FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 6, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11 De Blasio talks bike lanes, shelters at Corona town hall BY ANGELA MATUA amatua@qns.com @AngelaMatua Mayor Bill de Blasio continued his town hall tour around the city on March 29 when he visited Corona to answer questions from residents. During the session at I.S. 61, he announced that the city would implement the plan to transform 111th Street despite protests from Community Board 4. After several years of discussion, the board again did not make a decision whether to approve the plan during a March meeting. “The 111th Street plan has been a long process as you described,” he said. “These are always complicated issues and there’s good reasons why communities want to talk them through and think about them. I am comfortable that the right thing to do is move ahead with our efforts to protect people on 111th.” He added that the city would work with community groups throughout the process to implement any changes to improve upon the plan. According to a DOT spokesperson, the work on 111th Street will begin this summer. The plan includes removing one northbound lane, adding a two-way bike path, pedestrian refuges and 25 new parking spots. Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras- Copeland, who fully funded the safety Mayor Bill de Blasio visited Corona for a Town Hall on March 29. improvements in 2013, thanked the mayor on Twitter for moving forward with the plan. De Blasio also announced that as the city looks to phase out the use of hotels for homeless shelters, two hotels in the Corona area will be reverted back to their former use. He did not say which hotels and did not provide a specific timeline. “In this community there is a substantial amount of shelters,” he said. “We will be able to, over the years, be able to get out of some shelter starting with two hotels that are in this district. Our plan, and I can’t give a date today but I can tell you there is a very, very clear plan that we believe in 100 percent. Our plan is to get out of those two hotels and stay out and eventually shut these shelters in this community because there is more than Photo by Angela Matua/QNS enough capacity.” The mayor also discussed the need for more affordable senior housing, youth centers in the neighborhood, community policing and education. He reiterated his support for immigrants at the meeting, where some Latino residents said they were concerned about rhetoric coming from the Trump administration. Higher rates now and an option to catch rising rates! 30 Month IRA CD 1.60% APY* Discover Queens Locations www.poncebank.com 42 Month IRA CD 1.79% APY* |SINCE 1960 ® 37-60 82nd Street 34-05 Broadway 100-20 Queens Boulevard ™ DISCOVER THE PONCE DIFFERENCE: THE CONVERTIBLE IRA CD *The Annual Percentage Yields (APY) shown are effective as of 02/01/2017. Minimum opening deposit is $500.00 to qualify for the promotional offer. These promotional IRA Certificates of Deposit allow a one-time conversion to any other IRA CD type without penalty during the term. Promotion will expire on 4/18/2017. Rates and provisions subject to change without notice. Other restrictions may apply. Early withdrawal fees may apply. For more information, visit your nearest branch.
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