Fringe bike zealot org demands more bike lanes to Ridgewood Reservoir

 

QNS

A group of residents who have formed Ridgewood Rides — an advocacy group of bicyclists that calls for safe streets — have launched a petition demanding safer access for cyclists and pedestrians to the Ridgewood Reservoir.

The Ridgewood Reservoir, located within Highland Park, is situated on the border of Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods, including Bushwick and Cypress Hills. The group has garnered approximately 800 signatures in its quest to make access to the 1.18 miles of park space safe to enjoy the neighborhood’s greenery.

Advocates of the petition are calling for protected bike lanes and wide, unobstructed sidewalks along Cypress Avenue and Vermont Avenue — citing unsafe conditions for cyclists and pedestrians. They plan to present the petition to the NYC Department of Transportation and city officials once the petition is fully signed.

Bree Mobley, speaking on behalf of Ridgewood Rides during a Community Board 5 meeting this month, said that it is unsafe for people like her who rely on bicycles and mass transit to get to the reservoir. She called on the board to write a letter of support.

“It’s one of the closest and largest greenspaces that many of our neighbors have access to and it’s primarily a place for motorists,” Mobley said. “For people like me who don’t have access to a car, it’s really unsafe and difficult.”

Ridgewood Rides argues that access to the Ridgewood Reservoir from Ridgewood, Glendale and northern parts of Brooklyn, especially from Cypress Avenue and Vermont Place, is dangerous given that drivers often speed. They also say there is not enough roadway space for cyclists.

I thought these people wanted to take the bus there?

Mayor Big Slow is the reason the sidewalks are jammed with unlicensed vendors

  

NY Post

 

Does Bill de Blasio ever meet a deadline?

The infamously tardy mayor is over three months late appointing members to an advisory board established to review street vendor activity just as illegal peddlers have taken over whole sections of The Bronx, Manhattan and Queens.

A law the City Council passed in March stripping the NYPD of enforcement over street vendors required Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Corey Johnson to appoint a combined 10 members to the Street Vendor Advisory Board by April 21.

While Johnson has seated his six appointees, de Blasio has yet to choose his four representatives.

“It just goes to show you that they have no real care or sense of urgency in doing this,” said Jeff Garcia, head of the New York State Latino Restaurant, Bar and Lounge Association.

The board is supposed to review state and local laws related to street hawkers, including assuring that they’re at least 20 feet from building entrances— a rule is routinely broken by peddlers who crowd the sidewalks along Fordham Road in The Bronx, Main Street in Flushing, Queens and Canal Street in Lower Manhattan.

Forgotten sidewalks

 

 

Queens Chronicle 

 It’s almost been one year since Hurricane Isaias hit New York City, took out power for days and tore trees from their roots, but plenty of sidewalks throughout Queens look as though the storm ravaged them yesterday.

“We know that if this was in Manhattan, the issue would be fixed already. The outer boroughs, the last I checked are the real boroughs, so get this done,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said at a July 13 press conference to demand the city take responsibility for what he called a public safety hazard.

State Sen. John Liu (D-Bayside) called the Tuesday press conference in Bellerose as a “last resort” after he spent months calling on the city to repair broken pavement sprinkled across his district. Shattered sidewalks can be found there, as well as in College Point, Whitestone and Flushing separated from the public only by caution tape.

Kathy Parent’s Bellerose home, where the event was held, lies alongside 87th Road, where a tree was ripped from the city-owned grass space last August during the storm. The roots shredded the concrete, which has been left untouched since the city Parks Department removed the fallen tree months ago.

“I take pride in maintaining my property to the best of my ability, so I am very distressed by the fact that my sidewalk exists in this horrible condition, but more so dangerous condition,” Parent said, adding that children have attempted to ride their bikes over the mess.

Parent said she wouldn’t consider fixing the sidewalk herself and then billing the city for reimbursement because she believes she would end up waiting 20 years for the check. She said she replaced the sidewalk herself several years prior and refuses to put more money into it, especially when it is the city’s responsibility.

“Kathy, we know if the shoe was on the other foot, if this was your responsibility, every single person the city could send to find you would be here by now, so this is really about ensuring that the government practices what it preaches,” Richards continued.

According to Liu, the city promised to address the problem in the spring when the weather was warmer, but summer is halfway finished and he hasn’t seen any changes across Eastern Queens.

That morning, Mayor de Blasio was asked by reporters if he was aware of the situation and what action he would take to ensure the homeowners would finally see relief after a year.

“We’ll get to work on it immediately,” the mayor responded. “It really bothers me to hear that this much time has passed and anyone isn’t getting the help they need. So, we will expedite that.”

 

NYC Plans To Make Eating & Drinking Road + Sidewalk Sheds Permanent

 

 

 Neighborhoods United

Dear Neighbor,
We wanted to make you aware that the Department of Transportation is initiating a public meeting at every Community Board in the city to push through the ZONING TEXT CHANGES that will allow Open Restaurants and Bars to become PERMANENT. 

In many areas,  the eating and drinking sheds have become severely problematic. As such, we are adamantly opposed to Outdoor Dining Sheds becoming a permanent fixture in NYC. 

We appreciate that these sheds were a lifeline for the hospitality industry during the pandemic and allowed residents a safe place to social distance. Since Covid restrictions have been lifted, we think it is time for the emergency dining sheds to be retired, and the sidewalk cafe process is reinstated regarding alfresco dining.

However, you feel about the Open Restaurants program, no public input or proper environmental impact study was commissioned. Instead, the city rammed the sheds through behind closed doors with little to no oversight, calling it an unbridled success with few issues to resolve. And agencies, like the Dept. of Transportation, testified two weeks ago that there was no increase in noise or any other quality of life or safety issues related to Open Dining Sheds. This is demonstratively false!

We now have the opportunity (and one last chance) to come out and voice our concerns.

WE URGE YOU TO SHOW UP! IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE BODIES AND VOICES IN THE ROOM!

Transportation, Public Safety, & Environment Committee
Tuesday, July 13 at 6:30 pm
Boys Club of New York
287 East 10th Street (at Avenue A)

*Please attend all four upcoming citywide community board meetings, if you can?  Click here for more info about when and where.

FYI:

• Citywide Text Amendment: Open Restaurants (zoning changes to facilitate outdoor dining 
• Click here for the text amendment application

We appreciate your consideration, and please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Kind regards,

Diem Boyd, LES Dwellers
Tamara Daley, Orchard Street Block Association
Jan Lee,  The Chinatown Core
Stuart Zamsky, The East Fifth Street Block Association

 

 

Middle Village tops in dog plops complaints

Ridgewood Post

Middle Village has a shituation on its hands — the neighborhood has the highest number of poop complaints in the city, according to a newly released study.

The number of complaints in Middle Village increased by a shocking 205 percent from 20 complaints in 2017 to 61 complaints in 2018. The neighborhood has had 86 complaints or 57.7 complaints per 10,000 households so far this year, according to a Renthop study which analyzed 311 data.

Its runner-up, Westchester-Union Port in the Bronx, is far behind with just 19 complaints or 21.6 complaints per 10,000 households for the year to date.

Dog-owners in Maspeth also have been failing to pick up after their furry friends–based on the number of complaints.

Maspeth comes in at number three on the list of the most poop-filled neighborhoods across the city. It has had 20 311 complaints or 18.8 complaints per 10,000 households for people not picking up after their dogs this year, according to the study.

The city will pay for sidewalk damage caused by full grown trees

Eyewitness News


New York City officials are getting at the root of the problem when it comes to cracked sidewalks.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that the city will now pick up the tab to repair sidewalks damaged by city-owned trees, and the city will also ramp up sidewalk repairs under the "Trees and Sidewalks" program to address 5,500 priority sites over the next three years.

Previously, homeowners were responsible for fixing the damage under threat of fines.

"We're not just fixing broken sidewalks, we're fixing a broken system," de Blasio said. "We tripled funding for tree related sidewalk repair, but homeowners were still on the hook for problems they didn't create. As a homeowner, I know how frustrating that is. Now, if a street tree causes damage, we're taking care of it."
 

The city will stop imposing liens on one-, two- and three-family properties that have sidewalk damage caused solely by city trees, and while the DOT and the Parks Department will still inspect for dangerous sidewalk conditions, the city -- not the homeowner -- will be responsible for fixing them if they are exclusively tree related.

Coliseum Gym gone but they left their crap behind

"How is this allowed to happen??....if I did anything remotely like this inf front of my property I could get a HUGE SUMMONS.

Coliseum Gym is now OUT OF BUSINESS...but they left a bunch of junk on sidewalk..." - anonymous

More photos of the mess here.

Whitestone sidewalk & car damage resolved

From CBS 2:

It was a beyond welcoming sight in front of the Maddalena-Vigliotti home in Whitestone, Queens — city crews finally repairing the damaged sidewalk.

“If it wasn’t for you and your covering this story, nothing would’ve gotten done,” Queens resident Anna Maddalena told CBS2’s Andrea Grymes.

Two weeks ago, CBS2 reported multiple locations across Queens, where city-owned trees uprooted during storms back in March. The city had cleared the trees, but months later still hadn’t fixed the sidewalks.

This week, after CBS2’s reports, repairs are finally being made.

For this family, the sidewalk was not the only thing destroyed when the tree came down. They’re still looking for answers from the city about one of their cars.

The 2008 red Mazda had been parked on the street in front of the house, but when the tree collapsed, the car was totaled under the weight of the limbs.

Maddalena says they had collision insurance but not comprehensive coverage, which would’ve covered the damage.

So she filed a claim with the city comptroller’s office in May. She got a letter back saying if the office is unable to resolve the claim, “any lawsuit against the city must be started within one year and 90 from the date of occurrence.”

Maddalena says she then called numerous times, trying to figure out what she’s supposed to do with the car, as it sits in the driveway.

So on Friday, CBS2 reached out to the comptroller’s office and they quickly responded.

Maddalena says she got a call from the division chief, who apologized several times and promised someone would come out and assess the car by Monday. After that, they can finally get rid of it.

Damaged sidewalks remain after 4 months

From CBS 2:

The huge slabs of concrete look like they belong at a construction site. Instead, the slabs are at the corner of 32nd Avenue and 168th Street in North Flushing.

Residents say the sidewalk has been destroyed since March when the city removed the trees damaged by winter storms, but never fixed the sidewalk.

Bill would force illegal driveway owners to restore curbs

From Brooklyn Daily:

Local pols are pushing for a bill they say will reclaim on-street parking spaces from greedy property owners who illegally cut curbs in front of their homes to create unauthorized driveways.

The legislation, introduced last month by Councilman Kalman Yeger (D–Bensonhurst) and co-sponsored by Councilman Justin Brannan (D–Bay Ridge), would require property owners to correct curb cuts created without a permit within 30 days. If the curb isn’t fixed, the Department of Transportation must do the work within six months, at the property owner’s expense, similar to a law that requires property owners to maintain sidewalk defects.

“What we’re saying is that if you do not fix the curb, the city will fix it and bill you,” Yeger said. “It requires the government to help the people out a bit.”

The bill is a response to property owners who illegally cut curbs to install driveways in front of their homes, removing on-street parking for fellow drivers. Illegal curb cutting has become rampant throughout Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, and Bay Ridge recently, leading fed-up neighbors to complain that current laws aren’t doing enough to address the problem.

The Department of Buildings can issue violations to property owners who cut curbs without a permit, but there isn’t a law on the books that requires owners to restore the curbs. Yeger’s bill would change that, giving the city the power it needs to fight back where it currently has little, according to Marnee Elias-Pavia, district manager of Community Board 11.

Sidewalk repair reprieve

From Crains:

The City Council approved a measure Wednesday that will give landlords an extra 30 days to repair damaged sidewalks abutting their properties, stretching the deadline to 75 days from 45 days. Minority Leader Steven Matteo, R-Staten Island, who sponsored the bill, said the idea grew out of constituent complaints from his district—where single-family homes predominate.

He noted that the city hands out many repair orders during winter, when cold and damp conditions can make work impossible.

Katz finally working on Jamaica cleanup

Photo from Cleanup Jamaica Queens

From AM-NY:

A new pilot program aimed at cleaning up Jamaica’s streets will also benefit formerly homeless people looking to build job skills.

Borough President Melinda Katz unveiled the “Jamaica Together: A Neighborhood Cleaning Effort” program on Tuesday, announcing a six-month partnership with the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless (ACE) as well as other community stakeholders.

The initiative will lean on ACE-paid workers to clean up and beautify a section of Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, between Tuskegee Airmen Way and 109th Avenue, according to Kat’s office. ACE, a non-profit organization, works with recovering homeless people in the city by providing support services and helping them build key skills that will enable them to obtain and maintain a job.

“Jamaica is one of our borough’s core neighborhoods and it is critically important that we do all we can to make it a fantastic place to live, work and visit,” Katz said. “This program is just one part of our overall effort to revitalize Jamaica and maximize its potential as a residential and commercial hub.”

Each weekday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., a two-person crew will go out along Guy R. Brewer Boulevard to clean the sidewalks and tree pits and remove unauthorized graffiti. The workers will be overseen by a supervisor from ACE, per Katz’s office.

Homeowner gets stuck with sidewalk repair bill

From NBC:

A New York City man was stuck with a charge for the sidewalk outside his home even though he was involved in a free repair program with the city. Lynda Baquero reports.

Junked cars litter South Ozone Park

"Can you get this on your site. Business called runway towing in south ozone park. They are parking all there junked cars. Trucks and company tow trucks on residential street and sidewalks. For years it’s been like this. These trucks are here 24/7 and never move. Numerous 311 complaints and nothing has ever been done. This is a daily nuances here. The business is located 124-20 south conduit Ave.Here are some pictures." - anonymous

Cosmetic repairs on Calamus Avenue

The Department of Design and Construction is offering to fix sidewalk cracks on Calamus Avenue resulting from a 4-year long sewer installation project.

Meanwhile, people have damaged homes and foundations...

Perhaps Ms. Crowley or Comptroller Stringer can get the City to offer a bigger bone than this. (Sorry I am in a comical mood this morning.)

Metrocard machine placement is pretty dumb

From NBC:

New Yorkers are used to things on sidewalks --muni-meters, bicycle racks and the bygone phone stands -- but those are always close to the curb. So neighbors are scratching their heads over the SBS MetroCard machines right in the middle of the sidewalk near the intersection of Cross Bay Boulevard and Pitkin Avenue in Queens.

"Somebody must have been drinking and put it in the wrong spot," joked store decorator Eddie Cavuto.

Actually, the Department of Transportation says the kiosks were installed exactly where they were supposed to be.

"Okay, the worker didn't screw up, but the architect was drinking and he screwed up," cracked Cavuto.

The DOT says the kiosks are for a new bus lane and bus stop arriving there, and "our standard is to align the fare machines and other Special Bus Service amenities (like wayfinding totems) with the back of our shelter."

"These enhanced bus stop amenities needed to meet our minimum sidewalk clearance requirements," the DOT said.

Towing company thinks they own public property

"Here is the Runway towing business. Very similar to other areas in Queens with cars parked on the sidewalk, cars parked on city streets with no license plates, their tow trucks parked on the street and sidewalk. It is located at 124-20 South Conduit Ave, South Ozone Park. If you want to Google Map it you will see all the illegal crap going on, but here are some pictures I took." - anonymous

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.

Illegally parked trucks are a menace to South Ozone Park

Hello.

I live in Queens and for a few years trucks have been illegally parking in my residential neighborhood, and nothing is being done about it.

Commercial trucks can’t stay on city roads between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m according to city law. I have gone to meetings at the police precinct, spoken to my community board and still nothing is being done, there are about 8-12 trucks that park over here daily.

They park in an intersection blocking a lane, they park on the sidewalk. But the most dangerous one of them all is they park right next to a school. Here are pictures of one that was parked for 4 days with out moving parked illegally next to a school blocking a fire hydrant, and bus stop for days I did a few different 311 complaints over the weekend and it's very alarming how nothing was done.

This truck was parked on 130th street and 150th ave next to an elementary school.

Those are a few 311 complaints where the police department determined police action was not necessary and the last pic is of a truck blocking and intersection on South Conduit Ave and you cannot see the oncoming traffic.

- Anonymous

Big bill for sidewalk repair

From PIX11:

Patrica Appelt-Coraci and her 88-year-old mom Gladys both grew up in the house Gladys still owns on 77th Road in Flushing.

About a year ago, Gladys received a notice from the city that the sidewalk in front of the house needed to be repaired. Gladys let it go.

In New York, even if the city owns the public sidewalk in front of a home, it’s the homeowner who is responsible for maintaining it.

So when Gladys ignored the notice, the city stepped in to make the repairs. Then sent her the bill.

And what a bill it was!

"$362,000 and change," according to Patricia.

$362,077 to be exact.