The Center for the Women of New York will honor Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan (D-Sunnyside) as its “Woman of Distinction” during its 26th Annual Luncheon on Saturday, April 17 at Douglaston Manor, 63-20 Commonwealth Blvd. in Douglaston.

At the annual fundraising event, which will begin at noon, the organization celebrates men and women in leadership who are committed to women’s rights and who have made major contributions.

Martha Taylor, a member of Community Board 8 and a longtime fixture in Democratic politics in eastern Queens, has launched her second bid for the City Council seat being vacated at the end of the year by Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows).

Taylor lists herself as an attorney on filings with the city’s Campaign Finance Board, and is listed as undeclared for any specific office. Former Assemblyman Rory Lancman also has announced, as has Briarwood community activist Andrea Veras. Gennaro is being forced out by term limits.

Queens politics in 2012 brought new districts, a historic election in the 6th Congressional District and enough cloak-and-dagger intrigue to fill a Robert Ludlum novel.

But when Hurricane Sandy struck in October, killing 12 people in Queens and more than 40 in the city, devastating the Rockaways, Howard Beach, lower Manhattan and Staten Island, the people of central Queens, who were largely spared the storm’s wrath, rallied to the cause of those worst hit.

When Police Commissioner Ray Kelly sat down for an exclusive interview with the Queens Chronicle editorial board earlier this year, one of the many subjects we asked him about was sex trafficking. It’s one of the paper’s top concerns when it comes to law and order.

The commissioner described some of the department’s ongoing efforts to combat both sex trafficking and prostitution, along with the challenges officers face — victims’ frequent reluctance to come forward and the international nature of trafficking among them.

After igniting a heated controversy, city officials have finally authorized the move of the Triumph of Civic Virtue statue on Nov 13 to the Green -Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

The statue will be moved from its home in Queens near Borough Hall in Kew Gardens where it has been since 1941. Civic Virtue has been a subject of many news reports recently, specifically sparking debate among womens rights groups who labeled it as sexist.

Eleven Queens residents were among 19 people indicted last week for their alleged connections to a prostitution-based money laundering operation.

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly announced the indictments on Nov. 21, saying they are the result of a 16-month investigation that focused on an advertising firm that placed ads for prostitution services in print and online publications in New York City.

With the announcement this past weekend that The Village Voice is being sold came word from the new owners that Backpage.com would not be among the properties included in the deal.

The owners had been under increasing pressure to shut the site down, with critics saying the site advertises prostitution and sex trafficking.

A married public school teacher who pleaded guilty last Thursday to having a sexual relationship with a female student for more than a year starting when she was 13 “is rightly being punished,” according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. He faces up to six months in jail and 10 years probation when he is sentenced on Oct. 18. But advocates from Queens and beyond say that is not nearly enough time, and that it sends the wrong signal to other would-be sex offenders.

Charles Oross, 45, of East Islip, LI was employed as an eighth- grade teacher at IS 238 in Hollis. He allegedly engaged in sexual activity with the girl in an empty classroom and in his car between January 2009 and April 2010, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

Ads promoting Arizona Iced Tea have raised questions in the Queens community over whether they are offensive to women because of their dual meaning.

The signs proclaim “I love big cans,” with a picture of the tall drink. But “cans” is also slang for breasts, or, in its singular form can refer to a person’s behind. The ads can be found in downtown Jamaica and other parts of the borough.

Over the past few weeks, the Queens Chronicle has written an editorial, blog post and three articles about the Queens Tribune running “adult services” ads and the hiring of Multi-Media, its political consulting affiliate, by Grace Meng for Congress.

When she called on Congress to pass an extension of the Violence Against Women Act last Thursday, Ann Jawin of the Center for the Women of New York singled out “one English language newspaper” for running ads that promote adult services.

“Those ads say ‘Lovely Latinas’ and ‘Hot Asian Girls,’” Jawin said. “But they promote prostitution. And when you have more customers, you need to get more girls.”

Yesterday Assemblywoman Grace Meng skirted the issue of financially supporting a political consulting firm whose close affiliate both profits from and promotes the world's oldest profession.

When she called on Congress to pass an extension of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday, Ann Jawin of the Center for the Women of New York singled one “one English newspaper” for running ads that promote adult services.

Former first lady of New York State Matilda Cuomo will be honored as a woman of distinction at the 25th anniversary luncheon of the Center for the Women of New York on Saturday, April 28 at the Douglaston Manor Golf Course, 63-20 Commonwealth Blvd.

At the annual fundraising event, which will begin at noon, the organization celebrates men and women in leadership who are committed to women’s rights and who have made major contributions.

A billboard located in Willets Point on Northern Boulevard and visible from the Whitestone Expressway offended some, including area officials, and was taken down Monday.

The ad, for a brand of vodka featuring the slogan “Escort Quality, Hooker Pricing,” had previously angered a community board in the Bronx, which successfully lobbied Panache Beverages, the maker of the vodka, to take the billboard down in that borough in February. In Manhattan, a different ad for the vodka, with the slogan “Christmas Quality, Hannukah Pricing,” outraged residents last November and was also taken down.

A bill co-authored by state Sen. Michael Gianair (D-Astoria) and Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) which seeks to close what they call a loophole in the law when it comes to repeat sex offenders passed in the Senate last week.

Under current law, committing a sex crime more than once in 10 years brings harsher penalties. But time in jail is included in that 10-year period, something which Gianaris and Simotas say needs to change. Their measure would exclude time spent in jail from the 10-year period.

Douglaston community leaders are hopeful that a bakery and gift shop’s pending move to a spot near the Long Island Rail Road station will lead to a renaissance of businesses there.

The shop, Giftalicious, now located at 42-34 235 St., has been in business since last July and owner Demetra Sirica said she will be moving to a larger space at the former site of the Douglaston Market, across the railroad tracks at 40-39 235 St. “We always liked the location and the landlord has been very accommodating,” Sirica said Tuesday of the new space.

Community Board 7 took favorable positions on a women’s center, a bocce court and the historic Bowne House at its meeting Monday night in Flushing.

CB 7 Chairman Gene Kelty pointed out that the board was voting to either recommend or disapprove the plans because “Parks Department projects are major decisions and we want to voice our opinions on them. But it’s only a recommendation.”

Ann Jawin, chairwoman and founder of the Center for the Women of New York, has been waiting nearly five years for approval to move into a building at Fort Totten Park, and now says she believes it will happen in a year.

“We should be in in a year. The Parks Department finally approved the design plan and we’re very happy about it,” said Jawin, who now works with her staff out of a small office at Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens. “We want to be positive and look to the future.”

The attorney for a Springfield Gardens teen who was arrested in connection with two violent attempted rapes says the police have got the wrong man. There have been at least five sex attacks in Southeast Queens over the last month.

In addition to proclaiming his client’s innocence, he successfully argued that the youth should be tried in Family Court rather than Criminal Court because of his age. The Queens District Attorney’s Office initially opposed the idea, citing the brutality of the attacks, but later agreed.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund has filed a complaint in Brooklyn federal court against a Queens family for human trafficking and labor violations.

Oak-Jin Oh, 60, a Korean citizen, labored as a domestic worker for Soo Bok Choi, and members of his family, including Young Il Choi, Young Jin Choi, Young Mi Choi and Ki Soon Lee. In court papers, Oh charges them with bringing her to the United States illegally and under false pretenses, not paying her and forcing her to live in deplorable conditions for 12 years.

   At left, Ann Jawin of the Doug Bay Manor Civic speaks out against a farmers market for Douglaston. With her is CB 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece. At right, Michael Hurwitz, director of the city’s Greenmarket program, with staff member Catherine Chambers offers details on the proposed plan for Douglaston.

   The Center for the Women of New York announces its 24th annual luncheon will be held at the Douglaston Manor, located at 63-20 Commonwealth Blvd., Douglaston at noon on April 30.

   The theme of the event is “A Celebration of Women in Leadership,” and it is the center’s major fundraiser. The proceeds from the event directly affect programs of the group and will also go toward the restoration of its proposed building at Fort Totten in Bayside.