By Peter Sorkin
“Yesterday was a very bad day,” said CB 5 district manager Gary Giordano Nov. 8. “There are overwhelming problems with the way people pilot their vehicles in this neighborhood. People are driving around like a bunch of brats and people are way out of hand with the way they drive.”
Giordano asked for a moment of silence to honor Nelly Trojhan of 84-30 60th Ave. Trojhan was walking with her 4-year-old daughter in the Citibank parking lot at 51-10 Metropolitan Ave. when a car struck the two of them Nov. 7 at 3:12 p.m., said Police Officer Louis Cruz, a Police Department spokesman. The daughter was taken to Wyckoff Hospital with a broken leg.
Barely two hours later, two 13-year-old girls were struck after a car hit them as they were crossing the street at the Long Island Expressway service road and Hamilton Place in Middle Village. Both girls were taken to Elmhurst hospital in critical condition, said Cruz. Neither driver was charged.
“People are dying,” Giordano said. “Now that 4-year-old daughter's mom is gone. Whatever you do, pray that these kids come out healthy.”
Giordano also asked the board if anybody objected if he wrote a letter to Mayor Giuliani requesting a public statement saying the speed limit is 30 miles per hour in the city.
One resident agreed but said pedestrians are also to blame for not taking better responsibility for themselves. She said people walking on the street often ignore the traffic lights.
“It's not only the drivers,” said board member Lorraine Sciulli. “People cross on green lights and they don't even pay attention to the traffic.”
But Board member Robert Holden, who is also president of the Juniper Park Civic Association, said police officers in the 104th Precinct, which covers Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale and South Elmhurst, must do a better job of enforcing the speed limit and traffic laws.
“This is a wake-up call,” Holden said. “We don't see the cops enforcing these laws. It should be a top priority for the police in the 104. Attend these meetings and get angry or kids and mothers will continue being killed.”
In other news, the board voted 34-1 with one abstention to approve a liquor license for a new caf
