14 MARCH 29, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Confusion abounds over Glendale ‘no turn’ signs
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Drivers on Myrtle Avenue in
Glendale literally don't know
where to turn with their frustrations
about a new set of signs causing
confusion at a busy intersection.
At a 104th Precinct Community
Council meeting on March 27 in
Glendale, local residents raised their
concerns about a set of "no left turn"
and "no right turn" signs at the intersection
of Myrtle Avenue and Cooper
Avenue that they say appeared for no
reason a few weeks ago. Department
of Transportation (DOT) Queens
Borough Deputy Commissioner Albert
Silvestri fi elded their questions
and explained that he has dealt with
mysterious signs before.
According to several members of the
community, the "no turn" signs do not
have offi cial DOT markings on them.
While some alleged that the signs were
put up by the contractors who recently
rebuilt part of the intersection, others
said that the signs appeared aft er the
project was completed.
"We have guerrilla signage; people
just put it up in the middle of the night,
but I'm not saying that's the case," Silvestri
said. "Because there was the
plaza work at the intersection, it's
possible that they put something up
they shouldn't have."
Silvestri later added, however, that
every contractor has to go through
the DOT offi ce of Construction Mitigation
and Coordination to get signage
for a project that will aff ect parking
or traffi c, and "They actually pick up
the signs from our sign shop."
The signs in question are located
at multiple points of the intersection.
Heading west on Myrtle Avenue, one
post has a "no right turn" sign on the
top and a "no left turn" sign below it, preventing
drivers from making any turns
onto Cooper Avenue. In the opposite direction,
there is a "no right turn" sign on
eastbound Myrtle Avenue preventing
turns onto westbound Cooper Avenue.
When driving east on Cooper
Avenue, there is a "no left turn" sign
keeping drivers from heading west
on Myrtle Avenue. While driving
west on Cooper Avenue, there is a "no
left turn" sign forbidding turns onto
eastbound Myrtle Avenue.
Residents also said at the meeting
that they recently saw police pulling
cars over for disobeying the confusing
signage.
Detective Thomas Bell of the 104th
Precinct's Community Aff airs Bureau
explained that people who have
received summonses from police after
making an improper turn at the
intersection can contact Community
Board 5 about getting it dismissed.
He added that offi cers from the 104th
Precinct will be instructed to not enforce
that turn until they determine
the status of the "no left turn" signs.
Board 5 District Manager Gary
Giordano told QNS that he believes
the most problematic of the signs
is the "no left turn" on westbound
Myrtle Avenue that prevents a turn
onto westbound Cooper Avenue. The
other signs were likely put in place to
keep drivers from making the sharp,
almost-U-turns around the new pedestrian
triangles built on the east and
west sides of the intersection, he said.
A DOT spokesperson did not
confirm whether or not the signage
Photo by Melanie Pozarycki
was put in place by the agency or
the contractors from the plaza
project, but released the following
statement:
"Work in the area is due to ongoing
construction of the Myrtle
Cooper Plaza, which includes a
right turn ban at the intersection.
DOT is working with DDC and its
contractor to remove the 'no left
turn' sign."
City wants more community input on potential homeless shelters
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
The Department of Homeless
Services (DHS), as part of
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to
eliminate the use of cluster sites and
commercial hotels as temporary
shelters, is seeking more community
input about where it should put new,
borough-based shelters.
In a letter sent to community boards
and City Council members on March 23,
DHS Commissioner Steven Banks provided
updated statistics about de Blasio’s
“Turning the Tide on Homelessness in
New York City” plan and asked the elected
offi cials and community representatives
to help nonprofi t service providers
select sites for the new shelters.
According to the letter, DHS has
said in public and private forums,
meetings and conversations with
elected offi cials that it welcomes community
input, but the letter serves as
a more formal call to action.
“We are encouraged by engagement
like this and urge communities
across the city to similarly join us in
this process by helping identify viable
locations for consideration as we
turn the tide,” the letter said. “We are
confi dent that, together, with your
support, we will make this the best
experience it can be for New Yorkers
in need as they get back on their feet.”
The success of this engagement has
already been on display in Brooklyn
and the Bronx, according to a DHS
spokesperson. Community Board
6 in Brooklyn, for example, invited
the department to hold two meetings
to discuss the area’s need for shelter
capacity, shelter siting, criteria for
facilities and how the community can
help guide the process, the spokesperson
said.
The spokesperson also emphasized
that DHS does not identify possible
locations for shelters itself. Proposals
for new shelter locations can only
be submitted by nonprofi t service
providers through the department’s
Request for Proposal (RFP) process,
and the proposals are then evaluated
by DHS. Where the community
boards and elected offi cials can get
involved is in helping connect the
nonprofi t service providers to potential
sites.
Councilman Robert Holden, who
was a leader in the fight against
converting a Holiday Inn Express in
Maspeth into a homeless shelter in
2017, said that he discussed this aspect
of the mayor’s plan at the Queens
Borough Board meeting in January.
While Holden agreed that asking
for community input is a plan that
makes sense, he told the Ridgewood
Times on March 28 aft er receiving
the DHS letter that he wants to be
sure the department is following the
“ground rules” in the mayor’s plan
before suggesting a location.
“When I met with DHS representatives,
I said that before I give them
sites I want assurances that the people
that need the housing will be from
the neighborhood,” Holden said.
Within Community Board 5, there
were ongoing discussions about
potential shelter sites for several
months before the DHS sent out the
letter, said Board 5 district manager
Gary Giordano. In a community that
is primarily fi lled with one- and
two-family homes, Giordano said,
the size of a potential shelter plays
a major factor in the community’s
willingness to accept it.
“I think that in too many cases what
the DHS is looking to do from the
standpoint of shelters can be overwhelming
to the community when
you’re looking to put 200 people into a
location,” Giordano said. “Something
of the typical shelter size that they
would initiate could be like adding
another block to the neighborhood.”
Before de Blasio’s “Turning the
Tide” plan was enacted, a proposed
shelter site in Glendale in 2015 was
hotly contested by members of the
community, including Holden and
Board 5, and the proposal ultimately
fell through.
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