4 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 13, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
DSNY ride-along spotlights sanitation issues
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
To shed some light on the needs
of neighborhoods hardest hit by the
COVID-19 pandemic, Councilman
Francisco Moya joined members of the
Department of Sanitation on a ridealong
through his district.
Throughout the route that stretched
from East Elmhurst to Corona, Moya
picked up trash from receptacles and
spoke with residents and businesses
along Northern Boulevard between
114th Street and Junction Boulevard
in an effort to ensure city resources are
prioritized in ZIP codes that were most
impacted during the coronavirus emergency.
“East Elmhurst and Corona are the
communities hardest hit by this pandemic
with the garbage issues exacerbated
by the budget cuts,” Moya said.
“I was proud to join DSNY workers,
who do an incredible job during difficult
circumstances, to service the litter
baskets along the route I restored
funding for.”
DSNYs operating budget was slashed
by $106 million last summer as the
citys shutdown created a budget crisis.
Throughout the pandemic, Moya
has heightened efforts to maintain
and clean up neighborhood parks and
streets, including reinstating funding
for garbage collection; partnering
with the ACE program; restoring
parts of Flushing Meadows Corona
Park; and leading multiple community
cleanups including those at abandoned
properties.
Every New Yorker deserves a clean
street, and DSNY is proud of our
work ensuring that they have one, said
DSNY Commissioner Edward Grayson,
a Ridgewood native who currently
resides in Middle Village. I want to
thank Council member Moya for his
commitment to funding additional basket
service, his advocacy on behalf of
sanitation workers, and his partnership
in keeping litter off the streets of
Sanitation District Q3, where I began
my career as a sanitation worker. We
remind all residents to use litter baskets
properly, and to report illegal dumping
or basket misuse to 311.
The DSNY ride-along is the latest
of Moyas ongoing efforts to ensure
District 21 has clean and safe neighborhoods,
which include graffiti removal,
community cleanups, and addressing
residential and business garbage
concerns.
I am going to continue to fight in the
City Council to ensure we bring these
resources here and restore the services
that were cut, Moya said. I also want to
call on the community to do their part
and thank DSNY and neighborhood
volunteers for their work so we can
have cleaner streets and parks.
Four injured in fi re at twostory
home in Ridgewood
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A fast-moving fi re left four people
injured in Ridgewood last week,
according to the FDNY.
Firefi ghters responded to a report of
a fi re on the second fl oor of a two-story
private home located at 1629 Decatur St.,
between Wyckoff and Cypress avenues,
at about 7 p.m. on May 5. Units arrived as
the fi re was engulfi ng the fi rst fl oor of the
private home, and used three hose lines
to suppress the blaze.
Th e blaze was under control by 8 p.m.,
according to an FDNY spokesperson.
Th e building was charred with smoke
stains, broken windows and wooden
splinters as fi refi ghters worked to check
for more pockets of fi re.
At the scene, FDNY offi cials said units
had to “perform extensive overhaul” as
there was a lot of clutter and debris,
which made it diffi cult for the 60 fi refi
ghters responding to the blaze to hose
and conduct searches.
Nearby resident Claire Beane said she
saw residents rushing out of the building
as fi refi ghters put on their gear, getting
the fi re under control in less than
an hour.
“Th ey did a great job at containing it,”
Beane said.
One civilian and two fi refi ghters were
injured, but declined medical assistance,
according to FDNY offi cials, while one
fi refi ghter was hospitalized with a nonlife
threatening injury.
Additional reporting by Lloyd Mitchell.
Photo courtesy of Moya’s offi ce
Councilman Francisco Moya works a shift with a
DSNY crew to highlight garbage issues in Corona
and East Elmhurst.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Firefi ghters overhaul the fi rst and second fl oor during a house fi re on Decatur Street.
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