By Joe Anuta
Lawmakers took action this week to help Middle Village residents who said idling trains make their lives miserable.
At a town hall Aug. 16, four politicians pledged to begin the process to move a noisy air hose and idling point from behind the houses of residents who live near the corner of 69th Place and Juniper Boulevard South.
“I think the plan, while not perfect, is a beginning,” said Anthony Pedalino, who has been a vocal critic of railroad operations in the neighborhood. “But if you don’t implement this plan, you’re giving undue pain to the people in that immediate area.”
Trains operated predominately by CSX Transportation now stop behind the houses owned by Pedalino and others at about 5 a.m. each morning.
Pedalino keeps a daily log of activity on the tracks and has said repeatedly that the trains idle at the spot for up to an hour while CSX workers use an air hose to charge compression-powered brakes, which prevent him from sleeping.
The elected officials at the meeting included state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) and City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village).
State Assemblymen Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven) and Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) were also present at the meeting, even though parts of the area in question do not lie within their respective districts. The location of the current hose is in the district of Assemblywoman Marge Markey (D-Maspeth), whose chief of staff was present at the meeting.
The four lawmakers said they had reached a tentative deal with CSX to discontinue use of the hose at the current location. Instead, the railroad would install two other brake charging locations.
One would lie several hundred feet farther to the southwest of the current location, which would put it south of Juniper Boulevard South and west of 69th Place. A second location would be even farther away — south of 69th Street and basically in All Faiths Cemetery.
The moving process is not as simple as picking up the hose and shifting it down the track.
Lighting must be installed along the track so CSX workers can safely walk from a staircase at the current location to the other two proposed locations.
Some of those lights will need to be installed on city-owned property, which requires paperwork.
Lawmakers already held a walk-through with Maura McCarthy, the city Department of Transportation commissioner, to discuss possible locations last Thursday.
CSX said the work to move the hose could be done within three to six months.
But the entire plan is contingent upon an air-quality study at PS 128, since the pickup point would be moved behind the learning school and the trains would expel diesel exhaust as they idled in the mornings.
A preliminary study was done by a private firm that showed the concentration of particulate dust matter associated with the engines would not significantly affect the air quality inside the school. The city Department of Education said the study showed the move would not pose a risk to any of the children in the school, agreed to conduct a more thorough 24-hour test using two separate companies before the move would take place.
The lawmakers tried hard to focus the meeting on the issue of the hose, but residents have no shortage of problems with the rail company and their operations.
The issue of chemical-treated railroad ties which stink up the area, the noise of the trains switching tracks and the garbage-filled cars they carry are just some of the issues residents want resolved.
Resident Ed Cataldo criticized the officials for separating the issues, since he said they are all intertwined.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
