Southeast Queens Press Epaper

Volume 12 Issue No. 20 May 20-26, 2011

PAGE 18

PRESS Photo by Ira Cohen

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The bus routes along Archer Avenue, the busiest bus lanes in the City, will be redesigned, along with another handful of corridors in Downtown Jamaica, to help fix traffic problems and reduce transportation delays.

By Sasha Austrie…Page 3

Online at www.QueensPress.com

News Briefs Boyce at CB 12 Helm The members of Community Board 12 elected Jacqueline Boyce as their new chairwoman after serving in the interim for a month.

“I truly appreciate your support for me,” she said. “I have worked in every area that affects our community. I have been out here in the community for most of my life.”

Boyce worked for New York City Human Resources Administration for 35 years. She served within the foster care system, with homeless people and drug addicted youth. For the past 13years she’s been the democratic district leader.

Boyce has been the interim chairperson since Adjoa Gzifa’s was not reappointed to the board by Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans).

Boyce, who was appointed to the board 18 years ago, faced off against Carol Hunt and Adrienne Adams for the chairperson post. Hunt garnered three votes, Adams 13 and Boyce 14.

“We just want to thank the candidates for their willingness to serve,” said Yolanda Tompkins, board member.

Comrie was present to swear Boyce in and ask the rest of the board to serve and represent Community Board 12 positively.

CB13’s Bike Safety Day

Page 2 PRESS of Southeast Queens May 20-26, 2011

While Saturday, May 14, was a gray, overcast da,y it did not dampen the spirits of adults and children who came to the Bike Safety Day held at the 105th Precinct, sponsored by Community Board 13, the City Dept. of Transportation, the 105th Precinct, Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), and the Long Island Jewish Hospital System. Coordinated

by District Manager Lawrence McClean, who credited Borough DOT Commissioner Maura McCarthy for informing him that free bicycle helmets were available.

Three hundred helmets from DOT and 65 helmets contributed by LIJ were distributed during the three hour event.

Comrie and his staff distributed bike safety tips. Community Affairs Officers Detective Jovoda Cooper and P.O. Matt DiPietro arranged for refreshments, and greeting the attendees along with Auxiliary Officer Elizabeth Sanchez, along with the outreach. Officer Brian Wimpelberg did ID etching on 100 bikes.

CB 13 ChairmanBryan Block was ec-

static about the turnout, thanking Judy Jacob for helmets from the hospital.

Jamaica Nurses Honored Jamaica Hospital’s Transitional Care Unit has recently received the highest ranking of five stars overall in the US News & World Report 2011 Best Nursing Homes for the high quality of care it provides its patients.

The rankings rely on information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that sets and enforces quality standards for all facilities enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid. Facilities receive an overall rating, ranging from one to five stars based on the number of stars they receive in the following three categories: health inspections; nurse staffing; and quality of care. Facilities that ranked highest in Best Nursing Homes 2011 earned an overall five-star rating and only about one in seven met this standard.

“We are delighted about our recent accomplishment,” said Dr. Angelo Canedo, Vice President of Jamaica Hospital’s Dept. of Rehabilitation. “Being included on US News and World Report’s list for top nursing homes is an honor and speaks to our commitment to care.”

Jamaica Hospital’s TCU is aimed at helping patients reach a comfortable level of independence through individualized and continued care. The unit offers multidisciplinary services to patients who, while in the hospital, still need additional time for recovery and medical management.

The unit also provides a strong emphasis on educating patients, which has ultimately promoted independence, reduced ER visits, and prevented the number of re-hospitalizations.

The TCU is staffed by a team of certified doctors and dedicated health professionals who work collaboratively to provide multidisciplinary services, such as complex medical management, skilled nursing services, activities of daily living care provided by Certified Nursing Assistants, physical and occupational therapy, equipment and services, and much more.

“Choosing a nursing home for your parent or loved one is incredibly difficult,” said Avery Comarow, Health Rankings Editor at US News & World Report.

“Homes at the top of our rankings have repeatedly shown high quality and deserve consideration.”

Presstime

DOT Tackles Jamaica Traffic Jams

BY SASHA AUSTRIE

Traffic in Downtown Jamaica moves at a snail’s pace at peak hours, with vehicles and pedestrians angling for space. To remedy the issues and streamline traffic flow, the City Dept. of Transportation has released the preliminary Jamaica Bus Improvement Study.

“This is a project that affects everybody,” said Councilman Leroy Comrie (DSt. Albans).

The study, which began in 2009, has three goals: improve bus travel within Jamaica; improve connections to subway and rail stations; and balance bus travel with pedestrian and vehicle traffic. There are more than 47 bus routes converging in the area, along with four subway lines, the Long Island Railroad and the AirTrain.

“I have seen how traffic has increased in the Downtown Jamaica area,” said Community Board 13 Chairman Bryan Block, who is personally affected by the congestion. He drives to 179th Street and Hillside Avenue to take the F train into Manhattan.

DOT found the area was rife with narrow streets with heavy bus traffic, misaligned streets with complex geometric shapes and existing bus lanes and markings in poor condition. The surveillance also came across bus operation issues such as: undesirable layover locations; number of stops and routes; and passenger amenities. The study also assessed traffic conditions.

To address the issues plaguing the downtown area, DOT has made a series of recommendations, which include improving bus lanes, relocating bus stops/layover areas, realigning intersections, establishing dedicated livery/commuter van areas, relocating placard parking and adding bus shelters where possible.

Archer Avenue, where there are 180 buses per hour in either direction, cur-

rently has inadequate bus lane markings and signage for bus volumes. Some of the recommendations include improving bus lane signs and installing terra-cotta red bus lane markings to enhance compliance, and maintenance of the existing 24-hour bus lane operations.

Other suggestions include changes along other major thoroughfares in Downtown Jamaica, including Hillside and Jamaica Avenues, and Sutphin and Merrick Boulevards.

“In some ways, it has to be tweaked a little, but anything that releases congestion is a plus,” Block said.

Comrie called the study “a good start, but there are things that need to be cleaned up,” A sample of some of the plans for the Downtown Jamaica bus traffic reconfiguration. adding there is concern among commuter van drivers that they don’t have enough vans not following the rules. Miller and his said the recommendations made no sense. spots to pick up passengers. He added vice president, Mark Henry, said even with His idea to relieve traffic congestion was that the area between 153rd Street and the proposed changes, the biggest issue simple: remove the pedestrian malls and widen the streets.

Archer Avenue, where van drivers used to will be enforcement.

Edith Thomas, a member of CommuThough the preliminary study was redeadhead, was converted into metered parking. He said he would talk to DOT nity Board 12, said in the short term the leased, there is still time for community about reverting it back to a commuter van project is beneficial, but was skeptical that feedback. Respondents can call Comrie’s it would support the long term develop- office at (718) 776-3700 or the borough area. commissioner’s office (718) 286-0886.

“It’s important to make sure that when ment slated for the area.

If possible, Thomas said some of the The study can be viewed at nyc.gov/brt. this is developed, it does not exclude people bus traffic should be diverted to Hillside Some of the recommendations will be who are using this area,” Comrie said. implemented in the fall.

Amalgamated Transit Union Division Avenue.

“They could be more creative in how Reach Reporter Sasha Austrie at 1056 President I. Daneek Miller said saustrie@queenspress.com or (718) 357though the plan needs work, the major they distribute traffic,” she said.

Fabian Facey, a commuter van driver, 7400, Ext. 123. problem causing congestion are commuter

Boro High Schools To Be Restarted

BY STEFAN SINGH

of schools across Queens in the last few years that are being "closed," with their administration and high percentages of teaching staff removed and the school renamed. Jamaica High School was among those in Queens that was branded with closure earlier this year. Jamaica High School, unlike these six, will no longer accept new students for the coming school year; new, smaller schools will be populated within its structure.

Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (DAstoria), an alumna of Bryant High School, is pleased with the decision to "restart" the school rather than close it completely. "Bryant is a school on the rise and I'm glad the state has come to that realization," she said. "The leadership of Principal Aaron Perez and his staff has inspired tremendous progress over the last few years.

I hope the EMO works constructively with the school to continue making improvements and wisely use the influx of federal

funding towards that goal."

Each school can now qualify for up to $6 million in federal grants over a threeyear period. The funds are part of more than $308 million provided to New York State through the School Improvement Grant.

The grant, created by the U.S. Dept. of Education, is part of a $4 billion effort by the Obama Administration to reduce drop-out rates, increase graduation rates and prepare students to be successful in life.

"A great deal of important work, however, lies ahead," State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) said of Newtown High School. "I look forward to working with the school community - parents, staff and students - and the Dept. of Education in developing Newtown High School into one of the city's premier neighborhood high schools."

Reach Reporter Stefan Singh at ssingh@queenstribune.com or (718) 3577400, Ext. 128.

May 20-26, 2011 PRESS of Southeast Queens Page 3

underperforming schools. Under the "restart model," each school will be partnered Six Queens high schools are among with a non-profit charter management ornine New York City schools that are ganization or educational management orslated to be "restarted" under the Obama ganization that will be selected by the state Administration's School Improvement legislature through a rigorous review proGrant. cess.

The organizations John Adams, Richwill have three years mond Hill, Grover "A great deal of important to revamp the Cleveland, August Mar- work, however, lies schools' curriculum tin, William C. Bryant and Newtown were all ahead." and create a recipe —State Sen. Jose Peralta members of the "Persisfor success, after which the school will tently Lowest Achieving" list and unsure of their fate until the be re-evaluated. The leadership structure New York City Dept. of Education an- in the school can remain the same under nounced that the schools would not be this model; however, the organization in closed, but rather would "restart" as char- charge may recommend the hiring and firter schools operated by a non-profit or- ing of staff members. All final decisions ganization. will be made by Chancellor Dennis The "restart model" was one of four Walcott and the DOE. The "restart model' serves in clear methods the DOE could have chosen to try to turnaround the City's most contrast to what has happened in dozens

Teachers, Principal Dispute Results

BY SASHA AUSTRIE There is a growing rift at Mathematics Science Research and Technology Magnet High School.

“It’s a hostile environment,” said a 15year DOE employee, who asked to remain anonymous.

Another likened the school’s atmosphere to “Gestapo” rule.

A few teachers are painting an ugly picture of daily life at the school, while Principal Jose Cruz contends that the accusations and complaints have no basis.

“I totally disagree with that,” he said of accusations comparing him to Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s dictator. “I’m very vigilant about instruction. I believe as a school leader, you can’t be a school leader and be a lone ranger.”

Cruz, who began his tenure in the fall of 2009, is described as a roving bully that plays favorites.

“I have never seen an environment where somebody is universally hated,” a five-year DOE employee said.

Teachers requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Other complaints lodged against Cruz include racism, favoritism of Hispanic teachers and students (especially Dominicans), unwillingness to compromise and a lack of leadership skills. Teachers are also alleging that the $35,000 computer lab that was established before Cruz’s tenure

has been converted to a storeroom.

Though the teachers would not go into specifics, they said DOE officials are conducting two investigations in reference to discrimination and racism claims. Educators said noticeable instances of discriminations are when Cruz speaks to Hispanic students and does not acknowledge the other children.

“With these investigations going on, why hasn’t he been disciplined?” asked the five-year professional. “A lot of kids feel discriminated against.”

Cruz called the accusations of racism and discrimination ludicrous.

“That is so ridiculous, I can’t dignify that with a response,” he said. “I’m here for all the students.”

Teachers said though they had high hopes at the onset of Cruz’s term, it quickly became clear what his motives were. The PRESS met with five teachers on May 12, who have each received multiply unsatisfactory ratings during his time at the helm.

The teachers contend that their records never bore unsatisfactory ratings before Cruz’s tenure.

The teachers said that observations are used as a tool to denigrate their records.

Cruz said the observations are not used to rate the teachers.

“The whole observation process is to provide feedback to the teachers,” he said.

“It’s not punitive.”

Other serious allegations lodged at Cruz

are violating Special Education rules, bolstering test scores and not replacing a Living Environment teacher out on maternity leave.

Teachers are questioning the credibility of the Global History results, where the group of passing students jumped from 40 to 92 percent in less than six months. Cruz said he neither administers nor corrects the tests.

One teacher said though the Global History test results speaks to a school that is thriving, in actuality, less than 3 percent of the students are college-ready according to PSAT scores.

Cruz said the college readiness of students at Mathematics Science Research and Technology Magnet High School is subjective based on who you ask. He said college readiness is measured by a score of 75 on Regents examinations. Cruz said students are encouraged to retake the tests if they score below a 75.

In regards to students scheduled to take the Living Environment Regents, Cruz said the pupils will be ready for next month’s exam.

Cruz said students slated for the test have been reprogrammed and an experienced teacher took on the task of preparing ninth graders for the Living Environment Regents.

“My goal is to make sure that students are learning what they are supposed to be learning,” he said. “The ultimate goal is not

only graduation, but college readiness.”

Another complaint lodged at Cruz is the scholarship report, which mandates teachers have a student passing rate of 80 percent. The teachers said though the benchmark supports excellent education goals, the issues are the consequences if they do not attain the set goals.

A 12-year professional said there are teachers who are bolstering the education grades to avoid trouble with Cruz.

“It jeopardizes the entire educational system,” said a 15-year teacher.

Cruz said the scholarship report is a citywide initiative and some schools have goals for a 90 percent passing rate. He said the purpose of the report is to assess how many students pass and fail a particular class. He said he has a conversation with teachers asking, “What do you feel about these results? What can be done to help the kids who are struggling? What can we do to help you?”

Cruz denies the allegations against him and questioned whether if his detractors were “disgruntled” for any reason.

“I can only feel tremendous love for them,” he said of the naysayers. “I’ll continue to maintain focus on the task at hand. If we were to work together we are capable of accomplishing things that are way beyond our dreams.”

Reach Reporter Sasha Austrie at saustrie@queenspress.com or (718) 3577400, Ext. 123.

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Two Boro Men Aimed To Attack Jews: Police

BY DOMENICK RAFTER Two Queens men were arrested last week and charged with plotting to blow up a series of unnamed synagogues around New York City.

Ahmed Ferhani, 26, and Mohammed Mehdi Mamdouh, 20, both of Whitestone, were arrested after they allegedly attempted to purchase guns, ammunition and grenades from undercover cops on the West Side of Manhattan on May 11. Ferhani was arrested first, on West 58th Street near the West Side Highway, as he tried to buy the weapons.

Mamdouh was arrested a few blocks away, a few minutes later.

According to the NYPD, Ferhani said he wanted to obtain more handguns, silencers, grenades and bulletproof vests.

He is said to have told undercover cops that he hated Jews and wanted to blow up a Manhattan synagogue. He also said he felt Muslims were being “treated like dogs.”

Mamdouh is also said to have told undercover cops that he wanted to kill Jews.

Ferhani allegedly told the officers that they would grow beards and disguise themselves as Hasidic Jews to gain access to

the synagogues. He also allegedly hinted that he wanted to target the Empire State Building.

In a statement, Allan Jaffe and Michael Miller, President and Executive Vice President of Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, lauded the NYPD’s work.

“The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York highly commends Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, and Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance on the interception and arrest of two terrorist plotters from Queens,” the statement read. “The New York Po-

New Site Helps Keep Bay Clean

BY DOMENICK RAFTER The DEP opened a new retention facility in Brooklyn last week that will further help to clean the waters of one of Queens’ most important bodies of water.

DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway officially opened the Paerdegat Basin Combined Sewer Outflow Facility, which consists of four retention tanks that can hold 30 million gallons of sewer overflow, and another 20 million gallons can be stored in the connecting sewers, keeping the sewage from flowing into Paerdegat Basin, a channel little more than a mile long, that connects to Jamaica Bay and serves as a border between the Brooklyn neigh-

borhoods of Canarsie and Bergen Beach.

The facility also has the ability to screen out large piece of debris and floatables like plastic bottles, before the water is stored in the tanks. DEP built an odor control system and all process areas will be ventilated and receive odor control treatment of five exhaust air trains with the latest advances of technology and also carbon filters and variable speed fans. A pumping station within the facility helps send the retained wastewater back to the Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant a few miles southwest.

Environmentalists lauded the new facility and the positive effect it will have on water quality in one of the eastern

seaboard’s largest marshlands.

“This is a huge step in returning Jamaica Bay to a wetland and estuarine area of national importance,” said Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers President Dan Mundy Sr. The Paerdegat Basin CSO is the largest of the four sewer overf low retention facilities built in New York City. Two of the four are in Queens: the Flushing Bay facility in Flushing and the Alley Creek facility in Bayside, which is scheduled to open later this month. The fourth facility, the Spring Creek facility in Brooklyn, also serves Jamaica Bay. Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 3577400, Ext. 125.

Ahmed Ferhani stands in a photo from a modeling Web site with the Whitestone Bridge in the background. lice Department performed expertly and heroically to prevent what would likely have been a vicious attack on a synagogue and members of the Jewish community resulting in death and destruction.

We hail their professionalism.”

The NYPD said the two suspects were “lone wolves” and are not part of a larger terrorist organization. Ferhani holds resident status because he immigrated to the United States at age 10 with his family, seeking political asylum. His case is under review and he may face deportation to Algeria. Mamdouh, despite having been born in Morocco, is an American citizen.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security warned local law enforcement about the possibility of terrorist attacks in response to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1.

Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 3577400, Ext. 125.

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OF SOUTHEAST QUEENS 150-50 14th Road Whitestone, NY 11357 (voice) (718) 357-7400 fax (718) 357-9417 email news@queenspress.com The PRESS of Southeast Queens Associate Publisher

In Our Opinion: Brenda Jones Executive Editor:

Brian Rafferty Deputy Editor:

Joseph Orovic Contributing Editor:

Marcia Moxam Comrie Production Manager:

Shiek Mohamed Queens Today Editor

Editorial Is This What We Wanted?

When your computer stops acting right, programs freeze and your internet connection slows to a crawl, the first thing any tech guy will tell you is to restart. The process is quick, simple and usually works.

The hope that a push of the restart button will be an instant fix for six troubled Queens high schools might not be reasonable. It took a while for schools to get into bad shape – it may take a while for them to be fixed.

We have opined on this page before that the Dept. of Education gets bogged down in terminology that seems scary, like the word “closure;” that it makes decisions that seem to slight communities, like taking away a school’s name.

There are a handful of differences between the “restart” model that will affect the six schools mentioned in our cover story and the “closure” that is happening with Jamaica High School. The former seem to have a chance at survival; the latter seems to have been kicked while it was down.

“Closing” a school, which is not the actual shuttering of a building, is a much harsher term and is divisive, even if the intent is fairly the same as “restart.”

A “restart” implies new life, a new chance and hope for improvement, even if you’re cutting out the administration, bringing in a charter school to run the place and starting the clock on a three-year countdown, the end result of which could be the same as the kick in the ribs that Jamaica High School and its surrounding communities got.

The DOE seems to be learning that even the unkindest of cuts can be made to sound prettier. Looks like they have been paying attention.

Regina Vogel Photo Editor: Ira Cohen

Letters No Gay Marriage

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

Page 6 PRESS of Southeast Queens May 20-26, 2011

A Queens Tribune Publication. © Copyright 2011 Tribco, LLC

Michael Schenkler, President & Publisher

Michael Nussbaum, Vice President, Associate Publisher

To The Editor: In reading your article in the May 6 issue of the PRESS, it was very obvious that Charlie Ober is totally out of touch with the people of Ridgewood and, indeed, the people of Queens.

As a resident of Ridgewood,

he cannot be oblivious to the large influx of Polish immigrants into the community, most of whom subscribe to Blessed John Paul II’s legacy that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman and this union is the basis for the family structure throughout the world.

Ober’s posturing and the me-

Letters dia blitz to legalize same sex marriages is just that - a media farce.

We in Queens, and especially Community District 5, comprising Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village, are probably the most diverse area in the world and strongly support the traditional family structure and traditional marriage between man and woman.

No matter where one comes from or what religion one might espouse to, the sentiment of the majority remains the same - marriage is between one man and one woman. Just look at the statistics you published.

You may want to read more about the works of Blessed John Paul II recently published in the Columbia magazine.

Vincent Arcuri, Jr. Glendale

Leave A Tip

To The Editor: What one should leave for a tip when dining out, ordering take out or delivery is something everyone should think about. My wife and I don’t mind occasionally paying a little more to help our local businesses survive.

Don’t forget your cook and server at your favorite local neighborhood restaurant. We try to tip 20 percent against the total bill including taxes. If it is an odd amount, we round up to the next dollar. If we can afford to eat out, we can afford an extra dollar tip.

Delivery people who deal with traffic and bad weather also de-

serve a 15-20 percent tip. When ordering take out, we always leave a dollar or two for the waiter or cook. It is appreciated.

Remember, these people are our neighbors. They work long hours, pay taxes and provide local employment. If we don’t patronize our local community stores and restaurants to shop and eat, they don’t eat either.

Larry Penner, Great Neck

Anthem Respect To The Editor: Our National Anthem is not the blues or a rap, a ballad or a torch song. I would suggest that Christina Aguilera and the other pop starts who insist on putting their own slant on the anthem go to YouTube. Punch in the name Sara Kahan and listen to a beautiful young lady from Queens with a wonderful voice as she sings at a Mets game at Citi Field; respectful and proper. Well done, Sara.

Jack Cohen, Bayside

Pot/Kettle To The Editor: Re: “Public Advocate Eyes Illegal Conversion Fix” (May 1218). Bill de Blasio complains about the DOB as unresponsive to complaints. Has anyone tried to reach HIS office by email or phone? No one ever responds – ever! Totally unresponsive!

Shirley Sacks, Forest Hills

Enough With The Horn Dog Reports A Personal Perspective

By MARCIA MOXAM COMRIE It seems there is no turning on the TV without hearing about someone raping, seducing, coercing or groping someone else.

You can’t even turn on the news during breakfast with your 13year-old without getting an earful of smut before school.

On Monday morning, it was the powerful head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) accused of assaulting a hotel maid.

By Tuesday morning it was the former body builder-turned-actorturned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has fathered a child with the family housekeeper.

When Schwarzenegger was running for governor, skeletons were tumbling out of the closet by the coffin-load, as woman after woman spilled the beans on his lewd movie-set antics. But his wife, Maria Shriver, stood by her man.

He was elected because Gov. Gray Davis was recalled, and the motley group of candidates, which included the late child actor Gary Coleman and a prosti-

tute, made the action movie star look like the reincarnation of FDR by comparison. And he won.

This is a guy who has never been shy about sharing the secret of his success: “Work hard and marry a Kennedy,” he invariably jokes at college graduations.

Work hard he did. But he wasn’t joking about the Kennedy part.

He chased after the former news woman until he caught and married her 25 years ago. It was his piece of the Camelot mystique.

But like all horn-dogs, he couldn’t behave himself. Now he has broken the woman’s heart and pride by revealing that he had impregnated the helper and produced a now-teenaged love child. Way to go, “Ahnuld!” Way to go.

He mocked California voters by lying about his boorish ways and got elected. He was even audacious enough to say a few years ago that the Constitution should be changed to allow foreign-born citizens (meaning him, to be exact) to run for president.

Being born in Austria disqualifies him from ever running for the highest office in the land and he felt that should not be the case;

all the while, he was hiding a love child in plain sight of his wife and children.

It’s one thing to go out and have an affair. It’s quite another to be having it right in the house you share with your spouse and children. As for the over-the-hill IMF stud, well he’s innocent until otherwise proven; but what a disgrace and who needs to hear the dirty details?

There are children starving right here in the U.S. and adults dying of nuclear exposure half a world away in Japan. There are teachers and other hardworking people being laid off from jobs and professions right here in our city and neighborhoods and we can’t go on road trips this summer because we can’t afford the gas. Do we really care about hearing smut first thing in the morning? And about some vacuous movie star hooking up with the maid or some narcissistic diplomat attacking the hotel chamber maid no less.?

We don’t care about the lewd details.

Cheating husbands are nothing new. It practically started with

the biblical King David who lusted after the bathing beauty, Bathsheba. And, summoning her, proceeded to seduce and impregnate the married woman whose husband, Uriah, was serving him in combat. The consequences are dire all around, just as they are today.

We never condone it, but it’s not news.

No one has ever condoned his actions, but when Bill Clinton was caught he was raked over the coals and impeached in the House. The Republicans were casting stones left, right and center, until we found most of them – including then-speaker Newt Gingrich – were in no position to cast stones.

Now we see California’s bestknown Republican starring in his own sex scandal.

While running from the offending channels, I just make sure to tell my son that the Schwarzenegger’s and StraussKahn’s of this world are not role models and he should endeavor to conduct himself with honor as he grows into manhood.

I hope he’ll remember.

Guns, Terrorists And Civil Liberties

By HENRY J. STERN Accustomed as we have become to various scenarios which involve corruption, cronyism, incompetence, foolishness and favoritism, we were nonetheless surprised to learn that last Thursday, a vote was taken by the Henry House Judiciar y which defeated an anti-terrorism initiative which we, in our naiveté, believed would have been unobjectionable.

The proposal would give the At torney General of the United States authority to deny the transfer of a firearm to someone who is on the government’s Ter ror ism Watch List. It came as an amendment to H.R. 1800, offered by U.S. Rep. Michael Quigley of Illinois.

The amendment is only one sentence long, although it is a long sentence. Here it is, in full: “The Attorney General may deny the transfer of a firearm if information obtained through the use of authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) indicates that a prospective firearm transferee is or has been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism, and the Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the pro-

spective transferee may use a firearm in connection with terrorism.”

The Quigley Amendment was defeated by a party line vote, 11 Democrats in suppor t, 21 Republicans in opposition. Republican U.S. Rep. Peter King of Long Stern Island, chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has introduced similar legislation, also pending before the Judiciary Committee and not yet brought to a vote.

The quest for authority to deny a firearm to a potential terrorist began in the Bush administration, but such a bill was twice rejected by Congress, largely because of opposition by the National Rifle Association, one of the most powerful lobbies in the United States. The chair of the House Judiciary Committee is currently Representative Lamar Smith of Texas, a state where gun ownership by individuals is highly valued.

The House decision was noted that afternoon by Mayor Mike Bloomberg in a press conference dealing with the arrest of two lone wolf terrorists in Queens. He said: “Let me just point out that even as the NYPD continues to do such great work in this area, today there

was a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a measure that would have prevented people on the terrorist watch list from purchasing guns. I’m sorry to report that measure failed. Our Coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns has urged Congress to pass such restrictions, and last night’s arrest is a perfect illustration why.”

In an April 28 Associated Press ar ticle, Eileen Sullivan reported that last year, according to FBI figures, 247 people on the terror watch list “who were allowed to buy weapons did so after going through required background checks as required by federal law.”

Her article is a thorough analysis of the issue, citing both sides. It is well worth reading.

There are people out there who strongly oppose this bill, which seems so sensible to many others. Their position is expressed by the National Rifle Association, whose staff has prepared a brief stating their case.

Each side in this controversy refers to the other as “extremists.”

It was not, however, leftist radicals who killed 169 people at the Oklahoma City federal building on April 19, 1995, deliberately marking the second anniversary of the Branch Davidian fire in Waco, Texas, which killed 54 adults and 21 children.

That is the day before Hitler’s birthday, April 20, a date the teenaged Columbine murderers commemorated in 1999 by shooting to death 12 fellow students and one teacher and injuring 21 others. Six people died when U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot on Jan. 8 while greeting constituents in her Arizona district.

The arguments made by the NRA parallel in some ways those of leftist organizations who defend terrorists by claiming that their Constitutional rights have been abridged at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere by detention, interrogation, rendition and other practices intended to elicit information from those unwilling to supply it voluntarily. Like the NR A, these groups challenge the executive branch exercising its powers, and sometimes they prevail in the judicial branch, which is traditionally more sensitive to individual liber ties than the branch whose elected leaders have historically felt a greater responsibility to keep Americans safe from harm.

The NR A’s challenge to executive authority is manifest in the legislative branch, where its influence is strong, due to its large membership scat tered in swing states, and its effective lobbying a nd political act ion. Pre sident Barack Obama and the Justice

Department are regularly accused of violating the rights and desires of gun owners.

The Quigley amendment does not forbid possible terrorists from purchasing guns, it simply gives the Attorney General the right to prevent such a transaction if he has “a reasonable belief that the prospective transferee may use a firearm in connection with terrorism.” Does that not appear sensible? Most transactions are likely to be approved, but there is value in the Justice Department knowing which potential terrorists are buying guns.

We did not anticipate the result in the Judiciary Committee, but we should have foreseen it considering the legislative history of this mat ter. We know t hat any form of restriction on the sale or use of firearms engenders fierce resistance by a spectrum ranging from hunters to survivalists, possibly including both Birchers and birthers. What we did not realize was that, even when the prevention of terrorists from taking the lives of Americans is at stake, the right to transfer firearms still takes precedence.

God bless America. His blessing may be necessary for its protection. starquest@nycivic.org

A New Idea To Reform Member Item Spending

The Fund for Veterans Assistance was created by the Texas State Legislature in 2005. Money from the fund is given out to local and statewide veterans programs.

This funding helps supports job placement programs, nursing care, educational scholarships, counseling services and other important programs. The money is given out

by a commission in which its members are appointed by the governor and the legislature. The fund is supported financially off the revenue from Veterans Cash, which is a $2 scratch off lottery ticket.

So here is what I am proposing for New York. Either the legislature or the governor should establish the “Fund For Community Assistance.” An 11-member commission can be set up. Five members w il l be appointed by Gov. Cuomo. Three members will be appointed by State Sen. Majorit y Leader Dean Skelos, and three members will be appointed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Si lver.

These 11 members will be responsible for giving out funds to nonprofits, and they will be responsible for determining how effective these programs are, through performance-based contracting. The money for the fund will be raised off the New York State Lot ter y Division’s new scratch off game, titled “Communit y Cash”. Th is new game will be marketed so that people know that all proceeds from this game go towards funding communit y programs in Ne w York State.

Since the Veterans Cash game was created back in 2009, over $11

million has been raised to support Texas Veterans. If Texas can do this, so can New York. I’m sure that if properly marketed, the State would be able to raise much more than the $11 million raised in Texas.

This simple solution saves our state’s nonprofits and helps clean up the member item spending process, which for decades has been

politically-motivated and scandalridden. So Gov. Cuomo and the state legislature, the ball is now in your court.

Matthew Silverstein is the 2nd Vice President of the Bay Terrace Community Alliance, a non profit in Bay Terrace, Queens and the Democratic State Committeeman for the 26th AD.

Not 4 Publication.com by Dom Nunziato

May 20-26, 2011 PRESS of Southeast Queens Page 7

By MATTHEW SILVERSTEIN Over the last few years, the nonprofit world has really been hammered by the bad economy. In Ne w York State, the nonprofit world was forced to swallow another bitter pill this year, with the complete elimination of all member items from the state budget.

One might ask, what exactly is a member item? A member item is a grant of money given to nonprofits by members of the State Legislature. This grant is used by nonprofits for communit y-based programs. Many organizations servicing senior citizens, veterans, people living with HIV/AIDS, LGBT homeless youth and the disabled depend on this funding for their organization’s survival. Many of these programs will be forced to shut down with the elimination of this funding.

I under sta nd Gov. Andre w Cuomo’s desire to clean up Albany and balance the budget, however, taking away member items is really going to hurt the public more in the long run. Instead of advocating for restoration of member items, here is a new concept (borrowed from Texas), that will help nonprofits survive and will help clean up Albany.

Sick Shenanigans:

Strange Transactions, Dubious Motives Mar Sale Of Ill Man’s Childhood Home

BY SASHA AUSTRIE

Page 8 PRESS of Southeast Queens May 20-26, 2011

Seeking Help Rollison said he had a tough time selling because there was a lien on the home.

His pastor directed him to a member of the deacon board at the Presbyterian Church of St. Albans, and the gentleman introduced Rollison to an associate.

He contends his mistake was putting his faith in the two men. The PRESS was unable to get in touch with either gentleman, and is withholding their names.

“I trusted them completely,” Rollison said.

In October of 2005, Rollison said the duo introduced him to Attorney Abraham Hoschander, who was supposed to act on his behalf.

The Set-Up A buyer, Ronald Fraiser of the Isiaha Blake Corp., who shared an address with Hoschander, showed interest in the property.

“This was the guy who was going to absorb the lien,” he said.

Rollison said that not only did the Isiaha Blake Corp. promise to satisfy the lien, but also to give him $50,000.

“I didn’t know how long I was going to live,” he said. “I wanted to get this thing off me. I was pleased with the $50,000.”

John Freedman, Rollison’s previous attorney, said the mortgage was more than $200,000 in arrears and the bank settled for $178,500.

“Peter was supposed to get $35,625,”

How It Went Down Rollison said from October 2005 to February 2006, he believed that the closing was pending, but a contract of sale was issued to the Isiaha Blake Corp. in October 2005 and the deed was transferred to the company in August 2005.

“After the deed transfer, he was promised in January that there would be a closing,” Freedman said.

Rollison said mail addressed to the Isiaha Blake Corp., and Michelle Henry alerted him that something was amiss. He believes the two men supposedly helping him “pacified me.” He said both told him that though the corporation had taken possession of the home in early 2006, they could not be found.

“They made it seem like Isiaha Blake Corp. duped them,” he said.

Three months after the corporation bought the house, it was sold to Michelle Henry. Rollison has documents showing Fraiser and Henry took out a mortgage for $357,000 from GMAC. By the following month, the house had fallen into first payment foreclosure. According to Rollison’s documents, Fraiser and Henry never made any attempt to pay the mortgage.

The loan was subsequently sold to GRP Loan LLC and in November 2010 started a process to evict Rollison. The PRESS was unable to reach GRP Loan LLC, and messages were left for Jordan Katz, the attorney listed on documents for the company.

Rollison contends that from the very beginning, the plan was to cheat him out of his home. He said both men were paid by the Isiaha Blake Corp. He discovered

a check the company made out to one of them for $5,000 in his possession.

Freedman paints a less sinister picture of the two. He said though there are clear signs of “shenanigans,” the monies given to the gentlemen could be a mere finder’s fee.

“It is not unusual for somebody to be paid a finder’s fee,” Freedman said. “He has always felt that these people were just waiting for him to die.”

The shenanigans seem to be many. The heirship affidavit, Rollison’s power of attorney over his father, improperly dated documents, and a slew of signatures on documents that Rollison does not remember signing are some things called into question in the “fraudulent sale” of his home.

Also, Hoschander, which was supposed to be Rollison’s attorney, represented the Isiaha Blake Corp. in the deed transfer.

Photo by Sasha Austrie

On April 15, a long-awaited eviction notice was delivered to Peter Rollison. A few years ago, the idea of expulsion from his childhood home was inconceivable.

Rollinson, 54, suffering from sarcoidosis, did not think he would live long enough to face expulsion.

His illness created a domino effect, which led to foreclosure and ultimately, “the fraudulent sale of my home.”

The house, located at 115-34 146th St., has been in the Rollison family since 1956. Almost 50 years later, the family’s grip on the home started to slip. Rollison’s parents separated in the early 1990s. His father, Andrew Rollison, moved to South Carolina.

As Rollison’s mother became ill, he moved back home to take care of her, at which point his father decided to sell his portion of the house to Rollison. The house was refinanced in 2000 and Andrew Rollison was given $50,000.

This was the beginning of the end.

Rollison soon became ill and stopped making mortgage payments. He stopped working in 2001.

In 2004, his mother died. With his illness progressing, Rollison made the decision to sell the house.

“It was very, very hard,” he said. “It was a really, really terrible time.”

Freedman said. “He never received the money.”

Rollison said he was unaware of the “fraudulent” takeover of his home until February 2006. Rollison said in his zeal to rid himself of the burden, he did not read many of the documents he signed.

He said one of the gentlemen charged with helping even drove him down to South Carolina to get his father to sign documents relinquishing his stake in the house.

“There was a time I was so heavily medicated that I was trapped inside of my own body,” he said.

Freedman said the entire process could have been avoided if the heirs of Rollison’s mother’s estate, which included Rollison, his siblings and their father, had petitioned the courts for a letters of administration document after her death, which would name an administrator of the estate.

It never happened. Instead, an heirship affidavit was drawn up naming Rollison and his father as the only surviving relatives of Jessie Rollison.

“The heirship affidavit was done to get around the letters of administration,” Freedman said.

Peter Rollison on the steps of his childhood home.

Fighting Back In 2006, Rollison sued the parties he deemed responsible for stealing his home, which included Fraser, Henry and the Isiaha Blake Corp. Judge Augustus Agate ruled for a preliminary injunction in Rollison’s favor, partly because the deed dated August 2005 was issued two months before the contract of sale, which was dated October 2005.

“Since there are issues of fact as to the true owner of the premises, a balancing of the equities requires the imposition of an injunction,” court documents read. “Any prejudice to the defendant is outweighed by the severe prejudice to plaintiff if the defendant sold the premise to which she did not hold the proper title.”

“There are a lot of moving parts to this,” Freedman said. “The decision allowed Peter to at least come to the table.

It wasn’t conclusive on the issues of whether he was defrauded. More discovery is needed.”

Freedman said the Queens District Attorney’s office investigated Rollison’s case, but because some of the evidence was inconclusive, the DA dropped the case. The DA conducted a handwriting analysis on some of the signatures and expert opinion is the signatures belong to Rollison. He admitted that the signatures where his, but when he signed the forms they were blank. He said there is a com-

plete difference from the printed names and the signatures.

“Imagine in their vision they probably feel that they got away with that,” Rollison said.

It’s Not Over Freedman said it is possible for Rollison to sue and get back his home, but he contends that at best it is a long shot and Rollison would need deep pockets to win the battle.

“He does not have enough money to support a house,” Freedman said of Rollison. “I’m not sure he has enough income to support an apartment.”

Rollison’s current income is $500 a month through disability, and $230 goes towards child support payments.

Though he was given the eviction notice a month ago, Rollison still inhabits his childhood home. He is being given a brief reprieve; his case is being looked into

by Adult Protective Services. Until then, Rollison is determined to fight to keep his home. Since he is lacking deep pockets, he is now handling the case Pro Se. “At one point, I was so medicated I couldn’t articulate what is going on with me,” he said. “Right now I’m just feeling so empowered.”

Reach Reporter Sasha Austrie at saustrie@queenspress.com or (718) 3577400, Ext. 123.

Police Blotter Compiled By DOMENICK RAFTER

From the DA Airport Shooters Sentenced Two men have been convicted of firstdegree assault and other charges in connection with the 2009 shooting of a California man during a drug deal gone bad at LaGuardia Airport. The defendants were convicted by separate juries following a month-long trial. Two other defendants earlier pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the case.

The defendants were identified as Adolfo Gonzalez, 23, of Albany Avenue in Brooklyn, and Dario Campbell, 27, of Linden Boulevard, Jamaica.

According to the trial testimony, the victim, Devon Martinez, 26, was visiting from California and staying at the LaGuardia Airport Marriott Hotel in East Elmhurst, when on Aug. 24, 2009, he was lured from his room under the pretense that he was going to engage in a drug deal. He was picked up by the defendants at the hotel in a silver Nissan Pathfinder registered to fellow defendant Javier Rodriguez of Brooklyn. Once inside the vehicle, a gold chain was taken from the victim by defendant Campbell, who also took the victim’s watch and cell phone. The defendants then took a wrong turn into LaGuardia Airport and the victim managed to unlock the door and jump out. The victim was shot in the back by defendant Raymundo MartinezFlores of Brooklyn as he jumped out of the car near a taxi holding lot inside airport

grounds. He underwent surgery at Elmhurst Hospital and had to have one of his kidneys removed, but survived.

Rodriguez and Martinez-Flores both plead guilty last year and were each sentenced to five and one-half years in prison. Rodriguez plead guilty to first-degree robbery and Martinez-Flores pleaded guilty to first-degree assault.

Gonzalez and Campbell were each convicted of first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon by separate juries following a month-long trial. Gonzalez’s jury returned a verdict on May 10. Campbell’s jury returned a verdict on May 11. The defendants face up to 25 years in prison when they are sentenced on June 13.

UNHOLY VOLUNTEER: A 25-year-old Whitestone man who served as a volunteer religious instructor at three Catholic schools in Northeast Queens has pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument for forging and cashing five checks, totaling more than $7,700 that belonged to the Religious Education Office at St. Mel’s in Whitestone.

Joseph Denice, of 15th Avenue in Whitestone, has been held in jail in lieu of $15,000 bail since his arrest in January 2011. He appeared before a judge on Monday and pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, one count of seconddegree falsely reporting an incident, one

count of first-degree falsifying business records and one count of second-degree falsifying business records.

Denice also pleaded guilty in connection to anonymously calling 911 and falsely reporting emergencies and with calling the City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to falsely report neglect and abuse by parents.

According to the criminal charges, Denice found starter checks from St. Mel’s Religious Education Office in December 2010 and wrote out five of the checks, totaling $7,707.22, in his name.

He then had his mother deposit them in her checking account, telling her that they were paychecks.

Denice placed five anonymous calls to 911 between March and June 2010, falsely alleging that there was either an odor of gas or fire at locations near his residence. New York City Fire Dept. personnel responded to each of the calls.

All five calls proved unfounded.

Denice made anonymous calls to ACS in October 2009 and March 2010, alleging, respectively, that an 11-year-old child was the victim of physical abuse committed by his parents, and that a 12-year-old boy was the victim of neglect by his parents. As a result, ACS opened lengthy investigations into both matters.

In addition to volunteering at St. Mel’s, Denice also assisted at St. Luke’s in Whitestone and St. Kevin’s in Flushing. He has been terminated

from all three schools.

Sentencing is set of June 1 and Denice could face five to 10 years in prison.

110th Precinct Baby Abandoned On Tuesday, May 10, at around 2:30 p.m., police responded to the emergency room of Elmhurst Hospital at 79-01 Broadway in Elmhurst. Upon arrival, responding officers discovered a newborn baby girl inside a trash can in an emergency room bathroom.

The mother, Dawa Lama, 23, of 3726 65th St., Woodside, fled the hospital on foot. Lama was later located and subsequently charged with first degree assault and first degree reckless endangerment.

The infant remains in critical condition.

115th Precinct Found Stabbed On Saturday, May 14, at 5:28 a.m., police officers responded to a man in cardiac arrest at 108-14 37th Ave. in Corona.

Upon further investigation, it was discovered that a Hispanic man in his 20s was stabbed three times in the chest. EMS responded and transported the victim to New York Hospital Queens where he was pronounced dead on arrival. There were no arrests at this time and the investigation was ongoing. Notification is pending proper family notification.

May 20-26, 2011 PRESS of Southeast Queens Page 9

pix

GJDC Bi-Monthly Meeting The Greater Jamaica Development Corp.’s Downtown Committee met May 11 at the Harvest Room.

Southeast Queens Events Edited By Harley Benson

New Mammography Unit Queens Borough President Helen Marshall looks over a new digital mammography unit with St. John’s Episcopal Hospital’s Patricia Gillespie (l.) during a visit to the Far Rockaway facility May 11. At bottom, hospital officials surprise Marshall with plaque, acknowledging her $500,000 in capital support to help purchase the unit. City Council also provided additional funds. At l. is Executive Director Nelson Toebbe and at r., Episcopal Bishop Lawrence Provenzano.

Guest speaker 103rd Precinct Executive Officer Capt. Scott Stelmok presented the audience with latest neighborhood police crime-fighting results.

Page 10 PRESS of Southeast Queens May 20-26, 2011

Featured speaker Katharine Pichardo of Sen. Malcolm Smith’s office disc u s s e s t h e Yo u t h Town Hall Summit set for May 25 at the Far Rockaway Library.

Photos by Walter Karling

Featured speakers Katharine Pichardo (l. to r.) and Reuel Daniels discuss the Downtown Meeting agenda with Chairman William Martin.

Featured speaker GJDC Special Projects Senior Manager Reuel Daniels spoke about the Rufus King Park Spring Cleaning set for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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May 20-26, 2011 PRESS of Southeast Queens Page 11

Profile

A Soul Food Home At Pretty Toni’s

BY SASHA AUSTRIE

Page 12 PRESS of Southeast Queens May 20-26, 2011

The zigzagged border between Queens and Nassau county seemingly blends our borough into the rest of the island. A stone’s throw from Queens, less than a mile down W. Merrick Road, elegance meets soul.

There are no flashing lights or snazzy billboards luring you into Pretty Toni’s Café. It speaks for itself. If their mantra, “Where elegance meets soul,” does not give you an idea of what happens here at 759 W. Merrick Rd., step inside and let the sound of soul music soothe you.

Edging into the small dining room, Edwin Starr’s “War” was slowly ebbing away, only to be replaced with Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia.” The space is dotted with accents of elegance and a comfortable coziness.

“We wanted to make it feel like you are in somebody’s living room, somebody’s home,” said “Pretty” Toni Clifton, owner of the café.

The walls are cloaked in a warm mixture of what Clifton dubs honey and chocolate. The colors linger throughout.

The table cloths are a rich chocolate brown, with flecks of light thread running through. The napkins folded into a square

on every table are more mustard colored than honey, but it fits calmly into the space. The 25- to 30-seat restaurant is family-operated in the true sense of the word. Clifton, her husband Gary, and three daughters are the only employees within this space.

Though the décor is soft and welcoming, no one goes to a restaurant to simply eye the furnishings. The food is uncomplicated. The usual trimming of soul food, potato salad, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese has their place on the menu, but don’t let the mantra fool you. Pretty Toni’s can satisfy any taste bud.

There are salads, sandwiches, smoothies, fish, lamb and steaks. There is also a platter for vegetarians. After you have had your fill of an entrée, save room for homemade desert, which is baked from a subsidiary of Pretty Toni’s Café, Heaven Sweet.

“Everything on my menu is something I have tried,” she said. “They are some of my favorites.”

Though the restaurant is nearing its third anniversary, the idea was years in the making. Clifton started her professional career in banking and the daily crunch of numbers did not fit her personality. She tried a bevy of other options, and those also fell by the wayside. Clifton

found her niche in the hospitality industry. She started working at the Shark Bar, a premiere soul food restaurant, which has since closed. her first gig at the restaurant was to answer phones. Within two months, she became the manager.

Finding her forte, the next order of business was to open her own place, which has always been her dream. The timing was slightly imperfect, but she held fast to her vision.

Clifton and her husband, two transplants from Jamaica, spotted the charming insurance office that would become the home of Pretty Toni’s.

“It was just a cute little, quaint little location,” Clifton said. “It is on the borderline of Queens and Nassau County where there is a lot of foot traffic.”

They started the process a little before the economy started spiraling out of control. Their doubts and skepticism percolated, but the Cliftons had already signed a lease and invested too much to turn back.

“We couldn’t walk away,” she said.

And even now, if she knew then what she knows now, she still would not turn back.

Reach Reporter Sasha Austrie at saustrie@queenspress.com or (718) 3577400, Ext. 123.

Toni Clifton’s restaurant risk has proved a success.

A&E

Circus Back In Queens May 21-June 5

BY BARBARA ARNSTEIN

“I have taken abused and neglected animals, turned them around by building up their trust, and made them into stars,” said Jennifer Vidbel , who currently performs in a Big Apple Circus act with 40 animals (none of which was ever neglected), including an Arabian stallion, two sheep dogs, three terriers, a dozen white ponies, and goats who ride ponies.

“When I’m looking for dogs, I’ll always check the pound first. The most important thing is that they have fun performing. I can tell right away if any dog likes to perform and show off. Goats are naturally show-offs.”

The Big Apple Circus is returning to Cunningham Park from May 21 to June 5, presenting the show “Dance On!” Its many exciting performers include the

award-winning clowns Rob Torres and Barry Lubin (aka “Grandma”), the acrobatic Kenyan Boys, the all-female “X Bud Roses Troupe” of Chinese contortionists and other international stars.

“I started performing when I was about 8 years old, riding an elephant,” said Vidbel, who is a third-generation circus performer and animal trainer. “It was part of our family; we raised them. When my animals retire, they go home to our family farm in upstate New York.”

“I trained my first pony when I was 12”, she said. “Since I was a very little girl, I’ve always dreamed about being in the Big Apple Circus, and this year is my dream come true. It has high-tech lighting, wonderful music and costumes that really make you look your very best.”

Torres, who was born in New York and lived in Sunnyside, has been perform-

ing for 20 years.

“My clown character is a magnified version of me in my everyday life, but funnier,” Torres said.

The graduate of Ringling Brothers’ Clown College will perform at Cunningham Park for the first time. “I’m clumsy sometimes. I’ll open a door and a doorknob might come off. The things that people are embarrassed about? I’m amused by them,” he said. “Some people only do what they love after they retire.

But I get to play every day.”

In the current Big Apple Circus show, he performs two routines. Performing is best, he said, when he is “working with an audience as opposed to doing something for them.” He developed many of his hilarious audience-pleasing skills as a street performer in Manhattan, in places such as Central Park.

Sunnyside clown Rob Torres will join the Big Apple Circus at Cunningham Park May 21 to June 5.

For more information, go to bigapplecircus.org, or call (800) 9223772, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets range from $15 to $45.

Discover Bell’s Bottega Queens Lyricist Offers People In The Pictures LA BOTTEGA 42-29 Bell Blvd., Bayside (718) 906-6311 CUISINE: Italian Hours: SUN-THU 11 AM-11 PM; FRISat 11 am-Midnight PARKING: Street CREDIT CARDS: All Major

BY ELYSE TREVERS Belle Harbor-born Mike Stoller is famous as part of the songwriting team Leiber and Stoller. Their songs were performed by Elvis Presley, The Drifters, The Coasters and Ben. E King. Recently, he collaborated with Artie Butler to write the music for “People in the Pictures,” a Roundabout Theater Company production at Studio 54.

The musical, with book by Iris Rainer Dart (“Beaches,”) stars the incomparable Tony-award-winner Donna Murphy. Set in 1977, the show deals with several themes, all through the life of Raisel, a Holocaust survivor.

As Bubbie, grandmother to precocious Rachel (played by talented young Maya Goldman,) Murphy’s character is suffering slightly from dementia as she struggles to share her history. She also is in conflict with her daughter, Red, a comedy writer for television. As she tells her stories, she is surrounded by several ghosts of her former acting company, The Warsaw Gang, a Yiddish theater company that performed in small villages in Poland prior to World War II. She and the members of her troupe traveled to present their shows, but the emphasis was always on the comedy. The troupe’s attitude is that the only way to survive is through laughter and comedy.

Perhaps that’s why the show was originally titled “Laughing Matters.” This premise allows Murphy to clown it up and in some scenes, she channels the accent of Barbra Streisand in “Funny Girl.”

As history tells us, humor and compromise are not enough to ensure their survival. In one segment Yossie Pinsker (played by the delightful Chip Zien) is harassed and disparaged as a “dirty Jew” by street thugs until he works out a payment with them. Later, when he runs out of money, they kill him. The musical tries to incorporate the prejudices and bigotry

that lead to the mass murder of the Jews with the musical and the comedy. Even in the jokes and comic songs, there’s an underlying recognition of persecution.

Raisel’s storytelling has a unique twist: as her memory is failing her, she sometimes rewrites her stories, causing her ghosts to correct her. The characters in her past are alive in her memory and appear onstage as the people in the old pictures she has kept.

The lyrics are often clever and the music tuneful (‘skittish’ rhyming with ‘Yiddish’). Many of the songs are bouncy and joyous. However, the songs that Red (Nicole Parker) sings are plaintive and melancholy, sobering the mood. It’s unfortunate because she, too, has a terrific voice, yet she only gets to sing doleful melodies.

The humor is the best part of the show and there are several vaudevillianstyle jokes, such as “They call us Jewish hams – an oxymoron,” or “He has no talent so we made him the director.” As Raisel teaches her granddaughter, some of the humor comes from hearing the Yiddish-isms and the accents coming from the mouth of a 10-year-old.

Murphy is wonderful. Without makeup or major costume changes, she is able to instantly become young Raisel and then add 35 years to become elderly. A slight stoop, a craggy voice and her aging is complete. The elderly lady has a sarcastic edge to her voice and the younger woman has more energy and a lilt.

Murphy shines in her troupe numbers. She is backed by an experienced and skilled cast, including Joyce Van Patten as the aging femme-fatale, Zien, Lewis J. Stadlen and other performers.

But Murphy still dominates the entire show.

The show runs through June 19 at Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St. Tickets are available by calling (212) 719-1300 or going to roundabouttheatre.org.

May 20-26, 2011 PRESS of Southeast Queens Page 13

In Italian, la bottega means “the shop.” The word is often used to describe that small market down in the piazza where you buy your cheese, meats, fish, bread and perhaps a new sauce pan; everything you might need to make, say, a panini. But in Bayside, “the shop” is where you get the panini made for you, almost any way you want it.

La Bottega, located along a busy stretch of Bell Boulevard between Northern Boulevard and the Bayside LIRR station, is a new addition to the busy downtown strip. It opened last fall, the first Queens location for the chain that has set up shop all over Long Island, and survived a harsh winter. La Bottega owner Pasquale said the site is now finding a real customer base; local businesses at lunch; commuters coming off the LIRR in the evening. Offering free delivery, they are also becoming popular for their take out.

Walking into La Bottega’s Bayside restaurant, the scenery is more pizzeria than sit-down eatery, but hidden in the back, away from the hustle and bustle of Bell Boulevard, is the dining room, crowned with a bar in the back that Pasquale hopes will serve liquor once the restaurant gets its license. I met also with La Bottega’s chef, Tim, who tells me a little about his love of cooking.

I started with a Zola Salad, an exciting mixture featuring baby arugula, mushrooms, red onions, corn, bacon, gorgonzola crumbles and balsamic dressing. This was a thrill. With so many ingredients, every forkful unearthed a different flavor; the smooth sharp taste

of the balsamic in one bite, the southwestern flavor of the corn and bacon in the next. Though I had a small salad just to taste, a large Zola salad definitely screams to be a meal itself.

Tim offered me four of his famous mozzarella sticks, which were less like sticks and more like “Italian Pierogis.”

These aren’t the mass-produced frozen sticks you buy in the supermarket; the cheese, made on site, is fresh and gooey and melts in your mouth. It is enveloped in a stunning mixture of flavors, which Tim created all on his own like a chemist in a lab. These are the type of mozzarella sticks that needs to be enjoyed with a fork and knife.

The portobello bruschetta was next on my menu. On long strips of roasted Italian bread lie large roasted portobello mushrooms, which crown the dish, along with tangy goat cheese and fresh walnuts. It was the nuts that attracted me to the dish, and they did not disappoint. They seemed to enhance the flavor of the Portobello, while toning down the goat cheese.

Then it was panini time. There are dozens of different paninis, to choose from; it’s almost impossible to pick just one. There are chicken, pork, seafood, beef, cured meats and even vegetarian and gluten-free paninis. I finally settled on the “Prego” panini, a suggestion from Pasquale. This was a prosciutto lover’s dream. Sandwiched between the thick and tasty krispina bread is prosciutto, saunteed spinach, grilled red onions and fontina cheese.

The paninis are big, so make sure to leave room for them; if you do fill up with some left, definitely ask for a doggy bag. I took half the panini home and to my surprise, it remained just as tasty reheated later as it was taking the first bite in the restaurant, so your dining experience at “the shop” can continue even after you pay the check.

—Domenick Rafter

Faith

Shiloh Baptist’s Big Dose Of Health

BY SASHA AUSTRIE In conjunction with Delta Sigma Theta, Shiloh Baptist Church is hosting its Fifth Annual Health Fair. This year’s theme is, “You are what you eat.”

“We are trying to bring health awareness to our community, especially for the African American community,” said Jackie Battle, a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Taskforce Committee and Shiloh. “What we put in our mouth is im-

portant because it keeps us healthy.”

The health fair will be held from noon to 4 p.m., on May 21, at 173-70 106th Ave. Dental and breast cancer screenings are available at the event, as well as a nutritionist’s demonstration on healthy, organic eating. There will also be a zumba class, mental health speakers, blood pressure and HIV testing. The fair is free to the community at large.

“We are trying to reach out to the community,” Battle said. “Every year it’s dif-

Word

“The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry, of painting and music, of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden. If you don’t want paradise, you are not human; and if you are not human, you don’t have a soul.”

—Thomas Moore

ferent. You are being educated, but it is fun.”

For more than 140 years, Shiloh Baptist Church has been a staple in Southeast Queens. The church was established in 1872 by 25 Sunday school members. The church was charted in 1877, and worship was conducted at a wooden structure on Douglas Avenue, which is the site of the now defunct Shiloh Baptist Church will host its Health Fair on May 21.

Wonder Bread Bakery.

The church moved to its current location at 17370 106th Ave. in 1957 after the Douglas their children to the colored school,” he Avenue sanctuary burned down.

Aside from being the first black Bap- said.

A clipping from the New York Times tist church in the borough, Shiloh’s members were trailblazers. In 1896, decades published in 1896 confirms that Samuel before separate-but-equal was stricken Cisco and Charles Hunter were charged from the books, the congregants of Shiloh with violating the compulsory education law in not sending their children to the fought the law.

According to Russell Marquis, Shiloh’s colored school. Hunter’s rationale was he pastor, there was a rally in 1896 protest- wasn’t a Negro and Cisco had previously ing sending non-white children to a “col- violated the law.

Reach Reporter Sasha Austrie at ored school.”

“Members of the congregation were saustrie@queenspress.com or (718) 357-7400, arrested because they didn’t want to send Ext. 123.

Notebook

Health Careers Institute

Hillcrest Kids Win At Convention Chess At Hillcrest: Students who do not wish to go to the lunchroom often go to the Hillcrest HS library, where some play chess.

Photo by Bob Harris

Page 14 PRESS of Southeast Queens May 20-26, 2011

Hillcrest HS EMT teacher Lorraine Brink is ecstatic at the number of students in the Health Careers Institute who won awards at the annual Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Health Careers Convention in Syracuse. All of the approximately 500 students in the Hillcrest HS Health Careers Institute are HOSA members. A select few go to Syra-

cuse to pit their skills against other students from all over the state. The following are winners: • In the EMT categor y, Janette Vasquez and Medgina Oriantal won 1st Place and Amanda and Abby Ogunware won 3rd Place.

• In the CPR/First Aid competition Aisya Golden and Dane Gaynor won 1st and 2nd Place respectively.

• The Hillcrest HS Biomedical Debate

Team of Areefa Subrath, Atina James, Adriana Cortez and Marium Brutcher were the 3rd Place Winners.

• Ismael Garnica was the 2nd Place Winner in the Epidemiology and 3rd Place Winner in the Job Seeking Skills Competitions.

• In the Pharma- All the winning Health Careers Institute students from Hillcrest cology Competition, HS are shown in the Principal’s Conference Room during a pizza Komal Poonia won party with EMT teacher Lorraine Brink in the back left.

1st Place and Neha Sharma won 3rd Place.

The accomplishments of these students show what is happening in the Queens high schools like Hillcrest. The EMT students have already taken and passed their NY State EMT Examination, so one day they may be on an amWrite The PRESS of bulance which is called to your home to help someone in need. Shirley Labardy Southeast Queens is director of the Health Careers Insti150-50 14th Rd., tute and Stephen M. Duch is principal of Hillcrest HS. Now money has to be Whitestone, NY 11357 found to send the students to the nationals.

Is Your School Doing Something Good?

Photo by Bob Harris

BY BOB HARRIS

Queens Today SECTION EDITOR: REGINA VOGEL

Send typed announcements for your club or organization’s events at least TWO weeks in advance to “Queens Today” Editor, Queens Tribune, 150-50 14th Road, Whitestone NY 113572809. Send faxes to 3579417, c/o Regina.

IF YOUR ORGANIZATION MEETS ON A REGULAR BASIS, SEND ALL DATES FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR.

DINNER TEA Saturday, May 21 Nativit y Columbiettes Tea at noon.

835-6853, $10.

YOUNG ISRAEL Sunday, May 22 Young Israel of New Hyde Park will hold its 56 th Anniversary Journal Dinner in Great Neck.

343-0496.

QUEENS GO RED June 9 Queens Go Red for Women Breakfast with the American Heart Association.

516-450-9123.

LICBDC REAL ESTATE June 15 breakfast in LIC. 786-5300, ext. 21.

JEWISH WOMEN June 21 luncheon by the NY section of the National Council of Jewish Women. 1-800829-NCJW.

HEALTH

WOODBLOCK PRINTING Easy method in full color at the National Art League.

969-1128.

JH ART CLUB Classes in all art forms days and evenings for children and adults. 454-0813.

US CITIZENSHIP Saturdays, May 21, 28 Pathway to US Citizenship at the Steinway library at 3.

CRAFT CLASSES Saturdays 11-3 Maria Rose International Doll Museum in St. Albans. 276-3454.

SCRABBLE CLUB Saturdays at 10 at Count Basie Jr. HS, 132 nd Street and Guy R. Brewer Blvd. 8865236.

PET OWNERS Saturdays (not on holiday weekends) from 1-4 free Doggie Boot Camp at Crocheron Park in Bayside (weather permitting). 4545800. Reservations required. Donations accepted.

CAREER POTENTIAL Saturday, May 21 discover your career potential at the Central library at 11.

DEFENSIVE DRIVING Saturday, May 21 e: Defensive Driving at Wesley United Methodist Church in Franklin Square. 516-8728062.

JOB SEARCH Saturday, May 21 Job Search and Networking Strategies at the Broadway library at 3:30.

PUBLIC SPEAKING Saturdays, May 21, June 4, 18 learn to communicate effectively at Elmhurst Hospital. 646-436-7940.

GLASS PAINTING Sunday, May 22 1-2:30 at the Queens Botanical Gardens. 886-3800, ext. 230.

BALLROOM DANCE Monday, May 23 ballroom dancing at 6:30 at the Forest Hills library.

DRAWING CLASS Mondays at the National Art League in Douglaston. 3610628.

EMAIL Monday, May 23 at the Fresh Meadows library. Register.

JOB SEARCH Monday, May 23 Job Search and Networking Strategies Baisley Park library at 6.

COMPUTER CLASS Tuesdays, May 24, 31 at the Rosedale library at 10:30.

INTRO INTERNET Tuesday, May 24 introduction to internet and email at the McGoldrick library at 10:30.

JOB INFORMATION Tuesday, May 24 job information center orientation at the Central library at 3.

COMPUTER BASICS Tu e s d a y, M a y 2 4 a t t h e Astoria library. Register.

BASIC COMPUTER Tuesdays, May 24, 31, June 7 at the Glendale library.

Register.

WATERCOLOR CL ASS Wednesdays at 9:30 at NAL. Traditional and contemporary, all levels. 969-1128.

CHINESE LANGUAGE Wednesday, May 25 learn Chinese at the Laurelton librar y. Register.

WII TIME Wednesday, May 25 play Wii at the Peninsula library at 4:30.

BASIC COMPUTER Wednesday, May 25 internet searching at the Windsor Park library. Register.

YOUR CAREER Thursday, May 26 “Taking C h a r g e o f Yo u r C a re e r ” from 1:30-3:00 at the Central library.

US CITIZENSHIP Thursday, May 26 Pathway to US Citizenship at the Sunnyside library at 5:30.

COMPUTER CLASSES Thursday, May 26 at the Rosedale library at 6.

INTRO EXCEL Thursday, May 26 at the Pomonok library. Register.

INTRO POWERPOINT Thursday, May 26 at the Pomonok library. Register.

CAREER POTENTIAL Thursday, May 26 discover your career potential at the Central library at 3.

QUILTING CLUB Thursday, May 26 at the Laurelton library at 6.

JOB SEARCH Thursday, May 26 job search and networking strategies at the Richmond Hill library at 6.

BALLROOM DANCING Thursday, May 26 for beginners at the Woodside library at 6:30.

PAINTING WORKSHOP Fridays through June 24 N e w C re a t i v i t y a n d A d vanced Painting Workshop at National Art League. 1-646546-2296.

BASIC COMPUTER Friday, May 27 at the Auburndale library at 11.

COMPUTER CLASS Friday, May 27 at the Middle Village library. Register.

ALUMNI WOODSIDE REUNION Saturday, May 21 Woodside Reunion will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall. 631-467-6091.

ENVIRONMENT TREE CARE Saturday, May 21 free tree care workshop at the Central library 2-4.

DANCE COUNTRY WESTERN Saturday, May 21 Savannah Sky performs at the Mothers Day Dance. $12. Glendale Memorial Building, 72-02 Myrtle Avenue at 7:30. 7634328.

ISRAELI FOLK Mondays 7:15-9:45 at Hillcrest Jewish Center, 18202 Union Turnpike. $10 session. 380-4145.

LINE DANCING Mondays 6:30-9:30 at Kowalinski Post 4, 61-57 Maspeth Avenue. $7. Cake and coffee. 565-2259.

ENTERTAINMENT WALKING TOURS Saturday and Sunday, May 21, 22 LIC. Wednesday, May 25 #7 Sunnyside to Jackson Heights. Call 9618406.

RAKONTO Saturday, May 21 Daniel Kelly and Friend perform jazz at Flushing Town Hall.

463-7700, ext. 222.

ASTORIA HISTORICAL Saturday, May 21 History Round Table to honor and salute veterans at 1. $5. Saturday, June 4 “Episode 6: New York: A Documentary” at 1. Free. Sunday, June 5 walking tour of Old Astoria Village. $10 at 11am. Monday, June 6 Documentary on Newtown Creek at 7. $5.

Saturday, June 18 History Round Table with the events of the Civil War in 1861 at 1. $5. Greater Astoria Historical Societ y, 35-20 Broadway, 4 th floor. 278-0700.

OPEN HOUSE Saturday, May 21 the Church of the Resurrection will participate in the Sacred Sites Open House from 103. Come visit and enjoy a tour of the historical church.

85-09 118 th Street, Kew Gardens. 847-2649.

REGINA CARTER Saturday, May 21 Regina Carter’s “Reverse Thread” at 8 at Queens Theatre in the Park. 760-0064.

TEA Saturday, May 21 Nativit y Columbiettes Tea at noon.

835-6853, $10.

SYMPHONY 101 Saturday, May 21 Shake, Rattle and Roll for the family at the Lefferts library at 1 and at the Bayside library at 3.

SWEET CYANIDE Saturday, May 21 premiere rock band at the Flushing library at 2.

BIG BAND Saturday, May 21 Stan Auld performs at the Forest Hills library at 2.

BLUES Saturday, May 21 Jumpin’, Jivin’ and Croonin’ the Blues with Eddie Lee Isaacs at 2:30 at the Langston Hughes library.

EMS CELEBRATION Saturday, May 21 the Little Neck Douglaston Communit y Ambulance Corps will host an EMS Celebration Day Open House 11-4 at 42-18 Marathon Parkway, Little Neck. Free food, equipment demonstrations, health and safet y education, raf f les, more.

MOVING IMAGE Saturday, May 21 “Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer,” “The Member of the Wedding” and “Culture Vision NYC.” Sunday, May 22 “Malcolm X: Bigger Than The screen” and “The Bleak Night.” Friday, May 27 independently animated: An Evening with Bill Plympton.

Saturday, May 28 “Persepolis,” “Adventures in Plymptoons,” “Hair High” and “Idiots and Angels.”

Sunday, May 29 “Persepolis, “Bodyguards and Assassins” and “Serpico.” Museum of the th Moving Image, 35 Avenue

and 37 th Street, Astoria. $10 adults. 777-6888.

ART SHOW Saturday and Sunday, May 21, 22 10-5 the Jackson Heights Art Club’s 56 th Annual Members Show at the Parish House, St. Mark’s Church, 33-50 82 nd Street.

Awards ceremony Saturday night 7-10.

SARI GRUBER Sunday, May 22 Sari Gruber, soprano, performs at LeFrak Concert Hall at Queens College. $36. 7938080.

STAMP SHOW Sundays, May 22, June 26 Bayside Stamp Show at the Ramada Inn in Bayside. 104:30. Free.

ABSOLUTELY ANNA Sunday, May 22 Anna Berger will present a onewoman show at the Bay Terrace Jewish Center. $20.

428-6363.

JAZZ & WINE Sunday, May 22 the Bayside Historical Societ y will offer a concert of jazz with wine and cheese at 2 at Fort Totten. $20. 352-1548.

BEETHOVEN Sunday, May 22 Oratorio Societ y of Queens performs at Queensborough Community College at 4. $25. 2793006.

CHINESE ART Monday, May 23 introduction to Contemporary Chinese Art at 6 at the Flushing library.

FOLKLORIC DANCE Monday, May 23 Folkloric dance of Paraguay at 6:30 at the Flushing library.

SINATRA… Monday, May 23 tribute to the music of Sinatra, Manilow, Sedaka and more at the Middle Village library at 7.

US NAVY BAND Tuesday, May 24 US Navy Band Northeast performs at Flushing Town Hall at 7. Free.

463-7700, ext. 22.

WORLD CLASSICS Tuesday, May 24 world classics concert with Horacio Laguna at 1:30 at the Bay Terrace librar y.

GREAT LOVES Tu e s d a y, M a y 2 4 G r e a t Loves of Stage and Screen: A Concert featuring Phyllis Lynd and Sean Mahony at the Rego Park library at 2.

BELLE’S PLAYERS Tu e s d ay, M ay 2 4 B e l l e ’ s Players will perform at the Kew G a r d e n s C o m m u n i t y Center, 80-02 Kew Gardens Road, suite 202 at noon.

Birthday part y for those born in May follows.

BINGO Tuesdays at 7:15 at American Mart yrs Church, church basement, 216-01 Union Tu r n p i k e , B a y s i d e . 4 6 4 4 5 8 2 . Tu e s d ay s at 7:15 (doors open 6) at the Rego Park Jewish Center, 97-30 Queens Blvd. 459-1000.$3 admission includes 12 games.

SYMPHONY GALA Wednesday, May 25 a Night at the Opera with the Queens Symphony Orchestra. 570-0909.

POETRY NIGHT

Thursday, May 26 PS 135 poetry night at 7 at Barnes & Noble, 176-60 Union Turnpike, Fresh Meadows.

OPEN MIC Thursday, May 26 open mic at the East Elmhurst library at 6.

LIVE JAZZ Fridays through December 13 at 180-25 Linden Blvd.., St. Albans. 347-262-1169 ticket information.

SHERRY CHOW GROUP Saturday, May 28 chamber music at 2 at the Flushing library.

SEUSSICAL Saturday, May 28 at Queens Theatre in the Park.

760-0064.

JAMAICA BAY CRUISE Saturdays, May 28, June 18 Jamaica Bay Cruise 4-7 from Brooklyn. 318-9344.

MEMORIAL PARADE Sunday, May 29 at 2 at the intersection of 28 th Avenue and College Point Blvd., ending at 5 th Avenue and 119 th Street.

CEREMONY & PARADE Monday, May 30 at the Whitestone Memorial Field, 149 th Street and 15 th Drive starting at 11.

MEETINGS JEWISH VETS Sundays, May 22, June 26 Jewish War Veterans of the USA Lipsky/Blum Post meet at the Garden Jewish Center. 463-4742.

ST. ALBANS CIVIC Sundays, May 22, June 26 St. Albans Civic Improvement Association meets at 1:30 at St. Albans Lutheran C h u r c h , 2 0 0 th S t r e e t a n d 1 1 9 th A v e n u e in the undercroft. 276-4263.

VFW 4787 Monday, May 23 Whitestone VFW Community Post meets. 746-0540.

TOASTMASTERS Mondays, May 23, June 6, 20 True Potential Toastmasters meet at 7:10. 646-2691577.

FRESH MEADOW CAMERA Tuesdays the Fresh Meadows Camera Club meets.

917-612-3463.

WOMANSPACE Wednesdays Womanspace, a discussion group devoted to issues concerning women, meets 1-3 at the Great Neck Senior Center, 80 Grace Avenue. New members welcome.

FH VAC Wednesdays, May 25, June 22, July 27 Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corp meets. 793-2055.

ADVANCED TOASTMASTER Thursday, May 26 learn the art and science of public speaking. 525-6830.

HORIZONS CLUB Thursday, May 26 the Senior Quartet performs at a meeting of Horizons, for those 55 and over, at the Re fo r m Te m p l e o f F o r e st Hills, 71-11 112 th Street at noon. $3 includes coffee and cake.

TASK FORCE Saturday, May 28 29 th AD Task Force meeting.

May 20-26, 2011 PRESS of Southeast Queens Page 15

EMS CELEBRATION Saturday, May 21 the Little Neck Douglaston Communit y Ambulance Corps will host an EMS Celebration Day Open House 11-4 at 42-18 Marathon Parkway, Little Neck. Free food, equipment demonstrations, health and safet y education, raf f les, more.

RELAY FOR LIFE Saturday, May 21 College Point Relay for Life for the American Cancer Societ y.

917-443-6989.

WEIGHT LOSS EXPO Saturday, May 21 a medical and surgical weight loss expo will be presented from 10-4 at the Uniondale Marriott. $5 at the door; free in advance 516-374-8631.

Professionals, screenings, cooking demos, samples, more.

CHAIR YOGA Monday, May 23 at the Bellerose librar y. Register.

ZUMBA Monday, May 23 at the Lefrak Cit y library at 6.

ALZHEIMERS Tuesday, May 24 Caregiver Support Group in Forest Hills. 592-5757, ext. 237.

HATHA YOGA Thursday, May 26 at the Queensboro Hill library at 6.

BLOOD DRIVE Sunday, June 12 9-2 at Queen of Angels Church in the Parish Center, 43-18 Skillman Avenue, Sunnyside. 646-541-6526.

EDUCATION/GAMES/CRAFTS

People Army Pvt. Ruben R.C. Caminero has graduated from Basic Combat Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Waynesville, Mo. During the nine weeks of training, the soldier received instruction in drill and ceremony, weapons, rifle marksmanship qualification, bayonet combat, chemical warfare, field training and tactical exercises, marches, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, and Army history, traditions, and core values.

He is the son of Antonia A. Nenas of Rockaway Park. His wife, Seydy, is the daughter of Maria M. Alvarez, also of Rockaway Park. The private is a 2010 graduate of Beach Channel High School, Rockaway Park.

Army National Guard Pfc. Paul D. Berwise has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises.

Berwise is the grandson of Shirley Cox of Cambria Heights.

Berkeley College President Dario A. Cortes, PhD, has announced that students

from Queens have received scholarships to attend Berkeley College.

Christian Arias of Astoria, Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School; Arun Arora of Queens Village, Martin Van Buren High School; Joseph Bayer of East Elmhurst, St. John’s Preparatory School; Lauren Beltre of Jackson Heights, Queens Vocational High School; Denise Camacho of Flushing, Benjamin Cardozo High School; Lucas Demartini of College Point, Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School; Samantha Dengate of Middle Village, Mary Louis Academy; Jonathan Espinosa of Jackson Heights, Aviation High School; Daniela Garcia of Rego Park, Forest Hills High School; Robert Gozdz of Forest Hills, Archbishop Molloy High School; Senada Hodzic of Rego Park, Townsend Harris High School; Joseph Hynes of Ridgewood, St. John’s Preparatory School; Alyssa Kiefer of Glendale, Christ the King Regional High School; Irina Lalicic of College Point, St. Mary’s High School; Tenging Lama of Sunnyside, The Beacon School; Jennifer Margaret Langenberg of College Point, Bayside High School; Michael Lara of Jackson Heights, Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School; Phinjo Lhamu of Woodside, William C. Bryant High School; Amanda Lopez of Ridgewood, Williamsburg Preparatory High School; Edin Lukolic of Astoria, Aviation High School; Estife Minchala of Corona, William C. Bryant High School; Lanny Ng of Corona, High School for Environmental

Studies; John Ng of Long Island City, University Neighborhood High School; Hugo Piedra of Ridgewood, Grover Cleveland Academy; Santiago Reyes of Middle Village, High School for Environmental Studies; Michelle Rivero of Elmhurst, High School for Environmental Studies; Tenzin Samdup of Elmhurst, Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School; Tenzin Tsewan of Corona, William C. Bryant High School; and Chrisanna Ward of Corona, John Bowne High School.

“It is an honor to recognize the academic accomplishments of these high school seniors by awarding them scholarships to attend Berkeley College,” said Dr. Cortes. “As a college that values diversity, fosters academic growth and recognizes the potential of each student, Berkeley College looks forward to welcoming these scholarship recipients to our campuses in the coming year.”

Army National Guard Spec. Lorraine M. Browne is returning to the U.S. after a deployment to Iraq serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn, or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations.

The soldiers return to Joint Base DixMcGuire-Lakehurst, N.J., for debriefing, evaluations and out-processing procedures before returning to their regularly assigned Army Reserve or National Guard units.

Operation New Dawn transitions and signifies a formal end to U.S. military com-

bat operations in Iraq. The transition shifts the U.S. emphasis from predominantly military to predominately civilian as the U.S. officials assist Iraqis in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement. The three primary missions of U.S. Forces include advising, assisting, and training the Iraqi Security Forces; conducting partnered counterterrorism operations; and providing support to provincial reconstruction teams and civilian partners as they help build Iraq’s civil capacity.

Operation Enduring Freedom is the official name given to anti-terrorism military operations involving U.S. troops and allied coalition partners. Active duty and reserve component members from all branches of the U.S. armed forces have been deployed to support the war against global terrorism outside the borders of the United States. U.S. troops serve in South, Southwest and Central Asia, the Arabian peninsula, the Horn of Africa, islands in the Pacific, and Europe.

She served in support of Operation New Dawn.

Browne is an automated logistical specialist and is regularly assigned to the 442nd Military Police Company, based out of Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn. The specialist is the daughter of Valerie A. Browne of Laurelton, and niece of Cheryl Davis of Iris Circle, Beacon. In 1993, she graduated from Martin Van Buren High School, Queens Village, and received a bachelor’s degree in 1997 from Hofstra University.

May 20-26, 2011 PRESS of Southeast Queens Page 17

Windows Of Opportunity

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott

Really, NYPD? Apparently, rank doesn’t matter in Queens when you’re guilty of “Driving While Black.”

The saying is rooted in the frustration of many black communities, including ours in Southeast Queens, where the perception is that cars get pulled over for bogus reasons when the driver is black.

The latest victim? Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, who was being driven home to St. Albans two weeks ago shortly before midnight when he was pulled over by two cops. One cop said that the car made a turn without using a signal, but Walcott leaned over, identified himself, and said he had heard the clicking sound of the signal.

After a license check, the driver and Walcott were able to leave without a ticket, but Walcott immediately filed a complaint with the NYPD, which has launched an internal investigation into the matter.

In 2008, a white police officer was disciplined when he pulled over a black driver for no true reason, and the driver turned out to be a high-ranking member of the NYPD out of uniform.

Oh – best part – when Walcott asked for the officers’ badge numbers, neither identified themselves.

Good going, cops. Building that community trust, we see.

The Bayside-based non-profit Windows of Opportunity, which offers teens and young adults innovative programs to address self-esteem, has started Shortstack, a modeling company for girls too petite to meet the standards of the modeling industry.

Sporting a list of more than a dozen young ladies from Queens neighborhoods, the models of Shortstack participate in community service and charity events, photo shoots, workshops, trainings, rehearsals, field trips and fashion shows to become a family and change the standards.

Recently, they pitched in to clean up a Queens Village playground for Earth Day. Here, the gals sported a little more fabric than the couture lines they model, but their hard work and dedication paid off to help neighborhood children have a clean and safe place to play.

Shortstack will hold a charity show June 17 at the Midtown Loft & Terrace to raise funds for Windows of Opportunity. To learn more about the event, go to wooshortstack.org or call (718) 916-6037.

We’re sure the Shortstack girls will continue to grace our pages in the coming weeks. Be sure to keep coming back to see these girls prove that you don’t need height to make it big.

The girls from Shortstack (l.-r): .Carla Galvianes, Nicole Gim, Emily Taylour Gural and Joaly Trinidad

When it comes to caring for the environment, Queens has always been an eco-friendly green machine.

So it was no surprise to discover Long Island City resident Erik Baard won the Greenest NYer contest.

Baard is responsible for the LIC Community Boat House and the planting of Pippin apple trees.

The contest was organized by Empire State Development, best known for its “I Love NY” campaign.

As the premiere borough for parks and natural environs, it’s only fitting Erik hails from Queens.

Green Giant

Page 18 PRESS of Southeast Queens May 20-26, 2011

Queens Rising The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, has a big job ahead of her to prepare for next year’s elections – but given her beginnings, we’d like to think she’s ready for the job.

Born in Forest Hills, she moved out to Long Island as a teen and ended up at the University of Florida, where, unlike other students who go there to major in tanning, she earned her undergrad and a Masters in political science by the time she was 24. At age 26, in 1992, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the Florida state legislature, where she served for eight years before moving up to the Florida State Senate.

In 2004 she raised $1 million for a Congressional run and took the seat of her retiring mentor, Peter Deutsch. In her time in office she has raised three kids, fought off cancer, had a double mastectomy and still comes out of the corner swinging, which is why President Barack Obama tapped her for this prominent role.

She joins a long list of prominent national figures, such as Queens native Ron Brown as well as Howard Dean and Chris Dodd.

Go get ’em, Debbie.

Erik Baard (left) of Long Island City is greener than you.

Models Of Queens It Gets Worse It never ends.

If you think Mets fans have been suffering this spring, how do you think the team feels?

Just this past week, the Amazin’s lost No. 1 pitching prospect Jenri Mejia until next year, former All-Star pitcher Chris Young for the season and even newcomer first baseman Ike Davis headed to the DL because – get this – he and David Wright collided on a play that Pitcher Mike Peflrey should have dealt with in the first place.

Last Tuesday night in Colorado, on a routine soaring pop-up near the pitcher’s mound, Pelfrey backed away as Wright and Davis both came in from the corners.

They both called for it, but neither could apparently hear the other.

They collided right in front of Pelfrey, with Davis smashing into

Ike Davis isn’t smiling today, and neither are Mets fans.

Wright and rolling his left ankle in the process.

The only good news to come was that Wright made the catch and was able to hold on to the ball.

This team is, player by player, falling apart; its finances are in ruin; and its fans just aren’t showing up.

How long until football season?

Confidentially, New York . . .

What’s Up SATURDAY, MAY 21 Youth & Tennis The Youth and Tennis group meets every Saturday morning at Roy Wilkins Park Saturday. To learn more, call Bill Briggs at (718) 658-6728.

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 Jamaica. 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 Tuesdays and Thursdays 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.

Foreclosure Prevention/Education The Greater Allen Development Corporation 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 Education.

This free event will take place at the Allen Christian School, 171-10 Linden Blvd., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Discover Your Career Potential Take the Career Exploration Inventory, a self-scored, easy-to-use survey guide to choosing a career based on your interests and experiences.

This free event will take place at the Queensborough Public Library’s Central Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 11 a.m.

Health & Wellness Symposium

Isis Kids Circle Fundraiser The Daughters of Isis Foundation is pleased to present a Play Date Fundraiser for children 5-10 years old. This unique opportunity offers time for children to socialize, play and have some fun, while raising funds for the organization’s scholarship events. For additional information, visit thedaughtersofisisfoundation.org, or contact Simone Williams at (347) 7311721 or isis.staff@gmail.com.

This event will take place at Young Queens Loft, 148-14 Liberty Ave. at 5 p.m.

Admission is $25 per child.

Come enjoy a free program for families!

Learn about music, enjoy story time and a craft at this free drop-in program.

This free event will take place at the King Manor Museum in Rufus King Park, 153 Street at Jamaica Avenue from noon to 3 p.m.

Tree Care Workshop Keep Queens green! MillionTreesNYC has planted over 300,000 trees throughout New York City and you can help.

Learn how to care for these newly planted trees. Pledge to take care of a specific tree (be prepared to give the exact location) and receive a free watering kit and volunteer card.

This free event will take place at the Queensborough Public Library’s Central Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 2 p.m.

Blue Notes Spring Concert There is the Blue Note, and then there are the Blue Notes. Be there when the York College Blue Notes take the stage for their annual spring concert. The Blue Notes are always worth checking out.

This free event will take place at York College Performing Arts Center, 94-45 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. at 8 p.m.

SUNDAY, MAY 22 Shred Fest Protect your identity. Shred your personal papers for free at a location near you.

Free paper shredders donated by Staples for the first four people to arrive with their papers at each location.

This free event will take place at the Roy Wilkins Family Center, 177th Street and Baisley Boulevard, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

MONDAY, MAY 23 Adult Chess Club Practice your chess skills weekly, on Monday and Thursday evenings.

The event is held at 6 p.m. every Monday at Queens Village Library, 94-11 217 St., (718) 776-6800.

Health Care Reform Workshop Please join us for an interactive workshop overview of the Health Care Reform and what it means for New York.

Highlights will include how Health Care Reform affects children, small business owners, immigrants and seniors.

This free event will take place at the Queensborough Public Library’s Central Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 11 a.m.

National Action Network Meeting The Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network is building a Queens chapter.

If you are interested in playing a role in this historic effort, then join the Rev. Al Sharpton and others as they put together a list of issues important to Queens.

For additional information, visit nationalactionnetwork.net, or contact Susan Samuel, Interim President, at (347) 938-1745 or lmenyweather@gmail.com.

This free event will take place at Calvary Baptist Church, 111-10 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., from 6-8 p.m.

TUESDAY, MAY 24 Job Club Every Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Jamaica Neighborhood Center offers a free service to assist people from Southeast Queens with job-readiness skill sets in writing a professional resume and cover letter; interviewing practices and techniques; applying on-line procedures; elevator pitch and Microsoft Suite 2007.

For additional information, contact Lenin Gross, Job Coach, at (718) 739-2060, Ext. 18 or lgrossjnc@yahoo.com.

This free event will be held at the Jamaica Neighborhood Center - 161-06 89th Ave.

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 Center, 177-01 Baisley Blvd.

Walkers for Wellness Club See Saturday’s listing. At 7 p.m.

Job Info Center Orientation What is the Job Information Center and what does it do? Find out at an interactive orientation about its services.

This free event will take place at the Queensborough Public Library’s Central Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 3 p.m.

Intro to Emerging Technologies This single-session workshop will help customers answer questions on social networking, blogging, wikis, Twitter and more. Pre-registration is required in person at the Cyber Center Desk. Participants must possess basic mouse and keyboarding skills.

This free event will take place at the Queensborough Public Library’s Central Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 6 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 York Observatory Open Night The York College Observatory is open to the public every second or third Wednesday of the month - rain or shine - at 8:30 p.m.

Gather in room 2E01 and then proceed to the fourth floor terrace off G corridor if it’s clear. For additional information, contact Tim Paglione at paglione@york.cuny.edu or (718) 262-2082.

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.

Intro to Email In this single-session workshop, customers will learn how manage their own email account; send and receive email messages. Pre-registration is required in person at the Cyber Center Desk. Participants must possess basic mouse and keyboarding skills. Class runs from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

This free event will take place at the Queensborough Public Library’s Central Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 10 a.m.

Youth Town Hall State Sen. Malcolm A. Smith is pleased to present a Youth Town Hall Summit titled “Let’s Work.” Come on out for a

conversation about jobs and job readiness.

There’ll be discussions with experts on resume building, interview skills, networking and mentorships. Come learn about internships, scholarships and job opportunities, including the 7th Annual Youth Business Network (YBN) Program and the NYC Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). A resume is required for YBN program qualification. Bring your Social Security card. Parents are encouraged to attend. For more information, visit nysenate.gov/senator/malcolmsmith, or contact Smith’s District Office at (718) 454-0162.

This free event will take place at I.S. 192, 109–89 204th St., at 4 p.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 26 Walkers for Wellness Club See Saturday’s listing. At 7 p.m.

Discover Your Career Potential Take the Career Exploration Inventory, a self-scored, easy-to-use survey guide to choosing a career based on your interests and experiences.

This free event will take place at the Queensborough Public Library’s Central Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., at 3 p.m.

How Much: Free

Environmental Town Hall Meeting Assemblyman William Scarborough and Councilman Leroy Comrie are pleased to invite you to an environmental town hall meeting. Ground water intrusion, the rising water table, and sewer and infrastructure needs will all be on the agenda. Invited participants include: the U.S. Dept. of Environmental Protection; the State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, and the City Dept. of Environmental Protection.

For additional information, contact: Manuel Caughman at (718) 723-5412 or mannyjr146@aol.com; or Al-Hassan Kanu at (718) 776-3700 or akanu@council.nyc.gov.

This free event will take place at Robert Ross Johnson Family Life Center, 172-17 Linden Blvd., from 6-9 p.m.

FRIDAY, MAY 27 Senior Theatre Acting Repertory Calling all older adults: Join our galaxy of STARs to perform theatrical works at the library with a great group of people while brightening your life.

Rehearsals are held at 10:30 a.m. Fridays at Queens Village Library, 94-11 217 St., (718) 776-6800.

Infant Mortality Clergy United for Community Empowerment’s Infant Mortality Reduction Initiative program provides the following services free of charge: case management services, parent skills building, crib care, breast feeding education, health education, nutritional information/education, referral for HIV testing, confidential one-on-one counseling, workshops, and women support groups. IMRI provides referrals for Food stamps, GED, GYN, Emergency Baby Formula (qualifications required) and more.

Call (718) 297-0720. Located at 8931 161 St., 10th floor, Jamaica. Services are available Tue.-Thurs. 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

May 20-26, 2011 PRESS of Southeast Queens Page 19

The Health Task Force Committee of the Queens Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority invite you, your family, and your friends to their Annual Spring Health & Wellness Symposium: “You are What you Eat!” We have something for everyone so put on your sneakers and be ready to workout with the Deltas and learn about the importance of living a divine life.

For additional information, contact Healthtaskforce@dstquac.org, or Pachuska Vil at (917) 567-0474, Rovina Whitfield at (917) 921-6260, or Jacqueline Battle at (347) 262-2636.

This free event will take place at Shiloh Baptist Church of Jamaica, 173-70 106th Ave., from noon to 4 p.m.

Hands-on History