Traffic, transit, taxes on the agenda for HB?Civic

Alicia Stypulkowski
The newly-renamed Our Howard Beach Civic Association touched on neighborhood programs, as well as transit and tax issues at their most recent meeting on April 28.
City Councilmember Eric Ulrich expressed that he wants to make sure that “raising taxes is the last resort to filling New York’s money deficit.”
“We need to do more with less,” Ulrich said. “We can’t be reaching into the pockets of the residents.”
A representative from Senator Joseph Addabbo’s office informed the residents that “this is the largest deficit this city has seen.”
“But in tough fiscal times, we need to make tough decisions,” he said.
Another issue, according to Ulrich, is education.
“There was a cut made to CUNY’s budget,” Ulrich said. “It’s very important to allow these schools to help people to continue their educations to further their lives, not just our youths.”
Thoughts about the MTA and the recent cuts they have made were also brought up during the meeting.
Ulrich described the MTA as “out of control.”
“They’re now talking about decreasing services and increasing fares,” Ulrich said.
Besides the MTA, residents are upset with the traffic along Cross Bay Boulevard.
One person at the meeting asked Ulrich when the lights will be synced along the boulevard in hopes that it will help the traffic along the strip move faster.
“I’m going to try and get the date by next month,” Ulrich said.
Lew Simon, a former City Council candidate, also expressed his opinion about the traffic lights along the Cross Bay strip.
“The traffic light cameras are entrapment,” Simon said. “They cause accidents, and I hope our City Councilmember will lead the way in getting rid of the cameras that are not needed.”