4 The Queens Courier • september 4, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Riders happy G service back between LIC and Brooklyn BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com/@aaltamirano28 Commuters breathed sighs of relief as the G train began rolling into Long Island City once again. For five consecutive weeks this summer, the subway line was not running between the Court Square station Sponsored by Providing comprehensive end-of-life care in the home, nursing home, and in-patient setting throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Nassau County. For referrals or information call 718.472.1999 or visit www.hospiceny.com in Long Island City and the Nassau Avenue stop in Brooklyn due to repairs being made to damaged tubes flooded during Hurricane Sandy, according to the MTA. “The dedication of Transit personnel in rebuilding the Greenpoint Tubes and ensuring safe, reliable G train service for our customers is part of our continuing efforts to reinforce the system’s infrastructure and safeguard the most vulnerable areas of our subway system for decades to come,” said NYC Transit President Carmen Bianco. Regular weekday service on the G train resumed between the stops on Sept. 2, making many train riders happy to use the line once again. Jackson Heights resident Elizabeth Gutierrez was excited to be able to once again ride the G train, which she uses to get to her job in Brooklyn. However, she says she is slightly worried the line will be suspended once again in the future. “It’s really nice to have something back that I depend on for work so much, but I just hope this whole thing was for something,” Gutierrez said. “I’m just afraid in a few months it’ll happen again.” Sam Lancet, a Long Island City resident, said he was happy the line was back and running but is also concerned about other subway lines being suspended. “I’m really happy that now I can just hop back on the G, but you never know what other train will go out of service next,” Lancet said. During the G train suspensions, which began on July 25, the MTA provided shuttle buses for riders between Long Island City and Greenpoint, Brooklyn. “To be honest I enjoyed the buses more; they were on time mostly,” said Long Island City resident Gerry Hughes. “But I am still happy the G is back, finally. That summer was too long.” THE COURIER/File Photo BAYSIDE HISTORICAL CEMETERY RECEIVES MUCH-NEEDED RENOVATION FUNDS BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ @ericjankiewicz/ejankiewicz@queenscourier.com Bayside’s historic cemetery received $50,000 in state funds to renovate and extend the site’s cast-iron fencing. State Sen. Tony Avella helped allocate the funds for the 1967 historic landmarked site, the Lawrence Cemetery. “It’s one of the last ties to Bayside’s colonial past,” said Peter DiBenedetto, president of the Bayside Historical Society. “It’s hard to come by grants from the state so we’re really thankful for this money.” The site is named after former owners John and William Lawrence. The Lawrence family gained the land in 1645 under the Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam. While the site is known today as a cemetery, it wasn’t until 1832 that the first burial took place. The last one happened in 1939. The cast-iron fence only surrounds half of the site and the other half of the perimeter has a chain-link fence that DiBenedetto describes as “dilapidated.” With the new grant money, the historic society will replace the chain-link fence with iron. For the last five years, DiBenedetto said, the Bayside Historical Society hasn’t received any state grants, making this new source of money a welcome addition to their coffers. The money will also be used for general maintenance work. “Some of the gravestones are looking pretty shabby,” THE COURIER/Photo by Asha Mahadevan DiBenedetto said.
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