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Murray Playground Dog Run Closed for Soil Contamination

The dog run at Murray Playground has been closed since the afternoon of Feb. 14 after the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation discovered high levels of contaminants in the soil, including lead and arsenic. In a statement to the Queens Ledger, a spokesperson for NYC Parks said other areas of the park are also being closed until the department is confident they are uncontaminated.

“The safety of our park patrons is always our top priority, and we moved quickly to close the dog run at Murray Playground as soon as we found signs of potential soil contamination,” the statement said. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have also fenced off open grass areas at the park while we conduct further testing.”

According to the spokesperson, paved and covered parts of the park — including the playground — do not pose a risk of contamination.

“As the playground space is covered with pavement and a play surface, there is no pathway for exposure, and this portion of the park remains open,” the statement said. “The duration of the dog run closure is yet to be determined.”

Council Member Julie Won said she is working with the Parks Department to keep constituents updated on the soil testing process and a timeline for the park’s reopening to the public.

“On February 21, I sent a letter to NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue requesting that Parks provide an updated timeline for soil retesting and that all areas where children have contact with contaminated soil be fenced off,” Won said in a public statement. “As a mother, the safety of your children is my top priority. We will continue to provide information on a timeline for soil retesting once we receive a response from Parks.”

 

Queens Lawmakers Rally for SMOKEOUT Act

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com

Credit: Celia Bernhardt

State Assemblyperson Jenifer Rajkumar held a rally with State Senator Leroy Comrie and about 20 supporters on the steps of City Hall on Friday to call for the SMOKEOUT Act to be included in the State’s enacted budget.

The SMOKEOUT (Stop Marijuana Overproliferation and Keep Empty Operators of Unlicensed Transactions) Act, first introduced in early January, is Rajkumar’s proposed fix to the state’s bumpy rollout of cannabis legalization and the proliferation of thousands of illegal, unlicensed smoke shops through the five boroughs. Under the proposed rule, local municipalities would have the power to shutter illegal shops and seize all merchandise. Currently, that power is reserved for the State’s Office of Cannabis Management, which has only 14 inspectors statewide.

“I think all New Yorkers feel right now like they’re high, because they look at the situation and it makes no sense,” Rajkumar said at the rally. “There are 1000 times more illegal shops than there are legal shops. There’s only about 60 legal shops in the whole state. And there’s 36,000 illegal shops. How can this be? Am I high right now?”

Comrie told the crowd that the issue was consistently top of mind among his constitutents. “Every meeting I attend, everywhere I go, people want to see these places shut down,” he said. “The ones that have been inspected, they found rat feces in the basement. They found other chemicals that are being mixed in with the marijuana. You don’t know what you’re getting. You’re not getting it from a safe supplier.”

Rajkumar’s office estimates there are about 1,500 illegal shops in New York City alone. Previous estimates cited by Council Member Lyn Schulman this past summer put that number much higher, at 8,000. Mayor Eric Adams has claimed that if Rajkumar’s legislation is enacted, the city could shut down every illegal shop in 30 days.

“The state budget is due on April 1. That’s five and a half weeks from today. On April 1, I don’t want to be standing here saying ‘April Fools,’” Rajumar said. “I want to be standing here saying ‘we have put the SMOKEOUT Act in the state budget.’”

How a Community Garden in Woodside Keeps the Neighborhood Alive

by Stella Raine Chu

Volunteers tend to the garden beds at Moore-Jackson Community Garden. Credit: GrowNYC

What purpose does a community garden serve in a concrete jungle like New York City?

For Elizabeth O’Connor, co-founder of Moore-Jackson Community Garden in Woodside, the answer lies in its namesake: the community.

“Our motto is ‘let’s grow together,’ in more ways than one,” O’Connor said. “Although it’s a garden, this space is now a hub for arts programming, plays, and open mic nights. It’s become the only green space within a ten-block radius.”

Dating back to 1733, Moore-Jackson was originally a burial ground for the English settler Moore family. In 1998, property ownership was transferred to the Queens Historical Society, and in 2019, thanks to the efforts of local volunteers and a non-profit, the garden was established. Since then, the space has grown foods like cucumbers, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, eggplant, and a plethora of different types of tomatoes.

O’Connor isn’t the only one who acknowledges the importance of green spaces and community gardens in a city like New York. These gardens have historically provided fresh fruits and vegetables to lower income areas where produce may not be as abundantly available or affordable. In times of famine and food shortages, community gardens filled the gaps in America’s diet. During both World Wars, citizens were encouraged by the U.S. National War Garden Commission to plant “victory gardens” to supplement rations and boost morale.

According to the latest New York State Community Gardens Task Force report, there are about 3,000 community gardens across the state, two-thirds of which are in the five-boroughs. The same report also details a 2010 study which found the benefits of community gardens to be especially prominent among youth populations, where adolescents fostered mutual trust in their peers, particularly those not of the same race as themselves, thus leading to a stronger sense of community.

Moore-Jackson, like most community gardens, is entirely run by volunteers.

“It’s this feeling that you’re doing something together,” says Lena Hunter, a volunteer at the garden. “Even if you have a lot of differences, you still have one similarity: making this garden work.”

Volunteers at Moore-Jackson gather every Saturday at 11:30 a.m. to process food scraps, much of which are dropped off by neighbors in the community. These scraps are then stored away and decomposed to become compost that feed the garden beds. Despite it being the off-season, there’s still a lot of work to be done to maintain the soil.

The carbon that is released from the decomposition process is sequestered and captured in composting, which then makes the gasses viable for plants to use. Once the fruits and vegetables are harvested, they’re given out to volunteers and local food pantries.

“It feels like you’re on a farm. I’m thrilled to be here, it’s a joy to be outside,” said Jessica Coyle, a volunteer at Moore-Jackson of three years. “I’ve made so many friends by just coming here every Saturday, it’s a blast.”

Community gardens aren’t just a way to socialize with neighbors — they have a real impact on health and diet. A study published in the National Library of Medicine found that households that participate in community gardens ate fruits and vegetables around six times a day, while non-participant households only did so around four times a day.

“They’re an opportunity for young people to learn what vegetables look like before they go into a can,” O’Connor said. “It’s so important that kids, and also adults, get their hands dirty, understand where food comes from, and how easy it is to grow it.”

Numerous studies have drawn the correlation between physical and mental health and gardening. It has been found that direct experiences with gardens and green spaces decrease cardiovascular diseases, depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as diabetes and obesity. A combination of physical activity, exposure to sunlight, social interaction and consumption of fruits and vegetables makes community gardens an essential part of any neighborhood.

“Gardens can be built in the neighborhood’s image,” said Mike Rezny, associate director of the Green Space program at GrowNYC. The non-profit organization, which built Moore-Jackson, was founded in 1970 with the mission of providing New Yorkers in all five boroughs with fresh, locally grown food and green spaces. The Green Space program, established five years after the organization’s initial founding, has built more than 160 community gardens across the city, providing more than a million square feet of green space for New Yorkers.

“Community gardens are the kinds of places where people can make a direct impact on what their neighborhood looks and feels like,” Rezny said. “You don’t have to be interested in growing vegetables to join a community garden. It’s a great first step of civic engagement.”

Volunteers at Moore-Jackson preparing food scraps for composting. Credit: Stella Raine Chu

The Green Space program works with institutional partners like New York City Parks & Recreation, New York City Housing Authority, and the Department of Education to find potential spaces that might be a good fit to build a garden.

“We’re also looking for strong community partners,” Rezny said. “We want folks that live in the neighborhood to be the ones stewarding and maintaining them, so we want to make sure there’s community support for all the projects we work on.”

Rezny says that Green Space is always looking for new land to build gardens on, even if it means using non-traditional spaces. Potential spaces for building gardens can be submitted through their request form.

Despite community gardens growing in popularity — with 29,000 of them in 100 of America’s largest cities — these urban oases are facing challenges. From lack of funding, inconsistent community engagement, and insufficient space, it isn’t always smooth sailing.

“It’s hard to always deliver on everything,” O’Connor said. While grants — the most common way community gardens receive funding — are helpful and necessary, they often require commitments to certain programming schedules, which isn’t always possible.

Another big issue is inconsistency in volunteers. Because Moore-Jackson is completely volunteer-led, labor retention has become a struggle. O’Connor says that getting the word out about events and volunteer opportunities is a priority for the garden.

Since all events at the garden are held outside, unpredictable weather is a constant issue. Last year, the garden held their 11th annual Play Festival for three weekends in September. It ended up raining all three weekends.

At the start of the growing season, usually late April to early May, the garden hosts a Beautification Day, dedicated to planting new seeds in garden beds. The event is free and open to the public.

Unlike other gardens in the city, Moore-Jackson does not have a waitlist or membership fees — and the garden is truly communal instead of having individualized plots. The fruits and vegetables are planted, grown, and harvested by everyone, to be shared with everyone — instead of each member having their own plot only for them to tend to.

For now, the garden continues to sustain the local Woodside community — providing its neighbors with a lush green space, locally grown produce, and a gathering space open to anyone.

“This is your community garden,” O’Connor said. “It’s not just ours. Everyone’s welcome.”

Carolina Zuniga-Aisa, beekeeper from Island Bee Project in Brooklyn, tends to the honeybees that Moore-Jackson keeps on site. Credit: Stella Raine Chu

POL POSITION: Drugged Driving Battle Heating Up

While we visited the State Capital Monday, we were greeted with unexpected Senate passion for a few legislative initiatives we see as important. First; The Drugged Driving Bill is picking up steam. Senator Mannion and Woodhaven’s native son Senator Joe Addabbo are fighting to get this bill into law. It would essentially make it illegal to drive impaired on marijuana.

What, you say?

It’s not illegal now?

Nope.

The State’s definition of impairment is tied to alcohol, not drugs.

Crazy, right?

Well there is another side to this. There are those legislators who don’t trust law enforcement, and giving cops any more ability to stop and arrest someone is seen as violating the right to live free.

Hey, we’re all about being voluntarily impaired. But stay home!

Second, we were impressed to see Woodside’s freshman Assemblyman, Steven Raga speak about, and sign on to a bill that supports community media. QPTV, BRIC and Bronx Net happened to be up on Albany getting talking on what they see as a change that could put them out of business in 5-years. Cable companies have funded their existence since the mid 80’s. Their multiple cable TV channels are basically the only place for people to find out what is going on at their local library, the many cultural places in the boroughs and even community board meeting listings.

Readers can find them in our papers too, but community media like public access TV is essential to fund. ‘Cord Cutting’ has led to a lack of funding and while other states have had an excise tax (one which can not be passed along to the consumer) on streaming services we have none. Part of that tax goes to public access networks.

Public Access broadcast agencies operate programs that teach regular people to use professional video equipment to produce videos for a public need. Those videos are used on their channels. One producer, Dr. JJ Abularrage, is a doctor out of NY Presbyterian Queens. He spoke quite passionately about how his work as a producer with QPTV was essential for his passion on doctor/patient relationship. “I could not have set up these learning videos for the doctors at my hospital without QPTV,” he said. “I know it saved lives.”

“I love BRIC,” said Greenpoint Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher. “Community media is essential.”

Glad to see the support of a bunch of other Senators and Assembly members who spoke about their support at the press conference on the 4th floor of the Senate area.

IN OUR OPINION: The Perfect Storm For The Migrant Violence

Migration to NYC is nothing new. In the 1800’s, early 1900’s and during the wars in Europe, people fled here for a multitude of reasons. We just handled it better. The immigrants came to New York then, just as they are now.

It’s been nearly two years since this new migrant crisis started. Just like it was in the early 1900’s and Ellis Island, new people are arriving daily, if not weekly.

Here’s the difference; we had a plan.

Similar to other times when migrants came here, many people are able to live with relatives. Although it creates a housing problem in many neighborhoods where people are living in spaces meant for far less people, there are still many migrants who are in our migrant housing programs for housing.

It’s living in shelters. It’s living on Randall’s Island, Floyd Bennett Field, at the Roosevelt Hotel and we know there are dozens of other shelters.

The perfect storm has arrived. In perfect storm situations Mother Nature takes over and an inertia is created that can’t really be stopped.

The perfect storm in the migrant crisis results in migrant-on-migrant violence, a lack of regard for police – leading an even more dangerous lack of respect for anyone. 

They can’t work, they have little to do but hang out in public spaces, just watching, wondering and waiting. And since it’s been nearly two years it has reached a perfect storm where migrant gangs grow and a crime wave persists.

While, for the last year or so, we have been worrying about retail stores closing because criminals know they can’t be prosecuted, the migrant community has now realized that ‘thuggary’ might be the only way to survive at the moment. 

We don’t entirely blame bail reform. We can’t entirely lame the mayor for calling migrants here. We remember when he exclaimed, “We’ll take em.”

We can’t entirely blame the legislature for hot figuring out a way they can get work visas. It’s everything … all at once.

Middle Village Bagels Named Best Bagel in Queens

Middle Village Bagels, located at 79-16 Eliot Ave, was named Queens’ Best Bagel by the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

The nomination process included over 55 of Queens’ top bagel shops in a public vote. Over 3,000 bagel connoisseurs across the borough cast their votes in what the Queens Chamber of Commerce called the “closest vote of all the competitions.”

Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz awards Middle Village Bagels ownership with a certificate.

The owners of Middle Village Bagel and Chamber President Tom Grech were joined by Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz at the shop to award the top bagel business a plaque and certificate of their new title.

The Queens Chamber of Commerce has held similar vote competitions to name the best taco, best pizza, best empanadas and best barbecue in the borough. Voters ranked Utopia Bagels and Rockaway Bagels second and third respectively in the competition.

The winning bagels. Courtesy Queens Chamber of Commerce

Guest Op-Ed: Legislature Needs to Act on Climate, Housing and Inequality This Session

By Danielle Brecker

The 2024 New York State Legislative session commenced this past week and on January 9th, Governor Hochul will deliver the State of the State. This is the time for our State Legislators and Governor to deliver substantive, far-reaching policy solutions for climate change, affordable housing, failing infrastructure, and attacks on our democracy. There will be those who say this is an election year, so little will get done. I think this is the time for our legislators to remember that they work for the people and, as they face reelection, deliver for the people. 

They can start by reforming our State taxation policy, shifting to a progressive taxation where the wealthiest individuals and corporations pay more because they have more. In many cases, they make their money using New York State’s resources, workforce, and infrastructure. They should be paying their fair share of taxes. 

There are five progressive taxation bills that could lead this change. A capital gains tax, a corporate tax on the most profitable corporations in our State, more progressive income tax so that the top 5% of earners pay their fair share, a tax on billionaires’ wealth, and an heirs tax. Enacted together these proposals would raise $45 billion annually. If big-moneyed donors contributing to our elected leaders’ campaigns don’t like these proposals, we need to remind our elected leaders that they work for us, not wealthy donors.

Later this month, I will travel to Albany to deliver thousands of letters from New Yorkers calling on Governor Hochul, State Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Heastie to enact three crucial climate bills. The Climate Change Superfund Act will make the state’s worst polluters, ultra wealthy major oil companies, pay for the harm they have caused. The New York Home Energy Affordable Transition Act (NY HEAT Act) will transition New York to pollution free heating and cooling, provide relief from expensive gas heating, and put justice at the center of building electrification. The Just Energy Transition Act (JETA) will provide a plan to guide the replacement and redevelopment of New York State’s fossil fuel facilities and sites by 2030.  

The New York State Senate passed these climate bills in 2023 and it is imperative that they do so again in the early months of 2024. That will give the New York State Assembly ample time to bring these bills to the Assembly floor and get them passed. Once both the State Senate and Assembly have passed these bills, our Governor must immediately sign them into law. 

There has been much talk that this year we will finally enact policies to create affordable housing. There is no question that this is needed but it needs to be done in a thoughtful way that commits to creating truly, deeply affordable housing in perpetuity for working families, immigrants, artists, all of us. Affordable housing must be created in all communities throughout our State. Every community must do their part so we are not displacing New Yorkers in some areas and creating a new layer of crisis. 

Affordable housing must be created in a way that does not add to the climate crisis. Directly related to this, we must deeply fund infrastructure to make it green and resilient, fix what is crumbling, and build new to support new housing. It is not enough to create affordable housing, we must make sure all of our communities are livable and resilient for the future.

Sometimes the threats to our democracy seem insurmountable but New York State can continue to play a role in abating these threats. One way is to successfully implement and fully fund New York State’s landmark Public Campaign Finance Program (PCFP.) This program enables legislative and statewide candidates to receive a match on small contributions. The approach of this program gives the smallest contributions the most meaningful match. The PCFP will uplift the voices of all New Yorkers in our State elections, in our State Budget process, and in our policy making. That will ultimately  strengthen our democracy and  is the best way to remind our Legislators and Governor that they work for the people, they work for us.

 

Danielle Brecker is a resident of Long Island City, Democratic State Committee Member for AD-36, and Co-lead Organizer of Empire State Indivisible.

Astoria Welfare Society Receives Congressional Honor From Hakeem Jeffries

Courtesy of Mohamed Jabed Uddin

by Charlie Finnerty

Leadership from the Astoria Welfare Society, an Astoria-based non-profit community organization that distributes food and clothing for those in need across Queens and throughout the city, were awarded by Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader of the U.S House of Representatives, December 16. At a Tibetan community hall event marking the 9th Anniversary of the Time TV, Astoria Welfare Society President Sohel Ahmed and General Secretary Mohamed Jabed Uddin received the Covid-19 Hero award and congressional recognition from Jeffries, Mayor Eric Adams and Time Television.

The Astoria Welfare Society was founded during the pandemic, providing masks, personal protective gear and groceries to the community to mitigate the challenges of COVID. Since then, they have provided clothing, groceries and halal food for hundreds of families through their programs. They also operate a free community fridge on 30th Street and 36th Avenue in Astoria and is stocked with free groceries for those in need.

“The award was because of our COVID work we did during the pandemic: helping people with masks, sanitizer, food, the community fridge and all the work we did for the people,” Uddin said. “It was hundreds of families we served during Covid-19

The Astoria Welfare Society receiving recognition and support from elected officials has been crucial to their ability to support the community since beginning their work in the pandemic, Uddin said.

“Because of our work, the council members and the assembly members and the community leaders, they see how we are working and everyone started coming out to join with us and support the community,” Uddin said. 

While the awards are meaningful, Uddin said he hopes city officials will begin to offer more substantial support to the Astoria Welfare Society beyond recognition and praise. Uddin said the Office of the Queens Borough President Donavan Richards has provided canned food in the past for food drives.

“We are the only organization in Astoria and Long Island City that is still serving the food and everything. We invite the officials to bring their attention so we can show them what the people’s needs are in the community,” Uddin said. “We don’t get that much from the official people, they just come in and give a speech while we give out our free food. My intention was to bring to their attention the program and how many hundreds of people come in line in Astoria that need the food and stuff.”

In the meantime, Uddin said the Astoria Welfare Society will continue to operate as a self-funded operation.

“We’re trying to buy [food] from our own pockets. We put money together as an organization to buy halal food, chicken, rice and oil,” Uddin said. “We are still doing it, giving the people what they need. We get a lot of phone calls given that families are coming every week for food.”

The Astoria Welfare Society already has events planned for the new year and is dedicated to serving the community for a long time to come.

Courtesy of Mohamed Jabed Uddin

Guest Op-Ed: Rezoning Won’t be Enough, LIC Needs Ambitious Leadership in Community Planning

By Danielle Brecker

In November, One Long Island City Comprehensive Community Planning launched. Ultimately this planning will inform a rezoning proposal for a small part of Long Island City.

We’ve been here many times before, at the Irish Center, Jacob Riis, Culture Lab, on Zoom, at public hearings, town halls, walking tours, and protests. Always talking about how we can make Long Island City more affordable, resilient, and livable with all of its neighborhoods connected and equally resourced. I want to be hopeful that this time, this process, will have a different result. The meetings have been substantive and engaging but the reality is that we are giving input for a rezoning and nothing more.

A rezoning alone cannot solve for the vast needs of our community or for the crises of climate change, affordable housing, and failing infrastructure that impact all communities. It is more likely that a rezoning, even with robust community input, will exponentially worsen these problems.

As I participate in session after session with my neighbors, I realize that what is needed is comprehensive community planning that leads to systemic change. We need to do things differently this time around, not accept the usual, status quo way forward but instead assert our collective will for plans, policy, and investment to meet the magnitude of the needs and crises we face.

In a recent planning session about resiliency, I suggested that the investment we need to rebuild our sewer system, a core issue facing Long Island City, should come first because it is necessary for our community to survive and not as a result of a rezoning deal with a tax break for a developer. The moderator’s response was that this would mean we need to change how our government budgets.

That’s exactly the point. If we want to implement a comprehensive community plan that meets Long Island City’s vast needs and helps to solve the wider crises we face, we need to change how we approach economic policy and development. We need to change from trickle down, tax break based policies that grow the profits of a few to policies that invest in our communities to grow prosperity for all of us.

And that’s not all. This past summer, in a pre-launch small group meeting for this planning, I asked about the struggle to create affordable housing with  Area Median Income (AMI) as the factor used to determine affordability. This community planning process should be the time to shine a light on the limitations of AMI and potential solutions including Federal and State legislation.

Let’s use this community planning process to reconsider how we use empty office and commercial space in Long Island City and our city at large. Instead of pushing to return to a way of working from before Covid and I would argue from the last century, let’s repurpose empty office and commercial space to the urgent needs we have right now.

Let’s use this community planning process to push for what we need and to push back on  what we will not accept. I don’t accept housing that is unaffordable and unlivable for working families, artists, immigrants — all of us. I don’t accept that home ownership will never be attainable for an entire generation. I don’t accept small, incremental  solutions to climate change. I don’t accept austerity in one of the richest cities and states in the world. I don’t accept our city turning into a part time playground for billionaires who continually enrich themselves using New York’s resources and workforce without paying their fair share of taxes. And neither should you.

In another planning session about economic and workforce development, I suggested a New Deal-like program where New Yorkers are given good paying jobs and training to rebuild infrastructure, develop resiliency measures, grow public arts programs, and apprentice in small, local businesses. I realize that this idea is broad, expensive, and will require coordination across levels and agencies of government. 

Again, that’s the point. The needs and crises we face are bigger and go far beyond Long Island City. So our approach needs to be bigger, bolder, and go beyond a single rezoning for a small part of Long Island City.

Danielle Brecker is a resident of Long Island City, Democratic State Committee Member for AD-36, and Co-lead Organizer of Empire State Indivisible.

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