FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com DECEMBER 8, 2016 • THE QUEENS COURIER 37 oped letters & comments A LOOK BACK We thank Christopher Shields of Flushing for providing us this week’s look back at Queens history. This early 1960s picture shows the Bay Terrace Shopping Center in Bayside still under construction. Note the advertisements at left which offers “Section 2” of the development up for rent and the impending construction of Bayside Lanes offering 48 Brunswick Golden Crown lanes with automatic pinsetters. Share your historic pictures of Queens with us by emailing editorial@qns.com, or mailed printed pictures to A Look Back, c/o The Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned to you. NEW YORK IS STRONGER WITH BETTER BUSES BY EVELYN ENGLAND I have a growing concern with mass transportation in my Springfi eld Gardens/ Laurelton community. I moved here in 2005 from Nassau County (I fi rst moved from the island, Jamaica in 2001). I disliked the Long Island lifestyle mostly due to the extensive wait for a bus. Often, I gave up and returned home because I was tired of waiting, especially on weekends. After moving to Queens (following a brief stay in Brooklyn), I fi gured transportation would improve. My reasoning stemmed from large fl eets of buses I noticed at the Jamaica bus terminals. My judgment was off. I soon learned that kind of bus frequency was unavailable in my neighborhood. I would not say that I am jealous about the other communities having their frequent bus services. However, I am still wondering why there is less bus frequency available to the rest of the communities throughout the areas in Queens. In 1979, the Straphangers Campaign was launched by the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYIPRG) to improve the transportation system because of the many deplorable conditions facing commuters such as transit crimes and derailments. In 2007, NYPIRG was instrumental in the MTA creation of unlimited MetroCards, which improved ridership. Since then, NYPIRG has worked extensively to improve our bus system, the largest in the country, yet the slowest and most unreliable. So far, we have been successful in winning Select Bus Service in densely populated areas. According to the report “Turnaround: Fixing New York City Buses,” published by The Transit Center, Riders Alliance, the Straphangers Campaign and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, one understanding reached is that ridership is at an all-time low and increasingly unpopular. There are some ways to fi x these problems and make bus riding as attractive as subways. 1- Change how we get on and off the bus through tap and go fare collection and all-door boarding. 2- Re-design depleting bus networks by mending indirect, unnecessarily long routes. 3- Re-design the distance in between stops. 4- Keep buses on schedule by ensuring that buses run on time, and intervene when buses run off track 5- Re-design streets: Create enforced bus-only lanes, install bus bulbs and boarding islands, and create queue-jump lanes for buses. 6- Increase transparency through more reports on performance so riders can understand. I want my Queens neighbors to have a faster commute. The Turnaround Bus initiatives and partners like NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and the Riders Alliance are the true changemakers in our city’s future. We must support them. Evelyn England is project coordinator for the Straphangers Campaign at Queensborough Community College in Bayside. TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS We’re in the holiday season and there is a lot of hustle and bustle this time of the year. Yet I believe kindness goes a long way to those we meet, even if just entails a kind smile and hello or even to say we are sorry if we accidentally knock into someone while shopping. You can also say, “Have a nice day.” I’m back to taking buses until I can afford a car again. I have learned a few things while working in retail, such as greeting the bus driver with a warm hello when I board a bus and saying, “Have a nice day” when I leave the bus. You see, these bus drivers have a lot of stress in their day and need a kind word to cheer them up. I think more people ought to do the same. Here’s an experience I had the other day on the bus. I’m 67 years old and have bad knees and usually sit in the front of the bus. I saw an elderly woman with packages who was having a hard time and I offered my seat. I believe there are those who are worse off than myself and need a helping hand. Remember this again: Kindness goes a long way. Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Glen Oaks Village THE ZIP CODE OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES? Regarding the proposed new ZIP code for Glendale: Do they have any idea the burden this will place on local businesses? I’ll have to update dozens of documents, business cards, etc. as well as make changes to hundreds of website listings which will take weeks to accomplish. QNS user Randy Downs A HAIL MARY TO THE ELECTORS Editor’s note: The following open letter is addressed to the 538 presidential electors, or Electoral College, that will cast the deciding presidential vote on Dec. 19. I implore you to consider the great responsibility entrusted to you as an elector. The wisdom and guidance afforded us by the constitution of this great United States — the law of this nation — granted you a choice. We currently face the kind of president-elect the Electoral College was created to prevent. Our founding fathers knew this day would come. The popular vote reminds us you have a choice. The Constitution confi rms you have more than one choice. I ask you to clear your hearts, your minds, and on Dec. 19, vote your conscience as an American and a patriot. I respectfully submit that denying this president elect the required 270 votes is the next step. Thank you for your time and consideration. I appreciate and respect the role you serve in our electoral process. Cheryl Cummings, Whitestone HOLD BICYCLISTS ACCOUNTABLE With more and more bike lanes being added all around the city, it is very important to stress that cyclists also must observe all traffi c regulations that motorists and pedestrians do. For some strange reason, it seems that many cyclists just plow though red lights and stop signs as well as not slowing down to yield signs. This is outrageous! A bicycle is a mode of transportation, and thus should be under the same traffi c laws as motorists and pedestrians. There has been an ever-increasing number of accidents involving cyclists, pedestrians and motorists as the streets of our city become more and more congested. The Department of Transportation, the Police Department and the mayor’s offi ce must work together to better coordinate dealing with this very serious problem, which will only continue to worsen as the weeks, months and years pass. Safety for all three groups on our city streets should always be and remain the number one objective. John Amato, Fresh Meadows
QC12082016
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