6
QUEENS WEEKLY, APRIL 28, 2019
DOT resurfaces two minor Willets Point street segments
Meanwhile, local business owners await similar repairs in other parts of the neighborhood
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Two street segments in
Willets Point are getting
a makeover after years of
requests for repavement.
Community Board 7
confirmed on April 22
that the city Department
of Transportation will be
resurfacing the roads at
126th Place from Northern
Boulevard to 34th Avenue
and 127th Street from
Northern Boulevard to
34th Avenue.
The road resurfacing
in Willets Point comes
after the DOT attended
the recent Land Use and
Zoning (Willets Point
Quarterly Update Meeting)
Committee meeting held
in March.
“The Community
Board’s feedback was very
helpful, and after further
analysis we are pleased
to announce that at this
time DOT will be able to
accommodate resurfacing
in Willets Point for two
street segments with
our existing in-house
resources,” the DOT said
in a statement to CB 7. “We
aim to complete this work
within Calendar Year 2019.
We will continue to keep
the board apprised of our
plans as we go forward.”
The CB 7 Willets Point
Advisory Committee
has been pushing for the
resurfacing, which has
been brought up constantly
at many meetings,
according to Eugene Kelty,
chairman of CB 7.
“The board is
appreciative of DOT’s
revaluation of the request
and hopes DOT continues
with the resurfacing
of additional streets in
the area,” Kelty said in
a statement.
Chuck Apelian, vice
chairman and Land Use
chairman of CB 7, said
they will continue to
support any further needs
as warranted.
“All taxpaying citizens
of Queens, whether
businesses of residents
deserve basic services
such as safe, drivable
roads and CB 7 has been
a strong advocate for
these resurfacing needs
in Willets Point for over a
decade,” said Apelian. “We
are pleased that existing
businesses in the northern
part of Willets Point Special
District are not forgotten
as new development begins
in the southern part of
Willets Point.”
Known locally as the
“Iron Triangle,” Willets
Point is an industrial
neighborhood within
Corona. Located east of
the CitiField Mets Stadium
near the Flushing River,
it is known for its auto
shops, scrap yards, waste
processing sites and
similar businesses.
For over 30-plus years,
property and business
owners in the area have
been advocating for the
repair and maintenance of
the neighborhood’s streets,
said Willets Point United
in a statement to QNS.
“Resurfacing those
minor street ‘segments’
does absolutely nothing to
address the long-standing
complaints of property
and business owners in
the heart of Willets Point,
south of 34th Avenue,” the
organization said.
Sam Sambucci, a
property owner/business
owner of A&D Used Auto
Parts in Willets Point,
believes the city is wasting
their time and money fixing
roads in Willets Point
that have been repaved in
the past with little or no
disrepair, while neglecting
the main road that is in
dire need of resurfacing,
he said.
“They have done 126th
Street from Northern
Boulevard to Roosevelt
Avenue — which there
was nothing wrong with
it,” said Sambucci. “The
major road that has not
been touched in almost 30
years is 127th Place from
Northern Boulevard to
37th Avenue and Willets
Point Boulevard from
37th Avenue to Northern
Boulevard. Those are
the roads you cannot
drive down without
dropping everything off
your dashboard while
spilling coffee.”
Sambucci added, “The
roads they’re doing from a
scale of 1 to 10 are probably
like a 7 or 8. 126th Street
that they just milled for
almost 4,000 feet on a
scale of 1 to 10 was a 10.
Willets Point and 127th
Place — those two roads
are negative 100. That’s
how bad they are. I don’t
even know if you can call
it a road.”
On the strip of Willets
Point Boulevard between
37th Avenue and Northern
Boulevard there are
over 50 businesses that
see customers daily,
said Sambucci.
“On a low end service
each business takes care
of at least three cars a
day. There’s 200-plus cars
a day serviced to that
neighborhood. That means
there are over 1,000 cars
a week that people come
down here to get repaired.
I think that’s a pretty good
business district,” said
Sambucci. “This is a needed
area and I don’t know why
the city refuses or anybody
else refuses to step up
for us.”
According to
Sambucci, the condition
of the roads has led to
people “double parking,
triple parking and
quadruple parking” their
cars along the street
while “street hustlers”
work on vehicles, which
has an effect on licensed
businesses in the area.
Closed streets and
unpaved roads have kept
Sambucci’s customers
away from his shop
refusing to drive down the
treacherous path.
“When the city closed
off 37th Avenue everyone
has their cars parked
and jacked up working on
the street like they’re a
legitimate business,” said
Sambucci. “All we need is
a little enforcement and
chase these street hustlers
away standing at the corner
of the stadium. There’s a
whole bustling business
of guys in the street
repairing cars.”
Looking forward to the
future of the redevelopment
of Willets Point, Sambucci
believes the neighborhood
will be nonexistent in
20 years.
“As much as I would
like for the neighborhood
to stay I don’t believe it’ll
be here, and as a property
owner I’m not going to stand
in the way of development,
but while I am here the city
needs to take care of us,”
said Sambucci.
As of late, Willets
Point United has
started a collection of
petition signatures that
began circulating two
days ago and will be
completed soon.
The coalition is
requesting that the DOT
repair and maintain all
Willets Point streets that
front or provide vehicular
access to Willets Point
businesses.
“The goal is to make
DOT and public officials
realize that the present
resurfacing work does
not come anywhere close
to resolving our longstanding
complaints, and
that the City must allocate
resources to resurface
Willets Point streets
south of 34th Avenue, and
implement that work as
soon as possible. If the
street conditions here
existed in any other
neighborhood of the City,
they would be treated as
an obvious emergency and
repaired immediately,” the
organization said.
Photo courtesy of Sam Sambucci
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