By Bob Harris
A member of the Jamaica Estates Safety and Security Task Force, Bill Murray, has reached out to neighborhood civic associations to ascertain techniques which can be used to better protect the community from criminal activities.
The West Cunningham Park Civic Association answered that it helped its members protect themselves by inviting 107th Precinct Community Affairs Unit officers to speak at meetings, informing members in their newsletter about criminal activities and printing stories and diagrams telling residents what they should do to prevent crime. One recent type of crime has been the stealing of cell phones from people who are engrossed with their gadget and not watching for people sneaking up on them.
The March 2012 Kissena Park Civic Association Newsletter has printed a story by Zoning Chairman Joe Amoroso about their fight against a Mormon church which wants to build a large chapel in an R2A-zoned residential neighborhood. It had purchased three contiguous homes on large lots which it tore down in anticipation of getting the project approved by the city Board of Standards and Appeals.
The applicant has asked for several variances to the zoning rules, which would permit a building out-of-context with the neighborhood. Community Board 7 rejected the variances. The BSA will probably permit builders to violate the zoning laws.
Annette Gardocki, of the Kissena Park Civic Association, has reported that the civic has promoted for several years a drive to provide clothing and toys to the Christian Appalachian Project-Operation Sharing. It sent 50 boxes to Appalachia this year.
The February-March Fresh Meadows Homeowners Civic Association Newsletter informed its members that the city Sanitation Department will be holding a solvents, automotive, flammable and electronics disposal event April 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the St. John’s University Alumni Hall parking lot at Utopia Parkway and Union Turnpike. Only city residential waste will be accepted.
The February 2012 Queens Village Civic Association Newsletter informed its members that there has been a change in the “move-over law,” which requires you to move over one lane or at least slow down to 20 mph when you pass a police car on the right shoulder.
As of October 2011, the penalty for driving while using a hand-held phone or other portable electronic devices has been raised to three points on your license. Fines are $150 plus surcharges and other fees up to $85.
CORRECTION: The March 8-14 column should have said that, concerning Community Board 13’s vote for a resolution against the proposal to construct two nine-story buildings on the Creedmoor campus near one-family houses, only one person voted against the resolution. I believe it was the correct choice.
