28 The QUEE NS Courier • JUly 17, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Queens businesses brace for LIRR strike impact BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected]/@liamlaguerre Ahmed Iftikhar drives from Mineola with his wife to the Bayside LIRR station every day except Sundays to set up his newsstand and open at 5 a.m. He serves coffee, snacks, newspapers and magazines to a portion of the 4,000 daily commuters who use the station for 14 hours, making an average of $200 per day in sales, he said. Each month he pays $3,450 for rent and about $300 in utilities. The potential LIRR work stoppage, which could start on July 20, would not only strand thousands of commuters, THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Ahmed Iftikhar, who manages the newsstand outside of the Bayside LIRR station, dreads a potential worker’s strike. MAIN STREET RADIOLOGY TEL: (718) 428-1500 - FAX: (718) 428-2475 • www.mainstreetradiology.com • Conveniently located near public transportation • Valet Parking • Night and Weekend appointments available • Most Insurance Plans Accepted • We are in your neighborhood and speak your language NEW! WESTERN QUEENS 72-02 Northern Blvd. Jackson Heights, NY 11372 DOWNTOWN FLUSHING 136-25 37th Ave. Flushing, NY 11354 BAYSIDE (NORTHERN BLVD.) 44-01 Francis Lewis Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 BAYSIDE (32 AVE) 32-25 Francis Lewis Blvd., Bayside, NY 11358 Opening Fall 2014 IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD WITH ADVANCED IMAGING Quality, Comfort And Safety For Our Patients DEXA (Bone Density), Interventional Radiology, X-Ray and PET/CT Scanning In a fully supportive environment by a multilingual staff. Most Insurance MAIN STREET RADIOLOGY is a full service Medical Diagnostic Imaging Center offering: MRI, MRA, OPEN MRI, CT/CTA, Nuclear Medicine Nuclear Cardiology, Ultrasound, Doppler, Mammography. BOARD CERTIFIED FELLOWSHIP TRAINED RADIOLOGISTS David Rogers, M.D. William G. Wolff, M.D. Shirley Bassiri, M.D. Carolyn Boltin, M.D. Lawrence Carl, M.D. Kornylo D. Chorny, M.D. John DeRosa, M.D. Jan Eubig, M.D. Yong H. Hahn, M.D. John Iraj, M.D. Anthony Italiano, M.D. Ari Jonisch, M.D. Barry Kanner, M.D. Alice Kim, M.D. Han Kim, MD. Jeffrey C. Lee, MD. K. Lin, M.D. Maura Noordhoorn, M.D. Steve Okon, M.D. Brijesh Reddy, M.D. Bobbi Ring, M.D. Eric Rios, M.D. Lawrence Schechter, M.D. Jack Scheiner, M.D. Wales Shao, M.D. Harry Tsou, M.D. Stanley Yang, M.D. Lai Ming Yu, M.D. but also hurt small businesses in Queens like Iftikhar’s newsstand, which depends on LIRR service for customers. “If they do the strike, I’ll be sad,” Iftikhar said. “I’ll be very upset. What would we do in the future?” While some LIRR stations in Queens, such as Jamaica, which has subway lines nearby, wouldn’t be as affected, others that depend primarily on the LIRR service could feel an impact, businesses and community leaders said. Businesses, such as the deli and café near the Douglaston LIRR station, stand to lose potential customers in the 2,000 daily commuters at the station. “Of course no one is happy about it,” said Dorothy Matinale, president of the Douglaston Village Chamber of Commerce. The manager of Kelly’s Car Service, located near the Bayside station, said if the strike occurs they expect road traffic to be slow for further trips, as the MTA expects more drivers to be on the road. “Going into Manhattan would be impossible,” manager Richard Pearlman said. Pearlman couldn’t anticipate how the strike would affect business, but said the car service is thinking of offering trips directly to subway stations on Main Street, although plans have not been finalized. The looming work stoppage seems likely as the MTA and unions representing the workers broke off negotiations on July 14. The MTA called to resume discussions on July 16, a day before releasing an advertisement in radio stations and newspapers asking the unions “when is enough, enough?” While the unions and the MTA continue to fight over wages, Iftikhar hopes they’ll patch it up soon. “It’s a little problem,” he said. “If they solve it, it’ll be nice for everyone.”
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