SAY HOSPITAL IS READY FOR H1N1

The president of the Middle Village Property Owners/Residents Association, Salvatore Candela (at left), paused for a photo with (from left to right) State Sen. Joseph Addabbo and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center’s Clifford Miller and Dr. Theophine Abakporo during the civic group’s Oct. 12 meeting at St. Margaret’s Parish Hall. Preparations by a local hospital to treat patients with the H1N1 flu virus this winter along with the proliferation of garbage along Metropolitan Avenue were hot topics during last Monday’s Middle Village Property Owners/Residents Association (MVPORA) meeting at St. Margaret’s Parish Hall.

City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley discussed trash issues along Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village during last Monday’s Middle Village Property Owners/Residents Association meeting. Two representatives of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center—Clifford Miller, vice president of emergency services and Dr. Theophine Abakporo, director of the Emergency Department— appeared at the Oct. 12 session to inform residents about the Brooklyn hospital’s efforts to admin- ister medical help to individuals stricken with the influenza strain commonly known as the “swine flu” that has become a global pandemic.

Additionally, local residents and City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley discussed problems related to trash along the Metropolitan Avenue shopping strip as well as potential solutions to the problem. State Sen. Joseph Addabbo also stopped by along with his aide, Jeff Gottlieb, to update residents on various happenings in Albany as well as new legislation.

Prepared for flu patients

In response to the swell of patients who visited Wyckoff Heights when the swine flu outbreak began last spring, Abakporo said that the hospital has made appropriate arrangements to accommodate a surge of patients with flu-like symptoms expected to come to the hospital this fall and winter.

According to Miller, an average of 400 people visited WHMC’s emergency room each day at the onset of the flu in April, May and June; prior to the outbreak, the hospital’s ER was averaging 300 patients daily.

Since then, the medical center has established a separate triage and waiting area inside their facility specifically for individuals who believe they have been sickened with the H1N1 virus. Wyckoff Heights has also established a network with other medical facilities to send patients for care in a timely manner in the event the hospital is overwhelmed, Abakporo added.

With the H1N1 vaccine now available, all workers at Wyckoff

Heights will be inoculated in order to

help prevent the spread of the virus, 127144 c127144a.eps v2 21:

the physician stated. Asked by MVPORA

President Salvatore Candela about the controversy over forcing hospital employees to be vaccinated, Abakporo noted that the information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and the New York City Department of Health indicated that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks.

Miller added that the city is also well stocked with both the H1N1 vaccine as well as the standard flu shot, adding that New York is “more prepared than other cities” for both forms of the virus.

“We have plenty of vaccines to distribute,” he stated.

The hospital representatives also took the opportunity to review Wyckoff Heights’ other services. Miller noted that the center is affiliated with the New York Presbyterian and Cornell medical centers and has received accreditations for its care of cardiac and stroke patients.

Abakporo added that the hospital is working to make patients more comfortable in the care it provides, adding that the hospital has also expanded its structural space to serve the more than 75,000 patients who visit its emergency room annually.

Trash talk on avenue

A local resident complained to the civic group and City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley about garbage along the Metropolitan Avenue shopping strip, claiming that the sidewalks “are so filthy” from Pleasantview Street (near the post office) eastward to 80th Street. Though the resident noted that some shopkeepers have been observed sweeping the pathways in front of their stores, other business owners have not done the same.

John Schell, corresponding secretary for the civic group, observed that “Mondays tend to be the worst,”

since many businesses are closed on

weekends and the trash has accumulated 20 1/30/02 AB 85

along sidewalks and the 18 publicly

owned garbage cans on the strip.

Crowley stated that she has contacted the Sanitation Department regarding trash along the strip, noting that many of the public garbage receptacles are often “overflowing” with refuse dumped by pedestrians as well as nearby homeowners. It is illegal for homeowners or business proprietors to deposit their garbage in city-owned trash cans, with fines starting at $100.

Candela stated that the Middle Village Chamber of Commerce (MVCC) is appealing to local legislators to secure sanitation services offered through the Doe Fund. The enhanced street cleanup program is currently in place along other shopping

strips in Queens, including

Grand Avenue in Maspeth and Myrtle Dolev *127144*

Avenue in Ridgewood.

Candela added that the civic group is appealing to the Sanitation Department to increase enforcement of litter laws along Metropolitan Av- enue and to issue warnings and fines when appropriate. Undercover Sanitation Department agents have been observed in recent weeks monitoring the strip and issuing summonses to violators, he stated.

Schell also suggested that the Sanitation Department might want to reconfigure where the publiclyowned garbage receptacles are located on the avenue in order to provide greater capacity where needed. One possible drawback to that idea, he noted, is that it might open the door for more illegal dumping by homeowners and business persons.

Senator on budget, parking

Continuing to make the rounds in his district, Addabbo told residents that he would soon return to Albany along with other legislators to help resolve a $3 billion gap in the current state budget.

“We’re not going back to raise taxes and fees,” he said. “We can make cuts in wasteful spending. We will go back and make cuts that will not affect our daily lives.”

The state senator noted that he would also take a careful look at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s capital and expense budgets.

Prior to Addabbo’s arrival at the meeting, his representative—Jeff Gottlieb—informed the audience that the senator is sponsoring legislation which would increase fines against owners of commercial vehicles who park on residential streets during overnight hours.

“There would be an exponentially higher fine given to violators,” Gottlieb said, noting that first-time offenders would be hit with a fine starting at $150.

One resident in attendance, however, expressed skepticism that the provisions in the bill would be enforced if it were to become law. The resident told Gottlieb that he had made complaints to 311 on 12 different occasions regarding illegallyparked commercial vehicles in the area. Though it was reported that police responded to each of these complaints within five to 10 minutes, the attendee noted, there was no evidence that action was ever taken.

“You can pass all the bills you want,” the resident said. “But if the Police Department ignores the complaints, what good is it?”

Other news

Schell informed attendees that renovations to half of the Juniper South Playground at Juniper Valley Park are about “80 percent complete.” As previously reported, the project includes improvements to half of the play area located near the intersection of Juniper Boulevard South and 74th Street.

He noted that Council Member Crowley secured funding for renovations to the other half of the playground; it is anticipated that the Parks Department will proceed to the design phase shortly and begin reconstruction sometime next year.

The Department of Environmental Protection has also notified homeowners that it has hired private plumbing companies to install new digital water meters on properties across the city. Schell said that the civic groups received reports of plumbers performing the work at homes around the Middle Village area in recent weeks.

Generally, it takes about 20 minutes for each meter to be replaced. Schell stated that the new devices will enable the DEP to read each meter remotely, thus eliminating monthly visits by agency workers.

Candela invited residents to attend a Veterans Day Parade sponsored by the MVCC on Sunday, Nov. 8. The parade will begin at noon with marchers stepping off at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and 80th Street. They will head west on Metropolitan Avenue to Christ the King Regional High School, where the event will conclude.

Those who served the country from every modern war are invited to attend and participate in the parade, he noted.

It was announced that, at its next scheduled meeting on Monday, Nov. 9, the Middle Village Property Owners/ Residents Association will meet jointly with the Committee of Organizations of Precinct 104 (COP104). The session will begin at 7:30 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Parish Hall, located on 79th Place south of Juniper Valley Road.