8 OCTOBER 4, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Neighborhood policing starts
with 104 Pct. ‘meet and greet’
BY JOSH TOWNER
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
As it prepares to roll out neighborhood
policing, the 104th
Precinct will hold a “meet-andgreet”
with local residents on Monday
night, Oct. 22, at Christ the King High
School in Middle Village.
The event serves as a chance for
citizens to meet and interact with their
new Neighborhood Coordination Offi -
cers as well as to learn more about how
neighborhood policing works.
Neighborhood policing is an approach
to police work that calls for
more frequent foot patrols, and keeps
the same offi cers in the same area
for extended periods of time. When
offi cers become familiar with their
area, the people in the community can
become more familiar with them.
The NYPD hopes this approach
will further improve relationships
between police and the communities
they serve, while encouraging local
residents to keep a eye out on all activity
in the area.
The 104th Precinct is one of the last
commands in the city to implement
the neighborhood policing initiative,
which has been phased in across other
precincts over the last two years.
Through the initiative, the 104th Precinct
— which covers Ridgewood, Glendale,
Maspeth and Middle Village — will
be subdivided into four districts with
about six “Neighborhood Coordination
Offi cers” assigned to in each district.
These offi cers will handle primarily 311
calls, as the 104th has more 311 calls than
most other districts in NYC.
Doors to the meet-and-greet, held in
the Christ the King auditorium, will open
at 6 p.m., and refreshments will be available
before the meeting begins at 7 p.m.
Photo: Twitter/@NYPD104Pct
Those interested in attending
must RSVP by Oct. 15 with the
number of attendees by reaching
out to the 104th Precinct Community
Affairs Unit. You can contact
Detective Thomas Bell at 718-386-
2431 or Thomas.Bell@nypd.org
or Police Officer Edyta Bielicka at
718-386-2446 or Edyta.Bielicka2@
nypv.org.
Backpack-sized craters pushing cyclists out of this Ridgewood bike lane
BY DYLAN CAMPBELL
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Ridgewood resident Sam Taff el
rides his bike every day, but
when he’s heading toward
Manhattan or Brooklyn, he’s not just
dodging cars but doughnut- and even
backpack-sized craters.
Taff el told QNS that pothole-riddled,
uneven bike lanes along Woodward and
Onderdonk Avenues put him in danger.
“It’s insane,” he said. “I’m going into
incoming traffi c to stay out of the bike
lane on Woodward Avenue.”
When he brought up his concerns
at the Sept. 26 Community Board 5
Transportation and Public Transit
Committees meeting, members of the
panel said that this has been a problem
for years. According to Board 5 District
Manager Gary Giordano, this
was the second year that the committee
put in a request for a repaving but
water main construction has kept the
streets from a much-needed repaving.
In 2015, according to a Gothamist
report, a 40-year-old man was bicycling
along Woodward Avenue
when he hit a pothole and was tossed
off his bicycle onto a sidewalk. Disoriented
from his fall, he stumbled
and fell onto a fence. While repairs
have been made to that section of the
bike lane, the street still has damage.
According to New York City data on
311 calls, there have been more than
30 calls about street conditions on
Woodward Avenue and more than 40
about Onderdonk in just the past year.
More than 30 streets within the
confi nes of Board 5 are set to be repaved
starting this month, according
to a tentative list of given to the board
in August.
While the chance of repaving the
streets has passed for this year, Giordano
said repairs could be made on
request.
Taff el said he feels like he hasn’t
been heard by the city, though.
“It’s on the DOT to take this seriously.
It’s a huge oversight on their end and it’s
people lives in their hands,” said Taff el.
Myrtle-Wyckoff pedestrian plaza
to see upgrades
Nearly two years aft er opening,
the Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues plaza
on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border
may be seeing some upgrades.
During the Board 5 Transportation
Committee meeting, representatives of
the Department of Design and Construction
revealed plans to give the space new
movable chairs and tables with umbrellas,
trash and recycling bins, a bench
and bike rack, new lighting and plantings
as well as a set up for a new kiosk.
There were three fatalities at the intersection
of Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenues
between 2009 and 2014, two by
city buses, but aft er the installation of
the plaza, there was a 100 percent decrease
in cyclist injuries and a 48 percent
decline in crashes with injuries.
According to the city’s Department
of Transportation, the design is expected
to be complete this winter, and
construction will start in March 2021.
The improvements should be fi nished
by September 2022.
Photo courtesy of Sam Taff el
Stalled sewer
project tops
Board 5 meeting The reconstruction of sewers
in Middle Village will be a
hot-button item at the next
Community Board 5 meeting on
Wednesday night, Oct. 10.
As announced by District Manager
Gary Giordano, the session
takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria
of Christ the King High School,
located at 68-02 Metropolitan Ave.
Representatives of the city’s
Department of Design and Construction
(DDC) are scheduled to
off er a presentation on the plan to
resume installation of new sewers
in the area of Penelope Avenue
and 74th Street in Middle Village.
Work in the fl ood-prone area
has been stalled since late in
2017, Giordano noted, due to the
discovery of contaminated soil
below 74th Street.
Following the presentation,
the board will proceed with its
usual agenda, which includes
the public forum; a review of
liquor license applications and
demolition notices; reports from
Chairperson Vincent Arcuri and
District Manager Giordano; and
committee reports.
During the meeting, the board
will also vote on its capital and
expense budget priorities for the
city’s Fiscal Year 2020.
For more information or to
register to speak in advance, call
Board 5 at 718-366-1834.
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