4 MAY 24, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
New Key Food set to open in Maspeth
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Maspeth residents will soon be
able to shop at two Key Food
supermarkets on the same
block when a new location opens on
Grand Avenue this week.
The new supermarket is located just
south of the Long Island Expressway
on Grand Avenue near Borden Avenue
in a building that used to be occupied
by a Duane Reade drug store.
According to general manager
Hasan Zghari — who also runs the Key
Food less than a block away on Grand
Avenue near Hamilton Place — the
new location will have a soft opening
on May 24, and the grand opening
ceremony will take place on June 1.
Both Key Food locations will remain
open at the same time, but Zghari invited
the Ridgewood Times on May 21 to
come see the new features that set the
two stores apart.
Inside the new supermarket there
is a pharmacy department toward the
front of the building near the cash registers,
which Zghari said will open two
or three weeks aft er the store initially
opens. Toward the back of the store is a
combined deli/bakery/seafood counter
where fresh sushi and other foods
The Key Food supermarket on Grand Avenue in Maspeth, which will open for business on May 24.
will be prepared, and its increased
space will allow the new store to carry
a larger variety of foods in general.
“The other location doesn’t have that,
it’s just a regular, typical supermarket,”
Zghari said. “We’re going to make that one
into a more organic, healthy choice market.”
In addition, the new store has a large
parking lot with approximately 80
parking spots.
With only three days to go until
the soft opening, most of the shelves
were already stocked and staff members
were scattered throughout the
building finishing any last-minute
work. Zghari said that some of his staff
members from the old Key Food store
are joining the staff at the new store,
but he also hired 20 new employees
from the local community.
When asked why he thinks the new
store will be successful even though
it’s so close to its sister store, Zghari
said the answer was simple.
Photos by Ryan Kelley
“The parking lot, I think that’s going
to take the cake,” Zghari said. “You’d be
surprised, with that six-car parking lot
we do pretty well at the other store. So
with an 80-car parking lot, nobody is
fi ghting for a spot, we’re hoping.”
The new Key Food will be open
seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10
p.m. beginning on May 24, and aft er
the June 1 grand opening there will
be six weeks’ worth of “blowout sales”
throughout the store, Zghari said.
MTA increases bus and train service in Queens
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
More buses and subway trains
will be rolled out this year
in Queens to deal with increased
ridership demands, the MTA
announced on Monday.
NYC Transit President Andy Byford
said on May 20 that the adjustments
are part of ongoing eff orts to
accommodate changes in ridership
and reduce crowding and wait times at
bus and subway stops at certain times.
“We’re thrilled to add some additional
service for subway and bus riders,
and much bigger improvements
are on the horizon,” Byford said. “We
regularly tweak schedules based on
changes in demand and operating
conditions, and the comprehensive
plan I’m announcing this week
will outline the path towards even
more signifi cant improvements to
service that will be felt by all of our
customers.”
The added buses in Queens will
join the regular fl eet on the weekends
starting in July. In the Ridgewood area,
the Q29 will have increased service in
the aft ernoon and decreased service
in the morning on Saturdays, while
the Q47 will have increased service
all day long on Saturdays.
The rest of the bus route changes
are as follows:
• Saturday service on the Q6 (Jamaica
JFK Airport via Sutphin Boulevard)
will increase throughout the
entire day.
• Saturday service on the Q8 (Jamaica
Spring Creek via 101st Avenue)
will increase in midday, aft ernoon
and evening periods.
• Saturday service on the Q49
(East Elmhurst-Jackson Heights
via 35th Avenue) will increase
in the morning, afternoon and
evening periods.
• Saturday service on the Q101 (East
Midtown-Astoria via Steinway
Street) will increase in the midday
and aft ernoon periods.
• Sunday service on the Q65
(College Point-Jamaica via College
Point Boulevard and 164th
Street) will increase throughout
the day.
Changes to the E and F trains
should also help some Queens residents
travel more effi ciently and will
go into eff ect in November:
• Three additional Manhattan-bound
E trains on weekdays between
approximately 10:30 a.m. and noon
• One additional Jamaica-bound F
train on weekdays between approximately
10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
• Two additional Brooklyn-bound
F trains on weekdays between approximately
10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
• One additional Brooklyn-bound
F train on weekdays between approximately
2 and 3 p.m.
• Two additional Brooklyn-bound
F trains on weekdays between
approximately 8 and 10 p.m.
All the additional trains will make
round trips, meaning that there
will be added trips in the opposite
directions as well, according to the
announcement.
The changes come as the MTA is in
the process of redesigning the entire
bus route system as part of its NYC
Transit Bus Plan, and Byford plans
to make an announcement on May
23 about a comprehensive plan to
improve all aspects of NYC Transit.
Photo via Wikipedia Commons
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