DANIEL DROMM, Democrat for City Council

From NY Daily News: By Leigh Remizowski

Labels: Press, Transportation

Labels: Transportation

Jackson Heights business owners say coin-fed parking meters limit turnover in shoppers
by Clare Trapasso

Welcome to No Park Heights - aka Jackson Heights. Residents and shoppers compete daily for scant street parking while dodging ticket agents in one of the city's most ethnically diverse neighborhoods. The crunch is worst in the 70s, between 35th and Roosevelt Aves., local leaders said, where densely packed rows of South Asian shops compete for customers. But they - like officials in other areas that Queens News has spoken to for its "Queens Parking Crunch" series - had some ideas that could help alleviate the mess. The city Department of Transportation will hold an open house to address parking and transit concerns at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 27 at Public School 69, 77-02 37th Ave. City Councilman Daniel Dromm would like to see many of the coin-fed parking meters along the busiest streets replaced by muni-meters.

"If you took out all of these meters, you might be able to get two or three cars per block extra," said the newly elected Jackson Heights Democrat. Dromm also proposed turning many of the two-hour spaces along a main shopping drag - 37th Ave. - into one-hour spots. "Cars come and they stay all day," he said of the congested streets. "What we need to do is keep them moving."

He has even asked the city to remove the parking spot his predecessor, Helen Sears, reserved for herself in front of the district office he now occupies. The Transportation Department is processing Dromm's request to remove that spot, officials said. The agency is also looking into installing muni-meters.

But Dromm's long-term goal is to create parking permits for locals. This could dissuade commuters from parking in Jackson Heights all day while they take public transit into Manhattan.

That could cut down on the roughly 30 minutes it takes Jackson Heights resident Teemoia Marino, 35, to find a parking spot.
"It's like you win the Lotto if you find the parking," he said. The dearth of parking isn't just driving motorists nuts - it's hurting businesses, too.

"If you can't park, you can't do the shopping," said Fatema Shakoor, 46, whose sister owns the South Asian clothing shop Aanggan on 74th St. "They can't take their time [or] they get a ticket."

Labels: EconomicDevelopment, Press, Transportation

From TimesLedger: by Anna Gustafson
Rego Center spurs worries, Dromm visits Community Board 6

Mitigating traffic around Rego Center should be a top priority for City Councilman-elect Danny Dromm, members of Community Board 6 told the incoming legislator at their meeting last week.

CB 6 Chairman Joseph Hennessy, other members and area resident Hersh Parekh said they were worried that the Rego Park shopping center slated to open in February could bring with it burdensome traffic. Rego Center will include such stores as Costco, T.J. Maxx and Kohl’s.

“We’re very concerned about the traffic,” Hennessy told Dromm. “We’d like to meet with the developer and the [city] Department of Transportation.”

Dromm, who will replace outgoing Councilwoman Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights), attended the CB 6 meeting Dec. 9 to introduce himself to board members. Councilwoman-elect Karen Koslowitz represents the majority of the area covered by CB 6, but Dromm has constituents in part of Rego Park. He will represent the area where Rego Center will be located.

The center is a 6.6-acre site at the intersection of Junction Boulevard and 62nd Drive next to the Long Island Expressway and directly behind the Rego Park Mall, which includes an Old Navy, a Sears and a Bed, Bath & Beyond. The site is managed by Vornado but owned by Alexander’s Inc.

According to a Nov. 2 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the development will be a 600,000-square-foot shopping center on four levels and will include a parking deck with about 1,400 spaces. As of October, 138,000 square feet had been leased to Costco, 134,000 square feet leased to Century 21 and 132,000 square feet leased to Kohl’s.

District Manager Frank Gulluscio and Hennessy said Vornado officials told them T.J. Maxx had also signed a lease.

Parekh, a Rego Park resident, said at the meeting he wasworried that traffic from the center could make parking impossible for residents.

“I know traffic is a very, very big concern for people,” Dromm said. “We need to get on top of that.”

Dromm told community board members that education was one of his main concerns and said he hoped to work to bring more seats to a district notorious for its crowded classrooms.

“Education has always been my passion,” said Dromm, a former public school teacher.

The incoming lawmaker said he also wanted to work on health care issues in the borough, particularly in light of the closure of St. John’s Hospital in Elmhurst. Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica closed at the same time as St. John’s last February. Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills closed not long before St. John’s and Mary Immaculate shut their doors.

Dromm said he is looking into bringing in health facilities to “alleviate overcrowding in area hospitals.”

Labels: CommunityOrganizing, Education, HealthCare, Transportation

From Jackson Heights Times: by Jeremy Walsh
"Dromm Touts Activist Past"
When Daniel Dromm launched his bid for the City Council last year, he did not expect to be the underdog. But when Mayor Michael Bloomberg succeeded in extending term limits, the public school teacher and Democratic district leader found himself pitted against incumbent Councilwoman Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights).

“It does change my strategy,” he said. “But that’s going to be a problem for her, because I disagree with her a lot.”

Dromm said as a councilman, he would focus on overcrowding in schools, traffic congestion and health care.

He criticized Sears for not bringing additional school seats to her Council district, noting that Districts 24 and 30 are two of the most overcrowded in the city.

“We’ve got to build up [on existing sites] or we find other places to do it,” he said. “Just saying that we can’t do something is not acceptable.”

To alleviate traffic congestion, Dromm proposed redirecting and extending some one-way streets in the Jackson Heights Historic District, as well as commissioning a traffic impact study for the LeFrak City area, which he fears will be overwhelmed by vehicles traveling to and from the new shopping center along Junction Boulevard in Rego Park.

Labels: CommunityOrganizing, Education, HealthCare, Press, Transportation

Daniel Dromm, Democrat for City Council District 25, will attend the NYC Dept of Transportation Jackson Heights Neighborhood Transportation Community Workshop on July 16th.

NYCDOT is working with the Jackson Heights community to develop
short-term transportation solutions to improve conditions within Jackson Heights.

NYCDOT is going to conduct an interactive community workshop to develop an understanding of the transportation issues in Jackson Heights from the real experts: The Community!

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2009 6:30 p.m.
WHITE CASTLE HEADQUARTERS
69-01 34th Avenue
Jackson Heights, New York

Directions: 7 Train to 69th St. or R/V Train to 65th Street; Q53 Bus

Daniel Dromm encourages everyone to attend this important meeting. We want YOU to play an active and involved role in this study!

To learn more about Dromm's plan to reduce traffic congestion and improve pedestrian safety, visit: Dromm Plan

Labels: CommunityOrganizing, MassTransit, Transportation

From Jackson Heights Times:
Jackson Heights residents got sobering messages of sacrifice and necessity from former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch, but few assurances that the borough’s specific transit woes would be solved if his plan to institute East River tolls and a payroll tax were implemented.

Speaking at a forum organized by state Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D−East Elmhurst) and state Assemblyman Jose Peralta (D−Jackson Heights), Ravitch said he empathized with people’s reluctance to pay taxes and tolls, but warned the agency’s $800 million operating deficit meant the current funding system is inadequate.

“This is the only city in the United States which is totally dependent on mass transit,” he said, noting 84 percent of people coming to the city’s central business district are straphangers of some kind.

Ravitch’s plan calls for a $5 toll on all East River crossings, a payroll tax on employers and an 8 percent increase in passenger fares. It would eliminate the proposed service cuts in the MTA’s current doomsday budget proposal and reduce the anticipated fare hike of 23 percent.

Democratic District Leader Daniel Dromm asked if tolling the bridges would create traffic jams and increase smog in the Queens neighborhoods along the East River.

Labels: CommunityOrganizing, Mass Transit, Transportation