Darkness Grips Boulevard Of Death

Its been lights out for parts of Queens Boulevard this past month. Scores of street lamps along the infamous roadway, particularly in Rego Park and near the Queens Courthouse, have been broken since early April.
"We feel its very bad for citizens to walk around in the dark and for cars to drive around in the dark," said Norbert Chwat, co-president of the Forest Hills Action League, an organization that usually devotes its time to pedestrian and traffic safety on the infamous roadway.
Chwat said the non-working lamps have people redubbing the roadways nickname from the "Boulevard of Death" to the "Boulevard of Darkness." He has complained to the Department of Transportation (DOT) to fix the lighting problem.
"Residents are upset about the neglect," Chwat added.
Councilman Peter Vallone, who chairs the City Councils Public Safety Committee, said the broken street lamps are not just an inconvenience but an endangerment.
"Its an extremely serious public safety concern," Vallone said. "Crime breeds in dark areas. Its dangerous enough crossing Queens Boulevard without trying to get pedestrians to cross in the dark."
The DOT said the street lamps are starting to get fixed. A survey conducted by the city agency, which was made aware of the problem during the week of April 9, showed that at the time a total of 85 street lamps were broken on the roadway, from its start at the bottom of Queensborough Bridge until its end in Long Island. Of the 85 broken lamps, DOT attributed 63 to electrical problems, which Con Edison was responsible to fix. DOT spokesman Tom Cocola said the remaining 22 broken lamps were his agencys responsibility. Cocola said that as of this weekend, the DOT had fixed all 22.
Chris Olert, a spokesman for Con Edison, said that as of Tuesday his company had fixed 30 of the lamps and would be continuing repairs.
"We are obviously sorry that this happened," said Cocola, noting that the DOT and Con Edison, who work closely with one another, were slow to respond because they have been busy re-examining traffic lights and street lamps for stray voltage since a Manhattan woman was electrocuted when she lifted her dog from a metal sheet covering a live wire in January.
Cocola said, though, 85 broken lamps was a relatively small amount, considering the boulevard has a total of 1,855 street lamps.
"We do understand, though, if it is the light in front of your house, it is a concern," said Cocola.
If residents notice a broken street lamp, they can call 311 to notify the agency, officials said.