CB14 September Meeting Recap

By Katie McFadden

After a summer hiatus, Community Board 14 meetings are back! The meeting on Tuesday, September 9, was held at a new location at the Bayswater Jewish Center, allowing for more people to attend who usually can’t make it to the Knights of Columbus. With that came the first time the meeting was live streamed online, outside of the Covid pandemic, allowing for more folks to tune in virtually.

CB14 Chairwoman announced the venue change, saying the meetings would rotate locations and be live streamed going forward, before welcoming updates from the local precincts. Lt. Ryan O’Shea of the 101st Precinct said crime was down 17% in the past month and 5% overall for the year. Lt. Powell of the 100th Precinct said major crime was down 40% over the last month.

Next up were elected officials and their representatives. Jose Reina of Rep. Gregory Meeks’ office said since July 8, TSA no longer requires travelers to remove their shoes at security. They’ve also introduced a pre-check touchless ID program in conjunction with Delta, allowing people to be screened by facial recognition instead of needing ID at security. Social Security will cease sending paper checks by December 30, so people must switch to a direct deposit system. For college funding, FAFSA applications will launch on October 1 and families who own a small business will now have those assets excluded from the calculation for financial aid. Additionally, student loan borrowers will no longer have to prove financial hardship to receive a loan.

Lisa George of Senator James Sanders’ office said on September 29 at 11 a.m., Sanders is hosting a Seasoned Senior Appreciation Month event with a mini golf outing in Five Towns. Seniors 55 and up can register by calling 718-327-7017. The office is also offering free legal consultation workshops for seniors in conjunction with JASA in the Far Rockaway office (1931 Mott Ave.), starting on Tuesday, October 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. She also announced that SUNY and CUNY tuition is free for associates degrees for those ages 25-55. Classes are available on site or online. As part of the state budget, NYCHA has received $250 million to make upgrades and will now offer rent reductions when heat, water or gas service is disrupted.

Gregory Slade of Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato’s office announced free breakfast and lunch for all students in schools across the state. He reminded everyone that rebate checks are starting to be sent out from the state, through November.

Kevin Morris of Mayor Adams’ office said thanks to the mayor and Yankee Jazz Chisolm, 350,000 laptops will be distributed for public school students. The locations have not been determined yet. Dan Brown of DA Melinda Katz’ office spoke about the takedown of the Floss Money Ballers gang in southeast Queens, responsible for several shootings.

Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson spoke about the passage of Francesco’s Law in the assembly, which will allow penalties for adults who don’t properly secure firearms, in an attempt to prevent youth from accessing them. The legislation needs to pass the senate. Lisa Boyd, the CEO of NYCHA, has been touring local facilities to review issues in the buildings. Anderson broke news that the state is funding $3 million to improve the Nordeck apartments in Arverne, and that more than $350K in funding was secured to help improve technology in a few local schools. About $300K was secured to fix the Rockaway YMCA HVAC system and introduce more swimming programs there.

Chairwoman Dolores Orr showed appreciation for Beach 43rd to Beach 47th opening late this summer, for the first time in several decades, after the last nesting piping plover left the area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue with work and staging areas at Beach 19th and Beach 116th will likely be used. She was sad to see the Neponsit Adult Day Health Care Center will close on September 19, despite efforts to try to fight back against it.

Orr attended a recent JFK Airport redevelopment meeting and spoke about local aircraft noise monitors. The FAA and Port Authority have a company that can monitor these things virtually and CB14 is seeking locations to place monitors where aircraft noise is frequent. She acknowledged the loss of several family members of board members including Nancy Martinez, who lost her father, Yitzchok Goldstone, whose son died in a boating accident the previous day, and John Cori, who lost his son suddenly in June.

District Manager Felicia Johnson reminded everyone that CB14 not only has live streaming for full board meetings now, but active social media accounts. From DSNY, Johnson said they don’t have enough manpower to maintain medians so they’re spraying weeds with a new product they’re testing, in order to kill the weeds and turn them into mulch. Spraying has been conducted and they’re waiting to see if the new product is effective, as the old one was banned. For the new co-ops at 29-32 Beach Channel Drive, CB14 sent out a letter to support the real property taxation for that project to help make them affordable.

A letter was sent in support of an eight-foot fence as part of the redesign of Arverne Playground, but Queens Borough Richards responded that he’ll only sign off on a four-foot fence as it’s the new stipulation according to NYC Parks. CB14 signed a letter asking for the Hammel House community center to reopen. The floors have been buckling, so the center has been closed, but neighbors are demanding it be reopened so youth have somewhere to go. NYCHA allegedly won’t sign off on repairing the center, as they would have to pay for it. Johnson hopes elected officials put pressure on to get it fixed as the site was a longtime voting center.

NYPD now has quality of life teams (Q-Team) in both precincts. Johnson encouraged people to call 311 to report such issues, but if people feel the response time isn’t adequate, they can have direct contact with the Q-Team members. A speed bump has been approved for Healy Avenue between Bay 25th and Bay Park Place. A request was made to convert Beach 39th to a one-way street. The DOT has approved a one-way change going northbound. CB14’s Transportation Committee will review this suggestion.

Johnson attended a district cabinet meeting where DOT announced they’re opening applications for open streets online, and people can apply for them around schools. Youth employees have been working on a resource guide for the community, which CB14 plans on rolling out in a downloadable PDF form, hopefully by the end of the month. She encouraged local civics, religious institutions and legitimate nonprofits that want to be included in the guide to reach out to CB14 with their information.

The Office of Emergency Management was supposed to present at CB14, with updates on an evacuation plan, but they cancelled last minute. In the meantime, Johnson encouraged residents, especially those in apartment buildings, to sign up for training to be on CERT, the community emergency response team, so they can help neighbors out during an emergency. There can be a CERT training in Rockaway, but CB14 needs 30 people to register and only 13 have signed up. Contact CB14 to register at 718-471-7300.

NYC Parks has changed an aspect of special permitting, in which they can only provide mobile stages for events for government agencies or elected officials, and they will have to reimburse Parks for $721. Additionally, permits for inflatable rides wil

l only be approved for events with 500 people or more, and inflatable rides that need water will not be approved. The MTA has fully rolled out the new bus redesign plan. Additionally, the NYC Comptroller has rolled out grades for all bus routes. Only the Q35 in Rockaway received an A, while all other Rockaway routes got a C and D. DOT will install a raised crosswalk at Beach 40th and Beach Channel Drive. Lastly, with FIFA World Cup coming to NYC next year, CB14 will be looking into ways to benefit from the event and promote Rockaway.

For public speaking, 33 people signed up. Morris Lundy spoke about poor sanitation issues around 30-12 Brookhaven Avenue and asked for DSNY and NYPD to pay more attention to the area. A man named Justin spoke about LBAP ABA services for children with special needs. He encouraged families who need extra help to see LBAPS.com. The program, now with a branch in Rockaway, runs through insurance.  Nina Monica and Jasmine Cunningham spoke about an issue with the Q22 bus, as buses have been overcrowded and skipping stops in Far Rockaway ever since school began, resulting in kids getting to school late. They demanded an increase in buses.

Madison McKenzie, a program coordinator for A Sister’s Hand (ASH) at the Queens Community Justice Center on Beach 20th Street, said the program is available for justice impacted girls from age 13-17, offering support to empower them. They’re also hosting a juvenile justice training on Wednesday, October 29 at 2 p.m., to train those who interact with justice impacted youth, on how to engage with them in positive ways.

Lisa George and several others spoke about how the new restriction of sound permits for Beach 17th Street, have adversely impacted the area, as she and others have offered free music events that have ended at reasonable hours for years, and they’re now being punished for the actions of unpermitted music events after hours. “I ask for this to be lifted and we have further discussion about it. Don’t punish us all,” George said. Others vouched for this, including neighbors who said they enjoy the events, and others who host free holidays events that provide free food and something productive for youth to do. With the new restrictions, they have not been able to get permits to host such events.

Several advocates came out to vouch for MyMeds Specialty Pharmacy at 1720 Village Lane. With Gotham Health Center soon coming to the site, MyMeds is at risk of being shut out, as there aren’t plans to have a pharmacy inside the new center. The MyMeds partners spoke on behalf of their service, saying, “What good is the Gotham Center if a patient can’t get their meds right away?” They requested that the board help them find a solution with NYC Health and Hospitals, to include MyMeds. Several patients spoke on behalf of the pharmacy, praising their late hours and how helpful they have been for their various health issues.

Lisa Hernandez spoke about the new offerings at Episcopal Health Services including their new Clinical Learning Center, the new Labor and Delivery Suite and the soon to come Walsh Ambulatory Pavilion, that will offer even more services. Keisha Gilles spoke about the offerings at the Joseph P. Addabbo Health Center.

Elizabeth of the Edgemere Alliance spoke about efforts to revitalize the bayside Beach 43rd Street Park, turning it into a usable waterfront space, but they’re hoping for support for funding from BP Richards’ office to acquire things like a floating dock, portable toilets, a fishing pier, solar lights and restructuring of the park to stabilize the shoreline, so it can be used to its full potential. L. Monico spoke of a service helping people find jobs in the aviation industry. Stop by their office on the third floor of 1931 Mott Ave. or to attend an Aviation Job Fair on October 7 at Queens Borough Hall.

Kim Fraczek, JK Capena and Joan Flynn all spoke about the threat of the latest Williams pipeline proposal, saying it could negatively impact the waterways, it wouldn’t benefit Rockaway but rather AI plants upstate, and it would raise National Grid bills across the board. They asked for support to stop the project once again.

Eugene Falik spoke about opposing the new apartment building proposed for Beach Channel Drive and Nameoke Avenue and said all new developments should have two parking spots per apartment. He also spoke about the Charter Revision ballot items that will attempt to take city council members’ say out of the land use application process and give the mayor more power to approve developments. He encouraged all to vote no on the ballot proposals this election year.

Lastly, CB14 discussed their budget list items. Requests were made for things like additional ambulances on the peninsula, an increase in Parks Enforcement Patrol, a design plan for bathrooms at the new Bay Breeze Park and more.