QNE_p004

QC07252013

4 The Queens Courier • july 25, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com DANGEROUS CROSSING Residents say area around park unsafe for pedestrians THE COURIER/Photo by Melissa Chan Irene Rama and her posse of youngsters look carefully before they cross the street and all the way to Francis Lewis Park. UP, UP & AWAY BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com Almost all the noise complaints filed last month at three major airports came from Queens, according to data obtained by The Courier. More than 700 calls about airplane noise flooded LaGuardia Airport this June, while 348 grievances came in about John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to statistics from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Out of 1,061 total complaints that poured in last month, only 18 complaints were made to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. The complaints came from almost 200 homes in Queens, mostly in Flushing and Bayside, according to Port Authority data collected June 1-30. About 500 complaints to LaGuardia were from those neighborhoods, with a majority of calls coming from residents near Travis Triangle and Bowne Park. Residents from across the Queens border in nearby Floral Park made most of the complaints to JFK, a total of 200. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved a new flight pattern last December, much to the dismay of residents who say the procedure causes nonstop noise from low-flying planes. The Port Authority and the FAA said they expect upcoming projects to reduce noise. Representatives from both agencies addressed the Queens Borough President’s Aviation Advisory Council on July 22. They said plans to soon rebuild and modernize the Central Terminal Building at LaGuardia would allow for larger planes on the runways, With more passengers per plane, that would mean fewer aircraft in the sky. Officials also said by 2016, airports will be mandated to only use planes with engine sound-absorbing designs. Planes going in and out of New York airports, with the exception of corporate aircraft, are currently “Stage 3” planes. The designation means engines are moved further into the interior of the plane to lessen noise. Propellers are also shaped to deaden sound. Barbara Brown, chair of the Eastern Queens Alliance, said larger planes would not be helpful. “Even if flights are getting quieter, that won’t mean anything if there are more flights taking place in general,” she said. Port Authority officials said they are also in the process of replacing 22 noise monitoring terminals and should be done by spring 2014. They added that a public website will soon launch for people to monitor noise decibel readings and file noise complaints. U.S. Senators Charles Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand and multiple congressmembers from the city and Long Island have called for more action. They recently sent a letter to Port Authority executive director Patrick Foye urging his agency to create an airport advisory committee. “It is simple common sense to say that the largest metropolitan area in the country should have an airport advisory committee like the one we are proposing,” Schumer said, “a body that would help increase quality of life for locals.” The New York state legislature passed a bill this year that would require the Port Authority to conduct a onetime study to determine the effects of aircraft noise on Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and Jersey residents. It awaits Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature in New York and ultimately needs New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s approval as well. Additional reporting by Johann Hamilton BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com Getting to and from a Whitestone playground is no walk in the park, some residents say. The lack of a crosswalk or traffic controls at the 3rd Avenue and 147th Street entrance to Francis Lewis Park is dangerous to pedestrians, said Malba Civic Association president Alfredo Centola. “It’s a beautiful park,” Centola said. “These poor kids, with their parents, whenever they come to the park to play, they have to take their lives in their hands.” Most residents must cross three-way traffic to enter and leave the park, located at the edge of the East River, since the majority of homes in the area lie across 147th Street. Irene Rama of Whitestone said sometimes she and her kids are forced to stop in the middle of the street to avoid an oncoming car even after stopping to look in every direction beforehand. Residents say a piece of property, bordered by jutting construction boards, that is being developed directly next to the park impairs the vision of pedestrians trying to cross. “It’s a long stretch,” said Rama. “There are kids running all the time. There should be something here. It’s a huge intersection.” Mark Felber, 67, who lives down the street from the park, said he would like to see better traffic controls. “This is a popular street,” he said. “I have grandkids. They run over there and there’s no stop sign.” There were no injuries at the intersection in question between 2007 and 2011, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) said. But the department said there were four serious ones from car accidents, not involving pedestrians, during that period at 3rd Avenue and the westbound Whitestone service road. “While DOT has not received any recent requests related to this location, the agency will study the applicability of a stop sign or other traffic controls at 3rd Avenue and 147th Street as well as the feasibility of speed bumps in the area,” the spokesperson said. Centola said he has sent the DOT a letter of complaint every 18 months since 2005. Queens Borough Commissioner Maura McCarthy mailed the civic leader a response in 2011 saying the department completed an analysis and determined “Multi-Way Stop controls are not recommended at this time.” “Factors such as vehicular and pedestrian volumes, vehicular speeds, visibility and signal spacing were all taken into consideration in making our determination,” the correspondence reads. Shortly after the letter, the city installed one pedestrian crossing sign in front of the park, but it only faces one direction of traffic. Centola said the sign is also too high for drivers to see. “At this point, I’m speechless and dumbfounded,” he said. “The DOT is once again being negligent and refusing to take care of the issues.” Airport noise complaints are...


QC07252013
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