12 DECEMBER 7, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Committee doubts speed bumps are solution to Glendale traffi c woes
BY CHRISTOPHER MCDERMOTT
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Though Glendale residents gathered
hundreds of signatures in a petition
to install speed bumps on 88th
Street, Community Board (CB) 5’s Transportation
Committee largely doubted that
this is a legitimate solution to congestion
and speeding on the roadway.
“I don’t think speed bumps are
viable just because of Department
of Transportation guidelines,” CB 5
board member Toby Sheppard Bloch
said at a Nov. 28 committee meeting in
Glendale. “I don’t think that stretch of
road would support it. I’m a big traffi c
safety advocate but speed bumps are
a tricky thing.”
New York City’s guidelines require
speed bumps to be certain distances
away from driveways, manholes, railroad
crossings and intersections (all
of which are present on 88th Street).
During the discussion, several committee
members doubted that there
was a spot on the street that would
meet the requirements and eff ectively
slow speeding.
Bloch, himself a Glendale resident,
said he’s seen the traffi c come from
parents picking up and dropping
off kids at nearby P.S./I.S. 113 on 87th
Street, and that he’s seen drivers
cutting through the neighborhood
to avoid congestion on Woodhaven
Boulevard one street over.
Kathy Masi, president of the Glendale
Civic Association and a CB 5
board member, circulated the petition
through change.org.
“As everyone is aware, 88th Street
has become a speedway when it is not
bumper-to-bumper traffi c,” Masi wrote
in the Oct. 16 petition. “Early morning
before 8 and aft er 7 p.m., cars race from
Cooper Avenue to Union Turnpike and
reverse. Please join us in trying to get
speed bumps and possibly save a life!
Let's not wait until there is a fatality.”
The site says the petition would be
delivered to the city’s DOT and Councilwoman
Elizabeth Crowley, as well as
CB 5’s Transportation Committee. The
petition gathered over 400 signatures,
although Bloch noted in a moment of
levity that the listed addresses of some
signees were not from Glendale, with
some as far away Oregon and Texas.
“That’s something that happens with
change.org,” he said.
The committee previously requested
that the city perform a traffi c study
for 88th Street and another study for
the area of eastern Glendale bounded
by 88th Street, Myrtle Avenue,
Woodhaven Boulevard and Cooper
Avenue, according to District Manager
Gary Giordano.
However, Giordano noted that,
at this particular time, the studies
could be complicated by the ongoing
introduction of Select Bus Service on
Woodhaven Boulevard, which is a
likely to skew data.
Giordano wouldn’t rule out speed
bumps as a possible solution.
“In my opinion, it’s almost as if we’ve
exhausted the other ways of slowing
people down,” Giordano said.
Going forward, the committee decided
that in future discussions with
the D.O.T., they can use the petition as
evidence that residents want improvements
in traffi c.
Bloch said the best lasting solution
to the traffi c problems would be to improve
and encourage transportation
other than cars.
“My daughter is in fourth grade
at P.S. 113, and she’s been driven
to school twice in fi ve years,” Bloch
said. “It’s a decision — people making
a choice, and even when it’s raining
out, we make the choice to get an umbrella
… I think what’s missing from
the equation here is thinking about
how our transportation choices impact
our neighbors and making sure
that we’re respectful of everybody’s
needs.”
Photo via Google Maps
Traffi c on 88th Street near the Long Island Rail Road crossing in Glendale.
Ridgewood burglars posed as plumbers
to try and get into victim’s home
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Two alleged burglars who
posed as plumbers and came
calling to the same Ridgewood
apartment on three consecutive
mornings were busted by police last
week, law enforcement sources said.
They were identifi ed as Wilson
Cantarero-Lopez, 34, of Brooklyn
and Jose Penalo-Pena, 22, of the Bronx.
According to the criminal complaint
that the Queens District Attorney’s
offi ce provided, the trouble
began between 3 and 4 a.m. on Nov.
28, when the suspects fi rst visited a
woman’s apartment on St. Nicholas
Avenue near Grove Street.
Police said the woman heard
banging on the front door and looked
through the peephole. She spotted the
two suspects, who then announced
themselves as plumbers and demanded
entry. One even demanded that the
victim “open the f—ing door.” The duo
left aft er the woman refused to comply.
Law enforcement sources said the
suspects returned around the same
time the following morning, Nov. 29.
Again, the suspects banged on the
front door, claimed to be plumbers and
demanded entry into her apartment.
When the woman threatened to call
police, authorities said, she observed
through a nearby window two men
entering a minivan and driving away.
Cops fi nally busted Cantarero-Lopez
and Penalo-Pena after being
called to the home at 9:50 a.m. on Nov.
30. The victim told police that the suspects
knocked on her door between
7 and 8 a.m. that morning and again
shouted that they needed to come
in. She refused entry, and the duo
allegedly went to a nearby location.
Offi cers from the 104th Precinct
spotted one of the suspects exit the
nearby location and spotted a pair of
metal pliers propping open the bottom
of the front door. The other was found
inside the residence on a stairwell.
Police recovered from the duo
a screwdriver, pliers, a quantity
of zip-ties, a multi-tool appliance
and a razor knife. They also found
in Penalo-Pena’s possession a blue
plastic bag containing a marijuana
cigarette and a quantity of cocaine.
Both suspects were charged
with attempted burglary, burglary,
possession of burglar’s tools and
criminal trespass.
J/Z line in
Queens now has
real-time info
available for
riders
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Knowing when the next J/Z
train will arrive in either
Jamaica, Richmond Hill or
Woodhaven shouldn’t be a mystery
anymore.
The MTA announced on Nov. 30
that it has started providing real
time information on J/Z service
through its app and at station countdown
clocks throughout the line. The
D and F trains have also been added
to the real-time information system.
According to MTA Chairman Joe
Lhota, NYC Transit developed its
own beacon technology using Bluetooth
devices and Wi-Fi networks to
enable commuters to track train arrivals.
The authority installed LCD
screens at each station’s mezzanine
and platform to provide real-time
data on arrival times. Customers
can also access the data through
Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Inset via
SubwayTime app
Real-time train arrival information is
now available at all J/Z train stations
the SubwayTime app, available on
smartphones.
“Real-time arrival information is no
longer just a nice amenity to have – it’s
a necessity at a time when our customers
are accustomed to having access to
information in their hands almost immediately,”
Lhota said. “This is just one
of many improvements we’re making
to ensure that our customers are
getting the clearest, most up-to-date
information about their commute.”
Real-time arrival information is
now available at 419 of the 472 New
York City subway stations. The MTA
hopes to have it available at all stations
before the end of this year.
