14 AUGUST 2, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
LIRR expands
F.H., Kew Gdns.
platforms soon
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@QNS.COM / @QNS
The Long Island Rail Road
(LIRR) announced that
they have plans to increase
the length of the platforms at the
Forest Hills and Kew Gardens
LIRR stations.
The platforms at each station
currently allows the fi rst four
cars of a train onto the platforms.
The new length will allow each
station to accommodate the fi rst
six train cars.
“We’re committed to improving
conditions for our Queens
customers, and this will make
boarding and exiting trains less
congested, faster and more pleasant
at both stations,” said Phillip
Eng, LIRR president. “We’re taking
a new, expedited approach,
making improvements quickly
to current needs with lower cost
yet sturdy materials, while we
evaluate a longer-term, permanent
solution.”
Currently, the average weekday
ridership at Forest Hills and
Kew Gardens stations are 1,967
passengers and 1,778, respectively.
Both stations have two
side platforms north and south
of the tracks, and extending both
platforms at each station by 200
feet is expected to help reduce
crowding and delays as well as
allowing trains to to exit the
stations more easily.
“With the high ridership at
these stations, we are experiencing
train delays as customers
must walk from car to car to be
able to reach a door at a platform,”
Eng said. “Because these two stations
are at a busy section of the
railroad, those delays can cause
trains behind to be delayed as
well. Longer platforms should
speed up our main line service
for all customers traveling between
Penn Station and Jamaica.”
Preparation for work at each
station is expected to start this
week. Temporary construction
related changes at each
station will be announced as the
start of construction approaches.
All work on each platform will
be performed by LIRR personnel
and staff is currently analyzing
the project to fi nd a completion
date and cost.
Queens lawmakers continue Puerto Rico relief eff orts
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
A pair of Queens’ representatives
on Capitol Hill are continuing to
fi ght for Puerto Rico as legislative
measures last week moved closer
to helping the island recover from last
year’s devastating hurricane season.
Congress members Grace Meng and
Nydia Velázquez both announced on
July 26 that some of their eff orts to
help provide relief to Puerto Rico and
to study the emergency response to
Hurricane Maria are moving forward
in the House of Representatives.
For Velázquez, that meant securing
legislation within the National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA) that would
help give incentive to federal agencies
to employ Puerto Rican businesses and
create local jobs. The legislation would
allow federal agencies to count double
toward their small business contracting
goals the procurement dollars
awarded to fi rms in Puerto Rico.
“Ten months have passed since Hurricane
Maria ravished Puerto Rico’s infrastructure,
devastated the electrical grid
and crippled the already languishing
economy,” Velázquez said. “My provision
would channel federal dollars to the
island, employing local small fi rms in the
recovery process and on other projects.
Federal procurement spending can be
a powerful tool for stimulating local
economic growth and, right now, Puerto
Rico can use all the help it can get.”
Photo by Airman 1st Class Nicholas Dutton/Department of Defense
The Civil Air Patrol, in cooperation with the Air National Guard, conducts an
aerial survey over northern Puerto Rico on Sept. 26, 2017.
According to the Congresswoman,
Puerto Rico currently ranks 50th out
of 56 in comparison to all other U.S.
states and territories for federal contracts
performed there. Between fi scal
years 2014 and 2015, the total awards
of federal contracts to Puerto Rican
small businesses declined by nearly
$85 million.
Meng’s legislation was more focused
on holding the government accountable
for its response to the disaster in
Puerto Rico. The Congresswoman was
able to secure an amendment in the
Homeland Security Appropriations
bill that would require the Department
of Homeland Security’s inspector
general to issue a report on the Federal
Emergency Management Agency’s
(FEMA) response to Hurricane Maria.
Specifically, that report would
require an assessment of how FEMA
could improve its response to appeals
for housing aid. Meng, who traveled to
Puerto Rico earlier this year to assess
the recovery eff orts herself, said that
many mistakes were made in the wake
of the storm.
“The response to the devastation
caused by Hurricane Maria was slow
and wholly inadequate, and 10 months
aft er Puerto Rico was devastated by
the storm, our fellow Americans on
the island continue to struggle with
rebuilding,” Meng said. “It is critical
to have a detailed review of how FEMA
conducted its response, and that we
learn what improvements can be made
going forward. There were many mistakes
and failures with the agency’s
performance – from disbursing aid
to addressing appeals for housing
assistance – and these problems must
not repeated for future disasters.”
While the NDAA passed the House
and now moves to the Senate fl oor, the
Homeland Security Appropriations
bill passed the House Appropriations
Committee and will now move to the
House fl oor.
Castaways ‘Shipwrecked’ at vacation Bible school in Ridgewood
Youngsters participated in the ‘Shipwrecked’-themed Vacation Bible School held at Trinity Reformed Church in
Ridgewood the week of July 16-20. As shown, the church was decorated with an island theme also used in the
many Bible lessons in which the volunteer-led classes participated. The students and team leaders are pictured
along with Pastor Thomas Goodhart.
Photo by Robert Pozarycki/Ridgewood Times
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