MTA POSTPONES ALL QUEENS BUS
REDESIGN MEETINGS IN APRIL
Live streamed events keep Astoria community connected
Photo via Getty Images
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MARCH 27-APRIL 2, 2020 3
BY JENNA BAGCAL
The MTA postponed several
bus redesign meetings
scheduled for next month
due to ever-present coronavirus
concerns.
The meetings were originally
scheduled for dates
in April in Bay Terrace,
Roosevelt Island, Oakland
Gardens Middle Village
and Glen Oaks. Earlier this
month, the MTA also postponed
two March meetings
in Whitestone and at North
Shore Towers.
Earlier this week, northeast
Queens officials including
Assemblyman Edward
Braunstein and Councilman
Paul Vallone confirmed the
postponement of the April 2
meeting at the Bay Terrace
Gardens Jewish Center.
“The April 2nd MTA
Workshop at the Bay Terrace
Garden Jewish Center
has been POSTPONED. As is
the case with the postponed
March 18th & 19th Workshops
in #Whitestone and
#NorthShoreTowers, the
@MTA has assured us these
dates will be rescheduled.
Please stay posted,” Vallone
tweeted.
On March 19, the MTA’s
site showed that the other
meetings had also been
rescheduled. Prior to the
postponements, the MTA
had co-hosted 29 meetings
in Queens neighborhoods
across the borough.
In letters sent out to “community
partners” the agency
said that they would be looking
into exploring digital
technology to communicate
during these times.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
260-2583. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
BY JESSICA MILITELLO
As bars, restaurants, stores
and gyms have been closed in
a state-mandated effort to slow
the spread of the coronavirus,
residents have been mostly
stuck at home unable to enjoy
their usual fitness classes,
meet up with friends and take
part in Astoria nightlife.
However, many businesses
and event organizers have been
using livestreams and social
media to continue reaching
out to the community by having
online classes and digital
events for their audiences to
maintain a sense of normalcy
and a source of relief while the
city is at a standstill.
James Orfanos, the coowner
of New York Martial
Arts Academy, which has one
of its four locations on Broadway
and Crescent, has been
letting his students continue
their Jeet Kune Do training by
providing livestreamed classes
via the school’s Instagram
and YouTube pages Monday
through Friday at 7 p.m. and a
Saturday class at noon.
Orfanos immediately
made the decision to keep
classes going in some way for
students to continue enjoying
the benefits of the martial art
from home.
“Our livestreamed classes
will be taught the same as
regular class,” said Orfanos.
“Our students can still get
good information and train in
their living room. We’re obviously
not giving up. I want to
make sure that the students
are still training, especially
now when everyone is stircrazy
at home. It’ll be a good
way to get the students energy
up.”
While personal trainers
and fitness facilities seem to
be following suit in offering
their classes online for members
to work on their physical
health, Astoria Music Collective
founders Miguel Hernandez
and Karen Adelman have
decided to keep their music
showcases going through live
sessions called “AMC Digital
Sessions” streamed through
their Facebook page for artists
and listeners to enjoy.
Normally, the AMC performs
throughout bars and
venues in the neighborhood,
but the duo is determined to
keep the show going any way
they can.
“Although we can’t gather
in person, through digital sessions
we can come together
to support and rejoice in each
other, and maybe bring a little
warmth to uncertain times,”
Adelman said. “It may not be
exactly a sense of normalcy,
but it’s extremely comforting
to see and hear our friends continue
to celebrate life through
our shared love of music.”
Queens Craft Brigade,
which holds monthly makers
markets, will be having an online
event on April 19 in order
to bring people together and to
continue being a platform for
artists to show and sell their
work. As their events for the
next few months will likely be
postponed, the group’s founder
Robert Duffy took their
event online which will also
include showing home-bound
residents different ways to tap
into their creative side as well
as continuing to show other’s
work.
“We want to find a way for
people to still connect,” Duffy
said. “We hope to have a forum
for people to talk with each
other, maybe learn a skill, and
just be with each other. If it
goes well we may do them on
a more regular basis; we’re all
in this together.”
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