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By Gina Martinez

TimesLedger Newspapers

After the success of the watershed program that has provided New Yorkers with high quality tap water, the city Department of Environmental Protection announced a new 10-year filtration waiver.

DEP said it had received a 10-year waiver, known as a Filtration Avoidance Determination, to continue delivering unfiltered drinking water from its Catskill and Delaware water supply systems to New Yorkers in all five boroughs. According to Mayor Bill de Blasio, the city will commit an estimated $1 billion over the next decade to comply with the FAD waiver by administering programs that protect the upstate reservoirs and the watershed lands that surround them.

“This confirms what every New Yorker knows: We have some of the cleanest and best tap water in the world,” he said. “I would like to thank the 6,000 city employees who made this possible by working tirelessly to operate, maintain and protect our water sources.”

The city’s watershed protection programs have been praised as a worldwide model for safeguarding the quality of drinking water at its source. The Catskill and Delaware systems comprise the largest unfiltered water supply in the United States, delivering about 90 percent of New York City’s water everyday. Tests have shown that water from these two systems continue to meet the stringent criteria required to avoid filtration. The Croton System, which supplies 10 percent of the city’s water became filtered in 2015. Combined the three reservoirs provide about 1.1 billion gallons of water a day to 8.5 million consumers in the five boroughs and another 1 million people in four counties north of the City.

The success of the watershed program has allowed the city to avoid the construction of a costly filtration plant for its Catskill and Delaware supplies, which could cost more than $10 billion to construct and upwards of $100 million to operate each year.

DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza said the renewal of the city’s filtration waiver underscores that the five boroughs have some of the highest quality and best protected drinking water in the world and it is not by accident.

“Since the city received its first filtration waiver in the early 1990s, we have protected open space around our reservoirs, invested in wastewater upgrades, forged partnerships with watershed farmers, and focused considerable attention on the forests, streams and wetlands that comprise the natural infrastructure of our water supply.” he said.

Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmartinez@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4566.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Gina Martinez

TimesLedger Newspapers

Queens has seen steady growth in national chain stores, including Dunkin’ Donuts and MetroPCS, according to a new study from the Center for an Urban Future.

The nonprofit’s 10th annual “State of the Chains” report recorded the patterns of retail growth in New York City over the past decade. According to the report, national retail chains fared well in Queens in 2017, with an 0.9 percent increase from 1,665 stores to 1,680. The number of chain stores in Queens has been steadily making gains since its 2014 high, when chain retailers in the borough rose by 5.3 percent. In 2016 the increase in Queens was 1.6 percent.

Citywide, every borough gained chain store locations except Staten Island, where they declined by 1.9 percent, from 417 locations to 409. The largest increase was in Brooklyn: 3.1 percent, from 1,540 locations in 2016 to 1,587 in 2017. Locations in the Bronx grew by 1.8 percent, from 891 locations to 907; and in Manhattan, the gain was 0.9 percent, from 2,710 locations to 2,734.

In Queens, certain retailers expanded their presence, including cell phone store MetroPCS, which opened 34 stores in the borough. According to the report, MetroPCS’s expansion in Queens was the largest of any retailer in the borough and citywide. The cell phone store now has 122 locations in Queens, and has the second-most chain locations in the borough, right behind Dunkin’ Donuts. The report said the coffee shop chain opened eight new stores in Queens, bringing its total in the borough to 187. T-Mobile added four new locations in Queens, raising its number to 76, Baskin-Robbins added two stores, for a total of 77.

Despite the gains in locations, several national retailers reduced their presence in Queens. CVS pharmacy reduced its presence by 14 locations, while Duane Reade and Walgreens pharmacy closed eight stores.

Overall, C.U.F.’s study shows a 1.3 percent in retailers citywide. Retailers expanded their footprint in New York City by 94 store locations, growing from 7,223 stores in 2016 to 7,317 stores in 2017.

Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmartinez@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4566.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Naeisha Rose

TimesLedger Newspapers

Southern-style fish, barbecue and soul food home cooking are being brought to Queens at the House of Smoke in St. Albans.

The House of Smoke, a takeout food restaurant at 180-03 Linden Blvd., is a family business run by former Jamaica residents who have returned to New York from Alabama, according to chef Spencer Eagle.

The owners are Eagle’s grandmother, Nellie Buchanan, and his mother, Doris Eagle. His uncle Gerald Buchanan is a prep chef, and his brother Jameel is an assistant chef.

Eagle’s mother moved back to New York in September, and after reminiscing about her old Montgomery restaurant, The New Porky’s, she decided to open a new restaurant in the state she was lived in for 30 years, Eagle said.

Before coming back to New York, Eagle’s mother was in Alabama for 22 years, while Eagle’s Uncle Gerald remained in New York. Eagle’s brother Jameel lived in Alabama from 2006 to 2017, and he left Alabama 12 years ago and has been living in Far Rockaway since returning to the city that never sleeps.

“She wanted to open a business for myself and my brother,” Eagle said. “My uncle found this place, and he thought it would be a great location to bring a soul food and barbecue restaurant.”

Eagle and his family don’t have degrees in the culinary arts, but they love cooking and they simply use what has been passed down to them over the past few generations.

Eagle, 36, learned how to make cookies, cake and more from his mother starting when he was 12.

“My mother learned from my grandmother, and my grandmother learned from her mom,” Eagle said. “She learned from just being in the kitchen with my grandma.”

Although it is a takeout restaurant, everything is Southern-cooked, according to Eagle.

“The barbecue sauce is made from scratch,” Eagle said. “We smoke our meats in a smoker for eight to nine hours. Everything is smoked. It is a real authentic soul food.”

Looking to the restaurant’s future, the family plans to add fresh lemonade and iced tea to the menu for spring and summer. Currently, there are several desserts, like peach cobbler.

“Our ultimate hope is to become successful and to stay here in the community,” Eagle said. “St. Albans is a great community to be in.”

The House of Smoke is expected to hold a grand opening in late January or early February.

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 Larry Penner

TimesLedger Newspapers

There is more to “Islanders arena on tap near Belmont Race Track: Cuomo” (Mark Hallum, Dec. 22) when it comes to Gov. Cuomo’s promise of significant increases in Long Island Rail Road service to coincide with the Islanders stadium’s planned opening by 2020 at Belmont Park, which may be unrealsitic.

Conversion of the Belmont Park LIRR Station and other capital improvements to provide improved and more frequent off-peak service to and from the future arena may take three to five years. You may just end up with off-peak shuttle service between the Jamaica and Belmont Park LIRR stations. The real challenge will be trying to provide full-time rush hour service in both directions. This may not be possible until 2032. There is also the need for a bus terminal to accomidate NICE, New York City Transit and private charter bus operators who may establish new routes for serving Belmont Arena.

It will be several more years before the LIRR completes upgrading interlockings and signals adjacent to Jamaica Station. East Side Access to Grand Central Terminal will not be completed until 2023. New equipment to expand the current fleet needs to be delivered. Amtrak may delay the start of work by six years from 2019 to 2025 for work on the East River tunnels.

Remember, only one of four East River tunnels can be worked on at a time. This will result in a direct reduction in rush hour service. It will take one to two years to finish work on each tunnel. As a result, this project may not be completed until 2032.

Initiation of LIRR East Side Access to Penn Station means the end of direct service to Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. This will be replaced by a scoot service to Jamaica. This means change at Jamaica for riders to and from Brooklyn.

Based upon all of the above, there is may be little capacity for LIRR increase of new service including to Belmont Park, especially during rush hours.

There is no room to run additional trains in or out of Penn Station during either a.m. or p.m. rush hours via the East River tunnels with connections to Long Island. This has been the case for decades. Three of four tunnels running inbound during a.m. and outbound p.m. rush hours have very tight spacing between trains. One tunnel is shared by the LIRR, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak for reverse train movements, with equally tight spacing during rush hours. There is no platform capacity at Penn Station to accommodate any additional trains during the rush hour. Penn Station is currently operating at 100 percent capacity during rush hours. If one of the four tunnels is temporarily out of service, the result is numerous delays and cancellation of trains.

There are other competing new services looking for nonexistent rush hour Penn Station platform, track and East River tunnel capacity in coming years. Metro-North wants to begin service at a cost of $700 million plus from the east Bronx via the Hell Gate Bridge and Harold Interlocking in Sunnyside Queens to Penn Station after December 2023 to coincide with LIRR’s move into Grand Central Terminal. Metro-North also has future plans ($200 million) to run additional service from Poughkeepsie and other Hudson Line stations via the Amtrak Empire Corridor Hudson Line using tracks on Manhattan’s West Side. The LIRR has invested $450 million to complete double tracking on the Ronkonkoma branch. Once Main Line Third Track is completed at a cost of $2.6 billion, the LIRR plans to expand Ronkonkoma branch Penn Station rush hour service. Gov. Cuomo also wants to provide new frequent 24/7 direct LIRR service on the Port Washington branch between Penn Station and Mets-Willets Point station. This is to support his $1-billion-plus La Guardia AirTrain. Additional service from Grand Central Terminal to Mets-Willets Point station may also begin once LIRR East Side Access to Grand Central Terminal is completed.

Many Rockaway Queens residents want restoration of LIRR service on the old Rockaway Beach branch, which suspended service in 1962. (Today NYC Transit runs the A subway along a significant portion of the old LIRR right of way.) Amtrak (Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston along with Empire Service north to Albany and Buffalo) and New Jersey Transit have future plans to expand service in and out of Penn Station.

The ongoing $1.6 billion Moynihan Train Hall station project fails to add new tracks or platforms at Penn Station. This results in no capacity increase for adding any additional new rush hour Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, LIRR or future new Metro-North trains to serve Penn Station.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Mark Hallum

TimesLedger Newspapers

A Queens native is bringing his filmmaking skills to the table to create a fan fiction addition to the Indiana Jones saga, a narrative that will take place in Alley Pond Park and revolve around the Queens Giant as the tree of life.

The Queens Giant, a 133-foot, 400-year-old tulip poplar, is “the oldest living thing in the city,” the city Parks Department says. It was likely just a seedling when the Dutch East India Company was conducting business in the area.

John Galligan, the film’s producer, director and lead fedora-wearing actor, hopes to have “Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Queens Giant” in the Queens World Film Festival upon its completion at an unannounced time.

“We don’t exactly know when the film is going to be finished, but we have a couple scenes left to shoot,” Galligan said, explaining he had used popular Bayside spots such as Bourbon Street on Bell Boulevard for certain scenes. “If you’re familiar with the tree, it’s massive. You can actually go inside of it. It has an opening, but it’s very tight to get in, so we couldn’t really shoot inside the tree. So we had to stage it in another place.

“We haven’t been able to do that scene, which is really the heart of the film. But everything else, we’ve done. We’ve done fight scenes. It’s really extensive how much we’ve finished.”

True to the Indiana Jones franchise tradition, the protagonist will be seeking religious relics. Galligan was reluctant to give away too much, but said Jones will pursue dark secrets of a demonic presence from Buddhist lore within the tree.

Recall Studios is helping with the project from assistance directing to editing.

Galligan’s film will revive a character featured only as a corpse in the original Jones film, “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The fictional Dr. Forrestal taught at Princeton and disappeared searching for a fertility idol in Peru. Jones discovers the fate of the man who was his professional rival when seeking the same relic in a temple in the jungle. Forrestal had died as a result of springing a booby trap.

But Galligan is bringing Forrestal to life in his own fan fiction prequel installment as Jones’s competition to uncover the secrets of the Queens Giant.

Galligan employed the help of visual artist Debbie Yoo to draw an aged map of what is now Alley Pond Park depicting the Queens Giant and surrounding landmarks, which Jones will use in his quest to discover what’s inside the mysterious tree.

“Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Queens Giant” does not yet have a release date.

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

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By Merle Exit

TimesLedger Newspapers

You may recall the Lindy hop from the 1940s and ‘50s, with hoop skirts and songs like “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets. This dance craze actually began in the 1920s and flourished in the Swing era of jazz and Big Band greats like Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman.

Project Connect, a group devoted to swing dancing, is bringing back the original in “Savoy! Dancing Through the Swing Era” on Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. at Flushing Town Hall. Akemi Kinukawa, the founder of Project Connect, is the lead choreographer and a dancer in the show.

“I actually discovered this dance 17 years ago in Washington, D.C., where a couple was teaching these athletic steps and I then formed a passion for it,” said Kinukawa, who lives in Astoria. “The beauty of the Lindy hop is that you can create the dance itself in your own way.”

Project Connect, a nonprofit group, brings the Lindy hop to places like nursing homes in the city. At this public performance, the audience is invited to sing and dance along with the performers.

As a culmination, the audience may join in a historic line dance, the Shim Sham, to celebrate the joy of dance and music. At the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, where the Lindy hop gained early fame, some Lindy hoppers did the Shim Sham, a tap routine, as a group line dance, without the taps. A bunch of dancers would just jump up and start doing the Shim Sham on the side of the ballroom, over in the corner.

Turning to the subject of art, here is your chance to be creative by using sand art at a family workshop. Artist Borja González will offer instruction in working with sand, first on paper, then on a small-scale light table, on Jan. 20 at 1 p.m. Ticket-holders can then attend the artist’s 2:15 p.m. show.

González uses two types of sand, one from the Gobi Desert in China and the other from the Sahara. “It is a very fine sand type, and its characteristics are perfect for drawing,” González said.

He draws in the sand with only one thing: his hands. “Maybe with some tool, you can make beautiful drawings, but when I’m on stage, acting, I need to feel the sand in my hands to be able to express myself,” he said.

González, a native of Spain, began his sand art career 14 years ago. At first, he was a circus acrobat. “Later on, I began to assemble my two passions on stage, plastic and performing arts,” he said. “I painted pictures doing acrobatic movements.”

Then he came across a video of an artist doing drawings with sand, and it was love at first sight. “The next day, I began to work on this wonderful art. It took me a while to obtain the perfect light, since nobody in Spain knew this technique. In the end, I got it!”

His aim, he said, is to “understand the sand” as if it were his mind. “To be a good sand artist, you do not just have to know how to draw. Sand allows you to apply many painting techniques, such as dry and wet techniques at the same time. On the other hand, besides drawing, I also studied circus arts, drama, dance, which help me strike a balance with sand drawing.”

His first sand art show took place 10 years ago while he was living in a workshop in Barcelona full of paintings, sculptures and puppets. For this show, González says that with only a little bit of sand and his hands, he will produce a story of two people throughout their lives, from the dreams of childhood through adult experiences. The show is accompanied by live music.

Keep your creative juices flowing with Flushing Town Hall’s supportive Art-Makers group, which will meet from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. every other Wednesday starting Jan. 10. Bring your sketchbook, small projects or even a part of a work-in-progress. You supply your own materials that are easily cleaned with water, as well as a snack to share. All are welcome, professionals and novices, working in any media.

The subsequent dates for the group are Jan. 24; Feb. 7 and 21; March 7 and 21; April 4 and 18; May 2, 16 and 30; and June 13 and 27.

The musical group Black String will present new sounds from ancient instruments of Korea on Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. Black String creates a distinctive language that draws on traditional Korean music, jazz and free improvisation.

Instrumentalists are Yoon Jeong Heo, a virtuoso on the geomungo, a Korean zither; Jean Oh, an electric jazz guitarist; Aram Lee, who plays the daegeum, a bamboo flute; and Min Wang Hwang on the janggu, a drum. They describe their sound as “dynamic, harmonic collisions of modes and rhythms at the intersection of East and West.”

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By Bill Parry

TimesLedger Newspapers

Queens residents began to deal with the frozen tundra left behind by Winter Storm Grayson, which dumped as much as 13 inches of snow in Rego Park and nearly a foot in the rest of the borough Thursday, more than double what forecasters had predicted.

A deep freeze that followed the so-called “bomb cyclone” made digging out even more difficult for most with temperatures in the teens Friday morning with wind chills expected to feel close to -20 this evening, according to the National Weather Service.

Public schools were open as commuters dealt with delays on subways, buses and the LIRR all morning and the evening rush is expected to have delays as well. The Department of Sanitation warned residents that treated streets may not being showing blacktop yet and driving conditions are still difficult.

“The driving conditions are going to be tough the next few days,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “Don’t expect to see a lot of melting. There’s going to be ice out there, whether you’re driving or walking.”

Alternate-side parking remains suspended through Saturday, although meter rules remain in effect.

“There’s a lot of snow out there,” DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia said. “There’s a lot more snow than we thought there was going to be.”

While whiteout conditions forced JFK and LaGuardia airports to close at the height of the storm, cancelling thousands of flights, the airports resumed operations Friday morning with delays. Travelers were urged to call their carriers for update. The MTA and the Port Authority is offering free service on the Q70 bus between the 74th Street-Jackson Avenue/Roosevelt Avenue subway hub in Jackson Heights and LaGuardia Airport Friday and Saturday.

The city’s Department of Homeless Services announced its Code Blue service, which sends outreach teams to contact homeless New Yorkers and bring them to shelter, will remain in effect through the weekend. Forecasters expect relief from the bitter cold Monday as temperatures move above freezing.

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

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By Naeisha Rose

TimesLedger Newspapers

Ahead of his State of the State address Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo previewed his five-step plan to combat hunger for food insecure students from kindergarten through college. Cuomo’s announcement could not have come at a better time for Queens’ children.

Throughout Queens, there are 63,798 children who were in food insecure homes from 2014 to 2016, according to statistics reported by the non-profit Hunger Free America. That is about 10.3 percent of the borough’s youngsters.

Hunger Free America, which does research, advocacy and policy work to combat hunger, said in a 2017 Survey of NYC Foods Pantries & Soups Kitchens that if President Donald Trump goes through with his tax plan to slash $192 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the city’s food bank that helps the hungry, food deprivation among these individuals could get worse.

Approximately 2.7 million New Yorkers across the state struggle to get food, and nearly 1 million are children, according the governor.

In both the city and state, one in every 10 working adults was food insecure, the Hunger Free America report said.

Cuomo’s first step will be to ban food shaming for children whose families struggle to provide food starting in the 2018 to 2019 school year, according to www.governor.ny.gov.

This means adults in educational institutions can no longer force children to wear stickers or bracelets, which brand them as food insecure or call their names out on loud speakers to identify them as such. Also, these children will no longer get lesser quality food.

The second step on the agenda is to require breakfast after the morning school bell, because the students who are bused often arrive after meal is available.

To ease the transition, institutions with 70 percent of children who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch can have breakfast in class or the school can provide vending machines with nutritious options. To further help the initiative, 1,400 schools will receive $7 million in capital funds, said Cuomo.

Cuomo’s third step is to double the investment of Farm to School projects by spending an additional $750,000 to connect schools with fresh food from local farmers. This will bring the total for the project to $1.5 million, support 18 of those programs and help an additional 328,000 students. Before the investment, 324,000 students received that benefit, but by next year there will be 652,000 total.

The governor’s fourth step to help students is to encourage schools that do not have healthy food options to invest in locally farmed food with higher food reimbursements. Instead of the usual 5.9 cents reimbursement per lunch, schools will get 25 cents per lunch for any district that gets 30 percent of ingredients from farmers in the state.

Cuomo’s last objective is to require food pantries on all SUNY and CUNY campuses.

In a report conducted by several national campus organizations, the governor discovered 48 percent of survey respondents experienced food insecurity 30 days before his announcement. Over 50 percent of those surveyed did not buy a textbook because of a lack of food.

Cuomo will be investing $1 million to implement that program.

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

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By Bill Parry

TimesLedger Newspapers

A transgender woman from Jackson Heights who has become a strong advocate for transgender and immigrant communities nationwide was granted a pardon by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week.

Mexican-born Lorena Borjas, 57, was at high risk of deportation for a 1994 conviction of fourth-degree criminal facilitation as a result of being entrapped as a victim of human trafficking, according to the governor’s office.

“With this pardon granted, I will no longer have to go to sleep at night worrying that I will be deported back to a country that is no longer home,” Borjas told the Transgender Law Center, a national civil rights group. “I will be able to live my life without stress and fear of immigration, and I will be able to continue doing the work I do and help more vulnerable transgender women.”

Borjas runs HIV-testing programs for transgender sex workers, and syringe exchange programs for trans women taking hormone injections. She currently works as an educator at community health centers across New York City, and she has drawn commendations from elected officials, advocates and community members. With the pardon, Borjas is free to apply for U.S. citizenship and continue her advocacy work.

“Lorena has done more than anyone I know to shine a light on the epidemic of trafficking in transgender communities and to help other trans women escape exploitation,” said Lynly Egyes, the Transgender Law Center’s litigation director. “Her generosity and self-sacrifice in well known throughout New York state and the country. I am thrilled for Lorena and grateful that after years of selfless work helping others, New York State answered the call when she was in need.”

Borjas was one of 18 immigrants who were pardoned by Cuomo Dec. 27. All were “contributing members of society” who faced deportation and other immigrant-related challenges as a result of previous convictions, according to the governor’s office.

In addition, Cuomo issued 39 conditional pardons to people who were charged with misdemeanors or nonviolent offenses when they were 16 or 17 years old and have been crime-free for a decade or more.

“These New Yorkers have proved their rehabilitation, in some cases for decades, but have been unable to gain legal status or fully re-enter society due to the stigma of conviction,” Cuomo said. “While the federal government continues to target immigrants and threatens to tear families apart with deportation, these actions take a critical step toward a more just, more fair and more compassionate New York.”

In June, Cuomo issued a pardon to Carlos Humberto Cardona, 48, also of Jackson Heights, after he was detained and faced deportation to his native Colombia on a 1990 drug conviction. Cuomo called Cardona a “civic-minded New Yorker” who volunteered as a cleanup and hazmat recovery worker at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 attacks at the “expense of his own health.”

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

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