4 The QUEE NS Courier • SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com W train will officially start running to Astoria again in November By Angela Matua route from 57th Street to amatua@qns.com/@AngelaMatua Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn. The W train will return from its The W train, which ran from hiatus on Nov. 7, according to Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria the MTA. to Whitehall Street in Lower An initial plan to resurrect the Manhattan, was introduced in line was announced by the MTA 2001 after the Manhattan Bridge in February. The W line, which north tracks were closed for previously serviced Astoria and reconstruction. The MTA ended Long Island City, would come the W line in 2010 due to budget back on weekdays and ultimately cuts and Astoria commuters replace the Q train, which will be rerouted at 57th Street as part of the Second Avenue Subway plan. Starting in December, the Q will run from 96th Street along the partially completed Second Avenue Line, then along its regular relied on N and Q trains instead. Queens commuters will be able to access the train from Astoria Boulevard, Ditmars Boulevard, 30th Avenue, Broadway, 36th Avenue, 39th Avenue and Queensboro Plaza. The W train will officially run again on Nov. 7. COMMUNITY BOARD 7 WELCOMES NEW DISTRICT MANAGER By Suzane Monteverdi smonteverdi@qns.com @smont76 Community Board 7 (CB 7) has officially welcomed a new district manager. Board Chair Eugene Kelty a n n o u n c e d at the end of this month’s CB 7 meeting that Marilyn McAndrews was officially approved to take over the position. McAndrews, a Maspeth resident, is no stranger to CB 7. She most recently worked for six years as the board’s assistant district manager. McAndrews graduated from Plaza College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and previously worked as a community affairs liaison for New York Hospital Queens for seven years. She has served on a long list of community groups, including the Maspeth Lions Club, Long Island City YMCA and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. On Sept. 12, McAndrews was voted into the p o s i t i o n u n a n i - m o u s l y by board members at the meeting. She received applause and was presented with flowers. “I thank you all,” said McAndrews upon accepting. “And I especially thank our esteemed leader, Gene Kelty.” The spot was left vacant after longtime district manager Marilyn Bitterman officially retired in August. She held the position for over 40 years. LIFE. STYLE. BROOKLYN, NY SCAMMERS FISHING QUENS MAILBOXES FOR CHECKS: COPS By Angela Matua amatua@qns.com/@AngelaMatua Residents who are paying their bills by check and dropping them into USPS mailboxes in Astoria should be extra careful, according to Captain Peter Fortune, commanding officer of the 114th Precinct. A group of people, mostly from the Bronx, has been stealing checks from local mailboxes. The perpetrators then change the name of the receiver and the dollar amount, Fortune said at the 114th Precinct Community Council meeting on Sept. 27. The precinct also covers small sections of Long Island City, Woodside and Jackson Heights, and it was unclear whether mailboxes in these neighborhoods had been affected. “They’re going to those blue postal boxes that you drop your Verizon payment in or mortgage payment in or whatever it is you’re paying via check, and they will go in and they will literally fish out the mail,” Fortune said. The group uses acetone to wash out the ink and fills the check in with the name of a person with a valid bank account. The group will also sometimes change the amount on the check. “Your $1,000 Verizon check just turned into a $7,000 check,” Fortune said. However, sometimes the perpetrators will not change the amount on the checks so that people who have their money stolen do not get suspicious. The 114th Precinct is coordinating with Bronx precincts to try to catch the perpetrators. Precincts in the Bronx worked with the postal inspector to install new mailboxes that have very narrow openings to make it impossible for perpetrators to steal checks. Fortune said they are hoping those mailboxes will be installed in Queens soon. He added that a “tremendous amount of people” are involved in the investigation but that the crime pattern is difficult to stop because cops are not sure how the check recipients with legitimate bank accounts are involved. “We’re trying to figure out how they’re connected to this crew,” Fortune said. “But here’s the problem. Their defense is, ‘Well, I didn’t know it was a stolen check. This is me, this is my bank account.’” The 114th Precinct made an arrest two months ago and the perpetrators told officers that they were stopped by a car in the Bronx and asked if they would like to make some money. The two men were driven to Queens and instructed to steal checks from mailboxes. The suspects usually walk into a bank, deposit the check into an account and then cash it before it goes through the clearing process. This is also becoming a borough-wide problem, the commanding officer said. Crime prevention officers are trying to collect a large quantity of pigmented gelbased pens that will not wash out with acetone and distribute them to residents in the future, Fortune said. 544 EXCLUSIVE OFFER! UNION 568 UNION 1 MONTH FREE* on select units. 888.805.2408 NYCleasing@heatherwood.com www.heatherwood.com/union * Offer valid on selected units from 8/20/16-9/30/16. Must bring ad in to receive exclusive offer. Restrictions apply. Availability is limited. We are an Equal Opportunity landlord and comply with all fair housing laws. Heatherwood does not discriminate against anyone because of their race/color, national origin, creed, gender, familial status, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, military status or source of income. Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS New district manager Marilyn McAndrews
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