14 TIMES • FEBRUARY 11, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com Attend a town hall meeting looking for answers on possible L train shutdown BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport With the MTA considering shutting down portions of the L train for more than a year to make repairs, commuters from Ridgewood and other areas on the line are looking to make sure the authority hears their grievances and concerns. Last month the MTA said it was considering shutting down L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan in order to repair the 80-year-old Canarsie Tube, which suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy when the superstorm fi lled the tunnel with 7 million gallons of saltwater. The L Train Coalition was formed in Williamsburg, and they are looking to get into conversations with the MTA in order to prevent a shutdown at all costs. The Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District (BID) announced that the L Train Coalition will be holding its next public meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the Swinging Sixties Senior Center, located at 211 Ainslie St., Brooklyn. The riders hope to fi nd out from the MTA information about what is wrong with the Canarsie Tube and the extent of the damage done by Hurricane Sandy, as well as to be included and heard before the MTA makes decisions about how to proceed with repairs. The coalition will continue to engage their elected offi cials to continue to put pressure on the MTA, the mayor and the governor for information on the situation. BY ROBERT POZARYCKI [email protected] @robbpoz The tower crane that collapsed on a Manhattan street on the morning of Feb. 5 and killed a pedestrian is owned and operated by fi rms based in Queens, according to the mayor’s offi ce. Long Island City’s Bay Crane owned the huge rigging device operated by Maspeth’s Galasso Trucking and Rigging Inc. that fell onto Worth Street in the Tribeca section of Manhattan at 8:24 a.m. on Feb. 5. The mayor’s offi ce indicated that workers were moving the crane into a secure position when the accident happened. This was done, sources said, because winds were approaching 25 mph in the middle of this morning’s snowstorm. The collapse claimed the life of a Manhattan resident; three others suffered injuries. No buildings suffered structural damage. According to the mayor’s offi ce, the Photo via Twitter/@Keith V. Smith (edited for scale). crane fi rst went into operation at the location on Jan. 30 “to replace generators and air conditioners on the building roof.” Buildings Department inspectors checked the crane at 6:20 a.m. on Feb. 4 “and found it to be in full compliance,” it was noted. The investigation is ongoing. This paper reached out to both Bay Crane and Galasso Trucking and is awaiting responses. On their websites, both companies noted their more than 60 years of service in the construction and logistics industries. New online editor-in-chief at QNS.com Schneps Communications announced that it has named Katarina Hybenova as the new digital editor-in-chief for QNS.com, the digital media partner of The Queens Courier, Courier Sun, Ridgewood Times and BORO magazine. Hybenova owns and remains the editorial director of Bushwick Daily, a website she founded in 2010 highlighting news and events in the Brooklyn neighborhood. Originally started as a photoblog, the website quickly grew in popularity; now, the website has 250,000 visitors each month. “We are thrilled to have Katarina join our team to lead our focus on being the dominant digital platform in Queens,” said Joshua Schneps, co-publisher of Schneps Communications. “I have a great deal of respect for what she has accomplished in the digital space and know that, with her experience and passion for local new websites, she will help surpass our goals and expectations for QNS.com and beyond.” “It is a very exciting challenge for me to join Schneps Communications, which has a long tradition of publishing traditional print newspapers,” Hybenova said. “My aim is to elevate the company’s digital strategy, making QNS.com the number one source of quality news in the borough of Queens. I personally live in Ridgewood, and as an immigrant I appreciate that every country of the world has its little nook in Queens. This borough’s diversity is a large reason why I love it so much, and working on QNS.com is such a pleasure.” Born and raised in Slovakia, Hybenova originally studied law in the Czech Republic, Belgium and New York. In 2014, on a full scholarship from the Knight Foundation, she attended the prestigious Tow Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School for Journalism. Hybenova lives in Ridgewood with her husband and their four cats. Photo via Wikimedia Commons The L Train Coalition is holding its next monthly meeting looking for answers on the possible shutdown of parts of the line. Queens companies linked to crane that fell in TriBeCa
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