On the brief side...

Crowley Named Man Of The Year By Juniper Civic

Hailing Congressmember Joseph Crowley’s efforts to improve education, heath care and homeland security, as well as his successes on the neighborhood level, the Juniper Park Civic Association (JPCA) in Elmhurst/Middle Village has selected the lawmaker as its Man of the Year.

Crowley’s biggest accomplishment, as far as JPCA is concerned, was his two-year effort with the organization and its president, Robert Holden, to bring the Elmhurst area south of the Long Island Expressway to Eliot Avenue and from 74th to 86th Streets under the Middle Village 11379 zip code.

Crowley’s Queens/Bronx district includes parts of Middle Village and Elmhurst as well as Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Maspeth and College Point. He will receive his award at the JPCA meeting tomorrow night, March 6, at Our Lady of Hope School in Middle Village.

Previous JPCA award winner include state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Governor George Pataki, City Councilmember Tom Ognibene and community activist Frank Principe.

Monserrate, Vallone Jr. Offer Tax Help

Councilmember Hiram Monserrate kicked off a campaign yesterday to make eligible taxpayers aware of thousands of dollars in available tax credits which can be secured when they file their federal income tax return.

Monserrate (D–Corona) and volunteers handed out flyers at 90th Street and Roosevelt Avenue describing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). It is available to families earning less than $30,000 per year, he explained.

Meanwhile, Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. (D–Astoria) announced that single persons with income up to $18,000 a year and families with income of $25,000 a year or less ar qualified to receive free help filing their tax returns through the Community Tax Aid organization (CTA).

CTA has offices in Queens and other boroughs, some open evenings, some on Saturdays. For CTA’s address and working hours, call the Mayor’s Voluntary Action Center at 212-788-7500 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, Vallone urges.

Markey Hails Safer Street Crossing Law

A new law which mandates that drivers slow down or stop when a pedestrian is in any part of a crosswalk will hopefully reduce the number of accidents by strengthening the rights of defenseless pedestrians, Assemblymmber Margaret Markey declared in announcing the new statute.

Markey (D–Maspeth) explained that previously, motorists were required to yield for pedestrians only if they were both on the same side of the street, or close enough that the pedestrian was endangered. Now, the driver must slow down or stop when a pedestrian is in any part of the crosswalk at streets where no traffic light is present or where the traffic light is not operating properly.

In 2000, Markey said, there were about 17,000 accidents in New York state involving pedestrians, resulting in 335 deaths. The new law should help to lower these numbers, Markey said.

Peralta Continues Literacy Program

Last Friday, Assemblymember Jose Peralta (DºCorona) continued his program to eradicate illiteracy by personally reading to students at P.S. 19 in Corona, The freshman lawmaker had launched the program at P.S. 16, also in Corona.

As part of his program, Peralta will meet with school principals to discuss education issues ad the specific needs of the school. He will also try to get local companies to purchase books and other school supplies, as the Care Plus program is already doing. Under the literacy program, Peralta distributes student of the month awards to children who have demonstrated excellence in academic achievement.

Marshall Has Survival Guides

Even as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is considering closing 177 subway token booths, Borough President Helen Marshall is getting ready to distribute a new survival guide which directs subway riders to token booths for help in the event of a terror attack.

The soon-to-be-published "ABC Survival Guide" was written by Dr. Angelo Acquista, the medical director for the city’s Office of Emergency Management. Acquista also served on former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s Task Force in Bioterrorism and is senior medical advisor to City Council Speaker Gifford Miller.

Marshall is on record as opposing the closing of the booths, 27 of which are in Queens. She warned that the MTA’s planned closings would leave straphangers without a human presence if trouble occurred.