South Queens News

• Breaking

The City Council voted Thursday to  "reshape our city " by closing Rikers Island and building four new jails, one in every borough except Staten Island. The vote was 36-13.

Two large swathes of Willets Point land are being eyed for temporary Citi Field parking spaces, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

That’s because construction of the proposed $2.05 billion AirTrain linking LaGuardia Airport to the area will require staging areas be placed in Citi Field parking lots, the agency said. The work is expected to mostly affect the Southfield lot, which sits south of Roosevelt Avenue. The Willets Point sections in question would be used for replacement parking.

Rego Park residents can expect the long awaited reconstruction of the community’s library to start soon — well, at some point before 2022 at least. Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) told those at Community Board 6’s monthly meeting last Thursday that she’s been reassured that’s at least the idea.

“They have committed to me that the library groundbreaking is going to happen before I retire,” said Koslowitz, who will be ineligible to run in 2021 due to term limits. “It’s going to happen.”

A homeless man attacked a 6-year-old boy in Kew Gardens last Thursday, according to police.

Laurance Gendreau, 35, was walking at Metropolitan Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard at approximately 4:50 p.m. when he picked up the boy and threw him to the ground. Police took Gendreau, whom they described as an emotionally disturbed person, into custody at the scene without further incident.

The Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Queens’ 42nd Annual Queens Columbus Day Parade marched in Astoria last Saturday. The crowd went from Kaufman Studios to the Columbus Triangle.

Above, the FIAOQ contingent marches.

“It was the word ‘cancer.’ I just could not comprehend that word,” said Arlene Fiorella of Woodside when she heard her diagnosis.

“I stopped thinking. My memory of that day is not clear.

“I was lucky I have my husband. He was my support.”

Fighting back was a natural response.

With 15,000 participants, the Making Strides Against Breast Center walk at Flushing Meadows Corona Park raised over $655,00 last year. And this year, organizers are hoping to surpass that number.

Scheduled for the morning of Sunday, Oct. 20, the annual event raises funds for both breast cancer research and services provided by the American Cancer Society. Check-in begins at 8 a.m. and the walk starts at 10 a.m. Register online at makingstrideswalk.org/queens.

• Featured

As sure as summer turns to fall, the quality-of-life issues facing seniors remain a constant, as indicated by the Queens Interagency Council on Aging at its annual Legislative Forum, held at Borough Hall last Friday, with about a dozen elected officials and an estimated 100 concerned citizens in attendance.

Highlighting one of the greatest needs, QICA President Barry Klitsberg reminded those on hand that “seniors, among the most vulnerable of the city’s citizens, have been virtually ignored in the planning for affordable housing.”