My Dear Queens Villagers,

          On this Thanksgiving, let us give thanks to God for all we have, and pray to Him for the success of our troops abroad and for their safe return.

          Congratulations and Best Wishes to Assemblywoman Barbara Clark, Congressman Gregory Meeks, Senator Frank Padavan, and Senator Malcolm Smith on their reelection.  We look forward to continue working with our elected officials to better our community and maintain our quality of life.

          The Bureau of Standards and Appeals (BSA) will give its final decision on the 212th Street and 94th Road housing development project in early December.  We have fought vigorously against the size of the development that would bring increased traffic and parking problems and tax our sewer and sanitation services.  BSA has scaled down the size of the development, and we are hoping for a further reduction.  We are dealing with an arrogant developer who did not seek the community’s input or respect the zoning law when he started the project.  We especially thank Richard Hellenbrecth , Chairperson of Community Board 13, for his guidance, and Dominick Stiller, son of our Trustee John Stiller, who wrote a technical, financial, and engineering rebuttal
of the developer’s submission.  This is a victory for all of us.  (Refer to article in the news page.)

          Our Vice President Amelia Kent is out of the hospital and convalescing at home.  We miss her and hope to see her at this month’s meeting.

          We will light the Queens Village Christmas Tree on Friday, December 10, in Veterans Park Plaza, Springfield Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue, at 7:00 P. M.  Bring along your friends and neighbors to enjoy cookies, cake, hot chocolate, and Christmas carols and songs that will put you in a holiday mood. (Refer to article in the news page.)

         We will have at the meeting copies of Senator Padavan’s Newsletter:  “Check 21:  What you Need to Know.”  Check 21 is a new federal law that allows banks to process and deliver checks electronically.  Because checks are now processed more quickly, you may be more likely to bounce a check and incur costly return-check fees.  The newsletter gives you the information you need about this new banking law and tells you how to avoid overdrafts.

          Have a Bountiful Thanksgiving and a Happy Holiday Season.  I hope to see you on November 16 and
December 10.