Whitestone residents gathered Tuesday night at St. Luke’s
Church in Whitestone for the 109th Precinct Build The Block
meeting. Photo by Carlotta Mohamed/QNS The fi ght for quiet skies
Whitestone talks
burglaries, CP shelter
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Over 60 Whitestone residents
— many of them newcomers
— filled the room at St.
Luke’s Church on Sept. 10 to address
neighborhood concerns
at the 109th Precinct Build the
Block meeting.
Neighborhood Coordination
Officers (NCO’s) Thomas Dean,
Michael Petronzio and Crime
Prevention Officer Mark Burger
updated residents who reside
in Sector D (Whitestone, Bayside,
Murray Hill, Beechurst,
North Flushing and Bay Terrace)
on issues about speeding,
how to prevent burglaries at
home, and the opening of a College
Point men’s homeless shelter,
at St. Luke’s Church at 16-34
Clintonville St.
Burger, who has visited
162 locations within the sector
identifying weaknesses where
someone can enter a homeowners
residence, encouraged the
audience to take home flyers on
how to prevent burglaries.
“I’ve surveyed about 140
homes and the other 42 locations
are schools, houses of
worship or commercial establishments,”
said Burger, who
received a list of homeowners
interested in conducting the
home survey.
Burger also informed
residents of stolen wheels and
rims from vehicles — preferably
Honda, Nissan and Toyota
models that have been targeted
in the community.
“Using technology and
checking the motion, your
phone and being on top of who
is at your door. The best thing
is to identify … if it’s someone
who shouldn’t be there definitely
give us a call,” Burger said.
“This helps for home breakins,
car break-ins, and rim and
tire thefts.”
The most pressing issue
that has long been provoking
residents is speeding along
the Cross Island Parkway and
Francis Lewis Boulevard and
overnight commercial parking,
according to Dean.
“It’s something we’re well
aware of. Our CO from the
last meeting has contacted the
NYPD Highway 3 commanding
officer and Highway 3 has
made some arrests, which is a
huge adjustment from last summer,”
Dean said. “Also, about
two weeks ago, we did an operation
with NCO’s at College
Point and throughout the night
issued 40 tickets to vehicles.”
Other residents brought
forth concerns of marijuana
cigarettes at Francis Lewis
Park, cars parked overnight by
fire hydrants, speeding cars in
certain parts of the neighborhood
and teens on bicycles harassing
senior citizens by North
Shore Farms — all of which the
NCO officers said they have
been aware of and addressed
at meetings.
Meanwhile, the delayed
opening of the controversial
College Point men’s homeless
shelter, which was slated to
open in September at 127-03
20th Ave., has residents on edge
worried for their safety.
“Right now, it’s not open. If
anything new pops up at the
precinct, it’s going to be closely
monitored. If we see crime
starts happening here, Deputy
Inspector Shine I can assure
you will deploy extra resources
to pay special attention to the
facility,” Dean said. “It’s going
to be a day to day basis just trying
to figure out what is going
to happen. We understand it’s
a very sensitive location with
two to three schools, including
an all girls school.”
According to Kim Cody,
president of The Greater Whitestone
Taxpayers Association,
the College Point Civic Coalition
has a court date in October
to prevent the opening of the
homeless shelter.
“Hopefully until they have
their hearings in court, they
will not open it until the court
hears both sides,” Cody said.
Suozzi calls on FAA to implement aircraft noise solutions
Planes on the runway at LaGuardia Airport Photo: Nuno Lopez via Flickr Creative Commons
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A Queens congressman
wants the Federal Aviation
Administration to implement
previously agreed upon
solutions to alleviate aircraft
noise coming into and out of
a local airport.
Since April, Queens and
Long Island residents have
experienced increased airplane
noise due to the redirection
of flight paths and the
reconstruction of one of JFK
Airport’s four runways. According
to Congressman Tom
Suozzi, the work is scheduled
to last until Nov. 15, 2019.
“It has been more than 90
days since the FAA postponed
implementation of already
agreed-upon procedures and,
despite multiple attempts,
I have not gotten a straight
answer on when they will be
administered,” Suozzi said.
“It is finally time for the broken
bureaucracy of the FAA
take concrete action that will
actually improve the lives of
my constituents who are being
bombarded and crushed
by airplane noise.”
On May 30, Suozzi and
representatives from Nassau
and Western Suffolk Counties
met with the FAA to discuss
the increase in aircraft
noise. Two weeks later on
June 13, the FAA signed an
agreement to reduce noise,
which they planned to implement
from June 24 through
April 15, 2020.
The terms of the agreement
are as follows:
When aircraft are operating
west of Deer Park, Suffolk
County, air traffic controllers
will instruct pilots
to maintain an altitude at or
above 4,000 feet as long as it
is practicable.
When the parallel runway
is not being used for landing
(22R), aircraft will be advised
to maintain an altitude
of 3,000 feet on their final approach
until they are within
15 miles of JFK.
The air traffic control
tower at John F. Kennedy
International Airport will
rotate usage of operational
runways when the weather
and workload permit;
Items one through three
were scheduled to officially
go into effect on June 24, 2019,
and were to be part of Standard
Operating Procedures
(SOP) during all hours.
According to Suozzi’s office,
the FAA reversed its decision
on June 18, stating that
the new regulations “require
additional internal evaluation”
and that “the FAA will
coordinate with stakeholders
before it makes any decision
to implement them.”
Suozzi, who is a vice
co-chair of the bipartisan
Quiet Skies Caucus, sent
out a detailed letter to the
FAA asking for clarification
on when they would implement
these regulations. But
the congressman’s office
said the organization has
been noncommittal.
The congressman has
also asked Federal Aviation
Administrator Steve Dickson
to provide an update on
outstanding project related
to aircraft noise, including
a “now long-overdue
and continuously delayed”
FAA study reevaluating
the threshold for noise
mitigation activities.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by email at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at
(718) 260-2583.
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM SEPT. 20-26, 2019 3
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