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8 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Advocates demand a taller protective fence on Triborough Bridge BY MAX PARROTT mparrott@schnepsmedia.com @QNS Elected offi cials and bike advocates from Transportation Alternatives and Bike New York gathered on the Astoria side of the Triborough Bridge, known professionally as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, on Th ursday to call on the MTA to improve the safety of the bridge’s pedestrian These Queens nabes have highest amount of Health Dept. violations BY EMILY DAVENPORT edavenport@qns.com @QNS A recent report sought to fi nd out which areas in Queens had more restaurants that weren’t up to Health Department code. RentHop recently released an interactive Screenshot via RentHop.com map measuring which neighborhoods had the highest and lowest restaurant grades based on recent inspections. Th e report also looked at the number of health violations that restaurants throughout the city received from 2016 through 2019, including mice and rodent violations. According to their fi ndings, Queens’ Lindenwood-Howard Beach area, which has 51 restaurants in total, had zero restaurants grading a B or C from the health department. Queens’ worst neighborhood for B or C grading was Ozone Park, with nine out of 50 restaurants receiving a B or C grade. RentHop’s data found that fi ve Queens neighborhoods had the highest amount of violations at neighborhood restaurants between 2017 and 2019: Flushing, 1,529 in 2017, 2,695 in 2018 and 2,611 in 2019 Astoria, 1,263 in 2017, 2,098 in 2018 and 1,830 in 2019 Hunters Point-Sunnyside-West Maspeth, 1,324 in 2017, 1,880 in 2018 and 1,421 in 2019 Jackson Heights, 1,136 in 2017, 1,820 in 2018 and 1,555 in 2019 Elmhurst, 885 in 2017, 1,380 in 2018 and 1,202 in 2019 RentHop’s report also explored the number of mice and rodent violations each borough had over the past four years. According to their fi ndings, while rodent violations increased throughout the borough, Queens saw the highest jump. In 2016, Queens had 989 total reported mice and rodent violations and 1,841 cases in 2017. Th e huge increase took place from 2017 to 2018, which had 3,138 reported mice and rodent violations, marking a 70.8 percent increase yearover year. In 2019, mice and rodent violations in Queens dropped back down to 2,399. Some of the borough’s top mice off enders included Greenwood Quality Bakery (111-02 Liberty Ave., Jamaica), Nest Restaurant & Bar (125-17 101st Ave., Jamaica), Hong Kong House (23- 07 Steinway St., Ditmars-Steinway) and Golden Punjab Indian Restaurant (130-02 101st Ave., Jamaica), with 16, 15, 15 and 15 violations, respectively. To read the full report and use the interactive map, visit renthop.com. path. Aft er a recent report from Th e City called attention to the fact that the guard rail along the bridge is not high enough to stop bicyclists from toppling over it in the case of an accident, Councilman Costa Constantinides and Senator Michael Gianaris called on the MTA to put up a protective fence that could accommodate riders. “Right behind us, you have a metal plate that makes it very unsafe. Further along, you have fencing that ends over the water way. It’s only a 4-foot fence,” said Constantinides. As it stands, biking along the bridge is prohibited, according to signs posted by the MTA that instruct bikers to walk their bikes. But many riders ignore the sign and take the risk of biking along the path anyways. Others say that even if they follow the rules, they don’t feel safe because of the metal plates that run along the path. “If you’re a road cyclist, you wear clipless pedals, there’s metal on these. Metal on metal, you slide,” said Astoria cyclist Shannon Rudd, pointing at her metal soled cycling shoes. Th e elected offi cials and advocates proposed a two-part solution. In the immediate future, they say the MTA needs to put up a 10- to 12-foot fence over the whole bridge and legalize biking along the path. In the grand scheme of things, they want the MTA to open the pedestrian path on the southern side of the bridge to create separate lanes for bikes and pedestrians, and provide a ramp for bicyclists to ride up. Right now riders are forced to dismount and carry their bikes up a set of stairs to get on the path, which Laura Shepard of Bike New York pointed out, stops the path from being ADA-accessible. “We understand the nature of the agency we’re dealing with has slow time horizons. But it’s important to demand that they at least start the process,” said Shepard. Th e focus is not solely on cyclists. Th e speakers said low guard rails along fi vefoot wide path also make it treacherous for pedestrians as they pass each other as well as bikers. Constantinides added that four people have committed suicide on the bridge since 2015. Th e councilman said that he sent a letter to the MTA with the immediate proposal but he hasn’t heard back anything yet. Gianaris said that they are asking the agency to fund the safety measures in their next capital funding plan. “It’s a fairly modest cost for the MTA. Th e southern access would cost more money, but it’s a drop in the bucket for the tens of billions of dollars that we have,” Gianaris said. For Constantinides, who oft en warns against the eff ects of climate change as an immediate threat, the goal to open up the southern walkway and encourage commuter cycling fi ts into his crusade to reduce western Queens’ greenhouse gas emissions. “In the 21st century we need to be thinking about multimodal transportation. How we are going to move people out of cars? How are we going to move them into emission-free vehicles to get them to work?” Constantinides said. Photos: Max Parrott/QNS SEPTEMBER SALES With the purchase of glasses, contact lens e l. 2 Boxes of Lenses Frames & Lenses Offer ends: 10/31/19 ��brand clear sphericalLenses/*Contact lens fitting additional. Not valid for Toric lenses. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Some restrictions apply, see store for details. Offer ends: 10/31/19 Offer ends: 10/31/19 2 PAIR OF CHILDREN'S EYEGLASSES 18 years & younger Includes polycarbonate lenses, plastic and metal frames. Select frames with clear plastic single vision lenses +/- 4 sph, 2 cyl. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lensas +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Some restrictions apply, see store for details $100OFF DESIGNER FRAMES PLUS FREE 2ND PAIR * $200 minimum purchase on first pair of designer frames. Second pair frame from select group with clear plastic, single vision lenses +/-4 sph., 2 cyl. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Offer ends 10/31/19 Offer ends 10/31/19 /RentHop.com link /WWW.QNS.COM link /renthop.com link link