Category Archives: Transportation
Calvin Covington was driving a bus full of sixth-graders home from Intermediate School 77 on Thursday afternoon in Ridgewood when he smelled smoke. He passed Eliot Avenue on Fresh Pond Road around 3:15 p.m. and dismissed the scent as coming from the gas station at the intersection. After another mile, he still smelled the smoke and then the acrid odor of wires burning. He pulled over as soon as he could at 74th Street and 58th Avenue in Maspeth and … Continue reading
The old Queens quarter-pay parking meters will be gone by early summer, if things go according to the plans of the city Department of Transportation. DOT confirmed this week that Queens Transportation Commissioner Maura McCarthy recently began informing community board leaders that by June, all quarter meters in Queens would be replaced by Muni-meters. The city uses Muni-meters citywide for on-street parking spots and in off-street municipal parking facilities. Those meters accept coins, such as quarters and dollar coins, NYC … Continue reading
After seeing many cars speed through their area, three Rego Park residents are taking steps to make their neighborhood safer for them and their neighbors. Jay Pena, Yvonne Shortt and Elvy Schneidman, who all live on Alderton Street and are a part of the Rego Park Green Alliance, are hoping to get the Neighborhood Slow Zone, a community-based program offered by the Department of Transportation (DOT), which adds safety measures including lowering the speed limit in an area from 30 … Continue reading
If preliminary projections are correct, three Queens train stations are closer to needed additions and reparations, beginning this year. According to Joseph Raskin, assistant director of Government and Community Relations for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), plans to install an elevator for handicapped individuals at the Lefferts Boulevard train station—which kicked off last February—are set to complete the preliminary engineering phases on Jan. 30. The plans, shared before residents who attended Community Board 10’s first meeting of 2012 on Jan. … Continue reading
As the nights get longer and the cold gets deeper, New Yorkers start to get a little concerned, especially after last winter. But never fear! The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has a snow removal priority plan to plow streets and highways when a snow storm hits New York City. Last winter a blizzard slammed into the city on Dec. 26, dumping more than two feet of snow on a stunned and wind-whipped city. What was more alarming to residents was … Continue reading
The passage of 2011 has brought us to the threshold of yet another year– our 35th year of publication. Looking ahead we wonder what changes will shape 2012. How will our community be affected by the political climate? Will our quality of life issues be successfully addressed by local legislators and law enforcement or will cuts continue to erode our services? Will our elected officials bring enough money to their districts to bring about improvements and change in addition to … Continue reading
Following the random shooting of two bus passengers in Jamaica, the union that represents MTA bus drivers in Queens called for better security and asked the MTA to untie drivers’ hands when it comes to calling 911 on their own. Corey Bearak, who acts as the political and policy director for the union, said Parsons Boulevard at Archer Avenue, where Friday’s shooting happened, is a problem area where the union wants more security because of illegal pickups by livery cabs and … Continue reading
In light of the heavy amounts of snowfall that hammered Queens last winter, city sanitation officials last week assured Queens residents that they would be ready when the first snow touches down this year. Last winter, New York City was pounded by record snowfall amounts, recording up to 62 inches of snow in total for the entire area, according to AccuWeather, a global weather forecasting service. According to AccuWeather’s preliminary forecasts—released in October—the city may be spared the excessive snowfall … Continue reading
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released results yesterday from its series of customer satisfaction surveys con- ducted annually for all MTA services. These surveys show that overall satisfaction trended upward on subways and buses. Satisfaction in the railroads was adversely impacted by weather-related disruptions and other exter- nal factors. This year’s survey was conducted in June 2011. On New York City subways, 84 percent of subway customers reported being satisfied with the overall comfort and convenience of using the subway, … Continue reading
A hit and run fender bender on the Belt Parkway last Thursday morning led to a car chase that ended with a van crashing onto a boat docked at Hawtree Basin in Hamilton Beach. Victor Azarov drove his van, which belonged to Queensboro Adult Day Care, over the dock at the end of Russell Street after fleeing the scene of an accident, according to The New York Post. Police caught Azarov swimming in the basin after the crash and charged him with reckless endangerment and … Continue reading
Since 2008, the city Department of Transportation (DOT) has been studying ways to reduce congestion on Woodhaven Boulevard. One idea that immediately concerned residents was to prevent southbound vehicles on Woodhaven Boulevard to turn left onto Union Turnpike. Residents said that plan would have increased traffic on Metropolitan Avenue, which is already the site of frequent bottlenecks due to the shopping center that houses Trader Joe’s, Staples and other retail stores. “Union Turnpike is far better served for heavy traffic,” … Continue reading
Some of the city’s most dangerous streets are receiving speed boards that advise drivers to slow down when exceeding the 30 miles per hour speed limit. Last week the city Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the extension of its speed board program and unveiled a new sign that displays an image of a skeleton and the words “slow down” when it detects vehicles travelling above the speed limit. The new boards are located at Hillside Avenue between 248th and 249th … Continue reading
Reports to 311 regarding potholes have increased by 56 percent over the past five years and are projected to reach a record high in 2011, but the city uses inefficient means to deal with the problem, a new report by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio states. According to de Blasio, when a resident calls 311 to record a pothole complaint, the city Department of Transportation (DOT) sends out an inspection team. If the DOT finds a pothole, it fixes the … Continue reading
The MTA has been working to improve its customer service options, and on Tuesday, the agency condensed 117 different public phone numbers to one: 511. The MTA and State Department of Transportation announced that New Yorkers can now dial 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, for help with any MTA-related issue or question. The MTA has reduced what had been an array of 117 separate public phone numbers into a single easy-to-remember three-digit number in order to deliver … Continue reading
For years, residents of Maspeth have asked the city Department of Transportation to reroute trucks, which used the neighborhood’s residential and commercial areas as a shortcut to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and the Long Island Expressway, to more industrial sections of the community. But when the DOT finally implemented the plan over the weekend, residents were dismayed about a myriad of street changes and one-way conversions the DOT said were needed to make the plan work. According to the DOT’s … Continue reading