Waste Management Bows to Pressure, Amends Trash Hauling Plan

Eliminates 1.5 Mile Truck Trip to Maspeth Rail Yard

By Conor Greene

Residents can breathe a sign of relief now that Waste Management has agreed to amend its trash-hauling plan to avoid running trucks between the company’s Review Avenue transfer station and the Maspeth Rail Yard.

As part of the city’s Solid Waste Management Plan, the company is converting its Review Avenue transfer station so that it can utilize the nearby railroad in order to cut down on long-distance truck trips, which are currently needed to get the trash out of the city. While the plan would greatly reduce the overall amount distance driven by 2.2 million miles per year, it would have required multiple trips daily between the transfer station and the rail yard - thus increasing truck traffic in West Maspeth.

That aspect of the plan wasn’t well received by residents or elected officials, who instead urged Waste Management to build a rail spur on its property or utilize the nearby Newton Creek and barge the trash out of the area. Company officials determined there wasn’t enough room on the site to build a rail spur. However, this week, Waste Management announced the plan has been modified to instead utilize New York & Atlantic Railway’s Blissville Yard, which can be accessed exclusively on private roads.

“Following an extensive analysis, we have modified our plan to eliminate the need to move rail containers over city streets, virtually eliminating any traffic impacts,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement. “Our revised plan will eliminate the city’s export of residential waste in long-haul tractor trailer trucks from Western Queens, reducing traffic and vehicle emissions.”

Under the revised plan, Waste Management will receive and containerize residential waste collected from neighborhoods within community boards one through six at the Review Avenue site. The waste would then be driven 2,000 feet west on private roads adjacent to the Long Island Railroad tracks, to the Blissville Yard. There, containers will be loaded onto railcars, which will be moved to the Fresh Pond Yard daily. From there, they will be connected to a CSX long-haul train for transport to landfills outside the city.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), who was involved in the fight to convince Waste Management to amend its plan, called the announcement a “victory” for the neighborhood, as garbage trucks will no longer use Review Avenue. “The change is a step in the right directions. It shows Waste Management is listening and we need to keep the focus on the needs of Maspeth residents.”

Overall, the plan will end the city’s export of 1,200 tons per day of residential trash by truck from Western Queens, eliminating the impact on local roads, the company boasted in a press release announcing the amended plan. The city’s solid waste plan, which was issued in 2006, seeks to ensure each borough is responsible for handling its own waste and to shift trash export from a truck-based system to a rail and barge based system.

The expanded Review Avenue facility will be able to handle up to 2,100 tons per day and will typically receive about 1,150 tons of trash per day. Currently it has a capacity of 958 tons per day, and the original expansion plan would have required about 65 round trip truck trips each day between Review Avenue and the Maspeth Rail Yard.

Cop Car Strikes Pedestrian on Queens Blvd

Witnesses Claim Unmarked Car Ran Red Light

A 47-year-old Sunnyside man was struck by an unmarked police car while crossing Queens Boulevard with his girlfriend last week.

Witnesses told the Daily News that Evelio Villa and his girlfriend, Yanira Lopez, 55, had the green light when they started to cross the boulevard at 44th Street in Sunnyside last Thursday at about 8:30 p.m. “This guy was flying. He went like a bat out of hell,” a 23-year-old Woodside man who witnessed the collision told the newspaper. “There were no screeching brakes, no tire marks, nothing.”

However, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters that Villa was “highly intoxicated” and “tried to run across the intersection.” He added that the driver of the vehicle, which was from the 109th Precinct and was responding to a call to assist an officer, slammed his face against the steering wheel and was taken to a local hospital to be treated for shock. He said investigators were looking at videotapes to determine whether the car ran a red light as witnesses insisted.

Villa, an unemployed construction worker, was listed in stable condition at Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was treated for a fractured shoulder.

The Forum Newsgroup/photo by ROBERT STRIDIRON

Con Edison Launches Smart Meter Program

Also: Crowley Pushes to Ban Unsightly Meters in Front of Homes

By Conor Greene

Three years after blackouts crippled sections of western Queens, Con Edison has finally launched its smart meter program, which is intended to help head off future incidents. At the same time, a local council member is pushing legislation that would prohibit the installation of utility meters in front of residential buildings.

Con Ed is kicking off its smart meter installation in an 8.3-square-mile swath in the Long Island City area, one of the neighborhoods hit hardest during the 2006 blackout. Since the blackout, Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) has pushed the company to upgrade its infrastructure with technologies such as the smart grid system, which fully digitizes the power grid by expanding communication between the consumer, the regulator and the power plants.

“The 2006 blackout showed that Con Ed’s infrastructure was totally inadequate for the 21st Century, leaving residents to wonder if the lights will go off whenever the temperature creeps up,” said Gioia, who is running for public advocate after serving on the City Council since 2001. “We need an investment in new technology that can help prevent blackouts and make the system greener and more energy efficient – just like cities like Boulder and Austin have already done.”

The smart meter is part of the larger smart grid system, which utilizes digital communication to better regulate a station’s power output out based on need. The smart grid harnesses the latest in information technology while also helping to green the environment, noted Gioia. “New Yorkers were long due for an upgrade, and it’s right that Con Ed start this program in Long Island City,” he added.

According to a year-long study by the U.S Department of Energy, consumers in the smart meter program saved 10 percent on their power bills, and cut their power use by 15 percent during peak hours. Participants in the study were given electronic meters which got signals from their utility company when power prices were high, along with computer software allowing them to remotely change their power usage.

The blackout of 2006 primarily affected about 175,000 residents of the four neighborhoods included within the Long Island City network. It also caused losses of tens of millions of dollars for business owners, heavy airport delays and brutal conditions due to a heat wave sweeping over the area. Con Ed initially claimed that about 1,600 customers were affected, as the company counted multi-family buildings as one person. It later changed its estimate to reflect actual individuals after coming under heavy criticism.

According to Con Ed, the $6 million smart grid pilot program will test how various technologies support efforts to modernize the electric grid. About 1,500 customers will receive smart meters under the pilot program, and by the end of the month Con Ed will file proposals with the Department of Energy requesting $375 million in stimulus funds to expand the program. The money would help pay for more than 40,000 additional meters.

“New York City will be a model showing how smart grid technologies can work together in dense urban areas,” said Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke. “Smart grids will change the way we manage the grid, and can change the way customers manage their energy usage. Our vision is to identify grid innovations that can be reliable and cost effective, and provide increased flexibility for customers in the way they make energy choices.”

In other news involving electric meters, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) has introduced a City Council resolution calling on the state Public Services Commission to ban the installation of utility meters in front of residential buildings throughout the city.

“The placement of utility meters by corporations such as Con Edison in front of houses has been a serious concern with many residents and community organizations of Queens, and understandably so,” said Crowley. “Given that we have the technology to check utility meters from afar or digitally, it is no longer necessary to mandate the unsightly placement of these boxes in front of residential buildings. Making these utility meters less visible would be a benefit to the aesthetics and character of our neighborhoods.”

The state Public Service Commission has exclusive regulatory authority over gas and electric utility companies. Crowley argued that these meters would not be accepted in front of residential buildings in other boroughs. “Would you see dozens of these unattended and entangled wires and these big rusty meters on the front of a brownstone in Brooklyn or in Manhattan? No. The people of Queens deserve better,” she said.

Child Hunger, Upstate Drilling and Maspeth Burglaries Discussed at CB 5

By Conor Greene

At its monthly meeting last week, Community Board 5 members discussed a wide range of issues, including child hunger, a push to drill for natural gas upstate, and a pattern of burglaries in Maspeth.

Child Hunger Awareness

Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside), who is running for city public advocate this fall, took a few minutes to discuss an issue he said residents won’t see on television or read about in the daily newspaper – “hunger, especially child hunger, in New York City.”

When Gioia was first elected eight years ago, hunger “was not an issue I thought I would be working on a lot.” That changed when he heard a story of a young boy whose teacher rewarded him with gold stars for outstanding work. After receiving several gold stars, he told his teachers, “What I really want is an orange.”

Gioia said that simple story opened his eyes to a widespread problem he says is disguised by the childhood obesity epidemic. “It was hard to believe that an orange is a treat in this city,” he said of the student. “It is a real issue in New York City, right in our neighborhoods.” He pointed out that the obesity issue is really just “a different side of the same coin” since poor families often turn to fast food that is high in fat for cheap meals.

Several years ago, Gioia lived on food stamps for a week to draw attention to how little support that program offered. His allotment - $28.36 at the time – only lasted five days, forcing him to turn to a food pantry for the rest of his meals. He then successfully lobbied legislators in Washington, D.C to raise the amount allotted per week.

However, despite those gains, only 1.1 million of the 2 million city residents who qualify for food stamps take advantage of the program. That means 400,000 city children who are eligible are not enrolled, according to Gioia, who says there are two main reasons the program is under-utilized: bureaucratic red tape, and a lack of awareness among working parents who don’t realize they qualify.

To reduce the red tape, Gioia worked to have the application shortened from 24 pages to two pages. “That’s a big deal,” he argued, as 200,000 more people have signed up since that change was implemented. To increase awareness, Gioia is visiting every community board in the city and a host of other groups to spread awareness. The program is not just for the unemployed, as those who make less than $24,000 a year and have children generally can take advantage of food stamps. “I promise you that it applies to people you know,” whether in church, civic groups or in the neighborhood, said Gioia.

He asked every person in the crowd to mention the issue and requirements to at least one other person. “This is a moral issue – kids in our city are not getting enough to eat,” he said. In addition, the program is federally funded, meaning that the city is currently not taking full advantage of the money. One billion more dollars would pour into the city economy if every eligible resident signed up, according to Gioia.

Concerns Over Upstate Natural Gas Drilling

At several points during the meeting, the issue of drilling for natural gas upstate was discussed, as there is concern about the impact the process could have on the city’s drinking water supply.

Buck Moorhead of the group NY H2O informed residents about the “imminent drilling for natural gas” in portions of upstate New York. The procedure, known as hydrofracking, was pioneered by Halliburton and involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the earth in order to draw the gas to the surface. The practice is growing in popularity after the Bush Administration approved an exemption in 2005 allowing it. “It’s a very serious risk” to the state’s water supply, said Moorhead, adding that his group is seeking a ban on the process.

The board’s district manager, Gary Giordano, also expressed concern about hydrofracking during his report later in the meeting. “There’s a lot of big money involved here,” he said, adding that a second Environmental Impact Statement on the process is due later this month. He called this the “most frightening situation I know of on a large scale that affects New York City.”

Giordano urged board members, elected officials and the public to “not make it easy for the people seeking potentially big profits to destroy our water system.”

Board member Brian Dooley, who chairs the environmental services committee, said his group will present a resolution against the practice next month for the full board to consider. He compared the situation upstate, with landowners in rural areas seeking to cash in on quick profits, to a gold rush. “It’s going to be a monumental environmental disaster if it’s allowed to go on,” he said. “The problem is, there is big money involved.”

Poor Police Response to Maspeth Burglaries

Board member Eileen Maloney warned of an increase of residential burglaries “in our community, especially Maspeth.” Her home was broken into in the middle of the day three weeks ago by a man who kicked in the front door, she said.

Adding insult to injury, Maloney said it took more than three hours for officers from the 104th Precinct to respond to her son’s 911 call. Worse, detectives showed up at 1:30 a.m. to dust for fingerprints. “Needless to say, they never got the burglar,” said Maloney, adding that her attempts to get updates about the investigation have been unsuccessful.

”I was told they only had four cars on duty that day and they were all elsewhere,” she said. “This is a very, very serious condition we’re suffering through right now –there definitely is some sort of group out there. They’re professionals and know who to hit.”

Maloney said she is working with Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley’s office to establish a neighborhood block watch in Maspeth. Board Chairman Vincent Arcuri noted that the Glendale Civilian Observation Patrol should be able to assist since it already patrols that area and is always looking for new recruits.

Editor’s Note: Check next week’s Forum West for a report on additional issues discussed at the June Community Board 5 meeting.

Photos: Councilman Eric Gioia discusses child hunger, before Buck Moorhead (left) informs the crowd about possible drilling for natural gas upstate. The Forum Newsgroup/photos by CONOR GREENE

Woman Accused of Spray Painting Trains Across Queens

A Sunnyside woman faces up to seven years in prison after being charged with spray painting subway cars throughout Queens over a three-year period.

Danielle Bremner, 27, of 45-50 48th Street has been charged with second-and-third-degree criminal mischief, making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments.

“According to the charges, the defendant is reportedly well known in the international graffiti community – and to New Yorkers who have had to put up with her ego-driven vandalism of public property, which has cost taxpayers thousands of dollars to clean up,” said District Attorney Richard Brown.

Bremner allegedly spray painted her tags “Erin” and “Dani” and other markings on six subway cars between September 30, 2005 and April 7, 2008, causing more than $6,000 in damages. Specifically, she is accused of twice tagging a number 7 subway car at 111th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, a 7 car at the Main Street station, an A line car at the Broad Channel station and an F line car at Parsons Boulevard.

While authorizing a court-authorized search warrant at the defendant’s residence in July 2008, police recovered more than 450 cans of spray paint, 50 latex gloves, 10 permanent markers, bottles of acid etch, grog ink, shoe polish, a bolt cutter and pair of pliers.

In addition, police found Polaroid photographs of the tag “Dani,” 52 pieces of paper with graffiti drawings, including the tags “Dani” and “Erin,” and several digital photographs from her e-mail account depicting her tags on trains, including one that shows her spray painting her tag on a non-New York City train.

“Graffiti is a symptom of crime and negatively affects the quality of life for all citizens through decreased property values, increased taxes and a financial burden on affected businesses and homes,” said Brown. “City officials and anti-graffiti activists have done a remarkable job over the years in cleaning up New York City’s image as a graffiti-scarred city. We will not allow one individual to mar the beauty of our city or threaten to return us to the days when our transit system and our highways and buildings were covered with graffiti.”

The investigation was conducted by detectives from the Special Investigations Unit of the NYPD’s Transit Division.