4 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARСH 5, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
MTA pilot program will discount commuter
rail fares for city riders except in Far Rockaway
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
The Far Rockaway LIRR station is the only one in
Queens that is exempt from new discounts for city
rail commuters.
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e MTA is expanding a deal to its
commuter rail riders who use the Long
Island Rail Road or Metro-North to travel
within city limits.
Th e pilot program would provide a
10 percent discount on daily LIRR tickets
and a 20 percent discount on monthly
LIRR tickets beginning May 1 for
every Queens LIRR station except Far
Rockaway.
“Once again, the Long Island Rail Road
fails to acknowledge that far Rockaway
is in Queens,” Assemblywoman Stacey
Pheff er Amato said. “Th e LIRR are asking
my constituents, who have the farthest
commutes in the city, to pay full price on
the most expensive form of public transportation
we have and that is completely
unfair. I cannot understand why the LIRR
continues to exclude my community from
these great programs. It doesn’t matter
that the train runs through Nassau, these
are Queens residents and they should
receive the same benefi ts as every other
Queens resident.”
Th e MTA said Pheff er Amato is correct
that Far Rockaway is excluded from the
program as it is currently confi gured. Th e
agency is looking into whether there
might be some way to amend the
program.
“We take this seriously; just
like all pilots, we want to look
for opportunities for success,”
LIRR President Phil Eng said. “Far
Rockaway is a unique situation that
has come up before but we are reviewing
thoroughly and with an open mind.”
Despite being in Queens, the Far
Rockaway station is also excluded
from the City Ticket program and
the Atlantic Ticket program. Th e funds
for the pilot program have been made
available through the Outer Borough
Transportation Account which is controlled
at the discretion of the New York
State Legislature.
“Improving transit access by lowering
commuter rail fares for New York City
riders has long been a priority for me,”
state Senator Leroy Comrie said.
“Providing commuters quality,
aff ordable alternatives to
driving is a desirable policy
goal, so I look forward
to continuing our work with
the MTA to identify needed
improvements for outer borough
commuters.”
Th e programs are essential
in northeast Queens
where there is no subway
access and limited public
transportation options for
commuters.
“As part of last year’s state
budget, it was critical for us
to ensure that the needs of our
communities were not neglected,”
Assemblywoman Nily Rozic
said. “Relief in the outer boroughs
where commuters are far too familiar
with increasing fares and travel times
is long overdue and I look forward to
seeing these improvements through for
northeast Queens transit riders.”
No plans to integrate D24 schools at Elmhurst town hall: Carranza
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza’s
District 24 town hall on March 2 proved
to be much calmer and organized than
District 26’s contentious education event
earlier in the year — but it still had its
moments.
More than 1,000 parents, students and
educators attended the Department of
Education’s town hall at I.S. 5 in Elmhurst,
taking up the auditorium where Carranza
sat with the Community Education
Council (CEC) 24 members, the gym
and the cafeteria, where it had to be live
streamed.
Th e growing size of the town halls
prompted CEC 24’s President Phil Wong
to joke that the next town hall would
“have to go to Shea Stadium or Yankee
Stadium.”
Carranza began with opening remarks
in which he addressed the coronavirus by
encouraging people to wash their hands,
and told parents to keep children at home
if they’re sick. He then answered several
pre-written questions, with topics that
ranged from school integration to safety,
for one hour.
Th e fi rst question of the night was on
Carranza’s mission to integrate schools.
A CEC member asked why they DOE is
attempting to create a “one size fi ts all citywide
approach” when D24 has 39 schools
that are “working so well.” Th ey noted that
their schools are committed to retaining
locally zoned schools.
Carranza said he agreed with many of
the things they said about the district.
“What I’m going to, in a very friendly
way, push back on is the notion that I have
a plan to integrate District 24 — there is
no such plan,” Carranza said. “What I
have talked about is that in schools and
school communities that diversity isn’t
as apparent as what is being stated in
the question, we should have a conversation
about what it would look like to have
more diverse schools. Unfortunately, not
all schools everywhere are as diverse as
what has been stated here today.”
When asked about specialized testing,
or SHSAT, Carranza invited supporters of
the practice to show him research proving
it’s the best way to identify intellectually
gift ed children. He also called for
the state and city legislature to “get out of
the school board business” and repeal the
Hecht-Calandra Act.
Th ere were also many questions about
school safety.
Carranza pushed back on the notion
that the DOE has a “lax discipline policy”
when asked about how they plan to deal
with violence in schools, using the various
incidents at M.S. 158 (Marie Curie)
as an example.
“Th ere is a zero tolerance for any physical
abuse, zero tolerance for anything that
we could consider to be breaking the law,
and, believe me, we work with NYPD in
those situations,” Carranza said. “But we
also know that we’re an educational institution.
And as an educational institution,
forgive me, but we think it’s part of our
job to help students learn what it’s like to
be a law abiding citizen, a caring individual
with those around them, to understand
how they function in this society.”
Carranza said that when the DOE was
informed of the various incidents in M.S.
158, central and fi eld staff monitored the
school on a daily basis, provided additional
training for staff members, sent letters
to the community, had several meetings
with parents and met with elected
offi cials.
Lucy Accardo, a former CEC 24 president,
asked what the DOE is planning to
do for D24 schools with “more than 2,000
students, but only one security guard.”
Accardo mentioned that parents tend to
disagree with having an armed security
agent or a retired police offi cer, but want
more security overall.
Carranza said he’s “not a supporter
of making our schools look like jails.”
And while he thinks the school’s security
agents are doing a “phenomenal job,”
he said they’re open to listening to specific
cases where they need more assistance.
Success Academy made its own statement
with a large group of parents and
children wearing orange shirts and holding
signs that read “Kids Over Politics”
at the town hall. CEC 24’s President
Phil Wong asked Carranza if he had any
updates for them, to which the chancellor
responded by saying that they’re working
with SA on two temporary co-location
proposals.
“We had a school site that we thought
was perfect, they wouldn’t even have to
co-locate but there turned out to be a
number of issues,” Carranza said. “We
expect to post proposals later this week. I
just want to assure Success Academy parents,
staff and students, that we hear you
and we’re engaging with you.”
Although the town hall was fairly organized,
there was a brief moment toward
the beginning of the meeting in which
Dao Yin, a candidate for Queens Borough
President, stood up and addressed
Carranza before walking out of the auditorium.
Yin told QNS that he left because he felt
Carranza was “showing off .”
“Th e chancellor needs to listen to diff erent
voices and not show off ,” Yin said. “It’s
a serious community education meeting,
not anybody’s showtime.”
Photo: Angélica Acevedo/QNS
CEC 24 members and Schools Chancellor Richard
Carranza at March 2 town hall.
/WWW.QNS.COM
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