Dear Editor,

It may “Take a Village to Raise a Child,” but it “Takes a Middle Village Child to Help Clean Up Graffiti!” Neighbors of the doctor on 83rd Street and Eliot Avenue, including a 3 year old, got together and painted the graffiti-filled garage door that the doctor has done nothing about. We were tired of looking at this mess, day after day, and felt that
something had to be done.

The doctor has been in the Juniper Berry “Neighborhood Hall of Shame” a few times because of the lack of care he has for his property. We feel this is because he doesn't live here, so he figures, why bother? The side wall of the garage
is painted right away at any sign of graffiti, because
it ruins the neighborhood, and we just don't want to see it.

Henry
Middle Village

Dear Editor,
I just got off the phone with the 104 Precinct. I once again had a confrontation with the dog owners in the park, and this time one guy said that he would beat me with a baseball bat. This happened after I asked a dog owner to keep her unleashed dog away from a friend's child who was in a baby stroller. The officer at the 104 said that they will send a car on Monday around 8 a.m. to monitor the situation and hand out tickets for unleashed dogs if necessary.

Thanks,
Gary Colter

Dear Editor,
I have lived in Middle Village for over 37 years. On Saturday the 24th of September on or about 8:30AM, I was walking with my toy poodle. At the far side of the park there were about 15-20 dogs unleashed running in the field. All these dogs were very big. As I got close to the other side of the park I picked my dog and continued walking. The pack of dogs all crossed over to the side where the shed is.
All their owners were not paying any attention to any of the dogs. All their dogs were way behind me, I put my dog down, In a split second I was surrounded by 6 large dogs. I was calling their owners to call their dogs. Not one of them came running to help. I don't agree that they can run all over the park at will. There are children, seniors, and lots of people that walk in the park. As far as I am concerned someone has to get hurt, if it has not already happened. I know what it is to have large dogs, I raised Doberman Pinscher, Rottweiller, Chow, Dogs all very passive, but I always respected the breed.

I am very concerned about this situation.

Thank You.

Mary Ann Ricevuto
Middle Village NY

Dear Mary Ann & Gary:
Capt. Shanley, Commander of the 104 Pct. has stepped
up enforcement on unleashed dogs in Juniper Park. ed.

Dear Editor,
I am writing about the deplorable condition of the Triboro Buses, the 148 buses of the 224 are 12 or more years old. Of the 148 buses, 65 are 18 years or older. The useful life of a bus is supposed to be 12 years. As you can imagine, the buses are falling apart, and frequently break down. On the Q18 line serving Maspeth and Woodside we recently
have had 3 out of 4 buses out of service for several days due to maintenance problems during the morning rush hour. This causes extensive delays, overcrowding, and very unreliable service. Students are late for class, and employees are late for work far too often. In the wintertime many of their buses do not even start up in the
cold mornings. Triboro says the city won’t give them new equipment, and that they are not to blame. For the past 3
years, DOT keeps saying – Don’t worry – the MTA is taking them over and things will get better. Our city Councilmen say they are aware of the problem.

Meanwhile, nothing is done and the riders suffer. There have been 4 missed MTA takeover deadlines already, and service keeps getting worse. When will we see some improvement? How many more MTA takeover delays will there be? Do our senior citizens, children, and workers have to freeze for 40 minutes on bus stops another winter? Commuters are actually discussing making deals with gypsy cab drivers to pick them up each morning. Is this what we want for our neighborhood? I really hope that our Mayor, the City Council, the MTA, and Triboro can get together and finally resolve this situation before the cold weather gets here. The residents of Maspeth, Woodside, Middle Village, and other parts of Queens desperately need better service, and want to see some improvement soon!

Mike Fordunski
Maspeth

Dear Editor,
On November 3, 2005, I had my sister and niece here in New York vacationing from Ireland. It was such a beautiful day; we took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
What a wonderful sight to see this splendid lady up close. We proceeded to go to the restaurant for refreshments. But this restaurant was anything but hygienic, the floors were dirty, we were famished but we were too afraid to risk getting food poisoning so we waited until we went back to the city to grab a bite to eat. As for the bathrooms it was appalling, there was a horrible stench, toilet paper all over the floor, and to top it off the bathrooms looked like they had not been cleaned in a while. New York is a place where people from all over the world come to visit. What a shame for tourists to see New York in this light.

Sincerely
Kathleen Chiaramonte
Astoria
(works in Maspeth)

Dear Editor,
For over 153 years All Faiths Cemetery has served our
community with pride and dignity and always doing the right thing for our neighbors and friends. Our pledge to the community and its residents has and always will be to keep the best interests of all, above all. However, recently we have been questioned by the same people who we respect and assist with community issues. Some residents on 61st Drive have caused the Cemetery to erect a fence via a complaint to the City of New York. A fence which we never would have erected. But now, these same neighbors who brought about the above fence, have caused 16 City and State Agencies to
investigate and the result is the fence must be erected.

Shame on somebody. Now, we also have a condition on 73rd Place. Again, our neighbors complained to the City of New York that the Cemetery was not cleaning a section of property thought to belong to All Faiths Cemetery. After
a review and inspection, the City determined this property to belong to the City and the DOT was ordered to erect a wall, which is on the drawing board. Again, neighbors complain that a wall is not wanted and again, All Faiths
Cemetery had no input. While both residents of 61st Drive and 73rd Place have a valid complaint relative to dumping of appliances, household garbage, condoms, hypodermic needles and dog feces, we, All Faiths Cemetery, have done our job and more.

However, we cannot tell New York City not to build a wall on their property and we were directed to put a fence on 61st Drive or receive a summons from the Department of Sanitation in the amount of $1,000.00 daily. Our position is sometimes things we wish for may not be what we really want. Again, be assured that All Faiths Cemetery will always be a community minded establishment and we remind you that all of our employees are community residents, your
neighbors and friends, I know, I was born and raised in Glendale, Queens.

Very truly yours,
Daniel C. Austin
Chairman, President & CEO
All-Faiths Cemetery