FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com JANUARY 7, 2016 • TIMES 3 Sinking feeling: Cave-in woes continue on historic Ridgewood street BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport There apparently isn’t enough asphalt to fi ll this hole. Ridgewood’s historic Stockholm Street continues to suffer from a major cave-in, and residents are determined to see the landmarked street fi xed. The cave-in was initially reported to 311 by Stockholm Street resident and president of the Newtown Historical Society, Christina Wilkinson, in June of last year. In a response to Wilkinson’s complaint, the Department of Transportation (DOT) stated that the location is part of an existing project, or may be included in a future, long-term project. Last month, the DOT temporarily patched the bricks with black asphalt at the site of the cave-in, but a nearly 4-foot-deep hole still exists in the asphalt. Wilkinson stated that repair crews returned to the site on Dec. 24, 25, 26 and 28 to lay more asphalt, but the hole continues to sink. “The City of New York has been well aware of this situation since June of last year and for the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) to take this long to make a repair is unacceptable,” Wilkinson said. “On top of the safety issue, the street itself is landmarked, and deserves to be fully restored in a timely manner.” Representatives from the DEP informed Gary Giordano, district manager of Community Board 5, that they tested the site via camera and found that the sewer manhole on Stockholm Street is in good condition; the agency also indicated that the sewer line is attached to the manhole without a break or collapse. The DEP told Giordano that they will investigate the situation further with the help of the DOT. “I really believed this Stockholm situation was a typical DEP repair matter that has been going on for too long,” Giordano said. “Now I’m being told, which I fi nd surprising, that there isn’t any kind of a break in the manhole walls or the sewer line. If that is true, this is a mystery because there aren’t too many situations, in my experience, where we have a sinking condition and they, either DOT or DEP, patch the sinking condition and it keeps going down where it is not sewer-related when it is next to the manhole.” Photo by Christina Wilkinson The road continues to cave in at Ridgewood’s Stockholm street, even after asphalt repairs were made last month. CB 5 meets on Jan. 13 in Middle Village Community Board 5 (CB 5) will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Christ the King High School, located at 68-02 Metropolitan Ave., in Middle Village. The meeting will begin with a presentation by the Civilian Complaint Review Board, followed by the public forum. Anyone interested in speaking during the public forum must sign up before the start of the meeting. Each speaker will be given three minutes. There will also be reports from Chairperson Vincent Arcuri, District Manager Gary Giordano and committee chairs. For more information, call 718- 366-1834. Maspeth’s Principe Park renovations to be presented at meeting BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReportt After residents and members of local sports organizations rejected the initial plans for the reconstruction of the soft surface ballfi elds area at Frank Principe Park in Maspeth, NYC Parks is coming back with a revised set of plans. The plans will be presented during the Community Board 5 (CB 5) Parks Services Committee meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. at Maspeth Town Hall, located at 53-37 72nd St. At the last meeting with NYC Parks representatives in early December, the plans that were presented to residents had the two softball/Little League baseball fi elds facing the soccer fi eld, which was requested to be a new feature for the park. Though, this confi guration of the fi elds raised concerns over the safety of players on both the soccer fi eld and ballfi elds, as there is a chance of overlapping play and interference. “We just want to make sure that, because it’s such a signifi cant investment, nearly $6 million, I want to make sure that we get the design that is best for the community,” Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, who helped allocate funds for this project, said during the previous planning meeting on Dec. 2. The presentation will be followed by a discussion and a recommendation on the plans from the Parks Services Committee. The full board will most likely vote on the committee’s recommendation at the monthly CB 5 meeting scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
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