14 TIMES • JULY 2, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport The area around Newtown Creek, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes as one of the “nation’s most polluted waterways,” a could be the site of a brand-new community athletic fi eld in Maspeth. During a City Council hearing, Eric Landau, associate commissioner of public affairs for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), testified before the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses, asking for public siting approval on the construction of an aeration facility for Newtown Creek in Maspeth. The proposed aeration facility is part of a state-mandated effort to improve water quality in Newtown Creek and would be located on 47th Street, near the water’s edge. The facility would help raise oxygen levels in the water and promote wildlife sustainability. The initial phase of construction leaves approximately one and a half acres of open space on the property, which Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Community Board 5 have expressed interest in converting into an athletic fi eld. “While it is very important to build this aeration facility for Newtown Creek, it is also important our community take advantage of green space for athletics. I am grateful the DEP has agreed to work with the community to allow for public use of the land,” Crowley said. “In Maspeth, there is a high volume of trucks traveling through the streets. It also has fewer city parks. This lack of green space plus its proximity to the LIE both lead to a higher rate of obesity and asthma compared to neighboring communities.” “Maspeth residents are disadvantaged in that they lack access to suffi cient open green space,” she added. “We can promote sports and physical activity by taking advantage of all public space options, ideally by way of increased access to athletic fi elds.” Landau testifi ed to the City Council that the DEP will begin discussions with the community, as well as local athletic groups, about entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding an athletic fi eld on the unused portion of land. The MOU would state that the sports organizations are responsible for the capital cost of the fi eld as well as the maintenance. Also, if the DEP should ever need the fi eld in the future, upon reasonable notice, the sports organization would need to discontinue operations on the property until any and all construction on the site is complete. Once construction is complete, the site would be handed back over to the community again. “Understanding that the space may be needed in the future to meet state and federal water quality requirements, DEP is committed to working with the Council and community organizations that are willing to build and maintain the space for athletic purposes, as we have with a soccer league in Manhattan near our North River Waste Water Treatment Plant,” Landau said. “As an immediate next step, we look forward to taking Council member Crowley, local leaders, and other community members on a tour of similar public amenities DEP has constructed, as well as beginning discussions with local athletic groups, identifi ed by Crowley.” Countdown clocks on way to Queens RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Robert Pozarycki Queens Borough President Melinda Katz announced funding to purchase and install 10 bus countdown clocks at the borough’s busiest bus stops. RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Anthony Giudice Newtown Creek in Maspeth could be the site of a new community athletic field. BY ROBERT POZARYCKI [email protected] @robbpoz Where’s the bus? That common question among Queens commuters will be answered with countdown clocks set to be installed at the borough’s 10 busiest bus stops within the next two years. Borough President Melinda Katz announced on Tuesday she allocated $200,000 in the city’s 2016 fi scal year budget to the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) for the purchase and installation of the real-time devices that track the estimated time of arrival for buses. While the MTA oversees the bus system, the DOT is responsible for the countdown clocks and other bus-related infrastructure such as signage and shelters. “Countdown clocks eliminate the anxiety of waiting for the unknown, a feeling familiar to every traveler,” Katz said in a statement. “They’ll add more predictability to any commute and will be a boon for thousands of riders in a borough that boasts some of the longest commutes to and from work.” The DOT, through analyzing data such as ridership levels, commuter transfers, proximity to prominent facilities and dependency of bus service, will recommend to the MTA and Katz which 10 locations will receive the countdown clocks. The fi nal locations will be determined through conversations among Katz, the DOT and the MTA. Judged solely on activity, it fi gures that at least a few of the countdown clocks will be installed at transit hubs along some of Queens’ 10 busiest bus routes. According to MTA statistics, the Q58 led all other borough bus ridership in 2014, with 9,787,420 customers. The Q58, which runs between Ridgewood and Flushing, connects riders at both ends to local subway lines and intersects with Queens Boulevard, where M and R train service is available at the Grand Avenue station. Other heavily traveled bus routes in Queens include the Q44 route between Jamaica and the Bronx, which passes through Flushing (9,240,459 riders in 2014); the Q10 between Kew Gardens and JFK Airport (7,511,855); the Q46 bus between Forest Hills and New Hyde Park (6,594,164); and the Q53 limited line between Woodside and the Rockaways (5,140,345). The clocks are scheduled to be installed and activated in 2017. Currently, riders can fi nd information on bus locations through the MTA’s BusTime program, available online and through a mobile app. An athletic field near Newtown Creek? This lack of green space plus its proximity to the LIE both lead to a higher rate of obesity and asthma compared to neighboring communities.” --Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley
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