Photo: QueensPost
May 23, 2011 Staff Report
Watch out pigeons, garbage dumpers and food vendors!
Joe Conley, chairman of Community Board 2, is coming after you. He is on a crusade to clean up – and ultimately beautify – the areas beneath the No. 7 train stations. His vision, with the aid of Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, is to introduce bike racks and, perhaps, benches, below the stations.
Conley, at a recent Community Board 2 meeting at the Sunnyside Community Center, displayed photos of white paste that blanketed the street adjacent to the 52nd /Lincoln Ave. subway station and said: “This isn’t paint; this is pigeon droppings and it’s unacceptable.” As about 50 people grimaced at the sight of the photos, Conley said he is putting pressure on the MTA to clean it up.
Conley went on to discuss many other problems. “There are plastic bags filled with garbage that are constantly being dumped under the 46th Street subway station,” he said. Armed with photos, he said it is an eyesore and that he wants the Department of Sanitation to take care of it. He is calling on that agency to go through the contents of the garbage bags and find out who is responsible for putting it there. He then wants those responsible to be issued with a summons.
“This is in our face and it is unacceptable,” Conley said.
Other items that Conley believes need to be rectified include removing the newspaper stands at the 46thStreet station, which are also plagued by pigeon feces. He said the stands need to be replaced with a single unit, with a slot provided for each publication. He said he would work with Sunnyside Shines, Sunnyside’s business improvement district on the matter.
He also wants to make it harder for street vendors to operate underneath the subway stations. He is calling on the Department of Transportation to install additional traffic barriers as a means to block the food carts from entering the space below the stations.
He is asking people to call Community Board 2 at (718) 533-8773 if there are any issues like these that need to be address—or suggests residents reach out to Van Bramer’s office at (718) 383-9566.
