This Saturday, May 27th from 10:00 PM to 2:00 PM Trips For Kids is hosting a free Family Trails event at Cunningham Park.
You can take beginner mountain bike lessons or take a guided trail ride. There is a kids learn to ride session (bring your own bike) and Bike Art workshop by Recycle a Bike. Also, our friends at Peak Bike will have Santa Cruz demonstrations.
There is something for everyone so make sure to RSVP here.
If you have ideas about how bicycles should be treated in Flushing, please come and give your opinion tomorrow May 24, 2017 at 6:30 P.M. at the Free Synagogue in Downtown Flushing:
41-60 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11355
We’ll look at some maps, talk about cycling infrastructure, and work together to increase safety for all road users. In honor of Bike Month, DoT will be giving out free bike maps and safety materials, including free bike lights and bike bells.
Our Eastern Queens Greenway group strongly supports building The Kissena Walk and hopes to eventually add extensions to help our neighbors get to our local businesses. The conversation at the Bike Workshop will help the community decide what improvements we make to our city.
Thank you Council Member Peter Koo, DoT Queens Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia, Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce Executive Director John Choe for organizing this conversation for the public.
Our friends at the Kissena Corridor Park Conservancy have been making some great strides in improving our local parkland.
They were recently mentioned in the New York Daily News:
The article mentions that the Meditation Garden will open in 2019 with $600,000 generously funded by Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Councilman Peter Koo. Credit was given to the Kissena Corridor Park Conservancy for the idea.
The New York Daily News quotes Dorothy Lewandowski (Queens Borough Parks Commissioner) as saying, “The goal all along was to create an outdoor space that benefits patients and family where they can go to enjoy nature and get some respite from the hospital”.
The progress on the Meditation Garden is very exciting. There is also a new project to build better paths within Kissena Corridor Park and linking the park to Kissena Park and Flushing Meadows Park. You can help by signing this petition:
https://campaigns.transalt.org/petition/make-kissena-corridor-park-accessible-everyone-our-community
This new pathway would be similar to the Kissena Walk previously proposed:
If you’d like to become more involved, please join the Kissena Corridor Park Conservancy at their next meeting on Wednesday, May 31st from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
Flushing Hospital Boardroom, 5th Floor
146-01 45th Avenue
Flushing, NY 11355
The Kissena Corridor Park Conservancy will discuss updates on the Parks Department’s plan to build the Meditation Garden and also plans for the 2017 work programs.
The New York City Department of Transportation just released its proposal for increased access around Alley Pond Park, along Northern Boulevard and to the Douglaston LIRR Station. This is an excellent plan, and we couldn’t be more excited. If you agree that Queens deserves these infrastructure improvements, please sign our petition here:
https://campaigns.transalt.org/petition/northern-boulevard-and-joe-michaels-greenway-access
DoT’s plan will increase the quality of life of our neighbors. It connects Little Neck, Douglaston, Whitestone and Bay Terrace to a network of Queens parks. Most importantly, the infrastructure is built for families so everyone has safe access to enjoy our community.
We wanted to verify the urgency for these improvements, so we analyzed the data ourselves. We all know about the death of Michael Schenkman, who was killed as he tried to enter Joe Michaels Mile, but we wanted to know if this was an isolated incident. We looked at a larger area than DoT, since improvements on one part of a road often help the surrounding areas. Looking at the NYPD Crash Stats for just the CB11 section of Northern Boulevard from 2014 to today we found crashes that injured 23 cyclists, 82 pedestrians, and 300 motorists. No matter how you cut it, it’s clear that the current design of Northern Boulevard is not safe for anyone.
As an added benefit to DoT’s proposed design, automobile efficiency along Northern Boulevard will be increased. Currently, the traffic bottlenecks are at the intersections, especially Douglaston Parkway. By changing the traffic pattern and signal timing, drivers will see an improvement in service, in some cases decreasing delays by half.
The modern engineering work DoT has put together will help everyone who uses Northern Boulevard and especially our neighbors looking to get to the great parks in Queens. If you’d like to learn more, you can download the full proposal (pdf) from the DoT.
The most powerful thing you can do to make sure this is built is to register to speak in person at the CB11 Public Hearing about this plan. You don’t need to live within CB11 but you will need to to call (718) 225-1054 or email cb11q@nyc.rr.com today to let them know you’d like to share your opinion. Whether you speak or not, stand with us as we try to get this infrastructure passed on June 5th at 7:30 pm.
Middle School 158 (Auditorium)
46-35 Oceania St.
Bayside, NY 11361
Please tell your friends to join us at the meeting and to sign this petition for a better Queens. If you have any questions or want to volunteer to get the word out, we’d love for you to contact us.
Come out this Saturday, May 20th, for a free walking tour of Downtown Flushing. The route begins at the Flushing Quaker Meeting House at noon and explorers the local area until around 4:00 pm. The tour is run by the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce and the Trans. Alt. Eastern Queens Committee so you’ll be sure to learn about how downtown functions from the experts. Bring some money to taste the delicacies of our neighborhood.
