as New York.

This semester, I have been

interning at the New York

League of Conservation Voters

and have learned about a bill that

I hope my representatives will

support. Called the "Solar Indus-

try Development and Jobs Act,"

this bill will not only reduce the

amount of fossil fuels being emit-

ted into the atmosphere, but will

create 22,000 jobs, will boost

the economy, create a better fu-

ture for my generation and will

create a greener New York at the

same time.

There's been a lot of talk about

solar energy as it is something

that many New Yorkers have

wanted for a long time. Now is

the time to start taking action for

a brighter, greener future for my

generation and the generations

to follow.

Anahi Naranjo,

Glendale

Police BlotterCompiled By DOMENICK RAFTER

106th Precinct

Purse Snatched

The NYPD is asking for the public’s

assistance in identifying two suspects

wanted in connection to a robbery that

occurred in Ozone Park.

On Monday, May 2, at approximately

11:10 p.m., a victim was approached by

perpetrators at the intersection of Lib-

erty Avenue and 96th Street in Ozone

Park, who removed the victim’s pocket-

book without her permission and fled the

location.

The first suspect is described as a black

or Hispanic man, around 23-24 years old

and the second suspect is described as a

black man, around 22-24 years old.

Anyone with information is asked to

call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS

(8477).

The public can also submit their tips

by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Web

site at nypdcrimestoppers.com or by

texting their tips to CRIMES (274637),

then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly

confidential.

109th Precinct

Missing Man

Police are asking for the public’s as-

sistance in locating a missing Flushing

man.

Abraham Strizhevsky, 89, last seen on

Friday, May 6, at around 1 p.m. at 138-49

Elder Ave. in Flushing.

Strizhevsky is described as white, 5-

foot-6, 190 lbs, and was wearing black

pants, a black sweater, glasses, and was

carrying two canes. He is said to be in

good physical, but poor mental condi-

tion.

Anyone with information is asked to

call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS

(8477). The public can also submit their

Police are trying to help locate Abraham

Strizhevsky.

tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers

Web site at nypdcrimestoppers.com or by

texting their tips to CRIMES (274637),

then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly

confidential.

Blunt Trauma Death

On Monday, May 9, at around 1:48

a.m., police responded to a 911 call of

an unconscious man in front of 31-29

Higgins St. in Flushing. Upon arrival,

responding officers observed an uni-

dentified 40-year-old Hispanic man on

the street unconscious and unrespon-

sive.

EMS responded and transported the

victim to Flushing Hospital where he was

later pronounced dead on arrival. The

Medical Examiner has classified the case

as a homicide due to blunt force trauma

to head of victim. The investigation was

ongoing.

113th Precinct

Stabbed To Death

On Monday, May 9, at around 4:45

p.m., police responded to a call of a

woman stabbed inside Baisley Park

Houses, 116-40 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., Apt.

6F in South Jamaica.

Upon arrival, police discovered the

victim, a 58-year-old black woman, with

multiple stab wounds to the body. The

victim was pronounced dead at the

scene.

114th Precinct

Motocycle Death

On May 9, at 6:05 p.m., police re-

sponded to a 911 call of a motorcycle

accident eastbound on the Grand Cen-

tral Parkway at the RFK Bridge in

Astoria.

The driver of a 2010 Ducati motor-

cycle, a 46-year-old Hispanic man, was

traveling eastbound on the Grand Cen-

tral Parkway when he lost control and

was thrown from the motorcycle. The

victim was pronounced dead at the

scene.

YOU DON'T

HAVE TO

REVEAL YOUR

IDENTITY TO

HELP SOLVE

A CRIME.

Henry Stern

By HENRY STERNNot to write about

Osama bin Laden thisweek would be to ignorean event of historic im-portance.

He is directly re-sponsible for the deathof almost 3,000 NewYorkers, a figure sur-passed most notably byHitler, who is primarily accountablefor the tragedy of World War II. MaoTse-Tung, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin,Pol Pot, Slobodan Mi losevic,Saddam Hussein, Hafez al-Assad,and various African genocidal ty-rants were also mass murderers, butusually employed more primitivemeans than the Nazi fuhrer and theWahhabi devotee.

Bin Laden was terminated withextreme prejudice by well-trainedAmericans who, we presume, fol-lowed the instructions they weregiven. The thought that he shouldhave been taken alive is naive.Who would try him? On what au-thority? How would a sentence becarried out? How much attentionwould he get for years while thelegal system took its protractedcourse? What would the Interna-t ional Court of Just ice opine onthe mat ter? And what consider-

ation did the thousandsof innocent civilians re-ceive before he sent thehijacked airliners to crashinto their offices?

It was clearly in thenational interest to dis-pose of the matter on thespot, and the result waspresumably dictated bythe elected official who is

commander-in-chief. There is a cer-tain irony in a Nobel Peace Prizerecipient personally involved in themurder of an unarmed captive,whether in the presence of h isdaughter or not. But think of howmany lives would have been savedif bin Laden had been stopped 10years ago, before 9/11, when Presi-dent Clinton authorized the re-moval of bin Laden from the planetafter the bombing of the destroyerU.S.S. Cole on Oct. 12, 2000.Clinton later said that his order wasnever carried out because theUnited States was unable to es-tablish a mi litar y presence inUzbekistan and because Americanintelligence and law enforcementagencies refused to confirm thatbin Laden had authorized the bomb-ing.

On the photo issue, I com-pletely agree with the President.

As he said, we do not spike thefootball after a touchdown, norshould we create an iconic imagefor bin Laden’s followers to vener-ate. The conspiracy theorists willnever be satisfied, nor need theybe, for the further they depart fromreality, the less credible they be-come.

Burial at sea was also entirelyappropriate. No remains, no rel-ics, no tomb, no shrine. Life be-gan in the sea, and it is not theworst place to decompose. As thefate of Luca Brasi, who killed farfewer people than Osama binLaden, was poetically described byhis colleagues, “He sleeps with thefishes.” Besides, if he is going tomeet the 72 virgins who Muslimtheologians say await him in para-dise, the North Arabian Sea willsimply be a stop on his journey.

Osama bin Laden did not lib-erate anyone from tyranny. TheTaliban regime in Afghanistan washarsh and oppressive, a medievaltheocracy brutal to its own people.We predict that bin Laden will beregarded over the years primarilyas a mass murderer, who employedthe ingenious method of hijackingjet planes whose tanks were filledwith jet fuel. He caused the deathof thousands of innocents as part

of a deluded conspiracy to re-es-tablish the Caliphate and rule theworld. The lesson of his life is howmuch harm one individual can dousing modern technology.

The bombing of Americanembassies in Tanzania and Kenyain 1998, should have alerted theworld to the menace of bin Laden.

Much more wil l be wr it tenabout bin Laden and his remark-able career. But if he had to be de-scribed in one word on his non-existent tombstone, we suggestthat “murderer” rather than “mar-tyr” would be an appropriate ap-pellation.

[email protected]

Not 4 Publication.com by Dom Nunziato

Osama Bin Laden Came to Timely End

May 1

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BY BRIAN M. RAFFERTY

New York City has made at least 10

wholesale rounds of pre- and post-bud-

get fixes in the last three years, adjusting

for an economy that has been struggling

to stay positive in harsh fiscal times.

Though each of the past three years, a

bare bones budget has been bolstered by

a sudden influx of federal spending and

additional savings, this time, no such bail-

out is expected.

This time, according to Mayor Mike

Bloomberg, we’re going to feel it.

The Mayor released his proposed bud-

get for the 2012 fiscal year last week, a

$67 billion behemoth that includes no

new taxes, but does hold some consider-

able cuts and drops in services, including

the much ballyhooed layoff of more than

4,000 public school teachers.

Who’s Getting Cut?

Across the board, local and citywide

services will feel a pinch. Some agencies

are going to be asked to do the same job

– or more – with less money. Others will

simply not be able to do as much as they

have in the past. The results trickle down

from major agencies straight to summer

youth employment programs.

In our most vital services, the NYPD

will lose $64 million, the FDNY will lose

$38 million, $13 million has been cut from

Corrections, and Sanitation has been

slashed by $91 million. A great deal of

these “savings” will be found in the loss

of 840 staff positions – all through attri-

tion – for which replacements will not be

hired.

In what some have called the worst

cut of all, 4,278 public school teachers

will be laid off, and another 1,120 who

leave the Dept. of Education will not be

replaced, leaving a total loss of 5,398

fewer classroom teachers next year. The

final cut to the schools is $393 million.

Leonie Haimson, executive director

of Class Size Matters, a non-profit educa-

tion advocacy organization, said the ef-

fect on schoolchildren will be devastat-

ing.

“Already in the last three years alone,

students in grades K-3 have experienced

class size increases of 10 percent, lead-

ing to the largest class sizes in over a de-

cade,” she said. “Why should they have

to suffer any more?”

Haimson characterized the Mayor’s

attitude toward the schools as “passing

the buck” to state and federal authorities

without having the desire or leadership

to focus on classroom teaching.

In Queens, the borough’s library sys-

tem will lose 148 staff members to lay-

offs, with a $7.7 million cut in funding;

the Queens DA will lose $667,000. The

Parks Dept. will lose $47 million in fund-

ing, CUNY will lose $24 million, the

Dept. for the Aging will lose $12 million

and Health and Welfare agencies will lose

$210 million.

There will be a 10 percent reduction

in funding to the Beacon Programs in

schools, 2,140 fewer summer jobs for

teens and 15 literacy programs that help

immigrants learn English will be shuttered.

Dollars And Cents

Hundreds of millions of dollars in the

form of Federal Stimulus Package dollars

will not be headed into City coffers this

year. The mayor has proposed a way to

help boost revenue through non-tax mea-

sures that will increase fees, fines and

other cost-of-living adjustments.

The cost of driving and parking in

Queens will go up. Meters in Queens,

which just went to 25 cents for 20 min-

utes when that same quarter used to buy a

half hour, will drop to only paying for 15

minutes, raising the hourly meter rate to

$1 from 75 cents, generating $9 million

in new revenue. Parking in municipal lots

will go up at the same rate, raising nearly

another $759,000. Red light cameras in

20 locations will now become two-way,

bringing in another $5.6 million. The

people who clean and maintain our

streets will also all get one-week furloughs

during the year, saving just more than $1

million.

In our parks, it will cost more to join

recreation centers and to use public fa-

cilities, netting the City an additional $4

million. Fees for reserving tennis courts

and ball fields will go up, bringing another

$2.2 million to City coffers.

The Sexual Assault Response Team

funding for City hospitals will be elimi-

nated, saving the City $1.2 million, and

another $2.6 million will be saved by at-

trition of 50 311 call center positions.

Sharp Criticism

Across the board, Council members,

need organizations and other City offi-

cials have been sharply critical of the

Mayor’s proposal, saying the poor man-

agement and a heavily reliance on non-

essential consultants has driven expenses

through the roof.

“While the Mayor’s Budget presents a

picture ref lective of the lingering effects

of the recession, it should be noted that

throughout the economic crisis, City agen-

cies have spent billions of dollars on high-

As part of the budget process, local

Community Boards make requests for

specific local funding as well as capital

improvements. They submit their requests

to the Mayor’s Office of Management and

Budget in advance of the Mayor’s pro-

posal. In most cases where the OMB sided

with the request, they responded to Com-

munity Boards with a statement that the

responsible agency – be it Health and

Hospitals, Parks or the Dept. of Trans-

portation – would try to accommodate

the request within their reduced budgets,

but made few promises for funding.

Uniformly, requests for more police,

new precincts, equipment and vehicles

for police, fire and parks, maintenance,

new construction and roadwork were

summarily denied.

In some cases, the OMB referred

Community Boards to ask for discre-

tionary funds from their local Council

members. In most cases, the standard

response was “Due to fiscal constraints,

the availability of funds is uncertain.”

Here is a breakdown of some of the

larger projects, by Community Board.

CB 1: Queensbridge Park renovation,

tree pruning, new cops for the 114th

precinct.

Community Needs

CB2: Repave 69th Street to 72nd drive

and from Queens Boulevard to Maurice

Avenue; reconstruct Borden Avenue be-

tween Van Dam Street and 30th Street,

and 30th Place, 31st Street and 31st

Place, between Borden Avenue and 48th

Avenue; include new catch basins and im-

proved drainage to relieve chronic f lood-

ing conditions.

CB 3: Install air pollution testing moni-

tors in the neighborhoods of Jackson

Heights and East Elmhurst located near

LaGuardia Airport; increase hospital

beds at Elmhurst Hospital.

CB 4: Reconstruct Streets bounded

by 57th Avenue, Long Island Railroad,

Grand Avenue and Queens Boulevard.

CB 5: Provide funding for repair/re-

placement of park infrastructure follow-

ing the devastating tornado of September

2010; reconstruct ball fields, jogging path

and add security lighting at Principe Park

in Maspeth; establish a public park on the

grounds of the former St. Saviour’s church,

and fund the church’s restoration.

CB 6: Rehabilitate Flushing Meadow

Corona Park and hire additional P.E.P.

Officers for Parks Department.

CB 7: Reconstruct College Point Bou-

levard between 14th and 23rd Avenues;

priced outside consultants, resulting in

runaway spending on technology-related

contracts,” Comptroller John Liu said.

Recently, Information technology

consultants for the Mayor’s City Time per-

sonnel management system, as well for

the Schools Construction Authority, have

been indicted on charges of funneling

money into their own pockets in addi-

tion to the millions they have earned in

fees for services that Liu said are not es-

sential.

The Professional Staff Congress, the

faculty union for the CUNY system, ad-

monished the Mayor for his cuts.

“Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to cut

CUNY, especially the community col-

leges, is a decision to deny low-income,

minority and immigrant students an ad-

equate learning environment, to pack

them into over-crowded classrooms, in-

crease their time to graduation, raise their

tuition, and relegate their instruction,

mentoring and guidance to overworked,

under-resourced faculty and staff,” said

PSC President Barbara Bowen.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-

Manhattan) was more reserved about the

Mayor’s budget. She and the Council will

analyze the budget and make their own

recommendations for changes.

“We have a lot of hard work ahead of

us in the next several weeks,” Quinn said.

“The Council is committed to working

with the Administration and to making

the tough decisions necessary to protect

the essential services and important pro-

grams New Yorkers depend on, as well as

the long-term fiscal health of our City.”

Reach Editor Brian M. Rafferty at


7400, Ext. 122.

rehabilitate Cunningham Park; reconstruct

182nd Street between 64th Avenue and

Horace Harding Expressway, 181st Street

between 67th Avenue and 69th Avenue.

CB 8: Rehabilitate Cunningham Park,

Cedar Grove Playground and the bridge

at Willow Lake in Flushing Meadows; add

bathrooms near the Flushing Meadows

ball fields.

CB 9: Plant trees in the district in or-

der to beautify and maintain the charac-

ter of residential streets – there are dead

trees and locations where no trees exist,

particularly on Jamaica Avenue from

101st Street to 121 Street; Forest Park

Greenhouse restoration and playground;

restore the Civic Virtue fountain at Union

Turnpike and Queens Boulevard.

CB 10: Increase Height of Fencing at

Tennis Courts from 10 to 15 feet. at P.O.

Edward Byrne Park, North Conduit Av-

enue between 131st and 133rd Streets,

to prevent tennis balls from f lying over

existing fence and startling motorists.

CB 11: Fund reconstruction of streets

and drainage between Utopia Parkway

and the Clearview Expressway, and be-

tween Northern Boulevard and the Long

Island Expressway; rehabilitation of Al-

ley Pond Environmental Center Building

CB 12: The list included a series of

street construction, drainage and sewer

needs, which did see a glimmer of hope,

with the response stating that “All requests

for street reconstruction in the Spring-

field and Baisley Trunk Drainage Basin

systems of Southeast Queens, and its

vicinity, will not be considered until the

NYCDEP completes its Drainage Study

for this area and a new Drainage Plan

has been approved.”

CB 13: Select site for new 116th Pre-

cinct, which was once again shot down,

as the OMB responded by saying “Con-

struction of the Queens South Task

Force Building is completed at a cost of

$7.3 million and the Command officially

opened in June 2004. It is a new 20,000

square foot facility that fulfills the City’s

commitment to the community.”

CB 14: Initiate a Study to Locate a

professional Health Related Technical

School in the district, specifically be-

cause of the geographic isolation of this

peninsula from the mainland, which

“makes travel by mass transit or surface

bus transportation a project in itself. The

large population of eligible teenagers

graduating from our school would avail

themselves of an opportunity to receive

a higher education without doubt.”

The response from OMB was typical

of this year’s budget:

“While CUNY maintains its support

for the community colleges and continu-

ally advocates for their invaluable ser-

vice, at this time, no funding is available

for this purpose.”

Doing More With Less:

Cuts, Tough Choices In ’12 Budget

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Southeast Queens Events Edited By Harley Benson

pix

Justice Jeremy S. Weinstein,Administrative Judge, CivilMatters, Queens County, wasthe recipient of the 2011 Ben-jamin Cardozo Award pre-sented by the Jewish Law-yers Guild at their 35th AnnualDinner. Pictured l. to r.: Ken-neth J. Halperin, Dinner Chair;Justice Jeremy S. Weinstein;Justice Barbara Kapnick, whopresented the award toWeinste in; and Glenn A.Jacobson, president of theJewish Lawyers Guild.

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski, Councilman LeroyComrie, Southern Queens Parks Association Director of Operations Pe-ter Richards and St. Albans Little League President Damani Nyhuma cel-ebrated the addition of three new Holland Tractors to Southeast QueensParks in District 27. Comrie allocated $225,000 to purchase these ve-hicles. Pictured l. to r.: Richards, Lewandowski, Comrie and Nyhuma.

New Tractors

Canned Food Drive

On April 27, Audrey Lewis, CEO of E Joy Community Resource Center,conducted a presentation for the 100 Black Men of Long Island at its Aprilgeneral membership meeting to raise awareness of hunger deficiencythat affects more than 300,000 people, the majority of whom are seniorcitizens and children. 100 Black Men of Long Island had completed itsannual food drive, which raised more than $2,000 to fight hunger. Pic-tured: 2nd from l., Mandell Smith; 3rd from l., Henry Holley; 5th from l.,Bryant Barnett; 6th from l., Audrey Lewis; 7th from l., Kathy Negri; 8thfrom l., Phil Andrews; and Hon. William Wise.

Weinstein Awarded

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Borough Beat

BY STEFAN SINGH

New York City parks house some of

the greatest non-pro basketball players in

the country. In the inaugural People's

Games, that talent was on display against

some of the best ballers from Los Angeles.

Team NY was represented by amazing

people from all walks of life and that

includes Knicks legend Earl "The Pearl"

Monroe and Queens' natives Daniel Alotta

and Nygel Roach.

The People's Games is a sports con-

cept that offers non-professional ath-

letes the opportunity to represent their

hometowns in a battle against other U.S.

cities to prove which city dominates in

various sports.

Alotta, who has zero prior experi-

ence in organized basketball, was cho-

sen for this team because he is a true

representation of the people of New

York. The resilient football player from

Temple University won a battle with

cancer; in his senior year of high school,

Allotta was diagnosed with Hodgkin's

lymphoma and battled the disease all

through his college career.

"In high school you think you can run

through walls, and it made me aware that

I am not invincible," said Alotta. "You go

Boro Players Fight

For B-Ball Titlefrom playing sports every day to your daily

routine involving seeing a doctor."

The 33-year-old shooting guard for

Team NY no longer takes life for granted

and rather than sulk in his diagnosis, Alotta

challenged it like a true athlete. He said

that his cancer forced him to be a better

player. "I actually competed at a higher

level," he said. "There is a certain will that

you gain when you overcome what I have."

His teammate and fellow Queens' rep-

resentative Roach played college ball at

St. John's University. The 26-year-old

Manhattan resident walked onto the Red

Storm court for three consecutive years.

As a basketball fan, and more specifi-

cally a Knicks fan, Roach is honored to be

coached by The Pearl. "You can't ask for

more," he said. "The guy is a legend."

In the best-of-three tournament, Team

LA swept Team NY 2-0. LA won Game 1

in Venice Beach 59-55. NY lost game two

on their home courts in Union Square by

a final score of 58-55.

The title currently resides in L.A.,

but Monroe looks forward to coaxing

the title to the Big Apple in the next

People's Games.

Reach Reporter Stefan Singh at


7400, Ext. 128.

www.tobaccofreenys.org

www.powerofaction.com/nyc/38

Profile

Marmara Back In Charge At 113thBY SASHA AUSTRIE

After a three-year hiatus, Deputy In-

spector Milt Marmara has returned to the

113th Precinct.

“I’m very, very happy to make this

place my home for the next five to 10

years,” he said. “It feels good to be back.”

Marmara was surprised by his new

appointment, but is looking forward to

being back in the borough.

“Everybody was very happy,” he said

of his return to the 113th. “They know

me and they know my style.”

Marmara replaced the outgoing

Deputy Inspector Kristel Johnson, who

was reassigned to Bronx Queens Hous-

ing.

“I’m happy for her,” he said. “She is

moving onto another positive change in

her career.”

Marmara left the bounds of the 113th

Precinct three years ago to head up the

69th Precinct in Canarsie.

“It’s almost like you are moving away

from your family,” Marmara said of the

move back to Queens. “But I feel like I’m

coming back home to my other family. It

feels like I never left.”

Marmara said though the 69th Pre-

cinct is smaller than the 113th, the resi-

dents and issues are similar.

“It is a smaller version of the 113th,”

he said, adding that the area is home to

middle class families, professionals and

homeowners.

Marmara has spent his career in pub-

lic service, first as a soldier in the United

States Army Reserves from 1986 to 1995.

His NYPD career has spanned 20 years,

beginning as a housing officer.

“I always loved public service,” he

said.

Though he would not go into specif-

ics, Marmara said there were a lot “little

spots” he would focus resources on. His

goal is to reduce crime and improve the

quality of life.

Marmara said there will be a focus on

commercial vehicles being parked on resi-

dential streets, limiting speeding on resi-

dential streets and noise abatement – with

an eye on very loud house parties in par-

ticular.

He stressed teamwork, with both his

fellow officers and the community at

large.

“There is an open door policy,” he

said. “The precinct is not a fortress.”



7400, Ext. 123.

Deputy Inspector Milt Marmara with the Communications Affairs Officer of the 113th

Precinct.

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www.netelhomes.com

A A A A A &&&&& E E E E E

Love Songs Dominate Spring Concert

The 84-year-old Oratorio Society of

Queens is handing the baton to a new

generation of classical singers, incorpo-

rating students from its choral scholar-

ship program into the institution's upcom-

ing May 22 concert at Queensborough

Community College.

The OSQ will perform Brahms'

"Liebeslieder Waltzes" as well as Ameri-

can songs of Hope and Freedom in the

120-plus member choral group's return to

Queensborough.

Under the direction of Maestro David

Close, the concert will feature soloists

performing with OSQ, including soprano

Geraldine McMillian, bass-baritone

Vaughn Fritts, guest artist Jerry Korobow,

and pianists Barbara Podgurski and

Arielle Levioff.

Other program highlights include

"How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place" by

Brahms, African-American Spirituals, and

the ever-popular "This Land is Your

Land," by Woody Guthrie, led by Jerry

Korobow on guitar and banjo. All the

songs ref lect a wide range of music that

is the American choral experience.

The program will also feature singers

from the OSQ Choral Scholarship Pro-

gram and a song composed by one of

the OSQ interns, vocalist Julie Bouchard,

at the piano with the chorus singing

back-up.

"'And let us hope they will become

real family music, and sung a lot' said

Johannes Brahms in regard to his first set

of 'Liebeslieder Waltzes' right before their

publication," said OSQ Assistant Conduc-

tor, Ben Arendsen. "With the premiere

of the 'Liebeslieder Waltzes' on Jan. 5,

1870, Brahms certainly found that popu-

larity; the Waltzes were an instant hit with

the public and were by far his greatest

popular success to date."

Written for piano four-hands and four

voices (often sung with one voice on a

part, but also done regularly with full cho-

rus), the pieces were intended to be sung

in homes, at dinner parties and various

other informal settings, Arendsen said.

The poetry is based on the always popu-

lar subject of love - the English transla-

tion for "Liebeslieder" is "love songs."

"Mostly folk-like in nature, Brahms set

all of the pieces in the most popular folk

style of his time, the waltz," Arendsen

said. "Each song is to-the-point, catchy,

and a perfect musical expression of the

text chosen."

Jeffrey Leder Gallery will present a Se-

lected Group Exhibition of 13 Long Is-

land City artists who are as diverse as the

neighborhood they come from.

Some of the artists depict scenes from

Long Island City; yet for others, the in-

f luence may not be as obvious. Though

not initially curated to do so, this exhibit

can serve as an exploration into what af-

fect, if any, working in this community

has had on its artists.

Chosen from among the approxi-

mately 1,400 artists that work here, these

13 offer a wide spectrum of mediums from

drawing to painting to sculpture.

Jeffrey Leder Gallery has a special af-

finity for Long Island City artists, with

more than half of those represented work-

ing within a few blocks of the space.

The artists in this show include many

familiar names that have exhibited at the

gallery in the past, such as Violet Baxter,

Sharon Florin, Orestes Gonzalez, Arthur

Hammer, Donna Levinstone, Demetrius

Manouselis, Pietrapiana, Alexis Portilla and

Ellen Schneiderman. Other artists being

shown at Jeffrey Leder Gallery for the first

time include Yves Dezawy, Karen Dimit,

Kristy Schopper, and Susanna Starr.

Coinciding with the opening of this

Leder Gallery Leads

Arts Weekend Kickoffshow is the LIC Arts Open, a celebration

of the thriving arts community in Long

Island City, that is home to MoMA's PS1

contemporary art center, the Noguchi

Museum, the Socrates Sculpture Park, and

the greatest concentration of art in NYC

outside of Manhattan.

The festival will take place May 14-

22, and will be open to the public. It will

feature myriad cultural activities and

events, including Artists Open Studios

with hundreds of artists participating;

special exhibitions and gallery shows;

musical, theater, dance and comedy per-

formances by local talents; walking tours,

food tastings, community outreach involv-

ing a children's art contest judged by our

Co-Sponsor, Councilman Jimmy Van

Bramer (D-Sunnyside), and much more.

The LIC Arts Open is organized by the

LIC Arts Open organization, a collabora-

tion of arts entities, businesses and indi-

viduals who seek to bring Long Island City's

diverse artistic presence to the attention of

arts lovers of New York and beyond.

For more information, please visit Jef-

frey Leder Gallery online at

jeffreyledergallery.com. The gallery is lo-

cated at 11-05 44th Road., 3rd Floor, in

Long Island City.

THE ORIGINAL CASCARINO'S OF

COLLEGE POINT

14-60 College Point Blvd., College Point

(718) 445-9755

CUISINE: Italian

HOURS: Sun-Thurs 6:30 a.m. to 10

p.m.; Fri-Sat 6:30 a.m. 11 p.m.

CREDIT CARDS: Yes

PARKING: Lot

New York City is every foodie's ha-

ven. Every section of this fair city has

some treasure tucked away, waiting to

be unearthed. This may be the only place

on earth where authentic creations are

found around the bend, and down the

block of any non-descript street. Of all

the selections to be had in the most di-

verse borough, I always feel especially

happy when the choice is Italian.

The Original Cascarino's of College

Point, operated by Rob Cascarino and

family, has a leg up on the competition.

There is no secret here because for more

than two decades, this has been a neigh-

borhood staple. The New York Mets

have certainly taken notice, making

Cascarino's wood oven pizza the offi-

cial pizza of the team.

"I called the [Mets representative]

to come here and taste my pizza," said

Cascarino.

Whether you are in the mood for a

panini, pizza or pasta from the heart of

Calabria, Italy, Cascarino's will pique

your interest.

My guest and I started out with

what was essentially dessert. Looking

to unwind after a long week, we both

opted for a mudslide. For those of you

who don't know what it is, it is akin to

an adult milkshake. How can you go

wrong with ice cream, liquor and

chocolate syrup? I am considering

making this a preliminary ritual to the

start of every meal.

We were served fresh focaccia,

baked in house. I fancy myself a bread

Not Just For Mets Fans

connoisseur and I must say it is delish.

I would go to Cascarino's merely for

its bread. After the bread, a bevy of

dishes made their way to the table -

Caesar salad, crispy calamari, penne

alla vodka, chicken stiano, lasagna and

margherita pizza.

I was really impressed with the

calamari. A part of me was quite happy

that my companion is allergic, which

meant I had my fill. I dunked the lightly

breaded rings in marina and hot sauce.

The penne alla vodka was creamy

and rich. My date gave the thumbs up

on the pasta coated thoroughly in the

sauce, and once I had a bite I knew we

were going to fight over the leftovers.

We joined the Cascarino's faithful

that swear by the chicken stiano. The

dish is a pan-fried chicken cutlet

cooked in a red Marsala wine sauce

topped with prosciutto, mushrooms

and fresh mozzarella. Now I know why

it's so popular.

As for the lasagna, the cheese and

the sauce stretched across the plate cre-

ating a precarious stringy bridge, with

f lavors dancing across my palate on ev-

ery bite. The margherita pizza was a

worthy exclamation point at the end of

the hearty meal.

Sure, we may have eaten the meal

backwards, but at Cascarino's, there's

no wrong way to do things - and there

are no wrong choices. Go; you'll be

happy you went.

Cascarino's also serves breakfast un-

til 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday,

and Sunday brunch is offered from 10

a.m. to 2 p.m. The restaurant also does

catering and has a party room that can

accommodate up to 100 people. Got a

birthday coming up? Make a note.

"When people walk out of here they

are happy," Cascarino said. "By the way,

mama still makes the meatballs."

— Sasha Austrie

The Oratorio Society of Queens performs at Queensborough Community College.

Queensborough Community Col-

lege is located at 222-05 56th Ave,

Bayside, one block east of Springfield

Boulevard. Parking is free on the main

lot adjacent to the theater, which of-

fers easy-access entry.

Ticket prices at the box office are $25

general admission, $20 seniors and stu-

dents with ID; children, 12 and under,

accompanied by an adult, are free. For

additional information, call the Oratorio

Society of Queens at (718) 279-3006 or

visit QueensOratorio.org.

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Coach Stresses Books Over Games

Spring Concert Given Youthful Edge

Word

Faith

NotebookCampus Magnet Bulldogs

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“Religion and science both profess peace (and

the sincerity of the professors is not being

doubted), but each always turns out to have a

dominant part in any war that is going or con-

templated.”

—Howard Nemerov

BY ALLISON HAZEL

Coach Charles Gramby is an institu-

tion at the Campus Magnet Complex in

Cambria Heights. For 42 years, he has

been the Basketball coach from when they

were the Andrew Jackson Hickories to

now, when they are the Campus Magnet

Bulldogs.

Although his main duty is to coach bas-

ketball, often you will find him giving ad-

vice to students who are not even basket-

ball players. He encourages all students to

finish school and pursue higher education.

He wants students to succeed. “A college

education will open your mind to so many

things,” said Gramby, whose daughter is a

graduate of Hampton University.

Students from the vir-

tual business in Virtual

Enterprise class called

“Office Supplies Enter-

prise, Inc.” of the Busi-

ness, Computer Appli-

cations & Entrepre-

neurship HS in the Cam-

pus Magnet, Cambria

Heights, took part in

the Virtual Enterprise

International 14th

An-

nual Trade Fair in the

69th

Regiment Armory,

Manhattan. Their vir-

Business Pros:

tual business sells office supplies. The students operate the class like a business, doing

all the activities a real business does.

Coach Gramby reminds his players

that they are student athletes - rather than

athletic students. He frequently reviews

the report cards of the team members,

because in addition to leading them in the

right direction athletically, he knows it is

imperative that prospective college ath-

letes have a good academic record and

SAT scores. In order to play Division I or

Division II sports in college, a high school

athlete must register with the NCAA clear-

ing house. Grades play a major role in the

NCAA clearing house eligibility.

Coach Gramby, like many other

coaches, transforms his boys into young

men. Each player is taught responsibility,

determination and self respect. The Bull-

dogs are no strangers to scouts and schol-

arships. Recent graduates of the Campus

Magnet Bulldogs attended Queens Col-

lege, City College, Norfolk State Univer-

sity, several SUNY schools and other in-

stitutions.

Allison Hazel is a senior in the Humani-

ties and the Arts HS in the Campus Magnet

Complex.

Coach Charles Gramby (back row, l.) with his players and staff.

By SASHA AUSTRIE

The Merrick Park Baptist Church is

hosting its annual spring concert.

“It happens every year, but this year,

we are doing something a little different,”

said Vearlane Edge, youth minister.

This is the first time that the concert,

which is geared towards teens and young

adults, will bring in artists from outside of

the church.

The concert, sponsored by the Angelic

Choir and C. G. Norton Youth Ensemble,

will feature Minister Earl Jones, Jr. and

Anointed Forever, with a special guest

appearance by Malika Davis.

“This is for the underserved youth that

we can’t get a hold of with the everyday,

normal stuff,” she said, promising audi-

ence members can expect “a top-rated

performance both spiritually and interac-

tively. It is almost like a party going on.”

As someone who knows what the

streets have to offer, Edge is fulfilled when

some of the teens decide to change their

lives.

Edge, a 25-year

member of the church,

said she joined when

she was a teenager.

“It is very exciting; it

is very fulfilling, very en-

couraging,” she said of

her tenure at the church.

Merrick Park Baptist

was incorporated in

1928 with a congrega-

tion of two children and

seven adults, at 108-40

172nd St., St. Albans. In

1960, 32 years after the

church was established,

Bishop Curtis Norton was handed the

reigns.

The church and its congregants have

seen a litany of changes in Norton’s 43

years as pastor, including a move to its

current location at 120-02 Marsden St.

Norton’s wife, Dr. Millicent Norton,

has been at her husband’s side, doing her

part to strengthen the church. In 1985,

she founded the Association of Free

Women in Christ. The association has

approximately 20 chapters around the

world.

The church was not the Norton’s only

haven. Their ministry branched outside

Ph

oto

b

y Ira C

oh

en

Merrick Park Baptist Church’s Spring Concert on May 14 has

been revamped to reach more youths.

the walls of Merrick Park Baptist Church

to 15 auxiliaries and gave rise to seven

churches. The Nortons also spent 37

years on air with a Sunday morning broad-

cast on WTHE 1520 AM.

In 2003, the torch was passed. Rev.

Curtis Norton Jr., took on the role of care-

taker.

The concert will be held at 6 p.m. on

May 14, at 120-02 Marsden St. Tickets

cost $20. For information, call (718) 276-

5039.


[email protected] or (718) 357-7400,

Ext. 123.

Queens TodaySECTION EDITOR: REGINA VOGEL

Send typed announcementsfor your club or

organization’s events atleast TWO weeks in

advance to “Queens Today”Editor, Queens Tribune,

150-50 14th Road,Whitestone NY 11357-

2809. Send faxes to 357-9417, c/o Regina.

IF YOUR ORGANIZATIONMEETS ON A REGULARBASIS, SEND ALL DATESFOR THE ENTIRE YEAR.

ENTERTAINMENT

ANNUAL ART SHOWFriday, May 13 7-9 and Sun-day, May 15 10-2 AnnualArt Show by the Students ofSt. Andrew Avellino School,35-50 158th Street, Flushing.ARMENIAN AWARENESSThrough Sunday, May 15the Anthropology Museum fthe People of NY and theArmenian Cul tura l Educa-t ional Resource Center atQueens College will hold aprogram of exhibits, lecture,food, f i lm and more. $10.428-5650 schedule.CHOREOGRAPHYThrough Sunday, May 15S tuden t ChoreographyShowcase a t QueensCollege’s Rathaus Hall. 793-8080.COMMUNITY SINGERSSaturday, May 14 at 8 theCommun i t y S inge r s o fQueens , I nc . p resen t s“Spring Fever” at Church onthe Hi l l in F lush ing . $10.658-1021.ASTRONOMY NIGHTSaturdays, May 14, June 18Evening with the Stars from8-10 at Alley Pond Environ-menta l Center . 229-4000.$10 adults.NOCHE FLAMENCASaturday and Sunday, May14, 15 at Queens Theatrein the Park. 760-0064.DAVID GONZALEZSaturday, May 14 interac-tive potpourri of Aesopo:’sc lass ic stor ies at F lushingTown Hal l . 463-7700, ext .222.QC CHORAL SOCIETYSaturday, May 14 QueensCollege Choral Society’s 70th

annua l Spr ing Concer t a tColden Center . $10. 793-8080.QSOSaturday, May 14 QueensSymphony Orchest ra per -forms “The Voice” at 7:30with a pre-concert lecture at6:30. 326-4455.ASTRONOMYSaturdays, May 14, June 18at Alley Pond EnvironmentalCenter. 229-4000 to regis-ter .SPRING JAZZ GALASaturday, May 14 at JoeAbbracciamento Restaurantin Rego Park. $100. MusicaReginae 894-2178.BEETHOVENSaturday , May 14Beethoven’s Missa Solemnisa t Co lden Aud i to r ium,Queens College. $20. 793-8080.WALKING TOURSSaturdays and Sundays ,May 14, 15, 21, 22 L IC.Wednesday , May 11F lush ing ’ s Ch ina town .Wednesday , May 18Queensborough Plaza to theWa ter f ron t a t Sunse t .Wednesday , May 25 #7Sunnys ide to J acksonHeights. Call 961-8406.SHAKESPEARESaturday , May 14Shakespea re in Mus ic :Scenes from Famous Operasby Great Composers at 2 atthe Flushing library.STAR THEATERSaturday, May 14 Seniorper forms of STAR present“An Af ternoon of Theater”at 2:30 at the Fresh Mead-ows library.

BIG BAND SINGERSSaturday, May 14 music ofthe Big Band Singers at 2:30at the Peninsula library.TRIBUTESaturday, May 14 a tributeto the mus ic o f S ina t ra ,Manilow, Sedaka and moreat 3 at the Bayside library.TANGOSaturday, May 14 mastersof tango and argentine folk-lore with the Horacio LagunaEnsemble at 3 at the Centrallibrary.SOUL LEGENDSSaturday, May 14 a musicaltribute to the soul legendsSam Cooke and Marv inGaye at 3 at the RochdaleVillage library.OPEN MICSunday, May 15 Open Micfor Poets at 2 at the Centrallibrary.SPRING CONCERTSunday , May 15 Bays ideGlee Club wil l present i tsSp r ing Concer t a t 3 a tChurch on the Hill, 35th Av-enue and 168th Street, Flush-ing .PETS & PALSSunday, May 15 Pets andPals Party from 12-3 at AlleyPond Environmental Center.Games, rides, craft projects,pet adoption and microchipclinic, animal demonstrationand more. 229-4000.ASTORIA SPRING FESTIVALSunday, May 15 As tor iaSpring Festival from 10-5 on31st Street between DitmarsBlvd. and 21st Avenue.FARM FESTIVALSunday, May 15 11-4 at theQueens Count y Farm Mu-seum, 73-50 Little Neck Park-way, Floral Park. $5.BEN VEREENSunday , May 15 a tQueensborough Commu-nity College. 631-6311.IT’S BROADWAYMonday, May 16 show stop-pers at the Auburndale l i -brary at 2:30.SINATRA & MEMonday, May 16 a t theRidgewood library at 6.FAMILY GAME NIGHTMonday, May 16 a t theSouth Jamaica library at 6.DIVAS OF OUR TIMEMonday, May 16 a t theRosedale library at 6:30.LINDA IPANEMAMonday , May 16 L i ndaIpanema and the Dixie Catsperform at the Bayside Jew-ish Center at 7:30.SINATRA…Tuesday, May 17 tribute toSinatra, Manilow, Sedaka andmore at the North Hil ls l i -brary at 1:30.WORLD CLASSICSTuesday, May 17 world clas-s ics concert with HoracioLaguna at the McGoldrick li-brary at 2.BLUESTuesday, May 17 Eddie LeeIsaacs and the Rockin’ Sideof the Blues at the Maspethlibrary at 2:30.SPRING FLOWER SHOWTuesday, May 17 2 -4Douglaston Garden Club willpresent a flower show “Gar-den ing P leasu res” a t theCommun i t y Church o fDouglaston, 39-50 Douglas-ton Parkway. Free.BROADWAY TO PARIS

Thursday , May 19 F romBroadway to Paris with PhyllisLynd and Sean Mahony at 6at the Woodside library.PENNY SOCIALFr iday , May 20 a t theQueensboro Hi l l Commu-nity Church, 138th Street and60th Avenue, Flushing at 7.$3 includes cake, coffee and25 tickets.TAP EXTRAVAGANZAFriday, May 20 at 8 at Flush-ing Town Hal l . 463-7700,ext. 222.RAKONTOSaturday, May 21 DanielKe l ly and Fr iend per formjazz at Flushing Town Hall.463-7700, ext. 222.ASTORIA HISTORICALSaturday, May 21 HistoryRound Table to honor andsa lu te ve te rans a t 1 . $5 .Greater Astor ia Histor icalSociety, 35-20 Broadway, 4th

floor. 278-0700.REGINA CARTERSaturday, May 21 ReginaCarter’s “Reverse Thread” at8 at Queens Theatre in thePark. 760-0064.TEASaturday, May 21 Nativit yColumbiettes Tea at noon.835-6853, $10.SYMPHONY 101Saturday, May 21 Shake,Rattle and Roll for the familyat the Lefferts library at 1 andat the Bayside library at 3.SWEET CYANIDESaturday, May 21 premiererock band at the Flushing li-brary at 2.BIG BANDSaturday, May 21 Stan Auldperforms at the Forest Hillslibrary at 2.BLUESSaturday, May 21 Jumpin’,Jivin’ and Croonin’ the Blueswith Eddie Lee Isaacs at 2:30Langston Hughes library.EMS CELEBRATIONSaturday, May 21 the LittleNeck Douglaston Commu-nity Ambulance Corps 11-4at 42-18 Marathon Parkway,Little Neck.ART SHOWSaturday and Sunday, May21, 22 10 -5 the JacksonHeights Art Club’s 56th An-nual Members Show at thePar i sh House , S t . Mark ’ sChurch, 33-50 82nd Street.Awards ceremony Saturdaynight 7-10.SARI GRUBERSunday , May 22 Sa r iGruber performs at LeFrakConcert Hall at Queens Col-lege. $36. 793-8080.STAMP SHOWSundays, May 22, June 26Bayside Stamp Show at theRamada Inn in Bayside. 10-4:30. Free.ABSOLUTELY ANNASunday , May 22 AnnaBerger one-woman show atthe Bay Terrace Jewish Cen-ter. $20. 428-6363.JAZZ & WINESunday, May 22 the BaysideHistorical Society will offera concert of jazz with wineand cheese at 2 at Fort Tot-ten. $20. 352-1548.BEETHOVENSunday, May 22 OratorioSociety of Queens performsat Queensborough Commu-nity College at 4. $25. 279-3006.

EDUCATION/GAMES/CRAFTS

RESUME WRITINGSaturday, May 14 at the LIClibrary at 10:30.US CITIZENSHIPSaturdays, May 14, 21, 28Pathway to US Citizenshipat the Steinway library at 3.BALLROOM DANCEMondays, May 16, 23 ball-room dancing at 6:30 at theForest Hills library.INTRO COMPUTERMonday, May 16 F reshMeadows library. Register.CAREER POTENTIALMonday, May 16 discoveryour career potential at theCentral library at 1.JOB INFO SERVICEMonday, May 16 MiddleVillage library. Register.JOB SEARCHMonday, May 16 Job Searchand Networking Strategies aFar Rockaway library at 6.SEARCH THE INTERNETMonday, May 16 Search theInternet to Find a Job at theCentral library. Register.INTERVIEW PREPMonday, May 16 InterviewPreparat ion Workshop foradults at the Douglaston/Little Neck library at 6:30.CLAY ORNAMENTSMonday, May 16 workshopat 6:30 at the South OzonePark l ibrary at 6:30. AlsoTuesday, May 17 a t theWhitestone library at 2:30.Friday, May 20 at the Co-rona library at 4:30.COMPUTER CLASSTuesdays, May 17, 24, 31 atthe Roseda le l i b ra ry a t10:30.COMPUTER BASICSTuesdays, May 17, 24 at theAstoria library. Register.BASIC COMPUTERTuesdays, May 17, 24, 31,June 7 at the Glendale li-brary. Register.INTRO COMPUTERSTuesday, May 17 a t theMcGoldrick library. Register.JOB READY?Tuesday, May 17 Are YouJob Ready? Workshop at theBriarwood library at 2. Alsoon Thursday, May 19 at theSteinway library at 6.POETRY WRITINGTuesdays, May 17, June 21,July 19 budding poets areinvited to a constructive feed-back in a personalized set-t i ng a t 7 :30 a t Ba rnes &Noble, 176-60 Union Turn-pike, Fresh Meadows.TANGO DANCE & CLASSWednesdays, May 18, 25Buenos Aires Tango, 111-08Queens Blvd., Forest Hills 7-11 . $15 . Beg inner s we l -come, no partner necessary.347-642-4705.CHINESE LANGUAGEWednesdays, May 18, 25l ea rn Ch inese a t theLaurelton library. Register.WII TIMEWednesdays, May 18, 25play Wii at the Peninsula li-brary at 4:30.YOUR CAREERThursdays, May 19, 26 “Tak-ing Charge of Your Career”from 1:30-3:00 at the Cen-tral library.US CITIZENSHIPThursdays, May 19, 26 Path-way to US Citizenship at theSunnyside library at 5:30.COMPUTER CLASSESThursdays, May 19, 26 atthe Rosedale library at 6.

GRANTWRITING SKILLSThursday, May 19 pol ishyour grantwriting skills at theGreater Astor ia Histor icalSociety in LIC. 6-8:30.COMPUTER CLASSFridays, May 20, 27 at theMiddle Village library. Reg-ister.SCRABBLEFr iday , May 20 Banana -grams and Scrabble at theWindsor Park library at 2:30.CAREER POTENTIALSaturday, May 21 discoveryour career potential at theCentral library at 11.DEFENSIVE DRIVINGSaturday, May 21 Defen-s i ve Dr i v ing a t Wes leyUnited Methodist Church inFrankl in Square. 516-872-8062.JOB SEARCHSaturday , May 21 JobSearch and Networking Strat-egies at the Broadway libraryat 3:30.PUBLIC SPEAKINGSaturdays, May 21, June 4,18 learn to communicate ef-fectively at Elmhurst Hospi-tal. 646-436-7940.GLASS PAINTINGSunday, May 22 1-2:30 atthe Queens Botanical Gar-dens. 886-3800, ext. 230.

DANCE

ALUMNI

WOODSIDE REUNIONSaturday , May 21Woodside Reunion will beheld at the Knights of Colum-bus Hall. 631-467-6091.

COUNTRY WESTERNSaturday, May 21 SavannahSky performs at the MothersDay Dance. $12. GlendaleMemor ia l Bu i ld ing , 72 -02Myrtle Avenue at 7:30. 763-4328.ISRAELI FOLKMondays 7 :15 -9 :45 a tHillcrest Jewish Center, 182-02 Union Turnpike. $10 ses-sion. 380-4145.LINE DANCINGMondays 6 :30 -9 :30 a tKowal insk i Pos t 4 , 61 -57Maspeth Avenue. $7. Cakeand coffee. 565-2259.

HEALTH

YOGA IN THE PARKSaturdays through Septem-ber 24 at Socrates SculpturePark. 956-1819.CAPOEIRA IN THE PARKSaturdays through Septem-ber at Socrates SculpturePark. 956-1819.BLOOD DRIVESunday, May 15 blood drivestart ing at 9:30 at TempleBeth Sholom, 171-39 North-ern Blvd., Flushing.PILATES IN THE PARKSundays through Septem-ber 25 at Socrates SculpturePark. 956-1819.TAI CHI IN THE PARKSundays through Septem-ber 25 at Socrates SculpturePark.956-1819.ZUMBAMonday, May 16 Laureltonlibrary. Register. Also at theLefrak City library at 6.CHAIR YOGAMondays, May 16, 23 at theBellerose library. Register.VISUAL IMPAIRMENTTuesday, May 17 signs andsymptoms of vision loss at 2at the Auburndale library.HATHA YOGAThursdays , May 19 , 26Queensboro Hill library at 6.ZUMBAThursday, May 19 QueensVillage library. Register.MEDITATIONThursday, May 19 achievemore and less stress – medi-tation is the key at the For-est Hills library at 6:30.RELAY FOR LIFESaturday, May 21 CollegePoint Relay for Life for theAmerican Cancer Societ y.917-443-6989.WEIGHT LOSS EXPOSaturday, May 21 a medi-cal and surgical weight lossexpo will be presented from10 -4 a t the Un ionda leMarriott. $5 at the door; freein advance 516-374-8631.

ENVIRONMENT

GRAFFITI CLEANUPSaturday, May 14 at 10 atthe corner of 49th Street andSk i l lman Avenue ,Sunnyside. Rain date May21st. 646-298-8669.MAKE A SOLAR PANELSaturday, May 14 at AlleyPond Environmental Center.229-4000 for fees and de-tails.SPRING BIRD WALKSSundays, May 15, June 19with Alley Pond Environmen-tal Center. $5 members, $7others. 229-4000.TREE CARESaturday, May 21 free treecare workshop at the Cen-tral library 2-4.

MISCELLANEOUS

SPAY/NEUTERTuesday, May 17 ASPCAMobi le Unit Metropol i tanAvenue between Rentar andPlaza, Middle Village startingat 7. Tuesday, May 24 55-52 Myr t l e Avenue ,R idgewood s ta r t ing a t 7 .Sunday, May 29 37-55 82nd

Street, Jackson Heights start-ing at 7.INSTALLATIONSaturday, May 21 DanielPost of VFW Post 2813 willhold its installation of offic-ers at 3 at the Post Canteen,51 -27 Queens B lvd . ,Woodside.

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PeopleFive LaGuardia Community College

students have received highly coveted

Spring Caucus CUNY Scholarships that

place them in internships with New York

State legislators who are members in the

New York State Legislative Black, Puerto

Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus. The

LaGuardia scholars were the only com-

munity college students selected to par-

ticipate in this competitive program.

Gloria Colon, a Business Administra-

tion major is interning at the office of

NY State Assembly Member Marcos

Crespo; Harmonie Kobanghe, majoring in

Liberal Arts, is interning with NY State

Senator Malcolm Smith; Yo Sep Lee, an

International Studies major, is interning

with NY State Assembly Member Grace

Meng; Alejandro Madi and Kevin Magana,

Liberal Arts majors, have been placed in

the offices of NY State Assembly Mem-

ber Francisco Moya and NY State Sena-

tor Jose Peralta, respectively.

The Caucus CUNY Scholars Program,

through the Edward T. Rogowsky Intern-

ship Program in Government and Public

Affairs, is an academically rigorous intern-

ship for students considering careers in

public service, and who are interested in

the service of the New York State Legis-

lature. Eligible students must have a 3.0

GPA, and must submit faculty recommen-

dations, a written application and an of-

ficial college transcript.

“Our students are ensured a high-im-

pact learning experience,” said Professor

Marie T. Hanlon of LaGuardia’s Coop-

erative Education Department, “and the

opportunity to have an insider’s view on

the day-to-day activities of political lead-

ers in our city.”

The program allows students to learn

about the work performed by the Black,

Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legis-

lative Caucus, as well as the services pro-

vided by the New York State Legislature

to communities of need in the City of

New York.

Several local residents are scheduled

to complete their baccalaureate studies

in May at SUNY Oswego.

The following local residents (with their

academic major in parentheses) are eligible

to participate in the graduation ceremonies:

Tiffany M. Chiu of Floral Park (busi-

ness administration, cum laude); Laura A.

Pu of Flushing (history); Antonio J. Troina

of Oakland Gardens (biology); Gal Dvir of

Flushing (global and international stud-

ies); Giovanni Cano of East Elmhurst (his-

tory); Chanel J. Grullon of East Elmhurst

(public relations); Elizabeth Reytblat of

Jackson Heights (human development,

cum laude); Anant K. Rangan of Rego Park

(political science, cum laude); James W.

Jin of Glendale (finance); Phillip A.

Bazemore of Laurelton (political science);

Darius L. Wigfall of Springfield Garden

(marketing); Lucila A. Rengifo of Kew

Gardens (psychology); Onpui Wong of

Woodhaven (business administration);

Alicia E. Grant of Jamaica (secondary edu-

cation); and Kevin G. Leonard of

Rockaway Park (English, cum laude).

Students who graduate with honors are

indicated by the traditional Latin phrases

summa cum laude, with highest honor

(grade averages of 3.8 to 4.0); magna cum

laude, with great honor (grade averages of

3.6 to 3.79); and cum laude, with honor

(grade averages of 3.30 to 3.59).

The New York Lottery announced the

names of area Lottery players who

claimed a winning instant game ticket

from April 17-23, and received a cash prize

valued at $10,000 or more. The past

week’s winners include:

Adria Grizzell of Flushing who won

$25,000 on the $3,000,000 Richer in-

stant game. Grizzell’s winning ticket was

purchased at the Barakth & Saiful at 159-

165 Church St. in Manhattan.

Maxine Wilson of Queens Village who

won $10,000 on the Money Ball Bingo

instant game. Wilson’s winning ticket was

purchased at the Mt. Vernon Citgo Mart

at 422 Gramatan Ave. in Mount Vernon.

The New York Lottery announced the

names of area Lottery players who

claimed a winning ticket from one of the

Lottery’s live drawings April 17-23. The

following winners each received a cash

prize valued at $10,000 or more.

Frances Gately of Middle Village who

won $48,936 on the Take Five drawing

of April 15. Gately’s winning ticket was

purchased at the Family Vending at 26

Federal Plaza in New York.

Barbara Michaels of Astoria who won

$250,000 on the Mega Millions drawing

of Feb. 25. Michaels’s winning ticket was

purchased at the Kapil at 29-20 Ditmars

Blvd. in Astoria.

Walter McNeil of Jamaica who won

$12,922 on the Take Five drawing of April

11. Mcneil’s winning ticket was purchased

at the 7-Eleven at 219-17 Hillside Ave. in

Queens Village.

Thierry Lamarre of Jamaica who won

$10,000 on the Mega Millions drawing

of April 15. Lamarre’s winning ticket was

purchased at the Webster Super Grocery

at 2280 Webster Ave. in Bronx.

Pawan Neupane of Long Island City

who won $10,000 on the Mega Millions

drawing of April 19. Neupane’s winning

ticket was purchased at the Liu & Chang

at 51-03 Skillman Ave. in Woodside.

Army Pvt. Ashley F. Matos has gradu-

ated from Basic Combat Training at Fort

Sill, Lawton, Okla.

During the nine weeks of training, the

soldier studied the Army mission and re-

ceived instruction and training exercises

in drill and ceremonies, Army history,

core values and traditions, military cour-

tesy, military justice, physical fitness, first

aid, rifle marksmanship, weapons use, map

reading and land navigation, foot

marches, armed and unarmed combat,

and field maneuvers and tactics.

She is the niece of Mjones Medina of

Woodhaven, and daughter of Rauleto

Matos of Jamaica.

Conf ident ia l ly, New York . . .

I Got You

Stephanie’s not really a model,but she sure does enjoy havingher picture taken. Many of hershots were taken at a recent tattooconvention in Philadelphia, andStephanie has, for some time now,enjoyed being in front of the lensto show off her ink.

That may be due, in part, to thefact that in her regular day job asa psychiatric research assistant,she usually has to keep her tat-toos covered and the septum pierc-ing turned up. Outside of work,though, she’s happy to let her true

nature show.“I’m actually not ‘officially’ a

model,” she said. “I’ve done somework for art exhibits, and I did afew shoots sort of as stuff comesalong. It’s definitely not a full-time gig for me.”

Though she keeps coveredduring the day, “it’s definitelypart of who I am,” she said. “I’mnot shy about having [my tattoos].I just don’t show it off at work.”

A native of Williamsburg,Brooklyn, Stephanie moved toKew Gardens in the fall of 2009,

and loves it in our booming bor-ough. Living not far from the Aus-tin Ale House, Stephanie is able topop in a couple of times a week.“When I go it’s pretty late, and wehave a great time,” she said.

Steph is currently going toschool for her second master’sdegree, this time in mental healthcounseling.

In her spare time, she owes hergreat bod to the decade of martialarts training, most recently study-ing Mixed Martial Arts at TigerSchulmann.

Stephanie NapolitanoHome: Kew GardensAge: 31Height: 5’ 7"Weight: 129 lbsStats: 35-28-36

Stephanie NapolitanoHome: Kew GardensAge: 31Height: 5’ 7"Weight: 129 lbsStats: 35-28-36

Models Of QueensModels Of Queens

Stephanie’s InkStephanie’s Ink

Stick To The RunwayIt seems Miss USA is not tough enough.

The reigning Miss USA Rima Fakih was acontestant on WWE’s “Tough Enough.” Af-

ter being body slammed and thrown aroundlike a rag doll by former wrestler and trainer

Bill Demott, the former Queens residentwas shown the door a week ago. She had

been up for elimination three previoustimes, but her charm kept her at the

“Tough Enough” facility.We won’t deny that she looks

hot in bikini, but to make it in thewrestling world, you have to beable to do a somersault. Rimaseemed to have trouble just run-ning from one side of the ring tothe next. Maybe she should stickto pageantry.

But Tribbie favorite formerModel of Queens Reby Sky contin-

ues to shine in and out of the squaredcircle.

We prefer her in the tiara, not in the ring.

Art Imitates LifeTurtle, of “Entourage,” will seek to bring a Queens classic to Hollywood.

Don Peppe’s, the South OzonePark eatery notorious for beingthe dining room for the mob andfor filling the air along LeffertsBoulevard with the smell of FraDiavolo since 1968, is expanding.

The restaurant, where mobstersonce ate and were even bannedfrom eating there by probationofficers, would like to expand toManhattan, perhaps with a placeon the West Side, owner, John DeLuca, told the New York Post.

But reality isn’t the only placewhere Don Peppe’s expanding.

Don Peppe’s is becoming Queens’newest TV star.

Doug Ellin, the executive pro-ducer “Entourage” says that thecharacter of Turtle, a Queens na-tive himself, will try to open aHollywood franchise of DonPeppe’s with a number of sportsnames as co-investors, in theshow’s final season this year. Thestoryline will feature a parade ofNew York sports stars.

No word if any mob bosses arebanned from the fake Don Peppe’stoo.

Saw To WebIt seems that everybody is get-

ting in on the QR code buzz.The box codes are growing in

popularity as handheld mobiledevices now have reader apps thatallow anybody with an even mildlysmart phone to scan a code and bebrought to a Web page.

Astoria’s Natalia Paruz, betterknown to her fans as “The SawLady,” has been a musical sawperformer in the subway for years.She recently printed out a QR Codethat, if scanned, leads smart phoneusers to a link where they candownload a free mp3 of her music.

Paruz, who was the first sub-way performer with a Web site andthe first with a blog now says thatshe’s the first to use a QR code,and expects many more to followher idea.

But the Trib was there firstprinting our Web sites QR Codeon this page.

The Saw Lady, Natalia Paruz plays

next to her poster-sized QR Code.

Giving Chris GuffAnyone giving gruff to a Queensite is an enemy of ours, especially

if the offending party is from Brooklyn.So imagine our disgust to learn Harvey Keitel ribbed Astoria native

Christopher Walken for his lack of military service.Keitel, a Brooklyn native, and Scott Glenn recently shared a bromance

moment at a Tribeca Film Festival gala, bonding over their service asMarines.

“Hey, Walken, were you in the Marines?” Keitel reportedly asked.“I was, but no one believes me,” Walken sheepishly responded.We’re not sure why Keitel felt the need to call out Walken – who

actually has not served in the military in any capacity. But all of themacho posturing is not going to outdo Walken’s turn in Pulp Fiction– or make Keitel’s any more memorable.

Keitel, you’re on notice. Don’t let us catch you at Kaufman studiosanytime soon.

Christopher Walken may not

have been a soldier, but he has

played on many times, including

here in “Pulp Fiction.”

Trib cartoonist Dom Nunziato,

never known for his good taste or

political correctness, is marketing

one of his recent works online at:

h t tp : / /www.ca fepress .com/

IGotcha. The cartoon that didn't

make the Trib features Uncle Sam

with foot on a slain Osama Bin

Laden and is available on a wide

variety of t-shirts or mugs.

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What’s UpSATURDAY, MAY 14

Walkers for Wellness Club

Looking for a fun way to improve your

health? Join the Walkers for Wellness Club

at New Hope Lutheran Church of Ja-

maica. Under the guidance of a Walking

Leader, you will walk two to three times

each week at a comfortable pace with

others along routes throughout Southeast

Queens. The club is open to walkers of all

ages and abilities. The walking schedule is

Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m., and

Saturdays at 8 a.m. Walkers meet at New

Hope Lutheran Church, located at 167-24

118th Ave. T-shirts and pedometers will

be provided. Contact Thurkessa Brown at

(917) 553-1089 for more information.

York Summer Jazz Program

The York College Summer Jazz Pro-

gram ’11 will hold auditions on Saturdays,

May 14 at 9 a.m. in the York College

Performing Arts Center. Students must be

public high school sophomores and jun-

iors in good standing, be able to read

music, and have their own instrument. Big

Band instrumentation will be given prior-

ity (alto/tenor/bari saxes, trumpet, trom-

bone, piano, bass, drums/percussion). Stu-

dents need to prepare a solo piece of any

genre and be prepared to sight read. No

previous jazz experience necessary.

A Tribute to Mae Jemison

The Black Spectrum Theatre Company

is pleased to announce the return of the

celebrated “A Tribute to Mae Jemison”.

An African-American physician and

NASA astronaut, Dr. Jemison was the first

African-American woman to travel in

space. For tickets and info, call (718) 723-

1800. Tickets are available online at

www.blackspectrum.com.This event will

be held at the Black Spectrum Theatre,

177th Street and Baisley Boulevard at 6

p.m. Tickets are $20.

Foreclosure Prevention and Educa-

tion

The Greater Allen Development Corp.,

in connection with the Greater Allen AME

Cathedral Financial Ministry and Queens

Legal Services of Jamaica, are pleased to

present a two-day workshop – Know Your

Options: Foreclosure Prevention and Edu-

cation.

Register online at secure-

allencathedral.org/allen/know.htm

This free event will take place at Allen

Christian School - 171-10 Linden Blvd.

from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Baisley Pond Canoeing

The Baisley Pond Park Coalition and

the Long Island City Community Boat-

house cordially invite you to the opening

of the Baisley Pond Park Canoeing Pro-

gram. Please RSVP by May 10. To RSVP,

call Ms. Brown at (347) 898-3133 or (718)

341-0541, Mr. Griver at (347) 277-9999,

Ms. Owens at (888) 434-5303, Ms. Watt

at (718) 659-8202, or Ms. Dryer at (917)

833-7450.This free event will take place

at Baisley Pond Park - 155th Street at

124th Avenue – from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Masters of Tango and Argentine

Folklore

Enjoy folk music from South America

and experience the passion, beauty and

intensity of the Argentine tango.

This free event will take place at the

Queensborough Public Library’s Central

Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 3 p.m.

PS/IS 270 Spring Bazaar

Come out to PS/IZ 270 for its spring

bazaar, where vendors will sell affordable

jewelry, clothing and delicious Jamaican

cuisine. Email [email protected] for

more information.

This free event will take place at 233-15

Merrick Blvd. at 11 a.m.

Family Fun Day

Affinity Health Plan, in partnership with

Councilman Leroy Comrie, is hosting

Family Fun Day, as it also celebrates 25

years of serving the community. This free

celebration will take place at St. Albans

Park in Jamaica, Queens. The event will

feature amusement rides, coloring con-

tests, music and an appearance by Rex,

Affinity’s mascot. Additionally,

Healthplex, a major dental program ven-

dor, will be on site to give out toothbrushes

and provide free dental screenings for

children. There will also be an appearance

by the New York Knicks Groove Truck,

which will distribute snacks and prizes.

SUNDAY, MAY 15

Charlie Victor Romeo

The York College Theatre ends the

2010 - 2011 academic year in collabora-

tion with The CUNY Aviation Institute at

York College presenting the intensely pro-

found, important, and award-winning

drama, CVR – Charlie Victor Romeo. A

unique and riveting theatrical experience,

Charlie Victor Romeo is a live perfor-

mance documentary derived entirely from

the “Black Box” transcripts of six major

real-life airline emergencies. For additional

information, call (718) 262-5375.

This event will be held at the York

College Performing Arts Center, 94-45

Guy R. Brewer Blvd. at 2 p.m. Admission

is $7.

Open Mic For Poets

Stefanie Lipsey is a 2010 graduate of

the MFA program in Creative Writing and

Literary Translation. She holds a Master’s

degree in Library and Information Sci-

ences and a Bachelors in music, and cur-

rently works as a librarian on Long Island.

Lipsey’s poems have been published in

several journals and she has been a fea-

tured reader and workshop leader in librar-

ies and bookstores throughout New York

City and Long Island.




York Gospel Chorus

Celebrating the history of Gospel Quar-

tet Music! Come out and join the York

College Gospel Chorus as we celebrate

the history of the Gospel Quartet. This

music is still heard throughout the country

and now for the very first time, we bring

this style of music to our campus. For

additional information, contact Jonathan

Quash at [email protected] or (718)

262-3772.


York College Academic Core Building,

94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., from 3-6 p.m.

MONDAY, MAY 16

Discover Your Career

Take the Career Exploration Inven-

tory, a self-scored, easy-to-use survey guide

to choosing a career based on your inter-

ests and experiences.




York College Barbershop

Back by popular demand, the York

College May Barbershop is continuing its

discussion on the difficulties facing gay,

lesbian, and trans-gender youth in our

community. Why does the black commu-

nity treat this as a taboo subject? Come out

and let your voice be heard. For additional

information, contact Jonathan Quash at

[email protected] or (718) 262-3772.


York College Academic Core Building -

Faculty Dining Room AC-2D01 - 94-20

Guy R. Brewer Blvd., 5-7 p.m.

Search the Internet to Find a Job

The Job Information Center, in col-

laboration with New York Cares, will help

you find the most useful websites when job

hunting. You must have basic computer

skills.



Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 6:30 p.m.

















TUESDAY, MAY 17

Camera Club

The Southeast Queens Camera Club

welcomes photographers, beginners to

advanced. Meetings are held the second,

third and fourth Tuesday every month at

7:30 p.m. at Roy Wilkins Family Life Cen-

ter, 177-01 Baisley Blvd.

Create an Email Account

In this single-session workshop, cus-

tomers will learn how to set up/open their

own email account. Pre-registration is re-

quired in person at Cyber Center Desk.

Participants must possess basic mouse and

keyboarding skills.




WEDNESDAY, MAY 18

York Observatory Open Night

The York College Observatory is open

to the public every second or third Wednes-

day of the month - rain or shine - at 8:30

p.m. Gather in room 2E01 and then pro-

ceed to the fourth floor terrace off G

corridor if it’s clear. For additional infor-

mation, contact Tim Paglione at


2082.

This free event will be held at the York

College Academic Core Building (AC

2E01), 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. from

8:30-9:30 p.m.

















Google Tips & Tricks

In this single-session workshop, cus-

tomers will learn how to: use Google Maps;

create and share documents online; orga-

nize your medical records all in one place;

design your home page with iGoogle; and

much more. Pre-registration is required in

person at the Cyber Center Desk. Partici-

pants must possess basic mouse and key-

boarding skills.



Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 10 a.m.


See Saturday’s listing. At 10:30 a.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 19

Job Info Center Orientation

What is the Job Information Center

and what does it do? Find out at an inter-

active orientation about its services: ca-

reer resources including workshops in

English and Spanish; assistance with your

job searching; Job Information Center re-

sources of books, newspapers, pathfind-

ers, bookmarks and brochures, resume/

cover letter reviews; and Queens

Workforce 1 information.

This free event will be held at the




See Saturday’s listing. At 10:30 a.m.

Memorial Remembrance Luncheon

State Sen. Shirley L. Huntley and the

South Jamaica Houses Senior Center are

pleased to present a pre-memorial day

luncheon. A New York State Recogni-

tion Certificate for a member of your

family who served in any War or Conflict

will be awarded. For more information,

please contact Christine at (718) 523-

3069.

This free event will take place at JSPOA

South Jamaica Senior Center, 107-60

159th St., at 4 p.m.

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www.tcicollege.edu

Southeast Queens Press Epaper

Documents

zoning of south jamaica

press of southeast queens

city planning commission

new york

south road tothe north

illegal conversionseach

new immigrant families

new hyde park