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By Naeisha Rose

TimesLedger Newspapers

Queens Hospital Center is expecting over $1 million in state-of-the-art equipment from a capital projects request it made to Borough President Melinda Katz and members of the Queens City Council delegation. The hospital wants to use the money to better service its growing patient population and their needs.

Over 80 attendees went to a Legislative Breakfast that was held in Jamaica Hills at the hospital to learn about the $1.197 million capital projects request that will be split into the next fiscal year budget by the borough president and members of the Queens City Council delegation.

The first request was for Katz to allocate $1 million towards an upgraded mammography suite for the hospital’s cancer center that will incorporate a 3D Mammography unit, which is superior to the 2D unit and has better diagnostic accuracy, cancer detection and less false positive recall rates for women and especially women with dense breasts, according to NYC Health + Hospitals Queens.

A request was made to the Queens delegation to allocate $65,000 for ophthalmology equipment and $132,000 for urology equipment.

The ophthalmology wing of the hospital will receive a Zeiss IOL Master 700 with a camera and table, a device that will determine exact eye measurements upon cataract removal and intraocular lens installation, according tot the hospital. The IOL Master 700 can use a scanning laser to measure the eye in multiple dimensions, which has resulted in patient satisfaction, but the hospital’s current IOL machine is unusable.

The urology wing will be using the Lumenis Pulse 100H Holmium Laser, a device that is used to treat enlarged prostate glands with urologic stones that are either in the bladder or kidney, according to NYC Health. The laser breaks up the stones into smaller pieces for the patient to pass them, therefore eliminating the need for an extensive surgery.

The purpose of the three pieces of equipment is to provide more efficient care for the growing hospital, which is undergoing an expansion to an emergency room that has seen a 50 percent increase in patient volume.

The ER will be completed in the fall and will be expanded by 6,500 square feet to accommodate new exam rooms, isolation rooms, triage rooms and nurses stations.

At the breakfast, the hospital also announced that it would include an image-guided radiation therapy machine, which will be in by April. The IGRT precisely targets the radiation dose used to treat tumors in areas of the body that move, such as the lungs. Since it is non-surgical, patients are able to maintain their healthy tissue, unlike with traditional therapy.

This year’s breakfast was attended by City Council members Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) and Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest).

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

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By Mark Hallum

TimesLedger Newspapers

The city Department of Education announced all school activities will be called off Wednesday due to inclement weather.

After-school programs, adult education, YABC programs, and PSAL activities were included in the round-up of programs to be canceled for an incoming nor’easter, the third in the past three weeks.

Total snow accumulation is projected at 11 to 15 inches.

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 Gina Martinez

TimesLedger Newspapers

State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Flushing) and City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) have called for the continued expansion of Specialized High School Admissions Test preparation programs to help diversify the city’s specialized high schools.

The city Department of Education released data in March on citywide high school admissions, including specialized high schools. While nearly 400 more students took the SHSAT test this year, the number of offers to black and Latino students for seats in specialized schools was consistent with last year with just 527 black and Hispanic kids admitted compared to 524 last year. The report also revealed that only 4.1 percent of elite school offers went to black students and 6.3 percent to Hispanic kids, despite the fact that they make up almost 70 percent of the city’s student body.

In 2015 the Research Alliance for New York City schools issued a study which concluded that “admitting students on more varied measures would do little to address the lack of diversity in these schools, and could make the problem even worse”. Studies by the city comptroller and the Independent Budget Office came to a similar conclusion.

This year, DOE expanded outreach efforts to reach eligible participants in the DREAM program – a free after-school program that prepares students for the SHSAT. In 2017, 670 students participated in the DREAM program, more than double the participation in 2016.

The DOE also announced it will expand the SHSAT School Day initiative to 50 middle schools, up from 15 this admissions cycle. The program offers the test during the school day and last year, the exam resulted in an increase in the number of students testing at those schools by more than 50 percent.

At a news conference Friday Stavisky said she wants the city to make a bigger commitment to diversifying specialized schools.

“Diversity is our city’s greatest asset, but unfortunately that diversity is not reflected in our specialized high schools,” she said. “However, I strongly believe abolishing the SHSAT is not a solution. Since its inception, the test remains the most objective way in admitting students to specialized high schools, but we must ensure students have greater access to the tools needed to excel at this exam.”

Koo said the best way to make sure specialized high school admissions reflect the diversity of the city is by ensuring every family, no matter what race, color or financial status, has the opportunity to prepare their child for an advanced education.

“Many parents invest significant time and energy to make sure their kids make the grade for Specialized High Schools, and the city should do everything in its power to encourage every child to maximize their academic potential.” he said.

Stavisky also proposed expanding the Gifted & Talented test for students in pre-K through second grade.

“It is unfair, both to the child and the parent, that Gifted & Talented offerings vary from school district to school district,” she said. “This mandate would ensure any child with the potential to excel in advanced classes, has access to them. It shouldn’t matter if you live in South Jamaica or the Upper West Side. Every child has the right to an exceptional education.”

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 William Lewis

TimesLedger Newspapers

The New York State Conservative Party was formed in 1962 and it has had a significant impact on the political way things have been run across the state, with some success closer to Queens.

In New York City, especially in Queens County, the Conservative Party has done quite well.

Around 30 years ago, the Conservative Party helped to elect Republicans to the state Senate and the state Assembly.

It was a significant achievement that there were four or five Republicans elected to the state Assembly who had received Conservative Party endorsement. There were also several Republican state senators elected who were endorsed by the Conservative Party.

Today, the Conservative Party County Chairman is Thomas Long, brother of Michael Long, the state chairman of the Conservative Party.

In a recent interview with him that I had, he seemed optimistic that the Conservative Party would help elect candidates.

He is particularly interested in the two state Senate seats that were held by Frank Padavan (now by Tony Avella) and Serph Maltese (now by Joseph Addabbo).

He is hopeful of a major effort to get one or both of those seats in the Conservative Party column.

The Conservative Party also endorses conservative Democrats.

When it comes to candidates, Long wants to see which candidates emerge.

He believes that any candidate running for the state Senate must be able to put forth a significant amount of money to run for the seat.

He thinks that the major issues voters will care about are jobs, cutting taxes, and immigration reform.

Right now Queens has two members of the City Council from western Queens. Both of them — Eric Ulrich and Robert Holden — have Conservative Party endorsement.

However, as I indicated there was once a time that the Conservative Party endorsement meant a real chance toward election success.

Tom Long has been the county chairman since the early 1990s.

He contends that a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump for president will support Conservative Party candidates.

The procedure is that candidates go before the Conservative Party asking for endorsement.

Usually there is a hearing and members of the party’s County Executive Committee decide if the candidate will get Conservative Party endorsement.

Generally speaking, the Conservative Party has played a major role in New York politics.

Few Republican candidates can get elected without Conservative Party endorsement.

Rudy Giuliani was one of the exceptions who ran on the Republican line — when he ran for mayor — with Independent and Liberal support.

It is the hope of Tom Long and other members of his party that this year and 2020 will be the years when they can take back some of the seats that they lost in the state Senate, state Assembly and Congress.

We can see that a major political battle will take place this year and in 2020. It is going to be an interesting year as we go forth into the campaigns.

Tom Long will be leading his people with the hope of victory.

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By Bob Harris

TimesLedger Newspapers

Although many members of community boards in Queens spoke out against the proposed Select Bus Service, it was initiated anyway.

The plan required that curbside SBS bus lanes be installed and regular parking for shoppers be eliminated.

The result was that business at local shops alongside Cross Bay Boulevard now have bus lanes with no parking Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The solution the city just made is to eliminate the no parking on Saturdays. It is something, but not enough. How much business will stores lose from these restrictions?

There is also the problem that some shopping streets or stretches of shopping streets have a 24-hour, no parking lane.

This seems very silly. The whole idea of preventing people from parking on streets adjacent to stores is stupid.

The city is now giving tickets ranging from $115 up to $150 to people who drive in these SBS lanes, but the rules are so confusing that people will be ticketed unfairly. And if you drive and text you can receive a fine of $50.

The basic problem is that stores along SBS routes are losing business because customers can’t park opposite the stores. Parking for shoppers is the problem and the SBS lane takes away parking to speed up bus time on these streets.

The common sense answer is to stop this nonsense and put cameras on the regular buses so photos can be taken of cars in bus stops and double parked on the streets, as well as sending through traffic enforcement or regular police cars to give tickets and thus speed up regular buses. Then SBS lanes are not needed.

The city spends money on these lanes, but when lack of parking causes stores to lose money, it expects them to continue to pay all the fees and taxes it charges.

When the revenue at these stores drops, the city will probably investigate them because they are paying less taxes on revenue and salaries.

There has been talk of expanding the SBS lanes to other areas. Union Turnpike was mentioned.

There is a long stretch of stores and schools and houses of worship along the south side of Union Turnpike in Fresh Meadows which would be really affected by this foolish scheme. Other areas were also mentioned. Hopefully, the city realizes that this plan is a failure and drops it in other neighborhoods.

RAINWATER SHORTAGE?

The city has hired crews from all over Long Island to come and drill to determine what is beneath sidewalks to find out if they can build bioswales or rain gardens.

These are drainage areas, which will let rainwater go into the ground and not run off into sewers.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation determined that New York City is not putting enough rainwater into the ground.

Of course, this problem exists because the city has permitted too many people to cement over too much of our land, so enough water is not absorbed into the soil.

The bioswale is an area in front of a house or building which looks like a rock garden with some tall grass and a tree or two, with a little fence around it.

It is several feet deep, with special soil which can absorb rain. Instead of stopping people from cementing over their lawns and back yards, the city’s solution is that people can chose to cover the bioswale area with a type of regular looking grass-like material or a cement which absorbs the rain.

There are better ways of spending money.

GOOD AND BAD NEWS OF THE WEEK

It happened again. A gunman with an AR-15 walked into a school and killed 17 students and teachers in Florida.

Why?

Because he was mentally ill or angry and was able to buy an automatic rife with clips of 30 or 40 bullets. The good news is that the students are fighting back for their lives.

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