CB 11 Focuses on Litter Removal, Improvements to Schools

Community Board 11 leaders said they were concerned whether the wetlands at Alley Pond Park would be negatively affected by trash that has been collecting behind several businesses along Northern Boulevard in Douglaston.

Henry Euler, chairman of the board's environmental committee, told CB 11 members at a meeting last night that he had spotted litter behind several auto dealerships and businesses along Northern Boulevard near the park and Alley Pond Environmental Center.

"It was horrendous," he said. "It was not just a couple of pieces – it was really bad. We're very worried that if businesses are putting things there that shouldn't be there, it could affect the wetlands. When you have a home or a business, you are supposed to clean up around it, no matter where garbage comes from."

Euler said that Janice Melnick, northeast Queens administrator for the city's Department of Parks, told CB 11 that the city had fined businesses along that section of the boulevard for littering.  He was told that the businesses paid fines.

The Parks Department could not be reached by press time.

But Euler said trash is still being discarded behind the park.

"We don't know where the litter comes from," he said. "We don't know if people are dumping garbage, but it's a mess."

During his environmental committee report, Euler also said there was a growing concern in the northeast Queens neighborhoods covered by the board about herbicides being sprayed along embankments along the southbound Clearview Expressway service road in northeast Queens.

"The chemicals are very dangerous if not used properly," he said. "If there is a wind present, they can drift and cause property damage to homeowners."

Laura James, CB 11's education committee chairwoman, told board members that overcrowding was the key education issue in the district.

State Assemblyman-elect Edward Braunstein will speak to state Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, D-Ridgewood, who is chairwoman of the Assembly's education committee, about over-enrollment at District 26 schools when the Legislature resumes in January, James said.

She told the board that Bayside High School's cap was supposed to be 3,400 students but that the school currently had more than 3,800 students.

"Overcrowding is an ongoing issue," James said. "Queens has been assigned 800 extra seats, but it is hard to figure out where these seats are assigned."

At the meeting, board member Frank Skala announced a party for state Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Bellerose, on Dec. 29. The event, which will include an open bar, will be held at Leonard's of Great Neck. Attendees will pay $65 for entry.

Padavan will leave the Senate in January following 37 years in Albany. He will be replaced by state Senator-elect Tony Avella.

Community Board 11 covers Douglaston, Little Neck, Bayside and a sliver of Flushing. The group will next meet on Jan. 3.