Felipe Ramirez, Citizen of Mexico and Clinton Supporter

Felipe Ramirez is a Mexican citizen and lives in Corona, Queens. Although he cannot vote in the U.S., he is an enthusiastic Clinton supporter and has volunteered for the campaign by distributing fliers and speaking to parents of Hispanic children in area schools. He is one of a sizable number of people who are ineligible to vote but who this year have been motivated to support presidential candidates in the 2008 election. See the full story at NYC24.com.


Felipe Ramirez from Channtal Fleischfresser on Vimeo.

The Mayor of Strawberry Fields

Ayrton dos Santos, Jr., is known by many as Gary and by some as the Mayor of Strawberry Fields. He has been decorating the memorial to John Lennon in Central Park on and off for the last 15 years, and steady for the last six years, he says. He grew up both in Manhattan and Queens, briefly attending Forest Hills High School. Today, he creates peace signs out of flowers, which he places on the circular memorial at 72nd Street and Central Park West. He frequently shares his knowledge of the site with visiting tour groups, which gather in a circle around the memorial site. Last week, he received a ticket from the Central Park police for public assembly. Watch the video, produced by Channtal Fleischfresser:

Who are the women behind the wheel?

Johanna Gomez, Humera Mian, and Maria Helena Hormaza have two things in common. They all live in Queens. And they all drive N.Y.C. yellow cabs.

Johanna holds a degree in Digital Filmmaking and is driving to pay off her loans. Humera is a single mom from Pakistan who drives in order to support her five children. Maria Helena left an international merchandising business to be closer to her family in New York and now drives a cab.

Female drivers make up 155, or 0.3 percent, of the 45,900 licensed drivers in the city. Most women would shy away from such a stressful line of work in such a male-dominated industry. What is it about these women that led them to decide to drive cabs?



"Women in Transit," seeks to answer that question, focusing on Johanna, Humera, and Maria Helena. Meet these women at womenintransit.com.

Gay Immigrants Find Safe Space in New York

Gay immigrants who come to the United States often do not know they have an option to apply for asylum based on persecution from sexual orientation.

One resource for many of these immigrants is the Aids Center of Queens County, or ACQC, which serves 5,000 people infected with HIV in eight locations throughout Queens.

ACQC's services and food and clothing pantries are not limited to those infected with HIV, but are open to all in need, including gay asylum seekers, according to executive director, Phil Glotzer.

Today, immigrants fleeing persecution are applying for asylum in fewer numbers as deportation rates are increasing. Heightened immigration controls have made it harder for immigrants to obtain visas, and many who are eligible do not apply for asylum because they fear being deported if their application is rejected.

Seven years ago, Dane Solomon fled his native country of Guyana, leaving his son and family, never to return. In the years since, he suffered a stroke, beat brain cancer, and coped with HIV, poverty and the uncertainty of being undocumented in New York.

"I lived in constant fear that I would not be able to put up this facade," Solomon said. "Knowing who you are inside and pretending to be somebody else takes everything from you."

We tell Solomon's story, Dane Solomon is No Longer Afraid, in the Space Issue of nyc24.com. The multimedia story presents videos and resources on U.S. asylum trends and the challenges facing immigrants within the LGBT community.

Corona: a neighborhood transformed

by Channtal Fleischfresser and Laura Isensee

Click on the photo to listen to Corona residents talk about the changes in their neighborhood over the last 30 years.

Changing Face of Corona

by Channtal Fleischfresser and Laura Isensee

Corona's changing demographics have affected Corona's politics and culture. Watch what longtime Corona residents have to say about the shifts.

Black and White Flight in Corona

Between the bodegas, Latin restaurants, markets, and food carts selling tacos and empanadas, it’s hard to walk down the street in Corona these days without hearing mothers speaking Spanish to their young children or the sounds of Latin beats emanating from the music stores along Roosevelt Avenue.

Since the 1950s this community – less than six miles from Manhattan – was home to sizable Italian and African-American populations.

But in recent decades, the face of Corona has changed dramatically as Hispanic immigrants have settled in the neighborhood in increasing numbers, while white and African-American members of the community have moved out.

Click on the graphic to see how the neighborhood has changed.

Privilege Care Offers Immigrants Low-Cost Health Care

The Privilege Care medical clinic in Elmhurst, Queens, offers a private, low-cost alternative for undocumented immigrants who do not qualify for Medicare and Medicaid and receive little to no preventive care, but few immigrants know about the clinic.

“We’re not looking to make money off of people who don’t have money,” said Joshua Farkovitz, 29, administrator of Privilege Care, which opened in September 2006. “We offer access to care for a reasonable price,” he said.

Farkovitz said Privilege Care offers high-level patient care where patients’ wait time is less than 45 minutes, as opposed to Elmhurst Hospital, where a walk-in visitor can wait between two and seven hours before receiving care.

Farkovitz said he takes whatever patients can afford to pay. He said he breaks even, charging what it costs to provide a service to “cash-only” patients, who do not have an insurance provider.

“We’ll take $20, we’ll take $10 if that’s what they have,” he said.

For full article, please email channtal at gmail.

Fighting Graffiti at 110th Precinct

There is an understated beauty to the graffiti along the Long Island Railroad as it cuts through Corona and Elmhurst, Queens, along 45th Avenue and 94th Street. The pedestrian walkway over the tracks, across from the construction site of the Corona Park High Schools, is nearly covered in graffiti markings. But here, as in other parts of town, it gives buildings a derelict, untended air.

One person keeping tabs on graffiti is Police Officer Christopher Skinner, graffiti coordinator for the 110th precinct. He mobilizes area residents, including young people, to clean up graffiti in Corona and Elmhurst, preserving the neighborhood through community action.

“As the city gets cleaner,” said Skinner, “graffiti stays the same. Some see it as art. It’s not art, it’s vandalism.”

For full story, please contact channtal at gmail.

Kids Join NYPD Explorer Program to Volunteer (Not Become Cops)

The NYPD Law Enforcement Exploring program is open to those under age 21 as an introduction to the police department, but only about five percent become police officers.

"Most kids that are showing up are kids who want to be part of community," said Officer McKenzie.

At the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst, a group of about 10 to 15 explorers meet once a week to volunteer their time for community service, including graffiti clean-up, feeding the homeless, and visiting hospitals. The program is run like a mini police department, where explorers learn police jargon and how to respond to the scene of a crime. The explorers are currently in the middle of flag football season against other precinct explorers. They also take field trips to museums on a monthly basis and march in uniform in parades.

According to McKenzie, the program attempts to break down the fear kids may have of the police. "Sometimes they think we're the enemy," said McKenzie. "[We just want] them to feel comfortable talking to the police."

Charles Rivera, 18, has been an explorer for almost three years. Rivera is currently a full-time student at John Jay, and said he hopes to join the NYPD or FBI after graduation.

"It’s a great program for teens 14 to 21, [and] kids in high school that want to learn more about the police department and help the community. It's good for college applications and job applications," said Rivera.

Officer McKenzie said it didn't bother her that 95 percent of the explorers don't become police officers. "I like successful kids who are moving on and doing positive things," she said.

For additional information, please contact Officer McKenzie at 718.476.8271.

Corona Gets Into Halloween Spirit

Corona residents were enjoying All-Hallows' Eve even before it got dark Wednesday. Adults and children alike roamed the streets dressed as dinosaurs, bumble bees, superheroes, and kittens. Best to enjoy the Halloween spirit before nightfall though, as 110th precinct officers warn that Halloween is one of their busiest nights of the year!

Little League Baseball Stars

Saturdays in October are known for colorful leaves and brisk temperatures. Last weekend the leaves were still green and the warm sunshine had Linden Park buzzing with the shouts of delighted children and attentive parents.

The baseball field on the eastern side of the park was nearly obscured by the crowd watching the 9 and 10-year-old players of the Queens Dominicana and Manhattan M&J baseball leagues.

The two teams played each other as part of the Back-to-School Tournament, which brings together eight leagues from four boroughs and is scheduled to finish in the beginning of November. Parents and coaches alike value the quality time spent with the children and emphasize the positive experience of learning to play a competitive sport.

Volunteers Renovate Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall

Since January, Jehovah’s Witnesses from across the United States have come to New York and volunteered their time to help renovate Corona’s Kingdom Hall, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ house of worship. The hall is set to open by late November, at 42-06 National St.

Read the full article at the Queens Chronicle.

Latin Beats Replace Jazz Swing

The honking horns, the shadowy overpass, the pungent smell of the fish market, and the competing strains of Latin music emanating from nearby record stores at the 103rd Street stop of the seven train can overwhelm the unaccustomed visitor to Corona. A sightseer descending from the elevated subway station onto Roosevelt Avenue below asks for directions, but receives only blank stares.

This scene plays out all too frequently for visitors seeking the home of jazz legend Louis Armstrong, said Deslyn Dyer, assistant director of the Louis Armstrong House and Archives. The house, which will celebrate its fourth anniversary as a museum on October 15, has worldwide appeal for jazz fans and receives 10,000 visitors a year, said Dyer. But Corona’s population has changed in recent decades, and the museum has struggled to attract residents and to make itself relevant to the community.
Read the full article in the Queens Courier.

Get your fresh produce and your science, too!

In the shadow of the space shuttle replicas at the New York Hall of Science, in Corona, Queens, produce vendors from across the New York area have come every Sunday since July to sell their goods.

Fresh produce is brought in from Yorktown Heights, the Hudson River Valley, Long Island, and Staatsburg, in Dutchess County, including others.

This is the first year that Community Markets, the market's organizer, has held a farmer's market at this location. The market manager, Gena McGuire, 32, said the market brings in a mix of community members and visitors to the museum.

"People's response has been wonderful," she said. The market, located at 111th Street and 48th Avenue in Corona, will be open on Sundays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. until November 18.

Coronas have a long history in Corona

Corona is a big name in the Dominican Republic.

"It's like the name Trump here," said Eddie Corona, 37 (pictured, left).

So it's no surprise that when Dominican immigrants, many of whom were named Corona, moved into Corona, Queens, starting in the 1930s, they thought the town was named after them.

It's hard to know exactly how many Coronas live in Corona, but there are so many of them Coronas themselves can't keep track. Nicholas Corona, 42, of the Corona Brothers Hardware store on National Street, didn't know about Felix Corona, 56, who lives a few blocks north. Nicholas Corona said there are at least 50 Coronas in the neighborhood.

As one of the oldest family names to immigrate to New York, the Coronas own several businesses around town and have made their mark on the neighborhood.

Meet Felix Corona, of Corona

Legend obscures the history of how Corona received its name. Some say it was to distance itself from Long Island as the little crown of Queens, while others like to think the neighborhood was named after the large number of Dominicans with the surname Corona.

Regardless of the name’s true provenance, Coronas were among the earliest Dominican immigrants move to Corona, Queens. No one better represents this legacy than Felix Corona, whose great uncle Amado Corona was among the first Dominican immigrants to arrive in New York in 1929 on the steamship Huron.

And yet Felix Corona overturns four generations of his family’s history in the United States. While Dominicans continue to immigrate to the U.S., after more than forty years, Corona, 56, has chosen to return to his homeland.

For full article, please contact channtal at gmail.

Building for the class, not the mass

The heirs to the LeFrak real estate empire are taking the legacy of the family business in a new direction, according to Charles V. Bagli in the New York Times Metro Section today. The late Samuel J. LeFrak was known for building sturdy, functional buildings such as those in the LeFrak City in Corona, Queens. His sons and grandsons are now planning to build glitzy, modern buildings in prime real estate areas such as Beverly Hills, California.

Corona Honors the Fallen

Marlon Bustamante Place is at the intersection of 104th Street and 47th Avenue, named for one of three Corona, Queens, residents killed in the Iraq War. A mural of a smiling Bustamante decorates a wall next to an empty construction lot.

Servicemen who have died in the war include:

Spec. Justin R. Garcia of Elmhurst
Sgt. Jose Gomez of Corona
Spc. Jonathan Rivadeneira of Corona

Can you help me with my homework?

At 3 p.m. the first kids start to trickle in. Most are hyper and chatty and carry some form of novelty candy designed to provide an instantaneous sugar rush. One boy is already hard at work, counting out sums on his fingers, focusing intently on his workbook.

Although there are no windows to the outside world, a plate glass window connects this classroom to the rest of the Corona library. The yellow concrete walls are lined with shelves filled with books, arts and crafts supplies, and games. There are five tables spread out with chairs for about 30 students.

With the recent start of the new school year, the Corona Library re-initiated its after-school homework help program for the community’s schoolchildren.

The BOOST program, an acronym for Best Out of School Time, is organized by the Queens Library and helps elementary and middle school-aged children with their homework assignments in English, math, and science. The program meets at the Corona Library branch each weekday afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m.

For the full article, please contact channtal at gmail.