8 DECEMBER 21, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Christmas work
blitz hits E & M
train lines
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Merry Christmas, Queens
train riders! Your
commute to and from
midtown Manhattan is about to
undergo a major change.
For the week between Christmas
and New Year’s Day, the MTA
will embark on a maintenance
blitz that will close tracks carrying
the E and M lines between
midtown and Long Island City.
Service on both lines will be altered
during the period, which is
regarded as one of the less intensive
commuter periods of the year.
The work will start early on the
morning of Tuesday, Dec. 26, and
continue straight through the late
morning of Sunday, Dec. 31.
If you’re planning on going to
Manhattan on New Year’s Eve,
don’t worry: the MTA says it will
restore all service, and provide
additional trains, well before the
festivities at Times Square start.
According to the MTA, more than
500 of its workers will work in and
around the 53rd Street Tunnel under
the East River and connecting tracks.
They’ll install four miles of cable
necessary for signal improvements;
replace 2,000 feet of third rail and 700
feet of regular track; clear 1,000 feet
of track drainage pipes; and apply
leak-eliminating grouting on tile walls.
Here’s the service changes
you’ll fi nd once track work starts
on Dec. 26:
E trains will run on the F line
between Jackson Heights-Roosevelt
Avenue and West Fourth
Street at all times. During overnight
periods, the E trains will
operate on the F line to Second
Avenue on the Lower East Side,
where trains will terminate.
M trains will not operate at all
between 71-Continental Avenues
in Forest Hills and Essex Street in
Manhattan; R trains will continue
providing service. The M train
shuttle currently in place between
Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle
Wyckoff Avenues is not aff ected
and will remain in operation.
R trains will continue making
stops at Queens Plaza except
during overnight periods. At that
time, shuttle buses will connect
riders between Queens Plaza
and the 21st Street-Queensbridge
station, where E and F service is
available.
Visit mta.info for more details.
Nearly $2.4M in improvements coming
to Glendale portion of Forest Park
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
SMONTEVERDI@QNS.COM / @SMONT76
An entrance to one of the borough’s
biggest parks is getting a
multi-million dollar makeover
that will bring bike and walking paths,
exercise equipment and more to the
public space.
Forest Park’s Glendale entrance,
located on Myrtle Avenue and Union
Turnpike, is currently an under-utilized
and easy-to-miss concrete
walkway under the Jackie Robinson
Parkway overpass.
A NYC Parks Department project,
funded by Councilwoman Elizabeth
Crowley and Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz, seeks to
change that.
Community Board 5’s Parks Committee
Chairperson Steve Fiedler
took board members through a presentation
outlining the city’s vision
for the space at a general meeting on
Dec. 13.
Spanning about eight acres, the
project includes plans for a ten-footwide
shared cyclist and pedestrian
pathway at the entrance.
Aft er a certain point, the shared lane
will diverge into separate walking
and cycling paths. The walkway will
be approximately 17 feet wide and the
two-way bicycle lane will be 10 feet
wide. The two lanes will be separated
by a three-foot strip.
These paths will lead to the picnic area,
which will also see improvements,
near the Forest Park Bandshell.
New park grills, picnic tables and
hot coal bins will be added to the picnic
space. Mulch and ADA-compliant
pavement will also be installed.
Bike racks, exercise equipment,
trash bins, drinking fountains,
benches and lighting will also be
placed in spots throughout the project
area.
CB5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri
said the board will approach the
Parks Department about installing
blue light emergency stations at the
site to enhance safety. The board will
also push the city to install lighting
every 30 feet instead of 40.
Board members also expressed concerns
about the initial shared bike and
walking lanes at the entrance. Expanding
the space to accommodate separate
paths, Arcuri said, should be explored.
According to the NYC Parks website,
the project is still in the planning stage,
which is expected to be completed in
April 2018. The construction timeline
is yet to be established.
In August 2016, the Councilwoman
and the NYC Parks Department held a
visioning session to gather residents’
input on how to re-imagine the Glendale
entrance.
Glendale Library renovations could take longer than expected
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Renovations at the Glendale
Library are set to begin in
January, but the work may
take longer than originally expected,
according to New York City Department
of Design and Construction
Commissioner Ana Barrio.
During Monday night’s town hall
meeting at P.S./I.S. 113 with Mayor
Bill de Blasio and Councilwoman
Elizabeth Crowley, a local resident
expressed concern that the project
was going to take longer than the original
one-year timeline and urged the
mayor to help expedite the process.
The children from schools all over
Glendale are in that library oft en for
tutoring and help with their homework,
and they need another option
while it’s closed, the resident said.
The $4.7 million project, funded in
part by Crowley, de Blasio and Queens
Borough President Melinda Katz,
will also include interior restoration,
Construction on the Glendale Library renovations may take longer
than expected
installation of an elevator, a book
drop, new adult and teen reading
rooms, restoration of the front stairs
and restoration of a rear garden.
“I have to acknowledge, as a homeowner
who has dealt with contractors,
I do know that oft en things take
longer than we all want,” de Blasio
said to the resident. “Sometimes legitimately,
sometimes not, but what
I like best is the honest answer.”
For that answer he turned to
Barrio, who confirmed that the
Photo via Google Maps
project was likely to take 1 1/2 years
to complete. Barrio explained that
drawings for the project would be
submitted in January and physical
work would begin soon aft er that.
She also confi rmed that a mobile
library truck will be on site when
the building closes and will stay for
the duration of the project.
The groundbreaking ceremony for
the project, which was scheduled to
take place on Tuesday, however, was
postponed until a later date.
