By Alexander Dworkowitz
More than 1,000 seniors living at the Le Havre cooperative housing complex in Beechhurst will soon have bus service linking them to two shopping centers on Tuesdays and Fridays.
City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) has appropriated $3,600 of his discretionary funds to the Samuel Field YM&YWHA, allowing the organization to expand its senior citizen bus service program run out of its Bay Terrace branch.
Leonard Soberman, executive vice president of Le Havre’s board of directors, said the program addressed a large need at the complex located north of 12th Avenue and east of 162nd Street.
“We’re in the furthest north part of Queens,” Soberman said. “Unfortunately, there really are no shopping centers in proximity. It becomes a very difficult situation for our senior citizens.”
Soberman estimated a third of the 4,000 residents living in the 32 Le Havre buildings are senior citizens. Many of those seniors do not have a car or cannot drive, he added,
Beginning Sept. 3, the bus service will provide transportation from Le Havre to the Bay Terrace Shopping Center at 26th Avenue and Bell Boulevard every Tuesday. Starting Sept. 6, the service will offer rides to the Whitestone Shopping Center at the Cross Island Parkway and Clintonville Street every Friday.
The buses are free of charge, although a $1 donation is recommended.
While the Q15 bus does take Le Havre residents to the Whitestone Shopping Center, the trip to the Bay Terrace Shopping Center is much more difficult. Although slightly more than a mile from Le Havre, the Bay Terrace Shopping Center can only be reached by taking at least two separate buses, traveling a distance of about three miles.
Avella said he decided to allocate the funds to the Samuel Field Y after his office received calls from Le Havre seniors complaining of inadequate transportation.
“When I was running for office, I made a commitment that all of my discretionary funds would go to youth and seniors,” Avella said. “Transportation services are not what they should be in northeast Queens.”
The expansion of bus service to Beechhurst comes after a cut in the program’s funding.
State Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria) had originally given $42,000 to the Samuel Field Y in Little Neck, but the funds were cut to $13,000 after the state decided to save on discretionary funds after Sept. 11, said Rick Lewis, associate executive director of the Samuel Field Y.
In response to the cuts, the Samuel Field Y was forced to reduce its service to shopping centers from locations in Bay Terrace in Flushing from five days a week to two days a week, Lewis said.
Lewis called the senior bus service “absolutely critical.”
“There’s no one bus for them to take to get to the local shopping centers,” he said.
Nicholas Vessio, vice president of Le Havre’s board of directors, said meeting the needs of Le Havre residents is not an easy task.
“We have an awesome responsibility,” Vessio said. “It’s like running a small city here.”
For schedule information on the bus service, call 423-6111.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 141.
