6 DECEMBER 8, 2016 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM Ridgewood's Myrtle Ave. gets 7-day trash pickup BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIU9DICEREPORT Vendors along Myrtle Avenue’s shopping strip in Ridgewood will be seeing more of the NYC Sanitation Department (DSNY), as the Business Improvement District (BID) received funding for an additional day of trash collection service. Myrtle Avenue will not be the only shopping strip and BID to benefit from this program and funding. The shopping strips along Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood, Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village and Grand Avenue in Maspeth will each receive an extra day of trash pickup service. This extra day of trash pickup on Myrtle Avenue will ensure that garbage is collected across the BID seven days a week thanks to funding allocated by Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and Councilman Antonio Reynoso — whose districts share portions of the commercial strip. They were joined by Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan; members of DSNY; Ted Renz, the executive director of the Myrtle Avenue BID; members of the 104th Precinct; Kathryn Garcia, DSNY commissioner; and members of Community Board 5, outside of Ridgewood Savings Bank at the intersection of Myrtle and Forest avenues on Friday, Dec. 2, to announce the extra day of pickup service. “Our commercial corridors are the lifelines that keep our communities thriving and it is important that we make their success a priority today and every day,” Crowley said. “Because when our local businesses succeed, we all succeed.” For years, both Crowley’s offi ce and Reynoso’s offi ce received calls from residents about trash piling up on Myrtle Avenue. Each Council member was allotted over $200,000 to spend on clean initiative programs in their districts, and a portion of those funds went toward cleaning up Myrtle Avenue. “Unfortunately in the last couple of years we have seen an increase in the need for more service when it comes to basket pickup and the cleanliness of our streets,” said Reynoso, who chairs the City Council’s Sanitation Committee. “The New York City Clean Up Initiative really gave us an opportunity to fi nally be able to address that issue locally the way Council member Crowley and I have.” “This expansion will allow many of our communities to get the necessary services it needs to ensure that our commercial areas remain litter free,” Nolan added. Photo by Anthony Giudice/RIDGEWOOD TIMES Local community leaders celebrated the announcement of 7-day-a-week basket service for the Myrtle Avenue BID. DOT offi cially unveils pedestrian plaza at deadly intersection at Ridgewood/Bushwick border BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT Although the new pedestrian plaza at Myrtle and Wyckoff avenues has been in operation since October, the Department of Transportation (DOT) offi cially unveiled the plaza at the Ridgewood/ Bushwick border on Friday, Dec. 2. As part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative, Wyckoff Avenue is listed as a priority area, while the intersection of Palmetto Street and Myrtle Avenue is a priority intersection, and both Myrtle Avenue and Palmetto Street are Vision Zero priority corridors. Because of these factors, and that, according to the DOT, between 2010 and 2014 the intersection had seen 38 serious traffi c injuries and three fatalities, the six-legged intersection was redesigned aft er months of community input from both the Queens and Brooklyn sides with the aim of making the area safer for pedestrians and motorists. DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia and Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Keith Bray were joined at the intersection by Councilman Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn Community Board 4 member Nancy Liao, Queens Community Board 5 (CB 5) District Manager Gary Giordano, Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District (BID) Executive Director Ted Renz, members of Families for Safe Streets, and the family of Ella Kottick Bandes, the 23-year-old The DOT, local elected offi cials and community leaders unveiled the pedestrian plaza at Myrtle/Wyckoff avenues. girl who was killed at the intersection in 2013 to offi cially unveil the new safety measures at the new plaza. “Residents of Brooklyn and Queens can join hands across the border between our boroughs today to celebrate this great new two-borough pedestrian plaza,” DOT Borough Commissioners Garcia and Bray said. “This plaza will not only bring a central gathering place to the border of our two boroughs for years to come, the safety changes around the plaza will provide a safer passage for tens of thousands of daily commuters. Under Vision Zero, we are always looking for ways to make our streets safer — and sometimes the best way of doing that is to return that space to the community.” At the intersection, DOT implemented these new safety features: • Created the new pedestrian plaza between Gates and Myrtle avenues; • Converted Wyckoff Avenue to one-way southbound from Myrtle Photo by Anthony Giudice/QNS Avenue to Madison Street; • Widened crosswalks to match widened paint-based sidewalk extensions; • Installed fl exible bollards; • Reconfigured signal timing, increasing pedestrian crossing time; • Installed new traffi c control and curb regulation signage; and • Installed new road markings. “Today we come together to commemorate the advocacy of Ridgewood and Bushwick residents for safer streets at the Myrtle and Wyckoff intersection,” Reynoso said. “I would like to thank the Department of Transportation and Community Board 5 for their diligence in making this project a priority. As a Council member who fully supports the Vision Zero initiative and is a representative in the borough with the most dangerous corridors/intersections as designated by DOT, I stay fi rm in my support for all future plans and safety measures.” Board 5 meets Dec. 14 There will be an early start to the next Community Board 5 meeting this Wednesday night in Middle Village. As announced by Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano, the session will take place at 7 p.m. on Dec. 14 in the cafeteria of Christ the King Regional High School, located at 68-02 Metropolitan Ave. The session will begin with a presentation regarding construction work at 60-47 68th Road in Ridgewood, which is located in a New York City Landmark District. Following the presentation, the board will proceed with its regular agenda, which includes the public forum; reports by Chairperson Vincent Arcuri and District Manager Giordano; a review of liquor license applications and demolition notices; and committee reports. At the conclusion of the meeting, the board will hold its annual holiday party. Refreshments will be served. All are encouraged to bring a wrapped toy or gift for a young child (newborn to 5 years old) for low-income families enrolled at the Neighborhood WIC Center in Ridgewood. The toys will be distributed at the WIC Center’s party on Dec. 21. For more information or to register to speak in advance, call Board 5 at 718-366-1834.
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