16 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 30, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM ‘Hail Mary’ needed to fi x St. Sebastian’s Center in Woodside BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected]/@AngelaMatua A Woodside parish center that provides Mayor greenlights changes to Woodhaven/Cross Bay Blvds. BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport Spring is a time of rebirth, and as the weather begins to warm up, some of Queens most dangerous roadways will be getting their own rebirth of sorts. Th e latest round of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $1.6 billion Vision Zero safety initiative will include major changes to Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards, which span multiple neighborhoods, as well as Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica and 23rd Avenue and Corporal Kennedy Boulevard in Bayside. “Dangerous streets have to change,” de Blasio said. “We want to get the word out: we’re moving lanes, adding new space for pedestrians and making it safer to cross intersections — all to keep your family safe. Th ese changes have helped make each of the last three years under Vision Zero safer than the last.” According to the Vision Zero initiative, the addition of Select Bus Service (SBS) for the Q52 and Q53 routes will be coming to Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards, along with numerous pedestrian and corridor safety improvements; Jamaica Avenue will receive a major pedestrian and school safety project that includes the creation of new pedestrian islands; and 23rd Avenue and Corporal Kennedy Boulevard will see a complex intersection redesign that will create simpler and safer pedestrian crossings as well as clearer vehicle traffi c patterns. Since 2014, Vision Zero has steadily reduced the number of traffi c-related fatalities across the city, and de Blasio aims to keep those numbers dropping though a series of Vision Zero education and enforcement campaigns. According to de Blasio, the fi rst quarter of 2017 has seen a 20 percent drop in fatalities, or 8 fewer deaths, compared to 2016 which had 48 deaths, thanks to a campaign to increase traffi c regulation enforcement during the dark evening rush hour. With spring here, the NYPD has implemented failure to yield and speeding enforcement in the early morning hours — the most dangerous time during the spring. “Th anks to planners, designers, engineers and construction crews, DOT is looking forward to another banner year of street redesigns,” said city Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “While traffi c fatalities are increasing nationally, New York City is bucking those trends, with the last three years under Vision Zero the safest in our city’s history. Under the leadership of the mayor and with the hard work of our sister agencies, we will together continue to make progress.” Th e NYPD also conducted a citywide pedestrian safety initiative from March 6 through March 12, during which offi - cers handed out 1,915 failure to yield to a pedestrian summonses and another 12,088 Vision Zero summonses. A total of 17,416 summonses were issued during the initiative. Drivers are currently in the midst of a NYPD speed enforcement initiative that kicked off on Monday, March 20, and ends on Sunday, March 26. Th e NYPD is planning for two more of these initiatives in April, along with other enforcement blitzes throughout the remainder of the year. Photo via YouTube The mayor announced a new Vision Zero initiative to improve streets across Queens and bring Select Bus Service to the Q52 and Q53 routes. a space for hundreds of school sports teams, senior citizens, prayer groups and self-help groups is looking to raise money to make some much-needed repairs to its building. St. Sebastian Parish Center at 39-60 57th St. is asking the Woodside community and those who grew up using the center for money to replace the de-humidifi cation system of its popular swimming pool. According to the center’s director, Harry Connor, the system is about 15 years old and on its last leg. “It’s done, it’s shot,” he said. “We’ve been Band-Aid-ed it for many years. Without it working properly it makes an unsafe environment to the structure of the building.” Connor said only two companies make the specifi c system they need; the cost of it, along with installation, is $300,000. Th e center has started a crowdfunding page on YouCare and has set a goal for $1,000,000. “If that goes we can’t run a pool and the building itself been undergoing fi nancial issues that the church has been so generous,” Connor said, “We’re so lucky to have pastors that have always supported the center just off of church monies. But things are changing; the neighborhood has changed and the money doesn’t come in as much over there.” St. Sebastian’s Parish Center will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year and Connor said any additional money would help replace other parts of the three-story structure, including the roof and boiler. Any extra funds would also be used to help pay their “astronomical” monthly bills for heat and air conditioning. Along with the swimming pool, the parish center also features a basketball court, weight room, exercise room and several meeting rooms. Most of the center’s income comes from memberships. Th e space is used for the church’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) sports teams, weekly senior citizen bingo nights, Girl Scout meetings, prayer meetings, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, among other functions. According to the YouCare page, competition from other health clubs popping up in the neighborhood has hurt the center and in 2015, it ran on a defi - cit of $294,000. With this fundraiser and new ideas to bring in money, the director hopes to reduce the annual operating defi - cit to $99,000 or less. Connor said the center is also hoping that people who no longer live in Woodside but have fond memories of the space feel compelled to give. “Woodside has a history of coming through when things are needed,” he said. “We’re throwing up a Hail Mary and hoping people come through for us. I just hope that Woodside will, as they always have, come through one more time. Th at’s what I’m counting on.” Donations can be made online and the center is also accepting checks made payable to: St. Sebastian Parish Center, c/o Harry Connor, 39-60 57th St., Woodside, NY 11377. File photo St. Sebastian Parish Center needs to raise money to purchase a new de-humidifi cation system for its pool.
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