By Nathan Duke
City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) is calling on the MTA to ensure noise caused by construction on one of Astoria’s bridges is halted and he wants Amtrak to upgrade one of the community’s other bridges.
In addition, the councilman said the agency told him it would monitor Astoria’s N and W subway station at Ditmars Boulevard more closely after a two-foot piece of wood with pointed edges fell from the tracks onto the street Aug. 19 and creosote dripped from the station onto parked cars, damaging their paint jobs.
“One of the nice things about Astoria is the easy access into and out of the neighborhood,” Vallone said. “Unfortunately, sometimes these things also bring some nuisances. We’ve got to ensure that all of our transit is properly maintained.”
The MTA could not be reached for comment.
The councilman said he complained to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority after maintenance on the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge near 19th Street and Hoyt Avenue North caused problems for residents along those streets. Work at the site had been conducted without the proper protective sound barrier being installed, he said.
“They started very noisy work prior to erecting noise barriers,” he said. “Now, thanks to the residents, they won’t continue the noisiest part of the work until they put up the barriers.”
Vallone said the construction crews were removing lead paint from the 73-year-old bridge with a paint compressor as well as performing long-term maintenance on the bridge. The MTA will add a sound-muffling wall at the site and resume work with the compressor in two weeks.
The councilman is also calling on Amtrak to repaint Astoria’s Hell Gate Bridge, which he said has not had a new paint job in two or three decades.
“If you don’t maintain the paint job, it rusts and becomes less safe,” he said. “Then, it becomes easier for the metal to corrode and collapse.”
Vallone said he believed a new coat of paint for the Hell Gate was also necessary for aesthetic purposes.
“It’s three different shades of purple and lavender,” he said. “It’s an eyesore. It should be a landmark in New York City, but it looks like something out of ‘Alice in Wonderland.’”
He said he has written a letter to Gov. David Paterson, requesting state money be used to repaint the bridge to its original black.
The MTA also recently wrote a letter to the councilman, alerting him that the city planned to keep a closer eye on Astoria’s Ditmars Boulevard subway stop after a piece of wood fell from the tracks two months ago. No one was injured in the incident, but Vallone said the station was “deteriorating.”
Residents had also complained last summer that creosote, a wood preservative made from distilled coal tar, was dripping from the station onto their cars, which caused their paint jobs to fade and peel off.
In a letter to Vallone, MTA President Howard Roberts vowed the agency would fix up the station. During an inspection following the August incident, the MTA removed two loose boards. In addition, the agency found that protective boards at Astoria’s 30th Avenue station were “soaked with creosote.”
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
