Just as I was about to start this entry, QC Forum participant nycdude posted this form-letter response from the MTA:

07/22/2008 10:23 AM This is in response to your recent e-mail message to MTA New York City Transit regarding the cooling system on our subway cars.

We regret any unpleasant conditions you have encountered in the subway. Our subway cars are designed so that the air conditioning comes on automatically when the temperature of the car exceeds 71 degrees Fahrenheit, and the heat comes on when the temperature drops below 54 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, an air conditioning or heating unit may sometimes malfunction during the course of a train’s run. Our maintenance personnel will continue their routine inspection of all climate control systems to ensure that they are functioning properly.

In the future, should you have further transit-related concerns, we will need a car number or employee badge number so that we can investigate the problem and take the appropriate measures as warranted. You may contact Customer Services at (718) 330-3322, open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., weekdays, to report this information.

We take the concerns of our customers seriously and thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

La Wanda C. Green
Associate Transit Customer Service Specialist II

Thank you, nycdude, for posting that.

Now, my questions for QC readers are:

1. Who among us is going to write down or memorize the car numbers of the E trains with broken a/c systems? I’m actually not being rhetorical. Let’s keep a log!
2. When I’m stuck in a hot car on the E train, I try to open at least two windows to get some air circulation. Invariably, someone will snap at me, saying, “You’re only making it worse!!!”

When subways cars didn’t have a/c (uh…my grandparents told me about it…), the ceiling fans were on and the windows were open. Even during the 1980s, when a/c was standard but usually broken (my parents told me about that…), people would gladly open car windows. That’s how you knew a car was hot when it pulled into the station.

So, dear readers, what do you think? Is a subway car with no a/c but a couple of open windows worse than a completely sealed car with no a/c, in the hopes you’re containing that one last pint of formerly cold air?

• Selfhelp Austin Street Senior Center, 106-06 Queens Blvd
• Young Israel Forest Hills Senior League, 68-07 Burns St.
• Forest Hills Senior Center, 108-25 62nd Dr.
• Young Israel Queens Valley Senior Center, 141-55 77th Ave.
• Rego Park Senior Center, 93-29 Queens Blvd.
• Pomonok Senior Center, 67-09 Kissena Blvd.

I also know that hospitals, such as North Shore (the old “LaGuardia Hospital”) on 102nd Street and 66th Road, let’s folks sit inside there on hot days, and provides beverages.

You can find more cooling centers around NYC by using the search page on the OEM website.

Check up on your neighbors you think might be in danger from the heat (elderly, folks with small children, pets left in no a/c all day…) to make sure they are doing okay in the heat!! Be cool!

OK, kidding aside, it was a very interesting meeting with lots of friendly people, plus free water bottles and snacks! I am happy to report there was more acknowledgment of Central and Eastern Queens this time. Notice they dropped the “W” from their name (for “Western Queens”)?

They know they’re heavy in their Western Queens emphasis, but frankly, they simply don’t know much about nabes east of Woodside. Fear not! They are very willing to learn! I think there will be more activity and attention paid to the rest of the borough in the near future.

Like I’ve written before, me and the DW love riding our bikes around town, and we have discovered so many great areas of Queens that we would never otherwise know about. I’ve lived my whole life in Queens and Brooklyn, and I’ve seen and learned more about Queens by bike in the 3 years I’ve been back than in all my years growing up here. It took us about four seasons to build up our skill and confidence as urban riders, and the newer and clearer bike lanes make us better bicyclists. What a difference we saw during a recent ride through Sunnyside, Jackson Heights and Corona, using the improved 43rd Avenue and 37th Avenue bike lanes - cars gave us more room, drivers nodded and smiled at us, and I noticed I made fewer “dumb moves.” We also stopped to look at our maps less frequently.

Central Queens would definitely benefit from better bike lanes and traffic calming. For example, I’d love to see better traffic control, pedestrian safety and some bike lanes at Trader Joe’s! That intersection is a nightmare.

Last weekend, I took a lovely ride from FoHi to St. John’s University and back (6 miles each way), using the Jewel Avenue and 73rd Avenue bike lanes. The improved pedestrian and biking markings and signage made a big difference. Cars and bikes shared the roads very well, and I felt much more relaxed than on unmarked streets. Now, if someone could only straighten out those hills….

Anyway, let’s move on to the recap. Here are a few of the major topics discussed:

Bike Lane on Queens Boulevard

Lizi Rahman came to the group and spoke about her son Asif’s death, and her commitment to fight for increased bicycle safety - and, ultimately, getting a bike lane painted on Queens Boulevard. Asif, 22, was run over by a truck while riding his bicycle on Queens Boulevard near Grand Avenue in February. Mrs. Rahman, a school teacher, was calm and focused, and spoke very movingly about her son’s love for life, poetry, people and bicycling. His death should not be in vain, she said, and so many lives can be saved by installing a bike lane on QB.

This is probably the hottest bike-shaped potato for Queens since congestion pricing. Don’t panic, and stop pulling your hair out. It’s not like this is going to happen next week. In fact, it might even take years. TAQC will be starting some preliminary outreach on the project.

I think it would be an awesome ride, from Briarwood all the way to The Bridge by bike, not too mention save lives. I know that residents are going to worry about the potential impact on parking, small businesses and buses. The TAQC is very interested in reaching out to community groups, newspapers, small business owners and residents in each neighborhood along QB for input and support.

Feeder rides from Queens to “Summer Streets”

You may have heard that Park Avenue in Manhattan will be closed to traffic for 4 hours on each of 3 Saturdays in August. This is part of the PlaNYC program to encourage green-tourism, exercise, creative use of public spaces, and experiment with car-free streets on a limited basis. The TAQC will organize group rides from Queens to the Summer Streets. Let’s hear it for the suggestion from guess who to start a ride from the Unisphere (or maybe even The Queeens Courthouse!)

The deets: August 9th, 16th and 23rd, from 7 AM to 1 PM, Park Avenue-Fourth Avenue will be closed to car traffic from 72nd Street down to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Let’s play Skully!

TAQC is interested in planning a “Play Street” - kinda like a block party, but focusing on street games like stickball, skully (skelzy, skelzies, skelly, etc.), saloogie, “running bases” or bocce. There’s one in Jackson Heights every Sunday morning (through Thanksgiving) for this safe, community-building and video-game-free activity. How about one in FoHi? Any suggestions?

Traffic-calming project for Astoria Boulevard

Trucks and cars often use Astoria Boulevard as a “back road” to escape Triborough Bridge traffic. The result is increased peril for pedestrians. According to the TAQC, 11,000 people use the subway station there every day, but the intersection of Astoria Boulevard and 31st Street is hazardous and designed poorly. The Traffic Calming Committee will be counting pedestrians and bicyclists at the intersection, and is looking for volunteers. Join up!

Try-athlon in Astoria Park!

Show how all your hard work at Quest or the NYSC has paid off, but at the same time, don’t kill yourself or do anything crazy! You might get a heart attack or a stroke or something! Instead of busting a vessel overexerting yourself, like running 26 miles, try the “Try-athlon” , August 23. Sign up for an un-timed, non-competitive half-mile swim, 12-mile bike ride and 3-mile run in an around Astoria. Hurry! Registration limited to 200 jocks!

Other items and projects:

• Sunnyside Block Party, August 10th
• Socrates Park Film Festival and valet bike parking
• Checking the hazards on NY Century Bike Route
• Speak up about the Willets Point Development Project, August 13, City Planning Commission hearing at NYU

Besides, QueensCrapper has been posting a some hot “found dog” stories - even a lost dog from Queens found in GA alive and well years later - and I’m feeling the peer pressure.

If you’re interested in bicycling around our great borough, and representin’ central Queens, this is the committe for you.

Thanks to comrade blogger, Forest Hills 72, for inquiring about the TA Queens Committee’s mission. Read the comments page to learn more about the inner workings and goals of the TAQC, and read my Forest Hills-Park Slope round-trip biking route.

There will be a packed agenda and lots to discuss, and lots of ways to get involved.  I also look forward to getting everyone’s opinion on a variety of topics. 

Transportation Alternatives Queens Committee advocates on behalf of cyclists, pedestrians, and mass transit users, in Queens.  They meet the 2nd Monday each month (unless otherwise noted) at the Greater Astoria Historical Society from 6:30p-8p.  All are welcome to join.

At any rate, you can still go there and sign up for one. The store will call you when you can come and pick it up, approximately in a week or less.

And remember, the batteries STILL can not be changed or removed! Apple continues its suport of the environment via planned obsolescence.

OK, enough sarcasm. The New York Times has an article about Bukharans building McMansions in the Cord Meyer area. Thank you to Sarah on our forum for posting the link.

In typical New York Times fashion, by the time the story is covered, it is usually about 3 years too late, the issue is usually over, not trendy anymore or there’s nothing that can be done about it.

• The always-underutilized West Side Tennis Club is playing host to not one but two events. This weekend the American Cancer Society will hold a “Relay for Life,” where people will be perpetually moving around a track and candles will be lit to honor cancer victims and survivors. They also promise “entertainment all night,” and try finding that somewhere else in Forest Hills. Registration is at 5 p.m. this Saturday.
• But first! Today (Tuesday, that is) my one-time tennis fave, Jim Courier, will be at the Club to host a clinic for kids. That’s at 3:45. There’ll be “skills, drills and Q&A,” plus free strawberries and cream to honor Jimmy’s Wimbledon success. I was informed in somewhat unclear language that this event might not be open to the public, so I’m not sure whether you, the common folk, may go. But I don’t know, call and find out! What, they’re going to turn away your tennis-loving kid? He or she could be a member one day!
• I thought Tierra Sana, the West FoHi health-food destination, was already open and had been for some time. But no, it seems they’re holding a Grand Opening event this Thursday! Dinner is at 7:30. It looks like there’ve been a few changes since I last visited, so it might be worth checking out.

Returning NYC ex-pat Michael Jaye sure hopes so!

In about a week, he is opening NY Diamond Boutique, a new fine jewelry store on Austin Street - which happens to be diagonally across the street from Chateau Jewelers! Wow, talk about having big rocks!

While window-shopping on the strip this Sunday, I came across preparations already in progress at his new store. I had a short chat with Mr. Jaye about his store and business on Austin Street. He’s been in the fine jewelry business for 20 years and returned to NYC after business was flagging at his store in the tony Buckhead area of Atlanta, GA — “Where old money lives, new money parties.”

So, nu? Why Austin Street, when other small retailers are closing? Why put up with the high rents? Why so near other jewelry stores like Chateau, Stoa, GemStory?

Mr. Jaye was very relaxed and confident about competing with the other jewelry stores in the area. He told me that, after extensive research, he found Forest Hills to have the best demographic and parameters for his store: lots of pedestrian and street traffic, “buyers, not browsers,” and, in general, shoppers with “Manhattan tastes” who come to Austin Street from all over as a “shopping destination.”

Obviously, we had never met before. [RIMSHOT]

In the name of full-disclosure, I showed Mr. Jaye my engagement ring, which was indeed purchased at Chateau, and it garnered a moment of respectful admiration.

Mr. Jaye expects to open his store around July 1, and you’ll get a free gift that he promises to be “much better than a refrigerator magnet” just for stopping in.

Good luck to NY Diamond Boutique!
P.S. By the way, if anyone else was out shopping on Sunday and was lucky enough to enjoy the sunshine - despite typhoon-like rain predicted - who was that guy next to Giorgio’s who seemed to be selling something, talking up anything that moved? He was a tall, white, brown-haired, middle-aged guy, and his product was a bunch of flat rectangles that looked like packages of lox. He seemed to have a “posse” of 3 or 4 guys hanging on the stoop assisting him (mostly by sitting on the stoop and watching him.) My investigative journalistic energy having been spent, I didn’t take the time to inquire. As our eyes and ears, gentle readers, it’s up to you to gimme the scoop!