FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 15, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3 Heat sparked a Bayside power outage Some 1,400 homes and businesses across Bayside lost power in the middle of the hottest day of the year to date as a result of an underground cable mishap, according to Con Edison. Th e scattered outage took place at about 2:42 p.m. on June 13 across an area generally bounded by 33rd Avenue to the north, Northern Boulevard to the south, the Cross Island Parkway to the east and the Clearview Expressway to the west. Con Edison spokesperson Allan Drury told QNS that an underground power cable failed in the area, triggering the outage. Th e cause remains under investigation, but Drury said it was likely heat-related; temperatures soared to record highs across the city on Tuesday, with nearby LaGuardia Airport reaching 101 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Utility workers scrambled to get the 1,395 aff ected customers back online and did so in stages, with the fi rst 603 customers having their power restored at 6:40 p.m. By 7:33 p.m., Drury said, all of the aff ected Bayside customers had their electricity back. Robert Pozarycki Motor Parkway bike path gets makeover A Fresh Meadows bike path that was once a part of the fi rst major roadways for automobiles in New York State soon get some much-needed work done thanks to newly acquired funds. Councilman Barry S. Grodenchik has recently secured $1.25 million of the city budget to begin resurfacing the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway. Also known as the Long Island Motor Parkway, the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway originally opened in 1908 as a racecourse and later transitioned to a toll road. Th e parkway became the nation’s fi rst highway to use bridges and overpasses and was taken over by New York State in 1938, to be re-purposed as an urban promenade. Th e parkway is now a public parkland that runs south along Francis Lewis Boulevard, connecting Cunningham Park to Alley Pond Park. It last paved almost 20 years ago and many of the trails are in poor condition. Emily Davenport NY Philharmonic plays Cunningham Park tonight Fresh Meadows’ Cunningham Park will be home to an evening of outstanding music and fi reworks tonight (Th ursday). Th e New York Philharmonic will present a free performance at the park, located at 193rd Street and Union Turnpike, at 8 p.m. on Th ursday, June 15. Th e event is part of the group’s “Concerts in the Park” series. Conducted by music director Alan Gilbert, the orchestra will perform Antonín Dvořák’s “New World Symphony,” Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story,” and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.” Following the performances, guests can enjoy a free fi reworks display by Bay Fireworks. Suzanne Monteverdi Photo via Shutterstock Penn Station construction will cause Queens commuters plenty of headaches this summer BY JUSTIN BERGLUND [email protected] @QNS Queens residents are in for some turbulent traveling this summer, as the LIRR has announced that due to construction being done to Pennsylvania Station tracks, there will be massive changes to their summer schedule. Th e revised schedule, which takes place between July 10 and will go through at least Sept. 1, includes 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, will be making repairs to several tracks aft er numerous rail problems in recent weeks. After Amtrak announced the impending work, the MTA teamed with the Penn Station Task Force, which was created in May by Governor Andrew Cuomo, to create a comprehensive transportation plan with the goal of restoring the commuter capacity lost by the construction. As an alternative for those whose normal trains have been canceled or diverted, the MTA will be adding new trains to Penn Station and approximately 36 cars to trains already en route to Penn. Th ree overnight trains between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. will be canceled to meet the need for additional cars. Providing other options to get around beyond the LIRR, the MTA will be creating a bus and ferry network for rush hour commuters aff ected by the disruptions. Both services will be free for LIRR monthly and weekly ticket holders. Approximately 200 buses will be deployed, picking up riders throughout Long Island and traveling to Manhattan via the HOV Lanes on the Long Island Expressway, and will enter Manhattan via the Queens- Midtown Tunnel. Along with the buses, the ferry service to the 34th Street Pier in Manhattan will run from 6 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m., including one from Hunters Point in Long Island City. Th e ferry will run three times during the morning and three in the evening with a total capacity of 1,200 customers. A shuttle bus will run between the ferry and the Hunterspoint Avenue LIRR station to coincide with the LIRR trains rerouted to Hunterspoint Avenue and will be free to LIRR train ticket holders. Looking to reduce highway traffi c during peak hours with the increase in buses, the MTA will reduce tolls for trucks by 50 percent between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. on all MTA-operated bridges and tunnels. Highway maintenance staff will be placed at strategic locations to quickclear debris, perform emergency maintenance or other tasks necessary to ensure the fl ow of traffi c during the morning and evening peak travel period. In order to ensure customers are informed, the MTA created an outreach and awareness campaign with all the information travelers need to plan their commute accordingly. Th is campaign includes commercial and newspaper advertisements running throughout the summer, social media announcements, text and email messages, fl yers on LIRR trains and an increase in LIRR representatives on trains and stations. Visit www.mta.info for additional information about the service changes.
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