24 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 28, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
year in review
JUNE
Penn Station construction causes Queens
commuters headaches
Th e “summer of hell” began in June
when the LIRR announced that due to
construction being done to Pennsylvania
Station tracks, there would be massive
changes to their summer schedule.
Th e revised schedule, which took place
between July 10 through Sept. 1, included
canceling or diverting 15 morning rush
hour trains that normally arrive at Penn
Station between 6 and 10 a.m., aff ecting
approximately 9,600 customers. Amtrak,
which owns Penn Station and the tracks
there, made repairs to several tracks aft er
numerous rail problems in recent weeks.
New soccer fi elds and walking path
unveiled at Bayside’s Little Bay Park
Just in time for warmer weather, a $1.6 million improvement project at a waterfront
Bayside park was revealed to the public. Families and local leaders gathered at
Little Bay Park on June 20 to cut a ribbon on the newly renovated soccer fi elds and
park space. Kids from local sports groups offi cially broke in the fi eld on the sunny
aft ernoon with an inaugural soccer practice. Th e project also added an accessible
walking path, water fountain, park benches and trees to the outdoor area, as well as
an improved drainage system.
Samantha Bee slams Senate’s refusal to
vote on Child Victims Act
Th e Child Victims Act, introduced
repeatedly by Queens lawmakers with
the aim of giving sex abuse victims their
fair day in court, passed the Assembly but
didn’t come to a vote in the State Senate
for yet another session. Samantha Bee,
host of TBS’ “Full Frontal with Samantha
Bee,” spoke out on her June 21 episode
about the Child Victims Act and
slammed the State Senate’s Republican
leader, John Flanagan, for failing to bring
it to the fl oor before this year’s session
ended. “Th ese people (referencing child
sex abuse survivors who’ve actively supported
the CVA) have schlepped up to
Albany enough. If they have to go back
to the Capitol next year, so help me, New
Yorkers can make sure you guys don’t,”
Bee said to Flanagan and Cuomo at the
end of her segment.
Photo via Shutterstock
Queens community speaks out against
hateful graffi ti
Jamaica Estates is no place for hate. Th at was the message residents and elected
offi cials delivered outside the former Holliswood Hospital on Friday, June 23, aft er
racial and anti-Semitic graffi ti was discovered there. During the press conference,
Assemblyman David Weprin, Councilman Barry Grodenchik, state Senator Leroy
Comrie and the neighborhood’s religious and civic leaders railed against the painted
and carved symbols, including a KKK symbol and swastikas, discovered on the
facade of the building. Additional graffi ti was also discovered inside the hospital containing
hateful language directed toward African-Americans. Th e hospital, located at
87-37 Palermo St., was closed in August of 2013. Th e site has been abandoned since.
Photos by Assemblyman David Weprin’s offi ce
Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS
Screenshot via YouTube/Full Frontal with Samantha Bee