NUISANCES ARE ON TAP

Residents at last Thursday's Maspeth West End Block Association (MWEBA) discussed various quality of life issues around the community, including noise emanating from a local bar and latenight games at an area soccer field. Among those on hand to listen to their complaints were City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano, Jeff Gottlieb, a representative of State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, and Anne Krzyznawoski, an aide to Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan. Ongoing efforts by residents and police to reduce noise, traffic and other quality-of-life problems in western areas of Maspeth was the focus of last Thursday's Maspeth West End Block Association (MWEBA) meeting at Trinity-St. Andrews Lutheran Church.

The president of the civic organization, Kathy Hamilton, reported on a meeting she had with the commanding officer of the 104th Precinct, Deputy Inspector Keith Green, at the Ridgewood stationhouse on July 14.

The commander reportedly told Hamilton that officers from the precinct had issued numerous summonses to the proprietors of the Moonlight bar at the corner of 60th Place and Flushing Avenue. As previously reported, several residents at MWEBA's June meeting complained that the bar's patrons had vandalized and urinated on neighboring properties in addition to creating extraneous noise during overnight hours.

In recent weeks, the force has conducted periodic inspections of the establishment, though no summonses were issued since no violations were observed. Residents living near the establishment noted that activities at the location have quieted in recent weeks after the owners were contacted directly by Board 5 and the 104th Precinct.

"He was very supportive," Hamil- ton said of the commanding officer. "Though he was unable to be here tonight, he did promise to send officers down to check on things."

While things have quieted down at one tavern, Michael Harte of the 57th Road Block Association charged that loud noise emanating from a lounge in the vicinity of Grand Avenue and 71st Street had been allowed to continue unchecked. He claimed that police have not responded to calls from residents on 57th Road who could hear the noise emanating from the lounge situation behind their backyards.

"It's not just one incident," Harte said. "When we call for help, they do not respond."

Gary Giordano, district manager of Community Board 5, sought to defend actions by the precinct, noting that the officers from the 104th Precinct have helped reduce crime dramatically over the last two decades. He acknowledged that most of the problems in the area are "quality of life issues."

"Generally speaking, these are desirable neighborhoods and have improved greatly," Giordano said. "Crime is way down from where it had been."

Questions regarding the operation of bars in the area led Jeff Gottlieb, a representative of State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, to observe that the State Liquor Authority—which issues the permits—needed to do more to close down establishments determined to be problematic for nearby residents.

"We want to know what it takes to close a bar," he said, adding that there are "city ordinances that can be used to shut down a bar," referring to action taken by the 104th Precinct and the Citizens for a Better Ridgewood in recent years to close an establishment on Cypress Avenue in Ridgewood.

Local residents also complained about late-night activities emanating from the nearby Metropolitan Oval soccer field. According to one resident, groups have been observed playing soccer games during nighttime hours and holding barbecues while playing loud music.

Giordano stated that he would reach out to the president of the Metropolitan Oval Foundation regarding the problems raised during last Thursday's meeting.

Another neighbor complained about a local auto repair shop that has been allegedly parking the vehicles it services at a concrete triangle located at the confluence of Flushing Avenue, 59th Street and 59th Avenue. According to the resident, neighbors have been lobbying the city over the last 3 1/2 years to get the illegally parked vehicles out of the site and convert the triangle into a Greenstreets project.

Hamilton also relayed the advice of the commanding officer regarding the reporting of graffiti vandalism. Anyone who finds graffiti on their property should call the city's 311 hotline; they may also request free removal services offered by the city.

"It's in your best interest to make a police report so graffiti vandals can be linked" to their crimes and prosecuted, the civic president added.

Traffic woes

Several residents repeated their calls for the installation of a traffic signal located at the corner of 60th Road and 60th Street, claiming that numerous drivers have been ignoring the stop sign at the intersection.

One individual stated that neighbors have been complaining about the intersection and have called for the installation of a stoplight for more than a decade. She claimed drivers have been consistently driving through the crossroads without stopping, posing a hazard to pedestrians and neighbors.

"We've been asking for a light for 10 years, and nothing's been done," she said.

District Manager Giordano observed that an all-way stop would be more appropriate for the intersection than a stoplight, which he said might entice drivers to speed up just before the light turns red. He added that allway stop signs have been installed at intersections in the vicinity of P.S. 153 on 60th Lane near 60th Avenue.

Another resident stated that a stop sign at the intersection of 62nd Avenue and 60th Street was being ignored by drivers. He observed, however, that motorists would be more inclined to obey the law if police conducted regular enforcement at the location.

Gottlieb suggested that the civic group reach out to Board 5 and the Department of Transportation regarding a study of traffic in the Maspeth area. He noted that the organization and Addabbo's office are attempting to bring Jennifer Manley of the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit and a member of the Department of Transportation to an upcoming MWEBA meeting to discuss local traffic and quality-of-life problems.

Building sites

The district manager and City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley were also asked by residents for an update regarding projects at two large properties on the Maspeth/Ridgewood border: the former Boss Motors dealership at the corner of Metropolitan and Forest avenues, and the nowdefunct Rite Aid pharmacy on Metropolitan Avenue at Tonsor Street.

It was recently speculated that a Walgreens drug store would be built at the former Boss Motors site, but Giordano told the audience that the board had not received any updates from the site itself. A resident, Charlene Stubbs, indicated that she had contacted Walgreens' corporate headquarters about a new store in Maspeth, but was told that there was no information available.

As for the Rite Aid property, Crowley noted that the site is "ripe for development" as a new supermarket servicing residents in Maspeth and Ridgewood. She noted that her office is working to arrange a meeting with potential retailers.

Trash turmoil

Attendees also expressed concerns regarding the creation of a Long Island City waste transfer facility that would reportedly result in scores of additional garbage trucks traveling into and out of the Maspeth community. (See the story on Page 1 for more information.)

Giordano explained the plan offered by Waste Management Inc. to expand its facility at 38-22 Review Ave. to process household garbage collected by the Department of Sanitation from neighborhoods within the confines of Community Boards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

If enacted, the trash would be loaded onto large tractor-trailers and driven 1 1/2 miles south to the Maspeth Railyard in the vicinity of Maspeth Avenue and Rust Street. From there, the garbage would be loaded onto container cars and shipped out by train south to the Fresh Pond Railyard in Glendale before being brought north to the Bronx.

Even though the Review Avenue facility is located close to the Long Island Rail Road's Montauk branch, Giordano said, Waste Management indicated that the trash could not be loaded directly onto trains there since there is no rail spur off the main line.

Board 5 recommended at its July 8 meeting that Waste Management develop the garbage transfer facility at a location where trash could be offloaded directly onto train cars and barges in the nearby Newtown Creek.

Giordano told MWEBA last Thursday that the company should seek to build a rail spur at the Review Avenue facility. If one could not be built there, he offered the Phelps Dodge site on 56th Road near the Kosciuszko Bridge as an alternative location.

Council Member Crowley noted that the current plan would bring as many as 100 additional garbage trucks into and out of Maspeth each day. She observed that the city and the company must "listen to the concerns of the community" and avoid enacting the proposal, adding that Maspeth has been treated like "a doormat" for too long.

The next Maspeth West End Block Association meeting will take place on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. at Trinity-St. Andrews Lutheran Church, located at 60-06 60th St. in Maspeth.