FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARCH 14, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 25
Boro Hall tasting event kicks off ‘Dine the Boroughs’
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
More than 100 Queens restaurants are
revving up for the fi rst ever Dine the
Boroughs event, which will feature some
of the best bites from the outer boroughs.
From March 18 to 29, guests will be
invited to sample $28 three-course, prixfi
xe menus from over 200 restaurants in
Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. On
March 12, Queens Borough Hall in Kew
Gardens played host to a preview leading
up to the main event next week.
According to Joshua Schneps, the CEO
of Schneps Media and one of the event
organizers, the two-week culinary display
fi lls the void created by New York City’s
ever-popular restaurant week, which features
a myriad Manhattan’s best eateries
but only a few options from the outer
boroughs.
“Th is is really an opportunity to promote
the diverse food off erings found in
Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx,” said
Schneps. “We want to drive traffi c to each
of the boroughs because, as we all know,
great food is a destination.”
At the preview event, Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz said that the
“international borough” features residents
from 190 countries who speak
200 languages. She added that Dine the
Boroughs would allow people to get the
authentic tastes of the participating cultures.
“Th e fact that we have food from all
over the world really makes us a borough
of great cuisines,” said Katz. “To
have events like this and show off the
types of food that we have served here
and which countries they’re from and
all the expertise we have in the culinary
arts is extremely important for the tourism
of the borough, but it’s also extremely
important for the businesses of our borough.
It’s great to show the rest of the city
that we don’t have to get over a bridge or
under a tunnel to get great food. We can
get great food right here.”
One of the featured restaurants
is Guantanamera, which specializes
in Cuban food and has locations in
Manhattan and Forest Hills. According
to manager Angelo Sanchez, authentic
Cuban food from the 16-year-old restaurant
has been featured at the annual
World’s Fare at Citi Field.
Sanchez said that their newer Forest
Hills location has only been opened for
about a year, so events like Dine the
Boroughs is important to “introduce a little
Cuban taste to the neighborhood.”
Th e restaurant manager added that the
venue features live Cuban music and
complimentary, hand-rolled cigars on
Fridays and Saturdays.
Dine the Boroughs begins on Monday,
March 18, and ends on Friday, March 29.
For more information and to see a list
of participating Queens restaurants, visit
dinetheboroughs.com or check the pullout
section in this week’s Courier. Follow
the event on social media via #dinetheboros.
Q52 Select line earns straight As on transit report card
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
In a city with bus service in apparent
decline, one Queens route is shining
above the rest, earning an A on its report
card from a transit advocacy group.
Th e Q52, the Rockaways-to-Elmhurst
route which was converted into a Select
Bus Service line in 2016 and 2017, was
said to provide the quickest and most reliable
service to riders aft er the implementation
of bus lanes and all-door boarding
along Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards.
Th e Transit Center, which compiled
the report card, said the ridership has
declined 17 percent between 2009 and
2018, with a 4.7 percent in decline in 2018
alone, but that fewer bus routes received
failing grades since the MTA began making
widespread changes.
“We have been very focused on improving
our bus service around the city, and
we thank the Bus Turnaround Coalition
for that recognition,” said Max Young,
chief external aff airs offi cer for the MTA.
“Despite the progress we’ve made, we
have an enormous amount of work to do
on this issue, in order to improve speeds
and reliability to help riders get around
the city. In order to achieve this goal we
need congestion pricing to pass, in order
to reduce traffi c on the streets and provide
additional technological and infrastructure
improvements.”
Th e Transit Center’s report card is
released every year. Th is time, as a transportation
coalition and Councilman
Mark Levine presented the results on the
steps of City Hall on March 6, it showed
30 fewer bus routes received a failing
grade over the year before.
Councilman Barry Grodenchik represents
a transit desert and has been vocal
on expanding and improving bus options.
“I represent the only City Council district
with no train service, so buses are
absolutely critical,” Grodenchik said.
“Faster, more frequent, more reliable bus
service would make a tremendous diff erence
in the quality of life of so many residents
of eastern Queens.”
But Levine warned that bus riders are
not out of the woods yet, even with the
widespread improvements.
“Unlike the subway system, major pieces
of bus infrastructure are controlled by
the city,” Levine said. “Th at’s why I have
been fi ghting for the city to drastically
increase the pace of transit signal priority
(TSP) technology for the past two years
— a fi ght we recently won as the mayor
announced DOT would be implementing
TSP in 300 intersections a year for
the next fi ve years. But as this report card
makes clear, we still have more to do.”
Th e Q52 route was subject to improvements
in 2016 as the city Department of
Transportation began seeking feedback
on the implementing bus lanes, eliminating
passenger car turn lanes and even
set a bus stop at Jamaica Avenue in the
median.
Protests ensued and the changes were
made regardless, but studies from DOT
show that a year aft er the changes to the
11-mile route, commute times are down
by about 9 to 10 percent and about 80
percent of people prefer the new service
to the old.
Th e Transit Center measured bus speed,
which averages about 6 miles an hour,
and “bunching,” a term for when buses
are delayed and then multiple come at
once. Bunching has shown to have been
greatly reduced by the use of bus lanes.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Q52 was the only bus in the city to make an A rating on report card from a transit advocacy
group.
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/THE COURIER
Dine the Boroughs preview at Queensborough Hall
/dinetheboroughs.com
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
