Queens Library at Flushing to Host "Be The Match" Marrow Registry on March 28th

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Queens Library HealthLink Flushing Cancer Action Council and the New York Blood Center invite healthy adults to give someone a second chance at a healthy life by registering for the BE THE MATCH Marrow Registry. Registration will take place on Monday, March 28, 2011, between 2 and 8 pm at Queens Library at Flushing, 41-17 Main Street and Kissena Boulevard. Registration is quick, safe, painless and free. To sign up, please call Queens Library at Flushing, (718) 661 - 1200, extension 0.

Each day, thousands of people with serious illnesses search for a bone marrow donor to make a life-saving transplant possible. Because tissue types are inherited, patients are most likely to match someone of their own race and ethnicity. Donors representing diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds are needed so that every patient has a second chance at life. A patient's likelihood of having a suitable donor on the Be The Match Registry who is willing and able to donate on their behalf is estimated to range from 66% to 93%, depending on race and ethnicity. Most patients (about 70%) do not find a match in their families. They need your help.

Volunteers need to be between the ages of 18 and 60, be willing to donate to any patient in need and meet the health guidelines. Registration only means that the volunteer will be in a database for possible contact at a later date. You are not committing to donate. For more information about The National Marrow Donor Program, please call 1-800-MARROW-2 or visit BeTheMatch.org.

Queens Library HealthLink is a collaborative initiative of Queens Library, the American Cancer Society, the Queens Cancer Center of Queens Hospital and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. It is a five-year federally funded research project based in Queens Library that will explore the potential to partner with libraries as a vehicle for community health outreach to fight cancer.

Queens Library is an independent, not-for-profit corporation and is not affiliated with any other library. Queens Library serves a population of 2.3 million in the most ethnically diverse county in the U.S. With 23 million items in circulation for FY 2010, the Library has among the highest circulations of any public library system in the world. For more information about programs, services, locations, events and news, visit the Queens Library Web site at www.queenslibrary.org or phone 718-990-0700. Queens Library. Enrich Your Life (r).

Joanne King, Queens Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11432
718-990-0704; fax 718-990-5147;
joanne.king@queenslibrary.org

Feds Reject Plan for Full-Blown N.Y. Casino by Tom Precious - BloodHorse.com

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New York racetrack casinos lost a major potential competitor Feb. 18 after federal officials rejected a plan for a sprawling, full-blown casino just 90 miles from Manhattan.

The U.S. Department of Interior formally ended a bid for an off-reservation casino to be built in the southern Catskills resort region by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans.


The Wisconsin-based tribe struck a deal late last fall in the final weeks of the outgoing administration of former New York Governor David Paterson for the casino rights in return for settling a long-standing land claims lawsuit by the tribe for what it maintains is ancestral land in central New York.


Racetrack-based casinos, which in New York can offer video lottery terminals, expressed concerns that they could not compete with the massive casino, complete with table games, that the Mohicans were proposing to build not far from the Monticello harness racetrack.


Genting New York, the developer of the long-stalled casino at Aqueduct racetrack that is expected to open this summer, has gone so far as to say it would be scaling back some plans for the new facility as a result of the competition from the proposed Catskills casino. Officials at racinos from Yonkers to Saratoga Springs openly worried about business dropping off by a Catskills casino.


The bid by the Wisconsin tribe was also opposed by New York Indian tribes, which urged the federal regulators to reject the out-of-state Indian bid for what would have been a lucrative casino.


"By rejecting this ill-conceived compact, the Department of Interior has allowed New York State to go back to the drawing board and put together a gaming policy that makes sense,'' said the New York Gaming Association, a group representing New York racetrack casinos.


The tracks say they should be allowed to operate full-scale casinos at their facilities.


"We are extremely pleased with DOI's decision and look forward to working with Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo and the state Legislature to develop a gaming policy that maximizes revenue, creates jobs and keeps the racetrack casino economic engine churning,'' the group said.

Runway Rumble: Environmental Activists Don't Want JFK's Airport Expansion Into Jamaica Bay to Take Off by Alex Rush - YourNabe.com

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Environmental activists say a proposal to fill in an area roughly two-and-a-half times the size of Governors Island off the coast of John F. Kennedy Airport to build new runways in protected Jamaica Bay would be damaging to sea life, hurt the local fishing industry, and have repercussions as far away as Floyd Bennett Field.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s most drastic plan to reduce bottlenecks at the airport while adding up to 70 flights an hour would install three runways on what is now the bay — a portion of the Gateway National Recreation area — and some think the plan is nuts.

“We’re organizing to fight this lame-brained idea,” said Brighton Beach resident Ida Sanoff, who chairs the marine conservation group Natural Resources Protective Association. “No one in their right mind will let 400 acres of Jamaica Bay be filled in for any reason.”

Even the organization involved with formulating the new runway plan admits to its environmental downside.

The Regional Plan Association, an independent organization that monitors transit issues in the metropolitan area, released a report on Jan. 27 saying that the extra runways would let the Queens’ airport handle millions of additional passengers, but would most likely involve the “disruption to the environment, requiring the Port Authority to regenerate and restore wetlands that have eroded or been eliminated in Jamaica Bay.” The planners also concluded that the fill could destroy marine life near Floyd Bennett Field in Mill Basin, about six miles away.

But environmentalists think things could get much worst — both naturally and financially.

“It will hurt the migratory pattern of birds and fish that breed there and could even weaken the area’s flood protection,” Sanoff said.

A local fisherman agreed.

“The runways will not only hurt our access to the fish, but they’ll take away what the fish survive on,” said Stephen Byrne, who captains chartered fishing boats in Jamaica Bay and is a spokesman for the Fishermen’s Conservation Association. “Airport expansion is important, but recreational fishing is an important industry, too.”

The Port Authority has three additional expansion proposals that are less drastic. One calls for only two additional runways and would fill in about half the amount of Jamaica Bay, and two other plans require little to no fill, but would build runways that can only be navigated by a new, yet-to-be-approved traffic system, according to Regional Plan Association spokesman Jeffery Zupan, who pointed out that approval of the expansion of the airport could take some time.


“Picking the expansion plan to implement will be a political process in which all the stakeholders have to agree, including the Port Authority, the Federal Aviation Administration — and environmental groups,” Zupan said.

Avella To Bloomberg: Stop Blaming The Unions by Liz Benjamin - Capital Tonight

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NYC Councilman-turned-Senator Tony Avella sent a letter today to his erstwhile political foe, Mayor Blooomberg, accusing him of taking an “unconscionable” stance on the so-called holiday “bonuses” he’s trying to eliminate as part of his pension reform push.

The Queens Democrat, who ran a longshot run for mayor in 2009 (losing the Democratic primary to then-NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson), is siding with the more than 33,000 former NYC cops and firefighters who receive that amount every December as part of the Variable Supplement Fund.

The bonus was established in 1968 and, unlike other pension benefits, is not constitutionally protected. Doing away with it would save the city $200 million a year, Bloomberg mantains.

But the unions – and now Avella – note the bonuses came about as a result of the collective bargaining process. In exchange, the city was allowed to adopt a more aggressive pension investment strategy to reduce its annual direct contribution to the pension funds. (This reportedly saved $4 billion, Avella said).

Avella called the mayor’s characterization of the VSF as “Christmas bonuses” disgraceful, adding: “Your attacks in this regard on the city’s uniformed personnel, who put their lives at on the line every day throughout their careers, is unbecoming for a mayor of the City of New York.”

Letter to Mayor Bloomberg re VSF

Free Citizenship Application Assistance in Richmond Hill on March 12th Sponsored by Senator Addabbo

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Senator Joe Addabbo is sponsoring a Free Citizenship Application Assistance event on Saturday, March 12th 2011 from 10 AM to 3 PM. The event will be held at at Holy Child Jesus located at 111-02 86th Avenue in Richmond Hill.


What: Free Citizenship Application Assistance
When: Saturday March 12th
Time: 10am - 3pm
Where: Holy Child Jesus - 111-02 86th Avenue, Richmond Hill, NY
Sponsored by: Senator Joe Addabbo

Best of New York: Dominick's Hot Dog Cart in Queens Reigns Supreme as NYC Top Pick BY Jacob E. Osterhout and Amanda P. Sidman - NY Daily News

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DOMINICK's HOT DOG TRUCK
Woodhaven Blvd. at 65th or 67th Aves., Rego Park

Dominick's hot dog cart in Queens has boasted steamed Sabrett dogs for 51 years

You may be thinking, How is this hot dog truck different from all others? We'll tell you: Owner Angelina D'Angelo has been serving the classic New York frank on Woodhaven Blvd. for 51 years. Plus, the Queens truck's steamed, skinless Sabrett dog snaps when you bite into it and has a soft, meaty center. Dogs cost $2.75; you can add their spicy mustard free of charge or splurge for their homemade onions or freshly steamed sauerkraut. Dominick's dogs remind you why the only place you'll ever eat a hot dog is in New York. And from now on, maybe just Queens."

Join the Job Party - America needs JOBS NOW..! Cheesehead Rally in NYC on Feb 19th...

Join the Job Party NOW..!

15 million unemployed. 12 million underemployed. Unions under attack.

Record corporate profits. Banker crimes unpunished. Tea Party on the march.

It's time for change. It's time to fight back. It's time for the Job Party. Join us!

Our kickoff event was a fun and spirited NYC Cheesehead Rally in NYC on Feb. 18th to support Wisconsin workers who are under attack from Gov. Scott Walker and the Tea Party.

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