A one block stretch of Lohengrin Place, which was riddled with pot holes, is now paved and has officially joined the rest of Country Club on the city’s officialmap. For years, the street was full of pot holes and had an uneven pavement, and its sewers were not even maintained by the city.
Residents were grateful to see the street paved, as many noted that there was an uneven or broken pavement on Lohengrin Place between Parsifal Place and Rawlings Avenue, and that a manhole in the middle of the street was substantially above grade.
The street was finally paved, after being dedicated by the City Council as an official street this past fall, at the urging of Councilman James Vacca, on Wednesday, May 5. NYC Department of Transportation crews set to work putting down the blacktop on the street, which curves towards Rawlings Avenue and Parsifal Place.
“Parts of Lohengrin Place and Valhalla Drive both were not dedicated streets,” said Marcia Pavlica, president of the Country Club Civic Association. “We worked very hard to have the streets dedicated, and they did became a city streets. As a private street, it was not working. We worked with the Borough President’s Office’s Topography Office and with Councilman Vacca, who pushed the issue in terms of getting Lohengrin Place made a city street.”
Vacca worked with longtime community resident Frank Menillo to make sure the stretch of Lohengrin Place became a city street and was paved.
“I promised the Country Club community that as soon as we got the street dedicated, I would insist the street be paved,” Vacca said. “I want to thank the
Department of Transportation and especially resident Frank Menillo, who was a bulldog when it came to fighting for the dedication and paving.”
While the street is short, it was difficult to navigate in a car before the paving.
“It has always been plowed in winter,” said Edward Martocci, who has lived around the corner on Parsifal Place for 61 years. “I didn’t even know that it was not a city street until a year ago. It was bumpy and had a manhole cover that was above grade. Because it was such a short street, it did not bother anyone.”
Martocci said he grew up in the Country Club community and remembers when many of the streets were gravel.
Salvatore DeVito, whose daughter and son-in-law live on Lohengrin Place, said the dedication and paving will hopefully end what had been haphazard maintenance on the street.
“They city never did anything to the street except to patch it up,” DeVito said. “We complained to Councilman Vacca, and it got paved.”
