24 The queens Courier • january 3, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com no train a Pain for biZ, resiDents BY MAGGIE HAYES [email protected] Once more, western Queens business owners could potentially say goodbye to a profitable winter. The No. 7 line weekend service between Queens and Manhattan is being suspended until the end of March, and many area business owners fear that this will affect the influx of customers they usually get. The award-winning Chocolate Factory Theater in Long Island City is just one of the many organiza- Photo courtesy of Elmhurst Hospital tions expecting a severe blow to their business this Parents Rosalba Merino and Eutiquo Mejia with baby Kaylee. ent work,” said Sheila Lewandowski of the theater OH BABY!-“We will be unable to commission work, to pres season. company. “If our audience can’t get here, what are we saying to our artists?” the coming winter months, and is expecting around Two vie for firstThe Chocolate Factory planned four shows for 5,000 people to attend. They have artists com- Lewandowski, artists who have been preparing for baby of 2013 ing in from all over the world, and, according to these shows for years. “The No. 7 train is part of the ticket,” said Lewandowski, who fears that without the subway line, artists will have a difficult time getting to the BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA theater, or that the number of attendees will signifi- [email protected] cantly decrease. Lewandowski also said that, had they been There is no question that the first New York City baby informed of the closures a month or two ago, shows of 2013 was born in Queens, but two hospitals in the could have been rescheduled. But, with the two borough are claiming they delivered a child at midnight weeks’ notice that the MTA gave, nothing can be on January 1. done. New York Hospital Queens announced that a baby “Millions of people are disadvantaged and incon- named Olivia, weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces, was born at venienced,” said Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer. exactly 12 a.m. to parents Rosemary Espinal and Freddy “The people of Queens are being disrespected.” Pena of Brooklyn, but Elmhurst Hospital said another Until March 25, the MTA will be working on tun- girl, Kaylee, weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces, also entered the nel, signal and track maintenance in the Steinway world at the same time. Tunnel, which connects Queens to Manhattan, and Since the two babies were delivered at the stroke of will replace tracks between the Court Square and midnight, they will share the title of first born. Queensboro Plaza stations. “Her due date was January 4 so we were very surprised Van Bramer held a press conference on Friday, and excited. We didn’t think she would be born at mid- December 28, the day that marked the beginning night,” said Rosemary Espinal. of the closures, in front of the bustling Vernon Both hospitals gave the new parents gifts for having the Photo courtesy of New York Hospital Queens Boulevard–Jackson Avenue train stop. He was joined first baby of the year. Baby Olivia is one of two infants born at midnight on by fellow Councilmember Peter Koo and area busi- Kaylee’s mother and father, Rosalba Merino and January 1, 2013. ness owners, all protesting the MTA changes. Eutiquo Mejia of Queens, received a gift basket with “Year after year this is too much to bear.” gives to the parents of the first baby born at its facility of flowers.ents with a $250 gift card and a congratulatory basketeach year.-“If I seem a little angry, I am,” said Van Bramer.clothes and other baby supplies, which Elmhurst Hospital-New York Hospital Queens presented Olivia’s parIn 2010, the No. 7 line was suspended for 12 week ends, and again for five weekends this past fall. letter from the MTA, detailing the weekend closures. Shopping may be in Scobee’s futureOn December 8, Community Board 2 received a According to Van Bramer, there was no discussion or opportunity for input, simply a: “this is how it is, so deal with it.” BY MELISSA CHAN reach negotiations to purchase the property from its Going forward, the councilmember intends to [email protected] landowners. work with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn Retail plans were not yet known for the now and the rest of the Council to urge the MTA to An applicant is looking to tear down a shuttered vacant site, said Seinfeld, but there is a high possibil- change course, and also advises that residents sign Little Neck diner to erect a retail and community ity the equities firm would push for a medical facility an online petition, on the City Council website, and facility in its place, according to a local community or a day care on the second floor. also protest via social media. board. A public hearing for the proposal is scheduled for For alternate service, straphangers can use the E, Lion Bee Equities, a Great Neck-based company, March, Seinfeld said. F, N and Q lines. On Saturdays and Sundays from has proposed transforming the former Scobee Grill Longtime Little Neck resident Larry Penner, who 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., the Q will be extended to Astoria- diner into a two-story building with retail on the first said he met his wife at Scobee’s on a blind date, wel- Ditmars Boulevard. Additionally, free shuttle buses floor and a community facility on the second floor, comed the development. will operate between the Vernon Boulevard-Jackson said Community Board 11’s district manager Susan “This would create jobs for construction people Avenue and Queensboro Plaza stations during those Seinfeld. and contractors. I miss Scobee’s but neighborhoods weekends. The popular diner at 252-29 Northern Boulevard change. Restaurants come and go,” he said. “I was With additional reporting by Cristabelle Tumola had been around for several decades before it shut kind of hoping a diner would come in there, but a lot down two years ago when eatery owners failed to of diners are disappearing in Queens.”
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