8 FEBRUARY 22, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Bill to punish unlicensed drivers moves to senate fl oor
Congress members meet with Postal Service
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Congress members representing
Queens and Brooklyn fi nally
met with the United States
Postal Service (USPS) aft er weeks of
complaints, a previously canceled
meeting and letters demanding
answers.
On Feb. 12, Congressman Gregory
Meeks and Congresswoman Grace
Meng were joined by staff of Congress
members Carolyn Maloney,
Nydia Velazquez and Hakeem Jeff ries
at a meeting with USPS offi cials to address
the ongoing concerns. Meeks,
who in January sent an angry letter
to the USPS about a meeting it had
canceled on him, said in a statement
that he continued to apply pressure
to the federal service.
“This meeting was a productive
fi rst step, though it falls far short of a
full and adequate resolution,” Meeks
said. “In our meeting, I was very candid
about the shortcomings of USPS’
service in my district. I retold my
constituents’ stories about delayed
and non-delivered mail, lost packages
and mailbox manipulation.”
Meeks added that the Postal
Service said it will hire additional
staff — including letter carriers
— to resolve mail delivery delays
and discrepancies. It will also
station USPS staff on phone lines
to respond to comments and concerns
from the public, as well as
retrofit 3,000 P.O. Boxes in Queens
and Brooklyn to prevent “mail
fishing,” Meeks said.
Meng, who fi rst sent a letter to the
USPS in January when her constituents
complained about a lack of mail
delivery aft er a major snowstorm,
also sent a letter in February asking
the Postal Service to do something to
combat mail fi shing. In her statement
about the Feb. 12 meeting, Meng said
that the number of complaints she
receives is still growing.
“Complaints about the Postal Service
in my district have reached an
all-time high,” Meng said. “It is imperative
that the agency now follow
through on its commitment to resolve
these issues, and we will keep the
pressure on until they do.”
The two Congress members fi rst
joined forces on this issue in late
January, when they wrote a letter to
the postmaster general, along with
Congressman Joe Crowley, explaining
the depth of the problem.
In her response to the meeting, Maloney
off ered a possible explanation
for the source of some of the Postal
Service’s struggles.
“Changes in the way people use the
post offi ce has had a major impact,
with many more packages and fewer
letters,” Maloney said in a statement.
“What’s more, over the last decade,
western Queens and north Brooklyn
have grown enormously, and the
increased density has negatively
impacted mail delivery service.”
While Congressman Jeff ries said
in a statement that he looks forward
to working with his fellow delegates
and the Postal Service, he was frank
about the importance of the service.
“Mail service in America is a right,”
Jeff ries said. “Every single one of
my constituents deserves to receive
mail regularly at their home, without
delay.”
In a statement emailed to QNS
on Thursday, a spokesman for the
USPS emphasized that the service is
committed to making the necessary
changes.
“We share concerns of reliable, eff ective
and secure mail delivery service
that these elected offi cials and their
staff s discussed with postal management,”
the spokesperson said. “Our
goals are to provide postal customers,
their constituents, the excellent postal
services that they deserve and to ensure
that improvements are made where
we aren’t living up to expectations.
Postal offi cials look forward to maintaining
and expanding robust lines
of communication to address any concerns
as they relate to the Post Offi ce.”
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Three weeks aft er a Ridgewood
boy was killed when an unlicensed
truck driver struck him,
legislation is moving through the state
Senate to stiff en penalties for the man
behind the wheel.
State Senator Michael Gianaris
announced on Feb. 13 that his bill —
which would create a felony charge for
drivers who hurt or kill people while
driving with suspended or otherwise
invalid licenses — unanimously
passed through the Senate Codes
Committee. In his statement, Gianaris
said that the current maximum punishment
of a misdemeanor for these
incidents is unacceptable.
“These dangerous drivers continue
to kill because the current punishment
for taking a life while driving without
a valid license does not match the
crime,” Gianaris said. “We need to get
serious about improving our laws before
another life is lost at the hands of
drivers we know should not be behind
the wheel.”
The bill was fi rst introduced in 2013
when another young boy was killed
in a similar incident in Woodside, but
the death of Ridgewood native Kevin
Flores on Jan. 26 prompted Gianaris
to urge his colleagues to pass it. Flores,
13, was struck and killed by an oil truck
while riding his bicycle in Brooklyn,
less than a mile from his school.
The driver of the oil truck, Philip
Monfoletto, did not have the correct
license to operate that type of vehicle,
and court records show he was previously
arrested for that off ense twice in
2017. The press release from Gianaris
also states that Monfoletto, 28, had his
license suspended nine times and even
mocked the leniency of the state’s laws
in a Facebook post.
Monfoletto is currently being held
on $2,500 bond or cash bail for the
Jan. 26 incident. He has several court
appearances upcoming for diff erent
incidents dating back to 2017 and has
been charged with multiple counts of
aggravated unlicensed operation of a
motor vehicle.
His next appearance is Feb. 20 in
Queens Criminal Court, where he has a
hearing for a July 2017 incident in which
he was charged with aggravated unlicensed
operation of a motor vehicle, criminal
possession of a weapon with intent to
use, assault with intent to cause physical
injury and second-degree harassment.
Co-sponsored by Senator Joseph
P. Addaboo Jr., the new bill would
increase the penalty to a class E felony
for seriously injuring a person and a
class D felony if the accident resulted
in a death, with a maximum penalty of
seven years in prison. In a statement
emailed to QNS on Feb. 16, Addabbo said
that he hopes these stiff er penalties
will dissuade unlicensed drivers from
getting behind the wheel in the future.
“By increasing the penalties on drivers
with a suspended license, or no
license at all, who cause serious physical
injury — or worse — we hope to
prevent them from ever getting behind
the wheel in the fi rst place,”Addabbo
said. “While we can never undo tragic
accidents and fatalities that were caused
by drivers with an invalid license, I am
hopeful this legislation will be a deterrent
for such unacceptable behavior.
This bill takes a positive step forward in
making our streets safer for everyone,
by punishing repeat reckless drivers.”
The bill now needs to pass separate
votes from the state Senate and Assembly
before being delivered to the governor.
Photo by Mari Estrella
Police investigate oil truck that
killed a 13-year-old boy on the
corner of Lewis ave and Jeff erson
Street in Brooklyn on Jan. 26.
Photo via Pixabay
