Troublesome, Eyesore Bushes Removed By City

Brooklyn- State Senator Marty Golden, joined by New York City officials and Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann, this week oversaw the removal of troublesome bushes which have plagued the Dyker Heights community for years, on the corner of 84th Street and 10th Avenue.

At a February meeting of the Dyker Heights Civic Association, Mayor Michael Bloomberg promised to have the Department of Transportation HIQUA Unit investigate and remove the obstruction. Since that meeting, the Dyker Heights Civic Association has worked tirelessly with City agencies on a regular basis to insure that the work be completed.

Complaints raised at the meeting by Dyker Heights Civic Association President Fran Vella-Marrone, and many others in the crowd, included the fact that these bushes were causing the area to be poorly lit and thus creating an environment where teens hang out. The corner, due to the bushes, were prone to excessive garbage and debris, as well drug dealing and drug usage was found to be occurring in the bushes. The corner became so much a hazard that people with baby carriages and wheelchairs could not even pass.

Senator Marty Golden stated, "Residents of 10th Avenue, Dyker Heights, have long been forced to face with a dangerous condition on this corner that plagued and destroyed their quality of life. Thanks to the efforts of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor’s Community Assistance Unit, the Department of Transportation, the New York City Police Department and Community Board 10, the chance of danger and misconduct has been erased at this corner."

Golden continued, "The broken windows theory applies here," referencing a political philosophy that reasons if you allow one minor thing to go wrong, a neighborhood begins to decline, "And so, we could not allow this to continue to exist. It may be one corner, but from that one corner, we could see our entire treasured neighborhood fall at the hands of crime, of drugs, and of garbage. We have worked too hard to maintain a beautiful community, and no one will be successful if they should challenge our quality of life."

Fred Kreizman, Assistant Commissioner of the Mayor’s Community Assistance Unit stated, "The administration is committed to improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers. Dyker Heights residents should be able to walk down their block without the hassles of litter and drug dealing; they should have sidewalks that are wheel chair accessible; they should feel secure that they live in a clean and safe environment."

Kreizman continued, "We have to ensure that there aren’t obstructions so that the Police Department should be able to have a visual down street corridors. We want to thank the work that Senator Golden, the Dyker Heights Civic Association, Community Board 10, DOT, Parks, Sanitation and the NYPD have done on working with our office to resolve these nuisances in Dyker Heights."

Josephine Beckmann, District Manager of Community Board 10 stated, "Community Board Ten would like to commend the Mayor and the Community Assistance Unit for coordinating the city agency response which removed many of the hedges that impeded visibility and were filled with unsightly garbage. We would also like to praise the efforts of State Senator Golden and our very own Community Board Ten member Fran Vella Marrone, President of the Dyker Heights Civic Association for her countless hours spent on working with the community to clean up this neighborhood eyesore."