FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARCH 29, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
Queens lawmakers seek to rehabilitate Kew Gardens’ aging bridge
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
An iconic Kew Gardens bridge that’s
home to a dozen local businesses may be
in trouble aft er years of neglect, according
to a group of local lawmakers.
Th e Leff erts Boulevard Bridge, located
between Austin and Grenfell streets near
the Kew Gardens LIRR station, was built
over 90 years ago. While the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) owns
the structure, Long Island-based fi rm Zee
N Kay Management was charged with
maintaining the property. Th eir lease
expires in 2020.
Lack of maintenance and repairs at the
site have left the bridge in dire disrepair and
created an unclear future for the structure
and its resident businesses, according to
Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal and state
Senator Leroy Comrie. Due to its current
condition, residents and local businesses
owners are concerned the bridge will be
sold to developers and demolished instead
of rehabilitated.
“Years of delinquency have brought us
to this critical juncture,” Comrie said in
a statement.
In response, the lawmakers have introduced
legislation that would mandate a
study to explore all feasible alternatives
to demolishing the bridge, as well as the
economic impact of each possible action.
If passed, the MTA chairman would be
mandated to submit a written report to
the governor, mayor and state Legislature
no later than March 1, 2019.
Last spring, locals part of the “Save
Kew Gardens Coalition” began a petition
at www.change.org urging the MTA to
repair and restore the bridge; it is under
100 signatures away from reaching its
5,000 signature goal. Th e coalition and
multiple supporters who wrote in the
comments section cited the commercial
strip as “the heart of the neighborhood.”
Rosenthal said the legislation “ensures
that the Kew Gardens community
does not bear the burden for decades of
neglect.”
“Th e MTA has been an irresponsible
landlord and is now asking the community
to bear the consequences,” he
said. “Despite years of complaints raised
by our residents, nothing was done to
address the hazardous disrepair at this
location.”
Th e unique bridge is lined with commercial
buildings on each side, which
house a series of mom and pop businesses,
including markets and eateries. It is
located near the Kew Gardens Cinema,
one of the neighborhood’s most iconic
landmarks.
Dominick Pistone, president of the Kew
Gardens Civic Association, said the organization
supports the legislation and is
open to working with the MTA.
“Our elected offi cials understand the
importance of this issue to the Kew
Gardens community and to keeping the
neighborhood livable and desirable,”
Pistone said. “We hope the MTA/LIRR
will recognize that keeping the stores and
restoring the bridges is important to us.”
Th is is not the fi rst fi ght to save the
bridge from re-development: in 1996,
plans emerged to build a high-rise building
at the site. Th e MTA project was
canned aft er receiving strong opposition
from locals.
Comrie and Rosenthal’s bills are currently
in committee.
Photo via Google Maps
A photo of the Leff erts Boulevard Bridge taken in fall 2014
Photo via Twitter/@NYPD109Pct
Traffi c stop leads to yet another
large marijuana bust in Flushing
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Police arrested a Brooklyn man earlier
this week aft er he was allegedly discovered
with 49 bags of marijuana during a
traffi c stop in Flushing.
On March 20 at around 8:54 p.m.,
authorities said, Brian Kung, 58, was
arrested at the corner of Murray Lane and
28th Avenue and charged with criminal
possession and criminal sale of marijuana.
According to a criminal complaint provided
by the Queens District Attorney’s
offi ce, authorities observed Kung in a
Lincoln SUV and discovered the vehicle’s
license plate number was registered to a
diff erent vehicle.
Aft er a traffi c stop, the defendant
allegedly told authorities that he had two
bags in the trunk of his car, but they
weren’t his. Upon opening the truck, offi -
cers found two large open laundry bags in
the trunk of the vehicle.
Th e bags allegedly contained 49 vacuum
sealed bags of marijuana. Nearly
$3,000 in cash and two cell phones were
also found on the defendant’s person.
Kung is scheduled to return to court
on April 19.
Offi cers from the 109th Precinct took to
Twitter to announce the arrest.
“Another outstanding job by members
of the 109 Precinct in taking a large
amount of marijuana off the streets of
#Flushing,” it reads. “Kudos to Offi cer
Goldberg and our Field Intelligence
Unit.”
Th e arrest comes just a week aft er the
109th Precinct’s Anti-Crime Unit found
more than $500,000 in marijuana and
ketamine inside a Flushing home.
The marijuana seized after the arrest on March 20
Rendering courtesy of NYCDDC
New parking facility opens In Kew Gdns.
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
/ edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A brand-new municipal parking lot
that took the place of a parking structure
at Queens Borough Hall fi nally
opened on Monday, March 26, the
city Department of Transportation
(DOT) and Department of Design and
Construction (DDC) announced.
Th e original four-deck parking structure
at Queens Borough Hall, which was
built in 1963, was torn down in 2014 due
to structural safety concerns. Th e new
lot will off er 302 parking spaces, including
six ADA spaces, one van accessible
ADA space, seven motorcycle spaces
and four electric vehicle charging stations.
Motorists who wish to visit Queens
Borough Hall and the various court
offi ces will be able to pay for parking
at meters installed throughout the lot,
as well as through their mobile devices
using the ParkNYC app. Th e lot is
also close to many nearby commercial
businesses and modes of transportation,
which allows users to not only access
municipal services, but to also enjoy all
that the Kew Gardens community has
to off er.
Ground offi cially broke on this project
on Nov. 21, 2016. Tully Construction
and WXY Studios were contracted to
design and create a new municipal parking
lot at the location where the garage
stood.
“Queens Borough Hall and the
Queens Criminal Court are places
where the people’s business is conducted,
so it is important that there be suffi -
cient parking available so that the people
of Queens can easily access these
buildings,” said Borough President
Melinda Katz at the ground-breaking
ceremony. “Th e long-awaited,
new municipal parking lot at Queens
Borough Hall will alleviate current
parking and traffi c issues in the neighborhood
and allow for more effi cient
processing of government business
while also off ering numerous modern
amenities, including charging stations
for electric vehicles.”
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