WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 10, 2016 3 Huge fake goods seizure in Ridgewood BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GIUDICEREPORT Two Flushing residents were arrested and charged with trademark counterfeiting aft er the Queens District Attorney’s offi ce seized more than $250,000 worth of fake designer products from three storage units in Ridgewood. According to Queens DA Richard A. Brown, dozens of boxes and bags fi lled with alleged knock-off handbags, wallets, belts and cigarette lighters — allegedly including fake Coach purses, Louis Vuitton handbags, Chanel leather goods, as well as pocketbooks and accessories with the Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Hermes, Gucci and Burberry labels — were confi scated from the CubeSmart Self Storage located at 1125 Wyckoff Ave. “Selling fake designer goods is not a victimless crime. Counterfeit operations, such as this one, fuel an underground economy that rakes in hundreds of thousands of dollars to alleged criminals,” Brown said. “These cash-only transactions also rob both city and state municipalities out of much-needed tax revenue. Also, these knock-off s damage both the reputation and brand of Photo courtesy of Queens District Attorney’s offi ce Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown with Assistant District Attorney Anna K. Diao with the more than $250,000 worth of fake designer goods. designers because the merchandise is inferior in both material and quality.” Brown identified the defendants as Xu Jing, 46, and Jing Ye, 43, both of 41st Avenue in Flushing. Both were arraigned on Nov. 2 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Stephanie Zaro on a complaint charging them with fi rst-degree trademark counterfeiting. Jing and Ye were released on their own recognizance and ordered to return to court on Dec. 13. If convicted, the defendants face up to fi ve years in prison. According to the complaints, a court-authorized search warrant was executed earlier this week at the Ridgewood CubeSmart Self Storage where both Ye and Jing were allegedly observed selling their fake designer merchandise right from their three storage units. “My offi ce is committed to working closely with the NYPD and all our law enforcement partners to close down these illegal operations and prosecute all those involved in selling knock-off merchandise,” Brown added. MTA boosts L trains as M shutdown looms in '17 BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GIUDICEREPORT With the massive M train shutdown in Brooklyn and parts of Queens looming next year, the MTA is already preparing to help commuters fi gure out a way around while the line is closed. In preparation for the 2017 closure of the M train, which will eliminate service between Middle Village and Bushwick, the MTA has announced that it will add weekday and weekend service on the L line during the summer of 2017 to continue to move people between Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. According to the MTA, the L line will see 11 round trips added during weekdays, 12 round trips during Saturday mornings and aft ernoons, and a total of 27 more round trips on Sundays from morning to evening as part of a package of service changes planned for June 2017. When the partial closure of the M train goes into eff ect, the MTA expects more riders to use the L train, so additional weekday service will be added. The MTA plans to demolish and replace the bridge over the freight rail tracks between the M train’s Fresh Pond Road and Metropolitan Avenue stations. Once that project is complete, the MTA will demolish and rebuild the 103-year-old Myrtle Viaduct. The rehabilitation of both of these structures is paramount to the scheduled 2019 repairs to the L train’s Canarsie tube, which took on 7 million gallons of salt water during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. During the closure, which will last for a year and a half, riders are expected to use not only the M, but the J and Z lines, more and more. In order to accommodate riders, the MTA will also boost service on the nearby J/Z line, which will make all stops between Broadway Junction and Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn. Ridgewood getting help in war on rats BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GIUDICEREPORT Pests and rodents are a problem in almost every neighborhood, and Ridgewood is no diff erent. But how can residents and property owners help keep the rat population from exploding? Members from the city’s Department of Health (DOH) came to the Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association’s (RPOCA) monthly meeting on Thursday night at the Ridgewood Older Adult Center to provide helpful tips and information on how to spot rat activity, get rid of any rats and prevention methods to keep rodents from coming back. The fi rst thing residents should do, according to Caroline Bragdon, director of neighborhood intervention for DOH, is to look for signs of rats. Because rats are nocturnal, residents won’t see much of the rodents during the day, but what they should be looking for are rat droppings, gnaw marks, runways and rat tracks, burrows in earthy areas, and rub marks — streaks rats leave behind on walls as a signal to other rats to follow their same path. In order to get rid of rats, Bragdon says it is essential to remove at least two of their three main needs — water, food and shelter. Once they are removed the rats will leave to fi nd new sources for their needs. Here are the best ways to do that, according to the DOH: Wash away any droppings and track marks since rats communicate through their urine and droppings; Get rid of clutter which gives rats a place to hide, nest and reproduce; Control weeds, shrubs and bushes where rats tend to prefer to burrow; Manage garbage by keeping food in tightly sealed containers; and Do not feed pigeons or stray cats, as any food left outside becomes rat food. “Rats also will choose, they are very opportunistic, to go inside if given the opportunity to go inside,” Bragdon said. “As the weather gets colder, or if we have a kitchen where people are serving food or there is food being stored, rats fi nd the opportunity to enter, they oft en will either to nest or to eat. And all they need is a hole the size of a quarter to enter.” To prevent rats from entering buildings, DOH suggests sealing all holes and cracks in foundations, walls, fl oors, underneath doors and around windows that are larger than a half inch. One major myth that Bragdon wanted to debunk was that mint-scented trash bags will deter rats from chewing through the bags. “There are really no repellents that we know work. There is no scent that will scare away a rat or a mouse,” Bragdon said. “There are mint-scented garbage bags that are marketed as being repellent to rats. That’s a marketing gimmick that we don’t see anywhere in science that those actually work. They’re just bags that smell like mint.” The best way to control not only rats but all types of pests, DOH says that pest control has to be active, ongoing and a community eff ort. If everyone works together, keeping rats and other pests out of Ridgewood should be a breeze.
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