8 AUGUST 31, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Penelope
Avenue sewer
project installs
catch basins
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
Photo via NYC.gov
The NYC Department of Design
and Construction (DDC) will be
installing catch basins in Middle
Village this week.
A new round of construction
is coming to Middle
Village this week, as the
NYC Department of Design and
Construction (DDC) announced
the continuation of the Penelope
Avenue sewer project.
According to the weekly construction
bulletin that was sent to
Community Board 5 (CB 5), starting
on or about Monday, Aug. 28,
DDC will be installing new catch
basins and chutes on Gray Street
between 66th Drive and Juniper
Valley Road, and at the intersection
of 77th Street and 66th Road.
Construction on the catch basins
and chutes are expected to last until
Friday, Sept. 1, and work hours
will be between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
However, due to unforeseen fi eld or
weather conditions, the work dates
and times are subject to change.
As is the case with most construction
projects, street access
and curbside parking will be temporarily
eliminated at the above
mentioned locations beginning
on or about Aug. 28. Signs will be
posted in the aff ected areas.
Only emergency vehicles will
have full access to the streets,
and pedestrian access to will be
maintained at all times.
Throughout the duration of
the construction, DDC will monitor
operations and work within
Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) Noise Code
Regulations.
Residents with any questions
regarding construction are encouraged
to call the Community
Construction Liaison at the DDC
fi eld offi ce at 718-326-3858. The
fi eld offi ce hours are Monday to
Friday between the hours of 7 a.m.
and 3:30 p.m.
Roads in Ridgewood near P.S. 239 to get safety upgrades
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
The roads around a Ridgewood
public school will soon become
a lot safer for not only the
students, parents, and faculty of the
elementary school, but for all pedestrians
and drivers in the area thanks to a
“Safe Routes to School” project.
P.S. 239 (the Police Offi cer Ramon
Suarez School), which is located at 1715
Weirfi eld St., is slated to be a part of the
NYC Department of Transportation’s
(DOT) second round of Safe Routes to
School Program projects which creates
comprehensive street safety improvements
around public and private schools.
Work in conjunction with Safe
Routes to School projects oft en include
curb extensions, pedestrian ramps,
pavement markings, and in some
cases fi re alarm facilities, improved
street lighting, traffi c signal work, and
possibly water main and sewer work.
According to Gary Giordano, district
manager of Community Board 5
(CB 5), DOT will be coming to work on
several streets near P.S. 239.
Work is planned to take place at
Clemens Triangle, located at the intersection
of Myrtle Avenue, Cypress
The streets near P.S. 239 in Ridgewood will soon be made safer with
street improvement projects.
Avenue and Cornelia Street; on the
southwest corner of Catalpa and
Myrtle avenues; the intersection at
Cypress Avenue and Hancock Street;
and at the intersection of Weirfi eld
Street and Myrtle Avenue, Giordano
said.
A DOT spokesperson confi rmed the
plans to address these locations.
“DOT will be enlarging the triangle
at Myrtle Avenue/Cypress Avenue,
and Cornelia Street, adding a full curb
extension on the southeast corner of
Catalpa Avenue and Seneca Avenue, as
well as enlarging the west end of the triangle
at the Catalpa Ave and Myrtle Ave
intersection,” the spokesperson told the
Ridgewood Times in an email. “We will
be adding a half curb extension on the
Photo via Google Maps
southeast corner of Myrtle Avenue and
Weirfi eld Street, and on the northeast
corner of Hancock Street and Cypress
Ave. Pedestrian ramps at each location
will also be updated wherever necessary/
possible.”
Giordano noted that projects are expected
to include extending sidewalks,
curb bump outs and extensions, and
new pedestrian ramps.
“The area at and around P.S. 239 is
heavily traffi cked. Too many drivers
are not giving pedestrians the right
of way. It’s in a congested portion
near the Myrtle Avenue commercial
corridor and we look forward to this
project to safeguard school children
senior citizens and other pedestrians,”
Giordano said.
City Council candidate Robert Holden receives bomb threat to home
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
Things are getting explosive
in the City Council 30th District
race.
One of the candidates, Robert
Holden, said he received last weekend
a bomb threat to his Middle
Village home — which doubles as
his campaign headquarters — that
was written on one of his opponent’s
campaign fl iers.
In recent weeks, Councilwoman
Elizabeth Crowley’s campaign has
been sending out fliers, giving
Holden the moniker “Angry Bob,”
and once referencing a “Simpsons”
character with a quote from Holden
reading: “I’m at a point where if I see
another kid on a scooter, I’m going to
stop him and take it away myself.”
The quote comes from a New York
Times article from 2003 in which
Holden was interviewed regarding
the rise in gas-powered scooters in
the neighborhood.
On Saturday, Aug. 26, Holden
said, a man allegedly placed one
of Crowley’s fl iers in his mailbox
with a message written on it in black
marker: “TAKE MY KID’S SCOOTER
AND I’LL BLOW YOUR CAR UP! I
DON’T CARE HOW MANY COPS
YOU KNOW!” The word “SCUMBAG!”
was also written across
Holden’s forehead.
Offi cers from the 104th Precinct
came to Holden’s residence, which
he shares with his family including
his 93-year-old grandmother and
3-year-old grandson, to investigate
the threat.
According to the police, there is a
report on fi le for aggravated harassment.
There are currently no arrests
and the investigation is ongoing.
Holden, however, was quick to
suggest that Crowley’s campaign
tactics inspired someone to make an
explosive threat against him.
“Liz Crowley’s use of hateful personal
attacks, including ageism, to
try to discredit me should have no
place in New York politics,” Holden
added. “This must be condemned by
city and state Democratic Party leaders,
especially Governor Andrew
Cuomo. Is this what her ‘Democratic
Values’ are? I didn’t think that even
a career politician like Liz Crowley
would stoop so low but she obviously
has to because she can’t run on her
poor record.”
Crowley denounced any acts of
violence — and called Holden’s claims
that she would condone it absurd.
“I forcefully denounce any threat
or act of violence against anyone.
That said, for Bob Holden to equate
the use of a Simpsons character in
campaign literature with a threat or
incitement to violence is the height of
absurdity,” the Councilwoman said
in a statement.
She further referred to a 1999
Daily News report in which the
franchisee of a 7-Eleven convenience
store on Eliot Avenue in Middle Village
claimed to have received death
threats, and that tires were slashed
in the store’s parking lot. Those
events happened, according to the
store owner, aft er the Juniper Park
Civic Association (JPCA) — of which
Holden was, and still is, the president
— orchestrated a community-wide
boycott of the shop.
“This is just the latest example
of my opponent trying to draw
attention to his campaign,” Crowley
said. “Where was Bob Holden when
his own actions upended lives or
provoked threats against people
like the 7-Eleven owner in Middle
Village? These are real questions
that my opponent has frankly never
answered.”
In the 1999 report, Holden dismissed
the accusation, noting that
the owner couldn’t make enough
money to continue running the store.
The 7-Eleven remains in operation
today.
