4 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 1, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Who's to blame for Bayside blvd. crashes?
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Th e Northern Boulevard bike lane in
Bayside has been the subject of controversy
since the Department of Transportation
installed it in 2017.
According to Captain John Hall, commander
State PD to assist investigation of attack on Hindu priest in Glen Oaks
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Just days aft er an attack on a Hindu
priest in Glen Oaks, Governor Cuomo
directed the state police hate crimes task
force to assist in the NYPD investigation.
Last week, cops arrested Sergio Gouveia,
who allegedly beat beloved faith leader
Swami Harish Chander Puri blocks
away from the Shiv Shakti Peeth temple.
According to law enforcement sources,
Gouveia punched Puri and hit him
with an umbrella while screaming, “Th is
is my neighborhood.”
“I am directing the State Police Hate
Crimes Task Force to assist the NYPD
with their investigation to ensure the
individual behind this vile attack is held
accountable and prosecuted to the fullest
extent of the law,” said Cuomo. “Violence
of any kind toward others based on
their faith or race is off ensive to all New
Yorkers and repugnant to our values.
Th ese hate-fueled acts are meant to incite
fear and division within our communities,
and we must stand together and disavow
this behavior immediately.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers and community
leaders stood in solidarity against the
act of intolerance and hate in front of the
temple on Tuesday. Th e group decried the
attack, saying that it is the antithesis of
New York values.
“It’s simply horrifi c and agonizing to
think that this man of peace and spirituality,
our beloved Swami Puri Ji, could
be beaten so viciously in this wonderful
neighborhood,” said Senator John Liu.
“Th at he was attacked while wearing his
religious robe, so near his temple, evokes
every fear that this was a hate crime.
Tragically, I’ve seen too many attacks of
this type to believe this was a random act
of violence. We all stand together united in
our resolve to denounce hate and to promote
peace in this community. We are also
reminded of the importance of legislation
passed to protect against this type of hate,
such as the Religious Attire Bill explicitly
prohibiting workplace discrimination on
the basis of religious appearance.”
Senator John Liu
Police charged Gouveira with assault,
but he does not face hate crime charges
despite his comments.
Puri originally established the Shiv
Shakti Peeth in Kurukshetra, India, and
eventually brought it over to the United
States to serve Hindus in New York. When
QNS spoke to Puri, the swami said he forgave
Gouveira and prayed that God would
lead him in a positive direction.
“It is our dharma to denounce the racist,
anti-immigrant and Islamophobic rhetoric
in our country today. Bigoted rhetoric
and policies are the top result in bigoted
actions in our communities,” said
Aminta Kilawan-Narine, Esq., co-founder
and board member of Sadhana: Coalition
of Progressive Hindus. “For Sadhana, our
message is twofold: to denounce violence
and bigotry, because for us, the same
divinity resides equally and identically in
all; and to embrace Swami Ji’s compassionate
perspective recognizing that even
this man who attacked Swamiji is a person
who deserves our compassion. We
will build a platform for truth and justice
and fi ght hard against forces that divide.
But our platform, since we are a people
of deep faith, must have room for compassion
and forgiveness for the misguided
ones among us.”
Also in attendance were Attorney
General Leticia James; Congresswoman
Grace Meng; Senators Leroy Comrie and
Kevin Th omas; Assembly members Ed
Braunstein, Nily Rozic and Clyde Vandel;
and Council members David Weprin,
Barry Grodenchik and I. Daneek Miller.
Photos courtesy of Senator John Liu’s offi ce
Swami Harish Chander Puri speaks at press conference on July 23
of the neighborhood’s 111th
Precinct, there have been three crashes
involving bikes in that area since April
2019. Th ey added that there has been a
spike in overall crashes in the area.
Th e total number of injuries (of all
kinds) from crashes along that stretch
have increased. Th e total # of collisions
has increased too. pic.twitter.com/wykdLDpf2G
— NYPD 111th Precinct (@
NYPD111Pct) July 27, 2019
While the precinct blames “inattentive
motorists” for the spike in crashes and collisions,
some residents blame poor placement
and design of bike lanes as well as a
lack of safety measures.
During the summer of 2017, DOT
installed the protected bike lane from
Northern Boulevard from Douglaston
Parkway to the Cross Island Parkway.
Th e lane established a two-way, barrier
protected bike path in response to the
death of 78-year-old Michael Schenkman,
a cyclist who was killed in 2016.
Residents like Barbara Cohen Griff el
said that placing the bike lane on the exit
from the Cross Island was “very poorly
thought out and dangerous.”
“If one is in a car going north and making
a right turn on to 223rd Street, it is
very hard to see if a bicycle is approaching
the same street at the same time because
the driver is trying to assess the turn and
if there is room to get past the cars lined
up on 223rd waiting to get onto Northern
Boulevard,” she said.
Since its inception, critics have said that
the project does not make sense for the
area where drivers, cyclists and pedestrians
converge. In 2018, Douglaston residents
called for more safety and even had
plans to sue the city over the bike lanes.
“Traveling westbound on Northern and
hanging a right on 223rd — as I do most
days — can be tricky for the uninitiated
as one may not realize there’s a bike
lane on the other side of the concrete
barrier,” Jay Kleinman told QNS. “For
the unfamiliar, it looks like construction.
A cyclist going straight could apparently
come out of nowhere and meet up badly
with a motorist turning right. Better signage
there would go a long way.”
In addition to better signage, some residents
suggested other traffi c calming measures
to ensure that drivers are being safe
around cyclists and pedestrians.
“I think rumble strips coming off the
Cross Island exits going west would be
helpful, similar to the ones leaving the
Cross Island to go to Clearview. And more
signs making it obvious. And arrows on
the ground pointing exactly where cars
should turn into — and not into the
bike lanes or their barriers,” said Peter
Tomopoulos.
Laura Shepard, a communications coordinator
at Bike New York said that she
advocated for the bike lanes back in 2016
and added that the protected lanes were
a “tremendous improvement” from the
dangerous conditions of the past.
Shepard said that prior to the protected
bike lane, drivers coming from the Cross
Island Parkway failed to yield to cyclists
on Northern Boulevard. Th e cyclist said
that she nearly got killed when a reckless
driver forced her to slam on her brakes
when the light was changing.
“It’s an important connector between
Bayside and Douglaston,” said Shepard.
“It serves as a vital function to the Queens
bike network and I hope the city extends
it to the Queensboro Bridge all the way to
the county line.”
She added that she supports more traffi
c calming measures like rumble strips or
narrowing the car lanes to slow cars down.
Th e 111th Precinct said that they contacted
DOT to look at ways “to tailor
enforcement to the problem there.”
“DOT will be updating markings at
Northern Blvd and Douglaston Pkwy, and
we will look at potential safety enhancements
here in the future,” said a DOT
spokesperson.
File photo/QNS
Drivers and a cyclist traveling westbound along Northern Boulevard at 223rd Street
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