Congressman Gregory Meeks 2010 Appropriation Requests

(WASHINGTON, DC)–Below is a list of the earmarks I requested from the House Appropriations Committee for the Fiscal Year 2010. In compliance with the House Appropriations Committee rules and in order to make the process as transparent as possible, I am posting all of my earmark requests on my website.

Commerce, Science, andJustice

Career Gear
120 Broadway 36th Floor, New York, 10271
Amount Requested: $475,000
Career Gear is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1999 to promote gainful employment and self-sufficiency of disadvantaged men actively seeking employment. Career Gear would utilize this funding to grow their “Men of Color in Crisis: Prisoner Re-Entry and Employment Project”. The funding will enable Career Gear to assist more ex-offenders with interview coaching and placement in the workplace, assisting with wardrobing and presentation, focusing on retention in their new careers through Career Gear’s existing alumni program and offering community services and life-skills training to those men most in need of concrete support that will help them succeed and at the same time keep them out of prison.

Computers for Youth (CFY)
322 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10001
Amount Requested- $150,000
CFY plays a key role in educating low income children for long-term academic and professional success. Over the past 4 years CFY has provided 400 sixth graders in our district with a free computer, engaging educational software, technical support, tailored web content, and family learning workshops. The funding will be used to support CFY’s labor costs for soliciting, shipping, and refurbishing computers that they receive from partner companies. Funding will also help defray the costs of creating a curriculum for CFY workshops, training master teachers on the curriculum, and operating Family Learning workshops.

Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Inc (GMHC)
119 West 24th Street, New York, NY 10011
Amount Requested: $2,000,000
GMHC aims to protect the health and build a prosperous future for at risk youth in New York City. GMHC proposes launching a multi-year HIV prevention campaign for at-risk youth with the ultimate goal of saving lives by decreasing rates of infection among youth communities in New York City, and empowering youth with an array of life skills that will lead them toward success and independence. Special emphasis will be placed on areas where infection rates are spiking.

Greater Woodhaven Developmental Corporation
84-01 Jamaica Avenue, Woodhaven, NY 11421
Amount Requested: $50,000
Woodhaven Jamaica Avenue is a viable Commercial Strip located in Woodhaven, Queens. The commercial strip consist of mixed use properties whose sidewalls have become targets of graffiti vandalism. This group plans to use the requested funds for the installation of 25 surveillance cameras to record vandalism and to use it for the basis of prosecution. They would also like to use the funds to remove the graffiti and replace it with paint and advertising murals. The removal of these markings will demonstrate that they care and value the appearance of their community.

Jamaica Chamber of Commerce
Jamaica Export Center
90-25 161st Street, Jamaica, NY 11432
Amount Requested $265,000
The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce Export Center is a program designed to provide economic and industrial relief to the NY City export/freight forwarding industry. The incubator, its main feature, supports and develops women and minority ownership of export/freight forwarding businesses. It will help reduce the cost of operating for a 3 year period of time. The collective services and support of an incubator can help defray costs by approximately 20% to 30%. The funds will be used for operational expenses.

King of Kings Foundation, Inc
137-11 161 Street, Jamaica, NY 11434
Amount Requested: $290,000
The Anti-Drug, Anti-Gang Warriors Program conducts hundreds of inspirational and motivational workshops/seminars throughout the community. Their mission is to inform children, youth, young adults and parents, educating and making them aware of the dangers and consequences of gun use, gang violence, drug abuse, and drug selling. They will target schools, libraries, and recreation centers in high crime areas, encouraging youth and parents to create building blocks that do not include narcotics, gangs, or other criminal activities. The requested funds would help to fund these seminars.

Life Camp, Inc
177th & Baisley Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11434
Amount Requested: $200,000
I Love My LIFE Anti Gang/ Violence Campaign offers a holistic approach to combating gang recruitment and involvement. LIFE merges public awareness, direct service, parental, and community involvement to address the gang problem amongst high school students. The money will be used to further the aims of LIFE through marketing/branding, film/tv, service learning, and workshops.

Nicole Paultre Bell “When It’s Real, It’s Forever Fund Inc.
191 Beach 27th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691
Amount Requested: $189,946.31
The foundation was incorporated in the state of New York in 2007 as a domestic not-for-profit corporation. The goal of this organization is to provide services and access to recourses in the Far Rockaway and Jamaica Queens Community through programs directed towards at risk youth. Funds will be used for Programs such as Youth Empowerment Enrichment and Mentorship Program, The Sean Bell Little League, for children 5-14 years of age, Rockaway Beachside Neighborhood Association, a civic group to mobilize neighbors fostering community pride, and lastly the Youth Cultural Enrichment and Educational Programs.

South Queens Boys & Girls Club, Inc.
110-04 Atlantic Ave, Richmond Hill, NY 11419
Amount Requested: $500,000
South Queens Boys & Girls Club Literacy for Life Program serves over 2,000 youth from the South Queens area annually. This program is designed to help parents understand the importance of education and literacy. The Literacy for Life program provides lessons and workshops that teach parents to overcome language and cultural barriers which equips them to be more effective with their children’s educational learning experiences while assisting the children with their homework and educational development.

St. John’s University
8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica, NY 11439
Amount Requested: $250,000
The Ronald H Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development was established to engage in legal studies research and outreach focusing on issues that affect the lives of underrepresented people while simultaneously educating law students to be future leaders on issues of racial, economic, and social justice. Funding will be applied to the Law School Prep Program for underrepresented students, a Community Legal Outreach Program, a Professional Research Professorship, and the plans to establish permanent office and classroom space for the center in the School of Law Building.

York College – the City University of New York
94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11451
Amount Requested: $350,000
The Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) was established by York college in 1999. It is one of the longest running SEMAA sites. SEMAA offers three five day sessions during the summer and eight week sessions during the academic year. To date the program has served over 7,000 students 3rd-9th grade students from local elementary and middle schools in southeastern Queens. The requested funds would be used for operational costs and enhancements to the program, allowing the York College SEMAA Program to serve approximately 2,000 students over the course of one year.

Youth and Tennis, Inc
177th Street. & Baisley Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11434
Amount Requested: $150,000
Youth and Tennis, Inc is a juvenile delinquency prevention program that provides a structured recreational activity (tennis) with informational and mentoring activities to over 200 youth at risk of academic failure, substance abuse, and delinquency residing in Southeast Queens, Laurelton, Queens Village, and Rosedale. NY. The sports program will improve academic motivation, educational learning, and promote substance abuse awareness. The underlying philosophy behind Youth and Tennis, Inc is that success at athletics is built upon effort, application, and perseverance, the same ingredients for success in the classroom. The knowledge of drug preventative techniques is a strong and powerful weapon against drug use.

Defense

Premier Micronutrient Corporation
1801 West End Avenue, Suite 1610, Nashville, TN 37203
Amount Requested: $3.4 million
Management of Lung Injury by Micronutrients is a continuation of a FY2009 pilot that defined oxidative damage and inflammation in lung injury in military recruits and made a preliminary assessment of the effects of antioxidant micronutrient supplementation. This request funds the definitive demonstration project and is designed as a prospective, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial in 200 subjects The study will evaluate impact on respiratory disease, military readiness and quality of life as well as laboratory data including antioxidant levels, markers of oxidative damage and inflammation

Energy and Water

Brooklyn College, City University of New York
2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210
Amount Requested: $900,000
This money will be used for research equipment that will enable research on new sources of biofuel, and the development of methods processing fuels to reduce or eliminate hazardous materials and waste, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, contribute to the alternative fuels and as a result, improve the overall ownership costs to the airforce as a major user of fuels.

Port Authority of NY/NJ
225 Park Avenue South, 11thFloor, New York, NY 10003
Amount Requested: $250,000
The existing project Jamaica Bay, NY O&M provides for an entrance channel 20 ft. deep at mean low water, 1000ft. wide, about 1.7 miles long and connecting two inner channels. Maintenance projects are critical to commerce and navigation of this channel. Past and current budgets enable only partial channel maintenance, leaving significant areas at shallow and potentially unsafe depths.

Port Authority of NY/NJ
225 Park Avenue South, 11thFloor, New York, NY 10003
The Spring Creek Environmental Restoration project seeks to improve the habitat in Spring Creek Park located in northern Jamaica Bay, bounding the counties of Kings and Queens. The construction, maintenance, and improvement of network channels within Jamaica Bay required the dredging of millions of cubic yards of material.

Homeland Security

En-Gauge Technologies, Inc
11 Commerce Road, Rockland, MA 02370
Amount Requested: $20,000,000
This organization would like to plus-up the president’s budget request by $20 million with the intention of using the monies for airport terminal safety and security. The Fire Prevention and Safety grants support activities designed to reach high-risk target groups and mitigate incidences of deaths and injuries caused by fire and related hazards. The additional funding provided through this request would be directed towards airports to utilize technology that monitors fire extinguishers in airport terminals to ensure that they are in place, functioning correctly, and have not been stolen or manipulated.

Interior and Environment

Gateway National Park Service -Charles Frank Park
Bldg 69, Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, NY 11234
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Funds will be used to renovate and improve the recreational facilities including benches, ball fields, tennis courts, walking paths and lighting. This park, located within the Gateway National Park, is the only recreation area in this severely under-parked community and is widely used by the residents. The area and its amenities are severely dilapidated and in disrepair.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233
Amount Requested: $5 million
The wetlands and surrounding areas in Jamaica Bay provide invaluable natural functions for habitat, marine research, pollutant reduction, and flood control protection. The goal of this project is to “restore ecological function and diversity that have been lost or degraded as a result of human activities.” The requested funds will help to begin to reverse a decades-long trend of wetland losses in the Bay.

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies

AngelDocs, Inc.
195-39 Hillside Avenue, Holliswood, NY 11423
Project Title: Life Health & Education $500,000.00
The program enables the clinical outreach allowing especially the uninsured and underinsured access affordable quality health care. We utilize age and culture appropriate and sensitive in our Health literacy program that forms the foundation of our health project. Mentoring protégés in the medical field to consider returning and practicing in the community and, leaning more towards community health, public health and preventative care.

American Red Cross in Greater New York
520 West 49th Street, New York, NY Queens Office: 138-02 Queens Boulevard, Briarwood, NY 11435
Emergency Preparedness Initiative for the 6th Congressional District-$350,000
This initiative will allow ARC/GNY to accomplish the following: 1) recruit, train, equip, and support 200 volunteers from the 6th Congressional District; and 2) Acquire and stockpile shelter supplies and equipment to be pre-positioned throughout the district in advance of the next large scale disaster.

Excelsior Preparatory High School and Queens Preparatory Academy
Institute for Student Achievement-$250,000
The money would be spent on the school development program, the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA) . ISA partners with high schools to provide expert professional development, coaching, and support so that they can develop and sustain a structure and environment conducive to student success. The ISA model emphasizes creating small schools in which students participate in a college preparatory curriculum and receive the supports necessary for them to be successful in school and go on to college.

Jamaica Hospital Medical Center Ambulatory Care Electronic Medical Record and Practice Management System- $1.5 million
8900 Van Wyck Expressway, Jamaica, NY 11418
The project will enable the creation of a Federally Qualified Health Center Look Alike to house ambulatory care clinics at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center by satisfying the CMS billing and reporting requirements. After installing the $1.5 million computerized medical record and practice management system funded by this appropriation, JHMC will apply for designation to create a FQHCLA. If the application is granted, the hospital will be able to more efficiently serve disadvantaged populations while receiving enhanced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and grants towards covering the uninsured.

Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center
6200 Beach Channel Drive, Arvene, NY 11692
Primary Care for Severely Disabled Patients $300,000
The Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center inherited a primary care program for the severely
disabled when Caritas ( an organization managing Mary Immaculate and St. John’s Hospitals) went bankrupt on March 6, 2009. There are 250 patients for which we agreed to provide primary care. This population of patients has great difficulty finding primary care providers as they are very difficult to care for.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
165 W. 65th Street, New York, NY 10023
Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education-$100,000
This program provides programming and services in the 6th district, across New York State and nationwide, to ensure that the arts are a vital part of education in public schools. LCI is currently in the midst of a 5 year expansion plan, which includes increased outreach to schools in Queens. Funding will be used to support LCI’s expansion in the 6th district and throughout Queens.

Ocean Bay Community Development Corporation (OBCDC)
434 Beach 54th Street, Arverne, NY 11692
Workforce Education Training and Placement Program- $100,000
The money will be used to expand its current workforce preparation program. The program targets 17-24 year olds living in public housing and provides job preparation, GED instruction, skills training, internships, and job placements. The requested funds would support a new Case manager to provide one-on-one counseling to participants as well as provide retention services to ensure participants maintain jobs and develop plans for additional education and job promotion.

Prostate Health Education Network, Inc. (PHEN)
One Adams Place, 859 Willard St. Suite 400
PHEN Rally Against Prostate Cancer- $1,000,000
The PHEN “Rally Against Prostate Cancer” (RAP Cancer) initiative combines the outreach leadership efforts of prostate cancer survivors, cancer center partners, programs developed for the internet, radio, and television broadcasts for one of the most visible nationals movements to address the prostate cancer crisis. Knowledge is key to beating prostate cancer which is a curable disease. RAP cancer’s innovative and broad education and awareness outreach initiatives saves lives, reduces suffering, and helps eliminate the African American prostate cancer disparity-the largest racial disparity for any type of cancer.

Queens Hospital Center
Construction of Endoscopy Suite-$954,500
There is a growing demand for colonscopy screening to detect colorectal cancer, a successfully treatable cancer if detected early. To meet this demand QHC is seeking the requested funds to construct and outfit a new endoscopy suite.

Ralph’s Educational and Recreational Computer Services, Inc
P.O. Box 310188, Jamaica, NY 11432-9998
Children Literacy Reading and Math/Mentoring Life Skills Program-$150,000
A literacy reading and math/mentoring life skills program for children grades 3-6, aimed to give children the fundamental skills that they need to become productive and successful students. An individualized program is developed for each student and there is one teacher and teacher’s aid for every ten children. Funding will be used to purchase computers, workbooks, and other educational materials.

Services Now for Adult Persons, Inc (SNAP)
80-45 Winchester Blvd. CBU 29, Bldg. #4 Queens Village, New York 11427
Construction of new Building for SNAP Senior Services - $2,000,000
For the past 28 years SNAP has been improving the quality of life for older adults by providing linkages to community resources and by providing direct services that allow them to remain maintained as independent community residents. The money will be used to fund a permanent building that will house all of their programs and administrative offices.

Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education/Gateway Institute for pre-College Education/The Queen Bridge to Medicine Program
94-50 159th Street
Pathways to Health Care Careers for High School Students- $75,000
The goal of this program is to increase awareness of health care careers among high school students through informational sessions and workshops for all grades with an emphasis on opportunities and preparation needed to prepare for admission to medical school and/or other health related careers. In addition, we propose outreach Saturday science programs to inform and attract students. Funding would also allow for increased recruitment to the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, the Gateway Institute for Pre-College Education and the Queens Bridge to Medicine Program.

Southern Queens Park Association
177-01 Baisley Boulevard, Jamaica NY 11434
Young Adult College Access & Preparedness Program $370,000
The YACAPP program would be extended to the 90 young adults, 16 to 24 years of age. The program will be offered in partnership with Bard College and six local high schools. College faculty will teach at SQPA, supported by high school teachers. Young adults who are over aged and under credited can earn up 10 college credits over 10 months and/or high school credits. Students will be better equipped for college; they will know first hand what is required to successfully complete coursework, matriculate, and graduate. Teachers who participate in the program may earn credit towards their Master's degree from Bard.

St. John’s University
800 Utopia Parkway Jamaica, NY 11439
Preventing Adverse Reactions to Negative Events Related to Stress Program (PARTNERS) - $300,000
PARTNERS is a multi-disciplinary clinical research program that offers free state of the art mental health services to the underserved children and families in the surrounding communities. PARTNERS goals are to provide state of the art clinical services, train mental health, child welfare, medical, and educational professionals, adapt and support mental health services, and conduct innovative and meaningful research. Funding will be used to support community outreach, professional training, staff development literature, purchase of materials, and new technology.

St. John’s University
800 Utopia Parkway Jamaica, NY 11439
The College of Pharmacy Industrial Pharmacy Program- $500,000
Over the past 5 years the College’s graduate science education programs have grown by 68%. The equipment in the Industrial Pharmacy labs is outdated, inadequate, and insufficient to meet the needs of the students in the growing field of industrial pharmacy. The funding will support academic activities in pharmacy research and education and to support increased University research and collaborations in Industrial Pharmacy. Funding will also help to purchase equipment and technology to help upgrade, maintain, and renovate equipment in the pharmacy laboratory.

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies

Calvary Baptist Church
111-10 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. Jamaica, NY 11433
Calvary Grandparents Residence-$1,250,000
The funds will be used towards the hard costs for building the project.

Enphront, Inc.
1931 Mott Ave., Suite 308, Far Rockaway, NY 11691
Project Title: Transitional Housing and Homeless Services forVeterans $705,000
The funding will be spent providing congregate housing for fifty homeless veterans from the 6th Congressional District. The housing program will also provide support services and job training.

Fitzgerald House, Inc
111-67 157th Street, Jamaica, NY 11433
Bringing Veterans Home: Transitional Housing- $50,000
The funds will be spent to increase the capacity of Fitzgerald house from its existing 7 homes housing 85 veterans to 11 homes housing approximately 130 veterans, an increase of 53%. In addition, funding will be sought from the Department of Veterans Affairs for a daily allowance of $33 per resident to support current and new operating costs at each house.

Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center
6200 Beach channel Drive, Arverne, NY 11692
Energy Conservation Project for 3 Addabbo Sites $305,000
The Health Center will implement energy conservation measures (flushometers,
automatic faucets, occupancy sensors, and lighting upgrade for all 3 of its buildings).

Greater Jamaica Development Corporation
90-04 161th Street, Jamaica, NY 11432
Jamaica Plaza Station Intermodal $5,000,000
The project redesigns and improves the area adjacent to the Jamaica Station to improve flow in the area. Because the LIRR, MTA, AirTrain and regional buses all converge at the station, congestion is significant. The congestion is not only unsafe but drives potential businesses from the area. The project will make the area safer, a more business friendly environment and inviting to transit riders.

New York City Department of Transportation
40 Worth Street, New York, NY 10013
Averne East Transit Plaza- $2,000,000
They are seeking to develop the Averne East Transit Plaza, an intermodal transportation center in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, adjacent to an MTA subway station, a public bus line, and the Arverne East urban and economic development project. Funds will be used for the construction of commuter parking, a lighted pedestrian mall under the elevated MTA subway, streetscape enhancements to improve pedestrian safety, the installation of bike sheds, two new bus shelters, and improved and widened roadwork to improve bus and commuter mobility

New York State Department of Transportation
50 Wolf Road, Albany, NY 12232
NYC Commercial Vehicle Monitoring and Enforcement Program-$4,000,000
This program would design, procure, and install commercial vehicle monitoring and enforcement systems at 5 key bridges connecting New Jersey and New York City area used by commercial vehicles. These systems utilize electronic technologies such as license plate readers and weigh-in-motion devices to analyze commercial vehicle traffic in NYC for planning, asset management, security and safety enforcement. Of particular interest to NYS is monitoring commercial vehicle tanker movements from New Jersey into NYC which carry gasoline. These technologies also provide useful planning and asset management information to owners and operators of the bridges as well as providing a real time enforcement tool for security and safety inspections operations.

New York State Department of Transportation
50 Wolf Road, Albany, NY 12232
New York State Scenic Byways Program Project of Statewide Significance- $2.4 million
Project funding will be used for new scenic byway projects activities along the many state and several nationally designated scenic byways in New York State. Project funding will be limited to FHWA eligible project activities under Title 23.

NYFAC (New York Families for Autistic Children)
Recreational and Community Center $1 million
95-16 Pitkin Avenue, Ozone Park, NY 11417
NYFAC Recreation Center, located at 135-36 Centerville Street, Ozone Park, NY. The money will be used to for renovations and improvements to the facility including the installation of solar panels. It will also be used to create a greenhouse and farm program attached to the main center for developmentally disabled individuals. 95% of the building will be used for purely programmatic activities. Administrative offices will remain at the current location at 95-16 Pitkin Avenue, Ozone Park.

Queens Hospital Center
82-68 164th Street, Jamaica , NY 11432
Construction of a Parking Structure at Queens Hospital Center-$10,275,000
Queen’s Hospital Center’s campus is in the process of being redeveloped, with property that had previously been used for surface parking being used instead by the hospital and other governmental entities to address critical needs of the community. The hospital is seeking funding to construct a four-story, 70,000 square foot parking structure to accommodate 450 cars that are being displaced by the development

St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
327 beach 19th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691
Maternity Renovations-$800,000
The project will require construction of new labor/Delivery/Recovery Rooms. Maternity floor needs to be totally renovated with a state-of-the art environment to attract patients. Renovations will include construction, plumbing, mechanical, equipment, telephones, networking, furniture, engineering, and construction management.