Here's another opportunity for livable streets advocates to make themselves heard tonight: DOT will be hosting a public input session regarding congestion on Woodhaven Boulevard in Queens, focusing on the area between Queens Boulevard and Liberty Avenue.

Subjects to be discussed include: Traffic Volume, Roadway Alignment, Mass Transit, Physical Constraints and the Service Road.

There have been over half a dozen pedestrian fatalities and scores of ped- and bike-involved crashes on and along Woodhaven since 1995, according to Transportation Alternatives' CrashStat. So presumably safety will be part of the discussion as well.

• Time: 5:30 p.m.
  
• Location: Forest Hills Community Library, 108-19 71st Avenue (between Queens Boulevard and 110th Street)
• More info: Andrew Lenton, NYC DOT: 212-676-7985

Map of Woodhaven/Queens Blvd/LIE interchange: CrashStat

It's pretty dry reading but there is some interesting material on pages 9 to 11 under the header, "Neighborhood-Specific Discussions." For example, in the Forest Hills, Queens workshop:

Some participants felt that it was a right of residents to own cars because of the distance between Forest Hills and the Manhattan urban core. Those defending car ownership rights felt that it was the compromise made to not live as close to Manhattan.

Interesting, this "right" to own a car. I wonder if Queens car owners' rights include the right to free, convenient parking? Let me double check my copies of the U.S. Constitution and the New York City Charter and see if I can dig that up...

Dear Streetsblog Staff,
 
As you may remember, a couple months ago, Mayor Bloomberg authorized the NYPD to seize hundreds of bikes in Manhattan which were parked "illegaly" on city property.
 
Yesterday, I was shocked to find a similar incident occuring in my neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens as rangers from the City Parks and Recreation Department cutting chains to confiscate bicycles on 71st - Continental Avenue and Austin Street.
 
Later, I went to the Parks Department in Flushing Meadows Corona Park where the truck full of confiscated bicycles sat to get the scoop. Here, Captain Kenneth Brown informed me that today began a citywide campaign involving the City Parks and Recreation Department. This time all bikes chained to city trees or to the metal fencing around those trees will be seized in neighborhoods throughout the 5 boroughs. Bikes are then taken by truck to the nearest Parks Department Headquarters where they are held for 2-3 days before being sent to a depot in Long Island. In order to retrieve your bicycle, you must pay a $50 summons - that is if you can find it.

According to the Captain Brown, bicycles are only considered to be parked "legally" to bicycle racks. Unfortunately, the city does not provide proper bike racks here as in many other neighborhoods. The citizens of Forest Hills and surrounding areas rely on bicycle transportation for lack of reliable and adequate public transportation.

We'll let you know what the Parks Dept. has to say.