Various traffic issues, including the conversion of a Maspeth Street to one-way, were topics of discussion at September’s monthly Community Board 5 meeting.
There is a push to honor a 9/11 first responder. Board members heard a proposal to rename 59th Road between 60th Street and 60th Lane, in Maspeth after deceased NYPD detective Kevin Czartoryski.
Peter Villapol, a television executive and longtime friend of Czartoryski, said that naming the street after a local police officer who was part of the 9/11 first response team would be an honor to him and his family. Czartoryski was a native of Maspeth.
“Please approve this memorial for my friend Detective Kevin Czartoryski in his very own neighborhood,” Villapol said. “So that young people in this area may know of his sacrifice, remember him with honor and be inspired with his life.”
Czartoryski died in December 2010 from pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease suffered by people exposed to asbestos for a long period of time. Villapol said that his personality and kindness is something that will be forever missed.
“It’s so sad because I know I’ll never meet anyone like him,” said Villapol, who knew Czartoryski since their college days, when Czartoryski went to St John’s University and Villapol attended New York University.
Some residents asked to convert Mazeau Street, to a one way street going southbound from Grand Avenue and 57th Avenue to the Queens Midtown Expressway. Currently, it’s a westbound service road.
Linda Daquaro, who lives on Mazeau Street, said that the major problem is speeding cars that are illegally coming off the service road. She said that people are avoiding the traffic lights on Grand Avenue by taking a shortcut past a nearby nursing home and then speeding up her block to get back to Grand Avenue.
Daquaro said the speeding cars pose a danger to the children that live on 57th drive that have to crossover to get to school. St Stanislaus Catholic School and Martin Luther High School and P.S 58 are the three schools near 57th Drive. She also fearful that a blind spot that comes to a deck near her house could cause a car accident.
“One day, I’m afraid that a car is going to end up in my driveway,” Daquaro said.
The street conversion and renaming will be among the proposals heard when the board’s transportation committee meets on September 27.
Also at the meeting, Queens Deputy Borough President Barry Grodenchik and CB5 Chairman Vincent Arcuri honored groups that assisted in the cleanup after Tropical Storm Irene. The 104th Precinct, members of the Glendale Volunteer Ambulance Corp, the Glendale Civilian Observation Patrol and the CB5 Community Emergence Response team received certificates of appreciation for their work. 104th Precinct Commanding Officer Michael Cody was among those on hand to receive the award.
Grodenchik complimented CB5 for the important role it occupies in the community.
“I tell everybody at each individual board: what you do matters,” Grodenchik said.
With many people in Queens losing power in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D- Middle Village) is introducing legislation that would require ConEd to move all the electrical conductors in the New York City area underground.
Dominic Dale, representing Crowley’s office, He said that Crowley recognized that lost power is a problem in her district and she wants Con Edison to pay to move the power lines below ground.
After a couple of the board members questioned Dale about the power lines, he said that this kind of legislation is good because it gets residents talking.
“Do we want to invest in our infrastructure or do we want to leave it alone? And that’s why this piece of legislation is good because we can talk about it as a community,” Dale said.
As for what it would cost to move the power lines, Dale didn’t have specific numbers but he did say that the cost would be “dispersed among everyone in the New York City area.”
The next Community Board 5 meeting will be on Wednesday, October 12 at Christ The King High School.
By Luis Gronda
