Board 1 Gets New District Manager, New Quarters
BY THOMAS COGAN

Community Board 1's monthly cabinet meeting underwent a great change recently with the retirement of George Delis, the only district manager the board had ever had. His successor, Lucille Hartmann, and the rest of the board now have another experience to deal with: changing offices. For a long time, the board had its quarters in the Museum of the Moving Image, but owing to the considerable overhaul the museum is going through, Board 1 offices had been moved to a trailer parked just outside the building. There the board will reside until a new office on Ditmars Boulevard is ready for occupancy. No one said anything about a change in the cabinet meeting's venue, so presumably it is still to be held in the commissary at Kaufman Studios, where in June it resumed its presence after being temporarily displaced- because of construction alterations again- to a boardroom on the third floor. At the June meeting, the last until September, attendees heard about children's health insurance, the latest news on the Parks Department's planting of street trees, a report from Sanitation and news both serious and entertaining for the summer.

The Office of Health Insurance Programs, represented by Brent Scott and Ruchika Bajaj, talked about children's health insurance. Scott said that in September, 90 percent of all children in New York state will be eligible for the plan called Child Health Plus. He said his aim was to "make contact with the community" in the matter, because statistics show that 20,000 children living in the Community Board 1 planning district are below the poverty level and altogether between 40,000 and 50,000 are in need of children's health insurance. Bajaj said that a family of four making as much as $85,000 is eligible.

Joe Kocal of the Department of Parks and Recreation described himself as a California boy who couldn't have imagined four years ago that he would be planting trees in New York City. He's now a senior forester in the department and part of the Million Trees NYC movement, which is already a year old. He paid the required tribute to trees: that they cut air pollution, increase oxygen and collect storm water. He said that in the next nine years, or by the end of the first decade, every block in the city will be examined to determine its tree situation. He expects that in Queens during that time, 55,000 street trees will be planted, during the usual annual planting season, March through May and October through December. A prime project is targeted for the next three years in the Rockaways, where there will be heavy planting from Beach 59th Street eastward to the Nassau County border. A tree-planting project, he said, brooks no resistance; trees are being planted on city property, and though considerations might have to be made about sewer and electric lines, the Parks Department is the judge in the matter. He also said that the contrasting requirement, stump pulling, is being conducted too slowly and is due to be made more efficient.

Bill Doak of the Department of Sanitation said that his department is trying to educate local residents in matters of collection hours and recycling. As far as the former is concerned, he said that anyone thinking about taking the garbage out at 8 a.m. on collection day is likely to be disappointed- the truck will have already passed. The trash should be taken out the previous night. Recycling, he said, is an individual responsibility, not something to be left to some "recycling officer" in one's apartment house. As for the department's roving policemen, Doak said, they are sent out to look for clearly neglected trash that is littering property fronts, not to bust the hapless property owner who's had a windblown newspaper arrive at the front door. But when several persons complained about advertising banners being strung up all over Astoria, Department of Transportation representative Felix Oklolo intervened to say that some advertisers may have permits to display them. That provoked some angry vigilante talk of tearing such banners down.

Dan Aliberti of the Queens Independent Living Center announced that the center would be providing air conditioners to needy elderly persons this summer. Further information about the equipment, which Aliberti said is energy efficient, is available at 718-713-4731.

George Stamatiades, speaking for the Central Astoria Local Development Coalition, said that "Movies On The Waterfront", the free summer movies program in Astoria Park on Shore Boulevard between Hell Gate Bridge and the swimming pool, begins Monday, July 7 and continues for seven successive Mondays until August 25. He said the films will be shown on an inflatable screen that rises to a height of two stories. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and one of the Harry Potter movies are among those on the schedule.