Hi All,
​
See the attached that someone passed along to us. The mosquito spraying is being delayed until tomorrow since rain is expected tonight.

Don't forget the Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones Tribute tomorrow night in Maspeth Federal's parking lot at 7:30 pm. The concert will go on rain or shine. They have a big tent!!

Roe Daraio, President
COMET Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com

Hi All,
 
Since burglaries are probably our biggest concern in Maspeth and Elmhurst, I reached out to our precincts to find out what’s been going on.
​

With air conditioners on, we don't hear or see too much. Please try to stay alert!!


110th Precinct
 
Captain Ventre advised us that a burglary occurred last night at JC ELECTRONICS, 85-04 Grand Avenue. Entry was made through a rear door in the basement which was left unlocked. Dell computers and other items were stolen.
 
MR. CARS AUTO SALES, 74-33 Queens Blvd. side door. At approximately 1:15 am the 110th arrived at the location and observed a male inside the closed business. The perpetrator stole a jacket and items and fled the location. During the pursuit, the perpetrator threw down the jacket which was recovered. There were two other males working in concert with the perpetrator when the 110thresponded. Arrests made.
 
On July 9th, 87-XX Grand Avenue at approximately 4:00 am, a complaint was taken for burglary. The complaint was closed to one arrest that was made on the scene.
 
104th Precinct
 
72-XX 73 place, 7/2/2018
Complainant stated that when they left the door was closed when returned noticed multiple items were taken. Front door was damaged. Items that were taken were gold rings, diamond rings, USC, passport, social security cards. NO ARREST!
 
58-30 Grand Avenue, 7/2/2018
Commercial business, 7 pro paint tanks taken. The lock to the business was Broken NO ARREST
 
57-XX 80 Street, 7/7/2018, 10:05 pm
Complainant was in the bedroom when heard loud noise coming from downstairs. Complainant saw an unknown perp at the rear door, perp fled. Perp damaged door trying to forcibly gain entry.  NO ARREST
 
52-XX 72 Street 7/20/2018
When complainant came back home the door was wide open, unknown if anyone was in the house.  NO ARREST


Roe Daraio, President
COMET Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com

 Hi All,

Folks have been asking what is going on with all this street construction work in northern Maspeth/Woodside. We no sooner get finished with the Calamus Avenue combined sewer project that lasted about four years, then we hear certain streets are getting an "accelerated water/sewer main project". Now, COMET started getting calls from folks in the vicinity of 71st Street/52nd Avenue asking what is happening in their area. Driveways are being blocked, streets are being closed and a "notice" to homeowners is being placed in their mailbox by National Grid just a few minutes before work starts. No advance notice.

We reached out to Assemblyman Barnwell's office for answers. Below are the questions asked by Assemblyman Barnwell's office and National Grid's response and attachments.

We believe it's important that not only residents on the affected block know what's going on, but the surrounding residents need to know as well.

Roe Daraio, President
COMET Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com

Barnwell's Questions

1.       Why wasn’t the community given at least 24 hours’ notice of the of the work? The permit was issued on the Tenth of July, that’s plenty of time to contact us so that we could’ve notified our constituents to prepare for any inconvenience caused by the work.
2.       How long will this work take place? I see that the permit is valid until October, will it take three months to complete?
3.       Where else in AD 30 will National Grid be replacing gas lines? When? Moving forward we’d like to be notified of all projects occurring in our district before they commence.
4.       Will there be any outages for residents in the work areas? Is there any danger associated with this work to contractors/residents?

National Grid's Response

This project was held off for a while due to priority city projects being carried out first. The permits were reissued on July 10, but permits were ordered prior to that. National Grid does not notify 24 hours prior to the job starting because jobs can be held off due to unexpected circumstances. However, Construction Notification letters were mailed out to the residents living in that area about a month before the job started to inform them of the anticipated work (attached). A few residents reached out to the engineer earlier this week with concerns, which means they received these notifications.
 
Our Community Relations manager notified the Community Board of the work coming to the area. On Saturday, 07/14/17, Construction Notification Pamphlets were hand delivered by our contractor, Hallen Construction. On Tuesday, 07/17/18, the foreman in charge walked the site and informed each listed customer that construction would be starting the next day.
 
Regarding the duration of the project, considering this is a large project, it will take 2 to 3 months to complete. The notifications provide a standard of 90 days for completion. We try to complete each project in a safe manner, which sometimes can pose delays and further extend the duration of the project.
 
At National Grid, each engineer is responsible for informing the community through mailing construction notices and informing the community board which was carried out properly in this situation.
 
I, myself, try to do as much proactive outreach as possible. I cannot guarantee all construction notifications will pass through the AD 30 office. However, I will be happy to look into any specific projects you bring to my attention as a concern.
 
There is no danger associated with this work as this is work we are mandated to complete and perform regularly. We have an inspector onsite that supervises the work performed to ensure there are no incidents to the community or the workers. The inspector and the foremen in charge keep strict supervision.
 
I hope this answers your questions.
 
Best,
 
Christina Gueli
NYC Government Relations
nationalgrid

Hi All,

I reached out to our precincts to find out what was going on in our area.  Following are the responses from our precincts:

104th Precinct - Stats provided by PO Bielicka, Community Affairs
June 4th to July 1st
 
Robbery:

6/28/18 -  55-xx 66 Street - male responded to the location to make a food delivery when he was approached by 2 unknown males. One male put an unknown weapon to the neck of the delivery man and stole a Yamaha scooter black. NO ARREST

Burglary

6/11/2018  - 59-xx 57 Road - complainant stated that while he was sleeping and unknown person did enter his apartment and took gold. Complainant states that he left his door unlocked to the apartment. NO ARREST
 
6/17/18 -  59-xx 59 Street - Perpetrator did enter apartment using an unknown object to open the door. documents and perfume were taken. NO ARRESTS.

We had no stolen cars!!

One more bit of info. Folks in northern Maspeth noticed NYPD tow trucks in the vicinity of 72nd Street last week. I asked PO Bielicka about this and she stated the 104th Precinct did a tow operation not only around Maspeth, but other areas of the command. She said they were working with the Queens Tow Pound until about 2:30 am and were able to tow and boot 14 vehicles in total. This came as good news since Maspeth folks have been seeing quite a few out of state plates parked in the area. Hopefully these were some of the vehicles targeted.

108th Precinct - Stats provided by PO Diaz, Community Affairs

0 Burglaries
0 Felony Assaults
3 Grand Larcenies (2) unattended property and (1) forged check

2 Grand Larceny Autos

6/8/18 - black Suzuki motorcycle stolen from 44th/65th Place
6/20/18 - 2009 Yellow Yamaha motorcycle stolen from 48th/58th Lane

110th Precinct - Stats provided by Captain Ventre

For the last 28 days you have taken the following crimes,
 
1- Robbery - Broadway & Queens Blvd inside Transit- 7 pm- c/v f/a/32- perps are two male black-  assaulted our c/v and removed phone.
2- Burglaries- V/O 54 St & 80 St, Thursday, June 28 1200 pm -  6 pm, - basement window entry- & V/O 86 & 55 Rd, Wednesday, July 04 1130 am to 1130 pm Rear door entry.
4- Grand Larceny- 3 occurred outside your zone, but c/v lives in the zone, the 4th F/O 85-xx Grand Ave, delivery person left his wallet inside his parked vehicle. 

Roe Daraio, President
COMET Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com