8 JANUARY 11, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
In Woodside, mayor touts Vision Zero progress across Queens
BY ANGELA MATUA
AMATUA@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ANGELAMATUA
Mayor Bill de Blasio visited an
NYPD garage in Woodside
on Jan. 8 to announce that
2017 saw the fewest traffi c fatalities
on record, with Queens beating its
previous record low from 2011.
Citywide, pedestrian fatalities fell
32 percent since 2016 with 101 pedestrian
deaths in 2017 compared to 148
in 2016. Overall, 214 people were lost
in traffi c crashes in 2017 compared to
231 in 2016. These numbers mark the
lowest level of traffi c deaths since the
city began keeping records in 1910.
In Queens, there were 59 traffi c fatalities
in 2017 compared to 65 in 2016,
marking a 9 percent decline. The previous
low was recorded in 2011 with 63
traffi c deaths.
“Everyone knows when we think
about this history in our city, when
we think about the lives that were lost
our minds immediately go to Queens
Boulevard,” de Blasio said. “For too
long in this city the idea was tolerated
that there was a major thoroughfare
that was known as the Boulevard of
Death. That was never acceptable.”
Councilmen Jimmy Van Bramer,
who represents Long Island City, Sunnyside,
Woodside and parts of Astoria,
and Robert Holden, who represents
Middle Village, Maspeth, Glendale,
parts of Woodside and Ridgewood,
attended the press conference to tout
the initiative’s successes.
Holden, the former Juniper Park
Civic Association president, often
criticized the initiative and the Department
of Transportation’s (DOT)
plans to add more bicycle lanes in his
district.
But he acknowledged that his criticism
“was wrong.”
“I was one of those Doubting Thomases
on the civic level,” he said. “We’ve
heard it before from mayors: ‘We’re
going to correct this, we’re going to
slow them down.’ I want to thank the
mayor. You can’t argue with saving
lives. You can never argue that that’s
paramount here.”
Holden added that his district is
experiencing issues with the traffic
app Waze, which provides drivers
with alternative routes to avoid
traffic. The councilman said that because
of traffic calming measures installed
in major thoroughfares like
Queens Boulevard, more drivers
are using side streets to circumvent
traffic.
“The bigger picture here is in
Maspeth, we don’t have a subway,”
he said. “In Middle Village, we live
a mile and a half away from a subway
so we need to address those
concerns. Public transportation is
important obviously if were going to
change people’s mindsets on driving
everywhere in New York.”
One of the biggest projects that the
city focused on as a result of Vision
Zero was the re-imagining of Queens
Boulevard. The major thoroughfare
was referred to as the Boulevard of
Death because of the high number of
traffi c fatalities. In 1990, 18 people were
killed at the thoroughfare.
The fi rst phase of the redesign began
in 2015 and included the installation
of a protected bike lane. It covered the
1.3-mile stretch of the thoroughfare
between Roosevelt Avenue and 73rd
Street.
In the summer of 2016, the DOT began
the second phase of the redesign,
which covered 74th Street through
Elliot Avenue. The plan faced backlash
from Community Board 4, which
approved the redesign with one major
stipulation: no bike lanes.
Prior to the Community Board’s
vote, a group of bicyclists gathered at
the spot where Asif Rahman, 22, was
killed aft er he tried swerving away
from a double parked car with his bike.
Rahman was hit by a truck and ever
since the accident in 2008, his mother
Lizi has advocated for major safety
upgrades.
The mayor approved the plan despite
the board’s vote and the third
phase from Eliot Avenue through
Yellowstone Boulevard was fi nished
last year.
The fact that no one has died on
Queens Boulevard in three years is
one of the biggest successes in this
city,” Van Bramer said. “You cannot
understate how important it is that 10
years ago, fi ve years ago, 20 years ago
it was absolutely normalized that 10,
12, 17 people per year where killed in
crashes on Queens Boulevard.”
He also spoke about 8-year-old
Noshat Nahian who was hit and killed
by a truck in 2013 as he was crossing
Northern Boulevard on his way to
school.
“The face on his mother, the agony
she was enduring is something that
you would never want any human
being to face,” Van Bramer said. “That
family was so devastated that they
moved back to Bangladesh.”
According to data from the National
Highway Traffi c Safety Administration,
traffi c fatalities have increased
nationwide more than 13 percent from
2013 through 2016. In New York City,
there has been a 28 percent decrease
in traffi c fatalities since 2013.
“I’m really proud of Queens today
because Queens is leading the way
and Queens Boulevard is leading the
way because if you can make Queens
Boulevard safer you can make any
street in this city or country safer,”
Van Bramer said.
Photo via New York City Mayoral Photography Offi ce
The mayor visited Woodside to announce the record decrease in traffi c
fatalities in the city.
USPS missed deliveries in Queens after snowstorm
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
A major snowstorm that practically
shut down the city
last week also left Queens
residents’ mailboxes empty for fi ve
days, but regular deliveries should
be getting back on track this week,
according to one local politician.
Congresswoman Grace Meng received
numerous complaints from
residents of Middle Village, Maspeth,
Forest Hills, Rego Park and more
saying the mail hadn’t been delivered
since the storm. Meng was able to
reach the United States Postal Service
and released a statement on Facebook
explaining that “the recent storm and
lack of available regular carriers”
led to missed deliveries throughout
Queens and the surrounding area.
“I’ve asked the Postal Service to
let me know when these types of
problems occur in the future,” Meng
said in the statement. “It is essential
that the agency communicate about
delivery problems that impact our
borough.”
According to Meng, postal offi cials
said service is back to normal and
that mail is being delivered to every
home and business.
Meng also thanked many local politicians,
including Councilman Robert
Holden, for working with her on the
issue. Holden said that three of his
staff members were aff ected by the
lack of deliveries.
“This is the tip of the iceberg, no
pun intended,” Holden said. “The
postal service has been plagued in
recent years and is in a downward
spiral.”
Holden went on to say that while
he understands delays in deliveries
because of the weather, there is no
excuse for it not being delivered at
all. Citing other general problems
such as the wrong mail being delivered,
substitute carriers that don’t
know the routes, mutilated mail and
problems with the USPS distribution
center in Brooklyn, Holden said he
wants to launch an investigation into
the service.
Photo courtesy of USPS
Mail delivery should be back to
normal soon after the snowstorm
caused major delays in service.
“It’s a lifeline for many people, and
if it’s cut off it can jeopardize people's
lives,” Holden said. “I don’t take this
lightly.”
