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The Rockaway Times
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2021
By Beth Hanning
Driving Etiquette Driving in New York City is a video game. It reminds me of the old video game Pole Position and the newer one Grand Theft Auto. My nephew, Tyler, plays a game where he drives like a lunatic and laughs. He runs things over, crashes and then can hop into a new car. It seems these games are becoming more real. People in New York City, especially Rockaway and Broad Channel, need to learn how to drive. What people also need to do is to learn simple driver’s etiquette. PS: I really only drive from Rockaway to Ozone Park, as I truly dislike driving. One law that is often violated in our town is the stop sign. I am unsure why people do not feel the need to stop. As I have mentioned many times, I live on Newport and it is the “Newport 500” with cars speeding, and then on the cross streets people do not stop for the stop signs which is a recipe for disaster. Each student who leaves my house after tutoring is told “Please be careful on Newport.” I saw an accident on Beach 121st Street and Newport last Friday afternoon. I am sure one person was speeding and/or the other person glided through the stop sign. FYI I hate the new stop sign heading onto Beach Channel Drive from Newport at Beach 116th. That will cause accidents. It was a yield sign for as long as I can remember, and I never saw an accident there. Red Lights. Please people, stop at the red lights. Do not speed up when you see the
“don’t walk” sign blinking. I see people run through the red light at Duane Reade and Beach Channel Drive each day and last week a young lady was struck by a car and is still in the hospital with a long recovery ahead. This is an area I have seen many accidents and have requested a red light camera there and was told we have too many in the area. While I agree there are a lot, I feel the one on Beach Channel Drive is needed as a deterrent. Speeding. I know this is a hot topic, especially with the lowering of the speed limit, on Cross Bay Boulevard it is 25 miles per hour. I get it, I had to place a post-it on my dashboard to remember that when driving home from work southbound on Cross Bay Boulevard, there is a new speed camera. One of my friend says that at night “that camera lights up like a Christmas tree.” The first week of school, I received a ticket, as did my daughter. Now I am driving much slower. PS: I am obsessed with the lawlessness on Cross Bay Boulevard as I drive through each morning. It is dark and people go in the left hand turning lane and go through red lights. Please, parents, tell your children the walk sign does not always mean walk. Not during rush hour. Kids, keep your eyes open. I used to be one of these speeders. But since I have seen so many fatalities and near fatalities recently, I have definitely slowed down.
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IMPROVE OR UPGRADE? I often meet buyers and/or sellers contemplating the same dilemma: they need more space in their home for growing families. Should they put a lot of money into an existing home (or a potential purchase), or should they buy a bigger, more expensive house which doesn’t need a lot of work? The decision depends somewhat upon individual finances and the specifics of the house in question. In general, it probably makes sense to sell the existing house and avoid making any large investment in construction work. Why? Delays and cost over-runs are common problems – even more prevalent nowadays during the pandemic than in
years gone by. I’d try to avoid building permits, architects, and construction workers in our current environment. On the other hand, I have a comprehensive list of tradesmen if you want to seriously consider construction: this includes plumbers, roofers, masons, carpenters, architects, general contractors, etc. and even handymen. Of course, my suggestion to sell rather than upgrade is dependent upon obtaining an acceptable price for the existing home and buying the new home at a fair price. I can help. Thirty-year fixed rate mortgages are at 3.00% approximately. This costs $421/100k per month. Call me. Love, Robin.
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