A Walk Through the Meadows, 2015 edition

Aerial view of Meadow Lake parking lot near boathouse

Aerial view of traffic circle

The following photos were taken yesterday of this same area. You can see that Rory Lancman had a point when he called the newly created Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Alliance a sham that will only spend money on the northern sections of the park, which comparatively are in great condition. It's a joke to have community listening sessions to get input for future projects, like "better signage" when an outstanding issue like this one is so blatant.

Come visit Queens - the World's Borough!

Car clubs party on at Flushing Meadows

From the Queens Tribune:

Hundreds of drivers have been performing dangerous stunts and blasting loud music at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, tormenting neighbors and frustrating police.

Like a scene from the movie “The Fast and The Furious,” the drivers drift their souped up cars through a parking lot near Meadow Lake, Deputy Inspector Ronald Leyson said at a Community Council meeting Thursday night. They have also taken over lots at Willets Point across from Citi Field, and near the marina by the Grand Central Parkway.

Elliot Tayman, who lives in Hyde Park Gardens just off the Van Wyck Expressway, said he has been enduring “high pitched” and “defeaning” sounds from mufflers and screeching wheels.

“All the sounds really do travel like a tsunami,” Tayman said.

“It’s been a chronic 311 complaint for me for the past couple of months,” Leyson said.

The drivers range in age from teenagers to thirtysomethings and typically belong to car clubs, which for a time the precinct was monitoring on social media, until the clubs caught on.

According to Leyson, the sheer number of drivers and bystanders makes the drifting difficult to combat. He said that the drivers congregate on an inconsistent schedule, and safely blocking in the parking lot near Meadow Lake requires at least 20 cops, while handing out summonses can take hours.

Compounding the problem, many of the drivers seem undeterred by enforcement tactics. During one weekend, the 110th precinct gave out 83 summonses one night, only to give out 94 the next, Leyson said.

“You’d think they would learn,” he added.

Meadow Lake truck mystery

From DNA Info:

A pickup truck with temporary plates from a Texas used-car dealership was pulled from the water at Flushing Meadows Corona Park Monday morning.

The truck, a diesel 2007 Dodge Ram 2500, was unoccupied, the FDNY said, and no injuries were reported.

Firefighters responded about 8:45 a.m. and found the truck stuck in silt and covered up to its engine and door handles in water at the southern end of Meadow Lake.

The truck was purchased Nov. 9 from North Texas Truck Stop, a used car dealership in Mansfield, Texas, by a man from Rego Park, according to North Texas Truck Stop vice president Kevin McCary.