Pol Explains Train Proposal To WRBA
Revitalizing the defunct Rockaway Beach branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), legislative redistricting and efforts to thwart the one-way conversion of a neighborhood street were hot topics at the Woodhaven Residents Block Association’s (WRBA) Feb. 18 meeting at the Woodhaven- Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
During last Saturday’s session, Assemblyman Mike Miller explained the proposal he and his colleague in the Assembly, Phil Goldfeder, put forth to expand mass transportation options for south Queens residents and those heading to and from the Resorts World New York casino and Aqueduct Racetrack.
Miller noted that on most mornings,
“it takes about an hour to go two miles from Woodhaven to Howard Beach” along Woodhaven Boulevard, “and it’s only going to get worse.” After Resorts World opened its doors in October, the assemblyman noted that traffic volumes increased along Rockaway Boulevard.
The proposal offered by Miller and Goldfeder would reactivate part of the Rockaway Beach Branch LIRR line, which runs from Rego Park to Ozone Park and has been defunct since the 1960s. Parts of the defunct line are now used by the A train between Rockaway Boulevard and the Rockaways.
The first phase, Miller told residents, would transform sections of the line between Atlantic Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard into a MTA New York City Transit line; it was noted that a connection can be made to the LIRR’s Flatbush Avenue branch that runs below Atlantic Avenue.
Ensuing phases would extend the transit line northward to Rego Park for connections to the E and F lines.
“Everything has to be redone,” Miller said, pointing out that new infrastructure would need to be installed. “Genting [the operators of Resorts World] said they would pay for a portion of this.”
“If the state can get them to do this first phase, it will ease a lot of problems,” the assemblyman added. The additional phases may not come for years since the cost could extend into the billions; Miller also pointed out that the state would need to address concerns of property owners adjacent to the line.
Maria Thomson of the Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation noted that a similar effort to revitalize the Rockaway Beach Branch line 25 years ago was met with opposition by Woodhaven residents whose properties bordered the railway. Miller also noted that community groups have also floated the idea of turning the abandoned train line into a “greenway” similar to the High Line in Manhattan.
Edward Wendell, WRBA president, conducted a show-of-hands vote among attendees, asking them to choose between a revitalized train line and a greenway. The majority of the crowd showed their support for the train line.
Wendell added that this plan presented an opportunity to reopen the close Atlantic Avenue station on the Flatbush Avenue LIRR branch, located directly below the Rockaway Beach branch.
“It means more economic growth” for the area, added the WRBA’s Vance Barbour, who asked Miller if federal funding for such a transportation project could be obtained. The legislator replied that the MTA and the state are investigating various funding options.
“The day of the automobile is starting to fade,” added another Woodhaven resident. “This is a good idea.”
Even so, Miller cautioned that the proposal was far from final and that the final decision would ultimately be made by “the professionals.”
(Editor’s Note: Community Board 9 Chairperson Andrea Crawford spoke on the proposal at Board 9’s Feb. 14 meeting in Kew Gardens. See Page 10 for more info.)
‘Home field’ on street vote
After Woodhaven residents came out in force to a Feb. 1 public hearing to oppose the proposed one-way conversion of 89th Avenue, Community Board 9 has decided to hold its vote on the plan at their Mar. 13 meeting in Woodhaven, WRBA Communications Director Alexander Blenkinsopp told residents.
He publicly thanked the over 100 people from the neighborhood who took part in the Feb. 1 hearing by the Department of Transportation regarding the proposed one-way conversion of 89th Avenue between Woodhaven Boulevard and 97th Street from a two-way road into a one-way thoroughfare for eastbound traffic. The session also focused on changing 84th Street between Liberty and Atlantic avenues in Ozone Park from a two-way road into a one-way street southbound.
In light of the opposition raised by Woodhaven residents, Board 9- which had planned to vote on the one-way conversions at their Feb. 14 meeting-opted instead to make their recommendation at their Mar. 13 session, to be held at the Woodhaven- Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
“It’s a great thing. It gives us a home field advantage,” Blenkinsopp said, adding that it gives Woodhaven residents a chance to make their feelings known without having to travel far.
Wendell indicated at the start of the meeting that the controversy over the one-way plan for 89th Avenue has only helped convince more local residents to get involved in the civic group.
“I’d like to thank the DOT for all their help in recruiting members, because the more they seem to do, the more [Woodhaven residents] get involved,” Wendell observed.
The civic president also encouraged residents to come to the Board 9 meeting, adding that while “we don’t get to vote, showing up is your vote.”
Woodhaven ‘carved up’
The WRBA remains staunchly opposed to the state legislature’s redistricting plan to divide Woodhaven into three separate state senate districts, according to Blenkinsopp.
He stated that the WRBA submitted five pages of testimony to the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR) denouncing the proposal to have the neighborhood shared by three different state senators.
Much of Woodhaven is currently within the 15th State Senate District represented by Joseph Addabbo, while the area of the Forest Park Co- Op Complex east of Woodhaven Boulevard lies within the 10th State Senate District, represented by Shirley Huntley.
The LATFOR plan, as previously reported, would put Woodhaven in three State Senate districts. Western areas of the neighborhood along the Brooklyn/Queens border would be placed in the 12th State Senate District, currently held by Michael Gianaris.
Blenkinsopp noted that the legislator’s office is based in Astoria.
Huntley’s 10th Senate District- which the communications director pointed out stretches as far east as the Queens/Nassau border near “the Green Acres Mall”-would also include more of Woodhaven.
“We’re only a one square mile community and somehow they found a way to carve us up,” Blenkinsopp told residents. He blasted the proposal as being “unacceptable,” adding that the extensive media coverage of the redistricting process has shown “how ridiculous the State Senate lines were.”
Thomson urged everyone to write to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and urge them to reject any plan to split Woodhaven into three separate State Senate districts.
The communications director noted that the civic group was pleased with the proposed Assembly plan, in which all of Woodhaven would lie within the 38th Assembly District, currently represented by Miller.
Cops address senior safety, noise
Senior citizens should avoid individuals on the street who offer them free rides and report such incidents to police immediately, P.O. Jose Severino of the 102nd Precinct Community Affairs Unit advised during last Saturday’s session.
Severino informed the civic group that police received reports of elderly residents walking to the Woodhaven- Richmond Hill Senior Center (based at the ambulance corps) who were approached by a suspect in a black vehicle who offered them a lift. None of those approached accepted the offer, and no related crimes took place, the officer assured.
The incidents were reported initially to senior center administrators and later to the Community Affairs Unit, but Severino noted that any suspicious activity should be reported to 911 immediately.
“Don’t hesitate to call 911” if approached by a suspicious individual, the officer said. “If you call 911, we have to respond immediately.” As a result, police will have a better chance of tracking down and questioning the suspicious individual, he noted.
Sgt. Joseph DiMarco of the 102nd Precinct’s Conditions Team further advised residents to call 911 if they see suspicious persons loitering illegally on their stoop or the front steps of neighboring homes.
“That’s trespassing,” he said, going on to note that residents should never approach any suspect and to call police instead to make a visit. “Ninety-nine percent of our arrests are from people that call. … Let us approach them and see what their story is.”
With the spring approaching, Di- Marco noted that the command is sending out warning letters to businesses and homeowners with a prior history of noise complaints. He advised the civic to forward to the precinct any locations they know of which produce extraneous noise so that warnings could be issued.
Anyone who receives a noise warning letter who is caught by police creating noise pollution will receive a summons. In addition, DiMarco noted that police will take into custody those individuals who produce loud noise and have an outstanding arrest warrant.
A Woodhaven resident urged the 102nd Precinct to crack down on parents who park their cars in front of driveways near P.S. 97. The situation also creates a “half-block tie-up” in the area of the school during dismissal hours. DiMarco stated that the precinct’s School Safety Unit officers would be dispatched to investigate parking conditions.
Several attendees also complained about vehicles making illegal u-turns and driving with excessively loud stereos along Jamaica Avenue. DiMarco responded that the command regularly cracks down on drivers for various moving violations on the commercial strip.
Other news
Wendell announced that the WRBA is collecting donations in order to sponsor a WORKS Little League team this coming season. As of the start of the meeting, the group had collected close to $100 of the required $400. Visit the civic group’s website, listed at the end of this article, for information about donating.
Miller noted that he has introduced two bills aimed at prosecuting sex offenders to the fullest extent of the law. The first bill would order that any sex offender convicted of committing a sex crime while out on parole serve the remainder of his/her original sentence and the penalty for the new crime consecutively rather than concurrently.
The other piece of legislation would elevate anyone convicted of a sex crime against a child to a level three sex offender, the most serious status.
Miller added that the Assembly is also considering a bill that would move the state and local primary elections from September to June 26 to coincide with congressional primaries. If approved, this move would save the city and other local governments in New York millions of dollars in election costs.
The next Woodhaven Residents Block Association meeting is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Mar. 17, at 1 p.m. at the Woodhaven-Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps, located at 78-15 Jamaica Ave. For additional information, call 1-718-296-3735 or visit online at www.woodhaven-nyc.org.
