City Councilman Daniel Dromm (c.) holds a rally with residents demanding the supermarket Trade Fair, on 75th Street and 37th Avenue, in Jackson Heights get rid of its enclosure on the sidewalk and clean up its recycling. Photo courtesy Dromm

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and Jackson Heights residents are demanding that the Trade Fair, at 75th Street and 37th Avenue, take down its sidewalk enclosure and make changes to its practices, but the grocery chain denies it is doing anything illegal.

“To me it’s outrageous to think that people can build on the sidewalk and get away with it,” Dromm said.

Trade Fair is an Astoria-based grocery chain with 11 locations in Jackson Heights, Astoria, Woodside, East Elmhurst, Long Island City, Forest Hills and Richmond Hill.

The councilman and various residents held a rally against the 75th Street and 37th Avenue Trade Fair Jan. 17. Dromm said the store had received a partial vacate order in August 2011 for a plastic enclosure it had extended onto the city sidewalk. When it failed to comply, the store received a city Environmental Control Board violation.

“Trade Fair runs a good store, but they can’t keep straight what’s theirs and what belongs to the public,” said Tom Lowenhaupt, a 75th Street resident, in a statement. “They have a take, take, take policy when it comes to the areas adjacent to their stores.”

Martin Jacobson, a certified public accountant representing Trade Fair?, said the company was told by the city the enclosure was fine since it installed a sprinkler system and had places of egress, and that the company planned to defend itself before the city next month.

Dromm said despite this, he still believed Trade Fair was not operating legally in erecting the enclosure. He said it was unfair that an Italian restaurant nearby pays thousands of dollars a year to set up a sidewalk café but Trade Fair allegedly set up an illegal enclosure and does not pay fees.

“You can’t just take over the city sidewalk for your own benefit or your own profit,” Dromm said.

The councilman also complained that Trade Fair had bins with broken bottles near the recycling area and had filled in a tree pit with cement. Dromm said when he had complained to the owner of Trade Fair, the store had only removed part of the cement from the pit.

Jacobson said the store has a maintenance worker who cleans the glass and that the store filled in the pit because it caused problems for delivery workers.

Dromm and the other Jackson Heights residents’ rally earned the sympathy of neighboring Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst), who said in a statement she had similar problems with the Trade Fair in her district.

“Its history of poor sanitation, parking violations, idling delivery trucks and general disregard for the quality of life of its neighbors is unacceptable,” Ferreras said of the chain.

Some residents have threatened to boycott the store. Dromm said he was not calling for a boycott, but wanted Trade Fair to work better with the community.

“I shop in Trade Fair, but we want them to comply with the law,” he said.

Jacobson said Trade Fair is an asset to the community. He said the store hires from the community and stocks products that adhere to the community’s ethnic composition.

“Trade Fair, as I pointed out, is a very, very responsible company,” he said.

Judge Toko Serita (c.) performed a wedding ceremony for Therese Lendino (l.) and Laura Casini at Queens Borough Hall July 24, when same-sex marriage went into effect in New York state.

Supreme Court Judge Darrel Gavrin (front l.) completes marriage documents for Darryl Wong and Michael Kandel (r.), of Douglaston, who were one of the 90 couples to get married in Queens the first day same-sex marriages could be performed.

Desiree (l.) and Katrice Bussell, of Jamaica, were one of 90 pairs to get married in Queens July 24, when same-sex marriage was able to be performed in New York state.

Before Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill June 24 that would legalize same-sex marriage in New York state, Astoria LGBT activist Brendan Fay and his husband, Dr. Thomas Moulton, helped same-sex couples in New York cross the border into Canada or into neighboring states to get married.

Now he receives messages from people in Ireland and Poland eager to marry in New York state.

“It was just so great to see couples getting married and right here in our city,” Fay said.

The June 24 vote came down to four Republican senators from upstate New York who voted in support of the measure, but the debate had been fought in Queens for years. The state Assembly had voted for marriage equality in 2007 and 2009.

While 2011 would see all seven Queens senators vote in favor of the bill, in 2009 five of Queens’ senators voted against the measure: current state Sens. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) and Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) and former Sens. George Onorato, Hiram Monserrate and Frank Padavan.

In 2011, the Queens political scene looked much different. Onorato retired and was replaced by Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria). Monserrate had been booted from the Senate following a misdemeanor assault conviction and lost the special election for the seat to Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst). Padavan, Queens’ only Republican senator, lost to Tony Avella (D-Bayside) in a contentious race.

Queens also now had two openly gay city councilmen — Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) — to advocate for the issue.

“The presence of these two capable, community-oriented, active councilmen has shown that gay legislators will do a good job of representing their constituents across the board, which in turn reinforces the idea of gay people as members of the community,” Queens College political science professor Michael Krasner said in an e-mail.

In mid-June, a large swath of Queens legislators, led by U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), held a news conference at Queens Borough Hall in support of marriage equality. Shortly afterward, Huntley and Addabbo announced they had taken polls of their districts and found their constituents now supported it.

Their flipped votes, along with a change of heart by then-Brooklyn Sen. Carl Kruger, meant all New York Senate Democrats except for Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Bronx) were in support of the measure.

The act passed June 24 and was signed by Cuomo the same day. A month later, 90 same-sex couples lined up at Queens Borough Hall to be married.

In November, Van Bramer and his longtime partner, Dan Hendrick, announced they will be joining those who have been married in Queens next year.

“I think the main impact has been to solidify the alliances between the gay community and the other liberal groups in the Democratic Party,” Krasner said. “I also think it may have the long-term effect of isolating anti-gay marriage groups.”

Some states have seen a backlash after granting same-sex marriages. The Supreme Court of California’s decision to allow gay couples to marry ended when voters passed the constitutional amendment known as Proposition 8. Iowa voters defeated three judges who ruled in favor of marriage equality.

Krasner said Assemblyman David Weprin’s (D-Little Neck) pro-marriage equality vote may have contributed to some religious groups voting for now-Rep. Bob Turner (R-Middle Village) in the race for the 9th Congressional District, but he said the main reasons for Weprin’s defeat were his weakness as a candidate and an anti-President Barack Obama sentiment.

Krasner said Addabbo and Huntley, as incumbents, will remain hard to beat.

Fay said that while a potential backlash was a concern, he nevertheless believes the vote was a turning point.

“I look forward to the day when all other states follow New York,” he said.

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (pictured) was near the top of his class, according to the Urban Justice Center's Human Rights Report Card, whereas Councilman Peter Vallone's score indicated he could use some tutoring.

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) is going to have to make some room on his fridge.

The chairman of the Council Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations had the best record of the Queens delegation on human rights issues last year, according to the Urban Justice Center’s 2011 Human Rights Report Card.

The report card identified 72 bills introduced over the past year that focused on housing, voting, disability and workers’ rights as well as issues concerning criminal and juvenile justice, health and government accountability.

Each Council member was graded on his or her votes and sponsorship of these bills as well as their response to a questionnaire.

Van Bramer voted in favor of eight bills, sponsored 52 — including two he was the primary sponsor of — and returned his questionnaire, all of which earned him an “A-.”

He fared particularly well when it came to housing rights and government accountability.

On the other end of the spectrum, Councilman Peter Vallone’s (D-Astoria) score of 12 earned him a grade of “D+,” the lowest in the borough.

Vallone was the primary sponsor of two human rights bills and sponsored three others. He voted in favor of four bills and did not respond to the questionnaire.

The councilman criticized the methodology of the report, calling into question the voting records of other Council members who scored higher than he did.

“Apparently, supporting brutal and repressive dictators gets you an ‘A’ from this supposed human rights group. I’m proud to be at the bottom of any list Charles Barron is at the top of,” he said.

Councilman Barron (D-Brooklyn), who praised the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, earned an “A” on the report card.

Council members James Sanders (D-Laurelton) and Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) both received a “B-” and Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) got a grade of “B.”

Receiving a grade of “C” were Council members Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) and Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans).

Councilmen Peter Koo (R-Flushing), Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) and Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) each scored slightly lower: a “C-.”

Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) got a “D+” and Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica), who took office last November, did not receive a grade.

While the report assigned each Council member a grade, its primary criticism was of the political power of the speaker and the Council’s failure to challenge that power.

Of the 72 bills introduced, only eight were brought to a vote, and the report implied this was because Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) did not support them.

Quinn’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The report cited two rules that allow the Council to advance the process of legislation that does not have the speaker’s support.

“There are no clear reasons for the Council’s reticence in taking advantage of these two rules. However, based [on] reports that the speaker readily wields political power internally, and on conversations with advocates, we speculate that failure to do so is linked with the desire of most Council members to maintain a relatively friendly relationship with the speaker,” the report read.

“However, given its impact on human rights in New York City, business as usual is not sufficient to protect our human rights. Council members should act — individually and as a collective — to challenge the status quo even in the face of political reprisals,” it continued.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (second from l.) announces the opening of PS 69's renovated playground with Sen. Jose Peralta (l.-r.), Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, Councilman Daniel Dromm, David Bragdon of the Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, Assemblyman Francisco Moya and PS 69 Principal Martha Vasquez. Photo by Rebecca Henely

Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited Jackson Heights, the neighborhood most starved for park space in Queens, last week to celebrate the upcoming opening of PS 69’s student-designed playground, which comes complete with a human sundial and rock wall with “fossils.”

The playground is the 200th schoolyard in the city to be converted to an open space accessible to the public through Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, a wide-scale initiative to improve the city in preparation for the 1 million more residents the city is expected to have in 2030.

“Nothing is more important than building a future for our children and that includes having a safe place to play,” Bloomberg said.

As part of the goal to ensure all New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk of a park, Bloomberg said the city is scheduled to convert 230 schoolyards into publicly accessible playgrounds by 2013. The schoolyard of PS 69, at 77-02 37th Ave. in Jackson Heights, is No. 200.

David Bragdon, director of the mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, said this is the largest expansion of public space in the city since legendary city planner Robert Moses’ work in the mid-20th century.

“They all reflect the values of PlaNYC and the mayor’s vision for the future,” Bragdon said.

The park was funded by a partnership between the city and the land conservation nonprofit The Trust for Public Land, Bloomberg said.

Bragdon said the renovation of the park was championed by Ed Westley of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group and designed by children from PS 69.

“This is really kid-friendly,” said City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights). “It’s a wonderful addition to this community.”

Mary Alice Lee, a member of the trust, said the design began in December 2009. The new Jackson Heights park includes a running track, an AstroTurf field, a rock climbing wall decorated with fossils, a slide, a human sundial, hopscotch and benches shaped like caterpillars.

“It is truly beautiful,” said city Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott. “It’s open to all.”

City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said the renovation cost $376,000, and while a few more trees need to be added, the new playground park came under the average cost for transforming a school yard at $400,000.

“It’s a great bang for the buck,” Benepe said.

The playground is not yet open to the public but will soon be available during non-school hours from dawn until dusk.

PS 69 Principal Martha Vazquez said children have been enjoying the playground since the beginning of the year.

“I feel as though we’re the recipients of a jewel in Jackson Heights,” Vazquez said.

Borough President Helen Marshall said she used to be a teacher and the playground was a great change from the concrete lots the schools had when she worked in the public school system.

“They’ve just been enhanced so much with these wonderful programs,” Marshall said.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (second from r.) is joined by Jackson Heights-area legislators -- state Assemblyman Michael DenDekker, state Sen. Jose Peralta and City Councilman Daniel Dromm -- as he presents his overview of the neighborhood and surrounding area's economy last week. Photo by Rebecca Henely

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli painted a mostly positive portrait of Jackson Heights and its surrounding neighborhoods’ economy on a visit to the community last week, saying small businesses owned by immigrants bring in much money and the area has enormous potential growth.

“The economic future of northwestern Queens is a bright one,” DiNapoli said.

The comptroller’s “economic snapshot” of Jackson Heights, Corona, Elmhurst and East Elmhurst was prompted by state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst).

Peralta joined DiNapoli, along with state Assemblyman Michael DenDekker (D-Jackson Heights) and City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), at the unveiling of the findings at the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights, at 37-06 77th St.

The senator said DiNapoli’s analysis could help developers understand the community’s needs?.

“It’s very important for our community to have this kind of document to move forward,” Peralta said.

DiNapoli’s portrait goes back more than 10 years, covering the neighborhoods both before and after the 2009 recession. He said immigrants from 71 countries live in the four neighborhoods, many of whom are small business owners. From 2000-09, the number of businesses grew by 18.1 percent, a percentage three times larger than the rest of the city, and most of these businesses employed less than 10 people.

“People from all over the world continue to come here to live, work and raise their families,” DiNapoli said.

The recession did have an effect on the neighborhoods, however. While private sector wages grew by 6 percent each year from 2004-08, they dropped by 1.5 percent from 2008-10.

The average rent also changed from taking up an average of more than 30 percent of residents’ income? in 2002 to taking up an average of 43 percent to 48 percent of residents’ income in 2008.?

He suggested the long-planned revitalization of Willets Point could bring opportunity much-needed by residents.

“Public and private investment is needed,” DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli said the area had remarkable draws, such as Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the Louis Armstrong Museum, but one problem was school overcrowding — 19 of the area’s 22 elementary schools are above capacity.

DenDekker said he hoped the report would spur development without hurting small businesses. He also suggested that leaders should find ways to help small businesses comply with regulations without just levying fines.

“We don’t want to upset the balance of losing our small businesses,” he said.

Dromm said he believed the economic growth in the area earlier this century is related to the? immigrant population. He said he buys everything he needs from small businesses run by immigrants within a block of where he lives.

“I’m very proud of this neighborhood,” he said.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (c.) joined with veterans Harry Perks (l.-r.), Tom McKenzie, John Ginivan and William W. Jones to declare that veterans organizations should be exempt from some building fees. Photo by Rebecca Henely

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) visited Elmhurst Memorial Hall last week to oppose various city fees levied on veterans organizations.

“We must stand up and fight for our veterans,” the councilman said.

Dromm announced his new legislation to do away with fees for city Fire Department permits, inspections and performance tests at the hall at 88-24 43rd Ave. in Elmhurst along with representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars ?and the Catholic War Veterans last Thursday, the day before Veterans Day.

Tom McKenzie, president of the Elmhurst Memorial League, which owns the former American Legion Hall, also came out in support of doing away with the fees, saying the hall already pays thousands in liability insurance.

“It’s not a burden to that degree, but it does hurt,” McKenzie said of the fees.

For example, McKenzie says his hall pays $930 for an annual assembly fee that is paid to the FDNY upon its annual reinspection. McKenzie said that while the league can afford it because it has a trust fund and gets donations from churches that use the hall, McKenzie said the fees have been high enough that some veterans organizations in the neighborhood have had to close down.

“They literally sold their buildings off,” McKenzie said.

Dromm and McKenzie argued that levying fees on the veterans organizations may be in violation of state law, which prohibits fees on Soldiers’ Monument Corps., which include memorial halls and buildings.

“We shouldn’t be balancing our city budget on the backs of our veterans,” Dromm said.

McKenzie said the hall has been active since 1920. Its displays include a memorial to World War II veterans from Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, a flag from Pearl Harbor and tarps of the American flag, one with the names of those who died Sept. 11, 2011, and one with firefighters, police and Port Authority workers who died responding to the attack.

“We sent people off to every war this nation has had,” McKenzie said.

He said the league also provides assistance to families of veterans who have been killed, and with the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East he hopes the hall will be able to continue assisting veterans.

“I hope this building stays up another 85 years in their memory,” McKenzie said.

Jose Quizhpilem (c.), of the nonprofit Make the Road NY, joins city Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and other elected officials at a news conference protesting the federal detention center in Jamaica. Photo courtesy Bill de Blasio's office

The city public advocate is calling on the federal government to shut down the controversial immigration detention center in Springfield Gardens and rethink its partnership with the private organization that runs it.

Bill de Blasio and a host of other New York elected officials gathered in Manhattan last Thursday to protest the GEO Group, which runs the Queens Detention Facility, at 182-22 150th Ave., that is used for suspects who are arrested for immigration issues and awaiting trial.

The for-profit organization that runs 7,000 out of 32,000 immigration detention beds in the country has come under fire over the last couple of years for alleged abuses and mistreatment of their detainees.

In 2004, 175 detainees at the Queens Detention Facility went on a hunger strike to protest their deportations and the use of solitary confinement, and five years later two of the center’s prison guards were convicted of covering up the beating of an inmate, according to de Blasio.

“This isn’t how our country should treat immigrants — regardless of their status. We need a serious investigation into the charges leveled against this industry,” he said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Justice has had a contract with GEO for years, and the public advocate charged it of not having strong oversight. Representatives for the DOJ and GEO did not return phone calls for comment before press time Tuesday afternoon.

The DOJ and GEO did not respond to requests for comment.

De Blasio urged the federal government to end all GEO contracts immediately and conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations at its detention centers. He also called for an establishment of an “abuse-free zone” at the jails.

“Government should not be in business with any company that seeks to profit off of the mistreatment of human beings,” he said.

City Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), who chairs the Council Immigration Committee, agreed.

“In most instances when government privatizes services that government should be doing, it invites corruption,” he said in a statement. “The federal government should immediately act to stop GEO from operating [the] Immigration Services Center in Jamaica that has already had a detrimental effect on our community.”

The jail has been a huge problem for the community for years. Residents have held several rallies and elected officials say it has hurt their quality of life since it is located not too far people’s homes.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (l.) talks to City Comptroller John Liu (r.) while Assemblyman Francisco Moya looks on (c.) during a visit to a store selling Indian goods in Jackson Heights. Photo by Rebecca Henely

City Comptroller John Liu received an enthusiastic reception from Jackson Heights business owners when he visited the Indian and Bangladeshi commercial strips in the neighborhood last Thursday.

Liu was joined by state Assemblyman Francisco Moya (D-Jackson Heights), City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and a group of business owners as he walked into sari shops and Bangladeshi eateries on 73rd and 74th streets between 37th Avenue and 37th Road. He said he came to speak to businesses about their concerns and see what the city could do to help them.

“We need you to succeed here in New York City and it is my mission to make sure that that happens,” Liu told the business owners.

Although he said he spent a lot of time in the neighborhood when he was growing up, this was Liu’s second visit to the strips in an official capacity. He said he was glad to see many of the businesses that he saw on his first trip were still thriving.

“He’s very nice, a very nice guy,” said a woman who gave her name as Kiran and who works in a jewelry store on 74th Street. “It’s nice of him to stop by.”

Some concerns business owners brought up to Liu were the high rents coupled with lack of services.

Mohammad Pier, president of the Jackson Heights Bangladeshi Business Association, said the merchants want the city to help in making the city more colorful and vibrant.

“We call it the second Bangladesh here in America,” Pier said of Jackson Heights.

Liu said some problems he thought warranted consideration were fixing a broken sidewalk, additional parking in the area, getting rid of ticket blitzes and providing sanitation services now that money for the Doe Fund, which cleans streets, has been reduced.

“We need to support our local businesses,” Liu said. He said these small businesses would generate jobs for the city.

Dromm said Liu knows how important the South Asian community is to the city of New York.

“This district is probably the most diverse district in the world,” the councilman said.

Moya said he visited because elected officials need to add support to area businesses as well.

“To see firsthand what the issues are in the community,” Moya said.

For Liu’s visit, civic activist Mohammad Rashid said he had arranged volunteers to clean the streets of Jackson Heights for free. Local Imam Mohd Qayyoom also gave Liu a framed invitation to an Eid prayer event he is holding at IS 145, at 33-34 80th St. in Jackson Heights, at the end of this month.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm gave $20,000 in discretionary funding to the nonprofit that organizes the Queens Pride Parade. Photo by Christina Santucci

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) distributed his $250,000 member items for fiscal year 2012 among a wide variety of immigrant rights and LGBT rights associations, most of which are within his district.

Dromm, who chairs the Council Immigration Committee, said he based his funding partly on that of his predecessor, two-term ?former Councilwoman Helen Sears, but also wanted to spread monies out to both immigrant groups that represented populations who have been in the district many years and those who are recent arrivals.

“I really believe there are lots of immigrants in the neighborhood who want to have English language classes,” Dromm said. Many grant recipients host English as a Second Language classes.

The largest immigrant group to receive funding was New Immigrant Community Empowerment, which got $28,000 in two separate grants to assist low-wage immigrant workers and to get interpretation services for Community Board 3 meetings. Recipients who received smaller amounts of Dromm’s funds ranged from the Italian Senior Citizens Center, which got $7,000; to the Jewish-centered Jackson Heights-Elmhurst Kehillah, which received $15,000; to the Latin American Cultural Center of Queens, which received $8,000; to India Home Inc., which received $8,000.

“I’m particularly concerned about the South Asian immigrants who are newer to this country,” the councilman said.

Dromm, who is openly gay, bequeathed funds to a number of LGBT rights groups as well. One of the largest recipients, at $20,000, was the Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee, which funds the annual Pride Parade that Dromm helped start.

Dromm also gave funds to AIDS/HIV groups such as the Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS Inc. and the AIDS Center of Queens County Inc., both of which received $3,500 each.

Another recipient who occasionally does work with LGBT youths was Queens Community House. The organization, based out of Forest Hills but with locations around the borough, received $65,000 from Dromm individually, although not all the money went to programs targeted to LGBT youth.

Other recipients who received a large amount of the councilman’s funding included the street cleaning program The Doe Fund, which received $34,000; the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights, which received $30,000 for two concert series; and the LeFrak City Youth and Adult Activities Association, which received $29,964 to provide homework help, tutoring and other recreational services.

Dromm gave a smaller but significant amount of funding to arts programs as well. Queens Media Arts Development received $5,500 and the Jackson Heights Arts Club received $3,500.

Most of the councilman’s funding he distributed on his own went to organizations that served his district, like the Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition and GrownNYC, which are based in Manhattan.

Organizations from neighboring districts, like Forest Hills’ Forestdale Inc., also received funds. The Brooklyn-based Asian Community United Society, which partnered with Dromm on the Lunar New Year Parade in Jackson Heights, received $7,000.

Youla Efthimiou holds up a photo of her 9-year-old autistic son, Thanos, at a forum for parents about dealing with the disorder. Photo by Rebecca Henely

About 80 people, most of them parents of children with autism, gathered at the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights last week to speak to New York autism advocates about how to navigate the educational and medical systems as well as hear about services available to them and their children.

“It’s very good that we have this session tonight to discuss some of those issues,” said City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), a guest at the forum May 23.

State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights) sponsored the forum, but it was the brainchild of Pastor Stephen Taala, head of the Bible Baptist Church of Jackson Heights, which operates out of the Jewish Center at 37-06 77th Ave., who is the father of a 9-year-old with autism.

“It was very touching to see all the parents come and want to get more information,” Taala said.

The speakers, all of whom were parents of autistic children, spoke about their experiences dealing with their children, with the city schools system, potential treatments for their children and how meeting with other parents helped them.

“We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know where to go, but we had each other,” said Andrew Bauman, CEO of New York Families for Autistic Children, of the genesis of his group.

Bauman’s son was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old and is now 18 years old, and the group he represents helps parents of autistic children navigate the health-care system and the city schools system as well as having numerous support groups for family members.

Mary Coyle, whose autistic son is 20 years old, spoke about treating him through homotoxicology, a type of remedy that integrates mainstream and alternative treatments.

Youla Efthimiou, who has a 9-year-old autistic son named Thanos, said her life improved when she entered a support network — specifically, the Queens County Parents Autism Coalition — organized by Cheryl Ocampo.

“I never heard of autism before,” Efthimiou said. “My only reference with autism was the movie ‘Rain Man.’”

She said support groups can help parents, but can also help siblings of kids with autism who do not have mental disabilities themselves. The siblings can see other families who live like they do.

Sylvia Verga, who has used homotoxicology to treat her son after finding herself dissatisfied with trying to get her son help through traditional means, said one of the hardest parts was overcoming the feeling that she had been responsible for her autistic son’s illness.

“Every time my son overcomes an obstacle, I rejoice and my family rejoices,” Verga said.

City Councilmen Robert Jackson (l.) and Leroy Comrie show off Happy Meals and a study Comrie conducted on their nutritional value for children. Photo courtesy Comrie's office

City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) acknowledged that his recent crusade against childhood obesity would result in some shots at his own weight problems, but he is determined to make a difference and give his constituents healthier choices.

Comrie’s Happy Meal legislation, which he introduced into the Council last week, would fine restaurants that give children toys with meals that have high fat, salt and unhealthy ingredients.

Kids have started on their path to childhood obesity with Happy Meals at McDonald’s restaurants and similar promotions at other fast food joints, according to the councilman.

“The children start eating these toy meals as early as 2 years old and they associate eating a high-sodium, high-fat meal with getting a toy,” he said.

The bill, which has the support of several Council members, including Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica), Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), would fine the restaurants anywhere from $200 to $2,500 for including toys in meal packages that have more than 500 calories, 600 milligrams of sodium and high percentages of saturated fat.

Comrie said that in many parts of the city, especially southeast Queens, there are not that many healthy restaurants or stores stocked with fresh foods. The city is planning to give incentives to business owners to open up healthy supermarkets in parts of South Jamaica as part of a rezoning project, but the councilman said further steps needed to be taken.

“We don’t have a salad bar restaurant in southeast Queens, we don’t have juice bars,” he said.

But not everyone is lining up to support Comrie’s plan. Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) blasted Comrie’s initiative.

“This is yet another step too far. We already require restaurants to disclose calorie counts. If people want to buy their kids a Happy Meal, it is their right to make that choice.,” he said in a statement.

McDonald’s sided with the husky Halloran and released a statement contending that removing the toys from the menu would not stop childhood obesity.

“On average, kids eat at McDonald’s about three times a month,” the company said. “ That means about 87 other meals are eaten at home, school or elsewhere. That adds up to a discussion larger than toys.”

Happy Meal menus at McDonald’s include the option for eaters to have apple slices as a side order to the hamburger, cheeseburger or chicken nuggets instead of fries.

McDonald’s Happy Meals currently include toys featuring the popular characters that appear in the animated family movie “Rio.”

Since the bill’s introduction, Comrie has been the butt of many jokes from various media outlets due to his own weight, which he would not disclose but has been reported to be around 300 pounds.? A few years ago, he took part in a national diet movement known as “50 million pound challenge,” but the councilman admitted that he was still struggling to lose weight.

The councilman said he has been open about his own personal battle against obesity and expected there to be plenty of personal jabs at his size. However, at the end of the day, he said he was focused on improving the health of his constituents.

“I expected people tried to twist it, but I think we’ve brought up a necessary topic and we’re proud that we’ve gotten some people to talk,”? he said.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm held a "State of the District" speech to review his first fifteen months in office. Photo courtesy Dromm

In a State of the District speech last Thursday, City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) not only touted his accomplishments in 2010, but outlined what he wants to do in the coming months. Dromm said his three main goals are to create a place where immigrants can get jobs, open a primary health-care center and change how the city’s wealthiest residents are taxed.

“I hope I was able to articulate and illustrate the work we’ve done over the last 15 months,” Dromm said.

More than 100 people crowded into the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights at 37-06 77th St. to listen to the councilman, whose district covers parts of Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, LeFrak City, Corona, Rego Park and Woodside. Dromm was elected to the post in 2009 after defeating incumbent Democrat Helen Sears in the primary election and Mujib Rahman, who ran on the Republican ballot, in the general election.

Through a video and slideshow, Dromm showcased various initiatives he undertook throughout 2010 and early 2011, many of which centered around education, sanitation, open space and civil rights. In particular, Dromm highlighted his fight to add 600 school seats to the district, improvements in trash pickup, the opening of the new play street on 78th Street for the summer, his attempts to have the city buy the Garden School in Jackson Heights’ playground to increase park space and his allocation of funds for immigrant-related services.

The councilman also looked to the future. Dromm said he wants to create an Immigrant Opportunity Center, which would be specifically geared toward low-income wage workers and would focus on health and safety issues.

“Fighting for the rights of our immigrant community is probably the legacy I’d like to leave behind,” Dromm said.

He also said he wanted to create a primary health-care center since many residents are uninsured and end up using Elmhurst Hospital Center for primary care, a problem that has only worsened after the closing of St. John’s Hospital in 2009.

“We now have a recipe for disaster,” Dromm said.

Rather than letting the millionaire’s tax phase out, Dromm recommended that the millionaire’s tax be renewed and tax rates be rebalanced so those who have a greater income pay a fairer share. He said increased taxes would be a better way of balancing the budget because it would not force the city government to lay off workers, which would put a strain on the economy. He said increased spending would fund the creation of more jobs.

“We must maintain if not expand government spending,” Dromm said.

Valeria Treves, the executive director of NICE, had praise for Dromm’s plans.

“I think the three initiatives he’s taking on are very good,” she said.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm speaks during a protest of U.S. Rep. Peter King's planned hearing into the radicalization of the American Muslim community. Photo courtesy Daniel Dromm

On Sunday, City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) was a Muslim.

At least that was the message behind an event called “I Am a Muslim, Too” that he hosted in Jackson Heights that rainy morning: that he stands with Muslims in opposing the anti-Muslim invective being tossed around by politicians like U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Massapequa Park).

The issue of what Dromm calls “Muslim-baiting,” where elected officials use anti-Muslim political sentiment for political gain, is coming to a head Thursday, Dromm said, when King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, plans to host the first in a series of hearings on the “radicalization” of American Muslims.

Entitled “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response,” the hearings are aimed at investigating the influence radicalization is having on the American Muslim community. A spokesman for King did not respond to a request for comment.

Representatives of several groups that advocate for and protect the rights of South Asian and Muslim immigrants, including Jackson Heights-based Desis Rising Up & Moving,? South Asian Youth Action in Elmhurst and Chhaya, CDC in Jackson Heights joined with Dromm Sunday in front of his Council office at 37-32 75th St. to denounce King’s planned inquiries. The event took place in Queens, which is home to a sizable Muslim community, in advance of a larger campaign by the same name that afternoon in Times Square.

Dromm said he sees the hearings as an religiously intolerant witch hunt that should concern all Americans.

“He’s singling out one group. If he had a hearing on radicalization of all populations, it would be a different story, but he’s feeding into a wrong stereotype of the Muslim community. He’s just totally wrong to do this and he should know better,” Dromm said Tuesday. “This is an un-American activity for Peter King to be involved in. It reminds me of the McCarthy hearings and it violates the basic principle that this country was founded on, which is freedom of religion.”

“Islamophobia and racism does not make us safer,” Monami Maulik, executive director of DRUM, said. “Peter King’s hearings targeting Muslims are his latest attempt to divide us and stoke fears for political ends. Just as masses of people stood up for human rights after his passage of the anti-immigrant Sensenbrenner bill in 2005, so too do conscious people stand now to end these witch hunts.”

State Sen. Jose Peralta (c.) honored Bill Thompson (second from r.) and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall (r.) at his Black History Month event. Photo by Rebecca Henely

In celebration of Black History Month, state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) bestowed honors upon three black New Yorkers for what they have done for the city, Queens and East Elmhurst.

More than 130 people crowded into the meeting room of the Langston Hughes Library, at 100-01 Northern Blvd. in Corona, last Thursday as Peralta presented former city Comptroller Bill Thompson with a Special Recognition Award, Borough President Helen Marshall with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Lynda McDougald, president of the East Elmhurst and Corona Civic Association, with the Community Activist Award.

Peralta said he plans to make this Black History celebration an annual one. As the first Dominican American elected to the Senate, Peralta pointed out that African Americans and the civil rights movement paved the way for Latinos.

“I’m very grateful for what they’ve done,” Peralta said.

The honorees spoke on the lessons of black history, particularly the discrimination they experienced growing up decades ago in New York City, and linked the struggles of old to the struggles of today. As the keynote speaker at the event, Thompson encouraged those in the audience to talk to their children about black history and said he learned a lot about black history from listening to what his father remembered.

“Over the years, the things that I’ve heard from him give me a greater appreciation of where I’m at,” Thompson said.

Peralta also said he believed Thompson would win the 2013 race as the city’s next mayor.

Marshall spoke of her experience growing up as the child of Guyanese immigrants with a Southern stepmother and of her work as the first director of the Langston Hughes Library. She said every award she receives is special to her.

“I love what I do and just doing it is an award for me,” she said.

McDougald, whose career in civic activism began when she went with her mother to a sit-in at age 13, said she wanted the young people of today to find civic engagement.

“If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything,” McDougald said.

Many of the elected officials who came to the event thanked those honored and other black Americans for their accomplishments and what the civil rights movement had done for their own minority groups. City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) commended President Barack Obama and East Elmhurst-born U.S. Attorney Gen. Eric Holder for their recent conclusion that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst), who is black and Latina, also praised those were honored.

“I want to thank you not only for the doors that you opened but that you held open so we could walk through,” Ferreras said.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (c.) delivers 100,000 in funding to members of Make the Road NY and the Ecuadorian International Center for English as a Second Language classes and legal assistance for immigrants. Photo courtesy Dromm

Joined by prominent members of immigrant organizations with offices in Jackson Heights, City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) announced last week that $4.5 million he had restored to the city budget for immigrant programs has begun to be delivered to recipients.

“We need to ensure that [immigrants] are given the opportunities and the resources necessary to become fully integrated in our society and pursue the American Dream,” Dromm said in a statement.

Dromm said he had been working to get this funding, referred to as the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative, restored since he was elected to the Council in 2010. The $4.5 million was put back into the 2011 budget in July and, after being split up equally among the five boroughs, allocated to various groups in September based on the need and immigrant populations in the Council districts.

Dromm said this issue became a priority when he was running for Council in 2009 ?and immigrants on the campaign trail told him their top priority was to have more English as a Second Language classes available.

“There are waiting lists in all of these organizations for people who want to learn English,” Dromm said. “They desperately want to learn the language.”

The $100,000 in funds for Dromm’s district, which includes parts of Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, LeFrak City, Corona, Rego Park and Woodside, were split up between Make the Road NY, the Ecuadorian International Center, Queens Community House and Sheba USA — all immigrant groups with offices in Jackson Heights and elsewhere. Dromm said he chose these groups to target numerous populations in the district.

The Ecuadorian International Center works with Ecuadorians, Community House works with Spanish-speaking and South Asian populations, Sheba works with Bangladeshi and South Asian women and Make the Road works with all different groups.

KC Williams, the adult education director at Community House, said in a statement the idea that most immigrants refuse to learn English is a myth and his group often has to turn hopeful students away.

“When immigrants learn English, they become more active, involved members of the community,” Williams said.

Dromm said IOI funding can be used for ESL classes, legal services or civic classes for citizenship tests. Most of these funds went to teaching English, although the Ecuadorian International Center requested funds for helping immigrants, who are often the victims of fraudulent lawyers, become citizens.

“We are pleased to be among the four organizations chosen to receive funds that will help provide a much-needed service to our immigrant community,” Veronica Piedra, deputy director of the center, said in a release.

State Sen. Tony Avella (c.) greets colleague Sen. John Sampson (r.), who was a surprise guest at the ceremony. Photo by Christina Santucci

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) held his inauguration ceremony at Queensborough Community College Sunday, where colleagues voiced their high hopes for the freshman’s independent spirit.

“He’s my kind of guy,” said U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who spoke at length about Avella before swearing him in on stage. “We are sure … he will not lose touch with this district.”

Schumer touted Avella’s grassroots rise through politics. Avella began as a staff member for many noted politicians, including former Mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins, before serving as a city councilman and running for mayor himself.

“No one put a silver spoon in this guy’s mouth,” he said.

As examples, Schumer mentioned a pay raise for Council members that Avella refused to take, giving the money back, and his adherence to term limits even though the law was revised to add a third term.

“We’ve elected one of our best,” he said.

Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) praised Avella for his support of the gay and lesbian community and his support for marriage equality.

In Avella’s inaugural address at the close of the ceremony, he shied away from policy and instead thanked all the people who helped him throughout the campaign. And in an emotional moment reminiscent of U.S. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), Avella became slightly choked up when he thanked his wife and extended family.

But speaking after the address, Avella made it clear what he wants to accomplish.

“Ethics reform and campaign reform are the first things,” he said.

Avella said he is already working on a measure to install term limits for all state officials.

“It’s important for fresh blood,” he said. “Problems change every day.”

Avella said career politicians can become stagnant and lose touch with the people they are elected to represent.

As far as Queens is concerned, Avella wants to improve transportation options for the borough.

“My district has no subways. We need buses,” he said. “I want to bring back the routes that were eliminated.”

Avella has a reputation for independence and blunt speech and was even depicted in a Washington, D.C., cartoon as riding a motorcycle as part of a gang called “The Wild Bunch.”

Avella said he wants to stay true to his rogue image, but like many politicians who campaign on promises of change, he conceded that a degree of cooperation might be necessary.

“There are opportunities for compromise,” he said. “But the core issue of reform cannot be compromised.”

In between Schumer’s appearance and Avella’s inaugural address, the audience heard a large contingent of Queens politicians sing the praises of the newly elected state senator, including state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone), who once employed Avella as her chief of staff.

“Tony is going to continue to fight for those issues that are important,” she said, citing budget and ethic reforms for which the state senator is known.

The wise-cracking emcee for the event was Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens), who referred to state Assemblyman Edward Braunstein (D-Bayside) as the “best dimples in the Democratic Party” and introduced several musical acts that performed throughout the nearly two-hour event.

Cars buried in the snow along Calamus Avenue in Elmhurst, Queens. Photo by An Rong Xu

The thick blanket of snow that covered the Queens this week had residents furious at the pace of the city’s response, and borough politicians recalled a similar situation that occurred in 1969, when a blizzard took the city by surprise on former Mayor John Lindsay’s watch.

“The city was basically crippled. We couldn’t get around,” said Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), who was a working single mother at the time. “I remember at that time not being able to get to work for a few days, and if I didn’t go to work I couldn’t paid. It’s no different today.”

Weatherman predicted rain on Feb. 9, 1969, but the resulting deluge of snow took everyone in the city — and Lindsay’s political career — by surprise.

The 15 inches of snow that fell remained unplowed in many areas of Queens for days as residents accused the former mayor of favoring the thoroughfares of Manhattan over the outer boroughs.

The late United Nations Undersecretary General Ralph Bunche wrote the mayor from his home of 17 years in Kew Gardens, where a single plow had not been seen for three days, saying “we have never experienced such neglect in snow removal as now.”

After the Nobel Peace Prize winner sent the letter, which also said “I may as well be in the Alps,” the mayor make a sojourn to the snowy dunes of the borough.

Upon reaching Rego Park, Lindsay had to exchange his limo for four-wheel drive vehicles to overcome the piles of snow. In Kew Gardens, he was booed. One woman told the former mayor, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

In Fresh Meadows, Lindsay was called a bum.

When the catastrophe was over, 42 people had died citywide. Some streets in the borough remained unplowed for a week, causing a fierce political backlash that stuck with the mayor for years.

Many politicans are relating the blizzard of ‘69, which is synonymous with Lindsay’s name, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s handling of the holiday weekend storm.

Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) was 13 years old when the blizzard of ‘69 hit his Queens home.

“I remember how horrible it was, and the anger people had,” he said. “But what I remember most is that Lindsay was thinking about running for president at that time, and it had a huge impact on his career.”

The blizzard has even stuck with Lindsay until the present day, Dromm added.

“A woman stopped me on the street today and said ‘there’s another Lindsay in the office!’” he said.

But Dromm saw the parallels as well.

“This is Bloomberg’s Lindsay moment,” he said. “This is like ‘69, but we’re not going to forget this. We want to hold the mayor directly responsible for his lack of concern.”

Koslowitz also saw deja vu in the snowy streets of Forest Hills, and she denounced the mayor’s response.

“It’s just a shame that 41 years later we’re almost in the same mess,” she said. “I think if the mayor walked through the city today, he would get booed just like Lindsay.”

Proposed legislation would give legal immigrants the right to vote. Photo by Christina Santucci

Ten City Council members were preparing to introduce a bill that would extend municipal voting rights to legal immigrants, but not all lawmakers are pushing for suffrage.

The potential bill would allow the city’s 1.3 million tax-paying immigrants who hold green cards — and about 500,000 ?live in Queens — to vote in local elections, according to a spokeswoman from I Vote New York City, an advocacy group.

That means that non-citizens could vote for the mayor, the city comptroller, the city public advocate, members of the City Council and the borough presidents.

“It’s an issue of plain fairness and democracy,” said Irma Rodriguez of Queens Community House, an organization that advocates the legislation. “A lot of things are decided by our legislative bodies that really affect people at the local level, and when you have a huge population who have no way to vote for the people who make these decisions then you’re losing something in the democracy.”

Queens Community House estimates that one in 10 New Yorkers cannot vote because of their citizenship status.

Rodriguez added that voting is more of an obligation to the community than a civil right that citizens can choose to ignore.

“It can only benefit all of us if people are more engaged,” she said.

The legislation was introduced by Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), who said it is based on one of the founding principles of our country.

“No taxation without representation,” he said, citing the fact that legal immigrants pay $18.2 billion in state income taxes, and send their children to public schools, put their parents in elderly homes — yet cannot vote in local elections.

“These taxpaying residents are disenfranchised,” he added. “This is a matter of fairness.”

And according to Dromm, the idea is nothing new. Until about the 1820s, non-citizens could vote provided they were property owners.

“As new and as novel as this idea may seem at first, it’s really just an extension of granting taxpayers a say in how their tax dollars are being used,” he said.

Similar bills have already passed in six towns in Maryland, he added.

But other lawmakers said that voting is a right of citizens only and encouraged legal immigrants to attain citizenship status in order to gain the same rights they enjoy in their native countries.

“They are entitled to vote in their elections,” said Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone). “When you’re a citizen of America, you have the right to decide America’s future. If it’s their intention to vote, they can become citizens.”

He added that legal immigrants do not have a vested interest in the community and are not considered when passing legislation.

“They’re not apportioned when we look at constituents,” he said. “That’s not how it’s done.”

Halloran also said that the legislation might run into legal trouble.

The language in it was vague, he said, and would be at risk for manipulation by people of questionable resident status.

“If somebody is here on a student visa or a work visa, that is generally intended to be a non-permanent,” he said. “They have no business voting.”

Halloran added that the measure might not even be legal, since the U.S. Constitution requires voters to be citizens and New York state requires them to be residents.

“It’s in violation of federal and state law,” Halloran said. “It has no chance.”

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (c.), joined by City Councilmen Jimmy Van Bramer and Danny Dromm, state Sen. Jose Peralta and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall's Chief of Staff Alex Rosa, speaks in support of marriages for LGBT New Yorkers. Photo by Rebecca Henely

Legislators in Jackson Heights told their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender constituents as well as their allies Monday to vote for pro-marriage equality candidates in the Nov. 2 election.

“We are inches away of reaching that magical number 29,” said state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), referring to the number of votes needed in the Senate to pass a bill allowing people of the same sex to marry.

At the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights, legislators and constituents discussed the best strategy to use to pass a pro-LGBT marriage bill in 2011, partly in response to the recent suicides by teenagers who were gay or perceived to be gay and the recent hate crimes against gay people in the city: an assault of a bartender at Julius Bar in Manhattan Oct. 11 and an attack on three gay men in the Bronx by nine attackers Oct. 3.

“If people are thinking of copycatting [these crimes], they know that’s not going to work, because the days of us not going to the police are over,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan).

Elected officials at the event included Quinn, Peralta, Councilmen Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside), state Assemblyman Michael DenDekker (D-Jackson Heights) and Assembly candidate Francisco Moya. Quinn, Dromm and Van Bramer are all openly gay.

“Like many of you, I would like to be married one day,” said Van Bramer, who has been with his partner for 11 1/2 years.

Dromm said a crucial win for allies of gay marriage would be to elect Tony Avella, a former Democratic councilman who is running in Bayside against Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose).

Peralta said electing Avella would mean the Senate would have a better chance of passing a marriage equality bill in 2011, now that George Onorato (D-Astoria) is retiring and former Sen. Hiram Monserrate, whose seat Peralta won, was ousted for a misdemeanor assault charge. Padavan, Onorato and Monserrate had voted against the legislation in 2009.

“Right now this is the moment for the LGBT community,” said Alexandra Rosa, chief of staff for Borough President Helen Marshall. Rosa’s child is gay.

Suzanne Ramos, board chairwoman of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays New York, was one of many community activists at the meeting who encouraged constituents to go to their representatives and tell them their stories of wanting to marry their partners.

“These things really tug? at the heartstrings and we have to keep doing that,” Ramos said.

Many at the meeting agreed it was marriage the LGBT community needed, not domestic partnerships or civil unions. Cathy Moreno Thomas, board president of Marriage Equality New York, said there are 1,300 tangible rights LGBT people are denied that their straight, married neighbors receive.

“It’s not separate but equal,” Dromm said, “It’s about true equality.”

Dromm also said that members of the LGBT community should team up with immigrant communities and support issues pertaining to immigrants such as the Park51 mosque to fight against hate and prejudice.

“We have to work as a united front,” he said.

Councilman Daniel Dromm is escorted into a police van after being arrested for civil disobedience. Photo by William Alatriste

Corona and Elmhurst-based immigration reform advocates, including City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-Elmhurst) and Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), were arrested last week during a civil disobedience protest outside the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service building in Manhattan.

Outraged by the ongoing controversy surrounding the state of Arizona’s immigration law, the protesters were among several reform groups across the city calling on President Barack Obama and Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill before the end of the year, which the president has vowed to do in the past.

Ferreras and members of Make the Road New York, the city’s largest immigrant-based community organization, vowed June 2 not to eat anything for three days to “express their solidarity with the suffering of Latinos in Arizona,” who they said are being persecuted by that state’s government.

“I’m the daughter of immigrants. My father came to this country undocumented,” Ferreras said, discussing her three-day fast and her arrest the day before. “I’m hoping I’m doing this for someone else’s children and that President Obama is paying attention, realizing this is something important to our entire country.”

Make the Road New York members spoke about their protest during a June 2 news conference in Battery Park.

Deputy Director Javier Valdez said the organization’s three-day fast was set up to give undocumented immigrants a way to protest against the Arizona immigration law, which allows state and local law enforcement to arrest and detain illegals and ask for proof of citizenship when they have reasonable suspicion someone is in the United States without papers.

Valdez said many illegal immigrants wanted to participate in the civil disobedience effort the day before, but feared if they were arrested, they would be deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has a policy of deporting undocumented people detained for committing a crime.

“We wanted to elevate the issue of immigration and escalate the pressure on President Obama to take action, but it was important for us to do this in a way for undocumented immigrants to participate,” he said.

June 2 marked the third week in a row activists had gathered outside the USCIS building in Manhattan seeking arrest, a protest tactic dating back even before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s.

It was the first civil disobedience protest for Ferreras, who said she had never been arrested before.

“I was nervous about the arrest. I wasn’t nervous about the decision,” she said.

The activists hosted a press conference prior to the protest, expressing their solidarity with Latinos in Arizona and their frustration with inaction by the president and Congress.

“This is something that’s part of a larger effort with the New York Immigration Coalition, organizations and churches,” Ferreras said. “If there is no reform, more states like Arizona will start making up their own laws. We need a federal mandate to be able to help combat them and to be sure legislation like that passed in Arizona is not passed anywhere else in this country, This is about racial profiling. This is about fear tactics.”

After the press conference, the activists walked into a nearby street, deliberately impeding traffic while singing “We Shall Overcome,” Ferreras said.

“An officer comes forward with a bull horn and yells, ‘You are obstructing traffic! Please stop obstructing traffic!’” she said. “They came and handcuffed us and put us in a wagon. We went to the precinct and were booked.”

After about 2 1/2 hours, the protesters were freed, but Ferreras said she still must go to court in July.

“Clearly the process I went through yesterday is miniscule next to the struggle and the fear an immigrant goes through in Arizona because of the law that was passed,” she said.