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By Bill Parry

TimesLedger Newspapers

In response to housing discrimination and ongoing attacks from Washington on immigrants, state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) and CUNY School of Law’s Community Legal Resources Network announced last week the relaunching of free legal services for immigrants and tenants. Peralta helped secure a $50,000 state allocation in this year’s state budget to offer critical services in his district office on Junction Boulevard.

“In the past several months, we were able to assist over 150 constituents who faced immigration or housing challenges,” Peralta said. “That’s why it is my privilege to team up again with CUNY School of Law to continue providing these vital free legal assistance services to our neighbors. At the state level, I am at the frontline when it comes to protecting my constituents, and won’t tolerate acts of discrimination against them. I am not going to allow anyone to treat my constituents as second-class citizens.”

The state funding offers a package of legal services, including one-on-one counseling and community education workshops. Since November, CUNY School of Law alumni lawyers have provided legal counseling and assistance in more than 60 immigration-related matters and more than 90 housing-related issues.

“This program fully resonates with the mission of CUNY School of Law, to practice ‘Law in the Service of Human Needs.’ We applaud the initiative of Sen. Peralta in spearheading this effort to bring access to legal assistance to his constituents,” CUNY School of Law Dean Mary Lu Bilek said. “This is the work our graduates came to pursue at CUNY School of Law and have been well trained to deliver.”

CUNY School of Law, according to its website, is the premier public interest law school, in the country which trains lawyers to serve the underprivileged and disempowered to make a difference in their community, has its campus located at 2 Court Square West in Long Island City.

“Particularly in the current state of immigration law and housing conditions in New York, the need for legal assistance in the community is dire,” said Alizabeth Newman, CUNY School of Law executive director of Alumni Engagement & Initiatives. “It is our pleasure to partner with our compassionate and skilled alumni attorneys with Sen. Peralta’s competent and committed staff.”

Any constituent of Peralta’s in need of assistance may call and make an appointment by calling his office at (718) 205-3881.

Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Bill Parry

TimesLedger Newspapers

State Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) hosted their annual luncheon last Friday to celebrate women’s history and honor three exceptional women from the neighborhood for their commitment to community service.

The honorees were: Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Hour Children, which is based in Long Island City; Sadete Mujovic, a public relations coordinator for the Astoria-based Queens chapter of the Muslim American Society; and Marie Torniali, executive director of the Central Astoria LDC and chairwoman of Community Board 2.

“Congresswoman Maloney and today’s honorees inspire me to continue serving the needs of my community and putting my heart and soul into that work, as each of them has done in their own unique way,” Simotas said. “Throughout our nation’s history, women have fought for justice, equality and the well-being of their communities and these special women continue in that tradition, making better each of the different worlds that are touched by their wholehearted commitment to serving others.”

Sister Fitzgerald runs Hour Children, which helps women in prison and provides supportive housing and other services to formerly incarcerated women and their children. She founded the non-profit in 1992, after transforming her convent into a home for children whose mothers were in prison.

“Women are the heart and the strength of our world,” Sister Fitzgerald said. “They bring to birth the best in humanity with creativity, compassion and love — reasons to celebrate today and everyday.”

Mujovic has been an educator for 15 years, teaching high school English to students with learning disabilities. She gives back to the community through her work at the Queens chapter of the Muslim American Society, where she ran the after-school programs at its Astoria center for six years and now handles public relations and outreach.

“I am grateful to be recognized as one of today’s honorees and to be able to celebrate the vital accomplishments of women throughout history and in our community,” Mujovic said. “Congresswoman Maloney and Assemblywoman Simotas are great role models and an inspiration to the women in our community. I also thank the countless other wonderful women who every day do the hard work of growing and keeping our community prosperous and healthy.”

Torniali devoted herself to the betterment of Astoria for the past 39 years and said she “would not think of living anywhere else.” Her devotion to community service began at the Central Astoria LDCworking on its creation of the Steinway Street Business Improvement District. Torniali has served on Community Board 1 since 2010 and is now the elected chairwoman.

“Astoria is the great neighborhood that it is in large part because of the strong women who dedicated their time and energy to make it so,” Torniali said. “I am proud and privileged to be honored alongside two exceptional women, Sister Tesa Fitgerald and Sadete Mujovic, who both exemplify dedication to community and the power of women to get the job done.”

Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Bill Parry

TimesLedger Newspapers

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and Flushing Town Hall hosted a special celebration of LGBT Pride at the Queens Center mall Monday as part of the lead up to next month’s Queens Pride Parade in Jackson Heights.

During the event, Dromm recognized LaGuardia & Wagner Archives Director Dr. Richard Lieberman, Drag Queen Story Hour and Queens Pride Co-chairs Tina Arniotis and Monique “Mo” George, for contributing to the LGBT rights movement over the years.

“I was delighted to celebrate the LGBT community’s many accomplishments alongside a host of activists, performers and community supporters at Queens Center mall,” Dromm said. “This year’s honorees have all opened hearts and minds across Queens in their own special and unique ways.”

He also paid a special tribute to journalist Mark Lord for his accomplishments profiling LGBT activists and events throughout his career.

“We are incredibly honored to help Council member Dromm celebrate the legacy of Pride in Queens,” Flushing Town Hall Executive and Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek said. “At Flushing Town Hall, we are committed to representing and celebrating all the diverse voices that make up our community — the spirit of inclusivity that Queens Pride represents is also core to our own mission.”

The 26th Annual Queens Pride Parade will step off June 3 at noon along 37th Avenue and be followed with a multicultural festival located at 37th Avenue and 75th Street in what has become the second largest Pride event in the city, drawing as many as 40,000 participants each year. Eli Betts, 20, has been selected as a grand marshal of this year’s Queens Pride Parade in recognition of his leadership in Generation Q, a Forest Hills-based LGBTQ youth program operated by the Queens Community House. Betts will don the grand marshal sash alongside Borough President Melinda Katz and the non-profit Hetrick-Martin Institute, a Manhattan-based center for LGBTQ youth advocacy.

“Today’s LGBTQ youth are the ones who will carry the torch as we continue our journey for equality and justice for the community,” Arniotis said.

Generation Q offers a variety of health, wellness and support services for LGBTQ youth ages 12 to 21, including support groups, counseling, social events, workshops, and advocacy and social justice training. Betts has attended the program since he was 13, and now spends much of his free time doing outreach for new members.

“When I meet a young person I feel could benefit from Gen Q, I invite them to attend with me,” Betts said. “I’ve brought many participants to Gen Q over the years.”

Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Mark Hallum

TimesLedger Newspapers

After an incident in which a Sikh government official from Canada was forced to remove his turban by TSA, U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) issued a letter to the federal agency asking them to re-assess their protocol for screening members of the Sikh community.

Navdeep Bains, the Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, was asked to take off his turban twice by an agent of the Transportation Security Administration in Michigan as he was traveling on state business, once at security and another time at the gate upon boarding.

“I appreciate the hard work that TSA carries out every day in protecting the American people,” Crowley said. “At the same time, Sikhs and Sikh-Americans have informed me that situations like this are emblematic of their ongoing concerns regarding screenings. In light of these concerns, I would appreciate any information you can provide with respect to how issues affecting the broader Sikh and Sikh-American communities are approached by TSA, including what standards warrant secondary screening.”

Queens has a large Sikh population in Richmond Hill.

According to Crowley, Bains was also subject to swab tests and other screenings, which he passed, and TSA will be providing additional training to the agent who broke with procedure in his actions.

“[It’s] clear that the Transportation Security Administration requires cultural competency training and review of its procedures and policies, given the incidents of TSA discrimination against observant Sikhs,” said Sikh Coalition National Advocacy Manager Sim Singh. “Profiling travelers on the basis of their race, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, or nationality makes our country less secure by diverting resources and attention away from actual threats.”

TSA protocol was updated in 2007 to allow passengers with turbans to keep them on when passing through security checkpoints, according to Crowley.

“I also understand that what happened with respect to Mr. Bains wasn’t carried out according to normal protocols and I am interested in knowing the steps that TSA has already taken or could take to expand education with an aim toward preventing these situations from occurring in the future,” the congressman said.

Crowley has long advocated for Sikh rights to their religious garb and in January 2017 celebrated the NYPD adjusting regulations to allow officers to adhere to religious observances while serving.

Although uniform code allowed for the turban to be worn, beards had to trimmed to a certain length, going against the Sikh doctrine that facial hair must remain unshorn.

Nonetheless, Sikhs in the city were no longer forced to choose between becoming a police officer and their religion, which Crowley said can only strengthen relations between NYPD and the communities they serve.

Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4564.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Naeisha Rose

TimesLedger Newspapers

Principal Patricia Mitchell of William Wordsworth Elementary School in Jamaica will have a bittersweet moment this spring when five sets of twins she has watched over for the last four to six years — from pre-school to fifth-grade — will graduate from the school.

Wordworth is at 108-29 on 155th St.

“This is probably never going to happen again — that we have all these twins in the building,” said Mitchell. “I feel like I’m losing a part of my family.”

The fraternal twins are Ramon and Raymond Chevannes and Alexis and Alissa Boucher. The identical twins are Baker and Shaker Ahmed, Madison and Shannon Blackhshear, and Calvin and Corey Cody.

Although the excitement of seeing the children graduate June 20 will be overwhelming for her, Mitchell was not pleased to learn that the city Department of Education will separate all the twins.

“Their mothers are going to have two communities to go to, and that is not going to work,” said Mitchell. “I don’t think that our system for middle school takes into consideration when we have two scholars who have the same birth date and are from the same household.”

Mitchell is helping the parents of these twins in their fight to have their children placed in the same school, and she said the placement of the different kids were random and based on filling space, despite the parents all choosing to place their kids at the same school.

“This may happen again,” said Mitchell, who has three younger sets of twins at the school. “We are in the process now of appealing the decision for these scholars so that they can all go to the same school.”

Some of the twins agreed with the appeal, but all of them were more concerned about their new adventure in middle school and were sad to say goodbye to PS 48.

“I’m going to miss this school,” said Shannon.

Alexis shared the same sentiments.

“I’m sad I have to leave,” said Alexis. “I’m going to miss the teachers.”

Madison became sentimental about the upcoming departure. She and her twin sister both have sickle cell anemia and when one is sick, the other attends school and brings notes to the hospital.

“I’m excited, but nervous at the same time,” said Madison. “I want to go to the same school as my sister.”

Shannon was placed at the Young Women’s Leadership School in Jamaica, and Madison was assigned to go to Redwood Middle School, which is 20 minutes away on the other end of southeast Queens.

Alissa and Alexis have been at the school the longest.

“Me and my sister have been here since pre-K,” said Alissa. “They practically raised us.”

According to Alissa, the

Corey has already made plans to come and visit the school he and Calvin have attended since first grade.

“I will come back and visit the teachers,” Corey said with joy.

Calvin, on the other hand was not looking forward to being separated from his brother.

“I don’t like to be alone, and I like to stick with my family,” said Calvin.

The Ahmed twins, who are in the same fifth-grade class and help each other with schoolwork, are not looking forward to having two sets of homework next year, but the Chevannes twins, who have opposite personalities, are fine with going to different schools.

Raymond, the shy one, was tired of being in the shadow of his showboat brother and wanted to make his own friends.

“He stole my shine,” said Raymond.

Ramon was looking forward to having new escapades at another school.

“I feel like getting these last days over with,” Ramon said.

Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4573.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Naeisha Rose

TimesLedger Newspapers

The acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has agreed to testify — again –about adding a controversial question on citizenship to the Census after U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) demanded that he appear following his decision to skip an earlier hearing.

John Gore, the acting assistant attorney general, will testify Friday about the question to identify an immigrant’s legal status, which will be added to the 2020 census forms, according to a spokesman for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

This comes days after Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) agreed to Maloney’s request to have Gore subpoenaed after he failed to go to a May 8 committee hearing about the census.

Maloney, who also represents Long Island City and Woodside, as incensed when he did not attend the hearing.

“Mr. Gore’s decision to not show up to this hearing, after initially agreeing to testify, is an insult to all members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the critical role that our committee plays in overseeing the executive branch,” said Maloney. “The American public and its representatives deserve answers about the Department of Justice’s decision to request that a citizenship question be added to the decennial census and why the department believes it is necessary.”

Gowdy, who also said he was disappointed by Gore’s absence, took a break from the committee meeting, and later came back to voice his displeasure with the head of the Justice Department in a crowded room of furious Democrats.

“As I said in my opening, he is coming to talk whether he wants to or not,” said Gowdy.

Maloney also accused the Justice Department of lying about the question being added to better enforce the Voting Rights Act.

“No serious Voting Rights Act expert has called for this data,” said Maloney.

Despite the shake-up at the New York attorney general’s office, resulting in Eric Schneiderman leaving that post amid sexual misconduct allegations May 7, his replacement, Barbara Underwood, will pick up where he left off in the lawsuit against the Trump administration’s demand for the citizenship question, according to a spokesman for the AG’s office.

Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) said the federal government is using the census as a political tool and that the anti-immigrant climate will result in a skewed population count.

“Simply put, the citizenship status question in the Census 2020 is unjust and un-American,” said Peralta. “It is reckless to include this question, and I hope the administration takes it out to get a real count of the population. The public deserves to know why this question was included in the Census 2020.”

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), one of the fiercest opponents of the citizenship question, was equally concerned about the impact it would have on the census.

“This will include impacts on federal funding for schools, infrastructure, hospitals and other critical services,” said Meng. “An inaccurate and incomplete count…will have a decade’s worth of consequences on Queens and the rest of our city.”

Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4573.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Bill Parry

TimesLedger Newspapers

When the Independent Democratic Conference was dissolved and its members reunited with the mainline Democrats in April after seven years of aligning with Republicans in a power sharing arrangement, state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) declared it to be a historic moment that put the party in position to take over the majority in the Senate for just the second time in more than 50 years.

In January, U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), the chairman of the Queens County Democratic Party, had warned IDC members if they did not return by April he would back their challengers in the primaries.

Peralta, who spent 14 months as an IDC member, told TimesLedger Newspapers in April that reunification became possible with a new cooperation among congressional leadership to take back the House of Representatives in Washington tied to coordination to recapture the state Senate with the governor and the county leadership in all five boroughs. On Monday, the Queens County Democratic Party announced their endorsement of Peralta’s re-election campaign.

“New Yorkers want to see their public officials fighting to advance progressive values and enact measures that will create good-paying jobs, expand access to health care, protect immigrants, and keep guns out of our schools and communities,” Queens County Democratic Party Executive Secretary Michael Reich said. “The only way these goals will be accomplished is by working together to elect Democrats at every level of government. For this reason, the Queens County Democratic Party believes Jose Peralta is the right choice for District 13 and endorses his re-election.”

Peralta said he and Crowley had spoken several times since the reunification and that he would seek the endorsement.

“I am immensely proud to have received the support of Queens County,” Peralta said. “For the past eight years, I have had the great privilege of serving my constituents with the steadfast leadership they deserve. With the support from Queens County, I once again reaffirm my commitment to champion progressive values and issues that move our state forward. Working with my Queens colleagues, I have fought tirelessly for working men and women by successfully raising the minimum wage and passing paid family leave, bettering our schools, securing historic levels of legal aid funding for immigrants, and protecting tenants and homeowners. Our work is not over, but this endorsement signals to the people of Queens that we are united in fighting for them.”

Jackson Heights resident Jessica Ramos, who resigned as director of Latino media at City Hall to launch a primary challenge against Peralta, released a statement Monday on the Queens County Democratic Party’s endorsement. Ramos, who served as a Democratic district leader from 2010 to 2014, did not mention the organization as pressed her attack on Peralta.

“First Jose Peralta embraced the party of Trump. Then he sought support from the domestic abuser Hiram Monserrate. Now that it’s an election year, he has conveniently decided to join the Democratic Party once again,” Ramos said. Comptroller [Scott] Stringer, Council Members [Costa] Constantinides and [Jimmy] Van Bramer, the Working Families Party, and thousands of grassroots supporters are supporting our campaign — because they know that unlike Peralta, I will never betray our district or are party. I’m running to fix the subways, protect affordable housing, and fund our public schools — and when I get to Albany, I will actually deliver for working families.”

Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Carlotta Mohamed

TimesLedger Newspapers

A 47-year-old man was struck and killed while crossing Northern Boulevard from north to south, between 100th Street and 101th Street, in Corona Monday at around 12:30 a.m., according to the NYPD.

The man, identified as Carlos Gavilanes, was found lying on the roadway with trauma to the body. He was rushed to Elmhurst General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“My heart goes out to the family and friends of Carlos Gavilanes, who was tragically killed in an accident this morning as he was crossing Northern Boulevard, near 101st Street,” said state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst). “Serious and deadly accidents are becoming too common along this busy corridor.”

The driver, a 24-year-old woman, operating a 2003 Honda Civic, was traveling westbound in the left travel lane when she hit Gavilanes, according to an investigation by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad.

The driver remained at the scene of the incident and was uninjured. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing, police said.

The incident occurred three weeks after nine-year-old Giovanni Ampuero was struck and killed on Northern Boulevard near 70th Street on April 30. Following Ampuero’s death, city the Department of Transportation installed a Leading Pedestrian Interval at the crash site of 70th Street and Northern Boulevard earlier this month. Next month, they plan to implement left turn calming measures at key intersections between 58th Street and Junction Boulevard.

“Recently, I publicly welcomed some of the initial changes the city’s Department of Transportation implemented on this thoroughfare, but more needs to be done,” said Peralta. “As DOT is working to install additional safety improvements, including left turn traffic calming measures, we need to ensure deaths on the boulevard do not continue to happen. This is unacceptable.”

Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4526.

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Source: Times Ledger