FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com AUGUST 27, 2015 • TIMES 3 BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport Street resurfacing may be coming to south Middle Village and other nearby areas, but the roadways are still in need of a complete and long overdue overhaul. All of the streets, except for one, within the area south of Metropolitan Avenue, east of 73rd Place, north of Cooper Avenue and west of 80th Street are currently on the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) tentative priority list for repaving, but it has not yet been confi rmed if they will be approved, according to Vincent Arcuri, chair of Community Board 5 (CB 5). CB 5 has been trying to get a complete reconstruction of the area for the better part of two decades. “We have been advocating to get these streets done for the last 20 years,” Arcuri said, “but we have had very little success. I can’t understand why. Middle Village is a hard-working, middle-class community that deserves this from the city.” A full reconstruction of the streets would include replacing the underground sewer systems, a repaving of the streets, rebuilding curbs and walkways and more. The DOT has offered to resurface the streets, a far cry from the full project CB 5 has been asking for. A resurfacing project would include the milling of the roadway — a process in which the top layer of asphalt is removed from the street — followed by the application of the new asphalt, with no work done to the underground utility lines. “We are having mixed reactions about it,” Arcuri said of the DOT’s resurfacing plans. “Do we let the people suffer and wait to try and get a full reconstruction, or do we take the resurfacing which would postpone any other construction for at least fi ve years?” If the project is accepted by the DOT, it will begin in October or November, with a completion date near 2020, Arcuri said. “The city has put together a plan to address these dangerous infrastructure fl aws in south Middle Village. But when the city keeps delaying the ground breaking of such a plan, it is both unfair and negligent,” Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley said. “This project is a long time coming and is needed by hardworking taxpayers. Once complete, we will have a safer and more livable community in Middle Village.” Along with these Middle Village streets, several others within the confi nes of CB 5 are on the DOT’s tentative resurfacing list. That list includes the following: 58th Place between Maspeth and Grand avenues in Maspeth; Stanhope Street between Grandview and Seneca avenues in Ridgewood; 63rd Street between 59th Drive and Flushing Avenue in Maspeth; 83rd Street between Cooper and Doran avenues in Glendale; Rutledge Avenue between Woodhaven Boulevard and 88th Street in Glendale; Palmetto Street between Fairview and Forest avenues in Ridgewood; And several more. Once confi rmed, all street resurfacings are scheduled to begin this October or November. BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport With Labor Rights Week quickly approaching, City Comptroller Scott Stringer scored a victory for city workers when he found $3.7 million as part of unclaimed prevailing wage settlements with several companies that worked on city-funded projects. Stringer is now seeking the public’s help in identifying the over 1,000 workers from across the city to whom these funds are owed. Throughout Queens, 200 individuals are owed nearly $800,000, according to Stringer’s fi ndings. In Corona, 20 people are owed a total of $117,470.53; Elmhurst has 18 individuals who are owed $74,934.79; and in Maspeth, Ridgewood and Jackson Heights, 14 people from each neighborhood are owed a total of $151,811.21. “My offi ce has recovered millions of dollars through our enforcement of the prevailing wage, but now we need your help to connect these workers with the money they are owed,” Stringer said. “Thousands of hard-working individuals, many of whom are immigrants, have been cheated out of their rightfully earned wages, but they may not know these funds exist. Help us get the word out about unclaimed wages — recovering thousands of dollars may only be a phone call or email away.” Stringer’s offi ce is trying to identify those who are owed wages through social media, media partnerships and distribution of informational fl yers in several languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian and Creole in neighborhoods throughout the city. “We’re ramping up our efforts to identify these hard-working men and women who are owed the money they earned,” the comptroller said. “In the coming weeks, we’ll be on the streets, on social media and on the airwaves with a single message: if you’ve been cheated out of your wages, the comptroller’s offi ce has your back. Tell your friends and family: call our hotline or visit our website to see if you are eligible to receive your lost wages.” The prevailing wage laws require employers to pay workers the wage and benefi t rate set annually by the comptroller when those employees work on city public works projects, such as renovating public schools or building service contracts, which includes security guard and custodial work, with city agencies. Workers who believe they may be entitled to unclaimed wages can call the comptroller’s hotline at 212-669-4443, send in inquiries via email to laborlaw@ comptroller.nyc.gov or check the comptroller’s unclaimed wages website. RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photos by Anthony Giudice A large pothole on the corner of 76th Street and Cooper Avenue in Middle Village. Street resurfacing slated for Community Board 5 Photo via Scott Stringer’s Facebook page City Comptroller Scott Stringer is looking for over 1,000 workers who are owed $3.7 million. ing: Queens workers owed $800K in unclaimed back wages: comptroller We have been advocating to get these streets done for the last 20 years, but we have had very little success. I can’t understand why. Middle Village is a hard-working, middle-class community that deserves this from the city.” —Vincent Arcuri, chair of Community Board 5
RT08272015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above