REPORTING A DANGEROUS INTERSECTION

My neighbors and I are very concerned about a situation we have at the intersection of Pleasantview St and Penelope Ave. There is a stop sign on Pleasantview St but not one on Penelope Ave. Since January 1, 2015, there have been 7 accidents at that intersection. There may have been one or two more but 7 that we know of. One of the accidents a few weeks ago was a hit and run. Last year there were 9 that we know of and one even had one of the cars going up into a homeowner’s brick wall knocking it down. It seems like it’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt or killed. It appears a stop sign on both sides of Penelope St would better the situation. Do you know who would be the best person to contact about this?

Thank You.
Guido Ortenzio
Middle Village

Editor: The best way to address the problem is to contact the Queens DOT Commissioner via this form: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot /html/contact/contactform. shtml?routing=qn.

PLEASE KEEP YOUR DOG ON A LEASH

ONCE AGAIN, my brother was walking one of our dogs around the park. Another stupid dog owner lets their dog walk off of its leash (NOWHERE NEAR THE “DOG PARK”) and it charges up to our dog. Our leashed dog got scared, and started running around, and wound up getting hurt because of it. The dog owner has a screaming match with my brother saying “ITS THE LAW.” It’s NOT the law for your dog to be off of the leash if he/she is UNSUPERVISED, and if you’re not in the area of the so-called “DOG PARK”! Learn the rules. This guy was so far from his dog that there was no way for him to get control of it. This guy then threatened to fight my brother. This is so out of hand, it’s ridiculous. 

If you’re going to enforce the rules, KNOW WHAT THE RULES ARE. We are dog lovers in my family. We have 3. I’m posting this so that everyone pays attention and as aware of their surroundings when walking their pups because there are so many irresponsible dog owners out here. This is for the safety for our dogs, as well as other peoples dogs. 

If you do NOT, and can NOT have control of your dog, put it on a leash.

Danny Michael O’Neill
Middle Village
(via Facebook)

WHAT DOENS “CURB YOUR DOG” MEAN?

Very simply it means don’t let your dog urinate or defecate in the middle of the sidewalk, on trees and plants or on stoops and buildings. It means bring your dog to the curb to do his business in the street.

We live on a lovely block, 60th Road between Caldwell and Eliot Avenue. There are nine homes on this block and all the neighbors take pride in keeping their property neat and trimmed. As we try to grow grass around the trees, as many as fifty dogs are walked daily and use our grass as a potty. There are yellow stains ruining the appearance of the grass and often the owners leave without picking up dog feces. It’s challenging to get in and out of our cars here. I saw a woman and a child walking five dogs through our block.
We all have owned dogs throughout our lives and let them run in our own backyards and cleaned it up ourselves.

Please neighbors, be more considerate and let us maintain our property in a way that enhances the beauty of this neighborhood. Thank you.

Elizabeth Buoncore Killcommons
Middle Village

OUR VETERANS DESERVE BETTER

To the Editor:
St. Albans VA Hospital, originally constructed in 1950 as a 3,000 bed naval hospital, was transferred from the U.S. Navy on March 14, 1974 to the Veterans Administration. It is officially known as the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System St. Albans Community Living Center. This facility needs to be brought into the 21st Century to better serve our area’s veterans.
One wing of the hospital is vacant because there are insufficient funds to modernize. However this space could be utilized by converting these empty rooms into counseling offices for PTSD afflicted veterans or beds can be installed to provide a safe haven for homeless veterans.

The Pratt Auditorium has been closed for six years because funds are not
available to correct structural “safety issues” or to rewire this venue. Therefore the Memorial Day Service was held in the chapel and any entertainment shows must be performed in the cramped dining area. Not only is theseating space limited but also, in addition, the shows cannot be broadcast via closed circuit TV to those who are bedridden as was done in the past when the Pratt Auditorium was used. Just a reminder that the Federal Government did have $750,000 available to build a soccer field at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp (GTMO) which houses captured terrorists.

For many years the taxpayers of New York State under the auspices of the Division of Substance Abuse Services (DSAS) and later on the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) funded J-CAP a drug-free residential program, which had two buildings located on the St. Albans grounds. This treatment milieu included a commercial kitchen, a dining room, an infirmary, counseling offices, administrative offices along with numerous bedrooms. J-CAP vacated those buildings approximately two years ago. Since then the buildings have been vandalized despite being located on Federal land that is patrolled by campus police. No security cameras? No burglar alarms? No facility available to house homeless veterans! This is a loss to the taxpayers of New York. A bigger loss to veterans returning from the hell of war to the hell no we don’t have the resources to help you to adjust to civilian life.

J.J. Brophy, USMC

AN UNACCEPTABLE RESPONSE

I’m sorry to bother you with this but I’m upset by the reaction that I got from the 104th pct when I called them to report what I thought might be a suspicious situation with a car parked on my street (79th St. and Juniper Blvd North). I was coming home this morning from a walk in Juniper Park and I noticed a dark car with NJ plates containing a couple of Hispanic/black (could not be certain) men smoking pot.  
 
Not sure what to do, I went home and then came out again. The car was still there and I mentally recorded the plate number (NJ) and then went back home.
 
About a 1/2 hour later I decided to call the 104 (“if you see something say something”) and when I described the situation the desk officer said that I was racial profiling and said have a good day and hung up the phone. I’m very upset since this is not a typical situation and she was questioning how I knew they were smoking pot. I told her that I smelled it when I walked by.  
 
In the future, based on this response, I will not call the precinct to report anything that I deem to be a possible problem. I just wanted to let you know. Thanks. 

Stella
Middle Village

Editor: Stella, Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We contacted Captain Mackie and it turns out you spoke with a Police Administrative Assistant (civilian) and not a police officer. She has been counseled on how to handle this type of issue and reprimanded. Please call 911 in the future to report suspicious behavior. A person driving while high indeed poses a danger to the community.

WHAT HAPPENED TO METRO?

The following letter was sent to the Middle Village Chamber of Commerce and a copy was sent to JPCA:

On both Saturday and Sunday, while shopping locally on Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village, I was appalled at what I witnessed in front of 74-29 Metropolitan Avenue (Rico’s Chicken). They had a rather large cart outside all day selling what looked to me like smoothies or fruit drinks with music blasting for two straight days. Is this allowed and if so, why? Since when do the shop owners sell their products curbside? Is this necessary? Do they have a permit? Are the Board of Health Codes being met on the foods they are handling? Not to mention that it really cheapens the integrity of the avenue. It broke my heart to hear a woman say, “Oh, look… this is like Roosevelt Avenue.” When has our lovely neighborhood ever been compared to Roosevelt Avenue? There are plenty of stores on the avenue (paying expensive rent) that sell drinks without this shop selling products outside. It looked like a disgrace.

If you want to attract businesses to the avenue to attract shoppers who want to spend their money locally, you can’t have turn-offs like this. As a Middle Village resident and shopper, it is unacceptable. It has been bothering me for several days now and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley suggested I reach out to you. Please investigate and do something to convince this business to behave accordingly. My children are the fourth generation that has been raised in Middle Village. If behavior like this becomes the norm, I’m sorry to say, they will not stick around to raise a fifth generation in what was always such a nice town.

Email #2 I wrote yesterday regarding the smoothie/juicing cart outside of the stores at 74-29 Metropolitan Avenue and need to update my concerns. (I was informed last night that the cart belongs to the candy store that is near that address.) I was at a wake last night in the neighborhood that was filled with MV residents. As people chatted through the evening, I cannot tell you how many people expressed their concerns with the issues on the Avenue. In addition to my concern that I wrote in about yesterday, they are very upset with the new Salvation Army store that opened. It is a total junk shop that we can do without. It looks sloppy and people are not happy.

I was told that yesterday they had boxes of clothing and bins of shoes all over the sidewalk for a special sale day. Are you kidding me? Why is this allowed? The building is huge so surely they don’t need to move their garbage onto the sidewalk. I don’t know what the laws are…but even if they are permitted to do so, they should want to be “good neighbors” and willing to maintain the integrity of the area. Someone needs to speak to them. The residents are upset as are the shop keepers. As the Chamber of Commerce, please do not turn a blind eye to the concerns of the Middle Village residents.

Joanne Lawrence
Middle Village

FENCES ARE TOO HIGH

A while back I read an article in the Juniper Berry Magazine  re: 4 foot fences only allowed in the front of homes otherwise owners will be given a violation and ultimately be fined. All I see are 5 – 8 foot fences throughout Middle Village and they have been there for a while. Maybe you should go through the neighborhood and take a good look. If this indeed the law then it should be reinforced not only for one or two but for all.

You also stated that 6-foot fences are allowed in “backyards.” I agree however this should not apply to community driveways. There are some homes that do have legitimate backyards but most are “community driveways” and as such their “backyard” ends (or where there are community driveways “side yards”), where their garage ends with regard to a 6 foot privacy fence being erected and NOT all the way to the common way. A Community Driveway is for all the people (community) to use the same driveway (not a backyard) to safely maneuver their vehicles. This means that it is imperative for all to have a full view of what car, truck, person or child is on the common way when backing out of their driveways. This is an extremely hazardous condition which can only have fatal results. What would happen if all the homes put up these fences?

Rose Marie Bellafiore
Middle Village

TIME TO MOVE THE CAR

There are 2 cars on my block that have been parked in the same spot for over a year. Neighbors bought the cars and placed them one in front and one behind his driveway one belongs to the owner of the house at said address and the other is from a neighbor across the street they are buddies, so no one blocks his driveway they never move them or use them the cars are pretty old in the winter when it snows they pile the snow on top of them and behind one and in front of the other which makes parking even worse, so they have no use for them but to save him from people blocking his driveway and his driveway is bigger than normal one of the cars is taking up 2 spaces called 311 a few times and nothing was ever done was told that they came but no one ever marked their tires just in case Capt. Mackie sees this message. Called 311 over a dozen times and so have other residents but to no avail. Called precinct and was told that nothing can be done because they can move the cars an inch and it would be ok. But these cars haven’t been moved in a year they don’t even start them it’s a shame the way people think they also own the street and make it inconvenient for other residents.  

Janet
Middle Village
Editor: Captain Mackie addressed the situation and the cars were removed.

MIDDLE VILLAGE POST OFFICE IS A MESS

The Middle Village Post Office located on Metropolitan Avenue not only has long lines and lousy service, but the place is a dump. The shrubbery on the outside is never maintained, and there is garbage all over the front entrance. If you ask for the Supervisor, you are told he is not available, out to lunch or whatever. You should feature this place in the hall of shame.

Peter Amato
Middle Village

Editor: It appears that after this photo was posted on Facebook, the shrubbery was trimmed. And yes, we agree, we’ve seen a considerable deterioration of the Middle Village Post Office in both appearance and service.
We have brought this to the attention of the Flushing Postmaster resulting in little improvement. We are now meeting withCongresswoman Meng about the situation.

WE'RE A SANCTUARY CITY TOO…

New York is a “Sanctuary City” just like San Francisco where a seven time felon, illegal immigrant, deported five times felt a “safe haven” in that city. He knew full well that with San Francisco’s sanctuary policies no one would report him to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for deportation. Unfortunately San Francisco wasn’t a “safe haven” for Katheryn Steinle (photo) when she strolled along a popular pier with her father. This “Progressive Policy” is a regressive attack on the quality of life Americans used to enjoy. How many Katheryn Steinles have been killed, raped or robbed, etc. in the “Sanctuary Cities” of our nation? We’ll never know because the criminal is protected not the victim. They don’t call it the criminal “justice” system for nothing.

Richard Raymond
Middle Village