Queens

Last week the Department of City Planning released the "Queens Around the World Guide," a map to help cyclists see the sights, sample the cuisine, and frequent the merchants of the city's biggest borough.

The words never fail to shock.

Dollar Van Demos, the unlikely union of transportation needs and musical dreams that has entranced New York bloggers, is giving private transit operators in Brooklyn and Queens some of the best press they've ever received. But that isn't the only reason it's worth taking a fresh look at dollar vans. If the state legislature can't avert the MTA's doomsday scenario, the vans may soon see a surge in ridership -- perhaps big enough to launch a few recording careers.

DOT has plans to improve conditions for pedestrians on the Queens side of the Pulaski Bridge, which connects Greenpoint, Brooklyn with Hunters Point in Long Island City. According to a recent presentation [PDF], pedestrians will benefit from additional crosswalks, new markings and signalization to reduce turning vehicle conflicts, and pedestrian islands.

On the scale of absurd political theater, fare hike hearings in New York City rank very close to the top. Elected officials heap scorn on the MTA, diverting attention from their own responsibility for underfunding transit, while beleaguered straphangers beg board members for a reprieve that depends on those same electeds. It's a cycle of frustration, blame, and unaccountability.

Another story today highlights the woeful inadequacy of our justice system to deter traffic violence and hold reckless drivers accountable for the loss of life they cause. The Daily News reports that Alexander Aponte, who struck and killed nine-year-old Ibrihim Ahmed while driving a huge campaign bus for a Queens City Council candidate, will get away with a misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license. Not murder, not criminally negligent homicide, not vehicular manslaughter, not even reckless driving.

A zoning change that would provide better bike parking options in new buildings is wending its way through the city's public review process, which means 59 community boards have a chance to vote on it. The Queens Gazette reports from the goings on at CB1, which encompasses Astoria and Long Island City:

Her name was Jasmine Paragas. According to reports, she was a 14-year-old freshman, an honors student, at Francis Lewis High School in Queens. She came to the US from the Philippines with her parents and younger brother, who is now 10, about six years ago.

Arturo Flores, a Queens musician who played Andean wind instruments, was struck and killed by a van this Tuesday while biking in Astoria. Reports of his death have appeared in a local message board, neighborhood blogs, and a Peruvian music blog. Conventional news coverage has not surfaced online, but a sparse account appeared in the print edition of the Daily News: