WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 20, 2017 13
WHAT’S
HE DOING FOR
THE LEAST
OF US?
Mayor de Blasio claims
some panhandlers are doing
it for fun. In the past, he
had said he wished he could
eliminate panhandling. Yet,
in my opinion, many are
doing so because they are
homeless and have either
little or no income to speak
of. They need to eat and have
needs like many of us do.
Does he want to starve
the homeless out of existence
and by that the issue
will go away? There are many
who are addicts, chemical
dependents and those
who are mentally ill. Also
there are those who have
fallen on hard times, like
veterans who have found
it hard to handle the high
cost of housing. They have
no choice but to panhandle.
What is the de Blasio
administration doing to
help the many who are in
great need? I see quite a
few panhandlers in Glen
Oaks Village, and quite a
few of our residents and
businesses find this most
troubling. I wonder, if
these panhandlers would
panhandle in front of
City Hall or at the mayor’s
home in Brooklyn,
would he try to do more?
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Villag
SHOULDA,
COULDA,
WOULDA
AT THE MTA
With the necessary repairs
already beginning in
Penn Station, our already
overtaxed transit system is
likely to become even more
over-burdened despite the
addition of additional train
cars and extra bus service
to accommodate thousands
of commuters from all
around the tri-state area.
The MTA should have
been doing this repair work
extensively 30 years ago,
when the transit system
was starting to show stress
and wear. Our politicians
should have been on top of
this also, pressuring the
MTA to do these repairs
years ago.
Hopefully, after these
repairs are made, commuters
will have a much safer
and more rapid trip into
the city without any delays
or derailments. Stations,
platforms and PA systems,
along with elevators and escalators
also need major repairs,
in addition to tracks,
signals and switches.
John Amato, Fresh
Meadows
OP-ED
In the fight to realize Vision Zero,
an intersection we can’t ignore
By City Council Majority Leader Jimmy
Van Bramer and LaGuardia Community
College President Gail O. Mellow
This week, Mayor Bill de Blasio is conducting
the business of the city from Queens, as part of
City Hall in Your Borough. On his way to and
from Queens Borough Hall, the mayor is likely
to travel through one of the most complicated
and dangerous three-way intersections in all
of New York City. Located in Long Island City,
Queens, it’s where Queens Boulevard, Thomson
Avenue and Van Dam Street converge
directly in front of LaGuardia Community
College, fi ve high schools, a middle school, and
a growing number of businesses. In its current
state, this intersection is an alarming threat to
safety and demands immediate attention.
Every day this area draws thousands of students,
faculty and staff . Between classes, the
sidewalks in front of LaGuardia Community
College fi ll to capacity, with many forced dangerously
onto the street and into traffi c. Just
to cross the street, pedestrians must walk two
street blocks and navigate three zig-zagging
intersections. Many resort to darting between
cars and trucks, making it across with just seconds
to spare. Meanwhile, a constant stream of
speeding cars and trucks rush competitively
between the Long Island Expressway and the
Queensboro Bridge.
When things go wrong here, the consequences
are deadly. In 2013, a 16-year-old high
school student, Tenzin Drudak, was killed and
fi ve people were injured when an out-of-control
van jumped a curb.
As the Council member for western Queens
and the president of LaGuardia Community
College, we joined with the community to
fi ght for critical safety improvements. Some
were implemented, but more needs to be done.
Just last year, this intersection saw 24 people
injured in crashes.
We thank the mayor for acknowledging the
danger of this intersection in April with the
commitment of $17 million in capital funds for
a redesign. But while these funds are a good
fi rst step, we cannot let the implementation of
the redesign fall to the wayside. We urge the
mayor to prioritize this deadly intersection
and act quickly before it’s too late.
As we move forward to fi nalize the redesign
plan, we urge the mayor and his team to keep
the core focus on the protection of pedestrians
and cyclists. Therefore, we oppose any eff ort
to widen lane widths, which encourages speeding,
and support the widening the sidewalks
in front of LaGuardia Community College to
better accommodate the thousands of people
going in and out of the college and nearby
schools.
As the number of cyclists throughout New
York City continues to grow, we must also
ensure that cyclists traveling through this section
of Long Island City have safe travel routes.
Currently, no bike lanes exist here. Ideally, protected
bike lanes would be installed, along with
new signage to alert drivers to the presence of
cyclists, and traffi c calming measures.
It’s been three years since Mayor Bill de Blasio
stood in Queens to announce Vision Zero,
an initiative to end traffi c fatalities once and for
all. Since then, the number of crashes resulting
in serious injury or death in New York City
has been steadily falling, with the fewest ever
measured during the fi rst six months of 2017.
In Queens, we’re on the way to turning Queens
Boulevard from the “Boulevard of Death” to
the “Boulevard of Life.” With a proper redesign
that keeps pedestrians and cyclists front and
center and incorporates constant community
input, we could transform the intersection of
Thomson Avenue, Van Dam Street and Queens
Boulevard from a dangerous and chaotic disaster
waiting to happen, to a safe space for
pedestrians and cyclists that would serve as
a shining example of the power of Vision Zero
to save lives through shared vision and bold
action.
LETTERS AND COMMENTS
A LOOK BACK
We wonder if any of our readers may
remember being in this photo that appeared
on the front page of the Sept. 7, 1995, issue
of the Ridgewood Times. The kids in this
picture participated in the “Thursday Tiny
Tots Bowling League” award breakfast party
that was held at the former Americana Lanes
on Rockaway Boulevard in Ozone Park. The
two adults in the rear of the photo were
coordinators Joan DeSantis and Gina Testa. If
you have historic photos of Queens to share
with us, email them to editorial@qns.com, or
mail printed pictures to A Look Back, ℅ The
Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY
11361. All mailed pictures will be carefully
returned to you.
