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QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 2, 2019
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WHITESTONE TIMES
38-15 Bell Boulevard
Bayside, New York 11361
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Editorial: (718) 260-4539
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Program to clean
up LIC warehouse
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Deborah Cusick
CIRCULATION
Roberto Palacios
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Classified Director:
Celeste Alamin
Classified Sales
Manager:
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EDITORIAL STAFF
Reporters: Bill Parry,
Mark Hallum, Carlotta Mohamed,
Jenna Bagcal, Emily Davenport,
Max Parrott
Photographers: Nat Valentine,
Ellis Kaplan, Robert Cole
Copy Editor: Katrina Medoff
ART & PRODUCTION
Art Director: Leah Mitch
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Layout: Jenna Bagcal
Cartoonist: Tip Sempliner
BY BILL PARRY
Before departing on
a presidential campaign
swing through Nevada,
Mayor Bill de Blasio took
care of some city business on
May 24, announcing plans
for the rapid expansion
of the school zone speed
camera program which
Governor Andrew Cuomo
signed into law earlier
this month.
The city’s Department of
Transportation will begin
installing new cameras
citywide at a rate of 40 per
month through 2019, 60 per
month in 2020, expecting to
reach the law’s maximum
750 school zones by
June 2020.
“Our streets are about
to get a lot safer for our
children,” de Blasio said.
“We fought to expand our
speed camera program
and we won in Albany.
Now it’s time to rapidly
scale up our program to
save lives and keep our
kids safe.”
Authorized by state
law, the school zone speed
camera program had
been in place since 2014
with data showing that
speeding in areas with
cameras declines more
than 60 percent, with
over 80% of violators not
receiving a second ticket.
Speed cameras will now
operate year-round on all
weekdays between 6 a.m.
until 10 p.m. Previously,
cameras operated during
the school’s active hours.
In the coming months
the installations will be
made in the city’s most
dangerous areas like
Northern Boulevard,
where 12,000 school kids
are zoned to cross.
Northern Boulevard is
now known as the “New
Boulevard of Death” after
6 young children have been
killed since 2013. Overall,
NYPD collision data shows
18 people have been killed
on Northern Boulevard in
the last 5 years, including
16 pedestrians and 404
pedestrians and cyclists
have been injured.
“We’re going to be able
to put speed cameras at 750
schools, protect our kids,
protect their lives, ensure
they’re safe,” de Blasio
said on WNYC. “And that’s
an expenditure that will
be added to this budget
that literally is about life
and death.”
The late state Senator
Jose Peralta carried the
bill in the upper chamber
for years but Republicans
blocked the legislation
calling it a cash grab and
allowed the program to
expire altogether in July
2018. Mayor Bill de Blasio
and Cuomo made a rare
collaboration to reinstate
the program just before the
start of the school year.
New York City has
made so much progress
in reducing traffic
fatalities and so much
of that progress can be
credited to the use of
speed cameras, but there
are still far too many
areas in the city that need
measures to make streets
safer for pedestrians,”
City Councilman Donavan
Richards, the Chairman of
the Committee on Public
Safety, said. “Every life lost
is a tragedy, which is why
it was critical that Albany
renewed and expanded the
program to protect New
Yorkers from the next
tragic accident.This rapid
expansion is the right
approach to slow down
reckless drivers as soon
as possible.”
The program will
continue to fine any
motorist caught going 10
miles per hour over the
speed limit receiving a $50
summons. The new law
also mandates signage that
alerts drivers when they
are entering a school zone
speed camera location.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
BY MAX PARROTT
The Slate Property
Group, the purchasers of
the building that houses
s o u n d - a n d - l i g ht i n g
equipment company See
Factor, have submitted
a Brownfield Cleanup
Program application with
the state Department
of Environmental
Conservation (DEC),
and are looking for
public comment.
The developer
purchased the site at 37-11
30th Street from the estate
of Bob See in May 2018 for
$33.27 million. Now the real
estate group is using the
BCP to clean up possible
contamination from the
property and facilitate
its redevelopment.
The historical use of
the site that is suspected
to have contributed to the
contamination includes
a garage and plastics
manufacturer, in addition
to the aforementioned See
Factor. But based on the
findings of an investigation
on the property, the
process is not cause for
alarm for neighborhood
residents. The NYSDEC
has determined that
the site does not pose a
significant threat to public
health or environment.
The draft of the remedial
action work plan for the site
consists of the excavation
and offsite dumping of
historic soil, excavation of
hazardous waste, removal
of underground storage
tanks, analysis of soil
samples and backfilling the
affected areas.
NYSDEC will accept
written comments about
the proposed plan until
June 29 and revise the
cleanup plan as necessary.
The plan is publicly
available at the Queens
Library at Long Island
City, 37-44 21st Street, and
the Queens Community
Board 1 office at
45-02 Ditmars Blvd.
The public should
send their comments to
Hasan Ahmed, the DEC
project manager, at 47-
40 21st St., Long Island
City, NY 11101; to hasan.
ahmed@dec.ny.gov; or call
718-482-6505.
Mayor calls for more speed cameras
Life-saving speed camera program takes effect on July 11
The Department of Transportation has begun installing new speed cameras in the city’s most
dangerous school zones, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio. File
37-11 30th Street Site
Photo courtesy of the NYSDEC and Google Maps
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