FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 19, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Perp sought for Little
Neck bank robbery
Cops are searching for a man who walked out
of a Little Neck bank with a few thousand dollars
in cash.
On Oct. 12 at around 3:32 p.m., an unidentifi ed
suspect entered the Queens County Savings Bank
at 254-09 Horace Harding Expy. and approached
a female teller. Th e suspect passed her a note
demanding $2,500.
Th e bank teller complied and handed over the
cash. Th e suspect then fl ed on foot with the money
in an unknown direction. Th ere were no injuries
reported to police.
Th e suspect is described as a Hispanic male,
approximately 25 to 30 years old, 5 foot 5 inches
tall with a medium build and slight facial hair.
He was last seen wearing a two-toned black and
green or tan baseball hat, grey sweatpants and
white sneakers.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers
at 800-577-TIPS; all calls are kept confi dential.
Suzanne Monteverdi
Astoria woman found
dead inside burning
vehicle
An Astoria woman was found dead inside a
burning vehicle early morning on Oct. 14 aft er the
driver had crashed into a concrete barricade.
Harleen Grewal, 25, was found inside of a fl aming
2007 Infi niti G35 at about 4 a.m. on Friday,
police said. According to police, 23-year-old Saeed
Ahmad was driving the vehicle and was speeding
when he tried changing lanes in the westbound
lanes of the Gowanus Expressway. Ahmed hit a
concrete median, causing the car to go up in fl ames.
In a video obtained by ABC7, Ahmed is seen
hailing a cab to the hospital while Grewal is trapped
inside the burning car.
Ahmad was charged with criminally negligent
homicide, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an
accident, aggravated unlicensed operator and a
speed violation.
Angela Matua
Three men assault cab
driver in Flushing
Police are looking for three men who assaulted
a livery cab driver and hung onto his car aft er he
refused to give them a ride.
At 1:45 a.m. on Sept. 15, a 47-year old male livery
cab driver was inside of his vehicle waiting for
a customer in front of 39-16 Prince St. As he was
waiting, when he was approached by three individuals
who demanded that he give them a ride.
When the victim refused, one of the suspects
opened his passenger side door, punched him in
the face and took his cell phone and approximately
$20. Th e victim then tried to fl ee the location as one
of the suspects hung onto his vehicle.
Th e suspect let go of the vehicle and all the perpetrators
fl ed the location to parts unknown. Th e
victim went to New York Hospital Queens for his
injury.
Two of the suspects are described as 20-year-old
Asian men, while the third suspect is described as a
20-year-old black man who was last seen wearing a
red baseball, cap, black shirt and red pants.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers
at 800-577-TIPS; all calls are kept confi dential.
Emily Davenport
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
A report by the Independent Budget Offi ce found that subway delays have increased dramatically since 2012.
City report fi nds that subway delays
have skyrocketed since 2012
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com
A report released by the
Independent Budget Offi ce (IBO) this
month found that subway delays have
dramatically increased in the last fi ve
years, costing taxpayers millions.
Th e report, titled “How Much
Time and Money Are New York City
Subway Riders Losing to Delays,”
found that the average number of
delays per month has skyrocketed
since 2012 — from 20,000 delays a
month to more than 67,450 in May
2017.
Using data from the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority, the IBO
did a deep dive into the number of
delays, the main causes of delays and
how much these delays cost taxpayers.
Th e report found that since March
2014 overcrowding has been the most
common reported cause of delays. In
January 2012, NYC Transit reported
4,222 weekday delays due to overcrowding,
about 19 percent of the
22,240 weekday delays.
By May 2017 total weekday delays
had jumped to 67,452, with 26,990
(or 40 percent) due to overcrowding.
Th e report also calculated passenger
hours lost due to minor delays —
the share of trains subject to minor
delays multiplied by the total number
of passengers traveling on that
line and the average delay in minutes
for each train subject to minor delays.
Passenger hours lost to delays on
a weekday during the morning rush
have increased on every line by at
least 24 percent. Th e lines that saw
the largest increase were the J/Z line
(71 percent), C line (69 percent) and
7 line (62 percent).
Th e average number of passenger
hours lost during morning rush hour
increased to 35,000 hours, or by 45
percent, since 2012.
Th e report also found that more
than 40 percent of the cars on the
subway fl eet were at least 30 years
old, which helps explain the more frequent
breakdowns.
Th e IBO calculated the delays’ cost
to taxpayers and found that the dollar
value of the hours lost to delays is
about $307 million annually.
Th ough they described that fi nding
the total cost of delays for approximately
1.5 million riders is a “challenging
exercise,” they calculated the
loss to cost $864,000 for city commuters,
$257,000 for non-city commuters,
and $109,000 for subway riders
making non-work trips.
Total personal income for city residents
is estimated to be $504 billion
annually, so in addition to money,
the IBO argues that the cost of time
for straphangers should not be overlooked.
“It is likely that much of the cost of
the time lost to subway delays actually
falls on the commuters rather
than their employers,” the report stated.
“As long as the necessary work is
completed, the employer has lost little,
if anything. But employees have
given up some of their non-work
time, usually without compensation.”
Th is is also true when employees
must leave home earlier to ensure
that they get to work on time.
Commuters have grown increasingly
frustrated with the inaction of
MTA offi cials and the growing delays.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed Joe
Lhota to run the agency and has
announced his Subway Action Plan
to try to stabilize and modernize the
system.