18 The Queens Courier • june 19, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com THROGS NECK BRIDGE LANES TO CLOSE OVERNIGHT FOR SEVEN WEEKENDS Up to two of the Throgs Neck through 5 a.m. Monday. During Bridge’s three Queens-bound lanes will daytime hours on the weekend two be closed during overnight hours for a lanes to Queens will remain open. total of seven weekends this summer, The closures will allow 90,000 according to the MTA. square feet of binder and asphalt Starting the weekend of June 20 overlay to be replaced, and will give through 23, only one Queens-bound drivers “a smoother, more-even riding lane will be open from the Bronx toll surface,” the MTA said. plaza south to the Bronx anchorage As an alternative, motorists can use of the bridge from 10 p.m. Friday the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge or the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, which will have three lanes open southbound to Queens. Work is heavily dependent on good weather and can be affected by rain or extreme humidity. As a result of the weather, it may not be done on consecutive weekends. For up-to-date information on MTA service status visit, www.mta.info. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Marisa Baldeo Photo courtesy the Department of Transportation Douglaston will receive a new Department of Transportation public plaza near its LIRR station. Deputy Inspector fights noise using Twitter BY SALVATORE LICATA and PAULINA TAM He said noise complaints in the area have been The 106th Precinct is taking to Twitter to stop noise “extreme.” from trending. Schiff used a similar tactic earlier this week when The precinct commander, Deputy Inspector Jeffrey he asked residents to tweet a picture and location of a Schiff, said at Wednesday’s Precinct Community particular type of graffiti to add charges to the tagger he Council meeting that he is launching a special initiative had in custody. this weekend where local residents can report noise The noise complaint strategy started on the weekend of complaints via Twitter to @NYPD106PCT. June 13 through June 15, and three residents tweeted out “If you have a noise complaint, report it on Twitter, their noise complaint issues during that time, according to with the address, and we will hopefully be there within a spokesman for the 106th Precinct. minutes,” Schiff said. “We are tired of telling people to lower their music and then once we leave it goes back up,” Schiff said. They responded to 31 noise complaints (through both Twitter and phone calls) and issued 20 summonses during the kickoff of the initiative, a spokesman for the 106th Precinct said. The investigation was part of Operation Silent Night, an operation by the 106th Precinct that explored noise complaints tweeted by concerned citizens. Residents can continue to tweet their noise complaints to Schiff. “We’re not killjoys but we’re out there doing what needs to be done,” the spokesman said. DOUGLASTON STATION STREET PLAZA GETS GREEN LIGHT BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected]/@liamlaguerre After months of negotiating, the Douglaston community will soon see its first street plaza. Community Board 11 voted on Monday, June 16, to approve the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) plan to implement the plaza near the LIRR station on 41st Avenue in July. The agency will extend the sidewalk into the turnaround where 235th Street and 41st Avenue meet to create the public plaza, while saving the traffic loop — which was a deal-breaker with the community. The Douglaston Local Development Corporation (LDC) contacted the DOT last year for the street plaza, hoping that it would revitalize the businesses in the community by giving pedestrians a place to walk and rest while shopping and eating. “I don’t think it’s going to be an instant solution,” said Dorothy Matinale, president of the Douglaston Village Chamber of Commerce and a board member of the LDC. “We’ve spent the last five years trying to figure out what we can do. Now, there will be some actual fruits of our labor.” The plan eliminates about seven parking spaces, but adds 3,000 square feet of public space, new crosswalks, plants, umbrellas with movable tables and chairs, plants and granite blocks. The LDC will be charged with maintaining the new plaza, and they plan to do so through fundraisers and private donations. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the plaza, some community members voiced their concerns. They fear traffic could be slowed or backed up in the narrowed turnaround. “It appears to me that there will be enough room in the turnaround for one car to turn around and leave,” said Eliot Socci, a resident of the neighborhood for 35 years and Douglaston Civic Association president. “By clipping the edges it might back up the traffic.”
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