6 times • AUGUST 13, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com Neighbor’s new garage sparks feud in Forest Hills MTA reports decrease in trash at subway stations with no cans BY KIRSTEN E. PAULSON editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com @RidgewoodTimes Getting rid of trash cans from select subway stations has made them less filthy, according to the MTA. In an effort to improve customer experience and minimize the number of trash bags collected, the MTA launched a pilot removing trash cans from subway stations; 39 stations are currently part of the pilot. The MTA found a 66 percent decrease in trash collected at Phase 1 and 2 stations, and a 36 percent decrease at Phase 3 stations. “This pilot appears counter-intuitive but when we placed notices at the pilot stations indicating that the cans had been removed and asked the customers for their cooperation, it looks like they listened,” New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco said. “Given these results, we’ll continue the pilot and monitor and collect additional data at stations.” Along with a reduction in trash, as well as a reduction in rodent activity, the initiative has had other benefits. Although the number of track fires at pilot stations has remained the same, the rate at which track fires occur at pilot stations is lower than the rate at which they occur in stations with trash cans. Pilot stations also have about the same amount of litter as stations with cans. Phase 1 of the pilot began in October 2011 with just two stations. Phase 2 added eight more stations to the pilot in September 2012, and Phase 3 brought in 29 more in July 2014. The decision to remove the trash cans was made in an effort to encourage customers to take with them any disposables that they carry into the system. Trash collection and removal is an enormous task, as each day about 40 tons of trash are removed from the system. Refuse trains, which collect trash from almost all subway stations, interfere with the operation of normal passenger trains as they take up track space. “The reduction in trash in these stations reduced the number of bags to be stored and, consequently, improved the customer experience by reducing the potential bags visible to customers as well as the potential food available to rodents,” Senior Vice President of Subways Joseph Leader said. “Additionally, the significant reduction in trash reduced the need for trash pickups in the pilot stations, which freed up personnel for deployment to other stations.” The 14 Queens subway stations that are part of the pilot include the following: 111th Street (A) 65th Street (M, R) 121st Street (J/Z) 111th Street (J) 104th Street (J/Z) Woodhaven Boulevard (J/Z) 85 St-Forest Pkwy (J) 75 St-Elders Lane (J) Flushing – Main Street (7) Myrtle Avenue (J, M, Z) Metropolitan Avenue (M) Fresh Pond Road (M) Forest Avenue (M) Seneca Avenue (M) RIDGEWOOD TIMES/File photo BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport One structure is causing several problems for a Forest Hills resident who claims that her neighbors did not have the necessary permits to erect a 12-by-20-foot garage in their backyard. Sandi Stevens has been living at her 69th Road home for 10 years, but in the last month she said that the neighbor that borders her backyard has erected an illegal garage, causing damage to her yard. Because her neighbor’s property sits at a higher grade than her home, she claims this structure has compromised her retaining wall and brick work — and caused water runoff to erode the soil on her side. “His property is higher than mine so when it rains, the rain water seeps through to my side and causes mudslides,” Stevens said. “It is an unbelievable situation. The building went up in four days. They had men come and build it throughout the night.” Stevens has made numerous complaints to 311 and visited the Department of Buildings (DOB) to file complaints about the offending structure. As of Aug. 5, there were four open DOB violations on the Olcott Street property, two for working without a permit and two for front yard violations. Kwok Tse, owner of the Olcott Street property where the structure was erected, defended his decision to build a garage. “I have a very large piece of property, around 65,000 square feet, I should be entitled to have a garage. Why shouldn’t I have a garage,” Tse told the Ridgewood Times in a phone interview. “Stevens has a garage on her property, why shouldn’t I have one?” Tse claims that the structure in his yard is legal and he expects the DOB to approve the building. “The architect I hired is currently in the middle of filing paperwork with the Department of Buildings,” Tse said. “I fully expect the Department of Buildings to approve my garage. The fire department even came and looked at the garage and said that nothing is wrong with it.” According to the DOB website, there is an Environmental Control Board (ECB) meeting set for Sept. 1 on the open violations at Tse’s property. RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Anthony Giudice The structure that has been causing Sandi Stevens problems with her backyard, as seen from her home.
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