Austin Street Underpass Conditions Going Downhill

In the below Queens Chronicle article was this statement from Community Board 6 on the poor conditions of the Austin Street Underpass Walkway:

“When contacted, Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said the board has not received any complaints about the underpass. The same was true for CB 9, according to a representative.”

BUT THAT is completely false, “The Filth of Forest Hills” blog has been reporting on this situation with photos since March of 2018 and sending the posts to the not only the local community boards, but
Councilmember Karen Koslowitz, Queens BP Melinda Katz and her staff, Senator Andrews Hevesi and DOS. In fact here is a response from community board 6 back in March. SO HOW can they say there have never
been any complaints, when they have received SEVERAL from THE FILTH OF FOREST HILLS, plus posts have been placed many times here in the Forest Hills Patch as well.

QN06 (CB) <qn06@cb.nyc.gov>

To thefilthofforesthillsqueens@yahoo.com

Mar 19 at 10:29 AM

Thank you for contacting Community Board 6. </qn06@cb.nyc.gov>

We will forward your concerns to the New York City Department of Sanitation and New York City Council Member Karen Koslowitz.

Queens Community Board 6

104-01 Metropolitan Avenue

Forest Hills, NY 11375

Telephone: 718-263-9250

Fax: 718-263-2211

Name: The Filth of Forest Hills

Address:

Phone:

Email Address: thefilthofforesthillsqueens@yahoo.com

Questions or Comments: The Austin Street pedestrian underpass is filled with litter and dumped garbage, not to mention all the graffiti. Some fo the garbage like the photo of the bagged Christmas tree has been
there for months. SO WHAT IS this board and the local hack elected officials are doing about this. AND why isn’t there more outrage from Forest Hills/Kew Garden residents about this. Keep being complacent, a
homeless shelter hotel at the Comfort Inn housing single men has alreadycausing issues and trash/litter, loitering and panhandling is already noticeable. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, to turn Forest Hills/Kew Gardens in the next ghetto like Jamaica Queens. https://thefilthofforesthillsqueens.wordpress.com/2018/03/11/the-filth-of-forest-hills-kew-garden-journey-continues-garbage-graffiti-mars-austin-street-underpass-kew-gardens-rodney-dangerfield-still-gets-no-respect-in-death/

HERE IS ANOTHER ONE SENT:

QN06 (CB) <qn06@cb.nyc.gov>

To
Forest Hills

May 1 at 1:02 PM

Good Afternoon,

Please be advised that DSNY cleaned the debris from these locations. We will be contacting DOT regarding the graffiti.

Thank You!

Queens Community Board 6

104-01 Metropolitan Avenue

Forest Hills, NY 11375

Telephone: 718-263-9250

Fax: 718-263-2211

From: Forest Hills [thefilthofforesthillsqueens@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2018 7:23 PM
To:
AnnMarie Boranian; GulluscioFrank; Andrew Hevesi; Helen Marshall; Karen Koslowitz; Melva Miller; Sally Wang; DSNY, Commissioner (DSNY); Queens Crap; Iciano, Bruno (DSNY); peter Mastrosimone; Greg Mocker; Channel 4 newstips; NY 1 NY1; Terranova, Ignazio (DSNY); Turso, Vito (DSNY)
Subject: More garbage, more homeless, more not a damn thing being done about any of these situations in Forest Hills

Read below for more of the decline of Forest Hills.

AND in the meantime, the Austin Street Pedestrian Underpass Walkway is still a disgrace of grafitti, garbage and flooding that make it difficult to go up and down the stairs since the drain is clogged. The
condition has been like this since December 2017. AND none of that garbage on those cement barriers on Queens Blvd have yet to be cleaned up and more garbage has been added.

Good job folks, wish I had a job where I did not have to do anything or be held accountable and bring home a nice hefty paycheck.

SHAME on you community boards. Why lie about this when you have received numerous complaints about this situation since March from this blog and even responded a couple of times to the complaints. AND where
is Karen Koslowitz and Melinda Katz, each who have also received numerous complaints from this blog on this situation.

---------------------------------------

From the Queens Chronicle:

Underpass causes stir for residents Petition started to have walkway in Kew Gardens cleaned, made safer

by Derrell J. Bouknight , Chronicle Contributor

Marc Morgenstern has been a resident of Queens for the past 25 years, having resided in Kew Gardens the last 15. A couple times each year, he uses the nearby pedestrian underpass at the intersection of Austin St.
and Union Turnpike that links his neighborhood to Forest Hills to avoid walking across ever-busy Queens Boulevard.

But recently, Morgenstern grew tired of the appearance of the underpass. The poor lighting makes some fear for their safety, he said, while feces and trash covers the floors.

“It’s just filthy,” he said. “It’s filthy and dirty. It smells like urine and there is graffiti all over the wall.”

In July, Morgenstern took to change.org to start a petition encouraging neighbors and residents to have the
problem rectified. As of press time on Wednesday, he had garnered 44 of the 100 signatures he set out to get.

“We, the residents of Kew Gardens, NY, respectfully demand the New York City Department of Sanitation keep the Austin Street underpass clean and navigable,” Morgenstern wrote on the petition. In addition to
requesting that the department regularly clean the underpass, Morgenstern wants trash receptacles placed in it.

In a Wednesday statement, the department said that while the underpass will not get trash cans, it is still cleaned regularly.

“The Department of Sanitation routinely checks this location every week and periodically cleans the steps and walkway of this underpass by removing trash and debris,” Dina Montes, a DSNY press secretary, said in
the statement. She also said that the department does not remove graffiti.

“This location does not fit the criteria for litter baskets,” Montes continued. “Litter baskets are for pedestrian litter, and are placed in busy commercial and pedestrian-heavy areas, not in primarily residential
areas.”

In a Facebook group entitled “Our Communities” that includes residents of Forest Hills, Kew Gardens and Rego Park, members voiced their concerns over the lack of response from the city.

Some, including Morgenstern, said that the underpass has been in poor condition for several decades.

Steve Abraham, who lives on Austin Street at 67th Avenue, said that he often saves five minutes on his walk to the Kew Gardens Cinemas by using the underpass.

He said that problems have gotten even worse this year, so much so that he does not mind the 45-minute trek to the theater.

When contacted, Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said the board has not received any complaints about the underpass.

The same was true for CB 9, according to a representative.

Morgenstern said he sent an email to DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and copied the Queens Borough President’s Office. To his surprise, the DSNY quickly responded to Morgenstern.

“I got an email from somebody from the Department of Sanitation saying they were aware of the situation and they had a supervisor go inspect it and clean it up,” he said.

Although an injury he suffered in a recent automobile accident has made it hard for Morgenstern to walk and prevents him from visiting the underpass to see any new changes for himself, he said he will continue
to advocate for its upkeep.

When asked if he thought the petition and the attention that followed it would gain the community response it has, Morgenstern initially minimized its potential.

Now, he has one final message.

“What started as me just wanting to do something good for the community snowballed into something else,” he said. “I didn’t expect anything to really happen. If you live in Kew Gardens or Forest Hills, go to change.org and sign the petition to keep our community clean.”