14 The Courier sun • november 6, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com THE CITY HAS A CRUSH ON YOUR OLD TOILET — LITERALLY BY ASHA MAHADEVAN editorial@queenscourier.com/@queenscourier Waste not, want not. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is looking for contractors to crush 200,000 toilets so the city can put the porcelain bits to other uses. The DEP announced in May of this year that it is launching a $23 million program to replace 200,000 inefficient toilets in up to 10,000 buildings across the five boroughs. An inefficient toilet can use up to five gallons of water per flush, compared to a highefficiency toilet, which uses only 1.28 gallons or less Cops of the month honored at Jamaica Rotary Club meeting BY SALVATORE LICATA slicata@queenscourier.com/@sal_licata1 Breaking up dog fighting rings and making huge drug busts were among some of the situations that cops in south Queens had to combat in October. And to show support for all they do, the Jamaica Rotary Club honored officers from the 102nd, 103rd, 105th, 106th and 113th precincts at a recent club meeting. “The cops are the angels of our community and most of the time they are taken for granted,” said Joe Iaboni, president of the Jamaica Rotary Club. “It shouldn’t be that way. They should be honored for all they do.” The precinct commanders introduced their respective honorees and detailed the circumstances of the awards. In the 113th Precinct, Sgt. William Tergesen and P.O. Kenneth Sepolveda broke up a pitbull fighting ring in Jamaica. The officers seized a slew of items associated with dog fighting, including steel link chains, treadmills and steroids. There were around 20 dogs used in the fighting ring, cops later learned. In the 105th Precinct, Sgt. John Collins and P.O. Anthony Bartolies were making a routine traffic stop when they noticed the suspect had several packets of marijuana falling from his pocket. Upon arresting him, the motorist pleaded with the officers to return to his home and check on his 8-year-old son who was home alone. Once in the apartment the officers found 30 pounds of marijuana, assault rifles, banana clips and hand guns. The man also had 29 prior arrests. In the 106th Precinct, P.O. John Sforza and P.O. Daniel Rivera noticed a bar fight taking place on Liberty Avenue. They arrested a father-and-son duo, who were trying to rob a man who had just left the bar. In the 103rd Precinct, Officers Daniel Haggerty and Jacob Gianelli stopped a car for a traffic violation and per flush. But what to do with all the old fixtures? The city intends to use the crushed porcelain in the reconstruction of sidewalks and bioswales, landscaped areas built to absorb storm water. The porcelain from the toilets will create a flat, compact layer on which the city can lay the concrete for the sidewalk, according to Christopher Gilbride, a DEP spokesman. It will also replace the crushed stone in bioswales. The project is still in its planning stages and the DEP has not yet identified which sidewalks and bioswales will be reconstructed with the crushed porcelain. The effort, according to Gilbride, is part of a larger departmental initiative to reduce demand for water in the city by 5 percent before the city shuts down the Delaware Aqueduct for repairs in 2021. The step will help ensure that the city has enough drinking water supply while the Delaware Aqueduct, which supplies about half of the city’s drinking water, remains shut for eight to 10 months. Slow zones rolling into Sunnyside BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @aaltamirano28 Just days before the citywide speed limit will be decreased to 25 mph, the Sunnyside community celebrated the news that it will soon be home to two new slow zones. The slow zones, which will be launched in Sunnyside Gardens, Woodside and Sunnyside, were designed through input from the community, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and Community Board 2 (CB 2). “There’s nothing more important than keeping our children safe,” Van Bramer said during the announcement on Nov. 3 in front of P.S. 199 in Sunnyside. “The single most important thing for the parents in our district is keeping traffic slow, calm, manageable and keeping their children safe.” As part of the city’s Vision Zero initiative, the neighborhoods that will be included in these two slow zones were selected based on the transportation agency’s evaluation on crash history, traffic fatalities, community support, and the closeness of schools, senior centers and day care centers. Slow zones are marked with highvisibility blue signs that warn drivers at all streets entering the zones. Each area has a speed limit of 20 mph and includes speed bumps and eight-foot-high letters on the road that read “20 MPH.” The Department of Transportation (DOT) has already started to set up the Sunnyside Slow Zone, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year. The borders will be 36th Street, Queens Boulevard, 51st smelled marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. The motorist drove off and the officers went in pursuit. Once they caught him, he attempted to pull out a .25-caliber handgun, but the officers were able to nab him before he was able to use it. In the 102nd Precinct, P.O. William Chan and Sgt. Gerard Abrams tracked down two murder suspects using surveillance from a homicide in a club on Atlantic Avenue. “These officers do important work day in and day out,” said Deputy Chief Galen Frierson, executive officer of Patrol Borough Queens South, at the Oct. 29 Rotary meeting. “They are here to serve the community and reach out to those in need.” Street and part of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The area is split diagonally by Greenpoint Avenue, which is not part of the slow zone, according to the DOT. Since 2007 there have been four fatalities in the proposed zone and, since 2008, there have been three severe pedestrian injuries and five severe injuries involving vehicle occupants. The Sunnyside Slow Zone, which covers an area with four schools including P.S. 199, will be made up of 20 speed bumps, in addition to the current eight bumps, and 31 neighborhood slow zone gateways. “One thing we have in our community is a lot of traffic. We have a lot of traffic that comes through our neighborhood very fast so this is what it’s about. It’s about saving lives and about improving the quality of our life in the community,” said Joseph Conley, chair of CB 2. The Sunnyside Gardens-Woodside Slow Zone, which DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Dalila Hall said would begin to be implemented in spring 2015, will be bordered by 43rd Street, 38th Avenue, Barnett Avenue, 58th Street, Queens Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue. There are three schools and three daycare/pre-K centers in the area. According to the DOT, since 2007 there has been one death in the zone and three severe pedestrian injuries. This slow zone was proposed to include 18 speed bumps, added to the already existing 12 bumps, and 19 neighborhood slow zone gateways. “We are committed to Vision Zero, and Vision Zero starts with our children. It starts with young people. We have to make sure that not one young person ever loses their life on the streets of New York,” Van Bramer said. THE COURIER/Photo by Angy Altamirano Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer was joined by local leaders, parents and students of P.S. 199 to announce slow zones coming to Sunnyside, Woodside and Sunnyside Gardens. THE COURIER/Photo by Salvatore Licata From left: Executive officer of the 113th Precinct Rod Dantini, Joe Iaboni, Sgt. William Tergeson, P.O. Kenneth Sepolveda, Chief Executive Officer of Patrol Borough South Queens Galen Frierson.
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