This is because two signs with the emblem of the city…
By Bob Harris
The Douglaston Civic Association may be winning the fight to preserve the Old Oak Pond at the intersection of Douglaston Parkway and 43rd Avenue, the association reported in its February newsletter.
This is because two signs with the emblem of the city Department of Parks have been placed on the property. The association has fought against the proposal by a speculator to build a six-story apartment house on this property, which is just above the wetlands near the Old Oak Pond, by asking local officials to obtain city and state funds to purchase the land. The civic is trying to learn the meaning of these signs.
On another civic front, the West Cunningham Park Civic Association is seeking more funds — some has been allocated — to renovate the very heavily used and badly deteriorated core area in the western area of Cunningham Park near Union Turnpike and 193rd Street. The “lawn” is mostly dirt, has depressions which fill with water after heavy rains, has many eroded areas, and the toilet which is used by the thousands who attend concerts every summer and is dingy, has broken fixtures and reputedly only one working stall for all the women who wish to use it. At a recent Board of Directors meeting, one of the members who is dependent on a motorized wheelchair complained that he can’t use this public comfort station because it was built so many years ago and is not handicapped accessible. Needless to say, letters where sent to the appropriate public officials.
The Rosedale Civic Association has been waging a campaign to reduce the noise and air pollution created by the many flights in and out of nearby John F. Kennedy Airport. Many other civic associations have been fighting a similar battle. Rosedale Civic Association Chairman Jim English has written a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration about Aviation Noise Abatement Policy 2000, complaining that the increased air traffic has subjected the community to intolerable noise.
English wants a nationwide curfew eliminating take-offs and landings at all airports between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. local time, with the exception of emergency, delayed or diverted flights. He said that sleep loss and the resulting effects on health cause billions of dollars in lost productivity, thousands of car and workplace accidents, and strained personal relations. He wants noisy planes, such as the SST/Concord, the dirty and noisy 727 and older aircraft using the so-called hush kits, which many European nations have barred, also to be kept from our airports.
English feels that the FAA has a conflict of interest as a regulator and at the same time a promoter of aviation. He complained that recent hearings and public forums are just expensive window dressing sessions and a waste of funds. He wants our national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges and national monuments protected from aviation noise with the transportation committees of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to focus on our environment and make the aircraft industry accountable.
I know he is right because I have the same problems from LaGuardia Airport. The Utopia Improvement Association expressed the same type of complaints in its November-December 2000 newsletter.
The address of the chief counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration is 800 Independence Ave., Washington, D.C. 20591, phone 202- 366-4000. Contact the counsel, or simply send along this column.
GOOD NEWS OF THE WEEK
A few weeks ago I wrote a second column on the problem of retaining certified teachers in New York City. I told about a newly certified teacher, Ms. “J,” who had a bad experience in a difficult school which could not help her teach. She had substituted this past fall for several months and another school wanted her to teach there, but since she was certified only Schools Under Registration Review could take her. She is still in the system because just before her month was up, the Board of Education computers registered that all the SURRs had certified teachers so the school she was in could hire her. She is happy, the administration of her school is happy and the students, who suspected there was a problem, are happy.
BAD NEWS OF THE WEEK
We may be in for serious power shortages here in New York this summer, the way California has been having rolling blackouts. It seems that the government decided to deregulate the power industry to increase competition and , it was expected, bring down the prices of power for the people. Well, few or no new power plants or new sources of power have been created, plus we have become power junkies, demanding electricity for all the new electronic devices and wanting more air-conditioning in the summer. I really don’t mind a fan and a cool drink, but most people now want air conditioning everywhere. Something will have to give! Remember the slogan, “You can’t get something for nothing.” That has been our problem with gasoline!
