Comet Fall 2014 Newsletter

8/11/2019 Comet Fall 2014 Newsletter

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Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together

Newsletter Fall 2014

Structural Concernson LIRR Overpasses in

Woodside/WineldAssemblyman Michael DenDekker Works with C.O.M.E.T. to Insure Safety

Photo by Tom Porembski


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Pg. 2 Fall 2014 COMET

Words cant describe the reacon of

community residents when they heard that

the Pan Am Hotel in Elmhurst, with about

216 rooms, was turned into a homeless

shelter behind the backs of elected ocials

and the community. Nearby residents

in Maspeth and Woodside also voiced

concern since the hotel is in close proximity

to their border. Folks immediately reached

out to Comet saying they wanted to protestthis acon.

Residents argued that they reside near

another homeless shelter about a block

away in Woodside, are in close proximity

to the Elmhurst Adult Center where many

residents must take medicaon and not far from a State

mental home. They made it clear they have more than

their fair of social services. They expressed disbelief

that City Hall would even consider pung such a

massive shelter a stones throw from IS 5, 51st Avenue

Academy, PS 7 and a nursery school in District 24

which is one of the most overcrowded school districts

in the city. Residents were also appalled to hear that

hundreds of people, including children, would be all

stued under one roof with enre families living in

one room.

Pan Am Hotel Homeless Shelter Controversy

The rst rally, pictured to the le, drew a crowd

of about 1,000 people of dierent ethnicies

Two more rallies were held, one of which was

outside the Elks Club where a Community Board

4 meeng was being held to discuss the shelter

Thats when the real controversy started.

Some homeless shelter residents decided to

aend this protest. They walked down Queens

Boulevard to the Elks Club and began mingling

with the residents. Luckily the 110th Precinct saw

this maneuver, pulled them out of our protest

and had them stand across the street. Shelter

residents started heckling the protestors, who

were predominantly non-English speaking, and

making derogatory comments to them. In response to

their comments, someone from our protest hollered

Get a job.

The American media quickly picked up on the

Get a job response and before you know it the

community was being called uncompassionate. The

derogatory remarks from the homeless residents

were not reported so as to make it appear that the

aggression was from the community residents. The

irony of this is that three quarters of the protesters

Photos by Richie Polga


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COMET Fall 2014 Pg. 3

didnt speak English. How did the English-speaking

media even know what the crowd was saying other

than reporng on the one remark?

The an-community reports by the media to sell

newspapers or to make a good story on television

overshadowed the true reason for the protests an

overcrowded school district, already having our fairshare of social services and to condemn warehousing

the homeless.

Since the protest a Community Advisory Board

to discuss the homeless shelter was introduced. It

was most likely created to make it appear as if the

community now has input; convincing residents

that the warehousing situaon is, in

fact, a viable soluon; that the school

overcrowding need not be consideredand homeless shelters should be

embraced by communies. No surprise,

Comet was not invited to the meeng

although we were told we would be.

An ongoing concern for residents is

the potenal for an increase in crime.

The Asian community is parcularly

concerned about crime because they are

oen targeted by criminals since they

are known not to report or resist. They

dont believe all homeless are criminals

but are concerned about those who

have arrest records.

Comet has received mulple unconrmed reports

about an increase in shopliing at local stores and

verbal threats being made to store employees who

are mostly Asian. We will connue to work with the

residents and educate them on how to report incidents

and will help them, when necessary, to follow through

We are lucky to have Asian Comet members who havebeen very involved in reaching out.

We were last told that the homeless shelter is lled

to capacity with 676 men, women and children

Some local residents have spoken with a few of the

homeless who state that the condions in the hote

are deplorable and they are anxious to leave.

Residents hope that those who profess to

care for the homeless take measures to remove

them from these deplorable condions, get

them an apartment and teach them to be self-

sucient. By doing this, they would be helping

them and saving millions of tax dollars that

could be put towards other concerns.

Community residents state they will connue

to ght this issue. Well keep you updated.

Photos by Tom Porembsk


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While we were there we

couldnt help but noce

all the pigeon droppings

parcularly on 70th Street

at 48th Avenue. Thereare schools in the area

St. Marys Church and

businesses. The pigeon

droppings are a serious

health concern for us. The

Assemblyman explained

that the Department of Sanitaon (DSNY) regularly

cleans the overpass on 69th Street at 48th Avenue

but not on 70th Street. We reached out to Roman

Paprocki, Chief of Sta, at Council Member Elizabeth

Crowleys oce and asked if they could reach out to

DSNY or the LIRR for assistance and to determine if it

would be possible to schedule regular cleanups.

In the meanme, Assemblyman DenDekker said he

would look into the possibility of geng funding to

install meshing under the overpasses to deter pigeons

from cooping there.

Photo by Geraldine Walsh

Woodside/Wineld Railroad Trestles

On Monday, August 4th, Comet President Roe

Daraio and Comet member Tom Porembski met with

Assemblyman Michael DenDekker to discuss the

deteriorated condions of some of the Long Island

Railroad (LIRR) trestles in the Wineld secon of

Woodside. The walking tour focused on the trestles

on 70th Street and 48th Avenue as well as two on 48thAvenue at 69th Street.

Assemblyman DenDekker arranged to have workers

from the LIRR be on site to inspect the overpasses

while we were there. According to the Assemblyman,

any structural problems would be noted and put into a

report. He promised to give us their ndings when the

inspecon and report was completed and hopefully

well have it in me for our next newsleer.

Important Message from 104th Precinct

Captain Christopher Manson, 104th Precinct, urges folks to follow this advice:

Please hang up on ANYONE who says they are from the IRS or says that

you owe money to ANYONE.

Photos by Tom Porembski


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Source of Mystery Lights Revealed

Please Dont Feed the Pigeons!By Richie Polgar

We want to thank Captain Brian Hennessy, 108th

Precinct, for sending ocers to the Wineld secon

of Woodside to nd the source of the bright lights that

are shining into residents windows.

The property where the stadium-type lighng islocated belongs to a business named Ko Hyong Truck

& Auto Repair, 50-04 73rd Place in Woodside. This

poron of 73rd Place is located under the railroad

overpasses on 51st Avenue which separates Woodside

and Elmhurst.

Comet Vice President Dick Gundlach will come up

with a plan and reach out to the owner and ask if he

could either point the lights downward or put covers

on them. Well keep you updated.

Photos by Dick Gundlach

The condion of the sidewalks at the LIE underpasses

at 74 street and 80 street have moved local residents

Peter Soo and Richard Polgar to take acon. The

sidewalks are very dirty and are slippery from all thepigeon droppings and at mes there are dead pigeons

on the ground. We feel this is unsightly and unsanitary.

The problem has existed for years and spikes

were installed years ago to discourage pigeons from

roosng there but it hasn't worked. In the past a call to

Councilwoman Crowley's oce would get Sanitaon

to clean up the area. In the fall we were told that

NYCDOT will do monthly power washings aer the

winter. Then we were told by her oce that NYSDOT

will be doing the cleaning every three months starng

in April. The rst wash was nally done in the rst

week of August and already it is very dirty. We feel a

wash every three months is not oen enough.

Part of the problem is caused by well-meaning

people who put piles of bread and seeds for the

pigeons. If you feed them they will come. There was

a woman who fed them at Garlinge Park on Grand

Avenue and each morning 50 pigeons waited on the

telephone wires and pooped all over the people and

cars below. When she stopped the pigeons le. Nowthey gather on the wires by Maspeth High School on

74 street so we have made a sign by the sing area

telling people not to feed the pigeons. Our rst sign

was stolen aer a week so we made another. Feeding

pigeons in parks is against the law and it also aracts

rats which we have seen an increase in the area.

If you feel the sidewalks are dirty and disgusting

please call 311 to report a problem.


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These photos were taken on September 3rd the day

before school started. According to Council Member

Crowleys oce, a problem with the electric wiring was

discovered during the construcon.

West Maspeth is in dire need of trac-calming

measures because of the high volume of vehicular and

truck trac that ows along Grand and Flushing Avenues.

We are hopeful, that

once completed, this

iniave will help make

a safer environment for

everyone in the area.

During the summer Comet President Roe Daraio and

Treasurer Geraldine Walsh had the opportunity to take

Michael Mallon, sta member of Councilman DanielDromm, on a tour of the Comet area. No surprise, the 55th

Avenue footbridge was at the top of our list.

We showed him the deteriorated steps that do not

appear to be up to code. Not only are the steps not the

right height and width, some seem to slant making

condions dangerous for pedestrians crossing in snow

and ice. We asked if it would be possible to upgrade the

inadequate lighng and replace the handrails adjacent to

the fence that dont appear to be the right height. Another

chronic problem we brought to his aenon was the weeds

55th Avenue Footbridge Still a ConcernWeeds along 85th Street

Safe Routes to Schools for West Maspeth

overgrowing the handrails as well as the enre strip of land

adjacent to the Long Island Rail Road from approximately

55th Avenue to 58th Avenue on 85th Street.Comet member Ed Misiura has taken the iniave to

clean up the strip on 85th Street in the vicinity of 55th

Road, but we believe the city should put this on a list for

roune cleaning. Local residents shouldnt have to take on

the task of cleaning up illegal dumping.

Lastly, we asked Michael to reach out to NYC Departmen

of Transportaon to insure this footbridge is put into the

311 system. In past years the bridge wasnt shoveled in the

winter and caused a dangerous condion for pedestrians

trying to get to work, school or home.

Photos by Geraldine Walsh

Photos by Richie Polgar

Its been a very acve summer in west Maspeth.

Construcon for the Safe Routes to Schools iniave had

residents scrambling to nd parking and walking around

barriers.


7/8


COMET MEETINGS - 2014Meetings are held at the NY Bethzatha Church of God, 85-20 57th Avenue, Elmhurst, 7:00 pm.

Parking is available.

Monday, October 6th

Monday, November 3rd

Monday, December 1st

Newsletter CommitteeMike Fordunski, Dick Gundlach, Christina Wilkinson, Richie Polgar, Tom Porembski, Geraldine Walsh,

Linda Daquaro, Shirley Warren, Roe Daraio, Maspeth Press

A Special Thank You!This newsletter is made possible by funding from Council Members Elizabeth Crowley, Daniel

Dromm and Jimmy Van Bramer though the Department of Youth & Community Development.

State funding allocated to Comet by Assembly Member Marge Markey went towards the

Memorial Day Parade and grafti removal.

Do You Recognize this Elmhurst Street?

Elmhurst folks probably recognize this street which

is located at 84th Street and 57th Avenue. We bet

no one knows the name of the street even though a

street sign says 84th Street.

The 84th Street sign is for the street across from

this locaon. Actually, the name of this street is

Madison Street. About a decade ago we discovered

this was a city-owned street and reached out to NYC

Department of Transportaon and asked for a street

name. They responded back with Madison Street.

We never believed this name made any sense since

surrounding blocks have street numbers. We always

thought the name should be changed to 84th Place or

something like that.

When we met with Michael Mallon from Counci

Member Dromms oce we showed him the street

and he agreed it was odd, not only because of the

Madison Street designaon but because there was

no street sign with the name on it.

He has spoken with Council Member Dromm who

thinks it would be a good idea to pursue changing the

name to a street number and geng a sign stang

just that. We believe this is important in the event

someone needs to call 911 with an emergency or

311 for a quality of life concern. We are also looking

at possibly improving the street lighng there. Wel

keep you posted.

Photos by Geraldine Walsh


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C.O.M.E.T., INCP.O.Box 780151

Maspeth, NY 11378

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Newsletter Fall 2014

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Comet Fall 2014 Newsletter

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