The meeting began just after 8 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by WRBA President Vance Barbour, and was followed up with a moment of silent reflection for Firefighters, Police Officers, Volunteer Emergency Personnel, and our Vets. There was a full agenda, so the reading of last month's minutes and the treasury report were waived, and then we were under way.

Woodhaven Library Status Report

First up were 3 representatives of the Woodhaven Library. Rebecca the Librarian (whose last name we neglected to get) made a few general announcements. The Library is offering free English classes for beginners, every Wednesday and Friday between 10 and 1 PM. On Saturdays, they offer up free Intermediate English classes from 10 AM to 2 PM. Again these classes are free and no ID is required. She also announced that the Woodhaven Branch now has a Spanish speaking librarian.

Rebecca, Ken, and Maria

Next up, Ken Gordon, the children's librarian spoke about the various arts and crafts programs -- including guitar lessons -- that are being offered. And finally, Maria Concolino from the "Friends of the Woodhaven Library" spoke about the difficulties the Library is facing. In a nutshell, if we do not get more local participation and involvement in these free programs, Woodhaven will lose them. If you have any questions, or would like to see how you can help, please call 718-849-1010. Here's a quick look at their presentations:

 The 2010 Census

The 2010 Census is right around the corner, and a push is underway to ensure that Woodhaven and its' residents get their fair and proper share of federal funds and assistance. Zaciera Ahmed from the US Census Bureau -- and a member of our community -- spoke at the March 18th meeting about the importance of getting full participation from the residents of Woodhaven.

She pointed out that in the last census, Woodhaven achieved somewhere below 75% participation, which means that we received around 25% less funding than we were entitled to. And that's not just for one year -- there won't be another census until 2020, so that's a loss of 25% of our funding every year, for ten years. Here is Ms. Ahmed to tell you more about it:

This census will have one of the shortest questionnaires in the history of the United States (dating back to the first census taken in 1790). It's only 10 questions long and takes only a few moments to fill out. When you get it in the mail, don't drop it in your pile of "things to do" -- make it a top priority and get it filled out and returned promptly. If we want to ensure that Woodhaven will continue to have a Library, that our local fire and police departments will be properly staffed, that we get our fair share of maintenance and road work, we need to get as close to 100% participation as possible. To find out more about the 2010 Census, click here. Many thanks to Ms. Ahmed for leading this effort to ensure that Woodhaven is fully funded for the next decade.

Rezoning Woodhaven

There is a proposal to rezone Woodhaven to block certain types of constructions in some areas, while allowing it in others. The goal is to preserve the character and beauty of the residential areas of the neighborhood, while at the same time allowing certain portions of the business district to grow. Here is Maria Thomson, Executive Director of the Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation to explain:

This rezoning would prohibit building "up" in the following 3 areas:

1) From Forest Parkway to 89th Street / Park Lane South to Jamaica Avenue.

2) From Woodhaven Boulevard to 96th Street / Park Lane South to Jamaica Avenue.

3) From Woodhaven Boulevard to North LIRR (100th Street) / 89th Avenue to Jamaica Avenue.

In return, builders would be allowed to build up to 4 or 5 stories along Jamaica Avenue.

The Office of Community Relations

We also had a visit from Martha Ayon, the Queens Community Coordinator from William C. Thompson's office.

She spoke about a number of interesting issues facing Queens residents, most notably a proposed change in the law regarding the way notices of construction are posted. These rules would make it almost impossible to know when and where new construction would be occurring in your neighborhood, and by the time you found out it would be too late to lodge a protest, if needed.  Here is a clip of her appearance:

In addition to the above, we also had presentations by (from left to right):

• The Honorable Lew Simon, Democratic District Leader 23rd A.D., Part B
• Steve Addibisso, a representative from State Senator Joseph Addabo Jr.
• Kate Mooney, a representative of Elizabeth Crowley, the new District 30 Council Member.

"Rising Crime" in Woodhaven 

During the course of the evening, the cover story in last week's Queens Chronicle was discussed. The article, which explored a link between foreclosures and crime alleged that Woodhaven had "experienced a rise in crime rates since 2006" and said that it had "high foreclosure rates." Maria Thomson took issue with both claims and, backed by Police Office Fisher from the 102nd, shot it down:

Project Woodhaven 

And also during the evening, we were graciously allowed to make a presentation about Project Woodhaven.  We held on to the microphone a little longer than planned, so our presentation is broken up into two parts:

Summary:

It was a pleasure attending this meeting and we were happy to meet many of our concerned neighbors.  Many thanks to Vance Barbour, President of the Woodhaven Residents Block Association and Maria Thomson and the rest of the board for all the hard work they do.  It is greatly appreciated.