FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 4, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Historic parkway
trail extended
Th e state Legislature recently passed a long-awaited
bill commissioning a study to extend the Long Island
Motor Parkway Trail in northeast Queens.
On June 28, lawmakers, bike advocates and local
residents celebrated the Motor Parkway Connection
bill’s passage, which was carried by Assemblyman
David Weprin in the Assembly and by state Senator
John Liu in the Senate this past legislative session.
Th e New York State Department of Transportation
(NYSDOT) will complete a feasibility study and
report for the proposed expansion, which would
extend the parkway east from Winchester Boulevard
to Little Neck Parkway. Th e car-free path, which is
used by bicyclists and parkgoers, currently runs from
210th Street to Winchester Boulevard.
“Th e Long Island Motor Parkway is Queens county’s
hidden gem, a car-free verdant landmarked path
that travels through the Queens neighborhoods of
Fresh Meadows and Hollis Hills. It’s part of the
Brooklyn Queens Greenway which is a system of
trails that stretches from Coney Island to Bayside,”
said Joby Jacob, co-founder of Motor Parkway East.
“For the past fi ve years, we’ve advocated to link these
two trails and are very happy to see the bill passed.
We also hope that fi lling this critical gap will allow
the Brooklyn Queens Greenway to serve as a link to
the Empire State Trail, which runs from Manhattan
to Canada, as it will be able to fi nally include Long
Island.”
Jenna Bagcal
Styrofoam ban enforced
starting this week
A business group in Flushing hopes that the city’s
ban on foam, which the Department of Sanitation
began to enforce this week, will not cause further
strain to small businesses and mom-and-pop restaurants
that may already be struggling.
“A lot of the smaller restaurants and mom-and-pop
stores are feeling the squeeze,” said John Choe, the
executive director of the Greater Flushing Chamber
of Commerce. “We’re hoping that the styrofoam ban
won’t be adding to that growing pressure. We’ll continue
to monitor the situation.”
Th e foam ban prohibits stores and restaurants from
off ering, selling or possessing single-use foam food
containers. Th ese containers include clamshells, cups,
plates, bowls, coolers and trays.
Business found in violation will now be fi ned by
the city’s Department of Sanitation – $250 for the
fi rst violation, $500 for the second within 12 months
of the fi rst, and $1,000 for the third violation and
each to follow within 12 months. While the ban took
eff ect on Jan. 1, 2019, enforcement did not begin until
this month.
As an alternative to foam packaging, businesses are
encouraged to use compostable products, recyclable
paper, plastic or aluminum.
Choe applauded the long roll out during which
business had time to be educated on the ban and
begin to make the transition to alternative packaging.
However, the cost of doing business in the fast-developing
neighborhood is hard to ignore, he said.
“Our concern as a chamber is the rising cost of
doing business in Flushing,” said Choe. “A lot of businesses
like older restaurants have closed over the last
year due to increased rents and increased labor costs.”
Choe also cited the rise of developments and chain
stores in the area as contributing factors to the strain.
“Reducing our waste is vital to the health of our
planet and our city,” said Corey Johnson, the speaker
of the City Council. “Single-use foam has littered
our streets, sidewalks and parks or ended up in landfi
lls for too long.”
Jacob Kaye
Photo via Getty Images
THE MOST UNINSURED
Flushing-Whitestone area has most people without health care: NYC study
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e neighborhoods of Flushing,
Murray Hill and Whitestone have
the highest rate of residents without
health insurance, according to
a new report published by the New
York City Independent Budget Offi ce
(IBO).
Some of the city’s community districts
had particularly high shares of
uninsured but little access to nearby
public hospital facilities, according
to the report, “Are NYC Health
+ Hospitals Facilities Located in
Community Districts With the
Highest Shared of Uninsured New
Yorkers?” which mapped the location
of public hospital facilities and
uninsured residents in 59 community
districts.
In January, Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced the launch of a new program
called NYC Care, a city-funded
NYC Health + Hospital initiative
expected to cost $100 million per
year when fully implemented in fi scal
year 2022. Th e program will serve
approximately 600,000 New Yorkers
without insurance by strengthening
New York City’s public health insurance
option, MetroPlus, and guaranteeing
anyone ineligible for insurance
— regardless of ability to pay
and immigration status — has direct
access to NYC Health + Hospitals’
physicians, pharmacies and mental
health and substance services.
Expected to roll out in the Bronx
later this summer and across the
boroughs by 2021, the new initiative
aims to link uninsured individuals
with a primary care provider in
the hopes of keeping patients out of
the emergency room visits for routine
care.
Overall, there were about 615,000
uninsured New Yorkers in 2017,
roughly 7 percent of the city’s population,
according to fi gures from
the U.S. Census Bureau. Among city
residents who were not U.S. citizens
about 300,000, or nearly 22 percent
were uninsured — and the rate was
likely even higher among non-citizens
who were undocumented, the
report said.
In Queens, there is a lack of access
to NYC Health + Hospital facilities
in neighborhoods with the highest
shares of uninsured residents.
Based on the report, Community
District 7, which includes Flushing,
Murray Hill and Whitestone (with
a total population of 257,989), had
an uninsured rate of 15.5 percent in
2017, the highest in the city. Yet, there
are no public hospitals in the district,
the report said.
Additionally, the total uninsured
population in the district includes
26,315 non-citizens, according to the
report.
Following Community District 7,
other Queens neighborhoods such
as Community District 3 (Jackson
Heights and North Corona) and 4
(Elmhurst and South Corona) also
had comparatively high uninsured
residents as well as nearby public
hospital facilities. More than 14 percent
of residents Queens Community
Districts 3 and 4 were without insurance,
according to the report.
Neighborhoods with comparatively
lower rates of uninsured residents
include Manhattan’s Community
District 3 (Chinatown and the Lower
East Side, 6.0 percent uninsured) and
Community Districts 1 and 2 in the
Bronx (Hunts Point, Longwood, and
Melrose with 9.3 percent) served by a
number of NYC Health + Hospitals
facilities.
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
