City Council member Linda Lee hosted a town hall at the Cross Island YMCA Wednesday night, July 6 to discuss transit, crime and quality of life issues in eastern Queens.
Lee was joined by State Senators John Liu and Toby Ann Stavisky, Assemblymember David Weprin and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, as well as representatives from Queens Borough President Donovan Richards’ office and multiple city agencies.
“One of the responsibilities that I take most seriously is ensuring that my constituents receive the responsiveness that they deserve from city agencies,” Lee said. “By bringing my elected colleagues and the agencies and organizations who serve eastern Queens face-to-face with constituents, we’re able to directly address the issues that most directly impact our neighborhoods on a day-to-day basis. As a social worker, my motto is ‘meet people where they are,’ and that’s what we did tonight. There’s nothing more important to me than ensuring that my constituents’ concerns are heard and addressed.”
Among the New York City agencies with representatives at the event were the Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Environmental Protection, ConEdison, Department of Small Business Services (SBS), Department of Buildings, Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Sanitation, Human Resources Administration (HRA) and members of the 105th, 107th and 111th NYPD Precincts.
The DOT gave information on the city’s transportation infrastructure and traffic safety as well as other transportation-related issues. The agency also took requests for traffic studies, signage in neighborhoods and repaving streets.
The Department of Environmental Protection offered attendees resources for bill assistance and addressed issues related to bioswales and other quality of life issues. ConEdison provided information related to assistance on utility bills and SBS handed out materials to help constituents in need of support and information related to their small businesses.
The Department of Buildings provided information for tenants and small businesses currently proceeding with construction projects for their buildings. The Department of Parks and Recreation provided information about several park projects happening in eastern Queens and information on upcoming tree plantings. The Department of Sanitation gave information about the upcoming sanitation examination process and listened to concerns from those in attendance about areas of dumping and litter.
The HRA provided information for homeless services and income assistance. Each police precinct represented at the Town Hall provided dates for Build the Block meetings and information relating to their specific jurisdictions.
The organization of the town hall received a lot of positive feedback from those in attendance, as it allowed constituents to travel from table to table and have specific questions answered rather than sit through a presentation and ask questions one by one. Constituents in attendance were particularly pleased with the presence of the police precincts, ConEdison and the HRA, with the latter two going over resources for utility bill assistance, particularly those who were eligible for bill reduction and payment plans.
