Sunnyside Chamber Marks Pizzuti's 6th Week at PBQN

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Queens Gazette | May 16, 2007

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By Thomas Cogan

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world

Assistant Chief Diana Pizzuti, commander of New York City Police Department Patrol Borough Queens North (PBQN), made her second consecutive appearance at the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce luncheon for May at Dazies Restaurant on Queens Boulevard. Several attendees were also introduced and their current activities described. Some news was offered about the Sunnyside Business Improvement District (BID) and repairs to the Sunnyside Arch.Pizzuti said that as of the luncheon date, May 8, she has been on the job as PBQN commander for six weeks. She recalled that she joined the police force more than 20 years ago after teaching for a few years, at one time in Woodside. She has served on the force in The Bronx, Queens and Manhattan, where she commanded two precincts before becoming head of the Police Academy. She introduced Sergeant Nicole Dean as a community affairs officer who is now working in PBQN with Sgt. Dwayne Palmer.John Vogt, Sunnyside Chamber president, introduced a few luncheon attendees, some of whom had announcements to make. First was Innocent Datondji, a native of Benin, who is currently teaching English as a second language on a Fulbright fellowship at LaGuardia Community College. While here, he is residing in Sunnyside. Wiley Norville, representing the group Transportation Alternatives, announced that it and another transportation group, Citizens Committee for New York City, were taking part in a forum that evening at Sunnyside Reformed Church on Skillman Avenue, the topic being congestion pricing, the plan put forth by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to impose special fees on those persons bringing vehicles into Manhattan during the business day. Next to be introduced was Artie Ferguson of Woodside on the Move, who announced that refurbishment of Windmuller Park on Woodside Avenue has been completed, and in celebration, a concert will be held there on Saturday, June 2 at 7 p.m., featuring music of the big band era of the 1930s and '40s.Judy Zangwill, executive director of Sunnyside Community Services, said that repeated delays to the opening of the ground floor facilities on 39th Street might be coming to an end. The new home of SCS was supposed to be opened about a year ago, but the Department of Buildings found one fault or another that kept delaying it, even though DOB allowed the facility to be used one night in October for the SCS annual art auction. With the last hold-up on the verge of correction, the place could be ready for an inauguration ceremony in June. Marc Levitt, an attorney, presented Zangwill and SCS with a check for $3,000, saying it was bequeathed to the organization in the will of one of his clients.The next announcement came from William Egan of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, who said the annual QCC Business Expo and Luncheon would be held at Terrace on the Park on Thursday, May 17. The luncheon address is to be delivered this year by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.Judith Sloan of Ear/Say mentioned that her theatrical group would perform at the LaGuardia Community College Little Theatre on Saturday, May 19, and also that an art exhibit would be held at Queens College in 2008. She added that Ear/Say has been aided by a grant from Starbucks.Vogt said that the Sunnyside BID might actually be realized soon. He saw an early summer approval by the City Council, the upshot being that the Business Improvement District on Queens Boulevard and Greenpoint Avenue would be in operation by the autumn.The battered Sunnyside Arch that spans 46th Street on the south side of Queens Boulevard could also be under repair soon if all the generous amount of funding is released, Vogt said, quoting Community Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley. Sunnyside resident Ira Greenberg added an encouraging note, saying that things would be fine "as long as you beat the ribbon cutting for the Second Avenue Subway"- another project that has gone on seemingly forever.

Submitted by admin on December 18, 2007 - 16:59. categories [ ]