FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 27, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
De Blasio talks infrastructure upgrades and more at Astoria town hall
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
As part of his week in Queens, Mayor
Bill de Blasio held a town hall in Astoria
where he held a Q&A session and
announced several improvement projects
for the neighborhood.
Th e mayor answered questions on a
variety of topics during the three-hour
session on July 19 at P.S. 70. He also
revealed that the city will take on several
initiatives to improve streets and public
spaces like libraries.
Steinway Street, a major thoroughfare
and shopping hub in the neighborhood,
will get a makeover to make the street
more pedestrian friendly.
“I know there’s been a lot of concerns
about Steinway Street and making it a
better environment for pedestrians,” he
said. “Th e DOT will be creating a new
design to make the Steinway Street corridor
more pedestrian friendly and safe and
that plan will be brought to the community
board next year.”
Councilman Costa Constantinides,
who moderated the town hall, included
improvements to the street in his State of
the District speech in January.
Th e thoroughfare has been the scene of
249 traffi c-related injuries and 95 pedestrian
injuries in the past fi ve years. Part
of the problem, Constantinides argued, is
the confi guration of the crosswalks. Th e
blocks along the street are long, and many
times pedestrians will cross in the middle
of the street to reach a store instead
of walking to the end of a block to reach
a crosswalk.
Th ough the DOT plan is still months
away from being presented to the community,
Constantinides’ plan calls for
mid-block crosswalks, leading pedestrian
intervals to give pedestrians more time
to cross the street and a plan to make the
corridor “the next great meeting space in
western Queens.”
He cited Union and Madison Squares
as examples that Astoria could imitate
and wants to include the community in
any ongoing discussion about the space.
De Blasio also acknowledged that renovations
for Steinway Library were taking
too long, calling the delay “unacceptable.”
Th e renovation, he said, will offi cially
start in spring 2018. It includes a new elevator,
new entrance ramp, renovated children’s
room, a new self-checkout unit, a
new roof and cleaning the exterior walls.
According to the Queens Library website,
the $2.92 million project will be completed
in August 2019.
Th e plans also include renovations to
the children’s bathrooms, meeting rooms
and staff rooms, which will cost $250,000.
It is not clear when those renovations will
be complete.
Housing was also a discussion at the
town hall, where residents were concerned
about the over-development in
Astoria and neighboring Long Island
City. One resident asked about Astoria
Cove, a development on the waterfront
that has been delayed because of disputes
about the 421-a program, a tax incentive
that rewards developers for adding some
aff ordable housing to their projects.
According to Maria Torres-Springer,
commissioner for the Department of
Housing Preservation and Development,
the development is still stalled.
Photo courtesy of Mayoral Photography Offi ce
Mayor Bill de Blasio talks with residents at a July 19 town hall meeting in Astoria.
Introducing Another Great Rate from Flushing Bank
Maximum
1.25%
Money Market APY1
$25,000 minimum deposit
To qualify you must also open a Flushing Bank Complete Checking Plus or Premier account2 which provides you
with access to over 55,000 ATMs, ATM fee rebates, mobile banking and mobile check deposit.
For more information and to find out about our other great offers, visit your local Flushing Bank branch, call
800.581.2889 (855.540.2274 TTY/TDD) or visit www.FlushingBank.com.
Small enough to know you.
Large enough to help you.
1 New personal Maximum Money Market account and new money only. APY effective June 12, 2017. Annual percentage yield assumes principal and interest remain on deposit for a full
year at current rate. Minimum deposit balance to open the Maximum Money Market account is $5,000. Funds cannot be transferred from an existing Flushing Bank account. The APY
for the Maximum Money Market account is 0.10% for daily account balances between $0 and $4,999, 0.15% for daily balances between $5,000 and $24,999, 1.25% for daily balances
between $25,000 and $74,999, 1.25% for daily balances between $75,000 and $99,999 and 1.25% for daily balances over $100,000. Rates may change at any time without notice. You
must maintain the stated tier balance for the statement cycle to receive the respective disclosed yield for that tier. 2 A Flushing Bank checking account with a $5,000
minimum balance is required to receive the advertised rate. Certain fees, minimum balance requirements and restrictions may apply. Speak with a Flushing Bank
representative for more details. Flushing Bank is a registered trademark