Transit News And Changes Traffic News And Changes Good Samaritans Catch M.V. Groper Calls To Reintroduce Rent Subsidies Made During Assembly Hearing On Homelessness -CONTINUED FROM PG. 6- IIff YYoouu SSeeee BBrreeaakkiinngg NNeewwss OOnn YYoouurr BBlloocckk...... CCoonntaacct TThhee Times Newsweekly CCaallll 11--771188--882211--77550000 •• EEmmaaiill iinnffoo@@ttiimmeessnneewwsswweeeekkllyy..ccoomm 63 • TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2014 travel time. N Trains Skip Stops In Astoria Weekdays Astoria-bound N trains will skip the 39th Avenue, 36th Avenue, Broadway and 30th Avenue stations on Thursday and Friday, Friday, Dec. 18-19, from 10:15 a.m. until 3 p.m. During this period, Q trains will not operate between 57th Street and Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard. For service to the skipped stations, take the N train to Astoria Boulevard, then transfer to a Manhattan-bound N train. For service from these stations, take the N train to Queensboro Plaza, then transfer to an Astoria-bound N train. Disruptions Slow G Train In Bklyn. Bedford-Nostrand Avenues will serve as the last stop for alternate Church Avenue-bound G trains this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 20-21, from 5 a.m. to midnight. This service change will be in effect each weekend through Sunday, Dec. 28. Riders can transfer between G trains at Bedford-Nostrand Avenues to continue their trip. It was noted that all G trains running between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avenues will operate every 20 minutes. Riders are advised to allow for additional travel time. Ozone Park A Line Closed For Weekend A train service between Rockaway Boulevard and Lefferts Boulevard will be suspended this weekend, from 11:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, until 4:45 a.m. Monday, Dec. 22. During this period, A trains will operate between 207th Street and either Howard Beach- JFK Airport or Mott Avenue-Far Rockaway. Manhattan-bound A trains will also skip the Rockaway Boulevard station. Free shuttle buses will provide alternate service between 80th Street and Lefferts Boulevard. Riders can transfer between A trains and the free shuttle buses at 80th Street. The shuttle bus stops are located as follows: • 80th Street—on Liberty Avenue at 80th Street; • 88th Street—on Liberty Avenue at 88th Street; • Rockaway Boulevard—on 93rd Street at Liberty Avenue or on Liberty Avenue at 96th Street (to Lefferts Boulevard) or on Liberty Avenue at 93rd or 97th streets (to 80th Street); • 104th Street—on Liberty Avenue at 104th Street; • 111th Street—on Liberty Avenue at 111th Street; and • Lefferts Boulevard—on Lefferts Boulevard at Liberty Avenue. Station Renewal Affects A Train The Manhattan-bound platforms at the 88th Street and 104th Street A train stations in Ozone Park remain closed through January 2015 for repairs related to the MTA’s station renewal program. For service to these stations, take the A train to 80th Street, then transfer to an Ozone Parkbound or a Far Rockaway-bound A train. For service from these stations, take the A train to Rockaway Boulevard or 111th Street, then transfer to a Manhattan-bound A train. For a complete list of service changes and last-minute updates, visit the MTA’s website at www.mta.info or call 511. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 20- direction may be closed on weeknights from 12:01 until 5 a.m., Saturdays from 1 to 6 a.m. and Sundays from 1 to 9 a.m. Sewer Work Leads To Pkwy. Closures One of three lanes of the Belt Parkway between Cross Bay Boulevard and 194th Street in either direction may be closed on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and weeknights 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Additionally, two of three lanes in either direction may be closed in this segment on early weekday mornings from 1 to 5 a.m. The closures are required to allow for sewer reconstruction, which is expected to continue through July 2016. Furthermore, one of two lanes of the Nassau Expressway exit ramp to the eastbound Belt Parkway between 115th and 128th streets will be closed until further notice. * * * For additional closures, visit the city DOT’s website at www.nyc.gov/dot or call 311. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 20- commanding officer—said several neighbors spotted the individual fleeing and managed to detain him until police arrived. Officers from the 104th Precinct responded to the scene and, following questioning, took Rada-Bayona into custody on charges of forcible touching, sexual abuse, harassment and assault. Manson stated the NYPD Queens Special Victims Squad is investigating a possible link between the suspect and two other forcible touching incidents at the footbridge earlier this year. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 19- REPORT CRIMES IN PROGRESS TO 911 IMMEDIATELY! years of rent subsidies to help participants get back on their feet, as long as they worked at least 20 hours a week and covered 30 to 40 percent of their rent.” With homelessness spiking over the last two years, Crowley noted, the city responded by opening more emergency housing shelters and planning for additional homeless shelters that could house hundreds of people in one location. She referred specifically to the controversial plan for a 125-family transitional shelter at 78-16 Cooper Ave. in Glendale, a long-defunct factory. Crowley said the shelter— which the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) selected the nonprofit Samaritan Village to develop and operate— lies “in the heart of a very residential portion of my district, on land that myself and other community advocates have been working to transform into a school to relieve the record overcrowding in our school district.” “Shelters like the $27 million Samaritan Village project proposed in my district, in a building that would take years to rehabilitate, does not meet the immediate need for our city’s homeless population and places an undue burden on our community,” she said. Dawn Scala of the Glendale Middle Village Coalition echoed Crowley’s sentiments in written testimony she submitted on the coalition’s behalf. Scala charged that the city and DHS have “not effectively dealt with the growing homeless population,” and that constructing “more and more large-scale shelters does nothing to combat and end the homeless crisis, and is just a simplistic reactionary approach to a very real and growing problem.” “It is a very expensive Band- Aid, and a poor one at that,” Scala wrote. “The current shelter system does nothing but to further perpetuate the crisis by warehousing homeless people in very expensive, large-scale facilities.” The Glendale resident also charged that the DHS and shelter operators both require frequent audits to ensure proper management, as presently the entities are “accountable to no one.” This, she charged, contributed to squalid conditions, mismanagement and cronyism in the awarding of shelter contracts. “Should audits uncover questionable practices, contract awards should be suspended until an investigation is completed,” Scala said. “An independent monitor should be appointed to oversee DHS until such time that marked improvements are made. In addition to combating the ineffectiveness of DHS, related city agencies need to coordinate to be more efficient and effective in serving the homeless and those at risk of being homeless.” In a statement to the Times Newsweekly on Monday, Dec. 15, Hevesi said the hearing served to highlight “the severe and monumental realities of the homeless crisis. “At the hearing, one particular advocate, who has worked in the field for decades, called the current situation ‘a disaster,’” Hevesi said. “Our next step will be to transform the worthy policy recommendations from the experts into an aggressive and comprehensive action plan. The homeless children and families in New York, who are at record numbers and growing, deserve every resource at our disposal in their time of crisis.” Regarding the fate of the Glendale shelter proposal— which the Glendale Middle Village Coalition hopes to thwart through litigation—State Sen. Joseph Addabbo said on Tuesday, Dec. 16, he met the previous day, Dec. 15, with DHS Commissioner Gilbert Taylor and Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios regarding the proposal. He expressed hope that “we can still find an alternative use for the warehouse on Cooper Avenue and avoid packing in such a large number of homeless families at that inappropriate site.” The senator told the Times Newsweekly on Tuesday the issue will be further discussed with city officials sometime after the new year. Going forward, he stated, “we have to be persistent with the arguments on why it’s such a bad idea for the site to be used as a shelter.” “I appreciate the efforts of DHS and city officials to hear our community’s concerns, and those of my fellow colleagues in government, as well as possibly considering discussions focusing on other future options for the property,” Addabbo said.
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