FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 27, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Queens leaders celebrate extension of Astoria ferry route
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Aft er more than two years of advocacy,
civic leader Richard Khuzami was pleased
to learn that NYC Ferry is adding an extension
to its Astoria route that will connect
riders to the East 90th Street landing in
Manhattan beginning Saturday, Aug. 22.
“Old Astoria Neighborhood Association
is proud to fully support this critical new
NYC Ferry connection between Astoria
and Manhattan, which ensures that New
Yorkers of all backgrounds have equitable
access to reliable and effi cient public transit,”
Khuzami said. “We have sponsored
petitioning, surveys and public meetings
to encourage this direct service to facilitate
our economic and cultural growth.
OANA works tirelessly to promote economic
growth, quality of life and cultural health
in our neighborhood, and this new NYC
Ferry connection will play an important
role in ensuring that this mission is fulfi lled.”
Th e new connection comes at no additional
operating or capital expense and
will not change travel time to or from
existing landings on the Astoria Route.
Khuzami, the OANA president, has
marveled at the way NYC Ferry has
already become a great boost to the
area’s cultural institutions along Vernon
Boulevard such as the Noguchi Museum,
the Welling Court Mural Project and
Socrates Sculpture Park since its initial
launch on Hallets Peninsula.
“Th is new connection between East
90th Street and Astoria will provide more
families and individuals with a safe way to
access all that Queens and Manhattan have
to off er,” Socrates Sculpture Park Director
of Development and Communications
Julia Metro said. “Socrates Sculpture Park
has long benefi ted from its proximity to
the Astoria Landing stop. As the city slowly
emerges from this pandemic, we are
looking forward to welcoming new visitors
to take in new art on view and sweeping
waterfront views.”
Geographically, Halletts Point is just
1,515 feet away from Manhattan’s Upper
East Side, but it is more than a 20-minute
walk to the nearest subway station, meaning
a trip to Manhattan can take up to an
hour by train.
“In Community Board 1, the section of
our District where NYC Ferry was implemented
used to be known as a transportation
desert,” CB1 District Manager Florence
Koulouris said. “Th e NYC Ferry has provided
easy access to numerous residents
who did not have such a convenience in
the past. Th is additional route will open up
many opportunities in the future, including
employment and healthcare access. We
greatly appreciate this implementation of
this new connection and look forward to
our residents’ use of this access.”
Th e Halletts Point landing is at the base
of the Astoria Houses where many residents
are employed by the Upper East
Side medical sector.
“As someone who has always worked
hard to expand public transit options for
New York City residents, I am delighted
the Astoria route will be extended to the
East 90th Street pier on the Upper East
Side,” Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
said. “Connecting these two neighborhoods
in the 12th Congressional District,
which I am privileged to represent, will
streamline commutes for countless people
who work in the medical industry on the
East Side of Manhattan and in the growing
number of startups and established
companies moving to western Queens.
Importantly, this new connection will
be particularly benefi cial to residents of
public housing in Long Island City and
Astoria, who are currently underserved by
traditional public transportation options.”
Councilman Paul Vallone, Chair of the
Committee on Economic Development,
hopes the sudden expansion of NYC
Ferry service to Astoria bodes well for
future routes to the borough.
“Our city’s waterways are a unique
resource that provides opportunities to
expand the transportation options available
to New Yorkers,” Vallone said. “I applaud
this additional connection within NYC
Ferry and look forward to future expansions
to the northern Queens waterfront.”
Cuomo signs new laws to make voting in NY easier
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
editorial@qns.com
@qns
Unlikewhat some might falsely suggest,
under federal law, the states control the
elections— and in New York, Governor
Andrew Cuomo signed Th ursday three
new laws that provide voters with greater
fl exibility on casting their ballots this
November — and assurance that they will
be counted.
Concerns about the impact the COVID-
19 pandemic will have on voting prompted
state lawmakers to introduce reforms
making it easier for voters to request
absentee ballots and ensure that they are
included in the fi nal vote tallies.
Aft er passing the state Legislature weeks
ago, on Aug. 20, Cuomo signed into law
the legislative package which relaxes
absentee ballot rules so voters may request
them due to risk of illness; enables voters
to request absentee ballots immediately,
beginning today; and validates all ballots
postmarked up to and including Election
Day, Nov. 3, for the fi nal vote count.
Part of Cuomo’s motivation for approving
the legislation is the ongoing crisis
at the United States Postal Service, in
which mailboxes and sorting machines
have been removed in recent weeks.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who
had ordered the removals, hassince said
he would forego those measures until
aft er the election.
Th e removals occurred around the same
time that President Trump said during
a Fox News interview that slowing the
USPS’ operations would ensure that mailin
ballots across the country would not
be counted in time for the election. He
has sinceattempted to walk those comments
back.
Trump, despite his prior remarks about
fraud in mailed voting (without providing
evidence), isnonetheless voting by absentee
mailed ballot himself.
“Th e federal administration has ordered
an unprecedented attack on the U.S. Postal
Service and with COVID-19 threatening
our ability to have safe, in-person voting,
these measures are critical to ensuring a
successful and fair election at one of the
most important moments in our nation’s
history,” Cuomo said Th ursday. “Th ese
actions will further break down barriers
to democracy and will make it easier for
all New Yorkers to exercise their right to
vote this November.”
Th e fi rst voting reform legislation that
Cuomo signed, sponsored by Bronx state
Senator Alessandra Biaggi, gives all New
York voters the right to request an absentee
ballot due to the risk of illness to
themselves or others. Th is qualifi cation
had not been part of previous considerations
for absentee ballots, but was added
earlier this year by a Cuomo executive
order in advance of the June 23 primary.
The second bill, sponsored by
Brooklyn state Senator Zellnor Myrie
and Manhattan Assemblyman Al Taylor,
clears the way for voters to request absentee
ballots now, removing the regulation
that absentee ballots could only be
requested up until 30 days before Election
Day. Th is gives New Yorkers up to seven
weeks more to request, accept, fi ll out and
return their ballots.
According to the city’s Campaign
Finance Bureau, absentee ballots will be
sent to those who request them beginning
on Sept. 18.
Finally, the third new law, sponsored
by Queens state Senator Michael Gianaris
and Brooklyn Assemblywoman Rodneyse
Bichotte, permits the Board of Elections
to count all absentee ballots postmarked
on the day of the election. It also allows
the board to count absentee ballots that
have a time stamp showing that it was
delivered to the board the day aft er the
election, but without a dated postmark.
Postmarking, or lack thereof,became an
issue in counting the votesduring the June
23 12th Congressional District primary
between Manhattan/Queens/Brooklyn
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and
activist Suraj Patel.
A post offi ce snafu prevented hundreds
of mailed ballots from being postmarked,
and the New York City Board of Elections
initially refused to count them. Th at led
to a court case in which a judgeeventually
allowed the ballots to be counted.
New York City residents have now several
options to cast their votes for Nov. 3:
absentee ballot voting by mail, in-person
early voting (which is scheduled to begin
in mid-October), or in-person voting on
Election Day. Th e Board of Elections,
however, does not yet have on its site a list
of early voting sites.
For those choosing to vote in-person,
they can expect to fi nd extra safety precautions
in place — from social distance
markings to masked poll workers and
hand sanitizer. All voters will be required
to wear a mask at their polling place.
Download an absentee ballot application
at the NYC Campaign Finance
Bureau website, nyccfb .info. For additional
voting information, visitvote.nyc.
Courtesy of Kreg Holt
The NYC Ferry Astoria route will now connect with Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Photo by Dean Moses
Board of Elections workers review an absentee ballot in Queens on July 8, 2020.
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