By Alexander Dworkowitz
Con Edison employees knocked down two utility poles Tuesday that were left in the middle of a Kew Gardens Hills street after a gas station owner widened the road.
The work, done under a flurry of media attention, ended the hazard that had bothered residents of Vleigh Place for more than a month.
As the poles were coming down, Councilman Jim Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) promised an investigation into what exactly had caused the problem in the first place.
“Before I was scared,” said Rajinder Kumar, the owner of the Gulf Station who had widened the road, on Tuesday morning. “Today I am happy that they finally are finishing the job.”
The strange story centered on Kumar's plans to improve his business.
After buying the Gulf Station at 72-09 Main St. in June, Rajinder Kumar decided he wanted to erect a third pump station and place a canopy over the islands.
A previous owner had a similar project in mind and got a variance from the city Board of Standards and Appeals since the project was not in conformity with zoning laws.
The variance, however, came with a stipulation that the owner had to pave over the dirt patch on the eastern edge of his property and build a new sidewalk, effectively widening the one-way street, sources said.
Walter Gorman, Kumar's engineer, was familiar with the variance and told Kumar to go ahead with the improvements.
Kumar paid $140,000 to the Shell & B Construction Inc. to make the improvement, which widened Vleigh Place by about 12 feet. But the contractor did not touch the two utility poles, which have to be handled by Con Edison.
The contractor had finished paving the road and building a new sidewalk by the end of January, Kumar said.
But Con Edison did not start work on the site until last week.
“They tell me 'Next month, next month,'” Kumar said.
On Friday, Con Edison began installing three new utility poles. The old poles in the middle of the street were knocked down on Tuesday and the power lines were transferred to the new poles.
Joseph Petta, a spokesman for Con Edison, said the company was looking into the cause of the problem.
“The circumstances that led up to this situation are under review,” he said.
Diane Cohen, district manager of Community Board 8, said she first started hearing complaints about the situation in January, and she wrote a letter to the city Department of Transportation.
Cohen said she had not heard of any accidents caused by the utility poles.
Gennaro said his office was contacting Con Edison, the gas station owner, the city DOT and the city Buildings Department as part of an investigation.
“It's a very unusual set of circumstances which we are still trying to unravel,” he said. “I have never heard of anything like this in my life.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718 229-0300 Ext. 141.
