City Council hopeful Mark Treyger is demanding that state funds be spent more responsibly. Treyger, a longtime aide to Assemblyman William Colton, wants to see state lottery profits spent on scholarships.
According to a report in the New York Post, Treyger, who is also a New Utrecht High School teacher, was angered over the suspension of the “Leaders of Tomorrow” scholarship. The program, which provided a $5,000 scholarship to a student of each high school in the state, was halted in 2010. Yet, he notes, the lottery made a record $2.9 billion profit last year.
“It’s an outrage that despite posting record profits, the NYS Lottery cannot find the money to fund this vital program,” Treyger told the Post.
“And as Albany debates whether to expand casino gaming throughout New York, how are families supposed to trust that they will be protected in that process when an important program funded by a profitable existing gaming effort cannot be maintained? In addition to being patently unfair, leaving this scholarship program unfunded hurts our state,” Treyger said.
11:45 PM Fri to 5 AM Mon, May 10 – 13
Manhattan-bound N trains skip 30 Av, Broadway, 36 Av, and 39 Av.
NIGHTS: 11:30 PM to 6:30 AM, Fri to Sun, May 10 – 12
11:30 PM Sun to 5 AM Mon, May 12 – 13
Brooklyn-bound N trains are rerouted via the Q from Canal St to DeKalb Av
R LINE
6:30 AM to 12 midnight, Sat and Sun, May 11 – 12
Brooklyn-bound R trains are rerouted via the Q from Canal St to DeKalb Av.
F LINE
11:45 PM Fri to 5 AM Mon, May 10 – 13
Jamaica-bound F trains run express from Church Av to Jay St-MetroTech.
CompStat reports are produced by the New York Police Department on a weekly basis. We publish the week’s statistics for the 62nd Precinct reports every Friday. The 62nd Precinct is the police command responsible for Bensonhurst and Bath Beach.
City Councilman Vincent J. Gentile is organizing a community-wide volunteer clean-up effort, along with the local Community Boards, “to inspire awareness, appreciation and respect for our neighborhood and keeping it clean.”
Gentile will be at two separate community events – one in Bay Ridge and one in Bensonhurst. The dates and locations are as follows:
Bensonhurst Clean Up
Saturday, May 11
Co-sponsored by Assemblyman William Colton and Community Board 11
Volunteers meet at 81st Street and 18th Avenue at 10:00 a.m.
Bay Ridge Clean Up
Saturday, May 18
Co-sponsored by Community Board 10
Volunteers meet at 87th Street and Third Avenue at 10:00 a.m.
“The mission of this event is simple: together we’ll roll up your sleeves and clean up our streets,” Gentile said. “Maybe if your neighbor sees you picking up litter, it will inspire them to be more conscious of their surroundings and think twice before littering next time. Everyone loves a clean neighborhood, including our visitors. Let’s return our neck of the woods to its natural beauty and truly make this a real community-wide event!”
You can register your family, friends, employer, place of worship, group, organization or school for the event by emailing ssteinweiss@council.nyc.gov or just by showing up on the day of the event. Volunteers will be given all the tools they need to clean up the streets.
The following is a press release by the MTA regarding service closures on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge this week:
Overnight Lane Closures Approaching Brooklyn-bound
Verrazano-Narrows Toll Plaza Nightly May 9-11 and May 13-16
Three eastbound lanes will remain open on the bridge’s upper level
Several lanes leading into the Brooklyn-bound (eastbound) Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll plaza will be closed overnight May 9-11 and May 13-16 while new drainage systems and electrical conduits are installed. There will be no lane closures on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12.
The work will take place in the area from Fingerboard Road Bridge to the Brooklyn-bound toll plaza. The schedule is as follows:
Weeknights (May 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, and 16): 2 lanes open 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. and one lane open from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Sat., May 11: one lane open eastbound from 12:01 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Motorists can bypass the work zone by using Exit 15 from the Staten Island Expressway and reentering at the Lily Pond on ramp from Narrows Road South.
The work, which is being done by Restani Construction Corp., of Queens, is part of a $50 million improvement project at the eastbound toll plaza. The project is scheduled for completion in 2015.
Food allergies are a growing concern for parents everywhere, especially in light of scary statistics that states that one out of every 13 children suffer from them. If a child is suffering from a food allergy, they are treated with the Epipen, an auto injector that administers a life saving injection of epinephrine.
According to a PIX 11 report, State Senator Marty Golden is looking to pass legislation that would make it mandatory for teachers to receive training in using the Epipen to prevent unnecessary food allergy deaths that claim about 150 children a year.
The training would require teachers to undergo a free ten minute training course. Right now in the state of New York, only school nurses are trained in administering the injection.
If the legislation is passed, under the “Good Samaritan Law,” a parent would be unable to sue a teacher if something goes wrong, protecting teachers from being hesitant in attempting to save a child’s life.
State Senator Martin J. Golden will be holding a senior fair tomorrow, May 10 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at St. Mary, Mother of Jesus (lower church), 2311 85th Street.
Local seniors will have an opportunity to learn of the services available to them, including assistance with their property taxes, prescription drug coverage, personal safety, access to city and state services, and their health.
The fair will feature information and assistance offered by city agencies including the Departments for the Aging, Environmental Protection, Finance, Transportation, Sanitation, the Human Resources Administration, the New York City Police Department, the New York City Fire Department, and the Parks Department.
Additionally, Brooklyn Housing and Family Services, the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, Brooklyn Public Library, representatives from Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) and other social service agencies will be attending. Free blood pressure screenings will also be available and entertainment and lunch will be provided.
Golden will hold another fair on May 30 in Marine Park. To learn more, contact Golden’s office at (718) 238-6044.
Superstorm Sandy not only destroyed businesses and homes but some of our favorite Coney Island attractions, including the ominous ‘Cleveland Grandma Fortune Teller.’
In the video above, posted by NationalJukeBox, John Poppa shares the history of the famous wax figure which dates back to the late 1920s. When Poppa’s repair shop received Cleveland Grandma, Sandy had put it in bad shape, messing up the moving eyes and the mechanical hands.
The most disappointing thing about the video was seeing a behind the scenes demonstration on how these fortune tellers work. I just assumed they operated on magic like the creepy fortune telling guy from the movie Big.
In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, many business and homeowners were left with tough financial decisions as to how to rebuild their lives. Many were offered loans by the Small Business Association (SBA) but rejected them because they didn’t want to incur more debt.
Because of complex bureaucratic rules, business and homeowners who rejected the SBA loans are now being denied some resources, leading politicians like Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Michael Grimm to press the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) into changing their rules, according to a press release.
Current HUD policy now demands that the amount of approved loans, including those who didn’t even accept them in the first place, are to be counted against the potential grant amounts they are eligible for in the upcoming distribution of the Community Development Block Grants. The justification of the complex rule that Schumer and Grimm are battling against was explained in the release:
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, which comes in the form of a grant, not a loan, is intended to supplement other forms of available aid, and cover only “unmet need.” In determining the amount of “unmet need,” HUD regulations provide that any SBA loans for which a homeowner is approved are counted against the of unmet need.
The problem with this regulation is that it does not take into consideration the circumstances that might have led someone to reject a loan in the first place. Schumer expressed concern that this policy will hurt people who need it most.
“This policy will punish these homeowners and HUD should do everything in it power to make sure these individuals are eligible for additional federal assistance,” said Schumer.
Because of damages sustained by Superstorm Sandy, Coney Island USA, the parade organizers, needed to cut back on expenses, leaving them $100,000 short of affording all the things that make a parade happen like security, supplies and staff uniforms. Organizers have already reeled in over $24,000 in just a few days of activity. If this trend continues, their $100,000 goal will be reached long before the deadline hits at the end of the month.
Those who decide to donate will get access to a slew of exclusive prizes.
For example, if you decide to give $13 to the parade you receive a specially designed temporary tattoo from a local Brooklyn artist and you get your name added to a big “THANKS” banner in the parade.
If you give a whopping $10,000 you are declared “King Midas” and are given this ambiguous promise:
King Midas! You are the Merfolk hero. We’ll make things happen for you by land or by sea. Write us a private message; there are plans to be hatched. (Most of your contribution could be tax deductible)
