16 times • FEBRUARY 25, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com Woodhaven civic members want options other than Select Bus Service By Suzanne Monteverdi [email protected] @RidgewoodTimes Some Woodhaven residents want the city to take an alternate route toward improving public transportation in their community. The proposed Select Bus Service (SBS) line for Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards again took center stage during the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association (WRBA) meeting on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 20. Following up on remarks raised at the group’s January meeting, Alex Blenkinsopp, the WRBA communications director, discussed some of the DOT’s responses to the group’s complaints. “There are a couple of things to know here. First, the Department of Transportation has been working very, very closely with so-called ‘transit advocates’ to try to push this plan through,” he remarked. “Now, it’s funny that they call themselves transit advocates, because I think everyone in this room would advocate for better public transit. I don’t think there’s anyone here who would say, ‘No, we want less bus service, we want worse bus service.’ I think everyone in this room is a transit advocate.” Blenkinsopp, along with many attendees, believe the negative aspects of the plan strongly outweigh the positive. Specific concerns he raised were plans to create SBS waiting areas in the boulevards’ center medians and restricting left turns from Woodhaven Boulevard onto Jamaica Avenue, where most Woodhaven businesses are located. “We don’t think that this improvement needs to come at the cost of drivers; of bus riders who are going to be forced to wait in the median; at the expense of our businesses who are not going to have automobile traffic because people can’t turn onto Jamaica Avenue; and at the expense of every resident who is now going to have increased traffic on their residential side streets,” he said. One attendee proposed a study on the light synchronization along the boulevard as a better remedy for the problematic heavy traffic. Blenkinsopp pointed out that this was one of the alternative approaches that were presented by the community to Department of Transportation representatives at a forum in Woodhaven back in November. In a letter to DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia, Blenkinsopp also asked that the agency consider “improvements of the crosswalks along the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue” and using articulated buses on the Q52 and Q53 limited lines “so that people who are getting on the bus in the Rockaways don’t have to stop at many, many stops” before arriving at the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst. “Woodhaven is not the only community against this,” added WRBA President Martin Colberg. “It’s Howard Beach, Lindenwood, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park: because everyone uses Woodhaven Boulevard.” Colberg urged the community to continue actively fighting against the DOT’s current proposal. “We’re gonna have to live with this for decades,” he said, “so let’s get it right.” Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi The Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association again discussed the Select Bus Service (SBS) proposal for Woodhaven Boulevard at its Feb. 20 meeting. Bushwick pet store was raided for cockfighting and animal cruelty again BY KATARINA HYBENOVA [email protected] @kamelka An infamous Bushwick pet shop, which was already busted for cockfighting and animal cruelty in the past, is having troubles with the law again. On the afternoon of Feb. 17, an ASPCA Animal Crime Scene Investigation vehicle was present in front of Pet NV, located at 71 Central Ave. Witnesses say that they saw a rabbit being taken out, as well as many roosters and a dog. NYPD confirmed this morning that they executed four search warrants at the location. They seized 101 animals, including 68 roosters and hens, one dog, two cats, and 30 other small animals such as rabbits and doves. The animals were turned over to ASPCA for examination. Animal fighting and training paraphernalia have been found as well. Investigation by the Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad is ongoing. The NYPD did not confirm whether any arrests have been made, and it is unclear whether the pet shop will remain open. Cops raided the very same pet shop two years ago, saving 30 to 50 birds from the basement where they were kept in poor condition. The owner Jeremias Nieves was arrested and charged with animal cruelty. Pet NV has remained operational until the present. The pet shop was not allowed to keep and sell live animals, but neighbors say that they have seen and heard dogs barking in the back “no matter the temperature.” Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi The Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association again discussed the Select Bus Service (SBS) proposal for Woodhaven Boulevard at its Feb. 20 meeting.
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