DSNY cracks down on illegal dumping in Liberty Park

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The Department of Sanitation’s Enforcement Division, using information provided by Councilman Bob Holden’s office, has conducted numerous investigations into illegal dumping in Liberty Park in Glendale.

As a result, six offenders were caught over a two-week period.

Illegal dumping is defined as trash bags, construction debris or appliances being left on public or private property. Both the vehicle owner and drivers are legally responsible for dumping.

Fines for the vehicle owner range from $4,000 to $18,000. The vehicle used may be impounded.

“Illegal dumping has been a problem in my district for a very long time because we have a lot of open spaces surrounding parks, cemeteries and railroad trucks,” Holden said. “But the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting budget crisis have made matters even worse.”

Officers conducted surveillance on Cypress Hills Street and watched a vehicle pull in between two large trucks. The driver exited the vehicle, opened the rear passenger side door and dumped one cubic yard of black bags containing household waste and a chandelier.

Another person was seen removing black bags and placing them on the grassy area on Cypress Hills Street.

Two other people were caught illegally dumping a mattress and box spring.

Residents who witness illegal dumping should contact 311 or go here to file a report.

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NYBC holds blood drive at Atlas Park tomorrow

nybc_power1080x1080   New York Blood Center (NYBC) will host a blood drive this tomorrow, August 28, at the Shops at Atlas Park. It will last from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m.

The event is part of a series of weekly blood drives each Friday through September 11th. This week, NYBC aims to collect 50 donations, which can serve up to 150 patients. According to NYBC, the organization has tente gonflable collected 722 donations so far this year from blood drives at the Shops at Atlas Park.

Extra precautions will be taken to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Those experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms are not eligible to donate. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available here.

Before COVID-19, mobile blood drives hosted by high schools, colleges, businesses and other organizations made up about 75% of the region’s incoming blood supply, but the number of blood drives has dropped by two-thirds this year due to the pandemic. Anyone with space available to host a blood drive can sign up nybloodcenter.org.

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Spend your weekend at the Ridgewood Reservoir

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Join NYC H2O for an upcoming weekend of events at the Ridgewood Reservoir.

On Saturday, September 5th at 3 p.m., NYC H2O and artist Colleen Tighe will host a virtual afternoon sketching session. The focus will be on the natural oasis.

The session is open to everyone aged 13 and over. Participants will need pencils, paper, colored pencils, pen and/or watercolor.

The class will take place over Zoom. Register here.

The following day, NYC H2O and the Parks Department will remove invasive plants from the path around the Ridgewood Reservoir.

For this project, volunteers will parcours obstacle gonflable pull invasive weeds and plant native flowers on the causeway between Basins 2 and 3.

Meet in the parking lot on Vermont Place on the Brooklyn side. Due to COVID-19 precautions, only 25 socially-distanced volunteers are permitted to work at a time.

Register for the event here.

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Glendale to be sprayed to reduce risk of West Nile Virus

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The Health Department is conducting aerial larviciding treatment to parts of central Queens to reduce mosquito activity and reduce the risk of West Nile virus on Tuesday, August 18 from 8:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. the following morning.

In case of bad weather, the application will be delayed for Wednesday, August 19.

The department will use very low structure gonflable concentrations of DeltaGard or Anvil. The risks of the pesticides for mosquito control are low to people and pets.

Some people who are sensitive to spray ingredients may experience short-term eye or throat irritation or a rash.

To stay safe during spraying, residents are advised to stay indoors whenever possible. Air conditioners can remain on.

That area that will be sprayed is  bordered by 64th Street, Mount Olivet Circle, Metropolitan Avenue, LIRR, 78th Place, Myrtle Avenue, Forest Park Drive, and Forest Parkway to the West; Long Island Expressway, Queens Boulevard, 63rd Drive, Woodhaven Boulevard, Metropolitan Avenue, and Union Turnpike to the North; Van Wyck Expressway to the East; and, Jamaica Avenue, 107th Street, Atlantic Avenue, Woodhaven Boulevard, and Jamaica Avenue to the South.

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New seating and dining coming to Myrtle-Cooper Plaza

Screen shot via Google Maps
Screen shot via Google Maps

New York City is opening up some pedestrian plazas starting this week.

City officials announced that Myrtle-Cooper plaza in Glendale will be opened to include exclusive seating, collective dining and open public seating.

“New Yorkers deserve more public space in our ongoing fight against COVID-19, and we’re proud to offer more places to get a parc aquatique gonflable safe outdoor meal on the weekends,” Mayor de Blasio said.

“With two extra months of outdoor dining now approved, restaurants will have more chances than ever to get back on their feet.”

The city’s Open Restaurants program now has more than 9,500 participants. They will be allowed to host outdoor dining through October.

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Blood drive every Friday at Atlas Park Mall

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You can donate blood every Friday at The Shops at Atlas Park until September 11, 2020.

The demand for red blood cells is increasing as local hospitals resume surgeries, according to the New York Blood Center, making donations more important than ever.

Due to COVID-19, NYBC has implemented jeux gonflables safety procedures. As a result, all donors must make an appointment, wear a mask, and come alone.

NYBC says donors should bring their donor ID cards. They should also eat well and drink fluids before donation.

To make an appointment, click the link here.

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Con Ed asks Glendale residents to conserve energy

Photo: Con Edison/ Twitter
Photo: Con Edison/ Twitter

Amid a days-long heat wave, Con Edison is asking customers in Glendale, as well as in Forest Hills and Middle Village to conserve energy while company crews repair equipment.

Con Ed has also reduced voltage by 8 percent in the area, bounded by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and 51st Avenue, the Jackie Robinson Parkway, Queens Boulevard and the Brooklyn borough line, as a precaution toboggan gonflable to protect equipment and maintain service as crews make repairs.

This zone houses 116,300 Con Ed customers, many of whom have experienced blackouts since the utilities provider posted its request Monday night.

Customers have been asked “not to use energy-intensive appliances such as washers, dryers, microwaves and, if not needed for health or medical reasons, air conditioners, until the equipment problems are resolved.”

According to Con Ed, the number of power outages in Queens is recorded at 179 as of 3:15 p.m., down from nearly 900 this morning. As of the same hour, the company anticipates service to be restored to these households no later than 11:30 a.m. tomorrow.

New Yorkers can report outages, in addition to checking service restoration statuses, at ConEd.com/reportoutage, with the mobile app, or by calling 1-800-75-CONED.

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Holden votes “no” on the city budget

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On Tuesday night, the New York City Council passed an $88 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2021.

The budget process was particularly difficult this year given the billions of dollars the city is losing in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic lockdown.

Among the more contentious parts of the budget was the decision to cut nearly $1 billion from the NYPD’s $6 billion operating budget.

For weeks, activists have marched and protested calling for defunding the NYPD by at least $1 billion. While the budget falls insuflaveis short of that, it reduces overtime pay for police officers, transfers school safety to the Department of Education and cancels two cadet classes.

In the late hours on Tuesday night, 37 members voted for the budget, while 12 rejected it. Councilman Bob Holden was among those who voted no. Here’s why. “As one of the very few Council members who has lived through several crime waves in our great city, I am very concerned that the protest-driven moment to defund the NYPD will lead us toward another high-crime era,” he said. “While the intention of diverting more funds toward education and services for those who need it most sounds noble, supporters of this movement seem to be unaware of the billions this city has already wasted with no tangible results.”

Ultimately, nine members of the City Council voted no because they believe the cuts don’t go far enough. Eight members said no because they opposed cuts to the NYPD.

Holden noted that the budget has soared $25 billion under de Blasio’s tenure.

“So will taking $1 billion from the NYPD accomplish anything other than appeasing this movement while damaging the morale of police officers?” Holden said. “As legislators, we cannot create policy based solely on what’s trending at the moment.

“We must maintain balance, order and logic while holding public safety as the highest priority,” he added.

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Free mask giveaway in Glendale this afternoon

Councilman Bob Holden’s office is hosting a free mask giveaway this afternoon.

The event will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in front of Community Alliance Initiative, located at 60-35 Myrtle Avenue.

Holden’s office says participants should parque insuflaveis also bring an empty hand sanitizer bottle that can be refilled.

Participants should also wear a mask and practice social distancing during the giveaway.

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Rajkumar leads in Assembly race, Richards on top for Queens BP

Assembly candidate Jenifer Rajkumar is leading the Assembly race for District 38.
Assembly candidate Jenifer Rajkumar is leading the Assembly race for District 38.

Glendale Assemblyman Mike Miller is in the fight of his political career as he trails challenger Jenifer Rajkumar after last night’s primary.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Rajkumar has collected 2,624 votes, or 52 percent, while Miller has only 1,300 votes, or 26.8 percent.

Another challenger, queer poet and activist Joey De Jesus, received 1,108 votes, representing 22 percent of the vote.

Should Rajkumar, an attorney, adjunct professor and former state government official in the Cuomo administration, wins, she would be the first South Asian American elected to the Assembly.

A little more than 5,000 voters cast their ballot in person for this Assembly race, which indicates low voter turnout in a insuflaveis non-presidential cycle. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused even fewer voters to turn out than usual.

Like many other primary races, this contest will not be decided until all of the absentee ballots are counted, which could take more than a week.

Miller has represented the 38th Assembly District, which includes Glendale, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Ridgewood, since a special election in 2009.

In the race for Queens borough president, Councilman Donovan Richards is leading all candidates with 41,915 votes, good for 37.2 percent, with 96 percent of precincts reporting. Richards and Rajkumar cross-endorsed each other in their respective races.

Trailing Donovan is former Glendale Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, who has 31,781 votes, or 28 percent.

Other Democratic candidates include Councilman Costa Constantinides with 17,164 votes (15 percent), Anthony Miranda with 16,613 votes (14.7 percent) and Dao Yin with 5,028 votes (4.4 percent).

Though Richards is leading by a decent margin, we will wait until all ballots are counted to declare a winner.

The Democratic nominee will likely face Joann Ariola, the Republican’s pick, in the general election in November.

In the 6th Congressional District, which includes Glendale, Congresswoman Grace Meng defeated challenger Melquiades Gagarin and Sandra Choi.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Meng, who is seeking re-election to her fifth term in office, received 15,181 votes, nearly 61 percent of the district.

Gagarin, a progressive activist, won 5,261 votes, or 21 percent. Choi, another first-time candidate, received 4,318 votes, good for 17 percent.

Though the district leans heavily Democratic, Meng will still face Republican nominee Thomas Zmich in the general election in November.

State Senator Joe Addabbo, who represents Glendale, did not face a primary challenger.

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