Fall Newsletter 2012 Final

7/31/2019 Fall Newsletter 2012 Final

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Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together

OMETNewsletter Fall 2012No End in Sight to Relieve

Dangerous Parking Problem

As a result of NYC Department of Transportations refusal to install a safety bar-

rier, bollards or even a No Parking sign on the LIE 69th Street exit at westboundservice road at Mazeau Street, dangerous illegal parking conditions persist.

The 104th Precinct has been relentless in their summonsing efforts, but it is

difcult for them to get a tow truck big enough to impound these vehicles on a

regular basis. The summonses are only the cost of doing business for the truck-

ers and clearly not an incentive for them to park elsewhere.

Photo taken by Linda Daquaro


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Pg. 2 Fall 2012 COMET

A motorists vehicle went out of control and hit six

pedestrians and Connollys Restaurant on Grand Av-

enue and 72nd Street in late June. There were no seri-

ous injuries reported. Luckily it wasnt a school day!

In early July, a motorists vehicle jumped the curb

and hit Isabellas Ice Cream Shop across the street

from the 69th Street Post Ofce. There were no inju-

ries and no criminality.

Illegal Commuter Van Activity

Continues to Plague our Area

Vehicles Hit Local Businesses

Parking problems and dangerous trafc conditions are a huge problem in our community!

After numerous complaints to our elected ofcials and the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission about commuter vans operat ing illegally in our

area, Comet President Roe Daraio received a call from Assistant Commissioner Jeff Hunt, Taxi and Limousine Commission Enforcement, asking

us to provide more detailed information. The information was sent to him and hopefully enforcement will begin shortly and be done frequently.

We are pleased the agency will do some enforcement, but remain skeptical as to whether or not it will resolve the problem. Summonses are only

a small cost of doing business. We just have to wait and see!

Photo by D Conlan

Photos by Linda Daquaro


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COMET Fall 2012 Pg. 3

Parking Woes on our BordersPhotos taken in July when school is out

What Next?

Its bad enough that residents on 67th Street

have to contend with dozens of school buses all

day at PS 229, but there are times when they im-

pacted with them at night too.

A repair shop on 51st Avenue that services

school buses has no room on the property to

store them. The owner parks them overnight on

the street. When the 108th Precinct summonses

them on 51st Avenue, they are moved to 67th

Street on the 104th Precinct side of the street.

When the 104th summonses them, theyre right

back on 51st Avenue again. It has become a reoc-

curring nightmare!

Photos by Saverio Ricotta, Dick Gundlach and Shirley Warren

Photo by Mike Fordunski

Last but not least, motorists heading down 57th

Avenue on the Maspeth/Elmhurst border usu-

ally see a couple of school buses parked on the

strip. During the school year, school buses line

up, leave their engines idling and folks have tobreathe in the fumes. I guess we dont get enough

from the LIE trafc!

Luckily, the 104th, 108th and 110th Precincts

work well together and take action when we

bring up these problems at our meetings. How-

ever, we need a permanent solution that will give

residents some peace and free up our precincts to

handle other issues!

In June, Maspeth residents had to contend with

this trailer parked all weekend on Jay Avenue

near Hamilton Place taking up several parking

spots. It had Colorado plates. Luckily for us,

Captain Cody, 104th Precinct, made arrange-

ments to have it towed.

If you see something like this, please report it to 311.

Correction: The Metrocard bus stops on 69th Street and Grand Avenue on the second Thursday

of each month from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. The new number to call for information is 511. Sorry for any

inconvenience this may have caused.


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Its mind boggling why some folks illegally

dump their trash in litter baskets on our corners

or just leave it in front of businesses on Grand

Avenue instead of just putting it out on their trash

and recycling days. An Elmhurst resident took a

walk up Grand Avenue to Maspeth one Sunday

and spotted this mess.

The people who suffer the consequences are our

local business owners who may get a ne from

Sanitation if they dont clean it up. When corner

litter baskets are full, the trash blows in front of

our local businesses forcing the store owner to

constantly sweep up. We all need to take pride in

our community.

You can help medical, re and police respond-

ers get to your home faster by putting large house

numbers in a visible location in the front and rear

of your home. If the police are chasing a suspect

through yards or community driveways, or a re

is in the rear of a home, the address would be

helpful.

If you walk through our neighborhood youll

see many homes dont have an address clearly

visible from the street. Actually, some dont even

have an address at all! Responders must slow

down to nd the right address.

These numbers are inexpensive and can be pur-

chased at most hardware stores.

Illegal Dumping Large House Numbers

for Emergencies

Photo by Ivan Mossop, Jr.

Photo by Shirley Warren

Shanty McCondo RemovedThank you 104th Precinct!

Wed like to thank Captain Michael Cody, 104th Precinct, for personally looking into our concerns about a three-story Shanty McCondo that was

constructed by a homeless man on the 53rd Road side of the old Blockbuster site at 74th Street. Comet received a number of complaints from residents stating

that he was seen feeding rats in the vicinity of the site. Captain Cody reached out to the property owner and got a commitment it would be removed. Removal

was done at the end of June.


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This poor Pin Oak tree on 59th Street in west

Maspeth is diseased. The large ball-sized pods

are breaking off from the branches and the are

hitting folks as they fall to the ground. The hom-eowner lled up half of a large garbage pail with

them!

When one species of tree is infected, it passes

on to other nearby trees of the same species. In

this case there are several oak trees on the block

that are starting to become infected. Saving ma-

ture trees in our community should be a priority.

They help curtail trafc pollution in our area.

Unfortunately, theres no City funding avail-

able to spray our mature trees that are infected.

In response to Comets request for a turn signal

at Grand Avenue at 69th Street, the NYC Depart-

ment of Transportation stated that they completed

their analysis in June. Factors such as peak hour

turning movements, accident experience and the

availability of gaps in the opposing trafc streamto accommodate turns were all taken into consid-

eration in making their determination.

Based upon their evaluation of the data col-

lected, it is their judgment that a special left-turn

signal is not recommended for Grand Avenue

eastbound. Looks like the intersection of Grand

Avenue at 69th Street will see no safety measures

at least in the near future. Drive safely!!

Some truckers servicing the businesses along 51st Avenue not

only double park, they think nothing of parking their tractor trailers

in the wrong direction.

This is not only illegal but creates a safety hazard for other drivers.

Diseased Trees

Its cheaper to pay a small ne than obey the law

Elmhurst ParkGrand Avenue at 69th

Street Intersection

Photo by Ivan Mossop, Jr.

Photo by Dick Gundlach

Comets Assistant Treasurer Ivan Mossop, Jr., exercises and listens to

traditional Chinese music in Elmhurst Park daily from 7:15-8:15 am,

weather permitting and when the temperature above 40 degrees. He

said the exercise is easier than Tai Chi making it a great option for

seniors. Everyone is invited to join the group. Its a great opportunit y

to meet your neighbors and improve your health. Johnny Kong is the

exercise leader. There is no charge. You can just show up.


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International Tool Manufacturing Corporation

Thank You for Caring!

Maspeth Press Glendale Bakery

We Commend our Local Businesses for Being Good Neighbors

Execut ive Vice President Al Paradiso of

International Tool Manufacturing Corporation

on 51st Avenue and 72nd Street in the Wineld

section of Woodside was overjoyed their work

in keeping the site in good order is recognized.

He told Comet Vice President, Dick Gundlach,

that they not only immediately painted over the

grafti, but totally repainted the entire building.

They did the same thing last year so this isnt a

one shot deal!

Anthony Mickalauskas, at Maspeth Press, 66-20 Grand Avenue, takes

pride in our communit y. He took time to mulch around the tree outside

his business and added decorative plants. Anthony, who is a member

of the Maspeth Chamber of Commerce, actively works to improve our

neighborhood. By the way, he and his staff also do a great job on our

newsletter too! Thank you.

Richie Polgar, Maspeth resident and community activist, can of ten be seen volunteering for a

community project. Last fall he helped us weed all the tree pits along Grand Avenue. In July,

instead of complaining about the trash in the tree pits, Richie went from 72nd Street to 64th

Street and picked up all the garbage that careless people threw out. He also takes time to report

potholes, abandoned or illegally parked vehicles, missing sewer grates and much more. Richie

has been a Citizen Tree Pruner since 1979, and is also a Tree Steward. We commend him for

caring about our neighborhood and the environment. We hope some folks follow his lead!

Anna from Glendale Bakery planted these owers, and she and her

employees make sure theyre watered every day. As you pass by, youll

notice how the plants bring some elegance to our community.

Photo by Dick Gundlach

Photo by Maspeth Press Photo by Richie Polgar


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Message from Captain Terence OToole,Executive Ofcer, 108th Precinct

Thank You 108th Precinct!

Priority 911 versus 311

The 911 system is for emergency response of

police, re and emergency medical service. The

311 system is for non-emergency response fromthe proper City agency. Its important to know

which system can best handle the issue at hand.

Here are some helpful hints: To report a crime

is in progress, call 911. Be prepared to explain

to the operator EXACTLY what is happening.

Then, retreat to a safe place and standby in case

the operator needs to call you back for addition-

al information. Dont make other calls on that

phone because the responding ofcers or a de-

tective may contact you requesting additional in-formation. Remember, you may be the only one

who has seen exactly what happened.

Crimes are prioritized in the 911 system. For

example, a crime in progress would get an im-

mediate police response. Crimes such as robbery,

burglary or assault with a weapon would get a

much quicker response than crimes of trespass,

petit larceny or harassment. Its not that they are

less important, but priorities must be assigned.

Our meetings are held on the rst Monday of every month except for January, July and August. The meetings

are held at the Bethzatha Church of God, 85-20 57th Avenue. Meetings start at 7:00 pm. Directions to the meet-ing can be found on our website, www.cometcivic.com. We will hold additional meetings to alert residents about a

project or problem in their area and will translate our iers into different languages, if necessary. Our meetings are

open to everyone and we encourage you to attend with friends and neighbors. Meet and speak with representatives

of the 104th, 108th and 110th Precincts to hear whats happening in our neighborhood or voice a concern.

Michael Fordunski, Roe Daraio, Dick Gundlach, Christina Wilkinson, Michael Harte and Maspeth Press

This newsletter is made possible by funding from Council Members Elizabeth Crowley, Karen Koslowitz

and Jimmy Van Bramer through the Department of Youth and Community Development.

COMET MEETINGS

Newsletter Committee:

To report an ongoing problem that doesnt re-

quire an immediate response, call 311. The op-

erator will route complaints, such as illegal park-

ing, trafc conditions, and excessive noise, tothe proper agency. The Police Department will

respond to 311 calls as soon as conditions permit.

When calling either 911 or 311 try to be clear

as possible when talking to the operators. In a

city as diverse as New York callers and opera-

tors often speak different languages so that inac-

curate information could be passed on to units

in the eld. Numbers could be reversed, streets

not clearly named and car makes and models

that are incorrect. Such inaccuracies delay po-lice response and this often leaves a perception

of no response to the 311 call. Police Depart-

ment managers review calls and conduct eld

inspections to ensure that reported conditions

have been corrected. Remember, its important

to leave your contact information so that police

responding to your complaint can contact you to

resolve any questions. And, of course, never pro-

vide false or misleading information.

In late July, the 108th Precinct conducted a MARCH operation on the business in Wineld that is parking

all those liveries in the vicinity of St. Marys and surrounding area. They were hit with a stack of summonses

and violations. Hopefully this business owner gets the message and obtains a parking lot for the vehicles.


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C.O.M.E.T., INCP.O.Box 780151

Maspeth, NY 11378

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Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together

COMETNewsletter Fall 2012

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Fall Newsletter 2012 Final