FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 18, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Get a free
breakfast in
Astoria or Bayside
Two local chain restaurants in
Queens will soon be giving you a reason
to not skip breakfast in the morning.
Applebee’s, which has locations at
the Bay Terrace Shopping Center in
Bayside and at 38-01 35th Ave. in
Astoria, will begin to off er their new
Signature Breakfast Service at these
Queens locations starting on Oct. 29.
Known for their value-priced lunch,
dinner and late night menu, Applebee’s
plans to hold their new breakfast menu
to same standards. Th e menu will off er
breakfast staples such as signature
omelettes, fresh egg platters, pancakes,
Belgian waffl es, French toast and more,
all made to order with the freshest
ingredients.
To celebrate the new expanded
breakfast service, the two Applebee’s
locations will off er a free breakfast on
Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to noon.
Th e free breakfast will be off ered on a
fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. Th e off er,
which is dine-in only, includes one
breakfast entree with a cup of coff ee or
tea per customer.
Emily Davenport
Environmental
concerns over LGA
train plan
Although the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) is
exploring a proposed AirTrain to and
from LaGuardia Airport, one Queens
group is staunchly opposed to it.
Th e PANYNJ launched an environmental
review process when it fi led
a series of analyses with the Federal
Aviation Administration last Th ursday,
listing 20 options to improve access to
the airport including express bus lanes,
ferry service and a previously proposed
extension of the Astoria line.
Th e agency made clear its “preferred
alternative” is an elevated train operating
between LaGuardia and Willets
Point, with transfers to the Long Island
Rail Road and the MTA’s No. 7 subway
line, a proposal favored by Governor
Andrew Cuomo.
However, the Guardians of Flushing
Bay announced its opposition to the
project on Friday. Th e coalition of dragon
boaters, residents and citywide partners
called the proposed route a threat
to parkland, a burden to residents, and
a backwards step in New York City’s
move toward climate resilience.
“Guardians urges PANYNJ to redefi
ne its goals for the project from prioritizing
new construction to prioritizing
all New Yorkers,” the Guardians said
in a statement. “In an area starved of
parks and crisscrossed by highways, the
preferred route passes over more than a
quarter of the Flushing Bay promenade
and takes away parkland.”
Bill Parry
Photo via twitter.com/tobystavisky
Stringer says LIRR ride should
equal MetroCard fare
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Expensive Long Island Rail Road tickets
may soon be a thing of the past for
Queens commuters.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer
unveiled a plan on Oct. 16 that would
lower all commuter rail fares to equal the
current MetroCard fare of $2.75 and allow
for free transfers between railways, subways
and buses.
Th e comptroller was joined by elected
offi cials and transit advocates at the
Murray Hill LIRR station for a press conference
on Oct. 16 to call for an end of the
“two-tier transit system.”
Th e fare decrease would aff ect the 1.4
million Metro-North and LIRR riders in
Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx who live
in areas with fewer transit options. Oft en,
riders in these “transit deserts” are forced
to choose between using these expensive
railways or taking long trips on buses,
trains and roadways.
“New York City’s transit system is
in crisis. While commuter rail tracks
carve through the Bronx, Brooklyn, and
Queens, working New Yorkers are stuck
behind an unacceptable paywall, forced to
pay an exorbitant amount or spend extra
hours stuck on overcrowded subways and
buses,” said Stringer.
In the report “Expanding Access in
One Swipe: Opening Commuter Lines
to MetroCards,” the comptroller detailed
how the plan would positively aff ect commuters
in these areas by cutting commute
times in half, improving job access,
extending the reach of the transit system
and combating transit overcrowding. His
three-part plan would reduce fares for
all in-city commuter rail trips and make
more local stops, connect bus service with
commuter rail stations and make all commuter
stations ADA accessible.
According to statistics from the report,
Queens has 22 LIRR stations that reach
17 neighborhoods across the borough.
Currently, most of the LIRR trains with
direct access to Manhattan are located in
Zone 3, meaning commuters have to pay
$10.25 for a one-way trip to Penn Station
during peak hours or $226 for a monthly
pass.
Decreased fares would allow for
improved integration between Metro-
North, LIRR and New York City Transit
resulting in less overcrowding at the
top fi ve overcrowded subway stations
in Queens: Flushing, Jamaica Center,
Forest Hills, Kew Gardens and Sutphin
Boulevard-Archer Avenue in Jamaica.
Th e report also showed how 7 train riders
at the Woodside and Flushing stations
would be aff ected by lowered railway
fares. From 2010 to 2016, 7 train ridership
increased 26 percent, while the number of
train cars supplied by the MTA dropped
two percent due to service cuts and delays.
Stringer’s plan would stave off overcrowding
by drawing more commuters
to ride LIRR and Metro-North instead of
subways.
“According to Comptroller Stringer’s
August 2018 economic study, the greater
Flushing community has had a 23 percent
increase in business growth in the last six
years making it number four city-wide,”
said State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky.
“It showed that nearly 40 percent of the
workers commute by public transportation.
I believe that overcrowding on the
7 line can be alleviated with a reduced
LIRR fare similar to the Atlantic Ticket
recently introduced in Southeast Queens.
People should be allowed to pay the MTA
monthly fare of $121 on the LIRR plus a
slight surcharge of $29 per month for a
fl at rate of $150 for 30 days.”
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