20 The Courier sun • juLY 14, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Self-guided Queens cemetery bike tour causes uproar from community By Anthony Giudice agiudice@qns.com/@A_GiudiceReport Much confusion arose from concerned community members after The Courier announced that Spinlister, the world’s largest peer-to-peer action sports rental company, was providing cyclists with a tour guide of some of Queens’ most popular cemeteries. Many residents felt that a bike tour through a cemetery would be disrespectful to those laid to rest there, as well as their families. Several cemeteries that have been named as stops on Spinlister’s “Beyond Calvary Cemetery: A Queens Cemetery Cycling Tour,” including Cavalry Cemetery and Middle Village’s Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery, have noted that cycling is not allowed on the grounds. “Please be advised that the Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery has no knowledge of such bike tour,” Daniel C. Austin Jr., president of All Faiths Cemetery, wrote in an email to The Courier. “Nor, does the cemetery permit bicycles on the grounds due to the safety of our elderly lot owners as well as the cyclists themselves.” Spinlister has confirmed that the bike tour is not an organized event that will bring hundreds of cyclists into the cemeteries. “This is not an organized bike tour. There are no groups taking this tour, nor is Spinlister — or anyone else — profiting from it in any way,” explained Andrew Batey, chief marketing officer at Spinlister. “On the contrary, our Queens Cemetery tour is a self-guided, completely free, suggested mapped cycling route designed to allow visiting bikers, as well as those who live in the city, the opportunity to respectfully visit these Members of the community are concerned that a bike tour highlighting Queens’ cemeteries would be disrespectful. beautiful cemeteries on their own time, learning about the borough’s history along the way.” The “Beyond Calvary Cemetery: A Queens Cemetery Cycling Tour,” highlights five of the borough’s cemeteries that hold historical significance for Queens. The self-guided tour brings cyclists to First Calvary Cemetery on the border of Maspeth and Woodside, New Calvary Cemetery, Photo: Plowboylifestyle/Wikimedia Commons Mount Zion Cemetery, Mount Olivet Cemetery and, finally, Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery. “As we’ve done in great cities like Paris and Barcelona, Spinlister has identified the necropoli of Queens to be of notable historical significance, and have chosen to educate our community by way of a mapped bike tour and accompanying informative article,” Batey said. SIMPLE CHANGE TO GLENDALE STREET COULD MAKE IT SAFER, ADD PARKING: LAWMAKER BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@qns.com/@A_GiudiceReport As one block in Glendale is looking to restore the original flow of traffic to the street, one lawmaker is looking to switch the parking regulations along a section of Cooper Avenue to give residents more parking opportunities. Assemblyman Mike Miller wants to move the parking from the residential side of Cooper Avenue between 66th Street and 69th Street to the cemetery side of the street. Miller believes this change will “increase the number of parking spots we have on Cooper Avenue,” he said. In all, the plan has the potential to open up an approximate 20 additional parking spots for residents around the area, Miller believes. “I think it’s a positive thing,” Miller said of the potential switch. “I think it will get a good response from the community. Parking is important, so adding 20 spots would be good.” The blocks from 66th Street to 69th Street are packed with garages — 66th Place to 67th Street is exclusively garages — meaning those spaces are unusable at any time. To get his plan moving, Miller had a meeting with DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia and toured the six-block stretch of Cooper Avenue. “I took a tour with Commissioner Garcia and I showed her what I was looking to do,” Miller said. “I asked if it was feasible and if there were any laws that would prohibit making the switch — there wasn’t.” A representative from the DOT said the department appreciates Miller’s suggestion to bring more parking to Glendale and are in the process of reviewing the proposal. This plan also addresses a safety concern many have with that strip of Cooper Avenue. Where 68th Street intersects with Cooper Avenue, there is a bend in the road, which makes it difficult for drivers to see oncoming traffic. “The plan is two fold,” Miller said. “We’ve been trying for a few years to get serious about 68th Street and Cooper Avenue.” Miller has also reached out to Community Board 5 (CB 5) and area residents with his idea, asking them to take a poll on how they feel about the proposed plan. “I think that it may be a good solution because coming out onto Cooper Avenue from, say, 68th Street is very dangerous as it has that curve,” said Gary Giordano, district manager of CB 5. “My gut reaction is that it is a good idea, especially for traffic safety.” The assemblyman encourages anyone who may be affected by the plan to call his district office at 718-805- 0950 and make their voice heard.
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