homeless shelter in querns highway underpass

If you live in Kew Gardens or Forest Hills, go to and sign the petition to keep our community clean.” “I didn’t expect anything to really happen. “What started as me just wanting to do something good for the community snowballed into something else,” he said. 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. “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.Īlthough 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. To his surprise, the DSNY quickly responded to Morgenstern. Morgenstern said he sent an email to DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and copied the Queens Borough President’s Office. The same was true for CB 9, according to a representative. When contacted, Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said the board has not received any complaints about the underpass. So I walk along Austin to Ascan and then to Queens Boulevard onto Kew Gardens Road and down Lefferts Boulevard.” “I have considered it unusable for a couple of years now. “I never know who might be hiding down there,” Abraham said. 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. 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. Some, including Morgenstern, said that the underpass has been in poor condition for several decades. 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. “Litter baskets are for pedestrian litter, and are placed in busy commercial and pedestrian-heavy areas, not in primarily residential areas.” “This location does not fit the criteria for litter baskets,” Montes continued. She also said that the department does not remove graffiti.

“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. In a Wednesday statement, the department said that while the underpass will not get trash cans, it is still cleaned regularly. In addition to requesting that the department regularly clean the underpass, Morgenstern wants trash receptacles placed in it. “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. As of press time on Wednesday, he had garnered 44 of the 100 signatures he set out to get. In July, Morgenstern took to to start a petition encouraging neighbors and residents to have the problem rectified. It smells like urine and there is graffiti all over the wall.” The poor lighting makes some fear for their safety, he said, while feces and trash covers the floors. and Union Turnpike that links his neighborhood to Forest Hills to avoid walking across ever-busy Queens Boulevard.īut recently, Morgenstern grew tired of the appearance of the underpass. A couple times each year, he uses the nearby pedestrian underpass at the intersection of Austin St. Marc Morgenstern has been a resident of Queens for the past 25 years, having resided in Kew Gardens the last 15.

Homeless shelter in querns highway underpass