Category Archives: Richmond Hill
Concerns revolving around a project proposing the building of a pipeline from Brooklyn to Queens within Jamaica Bay were among some of the issues that came up at the latest meeting of the Jamaica Bay Task Force last week. The project, known the Rockaway/Gateway gas pipeline project, is designed to tap into the Transco Williams Pipeline via a proposed three-mile pipeline running under Jamaica Bay and connecting Brooklyn and Queens. The pipeline project is part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC … Continue reading
In a move that will save tax payers millions of dollars, New York State will remove the four percent sales tax on clothing, footwear and related items that are sold for less than $110 dollars. The sales tax exemption, which started on April 1, applies to all of those goods that are bought in person, online, by telephone or by mail. It’s the second straight year for the program. The qualifying amount for this year’s program has doubled. Last year, … Continue reading
New Yorkers might not have to wait months past the deadline to see their budget this year. Governor Andrew Cuomo, along with Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, announced on Monday, April 9, the early passage of the 2012-2013 New York State Budget. The new NYS budget totals $132.6 billion, which is a reduction of $135 million from last year. According to a statement from the New York State Senate, This budget eliminates a $2 billion … Continue reading
The New York Landmarks Conservancy has announced the winners of the 22nd Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards. Newtown High School in Elmhurst and the TWA Terminal at JFK International Airport are two of the recipients that will be recognized at an April 25 ceremony at the New York Historical Society. The coveted awards, called the “Preservation Oscars,” are named after dedicated New Yorker Lucy G. Moses. They recognize individual leadership and outstanding preservation work. This work provides jobs, promotes tourism, … Continue reading
What can bring together a performer, a graphic designer, a developing martial artist, an aspiring engineer and a small child together in one place for a Saturday afternoon? If you answered “The Breakfast Club,” you’d be wrong. The answer is the spirit of volunteering and generosity, something that unites many of the local youths that participate at the Richmond Hill-based nonprofit River Fund New York. Swami Durga Das, the founder of the River Fund New York, has often referred to … Continue reading
As a vote slowly approaches to close and reopen 33 schools, the fight is gradually escalating against the Department of Education and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Queens delegation of the City Council met Thursday, March 15 near Borough Hall to protest this turnaround plan. The initiative closes a school, renames it and then reopens it with the principal and half the teachers replaced. The student body would remain unchanged. Eight of those 33 schools are in Queens, and borough leaders … Continue reading
As part of a legislative package pushed through with redistricting early Thursday morning, lawmakers made the first step toward legalizing full table gaming in New York. In the wee hours of March 15, both houses of the state legislature voted to support the constitutional amendment needed to create full-fledged casinos in the state. To be official, the amendment must also be passed by a newly elected legislature and be ratified by voters. The soonest this could happen is in 2013. … Continue reading
For Richmond Hill resident Shirley Rice, the expression ‘wearing many different hats’ is not merely a saying—it’s a way of life. Most people would be exhausted having to drop off their child atschool, then oversee a nonprofit that deals with as many as 50 different people and cases a day for eight hours, and then find time to be a mother at the end of the day again. Yet somehow, Rice, a mother of three and the chief operating officer … Continue reading
It’s official. Congressional and legislative districts both have final lines for the next 10 years despite taking two very different paths to get there. In a decision announced Monday in the Eastern District Court of New York, a judicial panel enacted congressional lines drawn by a magistrate they had appointed to the task. It did so reluctantly, though. The judges said repeatedly in the ruling that the state legislature shirked its responsibility and laid it on the federal government. “In … Continue reading
A Queens mother who took her infant daughter from a hospital was found alive and is now in police custody. According to various reports, Leila Rajnarie, who lives in Richmond Hill, was found by police in an intersection in Jamaica, after allegedly taking Navita Jagdeo, her 8-month-old daughter, from Queens Hospital Center, which sparked an Amber Alert on March 14. The reports say that two police officers from the Queens South Taskforce found Rajnarie and Jagdeo in the back seat … Continue reading
A Community Board 9 member is seeking to overturn the result of a board election after the initial announced vote count proved to be false. Joan Decamp, a member of CB 9 who is a resident of Richmond Hill, has filed an objection with the Queens Borough President’s office over the results of a vote that took place at last week’s CB 9 board meeting. After all the votes were tallied, it was announced that Decamp won the board’s chairperson … Continue reading
After the announcement that his congressional district could disappear, Rep. Bob Turner (R-Queens) is doubling down on his political future by announcing a United States Senate run. On Tuesday, March 13, Turner released a statement saying he would challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. “I will travel to the Republican State Convention in Rochester later this week and humbly ask for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate,” Turner said in a release. “I will respectfully ask for the Conservative nomination … Continue reading
This week, members of the State Legislature released a second and final draft of proposed redistricting lines that looked remarkably similar to their last draft. State Senator Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) blasted them for being 98 percent the same as the previous draft, which he has called the most gerrymandered in New York’s history. It’s uncertain if Gov. Andrew Cuomo will let the maps stand if they are passed by the Legislature. He threatened to veto the first set of maps. … Continue reading
The race is already starting for a congressional district that doesn’t officially exist yet. In the past week, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D- Queens) and State Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) took their case to the grassroots. Ackerman spoke to possible new constituents at the Forest Hills Civic Association on Tuesday, March 13, and Lancman introduced himself to the Juniper Park Civic Association (JPCA) on Thursday, March 8. They are vying for the proposed 6th Congressional District that stretches from Middle … Continue reading
Packed into a small room with barely enough seating to accommodate the large turnout of residents, Community Board 9 finally voted on three important issues, that had been tabled for two months. The meeting, on March 13, also featured a change in leadership of the board. CB 9 unanimously voted to approve a Woodhaven and Richmond Hill rezoning plan that affects 229 blocks in those two neighborhoods. While that plan did get approval from the board, it also unanimously voted … Continue reading