By Jeremiah Dobruck

Three people were stabbed in the intersection of 39th Road and 52nd Street next to the Lawrence Virgillio Playground around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.

A witness said a group of six to eight people was rowdily talking in the park when an argument broke out and escalated into a fight.

Two males and one female were stabbed, police said. None was fatal.

Witnesses said the female was stabbed in the stomach and looked like she was in her teens. She collapsed and sat in the intersection where two people applied pressure to the wound until an ambulance arrived and transported her to a local hospital.

At least one of the injured men fled up the hill on 52nd Street toward Skillman Avenue. Blood pooled below a chair at 51-13 Skillman Ave. where he waited until medical help arrived.

One witness, a 15-year-old girl who lives across from the park, said members of the group looked drunk and were likely friends. One even apologized after the stabbing, she said.

The fight started when one person stabbed another but then both of them collapsed, looking hurt.

A witness said one got up and shouted, “That’s it; you’re dead.” After he cooled down though, he said he was sorry and that the person he stabbed shouldn’t have gotten involved.

Police say they have made no arrest and the victims are uncooperative.

j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com

Photos by Jeremiah Dobruck

Mary Ann Carey, district manager of Community Board 9, said that she has seen people skateboarding in the shopping center during the day time and in the evening and that the skaters will sometimes interfere with people trying to park their cars or pull out of a parking spot.
“Hopefully the young people will make use of this new skate park,” Carey said.
According to the Parks department spokesperson, the design features for the skating park may include two-, three- and five- stair sections, grind rails, hubba ledges, a stamped brick quarter pipe and several banks and slopes.
Ulrich said that the new additions will be in an area between the playground and the handball court that’s currently a black slab of asphalt. He added that the walking track will be convenient for people who don’t want to go to Charles Park in Howard Beach to do walking exercises.
As for the construction, the Parks department spokesperson said that bidding is underway for the construction with the bids due on March 1. Once the contract is awarded, they expect it to start this summer and it’s expected to take 18 months, the spokesperson said.

By Luis Gronda

Lauren Wospil and Gene Rossi

We’ve all heard the stories. Love at first sight. High school sweethearts reunited years later. They accidentally collided on the street and instantly knew. But seriously? Are people just making this stuff up, or does this happen to real people? How does any bride really know she’s found the one for her?

Some brides know instantly. Others have to be convinced over years.
Marisa Ricciardi knew Kevin Daly was the man for her shortly after they started dating. She laughs about it now, but the two met over the Internet. It was her first attempt at online dating, and within three months, she knew he was the one for her.
“For the first time, he was a person I could imagine changing my last name for,” she said. They were married on Aug. 1, 2010.
Shon Carney and Ben Poiesz knew each other since grade school, but didn’t start dating until they were about to head to different colleges. They survived the long-distance thing, perhaps because they really do have something special.

Shon knew early on that this one was different. “He was unlike any guy I had ever dated and we just seemed to have a different kind of connection,” she said, “By six months into our relationship, I was positive he would be the man I would marry.”

Shon Carney and Ben Poiesz

Though it took Ben a bit longer to come around, he proposed after they had been dating for about five years, and they were married in a breathtaking sun-drenched courtyard on Aug. 9, 2008, surrounded by a close group of family and friends.

Sometimes, it creeps up on you. Heather McCollum said she knew Eric Breitbart was the one for her when one day she couldn’t picture her life without him. When he proposed on a Manhattan pier after a dinner at her favorite restaurant, there was no doubt in her mind that he was the man for her.
They were married in an outdoor ceremony on June 13, 2010. The ceremony itself was sunny, but the sky burst into a downpour moments after the ceremony, so it was a good thing the reception had been scheduled to be held inside. There’s an old tradition that says rain on one’s wedding day is good luck. The two are still happy today, so perhaps there’s some truth to it.
Not every love story runs as smoothly. Bride Gina Petti knew Todd Cooper for years before she had any idea that he might be the one. In fact, they broke up for several years. They remained friends throughout the break and rekindled their relationship after college. Gina and Todd will be married on May 12.
While it may have taken her a while to come to the realization, Gina couldn’t be more sure now that Todd is the one for her. “I know he is the one for me because he makes me smile and laugh. We have a lot in common, and debate happily over what we don’t have in common. He’s smart, and teaches me things instead of making me feel dumb. When I’m stressed, which happens a lot, he knows when to help, and when to give me space,” she said.

Saving the Classy Way

Shon said she and her husband-to-be, Ben, chose the few things that were really important to them early on and then allocated most of their budget towards those things. Her top three were the wedding dress, the photographer and the reception. Ben’s number one priority was the food. By choosing flowers based on what was in season and having friends do Shon’s hair and makeup the day of, the couple was able to allot more funds towards a truly delicious feast that included tastes from around the world.
All of the brides agreed one very easy way to save a lot of money is to opt for an off-peak time for your ceremony. Shon fell in love with her reception hall (after she fell in love with Ben, of course), but it was a bit on the pricey end of her spectrum, so she and Ben were married in a beautiful sun-soaked afternoon ceremony instead of an evening ceremony, as originally hoped for. By doing this, Shon said she saved about $50 a plate, which adds up to big savings!
Marisa saved in a similar way, by having her wedding on a Sunday night instead of a Saturday. She also saved big by cutting back a lot on live flowers. She used arrangements of fabric flowers provided by the catering hall for her centerpieces, to avoid spending a lot on something that people will only see for a brief time anyway, during dinner.
“The only flowers I cared about were my bouquet, my bridesmaids’ bouquets, the flower girl and the rest of the wedding party. Flowers die, and they are
expensive!” she said.

Heather agrees with the point Marisa’s really getting at here, “Your wedding should reflect who you are, so don’t feel the need to spend money on things that you normally wouldn’t. If you and your fiance aren’t the partying type, you probably don’t need a huge dance floor and a DJ. If you prefer your flowers to be on a printed scarf rather than in a vase, don’t spend a fortune on floral centerpieces.”

DIY – Disaster or Lifesaver?

Some brides seem made to DIY, using beer they hand-brewed themselves for favors, self-addressing invitation envelopes, making shockingly realistic flowers out of fabric, paper, food items… and then there are those of us who can’t fold a napkin properly.

Gina is a bride of the first variety. She’ll be brewing beer for favors (really), trying her hand at stationary addressing and tackling anything else that comes up. But in addition to being a budding Martha Stewart (mixed with a wee bit of Samuel Adams, it seems), Gina is a planner. She set up an automatic transfer so that every time she got paid $100 would go into a special wedding account. She has a part-time job as well, so everything from that goes right into the wedding fund. Gina’s figured out the trick to being a successful, relaxed DIY bride – don’t leave anything until the last minute, no matter how tempting it may be.

Stef Dipple made all her own centerpieces the day before the wedding, decorated the entryway staircase at the reception hall, and packaged her romantic favors (heart-shaped cookie cutters) herself, with the help of friends and family. Everything turned out as imagined, but Stef did learn a valuable lesson.
“If someone offers their help, take it! They wouldn’t have offered if they didn’t mean it,” she reflects now.
Stef and love-of-her-life Paul Hickman were married in a poolside ceremony on June 27, 2009.
Bride Lauren Wospil went a similar route, saving by purchasing all the little things she needed a lot of – bubbles, ribbon, favor bags, and the like at large craft stores like Micheal’s and A.C. Moore. She said while she did save a lot this way, it was also a lot of work – in order to really get the big savings this way, you have to time your big purchases with store coupons, and really plan ahead.

All that planning paid off for Lauren, when she married Gene Rossi in a stunning Roman Catholic ceremony followed by a reception with a relaxed, luxurious feel on Sept.19, 2009.

The brides all agreed that, no matter your DIY track record, there are definitely pieces of your wedding you can do yourself – as long as you allow for careful planning ahead. Leave yourself more than enough time to complete whatever tasks need doing, and still enough time to really savor your wedding. It’s supposed to be a celebration of your love after all, so focus on what matters – you and him.

By Liz Peterson

Shon Poiesz shares a moment with father Bruce Carney at her June 2009 wedding.

Back in the day, the father-daughter dance at a wedding had a bit more concrete meaning than it does today. Then, the festivities would begin with the father leading his daughter out onto the dance floor. At some point in the intricate dance, the father would pass his daughter off to her new husband, who would dance her away. The pass symbolized the father’s acceptance of the groom’s suitability, and his willingness to let his daughter leave his home, and take her place in her new household.

While it’s not quite so literal now, the father-daughter dance is still a very important part of many weddings. Turns out no matter how liberated we are, our fathers still want to make sure we’ll always have someone who can take care of us – whether or not we think we need it.

So, what do you want out of the father-daughter dance at your wedding?

Some brides just pick a song, left foot, right foot, twirl, smile – done! Others go for the all-out, professionally choreographed, meticulously rehearsed father-daughter dance extravaganza. The key to getting what you want out of the moment is to think about what it means to you – and to your dad.

Some brides use this as a chance to relive a special memory they share. Bride Gina Petti, who intends to become Mrs. Todd Cooper in May, chose an untraditional song to dance to with her father. They’ll be twirling to “House at Pooh Corner” by Kenny Loggins and Jimmy Messina. The song tells the story of Christopher Robin and Winnie the
Pooh, but it holds special meaning for Gina and her dad.

“He and I used to sing this song together all the time, when I was a kid,” Gina said. “I have many fond memories of my dad and I, all the way from when I was 5 or 6 until now, singing it together.”

Of course, even the most carefully planned moments can go awry. The lights go dim, the DJ announces your name, your father takes you in his arms for your last dance as daddy’s little girl… and the wrong song comes on. This nightmare was a reality for Marisa Ricciardi. Many brides would have stopped, panicked or freaked out, but Marisa carried it off
beautifully and didn’t miss a beat – most of the guests never even knew anything was wrong.

Marisa dances with her father Michael at her wedding. Can you tell if this was the dance when the wrong song played? Exactly, and neither could any of the guests.

Marisa had wanted to dance to “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” by Darius Rucker, a song she and her father had found about a dad watching his daughter grow up. Instead, a different Rucker song played, to Marisa’s dismay. She and her father did dance to the song they had chosen later, and luckily, both had a sense of humor about it. Thanks to a good videographer and a little dubbing, Marisa can now watch the correct music play during her official father-daughter dance – and she’s learned to never underestimate the value of a little good old fashioned damage control.

Sometimes a bride’s father can’t dance, for reasons beyond his control. Sometimes he just won’t. Either way, that’s no reason he can’t have a special moment with his daughter at her wedding. Heather McCollum’s father has a degenerative muscle disease, so she was unsure if he would even be able to walk her down the aisle.

Luckily, on a warm day in June 2010, he was able to walk his little girl down the aisle, in beautifully dignified fashion. Rather than trying to push the issue with a dance, however, Heather decided to give her father free rein to tell a story at the reception instead. It worked perfectly for the two of them (though she was thankful for her waterproof mascara), but if you decide to try out a different father-daughter moment at your wedding, do make sure it’s something both of you are comfortable with.

And, of course, sometimes fairytales really do come true. Shon Poiesz, nee Carney, had a true dream moment at her wedding. She and her father have given each other nose kisses whenever they say hello or goodbye for as long as she can remember. So when she heard the song “Butterfly Kisses” by Bob Carlisle as a teen, she knew that would be the song they would dance to. And the moment went off flawlessly. Both father and daughter were bawling like babies, but Shon said afterward the dance was everything she had hoped it would be, and a moment she would treasure always.

None of the brides here rehearsed their dances with their fathers, but some do. Gina said she’s willing to put in the time, especially if her dad ever seems uncomfortable with it. And I know my dad will be practicing before my big day – he’s already told me, and I’m not even planning one yet.

So don’t forget ladies, you’re the brides, and this is your day. But don’t forget that, for this dance at least, it’s Daddy’s day too.

By Liz Peterson

Bus driver Calvin Covington smelled smoke and pulled the bus over. He got everyone out before the flames started by his seat.

Calvin Covington was driving a bus full of sixth-graders home from Intermediate School 77 on Thursday afternoon in Ridgewood when he smelled smoke.

He passed Eliot Avenue on Fresh Pond Road around 3:15 p.m. and dismissed the scent as coming from the gas station at the intersection.

After another mile, he still smelled the smoke and then the acrid odor of wires burning.

He pulled over as soon as he could at 74th Street and 58th Avenue in Maspeth and started filing 28 kids off his bus, still not sure what was causing the smell.

“Something wasn’t right,” Covington said.

As soon as all the students were out, Covington saw the smoke, he said. It was coming from underneath the driver’s seat, where the battery and wiring for the bus’s stop sign lights are.

Soon after, flames were licking his chair and crawling toward the back of the bus.

Andreas Goustas saw the smoke from his apartment’s balcony and rushed down with a fire extinguisher.
“I was just hoping none of the kids were still in there,” Goustas said.

They had all escaped though and were running around in the apartment building’s driveway while neighbors watched over them.

Meanwhile, Goustas and Covington tried to put out the fire.

The smoke drove them back, Goustas said, but the FDNY was there within a few minutes and put the flames to bed for good.

Marge Fienberg, a Department of Education spokeswoman, said inspectors are still investigating what caused the fire, but a mechanic’s preliminary belief is it started in the electrical panel.

She said there were no injuries but parents were notified of the incident. Fienberg added that buses are routinely inspected, although she did not specify how often.

Goustas was frustrated he couldn’t get police to respond, but he and Covington were overall relieved nobody was hurt.
Covington said he didn’t think much of it when he pulled the bus over. He just wanted to make sure his passengers were safe.

“That’s what I would do if it were my kids,” he said. Covington, 32, has three children who aren’t quite old enough for intermediate school—a 9-year-old and 6-year-old twins.

A few minutes later, the I.S. 77 students filed onto another yellow bus that had just arrived. It took them back to school until a bus could take them home.

Covington surveyed the damage as he waited for a tow truck to come for his bus. The only casualties were a few book bags and his snack.

“I just bought my cashew nuts. I didn’t even get to eat them,” he laughed. “They’re roasted now.”

By Jeremiah Dobruck

j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com

Forum Newsgroup photo by Luis Gronda

After three 311 calls, residents had no success getting this curb in Maspeth fixed. The day after a call from The Forum, the Department of Transportation sent an inspector to patch it.

When 81-year-old Eleanor Polgar was getting off the Q59 bus on Grand Avenue in Maspeth she stepped onto a
sidewalk where several feet of curb was missing and inches-wide holes were torn out of it.

“She almost fell in there. You get off the bus, the bus doors open and it’s right there,” her son, Richard Polgar said. “My
mother almost broke her leg in there.”

This was in 2010. Until last week, that sidewalk and curb sat unpatched despite multiple complaints to 311 and the Department of Transportation (DOT), Polgar said.

Hoping to find answers somewhere last week, Polgar reached out to The Forum.

The DOT did not immediately have a response about the curb when asked by The Forum on Feb. 8, but the next day, the DOT sent out a crew to patch the curb with asphalt.

When asked again about the curb this week, a spokesperson said the DOT sent an inspector to make temporary repairs
on Feb. 9.

Property owners are responsible for sidewalk repairs, and the DOT encourages them to make curb repairs as well.
DOT policy is to issue a notice of violation to the property owner for sidewalk repairs and if the owner does not make
repairs within 10 days, the DOT then repairs the problem and charges the owner, usually in the spring.

The curb is at on Grand Ave. between 71st and 72nd streets in a Maspeth business district, and in this case, the property owner got a violation notice in 2009.

This photo, taken in June, 2011, shows a curb in Maspeth that sat broken and unpatched since 2009.

The DOT did not respond to further questions about why the sidewalk wasn’t patched soon after the 2009 violation was issued.

Polgar lives a few blocks from the intersection and originally complained on Nov. 7, 2010, right after his mother’s run-in
with the hazard. He mentioned the curb had been that way for months.

“It was obviously a hazard and nobody was addressing it,” he said. “What does it take?”

After seeing zero improvement, he once again called 311 and logged a complaint with the DOT on June 14, 2011.

“Twice they said it was the property owner’s responsibility to maintain sidewalks, and that’s all they said,” Polgar said.

The spokeswoman did not comment on the 311 calls but said safety is a top concern of the DOT.

Online records from 311 show there was a third complaint about the broken curb on March 16, 2011 as well as two
complaints in 2011 about a pothole at the location.

Polgar said the patched-up curb is better than nothing.

By Jeremiah Dobruck

j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com

The 22-year-old victim told police that she was leaving her house near Grand Avenue and 58th Avenue to take a young child to day care.

As she walked out at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, she noticed a four-door beige sedan stop on the street in front of her. The man inside then looked at her and began masturbating, police said.

“The victim was so shaken she didn’t get a good description,” Captain Michael Cody, commanding officer of the 104th Precinct, which covers Maspeth, said in an email.

Cody said because police don’t have a description of the man or a license plate number to work with, he’s asking residents to get the word out.

He asked anyone who sees similar conduct or a matching vehicle to alert police. He advised them to get the best description possible and call 911 immediately.

Cody said the incident looked random, not targeted, and cautioned any possible victims to use common sense and not approach the person or vehicle.

By Jeremiah Dobruck

j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com

6-year-old Middle Village resident Colin Flood (right) and his family are looking for a bone marrow doner after Colin was diagnosed with leukemia on Christmas Eve.

For most 6-year-olds, Christmas is a day to open presents and spend time with their families.

Unfortunately for Colin Flood, his Christmas was spent in the hospital after learning that a flu he was battling turned out to be something much worse.

On Dec. 23 of last year, Colin Flood was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, a type of cancer that produces malignant white blood cells in the blood stream and bone marrow.

Now Colin needs a bone marrow transplant to stay alive, as his younger brother, Brody, 3, and his extended family are not a match.

According to Colin’s father, retired New York City firefighter Kevin Flood, Colin first started feeling sick about two weeks before Christmas. He was battling a fever that a doctor said was only temporary and would go away soon. Eleven days after the initial diagnosis, Kevin said that Colin still had a fever of about 104 degrees. The doctor asked Kevin and Colin’s mother, Jennifer Flood, to bring him in for some blood tests. Within hours of bringing Colin to the hospital, they discovered that he had leukemia, just one day before Christmas Eve.

Kevin said that he was in total shock when he heard news of Colin’s disease.
“We thought the worst it could have been was pneumonia; we never thought it was leukemia,” Kevin said.

Colin was officially diagnosed on Christmas Eve, and he underwent surgery the next day to put a port in his chest where he would get chemotherapy. By Christmas afternoon, he was getting his first dose of chemotherapy. According to Kevin, doctors wanted him to get started on that right away as 90 percent of Colin’s blood cells were leukemia cells.

Kevin said that their lives have changed dramatically since that day. They spend days and nights in the hospital, Jennifer is unable to work at her job and Colin can’t do things that a healthy 6-year-old could do on a daily basis.

“We thought we had a perfect life back then,” Kevin said. “Now it’s just changed completely.”

Now they have to worry about making sure Colin doesn’t get sick while he’s undergoing chemotherapy. They have hand sanitizer installed right as you enter their home. Colin’s parents have to monitor what Colin eats on a daily basis and guard against themselves and others from spreading germs, as Colin could easily get sick.

Then there is the impending mountain of hospital bills that the family must pay. Although Kevin said he wasn’t sure how much the family would have to pay in total for all the medical-related services, they already owe $10,000 for the first hospital stay at North Shore- Long Island Jewish. He added that it costs another $10,000 to find a match in the bone marrow registry. Kevin said that he’s more concerned with caring for their son at the moment, and they’ll deal with the costs later.

“It’s going to add up, we know it, but that’s secondary right now,” Kevin said. “But I heard that it’s very costly out of your pocket.”

This is only the beginning for Colin and his fight against leukemia. Last week, he spent his first full week back at their Middle Village home after undergoing two rounds of chemotherapy. He had his first play date over the house for the first time in about 50 days, according to Kevin.

Crying was heard from the living room where the three kids were playing. Brody was unhappy over a toy dispute with Colin. Although most parents don’t like to hear their child crying, Kevin felt that it gave him a sense of normalcy, something that will be few and far between in the coming months ahead.

“It’s good to hear that, believe me. I’m happy to hear that,” Kevin said referring to the crying.

In order to help Colin find someone that can give him a bone marrow transplant, the family will host a bone marrow drive at Our Lady of Hope Catholic School at 61-21 71 Street in Middle Village, on Saturday, Feb. 18 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Anyone that’s in good health and between the ages of 18 and 55 is eligible to be a potential donor. To be in the registry, all you do is swab the inside of your cheek. The procedure takes a few minutes and could save someone’s life.

For more information on the registry or to request an online kit visit www.getswabbed.org.

By Luis Gronda

Colin Flood, a 6-year-old boy from Middle Village, was diagnosed acute lymphocytic leukemia in December. His family is hosting a bone marrow drive on Saturday, Feb. 18 in hopes of finding of potential donor.

Marlena Starace, Leadership Development Specialist at JHS 190 in Forest Hills, returned to CB 6 this month to thank them for their support since news came out last month that the school might lose its after-school program.

Community Board 6 announced their capital and expense budget for 2013 at their monthly meeting on Feb. 8, which aims at saving a local school program that could disappear at the end of the 2011-12 school year.

Each year, the board must put together a list of 10 local items that they believe need additional funding for the 2013 fiscal year. The board submits this list to the state government.

This year, the board put more funding for the Beacon school program at Junior High School 190 at the top of the list.
News came out last month that the Beacon after school program could close down at the Forest Hills-based school in June if it does not receive funding. The school is one of 16 that could lose its Beacon program. Of those 16 schools, seven will have their programs cut.

CB 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said at the meeting that the board moved the funding of the program to the top of the list in hopes of garnering attention from local officials and community members.
“We believe we’re being penalized because of our zip code,” said Gulluscio, referencing why the JHS 190 beacon program is in danger. The NYC Department of Youth and Community Development based its list on zip codes that it considers to be in a “lowest need” region.

Marlena Starace, who is the leadership development specialist of the Beacon Program at JHS 190, attended the board meeting and thanked the community for their support. She said that they’re going to continue to fight for the program to remain open.

Also on the budget items list is funding for additional staffing of the libraries that are in CB 6. Chairman Joseph Hennessy expressed concern that the city wants to cut library service for 2013. According to Hennessy, there is a proposed $26.7 million cut to the city’s libraries for the next fiscal year. Hennessy said that this would force the libraries to cut down on the days it is open and it would have to let go of some of its staff. He said that this would also affect kids who use the library’s computers for research.

“We can’t stand for cuts in the library,” Hennessy said. “Our libraries are crowded, and yet, they’re going to turn around and cut that.”

Also during the meeting, CB 6 board member Joseph Fox announced that he would no longer be a part of the board, which he was a member of for seven years.

Fox said that the reason he’s leaving is because he no longer can balance his duties of President of the Forest Hills Jewish Center and CB 6 board member. Hennessy let Fox adjourn what would be his last meeting. Other board members gave him congratulatory hugs and handshakes and wished him luck in the future.
The next CB 6 meeting will take place on Wednesday, Mar. 14 at the Rego Park Center at 61-35 Junction Boulevard in Rego Park instead of their usual meeting place in Kew Gardens. The reason for the change of venue is because the board will host a Department of Transportation presentation on traffic calming proposals on 62nd Drive and 63rd Road and the surrounding area.

By Luis Gronda

Andrea Crawford, chairperson of Community Board 9 (second from left) and the majority of the board voted Tuesday at their regular meeting at the Kew Gardens Community Center to remove one of their members, Rajinder Singh Bawa, due to multiple absences from board meetings in recent months.

Community Board 9 could have at least two vacancies on their 50-member board thanks to the recent resignation of one member and the request for removal of another.

The majority of the board members present at Tuesday’s monthly meeting at Kew Gardens Community Center voted 25-7 to recommend the removal of Rajinder Singh Bawa from the community board.

According to Andrea Crawford, chairperson of Community Board 9, Bawa’s recommendation for removal came on the heels of Bawa missing several board meetings within the last several months.

Each of the 59 community boards in Queens are comprised of at least 50 unpaid members appointed by the Queens Borough President for a two-year term, half of them appointed by the borough president and the other half nominated by local city council members—who usually pick active members of a community.

Crawford explained that as per the guidelines of the community board—which is a voluntary advisory board—when a board member is absent three times, the board sends a warning letter to that member. Upon a fourth absence, the board requires that member to attend the next monthly meeting to avoid further disciplinary action. If a sixth absence occurs, the board can recommend the removal of the absent board member.

Mary Ann Carey, the board’s district manager, said that Bawa has missed at least six meetings since last year.
“This is not something that we do lightly, it’s not something we enjoy doing” Crawford said at the meeting, “but there are responsibilities that, if you take doing the community board, it’s laid out very carefully.”

Bawa was not present at the Tuesday meeting and attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

Board member H. Singh Duggal, who briefly spoke to The Forum after the meeting, said only that Bawa was a “very busy man.”

During the meeting, Crawford said that while she understood that other things often come up in the lives of board members, the board needed to vacate Bawa’s spot in order to fill it with someone who could make the meetings consistently.

Community board member Evelyn Baron spoke in favor of the move, saying, “When one of us is appointed to the board, it is with the expectation that we would be there to represent the people in our communities.”

The decision on whether or not to remove Bawa will ultimately rest in the hands of Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, who is the only one that can remove or appoint members on the board.

Another vacancy on the board comes with the recent resignation of member Thomas L. Chiofolo, which board member James Coccovillo announced at the meeting.

In other news, the 102nd Precinct announced that crime was down 17 percent for the month of January. Precinct Captain Martin Briffa said there has been a slight uptick in accidents and injuries, which he attributed to the weather.

On questions from board members on whether recent reports of an increase in pretty crimes around the area surrounding Resorts World Casino in Ozone Park had affected the board’s communities, Briffa said that was not the case, and he had kept in touch with officials from the 106th Precinct—which covers the casino area—regarding the spike in petty crime for any new developments.

The board also voted to approve holding the 32nd annual Wonderful Woodhaven Street Festival from noon to 6 p.m. on Oct. 14 at Jamaica Avenue between Woodhaven Boulevard and 80th Street.

By Jean-Paul Salamanca

Jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com

With part of the defunct LIRR Rail Road Rockaway Beach line on Liberty Avenue in the back- drop, state Assemblymen Phil Goldfeder, third from left, and Mike Miller, second from right, stood alongside mass transit advocates as they unveiled their plans to push for reactivating the branch lines to improve transportation for people in central and southern Queens.

With subway trains zipping overhead at the corner of Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, local legislators and transportation advocates last week shared their vision of what a reactivated train would bring to central Queens.

In a joint press conference on Feb. 9, State Assemblymen Phil Goldfeder and Mike Miller joined others in calling for the rehabilitation of the currently defunct Rockaway Beach Rail Line in order to have trains actively connecting communities in central and southern Queens, as well as the Rockaway Peninsula.

Goldfeder, who has come forward recently as a vocal proponent of the move, pointed to the increased traffic coming in as a result of the October opening of Resorts World Casino as a main reason why trains need to be coming across the Rockaway Beach branch line of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), which extends 3.5 miles from Rego Park through the Rockaways. The line has been inactive since 1962.

“We have a problem; we have a tremendous transportation problem, and this is the answer,” he said.

Proponents are suggesting two options for bringing back train service along a 4.2-mile segment of railways along the Rockaway Beach line between Rego Park and the Aqueduct.

The first option would have the LIRR resume service between Penn Station and Aqueduct,with two stations being built at each respective location. Aqueduct would allow transfers to both the A train and Airtrain.

Meanwhile, the subway option would divert the R or M subway line east of 63rd Drive to the northern section of the Rockaway line. The subway would converge with the A train north of the Aqueduct Station and continue into the Rockaways; while at Rego Park, two stations would be built—one for the subway and one for the LIRR mainline—to allow riders to transfer between the two services.

To finance the new rails, Goldfeder and Miller said they would have to look towards getting a yet-to-be-specified portion of the $4 billion in private funding that is allegedly coming in to the proposed convention center, as well as turn to the local, state and federal governments to finance are vitalized railway.

Miller noted that his constituents have complained to him in the past about the traffic congestion problems getting from Glendale to Middle Village and on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach; he also added that recent discussions he had with the Department of Transportation revealed that there is no plan in the works to address traffic problems in the area in the next ten years.

“We know that there are trees growing there,and the rail has to be fixed and everything needs to be done…but there is an opportunity to build with a new convention center,” he said.

Another proponent was George Haikalis, president of the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility, a nonprofit that studies ways to improve transit around New York City through transportation reform.

Haikalis said that having the dead rail lines running again would connect central and southern Queens to the city and serve as an economic boost for local businesses thanks to more development opportunities, and generate tourism around the area.

“We think that you have to have the carrot and the stick in order to shift people from cars to public transit, and the carrot is right behind us here, this Rockaway line that is disused for 50 years,” he said.

On questions of how a new rail line would affect local businesses near its tracks, officials said there would have to be studies on that, while other proponents believed that a reactivated train line shouldn’t have any effect on local stores.

John Rozankowski, a mass transit advocate from the Bronx, was one of them. “I grew up in the Bronx. [Trains] become a part of life,” he told The Forum.  “It’s something you just get used to.”

However, their plan clashes with another plan by officials pushing for the Queensway project—which would turn the abandoned rail line into a greenway, which is open space linking parks and communities around the city and providing public access to green spaces and waterfronts.

Andrea Crawford, chairwoman of Community Board 9 and a supporter of the Queensway, was critical of the plan to reactivate trains on the abandoned rail line recently, saying that it would cause an environmental “nightmare.”

If there is enough space, the restored rail lines could also include a greenway with hiking paths and bike trails, according to the railroad plan.

Goldfeder and Miller both offered that they would be willing to work with Queensway officials in order to compromise or join the two ideas together.

Rozankowski, however, criticized the proponents of Queensway, calling their plan “an ostentatious attempt by bicycle aficionados to hijack a rail way for their own pleasure.”

By Jean-Paul Salamanca

Forum Newsgroup Photo by Jean-Paul Salamanca

jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com

Joseph DeCandia, with lovely wife Doreen, pictured at a recent charitable event.

It just sort of happened.

That’s the way that Joseph DeCandia, Jr., of Howard Beach—recently honored as Man of the Year by the West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Corps—described how he, then a 9-year-old kid growing up in Brooklyn, got involved working with his father, Joseph DeCandia, Sr., at Brooklyn’s Lenny’s Pizza in the 1960s.

At the time, DeCandia, Jr., now 49, who would normally be riding his bicycle along 86th Street, stopped by one day at his father’s workplace and, just like that, was helping out at the pizza parlor. “It all just went on from there,” DeCandia said, laughing as he recalled the story.

Working alongside his father for more than 40 years, DeCandia said it wasn’t always easy, but he learned the values of hard work, honesty and respect from Joe Sr., who came to America from Bari, Italy at age 18 in 1956.

“He taught me a lot, but I think the most important thing that he taught me was to respect others,” he said. “And ‘If you do good, look forward; if you do bad, put it behind you.’”

It is those values that have acted as the bedrock for DeCandia’s life over the last few decades. Not only did he get involved in his father’s business, Lenny’s Clam Bar on Cross Bay Boulevard—opened in 1974—but he also serves as president of the International Society of SS. Cosma and Damiano, a nonprofit started by his father.

Since the society, headed by 16 board members, was founded in Dec. 1990, they have donated more than $750,000 to numerous groups that help children and people struggling with illness. Those groups include St. Francis Hospital,
in Long Island, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Make-a-Wish Foundation, New York Families for Autistic Children, local youth groups, and two little leagues, among others.

Cosma and Damiano— brothers who were the patron saints of physicians and pharmacists—were very important to his father, DeCandia said.

“When he came over from Italy, he felt that they helped him out when he needed it,” DeCandia said. “So, he believed in giving back, and in spreading the names of the saints.”

Among the causes the society helps that deals with both saints is children’s diabetes, which affects one in 400 children in the United States. DeCandia’s son, Jacob, has the illness.

“It’s challenging,” he said about dealing with his son’s affliction. “There are a lot of things that go into dealing with [diabetes] in children. There’s really no way of controlling a child’s sugar, and there’s no real science to it; it can’t be too low or too high, and it changes depending on what [children] eat.”

As the cause is one near to his heart, DeCandia and the society have made efforts to help those struggling with the
disease. Partnering with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the society raised $150,000 last year through the annual South Queens Juvenile Diabetes Walk-A-Thon to Cure Diabetes and $400,000 for the cause overall as the result of various fundraising efforts—such as comedy nights, fashion shows and bowl-a-thons—in the last three years.

On the subject of why giving back to others is important to him, DeCandia explained, “I’m in a point in my life where I’m healthy and my family is healthy, so, if I can give back to people who need it, I will.”

Maria Cuomo, principal at Ave Maria Catholic Academy in Howard Beach, certainly knows of how much DeCandia is willing to give back to the community. Having known him for years, Cuomo credited DeCandia for playing a major
role in many of the school’s fundraisers, including coordinating the school’s Family Festival last summer—his first time—which raised $30,000 for the school.

“I can’t think of anyone who is more deserving of this award,” she said of DeCandia. “He’s genuinely a good person, and it’s hard for me to think of a more worthy candidate because of his unending contributions to the community, and especially Ave Maria.”

Having been very close to his father, DeCandia said it is still hard to think about when his father died in 2002. However, he likes to think that his father would be proud of all the work the society has done since then, and especially of the life that he leads now with his wife, Doreen, and children Jacob, 12, Juliet, 5, Joseph, 3, and baby Jillian, who
will turn one later this month.

“It’s been 10 years, and I still wish he was here, so he could see how successful everything has become,” DeCandia said. “And I wish he could still see his grandkids. He laid the foundation for what we’re doing; we just built on that. I hope he’s proud.”

By Jean-Paul Salamanca

jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com

The Queens representative to the Panel for Educational Policy Dmytro Fedkowskyj, left, and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, center, listened to dozens of parents, students and teachers trash a Department of Education plan to replace half the teachers at eight Queens schools.

By Jeremiah Dobruck

Updated below

Grover Cleveland High School’s assistant principal Michelle Robertson bellowed at Mayor Michael Bloomberg. An immigrant from Barbados herself, she told the mayor about students in her English class who arrive not knowing how to speak the language—and a year later, pass the state’s English Reagents Exam.

She yelled out how the largely immigrant population at her school in Ridgewood competes with specialized high schools in math and science contests.

“We know our students are not the cream of the crop. We happen to take who we get and we make them the cream of the crop,” she said in one of a few apexes in her two-minute speech.

Bloomberg was not in the room or at Queens Borough Hall on Monday night. But Robertson and dozens of students, parents and teachers lined up for a public hearing regardless, to tell him they wouldn’t let their schools close without a fight.

It was an uninterrupted two hours of frothing criticism of the Department of Education’s “turnaround” plan that would close and reopen eight schools in Queens after replacing 50 percent of the teachers.

Marie Senat, from John Adams High School in Ozone Park, brought a petition signed by her classmates asking the DOE to reconsider replacing their teachers.

“At John Adams High School, we have less than 10 bad teachers. So you’re willing to sacrifice about 120 hardworking teachers rather than to train those less than 10 bad teachers?” she asked.

Thirty-three schools throughout the city would be affected, including Grover Cleveland, Richmond Hill High School, John Adams High School and Newtown High School in Elmhurst.

The other four affected schools in Queens are Flushing High School, Long Island City High School, William Cullen Bryant High School in Long Island City and August Martin High School in Jamaica.

Last year, these 33 schools became eligible for $58 million in state and federal grant money after being designated “persistently lowest achieving” (PLA) because of consistently low graduation rates and test scores.

To receive the money, schools had to institute one of four federally approved reform plans. They included rigorous staff and curriculum changes, becoming a charter school or simply closing.

However, state Education Commissioner John B. King and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a new requirement. They said grant funding and any other new funding would not make it to schools if districts did not implement teacher evaluation systems.

Negotiations on evaluations between the Bloomberg administration and the United Federation of Teachers stalled in early January. They are deadlocked because teachers insist on an appeals process that does not stop with the principal of each school.

But in mid January, Bloomberg moved unilaterally on at least some schools.

In his State of the City address last month, the mayor announced there would be a new reform model for the 33 PLA schools. It’s designed to go around the UFT and grab the $58 million grant.

He and the Department of Education chose to implement the turnaround model, one of the federally approved reform plans.

Along with other requirements, the plan includes temporarily closing the school, renaming it, hiring a new principal and replacing exactly half of the teachers. It’s the only approved plan that requires replacing a percentage of teachers.

Bloomberg argues if these 33 schools evaluate their entire staff and replace 50 percent, they have implemented some form of teacher evaluations and are therefore eligible for the $58 million.

“I’m here to tell you today that we have a bully in the playground, and his name is Mayor Michael Bloomberg,” said Russell Nitchman, a teacher at Grover Cleveland. “I don’t know if us being here tonight is going to change anything. I hope it will. We need some political power to go against this bully in the playground.”

Nitchman and other attendees took little solace in the DOE’s promise that teachers removed from schools will not be fired, just reassigned.

They also criticized the plan because it does not solve the deadlock about a permanent evaluation system.

“All our teachers want is the right to appeal a bad rating. Even a serial killer has the right to appeal, so why not our hard-working teachers?” Senat, a senior, said, coaxing out laughs and applause.

The DOE has yet to release exact details on the turnaround plan, but the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) is scheduled to vote on it in April.

The Queens appointee to the body, Dmytro Fedkowskyj, held the hearing Monday with Borough President Helen Marshall.

He’s hoping other boroughs follow his example in an effort to highlight community resistance.

He acknowledged that fighting the mayor be a losing battle though. The PEP is comprised of five local appointees—one from each borough president—and eight mayoral appointees.

At the last meeting, a proposal about bus service from Fedkowskyj was voted down 8-5, exactly along those lines.

“I like a fight and love to win, but will not back down when my back is up against the wall,” he said after the hearing.

Marshall is a former teacher, and even she took a turn in bashing the plan, saying educational decision should not be left with politicians.

“It’s not change; it’s destruction,” she said of the turnaround model.

That frustration rang throughout the meeting that became more raucous as time went on. It ended with Robertson’s impassioned speech, shaming Bloomberg for targeting Grover Cleveland.

For two minutes, she whipped the room into a frenzy with her rhythmically-delivered testimony, ending in a shouted rebuke of the DOE’s plan.

“Mayor Bloomberg, I want to tell you, you ought to turn around, and we are going to turn around what it is you are doing,” she said.

Update, Feb. 16, 4:46 p.m.:

Early this morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State United Teachers union reached an agreement implementing teacher evaluations for the state and hammered out a appeals process that could apply in New York City.

If the United Federation of Teachers and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration can agree on implementing an overall teacher evaluation system in New York City by Jan. 17, 2013, the state’s appeals process will automatically be included.

The appeal was the most contentious part of evaluation negotiations between the Department of Education and the UFT.

Despite this, a statement from Bloomberg implies the turnaround plan is still moving full speed ahead.

“Let me make two points. First, nothing in this deal prevents us from moving forward with our plan to replace the lowest-performing teachers in 33 of our most struggling schools so we can immediately begin turning them around and giving our students the support they need,” he said. “And second: While there are still issues that the city and UFT will be discussing in order to finalize an evaluation system, this resolves the lion’s share of the most difficult issues. And the details remain to be worked out by staffs, but keep in mind, the UFT and the city are always talking and there are always things that we are coming to agreements on.”

Michael Mulgrew, UFT president, also issued a statement—praising the governor while taking a swipe at the mayor and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.

“I want to thank the Governor for his efforts to find a similar resolution for the issues that separate the UFT and Mayor Bloomberg,” he said. “Chancellor Walcott’s asserted that the city needed to close 33 [School Improvement Grant] schools because there was no agreement possible on an appeals process for teachers. That process has now been laid out for the SIG schools. Despite this agreement, Mayor Bloomberg still seems determined to close those schools.”

j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com

Joanne King, director of communications for the Queens Library, said this week that the construction plans at the library, located at 72-33Vleigh Place, would be taking place in the fall, rather than in early spring, as originally scheduled.

The library had initially planned to start renovations in the spring while opening a temporary library space on Main Street during the summer, with the fully renovated Kew Gardens branch opening at the end of 2014, a two-year construction effort.

However, according to King, the schedule has changed. The reason for this is that the temporary space on Main Street will not be ready for operation by the summer, from what library officials can determine.

“The renovations are being pushed back a few months because the temporary space on Main Street will not be ready for public service until the fall, and the library felt that it would have been too long to have no library service at all in the community,” she said. “Accordingly, we are holding off closing the current library until we get closer to the move-in date.”

As such, when the library closes the current space and moves into the temporary space at the end of 2012, the library will probably reopen, fully renovated, in the winter of 2015.

The $7.36 million construction effort, with an additional $830,000 for outfitting, will add several new features to the Kew Gardens library, including separate adult, children’s, teens and Quiet Study areas; computer labs for those groups; handicap accessibility; a glass front and a new façade for the library; a self-service checkout and 24-hour self-service check-in for books and other materials; an energy-saving green roof; and an expanded all-purpose room expected to fit 50 people.

Construction, which is being handled by the city Department of Design and Construction, should still take a little over two years, King said, although the construction schedule is subject to change due to weather conditions and other unforeseen factors.

Meanwhile, the library also paid tribute to one of its longtime benefactors, the late Patricia Dolan, who died last November after being struck by a car in Hollis, with a special memorial service held there Wednesday. Queens Borough President Helen Marshall was on hand with others at the library to unveil a special plaque commemorating Dolan for her efforts in leading the call for renovations at the library.

By Jean-Paul Salamanca

jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com

In December 2011, Spaulding, 29 and who was the lead singer in a death-metal band called Divine Infamy, was found guilty of three armed robberies that took place during the summer of 2010. She wore the cat mask during the two Manhattan robberies, one at a shoe store on Astor Place in lower Manhattan and the other at a sportswear shop in SoHo. She also robbed a store in Astoria. In that case, she wore a full-length Burqa and spoke in a fake Arabic accent. Spaulding was arrested just minutes after the SoHo robbery.

According to the New York Daily News, prosecutor Craig Ortner noted that Spaulding had a toy gun and targeted young women who were working at the stores.

“She has no one to blame but herself,” Ortner said in the News article.

Spaulding’s defense lawyer, Lori Cohen, said in the News story that she had no prior criminal history and that her boyfriend forced her to commit the crime. Cohen asked Justice Richard Carruthers for a five year sentence.

But the justice was not lenient on Spaulding, deciding to give her the 10 year sentence.

According to several reports, Spaulding burst into tears as soon as the sentencing came down. As court officers led her out of the courtroom, she screamed for the officers to release her and she insisted that she was innocent.

The two are aiming for May 2013 for the first event that could include community-driven events throughout all the boroughs. But with the planning phase just starting, details are thin so far.

Quinn and Koslowitz are both emphasizing the economic impact of a major industry event, which is the comparison they are drawing. A spokesperson for Koslowitz said they will try to replicate the success of Fashion Week, which draws 300,000 visitors and $800 million to the city a year.

With 40,000 workers at over 1,600 firms, the design sector was too big and similar to pass up, Greg Lavine, the spokesperson noted.

The end goal, the Speaker said, is to attract jobs by solidifying New York as a hub for the industry much like Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pushing in the technology industry.

“Make no mistake, these are good middle class jobs ranging from marketing to manufacturing,” Quinn said during her speech.

Koslowitz is a lead sponsor of the project because of her position as Chair of the Economic Development Committee. But her district—encompassing Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens and more—could mark the biggest difference between Design Week and the event it’s copying.

Unlike Fashion Week, the idea is for Design Week to be community driven, with events built from the bottom up citywide.

Koslowitz wants to draw in subsets of the design world to partner with and host events on graphic design, interior design, floral design, lighting design, furniture design, web design and more throughout the boroughs.

So far though, the only outside group Quinn or Koslowitz has identified has stronger ties to Manhattan than Queens.

A spokesperson for Koslowitz said they would like to layer the first Design Week on top of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, a trade show that takes place every May. For 2012, it’s scheduled for May 19 through 22 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is pushing for a major convention center in Queens that could open as soon as 2014 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park and serve as a replacement for the Javits Center, which Cuomo wants to remodel.

This spring Koslowitz, Quinn and company are hoping to get plans hammered out and start meeting with stake holders in the design industry.

“I applaud Speaker Quinn for her strong leadership on Economic Development issues and look forward to working together with her to make Design Week a success for New York City,” Koslowitz said in a statement.

Originally scheduled to take place at the Feb.14  Community Board 9 meeting—which covers both neighborhoods—Community Board 9 officials confirmed that the vote has been pushed back until March in order to accommodate residents who live in Woodhaven and Ozone Park.

The February vote, which was to be held at Kew Gardens, was rescheduled to be held at the Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps in Woodhaven at 7:45 p.m. on March 13.

The two street changes, if approved, would change 84th Street from a one-way northbound to a one-way southbound from Liberty Avenue, and convert 89th Avenue from a two-way street to a one-way eastbound operation between Woodhaven Boulevard and 97th Street.

Mary Ann Carey, district manager of Community Board 9, said that the board had received numerous complaints from residents regarding changing the venue of the meeting to a location that was closer to Woodhaven and Ozone Park.

At that point, State Assemblyman Mike Miller intervened, arranging for the meeting to be held at the ambulance corps building in Woodhaven, according to Carey.

Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association, said Tuesday that he welcomed the decision to change the meeting location, as it would be easier for residents to attend the meeting.

By Jean-Paul Salamanca

jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com

Evelyn Delorbe, a member of the Parent Teachers Association at Middle School 210, introduced the bully form at the Our Neighbors of Ozone Park meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The form would allow kids from 5^th grade and up to anonymously report to the school a bullying incident or if they have been repeatedly bullied by one person or a group of people.

In the form itself, you fill out your grade, sex, the name of the person you are accusing of bullying and a description of the bullying incident or incidents.

Delorbe said at the meeting that she created the form to give kids a way to report bullying who otherwise may be afraid to do so for fear of being teased by their peers. She also believes that it would be an easier way to find out who the person is if a child is the victim of bullying.

“We as tax payers should know who the bullies in our community are,” Delorbe said.

She introduced the form to State Senator Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) who attended the meeting to speak about a number of community issues in the Ozone Park area.

Addabbo said her bully form is an interesting idea and one that he is willing to put his support behind if Delorbe needs it.

He added that bullying has taken on a new form with many people having easy access to the internet.

“It’s not the same when we were younger with pushing and shoving,” Addabbo said. “A click of a button could hurt many people.”

Although Addabbo supports the bully form becoming a part of schools around the city, he said that it would only work with the right checks and balances. According to Addabbo, the form itself could cause bullying if someone alleges another child of that and it turns out that it’s not true.

As for Delorbe, she said there is no time table for getting the forms into public schools, but with the support of local politicians like Addabbo, she hopes that time will come soon.

By Luis Gronda

An international group of retired police officers, dubbed The Badge of Life, is comprised of clinicians and researchers in the field, as well as family survivors of police suicide. The organization is a not for profit educational organization striving to introduce new approaches to police mental health and psychological survival for officers. They also advocate for the rights and humane treatment  of law enforcement trauma sufferers and suicide survivors.

Earlier this week Matthew Schindler, a 39-year-old 14-year veteran killed himself on his way home after finishing his shift in Queens. The married father of three children pulled his car over on the Long Island Expressway near Exit 40 in Jericho around 4:30 in the afternoon and shot himself under the chin. Moments before the beloved officer text messaged his sergeant that he would not be seeing him anymore.

Described by friends and fellow officers as a “great guy” the news was released to his fellow officers at the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights when they were called back to the station house to receive the horrible news.

On Super Bowl Sunday, 20-year-veteran Brian Saar, the father of 5-year-old twin daughters, shot himself after arguing with his wife at a party.

It was the fourth suicide to hit the NYPD in 2012 and the second in eight days.

Less than two weeks earlier, on Jan. 19, 28-year-old Terrance Dean ended his life after receiving a phone call from his finance informing him she had called the 111th precinct about his increasing depression. Dean withdrew his service revolver from his belt and shot himself in the head in front of his partner and the car owner at the scene of a burglary they were investigating.

And on Jan. 15, 23-year-old rookie cop Patrick Werner ended his life at his parent’s home after getting into an auto accident and fleeing the scene. Police sources say he had been on the phone arguing at the time of the crash.

The general suicide rate in the United State in the year 2010 was 11/ 1000,000 while the average of police officers who took their lives nationwide is 17/100,000.

Troubled cops can call the outside counseling group POPPA, Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance, headed by Genet.

Ron Clark, chairman of Badge of Life, notes that these figures are preliminary but of “high confidence” because they are based on observation of patterns across the United States following the group’s two-year national study of police suicides in 2008 and 2009.

As published in the well-known Aamodt-Stalnaker study of police suicides in 1999, so often quoted, there is a small portion (usually unnoticed) in which their study points out that 11 to 31 percent of police suicides are directly attributable to police work. This matches the figures in other documentable studies, but this is hardly what anyone wants to hear, so basically it’s ignored and these 16 to 45 dead heroes are buried in the dead of night.

According to Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance a volunteer peer support network whose commitment is exclusively dedicated to providing a confidential, safe and supportive environment for police officers and their families, there were 11 suicides among NYPD Police Officers between 2008 and 2009 – a 15/100,000 suicide rate, and 19 suicides among city cops between 1994-1995, a 32/100,000 suicide rate.

The Badge of Life released statistics in 2009 there were 143 police suicides– an increase from 141 in 2008.

New York, California and New Jersey led the nation in police suicides both of those years.

Study results and reporting from the police departments involved in the suicides differ greatly on the nature of the acts themselves. Police authorities lean toward saying the suicides are basically unrelated with job related issues, yet all the work done by volunteer organizations comprised of professional mental health professionals, law makers and volunteers point strongly in the other direction.

Whatever the true breakdown of statistics is, it is evident that more services offering crucial mental health counseling for police officers and for their families is imperative and obviously the path to saving lives. Nothing less is acceptable.

For as much as the police have assumed the role of protecting us, we must accept some sort of responsibility for lending the shoulder that could save a life.

Demitrios Matsoukatidis, 67, of 24-33 23rd Street in Astoria, was allegedly driving a black 1998 Mercedes SUV on 21st Avenue in Astoria when he hit Aldama Lizardo, who was crossing the street at the intersection of 21st Avenue and 31st Street on Feb. 7.

Police who responded to the scene reported they saw damage on the hood and grill of Matsoukatidis’ car and that he had bloodshot eyes and an odor of alcohol on his breath. A breathalyzer test on Matsoukatidis allegedly revealed a blood alcohol content of 1.6 percent, which is above the legal limit of .08 percent in New York. Lizardo had severe head trauma as a result of the crash and was taken to a local hospital, where he passed away.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said that this incident shows what can happen when someone gets behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.

“The defendant is accused of getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol and being involved in a traffic accident in which a pedestrian was struck and killed,” Brown said. “By his alleged actions, the defendant illustrated the lethal consequences resulting from driving while intoxicated.”

Matsoukatidis was charged with one count of second-degree vehicular manslaughter and two counts of operating a motor vehicle while under the  alcohol or drugs. Matsoukatidis was ordered to be held on $50,000 bail and will return to court on Feb. 28. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.