By Bill Parry
The streets of Corona are starting to look cleaner with the introduction of new cleaning crews as part of a new City Council Initiative. Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) announced the start of Cleanup NYC at La Brisa Del Ciabo restaurant on 103rd Street.
The new initiative sets aside $3.5 million to bring street cleaners to every Council district with $70,000 allocated to Ferreras’ 21st Disrrict. She contracted with the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless to administer its services after the group performed its duties well at Corona Plaza last year.
“Cleanup NYC is going to make Corona a better place to live and shop,” she said. “I want to thank ACE and their men for helping keep our streets cleaner and welcome them to our community.”
The five-member ACE team started sweeping, emptying trash cans and removing graffiti last month.
Five days a week the ACE crew will clean 108th Street between Northern Boulevard and 37th Avenue; on Corona Avenue from 104th Street to Otis Avenue; along 103rd Street from 37th Avenue to Nichols Avenue; and from 94th Street to 104th Street on 37th Avenue.
“It’s about community,” Ferreras said. “It’s about cleaning up our commercial district and it’s about bringing young men who may not have had an opportunity in the past for them to know that here in this corner of Queens that we care about them.”
Helen Artiaga, the director of Plaza del Sol Family Health Center, at 37-16 108th St., has treated children and adults suffering from asthma and infections brought on by garbage in the area.
“You’d be surprised at the number of garbage-related injuries we treat,” Artiaga said. “Children will fall on nails or their parents will get infected trying to clean dirt off the street where their children play. I was very excited when I heard we’d get additional cleaning in the area.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.
