Holes in the western property fence have been a long-term problem for tenants of 186th Lane as well as nearby homeowners as the well-worn path leading away from one of the holes at top left shows. Tenants suffered with increased litter and periodic damage to nearby laundry rooms and homeowners complained about increased crime and property trespass issues.

The September 2010 storm only made the holes worse, and in the case of one location (top middle) nearly toppling the entire fence. Several robberies around this time caused the local homeowners to seek action and several local officials pledged their support.

On October 28, 2010,  Queens Fresh Meadows management directed some workmen (top right) to clean up the area around the fence holes as a first step to repairing the fence. Attesting to the political sensitivity of the issue, several members of the QFM management did not identify themselves as they surreptiously took the picture of our photographer (who, at first, thought they were people looking to take a shortcut through the fence!). Later, identities established, one of the management team wanted to emphasize that he had already spent several thousand dollars in temporary fence repairs and that the workmen were cleaning up a lot that was not owned by Queens Fresh Meadows as a gesture of goodwill.

(UPDATE: The cleanup was successful and the fence was repaired to everyone’s satisfaction.)