34 The QUEE NS Courier • december 18, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Western Queens gets greener: park officials BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected]/@aaltamirano28 Western Queens has gotten greener these past four years with a project that has planted more than 1,000 new trees — and the program will just keep growing. Partnerships for Parks, a joint program between the nonprofit City Parks Foundation and the city’s Parks Department, celebrated on Dec. 12 the planting of trees and tree care events in Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside over the past few years. Key project representatives, elected officials and local organizations, such as New York Restoration Project (NYRP), Trees New York, City Parks Foundation and NYC Parks/Forestry, gathered at the celebration ceremony where the “torch was passed” to community volunteers, who will now lead the program and continue to green the neighborhoods. Since 2011, the Greening Western Queens (GWQ) Urban Forestry and Community Stewardship Program has brought more than 1,100 new trees and over 100 community-enriching tree care projects to the western Queens neighborhoods. The four-year, grant-funded project was part of a $7.9 million initiative of The North Star Fund to invest in energy efficiency and environmental projects in the community, which was affected by a 2006 electric power outage. The GWQ program was created in the summer of 2011, when honey locusts and Japanese pagodas were planted. Since then, the project has planted 1,127 trees, including 598 new street trees on sidewalks, 528 trees in publicly accessible private spaces, such as schools, churches and public housing sites, and a storm water mitigation bioswale on the site of the Steinway & Sons piano factory in Astoria. Other works include training over 400 people in tree care best practices with Trees New York and supporting Western Queens neighborhoods, such as Astoria, are becoming greener. more than 1,600 people at over 128 volunteer tree care and greening events. An existing tree inventory was also conducted, and 455 blocks were digitally mapped in the project area in collaboration with TreeKIT and 54 local volunteers Photo by Valerie Medoff during 27 citizen mapping events. The program also installed 400 custom-designed, GWQ-branded tree guards in order to protect the young street trees and planted more than 1,800 native perennials in 117 tree beds. MTA BLAMES F TRAIN DERAILMENT ON SMALL RAIL DEFECTS THAT WENT UNFIXED BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAF [email protected]/@QueensCourier An F train went careening off its rails last May, injuring 32 and causing massive subway delays, because of several defects in the tracks that went unreported and unrepaired for at least a year after they were first discovered by an automated inspection, according to a report released Friday by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). MTA investigators determined that it was not a single defect in the express track south of the Roosevelt Avenue station, but the combined effect of all those defects in one location that was the likely cause of the derailment. Disciplinary action is being pursued against three maintenance supervisors and a track inspector for their roles in the derailment — failing to identify, document and correct the defects. In the wake of the derailment and the ensuing investigation, New York City Transit has changed its inspection protocols to make sure rail defects like the ones found along the F Line are identified and repaired, according to a statement from the transit authority. While inspectors never reported finding the track defects, despite making repairs to other tracks nearby, an automated inspection system did make a video record of the problems about a year before the derailment. “Nothing is more important than providing the safest transportation possible for our customers and employees, so determining the cause of this derailment was a top priority for us,” New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco said. “We immediately took corrective action to ensure we always focus on identifying and correcting track defects. This will minimize the risk of future derailments.” The Manhattan-bound F train was carrying about 1,000 passengers as it hurtled down the express tracks under Broadway at 60th Street in Woodside on May 2, when an 8-foot-long section of the 19-foot, six-inch rail fractured beneath it. Six of the train’s eight cars derailed. Thirty straphangers and two train crew members suffered minor injuries in the crash that caused an estimated $2 million in damages. During the investigation, safety officials reviewed videos from previously conducted automated inspections of that same stretch of track. The videos showed multiple problems, including a metal plate and fasteners under the track that had been broken for at least a year before the derailment. A wooden tie under the metal plate also was in poor condition. The report also noted that two rails were not fitted together properly, leaving one eighth of an inch higher than the rail it was joined to. Metal rails used to join the rails together had been reused and one of six bolts holding them in place was missing. All of the defects were found in an area where crews had earlier replaced two sections of broken track, without investigating why the track was in disrepair. “The combination of the broken plate, broken fasteners and deteriorated tie should have been prioritized for repairs,” read a statement from the MTA. “The report concludes that Division of Track personnel did not identify, document and correct the track defect at that location, either during regular inspections or when the two prior broken rails were replaced. They also did not adequately investigate the underlying causes of the broken rails.” The MTA said it has taken other steps to make sure rail defects are properly identified and repaired, including a new procedure that is intended to ensure that plates and fasteners are replaced as soon as possible. The MTA will add eight maintenance supervisors and will increase the number of times supervisors examine subway lines with the highest number of broken rails that are now inspected monthly by ultrasonic inspection cars. The Transit Authority spends about $180 million on track maintenance every year. Altogether, the MTA has pumped $1.5 billion into track rehabilitation and construction under its 2010-2014 capital budget. Photo courtesy of MTA
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