Author: Dan Rose

Women’s rights activist Martha Baker, a Fresh Meadows native, passed away over the weekend.

Baker, a lifelong advocate for women and girls, was a leading member of the New York Paid Family Leave Coalition. She was a founding board member of Eleanor’s Legacy, an organization named after Eleanor Roosevelt that helps elect Democratic women candidates into public office.

She was also the former CEO of the Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW), where she was appointed to the city’s Department of Education Steering committee to Restructure Career Technical Education. In 2007, Baker coordinated a conference focused on integrating women into the building and construction trades.

Prior to that, Baker worked as the deputy director of operations at the New York State Workers Compensation Board and served in the David Dinkins administration as executive director of the Commission on the Status of Women. She coordinated a yearlong study on sexual harassment and wrote about preventing harassment on college campuses and in the workplace.

In 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio named Baker to the Board of Trustees of Queens Public Library.

She is a recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Leadership Award.

“I am devastated by the passing of Martha Baker, a fearless trailblazer who helped elevate women of all ages in Queens and across the state through her fierce activism and politics,” said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic. “I am honored to have had her as a mentor both personally and professionally, and to have witnessed all that she accomplished, from advancing paid family leave to advocating for greater inclusion of women in technical career fields.”

“My heart goes out to the Baker family during this difficult time,” she added. “May they find comfort in knowing she has created a legacy of inspiration and perseverance that has and will continue to shape so many who aspire to become leaders in their own communities.”

Assemblyman Ron Kim met with a dozen orphaned middle school and high school students from South Korea in his office last week.

The students were visiting the U.S. for a Leadership Training Conference planned by Goahead Mission, a nonprofit promoting the welfare of parentless children.

The Reverend Sang-Cho Rey, president of Goahead Mission, wanted the students to meet a Korean American elected official during their trip.

“As Americans, we believe that everyone, no matter what your background is or where you came from, deserves a fair chance at success and happiness in life,” Kim said. “Almost all of the children who came to my office today grew up with parents, and yet they’ve worked their hardest to reach their full potential.”

“I am proud of them for how far they have come in life, and I know the hard work and grit they have shown will lead to even greater achievements in the years to come.”

If you notice construction and cranes near the Flushing-Main Street LIRR station, it’s because they’re building the elevators at the location.

The elevators will make the station ADA-accessible, and are part of the facility’s $24.6 million overhaul.

Last months, crews completed the steel structure that will house the westbound elevator, and this week, construction will begin on the eastbound side.

LIRR has also begun constructing the new ticket office in the station’s westbound plaza. Other upgrades include platform lighting, electrical and communications lines, new stairs and platform extensions.

“Plans to rehabilitate the Flushing-Main Street LIRR station have been in the works for many years and it’s something for which I’ve long advocated,” said Congresswoman Grace Meng.

The station overhaul is set to be completed by early 2018.

A new American flag was presented to the members of the Bayside Senior Center, just in time for their special 9/11 ceremony.

Councilman Barry Grodenchik and Congresswoman Grace Meng gave the facility the new flag after the old flag was stolen back in May.

Meng and Grodenchik teamed up to arrange for a new flag to be flown over the the U.S. Capitol in honor of the senior center.

“The theft of this flag was terrible and shame on the thief who stole it,” Meng said. “I’m pleased to have been able to replace it with a brand new flag so that the stars and stripes can proudly fly again over the Bayside Senior Center.”

“As we remember the fallen heroes of 9/11, Old Glory flies once again at the Bayside Senior Center, Grodenchik added.

 

Today is officially Primary Election day, so voters throughout New York City can choose their favorite candidate for Mayor, Public Advocate, Borough President and City Council in their respective parties.

Here in Flushing, an especially contentious race has been waged between incumbent Councilman Peter Koo and challenger Alison Tan, a community board member and wife of Assemblyman Ron Kim.

Criticisms, charges and accusations have been flung toward both candidates. 

Tan is partly running on improving quality of life in downtown Flushing, proposing increased sanitation services for Flushing’s crowded streets.

In late August, she launched a new online campaign called #WeDeserveBetter to crowdsource images and evidence of “the declining quality of life” in the area. You can find some photos on Tan’s Twitter page @Alison4NYC.

Another angry voter #WeDeserveBetter #EnoughIsEnough #VoteForChange #CATPack pic.twitter.com/actKAwrGlC

— Alison Tan (@alison4nyc) September 1, 2017

It’s an effective strategy, and if you scroll through her page, you’ll find several examples of garbage piling up on the streets.

But one of our readers curiously informed The Flushing Blog that the photo shared above actually came from another source, not downtown Flushing.

@PizzaHutIN scene outside thakur village outlet #garbage on street ur contribution to #SwachhBharat @AdityaThackeray @BMCMumbaiShadow pic.twitter.com/Ar85h3uVVv

— Nivedita Jayaram (@niveditafnl) June 21, 2017

It appears the original photo was taken by Nivedita Jayaram on the streets of Mumbai, India, and was posted on Twitter months before it appeared on Tan’s page.

So what’s the deal? Is this a case of a misleading post, using a photo from the Internet to make a point? Or is there more to this story?

Either way, if you live within the 20th Council District, be sure to cast your vote today between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. If you’re a Democratic, you’ll be choosing between Koo and Tan.

To look up your polling site, see here.

 

The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is expanding its curbside organics collection service to include parts of Queens, Bronx and Brooklyn this fall.

This month, residents of Community Board 7 (Auburndale, Bay Terrace, Beechhurst, College Point, Flushing, Linden Hill, Malba, Queensboro Hill, Whitestone, Willets Point) and Community Board 8 (Briarwood, Flushing South, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Holliswood, Jamaica Estates, Jamaica Hills, Kew Gardens Hills, Utopia) should expect to receive their brown bins.

DSNY will begin collecting organics once per week for CB7 on Recycling Day and twice per week for CB8 on Trash Day, starting the week of October 2.

Residents are asked to leave their food scraps and yard waste inside the brown bins for recycling. Organics also includes soiled papers like towels and napkins.

The collected material is taken to regional facilities, where it’s turned into compost. It’s then taken to greening groups, urban farmers, community gardens and street tree stewards.

To read more about the NYC Organics collection program, see here.

Elected officials are investing more than $2 million in capital upgrades for Queens firehouses, including four in northeast Queens.

Borough President Melinda Katz, Councilman Paul Vallone, the FDNY and Community Board 7 announced that $2.075 million has been allocated for the next fiscal year.

“Firehouses hold New York’s Bravest, our heroes who fearlessly run toward danger and crisis when everyone else runs away,” Katz said. “Firehouses are the pillars of the neighborhood, where Queens families turn to for safety and rescue at our most vulnerable hours.”

“We owe an immeasurable debt to our firefighters and first responders,” added Vallone. “The best fire department in the world deserves the best in return.”

“This funding will go a long way to improving these firehouses and is a shining example of what can be accomplished by partnering with our fellow elected officials.

A combined $375,000 will go to door replacements at these firehouses:

• Engine 295/Ladder 144 at 12-49 149th St. in Whitestone
• Engine 297/Ladder 130 at 119-11 14th Rd. in College Point
• Engine 306 at 40-18 214th Pl. in Bayside
• Engine 313/Ladder 164 at 44-01 244th St. in Little Neck

Funding will also go to these firehouses:

• $500,000: Engine 275/Ladder 133 at 111-36 Merrick Blvd. in Jamaica
• $1.2 million: Engine 307/Ladder 154 at 81-19 Northern Blvd. in Jackson Heights

The National Park Service (NPS) is hosting a public meeting on Tuesday, September 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flushing Friends Meeting House at 137-16 Northern Boulevard.

They will discuss the status of the ongoing Flushing Remonstrance Special Resource Study. The meeting offers residents a chance to ask questions about the study.

The study will help determine whether the signing of the Flushing Remonstrance in 1657 would meet the criteria for congressional designation as a unit of the National Park Service.

For more information on the study process and the criteria used to evaluate new national parklands, visit here.

A Queens College graduate student is receiving a much-deserved full-tuition scholarship to teach students with disabilities.

Meldryck Parraga, who is of Ecuadorian and Dominican heritage, grew up in a Spanish-speaking household in Queens. His father was a painter and his mother was a hairdresser.

Parraga, interested in soccer at a young age, played in clubs in Flushing. He player soccer for Bronx Community College, where he earned his associate’s degree and won the Sportsman of the Year Award.

His next move was to Queens College, where he earned a degree in social studies education with a minor in political science. As a recipient of the Greenmail Scholarship, all of his tuition and fees for graduate work is covered.

“This means the world to me. I never expected to receive a scholarship,” he said .”It will provide me with the means to further my education while also allowing me to help out my parents. It definitely relieves the financial strain.”

Parraga is the first in his family to earn a college degree. He has two younger brothers, one of whom will be graduating from CUNY York College this year.

As part of his graduate study, Parraga will begin his first full-time teaching gig at the August Martin High School in South Richmond Hill, where he grew up and still lives.

“To me, teaching students with disabilities means providing the best education for people from all walks of life,” he said. “Too often it happens that students with disabilities aren’t held to the same standards, which isn’t fair to them because they can achieve just as much as anyone can.”

 

Elected officials representing eastern Queens and western Nassau County neighborhoods are pushing for the MTA to create better service for local residents.

Councilman Barry Grodenchik, State Senator Leroy Comrie, Assemblyman David Weprin, Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages and Assemblyman Clyde Vanel want either Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) or express bus service at Belmont Park.

During the Summer of Hell, when Penn Station was upgrading its tracks and LIRR service was reduced, express bus service was offered from Belmont Park to accommodate commuters. The pols believe this service should be made permanent.

“We have a shortage of mass transit options in Eastern Queens and Western Nassau,” Grodenchik said. “There is no subway service and limited railroad service; buses are our only form of mass transit. Commuters could park at Belmont and take a direct ride to Manhattan.”