16 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 19, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Photos courtesy of the Mayor’s Offi ce
Dockless bike-sharing
pilot program comes
to the Rockaways just
in time for summer
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Two companies are rolling out dockless
bikes as a part of a pilot bike-sharing
program in the Rockaways, the
city’s Department of Transportation
announced on Friday.
Starting immediately, riders can use
the Lime or Pace mobile apps to rent
bicycles all along the Rockaway peninsula.
Th is is the fi rst time that a community
outside Citi Bike’s service area
is experiencing a bike share program.
“Th ere is no more fi tting place in New
York City to rollout our dockless bikes
than the Rockaways,” Mayor Bill de
Blasio said. “Residents and visitors alike
will now fi nd the Rockaways’ worldclass
beaches, restaurants and other
attractions more accessible than ever.”
For the pilot program, Pace will off er
a total of 200 bicycles available within
a week while Lime off ers 100 regular
bikes, available as of July 13, and 100
pedal-assist bikes aft er July 28.
To use the bike share program, riders
must download the Lime app or the
Pace app. Each company will rent the
bikes for $1 for a 30 minute ride, with
Lime’s pedal-assist bikes costing $1 to
unlock and then $.15/minute thereaft er.
Riders must remain within the
Rockaway pilot area when they rent the
bikes. Each app will provide instructions
regarding locking the bikes when
riders are fi nished.
During the program, the DOT will
evaluate the companies’ compliance
with requirements around data accessibility
and user privacy. In addition
to determining the bike’s availability,
durability and safety, the DOT will
determine future steps for the program.
“We are thrilled to kick off DOT’s
dockless pilot today with the arrival
of Lime and Pace bikes in the
Rockaways,” said DOT Commissioner
Polly Trottenberg. “At 10 miles long, the
Rockaway Peninsula off ers tremendous
opportunities – for sun, recreation, delicious
food and so much more – but distances
are oft en just too long to walk.
With a dockless bike, the miles from
Jacob Riis Park to the A train or from the
NYC Ferry dock to one of many great
restaurants will seem so much more conquerable
and fun. I for one cannot wait to
explore those miles on a dockless bike.”
For more information about New
York City’s bike share system, visit
www.nyc.gov/bikeshare.
Kew Gdns. bridge to be rehabbed, businesses spared
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Months of campaigning by Kew
Gardens residents and lawmakers to save
stores located on the Leff erts Boulevard
bridge above the Long Island Rail Road
has apparently paid off .
Th e MTA announced on Wednesday
that it agreed to make nearly $1 million
in structural repairs to concrete and iron
platforms propping two retail buildings
above the LIRR Main Line branch on
Leff erts Boulevard, adjacent to the Kew
Gardens station. Th e buildings are home
to a litany of mom-and-pop shops that
some residents regard as the heart of the
community.
Originally, the MTA — citing the nearly
100 year-old platforms’ crumbling condition
— planned to raze the buildings
as part of an overall plan to rebuild the
Leff erts Boulevard bridge. Residents, lawmakers
and business owners, however,
fought back, circulating petitions and
supporting legislation to block the retail
structures’ demolition.
Back in May, LIRR President Phillip
Eng met with lawmakers at Queens
Borough President Melinda Katz’s offi ce
and said he would review the matter. On
July 10, according to City Councilwoman
Karen Koslowitz, Eng informed her and
other elected offi cials that only structural
repairs were needed to fully rehabilitate
the platforms, thus saving the retail buildings
from demolition.
Th e rehabilitation eff ort would cost no
more than $1 million, Eng said, and
would be paid for through city funds that
Koslowitz secured for a feasibility study
focused on saving the bridge.
“Aft er many conversations with the
community and elected offi cials convened
by Borough President Katz, my team
looked at this issue more carefully, and
we determined that the best use of the
funds would be to directly repair the platforms,”
Eng said. “We look forward to
continuing to work with the elected offi -
cials and local community to ensure this
bridge’s future.”
Koslowitz, Katz and a host of other local
lawmakers — including Congresswoman
Grace Meng, State Senator Leroy Comrie,
Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal, State
Senator Joe Addabbo and Assemblyman
Andrew Hevesi — applauded the MTA’s
decision.
“The demolition of the Lefferts
Boulevard bridge would have had a devastating
eff ect on the Kew Gardens community,”
Koslowitz said. “Speaking for
myself, my fellow public offi cials and
the Kew Gardens residents, I commend
President Phillip Eng for his willingness
to reexamine the problem, bringing his
professional abilities and background
to the analysis and concluding that the
bridge does not have to be demolished.”
Eng said that the LIRR will award a
contract to a fi rm specializing in heavy
structural construction, and expects that
all rehabilitation work would be completed
by the end of 2019.
While lawmakers celebrated the development,
others had some skepticism. Th e
Save Kew Gardens Coalition, an organization
that’s been on the forefront against
the platform demolition plan, noted in
a Facebook post that the MTA “has not
committed to the full repair of the stores
that our little village of Kew Gardens needs
in order to continue to be the economically
healthy and culturally vibrant town
center.”
Photo via Google Maps/Sebastian Sinisterra
Platforms propping up retail shops on Leff erts Boulevard above the Long Island Rail Road tracks in
Kew Gardens will be rehabilitated instead of razed.
Ocasio-Cortez's Israel comments irk some residents
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Queens Congressional hopeful
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez irked some
of the borough’s residents following her
appearance on PBS’ “Firing Line with
Margaret Hoover” on July 13.
During the episode, the Democratic
Party’s nominee for the 14th
Congressional District used the word
“occupation” when talking about the
Israel-Palestine confl ict, a word choice
with which some in Queens’ Jewish community
took issue.
“I also think that what people are starting
to see, at least, in the occupation of
Palestine, is just an increasing crisis of
humanitarian condition,” Ocasio-Cortez
said on the program.
When questioned about her use of the
word “occupation” she replied, “I think
what I mean is the settlements that are
increasing in some of these areas and
places where Palestinians are experiencing
diffi culty in access to their housing
and homes.”
She followed up by saying she was “not
the expert on geopolitics on this issue”
and is a “fi rm believer in fi nding a twostate
solution.”
Former Queens Borough President
Claire Shulman said that Ocasio-Cortez’s
comments were refl ective of someone
who does not understand the history
between Israel and Palestine.
“I’m very disappointed in her position
on the State of Israel. I think that
it’s shortsighted, and I don’t believe she
understands the history. I would appreciate
having a conversation with her on the
matter,” said Shulman, who is also a resident
of Congressional District 14.
“I think that she needs to be educated
about Israel,” said Rabbi Shlomo
Hochberg of the Young Israel of Jamaica
Estates. “She needs to learn about the history
of the State of Israel and the mandate,”
he said, also adding that it was
important she also take a trip to Israel.
Th e mandate is in reference to the
British Mandate for Palestine, in which
the “national home for the Jewish people”
and the separate Arab Emirate of
Transjordan were to be established under
Balfour’s Declaration.
On “Firing Line,” Ocasio-Cortez made
clear that she was willing to have conversations
with leaders to better inform
herself about this issue, and said that she
“may not always use the right words.”
Hoover, the host of the PBS program,
also asked Ocasio-Cortez about her controversial
Tweet and word choice in
response to 60 Palestinians killed in Gaza.
“Th is is a massacre. I hope my peers
have the moral courage to call it such. No
state or entity is absolved of mass shootings
of protesters. Th ere is no justifi -
cation. Palestinian people deserve basic
human dignity, as anyone else.Democrats
can’t be silent about this anymore,” said
Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter.
Th e Congressional candidate responded
by saying that she believes Israel has
the right to exist, but said she saw what
happened in Gaza through the lens of an
activist and organizer.
“If 60 people were killed in Ferguson,
Missouri, if 60 people were killed in the
South Bronx, unarmed, if 60 people were
killed in Puerto Rico ... to me it would just
be completely unacceptable if that happened
on our shores,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez could not be reached for
comment at this time.
Photo by Andrea Elizabeth/Ocasio 2018
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