Assemblymember Ann Margaret Carrozza will be honored by the Queens Interagency Council on Aging (QICA) with the presentation of the Rose Kryzak Legislative Award at its 38th anniversary celebration on Thursday, March 26, at the Queens Community House, Kew Gardens Community Center at 80-02 Kew Gardens Rd., Suite 202, Kew Gardens.

At this dinner celebration, QICA will also present Igal Jelinek, executive director of the Council of Senior Centers and Services of NYC, Inc., with the Leon Von Holden Advocacy Award.

QICA's gala is an annual festive occasion for celebrating with friends, professionals, seniors and elected officials. At this buffet dinner affair, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., refreshments will also be served and piano entertainment will be provided.

The Rose Kryzak Legislative Award, which recognizes a Queens woman who was a leading senior citizen advocate, is given in recognition of excellence and continuing leadership.

Carrozza, a Bayside Democrat who is in her 13th year in the Assembly, is a member of the Committee on the Aging and has focused major attention on the seniors' needs and the legislation to protect this special population and maintain its necessary benefits.

Councilmember Eric Gioia, concerned local citizens, and representatives from Sunnyside Community Services called on the MTA to reinstate the bus stop. The original bus stop was on the corner of the senior center, while now the closest stops are several blocks away. For many seniors, who depend on the bus because the subway has too many stairs for them to navigate, the extra distance is a significant burden. The Leon Von Holden Advocacy Award is named in honor of another Queens seniors activist, now deceased. It is given for demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of older adults.

The Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, which is headed by the Holden Award recipient, is one of the major senior advocacy and lobbying organizations in New York City.

QICA, founded in 1971, is a boroughwide coalition of more than 200 senior service organizations and individuals providing services to senior adults. Through education, collaboration and advocacy, QICA works as one voice to improve the quality of life, health and cultural enrichment of older adults.

Call QICA at 718-268-5954 for information about the 38th anniversary celebration and ticket reservations.

GIOIA WANTS BUS STOP RESTORED: Several months ago, according to City Councilmember Eric Gioia, the MTA moved the bus stop at Queens Boulevard and 39th Place in Sunnyside to a new location several blocks away.

The original bus stop location was less than a block away from the Sunnyside Community Services senior center, which sponsors a wide variety of social services and recreation programs. Needless to say, the bus stop provided a convenient link to the senior center for many seniors every day of the year.

Moving it several blocks away, Gioia says, created a "significant burden" for the 200 seniors that now must walk a longer distance to the center sometimes in rain or cold and inclement weather.

Moving the original bus stop, which served the Q60 and Q32 routes, without prior warning by the MTA, was "unfortunate and detrimental", said Rich McGrade, who works at the Sunnyside Community Services Senior Center.

McGrade added, "The bus stop was desperately needed at the original location because seniors are our most vulnerable population—they can't use the subway, so the bus is really their only means of transportation."

Gioia (D- Long Island City) said that according to the MTA, the original bus stop was relocated because bus stops cannot be more than 750 feet apart.

"However," Gioia argued, "the 39th Place bus stop had been in place for many years despite the regulation" and should be restored.

"Removing this bus stop and forcing seniors to walk long distances is wrong, but can be easily rectified by the MTA," Gioia said. "We can't let bureaucracy trump common sense."