Showing posts with label safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label safety. Show all posts
Saturday, 7 September 2013
Thursday, 5 September 2013
"On B90 street and Rockaway Beach Blvd., new A.R.G.U.S. cameras from the NYPD were installed, but the view is obstructed by these shipping containers in the CVS parking lot. This has created the perfect location for someone to hide and commit crime. Mugging, rape, etc. There also are no street lights, which defeats the purpose of the camera." - anonymousWednesday, 4 September 2013
From DNA Info:In the wake of two sexual attacks on joggers within the past five months in Forest Park, local advocates and elected officials want the city to create a new precinct devoted solely to the park, similar to the one in Central Park.
Proponents said the spate of attacks merits a precinct that will exclusively monitor the 550-acre greenspace. A 23-year-old jogger was Tasered and sexually assaulted in the park in March, and a 69-year-old woman was raped in the park last Monday near Forest Park Drive and Myrtle Avenue.
“It doesn’t have to be a big precinct,” said Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Residents' Block Association. “But that would guarantee police presence there and it would make the park a lot safer.”
Although the description of the attackers in both incidents is similar — both are men described as being about 5-foot-9 and approximately 35-years-old — the sketches appeared to be of two different men, cops said.
Following the first incident, police created a special two-officer police unit to patrol the park on a daily basis from approximately 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, who represents Ridgewood, Middle Village, Glendale and Woodhaven, and who jogs in the park, said “a dedicated precinct for the park is an idea that is worth exploring.”
Critics said that the park struggles with a number of safety issues, such as lack of lighting in the early hours of the day along its main roads, including Myrtle Avenue.
“There is a good number of people who are out jogging, walking their dogs around that time and all the lights are out,” said Wendell, who said early-morning joggers have to run with flashlights at Victory Field, near Myrtle Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard.
A spokesman for the Department of Transportation said in an email that the outage at Myrtle Ave. and Woodhaven Blvd. near Victory Field "appears to have been caused by vandalism" and that "the agency is currently working with the Parks Department here and will also discuss potential enforcement with the NYPD."
If Flushing Meadows doesn't have a dedicated precinct, then Forest Park isn't getting one.
Monday, 2 September 2013
From Project Woodhaven:
There has been another attack on a female jogger, again in the Forest Hills section of Forest Park. This attack, similar to an attack in the same area in March, took place near the secluded horse trails which joggers frequently use. Is it the same perpetrator? Here are the 2 sketches of the suspect -- the April attack suspect is at left (wearing a stocking cap) and the suspect from last week is at the right:
Unresolved Dangerous Conditions
There are lights out all over the area -- and the amount of time it is taking to resolve is completely unacceptable.
1) Forest Park Drive - From Park Lane South to Myrtle, through Forest Park, across Woodhaven Boulevard. Reported to 311 and DOT inspected and, unbelievably, they closed the 311 after inspecting it.
2) Myrtle Avenue, from Woodhaven Boulevard to Park Lane South - a long dark stretch. We parked along there the other morning -- when we got back from the track, this had happened:
And yet, even though the lights have been out for a while (reported 8/16) they have not yet been repaired. The map below shows where we know there to be lighting issues in and around Forest Park.
These issues have been reported to 311. But in light of the recent attacks, DOT and Con Edison needs to escalate these problems and fix them immediately. As in, today.
There is no excuse for the city to put people who use the park in jeopardy.
And people wonder why the residents of Woodhaven aren't enthusiastic about the QueensWay? Check out how the city currently takes care of park security -- and this isn't a new problem and ask yourself if you want more of that brought directly into your neighborhood.
I'm sure Liz Crowley will get right on this. Just about every article about the rape mentions that she regularly jogs in Forest Park. I guess she's been jogging with a blindfold on.
There has been another attack on a female jogger, again in the Forest Hills section of Forest Park. This attack, similar to an attack in the same area in March, took place near the secluded horse trails which joggers frequently use. Is it the same perpetrator? Here are the 2 sketches of the suspect -- the April attack suspect is at left (wearing a stocking cap) and the suspect from last week is at the right:
Unresolved Dangerous Conditions
There are lights out all over the area -- and the amount of time it is taking to resolve is completely unacceptable.
1) Forest Park Drive - From Park Lane South to Myrtle, through Forest Park, across Woodhaven Boulevard. Reported to 311 and DOT inspected and, unbelievably, they closed the 311 after inspecting it.
2) Myrtle Avenue, from Woodhaven Boulevard to Park Lane South - a long dark stretch. We parked along there the other morning -- when we got back from the track, this had happened:
And yet, even though the lights have been out for a while (reported 8/16) they have not yet been repaired. The map below shows where we know there to be lighting issues in and around Forest Park. 
These issues have been reported to 311. But in light of the recent attacks, DOT and Con Edison needs to escalate these problems and fix them immediately. As in, today. There is no excuse for the city to put people who use the park in jeopardy.
And people wonder why the residents of Woodhaven aren't enthusiastic about the QueensWay? Check out how the city currently takes care of park security -- and this isn't a new problem and ask yourself if you want more of that brought directly into your neighborhood.
I'm sure Liz Crowley will get right on this. Just about every article about the rape mentions that she regularly jogs in Forest Park. I guess she's been jogging with a blindfold on.
Friday, 26 July 2013
From the Queens Courier:Getting to and from a Whitestone playground is no walk in the park, some residents say.
The lack of a crosswalk or traffic controls at the 3rd Avenue and 147th Street entrance to Francis Lewis Park is dangerous to pedestrians, said Malba Civic Association president Alfredo Centola.
“It’s a beautiful park,” Centola said. “These poor kids, with their parents, whenever they come to the park to play, they have to take their lives in their hands.”
Most residents must cross three-way traffic to enter and leave the park, located at the edge of the East River, since the majority of homes in the area lie across 147th Street.
Irene Rama of Whitestone said sometimes she and her kids are forced to stop in the middle of the street to avoid an oncoming car even after stopping to look in every direction beforehand.
Residents say a piece of property, bordered by jutting construction boards, that is being developed directly next to the park impairs the vision of pedestrians trying to cross.
Centola said he has sent the DOT a letter of complaint every 18 months since 2005.
Queens Borough Commissioner Maura McCarthy mailed the civic leader a response in 2011 saying the department completed an analysis and determined “Multi-Way Stop controls are not recommended at this time.”
“Factors such as vehicular and pedestrian volumes, vehicular speeds, visibility and signal spacing were all taken into consideration in making our determination,” the correspondence reads.
Shortly after the letter, the city installed one pedestrian crossing sign in front of the park, but it only faces one direction of traffic. Centola said the sign is also too high for drivers to see.
“At this point, I’m speechless and dumbfounded,” he said. “The DOT is once again being negligent and refusing to take care of the issues.”
Friday, 19 July 2013
From CBS New York:
Residents of a Queens neighborhood have demanded action following a route change that is sending buses down a street so narrow that they barely fit.
The Q15A bus is barely able to round the corner between Clintonville Street and 10th Avenue in Whitestone, Queens. It’s a tight squeeze on a narrow, residential street.
During times of heavy traffic buses often get stuck, they claim. One resident shot footage on his camera phone of a bus trying to go in reverse down 10th Avenue.
When cars are parked on both sides of the street the road becomes even more narrow, making it almost impossible for a car and a bus to pass through at the same time.
Officials, including state Sen. Tony Avella, have asked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to change the route, but the MTA claims that this is the best route.
“This would take many of the riders along a long, circuitous, U-shaped routing and greatly slow their commute,” the MTA said. “We believe 10th Avenue is a wide enough street on which to operate the Q15A.’
Saturday, 13 July 2013
From WPIX:
There was little question since Hurricane Sandy hit, beach access for paramedics and their ambulance was somewhat restricted this summer season.
It’s exactly why paramedics want a John Deere GATOR, a beach accessible vehicle, used in Coney Island for patient transport.
Instead, Rockaway paramedics would use what’s known as a SKED, a roll up pallet meant for mass casualty situations and hitch it to the axle of a Parks and Recreation ATV. That ATV, driven by a park employee, would then drag patients through the sand to get to an ambulance in the Rockaways. Concerns only grew when they learned the patient could also be taking in fumes during that ride.
“We carry CO meters and the CO meters at 35, they go ballistic. They go off. It measured at 980 parts per million so now you’re not only dragging the patient through the sand, you’re blowing CO on them for a block or two before you even get them to an ambulance,” said Israel Miranda, Union President representing EMS and Paramedics.
After complaints, petitions, and with PIX11′s help, it seems there was a change of heart and the Rockaways will be getting exactly what it needs.
The FDNY said after a review of the procedure the SKED policy will not be used. Instead, the Fire Commissioner instructed the Bureau of EMS to place one of the city’s GATORS in the Rockaways.
Monday, 8 July 2013
From the Daily News:Rockaway’s remaining food concessionaires returned to their beachfront stands for the Fourth of July, but their excitement about reopening was tempered by a newly instituted ban on hard liquor sales.
Beer and wine are still on the menu, but margaritas and mojitos are off limits.
The operators, who have been luring foodies to the beach since the city revamped the concessions in 2011, learned about the change in recent weeks, and they were unhappy about it.
They are already struggling to recover from losses inflicted by Superstorm Sandy, and they say this does nothing to help.
“We’d love to have it back,” said Lindsay Robinson, the co-owner of Low Bar near Beach 97th St., who served up margaritas and dark and stormies from the boardwalk site last summer. “We didn’t have any problems with it last year.”
The change came at the request of city lifeguards, who asked the Parks Department to nix the sale of cocktails for safety reasons, sources told the Daily News.
Lifeguards are on duty until 6 p.m. at city beaches. The time they call it a day was the same time the beachgoers were allowed to start buying cocktails.
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
From NY1:The worker was pinned under the pressure of hundreds of pounds of mud. Every time rescuers thought they'd be able to pull him out, he kept sliding deeper in.
"He was facing forward, but his legs were going back under him," said Chief Richard Portello of the FDNY Rescue Battalion.
Firefighters got the call that the man was trapped in the 25-foot hole at about 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The victim's brother said he was working and tried to release a chain but was buried in dirt up to his chest.
The Department of Buildings said the crew was doing excavation work for a home that does not have a permit.
A stop-work order was issued when inspectors found workers had failed to install proper shoring that likely contributed to the collapse.
Address is: 119-21 83rd Avenue
Saturday, 15 June 2013
From the Daily News:
The Scaffold Law is the last of its kind in the nation. The thrust of it is this: If a construction worker using scaffolding or a ladder is injured, the burden is on the contractor to prove the job site was safe.
But now a furious battle is unfolding in Albany to remake the law, pitting some of the most powerful political interests in New York against each other, with hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance premiums and payouts — and, some argue, the safety of workers — hanging in the balance.
The law simply states that contractors and owners must protect workers from falls by using equipment that is “constructed, placed and operated as to give proper protection.” It is silent on the issue of a worker’s liability in an accident.
Legislation sponsored by Sen. Patrick Gallivan (R-Erie) and Assemblyman Joe Morelle, a Rochester Democrat, would for the first time add language that requires juries to consider the actions of workers in weighing injury lawsuits.
A coalition of developers and contractors organized by the pro-business Lawsuit Reform Alliance is aggressively pushing lawmakers to pass it by June 20, when the legislature is set to adjourn.
A flurry of bills is expected to pass at the last minute, and both sides believe the Scaffold Law amendment is in play.
In years past, contractors and the powerful Real Estate Board of New York have tried to kill the law outright. They failed, due in part to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), who is of counsel to a law firm that specializes in personal injury cases.
The Scaffold Law is the last of its kind in the nation. The thrust of it is this: If a construction worker using scaffolding or a ladder is injured, the burden is on the contractor to prove the job site was safe.
But now a furious battle is unfolding in Albany to remake the law, pitting some of the most powerful political interests in New York against each other, with hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance premiums and payouts — and, some argue, the safety of workers — hanging in the balance.
The law simply states that contractors and owners must protect workers from falls by using equipment that is “constructed, placed and operated as to give proper protection.” It is silent on the issue of a worker’s liability in an accident.
Legislation sponsored by Sen. Patrick Gallivan (R-Erie) and Assemblyman Joe Morelle, a Rochester Democrat, would for the first time add language that requires juries to consider the actions of workers in weighing injury lawsuits.
A coalition of developers and contractors organized by the pro-business Lawsuit Reform Alliance is aggressively pushing lawmakers to pass it by June 20, when the legislature is set to adjourn.
A flurry of bills is expected to pass at the last minute, and both sides believe the Scaffold Law amendment is in play.
In years past, contractors and the powerful Real Estate Board of New York have tried to kill the law outright. They failed, due in part to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), who is of counsel to a law firm that specializes in personal injury cases.
From the NY Post:In a desperate bid to keep slow-moving turtles from causing delays at JFK, Port Authority officials are installing a massive barrier that will keep the critters in their natural habitat.
The plan is to deter the diamondback terrapins’ path with 4,000 feet of 8-inch-wide plastic piping along runway 4L, which juts into the bay near some of the native reptiles’ favorite area marshes, according to researchers.
“We’re trying to find a balance between nature and aviation,” said Port Authority spokesman Ron Marsico. “We don’t want to see the turtles get hurt, and this should keep the airport running smoothly.”
The turtles have made the airport’s runway part of their annual trek as they come on shore to nest, slowing service by forcing pilots to use other runways.
Marsico said airport employees removed around 1,300 turtles by hand last year during June and July, and that the new barrier will encourage the animals to nest elsewhere.
Dr. Russell Burke, a professor of biology at Hofstra University and a researcher at Jamaica Bay, thinks the plan will be effective, but is concerned that the barrier could make turtles more vulnerable to predators like raccoons.
Monday, 10 June 2013
From CBS New York:Protecting some of the world’s most strategically important sites in the New York area – including the airports, bridges and the new World Trade Center and memorial site – is a matter of vital concern and large sums of money.
But as CBS 2’s Steve Langford reported, a series of stunning security blunders at John F. Kennedy International Airport in particular is raising more questions about just how secure the sites are.
The private security firm that has a big contract with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is again getting the blame for the problems.
In March, a private security guard employed by the company, FJC security, was spotted fast asleep. The company is paid hundreds of millions of dollars by the Port Authority to help protect sensitive sites such as JFK.
And the trend was not an isolated incident, said former FJC Security Manager Stephen Jackson.
“I found several there sleeping — one female at night I photographed, but I found this gentleman there twice during broad daylight,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he shot video and took photos of two security guards ostensibly watching Jamaica Bay at Kennedy Airport, when a man managed to land his jet ski at JFK, and cross two active runways, without being stopped in August of last year.
“I was told: ‘Don’t show it to me. I don’t want to see it, because if I see it, I have to deal with it,” Jackson said.
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