8 The Courier sun • march 26, 2015 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com Repainting of bridges on Jackie Robinson Parkway will cause one-lane closures BY SALVATORE LICATA slicata@queenscourier.com @Sal_Licata1 And then there was one. The Department of Transportation has started work on the Jackie Robinson Parkway that will lead to onelane closures over the next six weeks. On March 19, the DOT began a weeklong project of daytime closures of one lane of the parkway underneath the Myrtle Avenue Bridge to prep for their work. They are repainting and adding new protective coatings to the bridge, which currently may contain lead in some of its paint. Once the prep work is over on March 25, there will be a six-week nighttime project on the parkway, where the actual repainting will take place. This means that one lane will be closed at a time, at night on Sundays through Thursdays from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., Fridays from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and Saturdays from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. This is part of a bigger project where the DOT Division of Bridges is cleaning and reapplying protective coatings to various bridges in multiple locations within the western Queens area. There are a mixture of commercial and residential neighborhoods in the eight locations where the work will be done. This will require careful monitoring and environmental oversight because the paint they are removing may contain lead, according to the DOT. The main portion of the project will be the removal of coatings, cleaning and repainting the full bridge in different stages. The DOT will have workers in HEPA suits removing paint that may have lead in it with abrasive blasting. This method uses compressed air to blast off paint from the structure, according to the city agency. COUNCILMAN ULRICH UPS GRAFFITI REMOVAL FUNDS BY $10K BY SALVATORE LICATA slicata@queenscourier.com @Sal_Licata1 Graffiti removal has been a priority every year that Councilman Eric Ulrich has been in office, but this year he has added more funds than ever to combat the problem in his district. Ulrich announced on March 23 that he added $10,000 to his graffiti removal effort; he previously allocated $25,000 to the program back in August via his expense funding for fiscal year 2015. The funding will go to the Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC), primarily its Neighborhood Development Division, which promotes economic growth by supporting community businesses. They have been working with Magic Touch Cleaning to carry out the anti-vandalism mandate. “Graffiti is not art, it’s an eyesore that impacts property values and adversely affects our quality of life,” said Ulrich. “This allocation will strengthen efforts to remove graffiti from our neighborhoods and revitalize local small businesses corridors.” The initiative will continue to target graffiti at six major corridors — Woodhaven Boulevard, Jamaica Avenue, Atlantic Avenue, 101st Avenue, Liberty Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard. In these areas, graffiti can be seen up and down the corridor on garages, fences and businesses, among other places. To date, Magic Touch Cleaning has removed graffiti from roughly 100 area locations. “Graffiti is a scourge that gives a retail area the appearance of disorder in a way that discourages shoppers while encouraging the bad element,” said QEDC Deputy Director Ricardi Calixte. “We are extremely happy to work with Council member Ulrich and Magic Touch to eliminate graffiti in commercial corridors throughout Queens.” Photos courtesy of Councilman Eric Ulrich
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