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QUEENS WEEKLY, AUG. 4, 2019
City Council approves co-namings of Queens intersections
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Several northeast
Queens intersections
will soon be co-named to
honor the lives of three
borough residents.
The New York City
Council approved
Councilman Paul
Vallone’s legislation on
July 23, which moved to
co-name intersections
in honor of Joe Femenia,
Madeline Sershen
and Chief Howard
C. Haider.
In College Point,
130th Street and 23rd
Avenue will be co-named
“Joe Femenia Way” for
the late neighborhood
civic leader. Following
his passing in January
of this year, Vallone
proposed the co-naming
for Femenia, who had
been the president of the
College Point Civic and
Taxpayers Association
since 2008.
“The tragic and
unexpected passing of
Joseph Femenia was
a great loss for all of
College Point,” said
Vallone. “The victories
and ongoing battles to
preserve and protect
College Point will
always be part of Joe’s
great legacy. He will now
be forever remembered
for generations as they
look to the street sign
recognizing his great
legacy. I will forever
cherish Joe’s friendship,
vision and the leadership
he displayed as we
worked together.”
In Whitestone,
Utopia Parkway and
16th Avenue will be
co-named “Madeline
Sershen Way” in
memory of the 17-yearold
who was fatally
struck by an elderly
driver in June 2018. In
the months after her
passing, the community
called for mandatory
driver vision retesting
and the introduction
of legislation in the
state Senate requiring
a written exam
when renewing a
driver’s license.
“Madeline Sershen
was a bright young
woman who had a
promising future
ahead, and her sudden
passing was felt deeply
throughout the entire
northeast Queens
community last year,”
said Vallone. “In the face
of tragedy, Madeline’s
Aunt Rita Barravecchio
and family have become
vocal proponents for
positive changes to New
York state’s driving
laws. It is my deepest
hope that this co-naming
will serve to help honor
Madeline’s memory.”
Northern Boulevard
between 207th Street
and the Clearview
Expressway northbound
in Bayside will be conamed
“CW5 Howard C.
Haider Way” for the late
military chief. Haider
served in the United
States Military from 1963
and joined the New York
Army National Guard
in 2003. He was the first
person in the state to
earn the rank of Chief
Warrant Officer 5.
“For four decades,
Chief Haider served
his country with pride
and dedication, and he
made history during
his career as the first to
achieve the rank of Chief
Warrant Officer Five in
New York state,” said
Vallone. “I am proud and
humbled to recognize
his lifetime of service to
our country.”
There will be official
ceremonies for the conamings
later this year
following coordination
with the Department
of Transportation,
C o u n c i l m a n
Vallone and all the
involved families.
“Joe, Madeline and
Howard each left their
own indelible mark on
our community, and
I’m humbled to be a
part of honoring their
lives in this way,” said
Councilman Vallone.
“I know their unique
legacies will live on for
generations to come.”
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by email at
jbagcal@qns.com or by
phone at (718) 260-2583.
Three streets will be co-named for Madeline Sershen, CW5 Howard Haider and Joe Femenia
Photos via Facebook, Dignity Memorial and Councilman Vallone’s office
Blame Northern Boulevard near the Cross Island Parkway in Bayside File photo
too,” he tweeted last week.
While the precinct
blames “inattentive
motorists” for the spike
in crashes and collisions,
some residents blame poor
placement and design of
bike lanes as well as a lack
of safety measures.
During the summer of
2017, DOT installed the
protected bike lane from
Northern Boulevard from
Douglaston Parkway to
the Cross Island Parkway.
The lane established a
two-way, barrier protected
bike path in response
to the death of 78-yearold
Michael Schenkman,
a cyclist who was killed
in 2016.
Residents like Barbara
Cohen Griffel said that
placing the bike lane on the
exit from the Cross Island
was “very poorly thought
out and dangerous.”
“If one is in a car going
north and making a right
turn on to 223rd Street,
it is very hard to see if a
bicycle is approaching the
same street at the same
time because the driver is
trying to assess the turn
and if there is room to get
past the cars lined up on
223rd waiting to get onto
Northern Boulevard,”
she said.
Since its inception,
critics have said that the
project does not make
sense for the area where
drivers, cyclists and
pedestrians converge.
In 2018, Douglaston
residents called for more
safety and even had plans
to sue the city over the
bike lanes.
“Traveling westbound
on Northern and hanging
a right on 223rd — as I do
most days — can be tricky
for the uninitiated as one
may not realize there’s a
bike lane on the other side
of the concrete barrier,”
Jay Kleinman told QNS.
“For the unfamiliar, it
looks like construction.
A cyclist going straight
could apparently come
out of nowhere and meet
up badly with a motorist
turning right. Better
signage there would go a
long way.”
In addition to better
signage, some residents
suggested other traffic
calming measures to
ensure that drivers are
being safe around cyclists
and pedestrians.
“I think rumble strips
coming off the Cross
Island exits going west
would be helpful, similar
to the ones leaving the
Cross Island to go to
Clearview. And more
signs making it obvious.
And arrows on the ground
pointing exactly where
cars should turn into —
and not into the bike lanes
or their barriers,” said
Peter Tomopoulos.
Laura Shepard,
a communications
coordinator at Bike
New York said that she
advocated for the bike
lanes back in 2016 and
added that the protected
lanes were a “tremendous
improvement” from the
dangerous conditions of
the past.
Shepard said that prior
to the protected bike lane,
drivers coming from the
Cross Island Parkway
failed to yield to cyclists
on Northern Boulevard.
The cyclist said that she
nearly got killed when a
reckless driver forced her
to slam on her brakes when
the light was changing.
“It’s an important
connector between
Bayside and Douglaston,”
said Shepard. “It serves
as a vital function to the
Queens bike network and
I hope the city extends
it to the Queensboro
Bridge all the way to the
county line.”
She added that she
supports more traffic
calming measures
like rumble strips or
narrowing the car lanes
to slow cars down.
The 111th Precinct
said that they contacted
DOT to look at ways “to
tailor enforcement to the
problem there.”
“DOT will be updating
markings at Northern Blvd
and Douglaston Pkwy, and
we will look at potential
safety enhancements
here in the future,” said a
DOT spokesperson.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by email at
jbagcal@qns.com or by
phone at (718) 260-2583.
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