Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together

COMET
Newsletter Summer 2014
Photo by Mike Fordunski
STORY ON PAGE 3
Pg. 2 Summer 2014 COMET
If youre not at home during the
day when your mail is delivered
and return to fnd your mailbox
empty, your frst thought would
be that you just didnt get mail that day. Did you ever
consider that maybe it was stolen?
A family in northern Maspeth found out, purely
by luck, that their mail had been stolen in mid-May.
A neighbor had seen the mailman putng mail in
their box and their grandson had seen the mailbox
overfowing with mail at about 2:45 pm. When a
resident arrived home at about 5:00 pm she found
the mailbox empty. She made a comment about not
getng any mail, which is a rarity for them, and the
grandson stated he had seen it in the mailbox earlier
that day. The neighbor confrmed this as well.
Its hard to know what goes on in the mind of thieves,
but identty thef and stealing checks comes to mind. A
thief probably walked by, saw the overfowing mailbox
and took the opportunity to steal the mail.
Mail Theft!
Deception Burglaries and Scams
Stealing mail is a Federal ofense! If you see
anyone tampering with someones mailbox, call 911
immediately. The NYPD cannot arrest someone for
mail thef but they can detain them untl the Postal
Police arrive.
If you currently have a small mailbox, consider
purchasing a larger one so overfowing mail cant be
seen from the street. Overfowing mailboxes not only
tempt a mail thief, but also alert a burglar that no one
is home.
If you become a victm of mail thef, call 311 and
they will give you the US Post Ofce number. If you
dont report crime no one will know its going on.
If someone rings your bell and says theyre from a utlity company and needs to enter your
home do not let them in before you call the utlity company to be sure the person is legitmate.
You can also call 911 and the police can check out their credentals.
If someone calls and says theyre from the IRS or other governmental agency saying you owe
money and need to pay immediately with a green dot card, do not believe them.
The government doesnt operate that way!
If someone calls you about your computer and tells you it needs
to be updated or repaired, dont fall for it. They are looking to sign
you up for a service or trying to get your personal informaton.
If you receive a check in the mail with a leter that says you won
money, dont believe it. No one gives you money for no reason.
Before cleanup
COMET Summer 2014 Pg. 3
Thank You!
Update 52-29 84th Elmhurst Street
We want to thank the Girl Scouts and Community
Board 5 for taking the initatve to clean up the eyesore
on Grand Avenue at 83rd Street in Elmhurst. We were
in the process of trying to fnd out who owned the
building but they beat us to the punch!
If you look at the afer photo closely, youll see
that a vandal scribbled on the building right afer it
was cleaned. Before you knew it, there was scribble
everywhere! It is unfortunate that some people
rather destroy a neighborhood rather than try to
improve it.
Photos by Richie Polgar and Geraldine Walsh.
Before cleanup Afer cleanup
Graft Scribble contnues
In our last newsleter we advised you that we had
reported the abandoned house at 52-29 84th Street to
the Buildings Department in January. Afer inspecton
by the agency, an Unsafe Building violaton was issued
as a result of cellar windows and frst foor access door
being open. The building was vacant and unguarded
allowing unauthorized access.
The wheels of progress move slowly. We were told it
would take about three months to secure a Court Order
to seal the building. We were advised by Carolina Gil
at Assembly Member Marge Markeys ofce that the
court date was held on March 26th and the building
was sealed by Housing Preservaton and Development
(HPD) on March 27th.
On March 28th a resident advised us that the
building had been broken into again! Michael Mallon
at Council Member Daniel Dromms ofce reached
out to HPD and asked them to come back and reseal
Photo by Geraldine Walsh
Pg. 4 Summer 2014 COMET
the building. Soon afer, we discovered someone had
climbed the fre escape in the rear of the building and
broke into it again.
Michael did some investgatng and here are the
facts as of now. The owner owes $25,351 in total
outstanding charges, including interest, to the
Department of Finance (DOF) as of April 1, 2014 which
is the most recent quarterly statement. He looked
into whether this property was included in their lien
sale, but it was not. DOF can place a lien on mult-
family propertes like this one with $1,000 minimum
outstanding charges afer
one year of unpaid charges.
Upon further investgaton
he found that a lien can
be placed on the unpaid
property taxes beginning
July 1, 2014, which is the
one-year mark. If they
contnue on this trajectory
and choose not to pay their
property taxes, they can be
included in the next lien
Photo by Linda Daquaro
Photo by Richie Polgar
Photos by Tom Porembski
Photo by Geraldine Walsh
sale which will take place in May 2015. To prevent the
sale of the lien, the debt must be resolved by May 15,
2015 by paying the outstanding debt or entering into
a payment agreement with DOF. If there is a mortgage
on the property, it could go on the market sooner. We
dont know if theres a mortgage.
Its clear that this is going to be an ongoing problem
untl someone purchases the property. Lets hope
that its sooner, not later! We commend Michael for
staying on top of this problem!!
Please make sure your house numbers are clearly displayed and can be seen from the street.
This will help emergency responders get to your home faster if you have a fre,
medical or police emergency.
Maspeth Footbridge
63rd Street/Borden Avenue crosses LIE to 61st Street
We want to thank Mike Fordunski, our newly elected
Vice President, for his persistence in trying to get the
inoperable lights repaired on the footbridge that
crosses the Long Island Expressway from 61st Street
to 63rd Street at Borden Avenue. Mike said the lights
have been out for about a year.
Comet reached out directly to Queens Commissioner
Dalila Hall at the Department of Transportaton (DOT)
alertng her to the problem and the fact that this
bridge is used by folks heading to and from Grand
Avenue as well as those who want to enjoy Principe
Park. The dark conditons certainly posed a threat to
community safety. You can see from the photos that
Mikes concern was founded.
We believe his complaints went nowhere because
311 doesnt have this footbridge, and many others in
our area, in the system. We reported the problem to
COMET Summer 2014 Pg. 5
Photo by Linda Daquaro
Photos by Tom Porembski
Photos by Mike Fordunski
Photo by Geraldine Walsh
104th Precinct Truck Enforcement, 70th Street, Maspeth
70th Street Fire Hydrant
108th Tackles Graffti Vandalism in Winfeld
DOT on May 22nd. Mike told
us the lights were back on by
May 29th. We want to thank
the agency for addressing
this problem as soon as they
heard about it.
Council Members Elizabeth
Crowley and Daniel Dromm
are aware of the 311 glitches
and are actvely working on
a soluton. In the meantme, if you see something
that needs to be addressed in the community, report
it and be persistent in following up with your elected
representatves or Comet.
70th Street residents in Maspeth were pleased
to see the 104th Precinct pull over a truck using
their street in early May between 52nd Drive and
53rd Avenue. We hope to see the enforcement
contnue!
The fre hydrant on 70th Street between 52nd Drive and 70th Street
hasnt been working for a couple of months. The Department of
Environmental Protecton has been there several tmes and we hope
the problem is fnally resolved.
Council Member Crowleys ofce has been helpful following up on
this issue.
If you see a defectve hydrant, call 311!!
We want to thank Ofcers Joseph Mendez and Alvin
Grant, 108th Precinct, for their help in cleaning up the
graft in the Winfeld secton of Woodside. We spoted
them working on 51st Avenue near 73rd Place. Great
job! Comet donated the paintng supplies.
Photo by Tom Porembski
Photos by Tom Porembski
Pg. 6 Summer 2014 COMET
57th Avenue Parking
Local Business Takes Pride in Community
Council Member Crowley: Underpasses to be cleaned
We cant help but notce the parking problems along
57th Avenue in Elmhurst. Trucks, school buses and
commuter vans park at the dangerous curve in the
road near Crowley Park. You can see a motorist driving
along the yellow line in the middle of the road to pass
these wide vehicles.
This is a residental zone and buses and trucks
should not be parking there. We passed some photos
to Queens Commissioner Dalila Hall and asked if some
signage could be installed to relieve this dangerous
conditon. We have not heard back as yet.
Afer contnued pressure by Council Member
Elizabeth Crowley, the NYS Department of
Transportaton (DOT) has commited to beter maintain
the underpasses below the Long Island Expressway
on 74th Street and 80th Street at 57th Avenue. The
underpasses, which are marred by pigeon nestng and
excrement, will be included in their Bridge Washing
Contract. Under the contract, the underpasses will
be washed every three months. News of the contract
came in response to a leter sent by Council Member
Crowley to DOT in August 2013, requestng that DOT
take additonal steps to address sanitaton at the
underpasses. The frst scheduled cleaning under the
new contract will happen this July. In 2011 Council
Member Crowley worked with DOT to install bird
spikes to deter pigeons from the underpasses.
These underpasses are used by pedestrians going
everywhere from PS 58 and Maspeth High School to
Elmhurst Park and the shops on Grand Avenue, said
Council Member Crowley. This chronic pigeon nestng
is a serious public health concern and I am glad to see
DOT taking the appropriate steps.
In additon to more frequent cleaning, DOT is
strongly encouraging residents to discontnue the
practce of feeding the pigeons which DOT calls a
very efectve measure in reducing the number of
pigeons under the bridges.
Plane Noise File a Complaint!
htp://[Link]/panynj/daPRAbr9 OR Call 1-800-225-1071
We couldnt help but notce that Maspeth
Press (66-20 Grand Avenue) was one of the frst
business owners to clean the tree pit in front of
the business and plant fowers. If you walk along
Grand Avenue its clear to see what businesses
care. Keep up the good work!
Photos by Tom Porembski
Photo by Anthony Mickalauskas
COMET Summer 2014 Pg. 7
COMET MEETINGS - 2014
Meetings are held at the NY Bethzatha Church of God, 85-20 57th Avenue, Elmhurst, 7:00 pm.
Parking is available.
Monday, September 8th
Monday, October 6th
Newsletter Committee
Mike 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, Karen Koslowitz and Jimmy Van Bramer through the Department of
Youth & Community Development. State funding allocated to Comet by Assembly
Member Marge Markey went towards the Memorial Day Parade and graffti removal.
Maspeth Memorial Day Parade on May 25th
We want to thank the United Veterans & Fraternal Organizatons of Maspeth for the hard work that made
our annual Memorial Day Parade such a success. Those marching with Comet, in no partcular order: Mike
Fordunski, Richie Polgar, Rosalie Greer, Joanne Keeley, Joyce Franceschina, James, Elizabeth, Ethan & Patrick
Chu, Chammy Liu, Robert Forgione. In the last photo, longtme resident and Comet member John Kempisty
spectated and applauded marchers. Photos by Richie Polgar& Mike Fordunski.
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