QNE_p032

QC03142013

FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com march 14, 2013 • THE QUEENS COURIER 31 Photo courtesy of MTA Flickr Subway platforms have improved since last year, according to a new survey. Subways cleaner, safer BY MELISSA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com City subway station platforms have improved in safety and sanitation, according to a new report. A survey by the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign showed there were fewer garbage bags on platforms and less overflowing trash. The second annual “State of the Station Platforms” also indicated staircases, floor cracks, broken lights and exposed wires were better repaired than last year. But water damage and graffiti problems drastically worsened, according to the report, and riders still have a 10 percent chance of spotting a rat. “We applaud transit managers and workers for improving conditions at many stations,” said Jason Chin-Fatt, the campaign’s field organizer. “But there’s still room for further progress.” About 250 platforms at 120 stations were studied last year between May 28 and August 10 during morning and evening rush hours on the weekdays. This accounts for nearly 28 percent of the city’s total subway station platforms. The MTA conducts its own survey on entire subway stations, not only its platforms, twice a year. The Straphangers Campaign is not affiliated with the city’s transit authority. TOWED AWAY BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com Councilmember Julissa Ferreras’ office has been working along with local precincts for over a year to help remove illegally parked cars. These cars, which often have no plates and no registration, are left parked on the streets for long periods of time with no one coming to claim the vehicles. Working with the 115th and 110th precincts, cars that have been parker longer than three days may face being towed. “Every time a car is illegally parked for days at a time, it not only takes away parking from the numerous residents living within my district, but it also affects the local economy by taking up spaces that are used to serve small businesses,” said Ferreras. According to the Councilmember’s office, the 115th Precinct conducted a tow/enforcement operation on Monday, March 12 near 103rd Street and 37th Avenue in Corona. During the operation, a total of four vehicles were impounded, each having a “for sale” marking and noted to have been parked for an extended period of time. Martin A. Funeral Home L.L.C. – Call for a FREE Planning Guide – • Our Services are available in all areas • Large Parking Facilities at all Locations • Personal Service, 24 Hours a Day • Burial and Cremation Services Available • Family Owned and Operated • FDIC Insured Pre-Plan Accounts • Pre-Arrangements Available • Out of Town Service, Call Us First • Shipping Specialists John A. Golden: Member of K. of C. and C*KHS; Thomas A. Golden III: Member AOH, KHS (Owner, Operators) 149-20 Northern Boulevard • Flushing • 718-359-6300 10-25 150th Street • Whitestone • 718-359-1122 36-46 Bell Boulevard • Bayside • 718-428-2210 Please Visit Our Website @ www.gleasonsfuneral.com Martin A. Gleason Funeral Home L.L.C.: The Preferred Choice Legally Speaking By: Scott Baron, Attorney at Law THE FALLING SLAB Advertorial Q: I was employed on a bridge. Our project involved the removal of its deck, a steel grid filled with concrete. First, we divided the deck into sections, using saws. Then we attached each segment to cables and chokers; the hook of a crane would then hoist it vertically, and away from the bridge. As the crane tried to raise a one-ton slab from the surface, one corner rose four feet in the air, while the opposite corner remained stuck to the roadbed. Our foreman directed that the slab be lifted until the cables were taut. “You wedge a piece of four-by-four lumber into the spot where the slab is stuck.” I did so and stood on the other end to keep it in place. The idea was for the crane slowly to lower the slab to place pressure on the fourby four in order to pry loose the attached portion of the slab. The crane operator was supposed to lower the slab slowly. Instead, the slab descended quickly, causing the four-by-four upon which I was perched to shatter. I was thrown to the ground. A: Section 240(1) of the Labor Law requires contractors and commercial owners to furnish or erect scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, ropes, and other devices so as to give proper protection to a person so employed. Liability under the statute is not limited to instances in which the worker is actually struck by a falling object. The relevant inquiry is whether the harm flows directly from the application of the force of gravity. Your accident as direct a consequence of the descent of the slab as would have been an injury to a worker positioned in the descending slab’s path, and so you ought to be able to recover. The law responds to changed conditions; exceptions and variations abound. Here, the information is general; always seek out competent counsel. This article shall not be construed as legal advice Copyright © 2013 Scott Baron & Associates, P.C. All rights reserved. 159-49 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach, New York 11414 1750 Central Park Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10710 718-738-9800, 914-337-9800, 1-866-927-4878


QC03142013
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