16 The Queens Courier • september 18, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Speed bumps installed along Juniper Valley Park, residents call for more safety measures BY SALVATORE LICATA slicata@queenscourier.com @sal_licata1 It’s going to be a bumpy ride for speeders along Juniper Boulevard North after the installation of three speed bumps last week. The stretch along the north side of Juniper Valley Park has long been a source of community concern. Cars and motorcycles would routinely zip along the street, which had no traffic lights or stop signs, residents said. After a request from Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and the approval from Community Board 5 (CB 5), speed bumps were installed at 78th Street, 77th Place and 75th Street to deter cars from speeding, according to a Department of Transportation (DOT) representative. But on the south side, residents are calling for a traffic signal to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street. For over a year now, CB 5 has been asking the DOT to do a traffic signal study to possibly add a traffic light on Juniper Boulevard South. “The transportation members of the board felt a traffic light would be more efficient on the south side,” said Gary Giordano, district manager of CB 5. “A lot of people go to the park each day. They should have a safe place to cross.” The community board is calling for a light on 78th Street where there is an entrance to the park. The request for a light at the intersection was denied once already by the DOT but the board is asking for a reconsideration. The DOT did offer to put a speed bump in the area of 78th Street, due to a request from Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, according to a DOT representative. But CB 5 turned it down because they would like to see a light there. Board members feel that even though speeding is a problem all around the park, this spot would be safer with a traffic light because it will eliminate two problems: speeding and crossing issues, Giordano said. The request for a reconsideration of a traffic signal study was made on March 31. The DOT has yet to make a decision. Giordano hopes that the DOT will decide soon, especially because school is now back in session and P.S./I.S. 49 sits just two blocks away on 80th Street. But if the DOT does again deny a traffic signal, Giordano said the board will be more open to other options. THE COURIER/Photo by Salvatore Licata Residents are trying to ramp up safety measures around Juniper Valley Park. Sandy-stricken trees to be cut down BY SALVATORE LICATA slicata@queenscourier.com/@Sal_Licata1 Dead trees are a common sight in Howard Beach — a constant reminder of the devastation the neighborhood faced nearly two years ago when Hurricane Sandy ripped its way through the area. But the neighborhood will now witness an arboreal upheaval as the Parks Department moves to uproot and replace a virtual forest of trees. “Several hundred street trees damaged by Hurricane Sandy in Community Board 10 are slated to be removed and replaced,” said Meghan Lalor, a representative from the Parks Department. “Any tree that was marked for removal was considered to be dead or in such decline that it would not be able to recover to full health.” The trees and their stumps will be removed entirely and will later be replaced by new trees. Each tree that is slated for removal has an “X” marked on its trunk. The removal process for many of them is taking place from Sept. 15 to Sept. 19. Soon after Hurricane Sandy, the Parks Department went out to survey the storm’s effect on the city’s trees. The Parks Department looked at about 48,000 trees citywide, and categorized each of them by their leaf coverage. Since then, the department has been monitoring the trees’ leaf coverage and behavior throughout the growing seasons, which has helped identify which trees should be axed. The exact number of trees to be cut down in Community Board 10 has yet to be determined. Parks is still surveying the neighbor- THE COURIER/Photo by Salvatore Licata hoods to make sure all of the problematic trees are reached.
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