In Annual Report, Marshall Hails Queens As 'Strong In Spirit'
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Marshall noted triumphantly that in her first six years as borough president she had had the responsibility of "fighting for and investing your tax dollars" for parks ($75 million), libraries ($44 million) and cultural institutions ($55 million).

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, starting her seventh year in office, stated in her annual State of the Borough address yesterday at Queens College that the state and spirit of the borough are strong, and then proceeded to prove it by reading off a 55 page-long list of programs covering all phases of life in Queens.

Among her pronouncements were: the start of a program to soundproof residential buildings near airports to reduce sound and air pollution; the imminent opening of a huge olympic-size swimming pool in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which will double as an ice skating rink in the winter; and other improvements all over the borough; more school seats to reduce overcrowding; a new location for the CUNY law school, in Long Island City; progress on the massive Willets Point redevelopment, and the start of construction of a new police academy.

Marshall noted triumphantly that in her first six years as borough president she had had the responsibility of "fighting for and investing your tax dollars" for parks ($75 million), libraries ($44 million) and cultural institutions ($55 million).

"By the way, that's $175 million," she said with a huge grin. "How about that!"

But Marshall was also serious at times, berating officials for trying to increase frozen meals, rather than hot, home delivered repasts for seniors, taking a strong stand against attempts to shut down Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica and St. John's Hospital in Elmhurst, and in calling for more firefighters for the borough.

Among other more positive developments, she noted crime was down in the borough during 2007 and more police patrols were headed this way.

Making another announcement, she said, "Thanks to a grant from Con Edison, you can now access each one of our 14 community boards online. Information about upcoming meetings, agendas, community demographics and boundaries- just click on www.queenscb.org and go directly to your local board to access all you need to know about your neighborhood."

As a boost for tourism in the borough, Marshall noted the start recently of three programs:

•The first Queens tourism center in a restored Redbird Number 7 line subway train car on the east lawn of Queensborough Hall in Kew Gardens.

•The first Queens Visitor Center at the Queens Center shopping mall in Rego Park, where 50,000 people pass daily and

•The first and only program being offered by a college- LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City- which operates the new Discover Queens Neighborhood Walking Tour.

Turning to one of Queens' most serious problems- the subprime mortgage mess that has caused many foreclosures and lost homes- Marshall announced the allocation of $250,000 to several organizations that educate and provide legal assistance for victims of the continuing mortgage foreclosure crisis.

She said, "In November alone, more than 1,300 Queens homeowners were at risk of foreclosure, an astonishing 55 percent increase over last November."

The funds will be used to conduct workshops to provide vital information to homeowners about financing options, free legal services, and ways to avoid scams, deed theft and foreclosure bailout schemes.

Marshall reviewed regional developments that will create new communities on the borough's landscape, with thousands of new housing units, new schools, shops and much needed recreational space. Regions cited include Western Queens, the Rockaways, Flushing and Jamaica.

For Western Queens, Marshall detailed the continuing advancement of the huge Queens West development along the East River in Hunters Point.

Also in that area, the ambitious Silvercup Studios project, including new sound stages, office space and 1,000 apartments, is moving along. Not far from there, the Court Square area, where the 45-story Citicorp Tower, the tallest office building in Queens, set the scene for development 20 years ago, is still the site of new projects.

In Flushing, Queens Crossing, not far from the Flushing Commons project on the site of the former municipal parking lot, has just been completed and will open this spring with more than a quarter million square feet of retail, office and entertainment and dining space.

Further west, the new Mets baseball stadium, called Citifield, is scheduled for a 2009 opening, and the Willets Point development will soon get underway when the public approval process begins in about four weeks.

"You know, there have been several plans in the past for this site, but this one is not pie-in-thesky," Marshall, who has been directly involved in bringing the plan to fruition, assured her listeners.

Marshall's big day coincided with the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, and the borough president paid tribute to the late civil rights leader.

Marshall also paid tribute to the 24 Queens residents who have died in the Iraq War, as well as all those who have served in the war, and to several police officers and firefighters who performed special acts of courage. She also cited three young men in Jackson Heights who rescued a newborn baby who had been abandoned in a dumpster in Elmhurst.

Marshall also noted the birth of the first two babies in the borough as 2008 got underway, one of them the grandchild of City Councilmember Helen Sears (D- Jackson Heights).