At approximately 4 a.m. on June 25, 1950, artillery of the North Korean Army opened fire on South Korean units standing watch at the 38th Parallel, a tenuous dividing line that separates North and South Korea to the present day. The invasion of more than 60,000 North Korean troops south of the 38th Parallel that followed in 1950 began the Korean War, a three-year long conflict in which 33,667 Americans died.

Last Sunday, exactly 56 years after the start of the Korean War, ground was broken at a site along Rose Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in Kissena Park during a special ceremony for a monument to Korean War veterans. "It will recognize the brave Americans who fought and sacrificed their lives," Chuck Apelian said at the June meeting of Community Board 7 in Flushing.

Total U.S. casualties in the Korean War were over 140,000 with more than 103,000 wounded. An armistice, signed on July 27, 1953, brought an end to the war but was a political and military stalemate.

In other business, Apelian also announced that spraying to control the mosquito population that spreads West Nile Virus by the city Department of Health took place around Flushing Airport, College Point, and Alley Pond Park, Little Neck, beginning June 20. Mosquito breeding peaks in June and July and the Culex mosquitoes that transfer the West Nile Virus from birds to humans tend to lay their eggs in places with standing water.

West Nile Virus first entered the United States seven years ago and since then has rapidly spread across the country. West Nile Virus cases peaked in 2003, with 9,862 cases, of which 274 were fatal. Four out of five people who get West Nile Virus have no symptoms. Those with symptoms have a fever, headache and fatigue. Some will get a rash and swollen glands. The most serious complications, such as neck stiffness, stupor, convulsions or paralysis, are rare (less than one percent).

Precautions for West Nile Virus mean protecting yourself from mosquito bites by using screens, DEET-based repellents, wearing long pants and remembering to drain any standing water.

A resolution was unanimously passed urging the Department of City Planning to create a new residential zoning district for single-family row houses. "This is something that has been discussed," said Apelian, pointing to the fact that there is currently no definition of or protection for single-family row houses in the zoning code. "We feel this is an important contextual need," he said, noting singlefamily row houses are vulnerable in the existing zoning code. An application for rezoning in the Queensboro Hill area, where there are examples of these singlefamily row houses, is coming to the board for consideration soon.

Finally the board denied extension of a Special Permit for Peter Pan Games, an amusement arcade at 212-95 26th Ave., approved reopening and extending a term of variance for 10 years with amendment to permit the sale of used cars at 20-65 Clintonville St., and approved permission to build in the bed of a mapped street at 131-06 and 131-04 40th Rd.