3
QUEENS WEEKLY, AUG. 4, 2019
BY MAX PARROTT
More than a month
after the Federal Aviation
Administration held its
public forums on its plan
to construct an AirTrain
system to LaGuardia
Airport, a letter sent out
by the Better Way to LGA
Coalition shows that the
plan’s proponents are still
hungry for data.
At this point, they’re
not looking for more
community input. They’re
looking to a new, more
high-tech source of
information: apps.
The coalition, an alliance
of economic development
groups, transportation
advocates and unionized
labor, recently sent out
a letter to Waze, the GPS
navigation software app,
asking them to share data
the app collects that could
help the coalition study
traffic patterns to and
from LaGuardia.
Though the letter
asked the tech company to
collaborate, it also openly
criticized them. “Waze and
similar apps help users find
the quickest routes to their
destinations, often utilizing
local roads in order to
bypass major highways.
But, in shaving off a few
minutes of travel time,
these apps are pushing
traffic into residential
neighborhoods which has
a negative impact on our
local communities,” wrote
the coalition members.
The letter’s point
about the dissipating
effect of navigation apps,
suggests the coalition is
concerned that they’re
underestimating the
overall effects of traffic
congestion along the Grand
Central Parkway leading
into the airport.
Tom Grech, president
of the Queens Chamber
of Commerce and
co-chairman of the
coalition, played down the
responsibility of apps like
Waze, emphasizing they
are a symptom of the bigger
problem that he hopes the
AirTrain to fix.
“The big issue is not
necessarily just Waze. At
the end of the day, there’s
been congestion for a very
long time in this borough
especially around the
airport — folks trying to
get from Manhattan to
LaGuardia. As a chair of
the AirTrain Coalition,
we are pushing strong to
have this rail link put in,”
Grech said.
The coalition is not
alone in their concern
over navigation apps.
Peter Beadle, a member
of Transportation
Alternatives and cycling
advocate, said that he’s
seen a rise in traffic
diverted onto streets that
previously were quieter,
safer alternative routes
for bikers.
Despite his concern
over the effects of the app,
Beadle said that he thought
the data is key in designing
transit alternatives that
would work to combat the
growing traffic congestion
in the area.
“Waze doesn’t care how
you design your streets; it’s
not a player in that fight.
All it’s doing is providing
routing options,” said
Beadle. “In that sense, it’s
really at this uninterested
third party when it
comes to street design,
but it’s collecting all this
data that will show us
how our street design
causes congestion.”
Waze responded that it
shares the coalition’s goal
of reducing congestion and
suggested that it is open to
partnering city agencies,
which it did earlier this
year with the MTA and
Port Authority to help
improve tunnel navigation
for cars.
“We are entirely
committed to partnering
with cities and transit
authorities to solve shared
transportation challenges,”
wrote a spokesperson.
“We’re dedicated to
eliminating traffic and
have been working with
the Port Authority and
MTA Bridges and Tunnels
through our Waze for
Cities Program for several
years now.”
Grech said that he
expects the preliminary
results of the environmental
study on the AirTrain
project to be released by
the end of the year.
Image of the proposed AirTrain to LaGuardia. Courtesy of Gov. Cuomo’s office
‘A comeback story’
After long recount, Katz claims DA primary win
BY MARK HALLUM
Borough President
Melinda Katz gained the
Democratic nomination
for the Queens District
Attorney on July 29 after
the Board of Elections
certified recount results
that placed her 60 votes
ahead of Tiffany Cabán.
Katz threw an
“appreciation party” for
her supporters at a Banter,
a Forest Hills watering
hole where her and
Congressman Gregory
Meeks celebrated gaining
a follow-through on their
primary night promise to
“count every valid vote.”
“Let’s run back
the tape. I remember
being here not long ago
saying it wasn’t over
yet until every vote is
counted,” said Meeks,
the new chairman of
Queens Democratic
Party. “When you look
at those results, you see
a candidate that had the
power to bring Queens
together. We talked about
our diversity, you look
at the whole breadth of
Queens County, you will
see that Melinda Katz
has won thoroughly … to
make sure have the kind
of DA the represents the
great diversity of Queens
County.”
Katz’s words at the
victory party directed
aggression toward the
Cabán campaign which
often attack her ties to
the real estate industry,
and accusations that
she was the
“establishment” candidate.
“It was really hard
to stand up the last few
weeks. We were having
difficult times in the
papers. We weren’t sure if
we won or lost,” Katz said.
“We are entering very
personal times. We are
entering very complicated
times, and during the
campaign at times people
made it seem so easy – like
we’re going to change this
and we’re going to change
that. You know what we
need to do, we need to
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz at Banter in Forest
Hills on July 29. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
make sure that there is
justice for victims and
justice for defendants.”
Katz also railed
against claims from
Cabán supporters that
the process could not be
trusted on account of
influence from the Queens
County Democratic
Party due to their role
appointing BOE board
members. There was also
much scorn for the use of
Frank Bolz and Michael
Reich as attorneys for
Katz in consideration to
their history of profiting
off surrogate courts.
“I am incredibly proud
of this campaign. We
stayed above the board.
We held our heads high,”
Katz continued. “We
talked the truth and the
truth, people here, they
hear it. They want to
hear and they knew they
were getting it from this
campaign.”
The Monday party at
Banter was the antithesis
of the attitudes at the end
of the June 25 primary.
Election night
numbers had Cabán
leading Katz by over
1,100 votes out of a sevencandidate
field while
basking in what her
supporters perceived as
another upset against the
Queens Democratic Party
“machine” at Laboom
in Jackson Heights. But
the afterglow quickly
diminished as a count of
over 3,550 absentee and
affidavit ballots placed
Katz 16 votes ahead.
What started as a county
race quickly turned into a
national story that echoed
the victory of Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez over former
Congressman Joe Crowley
a year prior.
“People all over the
United States were
watching this race to
see what was going
to happen, and you
know what happened?
The most qualified,
effective, reform-minded,
intelligent, capable
person won this race,”
Congressman Tom
Suozzi said on Monday.
“Everybody loves a
comeback story.”
Read more at QNS.com.
LGA AirTrain group wants
traffi c apps to gather data
/QNS.com
