FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 5, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3 Sears store in Rego Park to close Sears announced it will be closing 18 locations nationwide this year, and the department store chain’s Rego Park location is on the list. Located at 96-05 Queens Blvd., the store is a fi xture of the Rego Center shopping mall, which also includes a Kohl’s, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Marshalls, Burlington Coat Factory and Old Navy. Liquidation sales will start on Jan. 6 and it will offi cially close between late March and mid-April, Business Insider fi rst reported. Sears will have fewer than 1,700 stores left by early 2017. Th e retailer has been shutting down stores across the U.S. aft er its revenue fell 13 percent during the fourth quarter and store sales dropped by 10 percent. Angela Matua 7 train best, A train worst: report Queens’ subway lines go from one extreme to the other, depending on where you’re riding. Th e annual “State of the Subways Report Card” found that some lines running through the “World’s Borough” are ranked the best in terms of service, while others need to make major improvements. Th is year, three lines emerged as the best — the 1, 7 and L trains. Th e 7 runs through Queens, making stops in Flushing, Corona, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Sunnyside, Woodside and Long Island City. It ranked fi rst in amount of scheduled service and cleanliness. It ranked 12th in regularity of service, 10th in breakdown rate, 14th in crowding and 10th in accurate and frequent in-car announcements. Unsurprisingly, the A train was considered the worst train line this year along with the 5 train. Th e A train runs through Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Queens neighborhoods of Ozone Park, Howard Beach and the Rockaways. It ranked 10th in amount of service, 18th in regularity of service, 14th in breakdown rate, 9th in crowding, 12th in cleanliness and 14th in in-car announcements. Angela Matua Elmhurst mom fatally strangled baby A mother in Elmhurst is facing murder charges for strangling her 1-year-old daughter in their home on Jan. 3. Offi cers from the 110th Precinct responded to a 911 call about a child at 87-19 Elmhurst Ave. at 6 p.m. on Jan. 3. Upon their arrival, they found 1-year-old Sanggye Lhakyi lying unconscious and unresponsive in a bed at the location. EMS responded to the location and pronounced Lhakyi dead at the scene. Th e victim’s mother, 33-year-old Shangbo Xiangshengjie, was arrested at the scene. Following an ongoing investigation, Xiangshengjie was arrested and charged with murder. Emily Davenport Photo: Suzanne Monteverdi/THE COURIER The Party City location at the corner of Bell and Northern boulevards in Bayside is shutting down. TURN OUT THE LIGHTS... Bayside’s Party City set to close over rent & parking woes BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com/@smont76 Th e party’s over for Bayside‘s Party City location. Th e retailer of party supplies located at 213-02 Northern Blvd. is moving out aft er 20 years of business. Th e store will close for good on Sunday, Jan. 8. Owner Rich Tinari, who runs the business with his family, said a doubling in monthly rent and parking competition with food vendors who set up at the location were diffi culties that led to the decision to move out. Previously from Bayside and a current resident of Douglaston, Tinari said the store closing is “bittersweet.” “Th ank you to the community for 20 years of business,” Tinari said. “We were given the opportunity to stay … But with the food business continuing to use our lot, it just wasn’t worth the headache. I’d like to thank the many, many people who have shopped Party City in Bayside.” He also added that the storefront has been rented out by the landlord to a “medical business.” Tinari said he and his family have been looking for a new location with parking in Bayside to move into. Th e Party City in College Point at 30-10 Whitestone Expy. — which he also owns — will continue to do business as usual. “It’s a mega-store — more than two times the size of the Bayside location,” Tinari said. Th e College Point location can be reached at 718-321-3414. Suozzi among new Queens lawmakers sworn into offi ce BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@qns.com/@robbpoz Not long aft er the new year’s confetti was swept away from Times Square, four new lawmakers representing Queens in the State Capitol and the Nation’s Capitol began their terms in offi ce. Queens’ newest Congressman is Tom Suozzi, who takes over for the outgoing Steve Israel as the Th ird Congressional District’s voice in the House of Representatives. Suozzi defeated Republican state Senator Jack Martins in November for the seat covering the northeast Queens communities of Bay Terrace, Douglaston, Glen Oaks, Little Neck, North Shore Towers and Whitestone, along with northern Nassau and northwestern Suff olk Counties. Suozzi was among the 435 members of the House of Representatives who took the oath of offi ce on Tuesday, Jan. 3, on Capitol Hill at the start of the 115th Congressional session. Two days earlier, Suozzi and former Congressman Israel held a ceremony in Glen Cove that served as a passing of the torch from one legislator to another. Th e other members of the Queens Congressional delegation are all incumbents who easily won re-election in November. Th e more substantial change on the Queens political scene will take eff ect in the Assembly as three new members offi cially take offi ce on New Year’s Day. Among them is Brian Barnwell, who now represents the 30th Assembly District covering parts of Astoria, Long Island City, Maspeth, Middle Village and Woodside. Another fresh face from Queens in the Assembly is Clyde Vanel, who won in November the vacant 33rd Assembly District seat formerly held by the late Assemblywoman Barbara Clark. Th e district covers parts of St. Albans, Laurelton, Cambria Heights and Queens Village. Additionally, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheff er-Amato now succeeds Phil Goldfeder as representative of the 23rd Assembly District, which covers Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Broad Channel and most of the Rockaways. Pheff er-Amato is the daughter of Queens County Clerk Audrey Pheff er, who held the same Assembly seat prior to Goldfeder.
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