COMET GRILLS CITY ON VANS

This still image, captured from a video COMET showed at its Dec. 5 meeting and forwarded to the Times Newsweekly, shows a commuter van allegedly making an illegal U-turn at the intersection of Van Kleeck Street, Grand Avenue and Kneeland Avenue. Two city agencies came to the Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together’s (COMET) Dec. 5 meeting at the Bethzatha Church of God in Elmhurst to address ongoing issue of commuter vans in the area.

From left to right: David Stein of the DOT, Capt. Edwin Mulero of the TLC enforcement division, and Tweeps Phillips of the TLC. (photo: Sam Goldman) David Stein, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) director of community initiatives and the man in recently placed in charge of commuter van licenses, joined Tweeps Phillips of the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) and Capt. Edwin Mulero of the TLC’s enforcement division to tackle the ongoing problem of commuter van traffic.

COMET President Rosemarie Daraio offered an overview of the civic group’s issues, charging that the vans travel from community boards in which they are licensed to which they are not; that no route maps are available; that enforcement of rules surrounding the vans have proved difficult to enforce; and that the fines for violations are inadequate.

“It’s a three-ring circus,” she lamented.

To illustrate her point, she showed several videos to the crowd and the agency representatives.

The videos show one white Dodge Sprinter blocking the intersection of Van Kleeck Street, Grand and Kneeland avenues before making an illegal U-turn; following a bus route, which it is not supposed to do; and backing into traffic while picking up passengers at 74th and Calamus avenues.

“They’re like little cockroaches, all over the neighborhood,” she lamented.

Stein agreed that the vans should be running a “call-ahead” service, and that no vans should be on fixed routes but in a general geographic area.

He then explained the licensing process noting that an application is forwarded to the DOT, which weighs various considerations and makes a recommendation to the TLC on “the necessity and convenience of that service.”

“There are areas where these services do provide a service,” Stein noted.

He also claimed that “there is a public review process”—before any

-SEE COMET ON PG. 78- commuter van service is approved, hearings are held and letters are sent to local lawmakers at all levels of government.

“We have become much more stringent,” he claimed.

Daraio refuted the DOT’s decision that the commuter van lines are needed in the area, noting that the region’s bus and train lines provide “more than ample transportation.” However, Stein claimed that the buses are designed to travel long distances, such as to Chinatown or Bay Ridge.

In addition, City Council Member Karen Koslowitz claimed that she had never received a letter or a public hearing notice throughout either of her separate stints in the City Council (her first being from 1991 to 2001). Earlier in the meeting, she noted that she supported legislation sponsored by City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley that would subject all commuter van licenses to a community board hearing.

The two major commuter van operators in the area received six year licenses, which are both up for license renewal in 2014.

“We don’t want to wait for 2014,” retorted Koslowitz, who asked why the vans cannot have their licenses yanked.

“We do see illegal vans [in the area], and we do seize these vans when we stop them,” Captain Mulero told the crowd. He added that 1,907 summonses for various TLC infractions including, but not limited to commuter van violations, had been issued since January.

The summonses are forwarded to TLC personnel “and they take it from there.”

The agency has a point system that would eventually lead to the removal of the operator’s license.

However, according to Mulero, the TLC only had 100 inspectors for the entire city.

Daraio also urged the DOT to make child safety seats mandatory for all commuter van companies.

Also raising COMET’s ire was a livery car parked at Queens Boulevard and 69th Street with a sign saying “Rent Me” with a price tag of $350 a week.

Daraio expressed concern that the drivers of the cars aren’t vetted. “It could be a terrorist,” she warned.

Mulero noted that renting a car to a TLC-licensed driver is legal, but if a car is stopped and its driver found to be without a TLC license, the car can be immediately ticketed and its passengers removed. TLC enforcement personnel will then call a licensed operator for the passengers.

110th Pct. seeking suspect

Deputy Inspector Richard Napolitano, the commanding officer of the 110th Precinct, stated that crime is “down substantially in COMETland,” with two robberies, four grand larcenies, a felony assault, an auto larceny (in which photo equipment was stolen from a car) and a burglary taking place in the area over the past month.

The precinct is also cracking down on illegally-parked trucks, as well as tour buses taking up space on 57th Avenue.

However, the commander alerted the crowd to a report of a man riding around P.S. 102, located at 55-24 Van Horn St. in Elmhurst., and approaching girls on their way to school.

According to Napolitano, the man—who has a medium complexion, slight mustache and curly brown hair—attempted to pick up a 12-yearold student on Nov. 12, and then approached another girl on Nov. 25 after school.

The first girl did not tell her parents because she was embarrassed, claimed the commander.

“We’re looking into any type of lead we could have,” Napolitano told the crowd.

The man in question drives a white four-door sedan with a sticker on it that could be the Mexican flag; he added; the precinct has beefed up patrols near the school, while the 104th Precinct has increased its presence around nearby I.S. 73.

104th Precinct

Crime in the 104th Precinct is down seven percent for the month and three percent so far this year, according to Capt. Michael Cody, the precinct’s commanding officer.

All crimes are down for the year with the exception of felony assaults, which are up 12 percent.

The part of the precinct serviced by COMET saw four grand larcenies (three involving credit card misuse), one attempted burglary and one car theft, involving an off-duty cop’s Toyota.

“Toyotas do have a tendency to disappear,” he warned the crowd.

Cody warned the crowd of a month-long pattern being investigated by the precinct, in which two males on motorcycles have been riding up to women walking around late at night and robbing them at gunpoint, notably in the area around the Forest Park, the Atlas Park mall and Woodhaven Boulevard.

Five robberies are part of the pattern, which spans the 102nd, 104th and 110th precinct. Cody noted that the NYPD has “a very detailed investigative plan in place” to catch the perpetrators.

He also urged the crowd to turn any cardboard boxes they are throwing out inside-out, especially if they once contained big-screen televisions pr any other holiday gifts, so no criminal realizes the home contains new merchandise.

“Please make it as hard as you can to be a victim,” urged Cody.

108th Precinct

In the 108th Precinct, Capt. Terry O’Toole stated that crime decreased by 17 percent in the past 28 days and three percent for the year.

“We’re doing the best we can with the limited resources we have,” said O’Toole, the precinct’s executive officer.

Richard Gundlach of Community Board 2 asked O’Toole about the command’s efforts in deterring trucks parked illegally on area streets.

“Since September, I’ve made 15 calls, both to 311 and to the precinct directory,” said Gundlach, adding that he has begun calling 311 first and them following up with the precinct.

O’Toole noted that several illegally parked trucks, which were called into the precinct via 311, have received tickets, and after a tow truck operation two weeks ago, one operator told the precinct he would not return.

COMET will next meet on Feb. 6, 2012, barring inclement weather, at the Bethzatha Church of God, located at 85-20 57th Ave. in Elmhurst.