CB 11 Discusses Northern Boulevard Bus Shelter, Hydrofracking at 2012's First Meeting

leaders said they have been told by the city that a at Northern Boulevard and Douglaston Parkway will be replaced.

But CB 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld told attendees last night at the board’s meeting that the city’s Metropolitan Transit Authority had not specified when the shelter would be returned.

“Two weeks ago, I asked them to expedite this and they promised me they would,” she said. “But it’s still not there.”

CB 11 leaders had originally asked for the bus stop to be relocated near the parking lot of Italian eatery or .

But the MTA completely removed the stop. Deirdre Parker, an MTA spokeswoman, said the shelter’s removal was the result of a “miscommunication.”

“We were all over them,” CB 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece said. “We told them we wanted to move the location. But then the rocket scientists took away the bus stop from a commercial area. Now, there’s going to be a smaller shelter, but we’ll get it back.”

U.S. Rep. Bob Turner, R-Forest Hills, made his first appearance before CB 11 during last night’s meeting.

“I’m new to the political process,” he said. “My office is handling a backlog of 1,000 inquiries and we’re averaging about 400 per week.”

Turner replaced former Rep. Anthony Weiner after , D-Little Neck, in a special election in September.

During a question and answer period with CB 11 members, Turner showed some support for hydrofracking, a process of removing petroleum and natural gas by drilling into rock layers.

The process has been criticized, especially by state Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, due to health, safety and environmental concerns.

“Hydrofracking has been working very well in Pennsylvania,” Turner said. “I think if we employed the same policies in exploiting this gas, we would create a lot of jobs. I think that has to be priority number one.”

But CB 11 members said they were concerned about the prospects of hydrofracking in New York State.

“It causes harm to our underground aquifers,” said Henry Euler, who sits on the board’s environmental committee. “I disagree with Congressman Turner. There have been contamination problems in other states, including Pennsylvania.”

The board voted 31-1 in approval of sending a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo that says there are “many unanswered questions” on the effects of the drilling process.

“I know we’re desperate for jobs,” Iannece said. “But if they want to drill here, I think we’d be playing Russian roulette with our water supply.”

Iannece also announced that Udalls Cove Preservation Committee President Walter Mugdan has invited CB 11 to take a tour of Udalls Cove this spring.

And the Douglaston Development Corporation will be invited to one of the board’s upcoming meetings to make a presentation on the .