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By Carlotta Mohamed

TimesLedger Newspapers

A suspected MS-13 gang member was arrested and charged with setting a fire in Flushing June 4 that injured more than 10 firefighters and left two alleged gang members in critical condition, according to the NYPD.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the two-alarm fire at around 2 a.m. at a vacant building that was engulfed in flames at 147-09 41st Ave. Michael Gongora, 20, of 110-27 115th Ave. was charged June 6 with arson, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the NYPD.

Gongora was seen on a neighboring surveillance video climbing over a concrete wall and walking up to the front of the building. He used a lighter and lit a bedsheet on fire that was hanging from the front window, and then jumped over the wall running down 147th Street, according to the DA.

He admitted he went over a concrete wall and walked up to the front of the building, used a lighter and lit a bedsheet on fire that was hanging from the front window, according to the criminal complaint by the Queens district attorney.

Gongora, who used to live at the residence, was forced out by two suspected MS-13 gang members, the NYPD said. Gongora, who wanted to “get back” at Jose Benavides and Ismael Santos, said Benavides tried to stab him and Ismael had a gun, according to the DA.

The two men jumped out of a second-story window to escape the fire and were taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, where they remain in critical condition, according to the DA’s office. Benavides suffered burns to 15 percent of his body — including second- and third-degree burns to his arms, hands, back and face. Santos suffered burns to 8 percent of his body, including second-degree burns to both hands and third-degree burns to his right wrist, according to the DA’s office.

FDNY Fire Marshal Michael Coyle determined the fire began on the first floor near the front door and window before spreading to other parts of the house.

It was not the first fire incident that had occurred at the vacant home, which was commonly referred to as the “Queens house of horrors.”

The owner of the residence, Katherine Vortholomeou, was sentenced to one year in jail for endangering the welfare of her then 8-year-old son, and two granddaughters, ages 2 and 3, according to the New York Daily News. She was sentenced to one year in jail in March 2015.

The Flushing home had a hole in its roof and was infested with rodents. There was no electricity or running water, forcing the family to use buckets that were filled with human waste and left in the house, according to the DA.

Kimberly Piao, 45, who lives three houses away from the charred residence, said no one on the block ever saw the owner.

“During the day it’s a ghost house, but at night there’s activity going,” said Piao. “Homeless people would come through the backyard at night and sleep there.”

Piao said the next door neighbor, who had to move after the fire spread to her home, was afraid of the vagrants who were staying in the abandoned house filled with garbage.

“She used to complain about the people coming and going. but nothing was done,” Piao said. “It’s horrible what happened.”

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

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By Naeisha Rose

TimesLedger Newspapers

U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn), who represents part of Queens, and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to both chambers of Congress that would establish federal guidelines on how fatalities are measured after a natural disaster.

The Counting Our Unexpected Natural Tragedies Victims Act is meant to ensure an accurate death toll, which is one of the determining factors in the government’s allocation of federal aid and its response to natural disaster, according to the two elected officials.

The Count Victims Act is a response to reports that the Trump administration’s official death toll in Puerto Rico did not reflect the number of lives lost by Hurricane Maria in 2017, according to both elected officials.

In December, Puerto Rican-born Velázquez joined Harris to request a Government Accountability Office audit of the death toll after the hurricane in the commonwealth country, and she also announced a “9-11-style” commission to investigate the federal response to the natural disaster to determine if it was hampered by an artificially low death count.

“Death tolls are important. They influence public perception about the scope of a disaster and often determine what federal resources are allocated for response,” said Velázquez, who represents parts of Queens, including Maspeth, Woodside, and Ridgewood, which has the largest Puerto Rican population in the borough. “This is shameful and it can never happen again. To that end, I am pleased to join with Senator Harris to introduce the Count Act, which will help establish federal procedures to efficiently assess death tolls.”

A New England Journal of Medicine report published May 29 estimated the death toll was a staggering 4,645, which is 70 times the Puerto Rican government’s official count of 64.

“Tragically, in Puerto Rico, the official death toll has been vastly undercounted, driving a narrative that has enabled the Trump administration to brag about its response to Maria, while our fellow citizens were dying,” said Velázquez.

The Count Act would authorize $2 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to contract with the National Academy of Medicine to conduct a study on how to accurately and efficiently assess mortality after a natural disaster.

Currently, there is no agreed upon practice of to calculate these types of deaths in the United States and its territories, according to the elected officials.

“The Count Act will make sure that we can develop best practices to better understand the impact of natural disasters and the causes of death after these tragic events,” said U.S. Rep. José E. Serrano (D-Bronx), a co-sponsor of the bill. “It will also ensure that we can devote resources to the specific risk factors that increased the death toll after Hurricane Maria – like the electrical grid failure, flooding, and road closures. This will allow us to better protect vulnerable populations.”

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 Zach Gewelb

TimesLedger Newspapers

It may not have been a series victory, but the Mets played well despite losing two of three to the Yankees in the first Subway Series showdown of the 2018 season.

The Mets held the lead going into the sixth inning in all three games and limited the league best Yankees offense to just eight runs in three games, which is no easy feat. However, the Amazins could not seal the deal, blowing the first two games of the series in heartbreaking fashion.

The Yankees couldn’t get anything going against Jacob deGrom in the first game of the series until the sixth inning, when an Aaron Judge sacrifice fly plated Masahiro Tanaka, tying the game at 1-1. The score remained tied until the eighth inning, when deGrom made one bad pitch that resulted in a two-run home run by Brett Gardner. Giancarlo Stanton added a solo home run in the ninth to extend the Yankees’ lead to 4-1, which would prove to be the final.

In the middle game of the series, the Mets jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead following first inning home runs from Todd Frazier and Asdrubal Cabrera. Unfortunately, that’s the only offense the Mets would muster against Yankees starter Domingo German and their bullpen.

Meanwhile, Mets’ starter Steven Matz was cruising through five innings, having allowed just one run. But Yankees rookie Miguel Andujar connected for a two-run home run to tie the score at 3-3 in the sixth. Judge hit a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

In the rubber game of the series, Seth Lugo — making the start for a still-injured Noah Syndergaard, who was expected to come off the disabled lit to pitch in this game only to be scratched — was dominant. He allowed just two hits and struck out eight batters in six scoreless innings. Frazier, playing against his former team — he was a Yankee in 2017 — drilled a two-run home run that landed just over the wall in left-center field to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Robert Gsellman relieved Lugo in the seventh and pitched two scoreless innings. Anthony Swarzak, who surrendered the game-winning home run to Judge the night before, closed the door on the Yankees in the ninth to secure the Mets’ victory.

That the Mets were competitive in each game against the Yankees — who boasted the best record in baseball — has to be a positive sign for Mickey Callaway’s club. The team has been decimated by injuries, but things could be trending in a positive direction. Frazier has made an immediate impact upon returning from the DL, and if Noah Syndergaard and Yoenis Cespedes can do the same, there may be brighter days ahead in Queens.

Reach reporter Zach Gewelb by e-mail at zgewelb@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4539.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Mark Hallum

TimesLedger Newspapers

A package of 12 bills to bolster school safety in the city is gaining traction at the state level with a rally attended by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli on Bell Boulevard Monday.

The legislation, drafted by City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside), will establish a School Safety Task Force which would meet once a quarter. After deliberations, they would then pass on their recommendations, formed from the input of parents and staff, to the mayor’s office and the City Council speaker every year.

“What can we do to make sure that we provide the best environment, the best schools and the safest for our children?” Vallone asked. “What the parents deserve to know is that their school has been looked at from top to bottom. That [there is] access into and out of the school… do we have active cameras? Is there an intercom system?… all of that is within our power to do and that’s what’s going to be very different between us as a city and the rest of the country.”

Schools would file an emergency safety plan with their local precincts, implement shooter safety training to faculty, provide principals at the more than 1,700 schools in the city with the resources to prevent violence and provide surveillance systems to the 1,123 city schools that still lacking.

Vallone said principals should also be allowed to lock the doors of facilities.

“We’ve all been heartbroken by the tragedies we’ve seen across this great country and it calls out for a response,” DiNapoli said. “If we’re going to get any real traction on the issue of dealing with the school safety and gun violence and the impact it’s having in school settings, it’s going to be because of what the young people are calling for… We’re going to have a series of audits of the state [Dept. of Education] and [NYC DOE] to make sure the appropriate procedures are being followed.”

Compliance with a law passed in 2000 called the Save Act, which requires schools to have comprehensive safety plans for multiple situations, will be at the center of the comptroller’s audit.

Students from surrounding schools attended the rally along with teachers and parents and held signs that read “We need the School Safety Task Force,” and “Cameras for every school.”

Although $100 million has been included in the Department of Education’s five-year capital plan for the upkeep of surveillance systems, Vallone called for an additional $100 million for new equipment which was not adopted in the mayor’s executive budget scheduled for passage in the coming days.

City Council members Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria) and Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) signed onto the bills, calling for the task force to examine evacuation plans and emergency response protocols at city schools, according to Vallone’s office.

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 Mark Hallum

TimesLedger Newspapers

A plan from the mayor to phase out the use of the Specialized High School Admissions Test was announced to diversify the student population at the nine elite high schools across the city, where minorities make up only 9 percent of the student population.

But the plan, which would require passage in the state Legislature, did not gain traction with many members of the Legislature from Queens who said a better route would be more services that prepare students for the exam, among other reasons.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo told NY1 he would not support any legislation to eliminate the SHSAT, which is blind to race and gender as it tracks the highest scores.

“The idea we put forward is, of course, phase one with the Discovery Program to increase right away the number of kids who are disadvantaged who get in even with the current test system. But the real goal, and the thing we need legislation for, would be to change the entire system,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an interview Tuesday on New York 1. “Junk the test. Get rid of it. Go with a system based on grades and based on performance on something much more universal, which are the state exams that all kids take, every single kid takes, in math and in English. Combine those results to get a real composite of how a child has done,”

Phasing out the test over a three-year period would boost black and Latino acceptance to specialized high schools to 45 percent compared to the current 9 percent, according to de Blasio, and 62 percent of offers would go to female students as opposed to the current 44 percent.

State Assemblyman Edward Braunstein (D-Bayside) joined others lawmakers in Queens claiming it was too late in the session to “rush through” new proposals and that alternative efforts need to be taken to ensure equal representation in specialized high schools.

The bill, A10427A, is currently in the committee stage of the process.

“While more needs to be done to increase diversity in specialized high schools, that should begin with a more robust effort to provide students in underrepresented communities with the assistance they need to gain admission,” Braunstein said. “The Department of Education must increase efforts to educate families about the admission process to specialized high schools, as well as expand the availability of free or low-cost test prep classes. Additionally, the mayor’s proposal to limit the number of seats available at specialized high schools for private school students is arbitrary and unfair to thousands of taxpaying families in New York City.”

Braunstein’s GOP challenger in the upcoming election, David Bressler also came out in favor of not abolishing the SHSAT.

State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing) said the mayor’s proposal was not only offensive, but overlooked better options such as a bill she is co-sponsoring that would provide a sample of the SHSAT to students so they can learn where improvements need to be made before taking the test.

“To assume African-American and Latino students cannot pass the test is insulting to everyone and educationally unsound,” Stavisky said. “To suggest low-income students do not do well on the exam is just not true. Many Asian-American students come from families who live in poverty. The implication of the [Chancellor Richard Carranza’s] comments are that a percentage system is preferable. I disagree. There are better solutions to the lack of diversity in specialized high schools.”

State Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Flushing) said the majority of his constituents, primarily described as Asian-American of low-income status, claimed they do not feel included in the decision to eliminate the SHSAT and he would not be backing the bill to do so.

The city Department of Education released figures in March under the watch of former Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña claiming the number of students taking the SHSAT has risen over years prior due to engagement through DREAM Intensive, a free after-school program.

“As a lifelong educator, a man of color, and a parent of children of color, I’m proud to work with our mayor to foster true equity and excellence at our specialized high schools,” Carranza said Sunday. “With the partnership of the state Legislature, we’re going to live up to what our public schools and what New York City are truly about – opportunity for all. This is what’s right for our kids, our families, and our city.”

About 28,300 eighth graders took the SHSAT this year compared to the 27,900 in 2017, according to the Dept. of Education, and DREAM Intensive saw 670 students join their program, over 300 more than in the year prior.

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 Carlotta Mohamed

TimesLedger Newspapers

State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Flushing) and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Flushing) gave a tour on May 29 of John Bowne High School’s farm to Richard Ball, commissioner of the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Flushing-based John Bowne High School is the only school in New York City with a 3.8 acre-farm, and one of two schools in the city with a four-year agriculture program with about 600 students and eight teachers, according to Steve Perry, assistant principal of the Agriculture Department at Bowne.

“We were honored to have the commissioner of agriculture here along with the local senator and assemblywoman,” said Perry. “It reinforces the goals and objective of the program, sending a message to the students that what they do here is valued and supported.”

During World War I, men and women were recruited to work on farms upstate. Many of the young men asked to learn more about farming at the same time a reform school that had a farm in Queens was closing and in 1917 the Agriculture Program began, according to Perry. The program was initially known as the Newton Aggies, an annex to Newton High School, but the size of the farmland was reduced by the development of Queens College and John Bowne in 1964. Ever since then, the “John Bowne Aggies” have been growing strong.

Stavisky said she was proud to show the “fantastic program” that Perry, the faculty and students have created in Flushing, calling the Agriculture Program at John Bowne High School a “crown jewel in the state’s public education system.”

John Bowne High School has a four-acre land lab, poultry house, a large animal barn, exotic animal lab, greenhouse, orchard and field crops.

Recognized nationally as an outstanding urban agricultural education offering, the Agriculture Program at John Bowne includes classroom instruction and a hands-on learning experience for students. During their freshman and sophomore years, students take classes in both Plant and Animal Sciences and decide if they would like to major in the subject for junior and senior years, according to the Agriculture Department.

The Agriculture Department gives students the opportunity to work on both city and farm jobs for their second and third summers, offering three supervised agricultural experiences.

Students attend the two-month program from July 1 to Aug. 31 between their freshman and sophomore years, working at the school land lab where they tend to crops, work in the poultry house and green house, and spend the remainder of the day working in their garden plots.

The second oldest summer agriculture program at John Bowne works in partnership with the state Department of Labor Farm Cadet Program, where students are placed on numerous farms throughout the state. The students live with families and work on farms, recording their experiences and observations in a diary.

Lastly, urban internships give students the opportunity to work at veterinary hospitals, florist shops, nurseries, garden centers, pet shops, zoos and aquariums.

“The John Bowne Agricultural Program provides our students with a unique opportunity to get involved with agriculture—to work the land, care for animals, and harvest food,” Ball said. “The program, which has been recognized on a national level, is helping to ensure our future leaders in the agricultural community.”

John Bowne graduates have moved on to everywhere from agricultural and technical colleges to Cornell University, as well as many out-of-state institutions throughout the Northeast, according to Perry. Students have established leadership roles in agricultural professions as vets, landscape architects, teachers, florists, laboratory technicians and other related professions.

“The agriculture program at John Bowne High School has long been an unmatched source of learning and inspiration for our next generation of environmental leaders,” said Rozic. “It was wonderful to show Commissioner Ball the nationally recognized agriculture program right here in Queens.”

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

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By Carlotta Mohamed

TimesLedger Newspapers

Robert Torres is a Latin hip-hop artist who writes and raps positive music that inspires, uplifts, and motivates young people.

The 45-year-old South Jamaica artist, known as “Sabor Latino” in the Latin American community, is also an author. Torres released his third book titled, “125 Quotes Gathered From My Life Observations,” in May. Prior to publishing his recent book, Torres has penned and published two previous books: an autobiography titled “Sabor Latino: My Life” (2015); and “Sabor Latino: Mis Grandes Canciones y Poemas” (2017).

“I want readers to take away the importance of never giving up in life,” said Torres. “I want them to exercise their talents, be productive members of society, and for the youth to value education and their parents.”

At a young age, Torres loved listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Cornel West, and so many others who inspired him to write his own book of quotes last year in the fall. The project took about a year and a half to complete.

“125 Quotes Gathered From My Life Observations,” includes five chapters: “Believe in Yourself,” “Everyone Has a Story to Tell,” “Lead by Example,” “Start Creating Your Legacy Now,” and “Forgive The Ones Who Have Done You Wrong.”

Torres’ book stems from specific situations he has encountered in his personal life, which gave him the motivation to pursue his hopes and dreams. He credits writing and music as his savior that has allowed him to hone his craft and create a platform encouraging others, especially the Latin American youth, to become dedicated citizens and to lead by example in their communities.

“A teacher once said some cruel words to me about my Latino background, and I remember going home and crying about it,” said Torres. “As I was crying, I started to write a poem titled ‘I Am Special No Matter What.’ That day after writing the poem, I felt so much better, and that is when a new author was born on that night.”

In 2019, Torres will be releasing his fourth book, titled “My Alma Mater: Lehman College,”which will prepare students for challenges ahead in graduate school; and a fifth book titled “You Are a Beautiful and Special Person.”

While writing and creating music, Torres completed his master’s degree in education from Lehman College in January 2017. He now works as a preventive case planner for a children’s welfare agency at a New York City school.

His latest single slated for release “MI Padre” (My Father) is dedicated to his father, who was a fourth-grade teacher and is an inspiration to Torres and his brother.

“No matter where you came from you can be successful in life,” said Torres. “I’m from Jamaica, Queens, being a leader and exercising change in the world. I love giving back to the community, and I know I’ll be leaving behind a legacy with these books that will inspire others to believe in themselves and to also create positive change.”

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