Comet Newsletter Spring 2014

7/22/2019 Comet Newsletter Spring 2014

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Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together

Newsletter Spring 2014

Photo by Linda Daquaro

Residents connue to express concern about the dangerous condions created by massive tractor trailer trucks that

park at the 69th Street exit ramp of the Long Island Expressway at Mazeau Street. Department of TransportaonsQueens Borough Commissioner Dalila Hall is looking at opons that would deter truckers who want to rest from

using this spot.

Were hoping the agency comes

up with a soluon quickly before

a major accident occurs.


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Pg. 2 Spring 2014 COMET

The snowstorms this winter created dangerous condions

for residents who rely on footbridges and overpasses to get

to work, school or stores. We soon found out that reporngthese problems to 311 was impossible unless the bridge

or overpass has a name.Many may wonder how Sanitaon

can plow and salt an overpass but not the sidewalk. The

answer is that the NYC Department of Transportaon

(DOT) is in charge of sidewalks and footbridges, such as the

one on 55th Avenue.

We reached out to Michael Mallon at Council Member

Daniel Dromms oce to let him know about 311s

response to our request to shovel and salt the 55th Avenue

footbridge in Elmhurst as well as the railroad overpass on

Grand Avenue at Calamus Avenue which wasnt shoveled

or salted either. We then called Roman Paprocki at Council

Member Crowleys oce to let him know about the icy

condions on the overpasses at Grand Avenue as well

as Hamilton Place. These overpasses were in the same

condion as the one in Elmhurst. We want to thank Roman

and Michael for following up on these issues for us.

As the overpasses were geng shoveled, a new problem

cropped up. We subsequently found out that DOT was only

shoveling one side of the overpasses which forced people

to cross Grand Avenue if they were on the side of the

overpass that wasnt shoveled. DOT shoveled one side of the

55th Avenue footbridge but we think this was ne because

it allowed for a safe crossing and a huge improvement from

prior years. Hopefully these concerns will be resolved by

next winter and they will be done without us having to cal

every me it snows.

Council Members Crowley and Dromm are acvely

looking into resolving these issues so residents don

encounter these problems in the future when they ca

311. In the meanme, if you have a problem reporng any

problem to 311, please reach out to your council membe

or community board and they will contact the agency fo

you. If a problem with 311 isnt idened, it will never be

resolved.

Maspeth Block Captain Richie Polgar called 311 toreport a large Ryder truck parked on the Queens Midtown

Expressway between 73rd Place and 74th Street. 311 had

no such locaon in their system. Hopefully Council Membe

Crowleys oce will be able to resolve this issue when she

addresses the bridge issue. We had a similar problem with

911 at the Queens Midtown Expressway at 69th Street

We were told the system was updated and we shouldn

have problems in the future. 911 and 311 are separate

and handled by two dierent agencies. In the future wel

have to make sure both systems are updated if any othe

problems are idened.

LIRR overpass at Grand &Calamus Avenues.

55th Avenue Footbridge before & aer

Photos by Geraldine Walsh

We are asking residents to

exercise cauon when walking

past the St. Johns Hospital

garage on Homan Drive

especially at night. It appearsthat somemes it is le open

and other mes closed. This was brought to our aenon

by a member who stated residents can hear screams at

night. We believe it might be youth.

Council Member Dromms oce said they will try to

reach out to the current owner to make sure the gates

are down and the 110th Precinct said they will monitor

the locaon.


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COMET Spring 2014 Pg. 3

Last fall we were advised that the home at 52-29

84th Street was abandoned. Mail and iers were

strewn all over the ground, windows were broken andgra vandals defaced the building all the way up to

the roof. Youth were coming and going via the railroad

tracks at the rear of the building. Needless to say, this

was a big concern for us parcularly since its across

the street from St. Adalbert and because we have had

some sexual assaults in past months in the area.

We brought this problem to the aenon of the

110th Precinct who stated they would report the

problem and have their Condions Team monitor the

locaon. Comet Vice President Richie Doyle stated

that he reported the problem to 311.

We dont know if there was yet another 311

glitch, but aer several months and no acon by the

Department of Buildings, Comet President Roe Daraio

reached out to Kenneth Lazar at the agency. To our

surprise, he said they never received any complaints

but took immediate acon and sent an inspector to

the locaon.

Upon inspecon on January 9th, the inspector found:

The cellar windows broken and open

The rst oor access door open.

The inside of the building vacant and unguarded

allowing unauthorized access.

Mr. Lazar stated that an Unsafe Buildings (UB)

violaon was issued and it would be necessary for

a Department of Buildings aorney to go to court

and get a judges order to seal the building. The badnews is that he said that this could take up to three

months. The 110th Precinct has promised to connue

monitoring the locaon and Council Member Dromms

oce is helping us with the follow-up. We want to

thank Mr. Lazar for looking into this promptly.

If anyone sees a problem such as this, call 311 and

follow up with your local precinct and elected ocials

to insure the situaon is reced.

Photo by Richie Polgar

Photo by Richie Polgar

This building has been an eyesore for years. Comet

member Ed Misiura has reported this problem over

and over and nothing is done. Many other sites in

Elmhurst have also been reported and havent been

cleaned up. Lets hope that Council Member Dromm

and the 110th Precinct can help address these

locaons this spring.Maspeth and Wineld have been hit hard this winter

as well. Dozens of sites that were previously cleaned

have now been scribbled on by vandals. Theres a lot

of work to be done.

If you know of a building, light pole, underpass, etc.

that needs cleaning, please report it to 311!!


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Aer an Elmhurst woman was killed crossing Grand

Avenue at 69th Place in Maspeth, NYC DOT has been

working on implemenng trac measures that will

hopefully save lives. The measures include signage,

painted roadway markings and a strip with bollards

down the middle of Grand Avenue to deter motorists

from making illegal le-hand turns from 69th Place

onto Grand Avenue.

Although most residents are opmisc about the

changes, some wonder how oversized tractor trailerswill be able to turn from 69th Place onto Grand Avenue.

They say the trucks have a dicult me making a legal

right-hand turn without the bollards and fear the only

other recourse for the trucker is to back down 69th

Place to the service road. Lets hope the truckers will

learn to avoid this block and turn from the service

road onto Grand Avenue instead.

DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Dalila Hall

stated at a meeng held at Maspeth Town Hall with

Assembly Member Marge Markey, Roman Paprocki

from Council Member Crowley, the 104th Precinct and

several community acvists that addional changes

will be made, if necessary.

David Daraio, President of the Maspeth Chamber of

Commerce, menoned a concern about the bollards

interfering with our Memorial Day Parade and street

fairs. Commissioner Hall stated the bollards could be

removed for these events.

Community Trafc Suggesons

Nancy Carbone, our Transportaon Commiee

Chairperson, met with members of the commiee

prior to the meeng with Assembly Member Markey

and Commissioner Hall. The group made some

proposals which DOT will look into. Some of the

suggesons were:

Consider a le-turn signal on Grand Avenue

eastbound at 69th Street for motorists heading

northbound on 69th Street.

Consider a le-turn signal on southbound 69th

Street at Grand Avenue turning onto Grand Avenue

eastbound from in front of Maspeth Federal.

Consider a le-turn signal at Grand Avenue and

69th Lane allowing motorists heading eastbound on

Grand Avenue to turn onto 69th Lane.

Consider a right-turn signal at Grand Avenue

eastbound at Queens Midtown Expressway (corner of

Duane Reade) to facilitate pedestrian crossing.



Photo by Geraldine Walsh


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This photo was taken by Block Captain Linda Daquaro on February 25th. As you can see from the clock on

Garlinger Triangle it was 8:30 pm.

She said this huge tour bus came down Grand Avenue, turned onto Mazeau Street and then attempted to

make a sharp left-turn onto 57th Avenue. As he was turning, the driver ripped up a bollard on the triangle.

DOT Commissioner Hall reached out to Parks Department and asked that it be repaired.

Its scary to think that the driver of this bus didnt know he couldnt make the turn. Think about it, he

drives people around every day!!

Comet Vice President Dick Gundlach, who lives in the Winfield section of Woodside, took these photos

from his bedroom window. The blinding intense white lights are by the LIRR tracks at the end of 73rd Place

off 51st Avenue. He said hes not sure if they belong to the LIRR or the area adjacent to the tracks which is

used to store approximately 100 trucks.

Regardless, the bright and intrusive lights illuminating the surrounding neighborhood, which also includes

Elmhurst, affect the quality of life for those there. We will try to find out who owns these lights and perhaps

get them to focus them downward.

Photos by Dick Gundlach


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Captain Brian Hennessy, 108th Precinct, created a new conditions team that began Tuesday, March 11th. He said

that each officer would be specifically assigned as a contact for each community within the command. Our officer is

PO John Miszuk. Captain Hennessy said he worked with PO Miszuk when he was assigned as a rookie impact officer

in Jackson Heights. He told us hes a hard worker. Comet met with him and discussed Winfield quality of life issues

Great idea, Captain Hennessy!!!

In late February, Comet President Roe Daraio andmember Tom Porembski met with 108th CommunityAffairs Officer Luis Diaz on 70th Street and 48th Avenueto watch the 108ths enforcement efforts to address

The morning of the livery tow operation, CaptainHennessy arranged for NYC Taxi & Limousine to

coordinate enforcement to summons illegal commuter

van activity in our area. Unfortunately, this operation

didnt go as smoothly as the tow operation. The 108th

Precinct cannot write summonses for this activity

and the TLC Enforcement personnel who showed up

apparently didnt know how to write them. After a little

pressure, we finally convinced them to issue summonses

for picking up on bus routes. A total of six summonses

were issued. Unfortunately, the illegal commuter van

pickups in our area continues. These photos were taken

on 69th Place between 52nd Avenue and 52nd Drive

Were hoping NYC TLC can train their officers and have

them return for another operation. We thank Captain

Hennessy for his efforts!!

the livery parking problem around St. Marys and thesurrounding streets. The enforcement went quickly andwe dont have to tell you the owner of all the liverieswas not happy!

Some of these dilapidated liveries had broken axlesand broken windows among other issues. Within a shortperiod of time nine vehicles were towed or flat beddedaway. Captain Hennessy has promised to continue theenforcement, which should be much easier now that wehave PO Miszuk from the Conditions Team assigned toour area.


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Meetings are held at the Bethzatha Church of God, 85-20 57th Avenue, Elmhurst. 7:00 pm.

Parking is available.

Monday, April 7th

Monday, May 5th,

Monday, June 2nd

Newsletter Committee: Mike Fordunski, Dick Gundlach, Christina Wilkinson, Richie Polgar, Linda Daquaro,

Tom Porembski, Geraldine Walsh, Roe Daraio, Maspeth Press

SAVE THE DATES!!

Earth Day Event

Saturday, April 26th, Maspeth Federal Parking lot at 69th Street Grand Avenue

The event will run from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Comet will join Maspeth Federal Savings, Council Member Elizabeth Crowley and the NYPD.

Paper shredding truck will be on hand to shred important documents that you no longer need

Electronics truck will take computers and other electronics that need disposal.

VIN Etch your car and save money on your theft insurance. You can register your

electronics as well as your bikes to help recover them if theyre stolen.

DSNY will provide information about their new organics collection program.

Maspeth Memorial Day ParadeSunday, May 25th at 1:00 pm

Starts at 72nd Place/Grand Avenue

Comet will be marching in case you would like to join us!!


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Maspeth, NY 11378

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Comet Newsletter Spring 2014