8 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 13, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
‘Summer of Hell’ extends to the E & F lines in Queens
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Add the E and F trains in Queens to
the myriad MTA lines that will be out of
service for lengthy periods of track work
during the “Summer of Hell.”
Last weekend, the MTA began the
fi rst of fi ve straight weekend service suspensions
on the E and F lines between
71st-Continental Avenues in Forest
Hills and the lines’ terminating points
in Jamaica (the E terminates at Jamaica
Center, while the F train’s last stop is
179th Street).
Th e weekend shutdowns start at 11
p.m. each Friday and last until 5 a.m.
the following Monday morning. Th e
shutdowns will take place each weekend
through Aug. 7.
Anyone who normally uses the E or F
train to travel between Forest Hills and
Jamaica can take free shuttle buses that
will operate in place of both lines. Th e
Long Island Rail Road will also cross-honor
MetroCards for trips between Penn
Station and either the Jamaica or Kew
Gardens stations.
Each weekend, the E train will operate
local service between 71st-Continental
Avenues and World Trade Center,
and the F train will provide local service
between 71st-Continental Avenues and
Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn.
Th e disruptions compound the frustration
Queens commuters have been feeling
lately. Th e M line between Middle
Village and Bushwick, Brooklyn is suspended
through Sept. 1 as the MTA
replaces a century-old rail bridge in
Middle Village. Once it reopens, however,
only shuttle service will be restored
to the line between Middle Village and
Ridgewood; the line will remain closed
in Brooklyn as workers replace a century
old viaduct there.
Shuttle buses are now operating in
place of the M train between Middle
Village-Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle
Avenue-Broadway in Brooklyn.
For more information about any of the
rail disruptions, visit www.mta.info.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
The E train (pictured above) and the F line will be suspended in parts of Queens for fi ve consecutive
weekends in July and August.
Fate uncertain for East Elmhurst hotel closing this October
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
A hotel in East Elmhurst that made
headlines last October when rumors surfaced
that it would turn into a shelter for
homeless men will actually close later
this year.
Courtyard by Marriott Laguardia Hotel
at 90-10 Ditmars Blvd. is a 288-room
hotel off of the Grand Central Parkway
and LaGuardia Airport. Last year,
Congressman Joseph Crowley, Senator
Jose Peralta and Assemblyman Francisco
Moya announced that the hotel “has
potentially been slated to house a population
of up to 60 homeless single men.”
Th e Department of Homeless Services
and the hotel manager denied the allegations
saying there were no plans to
rent out any rooms. Th e East Elmhurst
Corona Alliance held a rally in from
of the hotel last October to protest the
alleged plan.
“We are being oversaturated in East
Elmhurst and Corona,” said Talea
Wufk a, a member of the East Elmhurst
Corona Alliance at the rally. “We do not
have the supply and demand, although
we sympathize and empathize with the
homeless. We cannot aff ord to house it
all here. We have enough shelters as is.”
Doreen Lucero, director of sales at
the hotel, told QNS at the time that the
Department of Homeless Services never
reached out to the hotel about renting
rooms.
“One hundred percent that it is not the
plan,” Lucero said. “We have no intentions
to rent rooms to DHS. Hearing the story
and concerns were surprising to us because
we have no idea where they came from.”
On June 28, the State Department of
Labor announced online that the hotel
would close on Oct. 1. for “economic”
reasons. According to the agency, the
hotel’s 144 employees are set to be out of
work. Calls and emails to the hotel and
Department of Labor were not answered
as of press time.
Residents in the area have had to deal
with hotels being abruptly converted into
homeless shelters. Last year, lawmakers
found out that DHS was using a Holiday
Inn Express at 113-10 Horace Harding
Expwy. in Corona to house homeless
families. Th e city agency began renting
out rooms without notifying local residents
or elected offi cials.
File photo/THE COURIER
A spokesperson for DHS at the time
said said that the city’s legal obligation
to house a “rising number of homeless
New Yorkers” has forced DHS to open
additional shelters and rent more rooms
in hotels.
In a meeting with the Queens borough
president in October 2016, DHS
Commissioner Steve Banks said the
agency is focusing on getting rid of cluster
sites before before phasing out the use
of hotels as shelters.
The Courtyard by Marriott LaGuardia Hotel is closing this year.
7/20/17 7/20/17 7/20/17 7/20/17
SUMMER SAVINGS
Encore Premium
VARILUX
PROGRESSIVE LENSES $169 (No-Line Bifocals) w/metal frame.Select
frames with clear plastic no-line lenses
+/- 4 sph, 2 cyl. Not valid with any other
offers, sales, vision plan packages. Must
present prior to purchase. Offer valid at
location only. Some restrictions apply
see store for details.
Offer ends 7/20/17 QC