By Debbie Cohen
Woodhaven Residents' Block Association members said these new laws should deter filth and eyesore graffiti, so the more fines the better. Maria Thomson, the civic's third vice president, said the block association tries to keep Jamaica Avenue free from garbage and clothing bins. One of the new laws stipulates that now if only one item with an address is found in a corner litter basket, a person can be fined up to $300. “Corner litter baskets are for pedestrians, not residential garbage,” Terranova said. “If everyone dumps their garbage in these baskets, then it can overflow into the street.” As of Oct. 1, 2007, clothing bins, which you see on the street, must be removed within 30 days. If not removed, the bins will be emptied and crushed, no fines attached. Terranova said that most of the clothing bins sell the clothes for profit and do not donate them. Sanitation is now issuing tickets for sidewalks in front of homes from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., instead of 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Other laws consist of increased fines for not picking up after your dog (called the pooper-trator laws) carry $50-$100 fines but might soon be changed to a $250 summons. Another new law is the graffiti vandalism law for commercial establishments and property owners, who own a six- family or more dwellings. They will get a $450 summons if no action of removal is done within 45 days. Now the Department of Sanitation offers a graffiti-free program providing free power-washing or painting to rid graffiti from a property. You can call 311 or check the box on the summons, which reads “Property cleanup by the DOS.” The program runs from April to November. “We have 15,000 tons of garbage per day to pick up in New York City and the DOS is trying to keep things in order,” Terranova said. “Imagine what it would be like in 10 years.” On an education note, Assistant Principal Norman Cohn from Franklin K. Lane High School said the school might close for awhile but not permanently. The school will reopen as three to four small campus schools. These contracted campus schools were expected to open this September, according to Cohn. “Despite the bad reports in the media, Lane is a much better school then ever and there are a lot of good kids who want to learn,” Cohn said. “Statistics show that now the attendance rate is above 80 percent.” He said, however, the graduation rate was only 39 percent, but since 2005 and the start of the seven Small Learning Communities with courses such as ROTC, Culinary Arts and Science Technology, things have improved. Cohn said that every individual school at Lane has approximately 100 students. He said this new change will only make the school more successful, not a failure. Lane's aerospace science instructor, Jose Silveira, said this is going to be the Lane of the future. He said that this upcoming transformation will turn the school around. “Chancellor Joel Klein is brilliant because he knows how to turn this school around and make it work,” Cohn said. The block association also introduced the new 102nd Precinct captain, Charles McElvoy, who will be taking Deputy Inspector Paul Piekarski's place. Piekarski recently was transferred to the 105th Precinct.
