4 The Courier sun • MAY 5, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Photo courtesy Albert Oeswadi/Google Rockaway Brewing Company is opening a beachside bar in Far Rockaway By Miguel Vasquez editorial@qns.com/@QueensCourier Enjoy homegrown beer, and unlimited rays of sunshine at the exact same time. The Rockaway Brewing Company’s (RBC) soon to be launched pop-up beach beer garden La Playa in Ridgewood is not the only project hitting Queens this summer. The Long Island City-based brewery will also be temporarily implementing a beachside bar in the company’s original home of Far Rockaway. The beachside bar, located on Beach 67th Street, will provide an ambiance transported straight from the tropics to Rockaway beach. Imagine experiencing the taste of freshly made lager topped off with the luxurious feel of an ocean breeze, right here in Queens! Upon returning to their Far Rockaway roots, RBC will also be featuring a tasting site located on 415 Beach 72nd St. Here customers will have the opportunity to enjoy a range of beers from the company’s patented “Rockaway Esb” to their specialty brews. RBC is fully aware of the current demand for handcrafted beer and they are set on meeting the needs of the people. As of next year, RBC hopes that the tasting site will become a staple of the neighborhood, after it is officially converted into the second of the RBC’s breweries. Once this second brewery is up and running, the RBC’s production is expected to triple in number. Co-founder Marcus Burnett could not be happier about this decision. “Locally brewed beer just tastes better and that’s what the people want,” he told QNS. “It took us three years to find a place in Rockaway and now that we’re finally back, it’s a dream come true.” EAST RIVER TOLLS WON’T RESOLVE TRAFFIC WOES: POL By Alan Burton editorial@qns.com/@QueensCourier Don’t even think about it! That was the message Assemblyman David Weprin presented on W e d n e s d a y regarding a proposal to install tolls on the free East River crossings such as the Ed Koch- Queensboro, Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. Weprin made his remarks during a panel discussion at the World Trade Center titled “Getting from Here to There: Unclogging New York’s Transportation,” by the Manhattan Institute. Weprin asked the panel’s attendees to consider the middle- and working-class people as well as small businesses in the outer boroughs that relied on the toll-free bridges in making daily trips to and from the city, sometimes more than one round trip. “When the tolls keep going up and up, it gets to a point where it’s not affordable to the middle class,” Weprin brought before the panel. The proposal, drafted by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2008, suggests a congestion pricing zone encompassing an area spanning all of Manhattan below 60th Street with a few exempted roadways. A fee of $8 for cars and commercial vehicles and $21 for trucks entering into the zone is suggested to be applied between the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during weekdays with an exemption extending to buses, emergency vehicles, taxis and other for-hire vehicles, and cars with handicapped license plates. Though the original deadline to approve the plan was in early 2008, voting on the proposal was stalled initially by the overwhelming opposition to it at the state level. A spike in gas prices amid the Great Recession also spurred opposition to congestion pricing. Now, amid declining fuel prices and stagnating infrastructure, tolls on the East River bridges are once again under consideration through the Move NY plan, a proposal designed to reduce tolls on MTA-controlled crossings such as the Robert F. Kennedy, Throgs Neck and Whitestone bridges while redirecting toll revenue toward infrastructure improvements. However, Weprin insisted that the funds for such projects can be raised without levying more tolls. Queens shoppers fear the proposed grocery bag tax would put added strain on their wallets By Miguel Vasquez editorial@qns.com/@QueensCourier The City Council is nearing a decision on a proposed 5-cent tax on paper and plastic bags used by grocery and retail stores, but Queens residents have mixed feelings over the idea. Councilman Brad Lander and Councilwoman Margaret Chin, the bill’s sponsors, indicated that the tax provides an incentive for shoppers to use reusable ecofriendly bags. According to Lander’s office, more than $12.5 million worth of city resources are spent on cleaning up plastic bags from streets, parks and beaches every year. The concern surrounding this tax however, is that it will be yet another financial burden placed on New York residents. Councilman Eric Ulrich agrees with this sentiment. “The proposed plastic bag fee is just another way to nickel and dime New Yorkers, who already pay some of the highest taxes and utility rates in the nation,” Ulrich said. “It’s a regressive tax that will burden seniors and low-income families the most.” A number of New Yorkers have rallied against the bill, also feeling that there is a more beneficial way to be progressive. The “Bag the Tax” movement looks to promote the idea that these bags can indeed be recycled and that putting in more of an effort to do so will help the economy while keeping our city clean. Shoppers at the Bay Terrace Stop & Shop had mixed feelings about the bag tax becoming a reality. “I would never want to pay that. On days where I have 10 or 15 bags, I’ll have to pay 50 cents or more. T h a t ’ s way too much,” exclaimed Yvette Franco. Another shopper, Sue Feliciano, felt that the bill might be a good way to convince New Yorkers to be more environmentally conscious: “I think it’s a great idea, as long as it’s really helping the environment. There’s too much plastic floating around this city.” Councilman Donovan Richards has a similar hope for this bill as he fully understands the dangers of neglecting our environment. “As a representative of Far Rockaway, I saw firsthand after Hurricane Sandy, how much damage climate change can have on our coastal cities,” he said. “Plastic bags are polluting our oceans at disastrous levels, so we need to do our part in New York City to eliminate our plastic bag waste like so many other cities around the globe have done already.” Both City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Mayor Bill de Blasio have indicated their support for a 5-cent tax on every bag. The original bill called for a 10-cent tax, but it was later reduced to 5 cents. The City Council could vote on the tax during its meeting this week. Assemblyman David Weprin
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