Tribune epaper 022014

Right and Left Border Template.indd

Vol. 44, No. 8 Feb. 20-26, 2014 queenstribune.com

Meng Plans To Help Young

Candidates PAGE 5

LIC Theater Debuts

HurlyburlyPAGE 25

Health Clinic Saved From

Closure PAGE 10

City snow removal damaged the faade of a Forest Hills caf. By Luis Gronda Page 3.

PLOWED IN

162-38 CROSS BAY BLVD. HOWARD BEACH, NY 11414

ZERO DOWN ON ALL SPECIALS!

NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!

WWW.JYDAUTOLEASING.COM

FREE CAR WASHES FOR 1 YEAR WITH ALL SPECIALSWE PROVIDE LEASING & FINANCING ON ALL MAKES & MODELS

FULL ACCESS TO OVER THOUSANDS OF VEHICLES IN THE TRI-STATE AREADOOR TO

DOORDELIVERY *Disclaimer- Prices include all cost to a customer except Taxes, DMV Fees, 1st payment, bank fee, dealer fee.

All deals are subject to primary Lenders programs, approvals and vehicle availability. Offers are valid up to 7 days after publication.

20

14 M

1P

JY

DL-

0634

40

JYD AUTO LEASING718-874-0212

NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!NO TRICKS, GIMMICKS OR HIDDEN FEES!

ZERO DOWN ON ALL SPECIALS!ZERO DOWN ON ALL SPECIALS!ZERO DOWN ON ALL SPECIALS!ZERO DOWN ON ALL SPECIALS!ZERO DOWN ON ALL SPECIALS!ZERO DOWN ON ALL SPECIALS!

ALL NEW2014 CHRYSLER

TOWN & COUNTRY TOURING

*per month/24 months10,000 miles per year

Requires Lease Conquest

$239LEASEFORRequires Lease Conquest

ALL NEW2014 NISSAN

ALTIMA S


ALL NEW2014 NISSAN

PATHFINDER S

*per month/24 months12,000 miles per year. Requires Loyalty Rebate

$259LEASEFOR

WINTER SAVINGS EVENT

18 Alloy Wheels

3rd Row Seating

All New Design

Advanced Drive-

Assist Display

ALL NEW2013 NISSAN

ROGUE S


$209LEASEFORAWD

Remote KeylessEntry

All Power

$179LEASEFORNew Design

BluetoothAM/FM/CD

Power Seats

$379

Back-Up CameraDVD Entertainment

BluetoothLeatherSeating

ALL NEW2014 GRAND

CHEROKEE LIMITED



LEASEFOR

NavigationSunroofLeatherBack-UpCamera


ALL NEW2014 TOYOTA

CAMRY LE


$209LEASEFORBack-Up Camera

Touch Screen Display

Remote KeylessEntry

Page 2 Tribune Feb. 20-26, 2014 www.queenstribune.com

www.queenstribune.com Feb. 20-26, 2014 Tribune Page 3

Queens DeaDline

By Luis GrondaStaff Writer

With snow shutting down the City last week, one Forest Hills restaurant took more than just a financial hit.

A Dept. of Sanitation truck jumped the sidewalk on Austin Street last Thursday night, slamming into Exo Caf on Austin Street, damaging much of the exterior of the establishment and sending one innocent bystander to the hospital.

Peter Kambitsis, the manager of the restaurant, said much of the awning, as well as the door, were destroyed, and a few of the windows were broken as well as a result of the accident.

It was like chaos, it looked like a bomb hit, he said, describing the scene that night.

According to Kambitsis, because the door was demolished, they could not lock up the restaurant overnight. The manager said he stayed at the caf overnight to guard against any poten-tial intruders and until a door could be installed.

The restaurant suffered financial damage from the accident as well.

Kambitsis said they in-curred about $30,000 in dam-ages and lost about $4,000 in business.

Much of the exterior has been already replaced, but the potential business they could have gotten that night and the next day was lost.

It happened the night be-fore Valentines Day and the eatery had about 100 table reservations for that romantic evening.

While some cancelled their reservations for other restau-rants, they managed to reopen the caf the afternoon after the accident, reopening at 2 p.m.

Do you know how many women would have been mad if there was no Valentines Day din-ner? Kambitsis said.

The incident was one event that occurred during the seemingly never-ending snow the City has been getting this winter.

The snowstorms have forced the City, and its Sanitation Dept., to fo-cus all their resources on cleaning the

snow, eschewing its other services like garbage pick up.

Two heads of civic organizations in the Borough said the Citys response to the snow has been good for the most part.

Adrian Bordoni, Executive Direc-tor of Woodside on the Move and a Maspeth resident, said the majority of

City Snow Response Damages Caf Entrance

Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled the specifics of his plan aimed at reduc-ing traffic-related fatalities through-out the City.

The Mayors Vision Zero plan will greatly overhaul street signs and traffic enforcement as well as in-crease the use of speed and red light cameras in the five Boroughs.

De Blasio said the plan will hope-fully protect children and adults alike from future traffic-related deaths.

We refuse to accept the loss of children, parents and neighbors as inevitable. We are focusing the full weight of city government to pre-vent fatalities on our streets. This will add up to much more than changing intersections or issuing violations. Its about each of us taking greater responsibility every time we get behind the wheel or

step out on the street, he said. Some highlights of the plan in-

clude increased enforcement of speeding violations by the NYPD, decreasing the citywide speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 25, mak-ing safety enhancements at 50 loca-tions each year and implementing more neighborhood slow zones.

A life lost is a life lostand it is our job to protect New Yorkers, whether it is from violent crime or from a fatal collision on our streets. We are going to use every tool we haveand push to get the additional tools we needto prevent the need-less loss of life, Police Commission-er Bill Bratton said.

De Blasio said Vision Zero has the City Councils support, but re-ducing the citywide speed limit will require Albanys approval.

Mayor Reveals Vision Zero Plan

By JoE MarViLLiStaff Writer

Another accused member of the federal corruption scandal plaguing State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis) is asking for a reprieve until after this years election cycle.

Former Queens Repub-lican Vice Chairman Vin-cent Tabone has asked for his federal corruption trial to be pushed back until af-ter the November elections, claiming that key GOP campaign strategies would be exposed if it proceeded any earlier. While the pros-ecution is looking for a trial start date around June 2, Tabones lawyer, Deborah Misir, wants it de-layed for at least six months.

Smith had made a similar request two weeks ago, asking that the trial be pushed back until at least October, so he can get through the Primary in his mainly Democratic district.

Misir sent a letter on Feb. 14 to the Hon. Kenneth Karas to argue her case for the continuance of trial. Besides saying that campaign policies would be revealed, she said that the complexity and uniqueness of the case means that the defense should have more time to prepare for the case. Two legal issues of first impression are in question in this scenario, according to Misir.

The first is whether a political party

volunteer breached a duty of honest services allegedly owed to the Repub-lican Party county committees and members. The second is whether a po-litical party volunteer violated the New York Penal Code prohibition on brib-ery for appointment or nomination

for public office, by com-municating with people who are seeking a Wilson-Pakula Authorization. That approval is given by a po-litical party to a candidate for public office, allowing him or her to run under that party line, despite the fact that the candidate does not belong to said party.

Our number one issue for asking the trial to be delayed is its a complex set of issues that has never been tried before in the U.S., Misir said. My client was not an elected of-ficial. He was a volunteer of the party. In all the cases related to honest ser-vices, the federal government said its going to come in and try the volunteer as being disloyal to his party. This is shocking for anyone who follows law.

If Tabone is tried regarding these questions to his honest services with the Republican Party, members of the Queens GOP would have to testify on what Tabone did for them. As a result, they would have to discuss their cam-paign plans, without the same reper-cussions for the Democratic Party.

If we have to find out what would constitute honest services, they would ask what was your strategy in the elec-tion cycle, Misir said. It gives the other side an unfair advantage. You cannot use the courts to advance one partys political interest over another. The courts have to be fair-balanced.

Tabone has been accused of taking a $25,000 bribe as part of Smiths failed plan to get his name on the GOP ballot for mayor. In light of the indictment,

Tabone resigned as vice chairman of the Queens GOP.

Misir also said that she has request-ed that her client be tried separately from Smith and former councilman Dan Halloran, rather than being pack-aged as one conspiracy.

Each conspiracy should be tried separately, she said.

Reach Joe Marvilli at (718) 357-7400, Ext. 125, [email protected], or @Joey788.

the streets are passable and many of the bus stops have been cleaned off, which is important for com-muters who travel by bus.

Were all learning to cope with the snow weve been get-ting, he said.

Warren Schreiber, president of the Bay Terrace Community Alliance, said while the City has generally done a good job of clearing the snow, one complaint he had was much of the snow has accumulated around the Muni-Meters, making it difficult to pay the fee to park.

You have to do some sort of acrobatics to put money in the meter, Schreiber said.

Another hassle caused by the snow, Schreiber said, is there is

not as much parking available because of the snow, forcing drivers to finagle their way into a spot.

Both Bordoni and Schreiber said they have not noticed much garbage bag accumulation in recent weeks.

Reach Luis Gronda at (718) 357-7400, Ext. 127, [email protected], or @luisgronda.

Vincent Tabone Asks For Court Date Delay

Vincent Tabone

Forest Hills exo Caf suffered about $30,000 in damage after a Dept. of sanitation plow truck slammed into the restaurant last week.

P\1

Documents

Tribune epaper 022014