DOG FOUND IN GARBAGE CAN IN MASPETH
By Conor Greene
A Maspeth woman has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty after locking her poodle in a suitcase, which she dumped in a garbage can near her home. The dog was rescued by neighbors who heard it crying, but it later died while being treated by Animal Care and Control veterinarians.
Sonia Perez, 21, of 60-49 54th Place was arraigned on March 5 in Queens Criminal Court on charges of felony aggravated cruelty to animals and misdemeanor torturing an animal. Bail was set at $1,000 and she was ordered to return to court on March 19.
Neighbor Amber Munyan was walking her dog along 54th Place on March 3 when she heard noises coming from the trash can. She looked in the garbage and found the suitcase containing the severely injured poodle, which she brought back to her home. She then contacted wildlife management expert David Quinn to see if he could offer assistance.
“I looked at it, saw it was in terrible shape and said we have to contact authorities,” said Quinn. They were forced to call 911 since ASPCA animal cruelty officers are not available after 9 p.m. According to Quinn, it took more than two hours for officers to arrive –and that was only after a neighbor called 911 to report a possible domestic situation inside the dog owner’s home, from which yelling could be heard.
“I heard her yelling, ‘I got rid of the dog’ – we both heard it,” he continued. “When police arrived, [the defendant’s] brother came out and said, ‘Oh, we threw the dog out.’” Another witness, Harry Gold, told police he recognized the poodle as belonging to Perez, and said the woman had previously told him that it was difficult taking care of both the dog and her child. According to a police source, a neighbor also told authorities that Perez had beaten the dog on several prior occasions.
Police arrested Perez at the scene, and the poodle was taken to Animal Care and Control for treatment, where it later died. A veterinarian reported that an external exam revealed that the poodle had a good body condition but had suffered from scrotal bruising and rib fractures.
“It’s unbelievable what people can do to animals, just horrible” said Quinn. “It’s heartbreaking - the dog couldn’t have been more than ten to twelve pounds.”
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Family Struggles after Devastating Fire
Friend Leads Effort to Help Recovery
By Conor Greene
A Rego Park family is struggling to make ends meet following a devastating apartment fire, but a close friend is doing his part to help them recover and move on with their lives.
In the early morning of February 26, the 18th floor apartment in the Park City complex that was home to the Zeltser family caught fire, possibly due to an electrical malfunction. Eighteen-year-old Daniella Zeltser awoke to find the bedroom she shared with her younger broker Alan engulfed in flames. She quickly alerted her brother and parents, who were able to flee the apartment. Alan was able to grab the family’s dog on the way outside.
The fire completely destroyed the apartment and the family’s belongings, according to family friend Ed Gochman, who has known his neighbor Diana Zeltser for 20 years. After stopping by to survey the damage, he realized immediately that he had to do something to help the Zeltsers cope with the difficult situation.“I went inside the apartment, and I’m just amazed,” recalled Gochman. “I haven’t seen anything like this. I was in awe of the damage. You can stand there and see what would have happened two minutes later to everybody. I saw the faces of the kids, and I have two small kids myself, and I couldn’t sleep without thinking about how I could help.”
Gochman has created a website, help4dianazeltser.weebly.com, and a Facebook page to organize the effort to collect donations for the family. He has also created a Facebook group called Help for Diana Zeltser that people can join to find out how to help.
Unfortunately, the fire couldn’t have come at a worse time for the family. Diana’s husband, Sasha lost his job about a year ago, causing the couple to fall behind on the mortgage payments. With the family struggling to make ends meet, it dropped its insurance coverage, according to Gochman. “It was the worst possible timing – she almost lost her apartment, and then it burned.”
The family is currently staying with Diana’s mother on 108th Street in Forest Hills. “They’re going through a lot, especially the kids, they’re terrified,” said Gochman. “Any noise, or passing fire trucks, they wake up. Diana is trying more or less to hold up… She has hope now.”
Three Discover Cocaine in Fruit From Local Market
By Patricia Adams
A trip to the fruit and vegetable market ended in a phone call to police by one Richmond Hill woman over the weekend.
Harlene Woodman purchased a bitter melon at the Banana Country Inc. Fruits and Vegetable store at 120-01 Liberty Avenue on Sunday afternoon. Arriving home and preparing the melon for cooking, the woman discovered a clear plastic bag containing what appeared to be a white powdery substance.
Woodman immediately called 911 and the FDNY, first at the scene, where it was determined the material was not hazardous but possibly cocaine.
A duty captain from the 106 was notified and upon responding to the Liberty Avenue location established a crime scene. Canine units were used and no further contraband was discovered at the store.
According to police sources, two other individuals, one in the 102 and the other in the 133 precinct, made reports of similar experiences with the same fruit purchased at the same location.
Police who interviewed the owner of Banana Country, Tae Hyun Kil, and all of the store’s workers, said all were cooperating in the investigation.
Law enforcement officials believe that Kil, who resides in Bayside, was not involved with the drugs at his location, and that the three melons were part of a much larger parcel of smuggled fruit and mistakenly wound up in Kil’s delivery.
The investigation is ongoing.
A trip to the fruit and vegetable market ended in a phone call to police by one Richmond Hill woman over the weekend.
Harlene Woodman purchased a bitter melon at the Banana Country Inc. Fruits and Vegetable store at 120-01 Liberty Avenue on Sunday afternoon. Arriving home and preparing the melon for cooking, the woman discovered a clear plastic bag containing what appeared to be a white powdery substance.
Woodman immediately called 911 and the FDNY, first at the scene, where it was determined the material was not hazardous but possibly cocaine.
A duty captain from the 106 was notified and upon responding to the Liberty Avenue location established a crime scene. Canine units were used and no further contraband was discovered at the store.
According to police sources, two other individuals, one in the 102 and the other in the 133 precinct, made reports of similar experiences with the same fruit purchased at the same location.
Police who interviewed the owner of Banana Country, Tae Hyun Kil, and all of the store’s workers, said all were cooperating in the investigation.
Law enforcement officials believe that Kil, who resides in Bayside, was not involved with the drugs at his location, and that the three melons were part of a much larger parcel of smuggled fruit and mistakenly wound up in Kil’s delivery.
The investigation is ongoing.
Custodian Sentenced to One Year for Torah Theft
By Conor Greene
A former live-in custodian at the Jewish Center of Kew Gardens Hills will serve one year in prison after admitting to stealing eight torahs worth more than $100,000 last summer.
Eric Giraldo, 24, who formerly lived in the temple at 71-25 Main Street, was sentenced to one year in jail by Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt. He pleaded guilty last month to third-degree attempted grand larceny, and is also barred from visiting the temple for the next eight years.
The eight torahs and their sterling silver adornments were discovered missing during Saturday services on August 16, much to the shock of about 60 congregation members in attendance that morning. Since the torahs were stored in a locked ark, staff members immediately suspected it was an inside job.
On September 4, Giraldo was arrested after admitting to taking the Torahs and hiding them at the home of a friend, 28-year-old Alan Lozano of 165-08 Union Turnpike in Fresh Meadows. Lozano pleaded guilty last month to petit larceny and was sentenced to 40 days of community service. Giraldo was initially charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property and faced up to 15 years in prison.
Authorities say he planned to sell the Torahs, which eventually were returned to the congregation in time for the High Holy Days. “This case is particularly troublesome because a trusted employee with access to valuable and important materials chose to break that trust for possible financial gain,” said District Attorney Richard Brown. “The sentence is both justified and necessary.”
The Torahs are scrolls of parchment containing the first five books of Moses. They are handwritten and can take more than a year to complete, according to Herman Saltzman, who chairs the temple’s Pews and Memorials Committee. Since many Torahs carry personal significance for its owner, the congregation was hit especially hard by this theft, said Saltzman, who called it “a violation.”
The investigation was conducted by Detective Henry Szachacz of the 107th Precinct.
New Development Review Process Delayed
By Conor Greene
The city has agreed to allow more time for public input before launching its development challenge process, which gives the public 30 days to submit formal objections to construction projects.
Following a public hearing in Manhattan last Friday on the new Department of Building procedures, Commissioner Robert LiMandri announced that the launch date for its implementation has been pushed back to mid-April “to ensure adequate time to consider any public input.”
The new guidelines, announced in February, are intended to “give New Yorkers a stronger voice in the development of neighborhoods, create greater transparency and clarify the process for the public and for developers,” according to a press release issued by the city.
As part of the new process, New York would become the first city in the nation to require that developers place diagrams of new buildings or major alterations online so the public can view the size and scale of a proposed project. In addition, a new 30-day formal public challenge period would be implemented, during which residents could raise objections to a proposed project.
However, it is that aspect of the process that has concerned some elected officials, civic organizations and residents. There is concern that the 30-day window will create a “defacto statute of limitations” that will “actually benefit unscrupulous developers who will simply wait out the clock to avoid community challenges,” according to Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and others.
“Despite being touted by Mayor Mike Bloomberg and DOB Commissioner LiMandri as empowering the public with greater oversight over new developments, these rule changes will actually diminish the ability of residents to contest new construction,” said Avella at a press conference on the steps of City Hall, where he was joined by Assemblyman James Brennan (D-Brooklyn) and Councilwoman Rosie Mendez (D-Manhattan).
Avella, a mayoral candidate who currently is chair of the City Council’s Zoning and Franchise Committee, implored the DOB to “scrap this entire plan in its current form and go back to the drawing board.”
Brennan ripped the DOB and city for restricting public zoning complaints, an action he called “indefensible.” He is also concerned that “muzzling the public will encourage developers to submit noncompliant plans” knowing they can proceed with impunity once they get through the one-month threshold. “The public has every right to challenge zoning legality or building safety at any point in the building process,” he said, adding that the DOB must include local community boards in the process and require community notification.
Councilwoman Mendez credited the DOB with providing the public with “long-awaited online access to building plans and zoning diagrams” but agreed that the DOB shouldn’t limit the public’s ability to challenge development. “These rules have far-reaching consequences for our city and should not be implemented without adequate deliberation.”
Moreover, Avella took the opportunity to rip the “shameful” way in which DOB attempted to implement the new process, noting that the department had intended to hold a public hearing last Friday and enact the rules changes this past Monday. “This demonstrated that DOB has absolutely no intention of ever listening to the public’s comments and taking them into consideration,” he said, vowing to formulate legislation “to ensure that the public has greater opportunity to comment in any future agency rule changes.”
The call to allow more time for public input before enacting the new rules was echoed by the Queens Civic Congress, which represents 110 neighborhood groups across Queens.
“The proposal, if adopted unchanged, clearly creates an immunity for the building community” through the 30-day requirement, the group argued in a press release. The group “strongly recommends the DOB reform the proposed changes to avoid what must be an unintended consequence – that would perpetuate illegal and often hazardous development.”
The new proposal also concerns Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association, which has made fighting over-development and unscrupulous developers a priority. “Once again, the deck is stacked against the community. We have absolutely no confidence in the DOB nor do we trust that they are really trying to protect our neighborhoods from greedy developers,” he said. “Their bark is much worse than their bite.”
The city has agreed to allow more time for public input before launching its development challenge process, which gives the public 30 days to submit formal objections to construction projects.
Following a public hearing in Manhattan last Friday on the new Department of Building procedures, Commissioner Robert LiMandri announced that the launch date for its implementation has been pushed back to mid-April “to ensure adequate time to consider any public input.”
The new guidelines, announced in February, are intended to “give New Yorkers a stronger voice in the development of neighborhoods, create greater transparency and clarify the process for the public and for developers,” according to a press release issued by the city.
As part of the new process, New York would become the first city in the nation to require that developers place diagrams of new buildings or major alterations online so the public can view the size and scale of a proposed project. In addition, a new 30-day formal public challenge period would be implemented, during which residents could raise objections to a proposed project.
However, it is that aspect of the process that has concerned some elected officials, civic organizations and residents. There is concern that the 30-day window will create a “defacto statute of limitations” that will “actually benefit unscrupulous developers who will simply wait out the clock to avoid community challenges,” according to Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and others.
“Despite being touted by Mayor Mike Bloomberg and DOB Commissioner LiMandri as empowering the public with greater oversight over new developments, these rule changes will actually diminish the ability of residents to contest new construction,” said Avella at a press conference on the steps of City Hall, where he was joined by Assemblyman James Brennan (D-Brooklyn) and Councilwoman Rosie Mendez (D-Manhattan).
Avella, a mayoral candidate who currently is chair of the City Council’s Zoning and Franchise Committee, implored the DOB to “scrap this entire plan in its current form and go back to the drawing board.”
Brennan ripped the DOB and city for restricting public zoning complaints, an action he called “indefensible.” He is also concerned that “muzzling the public will encourage developers to submit noncompliant plans” knowing they can proceed with impunity once they get through the one-month threshold. “The public has every right to challenge zoning legality or building safety at any point in the building process,” he said, adding that the DOB must include local community boards in the process and require community notification.
Councilwoman Mendez credited the DOB with providing the public with “long-awaited online access to building plans and zoning diagrams” but agreed that the DOB shouldn’t limit the public’s ability to challenge development. “These rules have far-reaching consequences for our city and should not be implemented without adequate deliberation.”
Moreover, Avella took the opportunity to rip the “shameful” way in which DOB attempted to implement the new process, noting that the department had intended to hold a public hearing last Friday and enact the rules changes this past Monday. “This demonstrated that DOB has absolutely no intention of ever listening to the public’s comments and taking them into consideration,” he said, vowing to formulate legislation “to ensure that the public has greater opportunity to comment in any future agency rule changes.”
The call to allow more time for public input before enacting the new rules was echoed by the Queens Civic Congress, which represents 110 neighborhood groups across Queens.
“The proposal, if adopted unchanged, clearly creates an immunity for the building community” through the 30-day requirement, the group argued in a press release. The group “strongly recommends the DOB reform the proposed changes to avoid what must be an unintended consequence – that would perpetuate illegal and often hazardous development.”
The new proposal also concerns Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association, which has made fighting over-development and unscrupulous developers a priority. “Once again, the deck is stacked against the community. We have absolutely no confidence in the DOB nor do we trust that they are really trying to protect our neighborhoods from greedy developers,” he said. “Their bark is much worse than their bite.”
Old World Charm: An Endangered Species
Yes, everybody’s miserable right now, but really, we can’t pout all the time, can we? There’s only so much foreclosure and bank-failure talk one can take. So as unemployment rates barrel toward a South America-like 10 percent, maybe it’s worth looking at one of the very few good things that’s coming out of The Biggest Economic Crisis Since the Great Depression, Unless You Count the One in the ‘70s, Which I’m Pretty Sure Was Worse, but Nobody’s Saying It For Some Reason.
Across the nation, construction projects have stopped cold. In Chicago, international capital of the skyscraper, work on the tallest building in America —starchitect Santiago Calatrava’s Chicago Spire, which promises to be the most stunning edifice ever constructed — has ground to a halt, ironically leaving the project possibly the shortest building in America: a very, very deep hole in the ground. Half-finished subdivisions across Florida and the rest of the Sun Belt have rendered large swaths of entire cities virtual ghost towns. Closer to home, the hulking, inelegant Bank of America Tower, plunked down at the cusp of Bryant Park, remains tantalizingly close to being finished, and yet not quite. This is bad, right?
For the locally focused, maybe not, because construction in Central Queens tends to be of the hideous, neighborhood-destroying variety. I haven’t seen any new controversies about greedy developers tearing down classic townhouses lately—not that there are any classic townhouses left to tear down, but still. And hey, how’s that controversial 21-story Kew Gardens hotel in the Pasta Lovers parking lot that was the starting point for many a childhood birthday dinner for yours truly? Local residents desperately wanted the project stopped, but activism aside, it’s the inhospitability of the current economic climate to risk that’s more likely to kill this and other projects like it.
Sure, NFL legend Roger Staubach backed out of the grand Austin Street shopping arcade that was to replace a couple of the most nondescript buildings in town, but even then, we got a new restaurant out of it that promises to be pretty good. (I won’t comment on the wisdom of opening a new restaurant in this age of diminishing disposable income.) Suddenly all the community watchdog groups and anti-development blogs seem as quaint and dated as a screenplay about the thrill-a-minute lives of venture capitalists and day traders.
The Great Recession may even end up saving an entire neighborhoodlet: Cord Meyer, the most endangered part of Forest Hills for years now, where utterly charming 1930s-60s ranch houses have been crumbling like the Wall of Jericho that probably decorates countless tapestries in the interior of their replacements: yardless McMansions so vulgar they’d make the location scouts for a VH1 reality show blush.
Unfortunately for Cord Meyer, we used to have a pretty great economy, and so the area was already largely gutted. There are still plenty of dormant construction sites dotting the landscape. And though they’re far from pretty, the fact that work never seems to be happening is a stirring reminder that for every old project that isn’t getting finished, 10 new ones aren’t getting started.
So here’s something fun to do while you’re not staring at a Web browser looking at endless job sites: Take a walk through Cord Meyer, quick, before things get better, and appreciate the beauty of old Forest Hills. By the time it all disappears, hopefully you’ll be too busy at your new job to care.
The writer, Steve Tiszenkel is the host of the Website, Queens Central. Log on to queenscentral.com to read more about Forest Hills and surrounding neighborhoods.
Gunpoint Robberies in Ozone Park
TWO INCIDENTS LESS THAN 24 HOURS APARTBy Patricia Adams
Two armed robberies occurred within the confines of the 106 precinct within a twenty-four-hour period last week. On Thursday night just before midnight police officers Santoro and Yang responded to a call reporting a commercial gunpoint robbery at 115-07 Lefferts Boulevard.
Cashier Lloid Singh who works at the Jassi convenience store told police that three black men, all dressed in black and wearing black ski masks entered the store and demanded money. Singh told police that one of the perpetrators jumped over the counter brandishing a black firearm screaming at him “Where’s the money?” A second perp told Singh to “raise your hands,” and “don’t do anything stupid,” while standing at the door with the third bandit, acting as lookouts.
The third man urged his two accomplices to get out according to Singh. “Let’s go. Let’s go,” he said repeatedly. The man who had jumped over the counter went through the cash register and the lotto receipts, taking about $1,000 and also snatched a gold chain Singh was wearing on his neck and took the cashier’s cell phone from the counter.
All three men then left the store, fleeing on foot toward 115th Avenue. Singh informed police that there was a surveillance system installed at an adjoining apartment building. Police were able to confirm all of the events described by Singh after viewing the video. There is additional video surveillance evidence from another location.
Police initiated a level-one mobilization with available units canvassing all commercial establishments along Lefferts Boulevard from Rockaway Boulevard to Liberty Avenue.
On Friday evening at about 9:30 p.m. 106 police responded to another 10-30 at Marshall’s department store at 92-10 Rockaway Boulevard.
Store manager Derrick Thorn met police at the store and informed them that two male Hispanics, one approximately 5’4, 18-20 years of age wearing a black jacket and black mask had entered the store. With a silver handgun held up over his head the man stated, “Don’t move, this is a stick-up.”
A second robber, described as 5’7”, 17-18-years-old, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and brown ski mask went over to a store register and demanded that the cashier open it. He removed about $765 from the drawer, placing it in a black North Face backpack before both men fled the store.
Descriptions of both suspects were broadcast immediately and police conducted a canvass of the surrounding business community and train stations along Liberty Avenue with negative results. Police say that the location is also equipped with video camera surveillance.
Residents Upset Over Sudden Parking Ban
Until five months ago, the residents living on Claran Court – a dead end street with fourteen houses – were allowed to park their cars on their block without receiving $110 parking violations from the Department of Transportation (DOT). Some residents have lived on Claran Court for as long as fifty years and have never experienced any parking issues or restrictions before.
Two weeks ago, the DOT imposed ‘No Standing’ signs in front of their homes, taking away the desperately needed parking spaces for the residents.
“Without warning or explanation from the DOT, the tenants of Claran Court started receiving expensive parking violations for parking on their block,” said Council Member Elizabeth Crowley. “With the ‘No Standing’ signs and no alternative parking in the area, where are the tenants of Claran Court supposed to park? I am taking all necessary steps to investigate this matter and I have been working with the DOT Borough Commissioner, Maura McCarthy, to find an adequate solution for the residents of Claran Court.”
Despite the homeowner’s complaints to the Parking Agent officials, they have been ignored. Glenn Wagner, a resident of Claran Court since 1999 says “We just want our parking back.”
A DOT spokesman is looking into the situation but was unable to respond by deadline this week.
Two weeks ago, the DOT imposed ‘No Standing’ signs in front of their homes, taking away the desperately needed parking spaces for the residents.
“Without warning or explanation from the DOT, the tenants of Claran Court started receiving expensive parking violations for parking on their block,” said Council Member Elizabeth Crowley. “With the ‘No Standing’ signs and no alternative parking in the area, where are the tenants of Claran Court supposed to park? I am taking all necessary steps to investigate this matter and I have been working with the DOT Borough Commissioner, Maura McCarthy, to find an adequate solution for the residents of Claran Court.”
Despite the homeowner’s complaints to the Parking Agent officials, they have been ignored. Glenn Wagner, a resident of Claran Court since 1999 says “We just want our parking back.”
A DOT spokesman is looking into the situation but was unable to respond by deadline this week.
Students Sign On for Wildlife Conservation
Deliver 12,000 Paper Grievances to Gov. Paterson
Students from the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation and New York City public schools recently presented more than 12,000 petitions, letters of support, and drawings created by children from all five boroughs and Westchester County to representatives at Governor Paterson’s office in Manhattan.
The students visited Paterson's office as the governor has proposed elimination of the $9 million state budget for the Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquariums program fund. They spoke about how this funding cut would directly affect their learning, specifically regarding education programs at the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium.
To date, more than 70,000 messages, including petitions and emails, have been sent to Albany asking that zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums get the funding they need as they face dwindling private donations and repercussions due to a volatile stock market.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) says zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums are integral to our state’s local communities, attracting more than 12 million tourists a year that also help local merchants with revenue.
The Wildlife Conservation Society by the numbers:
•Manages the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium (and three other facilities in NYC) accounting for more than four million tourists each year;
•Employs more than 4,000 staff worldwide;
•Pumps more than $414 million into our state’s economy;
•Employs approximately 1,200 seasonal workers at the Bronx Zoo and NY Aquarium each summer (many of whom are retirees, citizens on public assistance, and students);
•Trains 2,000 public school teachers and nearly two million students visit its facilities, including 70,000 who attend formal education programs.
If ZBGA funding is eliminated and state support for WCS along with it, the cultural institution, chartered by the state in 1895, will receive no support from state government.
A press release from the WCS asks all New Yorkers to send a message of support to Albany by going to www.wcs.org. The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. It does so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth.
Photo Credit: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS
Nanny Guilty in Shaken Baby Assault
GLENDALE WOMAN NOW FACES 25 YEARS
A Glendale nanny is facing 25 years in prison after being convicted of assaulting an infant girl she was caring for.
Alma Calderaro, 35, of 73rd Place was found guilty last Friday of first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child following a five-week jury trial in Queens Criminal Court, according to District Attorney Richard Brown. She faces a quarter century behind bars when she is sentenced on March 20.
According to trial testimony, Calderaro took seven-month-old Fiona Qirjako – who was having seizures and having difficulty breathing – to the emergency room at St. John’s Queens Hospital on January 11, 2006. The infant was transferred later that evening to Long Island Jewish Hospital where medical personnel observed bleeding in the brain and eyes and extensive brain damage.
Doctors at LIJ determined that the baby was suffering from bleeding on the brain and other injuries consistent with the non-accidental inflicted trauma of Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma, which occurs when a baby is repeatedly and violently shaken.
At trial, Fiona’s parents testified that their daughter was in perfect health up to the time she was dropped off at Calderaro’s residence. While on the stand, Calderaro testified that the baby was gasping for air and that she shook Fiona in order to revive her. However, medical experts testified that the defendant’s account of how the baby was injured was inconsistent with the nature and severity of the injuries she suffered.
Fiona, who is now nearly four years old, has permanent brain damage, according to the district attorney’s office.
In a separate and unrelated trial that also ended last Friday, 50-year-old Herdis Baptise of 226th Street in Laurelton was found guilty of abusing his wife’s two preteen daughters over a six-year period. He faces more than 30 years in prison when sentenced on March 30, according to District Attorney Brown.
According to trial testimony, Baptise began sexually abusing his two stepdaughters in July 1998 – when they were seven and eight years old – and continued until July 2004 when the younger sister turned thirteen. While testifying at the trial, the girls recounted how, on at least one occasion, Baptise inferred that they should be quiet and said he would give them candy.
“In both cases, the defendants occupied positions of trust and authority with their victims and chose to violate that responsibility in the most base ways – physically and emotionally traumatizing their young victims and ultimately robbing them of normal lives,” said District Attorney Brown. “The nightmares they imposed on their victims warrant the imposition of lengthy prison sentences.”
Both cases were investigated by the NYPD’s Queens Special Victims Unit, which is based out of the Queens Child Advocacy Center in Forest Hills, under the supervision of Lieutenant Patrick Baricelli, squad commander, and Sergeant Guisella Rodriguez.
A Glendale nanny is facing 25 years in prison after being convicted of assaulting an infant girl she was caring for.
Alma Calderaro, 35, of 73rd Place was found guilty last Friday of first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child following a five-week jury trial in Queens Criminal Court, according to District Attorney Richard Brown. She faces a quarter century behind bars when she is sentenced on March 20.
According to trial testimony, Calderaro took seven-month-old Fiona Qirjako – who was having seizures and having difficulty breathing – to the emergency room at St. John’s Queens Hospital on January 11, 2006. The infant was transferred later that evening to Long Island Jewish Hospital where medical personnel observed bleeding in the brain and eyes and extensive brain damage.
Doctors at LIJ determined that the baby was suffering from bleeding on the brain and other injuries consistent with the non-accidental inflicted trauma of Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma, which occurs when a baby is repeatedly and violently shaken.
At trial, Fiona’s parents testified that their daughter was in perfect health up to the time she was dropped off at Calderaro’s residence. While on the stand, Calderaro testified that the baby was gasping for air and that she shook Fiona in order to revive her. However, medical experts testified that the defendant’s account of how the baby was injured was inconsistent with the nature and severity of the injuries she suffered.
Fiona, who is now nearly four years old, has permanent brain damage, according to the district attorney’s office.
In a separate and unrelated trial that also ended last Friday, 50-year-old Herdis Baptise of 226th Street in Laurelton was found guilty of abusing his wife’s two preteen daughters over a six-year period. He faces more than 30 years in prison when sentenced on March 30, according to District Attorney Brown.
According to trial testimony, Baptise began sexually abusing his two stepdaughters in July 1998 – when they were seven and eight years old – and continued until July 2004 when the younger sister turned thirteen. While testifying at the trial, the girls recounted how, on at least one occasion, Baptise inferred that they should be quiet and said he would give them candy.
“In both cases, the defendants occupied positions of trust and authority with their victims and chose to violate that responsibility in the most base ways – physically and emotionally traumatizing their young victims and ultimately robbing them of normal lives,” said District Attorney Brown. “The nightmares they imposed on their victims warrant the imposition of lengthy prison sentences.”
Both cases were investigated by the NYPD’s Queens Special Victims Unit, which is based out of the Queens Child Advocacy Center in Forest Hills, under the supervision of Lieutenant Patrick Baricelli, squad commander, and Sergeant Guisella Rodriguez.
The George Ennis Film Festival
It started out as a goof for the three friends George “Grizzily” Ennis, Glen “The Mayor” Kolonics John “Kelleester”” Kelley back in the late 1970’s George Ennis had a friend in the movie business Brad Grey (who went on as producer of the Soparanos and Waynes World) had told these guys that they could be extras in a movie they were making called “Nightmare” (not to be confused with the one on Elm street with the claws of Freddy) a definite low budget “B” movie in the making. The three men obtained the part of three perverted souls squashed together watching one opf those quarter 42nd Street Peep Shows where for as short period you got to watch avery scantily clad woman behind the glass for a minute. Their scene in the movie lasted barely 20 seconds but upon seeing this movie you knew that it was these three guys!
Well when the movie went to open at the now defunct Lefferts Movie Theatre. These guys got wacky and hired a old Cadillac and dressed in some very flamboyant Tuxedoes (dare I say Maroon or Powderblue, remember it was the 1970’s) and came out like they were movie stars coming out to their premire with fans included (mostly friends) But as movie star fans are in awe, we were just laughing our heads off at the spectable they created, unfolding. There were also fliers around with reviews of the movie (which was dragged through the dirt by known movie critics of that era, saying just how bad it was) and with it quotes of friends (fake celebrities) like myself as quoted as saying” after seeing it I cried!” Funny stuff, also there was oscar nominations of Best extras in a Major “B” Movie-yuk yuk somemore and so it gives you a little background of how serious George took his thespian skills, funny guy.
Although George Ennis is a handsome guy (so I’m told by women friends) could have made it with a break serious as the next William Hurt with a full head of hair but it did not deter him from acting, though he played small roles such as a bad cop in Love Like Blood”, however Howard Beach’s other sons Thaddeus Schneider Best Actor(seriously) N.Y. Film Festival 2008 and Walker (my brother) Hornung Best Song in a Movie 2008 N.Y. Film Festival - beating out Willie Nelson way to go Bro George’s other film included Howard Beach’s good detective in “Blind Justice.” He then opted for the stage lights of off Broadway in plays such as (yes) Speed The Plow, Sorry Wrong Number, Other Peoples Money. Glen Gary, Glen Ross, always joking right along about his famous acting career.
Now he has taken in one step further by starting up the short film festival. At the Cabana Restaurant for all budding young and old short film makers, directors producers, actors, started last year it is now growing so that the Cabana Restaurant will hold it again this year on it’s grounds on Sunday April 19th 5 p.m under a tent for all viewers. The independent Geroge Ennis Film Festival and to anyone wishing to be part of this great fun day and have their film included to be viewed in Public can do so by sending a DVD-no longer that 10 mintues maximum to the Cabana Restaurant 1034 West Beach Street, Long Beach, N.Y. 11561 phone number 516-889-1345 Submissions can also be sent via video link to Maureen1962@optonline.net or visit the website georgeennisfestival.
Howard Beach is very proud of one of our native son’s George Ennis. Long Beach is so enamored with the fun and atmosphere generated at this affair that my cousin, Councilwoman Denise Dowd Ford has proclaimed Sunday, April 19th, 2009 George Ennis Film Festival Day in Long Beach. Good show goes out to George and his staff which I’ll acknowledge in my future column after this event, which I will attend as “Press” for the evening and let you all know about it in my next feature column and to everyone else
See ya around the beach!
Well when the movie went to open at the now defunct Lefferts Movie Theatre. These guys got wacky and hired a old Cadillac and dressed in some very flamboyant Tuxedoes (dare I say Maroon or Powderblue, remember it was the 1970’s) and came out like they were movie stars coming out to their premire with fans included (mostly friends) But as movie star fans are in awe, we were just laughing our heads off at the spectable they created, unfolding. There were also fliers around with reviews of the movie (which was dragged through the dirt by known movie critics of that era, saying just how bad it was) and with it quotes of friends (fake celebrities) like myself as quoted as saying” after seeing it I cried!” Funny stuff, also there was oscar nominations of Best extras in a Major “B” Movie-yuk yuk somemore and so it gives you a little background of how serious George took his thespian skills, funny guy.
Although George Ennis is a handsome guy (so I’m told by women friends) could have made it with a break serious as the next William Hurt with a full head of hair but it did not deter him from acting, though he played small roles such as a bad cop in Love Like Blood”, however Howard Beach’s other sons Thaddeus Schneider Best Actor(seriously) N.Y. Film Festival 2008 and Walker (my brother) Hornung Best Song in a Movie 2008 N.Y. Film Festival - beating out Willie Nelson way to go Bro George’s other film included Howard Beach’s good detective in “Blind Justice.” He then opted for the stage lights of off Broadway in plays such as (yes) Speed The Plow, Sorry Wrong Number, Other Peoples Money. Glen Gary, Glen Ross, always joking right along about his famous acting career.
Now he has taken in one step further by starting up the short film festival. At the Cabana Restaurant for all budding young and old short film makers, directors producers, actors, started last year it is now growing so that the Cabana Restaurant will hold it again this year on it’s grounds on Sunday April 19th 5 p.m under a tent for all viewers. The independent Geroge Ennis Film Festival and to anyone wishing to be part of this great fun day and have their film included to be viewed in Public can do so by sending a DVD-no longer that 10 mintues maximum to the Cabana Restaurant 1034 West Beach Street, Long Beach, N.Y. 11561 phone number 516-889-1345 Submissions can also be sent via video link to Maureen1962@optonline.net or visit the website georgeennisfestival.
Howard Beach is very proud of one of our native son’s George Ennis. Long Beach is so enamored with the fun and atmosphere generated at this affair that my cousin, Councilwoman Denise Dowd Ford has proclaimed Sunday, April 19th, 2009 George Ennis Film Festival Day in Long Beach. Good show goes out to George and his staff which I’ll acknowledge in my future column after this event, which I will attend as “Press” for the evening and let you all know about it in my next feature column and to everyone else
See ya around the beach!
Teacher Sent Sex Videos to Three Students
Will Surrender Teaching License and Register as Sex OffenderA former English teacher at MS 137 in the South Ozone Park has admitted to sending sexual videos and electronic messages to three of his 12-year-old female students.
“The defendant has admitted to sending indecent messages and pictures to several of his students during his first teaching assignment,” said DA Richard Brown. “This case should serve as a clear and unmistakable warning that law enforcement is prepared to apprehend and prosecute those who attempt to engage in illicit activity involving children.”
The defendant was identified as Umesh Ramjattan, 24, of 91-71 115th Street in Richmond Hill. He appeared before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice
Ira Margulis and plead guilty to disseminating indecent material to minors in the first degree.
As part of his plea, Ramjattan, who has been free on $50,000 bail since his arraignment on November 9, 2007, will surrender his New York State teaching license, forfeit his computer and be required to register as a sex offender. The Department of Education has terminated Ramjattan.
Justice Margulis set sentencing for April 20, 2009, at which time he indicated that he would likely sentence Ramjattan to five years’ probation – one condition being the successful completion of the sex offenders program he presently attends.
District Attorney Brown said that, according to the charges, one of Ramjattan’s female seventh-grade students at MS 137 in Ozone Park sent an e-mail in September of 2007, to e-mail address he had provided the class. Soon thereafter, Ramjattan began Instant Messaging her with questions that were both sexually suggestive and of a personal nature. In October, he sent her a video of he and his girlfriend having sexual intercourse.
A second female student who e-mailed the defendant about homework began receiving instant messages from him through his AOL account on September 29, 2007, that contained questions of a personal nature and that. In early October she received a picture of the defendant not wearing a shirt.
A third female student who e-mailed the defendant began receiving instant messages from the defendant through his AOL account that were both personal and sexual in nature.
District Attorney Brown said that an investigation began when the parents of one of the students notified school authorities that Ramjattan had e-mailed a sexual video to their daughter and the school, in turn, notified the police.
Man Sentenced for Richmond Hill Rape
Arrested after DNA Cold Hit
A Queens man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for raping a woman who was staying at friend’s Richmond Hill home.
Antonio Ortiz, 42, of 8502 Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Far Rockaway, was convicted following a jury trial in January of two counts of predatory sexual assault and one count each of first-degree rape, criminal sexual act, burglary and attempted rape. He was labeled by the court as a persistent violent felony offender and sentenced to five concurrent sentences of 25 years to life in prison.
According to trial testimony, Ortiz entered the Richmond Hill home at 3:30 a.m. on August 24, 2006. The 37-year-old victim, asleep in a second-floor bedroom, awoke to see the defendant, who was holding a knife and claimed to be a police officer. When she tried to flee, the defendant pushed her back on the bed and forcibly raped her. He then robbed her and the homeowner of money, gold jewelry and other items before fleeing.
A drop of blood recovered from a kitchen window ledge where Ortiz entered the house matched his DNA profile, which had previously been entered into the national DNA databank following his conviction in a Brooklyn burglary. This marks the first conviction in Queens County under the newly enacted predatory sexual assault statute which enhances penalties for offenders who commit a violent sex crime while armed with a dangerous weapon.
“A drop of blood found at the crime scene was key to identifying the defendant, once again underscoring the importance of a DNA databank,” said District Attorney Richard Brown. “This defendant is a violent predicate felon with prior convictions for both burglary and sexual assault. A life sentence is justified and necessary to protect the law-abiding members of our society from this violent behavior.”
The investigation was conducted by the NYPD’s Queens Special Victims Squad with assistance from the 102nd Precinct. Antonio Ortiz
A Queens man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for raping a woman who was staying at friend’s Richmond Hill home.
Antonio Ortiz, 42, of 8502 Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Far Rockaway, was convicted following a jury trial in January of two counts of predatory sexual assault and one count each of first-degree rape, criminal sexual act, burglary and attempted rape. He was labeled by the court as a persistent violent felony offender and sentenced to five concurrent sentences of 25 years to life in prison.
According to trial testimony, Ortiz entered the Richmond Hill home at 3:30 a.m. on August 24, 2006. The 37-year-old victim, asleep in a second-floor bedroom, awoke to see the defendant, who was holding a knife and claimed to be a police officer. When she tried to flee, the defendant pushed her back on the bed and forcibly raped her. He then robbed her and the homeowner of money, gold jewelry and other items before fleeing.
A drop of blood recovered from a kitchen window ledge where Ortiz entered the house matched his DNA profile, which had previously been entered into the national DNA databank following his conviction in a Brooklyn burglary. This marks the first conviction in Queens County under the newly enacted predatory sexual assault statute which enhances penalties for offenders who commit a violent sex crime while armed with a dangerous weapon.
“A drop of blood found at the crime scene was key to identifying the defendant, once again underscoring the importance of a DNA databank,” said District Attorney Richard Brown. “This defendant is a violent predicate felon with prior convictions for both burglary and sexual assault. A life sentence is justified and necessary to protect the law-abiding members of our society from this violent behavior.”
The investigation was conducted by the NYPD’s Queens Special Victims Squad with assistance from the 102nd Precinct. Antonio Ortiz
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Two Area Hospitals Shut Doors
ST. JOHN’S AND MARY IMMACULATE CLOSE DUE TO BANKRUPTCY
By Conor Greene
With no last minute state bailout, the fear of many local residents and health care workers has come to fruition with the closings of two area hospitals this week.
St. John’s Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica stopped admitting patients late on Saturday night and officially closed on Monday. The two hospitals, operated by bankrupt health care system Caritas, had stopped accepting patients at their emergency rooms earlier this month.
The ominous message, “Please don’t die on your way to another hospital,” was scrawled on a piece of plywood covering the entrance to the emergency room at St. John’s. A note on the main door told visitors who unwittingly arrived there to call 911 for medical help.
Myrna Bailey, who served as hospital administrator at St. John’s and Catherine Wilkinson, who rose to the ranks of administrative director during her 40 years at St. John’s, took one of their final walks through the empty corridors over the weekend.
“Silence is good in some situations, but not in this situation,” Wilkinson told NY1. “I’ve been listening to this silence for about a week now, so I’m kind of getting immune to it, if one can become immune to it, but initially it was very, very frightening.”
“Silence is golden, but not here,” added Bailey.
While the hospital’s parent company, Caritas, has struggled financially since purchasing the two facilities in late 2006, word of their imminent closure came earlier this year. Despite a number of rallies at the hospitals and pleas from residents, workers and elected officials, the state declined to provide additional funding to keep the facilities operating.
Instead, the state announced last month that it is providing $18 million to seven area hospitals to help them deal with the influx of new patients the closures are expected to generate. The money is to be used by the local facilities to expand their emergency rooms and add more beds. Combined, St. John’s and Mary Immaculate had about 450 beds and served nearly 200,000 patients annually.
City Comptroller William Thompson criticized the state for failing to bail out the two hospitals so they could continue operating until a plan is put into place to deal with fallout from the closings. “Despite numerous calls from the various stakeholders to prevent or delay the hospitals closures, the state has failed to keep [the] hospitals open,” he said in a statement. “Without putting a plan in place, the state has left many unanswered questions about how Queens residents will be able to get their health care needs met.”
According to Thompson, the fire department, which oversees Emergency Medical Services, “also has not addressed how the closures will impact the health and safety of area residents including transition plans for 911 emergency medical response and treatment services.”
Workers at other hospitals are now bracing for a rise in the number of patients showing up at their doors. For example, Jamaica Hospital’s emergency room had averaged about 350 patients per day. Now, with the emergency rooms at St. John’s and Mary Immaculate shut for the past few weeks, the number of daily patients at Jamaica is approaching 400, according to a report in the Daily News.
Now, about 2,500 healthcare workers are facing the grim prospects of entering the job market during at the worst possible time. “I want to chain myself to the chair,” a teary-eyed Laura Beidell told the New York Post. “Not only do we work here, but we’ve all brought our families here. We’ve had parents who died here. This place is very special to us.”
Maspeth School Debate Rages On
Emotional Hearing on City Proposal and Use of Eminent Domain
By Conor Greene
The debate over the city’s plan to build a high school in Maspeth continued during an emotional public hearing pitting residents opposed to another school in the crowded neighborhood against parents and teachers who support the proposal.
The hearing last Thursday in PS 58 centered on the city’s possible use of eminent domain to acquire the former Restaurant Depot site on 74th Street and 57th Avenue to build a 1,100-seat high school. However, the hearing continually reverted into a debate over whether the site is appropriate, since there already are two schools within a two block radius of the proposed site.
While the meeting at times got heated, those on both sides of the fence were able to agree on one thing, as many speakers expressed outrage that the city held the meeting at 4 p.m. on a weekday. As a result, the small auditorium was not even half filled for the meeting, while prior meetings on the hot button issue held in the evening attracted large crowds.
Dorie Figliola called the meeting’s timing a “disgrace,” drawing loud applause, and Manny Caruana said it was an “outrage” it was held while so many residents with a stake in the issue were at work. “You virtually silenced the voice of the homeowners in the area,” he told the School Construction Authority official running the meeting. “This is the way SCA works.”
A department spokesman was unable to explain the rationale behind holding the meeting in the afternoon by press time Wednesday. However, SCA attorney Gregory Shaw previously told The Forum that the meeting was not held at night because “most people are not interested” about whether eminent domain should be used.
The meeting was solely a public hearing, with no formal action taken. Residents took the opportunity to debate the plan, with the majority arguing that the area is already over-saturated with schools, bringing thousands of students onto the streets in the morning and afternoon. Those in favor of the plan argued the area desperately needs additional high school seats and that children should have the chance to continue their education close to home.
Lorraine Sciulli, a member of the Juniper Park Civic Association’s executive board, said she is “totally opposed to this school at this site” and questioned the Department of Education’s claim that it will serve just 1,100 students, as the plan initially called for 1,650 seats. “Yes, they all deserve an education, but they don’t have to have it in Maspeth,” she said. “Why does Maspeth have to be the school campus of District 24?”
Tony Nunziato said the DOE and SCA should have notified Community Board 5 of the hearing, which was not advertised in local papers. “We’re talking about overdevelopment, over-saturation,” he said, adding that eminent domain should come as a last resort for projects that benefit the public at large.
Many, including Anthony Moreno of 56th Avenue, made it clear they support education, but don’t think this location is appropriate. “I’m in favor of education – no doubt about it,” he said. “I’m here to oppose this site and to oppose eminent domain.” The CB 4 member suggested that the DOE instead look into property on 57th Avenue near the Queens Center Mall, which is close to many public transit lines.
Dermot Smith, a teacher at IS 73 and Maspeth resident, said he supports the plan and claimed that opponents of the plan were using the eminent domain issue to “manipulate your thoughts.” The reality, he said, is that “Queens high schools are bursting at the seams… We cannot give kids a quality education unless they have seats… Don’t be mislead, schools are a good thing.”
Marge Kolb, who heads the CEC 24 PTA Presidents’ Council, said there is a “lot of support among parents” for the project. “We can fill this school with kids who live in this immediate area,” she said, adding that while there “are not a lot of houses” around the site, “these people bought houses across from a big commercial enterprise.”
Rosemary Parker said she felt like she was in an “alternate reality” listening to critics of the proposal. “I’m really sorry I had to be here tonight to take this abuse and be in Archie Bunker’s house,” she said, drawing yells and groans from many in the audience.
Despite requests that the school be zoned for local students, the DOE has refused to do so because it is against department policy. Department spokesman William Havemann said the DOE will consider giving priority zoning to local students before opening enrollment to citywide residents. The current plan gives priority to students throughout Queens.
Several residents criticized the city’s potential use of eminent domain to acquire the site, which the DOE says might be necessary because the property owner hasn’t responded to inquiries about the property. Rosemarie Daraio, president of Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together, said she is disappointed that the DOE is “once again coming in to eminent domain another piece of property,” adding that the school would be “devastating for the community.”
At one point, the hearing – conducted by a sole SCA official – melted down into a shouting match at the back of the auditorium. Tempers also flared when several speakers referred to the students as “monsters” and complained that teachers block driveways and throw garbage out their car windows. With the SCA official seemingly unable or unwilling to bring the meeting under control, CB 5 District Manager Gary Giordano stepped up to the microphone and eventually brought the meeting under control.With just the one official in attendance, some including JPCA President Robert Holden questioned if the hearing would have any impact on whether the DOE will move forward with the plan, calling the meeting a “sham.”
Havemann said the purpose of the hearing was “to get public feedback before we make a decision as whether or not to use eminent domain, as required by law.” Since it is “just not feasible to have every member of the SCA at every meeting,” the lone official later “relays the feedback to other members.” If they need more information, members can then review a transcript of the hearing.
A City Council Land Use subcommittee hearing on the proposal was postponed earlier this month and will likely take place within 30 days. It would then go to the full City Council for approval, and local member Elizabeth Crowley (D-Glendale) said she won’t support the plan unless priority is given to local children.
City Begins Digging Out from Storm
Mayor Criticized for Comments About School Closure
By Conor Greene
With temperatures expected to reach the 50’s by the weekend, much of the snow and ice dumped on the city during Monday will soon melt away, but not before crippling much of the city and forcing officials to close public schools for the first time in five years.
Much of the city saw at least eight inches of snow overnight Sunday into Monday in what will surely be the winter season’s biggest storm. For the first time since January 2004, city officials decided to close public schools due to the inclement weather, and many side streets around Queens remained unplowed for several days.
At a briefing on the city’s efforts to clean up the city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg noted that there are about 6,000 miles of roads within the five boroughs. “So to plow all our streets, just think about this, it’s like plowing from here to Los Angeles and back,” he told reporters at a press conference in Woodside. “It is really quite an amazing job the sanitation workers have to do.”
More than 3,000 sanitation workers worked Sunday night into Monday to clear streets, according to Sanitation Department Commissioner John Doherty, who recalled the storm of February 1969 when 15 inches of snow fell on the city. The mayor at the time, John Lindsay, came under heavy criticism after the storm left the city paralyzed for three days.
“I spent some time in Queens north, which some may remember in ’69 was a very sensitive area for the mayor at the time, and the areas looked pretty good,” said Doherty.Post-storm cleanup generally costs about one million dollars per inch of snow, and while Mayor Bloomberg declined to say how much this storm will cost the cash strapped city, he said the city is still well within budget for this winter season. “For seven years, we have been clearing the streets every time there has been a snowstorm, whether it was an election year or not,” he said.
While the mayor isn’t taking much heat for the city’s response to the storm, he has come under fire for the Department of Education’s relatively late decision to cancel schools, which came at 5:39 a.m. As a result, some parents and students began their daily routine – with some even arriving at closed schools – before realizing that classes were canceled.
At his news briefing, Mayor Bloomberg had this to say about the decision: “I think if you got up this morning and looked outside and the question didn’t come right away, hmm, I wonder if school is going to be open today and you didn’t know enough to call 311, I would suggest another day in school is probably a good idea.”
The comment was immediately seized upon by City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside), who said that many parents were forced to scramble as a result of the “eleventh-hour” closing decision.
“Mike Bloomberg’s comments are extremely insulting to parents and demonstrate that he is completely out of touch with the average person,” said Avella in a statement. “Regardless of school closings, many parents still need to go to work and were forced to scramble to find child care. If DOE knew they were going to close the schools due to the inclement weather they needed to make the decision sooner and properly notify the parents.”
Avella, who is mounting a grassroots challenge to Mayor Bloomberg in November, said that New Yorkers “are sick and tired of Mike Bloomberg’s ‘just-deal-with-it’ attitude” and “deserves a mayor who realizes what the average person goes through on a daily basis.”
At the press conference, Bloomberg noted that a message notifying residents of the school closing was posted on the city’s 311 phone line, which received 140,000 calls by 10 a.m. Monday. He said that the late decision to close school was because officials waited to see if the storm would weaken or veer off course and miss the city.
The storm also caused some problems at The Shops at Atlas Park in Glendale on Tuesday afternoon, when melting ice chunks began falling from overhead awnings and roofs, according to a shopper. Security guards were forced to tape off several sidewalks in front of a number of businesses so that the ice could be safely removed.
In Forest Hills, Frank Gulluscio, district manager of Community Board 6, said his office didn’t receive any major complaints about lack of plowing or other issues. “They [Sanitation Department] were out doing a second phase [of cleanup] today and are salting the secondary streets today, along with the areas near fire hydrants, crosswalks and bus stops,” he said. “That’s the big thing for the everyday guy, to be able to cross the street or get to the bus stop.”
The storm caused the cancellation of about 450 flights out of LaGuardia, 119 at JFK International Airport and 335 at Newark Liberty International Airport, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The storm nearly matched the record for a one-day March snowfall in Manhattan, set when ten inches fell in 1898.
Hearing Set on Forest Hills Rezoning
Intended to Prevent McMansions in Cord Meyer SectionBy Conor Greene
The city is moving forward with a plan to rezone the Cord Meyer section of Forest Hills, where many modest homes have been demolished and replaced with huge McMansions in recent years.
A public hearing on the proposal, which would limit the height of single family houses in a 32-block area, is scheduled for next Wednesday’s Community Board 6 meeting. Under the plan, restrictions would be put into place establishing a 25-foot maximum perimeter wall height and a 35-foot maximum roof height.
Under the area’s current R1-2 zoning, established in 1961, there are no firm limitations on building height, according to the Department of City Planning, which is pursuing a similar strategy in North Flushing. Some community residents and leaders have objected as many Cape Cod and Tudor-style homes have been torn down to make way for large, often ornate mansions – many of which featured paved-over front lawns.
Frank Gulluscio, district manager of CB 6, called the current zoning “outdated” and said that “over the past couple of years, what has existed there is changing… The prevailing scale and character has changed and doesn’t really reflect what the existing houses looked like,” he said. The formal public review process for the proposal began this week, giving the community board 60 days to review the plan.
According to Gulluscio, depending on the outcome of Wednesday’s hearing, a vote by the board is likely that evening. It will then go Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and the City Planning Commission for review before City Council considers granting it final approval.
The rezoning will be confined to the Cord Meyer neighborhood, bounded by 66th Avenue to the north, Grand Central Parkway to the east, 72nd Road to the south and 108th Street to the west. The area consists primarily of one-family detached homes, mostly built between 1910 and1940 on relatively large lots, according to city planning, which notes that the area’s low density and low-rise character is a distinct contrast with the character of nearby blocks lined with mid-rise apartment buildings to the west and south, especially near Queens Boulevard.The rezoning comes “in response to community concern,” according to city planning, and was pushed by Councilwoman Melinda Katz (D-Forest Hills), who is chair of the City Council Land Use Committee. Katz did not return a phone message seeking comment on the proposal left at her office.
Many of the large new homes have been constructed by members of the area’s large Bukharian Jewish community, a trend that has been criticized by some in the community as being out of character with existing homes. City officials have reached out to the Bukharian community to discuss the rezoning plan, and Gulluscio said he thinks the proposal is a fair compromise. “Is there some opposition on both ends? Yes, but at the end of the day the city has proposed a decent compromise,” he said. “I think it’s a step to ensure the future is more predictable.”
Meanwhile, a separate project to rezone parts of Austin Street from Yellowstone Boulevard to Ascan Avenue is also moving through the land use review process. That plan would allow residential development along parts of the popular shopping district while placing height restrictions on new construction for the first time. The proposal has already been approved by the City Planning Commission and is scheduled for a hearing before the City Council zoning subcommittee in coming weeks.
Ozone Park Resident Celebrates 100th Birthday
By Samantha GearyOn February 26, 1909, remnants of a snow storm worried immigrant parents Mary and John Kovach. Their baby was on the way, and they feared they had to press on to get to the hospital so that she could be delivered. John loaded Mary into a sleigh and they made their way to the hospital where baby Anna Kovach was born in a nearby village where she was also baptized. But within two days Anna’s grasp on life seemed as firm as the new-fallen snow. Today, 100 years later, Anna, now known as Annette Fennelly Morris, is still holding on.
Raised in Brockton, a small village in eastern Pennsylvania, coal-mining county, Anna shared her childhood with older sister Marion and a younger brother Michael. The house was surrounded with animals, including a cow and chickens and a vegetable garden in their front yard.
It was there that Anna learned to cope, to care and to survive. Her father was a coal miner her mother a midwife, at times, and caregiver to a town besieged by the terrible influenza that followed the First World War. After leaving home at 16, Anna found her way to a hospital in Allentown where she worked and trained, caring for the ill. She would eventually become a registered nurse in the State of New York, working in hospitals and private settings.
At the age of 27 she married Patrick Fennelly, an Irish immigrant, and after the birth of a daughter, Loretta, moved from the Bronx to Ozone Park in Queens, where she has lived for the past 70 years. Patrick opened a Mobil gasoline service station in Ozone Park, calling the establishment “Paddy’s Super Service.” stood at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and 102nd Street. They had two sons, Richard and Robert. After 20 years of marriage, Patrick died. (She is his widow for the past 52 years.) She tried managing the service station on her own for a couple of years but gave it up and relinquished the property back to the oil company and returned to private duty nursing, considering herself no longer qualified for hospital work. A Dunkin' Donuts now sits over one of the service bays.
In 1971 she married William (Bill) Morris, a retired NYC lieutenant firefighter and occasional pallbearer. They traveled. Bill too is gone for many years. She now has two cats, Bushy and Kit.
She attributes her longevity to eating sensibly and avoiding saturated fats, to her nursing skills and those of contemporary medical providers, and to good luck. She broke a hip on her 95th birthday, received a replacement and walks, but much more carefully. And the luck part, that’s genetics. Her mother held on for 103 years.
When asked about how she feels about entering the age of the centenarian, Anna sat and stroked one of her feline companions, Bushy. "I have to say, the first hundred years was not always so good. I expect it will get easier from now on in." Still sporting a hopeful outlook Anna says, "I think I'll just take it day by day from here on in."
Recount in 32nd Council Special Election
By Patricia Adams
For anyone wondering just how long it will take for Eric Ulrich to begin his role as the new Councilmember of the 32nd District, the answer seems to be still a couple of weeks away. Although preliminary counts show Ulrich as a clear victor, a re-canvassing of approximately 100 voting machines took place on Monday March 2 and was completed by Tuesday.
Ulrich’s closest opponent in the race, Democratic District Leader Lew Simon, who was behind in the original counts by roughly 1,000 votes, still has hopes that a recount will find him at the top of the heap. In fact a call to his office will transfer you by automated attendant to Mr. Simon, who has left behind the following recorded announcement: “I want to thank everyone who came out and voted. The election is still not over so please keep us in your prayers. The election is still not over.”
In an interview with Simon, the district leader has acknowledged that he has not conceded the race because many times things are discovered in the recanvassing process that can turn the direction of things. “Many times, during the mandatory recount,” Simon says things are not done or recorded properly. “We are still awaiting a total count of paper ballots and we are very proud of the showing that we made.”
Monday, Simon says he sent a team of observers to watch over the recanvassing process, which allows for observation by the public, as well as representatives sent by involved candidates. The process is overseen by equal representation from both the Democratic and the Republican parties.
Although there was much banter and speculation as to whether it was Simon who demanded the recount or Ulrich himself served papers for the recanvassing to take place, the fact of the matter is that the recounting of the machines is standard procedure in every election.
According to the Board of Elections, “the preliminary election “results” reported on election night are just that - preliminary.” Valerie Vasquez, the Director of Communications and Public Affairs at the NYC Board of Elections, explained that the process that began on Monday is nothing unusual.
Vasquez says that an election is not certified and no winner is officially declared until every vote is counted. Included in those votes would be a re –canvassing of each machine, and a count of all paper ballots, including those from the military, absentee voters, and handicapped voters. New York State Election law mandates the vote counts before the election results can be certified as the “official” count.
The way the procedure works is that, following the close of polling sites on any election day at 9:00 p.m., the preliminary election results are produced. This is accomplished by poll workers from major parties, Democrat and Republican, opening the machines and manually recording the results for each machine on their tally sheets. The New York City Police Department collects the materials containing these results, compiles them, and enters the information into its computer system for tabulation.
How It Works
After the polls close on election night, poll workers transcribe the number of votes for each candidate from the face of the voting machines onto “Return of Canvass” forms. These poll workers then hand the “Return of Canvass” sheets to the police officer assigned to the polling location. All candidates and members of their respective campaigns are permitted by law to assign poll watchers to observe the poll workers and to record the preliminary results onto their own tally sheets as they are read off by the poll workers.
Once collected, the police officer delivers the “Return of Canvass” sheet to the police precinct. At the police precinct the results are transcribed into its computer system. The computer records are then transmitted to the Associated Press and a copy of each “Return of Canvass” form is delivered to the Associated Press office at 55 Washington Street in Brooklyn. The Associated Press then shares the preliminary results with its colleagues in the news media. These preliminary results, however, do not include the count of any of the varied types of paper ballots.
New York State has one of the most meticulous recanvassing procedures in the country. State Election Law requires the Board of Elections to recanvass every voting machine used in an election within 15 days of the election.
During this process, bipartisan teams of Board of Elections employees record the results for tabulation. As an extra layer of oversight, representatives of all campaigns involved in a particular election are notified of the recanvassing schedule and are invited to monitor the official recanvassing and ensure its accuracy. The absentee and affidavit ballots are then opened and tabulated after staff review. The campaigns are once again invited to monitor the opening and counting of these paper ballots.
Subsequent to the recanvassing the Board of Elections certifies the election result pursuant to and in accordance with the procedures set forth in the applicable portions of New York State Election Law.
Ulrich, who has already made several trips to City Hall, has been involved in meeting with Speaker Christine Quinn and other colleagues. Insiders say it is a little frustrating that he has been given all the paperwork to locate his district offices and put his staff in place but that all that activity is frozen until the election commissioners meet and certify the election officially.
Initial raw data collected from returns show that Ulrich carried all but one polling site on the mainland and that Simon carried the peninsula for the most part. Ulrich’s victory on the mainland amounted to about 64%.
According to campaign spokesman for Ulrich, Bart Haggerty, the results from Monday’s recanvassing efforts were as follows: Ulrich: 3,424; Simon: 2,472; Chapey: 897; and Ricatto: 664
Additional information suggests that there are no more than approximately 300 valid paper ballots which would still have Lew Simon falling far short of what he would need to capture the victory from Ulrich even if he were to take 100% of the paper ballots. Officials say that the paper should be counted by tomorrow, however according to Valerie Velesquez the earliest the Commissioners will certify the election could be as late as March 17th.
Eric Ulrich says he just wants to get on with the business of getting about his work in City Hall and throughout the community. “I think that people deserve representation and that they deserve it now. It is clear that the people have chosen me to be their next city councilman and I will be ready to serve on day one, “Ulrich says. “Paperwork can’t be signed until the commissioners officially certify the election. I hope it will be soon.”
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