News Of The Neighborhoods
COMPILED BY LIZ GOFF

Kids Get Summer Meals For Free

Parents are urged to encourage children and teens under 19 to participate in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Summer Food Service program available at schools, parks and pools throughout the summer.

No payment, registration, documentation or identification is required for children to enjoy a free breakfast and lunch at designated sites in Queens. Breakfast will be available from 8 to 9:15 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. each day, including weekends and holidays, officials said.

For more information on Summer Meals, call 311.

Vol Ambulance Workers Needed

The Middle Village Volunteer Ambulance Corps is reaching out for volunteers to work as dispatchers at its headquarters at 66-76 70th St.

No experience is necessary. Applicants should be at least 18-years-old and have time to work two or more tours per month. Volunteers will receive training in first aid, CPR and blood pressure screening and can qualify for promotion to driver attendant. Qualified volunteers are also eligible to attend classes for certification as an Emergency Medical Technician.

Applications are being accepted in person at the Corps headquarters on Friday evenings from 7 p.m. until midnight. For more information, call 718-894-7951.

Salute To Queens Photo Contest

Time is running out for amateur photographers to submit a photo to the "Salute To Queens Parks Photography Contest".

Amateur shutterbugs are invited to submit photos taken in any Queens park or playground, at any Queens Parks Department facility or at any Parks Department event.

Categories include people, nature/landscape and places/landmarks. Age groups include Youth ages 12 and under, teen ages 13-17 and adult ages 18 and over. One winner will be picked from each age group.

Entries must be received by the Queens Department of Parks and Recreation by Sept. 4, 2007. Winners will be announced and prizes awarded on September 30.

Winning entries will be exhibited at the Queens Museum of Art in Flushing Meadows- Corona Park and at the Arsenal Gallery in Central Park. Winning photos will be featured in a Parks Department publication, A Salute To Queens Parks: A Photo Book.

For additional contest information go online to www.nyc.gov/parks

'FOCUS' On Reading

Youngsters throughout Queens will be able to travel as far as their imaginations can carry them this summer, through a free reading program sponsored by Friends of the Community Unite and Serve (FOCUS), a non-profit foundation designed to encourage and assist Queens residents.

Youths enrolled in the new "I Love Reading-Summer Adventure Program" are required to read for approximately 40 minutes each day, and to keep a record of books they have read listing the title and author in a log book from the Queens public library. Participants will be asked to rate each book on a "One-to-Five" scale, program sponsors said.

FOCUS officials said the group established the program to encourage youngsters to read, and to assist them in developing language and listening skills. Officials said they hope youngsters will hold on to reading and academic skills garnered through the program well beyond the summer.

Youngsters who complete the program will receive a certificate and be invited to a Back to School party sponsored in the fall by FOCUS.

For more information or to register in the program, call 718-359-0767 Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or go online to http://focusonflushing.com

CityParks Sports '07 Begins July 2

The City Parks Foundation last week announced the opening of the 2007 summer season of the CityParks Sports program.

The annual program offers youngsters ages five to 16 lessons in Tennis and Field & Track at parks throughout Queens, including Astoria Park, Flushing Meadows- Corona Park and Kissena Park, additional locations are available online at the City Parks Foundation. The programs will begin July 2 and run through August 14. Participants must register at a park of their choice to participate in the program.

Youngsters enrolled in the Track & Field Program will learn the basics and compete in jumping hurdles, relay races, long jump and javelin throw. Tennis lessons are available on three skill levels: Pewee ages 5 to 7, Beginner ages 8 and up, and Intermediate to be determined by skill level. Tournaments will be held at the end of the season for beginner and advanced players.

Golf lessons will be available at local park golf courses. First beginner sessions tee-off on July 2 and run through August 1, and a second session runs from July 30 to August 29. Intermediate programs are also available through the Intermediate Program and the Junior Golf Academy.

For information on dates, times and specific instruction offered at locations throughout Queens go online to www.cityparksfoundation. org, or call 311.

'Tunnel To Nowhere' Leaves LIC

Agency officials and reporters watched in anticipation as workers lowered segments of a 600-ton tunnel-boring machine into a 120- foot hole in Long Island City, behind plywood at the intersection of 31st Street and Northern Boulevard as officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) launched the agency's East Side Access project last week.

In a prepared statement Mysore Nagaraja, president of MTA construction said, "This is probably the largest drilling project undertaken by the MTA, or in the entire country." Nagaraja said the drill will travel piece by piece through the 30-year-old Tunnel To Nowhere, originally built as an extension for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR).

Once the drill pieces arrive at a launch station at Second Avenue and 63rd Street in Manhattan, workers will take several months to assemble the massive drill. The drill will bore through approximately 340,000 cubic tons of hard rock, passing Park Avenue before heading toward Grand Central Terminal as part of a $6.3 billion project to ease the commute for almost 60,000 LIRR riders who work on the East Side of Manhattan. The project is slated for completion in 2013.