8 MARCH 28, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Lawmaker blasts noisy ATVs near reservoir
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Councilman Robert Holden is
calling on the NYPD to rein in
excessive music and motorized
recreation vehicles in and around
southwestern Queens green spaces
aft er posting videos of activity he says
is taking over the area.
Videos posted to Holden’s
Facebook page show large groups
of bicyclists at Highland Park, on
the Brooklyn/Queens border near
Glendale, taking up entire lanes for
vehicular traffic, music that can
be heard from a distance and the
sound of motorbikes or ATVs that
some have said drive erratically
and dangerously.
“The parking lot by Highland Park,
off Vermont Place, needs to be better
patrolled. The parking lot is infested
with loud music that could be heard
on the other side of the park near the
Jackie Robinson Parkway,” Holden
said. “Also looping in the NYPD
75th Precinct as there are gangs
of ATV/motorbikes and bicyclists
terrorizing drivers and pedestrians
along Highland Boulevard. Imagine
what it’s going to look/sound like
when it gets warmer? Something
needs to be done about this area.”
Meghan Lalor from the Parks
Department said they are aware
of the issue having already
implemented more night watches
and are planning meetings with
NYPD to abate the issue.
“Parks is actively exploring
measures to discourage the use
of ATVs in this area,” Lalor said.
“Parks Enforcement has added some
night patrols recently to check the
parking lot and surrounding area,
and we are planning a joint meeting
with the local police precincts to
discuss a strategy for addressing
the noise and vehicle issues.”
Some residents chimed in that
the issue was something that had
not only caused a disturbance to
their activities in the park but had
even put the lives of their families
in danger.
“The ATVs ride also around
INSIDE THE RESERVOIR (on the
paths) in addition to Highland/
Vermont. My kids and I almost
got wiped out there when a group
of ATVs came around a corner at
high speed. The reservoir is a place
that’s supposed to be leisurely and
serene, not terrifying and deadly,”
one commenter wrote.
Grzegorz Gorski, a resident, said
the recklessness of recreationists
had caused him off the road as ATVs
in large numbers drive on the wrong
side of the road.
“The ATVs are out of control in
that area especially in the summer,”
Gorski wrote. “Large groups ride
in packs and drive into oncoming
traffic, where I’ve been forced
to pull over with my minivan
of children. The group activity
amounts to lawlessness.”
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Assemblyman Mike Miller is
taking a stab at encouraging
the city Department of
Buildings (DOB) to address building
that collapsed years ago on Jamaica
Avenue displacing two businesses,
including the Woodhaven Volunteer
Ambulance Corp, and still provides a
hazardous blemish to the community.
Miller said the structure at 78-19
Jamaica Ave. collapsed in 2014 and
is still without a roof even after
scaffolding was erected around
the dilapidated structure and has
amassed a number of violations with
the DOB.
‘This has been a constant eyesore
for the community and the owner
has been negligent with restorations
for far too long. There is scaff olding
in front of the building; however
the required work has never been
completed and to this day there is no
roof,” Miller said. “This building has
been vacant for years and the owner
has not complied with maintaining
the building to proper code. I ask that
your agency take the essential steps
to rectify this hazardous condition.”
But DOB records show problems
with the building extend even further
The corner of 78-16 Jamaica Ave. as shown in the most recent Google Street View.
back with February 2012 violation
regarding work taking place on the
roof without a permit and crews
using “questionable construction
methods to support roof” as well as
an April 2013 partial vacate order
from FDNY cited “structural defects
throughout.”
Photos from Project Woodhaven
show the building immediately aft er
the collapse with bricks scatted across
the sidewalk and the street and large
portion of the rubble having landed
on a car parked on the street in front
of the address.
Google Street View photos from
June 2018 show that work began to
restore the roof, but it was never
completed. You can see weeds fully
grown out of the bricks above the
second fl oor.
The complaints section of the DOB
website dates back to 2006, when
the fi rst note report the second fl oor
shaking and vibrating with a steel
ceiling beam screwed to the roof
joists without a permit.
There are a total of 25 complaints
on the building from this date
forward with other topics including
the address of a laundromat being
blocked and no lighting under
scaff olding which the permits for
had expired.
A 2015 stop work order still
exists on the property with civil
penalties due.
The DOB did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
The Ridgewood Reservoir File photo
Wdhvn. building still an eyesore 5 years after collapse
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