State Senator George Onorato has taken up a cause that is near and dear to our hearts too - the tree branches and brush that block the signs and stoplights in Queens.
Onorato sent a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg asking him to make sure the problem areas get trims. He stated in his letter that it is a major problem in his district and that he personally is aware of at least three car crashes caused by drivers being unable to see road signs and lights.
We have editorialized about this problem in the past and solicited our readers to report these dangerous areas. Some action was taken, tree limbs and bushes were trimmed in some areas but the bulk of the problem remains and grows worse every year.
With the announced planting of 1 million new trees in Queens over the next decade, Onorato is again raising the alarm. We remind the mayor that the young trees will be shorter - and therefore more apt to block signage - for several years.
Therefore, we join with Onorato in asking our readers to be vigilant about the locations of blocked signage. Call Onorato’s district office at 718-726-2036 and they will pass the information along to the mayor’s office. Alternatively, call 3-1-1 until the tree is trimmed and the signage is visible once again. Remember the squeaking wheel gets the grease!
Better licensing plan
Governor Eliot Spitzer announced a plan on Saturday, October 27 to offer three different driver’s licenses in the State of New York, scrapping his unpopular plan that would just allow all the illegal immigrants living in the state to get a full-unrestricted photo credential.
As many of the politicians, both Republican and Democrat alike, up to 72 percent of the public according to polls, and virtually all of county clerks in the state, we too took the governor to task for the dangerous aspects of his ill-conceived original plan.
This time Spitzer is proposing a Type I license that is compliant with federal Real ID security requirements, which can be used to board planes and enter federal buildings to be issued to U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.
Additionally, the state would then issue a Type II or “enhanced” driver’s license that also lets the bearer cross the U.S.-Canadian border without a passport for U.S. citizens only.
Finally, a Type III basic state license marked as only valid for driving, not as federal ID for U.S. citizens, legal immigrants and undocumented aliens.
We think this is a better plan but we would like to see those Type III basic licenses not carry any photos at all so they cannot be mistaken for the real thing.
