Zero Vision shown by city regarding destroyed fire hydrant in Whitestone

 

 For years the residents of 5th Avenue in WHITESTONE Queens have been advocating and begging for safety. They have asked for extension of bollards to prevent speeding cars and trucks from turning up their narrow residential street to a one way conversion going toward the bridge. Always met with different excuses, never once coming up with a safe Solution.  

In the last 3 months, the hydrant on the corner has been taken out three times by speeding cars careening into oncoming traffic and jumping the sidewalk. A few months ago,  a speeding car took the turn at such high speeds that it bounced off the hydrant and spun to the other side totaling a parked Jeep. The mother and her two daughters and just parked the Jeep and missed getting hit or killed by two minutes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When will enough be enough. The residents of 5th Avenue need help. 

Also, the hydrant is now MIA and the block has a missing hydrant over 3 weeks. GOD FORBID THERE IS A FIRE!  

The residents have reached out to all the elected representatives as well as DOT and DEP. NO reply on when if ever the hydrant will be replaced

No agency wants to deal with homeless woman's pile of junk

From NBC 4:

An apparently homeless woman's pile of belongings has residents in Bath Beach concerned about safety. Gus Rosendale reports.

Trailer without a truck

"This was off of Woodhaven Blvd, next to the Home Depot near Metropolitan Ave.
Just the flatbed...no truck cab attached parked at a fire hydrant.
Typical Queens." - anonymous

Non-working hydrants hindered Glendale firefighting efforts

Maybe we should be paying more attention to the condition of our critical infrastructure instead of shiny new trolleys and such.

Just sayin'

Don't open hydrants without a cap

From the Queens Gazette:

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has launched its 21st annual crackdown on city residents who insist on opening fire hydrants without an approved “shower cap.”

DEP officials are sending teams of teens into local neighborhoods to educate New Yorkers about the dangers of illegally opening fire hydrants.

Illegally opened hydrants can release more than 1,000 gallons of water per minute, reducing water pressure and making it difficult for firefighters to battle fires, in addition to lowering water pressure to neighboring homes and buildings, DEP officials said.

Queens residents are urged to report illegally opened hydrants by calling 311 immediately, DEP officials said. Illegally opening a fire hydrant can result in a fine of $1,000, 30 days behind bars, or both, a law enforcement source said.

Hydrant slides to the left

The hydrant in front of the Gerry Caliendo warehouse that replaced the St. Saviour's site has been moved to accommodate a driveway/loading dock. Who paid to move it is anyone's guess. It's going to be fun watching the tractor trailers pull out into two-way oncoming traffic in the middle of Rust Street.

SI hydrant story is a real lulu

Staten Island Advance/Rachel Shapiro

From SI Live:

An oddly placed sidewalk and fire hydrant alongside a Mariners Harbor street has some residents scratching their heads over its location.

A newly built house at 235 Dixon Ave., on the corner of Granite Avenue, includes a new sidewalk surrounding it on two sides, one of which juts out into the street several feet more than the adjacent sidewalk.

Even more odd is the location of a fire hydrant in the middle of the sidewalk.

Builder James Megna of Staten Island-based Megna Home Improvement said all plans were approved by the city, including the sidewalk's location, as installed by a concrete subcontractor.

Megna said the city was supposed to relocate the fire hydrant but refused to do so.

"Everything was done legitimately," he said. "That was the way they wanted it."

But a Department of Buildings spokesman said builders are responsible for the cost associated with relocation of fire hydrants, not the city.

The builder's pavement plan for this house wasn't immediately accessible to the DOB, the spokesman said, so the department can't say whether the builder has conformed with the law.

Perhaps this fellow compared notes with the St. Saviour's developer when concocting this plan

Queens Crap contest: What's wrong here?

Take a hard look at the top and bottom photos here.

This is a Gerry Caliendo warehouse at the former site of St. Saviour's Church in Maspeth.

The winner receives 2 additional years of whatever Queens Machine party hack already represents you in Albany (exception made for residents in AD30).

Major construction coming to Main Street

From DNA Info:

The city is launching a nearly $8 million project to widen bustling Main Street, one of the busiest pedestrian corridors in the five boroughs, officials said.

The roadway will also be resurfaced and rebuilt, and manholes, fire hydrants, sewers and water mains will be replaced — the first overhaul in two decades, according to officials.

During the construction project — which begins Monday, July 25, and will last approximately a year — the community will experience inconveniences and changes, Councilman Peter Koo warned.

But the major revamp will have more long-term benefits to everyone, including adding as much as 8 feet of space on some sidewalks, he said.

Caps getting copped by metal thieves

From CBS 2:

New Yorkers are growing concerned about caps on fire hydrants mysteriously disappearing.

State Sen. Tony Avella told CBS2’s Ali Bauman that fire hydrants in Queens are missing their caps and putting residents in danger.

“It’s almost like a ‘Hardy Boy’ mystery, the case of the missing fire hydrant caps,” Avella told CBS2.

Avella has been on the case since November, sending letters to the Department of Environmental Protection and the FDNY. He said the letters have gone unanswered and each day without a solution puts the Queens community in danger.

“The firefighters have a two or three minute delay hooking up the hose, somebody could die,” Avella said.

However, the DEP said it responds to any reports to 311 of missing fire hydrant caps and the FDNY inspects every fire hydrant in the city and replaces any missing cap.

Avella said he’s seen this all over the neighborhood. CBS2 counted at least five hydrants missing caps.

DOT's strange response to sign request

Hi Crappy,

DOT refused a request to put a No Parking sign (during school hours) in front of the new charter school here in Woodhaven. Currently it is the home for a school that has a lot of kids with special needs.

The reason DOT gave for rejecting the request is that there was a hydrant there, and they said the school should just use that. (It's actually in front of my house, not the school).

We went around and found seven schools in the immediate area with No Parking signs (during school hours) directly next to hydrants.

Hope all is well with you,

Ed Wendell
Woodhaven

Open hydrants pose safety hazard

WNYC

From AM-NY:

Opening up a fire hydrant to cool off is a longstanding New York tradition, but it's one with a high and rising cost.

There have been 4,458 complaints to 311 for open hydrants running in full as of July 6, according to public records, a jump from 3,845 calls during the same period last year and 4,020 in 2013.

The city's Department of Environmental Protection said it takes those complaints seriously because one hydrant can disperse 1,000 gallons of water a minute, risking lower water pressure for surrounding buildings and damaging the hydrant in real emergencies.

Cracking down on hydrant violators

From the Queens Gazette:

As summertime approaches with the promise of warmer temperatures, city officials are reminding Queens residents that they could face a stiff fine, or jail time, if they open fire hydrants without an FDNY “spray cap.”

Officials at the city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are again warning Queens residents that opening a fire hydrant without a spray cap can lower water pressure and make it difficult for firefighters to extinguish fires.

DEP officials also warned that the powerful force of 1,000 gallons per minute from an open hydrant could cause injury to young children.

DEP officials will be sending enforcement agents into neighborhoods throughout Queens as temperatures rise, to track down offenders reported to the 311 system and others caught using hydrants without the approved spray caps, agency officials said.

Proposal to paint hydrant & bus stop curbs

From Queens Gazette:

A city lawmaker is proposing a measure that would require the city to paint curbs near fire hydrants and bus stops with red paint to clarify them as no parking zones.

Brooklyn City Councilmember Vincent Gentile will introduce the bill to the council this week in an effort to spare motorists from receiving tickets issued when they park too close to hydrants and bus stops throughout the city.

Motorists face a $115 fine if they are caught parking within 15-feet on either side of a hydrant or between a bus stop sign and the closest no parking sign on the same block, authorities said.

Gentile said the red paint would stand out and eliminate any question as to whether or not motorists are parked in no parking zones.

Leaky hydrant causes hazard

From CBS New York:

For days, the leaky fire hydrant on 73rd Place in Middle Village has delivered an unrelenting flow of frigid water. Local residents said the water has spread all the way down the block, turning much of the sidewalk into a treacherous slab of ice.

And frustration was turning to alarm late Saturday, as a deep freeze was set to hit new lows in New York City Sunday night into Monday.

As for concerns that the hydrant won’t work if there’s a fire, an FDNY source said fire crews have redundancy plans in place for any emergency.

And late Saturday afternoon, city workers finally responded – turning off the water and promising repairs, according to local residents. They hoped the city’s move would mean the end of a leaky hydrant that created a rink no one wanted.

Please dig out your hydrants!

Hi QC,

This is worse than not shoveling or plowing side walks.

Some busnesses in Queens have their property plowed and pile it up in front of a fire hydrant.
Now the piles are hard as rocks.
I reported theses 2 to 311 today. 311 transferred me to FDNY who took the info:

66-05, Woodhaven Bvd. That is Fleet Street Realty Co.

114- 20 Jamaica avenue, 114 street side. That is Chase bank. They have had this happen previous winters.

Both have been blocked since Feb 01.

I don't know if the snow was piled there from those properties or nearby properties.

Thanks and keep up the good work.

- anonymous

Bayside watermain project underway

From the Times Ledger:

Bayside is undergoing a major underground transformation and with it some headaches for its neighbors above ground.

A massive water main replacement project is underway in the northeast Queens neighborhood to install 7,000-foot trunk water mains with a 48-inch diameter, 13,000-feet distribution mains and 657 sewer pipes.

The $20 million project is being done by the Department of Environmental Protection, along with the Department of Design and Construction and the Department of Transportation, will last two years.

While construction occurs, dust, noise and heavy equipment will be an inevitable part of the landscape.

City workers began the project around the intersection between Luke Place and 216th Street, and it will travel north until it reaches the corner of 39th Avenue and 216th Street. Besides trunk and distribution water mains and sewer pipes installation, the project includes tree pruning and roadway reconstruction.

“The new water mains will improve pressure and the quality of water,” said a spokesman for DEP, “while also providing a critical redundancy to the distribution system that will help minimize disruptions during future maintenance work.”

According to the DEP, workers will also install 38 fire hydrants and 26 manholes.

Football games cause parking chaos

From DNA Info:

Residents of a Ridgewood block say their safety is being jeopardized by drivers who double park along their street, blocking driveways and access to a fire hydrant.

The dead end block on 65th Place at 68th Avenue becomes a virtual parking lot several times a week, when kids from a youth football league play at Mafera Park, locals say.

According to the 311 online map, residents of the block have placed more than a dozen calls regarding the situation in the past two months, including complaints about blocked sidewalks and a hydrant and double parking.

In two cases, the police took action, but it was not clear what was done. In one instance, the people responsible were gone and in another no action was necessary. The results in other cases were not clear.

Hydrant parking by DA staffers

Sleepy old District Attorney Richard Brown. How can he enforce the law when his own staff is violating it right outside of his office's windows by parking at a hydrant?

Now imagine if Peter Vallone Jr. were the DA. At least his motorcycle would not take up as much space as these placard abusers.

By the way, I am not related to Jimmy Justice but i consider him my mentor.

-Parking Avenger

You can't hide from the Parking Avenger!

Hi Crapper,

Look what I found today, an unmarked Chevy Impala at the corner of
80th Road and Kew Gardens Road, standing at a hydrant without even a
placard. Does the car owner think that having tinted windows and
protruding rooftop antennae entitle it to block a fire hydrant near a
tight street corner?

Across the street from this office are the offices of DA Richard
Brown, Borough President Melinda Katz, Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz
and Rep. Grace Meng. Imagine someone violating a law as basic as
keeping a hydrant clear in such a politically sensitive neighborhood.

I doubt any of the listed elected officials will confront the cops
about their placard and parking abuses. I must now return to my
office.

Parking Avenger.