Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together

COMET NEWSLETTER / SUMMER 2018

Elmhurst’s Forgotten “Madison Street”

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 Shoveling Snow for Seniors
These photos of Englid and Daniel shoveling snow for a senior citizen
were taken at 3:11 am on 58th Avenue in Maspeth after we were hit by
the March 22nd snowstorm.
After each storm the volunteers waited until the snow stopped and
there were times they were out shoveling until the early morning hours.
We want to thank Assemblyman Brian Barnwell and all the young
volunteers for helping our seniors this past winter.

110th Precinct Neighborhood 51st Avenue at 72nd Street

Coordination Officers

In late February, Elmhurst residents had the opportunity to meet their

new Neighborhood Coordination Officers (NCO) PO Donald Lee and
PO Sebastian Arrubla at the New Life Church on Queens Boulevard.
These officers have been assigned to our area of Elmhurst to help
address quality of life conditions and become a familiar presence in the
community. Also in attendance was the 110th Precinct NCO Sergeant
Magdalena Raznikiewicz. In September 2014, COMET Vice President Dick Gundlach reported
Numerous concerns were raised which included vandalism, trespassing, a problem with the catch basins at the intersection of 51st Avenue
and illegally parked vehicles. The officers are also trained to do and 72nd Street in Woodside. He noticed that whenever it rained the
investigations such as the one they did for us involving a vacant house catch basins didn’t collect the water and large puddles formed at the
that was taken over by squatters. They were able to track down the intersection. During the winter the water froze making for a dangerous
property owner and get the building secured. crossing.

Now that the warm weather has arrived you may experience quality of
life problems such as loud music, youth hanging out at our footbridges
or perhaps even illegal dumping. These officers are trained to deal with
many different problems involving various agencies.
If you have a concern and wish to reach out to them, you can contact
them by email: Donald.lee@nypd.org and Sebastian.arrubla@nypd.org
and they will follow up on the complaint.
On March 15, 2018, about three and a half years after his initial
complaint, Dick was thrilled to see the Department of Environmental
Protection finally taking action to address the problem.
We cannot stress the importance of reporting a problem to 311 as soon
as you observe it. If nothing is done in a timely fashion, contact your
community board and elected offical. Persistence does pay off!

Pg. 2 Summer 2018 COMET

 1 Claremont Terrace
In the early part of 2016, COMET Treasurer Geraldine Walsh stumbled
across what appeared to be a deserted construction site at 1 Claremont
Terrace in Elmhurst. She saw illegal dumping, weeds, graffiti and
trespassers loitering on the unsecured property.
We immediately contacted
Councilman Daniel Dromm’s
office and the 110th Precinct.
The 110th Precinct immediately
went to the site and cleared out
the trespassers. Councilman
Dromm’s office contacted the
Department of Buildings and
the Department of Citywide
Administrative Services (DCAS).
We were informed that the entrance to this property was owned by
DCAS which surprised us because the developer would have to use city
property to access the site. We can’t help but wonder who would be
liable if someone were injured on this city-owned property.
We subsequently found out that the Newtown Civic Association was
also trying to address this problem. We couldn’t believe it when they
Illegal Fliers
Block Captain Richie Polgar doesn’t just clean
graffiti and report broken street lights, he also
walks around the community taking down all
the fliers that are plastered throughout the
neighborhood on poles and mailboxes. One
particular flier that annoys him is a rubbish
removal ad that has tape wrapped around the
pole numerous times. He has found apartment
rental ads do the same thing. Richie said the
only fliers he doesn’t remove are ones where
someone is looking for a lost pet or if they’re
having a yard sale. He hopes those folks will remove the fliers when the
pet is found or their yard sale is over.
One important point he wants to stress is that if anything is posted on
city property and it is reported to 311, violators can receive a fine for
each flier that is posted.
told us this site has been in this
condition for about 10 years! It’s
unbelievable that a developer
can stall a project such as this
for such a long time.
The Newtown Civic gave us a
little background information
about the site which was sad
to hear. This was the site of the
1854 historic house belonging
to one of Samuel Lord's (of Lord
& Taylor) daughters. This was
the last remaining house of the
four he had built for his four
daughters.
We were told the property was
sold, and in 2005 and the entire
house was demolished and a
big brick structure started going
up. The only thing remaining
of the house was the front
porch. This was all done under
an alteration permit. Fast
forward over ten years later, the
building is abandoned, a graffiti
attraction, trash infested, a
vagrant gathering spot and still
not completed. We all agree this is a huge safety concern.
Councilman Dromm’s office and the 110th Precinct are continuing to
monitor this property but there doesn’t appear to be a “quick fix” in
sight. It’s unfortunate that a developer is allowed to just let a project
deteriorate. We’ll work with the Newtown Civic to help get this eyesore
addressed.
What is This?
Puzzled Calamus Avenue residents sent us this
photo asking what it is and why was it attached
to a light pole on Calamus Avenue in the vicinity
of 72nd Place in Woodside. We sent the photo
to DOT Queens Deputy Commissioner Jason
Banrey and he stated it was a traffic counter
and he would have someone look into it.
By the time the agency could look into it, it
disappeared! Perhaps at some point we’ll find
out why it was placed at this particular location.
COMET Summer 2018 Pg. 3
 If You See Something, LIE Exit 19 at
Say Something Woodhaven Boulevard
The Newtown Civic just had to share this
photo with us. One of their members spotted
concrete being poured into the tree pits at
the development site right behind the old
Georgia Diner. If this type of activity is ignored,
our once “green” Elmhurst will turn into a
concrete jungle.
Councilman Dromm’s office reached out to
the developer’s representative who stated
they were informed of the situation and took
immediate steps to rehabilitate the tree pits. He assured the Councilman
that trees are a precious part of our urban landscape and will do whatever
possible to maintain and preserve the trees surrounding the site.
Sadly, a lot of folks pave or concrete the tree pits not realizing that
trees need a lot of soil to catch the rain. By covering up the tree pits One of our members advised us that since
with pavers or concrete the roots of the tree will not grow deep into the the signage at the eastbound LIE exit at
ground, but rather stay near the surface to get water. Over time the roots Woodhaven Boulevard was changed from
may eventually lift the sidewalk. If the tree roots are not deep, the tree allowing a motorist to turn right on red to “No
could blow over in a storm. If the tree gets no water, it will obviously die. Turn on Red” and traffic getting off at this exit
oftentimes backs up as far as the service road.

Problem Solved! We reached out to DOT Assistant Borough

Commissioner Janson Banrey who stated,
“DOT is looking into this intersection and
There are nine row houses
signal timing here. The previous signage was
with only one entrance/exit
creating dangerous conditions for pedestrians
to their community drive on
as vehicles were not yielding to folks”. He said
Calamus Avenue near 72nd
he would keep us updated.
Place in Woodside. A concerned
homeowner reached out to let us
know a commercial food vendor,
who lives on the block behind him, Crowley Park Reopens!
was using this private driveway
in order to park the commercial
vehicle in the rear of his home. The
homeowner was concerned about
any liability in the event there was
an accident with the vehicle or if a
stranger were to wander into the
driveway and get injured.
We reached out to PO Eli Gani,
108th Precinct Crime Prevention
Officer, and he did a walk-through behind the houses on March 23rd. He
We were pleased to hear
suggested that the nine homeowners get “NO TRESPASSING” signs and
Crowley Park has reopened
urged them to chip in and have a gate installed at the entrance.
in time for summer. As we
We were pleased to hear that all nine homeowners agreed with the passed by, we could see
plan, signs were posted and a gate will be installed. This gate will also children taking advantage of
be helpful in deterring burglars who oftentimes make entry through the a beautiful day and playing on
rear of the home. Great job! the new equipment.
Councilman Dromm set
aside funding for this project
a couple of years ago to update the equipment and address other
community concerns.

Pg. 4 Summer 2018 COMET

 Letter to the Editor
69th Street Over-Development Crisis
Here we go AGAIN!!! Another high-rise building looking to make its mark
on Queen Boulevard in Woodside! A Land Use Review Application for
a Special Permit has been submitted by 69-02 Queens Blvd Woodside
LLC to rezone several lots (Block 2432 Lots 41, 44, & 50) on the south
side of Queens Boulevard between 69th street and 70th Street. The
application included a proposal for a zoning change from M1-1 to R7X for
the above mentioned lots. The proposed rezoning is requested because
the developer wants to build two oversize buildings (14 and 17 stories
respectively as East Tower and West Tower) within the 5 different lots
spread among the entire block between 69th Street and 70th Street.
Keep in mind, there is already an ongoing project at 46-02 70th Street
where a developer is in the process of constructing a 9 story building
consisting of 74 apartments.
Residents attend CB2 meeting at St. Mary's to speak against the proposal
For the past 10 years, we, as a community, have witnessed a steady
increase in construction and development of tall buildings within our
community. However, the two proposed buildings on 69th street would
be the biggest and tallest in the Maspeth, Woodside, and Elmhurst area
in recent years. At the current time, there are approximately 10 different
high rise projects happening within the one mile radius from 69th Street
to Woodhaven Boulevard which combined with the 69th street project
would create over 1000 more apartments for our community. Truthfully,
our community’s infrastructure is not ready for this rapid expansion.
There are numerous issues that would impact the community if this
rezoning happens. First and most importantly is overcrowding of our
schools. The majority of the schools in District 24 are either extensively
overcrowded already or getting very close to maximum capacity. By
adding another 561 apartment units on 69th street, we are making
this overcrowding issue worse instead of solving it. Secondly, traffic
congestion. Traveling on Queen Boulevard is currently hard enough
without this project. Imagine what will happen if this project would
to take place. People will need to make extra time to get to work and
spend more time on the road instead of more time with their loved ones
at home. As we all know, more traffic leads to more accidents, and more
accidents leads to more injuries. Queens Boulevard has been known as
the “Boulevard of Death” in the past. As the accidents and fatalities on
Queens Boulevard have decreased over the last few years, we need to
keep these statistics as low as possible. Why risk our lives and safety of our
neighbors, friends, and families so developers can make a quick buck???
Last but not least, water and sewer problems. There are numerous
water and sewer projects happening in our district during the last few
years. Many homes were damaged because of these projects. Water
and sewer problems are usually created because of high usage. If we
allow this project to happen, where will all these water go from these two
buildings? Instead of solving these issues in the future after the project
has been completed, we need to come together as a community NOW
and do everything we can to stop this proposal NOW so we can prevent
and avoid these future crisis from happening in the first place.
James Zhang, Maspeth Resident
NOTE: Community Board 2Q held two public hearings. One was held
at their regularly scheduled meeting and one was held in Woodside at
St. Mary’s, which is located directly behind the development project.
Councilman Holden has come out against the proposal. As we go to
press, no final decision has been reached.
Elmhurst Car Sales
Parking is a nightmare all over
our area and residents don’t
need to see the problem
compounded by local residents
operating a car sales business
on our city streets. A car sales
business, like other businesses,
must operate from property
zoned for that type of business.
We took this problem to our
110th Precinct NCO Officers Don
Lee and Sebastian Arrubla and asked them to see what could be done to
rectify the situation.
UPDATE: Our officers spoke with a resident who was part of this
“business” and asked that they cease and desist this activity. One of the
“for sale” vehicles was towed for non-compliance. Hopefully the person
running this operation got the message.
We urge folks to reach out to their precinct if they believe a business is
using city streets to conduct business.
COMET Summer 2018 Pg. 5
 April 14th Earth Day Event
Maspeth’s April 14th Earth Day event was cosponsored by Maspeth
Federal Savings, Assemblyman Brian Barnwell, Councilman Robert
Holden, the 104th and 108th Precincts and COMET.
Crime Prevention Officer Eli Gani and Det. Marc Torres, 108th Precinct
and Crime Prevention Officer Eddie Collado, 104th Crime Prevention,
were on hand to VIN Etch cars as well as register cell phones and bicycles.
Det. Torres adopted a puppy, who he named Roger, at our event last fall
and decided to surprise us by bringing him along. In the six months that
Roger has been living in the Torres household he has gained 10 pounds
and it is easy to see he is very spoiled. His visit made our day!
104th & 108th Precincts & Comet
Maspeth HS Green Club
John Connors volunterer
"Traffic Director" Pet Adoption Van
Electronics Recycling
Pg. 6 Summer 2018 COMET
Paper Shredding
Special thanks to our COMET volunteers: John Connors and his daughter
Shannon, Richie Polgar, Lucille Winsko, James Zhang, Joanne Ferguson,
Chammy Liu and James Li for donating time to help at this event.
One-Way vs. Two-Way
By James Zhang
Convert or not to convert??? Currently
the roads between 71st Street and
74th Street from Grand Avenue to
51st Avenue are all two-way streets.
However, there have been ongoing
discussions and studies have been
conducted to determine whether it is
better and safer for these streets to be converted to one-way.
There are obviously advantages and disadvantages for the conversion
or stay as two-way. The real determination of whether the conversion
is necessary has always been between convenience versus safety. There
is no doubt that two-way streets are easier for drivers living in these
streets to travel. People are able to get from Point A to Point B much
easier. However, the problem with convenience is that the roads on
these streets are very narrow especially when there are cars parked on
both side of the street at all times.
Based on Department of Transportation investigation of these streets,
35 reported injuries occurred on these streets between 2012 and 2016.
During the same period, the New York City Police Department reported
84 car accidents among these streets. The total of 119 incidents within
just a few blocks is A LOT. On the other hand, the people who prefer
two-way streets do have a very strong argument in that drivers tend
to speed more on one-way streets than two-way streets. With two-
way streets, because the roads are very narrow, people tend to drive
slower to avoid a collision with approaching cars. The problem with this
argument is that instead of blaming people for their poor judgment, we
are now blaming the road for people’s poor judgment. People that tend
to speed will always speed regardless if the road is one-way or two-way.
They might occasionally driver slower when they see an approaching
car, but the speeding tendency don’t just stop because they are driving
on two way roads. There is no question that speed and safety goes hand
to hand. Instead of blaming the operation of the road for people’s poor
driving judgment we need to find solutions to combat speed by installing
speed bumps, traffic devices, and other tools. Community Board 5 has
yet to determine whether one-way conversion will or will not be done
even after several months of discussion. At the last CB5 Transportation
Committee meeting, the chair and members of the committee have
requested more data and research from Department of Transportation
even though they have all the data they need. We shall all wait and see
how this battle ends.
 Missing Signs Restored on
Madison Street
Several years ago we contacted
Councilman Dromm’s office and asked if
he could try to get a name designation
for this unnamed Elmhurst street. The
Councilman visited the location and
agreed it should have a name and
reached out to the agency asking that
they look into whether or not the city
owned this strip and if it did have a name.
Residents contacted us to say street
name signs appeared at the intersections
of 55th to 56th Avenues this past winter
but no street name was posted between 56th and 57th Avenues.
One of our members did a little research and found an article in Forgotten
New York explaining some of the history. Apparently “Madison Street” is
still owned by the city, with stop signs and sidewalks. However, only part
of this strip is a street. The street portion of the strip is demarcated by
a sidewalk. The rest of the strip is an “alley” and we assume that’s why
no street name was posted there. The city does repave the entire strip
from time to time.
New Mailbox for 61st Street
at Grand Avenue
The Post Office recently installed a new tamper-proof
mailbox at 61st Street at Grand Avenue. We were told
that several residents mailed checks at this location
and they were stolen. Hopefully mailboxes like these
will be installed throughout our area.
Surprise Sewer Work in Maspeth
Residents and businesses were
given water shutoff notifications
and motorists experienced traffic
backups on 69th Street as a result
of this “surprise” project.
Assemblyman Barnwell and COMET reached out to the Department of
Design and Construction and were told that this is an “accelerated water
main project” where the contractor is given a list of various locations
throughout the borough where water mains need fixing, and they are
in each location for a short period of time. The agency recognizes the
impact on the community and will try to advise the community as far in
advance as possible.

We asked our Neighborhood Coordination Officers Lee and Arrubla to

check our 911 and 311 system to see if there is a record of this street in Long Term Parking?
the event of an emergency. They told us that this street/alley is in the One of our members spotted this
system but we’re curious how many of our officers know where it is. If van with a clothing bin trailer behind
you look at the intersection where “the alley” portion of this strip meets it parked in front of Reiff Park since
57th Avenue, the street name designation is 84th Street/57th Avenue. January. She said it may have been
We’ll continue to see what can be done to make this less confusing to parked there even longer but first
motorists who are looking to turn down 84th Street westbound. As most noticed it in January. Knowing that residential parking is at a premium
folks know, 84th Street eastbound is across the street from this alley and she reported it to 311 earlier this month. We’ve been told that the van
84th Street westbound is a short distance up the block. Who said we is gone but as our newsletter goes to press, the clothing bin trailer is still
don’t have an interesting neighborhood? there. We’ll continue to follow up.

One of our members spotted the Department of Sanitation cleaning

up the grassy strip adjacent to the railroad tracks on Calamus Avenue
in Elmhurst in mid-May. We want to thank DSNY for helping to keep
our community looking clean. Great job!!

Report Plane Noise

http://www.planenoise.com/panynj/daPRAbr9/qs114wbt.php

C.O.M.E.T. Meetings
Our meetings are held at St. Adalbert Parish Center, lower level, 52-40 84th Street. Please check our website in early September
to see a list of our scheduled meetings.

Newsletter Committee
Mike Fordunski, Tom Porembski, Richie Polgar, Christina Wilkinson, Geraldine Walsh, Howard Moskowitz, Teresa Marrero, Lucille
Winsko, Dick Gundlach, James Zhang, Roe Daraio & Maspeth Press.

Special Thank You

This newsletter is made possible by funding from former Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, Council Members Daniel Dromm and
Jimmy Van Bramer though the Department of Youth and Community Development.

COMET Summer 2018 Pg. 7

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Newsletter Spring 2012