Commentary on happenings relating to greater Sunnyside Woodside from the unconcealed POV of the writers. Agree or disagree? Send comments to SmallTownComment@ gmail.com Volume 1, Number 3
Monday, December 24, 2018
The Education Debacle in NYC
Giant Shark Invited to Tank: We’re
to Be Stars in the Amazon Reality Show
Op Ed by Gabriel Nihas
Op Ed by Patricia Dorfman
Everything in America is becoming politicized, and unfortunately, the realm of education in NYC has fallen victim to the fangs of ideology quite awhile ago.
People with more secure futures seem more optimistic about the Amazon plan. No matter how big the waves get, they have more options. But those who worry about their own or other’s living or occupational fortunes, in view of Seattle, are worried.
The common theme in the New York City public school system nowadays is the quest for equity. Continuing the tradition of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, progressive activists are using the education system as a vehicle for social change, particularly when it comes to racial disparities inherent in the system. Of course, our schools had to change to rid us of the unfair system, but the new changes that are being put in place now are not going to achieve that goal. Mayor Bill de Blasio and officials from the Department of Education (DOE), keep lambasting the fact that 68% of New York City public school students are black and Latino, but they only make up about 10% of the student body of the specialized high schools. The city is attempting to remove the bar Continued, page 5
FREE
NY City Council members who gave early support for the plan reject it now because they note that they, Community Boards and the public were not consulted on the terms of the biggest private company deal and incentive package in NYC history.
Waking Up to Loss; Community Unites
by Patricia Dorfman A collective shock and sadness overtook the community as the smell of smoke and sight of flames accompanied the news that a hole opened up in our world. The fire was on Queens Blvd., between 45th and 46th Streets in Sunnyside, Queens, starting at 2:14 AM on Thursday, December 13. Since then, $150,000 has been raised. Continued, page 4
A giant shark Amazon surely is, already controlling 43% of all online sales, and expanding into cash-free, cashier-free bricks and mortar, faster than we can say, “We need a bigger boat.” Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post, Whole Foods and much more. His being near Washington pols, NYC international contacts Continued, page 2
Monday, December 24, 2018
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL
(Continued from page 1)
We’re to Be Stars in the Amazon Reality Show
A Shoes Perspective He reached out extended hand Asking for small change While wearing sneakers still brand New, well out of my price range.
and Wall Street, plus getting $3 billion in incentives will help him grow. The deal by the Mayor and Governor hinting at eminent domain, meaning the public has no say, could result in later expansion; say, a Sunnyside Yards land grab.
the clout Amazon will have. Note how much power over NY Bezos has already in the wooing process, with our two top state officials bypassing the public and other electeds. If City Council has no power; we have no power.
The Quinnipiac poll reporting 57% support from voters, released in advance of the fracas that was the December 12 City Council hearing, was at odds with CM Van Bramer, and with the opinion of second most powerful city official, Speaker Corey Johnson, “We’ve been played.”
If world dominance was not his goal, and just high profit was, Amazon would set up in cheaper regions and transform them into prosperity. Why does it matter where the headquarters are and why do they supposedly care about pleasing new hires? The basis of the key business is tech know-how around fast distribution of the cheapest products. With richer residents, a higher end dining and arts scene will spring up immediately anywhere, as it has in Seattle.
Some are less worried. Sunnyside playwright Jeremy Kareken says, “I’m always concerned when big companies are awarded special treatment over smaller businesses, but an anchor tenant in LIC will bring more political pressure to bear so that the city and state can improve Western Queens infrastructure, long neglected. He continues, “PILOTS (payments in lieu of taxes) help ensure that funds paid by Amazon remain local. I would prefer all businesses get what Amazon is getting but I believe that on balance, HQ2 will be a net win for Queens.” Many NYCHA residents who are not fans of the administration notice that a higher cost of living from the Amazon plan is close on the Mayor’s proposal to sell air and build on NYCHA land for $3 billion. They and many others who are renters would be surrounded by even wealthier people in high-rises and high rent retail. In the absence of the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, any chance for mom & pops to stay or start is unlikely. I worry that the money earmarked for infrastructure or job creation once Amazon is here is unenforceable with
Page 2
There does not seem to be an opportunity to create needed green space or build a new subway line, because nearby public land being sold to Amazon. There is plenty of room though, for instance, in Appalachia, where Amazon would be welcomed with open arms. Living so near Amazon is not a plus. Would John Bank III, the real estate lobby chief, be pleased if the “Amazone” opened within two miles of him? Amazon is not a normal firm or anchor but giant organism which will run politics, society and business, increasingly as time goes on. Daniel Geiger in Crain’s noted that a way to democratically kill the deal is via efforts of NY State Senator Michael Gianaris who says he wants the deal “torn up and thrown in the garbage.” He is now #2 to soon-to-be Majority Leader Andrea StewartCousins. She could pressure the fourperson Public Authorities Control Board to not approve the incentives,
the way Bloomberg’s Westside Stadium was scuttled. But her rejecting Cuomo’s prize deal might be more than she is eager to do to start her term. I pray that those who are in favor will imagine themselves into the reality ten years hence, where the magnitude of Amazon, a trillion-dollar shark, has transformed Queens into an environment favorable only to its own corporate needs. My hope is that Jeff Bezos sees our worry, and the growing lack of gratitude for the millions he will presumably pump into the economy, albeit mainly making the rich richer, and change his mind. ◆
I offered him a dollar Never thought that he’d refuse He said that was not enough “This daddy needs new shoes” At times this world gets out of hand Don’t see how things could change Where helping with a beggar’s brand Would be, well out of my price range -Chris Robin To begin, Small Town Confidential is to be published twice a month, once in December. Editor | Publisher Patricia Dorfman V.P. | Sales Manny Gomez Cell 718-909-4806 V.P. | Writer Berk Koca Contributing Writers Gabriel Nihas Chris Robin Martin Scanlon Advisory Committee Mary Caulfield Toni Dorfman Richard Drake Debbie George Farley Rani Kinane Christopher Whalen 45-06 Queens Blvd. Sunnyside, NY 11104 SmallTownComment@gmail. com ©2018. All Rights Reserved
Monday December 24, 2018
GLORY DAYS When Sunnyside was the King of Softball by Martin Scanlon The late Jason Miller, born in Long Island City, and most prominently known for playing Father Damian Karras, the haunted young priest in the 1973 horror film “The Exorcist,” was also an accomplished PulitzerPrize winning playwright of “That Championship Season.” In the late sixties and seventies, Sunnyside had many championship seasons.
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL meager sum of $50. If memory serves me correctly, the Royals had gone ahead by four runs in the bottom of the fifth of the seveninning game. In the next half-inning, YFM scored a run and loaded the bases with two outs. Then a long fly ball was launched toward left fielder George Prinz. The ball appeared head ed halfway up the five-foot-high chain link fence that sat atop a five-foot high concrete wall. The very athletic (in
Probably no discussion covered such a situation. However, then ensued a 20-minute screaming match between the teams and the umpire. The uproar bordered on a free-for-all battle, when Leon, with un-Solomonlike wisdom, came to a compromise ruling: a do-over, as if the play had never happened! The decision was accepted, however. The batter, given a second bite at the apple, then hit a grand slam, leading to a deluge of runs
The Royals are still legendary for a 1970 “money game” which cost $5000 per team – winner take all – against a bar in the Village called “Your Father’s Mustache” (YFM). Any longtime Sunnysiders over the age of 55 will never forget the game; not just because we were heartbroken that the Royals lost, but because of an unbelievable play by our George Prinz and, more significantly, a bizarre decision by Leon, the umpire. Leon was also associated with a notorious topless bar on Queens Blvd at 52nd Street. Umpire Leon, incredibly, was umpiring this big money game for the
of Parks championship in softball a total of 10 times between 1964 and 1980. I was fortunate enough to be on two of those 10 teams: first, in 1972, winning the under-14 championship. I played right field and batted ninth, only playing because I was a good bunter. Our skipper, “Parkee” Andy Reid, insisted that everyone bunt to save up our two best hitters, Stephen Uhl, and the “man-child” Ralph “Cookie” Tucker, who was 5’10” and 170 lbs. Cookie was a relatively fast runner on the bases. Three years later, in 1975, we won the championship again at the newly created under-17 level and our star was John McGowan. This time, I batted tenth and played right field again alongside former first baseman turned right-center fielder Cookie Tucker, shifted to the outfield. It was a wonderful time in a wonderful town.
For those of us growing up in Sunnyside in the seventies, Torsney Park at 43rd Street and Skillman Avenue was home to a great tradition that for many of us of 50 and older, will remember, the Royals. The Royals were as big as the Hawks. The Hawks were the famous Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team from Riverside Church in Harlem in the seventies and eighties. The progenitors of our local softball dynasty were an older generation best embodied by the legendary local Michael Foley, who once had a try-out with the Yankees. The Royals were affiliated with the Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Church on Skillman at 44th Street, and they competed annually in the national tournament of Catholic Churches for over a dozen years.
Page 3
We try not to begrudge the dogs there now their freedom and play, but as some of us pass by, we remember with pride and joy days in the sun when it was the NYC Department of Parks softball field of champions.◆
George Prinz of PS11 lives in Woodside with his wife, Pat, who gave STC permission to use this photo of him.
many sports) Prinz took a running start and leapt onto the ledge atop the wall, steadied himself and clutched the chain link fence. Then he jumped and propelled himself through space upward where he proceeded to catch the ball, landing gracefully with the ball tucked into his glove. This appeared to all as though in slow motion. The fans went wild. The YFM team vigorously protested. They claimed that Prinz’s amazing play was “illegal,” an absurd claim in retrospect, and “against the ground rules” discussed before the game.
as the Royals lost the game and their $5000 stake. NOTE: The event did lead to the creation of a new word in the Sunnyside lexicon. A “do-over,” like a mulligan in golf, was henceforth known with irritation in Sunnyside Woodside as a “Leon.” And Prinz became famous for gravity-defying catch. Torsney Park went on to become the home of many NYC Department of Parks softball championship-winning teams in the seventies. Teams from the park won the NYC Department
Monday, December 24, 2018
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL
Waking Up to Loss; Community Unites
(Continued from page 1)
MOM & POPS on Queens Blvd., some here a quarter century; Sidetracks, the UPS Store, Zen Yai, NY Style Eats, Better Line Hardware on 45th St., and a new chain store on the corner, Romantic Depot, were consumed by a fire in the early hours with charred remains still being hosed down till late in the afternoon. The tragedy summoned almost 200 firefighters, 20 engine companies, 11 ladder companies, six battalion chiefs and much more that made up the massive counter battle. INTERNATIONAL NEWS covered a “backdraft” in the blaze, a dreaded fire phenomenon, in a video by John Ramos, seen around the world. A backdraft is a loud, fast, large ball of fire and smoke; caused by oxygen suddenly reaching and feeding suspended combustible material. The fireball injured 12, seven firefighters and five civilians, knocking many to the ground. That all survived was a “miracle,” said NYPD Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro. Dozens of firefighters inside were immediately evacuated down the ladders from inside the buildings. Charlie Lucey of Sidetracks hurt his arm. THE FLAMES continued relentlessly on the block till the entire building fell. The FDNY prevented the fire from reaching the attached multi-dwelling building next to the hardware store on 45th. Tap water all over town became brown as endless gallons dousing the flames brought up water pipe sediment. The fire’s ferocity and the danger to firefighters was apparent to the around-the-clock onlookers. “I JUST WATCHED the whole thing and cried,” said Annmarie Reilly, manager of and sister of Sidetracks owner Bernard Reilly. Joe Gillespie, owner of P.J. Horgan’s and the Globe on Skillman Avenue, had a late night drink Wednesday at Sidetracks. “I was just there. The news was a shock. All of us in the community are pulling for the businesses to reopen.” MOST OF THE OWNERS had worked for decades to build up clientele. Mark and Peter Stroubus of NY Style Eats looked stricken. Collectively, 90 workers now faced jobless holidays. Manny Gomez, Bd. Chair of Sunnyside Chamber,
SAFETY TEST REQUESTED Queens Streets for All (QSFA), the group representing over 10,000 including over 5000 residents, every church and mosque, Holy Mountain, PS11 and St. Sebastian’s schools, major civic groups and every business within the Woodside Sunnyside NYC DOT changed corridor; In light of possible danger, injury or death, and difficulties of the different abled; Did formally and respectfully requested the following at the public meeting of Community Board 2 on Dec. 6, 2018; In a repeat of a Sept. 27 letter to the FDNY, forwarded to the Fire Commissioner, the DOT and our Councilman, who noted, “seconds count” in support of FDNY houses in LIC; QSFA asked for the city to arrange, as soon as possible: 1. An official test open to the press and public of whether equipment from Ladder Company 163 can reach roofs and upper floors of Skillman and 43rd Avenues buildings within the corridor. 2. A tally of every response time of our 51st Woodside firehouse made available to the press and public, comparing the months of April, May, June of 2018 and with those after the DOT installation, Sept., Oct., Dec., 2018.
spoke with Tony Tang, owner of the UPS Store with his wife, Leena, to ask how he was doing. Tang said cheerfully, “Don’t worry, Manny, We are coming back better than ever!” showing an upbeat attitude, while most of us were unable to shake the soot off our spirits. EVERYONE KNEW CASH was best way to help businesses and those out of work. The community rallied and that afternoon got busy compiling a plan to collect funds, find space for the businesses and temporary spots for staffers to ease the burden. JAIME FAY-BEAN, Exec. Dir. of Sunnyside Shines, the Business Improvement District (BID) spearheaded crisis management beginning at-dawn, and enabled the team effort. Melissa Orlando, Pres. of Sunnyside Chamber put together a volunteer roster and a 4PM conference call with a cast of what seemed like everyone in the area, including Skillman Project, Boulevard of Bars, Access Queens, Hallie’s Angels, Sunnyside Gardens Park, Sunnyside Artists, Sunny Moms, Brent O’Leary, Christian Amez, SWAG, SNAP, CB2, SUDS, YMCA, Queens Streets for All, Sunnyside Ballet, Dance Matters, Ty Sullivan, Bula Arts & Culture and more. EVERYONE stepped up to take a relief role; efforts took off immediately. Jaime had already spoken to Judy Zangwill, Exec. Dir. of Sunnyside Community Services to nail down Dec. 17 for a resource fair and night fundraiser. Czarinna Andres, SCS staffer and Chamber Bd. member, helped coordinate. THE TEAM AGREED on a name, the “Sunnyside Fire Relief Fund” with no single branding, and to start a“GoFundMe” account, with the BID as lead organization. All agreed that new temporary locations and gigs for the out-of work were the primary concerns. Faye-Bean asked for job finders, including Eric Barthels, who took to the streets to ask businesses if they could take on a temporary staffer. Calls, emails, Google Docs flew back and forth across town. The Resource Fair as of press time has placed many workers in temporary positions.
Page 4 TO DONATE with 100% of funds going to recipients, draft checks to ‘Sunnyside Shines Fire Relief Fund” and send to 45-56 43rd St., Sunnyside, NY 11104. A taxdeductible charitale receipt can be sent to you on request. HAVE A JOB OR SPACE TO OFFER – temporary or permanent, call Jaime Faye-Bean 718-606-1800. HOLDING A FUNDRAISER? Get the word out at sunnysidefirereliefevents@gmail.com. GOFUNDME access still open at: www.gofundme.com/sunnysidefire-relief-fund
OTHER HELP CAME FROM the NYC Emergency Response Team, Renaissance EDC, Small Business Development of LaGuardia College, Small Business Services, hosted by Chairperson Denise Keehan-Smith and District Mgr. Debra Markell Kleinert at Community Board 2, to help with low cost loans, pro bono legal help, and navigating insurance claims. SUNNYSIDEPOST and social media outreach by all kept the public informed. The Woodside Herald offered to publish all future fundraiser notices. Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, Congresswoman Alexandria OccasioCortez, Senator Michael Gianaris, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, Assemblyman Brian Barnwell, former Councilman Eric Gioia, Comptroller Scott Stringer, and CM candidate Brent O’Leary, offered help behind the scenes, personally donated and many called bereft business owners to offer direct assistance. THE ATTITUDE OF ALL in the area was “What can I do? or “Here is what I am doing.” Mindy Greene took to the streets to garner over 90 raffles. Ted Geier and Hallie’s Angels, Sofia Landon and Unity Stage took on coordinating performers. Sunnyside Ballet’s Nutcracker became a fundraiser for close to $800. Jean Clancy of Claret tapped dozens of restaurants and pubs wanting to supply event food and beverages. Faye-Bean brought in crafters who donate a Continued, page 8 Photographs on pages 9, 10,11
Monday, December 24, 2018
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL ing are not always enforced. When suspensions for even major infractions are not handed out, students get the idea that they can do as they wish. The working policy can seem to be,“They’re just kids who need to be understood.” This practice, however, deprives students of the very principles that will allow them to mature into responsible adults. And of course, when the failures of the education system become all too apparent, politicians, policy-makers, and administrators may take the easy way out and blame teachers.
( Continued from page 1)
The Education Debacle in NYC
education model that they keep reforming. The purpose of this article is not to delve into reasons or even the solutions to the supposed achievement gap between different groups and ethnicities but rather to ask the question that no one seems to be asking: Why force students through this outdated “K-12+college” model of education?
We hear of statistics that the graduation rate in NYC is the highest it has ever been, around 74%. This claim is based on practices such as encouraging teachers to pass students for courses they are not qualified to pass. The old method of holding a child back to learn what is needed is not looked upon with favor.
Page 5 cubators of a social-political point of view that robs students of useful time, and often fills their minds with useless information. When students come up to me and ask, “How am I going to use this in life?” – they are actually onto something. No clichéd response to that question is going to give them a satisfying answer. For example, if a teenager coming into 11th grade can barely add or multiply, why stick to an archaic system that says that he or she must master Algebra or else fail to graduate? Why burden them with unnecessary stress for something that they genuinely do not need if they pursue a non-math related life path? Why waste their time and the teacher’s time? And if they truly will not need the skill in life, let’s not pretend they have it.
Students see the problem. Many If students are “college and career are certainly less motivated and ready” as is claimed, then why are more pampered than in my own college professors nationwide qui- experience as a student in New As a public school system high etly lamenting their frighteningly York City public schools. But at the student bodies there now white school teacher, I will tell you firstpoor reading, writing and math the same time, they seem to be or Asian. He may mean well, but he hand that education all want is not skills? This grim prognosis doesn’t more aware of the deception in is not doing any student a service. taking place in New York City pub- just apply to non-motivated stuwhich the system is engaged. Their lic schools, and this may be largely dents. Even the supposed “cream of protests at schoolwork might come That, along with the Advanced the reality nationwide. the crop” are not prepared. from a lack of a work ethic, but that Placement For All initiative, are does not change the fact that they just the tip of the city’s equity According to a colleage who One Yale professor with over two are truthfully commenting on what agenda, which seeks to create even teaches high school mathematdecades of experience has seen they witness. more burdensome rules and ics, “Students come into advanced the decline in student ability first regulations on the teachers for the math courses without even a solid hand. “Many of them…seem to Therefore, any attempt by the alleged purpose of “closing the command of the basics, such as have little knowledge of American authorities to socially reengineer achievement gap” between African the multiplication table or order of history before the 1990s -- or of the school system to create more American and Latino students operations.” history, period,” the teacher said. fairness is doomed to failure if we on one side, and white and Asian “Some students don’t appear to keep trying to reform a system that students on the other. The ability of students to pay have been taught why it was impor- is fundamentally flawed. ◆ attention or retain information tant for the United States to enter So-called education specialists and seems to be dwindling. Some come World War II, or why it was impor- The author went to NYC public researchers have attempted for de- into class preoccupied with their tant for President Lincoln to wage schools, is by profession a public cades to find the magical formula cell phones and social media, and school teacher, and is writing under a the Civil War.” that will allow teachers to conduct administrators are not holding the pen name. miracles in the classroom and students or their parents accountThe reality is, the education system thereby motivate unmotivated stu- able for their behavior or apathy. as it stands is not helpful to our dents. But all the while, the powchildren. Schools are now often iners that be never question the very Deadlines and rules against cheat-
Monday, December 24, 2018
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL
Page 6
NO TO AMAZON PROFITICIANS! A draft statement by the Justice For All Coalition
The Justice for All Coalition stands firmly against the Amazon deal in its entirety and sees its presence in LIC as a major threat to the diverse communities of LIC, Astoria, and Western Queens, including residents in the local NYCHA complexes of Queensbridge, Ravenswood, Astoria and Woodside Houses. Not only does this deal not meet the needs of our community, but – in exacerbating gentrification and displacement, and endangering the future of public housing – it promises to create greater risks and challenges for them. 1. Public Giveaways Despite Public Need
We are deeply offended by the massive public giveaways to one of the richest corporations in the world, owned by one of the richest men in the country. These public giveaways include $2.8 billion in local, state, and federal public subsidies AND the 99-year leasing of publicly-owned land. Meanwhile NYCHA’s $77 million deficit (expected to be $400 million in a decade) and $25 billion in unmet repairs leaves public housing residents dealing with crumbling infrastructure and inhumane living conditions including heat and hot water outages, mold, lead paint, broken elevators and intercoms, and rodent infestations. Moreover, the Department of Education building on publicly-owned land that is part of the Amazon site has long been sought after by local community groups, who have envisioned ways it could be used in service of the community’s needs. Learn more here and here.
2. Lack of Community Involvement
This plan was devised behind closed doors, without community or City Council input. In circumventing the City’s land use review process, and instead routing the deal through the state-level land use process (GPP, or General Project Plan), the Mayor and Governor have effectively and intentionally excluded community input and concerns. Within a month after the Amazon deal was announced, an Advisory Committee was hastily assembled This 45-member committee is the Mayor’s idea of “robust community engagement” meant to ensure “that the investments and resources generated from this project serve the needs of everyone in Long Island City and beyond.” This Advisory Committee is too little, too late: the deal has already been struck, and forming a committee for community input after the fact is a sham. The most this committee will extract are a few crumbs, none of which will outweigh the enormous harm brought to our community by Amazon’s presence. Worse still, participation in the committee gives the appearance of community acquiescence to this deal; it is a public relations stunt, at the expense of Queens communities. To consider this process as sufficient - let alone robust - community engagement is an insult with devastating consequences for our community.
3. Jobs for Whom?
Amazon says that it will bring 25,000-40,000 jobs paying an average of $150,000 a year to residents of NYC, but we ask, jobs for whom? Are these jobs for existing community members or for new arrivals, who will likely be whiter and wealthier than most Queens residents? There are no legally binding conditions in the deal that require or encourage local hiring – not in local public housing campuses, nor across Western Queens. Moreover, the influx of wealthier residents will spur gentrification pressures.
4. Faux “Community Benefits”
One tenet of the deal that has been promoted as a benefit for the community is three years of semi-annual job fairs and resume workshops for Queensbridge residents and training and recruitment programs for City residents. These initiatives exclude the majority of local public housing residents, and duplicate services that already exist, instead of creating new jobs and education programs that could do more good for the community.
5. Intensifying Gentrification
The addition of Amazon to LIC comes at a time when gentrification has been intensifying in the area, as a result of 4 recent City-led rezonings: three in LIC (2001, 2004, 2008) and one in Sunnyside and Woodside (2011). The resulting luxury residential development has contributed to rising rents and the displacement of long-time residents, local artists, small businesses and small manufacturing. Beyond the threat physical displacement poses for the livelihoods of community members, these changes disrupt vital community networks that neighbors rely on in making up and pursuing life. Amazon’s presence is sure to intensify these trends of rising land values, hardship and displacement. This is already evidenced by the “condo-buying frenzy” in the weeks following the announcement that Amazon would come to LIC.
6. Spurring the Privatization of Public Housing & Homelessness
The expected intensification of gentrification and rising land values in the area will encourage the City to privatize local public housing campuses through its NextGeneration NYCHA Plan. NextGeneration NYCHA aims to resolve the housing authority’s financial deficits by opening up its campuses to private developers (also known as infill) and/or shifting buildings from public to private management, and apartments from Section 9 into Section 8 (also known as RAD - Rental Assistance Demonstration). In short, NYCHA NextGeneration transfers control of public housing campuses and land from the public to private developers who privilege profit over people. The privatization of this public asset would be detrimental to both residents and the City. Public housing is currently home to 1 in 14 (or 8 million) residents across the city, with a 270,000-household-long waiting list (as of 2015), and it is an important affordable housing stock for low-income residents and seniors, and workers who provide essential services to the City, including teachers, police officers, nurses. As gentrification pressures continue to increase land values and private-market rents across Western Queens and the City, lower-income and workingclass New Yorkers have fewer alternative housing options, and preserving public housing becomes ever-more important. For many NYCHA residents (for whom the average family income is less than $25,000), the alternative means leaving the city if they can, or turning to homeless shelters and services provided by the Department of Homeless Services. Beyond the human component of putting capable people in challenging if not debilitating situations, the tradeoff of public housing for homeless services is a misuse of public money** that further depletes public funds that could be used to make repairs and improvements to NYCHA campuses and/or provide other viable and truly affordable housing options to low-income New Yorkers. ---**The City spends $2,000-$7,500 per month to shelter – NOT HOUSE – a person dealing with homelessness. In 2018, the city spent over $1 billion to shelter our swelling homeless population (over 60,000 people) – and the Department of Homeless Service’s total budget came to $1.8 billion.
7. Missed (Transit) Connections
The Mayor is using the Amazon deal as justification for reviving the Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX), a trolley to run along the Queens-Brooklyn waterfront from Red Hook to Northern Astoria. The BQX has long been rejected by the communities along the route for its failure to meet the actual transit needs of current residents, who are more likely to travel within neighborhoods or between their boroughs and Manhattan. Moreover, the anticipation of an additional and higher fare ensures that it will not be affordable to working-class and lower-income New Yorkers, for whom MTA fares are already too high. And yet, working-class and lower-income residents, including those in Queensbridge, Ravenswood and Astoria Houses would be among those most affected by the ongoing construction of the project. Instead of a new trolley, our local community needs more bus lines, and added buses on the roads and subway cars on the tracks. More broadly, local and city residents need more investment in our public transportation system to fix other infrastructure failings that delay trains and make us late for work, school and other appointments and/or unnecessarily complicate getting from point A to point B. For residents across Western Queens, these failings have made the 7 train notorious for perpetual overcrowding, major, near-daily delays (due to signal and track problems, etc) and unnecessarily long commutes. The described above “intensifying gentrification” across Western Queens and the influx of newcomers it will bring will worsen these conditions. Rather than giving Amazon nearly $3 billion in tax breaks and incentives, we should be extracting tax revenue to fund public transportation. There IS money for the MTA, we’re just giving it away. If implemented, the BQX would also further intensify gentrification.
Monday, December 24, 2018
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL
Page 7
Monday, December 24, 2018
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL
Waking Up to Loss; Community Unites a portion of Dec. 17 sales. Girl Scout Troop 4283 volunteered, as did over 50 others. Sunnyside Artists offered graphics and a silent fine art auction. DONATIONS were offered from some who could barely afford it. One displaced bus boy tried to donate $500. At press time, over $95,000 poured in from almost 1300 on GoFundMe, some from out of state. Two tickets sessions sold out, and $16,000 was earned Dec. 17. Donations in hand include $5000 from Sunnyside Reformed Church, $1000 or over from Sunnyside Florist, Queens Chamber of Commerce, Queen of Angels Church, Young Israel, and Sunnyside Gardens Apartments, $2000 from Amin Siad of Fresh and Save, $500 from Edward D. Lynch Funeral Home, $500 from LL Building, LLC, and many more. A former 108 Commanding Officer, who lives elsewhere, Dep. Insp. Travaglia, donated $250. FUNDRAISERS have already been held at Jack’s Fire Dept., Bar 43, Gantry Loft, and Bantry Bay Publick House. Groups of employees such as at Paris Baguette held ad hoc group mini fundraisers. SUNNYSIDESHINES.org will have the final tally on their site. Melissa Orlando promises a full list of all donors, in the thousands, including restaurants and helpers will be compiled and put online by Sunnyside Chamber.
(Continued from page 4)
upon by Imam Muhammet Sonmez Bayraktar and Pastor Neil Margetson who led prayers for the businesses and staffers. Roman Catholics prelates dictated a day of parish confessions so no Catholic clergy was free to attend, but all sent their prayers. ALL WHO GATHERED repeated the wish that most businesses reopen as soon as possible, and that no giant high-rise replace them. Past retail fires have taught us that leases are generally void after such a disaster, and the lot becomes desirable as able be delivered tenant-free. We hope that the building owner, whose choices are not ours to make, considers the community in regard to what will be there. THESE PAST DAYS since the fire have been a historic event for the area. The response of the community made the three days between the fire and public fundraiser iunique in a unified purpose in the memories of even elderly local patriots. Despite our growing population and demographic shifts, all of us are grateful that the “Small Town in the Big City,” the chamber slogan derived from a book title by Pam Byers, is still here. THANKS TO ALL who put their personal concerns aside in a holiday season. We send our love to all who lost so much. We thank our city for, so far, doing right by its people.
DEC. 17 6-9PM was a bridge over troubled water for all who came. Lines wrapped the block.From fine food to mariachi bands, line dancing, hugs and handshakes, everyone at the event was there out of love and concern, and it showed. If you smiled at a stranger, he or she smiled back, suddenly beaming. Those feuding for decades LASTLY, WE THANK our New exchanged quips. York Fire Department firefighers, the bravest in the world. ◆ HIGHER POWERS were called
Page 8
• Popular Stacy Elliuk, aide to former Public Advocate Tish James, might be taking a position in NYC, and not going to Albany with newly elected Attorney General. • A local buinesssperson has already approached the owner of the burned out lot to buy it.
• Cool retro storefront Nunziato Florist to be demolished. Kinda loud at 52nd Street to put a residential building. • Hardworking Assemblyman Brian Barnwell is recovering from back surgery.
• Word is that Bob & Joanne Billharz are visiting from Florida. • The owner of 45-11 43rd Ave. is speaking to prospective buyers..
CORRECTIONS, COMMENTS, CLARIFICATIONS, JOKES • Apologies to Attorney Marc Crawford Leavitt whose name has a “c” in Marc, not a “k.” • Jay Leno joke: “How many are worried about a government shutdown? (beat) How many are more worried about it starting back up?” • Pun: What city is again the fastest growing in the world? Every year it’s Dublin. • A local real estate broker opined that the houses on 47th St. between Skillman and 43rd Aves. would immediately be more attractive and valuable if the metal fences were removed. Curb cuts/parking are a plus to many, and are grandfathered in. • A local wag described a political sort as everywhere, and seems “willing to go to the opening of an envelope.”
• Congratulations to newlyweds, above, Eric and Tim MagyarUhlinger! • ABC Store reopened on Greenpoint, larger due to adding the space from next-door sundry store. • Kris Czerniachowicz returned safe and sound from a Warsaw vacation. • The detectives in the 108th Precinct are officially investigating the thumbtacks on 43rd Avenue complaint.
• Ramiro Mendez of the much honored DeMole on 48th Ave. at 45th St., now serves churros, above. This means that LIC notable personage Mark Christie will no (Continued, next page)
Monday, December 24, 2018 (Short Stories, continued)
have to travel to Jackson Heights.. • Casey and Susie Concelmo are expecting, and Casey has new book out, “The Earth,” by Hallie Geier, which he illustrated. • Long-time Kiwanian Howard Brickman is slated to be local chapter Kiwanis president. • On Queens Blvd., theater seats are no longer inside former Center Cinema (sigh) reports a friendly sleuth who got inside. History buff John Sisc had suggested one be saved for posterity. Maureen Lynch of Lynch Funeral Home was willing to store until a local history museum is created. We still hope for one of the signs to be saved.
Neon signs are lit inside former P. J. Horgan’s, above, in same building as the former cinema. Portions of the building are marked to demolish, such as the former Dime Bank.
• Alexis Wheeler. above left, was promoted at the Department of City Planning, with Coralie Ayers, right, filling her spot as Queens liaison Planner.
Jan. 15, 2019 in the 100th anniversary of the Molasses Tank Explosion that occurred in Boston, flooding the streets. Newspaper is from the day above.◆
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL
Page 9
Monday, December 24, 2018
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL
Page 10
Monday, December 24, 2018
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL
Page 11
Monday, December 24, 2018
SMALL TOWN CONFIDENTIAL
WE’RE NO DYKER HEIGHTS, BUT IT’S LOOKING FESTIVE LATELY
Page 12
