Mayor Adams approves pedestrian path on Queensbridge for the few people that walk on it

 

 AMNY

City officials told amNewYork on Tuesday that cyclists and pedestrians will finally have their own lanes on the Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge, ending a years-long controversy that had the two groups sharing a narrow path on the vehicle-heavy span.

Starting May 18, the north outer roadway of the Queensboro Bridge will be used exclusively for cyclists, and the south outer roadway, which is currently a vehicle lane, will become a dedicated space for pedestrians. 

The Queensboro Bridge, which connects Queens to Midtown, is the only city-owned bridge above the East River without separate paths for pedestrians and cyclists. Currently, the north outer roadway of the bridge is a shared space that crushes both pedestrians and cyclists together in a tight, 11-foot lane.

Advocates (aka lobbyists) have fought to open a separate pedestrian path, citing dangerous overcrowding that has led to conflicts among cyclists, pedestrians and micromobility users. Manhattan Community Board 6 even passed a resolution in October calling on the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) to open the path without delay and “without regard to delays of construction,” which was being done on the bridge’s upper level last  year. 

However, once the south outer roadway opens for foot traffic, the bridge’s pedestrian and cycling space will double while eliminating space for vehicles. 

he new pathway was supposed to open sooner but Mayor Eric Adams, at first, delayed the celebration to ensure he and his team were fully briefed, and the new layout did not negatively impact traffic, a City Hall spokesperson explained. 

The double-decker Queensboro Bridge was built in 1909. Adams cited the span’s history by saying it has connected New Yorkers between Manhattan and Queens for 100 years while offering “breathtaking views” of the cityscape. 

“Now, our administration will make it even easier and safer to do so,” Mayor Adams said. “The more we make it safe to walk and bike, the more people utilize their bikes, and thanks to new cycling infrastructure in communities near the bridge, more and more pedestrians and cyclists are utilizing the Queensboro Bridge. Today’s announcement doubling the space available for pedestrians and cyclists builds off those upgrades and is a win-win for everyday New Yorkers.”

2,000

LIC Post 

Many Dutch Kills and Queensbridge residents have been calling for assistance in dealing with quality-of-life issues stemming from the local homeless shelters, according to Queens Community Board 1.

Florence Koulouris, the district manager for Community Board 1, told board members at their monthly meeting Feb. 15 that there have been about two thousand 911 calls over the past year from Dutch Kills and Queensbridge residents regarding incidents at the surrounding shelters.

There are several shelters in the Dutch Kills/Queensbridge area–all within close proximity to one another.

“Our local residents have seen remarkable events occurring… and are fearful for their safety, due to the lack of desperately needed services for the [shelter] residents placed in hotels,” Koulouris said.

She said that there have been complaints about public defecation, urination, intimidation, sexual activity, drug use—and that there are video tapes of homeless residents involved in trespassing and theft.

She gave a breakdown of the number of complaints concerning shelter residents in the Dutch Kills/Queensbridge section of Long Island City for the 12-month period through Feb.1, 2022.

Koulouris said that there were 107 911 calls concerning residents of the Quality Inn LIC, located at 30-03 40th Ave.; 219 911 calls pertaining to the residents at the Sleep Inn Hotel at 38-77 13th St.; 1,385 911 calls—leading to 51 arrests—at Pam’s Place, a women’s shelter located at 40-03 29th St., which opened in 2015 and was the former Verve Hotel.

At the Vue Hotel, located at 40-47 22nd St., there were 240 911 calls, leading to two arrests. The data, Koulouris said, was provided by the NYPD 114th Precinct.

Koulouris told board members that the complaints at Pam’s Place have jumped significantly since the DHS removed its “peace officers.” The peace officers, a unit of DHS, provided additional security. The peace officers, however, vacated most shelters more than a year ago due to budget constraints.

George Stamatiades, chair of the Dutch Kills Civic Association, said that residents in the area have been lodging complaints but have gotten nowhere.

“We have been complaining to DHS but it falls on deaf ears,” Stamatiades told the Queens Post.

He said that DHS is just warehousing people at the hotels and not taking care of the medical needs of the residents.

Bike commuters demand new path on Queensbridge

QNS

The south outer roadway of the Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge was packed with anything but cars on Sunday as hundreds of cyclists rode free, demonstrating to the city Department of Transportation the aching need to give cyclists and pedestrians more space.

Of 10 lanes total, the bridge reserves nine of them for cars despite the tight pathway for any other form of transportation being packed with users, something that has been exacerbated by the 57 percent spike cycling and 40 percent — according to Transportation Alternatives — on the bridge alone this year due to the pandemic forcing New Yorkers to pick a different way to get around as subways and buses have given the impression of being unsafe.

Jon Orcutt, of Bike New York, told amNewYork Metro that the city was long overdue in facilitating its own encouragement of cycling and the need for extra space on the Queensborough Bridge needed more not than ever since New Yorkers have been taking the government up on that advice.

“We need the city to catch up with us,” Orcutt said. “The city has said for years, we want more New Yorkers on bikes. There are consequences to that, now we have a bike capacity problem on the bridge. The city should respond, the policy is working, more people are using bikes … What’s pulled everyone out on bikes this year has been more space on streets and so bridge is incredibly timely.”

But the city believes there to be one major obstacle to taking cars off the south outer roadway: fences.

DOT has said the barriers on this section of the bridge do not meet the eight-foot standard for pedestrian and cyclist safety, and the cash strapped agency just can eat the cost at this time.

Another problem? DOT says that as long as construction is forcing some traffic to be diverted from the upper roadway, they will need to prioritize as much space as they can for motorists. This work is scheduled to wrap in the fall of 2022, according to DOT.

 Maybe the bike lobbyists and zealots should have followed my twitter when I wrote about this back in November.

Municipal vehicles causing havoc

One hotel coming, another going

From the Queens Gazette:

Developers have filed plans for a 116-room, 16-story hotel at 38-59 11th Street, just two blocks from the Queensbridge Houses.

The hotel would soar 179-feet over the Long Island City landscape, with eight room on each of the second through 14th floors, and six rooms each on the two remaining floors.

Great location!

Also from the Queens Gazette:

A developer has filed plans to build an 8-story, mixed-use residential building at the site of a Holiday Inn hotel at LaGuardia Airport.

The 70-foot-tall, 173,909-square-foot building at 37-10 114th Street in Corona will feature 623-square-feet of community space, 92,217-square-feet of commercial space and 81,069-square-feet of residential space with 90 units – 10 of which will be located in the basement.

Queensbridge Park to get new parkhouse

From LIC Post:

Plans to overhaul the Queensbridge Park House were unveiled Thursday, with city officials announcing that $3 million will be spent on redoing the dilapidated space that has been out of use for decades.

The Park’s old field house, which was built in 1941, will be demolished and replaced by a new 15,500 square foot facility. The new field house will include a community room, an office area for Parks staff, a public restroom, and storage space for the park’s maintenance equipment. It will be also be surrounded by an outdoor plaza area complete with seating, bicycle racks and drinking fountains.

Work on the park is expected to begin in fall, with the project expected to take 12-18 months to complete.

Tear Queensbridge down in order to save it?

From LICTalk:

Since Mayor de Blasio fantasizes to the press about covering Sunnyside Yards and building affordable housing on top of it, I have decided to put forth a more pragmatic housing solution that focuses on the original intent of government. Raze Queensbridge and put up brand new towers for both the poor and whomever qualifies for ‘affordable housing’ in NYC in 2015.

Well the Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing development in North America, are a relic in all respects. The housing is antiquated and dilapidated. It’s completely isolated with a bridge on the south, a river to the west, and warehouses and autobody shops to it’s east and north. Any occasional talk/press about it’s being a vibrant community, is completely negated by the fact that it’s too dangerous to be outside of at night.

But guess what else Queensbridge is? Low density and extremely close to the city. All the buildings are only six stories high, there’s a namesake station on its eastern border that’s two stops from Manhattan, and the Queensboro Plaza station four blocks from there has multiple lines just one stop into Midtown.

So here’s the plan.

1. Knock down the existing 3,000+ units

2. Rezone to allow 30-story buildings = 15,000 units

3. Sell the property to a developer with two stipulations 1) 4,500 units are controlled by NYCHA (the NYC public housing agency). 2) the other 10,500 apartments are market rate but rent-stabilized, just like Linc LIC and Gantry Park Landing are.

Pickaxe waved at protest

From the Queens Tribune:

Weeks of dispute over hiring at a new Long Island City hotel have culminated in a tense back and forth between hotel managers and the community.

Queensbridge residents and members of nonprofit Urban Upbound gathered outside the soon to open Mayflower International Hotel last Friday morning to protest alleged unfair hiring practices there. The press conference followed an episode in which Urban Upbound CEO and senior pastor at Center of Hope International Bishop Mitchell Taylor was recorded on hotel cameras shoving an employee who confronted him at the door.

Taylor and a handful of employees then exited the hotel pushing and shoving, with Taylor briefly grabbing a pickaxe and waving it upside down at the workers.

Taylor issued an apology for the violence at Friday’s rally.

“I apologize for that kind of aggression and [that] incident, but I don’t apologize for standing up for my community,” Taylor said.

A number of other speakers issued their support for Taylor regarding the altercation, including Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan (D-Sunnyside), who said, “I have no issues with what happened yesterday.”

Queensbridge Park seawall finally repaired

From the Queens Courier:

The Long Island City waterfront has just received a much needed facelift.

Officials cut the ribbon on Tuesday on the $6.65 million project in Queensbridge Park which included the restoration and improvement of the seawall, and the creation of a six-foot-wide waterfront promenade with benches and plants as well as a small pier at the north end.

The seawall protects the park from high tides and covers some of the mechanisms and underwater cables that keep a number of subway lines in order. It was previously blocked off by a chain-link fence due to decades of deterioration.

This project, managed by the NYC Economic Development Corporation, included the reconstruction of the seawall using rip-rap revetment. Rip-rap, made up of large rocks, was used to protect the shoreline by absorbing and deflecting waves and also decreasing the effects of erosion.

Queensbridge Park's parkhouse to be renovated

From DNA Info:

Queensbridge Park is going green — the waterfront space in Long Island City has been allotted $2.5 million for the complete renovation of its park house, a building that’s been out of use for decades, city officials announced Tuesday.

The Parks Department will hold public scoping meetings to see what park users would like to see in the greenspace, which could include amenities like a modern comfort station, storage facilities for athletic teams and offices for the park’s staff.

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer secured the funding for the renovation, which he says is part of a larger effort to improve and “reawaken” Queensbridge Park.

“It is extremely important that every single senior and child who lives in Queensbridge know that our City has allocated every single cent we could to make sure that Western Queens has a park that rivals Central Park in Manhattan or any other park in the City of New York,” the councilman said in a statement.

Seniors and children. Seniors and children. Everyone else is chopped liver and don't visit parks, apparently.

Queensbridge Park seawall may finally be repaired

From WPIX:

Queensbridge Park will be repaired after 15 years of neglect.

City, State and Federal funds are being used in the $3.65 million project which is set to be finished by the summer of 2014 and managed by the NYC Economic Development Corporation.

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents the area, says the project the seawall will be reconstructed using “rip-rap revetment” which is made up of large rocks, will be used to protect the shoreline by absorbing and deflecting waves while lessening the effects of erosion.

When it’s completed, there will be a 6-foot wide waterfront promenade with benches and plantings, and a small wharf at its northern end.

The MTA also added in $1 million to the project because the erosion is affecting the structure of the F train which runs under the river in the area.

Illegal alien found guilty of cop shootings

From the Queens Gazette:

A Queens jury last week convicted an illegal immigrant who shot two police officers and tried to shoot a third officer inside a Queensbridge subway station three years ago.

Raul Nunez, 35, a native of the Dominican Republic, was found guilty of two counts of attempted manslaughter, one count of assault and criminal possession of a weapon for an attack that forced one officer to retire at age 28 due to the severity of his injuries.

Trial testimony revealed that officers spotted Nunez at about 5:10 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2008 entering a turnstile at the 21st Street and 41st Avenue station in Long Island City using a student MetroCard.

NYPD Officers Jason Maass and Shane Farina stopped Nunez on the station platform and asked to see the MetroCard and his identification. When Nunez replied that he did not have identification, the officers cuffed his left wrist, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. Before the cops could cuff his right wrist, Nunez fought back and his actions forced Nunez and the two officers to tumble to the platform, where Nunez grabbed Maass’ 9mm handgun and shot both officers.

Law enforcement sources said Nunez now has no reason to fear he will be forced to leave the U.S. He faces more than 50 years in a New York state prison when he is sentenced on April 7.

Queensbridge Park wall will finally be repaired

From the Queens Chronicle:

After years of bureaucratic back and forth, a single city agency has been named responsible for fixing the seawall in Queensbridge Park, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Queens and Manhattan) said Tuesday.

During a meeting with city officials, it was decided that the Parks Department would be taking the lead on mending the collapsing promenade, which has been rendered unusable to residents for nearly a decade.

According to Maloney, Parks Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe said his agency was working on removing lead paint which had fallen into the park from the Queensboro Bridge. After that project is completed, he will begin to repair the seawall, which continues to collapse into the East River.

Meanwhile, Maloney said she is in discussions with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to get permission for the city Department of Transportation to fund a portion of the estimated $12 million repair as part of environmental work required by the DEC after DOT construction on other parts of the waterfront was completed.

Since 2003, politicians and city agencies have been talking about repairing the wall — finding funding, making plans and even contacting the Army Corps of Engineers. However, like the crumbling seawall itself, these plans sank into a river of bureaucracy, leaving Queensbridge residents with a 200-foot-long gaping hole where an esplanade once was.

Man killed in Astoria by stray bullet

From the NY Post:

A merchant mariner visiting friends in his old neighborhood was killed early yesterday when a gunman fired wildly into a crowd outside a trendy Queens club, sources said.

Moore, 29, had just finished a night out with his brother, Eric, 27, and pals at the RSVP Lounge in Astoria at about 4 a.m. when they heard shots, said the victim’s devastated girlfriend, Chi Chi Wymes, 28.

Moore, a general vessel assistant previously stationed in the Middle East, later died at Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens.

The shooter’s target outside the hot spot on Broadway and 43rd Street was one of Moore’s friends, stemming from an argument that originated in the Queensbridge Houses, police sources said.

That friend was wounded in the melee, the sources said.

Photo from Confined Nomad

No money for seawall

From the Times Ledger:

...money remains an issue. Joshua Laird, assistant Parks Department commissioner for Planning and Parklands, said the city agency’s annual budget is generally allocated for specific projects and there is none allocated for this one.

“It’s a source of really great frustration for us, for the commissioner [Adrian Benepe],” Laird said. “We recognize it as a real hardship for the community.”

According to the letter, Maloney secured $555,000 and Nolan obtained $350,000 in fiscal years 2005 and 2006 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a survey and repair the seawall. But the Parks Department rejected the funds.

Laird said this was done because the agency believed the survey was unnecessary.

“We don’t need a feasibility study,” he said. “We know it needs to be done, we need construction money.”

He added that working with the corps could have meant the project would take five years to complete, so the plan was rejected by the department at the time. But money or occasions to complete the project through other means have not surfaced in the same amount of time.

The letter said the seawall should be repaired through mitigation obligations by either or both the city Department of Transportation or city Sanitation Department.

Laird said that in mitigation obligations, an organization that does a city project involving construction on a body of water needs to mitigate the harmful impact by additional construction.

If it was in Hunters Point, it would have been fixed 5 years ago...

US Reps Maloney, Crowley and the Crumbling Seawall

Normandeau Newswire – Queensbridge Park on the East River at the Queensboro Bridge is a beautiful park with a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline.

Until about ten years ago people would relax at the water's edge. Then the seawall started crumbling. There were holes in the seawall the width of milk crates. People could no longer get to the water.

In Summer 2002, a press conference was held in Queensbridge Park where City Councilman Eric Gioia, US Rep Crowley and US Rep Maloney spoke about Federal money being obtained to repair the seawall. This was happily witnessed by Queensbridge Houses Park Warden Elizabeth McQueen and then Queensbridge Tenants Association President Nina Adams.

Congressional representation switched from Crowley to Maloney due to redistricting.

Nothing further was heard from Maloney. The Queensnbridge website cropped Maloney from the group photo shot leaving McQueen, Gioia, Crowley and Adams.

It is now 2010, the milk crate sized holes are now big enough for a Volkswagen. But it is election time, and Maloney is now showing interest in the seawall again. In a letter that she sent to Mayor Bloomberg, Maloney is now requesting action on the seawall.

Tenants are suspicious of the timing of the letter as some of the co-signors are running for office with opponents. Could this be simply a ruse to publicize candidates?

Nina Adams who is now CEO of Queensbridge Outreach is disappointed that the names of Eric Gioia and US Rep Crowley were not mentioned. Although those politician no longer represent Queensbridge Park they had shown a sincere dedication to its needs.

Maloney is now back in the picture. We will see if substantive seawall progress is made.

Park seawall crumbling

From the Queens Gazette:

Lawmakers in Western Queens have sent out an SOS to Mayor Michael Bloomberg urging immediate action to repair a 200-foot section of the Queens seawall overlooking the East River in Queensbridge Park in Astoria.

The wall has completely failed an expert warned, and is concerned about further deterioration along the waterfront near Queensbridge Houses, the city’s largest public housing development.

For safety reasons, the public officials added, the city Parks Department fenced off the damaged area around the seawall, blocking out local residents’ access to the waterfront.

In addition, cathodic devices under the seawall that are critical to the safe operation of the New York subway is endangered by the seawall’s deterioration.

Making the plea to the mayor were Congressmember Carolyn Maloney, state Senator George Onorato, Assemblymembers Michael Gianaris and Catherine Nolan and Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer. They were joined by Borough President Helen Marshall.

Years ago, Maloney and Nolan secured significant funding to help repair the seawall, but at the time the Parks Department rejected the funding saying the city could more quickly make the repairs if the work was done as mitigation for city projects that have impacted area waterways.

However, the lawmakers’ statement went on, many years have passed since the Parks Department rejected the funds, which were then diverted to other projects, and no work has been done on the seawall.

I have an idea. Let's wait until it collapses and kills a child playing in the park, then we can not only pay for emergency repairs, but also a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

Combating Literacy, One Misteak at a Time

Normandeau Newswire

Normandeau Newswire – Queensbridge Houses is the largest public housing project in North America.

A diversity of educational levels and accomplishments are to be found.

Recently, a Queensbridge houses tenant who had not even finished high school, was flabbergasted when he saw a collection of “education aid” signs in Queensbridge's Jacob Riis Community Center that had grammatical errors.

That same tenant was shocked over the weekend to find that the Queensbridge Community had now misspelled the name “Queensbridge” on a very large banner approximately twenty feet wide by three feet high.

There it hangs, that big banner, on the front of Queensbridge's Jacob Riis Community Center on 41st Avenue, between 10th Street and 12th Street in Long island City.

Surely, this final blow to education can only reinforce the thought amongst Queensbridge children that the best way to combat literacy in the projects is just to keep plugging along, creating one “misteak” at a time.

Queensbridge Houses Hosts Another Murder

Normandeau Newswire

Normandeau Newswire – Queensbridge Houses is the largest public housing complex in North America. The area around Queensbridge Houses is gentrifying with fourteen luxury hotels springing up. Just a gunshot away from Queensbridge Houses, wine sells for $9.00 a glass.

Hundreds of artists studios have sprung up in the Queensbridge Houses area with a two-day open studios event the weekend of May 22-23.

One might find it hard to find anything more exciting.

How about a murder for excitement?

The early morning hours of Saturday May 22, 2010 brought another murder to Queensbridge Houses just blocks away from another recent murder at Queensbridge Houses where three people were shot.

What is unusual about the May 22 murder is that the police do not seem to be releasing any details.

All that is known is based on hearsay. Apparently two people were arguing at 40-16 12 Street. A third person intervened. That third person was shot and killed. An all too familiar memorial is now on on the sidewalk at the site of the 40-16 12 Street murder.

Hopefully the NYCPD, either the 114 Precinct or the PSA9 Housing Police Bureau will enlighten the tenants.

That would truly be a train to nowhere

"Among the subway trains of Queens Boulevard, the F is the most predictable. Days, nights, weekends, holidays- it is always an express from 179th Street to Coney Island. Imagine my surprise when I saw this erroneous sign on the Manhattan-bound platform at the Sutphin Blvd. station.

The train goes to Coney Island via Queensbridge. It does not terminate there." - anonymous