FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 17, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Bus route service changes to take eff ect in March: MTA
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Beginning March 27, the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) will
implement bus route service changes to
and from JFK Airport to accommodate
construction at Terminal 6.
Th e bus route changes will remain in
eff ect until construction at the impacted
area is completed in 2026, according
to MTA representatives, who provided
a brief overview of the JFK Airport
Redevelopment Plan at the Community
Board 13 Transportation Committee
meeting on Th ursday, Feb. 10.
“Th e current bus stop at Terminal 6 needs
to be relocated to adjust for the upcoming
infrastructure at the terminal. We are
working closely with the MTA, community,
and elected offi cials to ensure that everyone
is aware of the work at the airport,”
said Rachelle Antoine, community outreach
manager of the JFK Redevelopment
Program. “We are looking at a $20 billion
project happening in southeast Queens.”
Th ere are four MTA bus routes that currently
serve JFK Airport: the B15, Q10
Local, Q10 Limited and Q3.
The proposed bus route service changes to and from JFK Airport.
Th ese four routes currently stop near
Terminal 5, but that stop will be removed
and relocated. Th e B15, Q10 Local, and Q10
Limited will now terminate at the Leff erts
Boulevard AirTrain Station, according to
Matthew Kroll, transportation planner for
the MTA.
Photo courtesy of Port Authority NY/NJ
Th e Q3 will instead stop at Terminal 8
and then continue to the Leff erts Boulevard
AirTrain Station, along the service road.
For commuters who take the B15, Q10
Local or Q10 Limited to Terminal 5, they
will have to get off at the Leff erts Boulevard
AirTrain Station, where there is free
entrance to the station. Th e AirTrain stops
at every terminal.
If commuters are traveling to the north
or south service roads via the B15 or Q10,
they can transfer to the Leff erts Boulevard
Station and take the AirTrain one stop to
Federal Circle, and transfer to a free Port
Authority shuttle bus.
Another option for commuters is to take
the Q3 bus at the Leff erts Boulevard Station
and travel to the service road.
To accommodate the extension of the
bus route service changes and more commuters,
the MTA will add additional buses
to the Q3 bus line during the weekday and
weekends when the project begins.
“Once this project is completed, and it’s
a bit of a long-term project, we will take all
the buses back to their original routing, and
a transportation hub will be developed at
the Central Terminal Area providing space
stops for each of the buses,” Kroll said.
Th e bus stop will return to the Central
Terminal Area in 2026.
Th e MTA has been conducting extensive
outreach in Brooklyn and Queens,
which will be most aff ected by the bus
route changes, Antoine said. Customers can
expect to see signage on buses, bus stops
and the MTA’s website.
De Niro-backed fi lm studio gets fi nal approval to start construction in Astoria
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e city has given the green light to
Wildfl ower Studios to begin construction
of its massive, state-of-the-art, $600 million
fi lm production facility that will rise next to
the Steinway Piano company along Luyster
Creek in Astoria.
Th e Robert De Niro-helmed project
received its fi nal permit from the
Department of Buildings on Jan. 25 and
will start construction on the seven-story
studio complex nearly two years aft er the
group closed on a deal for the 5.25-acres for
more than $71 million. When completed in
2023, Wildfl ower Studios will join Kaufman
Astoria Studios and Silvercup Studios in
the entertainment production sector in
western Queens.
“Astoria and the borough of Queens as
a whole have been titans of the television
and fi lm industry for decades, creating
thousands of jobs and indirectly supporting
countless families,” Queens Borough
President Donovan Richards said. “We can’t
wait to welcome Robert De Niro, another
industry titan, and Wildfl ower Studios to
the ‘World’s Borough’ with open arms. We
look forward to seeing the fruits of the studio’s
Queens-based vision on the big screen
in the near future.”
Th e project is expected to bring at least
500 construction jobs and more than 1,000
daily union jobs upon completion.
“We are delighted to welcome Wildfl ower
Productions, a valued member of the
Queens Chamber of Commerce, to Astoria,
and will continue to advocate on their
behalf as they expand in Queens,” Queens
Chamber of Commerce President and CEO
Tom Grech said. “Western Queens has
established itself as a premier location for
fi lm and television production. Th e addition
of Wildfl ower Productions will help create
more good-paying jobs for Queens residents
working in the industry, and catalyze
economic activity that supports local small
businesses. I look forward to seeing a generation
of iconic fi lms shot and produced in
our own backyard.”
When he represented Wildflower
through the city’s arduous public review
process last year, Community Board 1 voted
35-1 in favor of the project aft er Raphael
De Niro, the famed actor’s son, described
how his fi rm had been talks with Urban
Upbound about job opportunities for residents
of the Astoria, Queensbridge and
Ravenswood Houses, as well as conversations
with LaGuardia Community College,
the Frank Sinatra High School for the
Arts and the Variety Boys & Girls Club in
Astoria. He then detailed how the complex
was designed with a small cafeteria and no
restaurants and no commissary to encourage
studio employees to partake of Astoria’s
restaurants instead of staying on campus.
“One of the greatest things about Astoria
is that, to us, it’s one of the most food-rich
and amenity-rich neighborhoods in New
York City,” De Niro said. “And so we are
going to be encouraging everyone to eat in
the community.”
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the famed
Danish architecture fi rm, designed the
“futuristic world-class content creation
campus in Queens,” which includes 11
sound stages, 310 off -street parking spaces,
and a waterfront esplanade that will be open
to the public. Th e facility will also include
production support areas, public and
private offi ces.
“Th e vertical media production village
will be home to storytellers working across
all mediums – a three-dimensional hub of
collaboration, creativity and innovation,”
BIG Founder and Creative Director Bjarke
Ingels said. “While New York City is no
stranger to being the star of many visual
stories – the city eff ectively a character
in itself – this fi rst ground-up vertical production
stage complex marks a new chapter
in the city’s ability to create the stories of
our future.”
Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group
The city gave fi nal approval for Wildfl ower Studios to begin building its fi lm production complex in
Astoria.
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