6 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 29, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM YEAR IN REVIEW • March 2016 M-AGEDDON With commuters already dreading a proposed L train shutdown in 2019, news broke in March that the MTA was planning major reconstruction along the M line in Middle Village, Ridgewood and Bushwick, Brooklyn in the year ahead. Th e MTA announced plans to close the elevated line from Metropolitan Avenue to Myrtle Avenue-Broadway for two full months in 2017 in order to tear down and replace a rail bridge in Middle Village. Limited service would return thereaft er from Metropolitan Avenue to Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues for 10 months as work continued on rebuilding a viaduct in Brooklyn. FIRST CHEESECAKE FACTORY IN QUEENS Foodies were in their glory in March when it was announced that Th e Cheesecake Factory-- known for their luscious desserts and seemingly endless menu of entree items-- would be opening its fi rst New York City location at the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst. Th e restaurant opened in November and quickly became one of the hottest restaurants in town. It’s located across the street from the Shake Shack restaurant, which also opened at Queens Center earlier in the year. THE WAR ON MASSAGE PARLORS All year long, the NYPD Queens Vice Enforcement Unit had its hands full cracking down on prostitution and other illegal activities in massage parlors across Queens. In March, one major sting operation yielded 17 arrests of individuals at massage parlors in Flushing and Whitestone. Th e arrested suspects were variously charged for off ering sex acts to undercover offi cers in exchange for cash, or for performing massages without a proper license. As 2016 continued, the unit stayed busy with busting parlors in other areas of Queens including Ridgewood and Forest Hills-- and, in some instances, had the parlors closed for good. MAYOR STOPS BY OUR OFFICE Mayor Bill de Blasio paid the Schneps Communications staff a visit to our offi ce in Bayside. In an editorial meeting with Co-publishers Victoria Schneps and Joshua Schneps, de Blasio addressed a variety of local issues aff ecting Queens residents.
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