We are forwarding you a picture of an occurrence that happens every day, several times a day. Beginning at 6AM Tractor trailers and other Commercial Vehicles utilize 5th avenue in Whitestone Queens as a conduit to the entire surrounding area. 5th avenue is a 27 foot wide street minus 7 - 8 feet for parked cars on each side, it is a RESIDENTIAL STREET WITH 28 HOMES ON IT MANY OF THEM NEWLY RENOVATED. A STREET WITH OVER 20 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 15 LIVING ON IT. These Commercial Vehicles speed on our street, shake our foundations, set off car alarms and create a Dangerous situation for all families living on the Block. Yet, according to Maura McCarthy of Queens DOT, and Gene Kelty, Chair of Community Board 7, and President of Whitestone Boosters Beach, it is not a danger, just a mere inconvenience. This on top of the 107 cars per hour which travel eastbound (33% speeding), is not enough to get the 3rd avenue exit on the Bridge pushed back to its original design of 7th avenue, not enough to make 5th and 4th avenues a ONE WAY WEST BOUND TOWARD THE BRIDGE, not enough to extend the already once extended concrete divider forcing cars to go down to 3rd avenue ( a 57foot wide street with 7 houses on the block and a park on the other side) which would then allow for enforcement of commercial vehicles who get off the wrong exit, not enough to do anything that will prevent damage and possibly tragedy.
Malba Gardens Civic Association
Thumbs up on the lawn sign! - QC
25 comments:
The squeaky wheel gets the grease...Letters to the local pct CO,Patrol BORO,local pols,!PP,etc. It's a lot of work,but it's the only way to get it done BTW,every nypd boro task force has a truck enforcement unit......
Add NYSTATE DOT to that list.
That truck and any other refrigerated trailers passing through this block are most likely from the Tropicana facility on 154 st. Speak to the management of that facility ( I will get you a name but it will take a day or two), send them a certified letter highlighting your complaints with pictures etc, and tell them you are sending this letter to every applicable city/state agency and local representative. The management there is actually fairly proactive at curtailing these types of situations.
While I'm sure you perceive the danger to the children as very hazardous, in actuality, not much is as noticeable as a 48' refrigerated tractor trailer rumbling down your street. According to your post you can actually feel them coming, and yes, they are VERY noisy, and I doubt they go very fast down that narrow street. The point is that everyone knows this truck is coming down the block, children included, which is probably much safer than a speeding prius or other quiet car zipping down the block.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease...Letters to the local pct CO,Patrol BORO,local pols,!PP,etc. It's a lot of work,but it's the only way to get it done BTW,every nypd boro task force has a truck enforcement unit......
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I have been keeping a list of all the complaints and requests for police service for the 109 precinct area that have been posted in the last 10 months. Best I could figure so far, the 109Precinct would need about 150-200 cops each tour to satisfy all the requests posted here. And that is just for the personal service requests alone such as watching an intersection etc. That doesn't even include the sector car teams responsing to 911 and 311 jobs.
Queens North is a large area. That Truck Enforcement Unit only consists of about 4 cops. It might be a bit difficult to get them to the hundreds of streets in the borough where this is a problem, so don't get angry at the cops if they aren't able to get there anytime soon.
More and more trucks, as well as large coach buses, use 32nd Avenue to travel east-west, rather than Northern Blvd.
maspeth has been complaining for years.. i have trucks coming up our street which is too damn narrow and a two way.. welcome to queens. now if it was manhattan bloomberg wouldn't have it!
Try rolling out spike strips. That should get the police to come.
You don't need truck enforcement cops to issue a ticket for off truck route. Any cop can write one, not that they would be willing to. There are cops in patrol cars and scooters who pretty much just write moving violations and parking tickets (yes, they are pricks). You can spot these cops because they ride alone in the car. If you can find one of these ticket cops, chat him up, and if you are lucky get on his good side, he might be happy to hear about a good location to write a few tickets.
To the poster who commented about 32nd Ave, one of these ticket cops is frequently on 33rd Ave around 164th st. I have seen him pulling people over on 33rd ave several times. Perhaps he would be willing to patrol 32nd ave on occasion if asked nicely enough.
If possible, send an attractive female neighbor, they seem to attract cops attention with ease.
While I'm sure you perceive the danger to the children as very hazardous, in actuality, not much is as noticeable as a 48' refrigerated tractor trailer rumbling down your street.
Not to mention kids shouldn't be playing in the street anyway. Mine doesn't. What do you have those nice big yards for on 5th Ave if your kids are playing in the street?
Try rolling out spike strips. That should get the police to come.
Yes, to arrest you for putting out spike strips.
Ask Vallone why he allowed bloomberg to cut the police dept by 6000 cops.......... And don't forget the 1000 detectives now assigned to counter-terrorism duties. THat is a big hit to manpower and the reason you never can get anything done.
Yes, to arrest you for putting out spike strips.
Yes but while they are there they can ticket the driver.
Who can prove who put those spike strips in the road? When you hear the truck entering the block, just roll them out, make like a tree, and leave.
Just make sure your neighbors turn off their surveillance cameras first.
"Ask Vallone why he allowed bloomberg to cut the police dept by 6000 cops..."
Nonsense. Peter Vallone is a hero! He said so himself.
Is there a sign on this street prohibiting commercial traffic? If not, then trucks can legally use the street.
Nope, they have to stick to NYC designated thru truck routes.
Is there a sign on this street prohibiting commercial traffic? If not, then trucks can legally use the street.
That is 100% incorrect. The presence of signage is not required to enforce the Truck Route regulations.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/truckrouting.shtml
What if my destination is not located on a Truck Route?
An operator is allowed to travel on a street that is not a designated truck route for the purpose of arriving at his or her destination.When accessing such a location, the operator must leave a designated truck route at the intersection that is nearest to his/her destination, proceed by the most direct route, and then return to the nearest designated truck route using the most direct route.
Enforcement of the Truck Route Regulations
An operator of any truck shall have in his/her possession throughout each trip a bill of lading, or similar document, showing the points of origin and destination of the trip. Upon the request of a law enforcement officer or other authorized person, the truck operator shall present for inspection the above stated document or documents. The presence of signage is not required to enforce the Truck Route regulations.
These trucks coming from Whitestone are required to take the truck route; either 154th St or Clintonville St to the Cross Island service road to 14th Ave to the Whitestone Expwy to get to the Whitestone Bridge.
You beat me to it Crappy, I kept getting a page error when replying.
As long as they have an origin or destination in Queens they can (and in this case have to) use the local truck routes.
Get all neighbors together for a coordinated slowdown and blockage day once a week. First house, take your car out of your driveway real slow, get out, walk around it, inspect, nod once--while trucks wait. Then as you roll back into your driveway, the next house does this, then the next house, all down the block.That truck's journey across your block should take close to an hour if everybody cooperates.
If someone makes your life unbearable, find a way to make their life unbearable.
we live on a dead end street. the only truck part that parks at times is a tractor,while the -ucker is romancing a couger.
i really am envious of the green lawns in the photo. our block used to be suburban and country like until the concrete and brick dwellers arrived and converted the front yards into parking lots. so much for the D.O.B. fakers.
Suck it up. The roads of Whitestone and College Point are inundated with unwanted and reckless commercial and citizen drivers. it's a fact of life. I have been a resident of the Colleg Point/Whitestone area for over 20 years and while there has certainly been an increase in the truck traffice, there has always been little or no enforcement. in 20+ years i have seen 3, thats right 3 traffic stops on 14th Avenue of trucks in violation of the regulations. Sometimes you just have to let actions happen. as far as the children are concerned, teach them to be alert and how to properly cross streets and problems will be avaioded.
"Suck it UP" ? That is exactly what is wrong with society today, we have become complacent. Our Children (20 under the age of 16 on one block alone) DO NOT PLAY ON THE STREETS. HOWEVER, THES SPEEDING CARS AND TRUCKS, CREATE A DANGEROUS SITUATION. They try to cut off cars that are going to slow, go around SCHOOL BUSES, and wind up driving on sidewalks when there is not a car parked. When a car is parked they just drive into them and keep going. OUR CHILDREN cannot play on our as you say "Big" front lawns because of the ptoential danger. Never mind the noise and shaking of Home Foundations.
We re-activated a civic organization, united the block and blocks affected. Obtained a decision against CB7 from the STATES Committe on Open Government, met with Kelty, Bitterman, Appelian, Vallone, Halloran, Padavan, Maura McCarthy, and anyone you can think of. We have ammased over 14 years (over 200 pages) of letters and pettitions, along with over 1000 emails, and still nothing. All solutions have been presented by us as a Civic Association, our elected officials, along with other Government Officials have offered nothing.
We can not wait till something happens, we must be proactive, not just deal with it.
Glad you like the lawn sign He has confirmed attendance to a Meet the Candidate night sponsored by Malba Gardens Civic on October 18th, at Holy Trinity Rectory Basement, we are awaiting confirmation from Ackerman as well. Event will be open to public but are requested to rsvp at: Malbagardens.blogspot.com
Ah Squeaky wheel gets the grease, for the past 14 years we on 5th avenue have been squeaking. We have met with CB7, Kelty, Appelian, Vallones, Padavan, Halloran, Avella, Maura McCarthy of Queens DOT, and various other "GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS" Traffic studies have been done, that is where we get our #'s of 107 cars per hour 33% speeding.
We have reactivated a civic association, amassed over 200 pages of letters, pettitions etc,, We have amassed over 1000 emails. Every suggestion to remedy problem we made, no other official could come up with a solution.
Halloran and Padavan have written letters to DOT calling our problem a safety issue. CB7 conducted a survey (after DOT stated that 107 cars per hour was not a danger, just a mere inconvenience) and worded it in a way to stress inconvenience of driving an extra 2 blocks if you live on 6,7,8 or above avenues.
Kelty opposes any change, he claims to be representing Boosters Beach, yet no one I spoke to within the organization knew this was their stance.
We do not allow our children to play in the street, nor can we allow them to play on our "big" front lawns. Why? because these cars and trucks try to pass each other and often drive up "accidentaly" on the curbs or even brush parked cars. WE CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL A TRAGEDY OCCURS. SOMETHING NEEDS TO DONE. PUSH THE EXIT BACK TO THE ORIGINAL DESIGN OF GETTING OF ON 7TH AVENUE A 65FT WIDE STREET DESIGNED TO TAKE THE TRAFFIC, MAKE 5TH AND 4TH AVENUES ONEWAY WESTBOUND TOWARD THE BRIDGE, EXTEND THE ALREADY EXTENDED CONCRETE DIVIDER TO THIRD AVENUE A 55 FT WIDE STREET WITH 7 HOUSES ON ONE SIDE.
LET US NOT FORGET THAT THESE BOX TRUCKS AND TRAILORS SHAKE FOUNDATIONS CREATING CRACKS AND SERIOUS DAMAGE TO THE HOMES IN THE AREA.
I live on 14th ave, a local truck route, and it is trucks 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Someone already mentioned it but a lot of them are from the Tropicana facility near the Waldbaums.
I'm actually surprised you can't get a cop stationed on your street if it is NOT a local truck route but is being used that way. it is an easy ticket for Bloomie's jackboots and makes them lots of money.
You would think the revenue alone would make them come out. According to DOT 33% of the cars on 5th are speeding out of 107 thats like what? 35 cars speeding daily. How much revenue would that bring?
Hey I am going to email City Hall Bureau of Finance with these numbers. Lets see what happens next, should be fun.
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