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QC08042016

editorial 28 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 4, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com SNAPS QUEENS constructing such an underground connection would take years and billions of dollars to complete. We see the Q52 and Q53 SBS plan as a short-term solution to the much more extensive transit problems facing this area. In the long run, the MTA must build a new rail link between Queens and Manhattan, and the Rockaway Beach branch provides the perfect opportunity to help accomplish that mission. The investment of time and money into such an endeavor, while tremendous, would reap rewards for generations to come. The Queens Courier and the Mayor’s SILENT DISCO // PHOTO BY ORESTES GONZALEZ Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps). More trains, less buses in Queens Commuters across Queens are already dreading the impending 4 percent MTA fare hike that the authority expects to enact next year. Though that means a higher cost of traveling around the borough, Queens residents should take heart, as a number of public transit improvements — including a new bus rapid transit system for two of our most traveled roadways — will accompany the fare increase. In its four-year fi nancial plan, the MTA announced it would invest $36 million toward new service including the creation of four new Select Bus Service routes in Queens: the Q25 route between Jamaica and College Point; the Q113 route between Jamaica and Far Rockaway; the Q70 “LaGuardia Limited” bus line that whisks travelers between LaGuardia Airport and train stations in Woodside and Jackson Heights; and the Q52/Q53 routes on Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards between the Rockaways and Elmhurst/Woodside. The SBS for Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards is indeed a well-intentioned plan, but the riders really need a train more than a bus to get around. You can see it during the rush hours, as buses are packed door-to-door with people, many of whom depart or board the buses near the Woodhaven Boulevard subway station. Come back at night to the corner of Hoffman Drive and Woodhaven Boulevard and you’ll see long lines stretching from the Q52/Q53 stop full of passengers waiting to pack onto buses for the ride back home. The SBS plan, which includes the creation of dedicated bus lanes and stops featuring off-board fare payment, may make the commute easier for thousands of residents in southern Queens. Even so, these buses will still need to compete with all the different cars and trucks on the roads every day. It is quite obvious by the volume of riders on the Q52 and Q53 that south Queens desperately needs some kind of new rail service — not a cheap proposition by any means. The good news is that the long-abandoned Rockaway Beach branch, which runs parallel to Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards, could be reactivated for rail service once again. The bad news is that there is no direct connection between the line and the Queens Boulevard subway — and THE QUEENS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR ARTISTS STAFF REPORTERS DIGITAL EDITOR CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS EVENTS COORDINATOR ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER PRESIDENT & CEO VICE PRESIDENT VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA BRIANNA ELLIS KATARINA HYBENOVA CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI JACLYN HERTLING DEBORAH CUSICK CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 www.qns.com editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com Entire Contents Copyright 2016 by The Queens Courier All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE QUEENS COURIER within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. Schneps Communications assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold THE QUEENS COURIER and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement. Offi ce are proud to present a weekly column in which Mayor Bill de Blasio answers your questions about issues that concern you the most. If you have a question about anything going on in the city, in your neighborhood or on your block, we want to hear from you! Email us at editorial@qns.com and Mayor de Blasio will get you an answer! With the 421-A tax exemption having expired, what is the city doing to promote the construction of affordable housing in Queens County? The following answer comes from Alicia Glen, deputy mayor for housing and economic development: Our administration is moving forward with important affordable housing projects across New York City, including across Queens, where hundreds of homes are underway from the waterfront at Hunter’s Point South to the streets of downtown Jamaica. We are going like gangbusters. Just this week, we announced the creation of 23,284 affordable homes fi nanced this past fi scal year, the second highest in New York history. This fi scal year brings the total affordable units created under Housing New York to an astounding 53,000 affordable homes — enough to house 130,000 New Yorkers. It gets us more than one quarter of the way to our 10-year goal — in just two and a half years. We are extremely proud of this achievement. But as much as we’re accomplishing, we could do even more. Last year, we fought in Albany for smart reforms that would have spurred affordable housing even further, and mended a broken program called 421-A. It could be a tool to help us bring affordable housing to neighborhoods where prices are heating up, like Long Island City. Without a replacement, we risk a future with more luxury condos rising, and fewer of the affordable rent apartments our neighborhoods really need. The stakes here are high. At Hallets Point in Astoria, a project with hundreds of affordable apartments that local offi cials fought to secure over so many years, is stalled because of the impasse in Albany to replace 421-A. The families who need that affordable housing deserve better. They deserve action. Our administration can and will continue building affordable housing at a record pace, I have no doubt. But none of us, not in New York City nor in Albany, can content ourselves with doing less than everything we possibly can to confront this crisis. PLACE Ask the MAYOR


QC08042016
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