4 AUGUST 23, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Councilman and non-profi t expand cleanup eff orts
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Some of the most traffi cked areas of
Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and
Middle Village now have expanded
cleanup services through an initiative
launched by Councilman Robert Holden.
At an Aug. 20 press conference in
front of Maspeth Press on Grand Avenue,
Holden announced his offi ce’s
partnership with Wildcat Service
Corporation to clean sidewalks, empty
trash bins, remove graffi ti and even
snow in his district.
The councilman was able to allocate
$145,000 from his budget for a oneyear
contract with Wildcat, he said,
which has a mission of employing and
providing stability for ex-off enders
and the previously incarcerated with
little work experience through its
Neighborhood Improvement Program.
Holden was joined by a dozen Wildcat
employees and supervisors as
well as local business owners whose
storefronts are likely to benefi t from
the cleaner streets.
“The initiative is certainly going to
improve the environment and provide
jobs obviously for Wildcat employees,
but we’re expanding the cleanup
initiative for a larger space,” Holden
said. “We hope to have this going every
year from now on. Anything we can
do to to improve Wildcat and build up
your workforce we will certainly do,
because I think this is a win-win.”
Under the new program which got
underway last week, Wildcat cleaning
crews will work on the following commercial
strips:
• Grand Avenue from 61st to 74th
streets, Maspeth
• Flushing Avenue from Grand to
Metropolitan avenues, Maspeth
• Metropolitan Avenue from 69th to
80th streets, Middle Village
• Fresh Pond Road from 60th to Myrtle
avenues, Ridgewood
• Myrtle Avenue from Fresh Pond
Road to Woodhaven Boulevard,
Glendale
• 69th Street from Queens Boulevard
to Calamus Avenue, Middle Village
The cleanups will include sidewalk
sweeping, cleaning around
litter baskets and emptying them,
removing illegal signs, removing
graffiti and shoveling snow for senior
citizens, Holden explained. The
snow removal service was a major
factor in Holden’s decision to choose
Wildcat, he said, because there are
many seniors in the community who
struggle to find help with shoveling
every winter.
Sergey Shafi r, senior supervisor for
Wildcat’s Neighborhood Improvement
Division, said that his crew was “happy
and excited” to partner with Holden
and improve his district.
“The Neighborhood Improvement
Division is looking forward to taking
care of various requests from Council
member Holden and his team to
beautify their communities,” Shafi r
said. “Wildcat Organization team
will do everything in their power
to provide the best possible service
for constituents in Council member
Holden’s district.”
Also in attendance was David Daraio,
president of the Maspeth Chamber
of Commerce, who explained how
benefi cial it will be to have cleaner
streets in front of the area’s many
small businesses.
“The Chamber constantly lets our
businesses know, reminding them to
keep the stores clean, but we get a lot
of foot traffi c,” Daraio said. “I think
it’s going to be a great benefi t to the
neighborhood to keep it looking great
and more people coming up a down the
street enjoying the great stores that we
do have in this community.”
Maria Kolombos, owner of Good
Eats on Grand Avenue, said that one
of the added challenges of keeping
commercial storefronts clean is being
located near so many bus stops where
people litter before or aft er riding
the bus.
“Unfortunately people have a problem:
they just leave their garbage,”
Kolombos said to Holden. “We’re
constantly sending the guys outside
to sweep. It’s a great community. It’s
good people, and what you’re doing is
fantastic. Let’s just hope people chip in
and do their part.”
The councilman agreed, and said
that part of his initiative will include
starting a campaign to motivate more
members of the community to lend
a helping hand by cleaning up aft er
themselves.
“We need the residents to all join us
in this initiative,” Holden said. “We’re
going to start a ‘clean up your community’
initiative and we’ll have posters
around — you’ll be seeing those shortly
— asking people not to litter and to
actually pick up something. If you see
it, help out Wildcat and pick up that
trash even if you didn’t do it.”
Residents who would like to report
an area that needs to be cleaned or
request snow removal can contact
Holden’s offi ce at 718-366-3900 to coordinate
with Wildcat.
Photo by Ryan Kelley/Ridgewood Times
Councilman Robert Holden, alongside local business owners and employees
of Wildcat Service Corporation, announces his cleanup initiative for
the district at an Aug. 20 press conference in Maspeth.
Parking restrictions for Midville during Penelope Ave. sewer project
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
The Department of Design and
Construction (DDC) has released
an advisory to the Middle Village
community about parking restrictions
coming next week related to a
controversial sewer project.
The Aug. 17 advisory notes that
roadway restoration will be taking
place in several locations surrounding
the Penelope Avenue sewer project,
which was halted in November 2017
when lead and other contaminants
were found in the soil. A spokesperson
for Councilman Robert Holden,
who exposed the contamination issue
to the community in April, confi rmed
that roadway paving is a temporary
measure the DDC is taking while still
fi guring out how to move forward
with the sewer project.
According to the advisory, the work
and related parking restrictions will
take place from Monday, Aug. 20, to
Friday, Aug. 24, for eight hours beginning
at 6 a.m., weather permitting.
The aff ected locations are as follows:
• 75th Street between 66th Drive and
Juniper Valley Road
• Gray Street between 66th Drive
and Juniper Valley Road
• 77th Street between Juniper Valley
Road and Gray Street
• Juniper Valley Road between 77th
Street and 75th Street
Residents are advised to remove
their vehicles from their driveways
before 6 a.m. on Monday to avoid
getting blocked by the construction.
In a statement on Aug. 17, Holden
explained that he recently met with
DDC Commissioner Lorraine Grillo
to speak about the sewer project.
Holden learned that a change order
costing $8 million to aid in fi nishing
the project is currently being worked
out, and the councilman is awaiting
further updates as to when the sewer
work would commence.
While he said Grillo is an “especially
capable person” aft er her recent
appointment to commissioner, he was
critical of the way DDC has handled
its projects in the past.
“While infrastructure investment
is needed in my district, the way that
the DDC oversaw their projects was
beyond abysmal, and change was required,”
Holden said. “It shouldn’t take
nine months for money to be allocated
to a project that should have contingency
plans built-in for situations like this.”
Holden also mentioned the fl ooding
in Middle Village aft er recent severe
thunderstorms, which has shed new
light on the aging water main structure
in desperate need of repairs.
“Flooding has been a problem in
Middle Village for decades, and my
predecessors did little to address
these issues,” Holden said. “As taxpayers,
my constituents deserve
better.”
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