Jamaica gets extra pavement

 

 

Cityland

On August 10, 2023, the New York City Department of Transportation and Department of Design and Construction announced the completion of their pedestrian safety improvements in Jamaica, Queens. The goal of the pedestrian safety improvements is to create a more inviting space for residents to enjoy Downtown Jamaica and reduce the amount of car crashes resulting in serious pedestrian injury in the area.

On Parsons Boulevard between Jamaica Avenue and Archer Avenue in Queens, sidewalk space has more than doubled, the distance to cross Parsons Boulevard has been significantly reduced and there is a new pedestrian island. All improvements come from the Jamaica NOW Action Plan which utilizes community visions to revamp Downtown Jamaica. Public space improvements have been at the top of the community’s wish list, with safety improvements specifically to Parsons Boulevard between Jamaica Avenue and Archer Avenue being at the forefront of discussion.

DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez stated, “New Yorkers deserve streets and public spaces that are safe, vibrant, and welcoming for all. This project will make Parsons Boulevard safer and better for the community and those who visit. I thank our partners at DDC, the New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative, elected officials, and community members for their collaboration.”

Council Member Nantasha Williams stated, “This investment into pedestrian safety is much needed and greatly appreciated. Parsons Blvd and the Downtown Jamaica area grow more vibrant every day, and we look forward to making this neighborhood an even more walkable community where constituents can live, work and play in safety.”

Meanwhile, a mere 2 blocks away on Jamaica Ave, Ydanis and the DOT made some public spaces that are pretty vibrant and welcoming too. Safe? Not so sure. Also not sure how much they spent on usurping parking spaces for lounging by busy traffic and a bus lane. 

 

Walking the reservoir

 

 Bushwick Daily

Ulises Rivera, a Bushwick resident, has been visiting the Ridgewood Reservoir, a natural gem and former water source within Highland Park, for over 40 years. On this particular morning, he rode his bike and was getting exercise by doing laps around the park’s track. Rivera, who is 76, said he’s shared his enthusiasm for nature by taking both his children and grandchildren to the park through the years. 

Highland Park’s reach is vast, with an emblematic central reservoir that makes you feel far from the city. This is surprising, given that the park is surrounded by major boulevards and highways, including the Jackie Robinson Parkway. 

To facilitate access to the park among these busy roads, the city is installing pedestrian infrastructural improvements at the intersection of Vermont Place and Highland Boulevard, a key pedestrian access point. After receiving specific complaints and support from local community boards, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is installing a series of improvements at the intersection. According to DOT’s planning report, three people were seriously injured in car accidents at the intersection between 2014 and 2018. 

These improvements include a concrete sidewalk, which DOT is finishing up by the end of the year, as well as crosswalks and adjustments to traffic signal changes, which DOT plans to install by summer 2022. According to Queens Community Board 5’s 2021 community needs statement, parks are a fundamental need for residents in a crowded city.  Given this reality, activists and government officials want to work on expanding and improving park access for all New Yorkers. Understanding that safe access to parks and nature is fundamental to the general well being of its residents, the city is taking steps to improve pedestrian access around the Ridgewood Reservoir.

 

Ozone Park sidewalks still a shambles after a hurricane from two years ago

 

 Queens Chronicle

Shards of cement are scattered in a pile in front of 88-16 102 Road in Ozone Park. The stretch of sidewalk looks like it was attacked by a demolition crew.

Only it’s no temporary construction site. It’s been like that for a year since a downed tree was uprooted and disposed of in the wake of Tropical Storm Isaias.

Two years ago the city announced that it would no longer charge homeowners for sidewalk damage caused by city trees and promised to ramp up sidewalk repairs in problem areas.

A year after Tropical Storm Isaias pummeled the borough, collapsing trees and power lines, and hitting especially hard in South Queens, Ozone Park still bears the evidence that the city has not been living up to Mayor de Blasio’s promise about sidewalk maintenance or repair.

In the wake of that storm, the Chronicle documented the widespread instances of poor arboreal health in Ozone Park that led to a large number of downed trees. Now over a year later, the Ozone Park Residents Block Association has begun calling out the city’s failure to replace the sidewalk in the areas where uprooted trees disrupted the neighborhood’s pedestrian fabric.

“In what can only be described as reckless, careless, a dereliction of duty, lack of concern, failing to protect our residents, amongst the many adjectives I can use, the City of NY has dropped the ball on our residents,” wrote Sam Esposito, the civic group’s president, in a press release calling attention to the problem.

The group listed seven sites in the neighborhood where it says trees overturned by Tropical Storm Isaias turned the surrounding sidewalk into a pile of rubble that has yet to be repaired by the city. In five of the sites, Esposito said that he had coordinated with the homeowners, but he ensured that a 311 complaint was filed in each case.

Unfortunately, a long wait time for sidewalk repair is not uncommon, despite recent efforts from the city to correct the issue.

 

Illegal vendor sidewalk serenade

  

NY Post

 Live crabs. Bras with rhinestones. Old shoes. Frayed electrical cords. Knock-off Louis Vuitton clutches. Disposable face masks. Mets caps.

Illegal street peddlers hawking such items have taken over the outer boroughs, clogging sidewalks with their second-hand wares and pulling customers from pandemic-ravaged mom-and-pop shops.

And everybody is pointing the finger at Mayor de Blasio.

From Brooklyn to the Bronx, Staten Island and Queens, folding tables and mats rolled out on the ground force pedestrians to go single-file or step aside so they don’t get run over.

In the Bronx, 149^th Street and Fordham Road are hotspots. So is Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park and Flushing’s Main Street, especially the few blocks from the Post Office at Sanford Avenue to the 7 Train station at Roosevelt Avenue.

 On Main, between Sanford and 41^st Avenue, The Post counted 27 street vendors – on just one side of the street. Two pulled out yellow licenses, showing they’re military veterans. Six shook their heads like they didn’t understand English. The others turned away or looked down when asked to show their licenses.

DianSong Yu of the Flushing Business Improvement District estimates 90 percent of the vendors aren’t licensed. Citywide, the number of all kinds of vendors stands at roughly 20,000, according to the Street Vendor Project, an advocacy group. But legit general merchandise license-holders, not including mobile food vendors, total a few thousand.

“It’s a very tough time for everybody, we get it,” Yu told The Post. “But we need to be fair to the local merchant who are paying very high rent and taxes. And they’re hurting.”

Bobby has a yellow license for his spot on Main — and he’s mad about the infiltrators. “They’re robbing the city of taxes. They’re taking money from the veterans. They’re taking jobs,” said Bobby, who wouldn’t give his last name but told The Post he fought in Vietnam.

 

NYPD blocks sidewalk egress with personal and patrol vehicles

 

Impunity City 

 The 106th Precinct in Ozone Park, Queens is egregiously obstructing commuting public space on both sides of the street with police vehicles and their cars, notably on top of a handicap cut curb ramp. by a public park named after a cop who died in the line of duty. The cop the park was memorialized for, Officer Nicholas Demutiis, got killed trying to stop a car thief that ran him over on that same block. 

This falls in line with what the NYPD has been doing at their other precincts as they turn the areas around their taxpayer funded buildings into makeshift fortresses, especially with all the frequent protests that has occurred in the last five months along with a majority of citizens calling for defunding and abolishing of the police and the budget cuts that followed in July. A recent incident that got some viral attention involved a reporter from bike advocate news site Streetsblog who got stopped, questioned and also threatened for arrest when she exposed the NYPD using a playground as parking lot for their vehicles (with permission by the NYC Parks dept).

 But the 106th truly stands out for their brazen territoriality of public space. And to show that their annexing of sidewalks isn’t a new thing, this precinct has been parking vehicles on this sidewalk and the one across the street for quite a while now. 

Update: 

Now it's clear why auto body shops and car dealers have been getting away with curbstoning all these years.