8 The Courier sun • february 27, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com THE COURIER/Photo by Maggie Hayes Mayor Bill de Blasio helped fill a pothole in Maspeth while detailing the city’s work to repair broken city streets. FILLING THE GAPS DOT GETS ADDITIONAL $7M FOR POTHOLE REPAIRS BY MAGIE HAYES [email protected]/@magghayes A record-breaking winter has left city streets in disrepair, with new potholes popping up every day. In less than seven weeks, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has filled 27,000 potholes in Queens and 113,131 citywide – the “most potholes ever filled at this point of the year in the history of New York City,” according to Mayor Bill de Blasio. To facilitate and accelerate the road repairs, the city has allocated an additional $7.3 million to the DOT. De Blasio put on the neon DOT jacket and filled one hefty Maspeth pothole on Thursday, February 20 alongside DOT officials who detailed their new “comprehensive pothole and maintenance plan to make filling faster and more efficient.” Starting this weekend, the DOT will begin repaving roads where “we need to go above and beyond,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. They have additionally adopted new “cutting edge materials” and plan to partner with local engineering schools, national experts and the Department of Sanitation. “This winter has been a challenge so far,” Trottenberg said. “We are not resting easy. We know there is going to be a lot more to do.” The mayor said heavy snowfall over the past two months has brought “unprecedented” wear and tear to streets. Record snowfall brought upon an “intensified use of snow plows,” a freeze-and-thaw cycle on the streets, as well as increased salt distribution -- all of which have contributed to a significant number of new potholes. “Winter 2014 has literally made it into the record books. It is a book we would like to close as quickly as possible,” de Blasio said. “This reality has caused us to have a performance level from the DOT we have never seen before.” Fifty crews are working to fill the potholes, which take only a few minutes to complete depending on the crater’s size. The DOT primarily uses 3-1-1 complaints to target and repair streets. DE BLASIO DEFENDS SPEEDY CARAVAN BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected]/@CristabelleT Richards gives $2.5M to district schools BY MAGIE HAYES [email protected] @magghayes Eleven southeast Queens schools are the recipients of an annual technology grant in the name of a civil rights legend. Councilmember Donovan Richards created the Nelson Mandela Technology Grant through which he will be contributing $2.5 million yearly to his district’s schools to “help fill any financial gaps to ensure our youth have access to the best resources available.” “I have always believed it is essential our youth have access to the best technology available,” Richards said. “We can no longer focus on competing locally and must prepare future generations to compete on an international level.” A minimum $50,000 will go to each of Richards’ 11 district schools, including P.S. 123 in Jamaica, P.S. 156 in Laurelton and Excelsior Preparatory High School in Springfield Gardens. Richards presented the donation at the M.S. 355 and M.S. 356 Springfield Gardens campus on Monday, February 24. He said he’s proud to provide the funds and could give more than $50,000 where needed. Springfield Gardens’ I.S. 231 will receive $500,000 this fiscal year to upgrade its playground, and Richards said he is additionally allocating funds for schools still recovering from Sandy. “As long as I am councilman, I will do my best to provide for our youth wherever there re gaps,” he said. Richards is following in the footsteps of his predecessor, now State Senator James Sanders, who contributed about $2 million for 10 years to fulfill the district’s schools’ technology needs. Mayor Bill de Blasio had some speedy explaining to do after his two-car caravan was caught violating multiple traffic laws last week. Only days earlier the mayor detailed his Vision Zero plan to crack down on dangerous driving in the city. De Blasio was heading back to City Hall from a press conference in Maspeth on Thursday, February 20, when the violations occurred, according to CBS New York, which captured the incident on video. Its news crews saw his cars break numerous laws, including exceeding the speed limit, going through a stop sign at a Queens intersection and changing lanes without signaling. His vehicles were observed going 40 to 45 mph in a 30 mph zone, and up to 60 mph in a 45 mph zone, according to CBS New York. On February 18, de Blasio announced a set of initiatives to reduce traffic fatalities. These include increasing enforcement against speeding, reducing the citywide “default” speed limit from 30 to 25 mph, and expanding the use of speed and red light enforcement cameras. In a statement, the NYPD, which provides security and transportation for the mayor, said personnel assigned to de Blasio receive special training in driving for security and safety reasons. “At certain times, under certain conditions, this training may include the use of techniques such as maintaining speed with the general flow of traffic, and may sometimes include tactics to safely keep two or more police vehicles together in formation when crossing intersections,” the statement said. De Blasio, at an unrelated press conference on Monday, February 24, said he believes every city employee, including himself, needs to respect traffic laws. “I wouldn’t have put forward Vision Zero if I wasn’t fundamentally serious,” he said. “The question of security for someone protected by the NYPD,” however, “should be separated,” de Blasio added. “I don’t tell the NYPD how to do their work when it comes to protecting me, they’re the experts I respect that.” Some Maspeth residents agreed, citing that the NYPD has to protect the leader of the city. “It’s not de Blasio telling the guy to blow the sign,” said Anthony Kosior. But most residents expressed frustration with the hypocritical behavior. “You can’t try to pass a law if you’re not going to abide by it yourself,” Lynn Sheridan said. -With additional reporting by Liam La Guerre
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