State Sen. Jeff Klein (at podium) is sponsoring a bill co-sponsored by state Assemblyman William Scarborough (fifth from l.) to address cyberbullying. Photo by Howard Koplowitz

An effort to curb cyberbullying through legislation made its way to Campus Magnet HS in Cambria Heights last week to raise awareness and get teens to document their experiences.

State Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) is sponsoring a state bill co-sponsored by state Assemblyman William Scarborough (D-St. Albans) that includes cyberbullying as a misdemeanor if it is “likely to cause a fear of harm, or emotional distress to a person under the age of 21.”

Cyberbullying would become a felony if it leads a sufferer to commit suicide.

The legislation was sparked by the suicide of Jamie Rodermeyer, an upstate teen who was cyberbullied over his sexual orientation and killed himself.

Klein said there are nationwide statistics on cyberbullying — 43 percent of the country’s teens say they are constantly cyberbullied and 54 percent of gay and lesbian teens say they are harassed online — but no figures for the state.

“Before we can deal with the problem, we need to make sure we take a good look at cyberbullying in New York,” he said. “I think we can go a long way toward helping our young people.”

Scarborough said there has been “anecdotal evidence” of cyberbullying in southeast Queens and pointed out that his college daughter had friends who were cyberbullied, which broke up friendships and led to its sufferers contemplating suicide.

“Unfortunately, today with the increase of social media and the Internet, bullying has taken on a whole new level,” the assemblyman said. “Now you can be bullied anonymously.”

Miss New York? Kaitlin Monti, who has made cyberbullying her main issue, commended the legislators for implementing a survey that will allow teens to open up about cyberbullying.

“It’s going to allow students to know that not only do ?they have a voice, but that they’ll be heard,” she said. “No child should feel that their only option is suicide.”

Jamie Isaacs, a 15-year-old from Long Island who said she has endured cyberbullying since second-grade, started a foundation in her name to help teens who suffer like she has.

Jamie said that through her foundation, she has prevented eight suicides — in all cases, the teens were either cutting themselves or had purchased weapons to kill themselves.

“Cyberbullying is insane. The levels are off the charts,” she said. “If we can get this to stop as much as possible, that’s all that matters.”

Flooding in southeast Queens has caused severe damage to people's homes and state Assemblyman William Scarborough is calling on the city to step up its efforts. Photos courtesy of William Scarborough's office

The recent deluge of rain and subsequent flooding in southeast Queens have prompted state Assemblyman William Scarborough (D-St. Albans) to step up his calls on the city to expedite its plans to restart the water pumps that he said would alleviate the problem.

Scarborough toured the streets of St. Albans during the weekend of Sept. 3 and said many homeowners were struggling to deal with the water creeping into their basements and damaging their property. The assemblyman said the only solution is for the city Department of Environmental Protection to accelerate its plans to pump out the groundwater under the homes and lower the water table.

“Right now, our residents and businesses are suffering damage to their property and threats to their health due to daily exposure to flooding conditions, rain or shine. Any sizable rain can produce astronomical flooding in our area due to the already high-standing water level,” Scarborough said in a statement.

The Jamaica Water Supply Co. used to pump the groundwater from 68 ground wells to supply the neighborhood with drinking water, but those pumps were shut down in 1996 after it was discovered that the water was contaminated. As a result of the shutdown, the water table remained high, so when it rains in southeast Queens streets easily flood, Scarborough explained.

“When [Jamaica Water Supply] supplied water to southeast Queens, they pumped millions of gallons of water out of the ground daily, which kept the standing water at a level far beneath the surface,” he said.

In 2002, DEP began a pilot project at one of the wells — Station 6 at 167th Street and 108th Avenue — to get new pumps and water treatment filters to the area, but that program ended the next year. During a meeting with residents in May, DEP officials said the Station 6 project needed more time and planning. The agency is working on other ways to get the pumps back and running, however.

Two weeks ago, it announced a request for proposals to engineers for ways to restart the pumps and clean out the water to bring in 15 million to 35 million gallons of water a day to the city while an upstate aqueduct is repaired.

A 2015 start date is tentatively set for the Queens project, but Scarborough said that is too far into the future. During his tour, he met a resident who lived in a house at 112th Avenue and 178th Street and her basement floor remained wet, moldy and damaged due to the recent rains.

“She stated flatly that her problems began when Station 24, a [Jamaica Water Supply] well at 106th Avenue and 180th Street, was shut down,” he said.

A spokesman for the DEP reiterated that reactivating those pumps is a timely and costly measure and the agency wants to make sure it is done right. Even though the pump projects have been stalled in the past, DEP spokesman Farrell Sklerov said the agency has done other projects in southeast Queens over the last 10 years to alleviate the flooding.

“DEP has invested nearly $242 million since 2002 to build out the storm sewer system and reduce surface flooding in southeast Queens,” he said in a statement. “Aside from that, DEP has no plans to permanently pump groundwater in Queens, a prohibitively costly and extremely energy intensive process.”

Former Mayor David Dinkins speaks at Dora Young's funeral. Photo by Ivan Pereira

Dora Young was more than just a political activist in southeast Queens, she was an inspiration and guiding force to the community leaders and elected officials in the city.

Nearly 200 mourners, including a Who’s Who of political heavyweights, gathered at St. Benedict the Moor Church in St. Albans Friday to honor the 89-year-old Democratic district leader for her decades of service.

Not only was Young one of the first black and female deputy clerks to work at Queens Borough Hall, she helped several elected officials get into higher office, including City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), state Assemblyman William Scarborough (D-St. Albans) and state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) as the co-chair of the Guy R. Brewer Democratic Club.

Comrie, who was joined by his fellow St. Albans leaders as well as Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton), Assembly members Michelle Titus (D-Far Rockaway) and Jeffrion Aubry (D-Corona) and former Mayor David Dinkins, said politics was always her passion.

“A Democratic district leader is a non-paid position … yet so many [prominent] people came out here,” he said.

Young was born Oct. 20, 1921, in North Carolina, and after marrying Evie Young Jr. in 1949, the couple moved to Addisleigh Park, where she remained for the rest of her life.

She worked at Queens Borough Hall for more than two decades and officiated at hundreds of marriages. More than 40 years ago, she and former Councilman Archie Spigner helped to create the Guy R. Brewer Democratic Club to put southeast Queens on the political map.

Spigner said she really had a good vision for the club and always spoke candidly to everyone.

“She’d always used to tell me, ‘Archie, you’re not the only leader around here in the club,’” he joked.

Young took many up-and-coming political proteges under her wing and helped them accomplish their goals. Scarborough recalled that when he first joined the club, he wanted to run for several open elections, but she forbade him to do so due to his inexperience.

The assemblyman said her advice paid off and he was able to work his way up to the Assembly seat.

“Dora helped people and taught people,” he said.

Smith agreed and said her energy brought energy to any event or meeting among the elected officials.

“She was the type of person that once she got in a room, she lit it up. She got everyone talking,” she said.

Aside from her duties as the club’s co-leader, Young never lost touch with the community. She was active with her church and kept volunteering her time — especially at Christmas, when she answered children’s letters to Santa Claus as St. Nick’s secretary.

Even when an undisclosed illness kept her from being out and about, she would still lend a hand in the neighborhood and make sure that the community’s quality of life remained stable.

Dinkins, whom she campaigned for during the late 1980s, said her life would be an example to generations to come.

“Service to others is the right we pay for being on earth. Dora Young left paid in full,” he said.

Young, 93, served in the position for nearly 40 years and was active in the political scene in southeast Queens as the co-leader of the Guy R. Brewer Democratic Club.

“She came at a time when there were a lot of struggles. Struggles for the first black judge, the first black state senator,” said former Councilman Archie Spigner, who worked with Young for decades as both the male district leader for the 29th Assembly District Part A and the co-leader of the Brewer Democratic Club.

She also served as a city clerk at Queens Borough Hall where she worked in the marriage bureau for 25 years.

Young, who lived in St. Albans, was married to Evey Young until he died 25 years ago. They did not have any children.

A funeral service has been scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. at St. Benedict the Moor Church at 171-17 110th Ave., according to Spigner.

Ruben Wills (c.) greets potential voters on Sutphin Boulevard Tuesday morning. Photo by Christina Santucci

Ruben Wills won the special election to fill the Council seat held by Thomas White with a modest lead over Nicole Paultre-Bell, unofficial election results from New York 1 said.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, the longtime activist and political aide had about 31.2 percent of the total vote with 3,347 votes in the election for the District 28 seat, according to NY 1. Paultre-Bell, the fiancée of police shooting victim Sean Bell, had roughly 25.3 percent of the total with 2,721 residents choosing her at the polls, the station reported.

Albert Baldeo came in third with 1,512 votes, or about 14.1 percent, followed by former Councilman Allan Jennings, with 1,068 votes, or 9.95 percent; Charles Bilal, with 925 votes, or 8.6 percent; Harpreet Toor with 728 votes, or 6.8 percent; and Martha Butler with 436 votes, or 4.1 percent, according to NY 1.

The city’s Board of Elections said there were problems at polling stations in southeast Queens, which delayed the count for the election.

In other southeast Queens races, state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) won his bid for another term in Albany with 17,801 votes, roughly 74.1 percent of the total, and defeated GOP opponent Samuel Benoit, who had 5,089 votes, or about 21.2 percent of the total, and Conservative candidate Everly Brown, who had 1,146 votes, or 4.8 percent, according to NY 1. Only 72 percent of the precincts reported their results, NY 1 said.

State Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) and state Assembly members William Scarborough (D-St. Albans), Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village), Michelle Titus (D-Far Rockaway) and Vivian Cook (D-Jamaica) all ran opposed in the general election and will be serving another term in Albany this January.

Wills, who was supported by state Huntley and City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), said he was positive that he would pull through to capture the seat.

“I look forward to working with the diverse neighborhoods of the 28th Council District to address the challenges we face together,” he said in a statement.

Paultre-Bell, who was backed by U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton), could not be reached for comment.

Wills’s backers said he had proven himself for years during his work with Huntley and Comrie as well as community groups.

“I like that he lives in the community and has been part of the community for years,” said voter Evelyn Rucker, 40, after she cast her ballot at August Martin HS.

Voters choosing Paultre-Bell, who had to move into the district last month, said her fresh face in southeast Queens politics gave them confidence in putting their trust behind her campaign.

“I figured she’s new so they didn’t have a chance to corrupt her,” said Bernie Williams, a 59-year-old voter from Jamaica.

But others thought that her naivete would hinder her from getting positive results for the neighborhood.

“She has a reason, she has a cause, but we need a leader who knows what to do,” said Abigail Thomas, 22, who voted for Wills.

The special non-partisan election was held following White’s death in August. Seven candidates from all over the district, which includes the neighborhoods of Jamaica, South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill and Rochdale Village, threw their hats into the ring following the election’s announcement.

The large number of candidates on the ballot and the short time they had to get their message out on the streets made some voters a little confused about whom to choose.

“I was interested in the race, but I didn’t have any of the histories on them,” said a Jamaica voter who would only identify herself as Johnnise.

The 38-year-old said she ultimately omitted that race on her ballot.

“I would have made a choice, but I didn’t see them do anything for the community,” she said.

The winner will serve a term that lasts until Dec. 31, 2011 and will have to face another election next year to retain the Council seat.

From now until the end of December, interested southeast Queens residents can drop off toys at the assemblyman’s district office at 129-32A Merrick Blvd. and other locations. The gifts will be given out at a Kwanzaa party Dec. 29 at Occasions Banquet and Catering Hall at 127-08 Merrick Blvd., according to Scarborough.

Aside from giving children gifts their families may not have been able to buy due to tough economic times, the assemblyman said the party also serves as a way for male parents to spend more time with their children.

“It will give them an opportunity for children and fathers to interact. We have a big problem with African-American fathers and their children who don’t interact,” he said.

Scarborough, an honorary chairman of the nonprofit group Million Fathers Club, which promotes stronger bonds among families in the city, said Christmas was the perfect time to remind fathers about their responsibility.

“We’re trying to do two things — give toys to kids who need them and we’re trying to foster relationships between fathers and their children,” he said.

Interested fathers who want to participate in the toy giveaway must present a current unemployment check stub or an EBT Food Stamps Card when they come to the party.

Over the last few years, the Million Fathers Club has sponsored a “million fathers march,” which encourages fathers to personally walk their son or daughter to school on the first day of classes. The march has been successful and the toy drive has generated a lot of buzz around the community, according to the assemblyman.

For more information, call 718-723-5412.