Congresswoman (D-Flushing) and U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) announced on Monday they are leading efforts to block a renewed attempt by Republicans to include a citizenship question on the Census.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pushed to add a question on the 2020 Census which would have asked respondents about their citizenship status. Meng and Hirono fought against the plan, and after the Supreme Court blocked it from moving forward, the Trump administration abandoned its crusade.

But now House Republicans have attached a measure to a key spending bill that would effectively require the Census Bureau to ask respondents about their citizenship status. In a letter they wrote to congressional leaders, Meng and Hirono urged that the provision be removed from this bill.

Meng and Hirono argue that a citizenship question will result in an undercount of immigrant communities out of fear that the information they provide will be used against them.

“The GOP hiding their efforts to add a citizenship question to the census in an appropriations bill is reckless and disgraceful,” said Meng, the House Appropriations Committee’s Vice Ranking Member. “This is another attack on our nation’s hard-working immigrants. This is not Republicans’ first attempt to silence immigrants. Adding a question about citizenship to the census would only create fear and reduce response rates in immigrant communities. As I said during our previous fight against the creation of a citizenship question, this decrease in response rates would produce an incomplete and therefore inaccurate count of the people living in the United States—the people who are valued workers, students, community leaders, our neighbors and our loved ones. This would impact the distribution of the billions of dollars in federal resources that are provided to schools, infrastructure projects, social services, and other crucial resources, as well as congressional representation in communities throughout the country—for a decade. Our constitution is clear: the census must count every person in our country. We don’t need a citizenship question; we need an accurate census count.”

“The Constitution requires every person to be counted for the U.S. Census and our country has never excluded undocumented individuals from the apportionment process,” Hirono said. “This process plays a key role in informing numerous important decisions for our communities, such as determining representation in Congress and allocating government resources. However, despite the Supreme Court blocking Trump’s efforts in the past, House Republicans are still trying to impose a citizenship question in the Census and attack vulnerable, underrepresented groups. I will continue to push back against any effort to exclude people—regardless of their citizenship or immigration status—from being counted in the U.S. Census.”

The lawmakers’ letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is signed by 48 other Senators and House members.

Republicans are pushing their renewed attempt for a citizenship question in the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act (H.R. 5893) which funds the departments of Commerce, Justice and other science-related programs.

The census is conducted by the federal government every 10 years. It seeks to count all people residing in the U.S., and the results determine the number of members of Congress representing each state and the amount of federal money that is provided to communities.

A third attempt by the City of New York to derail the case against the placement of migrant housing at Floyd Bennett Field has fallen flat, according to Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park).

The Honorable Justice Joseph J. Maltese rejected the city’s latest efforts in Brooklyn’s 2nd Division of the NYS Supreme Court, Appellate Division on October 25, writing that he has “declined to entertain” the city’s motion, as it was “not cognizable” under current legal code.

“This is the third failed attempt by the administration to prevent us from having our day in court,” Councilwoman Joann Ariola said. “The city’s lawyers are well aware that their case has no legal merit, which is why they have continuously sought to block us and avoid a hearing.”

“The defendants here know that they are wrong on the law,” said plaintiffs’ attorney John Ciampoli. “They don’t want the judge to make a ruling on this case. They will do anything to stop that from happening.”

Photo Courtesy of Councilwoman Ariola
According to the administration’s plan, privacy dividers with locks will be installed to provide approximately 500 families with children a place to stay.

“As I have said from the beginning, justice will prevail,” Assemblywoman Jaime Williams said. “Floyd Bennett Field is not an appropriate venue for a migrant shelter, and on November 3rd we will demonstrate this to the court.”

Last week, a federal judge ruled that Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul failed to show that there was a federal question in the complaints that the plaintiffs.

The City recently announced that Floyd Bennett Field will open in the coming weeks to serve families with children seeking asylum in a semi-congregate setting. Privacy dividers with locks will be installed to provide approximately 500 families—instead of single men, which the City had previously announced—with children a place to stay.

Mayor Eric Adams and City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez on Tuesday launched a comprehensive effort to reimagine the city’s curb space—deploying tools and strategies to make the city cleaner, greener, and healthier, Adams said.

With the explosion in home deliveries and growing range of transportation modes on city streets, curb space has become increasingly sought after, competitive, and chaotic. The “Curb Management Action Plan” includes 10 concrete steps to better design and manage the curb lane to reflect the increasingly wide range of needs of residents, workers, visitors, business owners, and all New Yorkers.

Highlights of the action plan include:

“Smart Curbs” Pilot: Working with business improvement districts (BIDs) and other community partners, DOT will select neighborhoods in which to reimagine curb space from scratch. In pilot neighborhoods, DOT will evaluate current curb regulations, identify community needs at the curb, and test new uses and technologies that make access easier – mitigating traffic congestion and double parking.

Curb uses may include:

• Microhubs and loading zones, providing dedicated space for commercial vehicles to reduce double parking;
• Public space improvements, including street furniture, plantings, pop-up markets, community art, delivery worker relief stations, and waste containerization; and
• Expanded bike parking and corrals, in accordance with delivery worker needs.

Prioritizing Curb Uses to Meet Neighborhood Needs: Effective curb management requires prioritizing curb functions that reflect local context. DOT will develop and publish a curb management hierarchy to inform the public and aid planning decisions. The guide will help prioritize curb usage across the city based on street or neighborhood styles, consistent with the city’s transportation goals and needs.

Make Home and Business Deliveries Safer, Sustainable, and More Efficient: In response to the tremendous growth of e-commerce, DOT is identifying ways to address freight-related safety, congestion, pollution, and quality-of-life concerns through smarter curb management. Strategies include incentivizing off-hour deliveries, establishing dedicated loading zones, and creating microhubs where goods can be transferred from larger freight vehicles to smaller low- or no-emissions vehicles.

Pilot the East Coast’s First Low-Emission Zone: DOT will examine ways to require and/or incentivize the use of low- and zero-emission trucks through the creation of low-emission zones in areas with the highest concentration of truck traffic and the worst public health outcomes. A pilot program for one or more locations will be implemented in a community disproportionately impacted by climate change.

Designate Curb Space to Make Passenger Pickups and Drop-Offs Easier: The surge in for-hire vehicle trips has created additional competition for curb space, often resulting in parking regulation violations like improperly occupying taxi stands, double parking, and unsafe pickups and drop-offs. To delineate existing space more clearly, DOT will establish dedicated pickup/drop-off zones for for-hire vehicles in high-volume locations.

Provide Space for Outdoor Dining, Waste Containerization, Street Furniture, and Other Public Realm Improvements: DOT will expand use of the curb lane for sidewalk widenings, curb extensions, bus boarding platforms, plantings, public art, and the Street Seats program, which creates small-scale public spaces adjacent to the sidewalk. DOT will allocate curb space to support implementation of “Dining Out NYC” – the nation’s largest outdoor dining program – and the New York City Department of Sanitation’s ongoing efforts to containerize waste to improve pedestrian travel and mitigate rodents. Working with the New York City Housing Authority, DOT will also provide curb space for the “Clean Curbs for Al” pilot to use large, on-site waste containers at public housing developments, including in the curb lane.

By Michael V. Cusenza

In the early morning hours of Feb. 26, 1988, Eddie Byrne gave up everything for this borough, this city, this country. That Friday, Eddie Byrne made the kind of once-every-millennium sacrifice that you might only have read about in comic books.

That sacrifice certainly changed Gotham City.

Byrne, a rookie City cop just seven months out of the academy and assigned to the 103rd Precinct, was summarily executed on Feb. 26, 1988, as he sat in his marked radio motor patrol car at 107th Avenue and Inwood Street in Jamaica, guarding the home of a critical witness in a major drug case.

The four killers that were convicted of the assassination—Philip Copeland, Todd Scott, Scott Cobb, and David McClary—were members of a drug gang that had been instructed to kill a police officer. At approximately 3:30 a.m., one of the men knocked on the passenger-side window of Byrne’s car to distract him as a second man opened fire just outside the driver’s side window. Byrne was shot five times in the head.

Byrne, a rookie just seven months out of the Police Academy and assigned to the 103rd Precinct, was killed guarding a critical witness in a major Jamaica drug case. Photo Courtesy of NYPD

He was 22 years old.

Copeland, Scott, Cobb, and McClary were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Each has been denied parole at their hearings.

On Monday, Feb. 26, 2018, a grateful city gathered at that infamous Jamaica intersection to mark the 30th anniversary of Eddie Byrne’s sacrifice.

“That was the beginning. That was a wakeup call for this whole city that it was time. It was time to no longer accept the violence that was so prevalent in New York City back in the ’70s and the ’80s,” recalled City Police Commissioner Jim O’Neill. “That wasn’t the high water mark though. In 1990 there were 2,245 homicides, but that was the beginning and we continued each and every year after that to make sure that the people who take this job understand why they take it. They take it to make a difference and to do good, and to make life better for the 8.5 million people in this great city. And they continue to do it each and every day.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio characterized Byrne’s death as not just simply a tipping point, but the spark of a revolution.

“In every tragedy we look for something we can cling onto and the case of the loss of Eddie is something very, very meaningful. He did not die in vain by any stretch of the imagination. There was anger, there was revulsion at the death of this good, young man,” he said. “It was not something this city ignored. It galvanized people, created one of those moments where people said enough is enough. The city came together and with the NYPD, the people of this city said we will not accept a situation where a young man like this is taken from us and we will not accept lawlessness. The NYPD, working with partners in every community block by block over years proceeded to take back this city. Many believe it began that day. I think a way to think about it is this: Eddie Byrne’s life may have ended but his tour of duty never did.”

As the publisher of this newspaper, I have, on multiple occasions, written or assigned stories on the City’s eatery grading procedures and the Health Department’s actions regarding the regulation of restaurants.

In February, I opened Nana’s Breakfast Nook with my partner, Mr. Joseph DeCandia, who also owns Lenny’s Clam Bar, a virtual institution on Cross Bay Boulevard. Since embarking on this business venture, I see things from an entirely different perspective–– that of a restaurant owner.

When I received a letter this week from Bruno Rinaldi, owner of Bruno Ristorante, I was reminded of the unique challenges that owning a restaurant presents – especially those that arise from the regular Health Department inspections.

Mr. Rinaldi’s letter, which can be seen in its entirety on Page 8 as a Letter to the Editor, is addressed to Health Commissioner Mary Bassett, M.D., and calls on her to drastically change her agency’s restaurant control procedures.

We stand in support of many of the issues that Mr. Rinaldi raises and join him in calling for these reforms. Not only for the obvious reasons, but because changes such as those suggested would really reinforce the true benefits that the letter-grading system could have if the grades represented what the public presumes they do.

Every restaurant owner goes to sleep at night either trying to figure how to get or to keep the elusive A in their window, but the bottom line is the achievement shouldn’t require anything more than following rules which mandate operating at the highest possible level. But the fact of the matter is that a restaurant can fail an inspection for things that have absolutely nothing to do with public safety and health.

A radical change to department procedures and personnel is required if the public is ever to see the true benefits of this type of regulation.

Mr. Rinaldi points to the fact that many inspectors simply aren’t qualified to perform inspections of restaurants where the cuisine requires intimate food knowledge. A perfect example is cheese: All cheese is not created equal. Why should a restaurant owner who pays upwards of $29 per pound for imported Parmigiano-Reggiano be forced to pack it in ice in front of an inspector just to avoid a violation,only to then be forced to throw it away because the last thing that should ever go near this precious wheel is ice. Inspectors need to be trained properly and should not be permitted to come crashing into someone’s business at the height of busy and make arbitrary, subjective decisions. One of the greatest plagues on the food-service industry, any restaurant owner will tell you, is the disparity among individual inspectors. Finding two in agreement is less likely than locating the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Mr. Rinaldi’s suggestions are a testament to more than 50 years’ of experience in the business and merit the attention of all restaurant owners. Now is the time for this powerful industry to band together and call for necessary, common-sense reforms.

Perhaps it’s time for owners to refuse to allow inspectors on premises until we are sure that the person who walks through the door toting that clipboard knows what they’re doing.

By Forum Staff

The Assembly this week approved the New York State Abandoned Property Relief Act of 2016, designed to combat “zombie” properties through foreclosure protections and a new state-wide registry.

With zombie properties, according to the legal guidance network Nolo, the homeowner moves out after foreclosure has been started, but for some reason the foreclosure is cancelled, the sale is never held, or title is never officially transferred to a new owner. As a result, title remains in the homeowner’s name.

Often, zombie foreclosures occur in low-income areas where the lender is not anxious to assume responsibility for the upkeep of the property and wants to save on taxes, as well as other costs. If squatters occupy the residence or it falls into severe disrepair, the bank may simply wash its hands of the property.

Developed in conjunction with the office of State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the Abandoned Property Relief Act aims to facilitate early detection and maintenance of vacant and abandoned residential properties, as well as:

Expand the existing duty of a mortgagee to maintain vacant residential real property to include “pre-foreclosure” vacant properties; require periodic inspections to determine whether properties secured by a delinquent mortgage have actually been abandoned; allow localities and the attorney general to enforce the maintenance of property requirements; and create a statewide registry for abandoned residential property under the supervision of the state AG and a toll-free hotline for community residents to report the presence of such properties.

“Zombie properties are a plague on our community that drives down property values, threatens public health and undermines the character of our neighborhoods,” Goldfeder said. “For families still struggling to recover from [Superstorm] Sandy, they are also a constant, painful reminder of everything we lost in the disaster. When it becomes law, the abandoned property relief act will finally give communities the tools to fight these zombie properties and give families some much-needed relief.”

The growth of vacant zombie properties has affected many New York communities in recent years. Last year, the Attorney General’s office estimated that there were as many as 16,700 homes in foreclosure across the state. This problem has been compounded by the devastation of Sandy, which left many homes abandoned and unmaintained in the months and years after the storm.

“Here in southern Queens and Rockaway, we pride ourselves on the character of our neighborhoods. Fighting these abandoned properties will help us fully recover from Sandy and make our communities even stronger,” Goldfeder said. “I urge the Senate to act as soon as possible to make this legislation a reality for our families.”

By Michael V. Cusenza

Prior to 2012, June 1, for most city residents, was just another date on the calendar.

That was, however, life before Superstorm Sandy – before Mother Nature tore a hole in parts of the Big Apple, including southern Queens and Rockaway, forever altering the everyday for some and creating a new normal in which the first day of June is the first day of Atlantic hurricane season, not simply another box on a calendar.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week issued its 2016 hurricane season (June 1 – Nov. 30) forecast. The term will most likely be “near-normal,” according to the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, but forecast uncertainty in the climate signals that influence the formation of Atlantic storms make predicting this season particularly difficult, the agency added.

“This is a more challenging hurricane season outlook than most because it’s difficult to determine whether there will be reinforcing or competing climate influences on tropical storm development,” said Dr. Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the Climate Prediction Center. “However, a near-normal prediction for this season suggests we could see more hurricane activity than we’ve seen in the last three years, which were below normal.”

NOAA predicts a 70 percent likelihood of 10 to 16 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which four to eight could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including one to four major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of 111 mph or higher). While a near-normal season is most likely with a 45 percent chance, according to the NOAA, there is also a 30 percent chance of an above-normal season and a 25 percent chance of a below-normal season. Included in the 2016 outlook is Hurricane Alex, a pre-season storm that formed over the far eastern Atlantic in January.

Additionally, Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA administrator, called 2016 “a banner year” for NOAA and the National Weather Service.

“As our Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program turns five, we’re on target with our five-year goal to improve track and intensity forecasts by 20 percent each,” she said. “Building on a successful supercomputer upgrade in January, we’re adding unprecedented new capabilities to our hurricane forecast models — investing in science and technology infusion to bring more accuracy to hurricane forecasts in 2016.”

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

By Michael V. Cusenza

If government malfeasance, rampant and blatant violations of the public trust, or greed at the expense of the downtrodden make you want to put your fist through water-logged sheetrock, then stay away from the Frontline/National Public Radio special report “The Business of Disaster.”

The piece, which debuted on Tuesday night, takes a look at what happens when the wind and rain die down and it’s time to assess the damage. Specifically, reporter Laura Sullivan examines the aftermath of Mother Nature’s malevolent 2012 masterpiece Superstorm Sandy, and who stands to actually gain from another’s loss.

“My instructions to federal agencies: Cut through the red tape and bureaucracy,” President Barack Obama said shortly after the storm eviscerated parts of the city, including many south Queens communities. “Get the resources to the people that need it.”

About that “red tape and bureaucracy,” Mr. President…

“I should be at home in my house and part of my community, and instead I’m out here doing this,” said a visibly frustrated Doug Quinn, whose Toms River, N.J., home was destroyed by Sandy.

Quinn’s story is alarmingly not unique. His $250,000 flood insurance policy only paid out $90,000 – not remotely close to what he needed to rebuild his house and life.

“My back was against the wall, because I knew something was wrong,” Quinn said.

So he hired an attorney.

The report goes on to rehash the fraudulent scheme made public by whistle-blowing building engineers. Private engineering companies purposefully altered reports so as to not fully reflect the true impact and damage caused by Sandy to New Yorkers’ homes, which led to the unjust denial or underpayment of flood insurance claims. Hundreds of flood-damage reports were allegedly falsified, and both engineering firms and insurance companies were placed under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General and State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for possible criminal conduct.

“I never saw anything worse in my entire life,” said John Houghtaling, a New Orleans attorney who previously fought the Federal Emergency Management Agency and insurance companies after Hurricane Katrina – and won (and won, and won, and won…) “They’re making up fake facts to come up with exclusions.”

As a result, federal officials announced that FEMA had agreed to reopen and review every flood insurance claim—approximately 144,000—filed by Sandy victims.

FEMA takes a beating in “The Business of Disaster.” But the agency is not alone. Insurance companies, represented here by a single spokesman, spend a prolonged period of time in the barrel during the one-hour report.

Sullivan said she pored over documents trying to figure out just how much money insurance companies clocked after Sandy, as, strangely, none of them wished to divulge their profit margin. She believes that altogether they made more than $400 million.

“They can’t begin to fathom the amount of financial wreckage they’ve created for average people,” said Quinn, who was able to get his claim reviewed – but legal fees ate up most of the adjusted payout. “It makes me angry to see these people profiting unfairly off other people’s misery. We’re average, middle-class people…and we’re in ruins.”

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

By Michael V. Cusenza

Each year, this weekend, the last of May, signals the unofficial start of the summer season. Perhaps more importantly, it annually offers the communities of the World’s Borough the opportunity to thank the men and women of the Armed Forces and celebrate the lives of those who made the Ultimate Sacrifice in service to the United States.

On Thursday, May 26, at 11 a.m., Queens Borough President Melinda Katz will host the Memorial Day Observance Ceremony in the Veterans Memorial Garden at Borough Hall. The event will include reflections on the Vietnam War by John Rowan, a Middle Village resident and national president of Vietnam Veterans of America. Also, Katz will also present Citations of Honor to Lt. Col. John W. Peterkin, U.S. Army (Ret.) (veteran of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War); Senior Airman Ryan Graham, U.S. Air Force (veteran of the Iraq War); and the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 32.

Later on Thursday, at 7:30 p.m., the Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation is sponsoring the Small Town Memorial Service at Forest Park Plaza (Forest Parkway and Jamaica Avenue).

On Monday, May 30, at 10 a.m., the American Legion will host their annual Memorial Day services in front of Post 118 on 91st Street and 89th Avenue in Woodhaven.

And on Monday, at 11 a.m., the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2565 will lead Howard Beach’s annual Memorial Day ceremony and parade, beginning in Coleman Square.

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

By Michael V. Cusenza

The City’s Superstorm Sandy employment initiative will be making additional free pre-apprenticeship training opportunities available to low- and middle-income residents of Sandy-impacted areas, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week.

For the first time, select Sandy Recovery Workforce1 pre-apprenticeship training programs will host certain classes in these Sandy-impacted communities, de Blasio noted last Friday.

“Since the beginning, we have been committed not just to our recovery, but to providing opportunities to New Yorkers in our hardest-hit neighborhoods,” he added. “Build it Back has thus far connected 680 Sandy-impacted New Yorkers to high-quality employment, including many to the construction trades through union pre-apprenticeship vouchers. We are now increasing our capacity so that more Sandy-impacted New Yorkers can access these life changing opportunities.”

De Blasio launched Sandy Recovery Workforce1 in 2014 as part of an overhaul of the City’s Build it Back program and larger reconstruction effort. The program is part of the broader mission of the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations to connect Sandy-impacted residents with careers in the unionized construction industry and jobs related to the recovery and rebuilding of these communities. According to the administration, residents from the affected communities have been hired through Workforce1 and Build it Back for jobs such as construction managers, procurement managers, residential construction inspectors, administrative assistants, and customer service representatives.

Through the Sandy Recovery Hiring Plan, the de Blasio administration has urged recovery construction managers to hire locally. They have been encouraged to work with community groups and job-training programs to identify candidates for construction-related work.

As a result of collaboration between the City, the NYC Building and Construction Trades Council and pre-apprenticeship training providers, New Yorkers will be able to enroll in designated classes, de Blasio said.

The pre-apprenticeship offerings include: a class in May which will have its first week hosted in the Rockaway Workforce1 Career Center on Rockaway Beach Boulevard, run by The Edward J. Malloy Initiative for Construction Skills; a class in June run by NYC District Council of Carpenters Building Works open to Sandy-impacted communities; and a class in July for women in Sandy-impacted communities run by Nontraditional Employment for Women.

Additionally, HRO indicated that Sandy Recovery Workforce1 will continue its partnership with New York City Helmets to Hardhats, which serves as a direct entry pathway into construction unions for veterans. Each provider has State Department of Labor-approved direct entry agreements with DOL-registered and City Building and Construction Trade Council-affiliated apprenticeship programs.

All pre-apprenticeship vouchers are funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program. To date, according to the administration, 84 vouchers have been distributed and 66 people have graduated from the programs using our vouchers, preparing them for union work as roofers, metal lathers, painters, laborers, and carpenters.

Residents in Sandy-impacted ZIP codes interested in taking advantage of the pre-apprenticeship opportunities should visit their nearest Sandy Recovery Workforce1 office at sandyrecoveryopportunities.com. Sandy-impacted Queens ZIP codes are: 11102, 11414, 11420, 11422, 11433, 11434, 11691, 11692, 11693, 11694, and 11697.

By Eugénie Bisulco

“The ending of this movie would be me winning the Golden Gloves and putting them around my brother’s neck,” said Michael Gonzalez, 29, of Woodhaven.

He’s been fighting – literally and figuratively – since he found himself in the hospital a few years ago, suffering from everything from bronchitis to diabetes. At 350 pounds, Gonzalez’s body was in trauma mode. He struggled with sleep apnea and asthma. A Russian doctor asked plainly, “Why are you so fat?” and warned him that he was destined to die if he continued along his current path.

Michael Gonzalez (l.) with his two brothers before his nearly 200-pound weight loss. Courtesy of Michael Gonzalez

“We were just slobs,” Gonzalez said of himself and his brother Danny, now a professional boxer with a record of 10-0.

It was the example set by Danny, who is younger, along with the haunting words of the Russian physician, that finally inspired Gonzalez to make some long-overdue changes. Having signed up for a gastric bypass, he was regimented to drinking only shakes for a month. Doing so caused him to lose 30 pounds, and thinking “I can do this,” he cancelled the impending surgery. Danny, then 17 and 220 pounds himself, made his brother get out and go running with him on a horse trail in Forest Park.

“Without him, I’m not sure where I’d be,” Gonzalez remarked solemnly. “But I definitely didn’t want to get left behind and lost in the park.”

The Golden Gloves – the ultimate award for amateur fighters, who make no money for their matches, and a starting point for many of the great champion professionals — dangled like carrots at a finish line that kept getting closer and closer while still seeming impossibly far away. Danny had spoken to a nutritionist and developed a diet and routine which he then shared with his brother. In the first year of his newfound strength and resilience, Gonzalez lost a whopping 150 pounds – a welterweight fighter’s worth in and of itself.  In the last four, he gradually and healthfully lost nearly 50 more, and his current fighting weight is 152.  His progress as a pugilist is also remarkable:  his record is 12-2.  The competition and the requirements have gotten steeper, as, among other differences, after an amateur’s first 10 fights, the rounds get lengthened from two minutes to three.

When Gonzalez isn’t competing or with his close-knit family, you can find him at Universal Boxing Gym in Ozone Park, training a number of other fighters as well as himself. Sitting atop a stool surrounded by boxing memorabilia, a lot of which celebrates his brother’s success, Gonzalez seemed undaunted by a recent loss in the ring – even more determined, in fact, to pursue the Gloves. That same resolve flamed his decision to get his youngest brother Steven, 19, on a track toward losing weight.  Now 159 pounds, Steven started at 200 before Michael began preparing his meals.

“He’s a grown man, but I want to do it for him, like Danny did for me.”

Gonzalez next fights on June 25 at Danbury War Memorial, just a hop, skip and left hook away in Connecticut. For more information regarding the event, or about amateur training opportunities in the area, contact Coach Moises Roman, Jr. at Universal Boxing.

eugenie@theforumnewsgroup.com

By Eugénie Bisulco

Leda Meredith knows how to find a good meal. No, she’s not a restaurant critic or a food blogger or a travel writer. First and foremost, she’s a forager.

What does it mean to forage, especially in the middle of a city as city-like as New York? Not to be confused with dumpster diving for packaged or commercial food products, urban foraging is all about finding what’s living near or in parks, abandoned lots, yards, or even public beaches — and taking it.

That’s not to say that foragers pillage nature. In fact, they do it a great service, because many edible plants are considered invasives; that is, if left unchecked, they will simply take over, possibly doing harm to native species.

Leda Meredith’s newest book, The Forager’s Feast, came out last week. She calls herself “a lifelong forager,” though she was once a professional ballet and modern dancer.

Meredith was a success as a professional dancer before she found a career in foraging. She earned a certificate in Ethnobotany from the New York Botanical Garden and now teaches, creates recipes, and writes about her foraging finds. Her latest book, The Forager’s Feast, was made available last week on Amazon.

Before we’d even entered Forest Park, she had spotted two or three edibles. The first was the ever-present dandelion, which in this time in early spring is fine raw in salads, adding a mild bitterness that complements sweeter greens. Meredith whipped out a pocketknife and demonstrated a quick-harvest method: slicing through the root just under the dirt. While the leaves are young and there are not as yet open flowers, the whole plant and its root, which Meredith fondly refers to as “yard squid,” can be battered with light tempura or put in a stir fry.

Two minutes later, we’d spotted dock, field garlic, mugwort, and garlic mustard, all prime for picking.  Garlic mustard is better than store-bought mustard or kale greens, especially at this young stage, and can be harvested year-round. In a few weeks the flower buds that sprout from it (think broccoli rabe) can be plucked and sautéed. The roots, small and stringy, can be finely chopped and used in the same way that horseradish is used. Conveniently, the root lifts slightly out of the ground like a handle, so simply hoist it and the whole thing will come out. But if sustainability is normally a concern, in this case it shouldn’t be; the Parks Department regularly requests volunteers to remove such “weeds.” If you don’t feel like traipsing through a park, you’ll probably find many growing in your own backyard.

Meredith also pointed out several plants that would yield harvestable parts later in the season.

Expert foragers encourage mapping out parks and coming back for future harvests. Seen here is the unmistakable “orangutan fur” of wineberry brambles growing with abandon in Forest Park. The fruit will be ready to pick in July.

“When I teach kids, I divide them into three categories: gatherers, mapmakers, and calendar makers, and we plan when and where to come back. They learn that you don’t just walk into the wilderness to find food.” Rather, you mark the wineberry bushes along the path and return in July, when their orangey-red fruit (similar to raspberries and blackberries) will be ripe. Or you find elderberry bushes, whose flowers are harvestable in June and fruit (good for wine) can be plucked in August.

The crude paths were nearly overwhelmed by Multiflora Rose bushes still carrying tiny rosehips (high in vitamin C) from last season. With the plethora of plants there, it wouldn’t take long to gather enough to make delicious tea. One whole patch had been blackened by fire (probably a controlled burn, managed by Parks, in order to take out the invasive species), but nature always wins this battle, and small leaves at the base of the dead brambles were beginning to poke out.

Weather damage was also evident, as those plants sparked to burgeon by warmer temperatures had indeed emerged and then nearly died.  Meredith excitedly harvested a couple of Japanese knotweed stalks, which can be made savory or sweet much like rhubarb, but noted they’d been badly thwarted by the recent freezes. No matter, she said. They’d bounce back in a few weeks.

As our tour of just one tiny part of Forest Park (just south of the bandshell) drew to a close, we counted our haul – nine plants in total harvestable today and four to come back for later. In addition to the aforementioned plants, we’d found huge acorns past their prime, flowering crabapple, honeysuckle yet to bloom – as any kid knows, the flowers are tasty – pine trees, the “marginally edible” lesser celandine (which must be cooked), and daylilies. Most are described in detail, with photographs and preparation suggestions, in Meredith’s extensive Northeast Foraging, published in 2014.

A sauté of tender garlic mustard greens, field garlic, and a few dandelion plants thrown in for good measure all made for a delicious, free, and fully sustainable meal.

We were putting the crate of mustard greens in the car when Meredith took off across the parking lot.

“I think those are Juneberries over there!” she exclaimed with fervor, sounding like a tried-and-true forager.

eugenie@theforumnewsgroup.com

Whether you’re Irish, Catholic, both, or even just like the color green, we at The Forum want to wish you a very happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day.

But we won’t wish you the luck of the Irish, as that has some derogatory origins. According to historical sources, it was a term invented by Americans after noting that Irish were doing particularly well during the Gold Rush – and they used it to imply that it was sheer luck, as opposed to brains or skill, that those miners had been successful. Others believe that the phrase isn’t actually about luck but rather about fortune, referring to the series of bad or unfortunate events in Irish history and, sometimes more positively, to the ability of Irish people as a whole to bounce back after those crises. It’s not uncommon for “the luck of the Irish” to be said sadly or sarcastically, with a rueful shake of the head.

Indeed, even the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, in Irish folklore from the early 1600’s, is managed by a “mischievous” leprechaun who might not necessarily have your best interests in mind when you try your luck at cashing in that gold.

Not to be confused with “lucky” four-leafed clovers, the shamrock, with its distinct three leaves, has religious significance, particularly for Irish Catholics, because it was said that Saint Patrick chose the plant as a teaching tool: the three leaves symbolized the Holy Trinity. But maybe that meaning, in and of itself, conveys its own share of luck. Shamrocks and green ribbons have been associated with St. Patrick’s Day since the mid-seventeenth century.

Celebrated in our country since the 18^th century, while not a legal holiday, St. Patrick’s Day is certainly a beloved, widely-recognized, and often commercialized one. In addition, it’s one of the deadliest days for drunk driving, probably because of our collective tendency to over-celebrate on nearly every occasion that calls for even mild celebration.

And in New York City, a recent law enforcement initiative (which went into effect just one week ago) sponsored by the Manhattan DA’s office, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, makes it less likely that those over-celebrations will lead to arrest. The idea is that police officers will be freed up to arrest for the more egregious offenses, leaving infractions such as public urination and public consumption of alcohol punishable by summonses instead. This is predicted to keep approximately 10,000 New Yorkers from being arrested annually. We are, we admit, a little curious (and concerned) about what percentage of that number would have been for public urination, before this initiative came about.

So, does this give us the “green light” (no pun intended) to go out this week and get a little goofy? (Public urination? Really?) Not so fast. On St. Patrick’s Day, as with New Year’s Eve and SantaCon, alcohol will be banned on the LIRR as well as upstate Metro-North trains. Bar carts at Grand Central and Penn Station will also be closed. It’s not to say that violators of this regulation will be arrested, but they will have the offending substance taken out of their possession. So whatever you do, don’t bring your Jameson Reserve on board, or the MTA might be celebrating on your behalf.

Above all else, please be safe – and consider the safety of others – as you mark this special day. May you find your own pots of gold, whatever they may be.

By Michael V. Cusenza

You can hear the smile in James Fey’s voice.

The City Police Department captain is recalling his first few tours on the job, and it sounds as if a sly smirk is emerging as he (doesn’t exactly) reminisce about pounding the unforgiving Bronx pavement, plying his patrol trade on an isolated footpost in a world capital that, in July 1989, is more animal factory than a sprawling metropolis in which lucrative, legal opportunities are picked from trees.

Nineteen hundred homicides will do that.

But Fey, the newly minted commanding officer of the 106^th Precinct, is thinking about the only time he second-guessed his decision to answer the call, to don the blue.

Parkchester in the summer will do that.

“It was a little daunting – the radio was very busy,” Fey said, seated comfortably on Tuesday in his Ozone Park stationhouse. “It was the fear of the unknown, more than anything else.”

Fey learned to harness that fear 10 months later, shortly after arriving at the 13^th Precinct.

“That’s where I really came into my own,” he said of the Gramercy Park command. “I was really comfortable doing what I was doing.”

That comfort helped to shape a confidence that would permeate most aspects of his life. It sparked a singular drive to take NYPD exams and earn promotions; to satiate his curiosity and earn an education – be it a certificate in street knowledge from the Gotham School of Hard Knocks;  or degrees from Nassau Community College, St. John’s University, Marist College, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“I believe in growing as an individual,” Fey said. “I think if you hit a plateau, it’s necessary that you create new goals. You get better as you go along, through experience.”

His 27 years with the Finest have also taught Fey a valuable life lesson.

“No one can do it alone,” he posited. “You really need a good team.”

The married father of three young boys said it’s a mindset that can be applied at work and at home; and one that he told The Forum he has brought with him from the 103^rd Precinct, his most recent assignment as the Jamaica command’s executive officer.

“My biggest thing would be working well as a team,” Fey said. “And you’ve got to listen to your community.”

He embarked on a listening tour of the 106 as soon as he settled into his new office.

“It’s a very vibrant community – high energy,” Fey noted, later adding that he was “astounded” by the level of civic engagement in the precinct’s neighborhoods.

It all comes back to public service for Fey.

“I can’t picture myself doing anything else,” he said.

There’s that smile again.

Walking that Bronx footpost feels different now.

Twenty-seven years protecting and serving will do that.

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

By Michael V. Cusenza

It’s a sun-splashed Sunday morning on Cross Bay; the boulevard a shell of its work-week self – more cars than clouds, the cerulean ceiling coaxing Howard Beach up and at ‘em.

And judging from the turnout and day’s reservation ledger at Nana’s Breakfast Nook, the nascent niche eatery that seems to have quickly caught the attention of all kinds of fans of the most important meal—weekend waffle warriors to poached egg enthusiasts, and everyone in between—on the ground, it’s the food that has coaxed the community into a restaurant that opened its doors two weeks ago.

Nana’s is a joint venture of two of Howard Beach’s most recognizable and respected names: Patricia Adams, publisher of The Forum, the neighborhood’s newspaper of record; and Joe DeCandia, Jr., owner and operator of boulevard anchors Lenny’s Clam Bar and Roma View Catering.

“It was a combination of things,” noted DeCandia when asked ‘Why Nana’s? Why now?’ “The area needed something different; high-end breakfast restaurants are a new, up-and-coming trend; we had the space, the kitchen—it was a no-brainer.”

Adams said the Nana’s seed sprouted in her mind a couple of years ago. It came down to recruiting the right co-star and finding a proper home.

“I floated the concept to [Joe],” she recalled. “And I knew that he had recently bought the property next-door to Lenny’s. It felt as if the pieces were falling into place one by one.”

DeCandia has more than 40 years of experience in the restaurant industry – a fickle, rough-and-tumble beast on its best days. However, having grown up in his father’s eateries, he seems to have seen it all; and the continued popularity of Lenny’s and Roma View is testament.

“[Pat] explained it to me, but I’ve got to admit I was a little hesitant in the beginning,” DeCandia related. To assuage his uncertainty, Adams took DeCandia on a tour of sorts, sampling the fare at niche spots from Brooklyn to Manhattan and even New Jersey.

“I liked it, and thought it could do well in the area,” he said, a smile slowly unfolding to life. “There are very few places doing quality breakfast. We’re one of them.”

Quality starts with ingredients and the menu, Adams said. So she worked on the nook’s book for months, and what emerged is a food list that is as unique as it is enticing, boasting monikers like “Eve Would Have Chosen This over the Apple” (prime ruby grapefruit rubbed in fresh ginger, crusted in dark Turbinado sugar and caramelized under flame); and “Will the Real French Toast Please Stand Up?” (sliced brioche soaked in our own egg custard and oven finished with bourbon vanilla; served with honeycomb butter and 100 percent maple or confectioners sugar).

“I had a lot of fun with it,” Adams admitted. “Lot of work, but the menu was fun.”

Nana’s has been in business just two weekends, yet talk of expanding – the menu, days of operation, the dining floor, the brand – is already on the table. However, Saturday, March 5, is all Adams and DeCandia are focused on at the moment.

“It looks like it’s already working,” DeCandia said. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll grow faster than we thought we would.”

His phone’s familiar ringtone cuts the last word short. The voice on the other end says a famished party of five is on its way.

A waiter begins to prep a large round table in the center of the room.

It’s Sunday at Nana’s.

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

Nana’s Breakfast Nook

161-09 Cross Bay Blvd.

Howard Beach, NY 11414

(718) 309-0316

FULL DISCLOSURE: The publisher of this newspaper is also a co-owner of Nana’s Breakfast Nook.

By Alan Krawitz

With this year’s Oscars in the rear-view mirror, the borough is once again preparing to spotlight its own cinematic talent as the annual Queens World Film Festival returns to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria and three other locations from March 15-20.

This year’s festival features 143 films including U.S. and world premieres, features, and shorts from 23 countries including Haiti, Nepal, Germany, England and Finland.

“The quality is exceptional this year; the ideas, the execution, everything works,” said Katha Cato, executive director of the festival, which is celebrating its sixth year.

Among the highly anticipated films is the world premiere of the documentary “Saving Jamaica Bay,” which chronicles the battle to save one of the city’s most iconic natural waterways.

Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress and environmentalist Susan Sarandon, the film was written and produced by borough native Dan Hendrick, also a champion of environmental causes who previously authored a book on the bay before piloting the project from concept to completion.

Hendrick recalled how the inspiration for the movie was spawned at a civic meeting during which an ill-conceived idea was discussed to pave over parts of Jamaica Bay to expand John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“I knew right then and there that I wanted to give a voice to this community,” he said. “And the best way forward was to tell local residents’ story, and honor their experience, on film.”

Asked about his participation in the festival, Hendrick said it is a privilege.

“There are so many talented and diverse filmmakers out there – some working on local issues like me, and others who are filming all over the world,” Hendrick said. “I’m honored to be among them.”

Similarly, Queens-based filmmaker Patrick Chen, who had success with his short film “Love Express” in 2014, said he was honored to have his most recent project, “Underneath the Grey,” selected at this year’s event.

“My experience with the festival has been wonderful,” Chen said. “Queens World Film Festival is one of the most diverse and respectable film festivals for all ages, nationalities, and beliefs.”

2016 QWFF highlights include a special outstanding filmmaker award for independent director Melvin Van Peebles, best known for his movie “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song‎,” which ushered in a new era of African-American cinema.

On the international front, Victoria Wharfe McIntyre, the writer/producer of the Australian LGBT entry “Life’s a Drag,” about being true to oneself and the bonds of friendship and family in a challenging world, called the festival “truly inspiring.”

“As filmmakers, we dream of an avenue for our films to find an audience that share our passion – and screening at Queens in the wonderful city of New York is a huge boon for us Aussies!” exclaimed McIntyre.

For Nisha Shrestha, a filmmaker and producer from Nepal, her film “Kamaro (A Slave)” details her struggle of being a single mom with two children and how life is full of uncertainties. The short narrative also touches on her country’s cultural stigma of slavery that persists to this day in some rural areas.

“My attendance at the festival might set an example for thousands of women living in our society to fight back for their rights,” Shrestha said.

Reflecting on the future of the Queens festival, Cato said, “The borough has a sophisticated, appreciative, film-loving audience and that’s key to helping the festival compete against other larger festivals, such as in TriBeCa and the Hamptons on Long Island.”

For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit queensworldfilmfestival.com.

By Michael V. Cusenza

The story of Tim McCabe and family is one of those rare narratives that make you think… about patience, about perseverance, about paying it forward.

It’s also an account that teaches you about perspective.

Because after reading, or watching, or listening to the evolving tale of Tim McCabe and family, suddenly those flood waters don’t seem so high; maybe that bus lane on Cross Bay won’t actually trigger the advent of the Apocalypse; and that guy who just snaked your parking space really isn’t the Antichrist.

***

The saga’s latest chapter began last Thursday night when Tim and Christina, his wife of 19 years, received the call that they have been anticipating for the last seven years: We have a kidney. Get to the hospital immediately.

So they raced from their Hamilton Beach headquarters to Midtown Manhattan and NYU Langone Medical Center.

“It was a really good match and so far so good,” Christina McCabe told The Forum last Friday. “We are keeping the prayers going that it doesn’t show any signs of rejection.”

The McCabes have been down this unforgiving road. In the spring of 2004, Tim was diagnosed with Goodpasture Syndrome, an autoimmune disease in which antibodies attack the lungs and kidneys.

By age 34, Tim McCabe needed a new kidney.

Amazingly, the search for a donor would end just as soon as it began. Christina was a perfect match.

“I felt proud that I was going to be able to help my soul mate, the love of my life, and still be alive to see it,” she recalled in a November 2014 interview with The Forum.

However, not even two months after the April surgery, Tim’s body began rejecting his new organ. Doctors were able to get the kidney functioning again, but on April 27, 2009, five years to the day of his transplant surgery, Tim’s health nosedived as the host—again—rejected its guest. He would have to return to full-time dialysis; and his name was added to the transplant rolls in New York and New Jersey, where it has been for the last seven years.

***

Tim McCabe returned to his First Street home, to his doting wife and sons, Timmy III and Ryan, on Tuesday. Christina said that for now her husband must continue daily dialysis, just until “the kidney gets going” and acclimated to its new environs.

So, a Queens community keeps its collective fingers crossed.

“Even though our fight is over for now, I feel it’s time to fight for someone else,” Christina McCabe said. “I have to get involved somehow in pushing for organ donation.”

All she has to do is tell a story.

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

By Michael V. Cusenza

Howard Beach on Monday night helped the Allen family mark Valentina’s 3^rd birthday in familiar fashion: They trumpeted the remarkable spirit of the community’s adopted angel by raising funds for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The Valentina Allen Heart to Heart Gala at Russo’s on the Bay was organized and produced by Phyllis Inserillo, who has led many fundraising efforts in Valentina’s name over the past year.

“I’ve seen the community come together before, but never like this,” Inserillo said. “We wanted to celebrate her life, celebrate all that she’s been doing since she’s been gone. She was such a special child who had a huge impact on anyone who knew her, loved her, or heard her story.”

Russo’s on the Bay hosted more than 300 guests who helped raise nearly $25,000 on Monday night. Forum Photos by Michael V. Cusenza

Approximately 300 guests helped raise nearly $25,000 on Monday, bringing the total raised over the past six months to roughly $35,000. Danielle and Ryan Allen, Valentina’s parents, will deliver a check for that amount to CHOP next Monday.

“I am overwhelmed,” said Dr. Robert Shaddy, chief of the Division of Cardiology at CHOP and one of many doctors who treated Valentina, in remarks at the gala. “I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve never seen anything like [this turnout].”

Shaddy also highlighted the singular example that Danielle and Ryan have set.

“The courage that the Allens displayed as parents of this beautiful child with the most severe heart disease was both remarkable and inspirational,” he said.

“The sad reality is that this would have been [Valentina’s] 3^rd birthday; that part makes this somewhat upsetting,” Ryan Allen told The Forum. “But again, it is a fundraiser, and it is a celebration.”

Before leading the large banquet room in a toast to her “Valley Girl,” Danielle told her daughter how proud she was.

“You taught a family and a community to count your blessings and don’t sweat the small stuff,” she said.

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

By Eugénie Bisulco

Joe. Java. Brain Juice. Whatever you call coffee, whether you like it sweet and creamy or black and strong, whether to sip and chat over, or down quickly in an effort to wake up, few among us don’t at least occasionally enjoy a nice brimming cup every now and again. Or two. Or three.

Starbucks first opened in Seattle in 1971, and by the mid-1990s it had become a household name, with a shop on every block. For a while the megabucks company had all but usurped the rising market on American cafés. But now, with our healthier attitude as a nation and our increased awareness of the importance of exercise and nutrition, the growing popularity of this healthily beneficial nectar has caused competition from all corners – from smaller, more unique coffee-vending establishments to bigger-name commercial enterprises such as Dunkin’ Donuts and even McDonald’s. Because of all the competing efforts, the coffee just keeps getting better and better. With obsession can come perfection.

McDonald’s, whose coffee used to taste like a cross between ashes and mud, now has a top-of-the line list of offerings, from lattés to iced and even frozen coffee. And at McDonald’s, every size (regular) coffee you can buy is the same price. Who would choose a “small?” we wonder.

Indeed, large and multiple coffees are becoming ubiquitous in our daily drinking habits as a society, and with good reason: a whole host of health benefits can be reaped from drinking the aromatic brown liquid in moderate to large doses: including lowered risk of cancer, reducing depression, links to lessened heart strain, and even protecting the liver from too much drinking of a distinctly different kind of liquid – alcohol.

The two most common coffee bean species are the Arabica and the Robusta. Originally from Central and South America, Arabica is grown across the globe and makes up over seventy percent of all the coffee produced in the world. (This percentage would likely be higher, were the trees not so susceptible to disease). Depending on where the beans are grown, you might taste great differences among Arabica coffees. Ethiopian Arabica, for example, is notoriously smooth, while Arabica grown in neighboring Kenya are known for a more bitter taste. Robusta beans, on the other hand, grown primarily in Asia, are more inherently bitter due to their lesser oil content. They contain 50 percent more caffeine than Arabica beans do and are more likely to be included in blended cheaper coffees as well as expensive espressos.

With the shift in American culture, we’ve begun competing with the entire rest of the world for coffee (bean) production and brewing techniques, whereas at one point, Italy, Cuba, and even places like Turkey and India could boast of far better coffee. Coffee trees like water, constant humidity, and warm climates, so they are most often successfully grown in South America, Africa, and Asia – though as any coffee lover will tell you, Hawaiian-grown beans would give any foreigners a run for their money.

Kona, Sumatra, or Colombian – whatever variety one prefers, taste will inevitably develop with experience. Fortunately for us all, the quality and diversity of available coffee is so great these days that that experience will surely be a heady one.

By Michael V. Cusenza

A Brooklyn city councilman has introduced a piece of legislation, part of a larger package of bills, that seeks to protect property owners, lessees, or occupants from receiving fines and penalties from the Department of Buildings while City-operated natural-disaster recovery programs are evaluating, or have already scheduled their properties for repair and/or remediation.

The proposed legislation introduced last week by Councilman Mark Treyger (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the Committee on Recovery and Resiliency, would also create a reimbursement program for anyone who has already been forced to pay a penalty. The bill’s parameters are likely to be expanded to include violations received from other city agencies, including the Department of Sanitation, Treyger noted.

The bill would provide help to many who have dealt with, or are still dealing with, related issues stemming from the effects of Superstorm Sandy, and would also ensure that a fair enforcement policy is already in place in the event of future disasters, he added.

“People waiting for assistance from the City’s Build It Back program should not be issued a violation by the Department of Buildings and forced to pay a fine simply because the program had not yet repaired their property. It undermines the public’s trust, faith and willingness to participate in recovery programs,” Treyger said. “Nobody should be left worse off by the recovery process than if they never participated in it at all, and the onus should be on the City and contractors to comply with rules and regulations related to Sandy recovery work, not residents. When the City makes you wait for repairs, you should not be penalized for it. And, when the City hires a contractor to perform recovery work on your house, you should not be penalized if the City or its contractor fails to do the work properly.”

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com