Dear Editor:
Please help! I am a resident of 60th Road off of 69th Street in Maspeth. I have been living here for 5 years now and love the area but the traffic on 69th Street is deadly.

My twelve year old daughter would love to be able to walk to and from school but the car volume and the speed at which they travel make it impossible for anyone to cross the street.

A month ago a very close friend of my parents was hit by a truck in front of Jumpin Jack's Candy Store on 69th Street.

Please help. I have contacted the mayor's office, the traffic department and a few politicians in the area and no one is doing anything about it.

There is huge span between lights, there is a light on Eliot and 69th and then there is not another light until Caldwell and 69th Street which is about a 6 to 7 block span.
Thank you.

Geniene Sciacca
Maspeth

Dear Geniene- We are working with Community Board 5 to see that the Department of Transportation conducts a traffic study to determine where a light or stop sign should be placed or how to slow traffic. Meanwhile we have asked Captain Loehle, Commander of the 104 Pct., to focus on speeders and other reckless drivers on 69th Street. Unfortunately the precinct is undermanned and enforcement is sparse at best. ed.

Dear Editor:
What are the utility companies doing to our trees? If you drive around the neighborhood you will see many trees looking like this. There has to be a better way to prune the trees around utility wires.
M.W.
Maspeth

Dear M.W.– Con Ed is the culprit on the over pruning of street trees and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation has allowed this to escalate. Many trees have been hacked to the point of no return and eventually die. The answer is for Con Ed to put money into burying these unsightly and dangerous wires. Our trees would be saved and Middle Village and Maspeth would stop having frequent blackouts every time a thunderstorm strikes the area. We recommend to Con Edison that instead of spending millions of dollar on an advertising campaign telling us they are “On It”, the utility company should truly get on it by upgrading all of our neighborhood into an underground system. ed.

Dear Mr. Holden,
My name is Debby Dip & I live on 75th St. Can you give me (or can you tell me where I can get) an update on the sound barrier that is being installed in this area? What is meant by 69 St. to 75 St? Does that include 75th St? It looks like they've stopped at the beginning of the overpass on 74th St, & quite frankly, that concerns me. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Deb

Dear Deb, On the request of the JPCA and Community Board 5, the new Long Island Expressway sound barrier is being installed on the south side of the LIE from 69th Street to just east of 75th Street. Since the widening of the expressway and the installation of the concrete roadbed, noise from the LIE is at an intolerable level. – ed.

Dear Editor:
I wrote to you about the graffiti on the Fence at Eliot and 75 St. in Middle Village. We have taken your advice and asked the owner two times for permission to paint the fence. We also showed them a newspaper article asking everyone to remove graffiti immediately. Please help me so we can take this ugly stuff off this fence.

We painted the mailbox and the light poles and spent our own money for paint! I am with you 100% that we all have a nice Middle Village, Elmhurst, and Juniper Park. Thank you

Dietrich
Middle Village

Dear Juniper Civic Association:
I am a homeowner in Middle Village, on Juniper Blvd. North and have been for the last 12 + yrs. I am raising 4 children and my husband is an NYC Fire Fighter. The reason for this email is my concern for Juniper Park and our neighborhood.

Recently there has been an increase in the soccer playing throughout JVP, as a result the garbage that has been left behind by these people is getting progressively worse.

I have watched entire families leave garbage not 3 ft from a garbage pail. It is a disgrace that this is allowed to continue. I thought soccer playing was not allowed in the baseball field area, but have seen no signs of discouragement from this.

My concern is not to just complain, I want to know what I can do to help rectify this disgusting situation.

I am not a member of any organization – but will gladly join to help keep this park beautiful and a place where all can come and enjoy without the garbage.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Dorothea Schatzle
Middle Village

Dear Mr. Holden:
For the last two weekends, I have had occasion to use the track in Brennan Field in Juniper Valley Park. I noticed that the soccer teams, who use the field on Sunday afternoons and evenings, as well as their fans, leave piles of paper and plastic garbage strewn on the field, especially by the goal posts, on the track, and on the periphery, where spectators recline. On a recent Sunday, there were four teams playing: one was attired in orange, another in light blue, a third in royal blue, and the fourth wore red. On Monday morning, the refuse was an eyesore for other park users.

It seems to me that if teams are issued permits to use the field for their soccer games, they should also be held accountable for picking up the garbage and disposing of it in the many receptacles available around the field. Perhaps the Parks Department might send an enforcement officer to Brennan Field on a Sunday afternoon/ evening to deliver a stern message about clean-up. It is unfortunate that such litter is allowed to spoil the beauty of our park.

Thanks for allowing me to express my observations in the Berry.

Sincerely,
A. Mannion
Middle Village

Dear Editor:
My name is Gerard T. Hirsch, son of Gerard F. Hirsch, whose parents, Frances and Joseph Hirsch, lived at 78-12 Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village. Their house, and the house in which my father and his brother, Joseph grew up, was built by my great grandfather, Peter Hirsch, who I am told owned the Hirsch Tavern on Metropolitan Avenue closer to St. John's Cemetery. I understand that my great grandfather had several brothers, I believe one was named Philip. I'm told he and perhaps some of his other brothers owned a grange, seed store and/or stables along Metropolitan Avenue in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

I'm hoping your organization can help me find out more about my ancestors. Thank you in advance
Gerard T. Hirsch

Dear JPCA:
Hi. trying to find out where there might be a record of Middle Village history 1900-1936 or so. Does the village keep any archives? I'm doing some genealogy work and came across someone named “Eli Rudnick” supposedly his nickname was the mayor of
Middle Village.
Thank you…
U.K.

Dear Editor:
I'm a former member of the JPCA – former only because I moved to Mineola last fall. I'm writing because I want you to know how much I miss Middle Village (although Mineola is a nice town) and I am glad to be on the JPCA e-mail list. Please keep me on!

You might be interested in knowing that the Village of Mineola has been doing battle with 7-Eleven. The company wanted to put a store on the south side of Jericho Turnpike where a mom & pop convenience store is now located. The village turned them down and it went to State Supreme Court and the Appellate, but the village lost. Now Mineola is going to be facing the same quality of life issues that hit Middle Village when 7-Eleven came in. I wonder, have things improved for Middle Village as far as that goes?

Perhaps you can offer our mayor and village trustees some pointers on how to deal with a situation like this! Of course, 7-Eleven hasn't moved in yet – they just went to the zoning committee last week with their plans for the store, but they are definitely on the way!

Keep up your good work. Thanks to my experience with JPCA, I am doing my best to attend town & civic association meetings as my time allows, so I can keep up with what's going on and how my village tax dollars are being spent!

Sincerely,
Jeanne Falabella
Mineola

Dear Editor:
The law in New York City for any motorized scooter (gas or electric) is illegal like it was in California years ago. But their law changed. Now they are legal, for riders over 16 to ride gopeds under 30 mph. It’s different here because of the traffic, but bicycles manage to get through traffic, don’t they? Even if we can’t ride motorized scooters in the street, can we at least ride it in certain parks or make a track for motorized scooters?

I think motorized scooters should have the same amount of limits as bikes have on the city streets. They make pollution and noise but if only 16 yr old riders can legally ride, which they probably won’t because they are saving up for cars, there would be less pollution and noise, and the noise can be lower on some motorized scooters by using the silencer. The top speed of a go-ped can be 18-20 mph. I have seen bicycles going faster.

Jason Sanfilippo,
age 14
Middle Village

Dear Bob,
I am writing to you to follow up with our tell call this morning. I'm attaching a copy of the flier which I am planning to post all over 76 St. For the last month 76 St (between Caldwell and Eliot Ave) has been infested with RATS. (Large ones!) The rats are coming from a house on 76 Street. The new owners of this property are in the process of doing renovation and they have disturbed a nest of rats in their backyard. The neighbors, on his side of the street, have seen rats crawling all over their back yards ever since they started with the renovations. Rats have been seen eating out of bird-feeders, eating vegetables from their gardens, etc. Last night when I came home, I saw three large rats in front of my house, on the opposite side of the street, running towards Eliot Avenue and Caldwell Ave. The owner was made well aware of the problem. He has been approached by other neighbors regarding this hazardous matter, yet he has not cleaned up his backyard and he is allowing these rats to wander around all over the block. Now that the summer is just about over, these rodents are looking for shelters in garages, tool sheds, basements, and homes. The Health Department was notified and we were told that it will take weeks if not months before they can look into this problems. There are many kids in our blocks and these kids are horrified of these creatures. I am writing to you to see if you can advise us as to what we should do to take control of this problem before someone is bitten.

Thank you.
Name Withheld Upon Request

Dear Editor:
At a recent meeting in Elmhurst, Assemblywoman Marge Markey was vocal in stating that building a YMCA on a portion of the 6 acre Keyspan property would be an undesirable structure. Why?

At that meeting she stated that she would be happy with a library, a police precinct, post office, parking center, even a dog run! Interesting, she would rather see a dog run or a parking center than a YMCA!

This is important to state – Assemblywoman Marge Markey attended a meeting in Middle Village of an ad hoc committee of the Juniper Park Civic Association, elected officials and officials of Keyspan on August 22, 2002. She heard the Keyspan people lay out the possibilities and constraints associated with the 6 acres.

It is important to note that at this ad hoc meeting, Ms. Markey never said a word in opposition to a YMCA or, conversely, her support of libraries, post offices and dog runs. So why mislead her constituents?

Furthermore, why are we surprised at this type of rhetoric? After all, this is the same Marge Markey who, against all community protests, vigorously worked to get the gigantic school, PS 58, built on the busy business strip of Grand Avenue and 72nd Street in Maspeth. Very importantly, this is the same Marge Markey who voted in 1999 with her Democratic machine cronies in the state legislature to repeal the commuter tax, thereby denying NYC $500 million a year, monies the city could certainly use now.

In my opinion, Marge Markey is a product of the old Democratic machine politics. She was hand picked by Queens Democratic leader, Tom Manton, to fill the shoes vacated by Joe Crowley, when he was hand picked by Manton to be our Congressman. Sadly, Ms. Markey is out of touch with her constituents. She has no leadership message and, given the Public School 58 fiasco and the commuter tax repeal, we deserve better. In addition we never see her or representatives at our well attended JPCA meetings. Why?

Sincerely,
Lorraine Sciulli
Democrat
Middle Village