By Britney Trachtenberg britt@queensledger.com

Staff members from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) hosted a Bus Redesign Open House on Thurs., May 16 at the Variety Boys and Girls Club in Astoria. The transportation agency invited Queens residents to give feedback on the proposed plan to change bus routes across the borough. This open house occurred in the final stages of the redesign timeline. 

The Queens Bus Network Redesign is the biggest bus network redesign project in the United States. After implementation, the redesign will change travel for the borough’s estimated 800,000 bus riders.

The MTA launched the Queens Bus Network Redesign initiative in Apr. 2019 and published the Queens Existing Conditions Report in Aug. 2019. The organization published the Original Queens Draft Plan in Dec. 2019. The project paused for 18 months due to Covid-19. The initiative resumed in Aug. 2021. The MTA withdrew the Original Queens Draft Plan in Dec. 2021 and published the Queens New Draft Plan in Mar. 2022. The transportation agency conducted outreach for the Queens New Draft Plan during the spring and fall of 2022. During the winter and fall of 2023, the MTA reviewed New Draft Plan feedback while developing the Proposed Final Plan. They released the Queens Proposed Final Plan in Dec. 2023. Throughout the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024, the MTA has conducted outreach for the Queens Proposed Final Plan.

MTA Spokesperson Lucas Bejarano said, “The MTA is redesigning all the boroughs’ bus networks by streamlining routes to deliver more efficient service, better match current travel patterns, reduce travel times, increase off-peak service, improve connections to the subway and commuter rail, and improve interborough connections. We continue to receive feedback from Queens bus customers on the Proposed Final Plan, which will be critical in crafting a bus network that delivers on those priorities.”

Members of the public asked the MTA questions about the bus route changes from 5:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

Carol Wilkins of Ravenswood asked about the bus stop on 36th Ave. and 21st St. on both sides. She said, “I think they need to put the bus stop back. There’s nothing on 35th Ave. [and] nothing on 36th. That’s where all the stores [are] that everyone wants to go to [and] shop at before they go home from work. Now, they have to walk back a block [or] two blocks.”

Andrew Gallin of Astoria mentioned the Q69, which he took from his neighborhood to Queensbridge. He said, “The Q69 is really slow because it has so many stops, especially right before the transfer to the subway. There’s two stops on the same block, which I never understood.”

Residents from Manhattan also attended the open house. Louis Moore attended the event due to his interest in urban planning. Khyber Sen said, “I’m excited for a faster bus route. I often don’t take the bus because walking is just faster.” David Kupferburg said that he lived in Manhattan, but worked in Long Island City. He did not want the MTA to discontinue the Q100 bus route. He said, “I don’t take the Q100 per se, but I know how this neighborhood depends on it.” 

Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, New York State Assembly member for District 34, attended the event. She said, “As a state-elected official, one of my biggest platform issues has been public transportation. I used to be on the New York City Transit Riders Council and was appointed Rider Advocate, so public transit is a kind of passion of mine.” When asked about specific bus routes in District 34, Gonzalez-Rojas said, “I am looking very closely at the Q66 line. Most concerns I’ve heard from community members have been the removal of certain stops.”

Residents left comments about the MTA on comment cards. They received pamphlets about OMNY, the Open Stroller Pilot Program, the Fair Fares NYC initiative, and the MTA Reduced Fare Program.

Boards stationed around the room shared the MTA’s priorities, introduced the new bus network, and discussed the NYC DOT Better Buses program. 

The MTA hoped to provide Queens residents with reliable service and improved intra- and inter-borough transfers. The agency hoped to create more connections to ADA-accessible subway stations as well.

The board about the new bus network talked about increased bus stop spacing to make the bus service faster and make the bus network more reliable. 

Two other boards displayed the Proposed Local Bus Network map and the Proposed Network Frequency map.

Queens elected officials and the Long Island City partnership petitioned the MTA for a local bus route between Long Island City and Hunters Point through the Queens Midtown Tunnel as part of the Queens Bus Network Redesign. New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, New York City Council Member Julie Won, and Laura Rothrock, President of the Long Island City Partnership, wrote letters of support. 

In her letter, Senator Gonalez wrote, “This route will benefit seniors, people with disabilities and parents with strollers unable to navigate the stairs at Vernon/Jackson station. We understand the MTA has plans to make ADA improvements to the Queensboro Plaza and Broadway subway stations. While these future improvements are welcomed, we cannot leave those with disabilities and accessibility needs without access to Manhattan until they are completed.”

Congresswoman Velázquez wrote in her letter that “Hunters Point is among the fastest growing neighborhoods in New York City, yet inadequately served by one subway station – Vernon/Jackson Boulevard on the 7-line – a station that lacks ADA accessibility and a train that is often crowded and experiences frequent delays. Providing an alternative to Manhattan that is accessible, especially with the implementation of New York City congestion pricing is needed now and more important than ever.”

NYC Council Member Won wrote in her letter, “My constituents have consistently called for increased public transportation options from our district in Western Queens to Manhattan, especially with the introduction of congestion pricing. We must have safe, fast, and reliable public transportation options that will allow our seniors, people with disabilities, and parents with strollers to commute to and from the city.” 

Rothrock wrote in her letter “I’m writing on behalf of the small business community of Long Island City, specifically Hunters Point, one of the New York City’s fastest growing neighborhoods; home to numerous restaurants & bars, retail shops, service businesses and cultural institutions. Reliable, accessible and safe public transit is essential for small businesses & cultural institutions to thrive. Hunters Point is served by just one small non-ADA accessible subway station (Vernon/Jackson 7 line). When 7 trains are delayed or shut down, the neighborhood is cut off from the center of Manhattan.”

Long Island City resident Beverly Brown started an organization called LICBUS in 2022 to advocate for the Hunters Point/LIC-Midtown Tunnel bus line. 

The Brooklyn Bus Network Redesign will come after Queens with the release of its Final Plan.

By Celia Bernhardt and Charlie Finnerty | news@queensledger.com

Cassandra Johnson, the Democratic Party-endorsed candidate for Surrogate’s Court judge, describes her own work as a judge with a sharp focus on mediation, relationships, and the overall emotional state of a courtroom.

“If I treat everyone like there’s a relationship that needs to be dealt with then I can talk to people differently. It brings a different approach,” Johnson said. 

The Surrogate’s Court judge oversees estate proceedings to ensure the assets and property of deceased New Yorkers are distributed and managed properly in accordance with the law. These cases can often include custody decisions of dependents and children of the deceased. Whoever assumes the judgeship not only handles the individual cases relevant to the court, but also appoints lawyers and is responsible for the management of the offices of the court. 

Johnson, a Supreme Court judge from Southeast Queens with strong support from powerful Queens Democrats, is facing off against Civil Court Judge Wendy Li in the Democratic primary on June 25. 

Li’s relatively strong financial position has drawn eyes to a race that might not usually be such a subject of interest. Johnson said she’s not worried about the fundraising numbers and has her focus on winning voters’ support throughout the borough. 

“I come from humble beginnings,” Johnson said. “And I feel like that’s reflective of the people who I represent, in a way.”

Born in Far Rockaway, Johnson spent most of her youth in Queens Village. Both her parents were social workers, her father working in Creedmoor Psychiatric Center just minutes away from their home.

At first, Johnson wasn’t gunning for law. She excelled in math, and assumed she would become an engineer. Working under her mother’s guidance, though, opened her mind to engineering of a different kind. 

“I saw how attorneys can really advocate, and protect the most vulnerable people,” Johnsons said. “I see attorneys as social engineers, because they really impact the way we live in society — we just don’t really think about it. But that’s the reality.”

Johnson’s mother emigrated from Haiti at the age of 19, and graduated from St. John’s law school. Johnson followed in her footsteps, attending the university for both undergrad and her J.D. She learned the ropes of the legal system as a paralegal for her mother throughout college, an experience she says was foundational to her understanding of the law.

“She was like my first trainer, my first teacher, in so many ways,” Johnson said of her mother. “She really was an excellent teacher; she was trained, I feel, by some of the best.”

After graduating Johnson worked as an attorney for the city’s Human Resource Administration, where she spent time working in family court. Her next step was working under a judge in the matrimonial department of Queens County Supreme Court. Later, she moved on to working as a court attorney referee where she often worked on foreclosure cases. 

Johnson said starting out in family and matrimonial law gave her a relationship-focused lens that she continues to take with her into the courtroom — even in matters like commercial disputes. She walked through the example of how she might apply this thinking in a foreclosure case. 

“We always have feelings about paying things, and we have feelings about our home and wanting to protect that,” she said. “You’re managing a conversation between people…What’s feasible? How can we leave where the bank gets paid, and the homeowner keeps the house?”

Johnson said she sees it as her role to temper the high emotions that can sometimes reign in those cases and steer discussions towards the facts. Still, she said, she tries to remain attentive to what litigants are going through internally.

“It’s easy to get jaded. But I think that also impacts you as a person — when someone’s jaded, you’re impacted. And so that’s why I feel like I have to work on myself all the time so that I can show up for people.”

Johnson gives credit to her training in mediation for her approach to dealing with thorny relationships in the courtroom. 

“[It’s] finding just that one thing that they agree on. When you find just one thing — even that the sky is blue — then I get to be like, ‘All right, you guys agreed on this.’ And sometimes it’s bringing them back in a month or two and having them agree on one other thing.”

Johnson has drawn deep support from top-ranking members of the party: Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks made it a point to introduce Johnson, currently a Supreme Court judge, at an early March luncheon packed with politicians. Just after that, Congresswoman Grace Meng gathered along with other politicians for a ballot petitioning drive for Johnson. 

Unlike the high-profile campaigns of city council and mayoral races, surrogate court candidates are restricted from discussing political issues openly or directly soliciting donations. State law places judicial campaigns under higher scrutiny than the average political campaign. Candidates are held to a higher standard of truthfulness in how they represent themselves, cannot endorse candidates in other races, cannot appeal to specific political policy preferences and — crucially —  cannot directly solicit donations or even know the identity of donors. A team of fundraisers manages the campaign’s finance in the candidate’s stead. 

Because of timing around disclosure requirements, it’s not clear how much Johnson has in her war chest. She will, though, be able to transfer over  $13,938 from a previous campaign. 

Li looks to be a formidable opponent financially, with nearly $200,000 in donations to work with. Li has a strong base of support in the Asian communities of Northeast Queens; Johnson, with Congressman Meeks’ support, is expected to appeal to the large swath of Black homeowners and residents in Southeast Queens where she grew up. 

Johnson said she’s not worried about Li’s fundraising. 

“From my perspective, how much she has raised makes no difference to me. I have to focus on the task at hand, which is focusing on garnering support throughout the county, which is what I’ve been doing,” Johnson said.

When it comes to conversations about the surrogate seat as one historically mired in practices of political patronage, Li has argued that —  as a relative “outsider” running without the endorsement of the Queens Democratic Party — she is the candidate devoted to undoing that precedent.

Johnson pushed back against Li’s claim that the surrogate attorney panel selection process is unduly influenced by political patronage and trading favors for lucrative attorney placements. 

“There is a limit based on the law on how much any person can get. So it’s not that one person that’s going to get millions of dollars, just like that. You can’t appoint someone too many times,” Johnson said. “I think it’s important when I’m appointing someone to act on the courts behalf, that they have a reputation for doing great work, because that’s a reflection upon me as well.”

Johnson, for her part, said she’s proud to be backed by the party. 

“I think it’s interesting that out of the 20, 30 people that they’ve interviewed for this position, I got the nomination,” She said. “I think that’s reflective of who they think can do the job.”

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com

The family of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old Bangladeshi Ozone Park resident killed by the NYPD, is speaking out. 

A well-attended press conference on Wednesday, May 8 at the steps of City Hall marked the first time Rozario’s parents and 17-year-old brother, Ushto, had spoken publicly about his death. With a crowd of activists and Bangladeshi community members standing behind them, the Rozarios called for the prosecution and immediate suspension of NYPD officers Salvatore Alongi and Matthew Cianfrocco. They also said that they were “treated like criminals” by the police in the wake of the shooting, and were locked out of their home for two days. 

“The past 22 days have been hell for us,” Ushto Rozario said to the crowd. “I’m really angry and disgusted that the people that’s supposed to serve and protect us are the ones that’s killing us.”

Win Rozario was killed on March 27 after police received a 911 call about someone in mental distress at his residence. Body camera footage released on May 3 shows a rapid escalation in officers’ interaction with Rozario and his family — Alongi and Cianfrocco were in the apartment for under three minutes before they fired at the teen. Upon seeing the officers, Rozario grabbed a pair of scissors from a kitchen drawer and moved towards them. They immediately Tased him. Win’s mother, Notan Eva Costa, held onto him as the Tasers were in effect. She restrained him and stood in front of him, telling officers not to shoot. They repeatedly shouted at her to move out of their way; when she did, they immediately deployed Tasers again on Win, who was at that point standing still. While being Tased, Win again picked up the scissors and came towards officers. The officers then fired. Eva Costa ran to shield her son’s body from the police, and Ushto held onto Eva Costo to shield her. When Win was out of their embrace and standing up in the kitchen, officers again fired at him, multiple times, from the living room. 

The Attorney General’s Office is investigating the incident. 

In a May 3 statement, the NYPD wrote that Alongi and Cianfrocco remain on modified assignment — not carrying firearms or a shield. 

At City Hall, the Rozarios all demanded the officers be immediately suspended without pay, prosecuted, and fired. 

“Modified duty isn’t enough — it’s a joke,” Ushto said. “They’re a danger to all New Yorkers and I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

 

The family also detailed what they described as mistreatment from the police immediately following Win’s death. 

“They made us go to the police station right after they killed my brother. I had shorts on and it was freezing cold outside,” Ushto said. “They didn’t even let me put clothes on.”

Ushto went on to describe the officers talking casually about their weekends while driving the family to the precinct. He said that he and his parents were treated like “criminals” when they arrived. 

“They threw us in an interrogation room,” Ushto said, “They investigated my mother for hours, even in the state that she was in…They investigated me, a minor, without my parents’ consent.”

The Rozarios said they were barred from re-entering their house for 48 hours, and were not able to retrieve their pet cat or their medications. 

“It was a rainy day,” Francis Rozario, Win and Ushto’s father, said. “They did not offer any shelter for us. We even tried to tell them that our cat was in the house alone but they did not care.” 

Ushto said his family only gained access to their house once the Justice Committee, an activist organization, requested help from the Public Advocate’s Office. 

Win’s blood had not yet been cleaned from their home, multiple speakers said. It was Desis Rising Up and Moving, another local organization, that helped sanitize the space for the Rozarios to re-enter. 

“The family is still living in the same home where Win was murdered. Win’s mother still has to cook in that same kitchen where the NYPD shot her son in front of her,” Simran Thind, an organizer with DRUM, said. “We cannot let them live and suffer in that same home that the NYPD made hell for them.”

The Rozarios praised Win’s character, painting a picture of a sensitive, dedicated teen. 

“He was very smart and very curious,” Francis Rozario said. “Very organized, and he had a strong sense of right and wrong. He always wanted to do what was right but did not care about getting credit for it. When we were walking on the street, if he saw litter, he would pick it up and put it in the trash.”

Ushto said his brother was “determined and disciplined.”

“When we first moved to the country, we didn’t really know what basketball was,” Ushto said. “And when we used to play basketball, people used to make fun of us on the court. So Win spent months training himself so he could be better than the people that he played with. And in a few months, he became better than the people who played for their whole life.”

Eva Costa spoke about her son’s dreams for the future. 

“Win wanted to join the military and dreamed that afterwards, he would save up to have a farm. He was very disciplined when he took exams; he would be very focused and do very well. He told us he wanted to join the military because he wanted to do something for this country. He would cook for me and help keep everything at home neat. That is who the police stole from us,” Costa said. 

“Win was quiet and polite,” she continued. “He was always helping me. When I made new handicrafts with beads, he would help me, and his face would shine because he was happy for me and happy to be with me.”