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Clean Up Your Mess

Debris Issues Persist at Cross Bay Bridge

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Cashless tolls have opened nearly a year ago, but machinery and other materials belonging to the MTA remain alongside the Cross Bay Bridge. Photo by Amanda Kernozek 

 

The Broad Channel community’s request for the MTA to clean up property at the base of the Cross Bay Memorial Bridge has reportedly fallen on deaf ears as the state agency has become unresponsive, according to a local resident and civic leader.

“It’s very frustrating to have no notifications from them,” began Dan Mundy Jr., who reported that the area alongside the bridge at the intersection of Cross Bay Boulevard and Van Brunt Road has become an eyesore fraught with construction debris, machinery, rusted fences and an assortment of discarded “junk.”

Mundy, who serves as the president of the Broad Channel Civic Association (BCCA), told The Wave that the MTA had previously assured him that the affected land, which is actually owned by the State of New York, would be cleared out following the advent of cashless tolls last April.

The ongoing dilemma has also been brought to the attention of Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, who recently conducted a walk-through around the perimeter of the bridge with Mundy and confirmed the “hazards” and “deplorable conditions” of the expanse.

The local legislator went as far as drafting a letter to the MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Cedrick Fulton to further investigate the matter.

“There’s no effort on their part to be good neighbors,” said Mundy. “There are no toll-booth takers in town anymore. There used to be dozens of them. They all used to operate out of a very small building and we used to have a nice parking lot with a tree down there.”

But while installing the cashless booths last year, he continued, the MTA had placed multiple construction trailers and steel-box containers on the site that have never been removed.

Since then, state representatives have reportedly failed to communicate with the former firefighter on the area that locals are describing as a “disgusting mess.”

Mundy and his civic members are hopeful that some type of beautification work will eventually be initiated and feel that they’ve been patient enough in waiting for the MTA to take action.

The Wave reached out to MTA media liaison Christopher McKniff, who stated that his group makes it a priority to ensure that its operations don’t negatively impact the surrounding residential space.

The materials along the bridge, he added, are being used for a Superstorm Sandy resiliency project funded by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

In addition, the spokesperson claimed that the work is being confined to MTA property with no impact to customers or pedestrian walkways.

 

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