FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 8, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Bayside hardware
store to close
Aft er nearly 80 years of operation,
one of Bayside’s most beloved shops
is shutting down.
Posner’s Hardware & Locksmith, a
neighborhood staple since 1939, will
close up shop at 47-28 Bell Blvd.
Current owner Joe Lamel, who
started out at Posner’s as a college
student, went on to buy the plans and
operate it with his son, Dana. Th e
Lamels made the decision to close
aft er a two-year search for a buyer
ultimately came up empty.
“People were interested, but it’s a
very hard business to sell because we
give knowledge along with the product,”
said Dana Lamel. “It’s hard to
fi nd people who have the knowledge
to be able to run the store properly.”
Joe Lamel bought the store from
Posner’s son Morris in 1974 with his
former business partner and moved
it to a bigger and cheaper location on
Bell Boulevard.
Th eir key and locksmith services
had become a boon to their business,
with city agencies, the police and local
schools utilizing their services.
Online sellers, however, have been
a detriment to business over the past
few years. He recalls customers showing
him items that he sells at the
store, which online retailers were selling
at competitive prices with next
day delivery and free shipping. Lamel
noted that the internet age has made
it hard to compete.
“It’s sad that we can’t keep the store
running for the community,” said
Dana Lamel. “Th ere will no longer be
any store like us.”
Jenna Bagcal
Series of school
bus crashes on
slick streets
Bad weather and a number of school
bus crashes across Queens marred the
Monday morning commute.
Th e FDNY stated that the fi rst crash
report came in at 7:50 a.m. on Nov.
5 regarding a school bus accident at
207th Street and Hillside Avenue in
Jamaica Estates.
Aft er evaluating the injuries, the
Fire Department reported, fi ve people
were taken to North Shore University
Hospital with minor injuries.
Th e second crash, according the
FDNY, occurred at about 8:13 a.m. at
Linden Boulevard and 134th Street in
South Ozone Park. One person was
evaluated at the scene by EMS, but
then refused any additional medical
treatment.
Th e third crash, which took place
at 87th Drive and 139th Street in
Briarwood, resulted in property damage
and did not result in any injuries,
according to the FDNY.
Investigations into all three incidents
are ongoing.
Emily Davenport
Photo courtesy of Bob Burns
Douglaston residents teed
off by golf ball damage
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
To the casual observer, Commonwealth
Boulevard in Douglaston is like any other
residential street in Queens. But for residents,
living there is like a nightmare.
For years, those living parallel to the
Douglaston Golf Course have feared
the errant balls that fl y from the course
straight to their homes, leaving them to
literally pick up the pieces from broken
windows, roofs and cars.
Burns and his neighbors Raymond
Hublall and Gina Stoner explain that
the “tee box” or “teeing ground” at the
municipal course’s 18th hole is too high
up, causing balls to careen into their private
property if hit hard enough. Even
with the 60-foot netting that lines the back
of the course, dozens of balls still manage
to get through.
Th e residents added that errant balls
even make it to the back of their homes,
resulting in costly damages to parked cars
and other private property.
“Every morning I gotta move my car
from in front of my house, go around the
back street and park, and hopefully my
window’s not broken when I get home,”
said Bob Burns, who has been living near
the course since 1997.
“You dare not park in your driveway to
unload the groceries, because it’s that fast.
You don’t know when you’re gonna get
it,” Hublall added. He said he usually goes
out to buy groceries when it’s dark outside
to ensure that golfers are done for the day.
Damage from the golf balls can be
seen throughout the residents’ property,
including dents in aluminum roof siding,
cracked windows and gaping fence holes.
Burns has a photo of a cracked car
windshield that cost him $300 to get fi xed.
Stoner had sizable dents in her Mercedes
Benz that cost her nearly $400 in repairs.
Hublall’s 2018 Toyota has also sustained
golf ball dents.
“My bedroom window was broken
twice, so the second time they broke it,
I said, ‘Give me plexiglass,’” Stoner said.
“So now I don’t even have glass on my
window. I didn’t want to have to pay to
get it fi xed.”
Aft er enduring years of property damage
and fear for their own safety, residents
have had enough. Both Burns and
Hublall had made numerous complaints
to elected offi cials and community board
leaders, all of whom were sympathetic
to their plight. Community Board 11
secured funding to install the existing protective
netting.
But Stoner said that when the nets were
installed, trees taller than the net were cut
down. “I’m getting more golf balls now,”
she said.
“Th is has been an ongoing problem
in the community for some years,” said
Community Board 11 District Manager
Joseph Marziliano. “Th e Community
Board advocated for capital funding that
saw the Parks Department extend the netting
higher adjacent to the golf course in
recent years. Unfortunately, the problem
persists. Community Board 11 remains
committed to fi nding a solution to this
problem and fi nding relief for our neighbors.”
But residents said the real solutions
would be to move the tee box from its
existing location to a lower elevation area,
install taller netting and extend the end
of the netting from its existing location
to align with the treeline so that the large
gap is closed.
“Th e head Parks engineer was here, he
said that existing net will maybe stop
one of four balls,” Burns said. “When
you’re out here and you hear the ball
smashing into your house and your windows
and your cars, you don’t know what
to do anymore.”
Th e Courier reached out to Douglaston
Golf Course for comment and is awaiting
a response.
Damage to Burns’ car.
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