TIMES, THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2014 • 26 Community Driveway Disputes Top COMET Meeting In Elmhurst Kids’ Street Sign Up In L.I.C. capital project to reconstruct Hunters Point streets and other infrastructure to address the recent growth in the area. Traffic calming to make streets safer and work better for all users, especially pedestrians, is a key part of the project.” During last Friday’s press conference, Van Bramer—with the assistance of P.S./I.S. 78 students— installed a “people’s stop sign” at the corner of Center Boulevard and 48th Avenue, just outside of where the school is located. He and the kids also painted their own crosswalk to continue to urge DOT traffic calming measures. “Too often drivers treat Center Boulevard like a speedway,” Van Bramer said last Friday. “For years the Department of Transportation has denied the community’s requests to have traffic calming and pedestrian safety measures installed along this growing residential street. Our concerns cannot continue to be ignored.” Van Bramer has also begun a petition calling on action from DOT, it currently has over 620 signatures and has been posted online, exposing the issue to many thousands of more people. Banrey stated Van Bramer wants to see “stop signs, speed bumps,” and for the street to be “included in tha mayor’s Vision Zero plan” for the city. “Kids are scared,” he said. Banrey added that there have been several traffic accidents at the intersection, according to NYPD collision reports. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 1- shared responsibilities, and liabilities that come with community driveways, though she herself does not park in one. She lives in a corner house on 52nd Road, and the sidewalk adjacent to her home also serves as the entrance to a community driveway for 13 houses. The sidewalk was cracked and she was given a violation and told it had to be repaired and that even though she did not use it herself, she was responsible to pay for some of the work. “He made me realize I was right,” Loftus said of Lazar’s advisement to COMET Monday night. “Everything that goes on in that driveway is all our responsibility.” Eventually the city fixed the sidewalk and billed Loftus $270, and her neighbors $90 each. It was an unpleasant and frustrating experience for Loftus. “Community driveways are a headache,” she said. “I would never buy a community driveway house again.” Responding to questions from Leung, who is concerned a child playing in the community drive where she lives could get hurt. Lazar told COMET the police do not have the authority to force kids to leave a community driveway. “Basically it’s a civilian issue,” he said. “It’s a private property issue.” Lazar lives in a house with a community driveway as well, and had similar experiences and the same frustrations residents voiced, he told the group. “It’s not a playground,” he said. “It’s private property.” At last month’s COMET meeting residents questioned Capt. Brian Hennessy, commanding officer of the 108th Precinct, on the issue. They asked if police can direct kids to leave to protect them from accidental injury, and adults from causing one. COMET President Rosemarie Daraio asked Lazar to speak at Monday night’s meeting to address residents questions on the topic. He also told the group to make sure of their property lines by “checking your deeds, and “if it’s specifically on your driveway, it’s a trespass.” Lazar used the examples of “dumping, a cracked wall,” as analogous situations where “everybody that owns in the driveway receives a violation,” and said this is similar to homeowners responsibilities if someone was to get hurt in the community-owned drive. Ultimately, he advised COMET and residents with these concerns to communicate among themselves to resolve the issue. “Get together and have a block meeting,” he said. 110th Precinct update Capt. Ralph Forgione, executive officer of the 110th Precinct, updated COMET on crime in their area. He reported a 39 percent decrease for the last week, a 12 percent reduction for the most recent 28-day period and an 8 percent drop for the year. There were three burglaries in the last 28 days, two were at businesses, he said. Forgione advised COMET to be careful when using ATM’s at banks and local corner stores to reduce exposure to potential skimmer cameras that can steal account numbers and identification information. He urged the group to check the cover pads where you input your PIN to make sure there isn’t a false covering placed by perpetrators, which is designed to steal your card number. “When you’re using you’re ATM, before you scan your card, tug on the pad, see if it’s loose. If it comes off, make sure you let us know,” Forgione said. The police are also going to ATM’s and doing their own tugging to cut down the skimmer scheme. “Everywhere, we wiggle them everywhere,” he said of cops tracking down false ATM covers. 104th Precinct news Capt. Timothy Brown, executive officer of the 104th Precinct, updated COMET on the Knockdown Center. He praised the ownership for cooperating with police and said, “management has been very responsible,” in dealings with the 104th Precinct. Though the music venue remains unpopular with many civic associations because of noise from concerts and fears of alcohol-fueled rowdiness spilling out into the streets, management has behaved. “I cannot really say anything (bad) about the management or security,” Brown said. As for a recent concert that some residents said they could hear from nearby homes, Brown said, “we didn’t give any violations that night.” “They were in compliance. They’ve been pretty good,” he added. Brown also told the group that two seniors had been robbed in the precinct’s confines within the last 28 days. One occurred on May 8, and the other on May 30. During the most recent incident, Brown reported, an elderly woman answered the door and was confronted by a perpetrator displaying a firearm. He did not injure the woman, but stole some items from her home. On May 5, Brown reported, an elderly female received a knock at the door, was told -CONTINUED FROM PG. 1- P.O. David Saponieri, at left with Communities of Elmhurst and Maspeth Together (COMET) President Rosemarie Daraio and Capt. Ralph Forgione of the 110th Precinct. (photo: Noah Zuss) there was a leak in her basement and that he needed to check on it. She let him in the house and walked to the basement, when she head footsteps overhead and got suspicious. She got nervous and went back upstairs to find two other men stealing property from her home. “It was two cowards who robbed an old lady,” Brown said of the May 5 robbery. Brown also reported “a crew of pickpockets” that stole phones and other items during the Grand Avenue street festival in Maspeth on Sunday, June 1, though overall, “it was a very successful street fair,” he said. “We believe it was a team of females that worked the crowd,” Brown said. “All of it was pickpocket stuff.” Brown closed by telling COMET that on June 12, at Maspeth High School there will be a Vision Zero night with representatives from several precincts. He also told the goup the 104th Precinct will continue to target hazardous driving summonses for running through red lights, speeding, failure to yield to pedestrians, talking or texting while driving and not wearing seat belts. “We were number one in Queens North (in hazardous summonses) we took a zero tolerance to that,” Brown said. Elections COMET held annual elections for officers during the meeting. Reelected President was Rosemarie Daraio, elected First Vice President Richard Gundlach, Second Vice President Richie Doyle, Third Vice President Mike Fordunski, Treasurer, Geraldine Walsh and elected Secretary, Joanne Keeley. The next COMET meeting will be held on Monday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Bethzatha Church of God, located at 85-20 57th Ave. in Elmhurst. Say R’wood Teacher Had Trysts With Students during her arraignment hearing the following day. Upon further investigation, police arrested the teacher again Wednesday morning on charges that she allegedly had sexual relations with another 16-year-old boy inside Grover Cleveland High School last Saturday, May 31. She was arraigned Wednesday morning before Judge Hart on two counts of third-degree criminal sexual act and a count of endangering the welfare of a child. The jurist ordered her held on $25,000 bail and to return to court on June 23. If convicted on both charges, Morsi faces up to eight years behind bars. The Department of Education suspended her following her arrest Monday, it was reported. “These are serious accusations in which a school teacher—who should serve as a role model to students—is instead accused of using her position to gain access to children for her own gratification,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement Wednesday. Regarding the first case, according to police, Morsi allegedly began her illicit relationship with the then-16-year-old male student last June continuing through at least July. Reportedly, they had relations in the basement and other areas within Grover Cleveland’s campus, as well as locations outside the school. Law enforcement sources said the student informed an acquaintance of the tryst, and word eventually spread to parents who notified school officials. Det. Josephine Lalli of the NYPD Queens Special Victims Squad investigated both cases under the supervision of Sgt. Douglas Bistardi and Chief Michael Osgood. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Melissa Kelly of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau, which is supervised by Assistant District Attorneys Kenneth M. Appelbaum, bureau chief, and Eric C. Rosenbaum and Lucinda C. Suarez, deputy bureau chiefs. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 1- Shop Locally! Support Your Neighborhood Merchants!
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