Push underway to clean up overgrown and trash-strewn highway medians in Queens
QUEENS VILLAGE, Queens (WABC) -- A new push is underway to clean up the overgrown and trash-strewn medians that divide miles of streets and highways across Queens.
Elected officials and civic leaders joined Queens Borough President Donovan Richards in Queens Village Tuesday morning to unveil the new initiative.
"Queens pays some of the highest tax rates in New York City, and we deserve a return on our investment in the city and certainly in our borough," said Richards.
Over the last number of weeks, the Borough President's Office has compiled a database of 205 overgrown or unsightly medians that feature tall weeds, overgrown bushes, dead trees, litter and illegally dumped items including car parts.
About half the medians are in Eastern Queens, while the rest are in locations including Astoria, Woodside, East Elmhurst and Fresh Meadows.
Photographs of several of the unsightly sites were on display at Tuesday's news conference.
"We've been filing comprehensive 311 reports," added Marie Adam-Ovide, Community Board 8 District Manager. "And guess what? The next day the complaint is closed and it states condition not found. I don't know if they sent a blind person to look, but I'm pretty sure the condition has not changed."
Organizers are calling on the city to clean the medians and reimagine how it maintains them.
Richards wants roadway median maintenance centralized under one city agency.
He voiced his support for pending City Council legislation that would make this possible.
"This is transportation," said Richards. "This is parks. We need one agency put in charge. No more passing the buck between parks, sanitation and transportation."
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