Flushing business leader Peter Tu wants the city to slow its implementation of a Main Street Busway
plan due to the lack of proper community outreach. File photo
TIMESLEDGER | 2 QNS.COM | OCT. 2-OCT. 8, 2020
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
A measure to combat mail
fishing in the U.S. was recently
passed in a key spending
bill by the House of Representatives.
Congresswoman Grace
Meng, a member of the House
Appropriations Committee,
authored the measure that
would direct the U.S. Postal
Service to report on the status
of all collection boxes that
have been retrofitted with
narrow mail slots. Retrofitting
collection boxes with
narrower slots makes it more
difficult for thieves to steal
the mail that is inside.
“Mail fishing continues
to impact too many Americans
and action is needed
to stop this mail theft crime
from occurring. In 2018, the
Postal Service agreed to retrofit
all blue mail collection
boxes in Queens after I urged
the agency to do so, and borough
residents are benefiting
from this improved security,”
Meng said. “The agency must
now take this initiative a step
further and retrofit collection
boxes throughout the nation
in order to fully combat the
problem.”
Mail fishing occurs when
criminals place string connected
to a sticky material
into blue collection boxes.
The sticky substance attaches
to the mail and thieves “fish”
out the envelopes. They then
open the letters and steal people’s
personal information
such as bank, credit card and
Social Security numbers.
Last year, Meng introduced
the Keep Mail Safe
Act legislation to require the
Postal Service to study the
possibility of retrofitting all
collection boxes with narrow
mail slots.
The Postal Service’s report
must detail where, how,
and why such retrofits have
been made, and include a
strategic plan for retrofitting
additional collection boxes.
The report must also include
an estimate of the resources
necessary for such a plan to
be carried out throughout the
entire country, and it must be
completed no later than 180
days after the enactment of
Meng’s provision.
Mail fishing has resulted
in many incidents of
identity theft, financial and
bank fraud. While the Postal
Service has retrofitted some
collection boxes, more must
be done to deter crooks from
engaging in this crime, and
ensure the security of mail.
“As we continue to fight
against the unconscionable
and reckless assault that Postmaster
General Louis DeJoy
has made on the Postal Service
– and I continue to call
for his firing – we cannot lose
sight of the need to address
mail fishing,” Meng said. “It’s
time to stop these lawbreakers
from taking people’s mail
and stealing their personal
and financial information.”
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4526.
BY BILL PARRY
A Flushing business leader
wants the city to hit the breaks
on its controversial plan to create
a car-free busway on Main
Street.
Peter Tu, the president of the
Flushing Chinese Business Association,
with its nearly 1,500
members, is calling on the Department
of Transportation to
postpone the Oct. 1 implementation
of the 2020 Main Street Busway
Plan for at least 30 days in
order to convene formal meetings
with community stakeholders
including retail businesses,
medical and dental practices,
restaurants, hotels and other
commercial businesses.
Tu’s organization retained
retired judge Randall T. Eng
who sent a letter on Sept. 25 to
DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg
formally requesting
that the agency allow more time
for the concerns of the affected
businesses to be fully heard,
saying that due to the COVID-
19 pandemic the agency’s public
outreach was either curtailed or
not completed.
Eng wrote that the expanded
busway plan would stretch 0.6
miles from Sanford Avenue to
Northern Boulevard and the
outreach efforts were hampered
by COVID restrictions as well
as language barriers.
“In addition, the timing
of the implementation of the
proposed busway cannot be
worse,” Eng wrote. “Like many
other businesses in New York,
the pandemic and the accompanying
lockdown have taken
a substantial toll on the Flushing
businesses. They are still
struggling to gain their footing
and financial stability after
the easing of the pandemic’s
restrictions. Implementing this
busway at this precarious time
in the recovery will have a devastating
effect on many of the
businesses.”
A spokesman for the DOT
said the agency has received the
letter and did not offer further
comment. Eng included several
letters of support from elected
officials as well as community
and business leaders.
“Flushing has been hit extremely
hard and we need to
rally behind these businesses
right now and not stifle their
return to business,” state Senator
Toby Ann Stavisky wrote.
“I have personally seen it firsthand
having visited Flushing
during the shutdown and now
in the reopening of Flushing.”
Councilman Peter Koo
agreed writing that the COVID-
19 pandemic had a crippling
impact on all sectors of the community.
“As we work toward recovery,
the city of New York must take
preventative measures to protect
those impacted by the worsening
financial crisis, unemployment
and ongoing pandemic,”
Koo said. “Whether residents,
businesses, or essential services,
we need to make sure any largescale
infrastructure changes to
our community are fully vetted
and appropriate for all.”
Community Board 7 chairman
Eugene T. Kelty, Jr. added
support for the postponement.
“The roll-out of a busway
plan on the heels of a pandemic
which has affected New York
the hardest is not only untimely
but without adequate studies
and planning,” Kelty wrote.
“According to the mayor’s 2019
Action Plan, there should be
stakeholder briefings, on-street
outreach, public workshops and
open houses, business survey
and shopper surveys which were
curtailed due to the COVID-19
pandemic. Flushing businesses
were locked down by executive
order and is just beginning to reopen
for business. To shut down
the heart of downtown Flushing
by implementing this busway
will be just another blow to this
Asian community.”
Queens Chamber of Commerce
President Thomas J.
Grech wrote that the DOT presented
no data that the proposal
of shutting down Main Street
between Sanford Avenue and
Northern Boulevard would
speed up bus travel.
“The rerouting of the private
cars off Main Street to College
Point and Union Street will
be displacing the congestion
from Main Street to these other
streets,” Grech wrote. “It will
now cause congestion on the
side streets which are narrow.
I look forward to having meaningful
discussions and coming
up with a plan that will help the
Flushing community.”
A juice bottle dipped in glue is an example of a fishing device
used to steal checks from mailbox. Photo courtesy of NYPD
House passes Meng’s
measure to prevent
mail fi shing in U.S.
Flushing business leader calls
for delay to city’s busway plan
BAYSIDE TIMES (USPS#025088) is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY.11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2020. All rights reserved. The newspaper will
not be liable for errors appearing in any advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Periodicals postage paid at Flushing, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Bayside Times C/O Queens CNG
LLC. 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, N.Y. 11361.
/QNS.COM
link
link
/schnepsmedia.com
