Thant Zaw Aye passed away on Monday, July 18, 2022 at the age of 67. Beloved Husband of Than Taniel Aye. Loving Father Hein Kevin Aye, Delbert Aye and Aung Kyaing Zin. Cherished Grandfather Jacy. Private Cremation held on Tuesday, July 21, 2022 at Fresh Pond Crematory, Middle Village NY under the direction Papavero Funeral Home, 72-27 Grand Avenue, Maspeth NY 11378.
Debra Ann Goldberg passed away on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at the age of 64. Beloved Wife of Mark Goldberg. Loving Mother of Devin & Stacy Goldberg, Callie Goldberg, and Breena & David Kelly. Cherished Nanny of Hayden and Brynn. Dear Sister of Jean & Ralph Juliano. Mass of Christian Burial offered at Our lady of Hope Church on Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 9:45 AM. Interment followed at St. John Cemetery, Middle Village, NY under the direction of Papavero Funeral Home, 72-27 Grand Avenue, Maspeth NY 11378.
Charlie Torre passed away on Friday, July 22, 2022 at the age of 48. Beloved Husband of Allison Torre. Loving Father of Joseph, Christopher, Sophia and Olivia. Cherished Son of Henrietta and the late Chick-E, and Stepson of Howie Hollander and Donna Torre. Dear Brother of Louis Torre. Loving Son-in-Law of Meryl and Bill Ingino and Brother-in-Law of Billy & Gloria and Cristen & Dave. Also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Mass of Christian Burial offered at St. Albert’s on Tuesday, July 26, 2022 10:00 AM. Private Cremation followed at Fresh Pond Crematory, Middle Village, NY under the direction of Papavero Funeral Home, 72-27 Grand Avenue, Maspeth NY 11378.
A virtual Town Hall meeting was held last week to discuss the progress of the $2.014 million Bowne Park Pond Reconstruction project, following a more than half-decade-long delay in the construction schedule.
The project has been pushed back several times over the years. The designs, which were expected to be completed in 2016, were not approved until June 2018. Then the procurement of the project, which was slated for March 2019, was pushed back due to COVID-related impacts. This portion of the project was not actualized until March last year.
The event was coordinated by City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, in cooperation with representatives from the Parks Department and the office of Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
“I am confident that we will continue to work together and finally, after seven-and-a-half years, present a completed park to the community,” Paladino stated.
“The people asked, and I delivered. I have been in meetings with the Parks Department since January, urging them to complete Bowne Park. As a constant advocate of total transparency, I told my constituents that I would facilitate constructive and open dialogue between them and the Parks Department, and that is exactly what the point of this Town Hall was. Promises made, promises kept.”
The event opened with updates from Queens Parks Commissioner Michael Dockett on the various projects at Bowne Park, which was followed by a substantive Q&A session with constituents focusing on the timeline, explanation of delays, and overall scope of work.
“I thank Council Member Paladino for convening this community meeting to discuss capital projects in the park, and was happy to share that work has resumed and the projects are progressing,” Dockett stated. “Community engagement is paramount for successful, thriving community greenspaces, and we will continue to work collaboratively with the Council Member and the community to ensure that Bowne Park continues to be a Flushing gem.”
Borough President Richards said that Bowne Park is a key part of the Queens community that has long been overdue for reconstruction.
“I am glad that progress is finally being made on that front,” Richards said in a statement. “My family and I look forward to enjoying an improved Bowne Park very soon.”
Work on the pond and bocce court plaza are expected to be completed by Spring 2023.
Closed for more than a decade, Sunset Cove Park reopened in 2019 following the restoration of 4.5 acres of salt marsh and seven acres of maritime upland along Jamaica Bay, which aimed at enhancing public waterfront access, improving the wildlife habitat, and providing important storm protection to reduce wave and wind impact on the Broad Channel community.
Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue
New York City Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue joined local elected officials, community leaders, and representatives from the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, last week, for a groundbreaking ceremony on phase two of the project.
“I am thrilled to break ground on the second phase of the Sunset Cove project, as we continue to revitalize a space that was for years inaccessible to the community,” Donoghue said. “This project strikes at the core of our work here at Parks, at the intersection of greenspace expansion, environmental resiliency, and fun educational amenities for the youth in our communities – we look forward to unveiling the new boardwalk and outdoor classroom in the near future!”
The $4.2 million phase two project includes the construction of a new boardwalk—made from reclaimed wood taken from the former Rockaway Beach boardwalk, which was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012—and a new outdoor classroom designed to help build the next generation of environmental leaders.
Partially funded through a New York Rising grant, the $4.2 million project has received additional support from Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr., Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, and former-Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder.
Sunset Cove Phase 2 Groundbreaking (Photo by Daniel Avila)
“Thanks to its unique location, Sunset Cove is well positioned to tell the story of how Jamaica Bay’s wetlands perform critical functions that safeguard our environment,” Richards said in a statement. “The kids who will walk this boardwalk and use this classroom will be able to learn about their surroundings in a way they couldn’t before, giving them a more thorough understanding of the environment and the threats posed to it. Hopefully, the lessons learned here will prompt our next generation of leaders to be more supportive of what needs to be done to protect our environment and our communities, which have been devastated time and time again by Sandy, Ida, and other severe weather events that have been exacerbated by climate change.”
Plans call for the construction of an eight-foot wide boardwalk adjacent to the newly restored wetland area and a covered outdoor classroom with interpretive elements, including inset seasonal sun position information and binoculars. Two new bioswales will also be built at the park entrance to help collect stormwater.
She locked up the endorsements of fellow progressive legislators. She racked up key union endorsements like 119 SEIU. But is she the real deal progressive in the race?
Rivera, the city councilwoman for the Lower East Side who is running in NY-10 congressional race, which stretches from Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhoods to lower Manhattan, certainly likes to brand herself as a progressive who gets things done. But she definitely has no qualms taking money from some of the biggest real estate players and lobbyists in the city.
A recent filing disclosure, first noticed by Twitter user Todd Fine, shows that Rivera has raised over $400,000 between April and June of this year. The raw filings show that Rivera has taken $5,800 from Jed Walentas, the billionaire developer of Two Trees Management; multiple donations in the thousands of dollars from CMW Strategies lobbyists, one of the most powerful real estate lobbying groups in the city; and $2,900 from Fulcrum Public Affairs lobbyists that represent large corporations like JP Morgan, Johnson & Johnson, and Alphabet (Google), among others.
In the city council, Rivera has been a fundraising machine, being one of 14 candidates who were able to raise over $1,000 – with her largest donations coming from the real estate industry.
Yuh-Line Niou, the assemblywoman also from lower Manhattan,who is vying for similar votes in the race (and was endorsed by the left-leaning Working Families Party), has not taken any lobbyist money but has also taken money from the heads of corporations. Niou has taken money from the CEO of Platinum Inc., a maintenance and service provider for commercial buildings; and two donations of $5800 from the owner of Upland Capital, a real estate firm based out of New England.
Niou also took $1500 from Park-It Management’s Gary Spindler, a garade developer who Niou returned a $500 donation in 2020, after a Crain’s New York article highlighted the discrepancy.
A campaign advisor for Niou told BQE Media that Spindler has donated multiple times in the past despite returning the money in years past, and is currently in the process of returning the donation again.
“Yuh-Line has long made the commitment to reject developer money or corporate PAC money and will not accept those dollars in this race,” the campaign said in an official statement.
A recent poll from the Working Families party showed that Yuh-line Niou and Carlina Rivera were essentially tied among NY-10 voters. Beyond support for candidates, the poll also asked voters to decide the four issues or factors that were most important in deciding who they voted for. Fighting for low-income and marginalized communities topped the list with 60 percent of respondents agreeing, followed by priorities like raising taxes on the wealthy to fund social service programs and affordable housing, as well as supporting a Green New Deal. Toward the end of the list are campaign pledges about rejecting real estate developer money or corporate money; with only 14 percent of respondents registering the former as a top concern and only 12 percent of respondents saying that latter was a top priority.
So maybe where candidates get their money from isn’t a top priority for NY-10 primary voters. But it should be. Whether politicians have a financial incentive to cater to special interests, is an issue for democracy and ensuring representation centers around voters and not those who can just cut a check.
I’m very lucky that I’ve known the great Joe Benigno for over twenty years. Ten plus as a listener and the rest as a colleague and a very dear friend.
I mentioned to him earlier today the idea of the Top Met killers over the duration of my lifetime and he responded with a simple “Bro, it’s quite a list!”
He’s not wrong.
There have been a whole lot of brand names that took great pleasure in sticking it to the New York Mets.
So in my lifetime after what we decided to do last week with the Top 5 Yankee killers, it’s only fair that we return the favor.
I can guarantee you this. You won’t forget any of these 5 names.
5. Chase Utley. Look, the slide is the first memory, right? 2016 NLDS. Chase Utley hard-nosed right into the leg of Ruben Tejada. The slide shouldn’t overshadow the way Utley completely owned Mets pitching for close to a decade as a member of the Phillies. 39 homers and 116 RBIs and was a fixture in a lineup that took great satisfaction in killing Mets pitching.
4. Freddie Freeman, the future Hall of Famer played on some bad Atlanta Braves teams for a long while, but it didn’t matter if the Braves were a bad team or a good team. Freeman pounded Mets pitching and always seemed to come up in the biggest of spots to wreck a game.
3. Pat Burrell. This is easily the most obscure player of the five on this list, but there was nothing obscure about the 42 career homers Burrell clubbed against the Mets including 18 at the Old Shea Stadium. In a lineup that featured the likes of Utley, Rollins & Howard, it always seemed Burrell would be the one to wreck games against the Mets.
2. Derek Jeter. 2000. Game 4 World Series. Enough said right? Well, not only did Jeter totally seize the momentum of the Subway Series with that leadoff home run, he also went on to win WS MVP as the Yankees won in 5 games. 2000 aside, Jeter dominated Mets pitching. He hit .364 with a .955 OPS against his crosstown rival. He would’ve been number 1 on this list if the Yankees played the Mets more than 6 times a year.
1. Chipper Jones. The Ultimate Mets killer. The Hall Of Famer on the team in the National League East that the Mets could just never beat. Chipper named his son Shea for goodness sake. Imagine a stat line of .349-49-159. Well, that’s Chipper Jones against the Mets. Unstoppable, every which way.
Now that I’ve thought of the top 5 Yankee & Met Killers of my lifetime, I certainly hope I’m not adding to this list after the 2022 season!
You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on The Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple Podcasts every Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday evenings. You can also watch me on Geico Sportsnight nightly after Mets Postgame on SNY.
Satisfaction: The International Rolling Stones Tribute Show rocks the house down at Juniper Valley Park.
By Stephanie Meditz
news@queensledger.com
Satisfaction, the International Rolling Stones Tribute Show brought the sound of the iconic English rock band to Juniper Valley Park on Thursday night.
The show was the third in a series of free concerts held by Councilman Robert Holden in partnership with Queensborough Performing Arts Center and NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.
The band, led by frontman Chris LeGrand, celebrated 60 years of the Rolling Stones with a set that took the audience back in time to 1965.
Originally from Texas, LeGrand started the show 22 years ago when he realized that The Rolling Stones did not have a tribute show like other iconic bands, such as The Beatles.
Billy Amaral came to the concert fully decked out in Rolling Stones gear.
He had been a musician throughout his life, primarily playing the bass guitar in his 20’s, but he had never been a frontman until he started Satisfaction.
“When I started this show, a lot of my friends said, ‘I don’t know if you’re gonna be able to pull this off,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘Well, I’m gonna give it a shot.’”
After he recruited other members, the show started doing small performances until it eventually grew in popularity and became an international sensation.
Satisfaction has performed about 4,000 shows both in the U.S. and overseas. While on tour, the group plays upwards of 150 shows per year.
Earlier this year, the group performed with Beatles tribute band Abbey Road in a show called “Beatles vs. Stones — A Musical Showdown.”
Their setlist at Juniper Valley Park featured The Rolling Stones’ most iconic hits, including “Sympathy For The Devil,” “Paint It, Black,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Honky Tonk Women,” and the band’s namesake, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
“It was one of the first songs I heard by The Rolling Stones when I was a little guy,” LeGrand said. “And it just was so powerful, and it still is.”
Songs by The Rolling Stones similarly resonated with many of the concert’s attendees, who came dressed in their favorite merchandise.
Ozone Park resident and longtime Stones fan Billy Amaral donned a t-shirt commemorating the band’s 60-year anniversary and a bandana covered in their famous tongue and lips logo.
Lynn O’Brien trekked to Juniper Valley Park from Manhattan to see the show.
Lynn O’Brien also showed off the logo on her shirt and necklace. A friend of the band’s, she rushed to Middle Village all the way from Manhattan on her motorcycle to see them perform.
The concert was a lively tribute that included several outfit changes by the frontman and a solo by Dom Lanzo, the current Keith Richards of the group.
When he addressed the crowd, Robert Holden recalled Satisfaction’s performance in Forest Park last year and said it was “like being at a Stones concert.”
The councilman also noted the striking resemblance between LeGrand and Mick Jagger.
LeGrand was fully aware of the resemblance and even took it into consideration when he first started the show.
“I’ve always had these looks follow me around all my life,” he said. “So I decided it was time to put the voice and the looks to use and see if I can make this happen.”
LeGrand, the show’s only remaining original member, feels lucky to have built a career out of performing the music he has always loved for fans who love it just as much.
Residents of Elmhurst and its surrounding neighborhoods will no longer have to trek to Astoria to visit a Lidl location.
The well-loved grocery store will soon open up a brand new location inside the basement of Queens Place Mall, replacing DSW—whose lease will expire this August.
The location is conveniently accessible via the Q58 and Q60 buses, as well as the M and R trains.
Madison International Realty announced that the store signed a long term lease, and is estimated to open in the first quarter of 2024.
Local Queens leaders were pleased with the news that Lidl would become closer to home for many residents, and praised the benefits that the development has to offer to the community.
“On behalf of the oldest and largest business association in Queens, it is my pleasure to congratulate Madison International Realty on adding this globally-recognized company to their tenant roster, and Lidl on opening a second location in the ‘World’s Borough,’” Tom Grech, president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce said.
“This supermarket will seek to create quality job opportunities and provide an affordable place to buy groceries for residents of Elmhurst and the surrounding neighborhoods. We look forward to celebrating the opening in 2024 and shopping at the Queens Place Mall Lidl for years to come.”
Lidl has been celebrated for its shopping experience by prominent publications in the past, including Food & Wine Magazine and USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards.
The company offers a leading wages and benefits package, including healthcare for all full and part-time employees, regardless of number of hours worked per week.
“Lidl is well-known for its good-paying jobs, affordable prices, and its diverse, healthy, and high-quality food offerings, so we are very excited that the company will be opening a second store here in Queens,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. said. “Lidl’s Astoria location has been a big hit with shoppers, and we are looking forward to the same kind of success as the company branches into Elmhurst in service of central Queens families.”
Based in Arlington, Virginia, Lidl operates more than 170 stores on the East Coast, with 25 in New York state.
Queens Place is part of a 2.5 million-square-foot, 15-property New York City retail portfolio that Madison acquired from Forest City Realty Trust. The real estate private equity firm acquired a 49 percent stake in Queens Place in 2011 and purchased the remaining 51 percent in 2018.
Construction for the new Lidl location is estimated to begin by the end of this year.
H-Mart, the country’s largest Asian supermarket chain, celebrated the grand opening of its newest location at 142-41 Roosevelt Ave. in Flushing this past week. People were lined up outside the door early Thursday, waiting for the opportunity to shop at the supermarket franchise’s newest Queens location.
The 17,300 square-foot site was originally home to a Key Food supermarket, which closed in 2010 after serving the community for decades. It was later replaced by New York Mart, a similar Asian food market that closed last year, leaving a portion of the Flushing community without a local supermarket.
“It’s great to have the H-Mart here serving the community, occupying space in a vacant building that was quickly becoming a neighborhood eyesore,” City Councilwoman Sandra Ung said in her weekly newsletter. “Judging from the line of shoppers eager to get in at 10 a.m. and the long line still waiting to get in at 6 p.m., people are excited.”
Short for the phrase “Han Ah Reum,” which loosely translates to “an arm full of groceries,” H-Mart opened its first location in the nearby Woodside community back in 1982. Since then, what began as a small corner grocery store has grown to include more than 97 locations nationwide.
“Our new home is an extension of our Flushing stores, located on Roosevelt Avenue where loyal shoppers can enjoy Asian food, culture, drinks as well as the freshest produce, meat, seafood, and a variety of other Asian groceries at your one-stop-shop for everything Asian and more,” the company states on its Instagram page. “We would like to thank NY residents for all your love and support in making this happen.”
