FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Bayside church fed up with the city’s damage neglect
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Leaders and members of the oldest
church in Bayside have been waiting over
fi ve years for the city to fi x the damages it
caused to the curbs outside.
Back in the winter of 2014, resident Jack
Oshier said that Department of Sanitation
plows got too close to the curbs at All Saints
Episcopal Church, causing them to crumble.
Oshier said that the church reached
out to the Department of Transportation
over four years ago to no avail and the
damages get worse every year.
“Th e city is sure quick to issue fi nes to
residents with bad sidewalks but if the city
does the damage, getting it fi xed is nearly
impossible,” Oshier said.
All Saints’ pastor Reverend Laurence G.
Byrne said that the craggy curbs on 40th
Avenue are an eyesore for the neighborhood.
He added that it’s “unfortunate”
that the city does not care about cityowned
property.
“If we were responsible for damaging it
we would suck it up and have it fi xed. But
we’re really not and we can’t aff ord to suck
it up and have it fi xed,” said Byrne. “We
just want the city to repair the damage
that they caused.”
Byrne said that the church staff has
allowed the weeds to grow along the curb
in order to hide the extensive damages.
Oshier added that the community
keeps the church and surrounding area
in “immaculate condition” while the city
does not.
In April, Assemblyman Edward
Braunstein wrote to DOT Queens
Commissioner Nicole Garcia as a follow
up to his repair request from 2014.
In the letter, Braunstein said that Acting
Borough Commissioner Jeff Lynch added
the location to the “curb database for
repair under a future curb repair contract.”
“It is outrageous that more than fi ve
years aft er DOT indicated that the curbs
at All Saints Episcopal Church would
be repaired, the work has still not taken
place. Th e curb repair program shouldn’t
be treated as an unfulfi lled wish list.
Th e curbs were damaged by a city agency,
DOT promised to repair it, and the work
needs to be done now,” said Braunstein.
In his letter, the assemblyman said that
the damaged curbs posed a tripping hazard
and that pedestrians may become
injured from the broken curb.
A DOT spokesperson said that if DSNY
caused the damage, the church should
go to the city comptroller’s offi ce to fi le a
claim. But Nancy McCarthy, the parish’s
secretary and bookkeeper, said that they
were denied a claim from the comptroller’s
offi ce in 2015 and there was no way
for them to make an appeal.
DOT added that the church might consider
getting the sidewalk fi xed themselves
in the meantime.
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
“While requests to address curb conditions
outpace available resources, DOT
works to make curb repairs as effi ciently
as it can by rotating through community
boards citywide. Since the original
request and subsequent inspection, this
location has been retained in DOT’s curb
database for repair under a future curb
repair contract,” said a DOT spokesperson.
“We will inspect the location to evaluate
the current conditions of the curb
and the sidewalk.”
City completes classroom lead paint remediation
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e city Department of Education
hopes to put controversy behind them
with the announcement that major lead
paint remediation has been completed
ahead of the fi rst day of school.
Embattled Schools Chancellor Richard
Carranza announced Wednesday that all
classrooms serving 3-K, Pre-K, kindergarten
and fi rst grade students are now
in good standing as children head back
to class for the fall session.
Th e DOE made a sweep of about 8,438
to ensure there was no lead hazard on
top of the 1,860 known to have contamination,
the agency said.
“Our schools are safe and this summer
we’ve successfully remediated all
impacted classrooms in time for the fi rst
day,” Carranza said. “We’re looking forward
to a successful start of the year, and
we’re taking the next step in enhancing
our protocols by inspecting, testing and
remediating cafeterias and libraries serving
kids under six in the next year.”
An investigation by the department
followed another from WNYC/
Gothamist which found lead in four
schools as well as dust with lead levels
up to 100 times greater than the city
standard.
In early August the DOE released data
from an investigation that showed over
900 classrooms across the city were coated
with lead paint.
If the department’s claims are true,
remediations took just over a month.
Lead paint was banned in 1960 in the
city, but the DOE plans to continue their
investigation into any rooms built or
painted as early as 1985, according to
the agency.
“Th e SCA will continue to work collaboratively
with the DOE to inspect and
remediate classrooms and other common
spaces to ensure we are providing
a safe and comfortable learning environment,”
School Construction Authority
President Lorraine Grillo said. “Th is is
a task that we do not take lightly and is
part of our unwavering commitment to
improve the school buildings and facilities
that the city’s children need and
deserve.”
With children under six being the most
susceptible to lead poisoning, which can
aff ect the central nervous system and
neurological function, classrooms serving
children under 6 took priority.
Th e DOE plans to expand inspections
to rooms for fi rst-graders and has set up
an online database for the public to learn
about known health risks.
Th e agency has also set up a portal
where possible hazards in schools can
be reported.
At the start of the 2020-21 school year,
the DOE plans to begin remediation of
not only classrooms, but of cafeterias
and libraries used by at-risk groups of
students.
Meanwhile, custodians are expected to
Photo via Getty Images
carry out their usual tasks of inspecting
for peeling paint and repainting 20 percent
of the school each year.
Reverend Lawrence G. Byrne and Jack Oshier next to damaged curbs at All Saints Episcopal Church
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