26 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 22, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Photo: Robert Pozarycki/THE COURIER
Some LIRR riders will get a break on their tickets
for riding during the “Summer of Hell.”
LIRR slashes
fares for some
riding trains in
‘Summer of Hell’
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
During what Governor Andrew Cuomo
recently dubbed the “Summer of Hell” for
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuters,
Queens riders can take advantage of some
discounts to compensate for their transit
woes, the MTA announced on June 20.
Last week, the MTA announced its
revised summer schedule to accommodate
the much-needed construction work
on Penn Station tracks, which will impact
approximately 9,600 customers. Th e new
schedule eliminates or reroutes a number
of rush hour trains into and out of Penn
Station as the work commences.
Today, the corporation announced that
the LIRR will off er, on average, a 25 percent
fare reduction for all passengers traveling
to Queens’ Hunterspoint Avenue
and Brooklyn’s Atlantic Terminal during
Amtrak’s repair work at Penn Station. All
LIRR riders will also be given a free transfer
during the morning rush to New York
City subways at the two stations.
Th e discount will be in eff ect from July
10 until the completion of repair work
and applies to monthly, weekly and daily
tickets.
Discounted monthly tickets are available
beginning today, June 20, via ticket
windows, ticket vending machines and
mail and ride. Discounted tickets will be
available via MTA eTix starting on July 1.
“We believe that this move will mitigate
the inconvenience that our customers
may experience, and have the added
benefi t of drawing customers away from
Penn Station while Amtrak performs
repair work,” said MTA Interim Director
Ronnie Hakim.
For northeast Queens riders, three evening
rush hour trains will be eliminated
in the Port Washington Branch’s new
summer schedule, eff ective July 10, it was
announced last week.
In the wake of that announcement,
local lawmakers spoke out, stating that
the LIRR needs to provide more transit
options for northeast Queens riders when
summer track work starts.
For more information about the summer
schedule or the construction plan,
visit www.mta.info.
Port Wash. line loses 3 rush hour trains this summer
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
For commuters who take the Long
Island Rail Road’s Port Washington
Branch to and from offi ces in Manhattan
every day, getting to work won’t be as
bad as coming home during the upcoming
“summer of hell.”
Th ree rush hour trains serving northeast
Queens — one in the morning and
two in the evening — are eliminated
from the new schedule slated to take
eff ect on July 10. Th ree evening rush
hour trains that normally would emanate
out of Penn Station will instead operate
out of Hunterspoint Avenue in Long
Island City.
Th ese changes and others throughout
the LIRR system are taking eff ect on
July 10 as Amtrak embarks on emergency
track work at Penn Station following
a spate of problems that led to service
disruptions.
Th e lone morning rush hour cancellation
on the Port Washington branch is the
8:04 a.m. express train out of Great Neck,
which stops at Little Neck, Douglaston
and Bayside, then runs express service to
Woodside and Penn Station. Customers
will need to either wake up earlier to catch
a 7:55 a.m. express train out of Little Neck
or wait for the 8:24 a.m. express out of
Great Neck.
During the aft ernoon, however, Port
Washington line commuters will lose
two express trains that currently operate
out of Penn Station at 5:26 p.m. and 5:50
p.m. Th ese trains stop at Woodside, then
run express to Bayside before making all
local stops to Great Neck.
Th e LIRR will operate a new express
train that will depart Hunterspoint
Avenue at 5:17 p.m., arrive at Woodside
at 5:26 p.m., and then run express to
Bayside before making all local stops to
Great Neck, where it will be due to arrive
at 5:45 p.m.
Two other eastbound trains will emanate
out of Hunterspoint Avenue: one
at 4:49 p.m. and the other at 6:45 p.m.
Th ese trains will make all local stops to
Great Neck.
Th e loss of the three evening express
trains will lead many northeast Queens
residents to either use local trains operating
out of Penn Station or take the
7 train to Hunterspoint Avenue or
Woodside-61 Street to pick up LIRR
trains operating out of Long Island City.
Th e silver lining in this commuting
cloud shines for commuters who
use the Port Washington branch out of
the Flushing-Main Street, Murray Hill,
Broadway and Auburndale stops. Th ese
stations are served by local trains that
are unaff ected by the schedule changes.
Even so, with commuter frustration
expected to reach a boiling state
this summer, several elected offi cials in
northeast Queens think the LIRR and the
MTA aren’t doing enough to accommodate
riders in the region. State Senator
Tony Avella called on the MTA to take
additional contingency measures, while
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein called for
an increase in express bus service to and
from northeast Queens.
Gianaris: Wealthy New Yorkers should pay for MTA fi x
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
With constant delays, the dreaded
“train traffi c” and the impending shut
down of the M and L lines, a Queens
senator is proposing his version of an
“MTA rescue plan” to secure a steady
revenue stream for improvements.
Th e “Better Trains, Better Cities” legislation
drew inspiration from the Safe
Streets, Safe Cities program implemented
in the 1990s to drive crime down.
A dedicated tax was used to hire more
police offi cers and keep schools open
for aft er-school programs.
Th e legislation, which is also sponsored
by Assemblyman Danny
O’Donnell, would create a temporary
three-year surcharge on personal
income tax for city residents making
more than $1 million. New York
City hotel and motel taxes would also
increase by $5.
Gianaris said these taxes would raise
more than $2 billion annually, which
would be used to upgrade and maintain
the MTA system. An emergency manager
to oversee the maintenance of the
system would also be appointed. Th e
emergency manager would be appointed
by the governor and confi rmed separately
by the Assembly and State Senate.
Before a confi rmation vote is held, the
candidate must present a “comprehensive
plan of action.”
“Th e dismal state of our mass transit
is as much of a crisis today as rampant
crime was decades ago, and it
requires the same attention and dedication
of resources to solve,” Gianaris
said in a statement. “My ‘Better Trains,
Better Cities’ plan provides the focus
and resources necessary to reduce the
chronic delays and service interruptions
plaguing our system and end the nightmare
commuting has become for too
many New Yorkers.”
In May, the MTA approved an amended
capital plan that would add $2.8 billion
to their fi ve-year plan, bringing up
the total investment to $29.5 billion.
But the Citizens Budget Commission, a
nonprofi t civic organization, argues that
the increase is not suffi cient.
According to their analysis, although
the 2015-2019 capital plan will increase
by 10 percent, only track and line structures
will receive adequate funding.
Th e original capital plan dedicated
$12.7 million for state of good repair
and normal replacement commitments,
while the new plan includes less than
$12.4 billion.
All of the additional money will
instead go to the Long Island Rail Road
Expansion Project to build a third track
for the Main Line between Floral Park
and Hicksville. Phase II of the Second
Avenue Subway will also receive $700
million.
According to the MTA’s 20-year
needs assessment, approximately $106
billion in “core asset investment” is
needed over the next 20 years to “protect
the vast and rich heritage of New
York’s transportation infrastructure.”
Photo via Shutterstock
A Queens senator is proposing legislation that
would provide additional funds to repair and
maintain the MTA.
File photo/THE COURIER
Northeast Queens residents won’t be excluded from the Long Island Rail Road’s “summer of hell.”
summer of hell
