Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Tidying up Forest Hills

Some local residents have become quite vocal as of late about the dirty conditions in front of some of the restaurants and stores on Austin Street. Chipotle was one restaurant in particular that was called out for leaving trash that was leaking grease onto the sidewalk in front of its Austin Street location.

Below is an email from the chain that I was forwarded after a reader complained to them:
I'm sorry for the unpleasant sights outside of the store. I completely understand your frustration. I just called and spoke with our Apprentice General Manager, Chris, who has someone coming out as soon as possible, which is tomorrow early morning. We discussed having this taken care of on a more frequent basis so we can show a better appearance. Thank you for keeping us on our toes!

Sincerely,
Mike

Customer Service Consultant
Chipotle Mexican Grill
This email was from a few weeks ago. I'll take a look to see if the situation in front of Chipotle has improved at all, if the sidewalk is now clean.

It's great to see local residents staying on top of things like this. The same reader who contacted Chipotle above also forwarded me this information below:
I also spoke with my contact at the Doe Fund and although weed-pulling is not in the contract , I asked them to do me a one-time favor and start pulling all of the weeds from the tree pits all along Austin Street. They were happy to do it and started on Monday. I am an avid supporter of the Doe Fund. The job should be done in another week.
Also, I spoke with Superintendent Riese of the DSNY District QW6 and asked why the QB medians weren’t being cleaned as they usually had been in late August and early September of past years. He called me yesterday to advise that a crew started working on it on Tuesday. They started at 63 Dr and are now working east. It’s a big job. That’s why I have begged Koslowitz over and over to start a Doe Fund program just for QB. It’s a no-brainer!!!

16 comments:

  1. THANK YOU to our proactive fellow Forest Hills resident for calling attention to the uncleanliness all around the commercial district.
    The weeds in the tree pits are a source of embarrassment whenever I have visitors.
    Now, how about getting the merchants on Austin Street to fund some decorative plantings in the pits to beautify one of the main draws to our community. It can only improve business.
    Let's make Austin Street something to be proud of!

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    1. The problem with the tree pits is that there are so many tree roots that planting anything makes it virtually impossible. When we have planted no one watered so all the flowers died. What we need is newly designed tree pits and new trees. What we have now is indeed an embarassment.

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  2. In regards to the weeds in the Tree Pits, the Forest Hills Green Team has on occasion been able to get to the Tree Pits along Continental Avenue to clean those out. The Green Team is a volunteer group of Forest Hills Residents who want to see our neighborhood looking as good as we can. We've also taken it upon ourselves in the past to paint the metal railing around some of the Tree Pits. This summer has been much more focused on the clean-up of MacDonald Park.

    As for the Merchant's, some have been great about maintaining these areas. Most have not. For that reason, we have stopped planing flowers in the Tree Pits along Continental Avenue. They weren't being watered and it became a waste of time and effort.

    With that said, nothing stops any resident from taking care of these tree pits. If we want our neighborhood to look good, we need to be willing to roll up our sleeves and not rely on someone else to do the work.

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  3. It really irks me when people say that anybody who has a complaint about the sorry state of a commercial district should roll up their sleeves and take care of it themselves. I suppose you also believe the casual passer-by who encounters dog waste on the sidewalk that somebody else has left behind has the responsibility to "roll up their sleeves" and take care of it. How about holding the violating party responsible!

    We support local merchants (often paying higher prices than we would pay elsewhere), yet many, if not most, on Austin Street fail to show us appreciation and respect by giving back to our community through the simple act of cleaning, maintaining and beautifying the environment.

    Don't tell me they can't afford this simple upkeep - they're more than happy to take our money and run.

    It's disgraceful to defend these neglectful merchants disrespecting our neighborhood. If we continue to aim low, we're sure to meet the lowest possible standards. Hooray for Austin Street merchants - exemplifying mediocrity in community service!!!

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  4. In addition to the "wandering garbage" on Austin St., has there ever been an effort to clean up the litter (including single shot liquor bottles) that are on Queens Blvd between Union Tpke and Ascan Ave? I know that people need to make use of the trash cans on the street corners, but the quantity of litter out of control.

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  5. It's unfortunate for you that you're irked. It irks me when people just like to point fingers rather than lend a hand.

    I'll get over it, as I'm sure you will.

    Should anyone be interested, the next community volunteer clean-up take place on 10/17 between 10 am - 1 pm in MacDonald Park. The following event is on 11/14 between 10 am - 1 pm in MacDonald Park. Always thrilled to see new faces, and any time you can chip in (it doesn't need to be the full 3 hours) is always appreciated.

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    1. We help out at MacDonald Park and love it, but this doesn't change Austin Street. Walk down it during the summer and the restaurant trash smells like death.

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  6. For those who like to point fingers instead of lifting one to better their neighborhood, at least try to call 311 to make a complaint concerning litter, weeds, graffiti, potholes, blocking of sidewalks, tree planting, etc. It only takes 5 minutes. And you won't have to worry about getting your hands dirty.

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    1. Yes. Or download NYC 311 and do it on a mobile device if you don't want to speak to a person. Works great

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  7. Perhaps our politicians should roll up their sleeves and help out every now and then. One rarely , if ever, sees this in Forest Hills. Thanks to all of those determined citizens who DO give a damn and lead by example!

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    1. We have had a local candidate running for City Council, as well as a staff member from Karen Koslowitz' office help out in Forest Hills clean up efforts in the past, as their schedules allow.

      Some local community advocates have been very involved, and one of those individuals was able to recently obtain a Capacity Fund grant of $800 from Partnerships for Parks, a joint program of City Parks Foundation and NYC Parks. This money will go towards MacDonald Park clean-up.

      I agree that it would be wonderful to see some of our high-profile Politicians digging in, but just wanted to give a shout-out to those lower-profile community advocates who have been super-supportive towards the clean-up efforts.

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  8. WHY AREN'T AUSTIN STREET LANDLORDS MAINTAINING THEIR PROPERTIES? THEY ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE AND CAN WELL AFFORD IT JUDGING FROM SOME OF THE EXORBITANT RENTS THEY COMMAND.

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  9. I tripped over a tree stump in front of Victoria's Secret back in July. The manager told me that the property owner had called the city months ago to replant the tree.

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  10. I am one of those Green Team volunteers. I've weeded, planted, watered, pruned, etc. But we can't do it on a consistent basi. We need the city and merchants to step up. 4 ft tall weeds, dead trees, bikes chained around trees, and trash in the tree pits are all unacceptable. Call 311! Complain to the merchants! Just don't turn a blind eye.

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