Monday, March 7, 2011

Truck causes Haz Mat situation in Malba


All of the pictures I sent you were taken tonight March 6th, 8PM, as another Tractor Trailer attempted to turn onto our small residential street. This driver struck the hydrant, and ruptured his gas tank as his cab completely jumped the sidewalk spilling Diesel fuel all over the street. According to witnesses he then attempted to back out of the block. What if the hydrant was a person? or worse, a Child? HE ATTEMPTED TO BACK UP? IN ESSENCE RUNNING THE BODY OVER AGAIN?

Now tragedy was averted this time as it was only a hydrant. It did however become a HAZ MAT CONDITION which the Fire Department handled quickly (Albeit a Haz Mat condition of this magnitude should not be occurring on a 24 ft wide residential street, especially when we forewarned them over and over). Our organization has been trying to get our dangerous street converted into a one way westbound in order to avoid such happenings.

Today a Hydrant, tomorrow ? Yet if you ask Maura McCarthy of Queens DOT the traffic on 5 th avenue is not a safety issue, it is just a mere inconvenience. You look at these pictures and tell me, is it an inconvenience or a tragedy waiting to happen? Gene Kelty Community Board 7 chairman claims that his other group, Boosters Beach is against the change as it would be an inconvenience.

This is not the first time a Tractor Trailer has turned on our residential street, along with the scores of box trucks, on top of the 107 cars per hour all day every day (As per DOT traffic survey). For FIFTEEN YEARS the Malba Gardens Civic Association has been fighting to make this street safe for the residents, especially the 18 children under the age of 16 living on the first block of 5th avenue alone.

The Hydrant was destroyed today, LET US NOT ALLOW A FAMILY TO BE DESTROYED TOMORROW.

MAKE 5TH AVENUE A ONE WAY WESTBOUND TOWARD THE BRIDGE BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.


Some of our members, while reading the Whitestone Times, almost fell off their chairs.

The following is a direct quote in the paper about the one way story in the paper about 11th and 12th avenues.

“I don’t like one-way streets, but my feeling is if it provides safety for the people, makes plenty of room for the cars to travel and maximizes parking, then I am in support of it,” Kelty said.

I guess that goes for everyplace other than 5th avenue in Whitestone. Converting 5th avenue into a One Way Westbound (which is what the residents want) would not provide for safety of the people, make plenty of room for the cars to travel, maximize parking, (Heck they could even put in bike lanes)? This is exactly what we have been saying! For the past 15 years its residents have been requesting this change, demanding this change.

What is going on here?

MALBA GARDENS CIVIC ASSOCIATION

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great pics. GEt a real camera MGCA.

Insta Matic said...

GEt a real camera MGCA.

I see Annie Leibotroll is up early!

Anonymous said...

Get a real Camera? Sorry , but it doesn't seem like they are in the business of journalism. Not bad for a smartphone though.

Want to donate a Camera to them? You could use it as a tax write off.

Anonymous said...

Queens and Staten Island are true sister-boroughs. This is what you get with bad traffic and zoning paradigms, and no one seems to give a damn except those of us who live, or try to live, with it.

Anonymous said...

Kelty lives on 25th ave or close to that, what is he doing chiming in about boosters beach? One thing for one group the opposite for another. Nice going "community board".

That looks like a seriously dangerous situation, scary shit. I say park a SEMI in front of his house and dump 100 or so gallons of Diesel on his street, see what reaction we get.

DOT is a bunch of Kahn idiots including commissioner McCarthy who deputy commissioner under that other moron, you know former DOT commissioner married to who? a Congressman?

Anonymous said...

where's dan ? bulgaria !

Anonymous said...

"Converting 5th avenue into a One Way Westbound (which is what the residents want) would not provide for safety of the people, make plenty of room for the cars to travel, maximize parking, (Heck they could even put in bike lanes)? "

How about one way EASTBOUND. It would be much safer, make plenty of room for cars to travel, and maximize parking (I don't understand this one). No, you would rather push your traffic problem onto a neighboring street, where people did not buy their houses on a street that leads from a major highway exit.

What you really need is the NYPD to provide some truck enforcement. Off-truck route tickets start at $280 and should be easy slam dunk tickets on this block, why the greedy city would not be lapping this up is beyond me.

Anonymous said...

What you really need is the NYPD to provide some truck enforcement. Off-truck route tickets start at $280 and should be easy slam dunk tickets on this block, why the greedy city would not be lapping this up is beyond me.

A happy ending? Oil's well that ends well.

Anonymous said...

No, you would rather push your traffic problem onto a neighboring street, where people did not buy their houses on a street that leads from a major highway exit.
-----------------------------------

KNOW YOUR FACTS BEFORE YOU FART

No we don't want to push our problem off on anyone. pre 1997 you had the option of making a right on 6th avenue. An officer of Whitestone Taxpayers with City connections was able to get a concrete divider extended, preventing cars that option.

The original exit design called for the 1st possible right to be 7th avenue. Hence the 68 foot width. 3rd avenue has 7 houses on only one side for the first two blocks and is 60 feet wide.

Malba Gardens has made several suggestions for the past FIFTEEN YEARS, and no one can come up with a solution. EITHER PUSH THE EXIT BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL DESIGN, REMOVE THE 1997 DIVIDER (5TH AVENUE RESIDENTS NEVER INFORMED BY THE WAY), CLOSE THE EXIT PERMANENTLY, SOMETHING. If you make 5th and 4th one way, you can station a cop MTA?(who has to stay under bridge anyway, you know 9-11 and all) could enforce truck abuse and divert them back around to
14th avenue.

This problem did not exist pre
1997, nor did it exist pre "Cresthaven" over development. So I say to the powers that be, help these people before its too late.

FOR THE RECORD I DON'T LIVE ON THAT BLOCK.

Anonymous said...

KNOW YOUR FACTS BEFORE YOU FART

No we don't want to push our problem off on anyone. pre 1997 you had the option of making a right on 6th avenue. An officer of Whitestone Taxpayers with City connections was able to get a concrete divider extended, preventing cars that option.

The original exit design called for the 1st possible right to be 7th avenue. Hence the 68 foot width. 3rd avenue has 7 houses on only one side for the first two blocks and is 60 feet wide.

Malba Gardens has made several suggestions for the past FIFTEEN YEARS, and no one can come up with a solution. EITHER PUSH THE EXIT BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL DESIGN, REMOVE THE 1997 DIVIDER (5TH AVENUE RESIDENTS NEVER INFORMED BY THE WAY), CLOSE THE EXIT PERMANENTLY, SOMETHING. If you make 5th and 4th one way, you can station a cop MTA?(who has to stay under bridge anyway, you know 9-11 and all) could enforce truck abuse and divert them back around to
14th avenue.

This problem did not exist pre
1997, nor did it exist pre "Cresthaven" over development. So I say to the powers that be, help these people before its too late.

FOR THE RECORD I DON'T LIVE ON THAT BLOCK

-----------------------------------
Thank you,

Alfredo

Anonymous said...

The level of stupidity amazes me sometimes. Do people read? or do they just shoot their mouths off for the sake of getting a word in. irregardless of how ignorant they come off.

I grew up in the area and remember turning down 6th avenue off the highway. I remember Tramunti pulling strings to get his street (which had been the 1st turn since 1939, due to the stupidity of Bridge builders) "fixed". God Bless his soul, he did it, so now the people on 5th have a major problem.
But who gives a shit right? wrong! These people purchased homes on this block with no problem. From no doing of their own they now have a problem.

So Halloran, Marshall, Avella, Braunstein, Kelty, Apelian, Vallone, and everyone else. Stop sitting on your asses and get this done.

As for you illiterate trolls, learn to read, and learn your facts is right. SHAME ON YOU

Anonymous said...

5th avenue is not dumping on anyone the sign reads "third avenue exit" and has since 1939

Anonymous said...

When Robert Moses built the Cross Island Parkway in the 1930s, cars taking what is called the Third Avenue exit were supposed to be able to enter the quiet neighborhood by 7th Avenue, a 70-foot-wide road Moses built to handle the anticipated traffic in the area.

That changed as the years passed. First, 7th Avenue was blocked from exiting traffic due to incopetence of builders. then in 1997 a divider was extended to keep highway traffic off Sixth Avenue.

Fron 1939 to 1997 6th avenue was open. 7th avenue should have been , so now at the hands of people whose job it is to secure public safety. Parents are afraid to let their children play in their yards along the tree-lined streets. Why? because they can't figure out a solution. What a sad place our city has become.

Anonymous said...

Afraid to let their children play in their yards? What's wrong with their back yards? Isn't that why you have a house? So you have a nice back yard?

When was the last time a car or truck ran through someone's front yard on 5th ave that you're so worried even about the precious children getting hurt in the front yard?

Changing the traffic to be diverted onto 7th avenue isn't going to happen without major construction.

The MTA cop stationed under the bridge isn't concerned with truck, or any other, traffic in the neighborhood. It isn't his jurisdiction.

You people need to come up with something better than these solutions, and something better than the whining "But this is what was promised in 1939."

And stop voting for the same shitty politicians that don't give a shit about you.

Anonymous said...

The MTA cop stationed under the bridge isn't concerned with truck, or any other, traffic in the neighborhood. It isn't his jurisdiction.

You people need to come up with something better than these solutions, and something better than the whining "But this is what was promised in 1939."

-----------------------------------

Wrong on so many levels. First MTA cops have Jurisdiction within the area. Second WE do not have to come up with any "solutions" (although we have presented several),THEY do. You know the ones getting paid to do so. Third we are not "whining" about what was promised in 1939, merely stating facts of what was to be.

We are however fed up with a situation that was thrown upon us in 1997 and has progressivly worsened.

A tragedy could have happened, Thank God it didn't, we do NOT want to wait for one to happen.

Alfredo

Anonymous said...

Afraid to let their children play in their yards? What's wrong with their back yards? Isn't that why you have a house? So you have a nice back yard?

When was the last time a car or truck ran through someone's front yard on 5th ave that you're so worried even about the precious children getting hurt in the front yard?
***********************************

WE ARE AFRAID TO LET OUR CHILDREN PLAY IN OUR FRONT YARDS WHICH IS THEIR RIGHT TO DO SO, WE ARE AFRAID OF OUR CHILDREN CROSSING THE STREET. WITH 107 CARS PER HOUR WITH NO STOP SIGN ON THE CORNER OF THE WHITESTONE EXPRESSWAY AND 5TH AVENUE,AND CARS TRAVELLING AT HIGWAY SPEEDS THEY CANT CROSS. HELL THEY CANT EVEN GET OFF THE SCHOOL BUSES WITHOUT MORONS LIKE KELTY TRYING TO SPEED AROUND THEM AND THEIR BLINKING LIGHTS.

ALSO ASSWIPE, TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURE, THE TRACTOR TRAILER IS FULLY ON THE SIDEWALK!!!!! NOT DANGEROUS ENOUGH FOR YOU? YES CARS HAVE CRASHED THRU FENCES, ONE EVEN WOUND UP IN SOMEONES POOL A FEW YEARS AGO, AND GUESS WHERE THAT POOL WAS. ILL GIVE YOU A HINT NOT IN THE FRONT YARD!!!

SHMUCK ,

Anonymous said...

When was the last time a car or truck ran through someone's front yard on 5th ave that you're so worried even about the precious children getting hurt in the front yard? _____________________________________ YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE

Anonymous said...

Good...
let those hotsy-totsy Malba folk take some shit for a change!

Anonymous said...

Malba was better when some of the Luchese crime family lived there.

Now that the Gambinos are trying to muscle in...it's gone downhill.

They made a big mistake when they gave up private ownership of their streets.

Now take your lumps like the rest of us proletariat!

What bar is Kelty hanging out in these days?

Anonymous said...

Disappointed with life in Malba?

Then move to Floo-shing and see how you like it!

Anonymous said...

Tsk, tsk, tsk...the Malba utopian dream is attaining a nightmarish overlay.

Anonymous said...

I'd love to do a bus tour of all of those "goombah" Mc Mansions with Joe Peshce as the tour guido.

"On dis side uh da street we got Don Baccalla's house. Observe the soldieri walking the ramparts and da guard wit da Uzzi at the front gate".

Anonymous said...

FOR THE LAST TIME THE AREA IN QUESTION IS NOT MALBA!!! ITS BEEN CALLED MALBA GARDENS FOR IT SITS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF MALBA.

ALSO, YOUR IGNORANT MAFIA GOOMBAH JOE PESCI (PROPER SPELLING) IS OFFENSIVE.

WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE SEVERITY AND POINT OF THE POST? THIS WAS A DANGEROUS SITUATION NO MATTER WHERE IT HAPPENED, END OF STORY.

AGAIN ITS NOT IN MALBA, ITS TO THE RIGHT OF THE EXIT, THE FOLKS IN MALBA WITH THE HELP OF FRANK PADAVAN HAVE SUCCESSFULY LOBIED TO GET THE 14TH AVENUE EXIT OFF THE BRIDGE MOVE FORWARD SO THAT ALL DA BRONX PEOPLE WONT BE ABLE TO DRIVE THRU ON THEIR WAY TO BJS, AND KMART. AS ALWAYS MONEY TALKS WHEN YOU HANG IT IN FRONT OF THE RIGH POLITICIAN. THANKS FRANK FOR HELPING US OUT IN GETTING THAT EXIT MOVED UP.

Anonymous said...

"We used to be able to sit on our porch in the evening and enjoy the summer nights. You could count the cars coming down the street on one hand. Now, you can still sit out there, but all you can do is watch the cars whizzing by. Traffic is tremendous," said McVey, who heads the Whitestone Boosters Civic Association.

"We had kids all over. This block was loaded with children. My kids didn't have to go anywhere - just right outside the yard."

TAKEN FROM A DAILY NEWS ARTICLE.

TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED KELTY? BOOSTERS CHANGE THEIR MIND?

Anonymous said...

"I never left," said Kelty. "I can roll out of bed and be at La Guardia Airport in 10 minutes. I can be in Manhattan in an hour."

Growing up in Whitestone in the 1960s and '70s was "typical, where kids played on the streets and the parents knew where the kids were," he said.

QUOTE COURTESY OF: WHITESTONE'S STILL IN THE BIZ OF CHARM Named after rock, it's a growing gem
By DONALD BERTRAND DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, January 26th 2003, 7:52AM

WHAT A DIFFERNCE A FEW YEARS MAKES, AND FOR THE RECORD, I HAVE LIVED IN WHITESTONE LONGER.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS THE SAME KELTY.

Dee Truth said...

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS THE SAME KELTY.

It's the same Kelty but with fatter pockets! It must be nice to hold a position where you can profit. Right, Gene? It's time for you to get gone.

Anonymous said...

And what about BOOSTERS? They change their ideal as well? Oh wait Kelty bullies them like he does the CB$