104th Precinct Blotter CEC 24 Discusses New Corona School Learn The History Of Our Neighborhood! VISIT OUR ARCHIVES ONLINE AT www.timesnewsweekly.com TIMES, THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2014 • 56 Torrential Rains Bring Flooding To Howard Beach clean out catch basins and underground mains. While the cause remains under investigation, elected officials pointed to sewer infrastructure failures as the primary culprit. “Hurricane Sandy should have been a call to action to invest in our aging sewer infrastructure and yet, families will have to suffer with more losses and another painful recovery,” Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder said. “Once again, it took a major storm to demonstrate that our infrastructure is not prepared to deal with rising flood waters. I will continue to work with every agency to ensure our families have the peace of mind they deserve.” “When Lindenwood gets more water than Hamilton Beach and other parts of Howard Beach and Broad Channel, you know something is wrong,” added State Sen. Joseph Addabbo. “I urge all governmental agencies, specifically the DEP, to quickly find out what went wrong and how it’s going to be fixed.” “My people have suffered enough financially and emotionally since Sandy and deserve to have this issue addressed as soon as possible,” he concluded. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 13- Grand Avenue and 64th Street, for criminal possession of stolen property, by P.O. Szpak. (Beat 2) Marcial Orta, at Cypress Avenue and Madison Street, for aggravated unlicensed operator, by P.O. Valdemar. May 3: (Beat 3) Alexes Arevalo, at Wyckoff and Myrtle avenues, for theft of service, by P.O. Lipra. (Beat 1) Klever Delgado, at Menahan Street, for criminal contempt, by P.O. Walsh. (Beat 16) Louis Caratozzola, at Woodhaven Boulevard, for obstruction of governmental administration, by P.O. Campbell. (Beat 5) A. Villanueva, at Cypress Hills Street and Cypress Avenue, for DUI, by P.O. Zbikowski. (Beat 4) Daniel Luna, at Fresh Pond Road and Myrtle Avenue, for DUI, by P.O. Hili. (Beat 9) Christopher Cabrera, at 70th Street, for menacing, by P.O. Misener. (Beat 2) Joseph Brenes, at Madison Street, for criminal mischief, by P.O. DeMarco. (Beat 4) Marijana San, at 68th Avenue, for criminal obstruction of breathing, by P.O. Martinez. May 4: (Beat 15) Erick Morales, at Grandview Avenue, for petit larceny, by P.O. Bergen. (Beat 8) Wieslaw Szmac, at 52nd Drive, for assault, by P.O. Weil. The 104th Precinct, located at 64- 02 Catalpa Ave. in Ridgewood, can be reached by phone at 1-718-386-3004. To report an emergency or a crime in progress, call 911 immediately. Quality of life matters, such as noise or a blocked driveway, should be reported to 311. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 11- DOT To Create ‘Slow Zones’ On Major Queens Roads 5.4-mile stretch of Rockaway Boulevard between 75th Street in Ozone Park and Farmers Boulevard in Jamaica. Reportedly, nine people died in accidents on the roadway in the last five years. Similar slow zones will also be installed in the months to come on six major roadways in the other four boroughs. City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, NYPD Chief of Transportation Thomas Chan, City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer and State Sen. Michael Gianaris announced these changes during last Thursday’s press conference, held at the corner of Northern Boulevard and 39th Avenue. The arterial slow zones are part of the Vision Zero campaign, launched by Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier this year, with the goal of reducing deadly accidents on city streets through a combination of roadway improvements and enhanced police enforcement. “With the announcement of 13 Arterial Slow Zone locations, communities in all five boroughs will soon enjoy safer corridors as part of this crucial Vision Zero initiative,” Trottenberg said. “Vision Zero is a commitment made to have safer streets and roadways. With proper enforcement, the DOT’s Arterial Slow Zones will improve pedestrian safety,” added Chan. “These slow zones will save lives,” Van Bramer said. “Northern Boulevard and Queens Boulevard are two of the highest trafficked and most dangerous roads in Queens. Fighting these tragic and ultimately preventable deaths is a fundamental and moral obligation.” “Too many lives have been lost on Northern and Queens boulevards, and on many other dangerous roads throughout our city,” Gianaris said. “Today, I join with community leaders, transit advocates and all New Yorkers who don’t want to fear for their lives each time they cross a street in applauding Mayor Bill de Blasio and the DOT for taking swift action toward making our collective goal of Vision Zero a reality.” On each Arterial Slow Zone, drivers will be held to a 25 mph speed limit, five miles lower than the current speed limit on Queens Boulevard and most other city streets. Blue and white signs and electronic speed boards will be posted along each roadway informing drivers of the changes. Signal times will also be changed to allow pedestrians more time to cross the street. The Police Department will also increase patrols at each Arterial Slow Zone to stop those who break traffic laws. Other elected officials in Queens praised the new slow zones last Thursday. “The time has come to put an end to the hazardous conditions along Northern Boulevard,” said Rep. Joseph Crowley. “The implementation of this new slow zone will go a long way toward ensuring the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike.” “No one should ever have to endure the heartbreak of losing a loved one who is crossing the street, especially since the solution is so simple,” added Rep. Carolyn Maloney. “We need drivers to slow down to save lives.” “Slowing down traffic will make it safer and help save lives because we know that when people come into contact with cars and trucks, it is the person who is always the loser,” said Assemblywoman Margaret Markey. “A slow zone is a great way to help reduce accidents and fatalities” along Rockaway Boulevard, said Assemblyman Mike Miller. “In addition, I look forward to working with DOT to implement ‘Dedicated Crossing Times’ for pedestrians, during which there will be no moving vehicular traffic, and other actions that will support the Vision Zero plan.” “Not a day goes by without someone narrowly escaping a collision or noticing an unsafe traffic pattern on Queens Boulevard,” said City Council Member Karen Koslowitz. “By including it as an arterial slow zone, we are ensuring that no one who crosses this roadway feels as though his or her life is at risk.” “Bringing an arterial slow zone to Northern Boulevard is a huge victory for our community,” said City Council Member Julissa Ferreras. “After partnering with local parents and street safety groups like Make Queens Safer, I am happy that Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero plan is bringing new safety initiatives to this heavily used corridor.” Queens residents can provide further input on the Vision Zero plan at two upcoming workshops on Wednesday, May 21, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Astoria’s Bohemian Hall, located at 29-19 24th Ave.; and on Thursday, May 29, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, located at 153-10 Jamaica Ave. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/dot or www.nyc.gov/visionzero. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 14- Ades mentioned the new site is convenient for Corona, will primarily serve students in that area and is centrally located within the proposed new zone. She also explained that by regulations, students living in the new zone, or with siblings already attending will be given priority for admission. All the information in Ades’ presentation is posted online so the DOE can get feedback on the proposal. Anyone interested can email to queenszoning @schools.nyc.gov. The council also unanimously passed two other resolutions at last Tuesday’s meeting. The second vote was to truncate grades at P.S. 125 in Woodside from 5-8 to 6-8, beginning in the 2014-15 school year. Students entering fifth grade this fall that would have attended P.S. 125 will attend P.S. 199 beginning in September 2014. A third resolution concerning charter schools was also passed by the council. It opposes provisions in the New York State budget requiring the Department of Education provide space for charter schools in public schools buildings. “Charter schools in NYC frequently displace public school students from existing school facilities and create overcrowded conditions,” the resolution said in part, read aloud by CEC 24 Vice President Peter Vercessi. The council believes charter schools should not get special treatment, or have DOE funds available for operations. “Charter schools in New York City have been shown by the city’s independent budget office to receive more public funding per pupil than public schools,” the resolution also noted. “Community Education Council 24 hereby calls upon Governor Cuomo to allow the mayor to oversee the usage of NYC public school space in accordance with the State Education Law of mayoral control.” CEC awards Fedkowskyj At last Tuesday’s meeting the council took time to thank former member Dmytro Fedkowskyj. He served on the CEC for six years and was a member of the Panel for Education Policy from 2008-2013. He was honored by the council for advocating on behalf of new schools and projects to alleviate school overcrowding in Queens. “I want to thank the CEC for working hard for this district, to protect the interests of this district,” Fedkowskyj said after receiving the award. “We put 5,000 more seats in the district,” added Fedkowskyj, who is now running for State Assembly. “We needed 10,000 at the time. I can just only hope our new mayor will find those seats in Queens,” He added. Comaianni then gave the group some background on their work together. “We submitted a 250 page report on why we should get more seats,” Comaianni said. “They were so impressed that we knew what we were talking about.” “It was a collective effort,” said Fedkowskyj. New council members Two vacant seats on the council were filled at the meeting by new members Matthew Bologna, and Carl Chiaramonte. Comainni praised all the applicants for wanting to be involved, and thanked the candidates for their interest. “There are districts out there that don’t even have enough people,” he said. The potential members were reviewed by the council, the applications were narrowed down and at the meeting the two were each asked one question by Comaianni. Both were accepted unanimously by the council members present at the meeting. They will both serve the one year remaining of a two-year term, with new elections in July of 2015. The next CEC District 24 meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 27 at 7 p.m. with the location to be determined. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 12- A map of the area hit by last Wednesday’s flooding in Howard Beach’s Lindenwood section. WE’RE ON TWITTER! Follow Us at www.twitter.com/timesnewsweekly
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