Kew Gardens Hills Home Owners Civic Association
For more than half a century, the Kew Gardens Hills  Civic Association, founded as the Queens Valley Homeowners Civic  Association in 1941, has served all Kew Gardens Hills residents by advocating on their behalf with government and other public service providers. At a time of a shrinking public treasury, KGHCA has made city services a priority. Public safety, sanitation, the infrastructure, streets and roads, libraries , parks and playgrounds are the keystones of the Association's efforts as KGHCA strives to ensure the quality of life that makes Kew Gardens Hills a prime Queens residential neighborhood. KGHCA is a membership organization and is dependent on dues for support. Annual dues are $18.00 and may be mailed to KGHCA at Box 670085, Kew

Gardens Hills, New York 11367

Subject: Borough President Candidates Forum on May 23, 2013   Dear Friend,   The John F. Kennedy Regular Democratic Club is sponsoring a Borough President Candidates Forum on Thursday night, May 23, 2013, at 8:00 P. M., at the Jewish Center of Kew Gardens Hills (71-25 Main Street). Admission is free and all are welcome to attend. Each candidate will be given five minutes to describe their background and plans for their term in office. Questions from the audience will follow. You will be recognized from the  floor as a civic leader and introduced to the assemblage. Bring your family, neighbors, and friends. We will end the evening with a Benjies Pizza Party.   If you have any questions, please contact me at 1-917-376-4496 or Jeffgottlieb@hotmail.com.   Jeff Gottlieb Program Chair John F. Kennedy Regular Democratic Club       Gotham Park Deals Chip Away at City’s Gems Michael Nagle for The New York Times Men playing near the place in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens where Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan hopes to build a soccer stadium. By MICHAEL POWELL Published: April 29, 2013 Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan is a smart-looking fellow, whether clad in Burberry Blue or desert white.   Robin Parker/FOTOSPORTS, via European Pressphoto Agency And he is apparently a falcon-eyed businessman, as this Abu Dhabi sheik seems about to persuade New York City officials to part with 13 precious acres of parkland for the not-so-princely sum of $1 per year, according to Crain’s New York. In exchange, he will pay for a $340 million stadium for his soon-to-be-acquired Major League Soccer team. In this way, the city chips away at one of its workaday gems, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. A sylvan strand between parkways and highways, the busiest of Queens’s parks already bears the weight of several stadiums and parking lots. Javier Valdes is a director of Make the Road New York, a nonprofit group that works to empower the hundreds of thousands of working-class and poor residents of Queens. The group expects to fight for paid sick days and better wages. It does not expect to battle to preserve the little green space available to the densely packed neighborhoods. “We call this park the ‘pulmones’ of Queens, the lungs of the city,” he says. “Why are we giving our land away to an oil tycoon?” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, as is his wont, wrinkles his nose at such talk. He is all but tripping over himself in his dash for a mayoral legacy. This corner of Flushing Meadows Park, he said recently, “isn’t very much and isn’t in good shape.” Where to start? Flushing Meadows, with its tree-lined walking boulevards like Avenue of Progress and Avenue of Industry, reflects the optimism of an earlier age. Its hardscrabble stretches of dirt and rock, its cracked asphalt and dead-limbed trees and the fence-ringed pond reflect the neglect common to parks unaccompanied by hedge fund benefactors. Our parks make manifest our primal economic divisions. The High Line in Chelsea is an elegant beauty to walk, and its 6.7 acres do wonders for those owners of condominiums whose doors open onto it. Its staffing would please Marie Antoinette; its work force of about 70 includes 3 curators and 10 rangers. The 1,255-acre Flushing Meadows Park, according to a representative, has 19 full-time workers. The forces now brought to bear on this homely beauty of a park are impressive. John H. Alschuler Jr., a patrician sort, serves as chairman of the High Line park. In his day job, he is chairman of HR&A Advisors, which pulled in a cool $1.3 million lobbying fee for its efforts to plop that stadium in Flushing Meadows. Major League Soccer spent more than $2 million last year on lobbyists. And all of this, of course, reckons without our royal sheik, whose nation inherited roughly 9 percent of the world’s oil reserves. He is a munificent man; he once flew in Jay-Z and Kanye West for his niece’s 16th birthday. Talk of such excess leaves the lobbyist class giddy. What sum might this man lavish to ensure that the parkland comes unencumbered by the requirement to pay a sales tax? Sheik Mansour has walked this road before. He bought a second-tier soccer team in Manchester, England, and administered a shower of cash. As The Guardian noted, he built training facilities, smart shops and huge awnings so that no ticket holder need ever feel the rain. He put on loud concerts on the days the stadium sat empty. City economic development officials mumble that they won’t allow this in Flushing Meadows. The same officials promised affordable housing in nearby Willets Point, before noting that the start date for that was 2025, maybe. “All the parts are moving until we’ve actually reached an agreement,” a mayoral spokesman says. Headaches loom, even for a master builder. The proposed stadium site sits atop federal wetlands and in a flood zone. Dig down five feet and you’re backstroking in the ancient currents of the Flushing River. Major League Soccer officials talk of building a berm — read “vast mound of dirt” — and placing the stadium atop that. And they propose building a new park on the former Flushing Airport, which sits miles to the northeast and is accessible only by car. So the fight could be long, which is appropriate when a mayor proposes selling off a greensward inheritance. The Rev. Darrell DaCosta, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Corona, has a congregation whose work weeks are arduous. They are drawn as if by homing beacon to the park. “It’s in a natural setting that you learn the value of God’s creation,” he notes. “Everything in New York can’t be bought and sold.” E-mail: powellm@nytimes.com Twitter: @powellnyt   Please be aware that QCC has been notified of a rally and press conference opposing the lease of parkland and construction of a Major League Soccer stadium in Flushin Meadows Corona Park. Note that the rally is in Manhattan this Thursday, in case you are available to attend.  Notice was sent by Fairness Coalition of Queens, which we have supported in opposition to continued commercial development in the park:  Please join us on Thursday for a press conference and rally to stop the Bloomberg administration from giving away our parkland to a foreign billionaire. What: rally and press conference When: Thursday, May 9 at 12 noon Where: United Arab Emirates Embassy - 305 East 47th Street, New York,  N.Y. 10017 According to news reports, Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan is the likely owner of the new MLS team, and hopes to build the MLS stadium - in the middle of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Also according to news reports, the city is looking to give away 13 acres of parkland in Flushing Park for $1 a year.           Kew Gardens Hills Home Owners Civic Association Ardell Kasdan Dignity Memorial and Smart Living Chapel Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Kew Gardens Hills Homeowners Civic Association Meeting TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2013 President Jenny Martin Opened the meeting at 7:45 pm and  made a short appeal to the audience for them to join the Civic Association. She told the audience of the many good works of the Association for the benefit of the community and then took some questions and later on introduced former Assemblyman Rory Lancman who is running for Council representing our district. Mr. Lancman spoke for a short period of time introducing himself as a "Neighborhood fellow" and then turned the meeting back to our President, Jenny Martin who then introduced our guest speaker Ardelle Kasdan of Dignity Memorial & Smart Living Chapel. Ms. Kasdans talk was on "Identity Theft and how to avoid that terrible problem. Ms. Kasden after her talk took questions from the audience and afterwards distributed pamphlets with "Tips" on how to avoid "Identity Theft". Former Assemblyman Rory Lancman Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Light Refreshments were served Courtesy of Schwartz Brothers Jeffer Memorial Chapel

Ground Breaking Ceremony of the Kew Garden Hills Library
April, 19th, 2013

Poster Showing the New Kew Gardens Hills Library

Digital Panoramic Photograph  by Jim Jaffe
 

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Borough President Helen Marshall

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Tom Galante President and Chief Executive Officer at Queens Library

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr.

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe State Senator Toy Stavisky

Pat Dolan's Dream Coming True
  

      Norma Stegmaier, Member of the Board KGHCA and Myself Jim Jaffe, Member of the Board KGHCA arrived at the Library site hoping against hope
that we  would not be disturbed by rain this day April 19th 2013.  Life in itself is very fragile and at time can be cut short without any notice as in the
case of Pat Dolan who's life suddenly ended as the result of an encounter with an "SUV vehicle. Pat always worked as hard as anyone could
do to ensure that we who live in Kew Gardens Hills would be able to see our library fully renovated with the state of the art equipment and computers
and additional space for books. This day would be Pat's ever lasting memorial attesting to her work and care with this "Ground Breaking Ceremony" as work will commence and the metamorphosis of a 1960's building turning into the "State of the Art" 21st Century building resulting into a modern Library.

      A few drops of rain greeted the both of us and I ran back to my car and picked up an umbrella to ward off the rain and also protect my camera as
besides being a member of KGCA's Board of Directors, I also wear the hat of KGHCA's Webmaster. Pat must have pulled a few strings up there in
"Heaven" as there weather turned to our favor and there was no rain. Every once in a while the sun would peek out and the Ground Breaking Ceremony went off without a single mishap.

      Our Borough President, Helen Marshall brought tears to a lot of us as she turned her head up towards the heavens talking to Pat up there and
hoping she was watching down below at the proceedings.. Pat was our leader, our mentor and truthfully she "Got the Job" done!! The street directly
in front of the Library has been re-named as Pat Dolan. All I can say at this point in time, "Thanks Pat! for everything and we all sure miss you

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Dedication Ceremony Honoring
Patricia Dolan our Late President
The Ceremony was at Albert H. Mauro Playground at Park Drive East /73^rd Terrace
Sunday April 21, 2013 at 11:00 am
The Trail was re-named to: "Pat Dolan Trail"
Nature Walk was Followed after the Re-Naming Ceremony

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe
"The Sign"

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe
Uncovering the Sign L-R Norma Stegmaier, Michael Simanowitz, Jean Silva

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Congress Woman Grace Meng

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Queens Borough President Helen Marshall

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Comptroller John Liu

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Assemblyman Michael Simanowits

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Norma Stegmaier Sect'y FMCP Conservancy

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe State Senator Toby Stavisky

Digital Photograph by Jim Jaffe Park Administrator Janice Melnick

Sunday April 21, 2013 finally arrived and once again Pat Dolan smiled upon us all bright sunshine and no rain whatsoever. Borough President Helen Marshall once again spoke highly of Pat and her good work and ability to get things done.  One by one we listened to Grace Meng who by the way brought her son along with her. A most lovely boy! Michael Simanowitz told some stories about Pat and the Bird Blind and the birds! We chuckled and each of us attending the ceremony smiled thinking of Pat and  how we all appreciated her good works.       State Senator Toby Stavisky also referred to Pat and the Bird Blind and we once again smiled when Toby told us about the Birds and how knowledgeable Pat was concerning them. Each of the visiting dignitaries in their own way celebrated Pat and her life with humorous stories as to Pat's methods of getting what she needed and we all felt her presence and truly appreciated her excellent achievements with both the Libray and the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and the Conservancy which she formed.       Last but not the least, Norma Stegmaier who wears many hats being a member of community board eight and a member of the Board for the Kew Gardens Hills Civic Association and the Secretary for the FMCP Conservancy. Pat Dolan was Norma's best friend in the truest sense of the word. Norma was Pat's companion and fellow Cat Owner. She spoke of the many things she knew about Pat and how she misses her at this time of her life.. In fact we all miss Pat Dolan and now when we visit the Park via the Pat Dolan Trail..Am certain Pat will look down from her place in Heaven and she too will smile..

 

Dedication of Memorial Plaque of Patricia Dolan Late President of

Kew Gardens Civic Association

     On Wednesday evening at the Kew Gardens Hills branch of the Queens Library system there was a dedication of a large bronze plaque memorializing the work and efforts of the late Patricia Dolan former President of the Kew Gardens Home Owners Civic Association, President of the Queens Civic Congress and the President of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Conservancy.

     The library was literally bursting at the seams with the amount of people who attended this ceremony. The dedication was hosted by Tom Galante, CEO of the Queens Library system. Attending were Helen Marshall, Queens Borough President along with State Senator, Toby Stavinsky, Councilman James Gennaro, Assemblyman Michael Samanowitz.  Patricia Dolan's best friend Norma Stegmaier who gave a short talk about she and Patricia and their joy of the library and the finding of "Virgin" books.

     The bronze plaque according to Tom Galante weigh about one hundred and fifty pounds and the image was rendered from a portrait photograph by Jim Jaffe, who besides being a member of the Board of Directors of KGHCA was a professional photographer and currently the webmaster of the KGHCA website. We were assured that the plaque will be in a prominent place at the new library with expectations of completion in two years. Patricia Dolan was a driving force in our community and will be sorely missed.

   

Digital Photo by Jim Jaffe

L-R Tom Galante, CEO Queens Library Senator, Toby Stavisky, Councilman, James Gennaro, Marie Ovide Adam, CB8
Digital Photos by Jim Jaffe

L-R Assemblyman  David Weprin, Norma Stegmaier, KGHCA,  Borough President Helen Marshall, Harold Baron, KGHCA, Richard Hellenbrecht, QCC
Digital Photos by Jim Jaffe

Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz
Digital Photos by Jim Jaffe