EDITORIALS
OTHER VOICES
No. 7 line still needs improvements
There is more to “First week of
No. 7 line with state of art signal system
(Communications Based Train
Control) was hell for Queens Commuters”
(Mark Hallum — Dec. 7).
This year represents the 101st
Anniversary of No. 7 Flushing subway
service.
In March 1953, a super express
began operating from Flushing–
Main Street to Times Square in the
a.m. rush hour.
This No. 7 train stopped at Main
Street and Willets Point, before
skipping all stops to Queensboro
Plaza, skipping the Woodside and
Junction Boulevard express stops.
The running time was cut to
23 minutes from 25 minutes. This
ended in a few years.
Holiday and Saturday express
service was discontinued in
March 1954. Mid-day express service
between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. was
discontinued in August 1975.
Riders have had to endure too
many years of inconvenience as a
result of the MTA NYC Transit investing
$774 million in Communication
Based Train Control (CBTC) on
the Flushing No. 7 line.
With or without CBTC, there
are opportunities to increase capacity
and service by running trains
more frequently mid-day, evenings,
overnight and weekends on the No.
7 line.
There has been no express service
between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. due
to periodic ongoing track, power,
signal, and routine maintenance
projects for decades, including work
to support CBTC.
With completion of CBTC the
week of Nov. 26 (which was supposed
to have been completed by
October 2016), let’s hope mid-day express
service resumes.
Was it be worth investing $774
million in CBTC when it may only
result in increasing the number of
rush hour trains by 2 from 27 to 29
in each direction?
After that, the MTA NYCT no
longer has any other opportunity
for increasing rush hour capacity
on the No. 7 line.
Given the tremendous growth
in No. 7 ridership 24/7, riders would
welcome restoration of mid day, Saturday
and holiday express services
along with more frequent local service
off peak, late evenings, overnight
and weekends.
There is always equipment
used primarily for rush hour peak
service that is available to provide
additional service during off peak
hours.
It is a question of finding millions
of dollars more to cover operating
costs for additional service.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
SAFE SCHOOLS
Queens residents should be outraged at what
happened Tuesday at Benjamin Cardozo High
School in Bayside, where a student was allegedly
slashed by a classmate in the school.
The suspect fled the school after the incident
and turned himself in later Tuesday, when he was
charged with assault and criminal possession of
a weapon.
We should not have to worry about these kinds
of incidents in Queens, or anywhere in New York
City — or across the country, for that matter.
Following the mass shootings at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012
and at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
in Parkland, Fla., in 2018, there was supposed to
be a major push across the country to put forth
legislation that is designed to prevent incidents
like the school shootings, as well as Tuesday’s
episode.
We’ve already seen an increased effort to keep
our schools safer following the Parkland shooting,
but there must be a greater push from our lawmakers
to ensure our children’s safety at school.
Under legislation proposed by City Councilman
Paul Vallone earlier this year, schools would
file an emergency safety plan with their local
precincts and implement shooter safety training
to faculty, provide principals at more than 1,700
schools in the city with the resources to prevent
violence as well as provide surveillance systems
to the 1,123 city schools that are still lacking.
Per the legislation, the School Safety Task
Force would meet once a quarter. After deliberating
on where improvements could be made,
they would then pass their recommendations —
formed from the input of parents and staff — to
the mayor’s office and the City Council speaker
every year.
City Council members Costa Constantinides
and Jimmy Van Bramer signed onto the bills,
which have also gained the approval of state
Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
This would be a strong first step, but we need
more action. We can no longer sit idly by and wait
for the next incident to occur.
There should be metal detectors and expanded
security at all of our schools, no matter which
level, whether it be an elementary school, an intermediate
school or a high school.
The system is broken if it allows students to be
slashed within school walls. It’s time to fix that
system and fix it quickly, before the next incident
occurs.
ASTORIA TIMES ■ BAYSIDE TIMES
FLUSHING TIMES ■ FOREST HILLS LEDGER
FRESH MEADOWS TIMES
JACKSON HEIGHTS TIMES ■ JAMAICA TIMES
LAURELTON TIMES ■ LITTLE NECK LEDGER
QUEENS VILLAGE TIMES ■ RIDGEWOOD LEDGER
WHITESTONE TIMES
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