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4 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 20, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Three evening trains are most delayed on LIRR Port Wash. line BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI [email protected] @smont76 Getting to work on the Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Port Washington line is not as hard as it is coming home from work for northeast Queens commuters, according to a recent performance study. Th e Port Washington line, which makes stops in Woodside, Flushing, Bayside, Do uglaston and Little Neck and carries more than 13 million passengers annually, meets the system wide average (92.7 percent) when it comes to performance during the morning peak and overall hours, according to a report by New York State Comptroller Contractor’s open fl ame sparked big Elmhurst fi re BY ROBERT POZARYCKI [email protected] @robbpoz Fire marshals arrested a contractor on April 12 for his alleged role in  igniting  a fi ve-alarm fi re  at an  Elmhurst  apartment building that left scores of families homeless. According to the  Fire Department, Declan Mcelhatton, 53, of Maintenance Asset Management based in Yonkers allegedly left an open fl ame near combustibles inside the seven-story structure on 94th Street near 56th Avenue on the evening of April 11. Fire Marshals said this ignited the inferno at about 6:30 p.m. and quickly spread through the upper fl oors of the structure. More than 200 fi refi ghters worked for four hours to bring the fi re under control; 11 of them suff ered minor injuries. More than 144 people were left homeless as a result of the blaze, according to the American Red Cross. Many of them sought shelter overnight at a nearby school. Mcelhatton is facing charges of arson and reckless endangerment, the Fire Department said. Th omas P. DiNapoli. However, in 2016, the branch under performed by more than 5 percent during evening peak hours. No trains on the Port Washington line  appeared on the top 10 worst on-time performing during the morning peak.  However, during the evening peak, the 6:24 p.m. departing Penn Station was the top worst performing train overall, followed by the 6:14 p.m. and the 7:01 p.m. in fi ft h and sixth, respectively. Additionally, the 6:14 p.m. and the 6:24 p.m. trains departing Penn Station on the Port Washington line were late, canceled or terminated almost 40 percent of the time — nearly six times more oft en than the system wide average. In a list of the most frequently canceled LIRR trains in 2016, the 6:14 p.m. train departing Penn Station on the Port Washington line was the fi ft h most frequently cancelled train in 2016. Th e 5:26 p.m. and the 7:01 p.m. made seventh and eighth, respectively. All trains that made the list depart Penn Station during the peak evening rush hour. No trains on the Port Washington line made the top 10 best performing during the morning or evening peak times. In 2016, the LIRR, which is the largest commuter railroad in the nation, carried 89.3 million riders — the most since 1949.  Th e number of cancelled trains totaled 1,269 in 2016  — the most since 2010. According to the LIRR, a train is considered on time if it arrives within 5 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled arrival time. Th e LIRR estimated that it was responsible for 30 percent of all delays, cancellations and termination in 2016. More than one-quarter of incidents were THE COURIER/File photo attributed to its customers. “Commuters count on the Long Island Rail Road to get them to their jobs on time and back home again,” DiNapoli said. “While the LIRR reports that only a relatively small percentage of trains were late or canceled, too many commuters had a diff erent experience. While on-time performance improved a bit in 2016, it slipped during the fi rst quarter of 2017.” Photo via Flickr/edenpictures Pols: Bring e-waste pickups to NE Queens BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI [email protected] @smont76 Two local lawmakers are pushing the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to expand  its e-waste pickup program to  neighborhoods including  Bayside, Whitestone and Douglaston. Th e e-waste program, which began on Staten Island in October 2016, allows residents to request through the DSNY website a scheduled pickup of their unwanted electronics — which can no longer be disposed of at the curbside under a new statewide recycling law. Now, Councilman Paul Vallone and Assemblyman Edward Braunstein are asking DSNY to bring the pilot program to northeast Queens. In a March 23 letter addressed to DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, the lawmakers pointed out that many of the residents in the area are seniors who physically cannot transport the heavy hardware to e-waste recycling events or  DSNY dropoff locations throughout the boroughs. Electronics collected through DSNY’s pilot program in Staten Island include computers, televisions, keyboards, VCRs, DVD players and fax machines. Eff ective April 1, 2015, city residents can be fi ned $100 for placing such electronics  at the curb for disposal. “Th is pilot program is the way that e-waste disposal should be handled,” Vallone said. “While it’s feasible for some, it’s unfair to expect everyone, especially seniors, to carry electronics which can sometimes weigh up to hundreds of pounds to a location miles from their home.” “DSNY’s E-Waste Pilot Program, currently underway in Staten Island, allows residents to schedule specifi c pickup times for e-waste disposal,” Braunstein said. “Th is pilot program is a great start to solving e-waste disposal issues in New York City, and I join with Council member Vallone in asking that it be expanded to northeast Queens as soon as possible.” On April 11, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the pilot program will become permanent and expand to  the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens over the course of the next three years. Th e expansion will start in North Brooklyn. Th e mayor did not specify where or when the program would launch in Queens.


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