Boro Board OK's $158M Budget
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

"Our borough's flagship park, with its many year-round tourist attractions, deserves the same precinct level support given to Central Park in Manhattan," Borough President Helen Marshall said in a March 9 press release.

The Queens Borough Board has approved almost $158 million in recommended allocations for the new city budget, come July 1 this year. Among the proposals accepted at its March meeting was a new police precinct in Flushing Meadows- Corona Park.

"Our borough's flagship park, with its many year-round tourist attractions, deserves the same precinct level support given to Central Park in Manhattan," Borough President Helen Marshall said in a March 9 press release.

The board also called for new police precincts in better locations at the 104th, 108th and 110th Precincts and recommended splitting the 105th Precinct to reduce response time. In addition, funding for a new ladder company for the Fire Department in Western Queens was requested due to the increasing population there, and for restoration of the Fire Marshal base at Fort Totten.

The board also supported a City Council initiative for additional building inspectors to address community complaints about illegal conversions and a restoration of $2.6 million for the Department of Sanitation supplemental basket collection on Sundays and holidays.

In addition, the board proposed $4.5 million for increased senior citizens services, $1.9 million to provide school nurses for summer schools, $6 million to allow three child health clinics to stay open, $2.1 million to prune 40,000 more street trees and $252,000 to restore funding for community boards back to 1995 levels.

Under the City Charter, each borough board must submit its budget priorities to the mayor and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). A public hearing was held on February 22 at which almost 200 individuals and organizations were heard. The borough board is composed of the borough president, the borough's City Council members and the chairs of the borough's 14 community boards.

In a letter to the mayor and OMB, the board said, "The Queens Borough Board submits this document for your review and consideration, knowing that its implementation will not only provide services sorely needed, but also strengthen our economy." Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a $57.1 billion preliminary budget in January.

Funding of $8 million to the Queens Borough Public Library would restore six-day-a-week service with 42 hours at each individual branch, while another $2.7 million would provide extended evening library hours beyond normal service.

A request for $11.2 million would restore the Peter Vallone Scholarship program that gives scholarships to city high school graduates with at least a B average and with 10 college prep course credits on their transcripts.

In its allocation recommendations, the board noted that Queens has not received its fair share of funding for cultural programs and institutions, even though an effort has been made to change the method for distribution of funds to these programs and institutions.

The proposed allocations noted that only 42 groups from Queens, 6 percent of a total 650 organizations, received a total of $311,700 from the Cultural Development Fund. Many worthy programs are initially included in the preliminary budget and then are subsequently left out when the budget receives its final approval.