8 JANUARY 25, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Residents get warnings for driving in SBS lanes
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @ R_KELLEY6
The addition of a Select Bus Service
(SBS) route along Woodhaven
Boulevard in Queens has
been a topic of debate for months, but
for residents of one tiny side street in
Middle Village, it's become a major
source of frustration.
Goldington Court, a small one-way
street connecting Woodhaven Boulevard
and 84th Place, has been a hot spot
for bus lane violations, according to
Herb Wagner. A resident of Goldington
Court, Wagner said that he and fi ve of
his neighbors on the block have received
eight warnings in the mail between them.
"Since it took a month to get these
fi rst tickets, who knows how many
more tickets are in the system being
processed for us?" Wagner said.
Wagner and his neighbors' confusion
about the warnings sheds light
on the lack of clarity in the rules
governing the bus lane. Since the bus
lane near Goldington Court is off set
— meaning there is a parking lane between
the curb and the bus lane — it
is active 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. Drivers are only permitted to
enter or cross through the bus lane
within 200 feet of making a right turn
or if they are actively parking.
The one-way traffi c on Goldington
Court feeds toward Woodhaven
Boulevard where drivers must turn
right. Once on Woodhaven Boulevard,
a common path for those wishing to
travel west into Middle Village is to
take the very next right onto Furmanville
Avenue.
The camera on the corner of Goldington Court and Woodhaven Boulevard has been controversial to local residents.
If drivers turn from Goldington
Court into the bus lane on Woodhaven
Boulevard and stay there because they
know they are taking the next right at
Furmanville Avenue, they are likely
to get ticketed. According to Wagner,
the distance from Goldington Court to
Furmanville Avenue is almost exactly
200 feet. The problem is that there is a
newly installed camera on the corner
of Goldington Court and Woodhaven
Boulevard, which Wagner said is "obviously
a mistake by the engineer who
decided to put the camera where it is."
If the camera is positioned in a way
that prevents it from seeing the cars
turning from Goldington Court, the
Department of Transportation (DOT)
may be left to assume that the driver has
been in the bus lane for more than 200
feet. A DOT spokesperson explained
that "all bus lane violations/warnings
are evaluated by our technicians to
determine if a violation has occurred."
When the SBS was fi rst added to
Woodhaven Boulevard, the DOT allowed
for a 60-day grace period so that
motorists could adjust to the changes.
During that time, the DOT only issued
warnings through the mail to drivers
who wrongly used the bus lane during
restricted hours.
The grace period started on Nov. 19,
2017, which was 66 days ago.
A spokesperson for the DOT told
QNS on Jan. 23 that the department
would issue an advisory about a
week before the warnings ended and
the violations began. On Jan. 24, the
spokesperson confirmed that the
violation period has still not begun.
When violations are issued they will
include fi nes from $115 to $150.
At a Community Board 5 Transportation
Services Committee meeting
on Jan. 23, Board 5 Chairman Vincent
Photo courtesy of Herb Wagner
Arcuri off ered a possible explanation
for why the grace period may have
been extended. Arcuri said that the
Transit Signal Priority systems that
allow select buses to override traffi c
lights may not be fully installed yet.
"The question is, will they wait until
that whole system is ready?" Arcuri said.
Elizabeth Smith, who lives around
the corner from Wagner on 84th
Place, also received a warning in the
mail when she thought she did nothing
wrong. While Smith understands the
need to place the cameras to crack
down on people speeding through
the bus lanes, she said, she's more
concerned about safety. Since drivers
have to make the turn onto Woodhaven
Boulevard and avoid the bus lane,
then switch lanes into the bus lane
very quickly before making the right
turn onto Furmanville, "it's an accident
waiting to happen," Smith said.
Congress members fed up with Postal Service
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Members of Congress representing
Queens are fed up
with the borough’s reported
mail delivery problems and are
calling for immediate action from the
United States Postal Service (USPS).
On Tuesday, Congresswoman
Grace Meng was joined by Congressmen
Joe Crowley and Gregory Meeks
to send a letter to the postmaster general
of the USPS, Megan J. Brennan,
highlighting the complaints they
have heard from their constituents.
Severely delayed mail, signifi cant
problems with package delivery,
receiving incorrect mail and poor
customer service at post offi ces are
common problems that the Congress
members said are unacceptable.
“New Yorkers rely on the United
States Postal Service as an eff ective and
dependable means of communication,”
the letter said. “It is critical that USPS
maintain reliable mail delivery service.
The current mail delivery problems
plaguing the residents of Queens must
be addressed immediately.”
The letter also said that these
problems have existed since before
Winter Storm Grayson, though the
storm led to a surge in complaints
from residents who didn’t receive
mail for nearly a week. Many people
still receive Social Security benefi ts,
bills, vital medical supplies and prescriptions,
government-issued identifi
cations and fi nancial documents in
the mail, the letter explained.
The letter is not the first from
Meeks, however, who sent a much
more pointed message to the USPS in
a letter on Jan. 18. Meeks said in that
letter that he scheduled a meeting
with a senior USPS offi cial that was
later canceled by the offi ce of the
postmaster general. The Congressman
was “irate” at the cancellation
and expressed deep concern for his
constituents dealing with “demonstrated
incompetence” form the
postal service, the letter said.
“I have already discussed the matter
with my colleagues on the House
Oversight and Government Reform
Committee, as it is now clear to me that
the problem is more sweeping than
was originally reported and therefore
warrants robust Congressional oversight,”
Meeks said in his letter.
A spokesperson for Meeks confi rmed
on Tuesday that his meeting with the
USPS has been rescheduled and the
details are being fi nalized. Crowley and
Meng are also likely to join Meeks at the
meeting, the spokesperson said.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson
for the USPS issued statement in an
email to QNS about the letter sent by
the Congress members.
“We share the Members’ concerns
and are committed to working with
them to resolve issues identifi ed by
their offi ces,” the statement read. “We
will continue to work to ensure all
customers receive the level of service
they expect and deserve.”
Photo via Shutterstock
