12 MARCH 30, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM EDITORIAL Yes or no on street safety plan THE HOT TOPIC STORY: Queens is the language capital of not just NYC, but also Earth: World Economic Forum SUMMARY: With over 160 languages spoken and counting, Queens is truly living up to its name of the “World’s Borough” REACH: 40,032 (as of 3/27/17) COMMENTS: ESTABLISHED 1908 Co-Publishers VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA SCHNEPS Editor-in-Chief ROBERT POZARYCKI Classifi ed Manager DEBORAH CUSICK Assistant Classifi ed Manager MARLENE RUIZ Reporter ANTHONY GIUDICE © 2017 SCHNEPS NY MEDIA, LLC. General Publication Offi ce: 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 TELEPHONE: 1-718-821-7500/7501/7502/7503 FAX: 1-718-224-5441 E-MAIL: [email protected] WEB SITE: www.qns.com ON TWITTER @ridgewoodtimes PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY FOR 108 YEARS COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY: Accuracy in receiving ads over the telephone cannot be guaranteed. This newspaper is responsible for only one incorrect insertion and only for that portion of the ad in which the error appears. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to make sure copy does not contravene the Consumer Protection Law or any other requirement.TIMES NEWSWEEKLY Is Listed With The Standard Rate & Data And Is A Member Of The New York Press Association SNAPS PURPLE SPRING PHOTO BY JEFFREY PFLAUM Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @QNS or by emailing [email protected] (subject: Queens Snaps). What does a community have to do to get a safer street? That’s what many Corona residents found themselves asking following last week’s Community Board 4 meeting in which the board tabled yet again a plan to implement traffi c control measures along 111th Street, a very wide roadway adjacent to Flushing Meadows Corona Park that can oft en be hazardous to cross. Ensuring a safe street, especially near a park as active as Flushing Meadows, ought to be a priority for any community board. The board has been working with the Department of Transportation (DOT) for months, but it seems that whenever one step forward is proposed, somebody suggests taking a half-step back. There have been disputes over removing traffi c lanes from 111th Street and installing bike lanes along the roadway, citing concerns about congestion. Board members grumbled about the lack of marked crosswalks at certain intersections. Some suggested installing traffi c signals at each intersection, but that might slow things down too much. So with one grievance raised with every solution presented, the board tabled the plan. That only caused more grief at the March 21 meeting, as the decision was made before any of the supporters of the street improvements got a chance to speak publicly about it. It almost seems as if the board and the DOT are striving to fi nd a plan that makes everybody happy. Whatever the motive, it is backfi ring terribly, and it’s giving both the board and the city DOT black eyes in the process. Few decisions in government are unanimous, and few decisions make everyone happy. There will always be people unhappy about bike lanes or traffi c signals. The job of a community board or a city agency is not to make everyone happy as much as it is about making the community safer. Searching for practical solutions to serious problems should always take priority. For decades, Queens community boards have played a valuable role in improving neighborhoods across the borough. However, there shouldn’t be such micromanaging and hair splitting when it comes to improving an unsafe safe that puts everyone at risk. We call on CB 4 puts the plan to a vote at its April meeting. The community deserves an answer once and for all.
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