Friday, September 16, 2011

Gridlock gold


"Walking south along the east side of Main Street, I had to wait, wait and then wait some more....until the pathway was finally clear enough for me proceed along without risking bodily harm. Notice the two cars trying to simultaneously exit the underground garages (on the left) at "New World Mall" onto Main Street. At the same time a northbound bus was attempting to negotiate (in heavy traffic) so it might reach its assigned stop near Duane Reade.

Of course....we always have Flushing's bustling humanity overcrowding its far too narrow sidewalks to up our game as you can see. Now I ask: can this be a pleasant shopping experience?

Downtown "Flush" is not my destination of choice for anything anymore if I can help it! Where is all of that BID money going to? Apparently not to improving the business district from the looks of things!

And where is DOT, NYPD and the FDNY? You can't rush to a fire in this tangled mess!

And it isn't any better looking in the direction of the #7 subway entrance either."

THE FLUSHING PHANTOM

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

They should have never approved the project w/o removing one of the entrances/exits onto Main St. Absolutely horrible now, with the added vehicular traffic. The pedestrians aren't ignoring the traffic signal, they simply don't know it exists because most people don't know/expect that there is a driveway there. And the sidewalk is not marked conspicuously so who would know? Shame on CB7 and DOT, who needs to demarcate the right-of-way better.

Anonymous said...

And just wait until TDC's "Flushing Commons" (Muni Lot #1) project gets built.

Expect even worse log jams to occur.

I suggest a new slogan for the Flushing BID to inscribe on their street banners:


"Flushing,
a destination of congestion".

Anonymous said...

RU kidding?

CB#7 is always eager to rubber stamp their approval of ANY project that puts $$$$$ into Chuck Apelian's back pocket...and the purse of a couple of its shady members!

Anonymous said...

Did you all notice that there isn't one happy face in this crowd.

They're all stoically girding their loins....determined to successfully run the gantlet....on their way to somewhere without getting stomped upon.

Flushing certainly ain't my "destination of choice" and hasn't been for about 15 years.

Anonymous said...

Honestly, anyone who drives on or near main street is probably stupid or has a bad sense of direction. I've lived in Flushing most of my life, over 30 years now and I NEVER would drive near Main Street. Just like I'll avoid driving in Downtown Manhattan. Sure maybe its worse now but its been really consistently crowded there since the late 80s at least. I can't vouch for before that because that is when I started driving.

Since when did NYC have to become totally sterile and nanny-state safe? It seems the real problems are lack of funding to the FDNY in the first place and their inability to read the signs there. I've seen firetrucks go through way worse crowding and doing their job. You know on that small island to the west a bit.

Anonymous said...

I also love how some paranoid Asian folks wear face masks on the streets of Flushing. This isn't Shanghai, our streets are less polluted. Stop scaring the kids!

Anonymous said...

And where is DOT, NYPD and the FDNY? You can't rush to a fire in this tangled mess!
---------------------------------
Pretty much answers THAT question, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

On the subject of downtown Frushing traffic, weren't they planning on making Main Street and Union Street One Way streets? WHat happened to that plan?

Anonymous said...

It's not just downtown Frushing thats turning into gridlock area. It looks like DOT is trying to turn Queens into Manhattan, putting a light or a 4 way stop sign on every corner. Why is there a need to put 4 way stops at every corner along a main drag like 149th street which has a double yellow line on it. And they keep ading lights and signs even at single ended intersections (3-way
)where a side street ends into main roads. It used to take me 10 minutes max to get from my home by 46th ave. and 149th st.to the whitestone bridge via 149th street. No more....I'm lucky if I can do it in 25 minutes havong to stop and wait for every light along there. And if you decide to ride around at around 3pm - 6pm...might as well be prepared to wait 2-3 traffic light cycles just to get through some intersections. Just like manhattan. DOT has really buggered it up as far as being able to get around this borough easily anymore. Traffic an not free-flow anymore through the neighborhoods.

Anonymous said...

Anon No. 1:

You want fewer subway entrances? That will certainly help at main Street.

Anonymous said...

That's what happens when you have people greasing the wheels and let illegals do whatever they want.

Anonymous said...

Wait until One Fulton Square is built near the Bland. Hella traffic will be added to the already over conjested area of Downtown Flushing.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/new_mixed_use_flushing_complex_to_WNhn0A18rqZ3P4sEkNhgMJ

Anonymous said...

Flushing has become one big hell-hole. Years ago I heard Wellington Chen say he didn't want "Flushing to become a crappy Chinatown!" Well, it's too late.

Anonymous said...

I moved to Manhattan and will NEVER MOVE BACK TO QUEENS!

Anonymous said...

wait til the traffic csar puts a kiosk and a load of bikes on the corner, then installs a bike lane

Anonymous said...

In 1951 they tore down Flushing Bus Station to build Woolworth, Old Navy, and now Duane Reade. They promised to quickly rebuild it up the block. So they turned the streets of Flushing into a bus terminal. The resulting traffic did not allow police to get to the Wendy's massacre on time. Helen Marshal is said to want to build a new bus terminal at Willets Point.

Anonymous said...

"The resulting traffic did not allow police to get to the Wendy's massacre on time. "

Are you kidding? The Wendy's massacre happened at 11 PM. Even Main st doesn't have crazy traffic at that hour.

Anonymous said...

Why would any of you snapperheads live in Flushing anyway?
Is this a blog about Queens, or just Flushing?? All I read about is Flushing or Willet's point on this site.

Anonymous said...

"It looks like DOT is trying to turn Queens into Manhattan, putting a light or a 4 way stop sign on every corner."

Actually you can blame all these civic groups for that one. I am not bashing any of the civic groups in Queens they do great work, but every meeting someone gets up and moans about how someone drove down their block too fast or didn't use a proper turn signal, and that we need a light/ stop sign there or a speed bump etc. Then they put pressure on DOT who installs the traffic control device to please the neighborhood.

No one thinks how it will affect anyone else and their commute. What people don't see is that the more people have to stop and the longer it takes to go from a to b the more fustrated they get and the more faster and reckless they will drive.

Queens Crapper said...

"Is this a blog about Queens, or just Flushing?? All I read about is Flushing or Willet's point on this site."

You must be joking. Or you can't read.

Anonymous said...

The resulting traffic did not allow police to get to the Wendy's massacre on time.
---------------------------------
Absolutely false, I was there that night. But I do agree with everything else you wrote.

Anonymous said...

"You must be joking. Or you can't read."

That dog throwing article is the first article in forever I've seen about Astoria; LIC never. Flushing is a lost cause, why not have a moratorium on those articles for one week, please.

Queens Crapper said...

How long have you been reading the blog?

Astoria

LIC

So WTF are you talking about? Do you know what tags are and how to use them?

Anonymous said...

Right on the money....
these flix surely show that
Flushing is a dirty, overcrowded bung hole.

Anonymous said...

Is this why CB#7's Marilyn Bitterman prefers to go out to "the island" to shop with "people of her own class"?