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TIMES, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 • 14 New Member Of Elm. Franciscans Deacon Thomas J. Page was recently introduced to the members of the church after he was installed as a member of the Secular Franciscan Fraternity during a Rite of Admission Mass held at St. Adalbert Church in Elmhurst. Taking part in the introduction were (left to right): Carolyn Talento, local minister; Carmela Cangialosi; Deacon Page; Maryann Page; Catherine Woesthoff; Constance Watz; Fr. Mierk Podymniak; and Daniel Page. During the ceremony Deacon Page promised to live the Gospel Life fully in the spirit of St. Francis and St. Clare within the support network of men and women. (photo: Ben Schiff) NNeewwss FFroomm TThhee Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association A Bad Sign On DSNY’s Handling Of Illegal Signs by Alexander Blenkinsopp Last month, the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association (WRBA) issued a report after four years of work regarding illegal postings. We found that the agency responsible for handling them, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY), was failing at its job. We’ve all seen illegal postings: they’re signs and stickers on lampposts, utility poles, and other public property. They offer to purchase junk cars, advertise mortgage modifications, and tout other commercial transactions. The postings are ugly, they deface public property, they disadvantage law-abiding businesses that pay for their advertising, they can be a hazard by distracting drivers and pedestrians, they add to a sense of disorder in a community, and they’re often used by scammers. They have been a problem in Woodhaven, but they’re also a citywide affliction. Tens of thousands of complaints regarding illegal postings have been made over the past few years. DSNY tells residents to call 311 to report illegal postings. We at the WRBA put the system to the test. Since 2012, we logged 164 requests to report 142 separate instances of illegal posting. Over 63 percent of our 311 requests were addressed inadequately, meaning that the posting either was not removed at all or was mostly left intact. Of the postings Sanitation claimed to have addressed, more than half of them were either not removed (47 percent) or were only partly removed, meaning a significant portion of the sign or sticker remained (7 percent). Troublingly, nearly 28 percent of our 311 requests regarding illegal postings this year appear never to have reached Sanitation at all. Their 311 status was never updated. The WRBA discovered that when Sanitation personnel do remove illegal signs and stickers, they often take shortcuts instead of thoroughly removing the postings. For example, it appears that DSNY often places a piece of tape to cover some digits of the phone number on an illegal posting, and otherwise leaves the posting. That means that the posting remains an eyesore, and the piece of tape can also easily be removed. When the WRBA met with DSNY brass regarding this issue, they of course denied that they were failing to do their job well. They claimed they were not -SEE WRBA ON PG. 53- ©Times Newsweekly - 2014 - SUNDRY ©Times Newsweekly - 2014 - ANTIQUES


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